[Transcript starts at 0:40]
Hello, hello, hello, my podcast people and thank you for joining me for your another episode of my favorite Online Business podcast. If you are tuning in, listening, watching on the day that it drops, it is Monday, December 15th. Happy halfway through. December, full transparency. I am recording this episode hella early, hella early.
Uh, it is December 5th right now, and I'm working to get ahead. Why? Because l and I are going on vacation next Thursday. We're gonna play Del Carmen, uh, for our annual friends getaway. We do this other amazing couple, Dan and Natalie. I met them, uh, during my Paragon years, and we, we originally started going to to Vegas.
Then we started going to Vegas is expensive and it's cold in November, December. So we switched and we said, you know what? Let's go to Cabo. So we went to Cabo last year. And then maybe you folks been around and you remember the saga, uh, went to LeBlanc. It was great. We bought the vouchers to go back again this year.
Went to redeem them and motherfuckers tried to scam us. They were just like, no, it's not gonna be 50% off. It's like $50 off. And I was like, this is like a $5,000. What? No. Uh, so use Chachi PT to write a little letter, and I read that little letter to the folks at Chase and we did chargeback and we got the monies back.
So that's that. And this year we're going to Playa Dell, Carmen, uh. I'll let you know how that goes after we get back. Uh, why did we switch it? Aside from the, 'cause obviously there's other resorts, but we wanted a little more, more nightlife at the resort. So we never do kids. No, no kids at the resorts ever.
We don't want that. But this was like the complete other side and it was all old white people. Uh, so not the most fun. Food was delicious, but like, no dancing. One of the nights they had really good music and it was like literally just me and Lex dancing and like Natalie and Dance. Dan danced for two seconds and then, then they, they left but it like ended at 10 o'clock and I was like, this is, this could be better.
Uh, so. Natalie and l did some research and Ply Ade Carmen was the winner. Uh, the resort we're going to has like different si sections to it, and so we are in the adults only, but then there's like a another side, I don't know, it's like, you know, for younger people, um, it's a little less expensive. That aside, but then it has like nightlife.
Either way, we don't have to leave the resort. I'll let you guys know how it is longer travel to get there, but I'm gonna talk about this a little bit later. I got some. AI stuff to be working on anyway, so I'll just be doing that in the plane. But I think that is it as far as life updates go because of the proximity of recording sessions that I literally just recorded a few days ago.
Um, but I, I've honestly just been working on promoting the webinar, which will have already happened by the time this drops. Hasn't happened yet. When you're watching or listening, it will have already happened. Uh, I'm continuing with my deep dive into ai. I'm all about it, man. AI, coding, vibe, coding, and honestly, it's just really.
Exciting to be truly excited about something again, right. I am super fucking grateful for the final court of my, the co, the court, the final cohort, uh, of my Instagram intensive. Um, but I wasn't excited from the program anymore, which is why I retired it. Um, but we definitely went out with a bang if you were in that final cohort.
Thank you. Y'all fucking showed up and you showed out that shit was so good. But you know, I'm ready to move on. I'm also definitely excited about press publish. I'm really enjoying running that program. Um, that's my podcasting program. For those that may not know, um, that shit is really fun. We are actually about to have our final call next week before I fly out.
We, we will have our final call. Uh, so get on the wait list for round A three That will go down in. February of 2026. Um, I'm also obviously like super fucking grateful for my business coaching clients. Um, but y'all know I get that five year business itch and end. AI is definitely scratching it. Uh, I wasn't sure where I wanted to go with things or where things would go after I started the Chacha BT Curious podcast, but I knew that I needed to get that stuff outta my head.
And so I did that and just went with the flow. And now I've got two coding courses that I'm working through and I am fucking excited. I actually just listened to a podcast episode. I listen to a bunch of podcasts, like a bunch of stuff, and all through YouTube 'cause I'm old. Um, but listen to an episode.
With this guy who's been a coder for a zillion years, and he likened vibe coding to GLP ones in terms of their impact, and I was fucking blown away. That's huge folks. That is huge and such like a, I dunno, applicable, understandable, parallel or connection for you folks. Like we're on the movement, health movement, wellness space.
We know about GLP ones. What, whatever your feelings are about them aside, we know the impact that they are having. That's huge. And he said this because he. Was on is on Manjaro and it helped him lose 70 pounds and you could just hear it in his voice, the relief, and he's like, I tried so many things for so many years.
And you know, doctors said it was like, you know, this, that, and the other thing, and try harder and Diet X, X, Y, Z. And then everything switched When they were like, well maybe there's something else. He lost 70 fucking pounds. He's still a big guy. And he said it. He is like still a big guy, and I'm working and doing the things, but to hear him draw that connection, I was like, wow, that's a huge, huge statement.
So I'm excited. Uh. I also have a bit of an idea of how I see AI tying into an online biz and how I can help my people. You, you people. Uh, but that idea isn't fully formed yet, so I'm gonna keep it close to the chest. So stay tuned. Also, I am hearing alarms. I'm hearing fire alarms, uh, not fire alarms. What are they called?
Sirens. I dunno if you can hear that. If you can. I'm sorry I'm not stopping. We're not, we're not doing a redo, so apologies. Uh, but speaking of staying tuned, my word for the year for 2026, stay tuned on that. I still do have an idea of what it's gonna be, uh, but it's been like 32 seconds since I recorded the previous episode where I first mentioned the word of the Year.
So I want a little more time to let it marinate. Um. I'm probably gonna say that again in the next episode 'cause I'm recording that, that episode pretty short shortly after this, like in another few days because of that trip. So the big reveal for the 2026 word for the year will probably be in the episode that drops in the 29th of December.
So stay tuned, but feel free to hit me up and share your word with me. I would love to hear it. DM me, text me. What is my number? 3 1 0 7 3 7 2 3 4 5. I legit would love to hear your word for the year. Uh, okay, so lots of talk, talk about 2026. Let's use that as a little springboard. Jumping off segue to talk about my 2026 online business prediction.
So in outlining this episode, I figured I'd look at previous years and be like, Hey, what did I predict for the next year? And I actually didn't have one for 2025. I had one that I did in 2023 for my 2024 predictions, and honestly, I could basically copy and paste what I had then and use it right now, like it would still apply.
Right now I think I didn't have 2025 predictions. Because I was depressed in 2024. Still depressed, honestly, after that election, but I was like super depressed and I was like, I fuck it. Um, but those 2024 predictions that I made in 2023 still fucking hold true and continue to hold true because as much as we may want to change, change is hard and change takes time, and it never happens as fast as we want despite how fast it may seem.
Looking backwards though objectively kids be growing up fast. Like why am my nephews grown already? But one of the predictions I made in 2023 of 2024 was about ai. Why? Because chat GBT dropped launched in November of 2023. It's been two years, folks, and it has progressed, but like it's been two years.
Right. Okay, so let's get into this 2026 predictions. First off, or first prediction slash suggestion. It all works. Everything in online business works, it always has, it likely, always will. So look at where you are at in your own business cycle and see what needs to come next. If you're in the beginning of that business cycle, meaning you haven't been doing that thing that long, then keep doing more of what you're doing.
If you're at the end of your business cycle, then it's time to look for something new and perhaps. Consider doing it in a different way, maybe. Right. Jill is doing this right now and moving into a membership model. She hates membership. I hate a membership. I have a membership. I love my membership, but I don't want people starting a membership.
And Jill and I would always talk about this, when we ran Legacy, it was like, don't start a membership and she's starting one. Um, though she will still be doing launches through FBA, but it just makes sense for her business cycle and where things are at for her. Right. So the summary there is that everything works until it doesn't and when it stops working.
Whatever and working maybe that you just don't like doing it as well. Uh, but when it stops working, figure out what works for you and what you wanna do and then do that. Right. The one caveat I, as I, as I was saying it, I was like, lemme just put a caveat on that. If you won't been doing it for five seconds and you're like, I don't like this.
Yes, you should still change, but I need you to change something that you're gonna do for a long time. Right? We can't be ping pong balling, pinballing Roomba ing around, but we need some consistency with things. Uh, second prediction slash. Suggestion. I know I said this would be about online business, but in person gonna continue to be a thing.
And it helps with online business, right? Folks are craving connection and they always will be. We just see certain things kind of expedite that or amplify that. The pandemic created that initially and then this administration, fuck Trump. Don't forget folks. Fuck Trump. Fuck the whole administration. Uh, they have further their head.
Right. The pandemic made us want to be, made us want to be around people in general and whack ass fucking Trump and all that shit has made us want to be around people who we like and people who we have shared values with. And just having that connection and not being angry and just like being in a good place.
So business wise, playing that fucking retreat, right? Your people wanna be around each other, they wanna be around you. Uh, in person will always be a thing. It's definitely gonna be a thing in 2026. Uh, speaking of people. Continue to have a people first, human first approach to business. This will always be a thing, and I say it every year because it'll always be a thing.
But we're gonna see AI really increase the demand for this. Obviously use ai that is a suggestion for 2026. Like and forever, rest of forever. Uh, it's not really a prediction for 26, but it is a strong fucking suggestion, right? Use it and also have a people first approach to business. Both can exist and should exist, right?
All these, uh, shitty fucking corporations, they will also increase the demand for human first people, first businesses. So just continue to double down on that from a social media perspective. 2026 predictions, who the fuck knows what's gonna happen? No one. But I do think that AI will have the same effect in terms of creating demand.
Or creating an increased demand for authentic human con connection, right? If there's a lot of AI slop being turned out and just bad shit and just bad shit, people are gonna crave good shit made by real humans. So. Speaking of bad shit, I think we are also starting to shift out of the age of the influencer and into the age of the expert, right?
We are seeing the grifters being called out. Speaking of GLP ones, right? We're seeing the grifters, not that what GLP ones are already grift, but we're seeing like people that are not necessarily qualified to be promoting them, promoting them, and they're being called out and you know, even with ads, things are being tightened up and that's really good, right?
All this to say, continue to lean on your expertise. You're gonna cut through the noise, you're gonna stand out because of that double and triple down on it. I've always wanted you to do that. But now the surroundings, the, the atmosphere, the environment is ripe for doing that. And will reward people who do that.
You know, do long form content on the shit that you know. Again, everything works. Nothing ever died. Nothing ever stopped working. F folk folks. I said folks, 'cause I'm thinking about blogging and blogging had the, the G's, it looks like a lot of o's right? But folks, AKA folks who said blogging. Died. They were either just tired of blogging or they wanted to make money with something that wasn't blogging, and so they're clever marketers and they tell you it's dead.
Don't do that. Like nothing ever stopped fucking working, nothing. I had short form video, long form video. Audio only writing launches, people would be like, launches are dead. Well, what the fuck else you're gonna do? Launches never died. It's just that people don't like doing it that way. And so maybe it's out of their, their sales cycle, their business cycle, and to move on to something else.
But everything, you know, all all of these main type of things, they always work. Right. To me, what we should look at doing is diversifying how you reach and teach your people. And I always recommend this, I always teach this when I say diversifying how you teach and reach, meaning we're looking at going audio and visual first typically, which is gonna be something like.
Social media, then we go to, uh, written only, which is gonna be an email. And then we can go to audio only, which is gonna be, uh, podcast. And then we can look to go into, you know, longer form video. I put that last 'cause it's the hardest to do. But if you're like, man, I'm provisioned with it. I love it, then fucking start there.
Great. 'cause it all works. People just want good content. Meaning when I say good, it means something they can really get invested in and they, they can enjoy and it's, it's authentic and real. It makes them feel something I. Additionally, and that, you know, tying into that as a creator, which ties into point number one, like where you at in your business cycle.
If you have been creating in one way for a long time, you might be bored. It's possible. And if that's the case, it's time for something else. Time for a new, you know, a different medium. 2024. My word for the year was right and I doubled the fuck down on that. Why? 'cause it was time for something new. I cut back on the podcast and I went down to one episode a week and wrote a whole lot more and got super consistent, and now I write three newsletters a week.
I do my Mafia Mail, I do my Curious Companion for my chat, JT Curious podcast, and I do my mafia email. If you're in the mafia, you get that every Monday. Uh, and then I do a blog post every week as well for my estro music, which you may not know that I even have is a paid blog. And it's literally my music.
It's just things that come to my mind, like a lot more unfiltered, lot less teachy preachy in there. Um, so we'll link both of those, those things. Um, all that to say, talk your shit. I lean into your expertise, that will never go outta style, but I definitely think we are moving out of the age of the influencer and into the age of the expertise.
You know, we just supply decreases. Demand, or I could say supply for one thing, increases demand for oftentimes for its opposite when we have an excess, an excess in supply and so we see AI and we're have a ton of like bullshit being put out and a ton of like overproduced things or this is like all AI stuff.
That's an increase supply that's gonna increase the demand for the other side, which is this genuine, authentic content from. An individual, we see all this AI stuff and it's like, is it real? Like, I don't know, I can't, can I trust it? That's gonna increase demand on the other side for a fucking human with expertise to be like, this is the truth, this is what's actually going on.
So if you got expertise in something, lean the fuck in. Okay. Backing up for a second. Speaking of my other podcast, chat to pd, curious, I just did an episode about who will win. The AI race and the futility of trying to predict things, largely because there are just always so many factors and the biggest variable is often us humans.
To that end, I think that holds true for online business. Predictions as well, and what works in one person's business won't work for someone else. It depends. It doesn't matter that they're in the same year, right? So I really, really wanna emphasize my point number one. Which was figuring out where you are in your business cycle and making moves accordingly.
Lastly, to reiterate the fact, really drive home the point that change takes time. I'm gonna read to you the top 5, 20 24 online predictions, online biz predictions, um, that I had from that episode. Online business. Predictions and suggestions. Episode 5 39. You can listen to it so you'll see that I'm not lying, I'm not making this up.
Um, Courtney, if you could link that. Thank you. Alright. Top five. Number one in person will always be a thing. Go forth and crush. Pound the pavement and crush. SEO Number two, the pandemic. Boomerang is real. Folks are seeing just how hard this online business thing is. Keep going. Number three, there is a lot of supply.
Learn to lean into more. You niche, weigh the fuck down, be okay with quote unquote smaller numbers. Number four, consider working with or for someone else. Again, it's tying into that rebound effect from the pandemic. Boom. People became entrepreneurs, they started doing their things, and they're like, wow, this is kind of hard.
Business dries up. Maybe you're better at working for somebody else. And then number five, this is my favorite one. Use AI and use it to assist, not create, right? Those were the top five. The, I only gave five for my prediction for 2024. Uh, and you see they tie into 2026, right? And pull 'em all together. We have my 2026 predictions slash suggestions, uh, with lots of overlap, lots of similarities, and we shouldn't be surprised as much as maybe we may want.
Change changes hard and takes time. It doesn't mean though that you shouldn't hope for change or you know not to work for change. To me, it means set your goals and let them be exactly that. Yours. The dr. The backdrop for things may largely and probably will largely stay the same, but when you focus on what you need and what you want and what you need to do, it can make a world of difference in just a year.
Alright, I'm gonna wrap it up there 'cause that's all that I got. Yeah, that's all that I got. As always. Endlessly, endlessly. One more time, endlessly appreciative for every single one of you. Until next time, friends. Maestro out.
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