The first step in learning how to create a digital product is to understand your target audience, or in our case, your community. Your product cannot succeed if it doesn’t have an audience, and most people get this backwards as they begin.
“Build it and they will come” simply isn’t going to work in this case.
As a result, you need to find your audience before launching your product. To do this, you can do market research in the traditional way, but for a spiritual entrepreneur, it is far more effective to create valuable content (serve) that solves problems, and attract your ideal community onto an email list where you can build great relationship with them. And of course, also get feedback on exactly what they want or need.
Learn about email marketing for your spiritual business here.
What type of digital product?
A digital product can be anything from a downloadable ebook, to a video course, to a series of audio files that tell uplifting stories or lead guided meditations. They can be a great way to create multiple streams of (relatively) passive income.
For example, a blogger can create an ebook or audiobook. A digital marketer may create a workbook, video course, or worksheet. A designer could create a template bundle. As a spiritual entrepreneur, your digital product may be any of the above… it all depends on how best you can be of service to your community.
You will also want to learn how to distribute these products on various platforms. An ebook can be distributed on your own website, or sold as a Kindle book on Amazon. A digital course can be run through a platform such as Teachable, or Kajabi.
How to validate a digital product?
Are you building something you want, or something your community truly wants (or even needs), as you learn how to create a digital product?
One of the best ways to validate a digital product idea is to build an email list. In fact, it is essential to have an audience, or a community, before you even think about selling anything online.
Many people are curious and like anticipation, so you should make sure your product reaches as widely as possible. The best way to do this is to drive targeted traffic to your signup or sales page, which you can do through your email list, or even directly from your free content.
Even if your product is fantastic, it won’t sell if no one knows about it. Ultimately, a digital product should be a means to an end – it has to solve the problem (or meet the desires) of a particular group of people.
How to price a digital product?
Another important element to consider as you think of how to create a digital product is to know what the target audience will be willing to pay for it. Whether you’re starting your first spiritual business, or expanding online from an existing business model, pricing your digital products will play a key role in your success.
This can be tricky because you must strike a balance between underselling and overcharging. As spiritual entrepreneurs, we do have a tendency to undervalue our own work, or be afraid to charge what we’re worth because it all gets mixed up with our own spirituality.
This is why it’s important to look around, and decide where your product will fit within the current range of market offerings. Mid range is a good fit for most people starting off – you’ll never underbid the big online learning platforms, for example, so it’s best not to even try.
Keep it simple, and stick with where you’re a little challenged but not too panicky… you can always raise it later as you find your feet in your spiritual business, and figure out all there is to know about how to create a digital product!
This article on Digital products is exactly the help I needed at this time in the development of my online presence. Part of my business is animal communication and acupressure. I do this world wide, sending my energy to animals that need help. Domestic and wild. I’ve followed your advice and give back to my community by working with animals that are rescues for no charge, and the same no charge to members of my acupressure Guild that need communication help. It is a way to give back to my community and the animals that I have learned so much from. Thank you for all your insights into establishing a Spiritual business.