If you are new to the world of online product creation, using professional experiences to sell what you know when creating digital products is a great starting point. As professionals who have moved into the online world selling digital products, we can tell you that the key to success is basing digital products on professional experiences, and the knowledge you have accumulated over years in the profession. In this article we’re going deep on selling what you know as a professional to support your future customers.
Selling What You Know as a Professional
Whether you’ve been in the field for a few months or many years, there is a unique perspective that each and every professional has to offer when it comes to digital content creation.
Those unique perspective bring myriad opportunities for digital products that can support the most individualized problem.
As professionals, no matter the field, we have several contributions to create our unique perspectives:
- Knowledge gained from learning
- Professional mentors
- Continuing education experiences
- Professional development in the field
- Colleagues
Each of these contributions allow the professional to mold into a unique zone of genius. It’s interesting to think about that just as there are no two individuals exactly alike when serving our clients, there are no two professionals alike as well.
It makes sense then, that selling what you know as a professional can serve a wider client base!
Selling what you know and have experienced enables each of us as professionals to contribute unique perspectives and pool of professional attributes. This can be specifics that allow a single professional to create a digital product that supports various perspectives related to a problem that needs solved.
Most of us can make a living as professionals doing what we’re good at. It’s tempting to wait for the mood and moment to create products that might inspire us. Yet, by doing this, we’re missing a golden opportunity to leverage the skills we’ve developed over years of practice and experience.
The concept of “sell what you know” works for everyone, even students. We cover exactly how students can use their personal experiences and knowledge (as well as interests and hobbies) to create digital products. Check out how to earn money as a student for digital content creation ideas at that level.
One of the best routes to selling your digital products that fit well into any niche is to build them around your experience and expertise.
There are a number of benefits to creating this type of product:
- One major advantage is that you can use your knowledge and experience in many different ways to create a wide range of products for various niches.
- Another advantage is that when you make sure everything you write about comes from your own perspective and expertise, you become an authority in your field. People will turn to you when they have a question or problem; if they see that others are successfully using the same method that you recommend using, they will be more likely to turn to you for help.
- You can make money as a side hustle that not only supports your professional work, it multiplies it!
Most of us who work as professionals we can do something more than just our day jobs. We have daily hundreds of observations, facts, tips and pieces of advice about some particular aspect related to our profession. Most of us also care about our profession and want to contribute with others to a common goal – make it better and easier for others who are working in the same field as we do. We all have a zone of genius when it comes to our profession but nobody knows exactly how to get it out.
So, how do we go about selling what you know in order to serve the greater good (and make some money on the side as a side-hustle?)
How to sell what you know
What if you had a method that could inspire you with a purposeful approach to creating digital products that your future customers really need?
You can absolutes focus your efforts based on professional attributes, knowledge gained from years in the profession, and current events impacting the profession! I’m going to show you how you can do this so you can sell what you know as a professional creating digital products.
To sell what you know, follow these steps:
- Come up with your idea- Explore your personal interests, passions, and zone of genius. What are you good at? What do you love about your current work? Get detailed on the specifics.
- Expand on the problem your digital product solves- Come up with common problems that your current client base experiences. What do you find yourself repeating time after time? Expand on those topics. Go deep with the terminology. Expand on definitions that you constantly repeat to your clients. Based on what you know and have seen in supporting clients, where do they typically struggle? How would a digital product support their journey? Consider common challenges and use that knowledge to create the perfect digital product to prevent that struggle.
- Go further based on your experiences- Think about the areas of your work where you care considered the expert. On what topics do colleagues often “pick your brain”? Expand on that and find solutions to the problems.
Once you’ve explored these three steps, you can define exactly what you are selling. Make that into a digital product!
When you sell what you know as a professional, you have the experience in supporting your clients along the way. Use that experience in creating a digital product that works…based on your experience!
In our latest YouTube video, we go deeper on this topic. As online entrepreneurs, Margaret and I have the experience and know-how not only as professionals, but as professionals creating digital content. Check out our conversation:
You’ve heard about it before. An entrepreneur selling “what they know”. Let’s take you from professional to a professional selling what you know! We go deeper into this in the Digital Product Creation Program as a tool for supporting professionals at any level. The resource offers step-by-step roadmaps to product creation, templates so you can plug what you know into digital products, and get your idea out in the world so it can serve those who truly need it.