The Uncharted Path - Ep. 05: 3 Trends that will Make or Break Your Second Half of 2026

If you’ve been feeling like the online space is louder, faster, and harder to stand out in… you’re not wrong. In this episode, we’re diving into the three biggest trends shaping the rest of 2026, and how they’ll directly impact your growth heading into 2027. From the commoditization of content to the rising demand for real human connection (plus the AI shift you don’t want to ignore), this is your playbook for staying ahead without burning out.

Show Notes:
In this episode I share:

[04:45] Reframing volatility in business as opportunity (not something to fear)
[06:37] Trend #1: Why content has become a commodity, and what actually makes you stand out now
[10:11] The shift from “information” to transformation (and why your messaging needs to evolve)
[15:12] Trend #2: The rising demand for human connection and authentic, long-form content
[22:31] Trend #3: How to leverage technical AI to elevate your client experience (without losing your voice)

Key Takeaways
- Content alone won’t grow your business anymore; your differentiation lives in transformation and experience.
- Human connection is becoming your biggest competitive advantage in an AI-saturated world.
- Long-form, value-driven content is making a powerful comeback (when it’s actually you).
- AI isn’t the threat - not learning how to leverage it is.
- The businesses that win in 2026–2027 will blend strategy, experience, and smart tech integration.

Resources and Next Steps
1. Four-Part Marketing Foundation Freebie: https://tracylynnmurray.thrivecart.com/4-step-marketing-foundation/
2. Subscribe so you don’t miss upcoming episodes on strategy, energetics, and soul-led business growth.
3. If this episode hit home, please rate & review the show. It helps more CEOs find their playground.
4. Come hang out on Instagram: instagram.com@tracylynnmurray and LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tracymurraycreativeservices, or visit tracylynnmurray.com

Transcript

00:00 Hello, hello, hello my Sol CEOs. Super pumped today because today is Sabre's playoff game.
00:12 I have to represent my team. If you are watching this, when the episode is out, fingers, toes, all the things crossed that the Sabres are just another level deeper into the playoffs.
00:27 If you're not from Buffalo, number one sports is a very big deal here. But, two, this is the first time we've been in the playoffs in 14 years, so we are having our moment.
00:39 We are hoping we go all the way, so hat to represent today, and go Sabres! Uhm, but. Let's get into it.
00:50 Welcome back to the Uncharted Path Podcast. I'm your host, Traci Murray. This is the podcast for the doers, the dreamers, and the disruptors.
01:01 Today we're talking all about how to take advantage of the of the rest of 2026 and set yourself up for a strong 2027.
01:09 I know, crazy to think, because we're not halfway through the year yet, but these are the times that doing it now makes that difference.
01:19 So, without further ado, let's get into it. We are officially deep into quarter two of 2026. I can't believe it.
01:30 The year has flown by so quickly, uhm, but we are it now means that we are seeing kind of the predictions of where people thought 2026 was going to go.
01:46 We're now seeing, okay, what is truly coming out of that? What are the trends? What are the patterns? What am I seeing across the niches, across my clients that can either make your 2026 or if you choose to ignore it, it can break your 2026.
02:05 So we're going to dive into that. Today, those three biggest trends that I see. Now, we're going to set the stage first.
02:15 It is no secret that right now is a volatile time across business, but especially – including and especially – for digital businesses.
02:29 It's a volatile time. There is a lot happening. There's things just economy-wide that are changing on what sometimes feels like an hour-to-hour.
02:40 basis. There's the boom of AI, and not just the boom of AI, but the true adoption across most people.
02:52 Like, if you think about it, we are now – it's a weird dichotomy. Right? We're both with one foot in where companies are still shouting – I could do a whole episode on this – shouting and banging the drum of, we need to implement AI.
03:08 And we don't know what that means, but we still need to implement AI. And then on the flip side, having regular, everyday, non-business owners, everybody starting to shift to using large language models like Google.
03:28 Cloud like ChatGPT as a search feature to answer their questions instead of Google or Bing or Brave or whatever search engine they used to use, combined with now, when using those search engines, now having the ability to answer the questions So, that's a whole other soapbox I could go on.
03:55 And so, we're in this big change, right? And then we also still have some big changes. Business owners, some operators that are kind of resisting AI.
04:05 So, where does all that fit in? We'll talk about it. But, all of that, combined with the economy, combined with digital business continues.
04:16 To be a booming industry that is growing at a crazy rate and continues to show that it's just going to keep growing.
04:25 So, that creates, altogether, a lot of volatility. And I think one of the things that we, as digital founders, have kind of gotten wrong over the years is looking at volatility as being bad.
04:45 And that's one thing that I want to set the record straight on. One is volatility does not equate to bad.
04:54 Volatility equates to opportunity. That's what I want you to start thinking of instead. You know, the market is changing, not quite in the same way.
05:04 It's the really tight, really combined, really quick spaces it did during COVID, but also some of those same, uhm, changes in the sense of a lot of changes really quickly.
05:20 That means whenever there's that volatility, there's the opportunity to leverage that. If you can spot the patterns, spot the gaps, innovate, see how you can pivot your business, to close those gaps and meet people where they're at, then the sky is the limit for you.
05:43 The volatility does not mean bad. The only reason it means bad is if you're not willing to change and grow.
05:52 Adapt and innovate right along with it. So, now that we're clear on that, speaking of that changing, growing, and adapting, let's talk about those three biggest trends that I'm seeing across my clients, across the digital business industry, regardless of what your niche is.
06:15 And if you see me looking off at all, I'm trying to keep my notes on track so that I don't go down rabbit holes and we can get you in, get them in.
06:24 those quick hits and get you out of here so you can start implementing. So, number one, the first trend that I'm seeing is content is becoming a commodity.
06:37 Content on its own with out the authority and the client experience to back it up is no longer what's going to be the thing that helps you win.
06:52 Now, I say that content's becoming a commodity See? For a couple of different reasons. Number one, there, like I said, are a lot of online businesses that are opening.
07:06 It's easier. The barrier to entry is the lowest that it's ever been. See you then! in. Which just means that naturally, the more content that's going to be out there.
07:21 Combine that with the boom of AI, which affects things in two ways. Number one, I don't know if you've heard of it, but there are a lot of business owners, I'm sure not you wonderful founders, because you are smarter than this, that are just mass-producing and AI content and just letting Claude and ChatGPT
07:49 just run with their content and, like, spitting things out there. So, there's a flood, another flood, to the market. Combine that with the third, what I kind of said a few minutes ago, of now people are using these large language models to search and to get their answers to questions, kind of creates
08:12 this perfect storm of, there's so much. content out there that is at their fingertips instantaneously, combined with people are now using large language models to go through all of that content and summarize it in time.
08:32 Tell them what they need to do instead of going through that content themselves. So all of this just means that the amount of volume that's out there turns it into a commodity.
08:48 Right? There's so much out there. And what do we know about commodities? Is that very quickly when there's not anything additional there, any additional value, when it's just that thing by itself, now it shifts.
09:04 It shifts to pricing-based. And now you have people that are going to look for the cheapest thing, the least expensive thing, because they can just get the answers, which I think is why you're seeing so much.
09:20 So many people, and again, even though it's not the best option, you're seeing people turn to ChatGPT to answer their questions, to give them advice, to give them the plans, uhm, that they previously would have gone to somebody for.
09:42 So we can no longer rely just on content, especially if it's not great, highly valuable content. So, how do we get past that?
09:57 And it's really two things. The first is people in your audience needing to truly understand the trance of transformation that you provide.
10:11 Not just the answers to their questions, or the what to do, or you could even make an argument for the how to do it, but with your skill, your expertise, your personality, what is it is the transformation, who are they going to be after they work with you, and making sure that that is highlighted across
10:35 your content versus just answering questions. And then, the second piece of what truly sets you apart, and what used to be just what makes you different from the other people out there.
10:51 Let's say you're a fitness coach. What makes you different than the other fitness coaches out there? We know. You need to elevate that a little bit to what can they get from you that they cannot get from asking ChatGPT?
11:09 And that answer to that question is awesome. What you can start to leverage across all of your positioning, your messaging, your content that is going to set you apart from all the other people out there and.
11:28 One thing I want to make really clear is it does not mean stop producing content. Not at all. We're going to, in the next point, get into, okay, if content's a commodity and there's all this content out there, what are the benefits?
11:44 The types that are shining through and actually connecting, but this means you're like, I've seen chatter out there like, oh, courses are dead or webinars are dead.
11:55 No, they are not. If anybody is using those blanket statements. They're, they're wrong. It is, are you using them strategically?
12:08 So, what I mean by this is that, there we go. It froze for a second. What I mean by that is that people are very smart.
12:23 People are not dumb. They know how easy it is to get the information and get the answers. So, they're now looking for answers.
12:32 What they can't get, just like said from ChatGPT, that experience, that feel, that transformation that truly takes it to the next level.
12:44 So, what this means is that what I kind of call the lazy, content, that is what is falling by the wayside.
12:54 Like, the, think of, for instance, the lead magnets or the freebies. No longer can you just get away with, like, a simple checklist or fill-in-the-blank worksheet.
13:04 Like, that's not going to work anymore. People are looking for, and you'll see the business owners who do this who are succeeding and signing people up like game busters who are producing lead magnets and freebies.
13:20 That's not what they could charge for. And I'm not saying anything crazy. Like, look through the lens of, could I sell this freebie if I wanted to for $50?
13:33 If yes, then you know you're now hitting the jackpot. This next level of what we need to for lead magnets and freebies.
13:41 If it's like, no, because it's just like two pages of a checklist and like one prompt to answer, then at this point you probably have to go back to the drawing board.
13:53 Uhm, or same with like courses. What's not working versus what is now is the courses that are just slapped together, different pre-recorded audio pieces.
14:08 Those aren't going to fly anymore. But the courses that you now have a ton of value in and then are doing things to take it to the next level, whether that's, uhm, like some, just some of the things that I've seen of like adding in some, like, coaching sessions, some one-on-one experiences, setting up
14:30 actual, uhm, templates and frameworks and software things that people can take and use and adapt. So just adding in. Adding that next level of that experience to it.
14:44 And those are all things, then, that they can't just get from ChatGPT, right? So, trend number one, content is becoming a commodity.
14:55 Now, trend number two is kind of the next step from because of this AI boom, is the increased desire for human connection and a strong client experience.
15:12 Now, we're going to talk in a minute about where technical AI is booming and where it's actually something to really harness, but what we're seeing is people pulling back from from being interested.
15:28 in all that, for lack of a better term, AI-slopped, mass-produced, generated content out there. And, believe me, if you have been on Instagram or LinkedIn in the past, anytime in the recent future, basically if you haven't been living under a rock, you can tell which are the posts that are AI-written
15:53 and which are the posts that are human-written. And, for the love of everything in your business, please stop just having AI mass-produce your content.
16:08 Now, disclaimer, totally fine to start with your content, your original ideas. Your thoughts in something like a blog or a podcast or a video and then leverage AI to help you, for instance, turn a 40-minute podcast into a 30 like two or three social media clips.
16:34 That's not what I'm talking about . I'm talking about the amount of people who just throw prompt into chat grasses and just let it do its thing and spit them out.
16:46 Blog posts and spit them out! Social media posts that aren't based on anything other than, like, their brand guidelines. Uhm, so, we are actively seeing people starting to notice this.
17:04 And, pull back from following, uhm, and learning from and purchasing from those business owners who do that. And that, kind of, is also that product of content being a commodity, is now there's so many.
17:20 People are really starting to pick through what's actually important to them, what actually feels like it connects with them. So, the couple of things that I see that are going to come out of this, of this wanting, this true human connection, is a couple of things.
17:44 Number one, long-form human-driven content that, yes, can then have AI repurpose it, but I think we're going to see, we're already starting to see it.
17:58 For instance, with Substack, how many creators, writers, digital business owners are we seeing move to Substack? Have a lot of success there.
18:11 People are starting to get drawn back into long form content because so much of what's on social media now is just this AI derived slop.
18:20 And even when it's not the business owners, there's so many. Just bots out there that are putting stuff out. I can't tell you how many times.
18:30 Like scrolling Facebook, I see things that are totally not accurate. Uhm, have like the wrong people or the wrong pictures matched with the wrong names.
18:39 That's very, very clearly just bot-generated. That's driving people now to this longer form content where they can tell that it's truly human-based.
18:53 So I think we're going to start seeing, like I said, substack. And blogs make a return, podcasts, YouTube videos, real conversations.
19:04 People are starting to really crave that. And two, uhm, things that I'll share. Is, when I say human-driven, I mean human-driven.
19:18 I worked with a colleague once who would have AI do all her social media posts. She had such interest. And she custom GPTs with all kinds of knowledge on her brand voice and her target audience and their pain points and how it aligned with her services.
19:44 And she would put these social posts out, they would fall flat. And, you know, I had talked to her and saying, like, we need to make this human driven.
19:54 It has to be your voice. So then she would just go back to the chat GP or the custom GPTs.
20:00 GPT and edit it more and like add more. Here's info about my voice. And it just wasn't connecting that people were actually craving her true voice.
20:12 You can tell I'd, um, and another, uhm, time that I was auditing a course and some modules were like a talking head, like how I'm talking to you now.
20:28 And some modules were, uhm, don't, uhm, done with a, like, AI avatar, and, like, totally new, like it was an animated AI avatar, you could tell, uhm, and, like, the disclaimer for it and all of that, but Thank you.
20:47 Bye-bye. There was such a difference in just the feel and the experience with the videos that were, like, me talking to you, versus the ones that were bot-created.
21:03 They just felt so hollow. So, you're really starting to see that difference there. And I know that's probably not what you wanted to hear because that means we have to lean into doing the work and putting that effort in and having a law-informed content area.
21:20 And it's coming from us, but like I said, you can then absolutely use AI to help repurpose what originally came from you.
21:31 I think the key here is knowing what you're passionate about. Like, if you are a good writer. Go to Substack.
21:38 If you're like, I can't stand writing, then don't go to Substack. If you're like, I love freaking having conversations, great.
21:48 Find somebody to do a podcast with. Or better yet, just You don't have to set one up on your own, but if you need any help of this, head over to TraceLynnMurray.com or any of my social sites and grab my four-part marketing.
22:08 Foundation freebie. It takes you through how to very simply set up, on form, to that repurposed short form, your engagement, understanding your brand ecosystem, all of that.
22:22 It'll make this transition a lot easier. If you haven't started long form content already, and then I'm going to start to speed this up.
22:31 Um, the third and final, and this might sound a little counterintuitive at first, but I promise it is not. it's is do not miss the technical AI boat.
22:46 And what I mean by that is the technical AI in in the sense of kind of the back up, back up, back end.
22:56 of things and how you can use it to enhance the client experience. So like taking content off the board. OK, now the other things that AI can help with.
23:11 You know, I'm just going to throw it out there. If you are not looking into learning how to use things like Cloud Cowork or Codex or VibeCoding, you are going to miss the boat.
23:28 I'm not saying you have to be an expert on this. You don't even have to know how to do it.
23:32 You could have a VA or an AI operator that knows how to do it. It's if you don't want to take the time or the effort to understand how to how you can leverage these platforms, that's where you're going to get left behind.
23:52 And I firmly believe it is, people are going after their own fear. So many people are scared AI is going to.
24:00 As a female founder, AI is not going to take your job or your business, but other business owners who figure out how to leverage AI will be when you don't are going to take your business.
24:20 That is where the real, uhm, gap and the real fear should be, is if you're avoiding all of these things.
24:30 There's, it's, so easy now with vibe coding that it's really not an excuse to see how you can elevate your client experience because other founders are figuring out how to do things like build custom bots into their courses and their programs.
24:53 Build knowledge bases and brains into their courses and programs. Help build apps and software and turn their courses into a usable software that takes that experience to the next level and, oh my gosh, when we're talking about what they can get from you that they can't get from ChatGPT, it's all of 
25:19 that stuff. Absolutely. So freaking lootly, uhm, they are taking it to the next level because it's become so easy to take it to the next level.
25:31 You know, no longer do you have to really even spend a ton of time trying training on this. It collapses hours down into minutes.
25:42 It's knowing how to leverage it. So, couple of examples I kind of alluded to a little bit. But, for instance, in courses, like, the courses that I see that aren't going to work is, and I've actually taken some of these courses where then, in it, they're talking about, okay, so, you know, if you want 
26:02 to, like, brainstorm this, use AI. That's a great area to, like, help you and get the juices flowing. It's, like, great.
26:10 But, the founder who's having massive sales, it's because they're not just saying, oh, go use AI to help you brainstorm.
26:21 They're saying, and here's this Thank you. Custom bot that I've built into my course that you can actually ask your questions to, and it's going to help you brainstorm because I've put all the knowledge that it needs into it.
26:37 Or, similarly, like, oh, here's here's, you know, added into the course, the knowledge brain that everything in the course has been loaded into all of, like, let's say it's a course creator who also has books.
26:54 Oh, I've loaded my books into it. And here's this brain you can now ask questions to, uhm, in between our live Q&A calls.
27:03 That absolutely elevates to another level because how many times have you taken a course where you're like, oh, I'm going I know, I heard that, I know it's in somewhere, but I can't find it and I wanted to go back to it and I missed something on it.
27:19 Now you can just ask the brain. I've also seen people use Vibe Coding to create an app, create a website, software, like, let's say you're, uhm, let's say you're an operations specialist who helps people with, like, team-inclined onboarding experiences.
27:43 Well, now, instead of just, ,focusing on, like, what to do and how to do it, you can use something like VibeCoding to essentially create your own client onboarding portal that then you can say, hey, as part of this program, you also get my proprietary onboarding portal that you can use.
28:04 Like, talk about elevating to another level and client experience. Yes, please. Sign me up. And then, I've all seen it used in really, really cool ways.
28:15 Uhm, so, yeah. There's a human design, ah, specialist and teacher who has figured out how to use AI to essentially gamify her entire program where you get level ups and there's special challenges and side quests and you get, like, avatars that you can add stuff to and it totally brings that next immersive
28:42 experience in that, yeah, there is no way you are getting that from a chat GPT. key output to a prompt you put in, and AI has made it so easy to do these things.
28:56 It's these female founders who leverage it, who are going to, like, hit that, like, next level. And it's not something that you have to, like, super stress out about.
29:12 Like, you can start small. Like, I was saying, instead of just, you know, a course, how can you elevate it to that next level?
29:22 Maybe you include, like, a one-on-one or group Q&A. And maybe you also put a knowledge brain into it. Or maybe there's some templates and stuff you can turn into a custom page.
29:36 You don't have to go, like, all out and create apps and software and gamify things. Certainly, you can if you want, but you can start small with differentiating yourself.
29:49 And we are going to see the founders of that. Founders who do make leaps and bounds this year and into 2027.
29:59 So bringing that all back together, because they all, I think you can see, they all, like, fed off of each other, is number one.
30:08 Content is becoming a commodity. You can no longer rely just on content itself. Number two, human connection and the client experience.
30:22 Number three, using technical AI to help up-level your offers, whether it's program, service, course, community, whatever it is.
30:34 Those are the areas that we're going to start seeing people differentiate themselves and start seeing things like communities take off.
30:46 Uhm, that is what is going to make the difference throughout the rest of 2026 as people continue to want the services that digital female founders like yourselves offer.
31:04 So, I hope this episode gave you some things that you can take and use. I know it was probably like drinking from a fire hose.
31:12 Went a little longer than I had planned, but use some of these. If you have any questions, absolutely shoot me an email over at TracyLynneMurray.com.
31:25 And if you ever need additional support, go to I have several different ways that we can work together outlined on the website.
31:33 Other than that, I will see you Sole CEOs next time.