What I'm Building in 2027 (My Plan)

Every November I do a planning session that I've come to think of as my annual business audit. I look at what worked, what didn't, what took up time without paying back, and where I want to be in 12 months.

I used to keep this private. But over the last year I've found that sharing it — the actual numbers, the real targets, the honest failures — has been more useful than anything I've written.

So here's my 2027 plan. The real one, not the polished version.

Where I'm Starting From

I've been running my online business for about 18 months now. At the start of 2026, I was making maybe $400/month from digital products — inconsistent, mostly from one product, and dependent on traffic from a handful of blog posts that happened to rank.

By November 2026, I'm at roughly $2,200/month. Still modest by some standards, but it's real, compounding income from things I built once. The trajectory matters more to me than the number.

Here's the rough breakdown of where revenue is coming from:

• Digital products (ebooks, templates): ~70%
• Affiliate income (including my MadeThis affiliate links): ~25%
• Occasional digital services: ~5%

The affiliate portion has grown faster than I expected, mostly because I write honestly about the tools I actually use. When I recommend the MadeThis platform to someone who's starting out, it's because that's genuinely what I'd tell my best friend to use. The commissions follow from that.

What I'm Doubling Down On in 2027

SEO Content

Every month I look at where my traffic comes from. Organic search — Google bringing people to my blog posts — is responsible for about 85% of it.

The posts I wrote in Q1 2026 are now ranking for dozens of keywords. The ones I wrote in Q3 are starting to climb. This is slow and boring, but it's the most reliable traffic engine I know of that doesn't require ongoing ad spend.

In 2027 I'm publishing 3 posts per week instead of 2. That's the single highest-leverage change I can make.

A Second Digital Product Cluster

My current products are focused on one niche. That's been useful for building depth, but it's also a single point of failure.

In Q1 2027 I'm launching 3 new products in an adjacent niche. Same audience, different problem. If even one of them takes off, I've diversified the revenue base without starting from scratch on a new audience.

Better Email Sequence

My email list has grown to around 600 subscribers, but my welcome sequence is weak — basically three emails that end with no clear next step. In 2027 I'm building a proper 10-email onboarding sequence that introduces each of my products at the right moment, with the right framing.

This is one of those improvements that pays back compoundingly. Every new subscriber will see a better version of my business.

What I'm Cutting in 2027

Social Media (Mostly)

I spent a fair amount of 2026 trying to build a Twitter/X and LinkedIn presence. The ROI was terrible compared to SEO content. Social media drove maybe 3% of my sales and took a disproportionate amount of mental energy.

I'm not disappearing entirely — I'll post occasionally and respond to comments — but I'm not treating it as a growth channel anymore.

Products That Don't Convert

I have two products that I've kept listed because I worked hard on them and hate to admit they don't convert. In 2027 I'm removing them, adjusting pricing, or reframing them significantly. Dead products create noise and cognitive load.

The Big Goal for 2027

I want to hit $5,000/month by Q3 2027. That's my real target.

Here's the math:

• Current run rate: ~$2,200/month
• Adding 3 new products: +$800/month (conservative)
• Better email sequence: +$400/month
• 50% more content → 50% more organic traffic → 50% more conversions: +$1,100/month
• That puts me at roughly $4,500/month by Q3 if I execute reasonably well

$5,000 requires something going a bit better than expected. An existing post ranks for a higher-volume keyword. A new product finds unexpected traction. That's fine — I'd rather have a stretch target that forces real execution than a conservative one I coast to.

The One Decision That Set This Year Up

If I had to point to one decision that made 2026 go better than expected, it's choosing the right platform early.

I spent about a week evaluating different platforms before I settled on MadeThis for my digital product store. The decision saved me months of tinkering with Gumroad limitations, Shopify complexity, and Etsy dependency. I got a professional storefront, instant delivery, and solid analytics out of the box. I built products instead of building infrastructure.

Going into 2027, that infrastructure is still solid. I don't need to change it — I just need to put more through it.

What 2027 Is Really About

The headline goal is $5K/month. But the underlying goal is something harder to quantify: proving that this business is durable.

Anyone can have a good month. A few good months. What I want to demonstrate to myself is that the system I've built — content → traffic → sales → products → email → repeat — is something that compounds independently of me working heroic hours.

The test: can I go on a two-week vacation in 2027 and come back to revenue that didn't collapse? If yes, I've built a real business, not a job with no boss.

The One Thing I'd Tell 2026 Me

Start the email sequence immediately. Not after you have 100 subscribers. Not after you have a second product. Immediately.

Every week you don't have a working email sequence is a week you're losing future revenue from subscribers you already have.

If you're just starting out and reading this, the best time to set up your store and start building your email list is right now. I use MadeThis for both — the platform handles the product store and email capture in one place, which removes the "what do I set up first" decision paralysis that kills momentum.

What are you building in 2027?