What I’m Taking Into 2026, and What I’m Not

If the Christmas season feels like it’s dragging on, you should try living in Spain.

Here, the Three Kings roll into town with parades on 5 January, and the main gift day on the 6th. Talk about stretching it out.

Talking of stretching things, if I eat another polvorón or mantecado, my new wetsuit will be getting chopped in for an XL.

Anyway, with the year winding down, I’ve been thinking about one simple business question:

What are you taking with you into 2026, and what are you leaving behind?

Here are mine.

Taking with me

Clarity over complexity
One clear offer, one clear journey, one clear next step.

Friction removal as a growth lever
Fewer clicks, fewer links, fewer dead ends. Make buying easy.

Human follow-up
Replying to comments, DMs, emails, and enquiries properly. Trust is built in the reply.

Compounding systems
UTMs, tags, clean automations, consistent onboarding. Boring, but it scales.

Proof over posting
More case studies, screenshots, outcomes, testimonials, before and after. Less noise.

Calendar-driven marketing
Plan launches and campaigns like a grown-up business, not a panic sprint.

Focus on one main metric
Pick the metric that matters (leads, calls booked, conversion rate, churn) and keep score weekly.

Build for retention, not just acquisition
Better onboarding, better community prompts, better renewal reasons.

Audience conversations as research
Use 1:1 calls, replies, surveys, and comments to shape messaging and offers.

A single “signature” customer journey
Opt-in → nurture → offer → checkout → onboarding → result.

Leaving behind

The “more content will fix it” belief
If the funnel leaks, posting more just feeds the leak.

Half-finished builds
Draft pages, broken links, confusing checkout, messy tags. Finish beats start.

Ghosting and slow replies
Not replying costs trust. People remember how you made it feel to engage.

Too many offers
Choice kills conversion. Simplify the menu.

Vanity metrics
Likes and views without leads, calls, sales, renewals.

Random acts of marketing
Posting when you remember. Launching when you panic.

Tech debt in Kajabi
Old automations, duplicate tags, outdated pages, unclear access rules.

Discount-led selling
Attracts the wrong buyers and trains people to wait.

Perfection before publishing
Get it live, then improve it. Version one wins.

Blaming the algorithm
Not denying it exists, but I’m building owned attention, not rented reach.

What about you? Hit reply and let me know.

Stop adding stuff. Start stopping churn.

If you have (or are planning) a coaching business and a membership, churn is the one number that decides how calm or chaotic 2026 will feel.

Churn is partly inevitable, yes. People move on. Budgets change. Life happens.

But a chunk of churn is optional. It happens because members join, love the vibe, then get lost.

• No clear “start here”
• No success path
• Too much content, not enough direction
• They do week one, then disappear
• You only notice when the cancellation email lands

Also, it costs more to replace a member than to keep one. If you focus on one thing in 2026, focus on why people leave.

Not with more bells and whistles. With clarity.

The 3-step churn stopper (do this in January)

1) Ask leavers one question
“What was missing, or unclear, that would have made you stay?”
Use a short form with one field. Make it easy to answer.

2) Build a simple success path
In plain English:

• Start here
• Do this first
• Do this next
• Come back here weekly

3) Add one re-engagement moment
Before month-end, message the quiet members:
“Where are you stuck right now, and what would help this week?”
You’ll be surprised how many stay just because you noticed.

Retention is not glamorous, but it’s where the money and momentum live.

If you want a practical example of compounding work, here’s the AI workflow and 20-minute upgrade I’m using to tighten pages and get found.

Final thought

When you’re running solo, blind spots creep in.

Sometimes the best new year strategy is getting someone sharp to look at your business with you, spot what you’ve stopped noticing, and help you get it shipshape before the year takes over.

If I can help with that, book a 1-hour Strategy Call.