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Hey Reader,

Welcome back! After two weeks off from writing our weekly emails, we're coming back to you with a new idea of what our email in 2026 could look like. Below in the Messy Middle we'll break down why we're making this change.

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We Wrote That

You had a great discovery call, the client was excited about starting to work with you, and they paid their deposit with no hesitation - they seemed like an ideal client…

Then they ghosted you.

Multiple follow-ups later, and you’re pulling your hair out. You’re left asking yourself, “what can I do to get this project back on track?”

There are 2 general types of ghosting that we see most often for creative service providers (photographers, web designers, service pros, etc):

1. Communication - during the “information gathering” phase of any creative service project, you need a client to share what their needs are in much more specific detail than you covered during a discovery call. This could be things like surveys, mood boards, or even branding, that feel like you’re pulling teeth to get from the client.
2. Payment - payment plans are fantastic for helping clients stomach the price of working with you, but for a select few clients, getting them to actually make the payments can be near impossible.

Based on conversations we’ve had in The Breakroom, here are 4 things you can do to prevent each type of ghosting... (read the rest on the blog)

8 Ways to Handle Client Ghosting

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Overheard in The Breakroom

Want to check out the hype for yourself - see the details here​

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The Messy Middle

One of our big goals for 2026 is what we're calling "longer shelf life content". Reflecting on 2025, we realized we put a lot of time into writing emails that were at times 1500+ words. And honestly, within a week of sending them, no one was looking at them.

We're refocusing a bit - the long thought pieces will be moving to our blog (still with an almost weekly cadence) so that they can be found by SEO and people binging our blog weeks, months, or even years later.

That left a big question: what happens to the newsletter...? We still want it to be valuable and earn your opens each week, so over the next few weeks we'll be experimenting a bit on what is a good format that we can pack a ton of value without overwhelming you.

We'd honestly really appreciate if you hit reply and tell us what you think of this "sectional" style, and yes before you send it, we will be doing a proper branding (and naming) of the email once we settle on the format.

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Resource of the Week

Today (Jan 8th) The Pitt returns for season 2. During filming, the New York Times spent a couple days on set interviewing and they wrote this article (gift link) about the creative process and what makes it such a great show.

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Did you like this new email style, have ideas, or want to suggest a 2 word title for our email list? Hit reply, we'd love to hear your thoughts.

See ya next week,

Lyndon

Ps, if you sign up for The Breakroom in January, you'll get this custom Breakroom Hydroflask Tumbler.