The Beginner's Blueprint For Building A Digital Product That Actually Sells

0:00As a small business owner, you wear many hats. You're the owner, you're the marketer, you're the seller, you're the hirer. I remember in the early days, I was doing pretty much everything. I was writing, I was bookkeeping, I was selling, I was marketing, I was doing a lot. But lucky for you, you have LinkedIn. They have the tools to help you boost your visibility, find prospective customers, and find the best team for your small business, all in one place. So while LinkedIn can hang up all of your hats, it makes it easier to wear them all. Learn more at linkedin.com slash MBA show. For small business, a high-speed fiber connection is only one piece of the puzzle.

0:39You need the total solutions advantage from Comcast Business. It's a first-ever combination of the largest, fastest fiber-powered network, gig speeds with equipment and security included, plus a five-year price lock. Learn more. Get started for$60 a month for 12 months when you add an advanced solution to a qualifying internet package. Limited time offer restrictions apply. New customers only requires 300 Mbps internet, security edge, and additional qualifying service. One year agreement, paperless billing, and auto pay with bank account required, taxes and fees extra. I want to tell you about the best business decision I ever made.

1:16I essentially built it once, and it's been selling over and over again ever since. No warehouse, no investors, no storefront, no supply chain. I'm talking about a digital product. Today, I'm going to be sharing insights I've never shared before, the behind the scenes of the math and the mistakes that most people don't talk about. And I'm going to save you a ton of time, money, and heartache if you want to build a digital product today.

1:48Welcome back to the$100 MBA show. I'm your host, Omar Zinhome, where I deliver practical business lessons three times a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to help you start, grow, and scale your business.

2:25Firstly, what exactly is a digital product? A digital product is anything of value that is delivered electronically on the internet. Pretty simple. No shipping, no inventory, no physical form. Some examples include online courses, programs, e-books, guides, templates, toolkits, memberships, communities, workshops, masterclasses, software and apps, AI tools, and prompt packs, prompt templates, even coaching programs delivered digitally. What makes all these special is the economics. You build it once, the cost to sell a second copy is zero. The cost to sell copy number 1 ,000 is still zero. There's no other business model in the world where you can have such incredible margins.

3:11And that's the fundamental reason why digital products are one of the most powerful assets you can build. One of the most common questions I get asked when it comes to building a digital product is how long does it take to create one? And the honest answer is it depends on what you're building. If you're creating a short ebook or template, it could really literally be a focused weekend and it's out there in the world. If it's a mini course or a challenge, two or four weeks and you're pretty much done. But if you're building a fully fledged program like the$100 MBA that has many tools and templates and software and all bunch of stuff that work with it, it could take several months of focused work to get it all done.

3:48But here's the thing that most people get wrong. They wait until their product is perfect before they launch. And that's a big mistake because perfect never comes. Listen, the first version of the$100 MBA when it came out back in 2013, which is what more than 12 years ago, it doesn't actually resemble today's program. Today's program is much, much bigger. It's well thought out. The production is much higher. And that is a good thing because that meant that I started and iterated and improved and And I learned from my customers what they actually value and need before I started to change it, improve it, and add to it.

4:27The smartest approach I found is to build a minimal viable version, the core solution to the problem you're trying to solve, get it in front of people, and then improve upon it based on their feedback. Remember, the first version is just that, the first version. It's not the final version. It just needs to be genuinely useful to your customer so that they can feel compelled to buy it. And just to give you an example, when the$100 BA came out back in 2013, it launched with a core curriculum, a clear promise and enough value to get people paying for it. It didn't have the workbooks and the clear steps that we have today.

5:03It didn't have all the templates that we had, some templates, but not the library of templates that we provide. It didn't have AI tools. It didn't have AI prompts or AI writing apps for them. It didn't have a way to even track their progress or take notes or any of that. And that's okay, because that means I left room to improve based on what customers want, and not just based on my own beliefs and what's in my head. The most important thing is that foundation that we built on top of over the years. Here's something subtle that most digital product creators never understand. And it costs them a lot of money and time and energy.

5:40And that's that physical products have a built-in value perception advantage. When you buy something physically, whether they're, you know, headphones or whether it's a notebook, even something simple. When somebody holds something in their hands, their brain registers value automatically. It's like, this is mine now. I have it. You can feel it. You can show to someone it exists in the world. Right. Digital products don't have that. Everything is consumed on a screen. And that gap, that tangible gap, means you have to work harder to create perceived value. This is not a flaw in the model. It's just a constraint that you need to understand and design around it.

6:21And I wouldn't be doing you right. I wouldn't be serving you right if I didn't point this out. So you really need to increase the perceived value of your offering as much as possible to make it compelling. The simpler way to put it is the way to close that gap is by over-delivering. Your digital product needs to feel more than what the customer expects to get. More depth, more tools, more support, more clarity. When someone finishes your product and feels like they got three times what they paid for, that's how you will win in the space. I actually aim for 10x because that will get them to talk about the product and tell other people and get me customers for free.

7:00That's a standard I set for everything I create in the digital product space. And it's the standard that you need to set too if you want to make this easy on yourself. I've seen hundreds of digital products. And the single biggest difference between the ones that sell and the ones that flop is simply this. Listen very carefully. Does the customer know exactly what result they will get? That simple. Does the customer know exactly what result they will get from your product? Not kind of, not vaguely, exactly. Let me give you a concrete example so that you fully understand what I mean. Let's say you're in the market for a new electric car and you don't know what you don't know, right?

7:43You're nervous about making a big mistake. This can cost you$50 ,000,$100 ,000. Now imagine there's a three-hour course with a test drive checklist that walks you through every question to ask, every red flag to look for, and every feature to compare. You consume the three-hour course on Friday night, and then you walk into the dealership on Saturday morning feeling completely confident you know how to choose the right car for you. Would you buy that? Of course you would, because the outcome is crystal clear, and you'll buy the right car and not make a costly mistake. So the investment in this short course and this template or this checklist is a pretty good investment because it's going to avoid a major mistake and a major loss.

8:25And that's the formula for your digital product. You need to identify a specific person with a specific problem that's looking for a specific outcome in a specific, reasonable timeframe. Four things. Let me say it again. A specific person with a specific problem that's looking for a specific outcome in a specific and reasonable timeframe. For our program, the$100 MBA, it's built on this exact formula. The outcome is simple. You could start an online business that's actually profitable. Now, for people who are already running a business, we have different tracks. We have a start track. We have a growth track.

9:00We have a scale track. Each have a clear outcome. The start track allows them to start and make their first dollar. The growth track has a clear outcome of reaching$300 ,000 in annual revenue. The scale track has a clear outcome of reaching a million dollars in annual revenue. There is no ambiguity. When a customer arrives to our website, They know exactly what they're buying and exactly what they're working towards. That's a clear product for a clear person, for a clear outcome, and for a specific timeline. We make it super clear on the website how long it takes to complete the program so they have an understanding of the time frame.

9:39By the way, if you're serious about building your business with us here at The$100 MBA, make sure you subscribe to the show because I have an upcoming episode that I'm working on that I think you're going to find really interesting. Yeah, you're not going to miss this because I'm going to share why I tend to hire women. What are some of the benefits I get by having more of a female presence in my company? And what are some of the things you may not expect to encounter when you have a team full of leaders that are women in your business? You don't want to miss this, so hit subscribe so you get it the moment it drops.

10:11The next secret I want to share with you is something that I wish somebody told me long before I started, and that's you're not selling information. You're selling implementation. This is one of the most important shifts you have to make in your thinking. Ten years ago, you could build a course that was just good content delivered over slides. You could talk over PowerPoint slides on a video and you could sell that course. Valuable information clearly presented, done. That worked because information was genuinely scarce. Today, information is everywhere. You can Google almost anything. You can find a YouTube video or a tutorial on basically every skill that exists.

10:51And now with AI, you can literally just chat with AI to get answers in seconds. Missed calls and slow follow-ups are silent killers for your business. And that's exactly how businesses leave money on the table without ever realizing. That's why today's episode is brought to you by Quo, spelled Q-U-O, the business communication system built so you never miss a call. With Quo, calls, texts, voicemails, transcripts, the contact details, they're all in one clear view. So your team always has the full picture and can follow up for every customer conversation, ensuring a seamless and more personalized experience.

11:29Everyone on your team sees the full thread, replies are faster, and customers actually feel like they're taken care of. And Quo works wherever you are, right from your phone or computer. Keep your existing phone number, add teammates in minutes, sync your CRM, and let the call routing handle itself as you scale. Money's on the line. Always say hello with Quo. Try Quo for free, plus get 20 % off your first six months when you go to Quo.com slash MBA. That's Q-U-O dot com slash MBA. This episode of the$100 MBA show is brought to you by Booking.com. If you're looking to grow your vacation rental business, this is the place to be.

12:11Booking.com is one of the most downloaded travel apps in the world, and for good reason. Since 2010, they've helped over 1.8 billion vacation rental guests find places to stay. But here's the thing. Most vacation rental hosts don't even realize they can list their properties on Booking.com. And if you're not on the platform, your rental is basically invisible to millions of Booking.com travelers worldwide. After all, they can't book what they can't see, right? I book all my travel, personal and business, through Booking.com. And it's for good reason. I love their Genius program. So because I'm loyal and I use Booking.com, I'm a genius level three.

12:51Yeah, I say it with pride because it gets me the best prices. I also love the fact that they give you all the details about all the hotels or the apartments that you're booking. So I know exactly what I'm getting before I check in. Does the place have a gym? Does it have a hairdryer? Does it have a fridge? What about a washing machine? I know because the listing is always accurate. And their app is easy to use. So when I'm dead tired after a long flight and I'm trying to check into my accommodation, it's super simple. Just pull up my booking and show it to the host. So if your vacation rental isn't listed on Booking.com, it could be invisible to millions of travelers searching the platform.

13:28Don't miss out on consistent bookings and global reach. Head over to Booking.com and start your listing today. Get seen, get booked on Booking.com. So if your digital product is just information, you are competing with free. And the honest truth is you're going to lose. What people are actually willing to pay for now is implementation, not just knowing what to do, but actually being able to do it. That means your product needs to include clear step-by-step instructions, not just concepts. It needs templates that they can use immediately to save them time and energy, and not just examples to look at.

14:10They need an actual template that they can just complete. They're going to need workbooks and activities that put they're learning into action. They're going to need tools that do part of the work for them, community or access to you so they're not doing it alone. In Hunter L.M.B.A., yes, we have super high quality video lessons, but we've learned over the years alongside those videos, it's imperative to have those tools. We have an interactive workbook with exact activities that students need to do so they can start implementing what they're learning in their business immediately. We have templates like one page business plans and marketing templates and profit and loss sheets and all bunch of stuff that they can just plug and play and use actual templates that I use in my own business.

14:49We have AI tools to help students write better emails, create better offers, validate ideas. We even have something called Omar AI, which is a custom AI trained on my content. So students can ask questions and get answers immediately so they don't have to wait for an answer for 24 hours or a week or whatever it might be. They can just get it right away. And they can interact directly with me through our community. This is not an information product. This is an implementation system. And that distinction is what makes people renew month after month, year after year, instead of canceling after one week.

15:23The truth that people do not talk about online is that the quality bar has never been higher. I have to be straight with you when it comes to this because you have to have high production quality. This is what people are used to now. 10 years ago, the bar was incredibly low. A decent webcam, a quiet room, a genuinely good content that was explained clearly was enough. But those days are over. Honestly, customers today have been trained by Netflix and YouTube and Masterclass to have polished videos, polished content that they can enjoy, but also learn from. Their eyes and ears know exactly what quality looks like and sounds like.

16:03So you can't really phone it in. You have to really make sure your product is high quality. Now, it doesn't mean you have to have a Hollywood studio. It just means you need to remember to have good lighting, clean audio, a clean background that's not distracting, just some clean editing as well. These things are achievable on a modest budget, even if you outsource it. But they're non-negotiables now because your product quality is a signal about your brand and what you stand for. It tells your customers before they consume a single lesson how seriously you take your product, especially if you're showing some samples of your course on your sales page or even your sales video and the quality that it is presenting at.

16:49And if you don't take it seriously, why should they take you seriously? Let's talk about price. And this is where a lot of creators really overthink it. So let me simplify it. Your price needs to be compelling enough that it's a no-brainer decision. That simple. It has to be a no-brainer. It doesn't have to be cheap, but it has to be clearly something that is compelling for them to say, hey, this is great value. There's a difference. Cheap means low quality. No-brainer means the value is so obvious it exceeds the price and that hesitation feels foolish. Here's something that most people don't fully appreciate about digital products.

17:24Your marginal cost of reproduction is zero, like we mentioned. And once you built it and you sell one more copy, it costs you nothing, right? That means you can price it attractively and still build a very profitable business. You're not constrained by manufacturing costs. Remember, the way that a physical product is presented, you have to recreate that physical product and send it to the customer. A digital product is there for people to just consume without you needing to do any work or spend any more money. When I was building the$100 MBA back in 2012 and then when we launched in 2013, there were courses out there charging$2 ,000,$3 ,000, even$5 ,000.

18:00Just videos on a page. No workbooks, no community, no tools. That model worked when information was scarce. It doesn't work today. Now, with our program, The$100 MBA, I chose$100 a month for a reason. It's simple. It's easy. Okay. The name is in the price and it's super simple to remember. Second, it's a skin in the game filter. If you won't invest$100 a month to build your business and change your life, you probably aren't truly committed to building one. So you're probably not the student for me. Thirdly, it's genuinely accessible. It's less than a dinner out with your partner. It's not so expensive that it creates financial stress, but it's enough that people show up and do the work.

18:41Only you know the right price for your market. But I do encourage you to think less about what you think it's worth and more about what would make it a complete no-brainer for your ideal customer. Now, I need to debunk something once and for all because the digital product space is full of people selling you the fantasy. And I'm here to give it to you straight. Okay? Yes, there's a concept of a built at once, sell it forever, pure passive income. That's not exactly how it works. At least not if you want to build something that lasts. Digital products require ongoing investment. This is not entertainment.

19:17This is not like Seinfeld in syndication. This is information and the information inside needs to be updated as the world changes. The videos need to be refreshed as the product standards start to rise. The templates and the tools need to evolve as your customer needs to evolve. If you have a community, you need to show up to it. If you have AI tools, you need to improve them. You need to support them. This is especially true if you're running a reoccurring subscription model, like a monthly billing or annual billing with a subscription, you're not selling one time, right? It's not a lifetime membership.

19:51You're earning the customer every single month or year because they're making a decision if they're going to earn new every month or year. The truth is customers can cancel the moment the value stops, right? If they don't feel like they're getting any more value, then they're probably not gonna pay you anymore. Think of it like this. A digital product business is not a vending machine. It's a relationship. And like any relationship, it needs attention, It needs investment. It needs genuine commitment to be better and better over time. The good news is that if you continue to invest in your product, you build a loyal community of people that see you as a professional.

20:24So why do I think you should build a digital product? If you're creating content right now on Instagram, on YouTube, you have a podcast, you have a blog, you have an audience that trusts you. And a digital product is the natural next step. It's a way to take the people who already are getting value from your free content and serving them at a deeper level with more instruction, with more structure, with more accountability, with more results. And beyond the revenue, here's what I didn't expect when I built the$100 MBA program. I learned more about my audience. I learned more about what they want, what they need.

21:00And I learned because these people are really invested in the program because they've paid money. I'll be quite honest with you. Most of the feedback I get from this podcast is positive because it's free. And as much as I love it, I don't really get feedback about what people need and want and desire and what their fears are until they're actually paying me money. And because they're paying me money and I have a program with a dashboard, with a software that's behind it that I can see analytics, I can see what people actually need and what they don't need and not just base all my information on what they say.

21:35You learn where they get stuck. You learn where their fears are. You learn what kind of language they use when they describe their problems so I can use that language in my sales pages and with the way I communicate my instruction. Building a digital product is not just a business move. It's an education in who you're serving. Now, I have to be honest, I'd be doing you a disservice if I made this sound easy. It's not. Creating a digital product that actually sells requires a bunch of things. It requires a genuine understanding of your audience's pain and the problems they're going through. You need the discipline to define a specific outcome and stick to it for your audience.

22:14You need the commitment to build beyond just videos. You need to build tools and templates and community. That's going to take some work. You have the willingness to invest in a quality production. You need to work on this over and over so you can keep on improving it even after launch. Most people fail at building digital products because they build what they wanted to teach and not what their audience needed to learn. There's a difference. Let me say that again, okay? They build what they wanted to teach and not what the audience needed to learn. They also fail because they price their product based on their ego rather than value.

22:51They don't create a no-brainer offer. They also fail because they launch it once and get mediocre results and they never iterate and improve it. But the people that do it, they stay close to their customers. They keep improving. They never stop asking, is this person getting the result? I promise them. That question asked honestly and often is a secret to a digital product that sells for years. If you take anything from today's episode, it's this. Nice and simple. Find a specific person with a specific problem. Define a specific desirable outcome. Build an implementation system, not just content, that gets them to the result.

23:25Price it so it's a no-brainer offer. invest in a quality production, and launch before it's perfect, when you have enough so that they get the outcome. And then just never stop improving it. That's it. That's the blueprint that I used to build and maintain the$100 MBA program. And hint, hint, it's the same blueprint that has worked for every successful digital product creator I know. And if you commit to it, it'll work for you too, if you're willing to do the work. If this episode has given you clarity to finally start building that digital product, and you want to start using the power of AI to help you out, you're going to want to check out an episode we recently published called The Ultimate Guide to AI for Normal People.

24:07In that episode, I walk you through step-by-step how to get started with AI so that you're not behind the curve anymore and you're utilizing it to leverage it in your business. If you found today's episode helpful and you want more practical business lessons to help you start, grow, and scale your business, the best thing you could do is subscribe to this podcast. Hit subscribe or follow on your favorite podcast app, the one that you're using right now, whether it's Apple or Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. By hitting subscribe, you get our next episode automatically, and it's the best way to support the show.

24:38It's absolutely free, and it's a way for you to commit to growing your business. And now that you've subscribed, I'll check you in the next episode.