Should YOU Build a Digital Product?

For ten newsletter editions now, I’ve been nudging you to build a productized service to help grow your service business.

💡 Heads up: You can always find past editions here.

Today I’ll show you how to build a productized service. I’ll do that by walking you through the step-by-step process I used to build a productized service for Profit Ladder this past week.

I’ll show my work. That way, you’ll gain practical knowledge you can put to use.

I’ll also give you open access to the product I built. It will help you answer one important question: Should YOU build a digital product?

Ready, Freddy?

Drawing inspiration

Since starting the Profit Ladder newsletter in October, I’ve focused on writing quality emails each week. Turns out, I’ve written close to 16,000 words already!

As they say, good writing requires good thinking.

With each new newsletter edition, I’m able to:

• Experiment with writing styles, tones, and formats

• Build deeper relationships with the community

• Generate new ideas for my next posts

• Refine the problems I’m solving

• Clarify my thinking

Writing also gives me ideas for my own productized services to build.

I mean, what kind of Founder-Creator would I be if all I did was write about how you should build productized services, but not actually build one myself?!

If you’ve been following along, you may have noticed some of my initial product launches:

• Growth Flywheel OS

• Product Bootcamp

• Productizer Guide

These are my prototypes. They take my written newsletter content to the next level by forcing me to evolve them into assets you’ll use and appreciate.

Creating prototypes not only helps you solve the right customer problems the right way. They also spark conversations with your audience.

For example, last Saturday I received an email from a member of the Profit Ladder community:

This person’s outreach was perfect timing.

I had spent the previous week experimenting with ideas to create a lead magnet that would help grow my subscribers.

One idea was an ebook I’d give away to new members, serving as a comprehensive guide to help them build their first productized service.

But this person’s email provided a helpful perspective shift. Instead of writing more how-to (DIY) content, what if I showed you how I built my own product?

And in super meta fashion, what if the product I built, additionally helped you decide if you should build your own productized service?

🪄 Poof. The Digital Product Analyzer was born.

Here’s what it is and how I built it.

The Digital Product Analyzer

What is it and why am I building it?

The Digital Product Analyzer (DPA for short) helps Founder-Creators answer one question: SHOULD YOU build a digital product?

This is a question many Founder-Creators have shared with me over the past few months.

Before you’ll commit to building a digital product, you want to know if now is the right time. And if you’re positioned well to have success building any productized service.

If I created a tool that helped you answer the “Should I build?” question, you’ll be more willing to continue answering the next questions: “What should I build?” and “How I should I build it?”

This seminal question is not only important to my existing audience, but any founder who’s curious about productized services. And so I could additionally offer this tool to earn their trust and, hopefully, their subscription to my newsletter.

Yes, that makes it a lead magnet.

If lead magnets feel dirty to you, I’m with you. There are plenty bait-and-switch lead magnets in the world. However, I hope to show you how to create a lead magnet that gets people in the door by delivering real value on a real problem.

How does it work?