Business growth often feels overwhelming when companies try to master every marketing channel at once. The temptation to spread efforts across social media, paid ads, SEO, and content marketing can dilute results rather than amplify them. Dr. Connor Robertson, a marketing strategist, advocates for a different approach that focuses on mastering one channel before expanding to others.
Focusing on One Marketing Channel
Most businesses approach marketing like they’re at a buffet. They want a little bit of everything. Robertson sees the problem with this scattered approach every day. “What most people are doing is they’re saying, ‘Hey, video content’s excellent. Written content’s powerful. Ads work well. Organic reaches people. LinkedIn connects you with professionals.'” But here’s what he’s learned after years of watching companies struggle. You can’t be good at everything right away. “The most important thing is to figure out where your people are hanging out,” he explains. It sounds obvious, but most business owners skip this step entirely. Think about your own business for a second. You’re probably making money already, right? That money is coming from somewhere specific. Robertson wants you to dig into those numbers. “Your business is probably making money and generating leads from a particular source.”
Understanding Customer Value and Cost
Let’s say you run a plumbing company. You’ve got some Google SEO working, maybe some Facebook ads, possibly YouTube ads too. His question cuts straight to the point: “Where do your best deals come from?” Not just any deals, but the profitable ones that keep your business running. Here’s where most people get stuck. They can’t scale referrals by throwing more money at them. Robertson focuses on paid channels where you can actually increase your budget. Once you find that sweet spot, you need to understand two numbers that will make or break your growth. “Once you know that channel, you should figure out what your customer acquisition cost is and what your lifetime value is—how much they pay you,” he says. The math is pretty straightforward once you see it. “The ideal scenario is that there’s a 10 to 1 LTV to CAC ratio,” he explains. Break it down: spend $1,000 to get a customer who pays you $10,000. “That 10 to 1 ratio means that every time you get a new customer, you have that $10,000 minus the $1,000 you already spent.” Robertson gets excited about this part because the math works in your favor. “You can basically buy another 10 customers with the $10,000, or a net of nine additional customers.” Compare that to spending $1,000 to get a customer worth only $3,000. “That means you can only buy three customers.”
Targeting and Filtering the Right Clients
Finding the right channel is just the start. He knows that getting random people to your business won’t cut it. You need a way to filter out the tire kickers and attract serious buyers. “The best way to do it is to start by splitting your audience into what’s called a call-out mix,” Robertson explains. This isn’t complicated marketing jargon. “A call-out mix is basically where you do two different call-outs, one for one person, one for another person.” Maybe you target “individuals making over $300,000 a year, or dentists that live in this area, or business owners that want to do X.” The specificity might seem limiting, but Robertson knows it works the opposite way. “By having that specific call-out, you filter all the other noise out of the way, which allows you to have quality customers.” Better customers make everything easier. Your sales conversations go smoother. Your service delivery improves. Your profit margins get healthier.
Building Revenue with One Clear Strategy
Robertson has seen this pattern play out enough times to know what works. “Typically, one customer, one offer, one channel is going to allow you to get to a million dollars a year in revenue, typically with 30% profit, maybe higher than 30% if you’re a solopreneur or have a small team.” That’s not where it stops either. “Once you get there, you can probably double down and go to 2 million or two and a half million in revenue, which is about $200,000 a month.” Growth beyond that point requires different strategies. Robertson explains that “going beyond that’s going to require additional channels or additional offers—low ticket offers, high ticket offers, mid ticket offers, in-person consulting, things of this nature.” But for most business owners reading this, getting to that first million should be the focus.
Many established businesses built everything on referrals. Moving to paid marketing feels scary because the rules are different. He doesn’t sugar-coat this transition. “You’re going to notice that the sales process is harder when you do outbound marketing, whether it’s LinkedIn, email, texting, phone calls, cold calling, all these different methods, or just paid traffic.” The good news? This difficulty teaches you skills that referral-only businesses never develop. Robertson pushes business owners through this uncomfortable phase: “Do the outbound marketing, put the money into ads, get those customers so you can learn how to run a sales process.” The payoff is worth the temporary discomfort. “If you get really good at that, you’re going to find that it’s going to be super successful for you. And long term, you’re not going to have any issues.” Robertson’s advice boils down to something most business owners already know but haven’t acted on yet. Pick one channel, master it completely, then worry about everything else later.
Connect with Dr. Connor Robertson on LinkedIn to explore more growth strategies.
