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Something New for Q4 I’m opening five spots for BrandStorm Foundations this fall. Starting in October, I’ll work one-on-one with a business owner or non-profit leader to help improve their marketing for 2027. If you know someone who might be interested, I’d love an introduction. Learn more about BrandStorm Foundations here.

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2027 Is Closer Than You Think

There are just over 100 days left in 2026. But once you factor in weekends, holidays, vacations, and the usual year-end rush, there are far fewer actual working days.

If you haven’t started thinking about 2027 yet, now’s the time.

The countdown is on: Halloween (46 days), Thanksgiving (72 days), Hanukkah (89 days), Christmas (102 days), and New Year’s Day (109 days).

“Failure to plan is planning to fail”. You’ve heard it a hundred times, which is exactly why it stops registering, right up until you watch things fall apart in real time. You react your way through Q4, tell yourself you’ll get strategic once things calm down, and before you know it, it’s March, and you’re wondering why nothing feels different.

When business owners finally sit down to make a plan, their biggest mistake is usually trying to do more.

More posts, more ads, more content, more of whatever they were already doing, just bigger and louder.

There’s another saying we repeat but often ignore until it’s too late: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

Here’s the thing:

More (or less) marketing isn’t a real plan. It’s just a faster way to repeat what already wasn’t working. Volume was never the problem. Direction, or lack thereof, was.

A real planning process starts by taking things away, not adding more. That’s why the 9-point action plan I’ve shared in the past works so well. Most people see a checklist and immediately think about what to add: a new channel, a new campaign, or a new push for next year. But the real value is in looking at what already happened, what actually worked, and where you were just busy instead of effective. If you skip that step, you’re not really planning. You’re just adding more to an already overwhelming list.

That’s the point of making a Start, Stop, Continue list, and it’s worth doing before you add anything new for next year. Stop the channels, campaigns, and messages that didn’t deliver, even if you’re attached to them. Continue the few things that really made a difference, even if they aren’t the most exciting. Start only what fits your brand’s direction, not just what competitors are doing or what seemed exciting as you read a guru’s LinkedIn post late one night.

If you do both exercises honestly, you’ll end up with something most year-end plans don’t give you: a short, actionable list you can actually sustain, instead of a long one you’ll give up on by February.

If you want to dive deeper into these planning tools, I’ve shared more details here:

→ 9-Point Year-End Marketing Action Plan
→ Make A Start, Stop, Continue List To Bring Clarity To Your Brand And Marketing

If you want my help with planning for 2027, just reach out.

That’s all we have time for today.

Until our next BrandTherapy session…

Thanks,
Andy

P.S. Know a business owner who seems to be wrestling with their positioning, marketing, or what to do next? I’m always happy to meet smart people facing interesting business challenges. An introduction is always appreciated.