If you’ve ever stared at your inquiries and wondered, “Okay, but where are these people actually finding me?” you’re not alone. Most creative entrepreneurs are doing a little bit of everything (Instagram, referrals, paid ads, networking events, maybe even blogging) and just hoping something sticks. It feels a lot like throwing spaghetti at the wall and praying it turns into a fully booked calendar.

The problem? If you don’t know which marketing channels are actually working, you can’t double down on the right ones (or gracefully let go of the ones that are draining your time and energy). That’s where tracking lead sources inside Dubsado comes in. Once you set this up, every new inquiry becomes a tiny piece of data that helps you make smarter decisions, spend less time guessing, and more time doing the creative work you actually love.

In this post, we’re going to walk through not just how to track lead sources in Dubsado using the Project Tracking element, but also how to use that data to make better marketing decisions for your business.

Why Tracking Lead Sources Actually Matters

Before we get into buttons, forms, and settings, let’s quickly talk about why this is worth your time.

When you know where your leads are coming from, you can see which marketing efforts are pulling their weight. Imagine realizing that 70% of your booked clients actually come from referrals, not Instagram. Or that the blog post you wrote last year is quietly sending you dream clients every single month, while the networking event you dread attending hasn’t led to a single booking.

Without tracking, all of your marketing is one big blur. You might feel busy. You might feel visible. But you don’t actually know what’s working.

With lead tracking, you can:

• Invest more time, money, and energy into your best-performing channels
• Gently release the strategies that aren’t doing anything for you
• Test new ideas and actually measure the results
• Refine your client experience and messaging around what’s already attracting your people

Dubsado already has the tools you need to capture this information automatically as part of your workflows. You just have to turn them on and use them intentionally.

The Project Tracking Element in Dubsado is Your New Secret Weapon

Inside Dubsado, there’s a small but mighty tool called the Project tracking element. This is what makes it possible to ask, “How did you hear about us?” and actually keep track of it. (Rather than just having a file in the blank question on your lead capture forms.)

Instead of manually asking people in emails, or trying to remember what they said on a discovery call, the Project tracking element gives your clients a simple dropdown or selection field where they choose from predefined sources like:

• Instagram
• Google search
• Referral from a friend
• Networking event
• Facebook group
• Past client

You fully control these options, which means you can tailor them to your specific business and marketing ecosystem. And because it’s a Dubsado-native feature, those selections don’t just sit on a form; they’re attached directly to the project so you can filter, sort, and analyze later.

Think of the Project tracking element as the bridge between your client’s first inquiry and your future marketing strategy. Once it’s built into the right forms, you don’t have to think about it again. Your system just collects clean, usable data every time someone reaches out.

Adding the Project Tracking Element to Your Form

Now let’s get this thing actually working for you.

In Dubsado, Click on ‘Forms’ and open up one of your lead capture forms. For most people, this will be your lead capture form that’s embedded on your website or linked from your social media profiles. (It can also be the form that’s linked in your Discovery call scheduler inside of Dubsado.)

On the left-hand side, you’ll see the element palette—this is where all the building blocks for your form live. Look for the Project tracking element. Once you’ve found it, click it or drag it into your form wherever you want that “How did you hear about us?” question to appear. Usually, placing it near the bottom of your form works well, after all the essential details like name, email, and project information.

When the element lands on your form, click on it to open its settings. This is where the magic happens—you’ll customize what your clients see and how Dubsado handles their responses behind the scenes.

Setting Up Your Lead Sources Inside the Element

With the Project tracking element selected, you’ll see a field labeled Project sources. This is where you define the options your clients can choose from on that lead capture form. (You CAN choose different sources on different forms if you want.)

To add a new project source:

1. Click the option for New project source in the dropdown.

2. In the window that appears, enter a Source name. This is what your clients won’t see directly—but you will see it in your reports and project details, so make it clear and specific. For example: “Instagram – organic,” “Google search,” or “Vendor referral – Florist.”

3. Choose a color. This is purely for your visual reference inside Dubsado, but it’s surprisingly helpful when you’re scanning a list of projects and can instantly spot trends.

4. Click Create to save it.

Repeat this process until you’ve added all the key places people typically find you. Don’t stress about making this list perfect on day one. You can always come back and refine it. For now, focus on your main channels: social platforms, referrals, search engines, vendor relationships, ads, and any standout collaborations or directories.

Once the sources you want are selected, you can drag and drop them within the Project sources area to reorder them. This order is exactly how your clients will see them on the form. Put your most common or likely sources near the top to make the selection process quick and easy.

Fine-Tuning the Client Experience

Now that your sources are set, let’s make sure this element feels on-brand and user-friendly.

Inside the element settings, you’ll see a toggle labeled Required. If you switch this to Yes, your clients will be required to select a lead source before they can submit the form. For most businesses, this is a smart move. It guarantees you never miss this information, and it adds almost zero friction for your client, they just pick the answer that fits.

Next, look for the Question field. By default, it will say, “How did you hear about us?” You can absolutely leave it as is, but this is also a chance to inject a little of your brand voice. For example:

“Where did you first find me?”

“Who or what can I thank for sending you my way?”

“How did you discover my work?”

A tiny tweak here can keep your form feeling more like a conversation and less like a cold intake questionnaire.

When everything looks good, don’t forget the most important step: click Save on your form. Then, if you haven’t already done it, embed this form on your website so you can easily share the link to your booking page.

From this point forward, every new lead who fills out that form will have a clearly tracked source stored right in their project.

Turning Data into Decisions

Once your Project tracking element has been live for a while, you’ll start to collect a beautiful little trail of evidence about what’s working in your marketing.

In Dubsado, each project will show its associated source. Over time, you can scroll through your projects and start to notice patterns: a lot of color blocks in your “Instagram” shade, or more “Google search” than you expected.

For even more insight, you can:

– Filter projects by lead source to see which channels actually convert into booked clients

– Compare the quality of leads from different sources—are your highest-paying, easiest-to-work-with clients coming from a specific place?

– Track seasonal patterns. Maybe referrals spike in the fall, or Pinterest ramps up in the summer.

This is where you stop guessing and start refining. If you see that very few leads (or zero booked clients) are coming from a platform that takes you hours each week, you can confidently scale back. If one channel is outperforming everything else, you can give it more focus, creativity, or ad spend.

Over time, this kind of data-driven decision-making can give you back hours of your week and thousands of dollars in avoided “spray and pray” marketing.

Want More Help Getting Your Marketing Done?

If you’d like to get more help tracking what really works in your marketing, check out Enji. It’s the tool I use every week to plan, do, and review my marketing so it actually gets done AND I can figure out what’s really working.

One of my favorite tools in Enji is the KPI tracker. It helps me track the numbers for different marketing that I do (like my website, Instagram, email marketing, YouTube and more all in one place), without having to be a tech wizard. Check it out HERE.

Common Pitfalls (And How to Avoid Them)

There are a few easy mistakes people make when they first start tracking lead sources in Dubsado—and they’re all fixable.

One, creating too many hyper-specific sources too early. If your list is a mile long, it becomes overwhelming for both you and your clients. Start broad enough that the options make sense, then refine later if you consistently see a particular source dominating.

Two, never revisiting your list. Your marketing will evolve. You might discontinue a platform, add paid ads, or start partnering with venues or vendors. Make a habit of checking in on your sources every quarter or so. Remove outdated ones, merge duplicates, and add new ones as needed.

Three, not using the data. It’s easy to set and forget, but the power is in actually looking at what your system is telling you. Put a recurring reminder on your calendar to review your lead sources and bookings—monthly or quarterly works well for most creative businesses.

And finally, make sure all your main lead entry points are using a form that includes the Project tracking element. If you have multiple lead capture forms, questionnaires, or special inquiry forms for different services, consider whether each should also track lead sources so nothing slips through the cracks.

Bringing It All Together in Your Systems Strategy

Tracking lead sources isn’t just a nerdy little feature inside Dubsado—it’s a foundational piece of your overall systems and marketing strategy.

Once this is set up, you can build it right into your workflows. Every time a new lead comes in, you’ll know exactly how they found you. You can personalize your responses (“I love hearing that you found me through Sarah!”), nurture the partnerships that send you the best clients, and intentionally invest your energy where it actually counts.

For creative entrepreneurs—photographers, home stagers, jewelry designers, and beyond—this kind of clarity is gold. Your time is your most valuable resource. When your systems quietly collect the information you need, you can get out of the weeds of guessing and get back into your zone of genius.

You don’t have to keep throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping it turns into clients.

By using Dubsado’s Project tracking element to capture lead sources on your forms, you give yourself the gift of clarity. Every new inquiry becomes a data point. Every booked project becomes proof of what’s working.

Set up your sources once, make the question required, and let your system handle the rest. Then, commit to actually looking at that information and letting it guide your marketing decisions. That’s where the real magic happens: less overwhelm, more intention, and a business that grows because you’re finally working with real data—not just vibes.