Starting an online business online can feel overwhelming, especially when you are bombarded with all the jargon. Funnels, autoresponders, SEOs, clicks, traffic…what?!? And the idea of starting a website? It can make you want to run off and leave the internet behind!

But, did you know that you can start your business quickly and with no systems of your own? No website, email list, no fancy software, just your brain and your computer (or phone or tablet). You can create a digital product and start selling it this weekend. Or even today. No kidding. In the Passive Income Rocks Academy, I teach simple tools you can master quickly, so you can get your business to grow today.

If the task of starting seems ridiculously overwhelming, get started with something small, something you can do TODAY. This will give you a chance to test our your ideas and give you a lot of confidence in the process. You can then build your set of systems as you need them.

Where do you start?

1. decide what you can sell

You need an idea of the area where you have expertise and knowledge. As scary as that sounds, you have a ton of expertise you aren’t even aware of (yet)! It’s all there, lurking in your brain. This is often something you know so well, you don’t even remember that you had to learn it!
I’ll give you an example. I was discussing business ideas with a bunch of my friends recently. We’re all expats, some of us have lived in many countries, some have moved only once. I explained to them what a business could look like helping people who were making their first move abroad. They all went completely silent. Then one of them said “Gosh, I completely forgot I had learned all of that – and it’s only been 2 years since I moved abroad for the first time! I sure could have used help then.” Sometimes, the hardest thing is to recognize all that you have learned which is valuable to people who haven’t learned it yet!If you already know what space you want to work in, skip on down to the next point. If not, brainstorm this:– What do people always ask you about?

– What do your friend tell you you are great at? If you can’t remember, ask them!
– What can you talk about for hours?

These should give you some hints as to what area you may want to pursue. Spend some time digging around these ideas until you hit on one you really enjoy. If this is going to become your business, you will need to enjoy sharing your knowledge and experience!

2. think of a small product you can create

Maybe it’s a recipe or a group of recipes, an audio mediation or a coloring book. Remember, keep it simple. With this first  digital product, you need to solve a single problem (like what to serve for dinner on Thursday or how to start your meditation practice). Keep in mind that you are trying to prove to yourself that you can design and sell something – so this is about practice and learning – and helping your clients solve a problem (am I making my point yet??).

3. put your product into a shareable format

Why? So you can sell it. Create an mp3 or pdf file.

You can make an mp3 using something as simple as your phone. Record and convert and you are ready. Obviously, if you are selling music, you’ll need something a little more professional than a phone, but you don’t have to use the most sophisticated tools to make great products.To make a pdf, you can use a word processor like Word or Pages or presentation software (PowerPoint, Keynote or Canva are great). If you want to get really fancy, you can even make a fillable pdf using pdfescape.com. It’s a great, free tool.

Again, your product doesn’t need to be super-fancy, just make sure that the content is something worth paying for. You get some bonus points for making it look nice, but the point is the content, not the lovely and expensive graphic you use as a background image.

Ta da! Cue the music and congratulate yourself!

You did it! You made your first digital product!

Are you interested in ideas for your first digital product? Download my FREE ebook 4 Business-Building Passive Income Products. Start building your Freedom Business today.