Digital products have HUGE potential but, unfortunately, not every product creator finds success. What makes the difference between a successful digital product and one that, well, flops? If you are hesitant to jump in, or if you’ve been burned by a lackluster product sale before, these 4 digital product mistakes might help.

Common mistakes I see when people try to sell digital products

You can sell a digital product for practically any industry, from a business of any size. They’re pretty handy that way! However, everyone is prone to these top 4 pitfalls when creating a digital product. 

Mistake #1: Watching your competitors too closely

When you are thinking about setting up a digital product shop, it’s pretty common to look at other leaders in your industry to see what they offer. To be fair, you can glean a lot of info from this type of research. The problem comes in when you try to mimic their product to a T in order to try and replicate their success. 

Don’t get me wrong: your product may be very similar. (You’re helping a similar audience, after all!) However, some digital product creators tend to get stuck on the products that have seen great success for their competitors.

Just because one person has achieved amazing success with one certain type of product DOES NOT mean you will have the same success with that same product. You want to bring your own spin to your product, to best highlight what YOU (not your competitor) has to offer. 

Mistake #2: Creating products that don’t excite you

Have you ever read something that the author clearly wasn’t passionate about? It’s a slog to get through, and trust me, that’s even WORSE when you’re the one creating it!

It’s tempting to only make products that make the most “sense” to make (or that the most people will buy), but try not to turn your product creation process into a mathematical equation. You want to make products that excite you!

Don’t get me wrong, it’ll still be hard work, but that hard work is WAY easier when you actually like the thing you’re making. The digital products you create should make you feel proud, show how passionate you are about your product, and should ultimately make you feel confident selling the digital product you created.

Mistake #3: Not actively promoting your product 

It’s a tale as old as time (or at least, as old as the internet): you finish making your product, and once you hit publish, you sit back and wait for the buyers to roll in and love it as much as you do. 

And then they…don’t. 

Does that mean your product is a dud? Of course not! You just need to take the next step: promotion. Your audience needs a little nudge to get as excited about your product as you are. (And if you need any tips on how to get started, learn how to promote your digital products.)

Mistake #4: Beating yourself up if your product isn’t successful right away

We tend to get attached to our digital product babies. We put all of this hard work into it so, when they don’t take off as we expect, it’s tempting to wonder if we’re the problem. 

Take it from me: it is OKAY to not be successful away with selling your digital product! Trust me, I love digital products (obviously, if you’ve been keeping with us the last few weeks!), but they take some fiddling and finesse to nail down your unique process. 

Selling a digital product takes a lot of time, energy, and persistence. Keep tweaking your approach, do your research, and don’t take the “failures” personally! Everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) goes through this same trial-and-error phase. 

Your product can be the best on the market and still not take off right away. Just make sure the goals you set are realistic, and use the lessons learned to improve your next launch!

It’s to create digital products that make you proud (and SELL)

Does all this mean that you shouldn’t be ambitious when creating digital products? Of course not! Your ambition is one of your greatest assets for your digital product shop.

Just remember that you’re not likely to go from 0 to 60 right away; your digital product shop will require your own unique approach, which will take time to learn. Don’t base your initial success on making X amounts in X months; even when sales don’t explode right away, you can still get a lot out of each and every launch!

Still looking for how to do this the right way? Check out my Youtube channel, where we take you through the digital product creation process from start to finish!