Am I Building a Brand or Quietly Undermining It?

From The Editor’s Desk (My Laptop)

I've been where you are.

You believe in premium positioning.
Not competing on price.
Build your brand on value, not discounts.

But then Black Friday comes.

Everyone's running offers.

Your revenue needs a boost.

You think, "Just this once."

I get it. I just did it.

Here's the tension: You need revenue to build a business. But you also need positioning to build a premium business.

Sometimes those two things conflict.

And watching Silversea discount 40% on their luxury suites made me uncomfortable, not because they're wrong, but because it made me ask:

What am I training my audience to expect?

The Tension Nobody Talks About

Let's be honest about what happened last week.

Silversea ran a promotion. They booked trips. Cash came in. Quarter looks good.

I ran a promotion. I sold toolkit and course bundles. Revenue came in. Month looks good.

But what did we teach our clients?

When Silversea discounts 40%, they're teaching clients that luxury has a negotiable price. That if you wait, there's always a better deal.

When I discount 70%, I'm teaching you the same thing about my work.

Is that building a brand? Or borrowing from next year's revenue?

Here's what I have:

The Questions I'm Asking Myself

1. Did the buyers at 70% off value the toolkit + course bundle less than those who paid full price?

I don't know yet. I'll find out when I see who actually uses it.

2. Did I leave money on the table?

Some people who bought at 70% off probably would have paid full price. I gave away margin I didn't need to.

3. Will those buyers wait for the next sale?

This is the big one. If I run a sale every Black Friday, have I just trained the audience to never pay full price?

4. Does this align with the type of advisor I want my readers to become?

If I'm teaching you to build premium positioning and never compete on price, can I simultaneously discount my own products?

Or am I being a hypocrite?

I don't have the answer yet. But I'm asking the question.

What I Learned Watching My Own Offer

Some buyers sent thank-you notes. "I've been thinking about this for a couple of months; glad I finally grabbed it."

That felt good. Those people needed a nudge. Win-win.

Others bought and disappeared. Were those bargain hunters who will never pay full price? Or legitimate buyers who just don't send thank-you emails?

I can't tell yet.

What I know: I made revenue. But I might have trained some percentage of my audience to wait for sales.

Was that trade-off worth it?

Ask me in a year.

Marketing Corner | The Framework I'm Using

If you're sitting with the same tension, here's how I'm thinking through it:

Ask yourself:

1. Strategy or desperation?

• Strategy: Planned, testing, measuring

• Desperation: Need to hit a number

2. What are you training clients to expect?

• One-time nudge for fence-sitters? (Maybe okay)

• Annual discount expectation? (Dangerous)

3. Does this align with your positioning?

• Premium advisor → Regular discounts undermine that

• Volume business → Promotions might make sense

4. Who are you attracting?

• Buyers who needed a nudge and will pay full price later? (Good)

• Bargain hunters who never pay full price? (Bad)

The mistake isn't running a promotion. The mistake is running promotions without thinking through the long-term impact.

That's what I did two days ago.

Now I'm thinking it through.

Where I Land (For Now)

One Black Friday promotion doesn't destroy your brand.

Running one every year for five years might.

The question isn't "Should I ever discount?"

The question is, "What am I building, and does this help me build it?"

If you're building a premium advisory business where clients pay $500 planning fees and never negotiate, waiving fees every Black Friday probably undermines that.

If you're building a volume business serving lots of clients at accessible prices, promotions might make sense.

The mistake is discounting without thinking it through.

I ran an offer because it felt like the thing to do.

Now I'm questioning whether it was the right thing.

Maybe it was. Maybe it wasn't.

But at least I'm asking the question.

And that's what separates advisors who build lasting businesses from those who chase short-term revenue.

For now, I’m treating discounts as a once-per-lifecycle lever, not a seasonal tactic.

Your Turn

I want to know what you think.

Did you run a Black Friday promotion?
Why or why not?
How do you feel about it now?

Hit reply. Tell me.

This is the kind of conversation that changes how you think about your business.