Make Better Business Decisions Part 1: Lead Acquisition
Release Date: 01/05/2026
MISTAKE: Stop Chasing Every Trend, It Won't Grow Your Business
The Experienced Entrepreneur
If you've been feeling like you're treading water, maintaining the status quo, and wondering why growth still feels so hard, this episode is going to reframe everything. Marissa makes the case for why trend-chasing is the mistake that's actually keeping you from growing, and why the entrepreneurs who are growing right now aren't the ones chasing the next platform or strategy. They're the ones going inward, doubling down on what's working, and cutting the fluff. She introduces the beaker analogy for the four levers (lead acquisition, lead nurture, sales and conversions, lifestyle) and...
info_outline
Hidden Skills you Build During the Growth Stage of Business
The Experienced Entrepreneur
What if the work you're doing right now in growth stage is building the competencies you'll need for the next twenty years of business? In this episode, Marissa breaks down the hidden skills you're developing in growth stage that are quieter and harder to measure than the visible skills you built in the early years. She explains why build stage teaches you what to sell while growth stage teaches you how to lead, why you're learning to see patterns in your data instead of just numbers, and why the resilience you're building now is about identity, not just bouncing back from failure. You'll...
info_outline
Settling In Is Not the Same as Settling: Why Growth Stage Entrepreneurs Become Magnetic
The Experienced Entrepreneur
Episode Summary What if the most powerful thing you could do to grow your business right now isn't chasing more, but settling into what you've already built? In this episode, Marissa makes the case for why settling in is not the same as settling, and why growth stage entrepreneurs who commit to refining what they've built become magnetic. She breaks down the difference between chasing (scattered, reactive energy) and attracting (grounded, intentional energy), and why your ideal clients can feel the difference. You'll hear why the industry doesn't celebrate growth stage (there's no money in...
info_outline
From Guessing to Hypothesizing: You're the Scientist Now
The Experienced Entrepreneur
You know what you sell, who buys it, and how to deliver it. But there's a gap between where your business is and how you're showing up to lead it. In this episode, Marissa introduces the petri dish analogy that changes everything: in build stage, you're inside the petri dish as one of the variables in the experiment. In growth stage, you become the scientist running the experiment. She breaks down why taking responsibility for your business doesn't mean you can't acknowledge external factors, it means you stop using them as excuses. You'll hear about the three barriers that keep entrepreneurs...
info_outline
From Fluke to Framework: the Kay to Repeatable Results in your Business
The Experienced Entrepreneur
What if the success you've been calling luck is actually a system you built without realizing it? In this episode, Marissa tackles the "fluke mindset" that keeps experienced entrepreneurs stuck in build stage thinking even when they're years into business. She breaks down why dismissing your wins as accidents keeps you from investigating the patterns that actually drive your results, and why shifting from "fluke thinking" to "framework thinking" is the first step in becoming a growth stage entrepreneur. You'll hear about the CEO shift that happens when you stop attributing success to timing...
info_outline
You're Not Ready to "Scale" Your Business, Here's What to do Instead
The Experienced Entrepreneur
If you're making money online, you probably think the next step in your business is to scale. Well, this episode is going to shift your entire perspective. Marissa breaks down the three stages of business (build, grow, scale) and explains why most entrepreneurs skip the growth stage entirely, jumping straight from build to scale and breaking everything in the process. She introduces the industry lie that once you're making money, it's time to scale, and explains why growth stage (the unsexy, unglamorous stage of analyzing and optimizing) is the foundation that makes sustainable scaling...
info_outline
Cash Runway, Gross Profit & Financial Strategy with Kristen Hillman
The Experienced Entrepreneur
Cash reserves, gross profit, and knowing whether you're building an enterprise or an owner-driven business might sound like advanced financial concepts, but according to Kristen Hillman of Veticula Financial, they're the foundational metrics every growth-stage entrepreneur needs to understand. In this episode of The Experienced Entrepreneur, Marissa Lawton sits down with Kristen to unpack the "golden triangle" of financial advisors (CPA, wealth planner, and fractional CFO), why your cash runway should include your own pay (not just operating costs), and how to navigate the current "trust...
info_outline
A Peek Inside the My Favorite Metric Summit
The Experienced Entrepreneur
This week on The Experienced Entrepreneur, we're doing something a little different. The My Favorite Metric summit kicked off this week, and if you've been curious about what it's all about, this episode gives you a full look inside. Marissa walks you through the structure of the five-day event, who it's designed for (spoiler: growth-stage entrepreneurs, not newbies), and why she built it without the typical summit pressure tactics like disappearing content or forced upsells. You'll hear about the four themed days covering lead acquisition, engagement, sales and profit, and lifestyle metrics,...
info_outline
The Metrics Myth Keeping Entrepreneurs in the Dark
The Experienced Entrepreneur
If you've ever said "I'm just not a numbers person" — this episode is going to gently, but firmly, challenge that. For experienced entrepreneurs, the belief that metrics are complicated, cold, or designed for someone else is one of the most costly myths in business. Not because tracking is hard, but because the story we tell ourselves about it keeps us from accessing the clearest signal our business has to offer. In this episode of The Experienced Entrepreneur, Marissa Lawton breaks down where the "I'm not a metrics person" identity actually comes from, what it's quietly costing you in...
info_outline
Human-Centered Sales in a Post-Algorithm Market - with Megan Smyth
The Experienced Entrepreneur
In this episode of The Experienced Entrepreneur, Marissa Lawton sits down with Megan Smyth to unpack what’s actually working in sales right now — and why many experienced business owners are quietly moving away from social media–dependent strategies. Megan shares the story of losing every copywriting client in a single week and how that moment forced her to confront a hard truth: relying on referrals without a system is not a strategy. Instead of doubling down on platforms she hated, Megan rebuilt her sales process around what felt sustainable, human, and repeatable — and went on to...
info_outlineSince you’ve been in business for a while, you already know that “getting more leads” isn’t the be-all-end-all solution some coaches say it is.
The real challenge is knowing what kind of leads you’re attracting, where they’re coming from, and whether your lead flow is actually supporting sustainable business growth — or quietly working against it.
In this episode of The Experienced Entrepreneur, I kick off a four-part January series about making better business decisions starting with Lead Acquisition. This conversation is for seasoned online business owners who are tired of guessing, reacting, or chasing visibility trends — and want a calmer, more intentional way to understand what’s driving growth in their business.
Rather than tracking vanity metrics or obsessing over algorithms, I share what I actually measures inside my metrics tracker Decision Dashboard, why those metrics matter, and how they reveal early signals about what’s working and what’s not, before things feel urgent.
Inside this episode, you’ll learn:
-
What lead acquisition really means at this stage of business
-
Which lead metrics Marissa tracks — and why she chose them
-
How tracking lead sources over time changes your marketing decisions
-
The early indicators that show whether growth is sustainable or shaky
-
What happens when you don’t track lead acquisition intentionally
-
How the Decision Dashboard acts as a monthly business hub you can return to again and again
This episode isn’t about doing more marketing.
It’s about seeing clearly, so you can grow your business with steadiness instead of scramble.
If you’ve been craving a grounded way to understand your numbers without pressure, this episode will help you orient yourself and show you how metrics can become a tool for clarity, not judgment.
Listen now and learn how lead acquisition metrics support long-term business growth.
Want your own clear, centralized way to track these metrics month after month?
You can explore and download your free copy of the Decision Dashboard at marissalawton.com/dashboard.
It’s designed to help experienced entrepreneurs see what’s actually happening inside their business, calmly and clearly.