WA's Black Friday Deal bought me a TESLA
You're probably tired of all the Black Friday hype. Everywhere you look... Black Friday this and Black Friday that.
I get it.
The good news (or the bad news, depending on how you look at it), is that it'll be over soon.
But before it ends, I thought I'd share my unique Black Friday story (and how it bought me a Tesla).
Most BF stories are all about the "DEAL". The percentage off. The money you saved.
But as much as I love saving money, Black Friday for me is something more. It's a bit sentimental and perhaps profound.
Here's why...
I joined WA in October 2016 and upgraded to premium within a few days. A month later, I jumped on the Black Friday deal.
Within the first few months of 2017 my site at the time started making a little money. Just a few bucks at first. But in the months that followed I made more than enough to cover the cost of my annual membership.
Then I hit a wall.
I wanted more money and I wanted it faster, so I wasted thousands on shiny objects.
I bought more courses, more programs, and more tools. They were all distractions that took me further away from what I was doing here at WA.
If you've been at this for a while, you probably know what I mean.
I ended that year having wasted ALL of my time and ALL of my money. I was no further ahead with my business, and what's worse is that I was in a financial mess.
On top of that, I lost my job.
I know how that sounds, but that's exactly what happened. In November 2017, a big construction project I was working on in Fort McMurray (Canada) wrapped up. I was done.
That's where my Black Friday story begins...
2018 was one of our toughest years financially. Without work and having wasted thousands on shiny objects, we downsized and sold whatever we could to pay our bills. A monthly WA membership would have been out of the question.
And yet, 2018 became my "breakthrough" year.
In fact, a good bit of my income today comes from posts I wrote and published in 2018. I didn't earn money in 2018, but the foundation I built that year started to bring in hundreds of visitors per day, then thousands.
In 2019 I monetized that traffic and soon after was earning a full-time income online.
But it only happened because, before I lost my job, I had renewed my annual Black Friday membership. And here's the thing...
It didn't matter how much I saved. It wasn't about the money or the "deal".
What was profound is that I had a full-year at WA without the stress or pressure of monthly payments.
That may have never happened if not for that first Black Friday deal that convinced me to go yearly.
If I had to pay a monthly fee in 2018 there's a chance I would have quit. Not by choice, but because I couldn't afford it back then. I just couldn't. And I can't imagine where I'd be today if I had quit.
I've been working at home full-time for years now. I can't even describe how amazing that's been for my mental and physical health, and of course... my relationships with my wife and daughters.
You can't put a price on any of it.
Now, I know how stupid it sounds, but I'm reminded of that every Black Friday. It sounds stupid to me too, and I hesitate to even share it.
Black Friday is supposed to be about deals and tacky percentage banners... not warm and fuzzy sentiment.
But that's how it turned out for me.
I couldn't afford to spend a dime on my business throughout 2018. And yet, that was my make-it-or-break-it year.
Every time this online/work-at-home work life affords me to do or buy something I probably couldn't otherwise, I'm reminded of that year that made all the difference.
And I was reminded of it again this year because a few weeks ago, my wife and I bought a Tesla. Every penny of it, paid for with money I earn online.
It's nothing special. It's a "cheaper" model, and literally half of my neighbours have white Teslas (which is why this is the only picture I've taken of it). But I can trace it directly back to WA's Black Friday Deal...
So, to finish this story... if you upgrade and buy the Black Friday special, you will save a significant amount of money. But that's NOT the real benefit.
The real benefit is having a full-year to build your business without the stress and pressure of monthly payments. At least, that's what it was for me.
Recent Comments
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Good morning Jay,
Thank you for your blog post. What a great and fantastic and inspiring story, well done to you! It's fantastic that you made it happen! Sometimes it takes something bad to happen, to make something happen!
I hear you on the shiny object syndrome, I believe that many of us have suffered from this nasty virus over the years. I certainly have in the past, they do not work! The best cure for it is to follow the Wealthy Affiliate training and forget about shiny objects!
Congratulations on purchasing a Tesla through your online business, well done!
Wishing you continued success.
Roy
Hi Roy, thanks for taking the time to read and comment. I appreciate it.
Shiny objects have been my downfall more than a few times. You're right, it's like a virus. I like to think I'm more strategic with my purchases and distractions these days, but it's not clear. For the most part, I just keep returning to the basics, and those shiny objects end up collecting digital dust.
Thanks again, and wishing you success as well :-)
Good morning Jay,
It's a pleasure, Jay, it's always good to read a solid success story!
I think that many of us on the platform have suffered from shiny object syndrome! I appreciate your honesty, I know where you're coming from. I haven't actually purchased any scam products recently. However, I have purchased a few things that could have potentially helped me, but in reality, the software I wanted to use did not work properly. Now it could work in some scenarios, but for what I was doing, it didn't work!
Of course, the problem with the shiny objects is that we could have actually been doing something far more constructive rather than wasting time was something that doesn't work. It takes time to learn how to use software!
As you mention, we are better to return to the basics in most cases! I hope that other members read this thread to learn from our mistakes!
Wishing you all the best and a great day.
Roy
Yep, I know exactly what you mean. I find myself buying a lot of lifetime deals on places like AppSumo "just in case" it becomes useful one day. And in some cases, it has worked well.
But I've also bought a lot of products that I've used a few times at most, and like you say... it's the time it takes to learn how to use it. And the use cases are often so specific it doesn't apply to what you're working on.
I am glad that I'm not the only one!
I recently tried some software that creates e-books and can transcribe videos, I purchased it for transcription purposes. It was considerably better than the YouTube transcription. However, it's still far quicker and a lot less frustrating for me to listen to my video and use Dragon NaturallySpeaking to type it out for me!
Trying to work out what the transcription meant and trying to correct it was just too painful. I believe that the e-book software probably worked quite well, but not the transcription part of it.
Sometimes we never learn, although I can normally see a genuine scam fairly quickly!
Wishing you all the best.
Roy
PS: You ought to write more on Wealthy Affiliate, or perhaps you are busy working on your business! I understand both ways!
Wow, Jay!
What an inspirational story.
I'm at a stage where I still have to work the day job, 9-5. I consider myself lucky to have a half-decent job, in the grand scheme of things.
It pays the bills, but only just. No contingency!
Rent, cost of living .. etc, etc.
Most people are having to rein in as many expenses as possible.
But, living in the privileged Western World, I found a way to raise the required funds to take advantage of the Black Friday special this year. Signed up for a full year of business building :-)
To save money, the fork in the road I faced was to likely have to quit the monthly membership or take the big savings on offer this year ... I chose the latter.
... and I think you're right; the psychological effect of now knowing I don't have to worry about that monthly fee for a whole year.
It kind of grounds you and I'm now fully committed to growing my business, focused on action.
Exciting times!
Thank you so much for your story. Perfectly timed, for me :-)
Thanks Rohan and congrats on taking advantage of this year's special.
You're right, it is that psychological effect that makes the difference. At least it was in my case and it sounds like you're experiencing the same thing.
It can be tough in the beginning and there's a lot of doubt and uncertainty. Yearly allows you to focus on building patiently, rather than with urgency. You don't have to question what you're doing every month and wonder if it's worth it.
Thanks again for reading and taking the time share. I appreciate it :-)
Well done, Jay! You are not a quitter. Why would you want a Tesla though? The power grids cannot support electric vehicles, and there will have to be a LOT of build-up of those before electric vehicles are a viable source of transportation. I know a few people who own them, but a couple have sold theirs!
It will happen soon enough, but in my opinion, not in our lifetimes. It is a classic case of putting the cart before the horse! Elon Musk even reiterates that the time is coming, but not now. Just curious.
Still--a job very well done, my friend!
Jeff
"Why would you want a Tesla though?" ... Lol Jeff :-) Love the tangent there.
Agree though, I heard the other day on the radio there is not enough raw material on the planet for us all to be driving around in electric cars.
Hydrogen?
Haha, thanks, Rohan! Besides Fossil fuels provide MOST the electricity needed to run them.
Lol, thanks for reading Jeff and taking the time to share. Why a Tesla?
Well... EVs, in general, are quickly becoming a way of life here. I know that's not the case everywhere, but in some parts of the world, they just make more sense for some people.
When I say half of my neighbours have a Tesla, it's not an exaggeration. That's not the case in all neighbourhoods, but you won't drive more than two blocks here without seeing at least two or three EVs.
When we started looking, gas was equivalent to roughly $8/gallon or higher (around $2.30/L). It's dropped to about $6/gallon, but it won't stay that low. Between my wife and I, we were spending over $500 a month on fuel. That's $6K a year. Now we just plug in at night like we do our phones, and it costs pennies by comparison.
So although it's not our only vehicle, it's obviously the one we drive most. For example, a drive to my brother's house is 50km each way. That's $30 in fuel every time we do it. With the Tesla, charging at home overnight, it costs a few bucks at most. It just doesn't make sense to even start our other vehicles, unless we need to which is not often.
We also had massive flooding last year that limited our gas supply. Something else happened recently, I can't remember, but some gas stations were completely out of fuel and we coasted on fumes to find one that had gas. That's of course rare, but it's a reminder of how dependent and tethered we are to that infrastructure and supply.
So, it's just nice having another option.
Not to mention, we live in a valley, and anything we can do to reduce local air pollution is a bonus.
Electricity here, on the other hand, is hydroelectric and produced locally. Its price and supply are not determined by geopolitics and war.
The Tesla is also more fun to drive, more comfortable, and in most situations, faster than my Mustang, which costs $100+ to fill and only gets maybe 300km (185 miles) per tank if I'm driving gently.
So, when you add it all up, including the nearly zero maintenance costs, there is just no comparison.
There are certainly places where owning an EV doesn't yet make sense. But in metropolitan areas with high fuel costs, people will buy them as fast as manufacturers can build them.
You make some valid points here, Jay! I stand corrected, my friend! Keep succeeding!
Jeff
Hey Jeff, sorry... I didn't mean it as a rebuttal. You make some good points as well. I wasn't speaking for the EV industry in general, just our particular use case.
Oh, I didn't take it that way, Jay, but thanks for the clairifcation! I should have worded my initial response a lot better though, and for that, I am sorry!
Jeff
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Wow that`s a great story Jay. Sorry to hear about your struggles. I`m glad you are successful now. I took the black friday deal this year for the same reason. I was always stressed about monthly payments which was one of the things that made quit because I couldn`t afford. But now I have a yearly pr emium membership I don`t have to worry about monthly payments anymore. Thank you for sharing this interesting blog post Jay. All the best to your success.
Thanks for reading Timothy and for your kind words. Most of the struggles were self-inflicted, and I can only blame myself for the most part. Even losing my job is no excuse. I worked in construction, and in that industry, we all know jobs come and go and I should have been better prepared. All construction jobs end at some point.
But if the journey had been different, I might not be where I am today, so you should never judge the path you're on based on your current position. It's hard to see around the next corner, so you have to have some level of faith that you're doing the right thing, even if it doesn't always feel like it.
And sometimes it's not the right thing, lol. But that's okay. Better to be doing (some)thing instead of (no)thing :-)
Thanks again for reading and taking the time to comment. It's very much appreciated. And congrats on taking the BF deal!
You`re welcome Jay and thank you for your reply. Your explanation makes sense. I agree doing something is always better than doing nothing.
I believe everything happens for a reason even if it doesn`t always seem so. You`re a great person Jay and your deserve all happiness and the success you get. All the best to you Jay.
All the best to you as well my friend.
Thank you Jay