Deciding to create a digital download product like a template, guide, or done-with-you training can be incredibly exciting. However, the entire experience can seem a bit intimidating at first. You have the talent, you have the skills, and you have the motivation — now all you need is your product. How will you package your services or expertise in a way that serves your audience in a new way?

Whether you want to create your first digital product or want to revamp an existing one the process is simple: start from the ground up. It’s tempting to just jump in, but with a little bit of preparation, creating your first digital product can be incredibly rewarding. To have your products pay dividends down the line, make sure to take the time and start with the basics.

Choose your niche

Your first instinct may be to appeal to as many people as possible with your new digital product — it’s so accessible for so many! — but you actually want to do the opposite. Trying to create a digital product that attracts everyone means that the people you can really help won’t find you. For example, what do you think hits closer to home with a specific audience: “small business owner” or “female online business owner”? Probably the latter, if your ideal clients are female online business owners (rather than brick-and-mortar small business owners).

Some niches may be more saturated than others but, by streamlining your focus, your digital product will resonate more strongly with the audience you actually want to reach. Don’t be afraid to be specific! Whatever niche you’re serving, you need to be an expert at it, and it needs to be something you are passionate about. If you’ve been working as a service provider this whole time, your niche is probably already pretty clear! If you haven’t been, definitely spend some more time digging into this.

You want to specially curate who you are going to market your digital product to. Who could benefit from your expertise in particular? Who are the type of people you want to help? Make sure to have a clear idea of your demographics (age, gender, geography, etc.), their needs, and their preferred communication styles.

Your experience and your expertise are assets — make sure to make the most of them!

Need a guide to make sure you cover all your bases to create your first digital product? Check out my FREE Ultimate Product Creation Guide. It has everything you need to find your idea, your audience, and your product!

Find the pain point

Once you find your target audience, now you need to identify a specific pain point that your target audience experiences, like needing social media templates, for example, or a specific solution that they need, like needing to know how to do their taxes in less than an hour because they’re super busy.

This is where getting specific comes in handy. You know these people — what they struggle with, where they need the most help, what their goals generally are. You want your digital product to be immediately relevant to their day-to-day activities.

At the end of the day, you’re not just marketing a product. You are marketing a way for them to achieve a particular experience, like becoming the influencer with easy and beautiful social media posts, or becoming the type of business owner who never has to worry about their taxes.

If you don’t know what paint point to start with, don’t panic! Sometimes, you need to go directly to the source.  Poll your audience if you’re not sure, or interview an ideal client!

Design your digital product with purpose

Now here comes the fun part! Once you know who your target audience is and what they really need from you, you can start designing your digital product accordingly. Don’t fall down the rabbit hole or over-complicate it. You want to present your audience with just enough information to help them solve their pain point, and make it actionable (aka immediately applicable).

Some great digital product options include:

• Templates
  • These could be graphic templates, captions, or even scheduling calendars. I’ve seen social media managers, project managers, copywriters, and even web designers use templates to their advantage! Heck, we even use them over at The Contract Shop®.
• Educational or actionable checklists
  • Checklists can help people ensure they have a holistic overview of everything they need for a project, or to make sure they cover all their bases if they’re DIYing something.
• Audio trainings
  • Similar to online courses, podcasts (or other audio courses) are great for entrepreneurs on-the-go. You can create guided audio exercises, meditations, etc.
• … and more. Watch this video to see me share about a dozen other fun digital product ideas!

Remember, your digital product doesn’t have to solve all of your client’s problems — that’s what courses are for. With a digital download product, you just need to solve one problem. Offer a single solution at a time and make it easy to use. It’s that simple.

Share your product strategically

So now you have an idea or a plan for your first digital product — congratulations! Now, you have to get it to your audience. This can be the tricky part, but luckily for you, you’ve done your research.

You know your audience’s needs and industry standards; you also know how your product will immediately make their lives better. Determine how much to charge for your product and make sure it reflects the value that you know it has. (You want to make your digital products accessible to folks who can’t work with you 1:1, but don’t undercut yourself!)

Then, use your audience knowledge to your advantage. You know how your audience connects — is it Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, email? Will they respond better to snappy text or a well-polished video? 

There may be some trial-and-error in this at first, and that’s okay! You can create a marketing process that’s super low-key at first to test how your product does. This is also where creating a strong brand comes in — so that all your efforts to grow your digital product sales pay off!

Learn from experts

Your first digital product is now live! That wasn’t too painful, right? Well, if you want to keep building your business, you’ll need to know how to do so. It’s always best to work with someone who has been in your shoes and knows the path — or multiple paths – forward.

If you want to learn more about creating digital products or learn how to improve your existing ones, don’t just look to online shop pros. A physical shop and a digital download shop are very different. So be sure to find a coach or expert who understands digital products, your audience, and/or your particular niche. For free advice from the person who coined the term dCommerce™, check out my Youtube channel for more helpful tips and stories to keep building your online business!