If you’ve been pondering a “flash sale” or hoping for a big end of the year boost for your online business there is no better time than Cyber Monday. Forbes calls it the biggest online shopping day ever with 2014’s sales up 17% from the year before (source). If you want a slice of the $2.04 billion dollar day there are certainly ways that you could leverage your business to do well….or to flop.

Today we’re going over 7 ways you can avoid a major flop for your online business so you can see big numbers and have happy customers.

What are you selling
Add value instead of discounting
Create a buzz plan
Ask people to share
Test your cart/checkout
Day of plan (hour by hour)
Have a backup

Figure Out What You’re Selling

This may seem like an obvious starting point, but we want to make sure that you know you don’t have to offer the whole enchilada. Cyber Monday can be crazy and intense so make sure you’re biting off only what you can chew. Pick one style, one product or one service to offer your audience - don’t overwhelm them or yourself.

Pay attention to what your audience enjoys and what they would truly find helpful to have on sale. You’re not wanting to sell a bagillion for the sake of dollar bills, but because you really believe that what you offer is amazing.

Add Value Instead of Discounting

Yes, there’s a right way and a wrong way to run a sale. We sometimes walk a fine line of offering a good deal and devaluing our goods to the point where no one takes them or us seriously. You don’t have to go the traditional way and offer 90% off EVERYTHING IN THE SHOP to have a successful Cyber Monday. We know you still need to make money here.

Think of ways you can add value to your offer instead of just marking it way down. Can you throw in free shipping for a few hours? How about offering a small freebie to every order over a certain amount? What about offering up something that takes mostly your time to deliver on so you aren’t losing money?

You could also consider putting together never before offered products or services in a package. Make Cyber Monday the only chance your audience can snag these deals.

Create a Buzz Plan

Now that you know what you’re offering and what the actual savings is going to be for your audience it’s time to talk it up! Be everywhere with your deal and talk about its value. Create buzz by sharing cute graphics on Instagram and Facebook and asking your audience to share.

Map out exactly when and what you’re posting about your promotion so you don’t overwhelm your audience, but also so you make sure that they know about it. Don’t think that everyone will see your post if you just do it once. Be aware of the time you’re sharing online and mix up what you’re saying in your posts so you can keep it fresh.

Ask People to Share

Trust us when we say that other online businesses are usually more than willing to share your offer if it’s in line with their brand and presented to them nicely. Always offer to cross promote with their goods to your audience if they are willing to share about you.

If you’re in any business or industry related groups on Facebook ask to share other business’s graphics if they do the same for you. Use the power of word of mouth! Pro tip: create a little script that you’d like others to use when sharing about you. Sometimes others can get the wording all wrong so why not take the task off their plate and prepare it for them?

Test Your Cart and Checkout Process

Have you gone through your own shop and bought something from yourself? It’s time you do that. You definitely don’t want to be caught in the rush of Cyber Monday and something be wonky in your checkout process that either backs everything up or makes it unable for people to pay you. Not only do you want the transaction to actually go through, but it would be ideal if the process was personalized to your brand.

Consider adding a personalized memo after a client checks out or sending them a special thank you note for being a Cyber Monday customer. Remember that this is about adding value where you can!

Day of Plan (Hour-by-Hour)

It would be best for you to station up at the computer (or hire someone who can) to catch any missteps during the day. We’d start with giving your site and computer a fresh restart to clear up any bugs. It’s also important to not forget that you can still be attracting people to your promotion the day of, so don’t forget to continue posting about it.

It’s always fun to keep your audience up to date on the sales, shortage of stock or transactions going through so you can create a sense of urgency for those fence sitters. Be sure to thank your audience, team and tribe for supporting you during the crazy day!

Have a Backup

What if your site crashes? This is a rarity and can be prevented by staggering your sale times, but there’s still a chance. You don’t want to entice all your people for your amazing service or product and then they have no way to get their hands on it if your website is down. Consider having a few backup plans if this happens like asking people to pay via PayPal email on Social Media or through an invoice link via email. We know it may not be the ideal and easiest way, but it’s better than losing out on sales and making unhappy customers.

We so hope you have a crazy successful Cyber Monday! We will send all the good vibes your way! Let us know what you’re planning on offering in the comments or on Instagram so we can cheer you along.