Remember, Reader, looking at a business month by month makes patterns harder to ignore and easier to correct, especially under real constraints.
This is a brief review of what mattered, what shifted, and what stayed steady for me this month, based on decisions already in motion, the signals they reinforced, and the adjustments it required.
Let's take a look at September
1. The Overall
What kind of month this was at a strategic level in one sentence.
September was a single-lane month, and every road led to the conference.
2. The Reality
What actually moved and what didn’t in the business.
- Made the conference the entire focus of the month.
- Locked 21 speakers across the day.
- Participated in a summit run by Jennie + Meredyth, two of the conference speakers.
- Grew the email list to build a bigger pool of conference prospects.
- Sent a press release about the conference to over 800 outlets.
- Started with a contact export of almost 1,100, cleaned it to a little over 800, and ended up around 669 after cutting people who didn't fit the audience or whose networks didn't either. Some moved to a direct second-contact approach with the specific assets that suit them.
- Scheduled conference session reminder emails in in ESP via the MCP.
- Ran an eight-day sprint of 14 to 16 hour days on 2 to 5 hours of sleep to get web pages and backend work finished, while still taking calls and going to networking events.
- Closed out the pre-summer pipeline. Three people were on it. One is won and two are lost.
- Revised the conference attendance goal.
- Made better decisions about my tech stack and what I need from it.
- Came back to LinkedIn after a quiet stretch.
- Re-engaged on Instagram because about half my speakers live there, then sent those posts to Threads and Facebook.
3. The Numbers
The metrics I paid attention to this month.
- Confirmed speakers: 21
- New subscribers: +36
- Still on the list at time of writing: 35
- Outreach emails sent: 642
- Session reminder emails scheduled: 20
- Press release reach: 810 outlets
- Business Sales Pipeline: 1 won, 2 lost
- Conference Work Sprint: 8 days, 14 to 16 hour days, 2 to 5 hours of sleep
4. The Removals
What was stopped.
The weekend boundary. Prior to September, not very often would there be working on weekends, or at least very little. However, the boundary did not survive September and it won't survive October either. To get through all the detailed work for the conference planning, 6-7 day weeks will be necessary.
Manual copy and paste as the way to get a big batch of emails scheduled. The MCPs, webhooks, and APIs are getting more sophisticated and useful. It is making the tedious copy/paste work more manageable for at least some of my most used tools.
The assumption that Instagram is something to avoid. When it is fun and suits a purpose, there can be real gains made.
5. The Additions
What I intentionally reinforced or introduced.
A daily target of three reach outs on weekdays until the conference. One on social, one by email, and one through a group announcement or a group leader. It's a target and not a rule.
A sleep goal of about seven hours a night through the conference. Work sprints will definitely happen, but being able to focus and give my best work will help through this marathon of work on my desk.
Instagram as a channel of my own, not just a favor to my speakers.
An AI-forward approach. Not every business needs every system automated, but being AI forward is how I got to build something the market doesn't have.
6. The Adjustments
What this month clarified or confirmed for my business.
Cutting the outreach list was the best decision of the month. Roughly 400 names came off once I looked at who was there and what I wanted to say to them. Fewer emails were better matched to the right messaging.
The sprint worked. However, I don't want to repeat it. There weren't enough hours, so I made more of them, and the cost was sleep. The weekend boundary went the same way. I like the cadence I'm running at for right now, but it has a ceiling and an end date.
Closing out the sales pipeline showed me that I need real thinking in Q4 about my positioning and how I find clients through outreach and networking. That work belongs after the conference.
My mother used to say "Ask not, get not," and September proved her right. When I said what I was looking for, people offered to take many things off my plate.
LinkedIn moved while I was barely posting. My numbers are small and I'm not going viral, but after doubling them with only a little bit of effort showed me something interesting about moving forward. I want to know what it looks like to post around something I'm excited about instead of posting because it's a checkbox. My guess is outreach and the referral network are doing part of the work too.
The conference is changing what I offer, what I build, and what my tech looks like. I didn't plan that part, and I'm not mad about it.
7. The Carry-Forward
What I’m taking into next month.
- October is full-on promotion of the conference in every way I can think of.
- The outreach turns super targeted, matching contacts with the assets that fit their audiences.
- The three reach outs a day continue until the conference.
- The program I'm launching right after the conference is being finalized now.
- The new positioning work waits for late Q4.
That it for September 2026.
If something in this landed for you, hit reply.
And come to the Build Business Better Conference on October 21-22: https://buildbusinessbetterconference.com
Until next month,
Chanaye
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The Archive: This series runs monthly. You can find previous editions below as they’re published.
January 2026
February 2026
March 2026
April 2026
May 2026
June 2026
July 2026
August 2026