Wait, what exactly is a digital product?

[00:00:00] Rene: Hey everyone. Welcome to Your First Digital Product, a show that helps maxed-out service providers create their first digital product so they can gain an additional income stream, grow their impact without increasing one-on-one work and experience more time freedom. On the show, I talk to business owners who have launched digital products and dig deep into how you can create, launch, and market your first digital product. I'm your host, Rene Morozowich. Let's go. 

[00:00:28] Since I started this show, I've had a few questions about what exactly a digital product is. Naming the show Your First Digital Product, I dove right in and made the mistake of assuming that everyone was on the same page about what a digital product was. I didn't stop to consider my definition and expected people to know exactly what I meant.

[00:00:49] So today I wanna take a step back and give you my definition of a digital product as it is now. As you know, I'm on a journey myself to learn everything there is to know about digital products. This definition may change as I learn more or as additional questions come up. But for now, let's talk about two main characteristics of digital products.

[00:01:10] The first characteristic is that each digital product is the same and not tailored for each customer. So let's think about physical products. Last year I bought a hook massager, like a, a gizmo that looks like a big S and has points on it to massage your neck and back. The company that sells these has inventory ready to ship to each customer.

[00:01:30] Every massager is exactly the same. Yes, there may be color differences or other variations, but each variation is its own product. Digital and physical products are the same in that each one is exactly the same as the next. There's no customization involved per customer. Different in that when the massager company runs out of stock, they may have to order or make more.

[00:01:55] With a digital product, there's an unlimited quantity. Now, some people choose to limit the [00:02:00] quantity to create scarcity or an incentive to buy, but the nature of a digital product is that it's unlimited. Now, let's look at the example of a website. A website itself isn't a digital product because each website is different, but maybe you sell website templates that are exactly the same and they can be customized after purchase.

[00:02:19] A website template would be a digital product. So the first characteristic is that each digital product is the same and not tailored for each customer. Now let's talk about your involvement. The second characteristic is that your digital product should not require any involvement from you. It should stand alone.

[00:02:40] That means your customer should be able to understand what the product is and what's included without you, make the purchase without you, receive the product without you, consume the content without you, learn and use the product without you. Now for that last item, you can include some sort of instructional videos or documents, but you don't have to be there at the same time to show the customer how to use the product.

[00:03:06] And you don't need different explanations for different customers. This is one of the things that makes digital products so amazing. They're not directly tied to your time. Now, that's not to say that you can't have involvement as part of an offering. I've seen this in two ways. Product A, $X, no access to you. Product A, $Y, some access to you. Product A, $Z, a lot of access to you. In my mind, this is an offering that has more individual attention at each higher level. Or Product A, $X, no access to you. Product B, $Y, some access to you. Service C, $Z, all the access to you. You might see these levels called DIY, done with you and done for you.

[00:03:58] But again, the [00:04:00] product itself should be able to stand alone. You can add more of yourself to the offering or create additional rungs on your ladder if you like. 

[00:04:08] One part of involvement is support. Typically, there aren't issues if your product is like a PDF or ebook or audio or video, but sometimes with software support will come into play. Support can come in a few forms. Users are contacting you frequently. They need help using your software. They have questions about how to make it fit their needs or reporting bugs and problems.

[00:04:30] You are continually putting out new versions of the software with new features, improvements, or bug fixes. For this reason, I don't love calling software a digital product. Yes, it's digital, and yes, it's a product, but because there can be a lot of involvement on your part, I don't generally recommend software as a great first digital product.

[00:04:50] So the second characteristic of a good digital product is that it will stand alone and not require your involvement. Here's a quick tip that might be helpful when thinking about digital products. If you're a service provider, you may call the people you work with clients. Typically, clients buy professional services customized to their needs.

[00:05:11] I know when I was building websites, each website was a custom solution for each client. Customers, on the other hand, typically pay for off- the- shelf goods or services. Products that are not customized to their specific needs. These products might be things like templates to get them started on the path to a solution or tutorials or PDFs to educate them on general problems and solutions.

[00:05:35] So to recap, the first characteristic is that each digital product is the same and not tailored for each customer. The second characteristic is that your digital product should not require any involvement from you. It should stand alone. As a service provider, you've probably been working with clients providing customized solutions to their unique problems.

[00:05:56] As a digital product creator, you may sell [00:06:00] pre-packaged information to customers that they can take and run with. So what do you think? Did I miss anything? Send me a voice message at yfdp.show/share with questions or comments. I'd love to hear from you.

[00:06:12] Hey, thanks for listening. I'd love to continue the conversation in your inbox. Email SUBSCRIBE to hey at yfdp.show or sign up in the show notes to get bimonthly emails about how you can create, launch, and market your first digital product. Can't wait to see you there.