Everyone's shouting about what's working in 2026 right now. And I'm getting hella frustrated about it. Especially after some big news in our industry (yes, I'm talking about Amy Porterfield closing Digital Course Academy), the doom spirals are in full swing.

But before you panic pivot your entire business based on someone else's hot take, I need you to remember something: most of what you're hearing is someone sharing what works for them, with their audience, their costs, and their definition of success.

That doesn't make it universal truth.

In this episode, I'm breaking down why "what's working" is the wrong question, how to evaluate the advice you're seeing, and what to do instead of spiralling.

In This Episode:

1. (00:00) Why "what's working in 2026" content is frustrating and often misleading, because people are presenting their personal results as if it's some industry-wide truth
2. (00:35) What Amy Porterfield closing Digital Course Academy actually means for the rest of us (spoiler: courses aren't dead, but her cost structure and business model might not have been working for her anymore)
3. (01:47) Why the same strategies that feel "dead" to established businesses with big teams and ad costs might still be brilliant for someone at a different stage
4. (03:06) Why a $20k launch could be a spectacular success for one person and an absolute disaster for another, and what that tells us about measuring "what works"
5. (05:03) Defining what success actually means for YOU: is it revenue, simplicity, impact, time freedom? Because you can't judge if something works if you don't know what working looks like
6. (07:18) Why the person ditching courses for brand deals isn't proof you should too (hint: they have hundreds of thousands of YouTube subscribers and have been on YouTube for ten years)
7. (09:29) Why your first attempt at a strategy isn't the measure of whether it works for you, and why you might need ten or twenty goes before you can fairly judge it

Today's Tiny Test:

Before you consume any more "what's working in 2026" content, write down what success actually means for you right now. Is it revenue? Simplicity? Impact? Time freedom? You can't judge whether something "works" if you don't know what working looks like for your business.

Mentioned in This Episode:

If you want to stop guessing and start testing alongside me, come join The 2026 Experiment. It's a year-long living laboratory where I share every experiment, every clue, and every debrief of the tests I'm running. Join here: theunicornadvisory.com/2026

Connect with Sue:

1. Instagram: @theunicornadvisory
2. Youtube: youtube.com/@suemclachlan
3. Website: theunicornadvisory.com

Sue McLachlan: Welcome back to Stop Guessing.

Sue McLachlan: Start testing Sue McLachlan here

Sue McLachlan: and coming to you from the doom

Sue McLachlan: spiral of oh no, what is working

Sue McLachlan: in 2026?

Sue McLachlan: Because it feels like everyone is chasing this elusive what's

Sue McLachlan: working in 2026?

Sue McLachlan: Because there have been changes in the market, in the economy,

Sue McLachlan: and it feels like that is the content of the season.

Sue McLachlan: Everyone is yelling, hey, this

Sue McLachlan: is what works now, and

Sue McLachlan: especially when some really

Sue McLachlan: major players have recently made

Sue McLachlan: big, big changes to their

Sue McLachlan: business, like Amy Porterfield

Sue McLachlan: closing down her $60M digital

Sue McLachlan: Course Academy.

Sue McLachlan: There have been a lot of people talking about it and a lot of

Sue McLachlan: doom and gloom because of that, but I need you to remember

Sue McLachlan: something before you start going into a panic, pivot or spiral.

Sue McLachlan: Most of the stuff that you're seeing, watching, hearing,

Sue McLachlan: listening to, reading about what's working in 2026?

Sue McLachlan: Is that person sharing what

Sue McLachlan: works for them with their

Sue McLachlan: business model, their audience

Sue McLachlan: size, their costs, and their own

Sue McLachlan: definition of success because

Sue McLachlan: they're describing what works

Sue McLachlan: for them.

Sue McLachlan: And that doesn't mean it is a universal truth for everyone in

Sue McLachlan: the industry, because what's working is so subjective.

Sue McLachlan: It depends on your cost structure.

Sue McLachlan: It depends on what you like to

Sue McLachlan: do on your stage of business,

Sue McLachlan: whether you're new or more

Sue McLachlan: established, whether you have

Sue McLachlan: other products, whether you do

Sue McLachlan: other things.

Sue McLachlan: And almost all of the content I've seen has been really

Sue McLachlan: frustrating me because it's people presenting their personal

Sue McLachlan: results as if it is some industry wide truth.

Sue McLachlan: Now these industry changes are real, like people are seeing

Sue McLachlan: things that they used to do, maybe not being as effective as

Sue McLachlan: they once were, but that doesn't mean strategies are dead.

Sue McLachlan: It doesn't mean that no one's

Sue McLachlan: ever going to be able to sell a

Sue McLachlan: course before.

Sue McLachlan: Just because Amy Porterfield

Sue McLachlan: isn't doing Digital Course

Sue McLachlan: Academy anymore, it doesn't mean

Sue McLachlan: the whole course industry is

Sue McLachlan: dead because AI is having a big

Sue McLachlan: impact.

Sue McLachlan: I mean, maybe for Amy, the way she was doing it with a lot of

Sue McLachlan: expenses, a very heavy team, high customer acquisition costs

Sue McLachlan: through ads that were probably getting more and more expensive,

Sue McLachlan: a lot more competition than she's had in the past.

Sue McLachlan: Maybe that wasn't working.

Sue McLachlan: And, you know, she said that she

Sue McLachlan: wants to pivot to different

Sue McLachlan: things that could be part of it

Sue McLachlan: as well.

Sue McLachlan: Like maybe that style of work.

Sue McLachlan: She's done it for ten years.

Sue McLachlan: She wants to try something else.

Sue McLachlan: And I mean, it is a lot harder to sell via ads.

Sue McLachlan: And AI is one thousand percent changing how people learn and

Sue McLachlan: how people create content.

Sue McLachlan: And all of that content is flooding the market.

Sue McLachlan: Trust building is more crucial than ever.

Sue McLachlan: You may need to do more work on that than you needed to do in

Sue McLachlan: twenty fifteen or twenty twenty.

Sue McLachlan: But it doesn't mean that things are dead.

Sue McLachlan: You may just need to adapt and adjust.

Sue McLachlan: But remember how successful something is or how much that

Sue McLachlan: you feel it works or someone else feels that it works is

Sue McLachlan: completely unique to every person and every business.

Sue McLachlan: Like, if you're brand new to the digital product industry and you

Sue McLachlan: make twenty grand from a launch, that might be the most

Sue McLachlan: incredible and life changing thing that you've done.

Sue McLachlan: You could view that as a

Sue McLachlan: spectacular success and you are

Sue McLachlan: thrilled.

Sue McLachlan: Whereas for someone who's

Sue McLachlan: further along in their business

Sue McLachlan: with team costs, you know,

Sue McLachlan: contractors add expenses and all

Sue McLachlan: of that, that twenty thousand

Sue McLachlan: dollars launch could be an

Sue McLachlan: absolute disaster.

Sue McLachlan: That leaves them changing, pivoting and not wanting to do

Sue McLachlan: things anymore Because it is different for everyone.

Sue McLachlan: So you need to know what success means to you.

Sue McLachlan: Because if you don't know what success would look like, well,

Sue McLachlan: how can you evaluate whether something is successful or not?

Sue McLachlan: Like, if you don't know what it works means, then how are you

Sue McLachlan: going to judge it?

Sue McLachlan: And how are you going to know if it worked for you or not?

Sue McLachlan: Like, are your goals related to money?

Sue McLachlan: Is it a monetary goal that would signify success?

Sue McLachlan: Is it being able to do something

Sue McLachlan: in the most simple and stress

Sue McLachlan: free way?

Sue McLachlan: And if you can, you know, get through an entire launch and

Sue McLachlan: only work four hours a day and, you know, have meditation

Sue McLachlan: sessions or whatever it would be to indicate that that was simple

Sue McLachlan: and stress free, maybe that is your version of success.

Sue McLachlan: Maybe that would be you going, oh my God, that works.

Sue McLachlan: I want to do more of that.

Sue McLachlan: Maybe it's the number of people, the impact that you have or

Sue McLachlan: something else altogether because it is so unique.

Sue McLachlan: And that's where if you know

Sue McLachlan: that, that's where you can then

Sue McLachlan: evaluate when you test things

Sue McLachlan: out to see whether it works or

Sue McLachlan: not.

Sue McLachlan: Now, you may only make enough

Sue McLachlan: money to cover costs, but if the

Sue McLachlan: impact that you've had with your

Sue McLachlan: program, if the number of people

Sue McLachlan: that you've, um, had go through

Sue McLachlan: your program and what they tell

Sue McLachlan: you is just mind blowingly

Sue McLachlan: awesome, then that could leave

Sue McLachlan: you with a sense of incredible

Sue McLachlan: success.

Sue McLachlan: You could be like, oh man, that works.

Sue McLachlan: And that's the thing is so different.

Sue McLachlan: Could have a six figure launch or a multi six figure launch,

Sue McLachlan: even a million dollar launch.

Sue McLachlan: But doing that leaves you suffering with so much stress

Sue McLachlan: and having to drop everything in your life, and you are exhausted

Sue McLachlan: and you are snapping at your family and friends, and you may

Sue McLachlan: be like, I don't care that I made a heap of money, I will

Sue McLachlan: never do that again because the money isn't worth it.

Sue McLachlan: But for someone else, maybe it is worth it.

Sue McLachlan: And that's why it's really, really important to know what

Sue McLachlan: success means for you and that it could change over time.

Sue McLachlan: Like some things may work or be successful by your own

Sue McLachlan: definition for a while, but as your business grows and matures,

Sue McLachlan: your definition of what works or success might change.

Sue McLachlan: So you might need to change your offers accordingly and test out

Sue McLachlan: some new things to see what works in this new reality.

Sue McLachlan: But the important thing is, is that you get to decide.

Sue McLachlan: You don't need to make decisions

Sue McLachlan: about your business by what

Sue McLachlan: someone else says is the thing

Sue McLachlan: that is working in twenty twenty

Sue McLachlan: six.

Sue McLachlan: I mean, I absolutely think it is a fantastic idea to get ideas

Sue McLachlan: and inspiration from what other people are saying works for

Sue McLachlan: them, but try to get underneath it, try to understand why it's

Sue McLachlan: working for them.

Sue McLachlan: Like, what is it about their

Sue McLachlan: business that makes them say,

Sue McLachlan: this thing is working for me

Sue McLachlan: right now.

Sue McLachlan: For example, I saw a YouTube video last week from someone

Sue McLachlan: saying digital products and courses are dead.

Sue McLachlan: They are not selling digital products and courses anymore.

Sue McLachlan: But they said what is working is making money from brand

Sue McLachlan: sponsorships and ad revenue.

Sue McLachlan: They're like courses.

Sue McLachlan: You know, I'm not even actively

Sue McLachlan: selling them because the brand

Sue McLachlan: sponsorships are bringing me in

Sue McLachlan: way more money and it is a lot

Sue McLachlan: easier.

Sue McLachlan: And so that could leave you

Sue McLachlan: thinking, okay, so maybe I need

Sue McLachlan: to do something to get brand

Sue McLachlan: deals.

Sue McLachlan: But the thing is, the reason why

Sue McLachlan: it's working for them is because

Sue McLachlan: they have a few hundred thousand

Sue McLachlan: YouTube subscribers.

Sue McLachlan: They are a YouTube pro who has

Sue McLachlan: made hundreds of videos, and

Sue McLachlan: they've been on YouTube for ten

Sue McLachlan: years.

Sue McLachlan: If that's not you, then maybe

Sue McLachlan: it's not going to work for you

Sue McLachlan: if you are not in the same

Sue McLachlan: situation.

Sue McLachlan: However, if you were a YouTuber

Sue McLachlan: and you do have a heap of

Sue McLachlan: subscribers and you're not yet

Sue McLachlan: doing brand deals and

Sue McLachlan: sponsorships and you know you've

Sue McLachlan: been doing courses, then that

Sue McLachlan: might make sense for you to test

Sue McLachlan: that out and see if it works for

Sue McLachlan: you.

Sue McLachlan: The only thing certain is change.

Sue McLachlan: Change is the only thing that's going to happen in our industry.

Sue McLachlan: And the reason things change is

Sue McLachlan: because people try out different

Sue McLachlan: ideas.

Sue McLachlan: If they see that things aren't

Sue McLachlan: working by their own definition,

Sue McLachlan: maybe they'll try something else

Sue McLachlan: and see if that works better for

Sue McLachlan: them.

Sue McLachlan: And you know, the same people who were selling courses being

Sue McLachlan: the big savior from one to one, work or service provider work,

Sue McLachlan: so, you know, five years ago are now saying that one to one is

Sue McLachlan: the thing that's working and they're pivoting to that, and

Sue McLachlan: you don't know the reasons why.

Sue McLachlan: Maybe it's because they got completely burnt out, or maybe

Sue McLachlan: they wanted to simplify their business and not have to run ads

Sue McLachlan: anymore because they're finding it really difficult.

Sue McLachlan: Maybe they don't want the stress of managing a team anymore.

Sue McLachlan: So simplification is the thing that is driving what is

Sue McLachlan: successful for them.

Sue McLachlan: So you've got to understand why someone is saying the thing that

Sue McLachlan: works and for you to work out what is going to work for you.

Sue McLachlan: Well, firstly, you need to know

Sue McLachlan: what success means for you so

Sue McLachlan: that you can know if something

Sue McLachlan: is successful, if it works or

Sue McLachlan: not.

Sue McLachlan: And then you can try out some different strategies.

Sue McLachlan: Try some of the things that you

Sue McLachlan: see people talking about that

Sue McLachlan: you feel are aligned with your

Sue McLachlan: business and what you like to

Sue McLachlan: do.

Sue McLachlan: Maybe you'll test something out and you are like, nope, that is

Sue McLachlan: so not me.

Sue McLachlan: I realize that lots of people are really successful for that,

Sue McLachlan: but that I hate it and I don't want to do it.

Sue McLachlan: Um, maybe it's something where you need to test it out a few

Sue McLachlan: times, or you need to go through the process multiple times

Sue McLachlan: because the first time you try it, maybe it doesn't work, it

Sue McLachlan: doesn't have the impact you expected, but that could be.

Sue McLachlan: That's just because it's the first time you've tried it.

Sue McLachlan: A lot of strategies need time and refining in order to make

Sue McLachlan: them work when you do something new for the first time.

Sue McLachlan: For example, if you have never presented a webinar before, it

Sue McLachlan: would be pretty unfair to judge whether webinars are a

Sue McLachlan: successful tool for you because your first webinar is probably

Sue McLachlan: not going to be your best work.

Sue McLachlan: You'll probably need to do ten

Sue McLachlan: or maybe even twenty webinars

Sue McLachlan: before you're super confident on

Sue McLachlan: a webinar.

Sue McLachlan: Selling feels comfortable, and you have really nailed down that

Sue McLachlan: process, which is where you've got to put in the work to get

Sue McLachlan: good at things.

Sue McLachlan: And as you go through it and try

Sue McLachlan: things again and again, you will

Sue McLachlan: be able to notice, hey, when I

Sue McLachlan: change this, then it had a

Sue McLachlan: better impact.

Sue McLachlan: Like it felt like it worked better for me.

Sue McLachlan: Maybe it'll be that you try a

Sue McLachlan: strategy and you're like, mm, I

Sue McLachlan: don't care.

Sue McLachlan: I've done ten webinars and I still hate it and I never want

Sue McLachlan: to be on video again.

Sue McLachlan: Okay.

Sue McLachlan: So you can try something different out.

Sue McLachlan: Now it may change and evolve over time.

Sue McLachlan: You know as you change, as your business evolves, as you grow,

Sue McLachlan: you learn what you like.

Sue McLachlan: And you don't like doing like that can take some time.

Sue McLachlan: And also it's about building the skills as well.

Sue McLachlan: That can also take time.

Sue McLachlan: But my most important message

Sue McLachlan: would be please test things out,

Sue McLachlan: work out what success means for

Sue McLachlan: you, and then test out the

Sue McLachlan: strategies that you think might

Sue McLachlan: work, because no one can say

Sue McLachlan: whether it will work or if it

Sue McLachlan: won't.

Sue McLachlan: You've got to learn that by doing and by trying.

Sue McLachlan: And that's one of the reasons why I've decided that my entire

Sue McLachlan: twenty twenty six is just going to be one giant experiment to

Sue McLachlan: see what works and hopefully discover what doesn't for my

Sue McLachlan: business and my personality.

Sue McLachlan: I'm testing out some things that I've never done before.

Sue McLachlan: I'm testing out things that I have maybe tried in the past and

Sue McLachlan: haven't done for a while, and want to see if they still work,

Sue McLachlan: such as webinar launches, such as doing a self-study course

Sue McLachlan: versus a course with support.

Sue McLachlan: Because I've seen a lot of

Sue McLachlan: people saying that self-study

Sue McLachlan: courses don't sell and don't

Sue McLachlan: work, and you have to have

Sue McLachlan: support.

Sue McLachlan: So I'm trying both of these things out so I can try and get

Sue McLachlan: some information and data and then share it with you.

Sue McLachlan: I am opening this entire experiment up to my audience.

Sue McLachlan: It's called the twenty twenty six experiment.

Sue McLachlan: And if you want to be inside it with me, maybe you can get more

Sue McLachlan: comfortable about testing things because you'll be able to watch

Sue McLachlan: me test them.

Sue McLachlan: You'll be able to get ideas from how I test.

Sue McLachlan: You'll be able to see what changes that I make and why I

Sue McLachlan: make them as I'm doing them.

Sue McLachlan: And, you know, just have some

Sue McLachlan: experience kind of from the

Sue McLachlan: inside of experimentation and

Sue McLachlan: testing.

Sue McLachlan: And hopefully it will inspire you to get into more of a testy,

Sue McLachlan: experimental mindset as well as I think it will really help you

Sue McLachlan: in a time where nothing is certain except for change.

Sue McLachlan: If you would like to join me, it is theunicornadvisory.com/2026

Sue McLachlan: That is where you can go and join, and you'll be able to be

Sue McLachlan: part of the community where I will share everything that is

Sue McLachlan: happening with the experiments and the debriefs of the things

Sue McLachlan: that I test.

Sue McLachlan: So I would love to see you in

Sue McLachlan: there, and I hope that I can

Sue McLachlan: inspire you.

Sue McLachlan: Whether you are part of the 2026 experiment, or just whether you

Sue McLachlan: are someone trying to figure out what works in 2026 the best way

Sue McLachlan: to figure out is to start testing to do things, iterate,

Sue McLachlan: get things out there quickly like get some data, get some

Sue McLachlan: information, and then understand, um, you know, why it

Sue McLachlan: worked or why it didn't in conjunction with knowing what

Sue McLachlan: that means for you?

Sue McLachlan: Because what worked or what

Sue McLachlan: didn't work is so individual and

Sue McLachlan: it is tied to you and your

Sue McLachlan: business.

Sue McLachlan: I will catch up with you on the

Sue McLachlan: next episode of Stop Guessing,

Sue McLachlan: start testing.

Sue McLachlan: I'm Sue McLachlan.