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! Hey friends, welcome to episode 68. This is the last episode of season three and like the last episodes of the other two seasons, we're going to go through my four question framework of What happened? What went well? What didn't go well? And what will you try next time? So I'm going to answer those questions in relation to the podcast and this business and kind of just go through really what's been going on. Now, I know I haven't been here doing solo episodes for a little bit. For a really long time, I was doing alternating solo episodes and interviews, but I will address that as we get in here. So let's get started today. So what happened? Let me just kind of recap. If you are new, if you have been around and you know my backstory, then feel free to skip this section. But I just want to talk about just kind of like where the idea for this business and this podcast kind of came from. So I started freelancing in 2017 and I was working mostly with WordPress and development and helping people, you know, launch sites, rebuild sites, that kind of stuff. And I was really looking to specialize. And I had a few false starts. There were a couple things that I tried that definitely didn't work and I knew that early on. But at the time I was also helping a couple clients build out digital products. And I really, really love that work. I really love seeing the joy that came across them as they created these products. And I really love helping them plan and you know, really just the technical stuff really just checked a lot of boxes for me. And I wanted to learn more. So I had launched a product, but it didn't really work. But I knew that I would, I could learn more, right? I could learn, you know, and kind of figure this out. So in the summer of 2022, so two years ago, I got started. I started writing and researching and decided to start this podcast just so that I could talk to people. So that I could figure out and learn from people who have launched products. So hopefully you have gained some great knowledge from listening to some other interviews on the show. And I definitely have too. Now my goal really was to learn more from those interviews and to do additional research. To build an audience. And then to help more people create, launch and market products. Eventually I wanted to create maybe a group program or a digital product myself. Once I really understood what the needs were once I had worked with people more. And really I just kind of wanted to build this sort of a business. Now, with the podcast specifically for season three, I made a couple tweaks to my cover art and my messaging based on a podcast audit that I had. And I mentioned season three started as normal. I was doing alternate solo and interview episodes. Now some interviews were different this season. They were more focused on tips for products, right? So if you were creating a course, if you were you know, looking to use social media to promote your products. If you had legal questions. So I had guests on who may or may not have had products but really they were, were geared towards kind of giving you some additional information in these areas. So instead of all people who had products and telling their stories. About halfway through, it really just kind of started to feel like something wasn't working. Something wasn't right. So I paused on these solo episodes. I just didn't really feel that I had the confidence to show up here on camera and, you know, kind of talk to you about how you should launch your products. So I kept going with the interviews and, and I'm finishing out season 3 here. This is the 21st episode. So 21 episodes here in season 3. So that's what happened. Now what went well? Now I have learned a ton about digital products and I still really believe in the premise that service providers can benefit in many ways from having a product. There's a lot to that I'm not going to get into right now, but I really still believe in the premise and I really still love digital products. Now as far as the podcast, I have really actually enjoyed podcasting more than I thought. I was never really a podcast person until I found podcasts that I really resonated with, that I really wanted to learn from. I think that maybe initially I was just listening to the wrong podcasts. So I've really actually enjoyed podcasting too. I love showing up here in your podcast player and on YouTube. And I've also really enjoyed interviewing people. I have, I love the final product. I love putting these episodes out for you. I'm very proud of all 68 episodes that I have released and I've also guested on some additional podcasts. I'll put the links in the show notes including Ravel Radio and Women in WP which I had been on before and they invited me back. So that was very cool. So that is everything that has gone well. So, lest you think it's all rainbows and kittens and baskets of sunshine. Let's talk about what didn't go well. So I have not seen the interest in working one on one from clients that I was hoping for. So I have put a lot of time and money into this venture. So I'm actually gonna break down specific numbers here. It's going to be a little bit difficult for me to go through these numbers. But I am going to do that because I have listened to podcasts before and have really benefited from hearing like actual real life things that are happening, not sort of just kind of like glossing over like, Oh, well, it didn't really go well. So here's actually what happened in terms of the money that I have spent. So I didn't want to hijack my own personal brand. So renemorozowich.com exists and Rene Morozowich herself still builds websites for clients. And I didn't want to hijack that. So I created a different brand of Scenic Route Digital based on my philosophy that, we shouldn't be launching, you know, courses in a weekend and we shouldn't be sacrificing time, you know, with our families or our other interests just to get digital products launched. So I love the philosophy of the scenic route in that you do have a destination in mind. But you kind of plan where you want to go along the way and you're not rushing, right? You're learning, you're enjoying, you're experiencing. It's not just about that destination. It's about what you're learning along the way. So I created a new website for that and I had branding and design done for that. The social graphics, the website, the podcast, all of that done $3,915. So that is what I have spent on branding and design for this new brand. The next number is the most shocking number. I will, will continue with some additional numbers that aren't so crazy, but I, at the time, participated in various forms of consulting, masterminds, and coaching. I will say that the coaching was the most of all of these and during each one of them, I did feel like I was learning a lot and I was getting a lot out of them. So definitely not saying that this you know, was not great. But looking back, I would say I probably should not have spent so much at the time because the business was so new. So I should have waited until the business was more profitable before I laid down $11,430.33. Now that wasn't just one thing. It was a couple of different things. I had some one on one coaching and I was part, like I said, of a mastermind and, and consulting. There were a couple of different things happening at the time. And I did again, enjoy working with those coaches and consultants. But I think for where I was at in my business, again, I probably should not have laid down that kind of money without making sure that I knew that this was going to work ahead of time. I took a podcasting course and an audit $457. I did a PR campaign with a PR professional, $2,000. I did a social media mentorship, $500. Some marketing items like these t shirts that I have on $100. Software. Hosting for the podcast, editing software, recording software, streaming software, all of that to this point, $1,298.56. And I will continue to have to pay for the hosting to continue to host the podcast so that it continues to live on at least for a while. And hardware, this microphone and this webcam $311.72. And that is a total of $20,012.61. Now I could have included the conference that I just attended, but I did not. And I just want to note that I did have the money. I did not go into debt to pursue this venture. So I do think that that is very important that when you're pursuing anything new if it is all possible to not go into debt, you should not go into debt for that. But at the same hand, $20,000. Like I just, we're just going to move on here in this conversation because what, what even on earth? What? Okay, moving on. So what maybe didn't go so well with the podcast specifically? It really does. And I've said this before, take a long time to produce. Editing can be difficult. Sometimes the software is buggy. Sometimes it works fine. And because the business is not as profitable as I would have liked. I am still relying on my web business for my regular income. I just could not justify the cost of outsourcing editing. So a lot of people will say like, Oh, it's taking you so long, just outsource editing. Yes. That's a, that's a lovely thought. And I think that that works for some people at some point in their business. But again, trying to be fiscally responsible you know, if you're not seeing the income from it, I don't know that it warrants you know, paying someone else to edit. I also just started to feel discouraged in, in some aspects just some maybe interactions with people, engagement on social media, just, just things I just, I wish I didn't feel. I wish I didn't feel discouraged. I don't want to take these things personally, but I do. I just, I, I feel a little bit discouraged. So yes. So. What will I try next time? And honestly, this is crazy because I always have a plan. I always know what I'm going to do next, but really I'm not sure. I just, I do feel very discouraged. I really thought that I was doing the things that you're supposed to do, right? Like I thought that, you know, you're supposed to, you're, okay, I'm putting supposed to in, in air quotes here. If you're listening to me through your podcast player You know, you're supposed to put the video versions up and, you know, share the clips on social media and, you know, build the email list and, you know, have the captions and the transcripts and things like that. And I just thought that I was doing all the things that you're supposed to do and it just It didn't work the way I thought it was going to work. It's been a year and a half at least of, you know, having the podcast up and I feel like at this point, you know, I don't really see an influx of clients coming, you know, in the near future to be able to say like, okay, I'm going to continue going with this. So I don't really have any specific plans at this point. I will leave the podcast up and the website up. I'll try to continue to send emails that are relevant about creating, launching, and marketing your digital product. But really I'm not sure. I'm not sure what I'm going to do. And I hate saying that because again, I love a plan. I love knowing what's going to happen. But really, I just, I just don't know. I'm not sure. So, I do want to thank you for being here and listening to, if this was the only episode you ever listened to, thank you for listening to this one. If you've listened to others or watched others, thank you so much for being here. I'm not sure if I'll return to podcasting. I do really like it, like I mentioned surprisingly. But you will still be able to get to these episodes for the foreseeable future, and we'll kind of just wait and see. So if you have any questions or comments or thoughts or anything that you want to share with me you can find me on social media. I'm on various platforms. If you're on my email list, just reply to any of those emails that I send you. And you can also get through on my website, my contact form. There's actually a couple of different forms ways that you can book calls and things that all still exist or just kind of fill out the form and, you know, say whatever it is you have to say. Again, questions, comments, thoughts, encouragement if you have some, or experience if you have something to share, maybe you have a similar story where you tried something and it didn't work the way you thought it would, and maybe you weren't sure what to do, or, or you weren't really sure what to do, you know, a lot of people are like, don't quit, keep going, but I don't know that that's realistic. I feel like sometimes you know, it's good to just call it. It's good to say, okay, well, I have tried a lot. I've tried and I've put a lot of time and energy and money into something and maybe it's just not the right thing. You know, maybe the messaging isn't right. Maybe the delivery isn't right. Really, I just don't know. Like I didn't mean something isn't right. So if you have a similar story and you'd like to share it, or maybe you have a story of like how you continued, you know, you, you kind of were discouraged too. And you've thought like, okay, I'm going to try something else, try something different and, or just keep going. And then you, you saw the success that you were looking for. So I'd love to hear from you. I always love to hear from you really on, on any topic. So again, thank you for being here and until next time. 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 bi monthly emails about how you can create, launch, and market your first digital product. Can't wait to see you there.