Welcome to 2026 | Lorraine Ball | 1182

Welcome to 2026. This week is exciting for a lot of reasons. It’s the beginning of a new year, which means I get to close the book on last year and start fresh. I will be bringing along what worked and letting go of what didn’t.

This week is also special because on January 7, I’ll be marking a big milestone: the 16th anniversary of this podcast. It’s kind of hard to believe I’ve been talking that long, but my mother would not be surprised. She always said I was born talking.

While the show has gone through plenty of iterations, one thing has stayed consistent, a focus on creating great marketing insights for marketing professionals. I’ve changed formats over the years, but in the last few, I’ve settled into a rhythm that really works.

That said, after 15 years of talking about marketing, I’ll admit I was getting a little bored with just the tech and the tools and the tools and the tech. So last year, I launched a series called What Went Wrong, where I interviewed marketing professionals about campaigns and programs that didn’t turn out quite the way they hoped.

Those candid conversations became some of the most popular episodes last year, and What Went Wrong will absolutely continue in 2026.

I’m also taking More Than a Few Words out of the studio this year with some in-person interviews, and I’m even working on a local podcaster conference here in Indianapolis. More details on that soon.

I’m really looking forward to connecting with my audience in new ways, and one of my favorite tools for that is SpeakPipe. You can head over to morethanafewwords.com/contact to drop me a note or record a one-minute message. I’m hoping to include some of those messages in episodes throughout 2026.

There’s more to come, so stay tuned.