Amanda McVicker 0:00
Hello and welcome back to this week's episode of The OBM Educator. It feels so good to say those words. If you are a regular listener of The OBM Educator, you might be like, where the heck have you been? And so I ended up taking a two-month hiatus at the end of 2025 to, I mean, honestly, there's so much with the holidays and closing out the year and all of that.
It ended up being what it was. It wasn't necessarily intentional, but it ended up being a good and needed break for me. So thank you for your patience as I get back to this.
I'm really excited for today's topic because as we enter a new year, right, things are changing. There are things changing. And I think a lot of what I talk about on this podcast is more timeless, right? It's going to help you no matter when you're listening to this, whether it was in 2024 when I recorded it or in 2026 or maybe in the future, right? So a lot of it maybe saved the marketing because Instagram's changing all the time.
But even then I keep it pretty general. Those are themes of business that are kind of timeless. So I don't talk too much about dated things because then it would be hard to have longevity, right, and be able to come back and listen to something.
But what I'm going to talk about today are things that I think are going to be important as an OBM as we're going into 2026. And so these aren't necessarily trends. This is going to be more what is setting you apart as an OBM in 2026 versus 2025 or 2024.
Like what is it that has changed in the online space in the world that is going to result in you having to change how you're working? So I'm really excited to talk about this. So let's get started.
Welcome to The OBM Educator. I'm your host, Amanda McVicker, a veteran OBM who serves six and seven-figure entrepreneurs, as well as educates new OBMs with the skills and confidence they need to start and grow their own successful online business management business. Follow along as I share valuable insights, behind-the-scenes sneak peeks, and proven strategies to help you build a better OBM business.
So the first thing in 2026 that this is really something that's been growing, but I think that we are just having more and more tech options available to us. And it seems that there's always a new tool that we can use in our business, that we can switch to, that a client or a potential client is telling us that they use or that they heard of, all of that. And so with being an OBM, it's always been that, you know, you need to be tech savvy. You need to be able to learn tech, but that is going to be so important in 2026.
You don't have to know everything, but you really do need to be willing to learn and adapt. I was thinking about this earlier. If you follow me on Instagram, you've might've seen me mention that I've started taking ballet lessons.
I think it was August that was my first lesson. So I've been taking them for like five months now and I am not good by any means, but it's, I enjoy it. And when I went to my first lesson, there was no, okay, and now we're starting in first position, which is where your heels are together and your toes are apart.
Like right, it was jumping right into it. And I had to learn by watching, by messing up, by playing around and figuring it out as I go. That's kind of how it is when you're learning new tech, right? You can't learn everything.
You take past knowledge. I knew basic choreography from my theater days and high school theater, let's be real. And so I use that to help with following the choreography.
And then I learned the technicality pieces while I was doing it. And in the same way, you're going to take the experience that you have from other CRMs, from other project management systems, from other AI platforms, and then you're going to use that to piece your way through. And then, and like, that's the beginning.
And so back to the ballet analogy, right now I'm at the point where I'm like, okay, I want to be technically good at this. And so I'm practicing on my own outside of lessons. I'm watching YouTube videos.
I got a ballet bar so that I can practice at home. And so in the same way that now you have been in a platform and you're figuring it out to work on it with a client, the next part is go in on your own, figure it out on your own. Now you have access to it through a client.
You can go poke around, you can read help articles, you can watch YouTube videos. And so you don't have to do that at the beginning, right? Because if you spend all of that time, like learning the technical pieces without much application to it, you're either going to get bored, you're not going to make the time to do it, or it's just not going to make sense. And so with all of the new tech that is out there, be willing and be open to learning it as you go, and then become tech savvy in it.
So then the next thing, and this kind of follows the tech piece just in that there are so many options, right? The next thing is for you to be the steady hand in your client's business. And what I mean by that is you might feel this in your business too, but with all of the options out there, with all of the tech, with all of the different types of funnels that could go on, with all the different courses that could be put on, with all the different products that you could create, right? There's so much shiny object syndrome that goes on and that your client is probably looking at, right? Do you have a client that every time you get on a meeting with them, it's like a complete 180 from what they talked about last time? Sometimes I feel that way when I'm thinking about what I want to put out there. There's so much that it's so easy to get pulled so many different directions.
And what is going to set you apart and really become a trusted advisor in your client's business is being able to pull them back, to be like, hey, that's a great idea. Maybe we could look at that for Q3 after we get this project that we've already been working on, you know, off the ground. Or even to say, hey, I know that that seems like it would work, but here are actually some of the reasons why it might not work for you in your industry, right? Being able to counter that and give a strategic opinion is going to help set you apart so much to your client.
And it's also going to save them time, energy, money in going all of those different directions. And so the amount that you can be that steady hand for them, guiding force that keeps them on the path that they are wanting to go, right? As an OBM, you should know what their strategic vision is. You should know where they want to go in the year, you know, in 2026.
What are their goals? And then be the steady hand that guides them to that through strategic suggestions. And the last thing that's going to be really important for you to do in 2026 and honestly beyond is make sure that you are being authentic. And this will be in all different facets of your business, right? In how you show up online, in your marketing, in how you handle clients.
Because we are in a world of increasing AI everything, it's going to be harder to see what is real and what isn't. And so any opportunity that you can have to be more authentic is going to help set you apart. And like, I love ChatGPT as much as the next person who loves ChatGPT.
And I use it in my business strategically to come up with some ideas and, you know, help plan out some strategy. But if all of my content was written by ChatGPT, you would know, right? You could tell. And so as you are looking at how it is you conduct business, find ways that you really can infuse you into what it is that you're doing.
And that's going to help potential clients see the true you and how that's not replaceable by AI. They're going to see someone who they could truly partner with and have a long-term relationship with. So I hope this was helpful as we are entering 2026 and working on building and growing our OBM businesses.
Thank you for listening and for being along this journey with me. I hope this was helpful for you and I will talk with y'all next week for real. Bye.
Thanks for joining me for this episode of The OBM Educator. I hope what you heard today is helpful for you on your OBM journey. If you loved today's episode, I would so appreciate you sharing it and leaving a review on your favorite podcast platform. Want to be a guest on The OBM Educator? Fill out the form in the show notes and I'll be in touch. Join us next time on The OBM Educator.
