These Are The 3 Steps You Must Follow –In Order– Before Creating Your First Digital Product

A digital product is the most efficient way to monetize your clinical skills outside your office.

If you have been in practice for more than a couple of years, you’ve witnessed the ever decreasing reimbursements, the added hurdles to getting paid, the absorption of private practices by corporations, and the commoditization of physicians. You also know it will get worse before it gets better.

Unfortunately, building an online business requires skills which not many physicians have…

The first obstacle is deciding the type of product you’ll create

When I consult with physicians looking to build a digital product, their first question is: “what should I create?”.

The options in their mind are:

• An online course
• A membership site
• A cohort-based group program
• 1-on-1 coaching

But if you’re starting your online journey with this decision, you’re going backward.

Instead, follow these steps:

Step 1: Identify the one person you wish to help

“Amateurs fall in love with their product. Professionals fall in love with their customers.”

— Dr E

Every successful digital business starts with one person in mind.

You can’t expect to serve every person on the planet. You need to identify one person, and one person only, to whom you wish to serve. And if you worry about niching down too much, you’re underestimating the size of the internet.

Step 2: Identify the one problem you wish to solve.

Once you’re crystal clear on the person you wish to serve, identifying the one problem you can help her solve, becomes easier.

For example, as a pediatrician, the problem you solve would be dramatically different if the person you wish to serve is a single mother of a child with special needs, or a parent of teenage girls. Once you know your audience, the problem to solve becomes fairly obvious.

Step 3: Figure out the best medium to build it in.

Lastly, it’s time to decide on the medium with which you’ll solve your one person’s, single problem.

Do you see how much easier it is choosing a medium now? You would not think of offering a live, cohort-based program to the single mom of a special needs child, would you?

Simple, isn’t it?

But simple isn’t always easy. Especially if this is your first time creating a digital product.

What specific questions do you have? Send them my way via DM on Twitter or LinkedIn and I’ll answer them in a future essay – or maybe even one of my Sunday deep dives.