It’s our last newsletter of 2025! Our year was pretty good<\/a>. How was yours? Whether you achieved all your dreams in the past 12 months, didn’t quite reach them, or are just plain starting over, 2026 will be your year. We just know it. This week’s newsletter is about looking toward the future, building your happy place, and why blogs still matter after all this time. Let’s go!<\/em><\/p>\n In this week’s issue \ud83d\udce8<\/strong><\/p>\n Was this email forwarded to you? <\/em>Subscribe here<\/em><\/a>!<\/em><\/p>\n Newsletters are still one of the most powerful tools for connecting with your audience, but is that still true going into a 2026 world full of AI, TikTok, and the rise of the Dumbphone<\/a>? Well, yes! Email is still king for consuming newsletter content, but scoping out next year’s emerging trends, so you can adapt and continue thriving, is always a wise move. <\/p>\n Ramona Sukhraj, writer at HubSpot<\/strong>, breaks down the future of newsletters in 2026<\/a> so you can stay trendy and keep on trucking.<\/p>\n Platforms<\/strong><\/p>\n Personality<\/strong><\/p>\n Personalization<\/strong><\/p>\n AI strategy<\/strong><\/p>\n As the world around us turns to AI more and more, what does that mean for the digital world you’ve worked so hard to build? It’s easy to get lost in the ChatGPT sauce, so take a breath and remind yourself that your<\/em> creativity is the real deal. No matter how “real” artificial intelligence gets, it will always be grounded in what already exists. In 2026, it’s up to you to create a world that AI can’t. <\/p>\n Artist, writer, and teacher Kening Zhu<\/strong> shares their personal philosophy for digital world-building<\/a> and why it’s so crucial for authenticity. <\/p>\n #1<\/strong> Your digital world should nourish your soul<\/strong> and boost your sense of purpose. If you’re publishing to seek validation, it’ll start to feel like a chore. Create content that makes you happy, so it makes your subscribers happy too.<\/p>\n #2<\/strong> The world you want to create should feel alive to your followers. To do this, focus on the process<\/strong> rather than the end result. How are you involving your subscribers in your work? The journey is everything.<\/p>\n #3<\/strong> Your digital space should shatter the mold and make room for experimentation<\/strong>. You should know how others have achieved success, then break those rules and make new ones based on your beliefs, desires, and values.<\/p>\n #4<\/strong> The work you publish should be an irreplaceable reflection of yourself<\/strong> and your audience. The website you design, and the words you write, should all carry that special essence that nobody else has. Self-expression is key.<\/p>\n #5<\/strong> It’s ok if your digital world isn’t for everyone. Focusing on a niche audience<\/strong> can cultivate immense loyalty by being unapologetically specific. You may not catch as many fish with a small net, but the ones caught will stick around. <\/p>\n #6<\/strong> AI still has trouble generating dimension, depth, and complexity that only a human with lived experiences can create. It’s fine if your work is complicated and confusing at times. That just means it’s real. Don’t be afraid to get messy.<\/strong><\/p>\n If your 2025 wasn’t as successful as you thought it would be, you may be wondering whether blogging is still viable and if newsletters are still worth investing in. We think so! Blogging has changed every which way since its Y2K days, with lots of ups and downs in between, but thanks to Gen Z, the 2000s are back, baby. And if LiveJournal<\/a> can survive after all this time, so can you.<\/p>\n Freelance copywriter, Ali King<\/strong>, explains why blogs still matter<\/a> and how they can be a valuable marketing tool in 2026.<\/p>\n \u2023 <\/strong>As ChatGPT and TikTok grow in popularity for search use, Google still leads the pack with 8.5 billion searches a day. Most still use Google to ask questions, and you know who can help answer them? You. Trusted content that solves problems<\/strong> is still very much needed, and you can be that blogger.<\/p>\n \u2023 If society eventually starts using AI platforms more than Google, those LLMs will still send folks to your publication if they ask the right questions. Remember that ChatGPT runs off real, human-generated content, which doesn’t compare to your well-written, original work<\/strong>. Your creativity can’t be duplicated. <\/p>\n \u2023 Blogs still play a key role in SEO by giving search engines fresh, indexable content, which is why they’re still one of the top 5 most popular content formats<\/a> used by marketers. Short-form video content is now top dog<\/strong>, so add it to your publishing arsenal in 2026 if you haven’t already.<\/p>\n\n
Go the distance<\/h2>\n
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Interesting stories & ideas \ud83d\udcda<\/h2>\n
A real world<\/h2>\n
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<\/a><\/figure>\nMatter of fact<\/h2>\n
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