Well far be it from me to cause controversy.
Apparently I've done it most of my life.
Must be something to do with my Maverick Archetype???

This year, and likely moving forward, I'm not doing the norm.

I'm NOT having a Black Friday Sale.

I've given this some thought over coffee, and my newly found favorite egg and tomato quiches (OMG - to die for!!!).....   and I've concluded that there's 3-4 main reasons why running a BF sale is no longer sitting at ease in my gut.

I was even going to apologize for not having one, but when I really think on this...

I'm actually not sorry, I'd just be saying it to appease you.

And then I'm not being true to myself, or YOU.... so let's dive in and let me explain my reasoning.

NUMBER ONE.

Let's say I put everything on sale with 30% off and the sale ran for a week over the BF days, and Cyber Monday as well.
What happens to all the lovely folks that purchased something from me the day before I announced the sale?
What about all the others that purchased at full price just a week prior?
I'd feel bad.
Like so bad.....

I'd want to refund the money to everyone that actually purchased in the month of October.

Does that mean we'd have to start announcing our intention of running a BF sale way back in September?

And then stop everyone from purchasing until the Sales starts?

You see my dilemma... where does it end.

How do I do this without upsetting those that purchased just before?

Now clearly there are many that have no problem with this.

And technically that's the nature of a sale, ie full price, then on sale, then discounted again, maybe back up to full price... oooh and then another sale, like Xmas.

I see it as a never ending cycle.

Once you start discounting products and running sales, people come to expect it.

And then they'll hold off buying... until you run a sale.

Which brings me to...

NUMBER TWO

Classic examples are a couple of my family members.

Let's start with my mum (mom for my U.S. pals).

Wow - she was the pinup gal for a sale.

She'd literally hunt down the Postman for the latest sale brochures, and if they didn't come, she'd go as far as raiding a neighbours letterbox to grab theirs.

Her whole life (and that meant ours as well) revolved around what was on sale.

Nothing was purchased, unless it was on sale... she'd go to garage sales, op shops, the cheapest of the Grocery stores, drive across suburbs to Target (we only had one of these near us back in those days),.... anything that was deemed a bargain was purchased. 

But here's the thing... we didn't use half of it. 

It would sit there in the pantry, or in the linen cupboard, or within the multitudes of cupboards that my dad was 'instructed' to build, to house all of the 'stuff'.  What was the point in buying all of this stuff on sale, when it was only ever going to be a dust collector?

She was obsessed with the bargain... of getting something for a 'good' price.

What she didn't realise at the time was that most things on sale (we're talking Retail and Food at this stage), were discontinued items, or soon to be out of date items, or items that just weren't selling because they were hideous colors....

The majority were rejects to start with. 

So there was no bargain to be had -- she was buying the dreggs (Aussie slang for leftovers).

Now don't get me wrong.

If there was ever someone's house you wanted to be in if there was ever a famine, or you needed linen... she had you covered.  No way anyone was going to starve or not have a towel to dry themselves within our household.

And then you have my 18yr old daughter who has just spent the morning looking online for a cozy (Aussie slang for Bikini)...

She was adamant the sales were going to bring forth the bikini of her dreams. 
What a shock... out of her size....😱
So what did she do? 
Move on to another bikini store to see what they had on sale.... and same thing, no one had her size or the exact color she was in love with.
Out of her mouth pops the words -- "Oh well, looks like I'll just have to get one of these".  

WAIT A MINUTE!!!!

Are you seeing it?

Because there was a sale, she was going to buy a bikini. But not the one she loved.

She was prepared to put her own hard-earned money down for a second choice... one which I pointed out she'd never be happy with. Why? because it was never the dream bikini.... 

I explained to her... why would you buy the cheaper one just because its on sale.
Why wouldn't you just save up your money and in a couple of weeks get the one you really want?

Sales.

They mess with our heads. (Doh, clearly that's by design....)

We're convinced we need to buy SOMETHING, ANYTHING... just because it's on sale.

Would it shock you to know that when I ran last years Black Friday Sale, over a third of the people that purchased an item have never even opened the product (we're now talking about digital products, and yes I can see if you've opened it or not...).

I was horrified.

They're sitting there collecting digital dust. Unloved. Unused. And most upsetting to me.... unhelpful.

Which leads me into

REASON NUMBER THREE

Your Brand and Reputation.

People normally get to know my work by visiting my website, or reading a post by a user in the Kajabi FB group, or the Amy Porterfield FB Group, or the Stu Mclaren FB group... or any other of the many FB groups that make up our beautiful online course creator communities. They get a feel for who I am, what I stand for, the work I produce... the care and love that I put into all of my creations and trainings.

And this usually happens because they've reached a point in their business where they need something.

Help, a training, a template, a voice of reason.... they're actively looking for a solution to a problem they have.

They're not looking for a sale.

They're looking for help.

So what happened to the 30% of people that purchased from me in last years sale?

• They didn't know me or my work.
• There was no connection. Only the fact that someone shared a BF Sale with them.
• They didn't really need what they purchased... they just wanted a sale.

It's like these sale items end up having no value at all... because they were purchased for the wrong reason.

Well... I don't know about you, but this upsets me.

I started this business to help folks, not enable them to become hoarders of items they'll never open.

It's possible that I have triggers around this, given my childhood haha.  And clearly I'll have to book in for some N.E.T just to check on this.... but in the meantime... my gut is telling me that for my biz, it's not the right thing to do.

Plus... there may be a...

REASON NUMBER FOUR

As I get older, I'm finding it more and more challenging to blindly follow what everyone else does.

I'm more likely to sit with an idea, search through my archived memories of what I've witnessed people do, or not do.... think on my years of training in the advertising world and what psychological 'trick' we're trying to pull... is this for good? Will it cause me or someone else harm?  Am I helping?

If I can't find the ethical and moral value for doing it, the $$$ ain't worth it.

Definitely not saying that Black Friday Sales can't be done right, and they can be a whole lot of fun for sure..... but they're not for me.

Will I buy anything for myself that's on Sale?
Yep - but typically it's a repeat of something I've purchased before and I'm stocking up.

I already know the brand, the company and the product.

I'm not buying something new.

Hmmmm ok so there's something in those last few lines....

repeat buyers.

Why are we not showing appreciation to the fabulous customers we already have?

And just like that, I know what I want to do, and what feels right.

I'm going to reward my existing customers.

Stay tuned if that's you, it will be an end of year gift to say thank you for being wonderful. ❤️

Have a wonderful day in your part of the world.