Is Your 2026 Plan Starting in the Wrong Place?

In the last 2 weeks alone I've had three brand owners come to me, all with the same story. They've been told by marketing "experts" that every single EDM, every Meta ad needs a discount incentive. Every website needs a countdown timer or some other kind of FOMO bells and whistles. One of them showed me her email marketing calendar. Every. Single. Week. A different discount code. Flash sale this, 20% off that, "last chance" the other thing. And here's the part that really gets me — some of these countdown timers? They're not even counting down to anything real. They literally reset when you refresh the page. It's manufactured urgency. It's fake scarcity. And it's everywhere. So today, I'm going to be blunt with you. This advice? This "discount everything, all the time" approach? It's not just lazy marketing. It's actively destroying premium brands. Over the next half hour or so, I'm going to unpack why constant discounting is eroding your profits, repelling your best customers, and training shoppers to never buy from you at full price. And I'll share what's actually working for quality-focused brands right now. Spoiler alert: it's not another 20% off code.   Links mentioned in this episode: If you'd like help to achieve your goals, I invite you to have a chat to find out how we can make that happen together HERE By booking a Free Growth Strategy https://productpreneurmarketing.com/lets-talk   Book Your Ecommerce Website Audit   Other Ways To Enjoy This Episode: Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Youtube  

Let me paint a picture that I see all the time with ecommerce brands. You're spending money on marketing. Ads, SEO, social media, maybe influencers. You're driving traffic to your website. And you can see in your analytics that people are visiting. Some of them are even adding things to their cart. But then... they just disappear. They don't buy. They don't come back. They vanish into the ether. And you're left wondering — where did they go? What happened? Why didn't they buy? This is what I call the leaky bucket problem. You keep pouring traffic into your website, but sales are draining out the bottom. And no matter how much you spend on ads or how clever your marketing is, if your bucket has holes in it, you're never going to fill it up. The frustrating part is that your website won't tell you what's wrong. At least, not in plain English. You can stare at your analytics all day, but unless you know exactly what to look for, you're just looking at numbers that don't mean much. If it's been a while since you thoroughly and objectively reviewed your website — specifically, whether it's actually doing its job of bringing in and converting customers — you might find that it's quietly leaking sales every single day without you even realising it… In this episode, I go through the 3 layers of a website audit: are the right people discovering your brand (including via AI search), are they getting to your website, and are they converting into buyers? And given AI search is so new, there's a real first-mover advantage if you master this now!   Links mentioned in this episode: If you'd like help to achieve your goals, I invite you to have a chat to find out how we can make that happen together HERE By booking a Free Growth Strategy https://productpreneurmarketing.com/lets-talk   Other Ways To Enjoy This Episode: Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Youtube  

January is supposed to be about. It's goal-setting season. It's "new year, new you" energy. It's the time when every business podcast – including, historically, this one – tells you to set your revenue targets, map out your marketing calendar, and basically plan your way to world domination. And look, I'm not going to tell you planning doesn't matter. It absolutely does – all of that stuff IS important. I'm not saying ignore your metrics. But somewhere along the way, we started treating the metrics as the goal instead of as indicators of whether we're achieving the actual goal. The actual goal – for most of us, if we're honest – is freedom. Freedom to do work we're proud of. Freedom to spend time with people we love. Freedom to not be constantly stressed and reactive. Freedom to build something sustainable, not just something that looks good on Instagram. When you plan for revenue without planning for how you want to feel, you often end up optimising for the wrong things. So here's what I want to talk about today: what if most of us are starting our planning in completely the wrong place? What if the reason so many brand owners end up exhausted, burnt out, and quietly resentful of the business they built... is because they planned for the wrong thing? In this episode, I'm going to share with you my alternative approach to planning for the year ahead. Plus, as always, share some steps you can take today to put this into action yourself.   Links mentioned in this episode: If you'd like help to achieve your goals, I invite you to have a chat to find out how we can make that happen together HERE By booking a Free Growth Strategy https://productpreneurmarketing.com/lets-talk Episode 281 - The hidden cost of wrong customers (& How to attract the right ones)  With Dr Ross Honeywill     Other Ways To Enjoy This Episode: Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Youtube  

We're in that strange, liminal week between Christmas and New Year. The turkey's been eaten, the presents have been opened, and there's this quiet space before the new year kicks off. It's a natural time for reflection as well as for looking ahead.   I know many of you are ambitious and have big goals you want to achieve. But that kind of impact requires reach. Reach requires visibility. Visibility requires consistency. Consistency requires support. And sadly, so many entrepreneurs don't ask for help or support.   If your business can't stay in business because you're exhausted, bottlenecked, or drowning in tasks... How much impact can you actually make?   Not a lot, is the answer…   And that is why I wanted to do this episode today – before we head into a fresh new year! Because most year-end reflection exercises completely miss this. They focus only on results – what worked, what didn't, revenue up or down, targets hit or missed. But that's only half the picture.   The other half – the half that determines whether you'll still be doing this in five years or whether you'll burn out and walk away – is how you actually felt about it all. Whether you're building something sustainable. Whether you enjoyed the year or just survived it.   So today, I'm sharing a really simple but powerful framework – so simple you can do it on the back of a paper napkin whilst lounging by the pool, but powerful enough that it might just change how you think about the year ahead.     Links mentioned in this episode: If you'd like help to achieve your goals, I invite you to have a chat to find out how we can make that happen together HERE By booking a Free Growth Strategy   Other Ways To Enjoy This Episode: Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Youtube  

It's Christmas week. The orders have shipped – or at least, most of them have. The mad rush is behind you. And hopefully, you're either on a beach somewhere or at least within striking distance of a cold drink and a good book. So today's episode is a little different. This isn't a tactical deep-dive. I'm not going to give you a framework or a checklist or an action plan. Instead, I just want to pause with you for a moment and reflect on what a year it's been. Because honestly? 2025 has been one of the strangest, most challenging, most thrilling and most transformative years I can remember in this industry. It's felt long and hard – and yet somehow it's also flown by. Does anyone else feel that weird time paradox, or is it just me? I've spent more time this year learning and experimenting than I have in a long time. The advances in AI, the changes to how customers find and interact with brands online, the shifts in what's working and what's not – it's been relentless. And I know you've felt it too. So let's take a breath together and look back at what actually happened this year. What changed, what we learned, and where we're heading. Consider this a quiet moment before we close out the year.   Links mentioned in this episode: If you'd like help to achieve your goals, I invite you to have a chat to find out how we can make that happen together HERE By booking a Free Growth Strategy https://productpreneurmarketing.com/lets-talk   Other Ways To Enjoy This Episode: Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Youtube  

Right now, you've got about a week to prepare for what could genuinely be one of the most profitable – and least stressful – marketing periods of your entire year.   Now, I know what you might be thinking. "Cath, I'm exhausted. I've just pushed through the Christmas rush. The last thing I want to think about is more marketing." And honestly? I get it. By mid-December, most of us are running on fumes and dreaming of a week at the beach with our phones on silent.   But here's what I want you to consider: what if you could capture significant revenue during the week after Christmas with almost zero real-time effort? What if the work you do this week – before you switch off – sets up a system that runs beautifully while you're relaxing with a book and a cold drink?   That's the Q5 opportunity. It's not about working through your holidays. It's about being strategic enough to have your marketing work for you while you rest.   So today, I'm going to walk you through exactly what Q5 is, why the economics are so favourable, how customer psychology shifts during this period, and most importantly – the practical steps to set yourself up this week so you can capitalise without sacrificing your summer break.     Links mentioned in this episode: If you'd like help to achieve your goals, I invite you to have a chat to find out how we can make that happen together HERE By booking a Free Growth Strategy https://productpreneurmarketing.com/lets-talk     Other Ways To Enjoy This Episode: Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Youtube  

We're in the first week of December now. Which means you've got roughly 14 days of meaningful marketing time before most of your customers mentally check out for the holidays — and before your shipping cut-off dates make the whole thing a bit irrelevant anyway. Now, I know what you might be feeling right now. It's that familiar end-of-year cocktail of exhaustion, overwhelm, and a nagging sense that you should be doing more. Your inbox is full of articles telling you about the 47 things you absolutely must do before Christmas. Your competitors seem to have their act together with perfectly coordinated campaigns. And you're sitting there thinking, "Is it too late? Have I missed the boat?" Here's what I want you to hear: No, you haven't missed the boat. But you also don't have time to build a new boat from scratch. The next two weeks are about strategic triage — knowing exactly where to put your energy for maximum impact, and giving yourself full permission to let go of everything else. Because here's the uncomfortable truth that most marketing advice won't tell you: trying to do everything in the next 14 days is actually worse than doing three things really well. Scattered effort produces scattered results. Focused effort? That's where the magic happens. So today, I'm going to walk you through exactly what to prioritise right now — and crucially, what to consciously deprioritise so you can finish the year strong without completely burning yourself out. Quick note – if you want a visual version of what I'm covering today, I've put together a 14-Day Priority Planner that maps out exactly what to focus on each day between now and your shipping cut-off. You can grab that at productpreneurmarketing.com/14dayplan. It's completely free, and it'll help you implement what we're talking about today without having to take a million notes.   Links mentioned in this episode: If you'd like help to achieve your goals, I invite you to have a chat to find out how we can make that happen together HERE By booking a Free Growth Strategy Download free 14-Day Christmas Plan Here   Other Ways To Enjoy This Episode: Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Youtube

I know exactly where you're at right now. We're in the thick of Black Friday promos – or as I like to call it, the 'beautiful chaos' portion of the retail calendar. Your ads are running, your inbox is overflowing, your inventory is moving, and you're probably surviving on caffeine and pure adrenaline.   I also know that this period isn't just physically exhausting – it's emotionally exhausting too. There's this rollercoaster that happens during BFCM. You swing between moments of 'oh my goodness, the sales are coming in!' to 'why did that ad suddenly stop performing?' to 'I haven't eaten lunch and it's 4pm.'   So to help you through, I'm going to share 2 really easy and practical things you can do right now to maintain your energy levels and focus throughout this crazy busy time and through to the end of the year.   AND I'm sharing 5 marketing tips you can start thinking about now to help prevent your sales from dropping off a cliff after Black Friday ends – something that so often happens after a sale event.    Think of this episode as me being your cheer squad, your pit crew and your Mum all-in-one!      Links mentioned in this episode: If you'd like help to achieve your goals, I invite you to have a chat to find out how we can make that happen together HERE By booking a Free Growth Strategy https://productpreneurmarketing.com/lets-talk   Other Ways To Enjoy This Episode: Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Youtube  

If you run the kind of premium brand that either does not participate in Black Friday, or does so differently to the mass-market brands running huge discount promos and turning Black Friday into Black Month…. Then I bet your November started slower than you expected… Maybe not disastrously slow, but quieter than you'd like… Meanwhile, your inbox is absolutely exploding with promotional emails. 50% off. 60% off. "Our biggest sale ever!"... You might be starting to think that maybe you should have gone harder. Maybe you should have started your promotions earlier. Maybe you should have offered bigger discounts.  If this is you, I need you to know something: that FOMO you're feeling? It's lying to you. Yes, your sales might seem quieter than the discount circus happening around you. Yes, it feels uncomfortable watching all that activity whilst your own metrics look comparatively... modest. Yes, you might be wondering if you should just cave and offer 40% off everything. But the numbers tell a very different story. In this episode, I'm going to explain why your quieter November might actually be the smartest strategic move you could make. And importantly, I'm also going to give you some practical tips on HOW to get your marketing messaging to cut through all that noise and connect with the right customers, so that you convert profitable sales that lead to more lucrative customer lifetime values.   Links mentioned in this episode: If you'd like help to achieve your goals, I invite you to have a chat to find out how we can make that happen together HERE By booking a Free Growth Strategy https://productpreneurmarketing.com/lets-talk     Other Ways To Enjoy This Episode: Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Youtube  

If the only time you email your list is when you're running a sale, what do you think happens? Your customers start waiting for the sales. They see your regular-priced products and think, "Nah, I'll wait. They'll have a sale in a couple of weeks." And then you're stuck in this cycle where you have to keep discounting to generate revenue, which destroys your profit margins and devalues your brand. But here's the part that most brands don't actually sit down and calculate: the math of discounting is absolutely brutal, especially when you factor in the high ad costs we're dealing with right now. Let's say you discount your products by just 10% – which seems pretty modest, right? – you need to sell 25% more volume just to make the same net profit. Now, let's add in the reality of paid advertising to drive traffic and win new customers. So now you're discounting by 10%, which means you need 25% more volume. But to get that volume, you're paying on average $50 ad spend per purchase (even more during peak promotional periods). Do the math. The amount of extra sales you need to generate just to maintain your profit margin increases drastically. You could need to sell 40%, 50%, even 60% more just to end up in the same place profit-wise. And for what? So you can say you had a good Black Friday? So you can compete with every other brand throwing discounts around? It's exhausting. And frankly, it's not a sustainable way to run a business. But here's where the strategy we've been talking about – using your email database smartly, building customer loyalty, focusing on repeat purchases – completely changes this equation. In this episode, we discuss the practical steps you can take to lift your return on ad spend by 300-400%.   Links mentioned in this episode: If you'd like help to achieve your goals, I invite you to have a chat to find out how we can make that happen together HERE By booking a Free Growth Strategy https://productpreneurmarketing.com/lets-talk   Other Ways To Enjoy This Episode: Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Youtube