Season 2 Bonus

[00:00:00] Rene: Hey everyone. Welcome to Your First Digital Product, a show that helps maxed-out service providers create their first digital product so they can gain an additional income stream, grow their impact without increasing one-on-one work and experience more time freedom. On the show, I talk to business owners who have launched digital products and dig deep into how you can create, launch, and market your first digital product. I’m your host, Rene Morozowich. Let’s go.

[00:00:28] Hey friends. Welcome to the season two bonus episode, where I take all of the great advice that the guests have given over the last season and just put it all in one place. So you can cut to the chase and get right to the advice and feel free to go back and listen to those episodes. But here is a taste of the advice that you will be hearing. So I went through and cataloged all of the advice that was given.

[00:00:55] And there are a couple of themes that have come out. So I have five themes for you here. More than one person has said these. So these must be the really important points. So the first thing is, and I believe this was in season one as well is do it, just do it. And akin to that is don’t overthink it.

[00:01:17] Don’t make it hard on yourself. Don’t think that it has to be a certain way. You can just do it and put it out there again to the best of your ability, but without going through all of the extra mental gyrations and, you know, delaying yourself. So those are the first two items. The next item that came up quite a bit in this season is beta testing.

[00:01:38] So launching something. And maybe giving a discount or just kind of giving it to a group in beta format. So that alleviates the pressure on you, that it has to be totally perfect and finished and polished. And it sets the expectations for your users and your customers that [00:02:00] this is something that’s a work in progress and they might be able to give feedback on it.

[00:02:04] So beta testing is something that came up this season. The next thing that came up was support. So getting some kind of support in your journey, whether that’s an accountability buddy, whether that is a community that you’re a part of, a mastermind, something like that. It could be technical help. It could be design help.

[00:02:21] Just having some sort of support in the process is super valuable. And the last thing that came up quite a bit is connecting with your audience. So this could be building your email list. This could be pre-selling. This could be marketing basically during the process of you creating it, kind of letting people know that you’re creating something. But connecting with your audience is really important.

[00:02:45] So without further ado, here are the best pieces of advice from the season two guests.

[00:02:50] So what two to three things do you recommend for people who have not done this yet? So whether it’s do this or don’t do this, or both. What do you think?

[00:02:59] Jolene: Okay. Um, for one, and Rene is not paying me to say this, I would recommend you hire Rene.

[00:03:05] Rene: I’m not paying Jolene at all. Anything. Although I did buy her product to test it out.

[00:03:11] Jolene: That’s true. You did. I appreciate that. You just know how to lead a person through the launching of their product.

[00:03:18] And I felt like the support and, and I feel like you have, you have a good way of making, making a concept into a tangible form when the, at least when I didn’t have like words for all the things you helped me do that. Um, and the other thing that I would recommend is not going back over it again and again and again, but I’ve already said enough about that, about, that’s part of my personality type.

[00:03:40] So, um, like, do it, check the box, move on. Mm-hmm. And mm-hmm. You know, so those are, those are the two things that I would recommend.

[00:03:50] Rene: So tell us, what do you recommend, and it’s either that people do or don’t do, so it doesn’t have to be like, do this, it could be like, just don’t do that. Anything is good.

[00:03:57] Karmen: Yeah. Yeah, so my recommendation is [00:04:00] if you are thinking about creating digital products, think about something that you’re already using.

[00:04:04] Um, for example, if you’re using, uh, Zapier, um, in Zapier you can copy zaps So if you have a Zap that I don’t know, automatically sends an email to a particular folder, and then it replies to someone, you can take that same zap and sell that as your digital, digital product. So just start where you are and start looking at tools that you’re already using, and you probably have some type of template that you’re already using.

[00:04:26] For yourself and your business and other people need that. So, um, just start thinking there is why I said when it comes to creating a digital product and not looking to see what’s on the market, just like what’s useful.

[00:04:37] Rene: Do you just wanna give us your two to three things that you recommend for someone who’s creating their first product?

[00:04:43] Nathan: Yeah, so if you’re thinking about creating a product. Um, for most of us that are, you know, we we’re engaged in our main line of work.

[00:04:53] If you’re doing that at a high level, the chances of you having a lot of time on your hands is probably low, right? So, and one of the, the, the comments I get from people who kind of look in on what I’m doing, and, uh, they always ask like, how are you doing all the things you’re doing?

[00:05:09] Because I’m coaching, I run an agency, I do, uh, I’m hosting iThemes training, uh, I’ve got Monster Contracts. Like how do you do all those things? Mm-hmm. And the, the, the reason that I can do what I’m doing and, and stay sane is there’s alignment. So when you’re thinking about a product, it needs to align with all the rest of the things you’re doing.

[00:05:28] So like for me, and the way that fleshes out for me is my core business is agency work. I, we build and manage WordPress sites for clients. From that work, I’m able to do training on iThemes. I’m able to do coaching from my experience. The product Monster Contracts comes out of my agency contract.

[00:05:47] So as we make changes and learn things in working with clients, it flows uphill to Monster Contracts and so forth. Mm-hmm. So everything is aligned. Like if I was doing one work over here and then had this product in this completely different area, that’s not gonna work. [00:06:00] Like, I’m gonna go crazy with that.

[00:06:01] Yeah. So, but if you can keep everything aligned, then you know, your chances of being successful are greater. Mm-hmm. Um, the other thing I would suggest for people who are thinking about a digital product is, you know, and maybe what that product ought to be is like, look at what you’re doing. What is the secret sauce?

[00:06:19] Like, what is the thing you do really, really well? And then how can you train others or help others? How can you productize that thing? Like for me, uh, one of the things we do really well in our agency is manage clients. Right. You know, and not from a project management perspective and more like an emotional intelligence, you know, working, building a system that kind of helps keep clients flowing and moving and informed and, you know, feeling in the loop and communicated with.

[00:06:47] And so from that little bit of secret sauce, I built a talk. I wrote the book, I’m doing some coaching, and we’ve got this contract. That’s the rules of the road for keeping these projects in line. So that’s the secret sauce of the agency, is this contract and all the systems that are contained in it. And so we productize that and it works.

[00:07:05] Mm-hmm. It’s easier to market a product where there’s authenticity behind it. Like I can stand behind Monster Contracts and say like, I’m in this world. I’m neck deep in client work. I know this product will keep you safe from your clients because it works for me.

[00:07:19] Mm-hmm. And so you can speak with authority and have authenticity, and there’s not any, you know, fluffy sales language really, it’s necessary. Right. Because you’re speaking from truth in your own experience. So mm-hmm. That’s what I would have to say for people who are thinking about building something.

[00:07:32] Rene: So just to kind of recap, and we may or may not have talked about these things, but what two or three things you recommend for someone who’s creating their first product?

[00:07:42] Sara: So I would definitely try to listen to your audience.

[00:07:46] Is there something that you hear people asking you for? Um, I, I’m not sure it works to just say, this is what I wish they all knew because if they don’t identify that as a problem, if that’s not a problem they [00:08:00] actually want to solve, then you’re not gonna be able to sell them a product to solve it. So I think a better way to go at it is if you have an email list, send out a survey asking about their challenges or in some way try to listen really well to what you’re actually being asked for.

[00:08:18] That is something that I would recommend as a step one for anyone creating their first digital product. And then just remember that you need to actively market it. It’s not something you just put on a website and everyone will be so excited to buy it. You have to keep talking about it. You have to make sure that people know that it exists in different ways, whether that’s an email sequence or if it’s just, you know, you tell people about it if they tell you they can’t afford your services mm-hmm. You let them know you have a digital product that’s another offer. Don’t be afraid to really actively market your digital product because you’re probably going to need to tell people about it a few times before you can get them to buy it.

[00:08:58] Rene: So what two to three things do you recommend for somebody who is starting at the beginning? They haven’t done anything yet, but they want to, they have this, they have this sort of pull to it or push to it, however you wanna look at it.

[00:09:11] Paul: There’s three things that I would recommend. Validate, validate, validate.

[00:09:15] Rene: Yes. I like it. That makes sense. Perfect.

[00:09:18] Paul: We, we’ll, we’ll keep that to one. I think validation is, is the most important thing, because as we’ve already said, if nobody wants to buy it, there’s no point in creating it. Mm-hmm. It just becomes a vanity project. Secondly, pre-sale. Always pre-sale. Because if you consider, and if anybody that might not know what pre-selling is, it’s basically if you’ve got an idea and you’ve validated the idea before you start creating that product, sell the idea and sell it to people.

[00:09:42] Get money on board, because that’ll do two things for most people. It will show that there’s a difference between validation and people putting their hand in their pocket. You can get validation that an idea is great, but then when you actually put it out there and you want money for it, you might have a very small uptake.

[00:09:57] Mm-hmm. So if you can validate it, you can pre-sell [00:10:00] it, and then you start to get some income, which incentivizes you to actually create it because people have paid you for that. Mm-hmm. And then finally, don’t ever, ever underestimate the power of your email list from the get-go. As soon as you get a validated idea, build your email list, because that is the thing that’ll help you sell your product better than any adverts, better than any promotion, anything else like that.

[00:10:22] If you can do that, and you can build a list up. It doesn’t have to be a big list. It can be a couple of hundred people. If you’ve got a couple of hundred really engaged people and love what you are gonna put out there, you’ll sell to them so much easier than you will by advertising, doing Facebook ads, Google ads, those kinds of things.

[00:10:39] Mm-hmm. So my three things would definitely be to validate the idea to go ahead and pre-sell it if you can. And finally, to make sure that you have an email list from as early as possible to get people on there that are engaged and interested in your product or the service that you’re looking to put together.

[00:10:53] Rene: What two to three things do you recommend for people who have not yet created anything, any, any first product yet?

[00:11:00] Maybe they just haven’t started or maybe they are stuck somewhere. What would you recommend for them?

[00:11:06] Kay: Okay. Um, first one is do it. You have to do it and get something out in the world in beta format. Beta was a real turning point for me. Mm-hmm. Beta in the sense of much, much cheaper than I was planning to price it.

[00:11:24] Um, but actually out there in the world with a page where people could click it and buy it. Mm-hmm. Because that, that was a turning point for me the day I actually managed to push the button on that. And remember I needed a lot of help. Emotionally, psychologically, even though I knew it was gonna sell.

[00:11:38] Really? Mm-hmm. I still needed a lot of help. So we all need help. Once it was on the page and 10 people had bought it within a couple of hours, so much of the, the, the huge wall disappeared. Mm-hmm. So getting it into beta and then watching what happens and being ready to change your mind about some of the things you thought you were gonna do and the way you were gonna do it, [00:12:00] and just listening and watching the people who are consuming your first digital product. Mm-hmm. Right.

[00:12:06] Rene: Maybe people might also call it like a soft launch. Um, oh yeah. Yeah. I think you mentioned you put a specific number of slots up. Is that how you determine, some people do it on an amount of time or some people might do it maybe another way, like, is, is, did that feel the best to you, like saying, 10 slots, we’re gonna fill these and then we’ll do a regular launch later. Or how does that work specifically?

[00:12:30] Kay: That’s a really good question. Do you know what? I think it was underlying, I think it was cuz I knew that there were, I could probably count at least six people who I knew would definitely buy it.

[00:12:40] Oh great. Cause so it was, it felt safe. Mm-hmm. I think it’s around safety. That number capping for me, for my particular weirdness about selling stuff, capping the numbers felt safe. And I actually did the same when we launched the academy. Um, I had 10 spots and I, and I actually handpicked my academy betas.

[00:13:00] Oh, nice. Because I knew they were so ready for this product. Okay. And I knew that, that we got on and they were the right people to come in and it was gonna work. We, we, when we did the academy launch, we actually, I emailed them individually and invited them and said, I really want you to come into this because I want you to help me make this.

[00:13:18] Mm-hmm. So I don’t know what form it’s gonna take. Um, so the number capping on the academy was more intentional because I knew that 10 to 13 people felt right for that. Mm-hmm. The number capping on the very first product, the deliverability training, I think was just, it was the number I could cope with. Mm-hmm. Emotionally.

[00:13:38] Rene: Right. And then so after those people purchased or you know, signed up, joined, and then you, then it was open for everyone, or then you waited for a specific amount of time?

[00:13:48] Kay: I think we ran it for a month or six weeks. Okay. And then it went to a proper launch. And even then, it wasn’t a launch launch, I, it was a very hidden quiet. A friend of mine [00:14:00] calls it humble mumbling.

[00:14:02] Rene: I like it. Nice.

[00:14:05] Kay: I’ve, I’ve got a course, I’ve got a course. That’s everything. It’s alright. You might wanna buy it. It was very much like that. It was got a humble mumble launch.

[00:14:12] Second thing I think is nobody cares about the images, logos. Nobody cares. I’ve spent ages writing a logo for better engagement and deliverability. One, I’m not a designer. Two, it was a diversionary activity. Three, nobody cares and I never used it. So yeah, don’t get hung up on the looks.

[00:14:32] Rene: That’s a good point of like the things that actually don’t matter, like that you’re, we’re spending time doing the things like, because we think it has to be that way or it has to be done, but nobody, yeah, those things don’t matter. It’s a distraction’s.

[00:14:43] Kay: About the layout of a page. It’s, it’s a, it’s a, a very valid diversionary tactic. Mm-hmm. And you have, I had to bust myself doing that. I was like.

[00:14:52] Rene: It’s sneaky. It’s because you’re like, well, I have to do this for that, you know, how could I not, how could I launch without a logo or, you know, whatever, whatever it is.

[00:15:00] Kay: Yeah. My, my particular pitfall is custom gifs. I’m like, I need a custom gif for that. I’m, in fact I’m doing it right now. I’m trying to build a lead magnet about the, about golden treasures of email. And I busted myself the other day, spending an hour on a custom gif that I still haven’t finished. I was like, damnit, you’re doing it again Peacey.

[00:15:18] Rene: There you are.

[00:15:20] Kay: Yep. Nobody cares. Anyway, that’s number two. Um, and number three is to get the technical help that you need to be able to do that minimum viable product. Mm. Get the help. So even for me, I’m like a highly technical person. Literally, the course was about email marketing and automation, but I had some big holes on the website front that I didn’t know how to do and that were absolutely terrifying.

[00:15:44] Um, and so, I had friends, colleagues, and hired people to fill those gaps, and it’s really important that you do that because otherwise you get bogged down. Mm-hmm. Um, spending all of your time and emotional energy and feeling like it’s all going horribly wrong because you are [00:16:00] fighting something that you are actually not skilled at.

[00:16:02] Rene: Yes. Yeah. You’re not good at, and I’ve, I’ve run into this myself too with, with design, you know, trying to launch things and spending so long on the design and it doesn’t look very good. I could just hire somebody and then it looks amazing.

[00:16:14] Kay: I’m doing the same thing again right now. That same lead magnet.

[00:16:18] I’m like, I’m working on that page and I’m thinking, I shouldn’t be doing this. I should be hiring someone to make this page. Mm-hmm. So these are lessons that I still have to learn and relearn every single time. It just doesn’t go away. Right. Yes. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:16:32] Rene: But maybe you can catch yourself more quickly now.

[00:16:35] Kay: It’s easier.

[00:16:35] Yeah. Like I can bust myself doing this and I have the team around me to, to make it easier. And I, you can see it happening and you’re like, oh yeah, I know I need to do this this time.

[00:16:44] Rene: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I like that sort of that self knowledge, because I feel like you can grow. It’s not an overnight, it’s not a switch, you know?

[00:16:50] We were like, well, I shouldn’t be doing that now. I’m never going to do it again because I caught myself. But it’s a, it’s a quicker realization than next time. I, yeah. It’s quicker you recognize it. Yeah. Yeah. I’m in a rabbit hole. We we’re getting, You don’t fall too far down in.

[00:17:02] Kay: Yeah. And getting, getting the support. The support that I’ve valued most has been from people who are teachers as well.

[00:17:08] So the membership geeks, guys that I talked about, the atomic guys, um, Laura Robinson from Latitude who has helped me with copywriting. She’s the one who says humble mumbling, uh, Melissa Love from the design space, who helps me with, um, my website. You know, these people are teachers as well. They’re the real unicorns in the tech space.

[00:17:29] If you find someone who will not only support you to get through the technical barriers like me with ActiveCampaign, right? Mm-hmm. I’ll support you to get through the ActiveCampaign email marketing automation barriers, but they don’t just do it for you. They’re going to teach you and upskill you.

[00:17:44] Mm-hmm. So, as you progress through having digital product, number one, number two, number three. Going up the scale, your skill base grows and grows and grows. And that’s such a great feeling. It’s enormously empowering.

[00:17:58] Rene: So any other advice that you have for [00:18:00] people who have not created, they haven’t created anything yet? They’re, yeah, just getting started.

[00:18:03] Kristina: Come to The Recurring Revenue Retreat. Yes. Yeah. That’s my other piece of advice in November, end up creating something that creates recurring revenue.

[00:18:10] Mm-hmm. Um, just selling something one off is a lot, a lot of work. Uh, if it’s recurring, well then you’ve done the same amount of work, but it’s going to yield results on a consistent basis. So if you can think of a way to do it as recurring, do that. Mm-hmm. There’s a great book called The Automatic Customer by John Warrillow.

[00:18:29] That is a great book to start with. Um, come to the recurring Revenue retreat in Walt Disney World, uh, in November.

[00:18:36] I would say that’s a great place to start too, to be, if you’re in the, um, if you’re kind of in the web space to begin with. If you’re in marketing or website design or, or graphic design, it’s a great community and you will feel inspired. You will walk out with what you need to do. That’s the whole point of the retreat is to walk out with what you need to do.

[00:18:53] Rene: So, yes. Yeah. Amazing. Yeah, I like that. And I think it’s so important to find these communities that you can be a part of to kind of get that inspiration. We’re a lot of business owners, service providers, we’re, we’re just at home or we’re in our coworking space or whatever, and, you know, we don’t have the benefit of those coworkers necessarily to bounce ideas off of, you know, depending on the size of your team.

[00:19:15] So going to events is so, can be really powerful to, you know, get that inspiration and, and see what other people are doing. And I love that.

[00:19:23] Kristina: It is, it’s so wonderful. It, it is. I, I love my husband, but when I talk about my ideas with him, it just, he’s coming from, from a different world and just doesn’t get it.

[00:19:36] And that’s all I got. Mm-hmm. So, or my 12 year old son, you know, I wanted to write this story and he like, totally trashed. Aw. Like, I’m not. I’m not going with any of your guys’ advice anymore. Yes. Yeah. So yes, it’s a hundred percent getting in, getting in with like-minded individuals Yes. Is what I call it.

[00:19:55] Mm-hmm. Because it not, doesn’t have to be in the same thing that you do. It’s just like-minded. Mm-hmm. They’re [00:20:00] entrepreneurs, they get it. They, they understand the product ums needs and what you, what you need out of it.

[00:20:06] Rene: There are people out there who have not created a product. Maybe they want to, maybe they’re reluctant, maybe they’re scared, maybe they just don’t know what to do or don’t know where to start. Any number of things could be happening. What is your advice? Maybe two to three things, um, either to do or not to do, uh, when creating their product.

[00:20:21] Bridget: So I would just follow what I did, you know, do a prototype. That’s what Dysfunctional Love Songs is. It was a prototype, but it was also a passion project. So because it was a passion project, it, it helped me overcome the fear of producing. The fear of publishing is the worst. The fear of publishing is the worst thing to overcome for people with anxiety about creating.

[00:20:51] Like Nike, just do it. Right. But it’s hard. Cause you’re like, Oh, what’s this going to look like, right? Do something that you’re super passionate about first. Then you’re like, oh yeah, I could do this. I could do that. That was how I started with the physical book publishing through, um, Kindle Create. kdp.amazon.com. The other thing is collaborate. I collaborated with Rhonda Negard, and I collaborated with Warren Laine-Naida. You know, many hands makes light work. Yes. The good thing about writing with Warren is we had one Google doc. He’d be like, we could divide and conquer. Like he’s better at SEO.

[00:21:37] I’m better at social media, but we both have input on both. Right. But like you take that chapter, I’ll take this chapter. Okay. Now let’s read it backwards. Okay. You, you put in your comments here, you put it in your comments there. Collaboration is amazing for that.

[00:21:55] And it is, it’s, you have to work with somebody that you trust almost with your soul. I [00:22:00] remember when I was songwriting, my producer, Chris Falson said songwriting with another writer, it is like a marriage. You have to trust that person with your soul because a creator’s soul is, is vulnerable and that’s what makes their products valuable.

[00:22:18] Don’t recreate the wheel. Don’t make your life complicated. Use the thing that makes it work.

[00:22:24] Make it easy because the reason why you’re doing it is to get more people on your website, in your email marketing, in your sales cycle, you know, whatever.

[00:22:36] Rene: Why don’t you give us maybe two to three pieces of advice for people? They have not taken this step yet. They have never maybe created a product.

[00:22:42] Maybe they have a lead magnet, maybe they don’t. So what do you recommend they either do or don’t do? Um, you know, in your words.

[00:22:50] Shawn: Yeah. Okay. This is fun. I’m a courage coach for entrepreneurs so, and creators. So the first thing I’m gonna say is say yes before you’re ready. If you have the idea, don’t hold back and just do it because it takes, you know, I always tell my clients action creates clarity, right?

[00:23:09] Yes. It’s only once you actually take the action that you’re gonna start to know what’s gonna work. Um, you know, same for selling. I always say, you know, try selling it, then you’ll know if it’s gonna work or not. You know, you can put a million free things out there. Mm-hmm. But if you try to put dollars to it, then you’ll know.

[00:23:26] Mm-hmm. It’s different. It’s a, it’s a game changer. Um, follow your joy and your passion. I, you know, I kind of talked about this in the beginning, but you know, what is, what people need. Mm-hmm. You know, you don’t need to do, uh, uh, you know, all these like, millions of data research. You as a service provider, as a consultant, as a freelancer with the experience.

[00:23:47] Mm-hmm. You know what people need. My best work has come from that alone. I had a, a free, um, lead magnet that was a, a challenge. Um, it was called The Rise and [00:24:00] Shine Program. It was a waking up and getting up early kind of program. Okay. And that led to, um, a series of about 25,000 subscribers.

[00:24:10] Um, wow. Over the course of a couple of years. Mm-hmm. So all because I loved mornings and I wanted to share that passion with other people. Mm-hmm. So don’t don’t think that you have to do all this research. You know what people love, you know what people need, and you really need to trust that. Um, and then get support, because support, you know, conversations, ways to talk things through and ask questions is really valuable.

[00:24:40] Um, and you should never create something in a vacuum. Your brain is gonna expand when you have a conversation with somebody who’s asking you the right questions or are you sure that this is the right, you know? Yeah. Like just really kind of helping you walk through things that you’re not able to see mm-hmm.

[00:24:57] Because of your own blockers. Mm-hmm. And you know, your own life experiences or limited experiences.

[00:25:02] Kim: This is supposed to be fun. I, I really believe this, you know, like, I don’t know if it’ll be up there by then since I’m getting back in the video, but I had done a, um, like a manifesto PowerPoint animated to music, like on my YouTube channel, which is just Kim Doyal.

[00:25:17] But it was like, and this was still when I was the WordPress chick, and I literally wrote, if it’s not fun, I’m not doing it. Mm-hmm. And, and I. Don’t get me wrong. There’s plenty of tasks that I don’t, aren’t like woo that was a blast, you know? Yes. There is this element, and I don’t grasp quantum physics or anything, but time is holistic, you know, it expands and contracts, like if you have a list of 52,000 things, you’re gonna, the day is gonna go like this, right?

[00:25:42] Mm-hmm. And, but if I’m like, okay, well I have one more thing to do on my list today, you know, and so I’m like, God, okay. And it’s just you have to enjoy this journey otherwise. Mm-hmm. Like what are your, your point of go get a job then, you know, get a job. Yeah. Um, but I just have fun with it, and I think [00:26:00] be easy about it.

[00:26:00] And if something doesn’t feel right, you have to really be willing to get honest with you, with yourself and say, mm-hmm am I just not willing to do this? Do I not understand it? Mm-hmm. Or, and I’m telling you, having a big goal, I set a huge goal for myself three years from now. I set another one for next fall and totally changed my attitude.

[00:26:22] Mm-hmm. And I, mm-hmm. I have read, I mean, Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy, like all those motivational sales guys right. From the eighties and nineties. Yep. All of them. But for whatever reason and where I’m at in my life and whatever, it resonates with me. I am a consumer of content because it’s fuel for me. I don’t stop and get derailed, but I’m like, to your point, if I can learn one nugget mm-hmm.

[00:26:43] Or something shifts. So you have to find those things that fuel you. And you are supposed to enjoy this. It’s supposed to be fun.

[00:26:49] Rene: Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. So do you have any other advice and maybe a little bit more specific advice for the products? Oh, yes. I mean, those are, those are good pieces of advice.

[00:26:58] Kim: Yes. Um, um, don’t overthink it. I love doing a beta test. Mm-hmm. So I highly mm-hmm. I would do, uh, this is, this is half, this is 50% off because I want your feedback. I’m gonna do it live with you, whatever. I love the beta test because you can then take the language. People will tell you yes.

[00:27:13] You’ll get questions from people. So now all of a sudden you’re like, oh, that’s a good, that could be a headline, right? Mm-hmm. One, I love beta testing. Don’t spend months planning this. Mm-hmm. You’re so much better off. Or create the sales page and see and get it validated. Mm-hmm. You know, I did this with a friend recently.

[00:27:28] We had like one person buy, we’re like, let’s let, we’re done. Like, we’re not gonna create this thing now. It didn’t work. Mm-hmm. It depends. Like I have enough stuff with like email that I know that it’s all validated, so if I wanted to pivot it, I could. Mm-hmm. And the other piece really is learn how to write well for the web under mm-hmm.

[00:27:44] Pay attention to copywriting, pay attention to sales. You have to be able to market and sell your stuff. Mm-hmm. Because there’s, there’s way more crappy products out there by people who know how to sell. Than there are amazing products than people who don’t know how to sell because they don’t ever see [00:28:00] the light of day because they already didn’t get in front of enough people.

[00:28:02] Mm-hmm. You know, you, and you have to be able to, to ask for the sale. So pull the trigger. Don’t overthink it. Especially when you do the beta, people aren’t expecting Yes. Massive polish, right? Mm-hmm. Like you can use Google Docs and just Zoom and you’re good to go. Mm-hmm. Um, and, but if, and then writing, learn to write copy, email.

[00:28:21] Email is the one traffic channel you own. It should be a priority to learn how to sell with email. A hundred percent.

[00:28:27] Rene: So what two to three things do you recommend for someone creating their first product? It could even be their second product, what you did or didn’t do that you would do differently next time? Any advice for people?

[00:28:40] Angela: Yeah., As a business owner with a digital product, don’t be afraid to explore both paths to affiliate marketing. I think probably 75% of the people that I work with automatically only think of becoming an affiliate. But don’t forget that if you want to kind of expand your offer, to new audiences.

[00:29:02] Launching an affiliate program could really help too. And again, set expectations. It doesn’t necessarily mean that your $47 digital product is going to earn you, you know, millions on the first go round, but it can sure help with expanding brand awareness and expanding your reach pretty quickly, um, because we’re utilizing other people’s warm audiences.

[00:29:24] So, um, I think don’t be afraid to explore both sides of it is probably, um, my main advice.

[00:29:32] Because that’s great for audience building. I, I think that we kind of discount this, especially in that first product where the first product, like the goal isn’t necessarily to make a million dollars, right?

[00:29:42] Like, I mean, that’d be nice, but you know, the goal to expand your audience, the goal to get the word out there, the goal to create more content. The goal to just have something that you can sell ongoing, you know, beyond the launch. I think those are all really great markers and things to look for. [00:30:00] Other than just a specific number of sales in a specific amount of time.

[00:30:04] Agreed. Agreed. Yeah. And secondly, I think we’ve touched on this a little bit, but it’s kind of an all encompassing, like set realistic expectations for yourself knowing that you are a business owner that’s going to have your business for a long time. So, don’t be in, you know, any sort of rush to get your program, your affiliate program like launched and maybe making a ton of money for you right away, knowing that this can be a slow build and, um, it can work really well.

[00:30:33] Even just the power of five affiliates in your first launch. Imagine each of your five affiliates has access to their whole audiences. That could be just a monumental increase in, in awareness and increase in, um, success with your digital product launch.

[00:30:51] Rene: So do you have some advice for us? So for people who have not created anything, so no courses, no templates, no guides, nothing. But they are thinking that this is something that they may want to do.

[00:31:02] Do you have some advice on what maybe you’re glad that you did or what you wish you would’ve done differently or, You know, anything really.

[00:31:09] Maggie: I do think you touched on it with the different audiences, but I think that, it can be really helpful to when you’re considering creating something as you’re going about your work, to come to it with a.

[00:31:27] Curiosity of where might there be aspects of what I’m doing or how I’m working and how could I help support my clients in this process. So it’s that, I think of them as like the half step. Things. So if I were to offer this to my clients, how could they be one like a little bit closer to being prepared to actually work with me?

[00:31:51] Okay. Yeah. Mm-hmm. So you can think about like what are those points in your process? So that can be something. I mean, I [00:32:00] would also say give yourself more time than you think you need.

[00:32:03] Rene: Yes. Right. Things come up, things that you don’t know. Things come up related to it. And, you know, outside of.

[00:32:12] Maggie: Yeah, because I think that the actual creation part can sometimes go fairly smoothly, but what I’ve seen over and over is that.

[00:32:24] There is often a challenge when it comes time to actually sharing it. Mm-hmm. So it seems like a lot of folks will have it all ready And then there are a lot of mental blocks around the visibility of being seen Yes. And actually putting it out there.

[00:32:39] Rene: Yes, yes. Whispering from the rooftops, like, Hey, I have a product.

[00:32:43] And you’re like, what? And like the one time. It’s a different sort of marketing than with your services. Like, it’s a different way of sharing. So yes, I’ve seen that too.

[00:32:53] Maggie: Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, I think it’s time. I think it’s also giving yourself time for that and also extending yourself a lot of grace, because if you haven’t done this in quite this way before, it’s.

[00:33:08] Yeah, it is new and fresh and you know, I think like even case in point with me where, I was trying so hard to really like force this other thing mm-hmm. With this blog post that just recently went out. And then finally it’s like I had to allow that. To, to go away. Mm-hmm. Right. So I think that also a piece of advice is just allowing yourself to have regular points of checking in with yourself mm-hmm.

[00:33:34] In the process. Just to touch back with, does this feel aligned. Is this becoming some sort of should or obligation? Where can I invite in more ease into the process? And allow yourself to morph the original idea. Mm-hmm. Like allow it to evolve. Yes. With you [00:34:00] and your current energetic capacity and your current life circumstances.

[00:34:04] I think that that’s really important to not be beholden to mm-hmm. A rigid structure or timeline just because it’s what you created at the onset.

[00:34:13] Rene: If you get feedback along the way from anybody that you may have reached out to like, yeah.

[00:34:19] Making a change. Just because like you think the product should be a certain way, doesn’t necessarily mean that that’s like what the audience needs. So if you do seek that feedback out, being willing to change course or change direction slightly to accommodate, because really like mm-hmm.

[00:34:33] If, if the goal is to help people, sometimes getting that feedback is good. Mm-hmm. And I, I’m a fan of a, a timeline. Just because I think that a lot of times we just keep pushing this off. You know, it’s, it is important but not urgent. So I’m a fan of a timeline, but yeah, not to the detriment of like your sanity or you know, your, your life.

[00:34:52] So kind of like a, a guideline of I would like to have it done by x date. But you know, allowing yourself some wiggle room in there too. Like just, I guess maybe the, the point being like, don’t just keep putting it off forever. It will feel good to get it done. Like you’ll feel good afterwards, so.

[00:35:08] Maggie: Sure. Yeah.

[00:35:10] And I think to whatever extent it allows, You know, having accountability can be really mm-hmm. Helpful too. So whether that is just having a peer that’s supporting you on the journey, checking in, or if it’s having someone that’s actually supporting you and creating a component of mm-hmm. The content or getting it out there can be super helpful too.

[00:35:32] Rene: So anything else you wanna tell us about this product and or do you wanna just give us your advice on people creating their first or second or third products?

[00:35:42] Kathleen: Let’s see. So if you want to build your email list, there is still no better way than to create an online quiz. You can go through my funnel, that’s fine.

[00:35:52] You don’t have to. But create a quiz if you wanna grow your email list. Plain and simple. Buzzfeed has it right. If you don’t have [00:36:00] Buzzfeed’s business model, then don’t do one of those generic quizzes. I, but when you’re creating a digital product, make sure it solves a narrow problem and when you can solve that problem with a digital product.

[00:36:17] Ask what’s next? And that will help you build the other pieces of your funnel. So once they solve this narrow problem, what else do they need to do?

[00:36:26] Rene: And that’s everything I have for you for season two. I am so excited that you have been here with me for seasons one and two. And I hope to see you again in season three. If you have enjoyed the show, if you found any value from it, please share it with a friend and or if you’d love to leave a review, that would be fantastic. Thanks so much and see you soon.

[00:36:45] Hey, thanks for listening. I’d love to continue the conversation in your inbox. Email SUBSCRIBE to hey at yfdp.show or sign up in the show notes to get bimonthly emails about how you can create, launch, and market your first digital product. Can’t wait to see you there.