If your inbox looked anything like mine yesterday, you probably waded through about 247 "LAST CHANCE!" emails before your morning coffee.

And now?

Poof.

The clock struck midnight, and those "once-in-a-lifetime" deals vanished like Cinderella's carriage.

So here's my question for you: Did you participate in Black Friday and Cyber Monday as a consumer?

Were you satisfied with your "investment"?

Did you participate as a seller?

The numbers are staggering.

Consumers spent $10.8 billion online on Black Friday alone, a 10.2% jump from last year.

Cyber Monday hit $13.3 billion, the biggest online shopping day in history.

Shopify merchants pulled in $11.5 billion over the weekend, up 24% from 2023.

But here's what those headlines don't tell you: How many of those sellers actually made money?

I've been thinking about this a lot because I didn't run any Black Friday promotions this year.

And honestly?

I'm not sure I missed much.

Here's my concern.

The Math Problem

When you discount your services 30%, 40%, even 50%... you need to bring in 2-3x the volume just to break even.

The average discount for many categories hit 27-31% off.

That's not a rounding error.

That's your profit margin walking out the door.

The Time Investment

Think about what goes into a real Black Friday campaign: Creating the offers, building the landing pages, writing the email sequences, setting up the tech, managing customer service, then fulfilling everything while your normal work piles up.

For a product company moving thousands of units, the economies of scale make sense.

For a consultant selling a handful of packages?

I'm not convinced.

The Upsell Question

Here's where it gets interesting.

If you did participate, do you have a plan to upsell those discount buyers into your full-priced offerings?

Because if Black Friday just trained your audience to wait for the next sale... you've created a problem, not solved one.

My Take

I've built my business on long-term relationships, not flash sales.

Some of my clients have been with me for 15 to 20 years.

They didn't come from a doorbuster deal.

They came from consistent value over time.

That doesn't mean promotions are wrong.

But I wonder if we've all gotten swept up in the urgency theater without asking the fundamental question: Does this fit my business model?

So I'm genuinely curious.

Did you run a Black Friday or Cyber Monday offer?

Was the time and effort worth it?

Do you have an upsell strategy in place?

I'd love to hear your experience.

Hit reply and let me know.

I'm collecting insights for a follow-up piece.

Ted

P.S. If you're thinking about your 2026 promotional calendar, maybe the better question isn't "What should I discount?" but "What premium offer could I create that people would pay full price for?"