Do you want to create your own digital products – but aren’t sure where to start?
If so, you’re in the right place, because I’m about to share with you how I was able to go from spending months (and months) to create one single product to releasing 2-3 new titles every month.
By the way… Even if selling your own products isn’t your goal (and ultimately, it should be), this process can help you do just about anything related to your online business faster and more efficiently.
Ok, I know that’s a big promise – but I’ll show you what I mean in a minute. But first, let’s talk about that fast 2-Step Product Creation Process I was talking about:
Outline & Document Everything
I absolutely LOVE to look back at my old brainstorming journals (we’re talking circa 2012 – 2015 or so), because I often find little nuggets that I can pick up and run with today.
However, I’m also always equally amazed at how freakin’ long it used to take me to release one single product. (We’re talking months and months to get one product out the door… Which is kinda funny now considering I just added the 265th product to this site!)
Back then, I struggled to create new products because I couldn’t wrap my brain around exactly what I wanted to create – and all the steps from A to Z I needed to follow to do so.
Instead, I’d spend months brainstorming and making lists of all the fantastic content I wanted to create… instead of actually, you know, creating said content.
Because I didn’t know how.
So… What changed??
I started outlining and documenting EVERYTHING.
One day something finally “clicked.” I picked ONE project* from my topic brainstorming lists and started outlining everything I wanted to include in the new product – and then I documented every step as I fumbled and stumbled my way through putting it all together.
*Super Important: Work on just ONE product at a time until it is 100% finished and available for sale. Your future self will thank you for it!
I then used those notes to create checklists I could follow for future releases. That meant no more struggling to remember everything I need to do for future releases because it’s all there right in front of me.
Game. Changer.
Today, I wouldn’t dream of starting a new product without a clear outline of everything it will include – number of recipes, minimum number of photographs, templates and other value-added resources, etc… plus everything I need to do along the way to get it set up and ready to sell.
That outline helps me stay focused (and it prevents the dreaded “scope creep” where you end up including 3x more stuff than necessary).
Fortunately, I no longer need to document the steps to create and set up each new product because I have that part mostly memorized (and I still have those old checklists to refer back to when I need them) – but doing so in the beginning has saved me countless hours over the years.
Here’s why:
Whether you are creating and selling products, writing in-depth blog posts or product reviews, or shooting and editing food videos, there are a number of things you’ll need to do over and over again for each new project.
For example, if you are selling products – you’ll need to set up the product to collect payments and deliver it, create new sales and download pages, and write several types of emails (download instructions, follow up messages, and notifications to your lists and affiliates, if applicable).
Having a checklist makes it so much easier to do the 2nd – or 200th – time.
Now, I know this may sound really overwhelming if you’re just getting started.
I get it. That’s EXACTLY why I used to struggle so much with creating and releasing new products. I didn’t understand how to make it all work – so I’d get “stuck.”
But now, thanks to this 2-part process… I can now create 2-3 new products each month, instead of spending months and months spinning my wheels. 🙂
And now… you can, too! 🙂
Til Next Time,
Trish Lindemood
Chief Cook & Content Creator
KitchenBloggers.com
PS I’m about to release some brand new tools that will make new product creation even easier for you. Stay tuned for details! 🙂