Podcast Summary: The Difference Maker Revolution – "Planning 2026: The Difference Maker Revolution Secret Sauce"
Released: November 24, 2025

Episode Overview

This energetic and practical episode features Ronan Ryle, Janine McLeod, and Jonathan Ryle diving into their “secret sauce” for planning business growth—specifically, how photographers should approach their strategic visioning, annual planning, and execution for a highly profitable 2026. The hosts debunk the myth of “quiet months,” advocate for breaking the year into 12-week sprints, and stress the foundational importance of understanding your “why.” They share real-life examples, actionable frameworks, and a bit of humor (cue the sunglasses!) to ensure listeners leave equipped and inspired to not just plan, but to act and course-correct all year long.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Pitfalls of Traditional Planning

• Don’t Wait for January: Many photographers don’t start planning until January or after industry events, losing precious time and momentum (01:08–02:20).
  • Janine: “If you're relying on something like that…you've already…missed a month of the year. That's the 12th of the year.”
• Myth-busting Seasonality: The idea that no one buys photography in January is debunked; smart planning and marketing drive bookings year-round (02:25–03:23).
  • Ronan: “Much of the industry believes there’s no work in the first two months…but our members are booking people in early December for January.”

2. The 12-Week Year: Turning Procrastination Into Productivity

• Shorter, Sharper Planning Cycles: Adopt the “12-week year” approach: treat every quarter as a mini-year to focus, execute, and course-correct rapidly (03:29–06:39).
  • Ronan: “It’s a three-month sprint. And you take the same approach as you do currently to your yearly processes...”
  • Janine: “If you’re off target at the end of January...you can course correct…much harder to make changes in June.”
• Support & Accountability: Regular check-ins (weekly accountability calls) ensure plans are acted on and not left to fizzle (04:19–05:08).

3. Visioning and Knowing Your “Why”

• Five-Year Vision—Aim Big: Each year, review and stretch your five-year vision to embrace Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAGs) that challenge limitations (06:39–09:30).
  • Ronan: “Two years is too short…With five years, you’re able to get into that BHAG mode…set a vision for what you want your life to be.”
• Purpose-Driven Businesses Win: Knowing your “why” is foundational for motivation, decision-making, and attracting ideal clients (09:30–12:21).
  • Janine: “When you’re not sure and convicted of your why…you flow like the wind. You hear a good idea: Ooh, let me try that.”
• Marketing That Resonates: Your “why” enables genuine connection with the right clients, making marketing more authentic and effective (12:21–14:56).
  • Ronan: “If you meet a fellow photographer and they just say what they do, not why, then they don’t know their why.”

4. Building the Plan: From Vision to Concrete Numbers

• Reverse Engineering Your Income:
  • Start with the life you want, then determine what the business needs to pay you, and break that down into quarterly and monthly revenue targets (16:57–21:02).
  • Ronan: “If you know the life you want to have…how much does your business have to pay you…then you know exactly what you have to achieve for that month.”
• Key Metrics:
  • Know your average order value and lead conversion ratio to calculate precisely how many bookings and leads you’ll need (19:22–21:02).
  • Janine (with sunglasses): “When you know what your conversion ratio is…you know how many leads you need to gain in that month…”

5. Execution Over Perfection: Action, Iteration, and Continuity

• Systematized Seasons:
  • Successful studios replicate successful campaigns (like Janine’s “baby duck portraits”) every year, tweaking and improving, but not reinventing. This builds business stability and client loyalty (21:27–23:46).
  • Janine: “Every year we just execute on the plan…we make it a little better, we tweak it, we try to be more profitable, more smart with our marketing.”
• Overcoming Fear of Execution:
  • Action trumps perfection—don’t let fear of failure paralyze you. Small steps and project breakdowns make big goals achievable (24:09–25:31).
  • Janine: “A failure is only a failure if you don’t try something afterwards. It’s just a stepping stone.”
• Business Is Built on Boring:
  • Consistency and repetition, not constant reinvention, create growth and ease (29:13–29:34).
  • Ronan: “Business is about getting clients back over and over and over again…Just do what worked again and tweak it.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [01:36] Janine: “If you're relying on something like that or even, like you said, January after the holidays and the busyness of that…you've missed a month of the year. That's the 12th of the year.”
• [03:29] Ronan: “The 12-week year is a principle of shorter fast sprints...because we’re procrastinators by design.”
• [10:42] Janine: “Until you have your why to check it against, you'll never be certain in what you do.”
• [12:21] Ronan: “If they say, I'm a wedding photographer, I'm a newborn photographer…then they don't know their why.”
• [19:36] Janine (sunglasses on): “When you know what your conversion ratio is from lead to booking, then you know how many leads you need... Extra cool.”
• [21:10] Ronan: “Hope is not a strategy.”
• [24:09] Janine: “A failure is only a failure if you don't try something afterwards. It's just a stepping stone.”
• [29:13] Janine: “Do what works. Just do what works. It might be boring…But that’s what builds your business.”

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00–01:08 – Why most creatives don’t plan soon enough
• 03:29–05:08 – The 12-week year explained & accountability tools
• 06:39–09:30 – Annual five-year visioning and the importance of BHAGs
• 09:30–12:21 – Discovering and anchoring your “why”
• 16:57–19:22 – Revenue planning: reverse engineering your goals
• 19:22–21:02 – Calculating bookings, leads, and conversion ratios (the “cool” sunglasses moment)
• 21:27–23:46 – Systematizing seasonal marketing (baby ducks example)
• 24:09–25:31 – Dealing with execution fear, breaking it down to tasks
• 29:13–29:34 – Consistency beats reinvention: do what works
• 29:34–29:55 – Call to action: get help and join the Inner Circle

Final Takeaways

• Don’t leave planning to the last minute—early planning means early momentum.
• Operating in short, focused “sprints” increases productivity and adaptability.
• Establish your big-picture vision and anchor your business in your personal “why.”
• Use numbers, not hope, to set actionable targets for bookings, revenue, and leads.
• Systematize and repeat successful campaigns instead of starting from scratch.
• Consistency and resilience—facing and learning from failures—are keys for long-term growth.

To learn more or get hands-on help building your custom plan and accountability, check out the Inner Circle (sunglasses optional but encouraged!)