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Your competitors' 2026 plans are already live (and your list is too messy to compete)

HELP MY NEWSLETTER

Triage for sick newsletters that should be printing money

Competitive Intel

List Cleanup

2026 Strategy

Holiday Week Reality Check

I subscribed to 47 competitor newsletters last week. Here is what they are planning for January.

While you are making Christmas cookies, your competitors are quietly shipping their January plans. This is the playbook they are using, and the list cleanup move they are doing before January 1.

You have 8 days to figure out what your competitors are planning AND fix your list before 2026 starts. Most of you will do neither. This newsletter is for the ones who actually execute.

Let me show you how to steal their strategy (legally) AND purge the dead weight holding you back. Both take less time than binge-watching a Netflix series.

This edition covers: How to reverse-engineer your competition's 2026 playbook, the 30-minute list audit that will shock you, what to do with zombie subscribers eating your deliverability, and the one competitive advantage hiding in plain sight.

Part 1

Your competitors' January newsletters are already written. Here's how to read them (legally).

Right now, while you are shopping for last-minute gifts, your competitors are:

Scheduling January content
Their editorial calendars are done. Subject lines tested. CTAs locked.

Finalizing Q1 product launches
New lead magnets, courses, services - all ready to deploy January 2.

Testing new acquisition channels
They are running small tests NOW to scale in Q1.

Prepping partnership deals
Cross-promos, collaborations, joint webinars - agreements already signed.

How to spy on all of it (in the next 30 minutes)

Subscribe to your top 5 competitors using a burner email. Not your main one-create [email protected] or similar. Watch what they send between now and January 15.

What to track:

Send frequency changes
New lead magnet offers
Subject line patterns (urgency? curiosity? FOMO?)
Partner mentions and cross-promotions
Sponsor placements (who is paying them?)
CTA changes (are they pushing courses? Consults? Memberships?)

Create a simple Google Sheet. Track it all. By mid-January you will know exactly what they are betting on. Then you decide: copy what works or zig where they zag.

Bonus: Check their social media RIGHT NOW. December 26-31 posts often preview January strategy. They are testing messaging while engagement is low.

Attention is scarce. Learn how to earn it.

Every leader faces the same challenge: getting people to actually absorb what you're saying - in a world of overflowing inboxes, half-read Slacks, and meetings about meetings.

Smart Brevity is the methodology Axios HQ built to solve this. It's a system for communicating with clarity, respect, and precision — whether you're writing to your board, your team, or your entire organization.

Join our free 60-minute Open House to learn how it works and see it in action.

Runs monthly - grab a spot that works for you.

Save your seat

Part 2

Your list has dead weight. Here's the 30-minute audit that will shock you.

Before you can compete with anyone, you need to know what you are actually working with. Most newsletter operators have NO IDEA how unhealthy their lists actually are.

Run these numbers RIGHT NOW

Pull your last 90 days of sends. Answer these 5 questions:

1. What % of your list has NEVER opened?
If it is over 20%, you have a problem. If it is over 40%, you have a crisis.

2. What % hasn't opened in 60+ days?
These are your zombies. They hurt deliverability and skew your metrics.

3. What's your actual engagement rate?
Opens + clicks divided by total sent. Anything under 25% means you are shouting into the void.

4. Where did your worst performers come from?
Check acquisition source. Low-quality sources = cut them in 2026.

5. Are you sending to unverified emails?
Hard bounces, spam traps, fake addresses-all killing your sender reputation.

What most of you will discover

30-50% of your list is dead weight. Subscribers who signed up 18 months ago, opened once, and ghosted. They are not coming back. And every send to them hurts your deliverability with Gmail and Outlook.

The hard truth

A clean list of 1,000 engaged subscribers will outperform a dirty list of 5,000 zombies. Every. Single. Time. Higher opens, higher clicks, better deliverability, more revenue.

Quick gut check: What's scarier?

Be honest. Which one keeps you up at night?

Part 3

The cleanup protocol: What to do with zombies before January 1

You found your dead weight. Now what? Most operators panic and delete everyone who hasn't opened in 90 days. Wrong move.

The 3-phase cleanup (start December 26)

Phase 1: The Warning Shot (Dec 26-28)
Send ONE last-chance email to everyone who hasn't opened in 60+ days. Subject: "Are you still here?" or "Last chance to stay subscribed." Make them click to confirm interest. Track who responds.

Phase 2: The Purge (Dec 29-30)
Everyone who didn't click? Gone. Unsubscribe them. Yes, your total count will drop. Your engagement rate will SOAR. Your deliverability will improve overnight.

Phase 3: The Segmentation (Dec 31-Jan 1)
Tag everyone who DID respond. These are your MVPs. They get special content, early access, better offers. Reward engagement immediately.

Expected results

Your list might shrink 30-40%. Your open rate will jump 15-25 points. Your inbox placement will improve within 2 weeks. Your revenue per send will double.

What about the people who "might come back later"?

They won't. Data shows subscribers who go 90+ days without opening have less than 3% chance of ever engaging again. They are spam bait. Cut them loose.

Pro tip: Download the full list before you purge. If someone complains later (they won't), you have proof they were inactive. CYA always.

Part 4

The one competitive advantage hiding in plain sight

While you are tracking your competitors' strategies and cleaning your list, there is one thing they CANNOT copy from you:

Your specific experience solving your audience's exact problems.

Your competitors can steal your subject lines. They can copy your content calendar. They can even poach your sponsors. But they cannot replicate the specific case studies, client wins, and war stories that only YOU have.

How to weaponize this in January

Every newsletter in January should include at least ONE specific example from YOUR work. Not theory. Not "experts say." YOUR results with YOUR clients.

"I helped a newsletter operator clean 40% of their list last week. Their open rate jumped from 23% to 47% in one send. Here is exactly what we did..."

This is the stuff your competition cannot touch. They can watch what you do. They cannot steal what you have already done for real clients with real results.

Start documenting NOW. Every client win, every test result, every "holy shit that worked" moment - screenshot it, save it, catalog it. This is your 2026 content goldmine.

HOLIDAY GIFT

Competitive Intelligence Tracker + List Cleanup Checklist

Everything you need to execute this week. Both completely free.

Competitive Intelligence Tracker
Google Sheet template with all the fields you need to monitor 5 competitors. Pre-built formulas to identify patterns. Instructions for what to watch and when.

List Cleanup Checklist
Step-by-step protocol for your 3-phase purge. Email templates for the warning shot. Segment criteria. Expected results by list size.

Start both TODAY. Have clean data and competitive intel before New Year's Day.

Download Both (Free) ->

No email gate, no upsell trap, just the tools

Holiday gift expires January 2 at midnight

Your 7-day sprint

What to do between now and January 1

You have 8 days. Most people will waste them on relatives and leftovers. You are going to spend 2 hours setting up 2026 domination.

TODAY (Dec 23-24): Intelligence Gathering

[ ]	Subscribe to 5 competitors with burner email
[ ]	Set up Google Sheet to track their moves
[ ]	Check their social media for January previews

HOLIDAY BREAK (Dec 25): Rest

[ ]	Seriously. Take the day off. Hug your people.

POST-HOLIDAY (Dec 26-28): List Audit and Cleanup Phase 1

[ ]	Run the 30-minute audit (answer those 5 questions)
[ ]	Send warning shot to 60+ day inactives
[ ]	Download full list as backup

END OF YEAR (Dec 29-31): Cleanup Phase 2 and 3

[ ]	Purge non-responders
[ ]	Tag and segment responders as MVPs
[ ]	Document your baseline metrics (you will thank me in March)

NEW YEAR'S DAY (Jan 1): Analysis

[ ]	Review competitive intel tracker. What patterns emerged?
[ ]	Compare your new list health to baseline
[ ]	Decide: copy competitors' best moves or zig where they zag?

Expected outcome

By January 2, you will have: clean list with 20-40% higher engagement potential, complete competitive intelligence on 5 rivals, documented baseline metrics, and a clear decision on Q1 strategy. Everyone else will still be “planning to plan.”

Done for you

I will clean your list and map your competitors before January 1

You bring the newsletter. I bring the scalpel. In one tight sprint, we stop the deliverability bleed and steal the best parts of what your competitors are quietly rolling out for Q1.

$197 Done-For-You Audit

The consult is free. The cleanup is not. This call is where we confirm fit, grab what I need, and get your $197 done-for-you audit in motion.

What you get (for $197):

List health audit (never-opens, zombies, risky sources)
Cleanup plan with segmentation steps you can actually run
Competitive intel map on your top 5 rivals
One-page Q1 priority plan based on what they are running

Book the free 15-minute kickoff call (3 spots left, then I close it)

Your January plan is hiding in someone else’s inbox