#130 - Build a Digital Product That Lasts | Step 1: Choose

Have you been thinking about creating a course, workshop, toolkit, private podcast, quiz, or other digital product—but never seem to finish it?

In this first episode of the Digital Product Blueprint series, we're starting with the most important decision of all: choosing the right project.

I'll walk you through the five questions I use with my coaching clients to evaluate digital product ideas, explain why so many entrepreneurs get stuck before they ever launch, and help you choose one project that aligns with your audience, your goals, and the business you're building.

By the end of this episode, you'll know exactly what you're creating over the next six weeks—and you'll have your first assignment inside the Digital Product Blueprint Workbook.

In this episode you'll learn:

✔ Why most entrepreneurs never finish their digital products

✔ The biggest mistakes people make before they ever launch

✔ My five-question framework for choosing the right project

✔ The digital product formats I recommend most often

✔ How to choose a product that continues attracting clients long after you've built it

Resources Mentioned

📖 Download the FREE Digital Product Blueprint Workbook
https://deborahcsmith.com/blueprint

💬 Join the free Build Room (WhatsApp Community)
[Insert WhatsApp Link]

⭐ Learn more about Digital Product Blueprint VIP
[Insert VIP Checkout Link]

🎧 Listen to the kickoff episode
[Insert Episode 129 Link]

Mindset to Market is a Luminous Creative Production. If you'd like to learn more about our business coaching program and group coaching container, please visit us online at DeborahcSmith.com.

Mindset to Market is produced by Deborah C. Smith and designed to inspire and support big-hearted creatives in finding their own unique path, building a sustainable business, and creating financial, spiritual, mental wellness and abundance.

🎉 Work with Deborah Learn More
💕 Visit Deborah online at DeborahCSmith.com
💕 Follow on the 'Gram. @deborah_smith_coaching

Transcript

I wanna tell you about three women, three former clients of mine. One of them created a video tutorial, and she has continued making weekly sales a full 12 months after she finished making that product. Another packaged her expertise into a small private podcast that leads to her high-ticket coaching program and essentially eliminated sales calls from her business to-do list. And the third finally turned years of her knowledge and expertise into a short mini course that she delivers by email, and it sells while she's asleep at night instead of her having to trade another hour for dollars. Three different businesses, three different audiences, three totally different products, but they all have one thing in common, and that is that at one point, every one of these women had an unfinished idea sitting in a notebook someplace, lingering in the back of their head, waiting to be taken action on. And that, my friend, is why today's episode and why this series exists. Welcome to The Digital Product Blueprint. It's a free six-week guided experience designed to help you turn one great idea into a digital product that continues attracting your ideal clients long after you've finished creating it. Hey there. Welcome to the Mindset to Market podcast, your go-to space for practical tools and solutions to the everyday challenges of being a creative and soulful entrepreneur living in a material world. I'm your host, Deborah Smith, a holistic business coach and marketing strategist with 17 years of experience. I help my clients bust through mindset blocks and learn daily marketing practices that balance personal wellness with financial growth and impact. I'm here to offer you support with creativity, mindset, practical how-tos, and getting into imperfect, messy action so you can experience daily breakthroughs as you grow. If you're a purpose-driven entrepreneur building an online business, you're in the right place. Let's dive in. Hey, friends. Welcome again to the Digital Product Blueprint. So if this is your first time hearing this podcast, , or the first time learning about this free digital product series, welcome. This series is an audio version of a program that I've been coaching for the last four years. And it's been wildly successful. And I'm thrilled to be sharing it as a standalone series so there is one prior episode. It's sort of the kickoff to the series in which I explain a bit more about what the digital product series is, and what to expect over the next six weeks. So I do encourage you to go give that a listen, but you don't have to in order to just get started today and dive right in, as this is truly episode one, and today we're gonna cover step one. Okay. Before we begin, make sure you download the free workbook. It's called The Digital Product Blueprint. You can get it right now at deborahcsmith.com/blueprint. My name is spelled the old-fashioned way, so it's D-E-B-O-R-A-H, the letter C, S-M-I-T-H .com/blueprint, and that is, of course, linked in the show notes. It's also on my website, and it's linked in all of my social media handles, so you can go follow along and also complete the week's action steps and check the boxes. So here's where we are in the process. Today is step one, choose, and literally this whole episode is gonna be helping you choose the right product for your business. So in the coming weeks, we'll get into designing, building, connecting, sharing, and launching. And so we're just gonna do one step at a time, one step per week. There are a number of tasks within each step, and there's some opportunity for you to really do some thinking, some journaling. So I'm giving you one week at a time to complete each task so you actually get it done, and you are being held accountable to move forward to the next step. If you're listening in real time this summer, I'm so excited to be working on this alongside of you. But if you're listening to this in the future, \ don't worry because all you need to do is follow the steps in order. You're never behind. You're not too late. You're right on time. So the goal for today is to make a decision, and by the end of today's episode, you're gonna know exactly what you're building. I want you to pick one project. Because the momentum inside your business is not gonna come from having five open notebooks on your desk at any given time. It's gonna come when you complete a project and can share it with the world, and it starts bringing you in new conversations, new audience members, new sales. That is gonna feel so exciting, and then you can go move on to another project. So I got a text message yesterday from a girlfriend of mine who is going to participate in this series who texted me and said, "I have a course that I've been trying to create forever. I just need the push to get it done. I just... It's been sitting around. I really wanna do this." And I smiled from ear to ear, and I actually laughed out loud because I truly believe that that sentence describes thousands and thousands upon thousands of entrepreneurs, right? It's all of us. We have lots of great ideas. We can envision so many cool ways that we can express the way that we help people. It's rarely-- The problem is rarely that we don't have a good idea. It's usually that we have way too many ideas, and we're not completing any of them. So that all ends with this series because I am gonna keep you on track. Let's talk about the mindset around not finishing a great idea, okay? This is really important for us to understand because we wanna identify patterns in our behavior that keep us stuck. So most people think that creating a digital product starts with the technology or starts with the big graphic design portion of the project or starts with them having to script and record their talking head video. But on the contrary, that is not how this process begins whatsoever In fact, the technology piece, the graphic design piece, the, you know, having to have a perfectly recorded slick looking video, all of that stuff is much later on in the process. We are going to start with making a smart decision, okay? Choosing wisely and having clear-eyed strategy behind the digital product is the gasoline in the engine that makes the whole thing run. So today we're gonna focus on strategic decisions that reflect the big picture of where your life and your business are headed. So this is not a reaction to the latest trend online. We are not here to copy other entrepreneurs. I'm gonna challenge you to dig into your own genius creative self. You've got a well of ideas that's part of your entrepreneurial genius, and only you could have those ideas. Believe it or not, yes, we all have lots of good ideas, but you've got a special one, and it's gonna be the one that makes the most sense, and also dollars and cents for your business in this season that you're in currently, which makes you different than everybody else listening to this. So people stay stuck because they never pick one idea and just move forward. People stay stuck because they start a project, and then they see something else on the internet that they see working for another entrepreneur, and they think, "Oh, wait, I should be doing that instead of the thing that I am doing," right? And then they chase the shiny object right off a cliff. People stay stuck because of perfectionism, the dreaded, "Oh, I'll share it with you as soon as it's done. It's not, it's not really done yet." That mentality is a killer of good ideas. Not here, not now, no more of that. During this series we are gonna do it messy. We are kicking perfectionism to the damn curb. Goodbye. We're not doing that here, okay? People stay stuck because they're trying to build five things at once, right? So while I commend the multi-passionates out there, myself included, making a living, the act of multitasking actually isn't gonna serve you when it comes to project-based work. This is a project. We need to get one thing finished so that it can start working for us, and buy you back some of your time, and bring you in a little bit more revenue to your business. So we're going to pick just one thing. And last, people get stuck because they think bigger equals better. Not true, my friend. I've overseen countless client projects who have launched audience building and profit-generating assets that were small but very impactful. When you figure out how to help your audience have a small win, they are really happy to exchange information or money in order to get it. And this is what happens when you think strategically about your business assets. So that's a perfect transition into how we are going to choose your project. All right. How to choose the right digital product for your business. As with any offer creation process, I like to follow a framework. So if you have an idea that's already been circulating in the back of your mind, or if you have a project that's been held hostage in your notes app, and maybe you've even already started working on some of the, you know, content for it, I just want you to write down the name of that product, and then I want you to run it through the following test. Thinking about that digital asset that you've been wanting to create that has been kicking around in your notes app, you're gonna ask yourself these five questions. Number one: Does this digital product solve a real problem for my audience? And with that, I want you to be specific. Specificity matters. So your audience cannot be just a general broad audience like women or entrepreneurs. You wanna go a little deeper. So does this product solve a real problem for my audience? And with that, be specific. So, you know, for example, I might say women entrepreneurs in years one to three of business who are building a new online asset, you know, digital assets. That's my audience, right, for this particular moment. And with anything that you're creating, you wanna really track it directly to a specific audience. So does this solve a problem for- a real problem for my real audience specifically? Number two, would somebody gladly pay for the outcome? And a great indicator about this is if something is already on the market. Like, if you've seen other people have a similar solution, that's a good indicator if people will pay for the outcome. Now, I say pay, but I want you to consider that people having to give you their private email address or people having to spend time watching your thing, listening to your thing, or interacting with you, that's also paying, right? So right now this is a free podcast, but you can't get the value unless you invest time. So for me, I'm wondering, is it gonna be worth it for you to invest your time? I know the answer is yes, but y- I have to convince you that the answer is yes, right? So would someone gladly pay for the outcome? Number three, does it fit the business that I actually want for my life, right? Does it track with my dream business, or are you getting distracted by a shiny object that you think you can crank out quickly, and-- or are you chasing a trend, or are you seeing somebody else have a success, and so it's not actually even in alignment with your own business, but you think it might work? I really want you to pay attention to this one. Does this fit with the business that you dream of having? Because, you know, don't create a digital product that keeps you actively in the online space day after day if what you want is a business that runs offline. Question number four: Can I build this digital product over the next six weeks? And That's important. Less about is it possible? You could build it probably today, right? But do you have the capacity? This is more a question about your own capacity. So don't tell yourself you're gonna do this, but then you're leaving for a four-week vacation and you're not actually gonna have time. So just ask yourself, "Is this something that I can build over the next six weeks?" If it's not, I recommend that you look for something that would take you less time but that is a baby step in the direction of the bigger project that you're working on All right, and then number five. Will I enjoy talking about this repeatedly? Does it have longevity? Can this serve you for years to come? And I just wanna make sure that you understand the power of this, because you can build a digital asset that stays, that lives on the internet for years to come, and continues to bring you new clients and new revenue as long as it aligns with your business goals that are longer term. So again, this is not a quick, trendy thing we're doing. You're building something this summer or over these next six weeks that reflects your bigger picture vision. Okay. Now we're gonna talk a little bit about some of the digital products that exist that I have personally built and that I think are high value, high quality, and long-term. So I've already mentioned, some of the women that have-- I've worked with this on in the opening. I mentioned a private podcast. I mentioned a mini course and an email course. Those are all excellent projects. I personally created a six-episode private podcast. It's called The Energetics of Premium Sales, and it's really only appropriate for people in a certain point in their journey, and it leads to a high-ticket offer of mine. So I only share it when I really know that the person is ready for the deeper emotional work. And who are ready to sell high-ticket. So-- and I've seen lots of private podcasts lead to low-ticket sales. Even if you've never launched a podcast before, if you enjoy the audio format, private podcast is a great digital product. It lives online. It can be evergreen. Anybody can experience it at any time, and it gives people an insider lens on a hyper-specific goal. Another great digital product is a toolkit of some kind. This could literally be just a Google Doc where you link to a collection of niche-specific resources that are gonna help your client get a faster result or save time. So this is a great one if you are a service provider, for example, if you're an accountant, or a hairdresser, or if you are somebody who offers lawn care, or a massage therapist, or, any kind of service provider truly, you can come up with a resource list that is high value because you've taken the time to organize all of your vetted resources and put them into one place. It saves people time. They don't have to do their own research, and they're getting not only an organized list of the different tools that can help them in your niche area, but because you are a trusted expert. So instead of it just being a Google search that can be kind of random, right? And then you have to do all kinds of reading about people's reviews and stuff, they're going to an expert in your field, and you're giving them your vetted, tried, trusted tools. And guess what, guys? This is a great place to include affiliate links to companies that you support, and then you get residual income from them. So toolkits are fabulous digital projec- products Another great, digital product is a, a video workshop or a webinar. So this is something that you are an expert in, and you take the time to organize a workshop or a webinar that trains people on how to do something specific. And you teach the thing. You could run it live if you want, but record it and make sure that you're-- everything that you're including in there is evergreen so that it will make sense, you know, three weeks from now, three months from now, and three years from now. And then you package it up, and you set it up in an automated online space, and you can use it over and over and over again to attract new clients and/or paying customers. Similar, you can do that same exact thing with a mini course. The difference there is that you're breaking it down into short video lessons. People love step-by-step formula, you know, follow these steps, get a result. A great example from my own asset library is about five or six years ago, I created a video tutorial called Green Smoothies 101, where I walk you through seven smoothie recipes that cover the entire plant-based nutrition sort of diaspora, how to make them in your kitchen with just a few ingredients, and that they will impact your health dramatically. And I have been selling this thing online for years. I get sales every single week. I have not touched it. I don't even really remember the login. I'm sure the password is outdated. It just sells because it's easy, it's low cost, and it gets a very specific result. So for people who are new to smoothies, new to plant-based eating, it's a simple solution to something that they're trying for the first time. I filmed it all in my kitchen on my iPhone. And people don't care about the quality of the videos. They care that they're getting easy recipes that they can try in their own kitchen. So great example of a mini course that sells like hotcakes. Another great digital product is a quiz. I know lots of people that have wanted to create a quiz. I'm talking to you right now. Let's use this summer project timeline, this six-week project timeline to create that quiz templates. Templates are so powerful. Do not underestimate the power of a good template or a guide. These save your audience time. Instead of having to start from scratch, use my template. And finally, I wanna mention communities. Communities are growing by the day because people are really craving personal, more intimate high-touch experiences. So if you have something that you teach or share that is a very niche-specific thing, you can create a community around that thing and gather people together for the experience of that thing that you teach or do. Communities are thriving. So if you're considering this, I'm sharing a link in the show notes to my top-performing community. That's housed on an app called School. There's also lots of other community platforms out there, so you know, that's not the only one, but check out School if you have not already. The link is in my show notes, and I'm happy to share more about how I set that up if you're interested. Okay. The, the key here is that there's not one perfect format. The, the best choice for you to make is the right format for your audience and your product and your larger business. So I want to choose the smallest digital product that can create the biggest transformation for your people And again, people gravitate towards a solution that speaks to their dreams, their aspirations. They're magnetized to products and services that help them clarify something, that helps save them time, that helps save them money, or that give them the feeling of belonging or that give them status. So private communities where you get, access to somebody who is an expert are really exciting for people. \ Downloadable assets that get people an instant clarification around what they're, something they're struggling with. , That's why recipes are so popular because maybe not everybody knows how to cook. So when I used to be in the business of teaching plant-based cooking, I had so many people, join my, my plant-based cooking community to get free recipes. So it's really something that you wanna consider is how does your digital product help your audience get a quick win in the area that they are struggling? So much so that they'd be willing to exchange their email address, give you some of their time to learn from you, and/or potentially pay And if you're not sure, , go back to those questions that I asked you at the top. Does this solve a real problem for my audience? Would somebody pay for the outcome? Does it fit my big dream for my actual business, ? Can I get this done in the next six weeks following Deborah's timeline? And will I enjoy talking about it on the internet even a year from now? Is this gonna have legs into the next year or two? If you can answer those five questions, that's gonna give you clarity on your digital product. So to recap, we talked about all the patterns that keep entrepreneurs stuck and how you're not gonna fall into any of those traps over the next six weeks. We talked about the main criteria to help you choose the project that you're gonna focus on, and we covered a variety of high-value digital assets that can build your audience and create sales for you for years to come if it's aligned with your business goals. And so here is your workbook assignment. Once again, if you have not already done so, go get a copy of The Digital Product Blueprint. It's online at deborahcsmith.com/blueprint. When you open up the blueprint, you'll see the following checkboxes. Number one, clarify what you're ... why you're creating the digital product, probably for audience growth or sales, building a community. Two, identify your ideal audience. Three, choose a digital product to build. Choose one. Four, research similar products and identify opportunities to differentiate. So just go online and search for the thing that you think you're gonna create. See what's out there. Just get ideas and get clear on how you can differentiate. Next, I want you to write one sentence that describes the transformation that your audience is gonna get if they download your digital asset or if they interact with your digital product. So just one sentence, very brief, describe the transformation. They'll go from where they are now to where they wanna be. What is that thing? And then I want you to commit to a launch date because it's so important, that we have a deadline that we're striving towards, even if we don't hit it exactly. So we're gonna pick a launch date now, and if you can't come up with one and you're not sure, at very bare minimum, let's pick six weeks from now. Okay, and then last, I want you to share it with me so I can hold you accountable, and there's several ways that you can do that, and I'll talk about that in just a minute. As we're reflecting on step one, I just want you to think about what would be possible for yourself six months from now if you actually finish this digital product that you've been thinking about. Okay? So if you've been thinking about this for a while, it's been rattling around in the cage, it's been stuck in your notes app, just think about what's possible for your business if you were actually sharing it with the world, and let's get it done. Let's be motivated. Let's hold each other accountable and get that done. And if you're building alongside of us, if you want support from a group, and if you want support and accountability from me, I want you to join my free text community. It's hosted on WhatsApp. Tell me what you're building. Drop your idea. Ask any questions that you might have. Share ideas with other people. Give people feedback. Make new friends. This is what community is for. And my dear, if you would like personalized guidance, if you know that you would thrive having one-on-one support through this process, I do have a very limited number of digital product blueprint VIP spots available. And so the VIP offer just includes private strategy sessions and then also a dedicated private, text messaging channel between the two of us for the duration of the project. So we'll begin with the strategy session that helps you really map out your project. Again, you'll have access to WhatsApp channel with me while you're building it, so you're gonna get hands-on feedback. And then at the end, we wrap up with a final strategy session that's gonna help you launch it. And this is designed for people who really want that accountability, clarity, and direct feedback as you build. So you can join at any point in this process as long as I have availability. So please feel free to reach out to me. Again, the VIP session link is in the show notes. Okay. Next week we are moving on to the design phase. And design, it sounds like, you know, graphic design or the sort of like picking colors and things like that. But actually, this is gonna be about designing the transformation. So before you create a single piece of content, before you start recording or shooting video or thinking about any of the actual, \ visual design elements, we're gonna design the transformation that your digital product provides. Because the most important thing that you can be clear on is how you are going to support that audience member, right? The most successful digital products are not fancy, and they don't take forever to create, but they help get a quick win for somebody, and they're remembered not for the information that they included, but for the transformation that they provided, right? So your digital product has the ability to change someone's life, to change the impact that you're having on people. So that's what we're gonna work on. All right. Until next week, I want you to remember this: your future business is built one day at a time, one step at a time, and one finished asset at a time. And I'm excited to be building this one alongside of you. So I'll see you on the inside of step two coming next week. And in between now and then, please reach out to me, let me know what you're working on, jump into the text group, and let's get some momentum going and get these digital products made. All right, my friend. May you be vibrant