Did Black Friday Steal All Your Visitors?

November 28, 2008

Did Black Friday steal all your visitors to your blog, or website, or your home even? This blog has been deathly quiet.

I thought the day following Thanksgiving would be busy. But nobody told me about Black Friday and we don’t have it here in the UK. So I thought, bugger it, if the rest of the Internet is dead, I’m still going to read, instead of shopping. Mind you, I did come across one great deal while I was browsing but I’ll tell you about it in a minute.

First off, I found this amazing video on Twitter, thanks to Rebecca Leigh, the smart fresh freelance writer. You really need to see it for yourself to understand it: Invest In A Girl And She Will Do The Rest.

Then I found this awesome free ebook by Joanna Young - Asking Questions For A Change: How To Ask Purposeful Questions. It’s a must read for anyone who blogs or uses social media. See, I told you browsing the Internet was better than shopping. I bet none of the stores were actually giving stuff away today.

After that, I found something that kind of pissed me off. You see, I’ve been coveting the amazing Thesis Blog Theme for ages. Don’t get me wrong, the Revolution Theme is great. It’s just, the Thesis theme seems to be able to do almost everything, aside from writing the blog posts for you.

Changing my theme right now, is really too much hassle - no matter how much I want to. But just to make me feel even worse, they’re having a one day sale on the Thesis Theme today, for Black Friday. They’re giving a 20% discount and if you’re thinking of upgrading your blog theme, you can check out the thesis live demo page here.

And if you still have a free theme and you haven’t been thinking about upgrading your blog, it’s something you should seriously consider. The number of repeat visitors I get to this blog, has soared, since Men With Pens customized the Revolution Theme for me earlier this year.

Talking of Men With Pens, James has written a great post today that will help you make more money, so you can afford that customized theme. He’s not talking about robbing banks, he’s telling you - How To Increase Your Rates For The New Year.

And if your life is shit - or even worse than shit, I know somebody who can help. She’s certainly helped me already. Davina of Loving Pulse is telling us - When Fear Closes In Take Action.

Have you been having a quiet Black Friday? Did you find something interesting to keep you occupied instead of trudging round the shops?

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Comments

15 Responses to “Did Black Friday Steal All Your Visitors?”

James Chartrand - Men with Pens on November 28th, 2008 5:06 pm

You’re not the only one who is lonely today. Our Thanksgiving is back in October, and Black Friday represents a day the stock market crashed a few years back, so usually not associated with shopping… lol!

James Chartrand - Men with Pens’s last blog post..How to Increase Your Rates for the New Year
Avani-Mehta on November 28th, 2008 5:18 pm

Cath, I slept to my hearts full And enjoyed a few videos of Creativity World Forum. Enjoy http://crossthebreeze.com/2008/11/27/creativity-world-forum/

Avani-Mehta’s last blog post..Top 8 Life Hacks - #4
Joanna Young on November 28th, 2008 6:23 pm

Cath, what a great round up post! Thanks for mentioning my e-book.

Why are you peed off about the thesis deal - because others will get it or because you’re not ready for it yet?

I was tempted too today, but it’s too soon since I last did a redesign. Maybe wait another few months or so…

Joanna Young’s last blog post..Asking Questions For a Change: Free E-Book
Brad Shorr on November 28th, 2008 6:36 pm

Cath, my post today is a rant on Black Friday. I share your pain.

Brad Shorr’s last blog post..Focus on Production, Not Consumption or Wealth Transfer
Davina on November 28th, 2008 7:35 pm

Hi Cath. The books and video you mentioned sound interesting. It was a day well spent. I spent mine in a BlueHost forum trying to get my new *$#^%*% blog up and running. It’s only been about 6 weeks of this off and on when I have time. I bought the Thesis theme in October and had it running… until the WordPress upgrade.

I checked out your contest last night and hesitated because of having to go to Uprinting’s Facebook page and become a fan. I had deactivated my Facebook account last week because I was too busy to be bothered with it. But, I’m in now.

Thanks for the link to my last post. Hugs.

Davina’s last blog post..When Fear Closes In, Take Action
cathlawson on November 28th, 2008 7:41 pm

LOL James - I can see why the reminder of Black Friday wouldn’t make Canadian’s shop. I can’t say I love the term Black Friday either.

Many years ago, in the uk, a guy called Black released a report on social inequalities, on a Friday, just before a bank holiday. So I tend to associate Black Friday with poverty.

Hi Avani - wise decision getting plenty of sleep. I’ll check out those videos later. Thank you.

Hi Joanna - You’re welcome. No - I want others to be able to take advantage of the Thesis deal. But I’m not ready for the hassle, or cost of switching themes yet and this is the only discount they’ve had. Knowing my luck, the price will probably have doubled by next year.

Hi Brad - I read that post. I’m glad someone else shares my view that all this shopping is evil and it’s not helping the economy one bit.
cathlawson on November 28th, 2008 7:44 pm

Hi Davina - you’re welcome. If you get time, do check out the video and book, it’s worth the effort.

I knew you’d got the thesis theme. I hope you get the problem sorted. I’ve seen it on lots of blogs now and it does look pretty amazing. I love my design but it would look even better on that theme.

I thought that the Facebook thing might be putting folk off. I haven’t told them about the zero entries yet. Maybe it would be better if they dropped the Facebook idea. I know a lot of my readers don’t use Facebook.
Kim Woodbridge on November 28th, 2008 8:44 pm

Hi Cath - I didn’t know about your contest until today so I’ll check it out now Don’t know what I would do with postcards but I guess I could think of something. Maybe a contest.

Thanks for all the other resources - I’m going to go check some of them out.

I despise Black Friday. Well, I don’t like store shopping anytime. You can lots of great deals online and avoid the shops. Thanksgiving in the US is like the kick off of excessive consumption.

Kim Woodbridge’s last blog post..How to Exclude a Category From the Sidebar List in WordPress
Kim Woodbridge on November 28th, 2008 9:14 pm

Oh - and about Thesis - I’m sure they will have a sale again. The thing is, and I’m not knocking the theme or it’s users, it’s becoming ubiquitous and everyone’s site is starting to look identical. It’s almost like a theme cult.

Kim Woodbridge’s last blog post..How to Exclude a Category From the Sidebar List in WordPress
Samar on November 28th, 2008 10:07 pm

I didn’t know about black friday (had to look it up), but I do know that it’s extremely quiet around the web. Even twitter has slowed down!

It’s so quiet that no one has shown any interest in the five working hours I’m giving away as a Thanksgiving gift. I’ve already decided to give those five hours to myself if there are no takers by Sunday’s deadline.

Samar’s last blog post..Thanksgiving at The Base
Vered - MomGrind on November 29th, 2008 12:02 am

Haha we don’t do Black Friday. We stay away from stores and shopping centers. It’s the perfect day for hiding at home, eating leftover turkey and playing board games.
Vered - MomGrind’s last blog post..Worst. Mom. Ever.
cathlawson on November 29th, 2008 12:47 am

Hi Kim - thanks for entering the competition and for hating shopping. I didn’t realise so many folk were using Thesis. Maybe Copyblogger has subliminal messages on his blog telling folk to buy it

Hi Samar - I noticed Twitter was pretty quiet too. I checked out your five working hours - you can guest post on here if you want to.

Hi Vered - I knew you’d be too smart to trail your kids round the shops on a day like this - even though you’re the worst mom ever.
Jannie on November 29th, 2008 2:54 am

OMG, I better get my assets over to Facebook and Get Going. (After my chocolate Haagen Dazs. And putting the kid and the hubby to sleep.)

Jannie’s last blog post..Thankful Unveiling
Samar on November 29th, 2008 12:25 pm

Thanks, I’d love to guest post. An email’s in your inbox.

Samar’s last blog post..Thanksgiving at The Base
cathlawson on November 29th, 2008 2:07 pm

Hi Jannie - Thank you. That Haagen Dazs icecream sounds like a great idea.

Hi Samar - Thank you - that would be brilliant. I’ll check my email.