Black Friday Deals for Writers

We love DEALS! In this episode of the Writing Momentum podcast, Chris and Gena discuss some of the BEST Black Friday deals to look for, tailor-made for authors and writers. If you’re ready to give your writing life a big step forward, get ready to get some great deals that’ll help you along the way.

Here's something fun

Download this FREE PDF poster and hang it on your wall to remind yourself each day: YOU'VE GOT THIS!

Links:

• Post to social media FAST with our favorite social media scheduler, SocialBee, and get 20% off for LIFE with coupon code MOMENTUM20 : https://writing.fyi/socialbee
• Write with us! Join Chris, Gena, and Rene each Wednesday at noon Central and let’s get our writing DONE! https://www.writingmoments.com

EPISODE 46 Transcription:

[00:00:15].940] - Chris
Hey, welcome to the Writing Momentum podcast. I'm Christopher Maselli. I'm here with my wife, Gena.

[00:00:21].660] - Gena
Hi.

[00:00:22].380] - Chris
And, oh, Gena, I am so excited. Do you know why I'm so excited?

[00:00:26].290] - Gena
I know why you're so excited, because.

[00:00:29].610] - Chris
It is almost Black Friday. This is the biggest sale day of the year. And I love deals.

[00:00:35].650] - Gena
Yeah, I can attest to that. We have said for years that if Chris could make a living finding deals for people, he would do it.

[00:00:49].170] - Chris
And so that's what actually we're going to talk about today on the Writing Momentum podcast here. We're going to talk about deals because we love deals, and we're going to talk about specifically Black Friday deals for writers. Now, there's a few that are out there right now as we're recording this, but most of them have not shown up yet. Right. But what I found is that many writers don't even realize that there are great deals. They can help you in your novel writing business, your freelance writing business, just your writing office, right. All the tools you need, they can almost all be found on Black Friday for sometimes a fraction of the cost. Right?

[00:01:29].460] - Gena
Absolutely. I can attest to this. I tease Chris about this. I tease him about being a deal finder and about making Thanksgiving, about finding the deals more than about eating the pumpkin pie. But the truth of the matter is, he does find amazing deals. He is kind of a bloodhound with it. And he goes for he really looks for not only really good deals, but he looks for lifetime deals. So that because he is somebody who does not like being signed up for what's it called when you're signed up?

[00:02:06].100] - Chris
Like recurring billing. So, yeah, when Gena says lifetime deals, you know how everyone is nickel and diming you right now, right? You can't just pay for $100 for a piece of software anymore like you used to be able to. Now you have to pay $10 a month in perpetuity. And so I like finding deals where you have a one time charge you never have to pay again. And we'll talk about that in just a minute. So some of the deals that we have found in the past and this is what I mean by deals for authors. My email marketing software. Everyone has to have email marketing when you're an author. Like, you've probably heard of MailChimp and MailerLite, things like that. I got some email marketing software like that, and I was able to spend about $120. And that was for a lifetime deal to that software. So where most people are spending $19 a month on MailChimp or something like that, I don't have any costs after I spent that $120 years ago. That's what I use. We still to this day, you get our newsletter from writingmomentum.com. You're getting that from the email service that I use.

[00:03:15].160] - Chris
The other kind of things that we've received in the past is, you know, we use Microsoft Word every day, right? You can get Microsoft Word sometimes on Black Friday for like 50% off. I found it out a few years ago for 50% off plus a $50 gift card. It ended up being like $29 out of pocket after you counted in the gift card. And then we had other software that was like the online apps and that sort of thing that we got lifetime deals for. So let's just talk for a minute. What kind of deals can we find or should we be looking for in this Black Friday?

[00:03:48].730] - Gena
Well, I think there are three different categories. So we're going to take each one of them. There's software deals, there's hardware deals, and then there's just the extra deals, the extras.

[00:04:00].540] - Chris
Okay?

[00:04:00].870] - Gena
So let's talk about software. What kind of software deals and software components should writers be looking for?

[00:04:10].570] - Chris
Okay, so the first thing I would do is look for any software that you normally pay monthly on and look and see if there might be a lifetime deal on that software. Because while you're spending more out of pocket at the beginning, you're going to save over time. So I just gave that example of the email software we have. Well, you can also find that on things like social scheduling software. So if you want to schedule social posts to all the social networks, that's something we do as authors. We've talked about that on the show, haven't we? You'll want to find a lifetime software for that if you can. Podcasting, if you think you might want to get into podcasting. And I'll tell you, I think most writers should. It is super easy to do, much easier than we ever thought it would be. That's why we do this all the time. And again, podcasting can cost you every single month. But you know what, Gena and I don't pay monthly. We don't pay monthly because I got a lifetime deal on podcasting software several years ago. And again, normally I'd be spending $19 a month.

[00:05:15].540] - Chris
We spent like a haven't had to pay since. So it pays for ourselves, you know, in less than a year. Let's see, grammar checking software. Have you ever seen stuff like grammarly or pro writing aid? I'll tell you, this is one of the deals that's out there right now. Right now you can get pro writing aid lifetime for 50%. Wow, it's a good deal. Okay, if you normally, if you're spending $12 a month or something like that on that kind of software, don't do it anymore. Get pro writing aid for half off and we'll tell you where you can find that in just a moment. Because we put a bunch of these together because we know people like it when we do that. So let's see, what else is it? Let's see. So apps, really a lot of apps, anything that you might want to do online, especially in marketing, if you don't have yet, like an invoicing app, look for a lifetime deal on that. If you don't have an app for doing all your to do list, look for a lifetime deal on that.

[00:06:15].510] - Gena
I think there are also you have found apps before that are like broadcast marketing apps where like Social Bee, our favorite Social Bee, or you write a blog and then through this app service, it shows up on other sites or it shows up in different ways. I know you've done those kinds of things before.

[00:06:36].930] - Chris
Yeah. So one of the best marketplaces for lifetime deals on apps, especially for productivity and your business is a place called Appsumo.com. Actually, if you go to writing.fyi/appsumo, that's our link to it. You can get an additional savings, I believe, but they always have lifetime deals. So that's writing.fyi/appsumo. And we'll put that in the show notes. But whenever you find a marketplace like that, you really want to look, they have hundreds of pieces of software and you want to get the ones that have really good ratings, but you'll find software there that will save you a lot of time.

[00:07:21].190] - Gena
Well, and a lot of times what you have found in AppSumo is that you are getting these lifetime deals when they're first coming out, they're just being introduced and so they're trying to get the word out about what they offer and so they're selling their product at a really discounted price. But you have found some amazing deals over the years at these places that you're like, oh my gosh, this thing that we've got a lifetime deal for, we got one several years ago, is now two, three, four times the price of what it was when it first came out.

[00:07:56].340] - Chris
Yeah, a lot of the lifetime deals at places like AppSumo, they are startups, right? They're software startups. They're trying to build an audience. They want to get the word out and they need an influx of cash. So what they do is they'll go on there and they'll say, look, normally we charge 20, $30 a month for the software, but for $97 or $75, we'll give you a lifetime subscription. And we're only going to have this open for a couple of weeks. And we know that by doing that, the word will get out, we have an influx of cash. And the great thing about this is that, yes, some of them don't pan out, but because they're such a low cost, as long as you use them for a few months, even you've easily paid for the software, so there's not much risk. Plus, AppSumo is great because they give you a 60 day, one click refund so if for some reason you don't like the software you got, you go in there, just click, I don't want it anymore. They will refund your money and of course lose access to the software, but there's really not much risk to it at all.

[00:09:03].520] - Gena
That's really good. Well now, Chris, I know you have been working in this year. We talked about how you might love to make a living at this. But we are actually putting together, you have offered to put together a group for people who these deals might be beneficial for your people. And let me tell you, this is something that Chris has done for several years for our close friends. Come Thanksgiving, several of our friends know that Chris has got them on text message and he's texting them on the day before Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving, the day after Thanksgiving, the whole trip. And really throughout the year you've been done, it where you'll say, oh, I know this would really be helpful for so and so let him know. So he is now opening it up to let our listeners and our viewers that same benefit.

[00:09:55].620] - Chris
I'd love to share the deals with you. And so if you want to know about the deals that I find, you can text the word deals D-E-A-L-S to 74121. So text deals to the number 74121 and you'll be put on my deal list, my personal deal list. This isn't a big marketing thing or another forever. It's just me and when I find a deal, I'll send it out there. Just this last week I sent a deal that I found that Amazon did on whiteboards. If you ever wanted to have a whiteboard for your office where you can put up your ideas up there or put up what you have to do for the day. They had a whiteboard for over something like 55% off. It was $11 for a whiteboard. If you've ever seen whiteboards, you know, they can be expensive.

[00:10:41].770] - Gena
They can be so expensive and it's hard for me to let go of that money without that full price. I look for them at garage sale. I have bought them at garage sale because I'm like, I just can't spend that much money on them usually. So that's just an incredible price.

[00:10:58].540] - Chris
If you want to be part of that deal club text deals to the number 74121. Speaking of that, there are a lot of deals that are things like things for your office, right, and things for your productivity, like computers. Right? Now I know there's going to be MacBooks for about $800. That's the latest MacBooks for about $800 with the M One chip. It's almost the latest. That's like last year's model. But that's a really good deal for that. You can also find things like Kindles if you like Kindles, if you like to read electronic books or if you haven't got a Kindle paperwhite. We love the Kindle you can find those at really good prices from Amazon on Black Friday. Every year they put those on sale. I'm sure they will be. Again, if you need a webcam for your computer, if you like how crisp and clear we look, if you've ever watched this on YouTube or on a Facebook Live, our webcam is something we got on a really good deal. It's a logitech webcam, and I'm sure that will be on sale over Black Friday. So you want to look for things like that, too, for your computer and what else?

[00:12:04].630] - Gena
Gena well, you said already Pro Writing Aid is on sale, which I want to do a plug for that not because we're offering this as a deal and we're letting everybody know about it. But I have students, I have teenagers, I have college age students, and that Pro Writing Aid is something that is really nice, too. Not just for writers, but anybody who does any kind of writing or any type of presentation like that that would be really beneficial for.

[00:12:32].560] - Chris
So what it is, it's an app that you can take your document that you've written and you put the words in the app, and it'll give you all kinds of information about it, including it'll check all the grammar. It will check the grade level. It will check how many times you use short sentences versus long sentences. And it helps you see where you may have gotten off course. Right. It lets you know if you're doing passive sentences or active sentences, and it gives you suggestions so that you can make your manuscript that much cleaner before you send it off. I'll tell you, if you've ever hired someone to edit your book, you know that it can cost literally thousands of dollars. This piece of software that goes for about $199 normally goes for $400 for lifetime. You can get it for 199 for lifetime over Black Friday. That is a fraction of the cost you pay someone, and you can use it for the rest of your life, right, as long as it's available. And it has been available for years now, so it's not going anywhere. Definitely check out pro writing aid. You'll also find that in our deal club, we'll have more information about that.

[00:13:40].910] - Chris
The other thing you can also find are books. If you like books, you can find ebooks for your Kindle, you can find hardcover books for gifts or for yourself, and you can find audiobooks. Audible and other audio platforms always have deals on Black Friday, so don't let this time pass you by. If you're someone who buys four or five audio books a year, you can probably find some kind of deal at like, Audible that they will give you three times as many books for the same price that you'd normally spend on about five books, and you might even be able to redeem it throughout the year. So definitely worth looking for. Alright, so please join the deal club group. If you want to be a part of this text deals D-E-A-L-S to the number 74121. I'd love to have you on that deal club because, hey, we love the deals.

[00:14:36].120] - Chris
And even if you don't join the.

[00:14:37].350] - Chris
Deal club, please be on the lookout on Black Friday for deals for writers. Don't forget. It's a great time, yes, to shop for family for Christmas, to shop for your kids for Christmas, but it's also a great time to build your office, to build your writing space, to get those apps that you need to make your productivity go up and make yourself more efficient. Right? This is the time to do it. It's Black Friday. I'm excited. Are you excited? I hope so.

[00:15:03].840] - Gena
And it really is. It's about investing in yourself as a writer, investing in yourself as a business, as a solopreneur. Really take advantage of that. I feel like when people start talking about deals, it's really easy to tune out, to think, oh, these people just want something. But the truth of the matter is, we are speaking from experience. We are speaking from many years of kind of gearing up for Black Friday and making it work so that we don't spend a lot of money throughout the year, the rest of the year, on all these different elements. Chris is I'm not kidding when I say he is a bloodhound. He will even be on the lookout for the ways that he will help you stack deals. If you do this and you do this and you do this, then you can get it for this. He's part of a lot of deal clubs and links and things like that to learn about, and so he has done that for us, and it's very generous that he's willing to do that for other people as well.

[00:16:04].480] - Chris
Speaking of Black Friday deals, Gena and I are going to have a Black Friday deal tied in with Writing Momentum, something that the people that are on our email list and our friends from writers conferences have asked us for. And we've decided we're going to offer very good deep discount for Black Friday on something that we have. If you want to be a part of that, if you want to find out what that is, go ahead and subscribe to our newsletter and you can do that by going onto our website, WritingMomentum.com, and you'll find that you can get like one of we have a free download on there of like a poster. We also have another free download of a PDF that helps you know how to get noticed by agents, editors, and writers or readers. If you're interested in being on our email list, just go and ask for one of those that would get you on our email list and then you will find out about our great Black Friday deal. This coming this weekend.

[00:16:59].430] - Gena
We are going to be sharing some of the special teachings that we've had and that we've put together in 2022. And it'll be Chris's teaching. It'll be my teaching. It'll also be Rene Gutteridges's teaching. So the four of us, or the three of us, have come together to.

[00:17:14].010] - Gena
Offer.

[00:17:16].310] - Gena
Four pieces, four courses, four special what are they? Their courses? Training.

[00:17:25].920] - Chris
Online training.

[00:17:26].650] - Gena
Yeah. To help you improve your writing, to help you learn about the business, to help you grow your business, to help you just flourish as a writer. That really is our heart. So check it out.

[00:17:39].010] - Chris
Definitely check it out. Check out the things we've got to offer. Check out the things that others have to offer. Become a part of our deal club by texting deals. I feel a little bit like I'm barking. That become a barker. But please join it. I think you'll enjoy it. And the other thing is, please subscribe to this podcast so you don't miss the next one. We got some really good podcasts coming up here towards the end of the year and then some surprises coming next year. So go ahead and subscribe. Let others know about it. And until next time, remember what, Gena.

[00:18:09].820] - Gena
Together, we have Writing Momentum.