There is an evolution or shall I say “growth journey” when starting a digital product business.
We know if it’s digital it’s online, and if you didn’t know, now you know.
A digital product business can also be considered an online business, since the majority of transactions will be taking place digitally.
And as with everything else in life, there are developmental stages one must go through. You’re not going to jump from 0 – 1000 overnight (and for those that do, those are exceptions not the rule).
Each level during this journey will need it’s own set of skills and experiences which ultimately gives the results.
At level 1, a creator can’t send out an email blast and make $50k on demand, like if they were at level 3 in the game.
Nor can they DM folks and expect to get a response back or have the freedom to disappear from work for 3 months because they don’t have the enough clients to serve at that level.
In order to develop yourself and your digital product empire, you have to consistently push the boundaries of what you know. “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing” – Socrates.
Note: What I’m about to mention isn’t hard-set rules. They come from own experience and knowledge based on this topic. And, it mainly applies to those who are running business alone as a solopreneur and who hasn’t seen the level of success they want as of yet.
Level 1 (Low Leverage)
This is where every new digital product creator starts, who have never done this before or who are new to the game.
When looking at others you follow, you may see their large audiences and get discouraged. You think you can’t grow to be that large. But, social media is a “skill” and can be learned just like anything else. You need to practice and be persistent with it.
Here’s what to focus on:
High Performing Content
When you’re just starting you can’t put out anything you want. I know it’s tempting, but you just can’t do it in the beginning.
You have to put out content that will lead to growth.
Content is it’s basic form is written. You write down your ideas, scripts, articles, knowledge, steps, and thoughts. Basically, everything that comes to mind can be written down.
You have to learn to write in a way your audience will understand.
Start by studying popular and viral content. Pay attention to the headlines. Deconstruct they way they work and and start testing them on your own social media.
Now, we are not talking just any social media platform, we’re talking about your primary and secondary platforms. I created a 1-page business plan along with a video tutorial explaining this here.
Content Templates Are Your Training-Wheels
Remember when you first learned how to ride a bike. We all started with those darn training-wheels. Until the day our parents took them off and we took our first good fall. Remember that?
Same concept applies.
Almost every popular piece of content that you see has a formula to it. We call them “swipe files” use them as templates or training wheels, as you guide to popular content.
They will help you structure you content in a easy, digestible, shareable and understandable way.
You just plug your own thoughts and ideas into the proper place.
Don’t copy. Just use as a guide for plug & play.
Idea Validation Through Short Form
Reels, Tweets, Tiktoks, Shorts, IG Posts, etc… should all be used for short form content in the beginning.
Social media at this beginner level should be used as “top of funnel” (TOFU) growth. I’ll explain in more detail momentarily… keep reading.
Master this until you have a solid base when it’s time to evolve to the next levels of your journey.
What happens if you get trapped here?
- You have a brand with high follower counts with zero loyalty
- If you were to disappear, they wouldn’t care
Level 2 (Medium Leverage)
Follower count means nothing. I know some people who hit 10k and feel like they have the game on lock. That’s just not true. Because the majority of them aren’t really making any money.
You don’t have to wait until you hit a high follower count to monetize. I actually recommend that you don’t wait.
One of my own mentors had the numbers below. (real data)
That was a screenshot I took of his personal data.
If this motivates you… good!
If it doesn’t… that’s okay too.
I just hope it shows you that the follower counts mean nothing, and that you can make money on a small audience.
My Etsy shop 1 only has like 24 products listed and it brings me money every week like clockwork.
When you are growing an email list from your TOFU efforts, you should be at least making $1 per person on your email list. So, if you have an email list of 10k, you should be utilizing your list to make at least that much every single month.
Typically, the higher the email subscribers the more you pay, so you really should be finding a way to monetize your list asap.
Learn Direct Response
Direct Response is a form of marketing that involves copywriting. It has the power to ethically persuade people to convert immediately. Sales and offer creation are also lumped into this because you need sales copy to convince people to buy from you now and why they should buy from you. It’s definitely worth studying.
There are many people who learned this skill and are now able to give away content for FREE because they make their money on the back end. One of my mentors Miles Beckler does this with affiliate marketing.
Direct response marketing, which is the same as direct response copywriting requires you to know the psychology behind buyers. In short, knowing human nature on a deeper level. Once you learn this skill you’ll see drastic improvements in your offers, conversions and overall income.
Build out a High Ticket Offer You Never Plan to Sell
This concept takes a bit more explanation because of how you should think when planning this offer.
It’s a what would you do for “X” amount of dollars, and I mean ALL the things you would do for “X” of dollars.
I’ll give an example here:
If I wanted to build out a high-ticket offer that I never plan on selling it would consist of this:
- Mapping out entire branding
- Mapping out all copy
- Creating the Marketing Roadmap
- Flying out to the person or meeting them in person if local
- Designing all of their materials
- Creating their offer stacks
- Running their initial ads
- Setting up their social media accounts
- and whatever else I can think of…
Now, I really wouldn’t want to do all of this, BUTTTTTT
If the price is right, I would.
So, now it’s time to ask those “would I” questions.
Would I do this for $999? – Hell no!
Would I do this for $5k? – Not even!
Would I do this for $10k? – Nope, not at all!
Would I do this for $25k? – Maybe, we’re warming up a little.
Would I do this for $50k? – Yep!
Would I do this for $100k? – Hell, yeah!
Once I have a Hell, yeah! I’ll make that my high-ticket offer that I don’t expect anyone to buy. Now you see what’s all included in that.
From this high-ticket offer, you can start branching out products and services from that offer. I can even break out courses, workshops and other mini offers that come from this high-ticket never selling offer.
It’s good to have this offer available though, because you never know if someone will buy it from you.
Yes, to you… right now it sounds ridiculous and you feel like nobody would ever pay you that, but think of it like this…
… if someone were to ever surprise you and have this kind of money and want to work with you, at least you are ready ready! 😊 And you won’t be sitting around twiddling your thumbs.
Realistic Semi-High Ticket
I call this semi-high ticket because it’s a more realistic version of a high-ticket. Take from your high-ticket you plan to never sell and think of what you would do for $1000 – $5000.
Understand when you roll this out, you will have the opportunity to refine and tighten up your process the more you work with people.
And try not to think that this is too much money, people will pay for what they need. Plus, we have things like Afterpay and Affirm now, so they can use that as an option if you’re using Stripe as your payment processor.
Branch into Long Form Content
I typically try to turn my long-form content into multiple things, which is a more advanced technique, but right now just you focus on expanding on the short term content you see that is working for you.
The more depth you can put around your short-form content pieces, will turn those followers into true die-hard fans.
I suggest using newsletters to do this.
It’s a way of practicing your writing and also, gives the long-form content pieces.
What happens if you get trapped here?
- You build yourself another 9 to 5
- You have enough money, but not enough time
- You got the survival part down, but you still haven’t brought out all of your potential
Level 3 (High Leverage)
I’m not going to lie, many don’t reach this level.
Why I say that?
Because you have to not only do you need to master the survival required for level 2, but you also need to develop yourself and build multidisciplinary skills in various areas of your life.
People get stuck in “one thing” especially in the beginning (and that’s not so bad at the beginning), but what you did in level 1, isn’t going to get you through level 2 and so on.
You have to grow out of each level, but if you’re stuck in one level, you can’t get to the next.
I hope that makes sense, and you’re following me here.
Products, Network & Results
By now, you may have already created a product. If so great job!
You should also have some results from your products/services at this point.
Once you have refined your systems and process for getting results, and have gotten even better results, you can leverage those results everywhere moving forward.
Here’s what I would suggest:
- Take your processes/methods/systems that you used to get results and put them together
- Reposition it towards a broader audience (beginner level)
- Use your results as initial social proof to have a huge possible 6-figure launch
Everything that you’ve built up to this point will come into play.
- Your follower count
- Those you have built trust with
- Those who are your die-hard fans
- Collaborations (By this time, you should have some business besties or associates you can leverage as well to help each other grow)
What level do you feel you’re at along your journey?
We’ve covered this in detail, and in my next newsletter I’ll share with you how you can tap into the at 6-figure knowledge you have in your head.
~ Dee Willis
