Ascend Collective Podcast – Build. Acquire. Scale.
Episode Transcript
Hey everyone, and welcome to the Ascend Collective Podcast: Build. Acquire. Scale.
Today we’re covering a very exciting topic—the fastest way to grow your business.
It’s a boring truth. No one really wants to hear it. It sounds so obvious that you might even get annoyed—but the vast majority of businesses ignore this fundamental rule, and it’s exactly what holds them back.
Here it is:
The fastest way to grow your business is to get more customers.
Then get them to pay you for longer.
And if you’re really good at what you do, get them to pay you more.
I know—it sounds crazy how simple that is. But most businesses don’t actually operate this way. If they did, they’d be winning. And yet, 95% of businesses fail. So clearly, we’re getting this wrong.
Why?
Because most operators focus on fixing things they already feel comfortable fixing.
Operations. Delivery. Systems. Logos. Websites. Rebuilds. Tweaks.
All of that feels productive. It gives a sense of control.
But it’s also a very sophisticated way of avoiding the real problem:
Not enough feet in the door.
Not enough credit cards on file.
In this series on customer acquisition cost, I’m going to break down 23 different ways to solve this problem. Not all in one episode—because no one’s listening to that—but across the next few episodes, we’ll systematically fix the real issue.
To do that, we need to start with one number that makes everything easier:
Customer Acquisition Cost—CAC.
CAC is the amount of money you spend to acquire a real customer, not a lead.
Everyone obsesses over cost per lead. And yes, that matters. But what matters more is how many leads it actually takes to get a paying customer.
CAC includes:
• Marketing spend
• Staff costs
• Referral fees
• Software
• Outreach
• Any cost involved in acquiring a customer
You take the total spend and divide it by the number of customers you acquired.
For example:
If you spend $5,000 and acquire 25 customers, your CAC is $200.
Once you know this number, everything becomes clearer.
If your CAC is too high, your business model is dying.
If you spend $20 to make $18, your business will eventually collapse. Slowly. Painfully. It’ll drain your savings, create stress, and keep you stuck.
I worked with a business that generated over 4,500 leads in seven years. The cost per lead wasn’t terrible—but their conversion and follow-up were. Their CAC ended up in the thousands.
The problem wasn’t leads.
The problem was winning with the leads they already had.
If you put $1 into marketing and pull $5 out, you have a self-sustaining business. The only question then becomes: how far can you scale before delivery breaks?
That’s when you hire—and repeat the process.
This is why personal brands are so powerful. Trust is already built. CAC is lower. People pay a premium.
Faceless companies often have higher CACs—but greater scale potential. There are pros and cons to both.
Today, we’re focusing on advertising—where cash is either made or burned.
The first lever to fix if CAC is too high is creative.
Good creative is not what you like.
It’s what your audience responds to.
The only way to know is to test—aggressively.
Use organic content that’s already performing and monetize it.
Stop letting ego decide.
I learned this the hard way running my gym. Ads I hated crushed. Ads I loved bombed. That’s when I learned a core rule I use everywhere now:
It’s not about you.
If you have more money than profile—run paid ads and test at volume.
If you have more profile than money—monetize what’s already working organically.
The second lever is messaging.
Your copy must clearly answer:
• What this is
• Who it’s for
• Why they should care
• What to do next
Clear always beats clever.
Certain angles work because they always work:
Fast fat loss
Done-for-you services
Less effort, more result
Test one winning creative with multiple copy variations. Eliminate variables. Be patient. Marketing is systematic testing—not magic.
The third lever is targeting.
Platforms like Meta and Google now do most of the heavy lifting through AI. Old-school targeting is dying.
For service businesses, start with location.
Then use retargeting—past visitors, leads, customers, and lookalikes.
Warm audiences always lower CAC.
Top-of-funnel builds awareness.
Retargeting wins the sale.
The fourth lever is being where your customers actually are—online and offline.
If you’re a local business and you’re not visible in real-world touchpoints, you’re missing opportunities.
Gyms. Barbers. Schools. Local partners. Referrals.
Advertising exists everywhere—not just online.
The fifth lever is targeting the right customers.
Top-of-funnel needs irresistible offers.
Middle-of-funnel needs proof, repetition, and authority.
Bottom-of-funnel needs urgency, bonuses, and risk reversal.
Then there’s the offer.
If your offer sucks, nothing else matters.
A great offer:
• Solves a dream outcome
• Has a high likelihood of success
• Reduces time to result
• Minimizes effort and sacrifice
That’s why shortcuts sell. Your offer must compete with them.
Finally—lead magnets.
A strong lead magnet lowers CAC by building trust and warming the audience.
A good lead magnet:
• Solves one specific problem quickly
• Attracts the right customer
• Sets up the core offer
Apply what we covered today and your CAC will drop.
In the next episode, we’ll cover what happens after the lead comes in—how to engage, nurture, and turn attention into revenue.
Thanks for listening.
If you found this valuable, rate, review, and give us five stars.
