3 builders who never spoke to each other

Build the year around one discount window

A product buyable at any hour gives nobody a reason to buy today, and operators who measured it find one annual sale producing the large majority of a month and a single extra day of it worth close to half a strong month. Schedule the promotion, land your biggest piece of content at the same time, and expect the weeks afterwards to be dead without reading that as decline. Pegging the discount to something specific, a milestone, an obscure novelty day or a single day price, gives the sale a reason that a bare percentage lacks.

The method

1. 01

   A single promotional week can produce the large majority of a month's revenue, so weight your calendar around it rather than spreading effort evenly.

2. 02

   Expect a Black Friday sale to be the single most profitable window of your year, and expect the weeks right after it to be nearly dead.

3. 03

   Recognize how concentrated sale revenue is: a single extra day of a promotion can be worth close to half of a strong month.

4. 04

   Read a post-sale decline in context: several consecutive down months following a promotional peak can still all be among your best months ever.

5. 05

   Run an annual sale at Black Friday and schedule your biggest piece of content to land at the same time, so the traffic arrives when the discount is live.

What it returned

• $6,104.63

  Pegasus took $6,104.63 in November 2020, up 168%, with more than 80% of it arriving in the final week during the Black Friday promotion.

• 2024

  Zue describes the Pegasus Black Friday sale as historically his most profitable period, notes 2024's was down on 2023's, and says very little revenue arrives afterwards.

• 2021

  Zue's December 2021 Pegasus profit of $9,405.30 included one day of the Black Friday sale still running, and removing that day cut the month by almost 50%.

• $6,189.89

  Pegasus declined for four consecutive months after its Black Friday peak, down to $6,189.89, yet all four of those months still ranked in Zue's top seven ever for profit.

Sources

• 2020 Year In Review | Corey HainesCorey Haines · corey.co · What went well this year? · 2021-01-01
• Did you forget Cinco de Mayo? - Why We Buy 🧠Katelyn Bourgoin · customercamp.co · Brainy Snack · undated
• Scarcity - Why We Buy 🧠Katelyn Bourgoin · customercamp.co · Retail & Hospitality ​ Make a one-day special · undated
• September Income ReportFlorin Pop · florin-pop.com · 2. 👨‍💻 iCodeThis · 2024-10-01
• How to Sell Yourself (without being salesy)Justin Welsh · justinwelsh.me · Principle 6: Scarcity · 2023-07-01
• Black FridayNathan Barry · nathanbarry.com · 2014-11-28
• Understanding ConvertKit’s open metricsNathan Barry · nathanbarry.com · The difference between MRR and net revenue · 2019-01-14
• RedirectionCory Zue · coryzue.com · Last Month’s Profit · 2022-01-14
• Sales, Fears, and Taking a BreakCory Zue · coryzue.com · Sales, Fears, and Taking a Break · 2024-12-05
• The Almost-Lost MonthCory Zue · coryzue.com · Last Month’s Profit · 2022-04-01
• GratitudeCory Zue · coryzue.com · Last Month’s Profit · 2020-12-01
• MomentumCory Zue · coryzue.com · This Month’s Goals · 2021-10-01
• When the line stops going upCory Zue · coryzue.com · The numbers · 2025-12-30