Your inbox is about to fill up with Black Friday emails. Courses, memberships, templates, bundles, coaching programs and AI tools, all with a bonus or a price that goes away at midnight.
Some of those really are good deals. The problem is that a good deal on the wrong thing still costs you money and it costs you time too, because you'll feel like you should use it.
So before you open any of those emails, I want to give you a simple way to decide what your business actually needs going into 2027. It takes about ten minutes and it'll make it a lot easier to say no to everything else.
Buy for the part of your business that's stuck.
Here's the thing. Your business has five parts and when one of them is weak it slows down the other four. If people aren't finding you, it doesn't matter how good your sales page is. If people find you but never buy, getting more people onto your list just gives you more people who don't buy.
Think about a car that won't start. You could buy new tires, a new stereo and a car wash, and the car still won't start, because the problem is the battery. Black Friday is when a lot of us buy new tires.
So the question I'd ask about every offer is "does this fix the part of my business that's holding the rest back?" If the answer is no, you can let it go, no matter how good the bonus is.
A good deal on the wrong thing still costs you money and it costs you time too.
The five parts of your business
I call this the Creator Growth Flywheel. It's the framework I use in Creator's MBA and it's how I look at both of my businesses. A flywheel is a heavy wheel that gets easier to turn the faster it spins. Your business works the same way. When all five parts are working, each one makes the next one easier.
Here are the five parts, what it looks like when each one is the problem and what kind of purchase actually fixes it.
Attract: new people aren't finding you
Your list is flat, or almost everyone comes from one place, so a slow month there means a slow month everywhere. What fixes it is having more than one steady way for the right people to find you, starting with other people's audiences through swaps, collabs and summits.
Engage: they join, but they don't open
People sign up and then your emails sit there. When every issue feels different and nothing in it leads anywhere, opens drop and readers stop expecting anything from you. What fixes it is a newsletter format people want to open every week.
Nurture: they read, but they don't buy
People like your stuff, and then the freebie goes out and nothing comes after it, or the only thing to buy is your biggest program. What fixes it is a path from free to a first purchase, so new subscribers see something to buy in their first week.
Retain: buyers don't come back
People buy once and disappear, or members cancel a few months in, so every month you're starting over with new buyers. What fixes it is what happens after the sale, so customers get a first win and have a reason to stay and buy again.
Advocate: it all feels scattered
You've built the offers, started the newsletter, joined the bundles and run the summits, and the income still doesn't match the hours. Every piece lives on its own, so a good month doesn't turn into a good quarter. What fixes it is connecting everything into one system, where happy customers bring in the next ones.
There's also a sixth spot that comes before all five. If you don't have an offer yet, a funnel or a big program won't help yet. Buy something that helps you build your first offer, your sales page and your site, so 2027 is the year you start selling.
How to tell which one is yours.
The easiest way is to look at where people stop. Picture someone who's never heard of you, and walk them through your business in your head.
- Do they find you? If not, it's Attract.
- Once they're on your list, do they open your emails? If not, it's Engage.
- Do they ever buy anything? If not, it's Nurture.
- After they buy, do they come back or stay? If not, it's Retain.
- Do your customers send you anyone, and do all your pieces work together? If not, it's Advocate.
Wherever they stop first is usually the part to fix first. If more than one part is weak, start with the one closest to the top of that list, because everything below it depends on it.
If you'd rather not guess, I built a free tool that does this for you. The 2027 Business Checkup is a Claude skill that asks you about ten questions about your list, your offers and your customers. Then it scores all five parts of your business and shows you the one that's holding the rest back, with three things you can do about it this week.
Download the file from the 2027 Wish Book and save the zip file to your computer without unzipping it. In Claude, go to your settings, find the Skills section and upload the file. Then start a new chat and type "Run my 2027 Business Checkup."
A few questions to ask before you buy anything
Once you know which part you're fixing, run every Black Friday offer through these questions. If you can't answer yes to the first three, it's probably not the one.
- Does this fix the part of my business that's stuck? I mean the one that's holding the rest back right now, even if there are other parts you'd like to improve someday.
- Will I use it in the next 90 days? If it's going to sit in a folder until spring, the deal doesn't matter.
- Do I already own something that does this? A lot of us have a course in our library that would fix the problem if we finished it.
- Is this the right size for where I am? A big program can be the right call, but if you don't have an offer yet, start smaller.
- Am I buying it because of the timer? A deadline is a good reason to make a decision, and sometimes the decision is to skip it.
Why this feels harder than it should.
Black Friday makes it hard to think about what you need, because every email is built to make you feel like you're missing out. And it's natural to buy for the part of your business you enjoy. If you love writing, it's easy to keep buying newsletter courses while the real problem is that nobody's buying.
There's one more reason this is hard. Buying something feels like progress. It's a lot more fun to buy a new program than to sit down and figure out why people aren't opening your emails. But the purchase only helps if it's pointed at the right problem.
That's why I'd find your weak spot first and decide from there, because then your Black Friday list is one or two things long.
How I set up my own Black Friday this year
I took my own advice and set up my Black Friday sale around these five parts. It's called the 2027 Wish Book and it works like the holiday catalogs a lot of us circled as kids. Everything I'm offering is in one place, sorted by which part of your business it fixes.
You start with the free Checkup, and it points you to one page. That page shows you the offer that fixes that part of your business and the day it goes on sale. From Monday, Nov 23 through Friday, Nov 27, a new door opens each morning with one offer at full price and a bonus you can only get that day.
There's also a print-at-home version on the page if you want to grab a pen and circle what you want. And if there's someone you check with before you spend money on your business, like a spouse or a business partner, you can print your page and leave it open on the kitchen counter.
Find the part of your business that's holding the rest back
Take the free 2027 Business Checkup before you buy anything this Black Friday, so you spend your money on what your business needs most.
Get the free Checkup →Frequently asked.
How do I decide what to buy for my business on Black Friday?
Start by finding the one part of your business that's holding the rest back, then only buy something that fixes that part. If new people aren't finding you, buy for list growth. If people join but don't buy, buy for your funnel. Skip anything that fixes a part of your business that's already working.
What is the Creator Growth Flywheel?
It's my framework for how a digital product business grows. It has five parts: Attract (new people find you), Engage (they open and show up), Nurture (they buy), Retain (they come back) and Advocate (they send you more people). When one part is weak, it slows down the other four.
Is it worth buying business courses or memberships on Black Friday?
It's worth it when the course or membership fixes the part of your business that's holding you back and you have time to use it in the next 90 days. It's not worth it when you're buying because the deal is ending or because it fixes a part of your business that's already working.
How do I know which part of my business is holding it back?
Look at where people stop. If your list isn't growing, it's Attract. If people sign up but don't open, it's Engage. If they read but don't buy, it's Nurture. If buyers don't come back, it's Retain. If everything feels scattered and customers aren't sending you anyone, it's Advocate. The free 2027 Business Checkup scores all five for you.
What is the 2027 Business Checkup and is it free?
Yes, it's free. It's a Claude skill that asks you about ten questions about your list, your offers and your customers, scores the five parts of your business and shows you the one that's holding the rest back, with three things you can do about it this week. You can get it from the 2027 Wish Book.
Dr. Destini Copp helps digital product creators build sustainable, systems-based businesses through the Creator Growth Flywheel framework. She's the founder of Creator's MBA and HobbyScool, and has been teaching online business strategy for over a decade. Learn more →
