TLDR - It’s always the configs
I run a solo photography studio out in Brooklyn. Business was slow (or at least I thought it was). My traffic numbers were way up, but no one was booking. I assumed the worst. What I didn’t realize was that my analytics were counting every visitor three times. So it looked like nobody was converting. My investors were ready to pull out and I was ready to shut it all down. But after a quick check-in with DataSmart, everything changed. Turns out, I had a simple setup issue. Once it was fixed, the numbers made sense, and so did the future of my business.
Chapter 1 - Numbers That Didn’t Add Up
I started the studio during a tough year, thinking I could bring something clean and creative to the local scene. I built my site myself, linked up my booking system, and threw in Google Analytics to track visitors. All DIY.
At first, I was proud. The traffic numbers looked good. Hundreds of hits. I figured, if even ten percent book, I’d be straight. But weeks passed. I had barely any appointments. I started doubting myself. I thought maybe my work wasn’t strong enough, or maybe I just wasn’t cut out for the business side.
The worst part? My investors. Two cousins who believed in me. They looked at those same analytics and asked the same question I was thinking: “Where’s the money?” It didn’t make sense. High traffic, low sales. It was looking like failure, and I was about ready to call it.
Chapter 2 - Three Times the Lies
One night, scrolling forums, I saw someone mention DataSmart and figured why not. A friend had mentioned them before, said they helped small businesses figure out their social headaches without needing to hire a whole marketing department.
I gave them access to the site. In two days, they hit me back with the problem. I had installed the tracking code not once, not twice, but three times…once in the theme files, once in a plugin, and again in the page builder settings. Every time someone landed on my site, they got counted three times.
So those 600 weekly visitors? Really closer to 200. The conversions weren’t bad at all…they were normal! It just looked like nobody was buying.
Chapter 3 - Back from the Brink
After the fix, everything lined up. My real traffic, bookings and revenue actually made sense. The conversion rate was solid. Not amazing, but enough to build on.
I brought the numbers to my cousins. Showed them the real picture. They saw I wasn’t messing up, I was just flying blind. Instead of pulling their money, they doubled down and helped me fund a new ad campaign.
What looked like a dying hustle turned into a steady, growing business. One that made sense. One I could trust.
And therefore…
If you’re a small business owner trying to juggle everything, don’t assume your numbers are gospel. Data doesn’t lie, but bad setups sure do. I almost lost my business over a basic ass miscount.
Thanks to DataSmart, I didn’t need a full-time developer or marketing team. I needed someone who could catch a mistake, explain it plainly, and set me up for success.
Check out my work at fokalview.com
