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:

(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
(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)
(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
(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"
(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
(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)
(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:

Instagram: @theunicornadvisory
Youtube: youtube.com/@suemclachlan
Website: theunicornadvisory.com

"What's Working in 2026" Is the Wrong Question