BLOG SERIES: THREADS
The Tangled Business Series
STAGE
Understanding
READ TIME
2 mins
Most people, when something isn’t working, change the thing that isn’t working.
Which is completely logical. And also how one tangle quietly becomes three.
Because in a business, nothing exists on its own. Remember it’s like a jumper. Pull one thread and the tension shifts — sometimes somewhere obvious, sometimes somewhere you won’t notice for months.
Here are two examples I’ve seen recently. See if either feels familiar.
Example 1: When you change one offer (or service, whatever you call it)
Let’s say you adjust one thing that you do and it’s now aimed at a slightly different audience. Or maybe it’s the same audience at a different moment in their journey, or a different set of circumstances.
So a slight shift – not a big pivot. Seems straightforward. But follow the thread.
Your marketing, website copy, everything was written for the original audience. So this new audience doesn’t quite feel seen and your copy isn’t resonating with them. Your lead magnet, the one that worked beautifully, was designed to attract your original people.
Which means it’s not the natural first step into this adjusted offering that you need it to be.
So you work harder and create fresh content aimed at this new audience. It takes real effort but it starts to land.
And then you notice something.
Your original audience — the people you still serve, the offers that still exist — are starting to feel a bit lost. Because your marketing has shifted. And now they don’t feel seen either.
So now you’re working harder to sell the new thing and the original thing.
Two problems where there used to be one.
Not because you did anything wrong. Because you pulled a thread.
Example 2: When the market changes the thread for you
Sometimes you don’t choose to change anything. The change arrives anyway.
This one I’ve seen a lot in 2025 and even more of in 2026.
- Educational content all those tips and little demonstrations of your expertise, used to be a brilliant way of attracting new clients. They saw how knowledgeable you were, they tried your advice, it worked. They hired you.
- But knowledge is everywhere now. A lot of it is free. A lot of it is AI.
- What’s working instead is insight. Individual perspective. The thing only you can give.
- So it makes sense to start with social media — that’s where fresh content is needed most. You shift your feed from educational to insight-led. It’s working. People are noticing.
- And then they visit your website.
- Where everything — the blog posts, the resources, the supporting content — is still educational. Still written in the old voice, the old style, for the old approach.
- It’s not just a different type of content. It feels like a different person wrote it.
- And people notice inconsistency before they can name it. It creates friction. A small wobble of “wait, is this right for me?” And that wobble is enough to lose them.
One thread moved. Everything else stayed still.
Pick one thing and follow the thread
Something you’ve changed recently, or something you’re thinking about changing.
Now follow the thread.
What else does that thing connect to? What was written or built or designed around the version that existed before? Where might the tension shift? You don’t have to fix anything yet. Just trace it.
The Tangled Business Series
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