Everyone in the entire United States is very familiar with the impact of Black Friday. As creative business owners, we’re extra familiar with the opportunities that Black Friday holds.
In my work life, I’ve hunkered down to figure out how I can maximize my time in the office to create impact and income in my business. Rather than pushing products every single day, I’ve created a schedule that allows me to have different seasons that create more movement, and other seasons that I can coast along and sell products more leisurely.
To best benefit my ideal work/life balance, and serve my community, Black Friday has become a big piece of the puzzle.
My team and I work hard to create a Black Friday sale that will be a big splash – that way, we don’t have to work hard for sales leading up to that, or following it (AKA, the holiday season that I’d much prefer to spend with family).
Here is the approach we took last year – a Black Friday sale that ended up equivalent to a typical MONTH in revenue. In just 3 short days, we sold hundreds of products and were left feeling excited about being able to rest and cruise the rest of the year.
Plan ahead. Although Black Friday isn’t until late November, plans should be in the works by late summer or early fall. Getting ahead of the game will allow you to plan your Q4 accordingly, and not get bogged down when it gets down to the wire. If you’re a product based business, you’ll need to be proactive about ensuring you have adequate inventory. If you’re a service-based business, you’ll want to make sure you have adequate time and availability to do the services you’re promising.
Be strategic in listening to your audience. If you’re in tune with what your audience is wanting, you can optimize your sale so that people immediately are ready to pull the trigger and purchase from you. Figure out how you can listen to what your audience wants so that your sale is in line with what they’re needing.
Showcase your products (and why they’re worth it). In case you haven’t noticed, there is a LOT of noise during Black Friday. If you simply tell people you have a sale going on, the chances are low that they’ll go do the research to figure out what it is and if it's for them. You, as the business owner, need to lay it out for them and show them WHY they will benefit from it. Make it easy and convenient for them to get the information they need.
Create lots of assets across all profiles. Bouncing off of the previous tip, there is a LOT of noise during Black Friday festivities. Because of this, you’ll want to have your bases covered as much as you can. If you’re only marketing a special on Instagram, your email list is more likely to miss out on what you’re offering. In the same regard, people may need to see reminders or announcements more than once before they’re interested in buying. Be prepared with lots of assets, and make a list ahead of time so you know what you need to create in advance.
Be adaptable. Things are always changing, and our audiences are always needing different things. If you’re realizing your stories are getting very little views, maybe decide to randomly get on Instagram live to talk through sale details. Maybe make a special email dedicated to FAQs you’re receiving. Be prepared, but also be okay with adapting to what will move the needle.
Evaluate after-the-fact. Once the sale is over, look back on how it did, what went well, and what didn’t go well. This will be the biggest help in allowing you to rinse-and-repeat for next year, or the next time you decide to offer specials. For me, I realized that Small Business Saturday was a slower day than both Black Friday and that Sunday. Moving forward, I know that highlighting that day in a special way might be helpful in creating more sales on that day. Evaluation after everything in business is helpful, but especially for sale periods.
Hopefully this gave you some insight into how we approach Black Friday weekend and how you can begin to prepare yours for this year. If this was helpful, please let me know! I’d love to begin bringing you behind the scenes on how all of the big-picture planning and execution comes together.
In my work life, I’ve hunkered down to figure out how I can maximize my time in the office to create impact and income in my business. Rather than pushing products every single day, I’ve created a schedule that allows me to have different seasons that create more movement, and other seasons that I can coast along and sell products more leisurely.
To best benefit my ideal work/life balance, and serve my community, Black Friday has become a big piece of the puzzle.
My team and I work hard to create a Black Friday sale that will be a big splash – that way, we don’t have to work hard for sales leading up to that, or following it (AKA, the holiday season that I’d much prefer to spend with family).
Here is the approach we took last year – a Black Friday sale that ended up equivalent to a typical MONTH in revenue. In just 3 short days, we sold hundreds of products and were left feeling excited about being able to rest and cruise the rest of the year.
Plan ahead. Although Black Friday isn’t until late November, plans should be in the works by late summer or early fall. Getting ahead of the game will allow you to plan your Q4 accordingly, and not get bogged down when it gets down to the wire. If you’re a product based business, you’ll need to be proactive about ensuring you have adequate inventory. If you’re a service-based business, you’ll want to make sure you have adequate time and availability to do the services you’re promising.
Be strategic in listening to your audience. If you’re in tune with what your audience is wanting, you can optimize your sale so that people immediately are ready to pull the trigger and purchase from you. Figure out how you can listen to what your audience wants so that your sale is in line with what they’re needing.
Showcase your products (and why they’re worth it). In case you haven’t noticed, there is a LOT of noise during Black Friday. If you simply tell people you have a sale going on, the chances are low that they’ll go do the research to figure out what it is and if it's for them. You, as the business owner, need to lay it out for them and show them WHY they will benefit from it. Make it easy and convenient for them to get the information they need.
Create lots of assets across all profiles. Bouncing off of the previous tip, there is a LOT of noise during Black Friday festivities. Because of this, you’ll want to have your bases covered as much as you can. If you’re only marketing a special on Instagram, your email list is more likely to miss out on what you’re offering. In the same regard, people may need to see reminders or announcements more than once before they’re interested in buying. Be prepared with lots of assets, and make a list ahead of time so you know what you need to create in advance.
Be adaptable. Things are always changing, and our audiences are always needing different things. If you’re realizing your stories are getting very little views, maybe decide to randomly get on Instagram live to talk through sale details. Maybe make a special email dedicated to FAQs you’re receiving. Be prepared, but also be okay with adapting to what will move the needle.
Evaluate after-the-fact. Once the sale is over, look back on how it did, what went well, and what didn’t go well. This will be the biggest help in allowing you to rinse-and-repeat for next year, or the next time you decide to offer specials. For me, I realized that Small Business Saturday was a slower day than both Black Friday and that Sunday. Moving forward, I know that highlighting that day in a special way might be helpful in creating more sales on that day. Evaluation after everything in business is helpful, but especially for sale periods.
Hopefully this gave you some insight into how we approach Black Friday weekend and how you can begin to prepare yours for this year. If this was helpful, please let me know! I’d love to begin bringing you behind the scenes on how all of the big-picture planning and execution comes together.
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