Hey there, established entrepreneur. If you’re thinking about running ads to land your next clients, pump the brakes and hang with me for a sec. Ads get all the hype, but they’re not the main event. The real driver of consistent, scalable growth is your client acquisition system. Ads just shine a spotlight on what’s already working — or magnify what’s broken.
Because the truth is, ads don’t fix broken systems, they just put them on blast. If your offer, messaging, or client acquisition system isn’t working, ads are like pouring water (your money) into a leaky bucket. Most of the water will slip right out before you can use it. So, yes, you’ll get more clicks and views. You’ll also send more cash out, and get exactly zero ROI.
Think about it this way:
- Ads magnify the cracks. If your sales calls don’t convert, more clicks won’t change that. You’ll just pay to have more people tell you no.
- Ads speed up the wrong direction. If you’re unclear on your positioning, ads push you further down the wrong road — faster and more expensively.
- Ads don’t solve delivery constraints. If you can’t handle three clients without stress, why would doubling inquiries help? Your business will just break faster.
Ads Are Expensive Data Collection
I see a lot of entrepreneurs run to ads because they want the quick win. And yes, ads can work — but only when the foundation is rock solid. Ads are expensive data collection. If your system for generating clients online isn’t predictable yet, you won’t have enough clarity on your messaging or your market to make ads worth it. You’ll end up paying thousands of dollars just to learn what content and offers actually work.
But when you build systems first that consistently turn interest into conversations, and conversations into clients, ads stop being a gamble and become rocket fuel. At that point, you will already know the funnel works, that the call closes, and that your delivery scales. Ads simply help you pour more into a machine that’s proven to produce. That’s why ads are optional. The foundation for additional cash flow isn’t ads. The foundation is systems to scale client acquisition.
The Client Acquisition Process in Practice
Now, let’s talk about what a working online client acquisition system actually looks like day to day. You can run this process yourself at first to get a feel for how it works, or you can delegate it to a team member or virtual assistant right from the start.
If your goal is scale, it’s best to eventually hand it off. Once you know what effective client acquisition looks like, you’ll have the confidence to delegate it and trust that it’s being done well. That frees up your time for the things only you can do best like:
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Optimizing delivery so your client experience is world-class
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Handling sales calls (you’ll always be the best closer for your offer)
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Creating thought leadership content, if you prefer to keep that in your voice
Some business owners want to delegate content too, and I have a system for that, which is super simple, but if you love being the voice of your brand, you can keep it. Content is what drives conversations, and conversations drive conversions.
Conversations, Not Cold Pitches
There’s a common misconception that client acquisition means blasting out cold DMs to strangers. That’s not how I run my business, and it’s not how I teach my clients. When it’s done right, client acquisition uses your content to open doors to conversations that have already gotten started.
There are two main ways that happens (among many):
- Lead magnet CTAs. Some of your posts will invite people to comment a specific word if they want access to a free resource. That word is your signal to send the lead magnet and start a conversation in the DMs.
- Engagement prompts. Other posts will invite your audience to share their thoughts or experiences. When people reply or comment, that’s another opportunity to continue the conversation privately.
Either way, your content gets the ball rolling. By the time you’re messaging someone, they’ve already begun the conversation — which means your DM feels natural, not like cold spam. It’s simply the natural next step after someone interacts with your content.
Zooming In: The Chat Flow
Now, let’s zoom in even further on the chat flow, which is key to the client acquisition process. You may know that I have a program called Four Systems to Scale™. One of the systems we focus on is the Warm Leads Engine. This includes a DMs Ladder workflow, which provides three simple chat flows to warm leads and move them onto calls without pushy, salesy tactics.
Those repeatable steps are as follows:
- Open the conversation. You or your assistant will pick up where your content left off. Maybe someone commented on a post, downloaded a freebie, or liked something you shared. That’s your opening to start a conversation.
- Build Rapport and Add value. Don’t just jump straight to “want to book a call?” This is not a pitch. You main goal is to first build rapport. You can do this by asking a thoughtful question and sharing a valuable insight when the situation calls for it.
- Invite to the next step — but only when it makes sense. This is where a lot of people rush and end up getting ghosted. You don’t build rapport and then immediately push them to book a call, join a group, or grab a lead magnet they haven’t asked for. Instead, the invite comes once you’ve done two things:
- You understand what the person is working on.
- You know it’s aligned with the results you help people achieve.
If they’ve asked for your lead magnet, that’s usually a clear sign they’re interested in the solution your offer provides. Those people are natural fits for an invite after a bit of back-and-forth. But for someone who just left a comment on your post, it doesn’t make sense to jump straight into an offer. With those people, you want to keep the focus on learning more about their situation, asking thoughtful questions, and only extending an invite once you know there’s a clear fit.
Sometimes, yes, people will come right out and say, “Hey, I need help.” In that case, skip ahead. But most of the time, it’s a process of warming up.
Relationships, But Scalable
If you’ve built your business on referrals, you already know the power of relationships. This is just the online, scalable version of that same thing. Instead of driving across town to coffee meetings or networking mixers, you (or your assistant) are starting conversations from your laptop. Instead of chatting with one person at a time, you can nurture 10, 20, even 50 conversations in parallel.
Here’s an example: the other day I spent about 20 minutes on client acquisition. In that time, I sent 15 personalized messages — all of which were natural continuations of previous conversations. These were pre-documented messages, but none of it felt copy-paste. Those messages invited people to a fun event that offered a high-value, free chance to get coached by me. The event was designed to attract the right prospects and naturally provides an opportunity to see what it could be like to work together.
Why This Matters for You as the CEO
At first, it’s smart to learn the client flow yourself. You won’t be the one running your DMs forever, but once you understand the rhythm of client acquisition, you’ll recognize what “good” looks like — and you’ll spot right away when your assistant needs coaching.
And once you know that, it becomes infinitely easier to:
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Train a VA to run your chat flows for you.
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Systemize the process so it’s not dependent on your memory or energy.
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Stay in the CEO role where you’re focused on the big levers: sales calls, delivery, and scaling your offers.
This is what makes the whole thing scalable. It’s a system that can run without you so your business grows while you focus on being the CEO. You don’t have to do it alone either. I give my clients this done-for-you, highly customizable outreach system along with micro-trainings so they and their VA can run it without building everything from scratch. But even if you’re not in a position to work with someone like me, you can still make this work. All you need is to document the process you’re using. Test it, and keep iterating until it works consistently.
The Takeaway
Ads don’t build the business — systems do. If your online client acquisition process isn’t already consistent, ads will just drain your budget. But when your systems predictably attract, nurture, and convert — you will have a growing business and freedom.
Because systems are what scale businesses. Ads are optional. They can amplify what’s already working, but they’ll never replace the foundation. Build the systems first, and you’ll always have consistent clients, consistent cash flow, and the choice to use ads to boost results — not just save your business from a dry month.