How many Black Friday sales have you been bombarded with so far?
I’ve seen hundreds, if not thousands already, and the U.S. Thanksgiving isn’t until next Thursday. (Hat tip to the Canadians, who have theirs the second Monday in October and don’t seem to go crazy the day after, like we do.)
Black Friday Sales Gone Wild
My social media feeds and inbox are flooded with Black Friday deals for everything from consumer goods to business products and services.
Here’s a partial screenshot of my inbox right now.
As you can see, there are 105 emails with the words “Black Friday” in the subject line. And the earliest one is from the beginning of October!!!
Whatever happened to the last weekend in November being what put businesses “In the Black” in terms of their balance sheets?
Good grief.
Honestly, I feel like anything I would put out right now would just get lost in all of the chaos.
And I really don’t want to do it!
It’s a huge amount of work, I haven’t prepared anything, I have way too much on my plate right now and I can’t think of anything I’d want to sell anyway, even though I have past Black Friday offers I could resurrect.
So I’m just not going to! So there!
Add to this the fact that my mother is in the hospital, and has been since Wednesday, well, I’ve been a bit distracted.
She’ll be fine, they’ve figured out what’s wrong, and they’ve fixed it. Hopefully, she’ll be home soon.
But still!
Black Friday Weekend Has Become Black Friday 2-3 Months
And honestly, I object!
The hype around Black Friday sales has become too much for me. Half the time, the deals aren’t that great anyway. It’s just become “the thing” that businesses in general and retailers in particular focus on to bring in more sales.
There are so many other reasons to run a sale, like:
- ANY OTHER MAJOR HOLIDAY (There are a lot of them, pick another one)
- Your birthday
- Your company’s founding day
- Your pet’s birthday
- Because you feel like it
I could go on and on.
I apologize for ranting, but I’d love to see some originality from businesses large and small here.
So, in the spirit of modeling what I say I want, I’m going to do something different.
I’m Giving You a Gift for Black Friday
WHAAATTT?! A business giving something away during the most lucrative time of the year?
Shocking, I know!
But I’d rather stand out in the crowd and give you something you can use to help your own business right now, instead of getting lost in the sea of emails and ads trying to sell you something.
For those of you who have never actually started your own email list… and I know you’re out there…
I’m giving you my How to Start Your Own Email List From Scratch guide.
Yes, you’ll have to opt in for it. But then you’ll be on my email list, and you’ll get the Email Marketing Ecosystem newsletter in your inbox every Thursday, 4 days earlier than it goes out to the rest of the world.
Also, my subscribers didn’t have to opt in for this guide, as they’re already on my list. There are plenty of other perks to being a subscriber, so go for it.
Just click on the button to download your copy now.
Happy Early Black Friday (and all that rot).
Next year, I want to see a bunch of creative sale ideas instead of just the months-long Black Friday sales.
Here’s my ask: If you run a fun, creative sale next year, send me screenshots of your entire funnel. I’ll give it a quick review and send you the feedback in hopes of helping you make it even better.
Maybe I’ll even collect them over the year and do a special “Better Than Black Friday Sales Ideas” as we move toward the holiday season, just to show off your wonderful creativity.
Enjoy the guide, have a great week, and Happy Thanksgiving (if you’re in the U.S.). In my next Email Marketing Ecosystem newsletter, I promise not to sell you a single thing!
Finally, I took this week’s Landscape Picture on my beach walk yesterday. It’s sunset over Santa Cruz Island in Channel Islands National Park, taken from Surfer’s Knoll beach in Ventura, CA.
And my mother really is in the hospital. She’ll be fine, I’ll be fine. It’s just been a chaotic week.
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