How To Start A Digital Product Business: 6 Steps To Your First Sale

Most people think selling a digital product requires a huge audience, a polished brand, and a big budget. Alston Godbolt built income across multiple platforms doing the opposite: finding a real problem, packaging a real solution, and getting it to market as fast as possible. In this post, Alston walks through every step of that process, from finding the idea to getting your first sale and coming back to do it again.

This is not a theory video. Alston has launched digital products at every level of success and failure, and he shares what he actually learned, including the specific platforms he avoids, the free tools he uses to create products, and the exact daily ad budget he uses to find out fast whether a product will sell. If you have been waiting to start, this is the guide that removes the excuses.

What You’ll Walk Out With

A clear six-step framework for creating and selling your first digital product
How to find a problem worth solving using your own search history and purchases
Which format to choose for your digital product (ebook, checklist, video training, and more)
Why selling on Etsy leaves serious money on the table and what to do instead
Free and paid marketing strategies with real numbers you can act on today
The one thing that separates people who build a real digital product business from people who never finish their first product
Not sure which type of digital product fits your skills? Find out at finder.platformproof.com

Step 1: Find a Problem

The entire digital product business starts with identifying a problem that other people have. Not a problem you think they might have, but one that is clearly documented by real human behavior. Alston points to two of the most honest signals you can look at: your own search history and your recent purchases.

Your search history is a log of every problem you cared enough to try to solve. If you found yourself searching the same question three or four times before you finally got an answer that worked, that frustration is a business. Other people are going through the exact same search right now and coming up just as short.

Your recent purchases tell a similar story. Every time you paid for a solution, that purchase recorded the fact that you had a problem that was painful enough to spend money on. Think about what you have bought in the last six months and ask yourself: could I package a version of that solution and put it in front of people who are exactly where I was before I found it?

The problem does not have to be complicated. It can be a makeup tutorial, a guide to starting a digital product business, a system for learning affiliate marketing, or anything else where you went looking for real answers. The key is that the problem already exists and people are already feeling it. You are not trying to invent demand. You are stepping in front of it.

Step 2: Decide on a Solution

Once you know the problem, you need to decide what form your solution will take. This is where a lot of people overthink things and stall out. The format matters less than whether the solution actually solves the problem. Pick one and commit to it.

Alston lists the formats that work for digital products: an audiobook, an ebook, a checklist, a blueprint, a video training, an MP3, or a structured digital course. Each of these can be created by one person with basic equipment. The format you choose should match both the problem and your own strengths. If you are good on camera, make a video training. If you write clearly, make an ebook. If the solution has a repeating process, make a checklist or a blueprint.

Here is the filter Alston uses for any solution: it has to save people time or save people money. Those are the only two things a digital product actually needs to do. If your product does one of those two things, you have a real solution. If it only shares information without addressing either one, Alston says you have a list of things you want people to know, not a product. That distinction matters when it is time to price and market it.

Step 3: Create the Product

Creating the product is the step that takes the most time and the one most people use as an excuse to delay. Alston is direct about this: create an outline and then create the product. Do not wait until it is perfect. A product that is out in the world and imperfect is better than a perfect product that never ships, because you can always revise what already exists but you cannot get feedback on something that is still only in your head.

The tools Alston recommends for creation are all either free or close to it. Canva works for visual products like checklists, guides, and branded PDFs. Google Docs and Google Sheets handle written products and structured templates. If you are on an Apple device, Pages is already installed and works fine. For audio and video recording, your smartphone is enough to get started. Alston mentions upgrading to a dedicated microphone at around $130 as a later investment, but he is clear that your phone audio is more than acceptable for a first product.

If you want to outsource the creation, Fiverr and Upwork are the platforms Alston names. His advice here is specific: do not leave anything to the imagination when briefing a freelancer. Write detailed instructions for every element. When freelancers have room to interpret, they will do the minimum amount of work, and you will end up with something that does not match what you had in mind. That wastes both money and time.

Alston’s stronger recommendation for a first product is to create it yourself. Doing it yourself means you understand every part of what went into it. You make mistakes you can learn from. You know exactly how to explain it to a customer. That knowledge becomes an asset when you start marketing, because you will be able to answer objections and describe the product with real authority instead of reading someone else’s work back to a buyer.

One practical move Alston recommends: give your product away for free to a small group before you put a price on it. Real feedback from real users will tell you where the product is strong, where it is confusing, and what is missing. That feedback loop makes version two far more marketable than version one ever could have been without it.

Step 4: Decide How to Sell It

This is the step where Alston is most direct, and where most first-time digital product creators go wrong. The default move for many people is to list on a marketplace like Etsy. It feels easy. It is familiar. And Alston says it is leaving serious money on the table.

Here is the specific example he uses. Digital planners on Etsy sell for an average of $5 to $10. The same product, sold independently on your own platform, can command $27 or more. That is not a small gap. Over the course of a hundred sales, the difference is hundreds of dollars, and that gap widens every time you increase volume.

Price compression is only one part of the Etsy problem. When you sell on a marketplace, you do not get access to the customer’s name or email address. That means you cannot follow up. You cannot send them updates. You cannot sell them your next product directly. You cannot promote affiliate offers to them. The customer relationship belongs to Etsy, not to you.

Alston also points to the platform risk. Etsy can shut down your account at any point. If a competitor reports your listing, if Etsy changes its policies, or if the algorithm simply stops showing your product, your business disappears overnight. Alston says clearly: you are a small fish and they know you are replaceable. There are ten or fifteen other sellers who can fill your spot. Building on a platform you do not own is building on someone else’s land.

When you sell on your own, you collect emails. You build a list of buyers who have already shown they will pay for what you offer. Alston mentions that he sends new videos to his email subscribers, and those subscribers come back. That kind of compounding relationship is the actual asset in a digital product business. The product is the entry point. The list is the business.

Alston acknowledges that platforms like Udemy or Etsy are fine if you are just getting started and want to test the waters. But if you are building something real, selling it yourself is the move. The short-term ease of a marketplace trades away the long-term value of owning your customer relationships.

Not sure which type of digital product to create first?

Answer a few quick questions and get matched with the best option for your skills and situation at finder.platformproof.com.

Step 5: Market the Product

Marketing is the step that separates products that sell from products that sit. Alston breaks it into two tracks: free and paid. Both work. Both have trade-offs. The choice depends on your timeline and what you can afford to invest.

The free route means creating content that points toward your product. Alston uses his own YouTube channel as the primary example: he creates videos about affiliate marketing, teaches real tactics, and then directs viewers to a digital product that goes deeper. The same model works with a blog, a Facebook group, Pinterest, TikTok, and Instagram. Any social platform where you can consistently share content related to your product’s topic can work as a discovery channel.

The honest trade-off on the free route is time. You are working against platform algorithms and building an audience from scratch. Unless you already have a following, organic traffic takes months to build into something consistent. That is not a reason to avoid it, but it is a reason to set realistic expectations and not quit in week three when the numbers are still small.

The paid route changes the timeline dramatically. Alston says you can run paid ads on Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok and know within the same day whether your product resonates. His suggested starting budget is $25 to $30 per day. At that level, you get enough data to see if people are buying or not. If they buy, you scale. If they do not buy, you go back and adjust the messaging, the price point, or the audience targeting before spending more.

The paid route requires money up front and a willingness to learn the ad platform you choose. But the speed of feedback is a real advantage. You are not waiting three months to find out your product does not convert. You find out in a week, iterate, and move forward. That speed is worth the cost for many sellers, especially if the product is already validated through free feedback from early users.

Step 6: Rinse and Repeat

The sixth step is the one that turns a one-time sale into an actual business. Alston describes what happens after your first product sells as an itch. You will want to do it again. That impulse is the engine of a real digital product business.

Alston says he has launched a large number of digital products at various levels of success. Some performed well. Some flopped. He keeps creating because you never know in advance which product will pop. The process itself, finding the problem, building the solution, taking it to market, teaches you more about your audience with every cycle. Each product makes the next one easier to create and sell.

He also gives a concrete time frame: you can create a digital product in ten days or less, depending on how much time you can put in. For people with full-time jobs or family commitments, that timeline is realistic without burning yourself out. The first product is the hardest because you are learning the whole process. By the third or fourth product, the workflow is familiar and the speed picks up considerably.

Honest Drawbacks to Know Before You Start

Alston’s video is practical and encouraging, but there are honest trade-offs worth naming before you jump in.

Creating the product takes longer than you expect. Alston says the creation step is probably the longest and most difficult part. That is especially true for a first product when you are still figuring out your format, your tools, and your workflow. Block out more time than you think you need.

Selling yourself requires a platform. When Alston recommends skipping Etsy and selling independently, that means you need a way to take payments and deliver the product. That setup requires some technical work upfront: a sales page, a payment processor, and a delivery mechanism. It is not complicated, but it is more than clicking “upload” on a marketplace.

Paid ads have a learning curve. Running $25 to $30 per day on Facebook or YouTube sounds simple, but ad platforms reward people who understand how they work. If you go in without any knowledge of targeting, creative, or conversion tracking, you will burn through your budget faster than you get useful data. Spend time learning the basics of whichever platform you choose before you start spending.

Not every product will sell. Alston is honest about this. He has launched products that did not perform. The answer is to treat each one as data rather than failure. What did the market respond to? What did buyers say when they used the product? Each launch teaches you something, and the creators who stay in the game long enough to apply those lessons are the ones who build real income from digital products.

The Full Six-Step Process at a Glance

Find a problem using your search history and recent purchases as primary research tools
Decide on a solution in a specific format: ebook, audiobook, checklist, blueprint, video training, or MP3
Create the product using free tools (Canva, Google Docs, your smartphone) or hire via Fiverr or Upwork with very detailed instructions
Decide how to sell it with a strong preference for selling independently so you own the customer data and email list
Market the product through free content on YouTube, blogs, or social platforms, or via paid ads at $25 to $30 per day to test fast
Rinse and repeat because the process compounds, and you never know which product will be the one that takes off

Find Your X

The hardest part of starting a digital product business is not the tech or the marketing. It is figuring out which product to build in the first place. Most people spin out on that question for months before they ever create anything. The Platform Proof Finder was built specifically to cut through that indecision. Answer a few questions about your skills, your schedule, and what you already know, and you will get a clear recommendation for which type of product to build first. Visit finder.platformproof.com to find your starting point.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to create a first digital product?

Alston says you can build a digital product in ten days or less depending on how much time you can dedicate each day. A checklist or short ebook might take a weekend. A full video training course will take longer. The key is to outline first, create second, and resist the urge to add features before you have shipped version one.

Do I need special equipment to create a digital product?

No. Alston uses his phone for audio and video recording when he is starting out, and recommends free tools like Canva, Google Docs, and Google Sheets for written and visual products. He does mention upgrading to a dedicated microphone for around $130 eventually, but that is a reinvestment step, not a prerequisite for getting started.

Should I sell on Etsy or on my own website?

Alston strongly recommends selling independently if you want to build a real business. Marketplaces like Etsy take a cut of every sale, compress your prices through competition, and do not give you access to customer contact information. Digital planners that sell for $5 to $10 on Etsy can sell for $27 or more when sold directly. If you are just experimenting, Etsy is fine as a starting point. If you are building income, own the customer relationship.

How much should I charge for my first digital product?

The video does not give a specific pricing formula, but the context from Alston’s examples suggests that independently sold digital products can be priced at $17 to $47 or more depending on the depth of the solution. The pricing should reflect how much time or money the product saves the buyer. A checklist that saves someone two hours is worth more than its page count suggests.

What type of digital product should I create first?

Alston suggests matching the format to your strengths. If you communicate well in writing, start with an ebook or checklist. If you prefer to talk through ideas, create a video training or audio guide. The format that feels most natural to you will be the one you finish fastest and can explain most clearly when marketing it.

How do I market a digital product if I have no audience?

The free route is to create consistent content on platforms like YouTube, a blog, a Facebook group, Pinterest, TikTok, or Instagram and point that content toward your product. The paid route is to run ads for $25 to $30 per day on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, or TikTok to drive immediate traffic. If you have no following and no budget, start with one free platform and commit to posting consistently for at least 90 days before evaluating results.

How much should I spend on paid ads to test a digital product?

Alston says $25 to $30 per day is enough to get meaningful data. At that spend level, you will see within a few days whether people are purchasing. If they are, you scale the budget. If they are not buying, you adjust your messaging or your targeting before spending more. Running ads is a test, not a commitment. The goal of the first dollars spent is information, not profit.

What if my first digital product fails?

Alston has launched products that did not sell well and he is direct about it. A product that does not perform is not a reason to stop. It is data. It tells you something about the messaging, the audience, or the format. Alston recommends giving your product away for free initially to gather real feedback before putting a price on it, which reduces the risk of launching something that does not land. Most successful digital product creators failed multiple times before finding a product that took off.

Sources

Alston Godbolt, “How To Start A Digital Product Business 2021 – 6 Steps To A Successful Product,” YouTube, https://youtu.be/hHmaZ4-11P0
Canva (free design tool): canva.com
Fiverr (freelance marketplace): fiverr.com
Upwork (freelance marketplace): upwork.com