Wondering what to sell?

Digital products are my go-to money makers, and I know more than a few product ideas that can help you generate the income you want.

But how do we even know what digital product to create?

Launching products people actually want to buy takes time and strategic effort. I mean really, google your passion and add “course” to the end of it and see just how many people are teaching on the same or similar topics as you. 

What’s going to make your digital product stand out?

What’s going to make your online course worth taking?

So, in this post I’ll want to walk you through 3 questions you will want to answer before you create your first (or next) digital product:

1. Will your product fulfiull an undeniable need? and for whom?
2. Will your product be something people will pay for?
3. Will your product be different enough for people to take notice?

Let’s dive in.

01. IDENTIFY THE UNDENIABLE NEED YOU’LL SOLVE (SATISFY)

Passion can only take you so far.

You have to solve a problem, satisfy a need and most importantly ARTICULATE to your audience that YOU are the one who can do it!

Now I am going to keep it all the way real.

No matter what type of product you create, the only thing your audience wants to know is, “Will this satisfy my need?”  

That’s it.

If your product solves a problem, people will buy it. Period. Think about it. Everything you buy solves a problem or satisfies a need. Your morning chai makes you happy, that new course you invested in provides you with the skills to achieve a specific goal and that new Louis Vuitton purse makes you feel like a BOSS. We buy things that solve problems or satisfy a need, no matter how much or little they cost.  

So how do you know what people need? Let’s talk about it…

If you already have an audience:

If you already have social media followers, email list subscribers, or a blog community, send a quick email with a link to a survey. Even if your audience is tiny, a survey is a great way to get feedback and ideas from them. You can create a simple, no-cost survey with tools like Google Forms, SurveyMonkey or Typeform.  

The most important question to ask in your survey is:  “What’s the #1 challenge you are having with XYZ…” (where XYZ is your niche or area of knowledge)

The reason we ask them what they’re struggling with rather than asking what they want us to create a product on is because people don’t know what they want…but they do know what they DON’T want. So, they can easily identify what they’re struggling with, but it’s hard for them to know what they need in order get out of that struggle.

You can also ask them personally. If you have peeps who comment on your social media posts, or leave comments on your blog ask them if you can shoot them an email or give them a call on Skype to ask them a few questions so you can really begin to hone in on the specific problems and challenges they face and how you can help them.

If you don’t have an audience or it’s itty bitty:

Find Facebook groups where your ideal audience hangs out. If you are not sure where to find these groups hop on Google and do a search using the phrase “Facebook group” along with a word or phrase to describe your niche. Here’s an example: 

02. IDENTIFY THE TYPE OF PRODUCT YOU WANT TO CREATE 

All info products are not created equal. Some require more time, more effort to put together and more money to deliver.  So I want to share with you the different types of info-products you can create so you can choose which options are best for you and your audience.   

Here are some of my absolute faves:

E-book | Comfort Level: Beginner :

Ebooks are low-cost, quick to create, and easy to sell. There is nothing to manufacture or ship, no inventory to store, and once you create your ebook, you can sell it over and over again. Each time I sell an ebook I may pay a small credit card transaction fee, but other than that there are no additional costs associated with each sale.

Will you make a million bucks selling ebooks? Probably not? How much you make from selling your ebook depends on a number of things, including the niche you’re in, your target audience, the demand for the type of information you’re providing, how well you execute your marketing and promotional strategies, the quality of the ebook you launch, and the price.

Some will argue that you can spend the same amount of time putting together an $27 ebook as you could to create a $197 ecourse. But, not everyone wants to create a course. Not everyone feels comfortable speaking or creating videos. Which is okay! And that is why ebooks are a great way to get your feet wet. Plus, I also think it’s a smart idea to have some lower ticket product offerings for potential customers. It’s gives people an opportunity to “taste test” your products with little to no risk and there may be times when your audience just can’t afford an e-course. Having options ensures you don’t price yourself out of your market.

So, if an ebook right for you?

An ebook is the way to go if:

• You want to create a product for FREE
• You want to create a product QUICKLY
• You want to create a product lots of people can get ACCESS (price-wise)
• You want to create a product that’s PASSIVE (meaning you create your product once, and sell to an unlimited number of people).

An ebook is NOT the way to go if:

• You want to create a product that doesn’t require a lot of WRITING
• You want to create a product that has a HIGHER PRICE POINT
• You want to create a product that doesn’t require a HIGH VOLUME of people

E-course | Experience Level: Intermediate

Now personally, I think e-courses are the best way to your package your passion and establish yourself as a BOSS-certified leader and authority in your niche. 

So what’s an e-course exactly?

An e-course can be delivered in any number of ways, but in a nutshell, an e-course pulls together videos, PDFs in the form of checklists, actions sheets, and workbooks, and even audio, that you use to share whatever it is you are teaching. 

Everyone loves a good e-course and online courses are more popular than ever. It’s a great way to serve others, build a reputable brand, and build a significant income online. In fact, 90% of my profits comes for e-courses.

But here’s where people mess up when it comes to e-courses.

• They spend tons of time and energy creating an e-course they love but their audience may or may not need or want (it’s not about you boo!)  
• They make their very first offering some ginormous, expensive e-course. 
• They don’t properly promote the very thing they poured so much time, effort and love into (it’s like having a baby, then saying, now go take care of yourself!)

So an e-course is  the way to go if:

• You want to create a product that doesn’t require a HUGE INVESTMENT
• You want to create a product where you can charge a HIGHER PRICE POINT (helping you hit your profits goals quicker and with less people)
• You want to create a product that’s PASSIVE (meaning you create your product once, and sell to an unlimited number of people).

An e-course is NOT the way to go if:

• You want to create a product that doesn’t require you to have a huge audience (because of the higher price point, it’s best to have an email list or community of people to sell to)
• You want to create a product that you can whip out in a weekend (great e-courses take weeks and even months to create)

If you are thinking about an e-course, I recommend launching with a reasonably affordable course with a price point around $100 (like $97). At this price point, you can still expect a decent amount of conversions and if your e-course is good, customers are more likely to purchase other offerings (higher priced offerings) in the future. Plus, a $97 e-course is something you can package up and start promoting pretty quickly – like in a matter of a few weeks. 

Membership site | Experience Level: Intermediate to Advanced

So, if and when you’re ready to uplevel your info-product game,  a membership site will be you next step.

A membership site is usually based on some sort of subscription or recurring fee. So, people may pay a monthly or yearly fee to get access to new content every month.

The main benefit is that it gives you a recurring income. You get paid each and every month for as long as the person remains a member of your site. One subscriber paying you $27 a month is worth $324 to you over the course of a single year, and here is the best part – you know exactly how much money you’ll be bringing in each month based on how many members you have.  

Sounds pretty cool huh? Well, what goes into a membership site? Well it really depends on your niche. If your membership program is about weight loss and healthy living, then you could release a new set of exercise videos and healthy meal plans each month. If your program is for yoga enthusiasts, you could teach a new set of poses and guided meditations each month. 

 A Membership site is the way to go if:

• You want to launch content in smaller (more manageable) amounts, over a longer period of time vs spending a lot of time creating an ebook or e-course upfront (which can be more stressful for some people). 
• You want to create a product that allows you to add a community aspect to it and build a very strong relationship with your members.
•  You want to create a product lots of people can get ACCESS (price-wise)
• You want to create a product that provides MONTHLY RECURRING INCOME.
• You want to create a product that is attractive to affiliates. Members can promote your product for the chance to earn their own recurring income.

 A Membership site is NOT the way to go if:

• You get freaked out every time someone cancels or unsubscribes. 
• You don’t want to feel obligated to create new content every single month.
• The thought of have lots of people to make a significant income scares you. You need people to make this work and in the beginning because you are only charging on average between $10 – $47/month,  if you only have a few members for the first few months, you could be doing a lot of work with little return. 

Now, are these the only types of info products you can create? Absolutely not! In fact, here a list of 24 products you can dig into to monetize your biz + blog. But, there reason I chose these 3, is because in my opinion, these are the most promising when it comes to balancing your time, energy and resources to create a high-return, high-reward info product that give you the most profit-potential!

03. IDENTIFY HOW YOUR PRODUCT WILL BE DIFFERENT 

Digital divas know how to position their products in ways that are unique and helps them stand out from the crowd.

Will you be the only person in your niche creating products on such -and-such topic?

Heck nay!

But you will be the only one delivering that content in a way only YOU can.

What makes you different, is what brings the dollars!

So, how well you differentiate yourself can dictate what you charge, that caliber of people you get to work with and more.

Once you have a vision of what kind of product you want to create and have a clear idea of what you want your brand to be, you need to start getting creative. Don’t be like everyone else who uses the same old marketing approach. Do things differently, even if it means standing on an island by yourself. If what you’re doing brings value, then people will swim to shore!

What makes being innovative so cool is that once your competition takes notice of how different you are and how outside the box you are, you’ll already have a choke hold on the market and your business will have momentum that‘ll be unstoppable.

Steve Jobs once said, “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”

If you make a conscious effort to be different, to be innovative, to stand out and to run your business like a business, you’ll be a beast!

Nowadays, your brand is EVERYTHING and to be effective as a business owner you have to set yourself apart from the crowd. You, your message and your products have to be unforgettable (in a good way!). This means that no matter what you do or what you sell, your brand has to reflect who you are.

Your brand’s fingerprint needs to be on everything you do. From your website to your tone and style, to the way you treat your clients and market to them. It’s even in the clothes you wear.

If you need help finding the unique brand magic that needs to be infused in your digital products, here are a few questions to help you out:

• What vision do I have for my business and brand?
• How can I differentiate myself from everyone else in my industry?
• What are my strengths and how can I use them to stand out?
• How does my market perceive me right now and how do I want them to perceive me in the future?
• What would I love people to say when they tell someone else about me?
• How do I want people to feel when they see or engage with my brand?

So there we have it. Today I challenge you to figure out what excites you the most? Maybe even above the money part, creating a product you can talk about again and again and again is important. You want to love what you create. Plus, having passion for your digital product keeps you committed.

NEXT STEPS: 

• Figure out which product you want to create.
• Figure out which product you can create. (Do you have to skill set, knowledge, and resources to make it happen?)
• Figure out which product will help you reach your biz + blog profit goals the fastest.
• Figure out which product would be the best fit for your audience (how do they like to learn? Are the readers, watchers or listeners?)
• Figure out which one can you get started on in the next week.
• If you need prompts that will . give you ideas on how to promote your information products, download my Business Clarity Worksheet to help you work through the process. (it’s free!)
• Once you’ve decided on the direction you want to go (or maybe you are still undecided and need some help), run it by the ladies in the WomanpreneuHER FB group for feedback!
• Commit to your digital product idea and become a master at promoting it!

Now you have ZERO excuses!

It’s time to #womanup!

xoxo

Andrea | Creator of WomanpreneuHER university

P.S. Whenever you’re ready, here are two ways I can help you…

1. WomanpreneuHER University. WU is an on-demand, training site exclusively for female entrepreneurs who are ready to make their mark in the world and build a profitable six – or even seven figure business, HER way.

Please get on the WomanpreneuHER University waitlist here. We’ll be launching soon and you do not want to miss out!

2. Join my free FB + IG communities. Just in case you need a little extra support (and I’m not talking about your bra, honey!) Request to join the . WomanpreneuHER Community on Facebook HERE and the Instagram community HERE.

READY TO BUILD, BRAND + MAKE BANK!

Make sure you grab your FREE WomanpreneuHER’S Business Blueprint which has all the tools you need to turn your dream business into a digital empire. And remember, I am always here to help you crush your goals. If you have questions, make sure to post them below.