Is Black Friday all that it's cracked up to be?

Black Friday has become one of the craziest shopping days of the entire year. What used to be a strictly American event, has now spanned into other countries across the entire globe with all major retailers jumping on the crazy bandwagon to sell their stock.

Even in Canada over the past couple of years, Black Friday has started to surpass OUR largest shopping day - Boxing Day (The Day after Christmas for anyone not familiar)

I often come across a ton of small business owners, entrepreneurs, course creators and service providers that always want to know whether they should get on the Sale Train in hopes of generating a revenue boost.

Should you offer a Black Friday or Cyber Monday Deal?

There are many different standpoints on this and depending your own personal views, you may be jaded, or excited to offer a deal to your audience for Black Friday/Cyber Monday. But there are some things you should keep in mind before running to email your list about your amazing sale.

If you have a physical product, this time of year might be a great way for you to push a lost leader out of your store. It can generate a tone of revenue for you and help clear the shelves for a new amazing product you have cooked up. But if your products are selling like crazy, lowering the price for a sale may not make the most sense

But if you have an online product over service, you do need to consider if offering a sale or discount might actually hinder your bottom line. For instance, if you sell a course for $97 and its packed full of amazing value and people are purchasing it, lowering the price for a sale actually lowers the value of it, making your audience realize YOU aren't valuing it at the higher price, so why should they.

Same goes for your services if you are a service provider.

Let's say you charge hourly for whatever it is you do. And for Black Friday you offer a reduced charge for your hourly rate. Essentially you have now shown you don't value your actual hourly rate and are willing to lower it. This can hurt you in the long run for sure.

So how do you have a "sale" without lowering the value of what you offer?

Well, you offer MORE for it.

That physical product you want to clear out? Maybe you make it a "buy two, get one free" or you make it a free add on to another product you want to sell.

That $497 course? Add in a couple of bonus items to pump up the value for the same price. (a bundle of PDF's, access to your vault of trainings, or even a free 1:1 call

That hourly rate? Charge the same rate, but offer a free service like a completed ebook project, or templates for graphics, or an extra consult call or two.

However you want to offer your Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals is ultimately up to you. But just remember, discounts can be a race to the bottom; and that's a deal you don't want.