Have you thought about doing a special promotion or sale in your business?
I remember the first time I did a special offer in my business during the infamous sale weekend after Thanksgiving…
…It was 2012 and my husband and I spent Thanksgiving with friends in Santa Cruz, California. We got home late at night because my husband insisted on stopping at a Best Buy for some door-buster deals on our way home – LOL. We slept in the next day and it was around noon before I decided to check my email.
Not surprisingly, my inbox was full of Black Friday deals. I was excited to get the offers from Amazon and REI… but then I started seeing how many of my colleagues and mentors were offering Black Friday specials.
At first I started beating myself up for not planning ahead and having my own Black Friday sale. Then that frustration fueled action and I got busy figuring what I could offer on “Cyber Monday.”
So I pulled together a 50% savings sale on 3 of my home learning programs. I called it a Cyber Week Sale and ended up with 13 new customers which generated $4,871. I was stoked!
The next year I made sure to put doing a Black Friday – Cyber Monday special offer on my promotional calendar when I was doing my annual planning so that I would be ready.
Since then I’ve done a variety of different sales and special offers during the Thanksgiving weekend and I’m ALWAYS glad I do them, even if they don’t always go exactly as I had hoped.
One year I decided to offer a 40% savings on the home learning version of my best selling program. I had 15 sales and generated $7,170. I considered it a success at the time, but in hindsight I realized that I didn’t feel good about offering my top program at a discount.
Another year I created a live training class that I priced at $27 and had 73 people say yes, generating $1,971… which may not look as good on paper, but 2 of those people ended up becoming awesome private VIP clients!
One year I decided to put together a new offering: The Lucrative & Leveraged Coaching Business Bundle for $197 and I called it a Thanks + Giving Special because I contributed $50 from each sale to the survivors of the devastating wildfires here in Northern California.
That was one of my most successful Thanksgiving time promotion and I loved having the contribution component. We raised $2,700 for the NORCAL Fire Recovery Fund! Woo Hoo! 
So, if you’re thinking of running a sale or special promotion in your business, here are some of the insights and lessons I’ve learned over the years: #1 – Sales and special offers work! The fact is, a certain percentage of people who would not otherwise invest with you, will respond to a promotion or special offer. Think of a special offer as a way to attract:
So, if you’re thinking of running a sale or special promotion in your business, here are some of the insights and lessons I’ve learned over the years: #1 – Sales and special offers work! The fact is, a certain percentage of people who would not otherwise invest with you, will respond to a promotion or special offer. Think of a special offer as a way to attract:- People Who Are Price Sensitive
- Bargain Hunters
- The Curious
- The Impulsive
- People Who Need An Incentive To Make A Decision
- An Upcoming Holiday (Valentine’s Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, New Year)
- The Time of Year (spring, summer, back-to-school, etc.)
- A Birthday (yours, your pet’s, your kid’s, etc.)
- An Anniversary (of your business, your marriage, your sobriety, etc.)
- A New Offer (running a pilot program, beta testing, launch special)