What if your biggest marketing win is the one you’re ignoring?
You post every day. You write clever captions. You run ads, make videos, speak at events… and still wonder, “Where are the buyers?”

Here’s the truth: most businesses waste time and money on stuff that looks good—but doesn’t sell. The hard part? Figuring out what’s working and what’s not.

But today, you’ll learn one simple trick that changes everything.

It’s sneaky. It’s smart. And it tells you exactly which parts of your marketing bring in money—and which parts are just noise. Best of all? Once you set it up, it runs on its own.

This method slashes your marketing costs, saves time, and helps you grow your business faster.

Let’s dive in.

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Stop Guessing. Start Knowing.

You wouldn’t bake a cake without checking the recipe. So why run your business without knowing which marketing steps are working?

Just because something feels right doesn’t mean it works. Maybe that Instagram story got tons of views, but did anyone buy?

This is where most businesses go wrong. They go with their gut. But smart businesses use data. They know what brings in cash and cut out the fluff.

When the Numbers Told the Truth

Picture this: all the marketing reports are on the table. Customer data is matched with their very first contact point.

The results? Shocking.

Instagram, after six months of effort, hundreds of hours, and thousands of dollars, had only one customer. And that customer spent less than $200.

Meanwhile, a podcast, blog, or another “quieter” channel brought in dozens of customers. No fancy graphics. No flashy posts. Just steady, solid results.

That’s the power of knowing your numbers.

The Secret: Track Where People Come From

This is where the magic starts.

Imagine you could look at each person on your email list and instantly know:

• Where they found you
  
• When they signed up
  
• Which platform turned them into a buyer

You can. And the best part? It’s easy.

The trick: hidden fields and smart links.

Hidden Fields Are Your Secret Weapon

When someone signs up for a freebie or newsletter, they usually fill in their name and email.

But behind the scenes, your form can secretly collect more info, like where they came from.

This is done using hidden fields. These fields aren’t visible to the person signing up, but they quietly store helpful info. Like the name of the platform, they clicked from Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, etc.

All you have to do is add a special bit of info to the signup link, called a UTM tag.

What’s a UTM Tag?

Think of it like a label you add to a link.

Instead of sending everyone to the same link, you make a custom version for each place you’re marketing.

Example:

• For Instagram: yourwebsite.com/signup?utm_source=instagram
  
• For Facebook: yourwebsite.com/signup?utm_source=facebook
  
• For a live event: yourwebsite.com/signup?utm_source=event

This tag doesn’t change the page. But your form catches that info and saves it.

Now, you know where the person came from, even months or years later.

The Two Magic Fields: Recent and Original

To make this even more powerful, you use two fields in your email system:

1. Recent Source – where they came from most recently
   
2. Original Source – where they came from first

Here’s how to make it work:

• When someone signs up, the system fills in the Recent Source.
  
• If the Original Source is empty, it copies the Recent Source into it.
  
• If the Original Source already has data, it leaves it alone.

Now, you always know their first contact point and their most recent one.

Know What’s Working. And What’s Not.

Once this is set up, you can:

• Look at your customers
  
• See where they originally came from
  
• Figure out which platforms bring in buyers

No more guessing. No more wasting time on things that “look” good. Just solid facts.

You can stop spending on weak platforms and go all-in on what works.

One-Time Setup. Lifetime Results.

The best part?

You only have to do this once.

• Add the two hidden fields to your forms
  
• Create UTM-tagged links for each platform
  
• Set up a simple automation to fill the original source
  
• Update your forms and links

That’s it. From now on, every person who joins your list brings data with them.

You’ll create a treasure map of what works automatically.

No More Mystery. Just Results.

This strategy turns your forms into truth-tellers.

They reveal which platform brings in the most leads… and which ones don’t.

And when you know that, you can:

• Cut the fat
  
• Boost the winners
  
• Save time and money
  
• Grow your list with real buyers
  

It’s not fancy. It’s not flashy. But it works.

Conclusion: Slash Smarter, Grow Bigger

You don’t need to hustle harder. You don’t need to guess. You need to track.

With this one-time setup, you get lifetime insight. You’ll see clearly:

• What brings in money
  
• What doesn’t
  
• What to cut
  
• What to do more of
  

And that’s how you grow faster… without burning out.

This is how smart businesses work. This is how you slash your marketing costs.

And the best part? You can start today.

Related episodes

The Affiliate Marketing Playbook: How to Make Sales Without Annoying Your List

Webinars That Sell: Insider Secrets from Jason Fladlien!

How to Use Storytelling in Your Emails to Get a 22% Higher Open Rate

FREE list of the top 10 books to improve your email marketing

If you want to write better emails, come up with better content, and move your readers to click and buy, here's how. We put together this list of our Top 10 most highly recommended books that will improve all areas of your email marketing (including some underground treasures that we happened upon, which have been game-changing for us). Grab your FREE list here. 

Join our FREE Facebook group

If you want to chat about how you can maximise the value of your email list and make more money from every subscriber, we can help! We know your business is different, so come and hang out in our FREE Facebook group, the Email Marketing Show Community for Course Creators and Coaches. We share a lot of training and resources, and you can talk about what you're up to.

Try ResponseSuite for $1

This week's episode is sponsored by ResponseSuite.com, the survey quiz and application form tool that we created specifically for small businesses like you to integrate with your marketing systems to segment your subscribers and make more sales. Try it out for 14 days for just $1.

Grab The Email Hero Blueprint

Want more? Let's say you're a course creator, membership site owner, coach, author, or expert and want to learn about the ethical psychology-based email marketing that turns 60-80% more of your newsletter subscribers into customers (within 60 days).

If that's you, then The Email Hero Blueprint is for you.

This is hands down the most predictable, plug-and-play way to double your earnings per email subscriber. It allows you to generate a consistent sales flow without launching another product, service, or offer. Best news yet? You won't have to rely on copywriting, slimy persuasion, NLP, or ‘better' subject lines.

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