Oh my, oh my… OMG. Some of my first digital products were so embarrassing, yet I still made some money off of them.
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I recorded one-take movies in Photo Booth on my MacBook, sent out nurture emails manually, and kept track of leads and clients in an Excel sheet.
No need to tell you this is not the way I would go about doing this again.
But hey, with a ton of new systems to use for creating your first digital product, you have everything right in front of you to start with your own digital products.
Before you start, I want to share what you should and shouldn't do when you want to start making money online.
I will share 4 strategies to get you off to a good start and avoid making some of the same mistakes I made when creating my first digital product (trust me, I didn't get it right from the beginning).
#1 Focus on solving only ONE problem
When I created my first course, I thought I had to fix all of my customers' problems at once.
Does this sound familiar to you? You have this idea or service, and you want to share everything, right? You want to show potential customers what a smart cookie you are.
I was the exact same way, but oh boy, I was wrong.
Back when I created my first digital product, I was a fitness coach and wanted to cover literally everything on that topic: nutrition, mindset, weight training, cardio, equipment, and so on.
I was making it way too difficult for myself.
Instead, focus on solving ONE problem. Your first digital product doesn't have to be perfect.
Think about it like this: you don't need to go from A-Z in your digital offer, but start by focusing on solving B-C.
Pick one topic, one problem to solve.
For instance, don't create a complete guide or training on how to fix a diet, but instead, focus on fixing one type of meal: lunch for people who work in an office and can't access a kitchen at work.
Generally, make sure the topic you pick is something
- That solves people's needs or desires.
- You're really good at, love and know how to explain well.
- People want to pay for.
If you're feeling stuck and don't know how to move forward, feel free to check out our other resource about starting your passive income: Start Your Passive Income.
#2 Learn from feedback to make your offer even better
“I'm afraid my product isn't good enough.”
Do you recognize this little voice inside your head?
Don't let it stop you. Get your product out there. Chances are it will not be good enough the first time, but it doesn't matter. You will mess up, but it's another chance you get to improve your product even more.
I change my programs every time people go through them. I changed the Business Freedom Mastermind™️ FOUR times!
It's only by getting your product out there that you can make it better. Learn from feedback, and make it even better. This way of working is called iterative development, and it's the cornerstone of how I run both FastForwardAmy and Alphawomen.
There's not a single tipping point that's going to make your offer better. It will happen gradually as you continuously improve.
Don't let fear of failure stop you. Instead, be open to whatever feedback comes your way and look at it as a way to get paid to make your product better.
#3 Kill your offer or reuse it in a different format
As I recorded my first videos in PhotoBooth, I remember how I envied Marie Forleo for her professional-looking videos. She had a full-blown team to shoot beautiful videos.
I wanted everything to be that perfect, too. But that's rarely how most entrepreneurs get it when they start.
Instead, focus on making your first offer “good enough” and get it out there. Don't get held back by perfectionism and wanting every detail to be planned and perfect.
Your first offer isn't going to be around for 5 years anyway, so get it out there, and you can kill it later on.
Remember, you're always in charge, you're the boss, and if you look at your product 6 or 12 months down the road and don't like it anymore, you can do two things: 1) kill it, or 2) improve and reuse it in a different format.
Perhaps you still like your product, but notice that everything is running too smoothly. Well, that's a sign it's time to level up and kill your darlings despite people raving about it.
Maybe you're also interested in this: Money Management: My Biggest 4 Personal Finance Lessons
#4 Don't waste too much time on setting up a f**king website
Truth bomb: you don't even need a website to start your business!
What you need is a way for people to pay you and deliver your product. Boom, that's it. Don't get stuck because you think you need a website. You don't.
I wasted SO MUCH time researching WordPress themes, when all I needed was to set up a digital shop. If you can use apps on your phone, you can also easily set up a digital shop.
I use Shopify, and within an hour, you can set up a quick shop linked to online payment providers. It's really that easy.
But even without Shopify, you can make your first profit online. For example, you can work with regular bank transfers or mobile pay. Ask customers to send a screenshot of the payment and send the product.
Sure, if you suddenly have 30 orders in a day and you can't keep up with the manual technicalities, then that's a f**king good problem, and you may need to look into setting up that shop or pay someone to do it for you and automate things.
Remember: the only two things you should be focused on to start your business are 1) a way for people to pay you and 2) a way to deliver the product.
Spend your time on attracting clients instead of perfecting your shop.
Perfection doesn't exist in business. You will always learn and improve. Everyone started with 0 followers and sales at some point, so what you've got to do is START.
Start with your first sales and focus on that, and before you know it, you'll be making money on autopilot with your digital product.
Watch this episode on YouTube or listen via iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts, and search for episode 79 of The FastForwardAmy Show.
P.S. Summer's almost here, so it's the perfect time to talk about moving forward, investing in yourself and your business.
But first and foremost let’s talk about taking action.
Do you want to learn to make more money without necessarily working harder?
Then it’s time to talk about your online business!
On Monday July 14th at 5PM I am hosting a free online webinar: Design Your Online Business about going online with your offline business as well as starting a new online business. This webinar is worth €199 but you’ll get it for free! But be quick: there are only 500 seats available in this live webinar (no replay). Book your seat now via www.fastforwardamy.com/designobw.
You’ll learn:
- Identify the 3 most common mistakes that cause online entrepreneurs to not make profit from their online products, and how to prevent them
- What kind of products and prices you need for your business model
- What the right income staircase for your (new) online business is
In a nutshell: every lesson I’ve learned while building my business so you can get it right the first time around!
It’s time to take action and just go for it! Register now through www.fastforwardamy.com/designobw and get your seat!
We do not take any responsibility for the financial decisions or any other business-related decisions made by listeners/businesses based on our podcast content. Every business has its own specifics, which we cannot take into account in this podcast.
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