Reader,

Okay, today's newsletter is a doozie - but answers the questions we get ALL THE TIME about tech we use and why!

But, before I dive into all of that (and it is a lot), a word from our sponsor (and trust me, if you are someone planning retreats in 2026 - or want to add retreats to your offers, THIS is for you).

First, there is NOTHING more valuable when it comes to increasing the lifetime value of your clients than hosting highly personal retreats, seriously... these are game changers when it comes to connection and transformation (which is SUPER important in today's AI-driven world).

BUT... I know this from firsthand experience...MOST people LOSE money on these retreats (like in the 10s of thousands), hoping to make it back on the back end with sales.

Which is why Brockell is hosting this FREE training - teaching you how to SELL OUT your retreats so you can create beautiful, transformational in-persons, without going in the red! She should know, she's got 10 + years of experience leading transformative retreats in 5 countries and has taught over 5000 women how to do the same!

Since then, I’ve guided over 5,000 women around the world through this process—helping them turn their sacred ideas into transformational, income-generating retreats that make five-figures (or more) in a week.

She is covering EVERYTHING you need, including structuring the retreat itself and how to make it SOOOO drool-worthy that your PERFECT person can't help but register!

If you already have retreats on the calendar OR you are considering adding them to your services/offers (they are INCREDIBLE trust builders), this is for you. So, get registered. I'll wait, mmmkay? Cool. ​

Now let's do this tech stack thing (FYI, this email has some affiliate links!)

Where we've been.

Uggg... okay, so there will be plenty missed here, but as of late, here's what's up...

In the past, we used Kajabi for our member site, then something called Coach Accountable. Kajabi, at the time, had limited capabilities, and Coach Accountable was really clunky for clients.

At the same time, we were using LeadPages, HubSpot, and Superphone (for texting).

Leadpages were fine, but we had some issues with tracking from ads.

HubSpot was SO outrageously overpriced and complicated, it did not make sense.

It was criminal what they charged for the LAYERS of complexity it added to everything.

Superphone was fine to start, but didn't integrate with much. We switched to Community at one point, but they jacked up the price so much it got crayyyyy with a list our size.

So, we looked for an all-in-one solution and landed on Go High Level.

And to be honest, everything was great at first.

The integration with Meta solved many of our ad-tracking problems (that HubSpot could NEVER quite get).

It was 1000x easier than Hubspot, and our cost went from over 6-figures a year to $3k a year... soooooo, yeah - savings were cray.

Email started out great, too.

We had about a year of everything humming along, working well.

We used it for our pipelines, could have all of the companies in sub-accounts talking to each other... it was great.

Until it wasn't.

The first thing to go south was our email deliverability.

I'm talking, it went from 30-40% open rates down to 7%.

I thought we were doing something wrong, so I did a ton of research - and found a TON of people having similar issues.

So, I did a little test and moved to another platform.

I uploaded the same list. Sent the same email with the same subject line. The increase? 23% INCREASE in open rate.

I tried it with another company's list. Same thing. This time, it went up close to 30%.

So, we moved over to another email service provider and used Make.com to integrate the two.

Then, a couple of months ago, our landing page conversions went from about 25% (ads) and 50% (organic) to 9% and 13% respectively.

I was talking to a client, and she said the same thing happened to her, so she moved to another platform.

I thought there was no way a different software could make much difference, but it got so bad that I decided to test it.

And you guessed it, our conversions went up where they had been previously (same copy and design - literally no other changes).

Then, another client started sharing how they were using their member portal, and we realized that GHL didn't have some functionality that we REALLY wanted...

And, clients started telling us how hard it was to navigate.

That was literally the only thing we were still using... sooooooo, when the client experience wasn't what we wanted it to be, we decided it was time to make a change.

So, let's dive into what we are doing in 2026 and why!

​

Marketing and Sales

Okay, here's the new stack (as of January 2026):

​Clickfunnels​

Can I be honest? This PAINS me.

I am not the biggest fan of the bro-y, slimy world that surrounds Clickfunnels.

Not to mention ALL of the people who got their Two Comma Club award using our strategies (aka - The Live Launch) and just ran the sales through CF.

But when our landing page conversion rates tanked, I reconsidered.

CF 2.0 has a native integration with our ESP and text platform (that we are slowly switching over), and our conversion rates are looking magnifique.

Plus, these templates are super quick and straightforward to put together - so consider me part bro, because we can't complain about these numbers.

When you use my link above, you get 3 months of Clickfunnels for $99 (perfect for testing it out) - which saves you like $500!

​Kit​

I switched to Kit earlier this year, and LOVE LOVE LOVE it.

It is SO simple.

I love the Creator network and the ability to use Sparkloop paid ads.

I love that you can have a paid newsletter option.

I LOVE that our open rates went up so significantly after switching from GHL.

I love that it integrates with our email deliverability plugin (we worked with a specialized agency on this, and they have some code thing that is one-click with Kit that increases open rates by moving your emails out of the promotions tab into the primary).

Kit is a 10/10 recommendation from me. AND, for Black Friday, they have a killer sale! You get 60% off your first 3 months (it's like $16/month) when you sign up for the creator plan.

That is a literal no-brainer to test it out and see if you love it as much as I do!

​Hello Audio​

Okay, we LOVE Hello Audio for warming up new leads to our ecosystem!

We use it pre-launch as a private podcast, host Kelly's audiobook with bonus chapters here, and use it for clients in our VBS Gold and Business Advisory programs so they can listen to our weekly strategic advisory.

What do I love? That once someone signs up (for free or you can charge), they can listen on their favorite podcast app. And, if you update the feed and add new content, it updates right in their app like a regular podcast.

It's SO easy for people to consume content!

PLUS , you can see who is listening to what! We use this for workshop replays and workshop pre-content to see who's engaged!

It's SO much better than just sending people to YouTube (which we used to do) where you can't tell who is actually watching.

Again, 10/10 recommend.

It does have some kinks now and then, specifically with Android users, but the benefits FAR outweigh the issues (which are few and far between)

​ManyChat

I feel like everyone knows about ManyChat, but I am mentioning it here because they added a new feature that SOOOO fits with our sales strategy (Miracle Hour)!

If you're unsure what ManyChat is, it allows you to automate messages on FB and Instagram based on people commenting keywords!

We highly recommend using one-word marketing, ie, "Comment ME for the link to register," and ManyChat makes it super easy.

But the new feature we are obsessed with is that you can now send a welcome message to all new followers, which saves our team a lot of time! If you aren't using this yet, the monthly fee is pretty small, and it's super easy to use. I would definitely add this to your arsenal.

​GroupTrack​

GroupTrack is the PERFECT tool for all of our VBS members! It allows you to set up pipelines and connect to your FB, IG, and LinkedIn accounts. You can send automated bulk messages, add all new followers and their contact info to your pipeline, and continue the automations your ManyChat starts after the convo has gone cold!

This is a fantastic tool that will help you re-engage an old Facebook group (you can import ALL members into GroupTrack) and make sure everyone you are connected to on social gets direct messages from you!

It's a total no-brainer for anyone using our sales process, and we highly recommend you give this one a try for free!

(And, VBS members, we are bringing Jenna from Group Track in for a training that will LITERALLY change your DM game and help you get TONS of replies -stay tuned!)

*Text messaging is still SUPER important for our marketing and sales process. Right now, it's built into Go High Level, but we're moving to something that integrates directly with Clickfunnels. It's looking like Twillio right now, but I will keep you updated.

​

Clients

​Kajabi​

Okay, after MUCH hemming and hawing, we are making the switch for our member site content from HighLevel to Kajabi.

Yes, yes, we started there.

But that was years ago, and the platform lacked some sophistication.

However, we are FULLY committed to making our client experience as frictionless as possible - and that ain't it when it comes to HighLevel.

We want clients to be able to easily consume content and actively participate in the community in ONE location.

We want clients to access all their programs in ONE place easily.

We want clients to actually GET our emails when we send them (we send client emails through GHL and have MAJOR deliverability issues).

We want our clients to have a dedicated app with everything they need right there at the click of a button!

Kajabi has rolled out a BUNCH of great new features that will make it SO MUCH EASIER for our members to access their content, consume it, and start taking action.

We can't wait to roll it all out - it is going to be sleek, easy, and far more user-friendly!

If you want to try it out, you can use this link for a free trial! It's about the same cost as HighLevel, sooooooo, you've got nothing to lose!

Alrighty - I hope that helps.

I often get asked about HighLevel and whether I recommend it.

I used to always say yes, but now... not so much!

If you are using it and love it - keep going!

If not... maybe give some of the recommendations above a try!

Decide what is most important for YOUR business, clients, and team - and find the tech that works best for you!

Oh - and if things change, I'll keep you updated! Promise.

See you next week!

Don't forget to sign up for Brockell's free training on adding retreats to your offer suite - profitable ones! ​

-Danielle