So last week (or maybe the week before...these days just keep going past in a daze) I posted the question on my Facebook page as to whether or not you thought I should do something drastic for the rapidly approaching "Black Friday". I was pleasantly surprised that for the most part, the comments suggested that it's not expected of us small businesses to take part in this American craze.
I'll be honest. That took the pressure off. A lot! I spent quite a bit of time thinking about what I could do that wouldn't negatively affect me and my business. I am just me after all. I am absolutely at the opposite end of the scale compared to the likes of Amazon who can afford to slash their prices by crazy amounts and still take home a nice healthy wage.
If you think about it, Gurtrude Ingelbert* who works at Amazon* doesn't get her pay packet cut when they slash the product prices. Whereas as a small business, when we offer discounts, special offers etc, that all comes off of what we can afford to pay ourselves. That comes straight out of our pockets. Or rather, it doesn't go in to our pockets.
Where does that leave us..
So with that in mind I have decided that I am not partaking in the madness that is Black Friday. I am not slashing my prices. I am not offering BOGOF deals or Free Postage. In fact, I am not even here over Black Friday weekend. I am away with my 3 besties for some well needed R&R. It is my final weekend for accepting orders guaranteed for Xmas delivery though.. Do bare that in mind!!
Don't be sad that I'm not joining in with "Black Friday"...because you do know you can save on your orders all year round don't you?! No? You didn't know that? To be honest I've been a bit pants at shouting about it myself...
Let me explain...
It's pretty simple really. It's just a case of "Snap & Tag". So when you receive your order from me, TFD, and take a photo of it, (modelling it is even cooler btw) share it on Social Media (Instagram/FB) and TAG my business page @TealFoxDesigns #TFD (and me if you can...) you can grab yourself a 10% discount code for your next order... It's always worth giving me a nudge as sometimes I miss the tags - you know how social media can be. You can do this with every order you place so you could get 10% off each time. I've even added a little bit of detail on the back of my notelets.
I've also added a box to the checkout on the website for people to pop in where they heard about me/TFD ... so if you've sent them my way then be sure to tell them to pop your name in that box. I'll keep an eye on it and if I see that you're sending people my way then you never know when I might pop into your inbox with a special offer. JUST FOR YOU! (You will need to be a registered customer or on my subscription list so I have access to your email address).
Newsletters subscribers will also start getting exclusive offers that I don't share anywhere else. So it's well worth being signed up and keeping an eye on those emails. Not subscribed yet? Jump over here and get your name on my list. Now, don't get too excited. It won't be ALL the time. I'd have no business if I was always giving out discounts and special offers. But when the timing is right for me and my business I always like to give back to my awesomesauce customers.
Remember that my cut off for Christmas orders is Monday 2nd December at 12pm (midday). After this I cannot guarantee they will be complete in time for the last recommended postal dates. If I have the capacity after this date to take any more orders they will be offered with the 24 Tracked or Special Delivery postal options only. But this is not a promise that I will have capacity. I cannot predict how many orders I will have so it's always better to order early so you're not disappointed. At the moment I am sticking to within my 7-10 working day processing time, but again this could change if I get an influx of orders.
Thank you as always for all of your support. Keep your eyes peeled for some more xmas designs this week too!! But don't forget you can always send your ideas my way!
Stay awesome.
Charlotte
xxx
*This is simply being used as an example.