Online Learning & Community

Love it or hate it, Black Friday is almost here. While everyone’s waiting for big brands to drop deals, I bet your audience would be just as thrilled to see something from you. Whether it’s a new product launch, a discount, or a special promotion, this is an incredible chance to take advantage of the shopping hype, boost sales, and grow your business.

In this article, I’ll break down an easy system you can use to run a Black Friday Cyber Monday sale in your online business that more or less runs on autopilot, including:

• Why creators often miss out on Black Friday/Cyber Monday, and what you can do differently

• 5 steps to run a smooth, low-drama promotion that actually works

• A launch checklist you can use to make sure you’re ready, long before Black Friday rolls around

Like most things with running a business, pulling off a successful Black Friday sale comes down to good planning. So let’s do that together! Here’s everything you need to launch, promote, and run a Black Friday Cyber Monday sale in your business.

Why most creators miss out on Black Friday

Black Friday has a way of sneaking up on you. One minute it’s August, and the next, everything’s pumpkin flavored and you’ve got 13,000 sale emails in your inbox. Blink, and you’ve completely missed your chance to give your business a boost.

A lot of creators skip Black Friday because they don’t think it’s relevant to them. But I want to challenge that — you don’t need to be a big corporation to run a sale, and we have tons of Podia creators who grow their revenue and client base during this big shopping season.

Other entrepreneurs forget about Black Friday, then scramble at the last minute, throwing something together and ending up with a messy, stressful promotion. And things can go sideways fast without a plan.

• Tech breaks at checkout

• You forget to add your coupon code to an email before it goes out

• Half of your social media platforms get ignored

• People don’t even know you’re running a sale until it’s too late

This is one big recipe for frustration, missed opportunities, and money left on the table while your competitors cash in.

Luckily, there’s an easy fix. You can set yourself up for success this Black Friday (and for any future sale or launch) using simple steps that take the stress out of the process and help you actually enjoy the weekend.

How to run a stress-free Black Friday sale in your online business

Running a good Black Friday sale comes down to planning — the more you’re able to set up and schedule in advance, the easier your sale window will be.

The steps below work for any promotion or launch you run, so don’t limit yourself to just Black Friday weekend. A lot of what we talk about can be done ahead of time, so you’re set up for a smooth, drama-free launch day, whether it’s for Black Friday, a summer sale, a New Year’s special, or any other big promotion that makes sense for your business.

One thing to note: As you work through the planning, keep showing up for your audience in the usual ways. Share free content, send newsletters, post blogs, and talk about what you’re creating. The more you do this, the more natural it all feels when you have something to sell.

And when launch day arrives, your audience will be just as excited as you are.

Step 1: Plan out what your sale will be

The first step to running a successful Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale is deciding what your promotion will actually be. The fun part is that it doesn’t have to be a “traditional” sale if you don’t want it to be. BFCM is simply a moment when more people are ready to buy. You get to decide how to show up.

What you offer depends on where you are in your business:

• If you’re new to business and launching your first product, make this your big debut. If you struggle with procrastination, having a deadline with potential buyers can help you make the push from idea to finished product.

• If you’re working on a new product or offer, use BFCM as the kickoff for a bigger program or course.

• If you already have a library of products, create a bundle to give people more value while boosting your average order size.

Of course, you can always keep it simple with a discount ($5 off, 20% off). Or you can make it feel more exclusive, like offering a private coupon code to your email list without running a big public-facing sale.

Once you know the shape of your promotion, decide on these details upfront:

• Which products are included and what do you need to do to get them ready for the big day?

• What’s the discount or special offer, and are there any limitations (e.g., will you cap it after a certain number of uses)?

• How long will the sale run? Just Friday, the full weekend, or all the way through Monday?

With these pieces in place, you’ll have a clear plan that keeps your messaging consistent and your launch stress-free.

Step 2: Set up marketing assets

Now that you know what you’re offering, it’s time to set up the marketing pieces that will bring people in. The goal here is to get everything ready in advance so when the sale goes live, you’re just answering questions, cheering people on, and enjoying launch day.

Start with your sales page. If you’re selling an existing product, you can use the same page you already have and add a banner or update the copy to let people know the sale is happening. If you’re offering something new or want a fresh look, create a custom landing page for your promotion.

Next, create the assets to announce your sale, launch, or promotion. You’ll use these assets wherever you normally connect with your audience:

• Social posts (Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube): Aim to post each day your sale is live on each platform you regularly use. To get your creative juices flowing, you can share pictures from your finished product, behind the scenes video clips, past customer testimonials, and an explanation of all the benefits people get when they join.

• Blog posts: Create a longer-form blog post where you share details about your sale and why it’s worth buying now.

• Email newsletters: Continue to share details of what you’re working on, so your audience is ready for sale day.

Tools like Canva make it easy to create graphics, and a simple doc works great for planning what you’ll say. Most social media platforms have a schedule-in-advance feature so you can go ahead and stage your posts now.

If you blog with Podia, you can also schedule your articles ahead of time, so they’re published automatically on your go-live day.

Finally, draft a line or two for a call-to-action (CTA) banner on your website. When you run your sale, you’ll add this banner to your home page, so no one misses it, even if they’re not on your email list.

In Podia, you can create this banner in the website builder with a text section. Add a headline announcing your sale, add your coupon code, and save it as a reusable section.

Then, when launch day hits, drop it onto your homepage, blog, or anywhere else you want to grab attention.

Step 3: Write and schedule your emails

Email is the engine that powers your BFCM sale. You’ll use it to build excitement ahead of launch day, guide people through checkout, and remind them to grab the deal before it disappears.

And the best part is that you can write everything ahead of time, schedule it, and let it run on autopilot while you focus on answering questions and connecting with buyers. (Podia even has flash sale email templates you can use for your messages, so you don’t have to design from scratch!)

Here’s a simple lineup you can copy for your promotion:

Teaser #1 (about a week out): Let your audience know something exciting is coming. Add a call to action like “mark your calendars,” and maybe share something free (like a blog post, lesson, or resource) to give them a taste of your teaching style. Make sure to only send this to people who don’t already own the product you’re offering for sale.

Teaser #2 (the day before launch): Build anticipation with a case study, testimonial, or preview of what’s included. If your sale has limits (like “first 10 buyers”), let people know exactly when it starts so they can set their alarms.

Launch day: The big announcement! Share the sales page link, coupon code, and step-by-step instructions to make buying as easy as possible.

Reminder (mid-sale): Highlight what’s included again, maybe with a short video walkthrough or chapter/lesson sample. Keep the emphasis on what your buyer’s life will be like after they buy your product.

Testimonial (mid-sale): Share a story from a past customer or beta tester. If it’s a brand-new product, you can use testimonials from your other offers or your business in general to highlight your teaching style. Just make it clear where the praise is coming from.

Last chance (final day): Send a final reminder email a few hours before the doors close. Remind people what they’ll miss if they don’t act now.

Thank you (after the sale): Follow up with gratitude for buyers and for those who engaged with your emails. Share a helpful tip or resource as a thank-you gift to show appreciation that they’re part of your community, purchase or not.

Pro tip: Always set your email filters so you’re not sending promo messages to people who already own the product.

In Podia, you can do this by setting up your email and clicking filter → has products → doesn’t have product → specific product → name of your sale item.

After you’ve set up your launch emails, your next task is to write your welcome sequence for people who purchase your product.

This is a short automation that kicks in once someone buys the product you’re promoting during your sale. As exciting as it is to get out there and reach new customers, it’s just as important to take care of those who do take the plunge.

In Podia, you can set this up using the campaigns feature. Set the entrance condition to “Gains access to: Product name” and give each email a few days delay so they’re spaced out. Then you can go into each email and customize the message or add more information.

Here’s a simple and warm outline you can use as a jumping off point:

• Email 1: Welcome them in, tell them about your business, and explain how to get started with their new product.

• Email 2: Share a few tips for how to be successful in your program and let them know that they can respond to the email if they have any questions.

• Email 3: (Add a few more days delay here to give people time to enjoy your product) Ask for a testimonial or review. You can use these stories for future launches.

That’s it! Set it all up now, and when launch day hits, your emails will go out like clockwork while you sip coffee and celebrate new sales rolling in.

Step 4: Test your tech

You’ve put in the work to plan your offer, make your marketing materials, and schedule your launch emails, so now it’s time to make sure everything runs smoothly when your sale goes live. This is where you connect the dots, publish your setup, and test it from start to finish so buyers have a seamless experience.

First, complete your product and publish it. You can keep it hidden until your actual sale launches, but publishing lets you double check that all your links and pages are working the way they should.

Next, add an upsell to your product. BFCM is prime time for boosting your order value, and with upsells, you can let your buyers grab a second related item during checkout for a discounted price. It’s a simple way to increase revenue with zero extra effort.

In Podia, you can add an upsell to your product in one click on the pricing page. See how to add an upsell to your product step by step here.

Set up your coupon. Go to the “Sales” tab in the Podia dashboard and click “Coupons” to set one up. You can customize which products the coupon applies to, what the discount should be, how long it’s valid, and how many times it can be used.

You can also customize the coupon code then copy and paste the code so people can type it in at checkout, or generate a special link that automatically applies the discount to the relevant pages.

Read more about how coupons work in Podia in this help doc.

Publish your sales page. Make sure the copy is final, images are in place, and the banner or promo details are crystal clear. Again, you can keep this hidden for now by not linking to it on your site until the sale goes live, but it’s nice to have everything ready to go in advance.

Then, check your links. Click through every button, email, and banner to confirm they lead where they should. Replace any placeholder text, paste in coupon codes, and give everything a final polish.

Finally, go through the checkout process yourself (or ask a friend) to make sure it’s smooth and clear. Better to catch hiccups now than on launch day when buyers are lining up at your virtual door.

Aim to have all this done the day before you launch at the latest, so you have time to make adjustments if needed. The key to a stress-free Black Friday/Cyber Monday is not having to get up at 3am to fix your coupon codes last minute.

Step 5: Launch day!

Today’s the day! You’ve scheduled your emails, prepped your posts, and polished your pages. Now it’s time to share your promotion with the world.

If you’re running this for Black Friday Cyber Monday, your sale will usually run from Friday through the end of the day on the following Monday. If you’re planning a different sale period, keep it short (a few days max). That way, you can keep the energy high and promote consistently without feeling like you’re nagging.

You’ve already done most of the prep work, so it’s just a matter of pressing “Go” on a few things:

• If you’ve set your product to hidden, change it to “Visible.”

• Add a big banner to your homepage and any other pages you promote regularly. (You’ve already written the copy for this in Step 2.)

• Share your sales page in your social bios and link-in-bio.

• If you didn’t schedule your blog posts and social posts in advance, press publish on your launch communications. Otherwise, they’ll go live on the schedule you set.

• Stay present on social media to post reminders, answer questions, and celebrate each new buyer.

• Keep an eye on your inbox for questions and support requests (someone will always misplace a coupon code — it’s part of the fun).

This is your chance to connect with your audience, keep the energy high, and enjoy the results of all your planning. Don’t forget to celebrate your hard work!

Your Black Friday sale checklist

To recap, here’s a checklist to prepare your store and marketing efforts for Black Friday Cyber Monday:

• Choose which product will be part of your promotion

• If launching a new product, make it and use your BFCM deadline to avoid procrastination

• Add an upsell to your product to increase your order value

• Set up your sales page

• Set up your coupon code

• Write a blog post promoting your sale and schedule it for launch day

• Write and design (at least) four social media posts and schedule them for the launch period

• Write and schedule an email for each day of your sale in your email software

• Create an automated welcome sequence for new sign-ups

• Check your email filters (don’t send promos to people who already bought)

• Test your links and coupon code in a fresh browser

• Add your sales page to your link-in-bio so it’s easy to find

• Add a sale banner with the coupon code to your homepage

• Link your product from relevant blog posts

• On launch day, turn everything live

• Answer questions quickly in emails and comments

• Post in real time responding to FAQs

• Thank your followers, supporters, and email list once the sale is done

And of course, have fun with it! This is a chance to reach more people and bump up your sales, which can put your business in a better position for months and years to come.

Drive sales during Black Friday Cyber Monday, the stress-free way

Running a sale can feel like a big production, but with a plan in place it’s really just a series of small, doable steps — and you’ve already mapped them out. Whether it’s Black Friday, a holiday promo, or a product launch of your own, you don’t have to do it alone.

Podia has your website, digital products, sales pages, email, and community all in one place, so you can spend less time wrangling tech and more time connecting with your customers. Start your 30-day free trial today and start planning your best launch yet.

You’ve got an idea for an online business, and now it’s time to actually bring it to life.

The tricky part? If you search for what tools you “need,” you’ll find endless lists with dozens of apps, subscriptions, and complex platforms. Add them all up, and you could be paying hundreds of dollars every month before you’ve even made your first sale. Not ideal.

The truth is, you probably don’t need all that.

At Podia, we’ve seen thousands of solo business owners build amazing businesses with way fewer moving parts than you’d expect. In fact, you might only need one platform to get things off the ground.

In this post, I’ll walk you through the essentials. What you really need to start an online business is:

• A website to tell people what you do

• Digital products and courses to make money

• Email marketing to keep in touch with your audience

Plus, I’ll share a simple game plan for growing your audience once you have those three things in place (because even the best tools on the planet won’t do much if no one’s visiting).

So let’s take a look at what you actually need to start your online business.

Right at the top, I want to address those long lists of things you “need to have” to build a business online — you know, the ones that make it seem like you need to be a tech expert or have a big budget before you even begin. You can spend weeks signing up for trials, connecting apps, and fiddling with settings without actually moving your idea forward.

Most creators don’t start their online business with investors or a giant team. They start with an idea, a laptop, and maybe a Saturday afternoon to finally make it real.

What you don’t need at this stage is a complicated setup that drains your energy (and your wallet) before you’ve even published your first page.

Your business isn’t supposed to start fully formed. It’s supposed to grow. We often see entrepreneurs begin with just one offer, then add more as they learn what their audience wants. Maybe you launch with a simple digital download, and six months later, you’re ready to add a course. Or you start with a newsletter, and later you’re ready to build a membership.

That’s why the best tool for you isn’t a huge stack of single-purpose apps. It’s an all-in-one platform that grows alongside your business, so you can keep things simple today while leaving the door open for tomorrow.

The simplest path forward is usually the strongest. Your business will grow and evolve, but the only way to learn what works is to get something live, then improve and build on it over time.

It starts with just three puzzle pieces.

#1 You need a website, ideally with landing pages and blogging

A website is your home base for your business on the internet. It’s where people can connect with you and learn about what you offer, and it also serves as a hub for your products, email list, and articles. With a website, you can keep everything organized in a space that you own.

When deciding where to build your website, there are a few things to look out for:

• Easy to use: Your website should be easy to set up and update so you can make changes as your business grows. No need to call a developer just to change a picture or a few lines of text.

• Customizable: Your website should look and feel like you, so customizations are a must. Look for a tool that lets you adjust your colors, fonts, layouts, and design elements to reflect your branding.

• Connected to your products and email list: Your website is where you’ll tell people about your products and newsletter, so everything needs to play nicely together. If you’re using separate platforms, make sure they integrate together. Or keep things simple with an all-in-one website tool that also has your products and email out of the box (like Podia).

In addition to connecting to your products, your website should also have sales pages and landing pages. This is where you’ll tell prospective buyers what your product includes and how it can help them reach their goals.

You’ll also want a website tool with blogging functionality. A blog gives you space to share your ideas with readers, and it also helps new people discover you through search engines. Every post you write is a chance to answer the exact questions your future customers are typing into Google.

But more importantly, it’s space to go deeper with your audience. By sharing helpful, high-quality posts, you build trust and show your expertise, which makes people more likely to buy when you offer a paid product.

Once you have a website, the next step is creating and selling digital products. These come in all shapes and sizes, and some of the most popular product types are:

Digital products are the heart of your online business. They’re how you turn your ideas into income, and you’re not limited to just one. As your business grows, you’ll get new ideas and hear feedback from your audience.

Maybe you want to set up a community for bakers to share their best recipes, or a free vacation packing checklist to grow your email list. Maybe your productivity ebook is doing really well, so you want to transform it into a full-length course.

With the right tool, you can experiment and expand without hitting limits.

That’s where an all-in-one platform like Podia shines. You can upload files, build courses, create memberships, and set up community spaces and discussion forums for your customers.

You can make your products free, one-time purchases, or subscription-based. Podia also lets you add upsells, bundle products together, and offer free trials for your customers. Payment plans are easy to set up too, so your audience can pay in a way that works for them.

Podia integrates with Stripe and PayPal for payment processing, and we’ll handle checkout and product delivery so you can focus on building your business.

If you’re just starting out, I recommend beginning with a simple digital download because it’s quick to create, easy to share, and a great way to learn what your audience responds to. Plus, you can sell it unlimited times, so there’s no cap on what you could earn. Here’s how to set one up.

#3 You need an email list and newsletter to stay in touch

Once you have your website and a plan for your digital products, the last piece of the puzzle is email marketing. Your email list is how you stay in touch with your biggest supporters — the people who’ve opted in to hear from you. It’s how you’ll send newsletters, build automated welcome sequences, run sales funnels, and keep your audience updated on new content or product launches.

Publish a new blog post or YouTube video? Let your email list know.

Launching a new product? They’ll be the first to hear about it.

At a basic level, your email marketing tool should make it easy to:

• Collect and manage a list of people who’ve opted in

• Offer sign-up opportunities through website forms and lead magnets

• Send one-off emails, like updates or newsletters

• Set up automated campaigns, like welcome sequences, sales funnels, or product launches

It’s also helpful to segment and tag your audience. That way, you can send targeted messages to people who meet certain criteria in your business. For example, you could share a discount code with people who haven’t bought your course yet, or send an exclusive note to those on a waitlist.

As your business grows, your email list will become one of your most powerful tools. Set it up from day one, add a sign-up form to your website, and get in the habit of sending consistent newsletters to your list, even if you only have a handful of subscribers. By the time you’re ready to launch new products, connecting with your audience will feel natural.

Bonus: You need a way to reach your audience

When you’re starting your online business, your website, digital products, and email list are all things you control. But even if everything is set up perfectly, your business won’t grow unless new people actually find your work.

That’s why there’s a fourth “bonus” puzzle piece: audience reach. This isn’t a tool you buy; it’s about putting your work in front of the right people. You can do this through social media, YouTube, blogging, or niche communities and forums. The key is choosing platforms that fit your strengths and interests.

For example:

• If you love writing, lean into a blog. Share advice, tutorials, or stories that show your expertise.

• If you love video, start a YouTube or TikTok channel. Short tutorials, behind-the-scenes looks, or quick tips can attract followers who are likely to be interested in your products.

• If you like community interaction, take a look at forums like Reddit or Facebook Groups. Engaging directly with your audience helps you understand their needs and creates a natural place to share your products.

The key is to start simple and start creating. Aim to make 2–3 posts to get going: one introducing yourself and what you offer, another sharing your best advice, and maybe a third showcasing your product or a free resource. In your profile or bio area, make sure you include a link back to your website (and lead magnet, if you have one!) so that people can find more information about you.

Then make a plan to post a few times a week at a cadence that’s sustainable for you. Most social platforms will let you schedule out your posts in advance so you can create and plan in bulk when you’re feeling inspired.

At the end of the day, it’s less about which platform you pick and more about consistently providing value. By giving your audience useful content for free, you start building trust, connection, and interest — so when you launch your products, people are ready to buy.

For more info on reaching your audience, make sure to check out this workshop replay on our YouTube channel. We cover how to find your audience, get them onto your list, and get them excited about your upcoming products.

Many people overcomplicate starting an online business by trying to juggle a dozen different tools before they’ve even made their first sale. In reality, you only need three things to begin:

• a website so people can find you

• digital products to bring in revenue

• an email list to stay in touch with followers and customers

With Podia, you can do all of that in one place. Build your website, create and sell products, and run your email marketing without wrangling multiple platforms or logins.

Your business will grow and evolve over time, but the simplest way to start is to take action today. Start your 30-day free trial of Podia and get your business up and running.