Creating one digital product probably won’t get you out of the hamster wheel.
But it can be a very good start.
I’ve previously written about how to turn what you know into your first digital product and shared 20 simple digital products you can create.
Here, I want to take the next step.
Sometimes you already know exactly what you want to create. You have a particular book, course, game, or creative project in mind, and your job is to find the people who want it.
But what if you want to build a digital product income stream and don’t yet know exactly what to create?
In that case, I’d take a more experimental approach. Start with something you know well and enjoy — perhaps a skill you’ve developed during your career or a hobby you’ve spent years pursuing. Do some basic research to see if people are already spending money in that area.
Are they? Great. Then create something small.
A small e-book, mini-course, template, or guide may be enough to test whether there’s genuine interest in the problem you’re trying to solve.
Use that first product to learn what might be worth building next.
Then listen.
Your first customers can tell you things you couldn’t know when you were sitting alone creating the product. They may ask questions you hadn’t considered. They might want more detail about one particular part. Perhaps several people struggle with the same next step.
That’s all useful information.
So instead of thinking about one product, start thinking about what that product could lead to.
That’s why I wouldn’t create a detailed three-year product roadmap before you’ve even tested the waters with your first product.
Have a direction, but stay flexible.
Let real demand influence what you build next.
Building Your Exit Roadmap
There isn’t one way to build your exit. This series explores several. Some people succeed with one income stream. Others combine several. The important thing is finding the path that fits your skills, interests and goals.
1. What You Actually Need to Start an Online Business
2. The Real Job of a Freelancer
3. Why Start a Blog? Build a Platform, Not Just a Blog
4. Build Trust and Add Affiliate Income
5. Print on Demand – Build a Catalog, Build an Asset
7. Digital Products
8. Dropshipping
Let Each Product Make the Next One Easier
Your first product starts from zero. By your second, you may understand your customers a little better.
You know which questions they ask and what they respond to. You may have learned something about pricing, marketing, or which platforms actually bring people to you.
Perhaps you’ve also started building an email list.
You may even have content, research, templates, or other material that can be reused or developed further.
That means every new product has the potential to make the next one a little easier to create and sell.
This is where digital products can become cumulative.
You’re not simply adding another PDF or course to a virtual shelf. You’re building on what you’ve already learned.
None of that guarantees that the next product will succeed.
But you’re no longer starting from zero.
Build Relationships, Not Just Customers
While you’re creating and testing products, there’s something else you can start building at the same time: relationships.
This doesn’t have to mean hard selling, cold calling, or constantly promoting whatever you’ve made. A simple rule: don’t think of everyone you meet as a potential customer.
Start showing a genuine interest in your industry or hobby online.
Find the places where people talk about your subject. Follow people whose work interests you. Leave thoughtful comments. Answer questions when you genuinely have something useful to contribute. Share some of what you’ve learned yourself.
You don’t need to be everywhere. One or two relevant places can be enough to start.
Over time, people may begin to recognize you and what you know.
And those relationships can become valuable in ways that have nothing to do with your current product. They can lead to collaborations, new ideas, freelance work, partnerships, or opportunities you couldn’t have planned for.
Build Your Email List Early
If you want to build a digital product income stream, start building an email list as early as you reasonably can.
Social media can help people discover you, but you’re always dependent on someone else’s platform and algorithm.
Your email list is different.
It gives you a direct connection to people who have actively chosen to hear from you.
And don’t only email them when you have something to sell.
Write about your subject. Share useful ideas, experiences, and things you’re learning. That might mean once a week, every other week, or whatever schedule you can realistically maintain.
Then, when product number two arrives, you’re not launching it to an empty room.
Reinvest When It Makes Sense
If you’re creating your first video course, you probably don’t need an expensive camera, studio lights, and professional audio equipment before you’ve sold anything. Your phone and the equipment you already own may be enough to test the idea.
If people start buying your courses, the calculation changes.
Perhaps better audio would noticeably improve the next one. Maybe new software or equipment would save you time or allow you to create something better.
At that point, you can reinvest some of what the products have earned.
Instead of spending heavily and hoping the business follows, let the business gradually help finance its own development.
Think in Systems, Not Individual Products
The interesting part isn’t how many digital products you have.
It’s how the pieces begin to work together.
One product brings you customers and feedback. That feedback helps shape another product. Your content and relationships help more people discover what you do. Some of them join your email list. A larger email list makes it easier to introduce the next product. Revenue can be reinvested into better tools or new ideas.
Some products may sell for years. Others may disappear quickly. One might unexpectedly lead to a completely different opportunity.
The goal isn’t to predict the perfect sequence of products before you begin.
It’s to gradually build something where your products, knowledge, customers, relationships, distribution, and experience can reinforce each other.
One digital product probably won’t build your exit.
But what you build around it might.