Episode 11
Season 2
Boost Your Income by Adding a Digital Product to Your Portfolio
Welcome, Dr. Destini Copp to this Special Afternoon Edition of Saturday Soundbites!
Dr. Copp has been helping business owners and entrepreneurs grow their brands and their businesses for years. She has a talent for seeing where efficiencies can be made and how business owners can repurpose their content and add more offerings to their clients. One of the ways she helps them is to introduce them to digital products, regardless of their space or niche.
Join Dr. Copp and Veronica as they discuss the challenges and benefits of setting up systems that grow your brand, grow your offerings and grow your reach with digital products.
This is an episode you don't want to miss! If you are ready to step into the digital space, this episode is for you.
Learn more about Dr. Copp at www.destinecopp.com.
[00:00:00] Veronica: Hello. Hello and welcome to Saturday. Sound bites. I'm your host Veronica sofa here on Saturday. Sound bites. We talk all things. Visibility strategy, that's advertising, marketing, public relations, branding, networking, and all the tools and strategies you need. To really be visible in your space to grow your business, create those sales funnels and figure out how you can leverage all of the things that you're doing to grow your business.
[00:00:27] I've got a wonderful guest for you today. We are gonna be talking about really figuring out how to add some of the digital components to your portfolio and, um, just let and from a really great expert. But before I bring her on, I want to take care of a little housekeeping and remind you that if you are listening on our podcast, make sure you hit subscribe.
[00:00:46] From your favorite PA podcast platform. If you are watching on Facebook or YouTube, make sure you drop some comments on because we wanna be able to reconnect with you and really build some growing relationships and answer any questions you might have. So with that, let's go ahead and bring on our guest.
[00:01:03] I have with us today, Dr. Destiny cop joining welcome destiny. How are you? Hey Veronica.
[00:01:09] Destini: Thank you so much for having me. I'm super excited to be here with you today.
[00:01:13] Veronica: Oh, that's awesome. We're excited because I know that the conversation you, um, bring is gonna be really important to our audience. So first of all, tell us a little bit about yourself, just so we can get a better sense of your background.
[00:01:26] Destini: um, so I won't take you back too far because I have been around a long time. So I've been in marketing for over 25 years. Um, but most importantly too, I've been in online education and teaching. Online since 2005. So this was way back when, when people were still asking me, can people actually learn through an online course?
[00:01:46] And I was telling 'em way back in 2005. Yes, we have students that are doing this. And of course I was teaching at a university at, at the university level and graduate and undergraduate and doctorate programs. But, you know, teaching on online has been around for a while. It's just really have come it's.
[00:02:03] It's kind of a little bit more mainstream, right? With COVID and, and kids at home and teachers even through K through 12 teaching online. So I have a combination of a marketing background cause I've used to work for a fortune 50 company running their marketing department. And then, uh, obviously I have also a doctorate in marketing, so I kind.
[00:02:22] When I went online and left university, um, I wanted to go out on my own and I'm sure a lot of your listeners can relate to this. They might be in a nine to five day and they're, you know, wondering, you know, what can I do? So I kind of combined some of those skill sets that I have. So today I help te I help people add digital products to their portfolio and also market them and sell them into the marketplace.
[00:02:50] Veronica: I love it. And we've had several college professors, um, on the show, we we've talked about everything from strategy and some of the core fundamental pieces of messaging and branding to, um, to professors who really bring in some of the trends that we're seeing on social media. So, uh, we love having distinguished experts who are so well read and very knowledgeable in your space.
[00:03:12] So we're just excited about the conversation today.
[00:03:15] Destini: Well, like I said, I'm an open book. So ask me anything that you want.
[00:03:19] Veronica: great. Well, let's get to the core because I know our listeners, uh, really tune into Saturday sound bites to get some knowledge and, and nuggets of, of information and tips and strategies.
[00:03:28] So tell us about digital products and then how that can be incorporated into what it is you're
[00:03:34] Destini: doing. Yeah. So that's a great question. And a lot of people are familiar with online courses, just from, you know, their kids or their kids going to school, or what have you, but really online courses are out there.
[00:03:49] Anybody, you know, if you have something that you can teach somebody else, you can put that. Into a digital product and there's other types of digital products, which we certainly can go into, but I'm gonna use the online course as an example, because it's the one that most people are familiar with. So I have people who are organizational experts, so they go into people's homes and they, you know, help 'em organize.
[00:04:12] And I'm sure a lot of people can relate to that and say, oh, I'd love to have, I'd love to have somebody come in my home and teach I'm one of them. I well, me too. And they have taken all of that knowledge in all the work that they have done over the years to help, you know, people organize their home and they have put in that they have put that knowledge and have taught people in an online course.
[00:04:34] So what that does for their business. Is it really broadens the reach, right? Cause somebody can purchase your online course that, you know, they might live in Europe or in Australia or somewhere else or on the other side of the us. So not you're, you're not only helping the people. Close to you in your own little community that you used to serve, but you're broadening basically you're broadening your, your reach.
[00:04:58] You're boosting your revenue. You're adding that digital product for somebody who wasn't able to hire you before, maybe co maybe because of geographical reasons, they can actually purchase that and still learn from you.
[00:05:12] Veronica: I love it. I love it. And I know definitely with COVID, many of us were hungry to learn during our off time cuz we were in homes.
[00:05:21] So have you seen a surge of people entering into this space and what does that look like?
[00:05:26] Destini: Well, for sure, I mean this industry is growing and they, and I don't even have the numbers in front of me right now, but it is billions of dollars and expected to grow over the next few years. Um, so there's, you know, People are hungry for knowledge and they're hungry just to learn fun, new things, right.
[00:05:46] They might wanna learn how to knit. They might wanna learn a musical instrument. I have a son who got a guitar for Christmas and he is, you know, he's going online. He's watching videos to learn how to teach instead of us taking him somewhere, me with an actual teacher. He's. He's learning it all online.
[00:06:04] And I think not only for, um, you know, maybe the older generations they're, they're, you know, certainly, you know, buying into this too, but also for the younger generations, it's normal. It's normal for them to learn online and watch videos to learn. So it is doing nothing but growing to answer your question.
[00:06:25] Veronica: yeah, no, that's good to hear because I often wonder if, if the market is saturated, you know, and I wonder if, if at some point people are like, nah, nevermind. I did enough online during the pandemic and I'm ready to, just to get back to. You know, face to face learning, but it sounds like there's still a place for it.
[00:06:41] Destini: Absolutely. And you know, the, the reality is you can go out and do market research. What I always tell people is go out and see what other people are teaching related to what you would like to do. And if you see other people teaching it, that means is the, that there's a demand in the marketplace for that.
[00:06:59] So I always tell 'em to go out to an online course platform. One of the big ones out there is you to me. Right. So when you go to uni, you can search for a particular topic. And if somebody's teaching something, you know, related to what you wanna learn about, that means that there's a demand in the marketplace for that.
[00:07:18] Veronica: Oh, that's so fascinating. I'm glad you mentioned that. We'll definitely put that link in the show notes for our, our listeners. Um, so destiny, tell me a little bit about how you, um, help someone identify what the right digital product is to put in their sales funnel or, or, or to put in their portfolio of services or products.
[00:07:37] Destini: Yeah. So that's a great question. What I teach. And there's a lot of reasons why I teach people to go this route. I always teach 'em to start out with what I call a mini course. Now a mini course is really just a bite size short course that somebody could put together to give. Um, they're customers a quick win and compared to what I would call kind of a signature type course where you're throwing, you know, a lot, all of your knowledge in there.
[00:08:09] So take, take, for instance, you know, we were talking earlier about somebody who teaches people, how to organize their home. Um, it, you know, that could be a huge course, right? You could go into how to organize a kitchen and I've actually had clients to do that and how to organize. Your kids' closet, how to organize a master bedroom closet, how to organize bathroom.
[00:08:29] So you could put a lot of in information in a course like that, but let's just say that that is overwhelming, right? To put together something like that. And, and it's just a lot of work. So what I always teach 'em is. Put together a short course maybe is how to organize a junk drawer, a ju a drawer in your house, right.
[00:08:51] A kinda woman that probably need to go and, and then need to go do some work with it. But just a short course, to give them a quick line to kind of dip, you know, dip your toes into online course creation, kind of figure out how to do it. And you know, that is something that you can just. Start with, and we call 'em mini courses and they really are just like a mini course.
[00:09:13] And that's generally where I tell people to start is think of something where, you know, people are getting stuck or they might think, you know, I can't, I don't know how to do this. Maybe you're teaching people how to knit. Maybe you just teach them. I'm. In this area at all, but maybe you teach them just a, a few like knitty exercises just to get them started.
[00:09:36] Maybe there's a certain, um, you know, there's probably something out there just to teach 'em how to do a hook or something like that. Um, so just really a mini course, and that will help people kind of get that win. So, and they also know all you, you teach, right? They, they learn from you, they know your teaching style and if they like.
[00:09:56] Their experience, they can purchase other courses that you can launch in the future mm-hmm .
[00:10:01] Veronica: And what I love about this in particular is that it's also a way to lead towards other products, other services. And what I mean by that is as a visibility strategist and someone in the PR space, I'm always trying to find that connection as a, a marketer, you know this right?
[00:10:18] You, you know, you're trying to weave in. All the different ways that your actions and how you show up for folks really can, can grow into something else. So I'd love your thoughts on. How courses can contribute to a visibility strategy as a tool rather than just a product. Cause I feel like there's a lot of opportunity there.
[00:10:40] Destini: And, and to your point, what people can do with many courses, let's just say they were going to be a guest on somebody else's podcast. They can offer up that mini course as a free lead magnet to get people on their email list. So there's tons of things that you can do with a mini course. You can. Post it on your website to sell it.
[00:11:01] You can, you know, include it as a free lead magnet. You can include it as a premium product. So let's just say that, and I'm sure you teach this in what you're doing. Let's just say that somebody's going to go speak at a summit or a conference. You can include it as a, you know, as a premium product, maybe in an all access pass that, that, you know, summit host is putting together.
[00:11:23] So there's tons of things that you can do with it.
[00:11:26] Veronica: I like that idea because I've actually been playing around with that concept. And I'd love your thoughts on how to repackage, uh, because I've got a number of, um, sessions that, that I actually participated in and then have, um, the rights to use for other people who have shared their expertise.
[00:11:45] And I've got great content and I don't have a digital strategy right now. To share that. So I'd love a little one on one hot seat coaching. If, if you're up for it, cuz I I'm interested in hearing how you would do, how you would put together something for that.
[00:12:00] Destini: Yeah. So, uh, I really love what you're talking about there.
[00:12:03] So the one thing I do want to mention is a digital product. Doesn't have to be a visitor, uh, a video course. Oh, it can also be like an audio course. So just so you know, um, I'll give you an example, which I think this is something you can do with what you're, you know, working or thinking about there. Um, on Amazon, I have a book and inside that book, I have a free lead magnet and that free lead magnet is an audio course.
[00:12:32] So when somebody purchases that book, they can sign up for that free lead magnet. And it's in a private basically it's a private podcast feed. So I'm using a system called hello, audio to do that. And people can just sign up for it and they can listen to the book. Look. Through that private podcast feed.
[00:12:50] So going back to your question and the, the sound bites that you're talking about, I'm assuming they're like podcast type episodes. I might be wrong on that, but you could load those into this private podcast feed and basically that's a premium. Digital product that you can use in any way that you want.
[00:13:09] You can use it as a free lead magnet. You can actually charge for it. I have several private podcast feeds that are included, uh, with various products that I've put together. Like one is my membership, but it's, you know, it is a private podcast feed and you only get access to it. If you pay for.
[00:13:28] Veronica: I love that idea.
[00:13:29] I've been playing around with it, but haven't given it much thought, but you've opened my mind to the possibilities. And so I, for me, destiny, this has been great. Just having this initial conversation, cuz you sparked my ideas and I think that our listeners. We'll certainly, um, think outside the box, because when you do think of a digital product, you do automatically think of a course.
[00:13:50] What are some other things that you're seeing folks do that fall into this space?
[00:13:55] Destini: Oh, I love this idea. I love this question. Um, and there's tons of things that you can do. You can do templates and swipe files. Those are actually. Hot digital products. So let's just say, and I'm trying to think of some examples.
[00:14:09] So let's just say you're a career coach and you are helping people maybe put together their resumes and their cover letters. You can put together some templates that they can, uh, use to put together like a CV or resume, or maybe even like a cover letter or, you know, Outreach, maybe cold outreaching. You know, I don't know what a career coach does, but, um, I'm making some assumptions there, but there's a lot of things you could bundle in a digital product like that and sell it, or, you know, use it in the way we've been talking about today.
[00:14:42] Veronica: I think that's great. I think there's a lot of opportunities, um, for entrepreneurs who have been developing content that have traditionally released them in a way that, um, they, they felt comfortable with, and now there's an opportunity for them to repurpose it. And it. Seems like that is a really great way to not have to recreate content, because if, if it's already there, then there's, there's nothing but opportunity for you.
[00:15:08] Yeah.
[00:15:08] Destini: I mean, another example would be, um, and this is somebody that I have worked with and purchased some of her digital products in the past. She was a lawyer and decided to go on a, on our loan and she has all of these like contract type templates that you can purchase. And, um, you know, she's also done some online.
[00:15:28] Courses walking you through how to set up your business like an LLC or, you know, however you're gonna set it up. So there's a lot of different ways that you can do with that. Um, the other thing you can. Uh, consider and think about is setting up a membership. Now, a membership is different from an online course, cuz a membership is, you know, it's basically a subscription, it's a monthly recurring revenue that you're getting into your business.
[00:15:54] You're getting into your business. Um, like a, I'll go back to the career coach example. They might be a perfect, you know, Perfect opportunity for them to set up a membership where they're working with their clients for some time. Cause it may take some time, right. To either get a job or maybe they want to continue their coaching as they move into a new role.
[00:16:18] Um, and have that support of, uh, you know, somebody working with them or career cut type coach. So. Excuse me. There's a lot of different ways that you can bundle these digital products together to support you in your business.
[00:16:34] Veronica: mm-hmm . So when you think of, and your coaching folks through a membership model, is there, um, reoccurring content that has to be added?
[00:16:43] Or is it something that your clients can literally repackage what they already have and maybe beef it up a little bit and then make it more passive? Or do you feel like it's one of those services that have, have to be nurtured more regularly?
[00:16:56] Destini: It, it could be, you can set it up. However you want. A membership could be simply, you have, you know, a monthly group coaching call with your folks and that's what they pay you for.
[00:17:08] And you, you know, give them some additional content. In addition to that, uh, maybe you already have. All the content in your business, and you're putting it into the membership and is available for your members. But you know, you're not creating content every single month. Um, You know, and they have the content, plus they might do like a, you know, have a Facebook group or some type of slack group associated with it.
[00:17:35] And maybe once a month they have a group coaching hall with you. You really can pack package. 'em any way that you want. You just wanna make sure that you're meeting the needs of your students and your ideal customer in, in what you're offering them.
[00:17:50] Veronica: Yeah, no, that makes sense. And being a, a professor and, and having lived in the academic space before, I'm assuming you would want people to do a little bit of research ahead of time and do some analysis.
[00:18:03] How would you recommend your clients figure that part out? Cause if I have an idea of who my ideal client is, um, and who I target audiences, I don't know that I know how they wanna consume that information. So for me, that would be, uh, a wondering that I would have going into the conversation.
[00:18:20] Destini: I always recommend that you talk to your ideal customers, that you serve, survey them, that you do that market research.
[00:18:27] It could be as simple as sending out an email to your list and having them fill out a survey, or it could be maybe you wanna get on the phone and talk. To some of them. Um, I've done both. Um, recently this past year when I was setting up a new membership, um, I did a survey. I think I had like 150 people answer their survey.
[00:18:49] And then I got on the phone with about 20 of them. Mm-hmm and did a little bit more kind of deeper research with that. Um, I don't recommend and just throwing a product out there and hoping that it sticks. Because that'll be a lot of work for nothing. If, if you, you know, if it doesn't, you know, if it doesn't kind, kind of come to fruition, but mm-hmm
[00:19:10] But the only other thing that I would say is marketing is all about testing. And, you know, even if you do market research, even if you do talk to some of your ideal customers, you're not always going to hit the bullseye every single time. And that's okay. You know, I've launched. Sales funnel I've launched, you know, webinars that, you know, kind of tested 'em out, tested out these sales funnels.
[00:19:34] And quite frankly, they didn't do that well. So I kind of cut, I cut them off and tried something else, but mm-hmm, , you know, sometimes you just don't know until you test it, even after you've done a lot of research and that's not just with you or me, right, sure. Four than 10 companies out there, that launch products that, that don't do as well as they wanted them to.
[00:19:56] Veronica: well, um, I wanna get, uh, the, not the inverse of it, but you've given us great tips. What are some things to be on the lookout for? What are some, you know, landmines that you've seen folks kind of fall into as they're deciding how they wanna add digital content and products to their, to their portfolio services.
[00:20:16] Destini: So I think this is a great question and you might be a little bit surprised by my answer, but I always tell people that. Product creation, especially digital product creation is 10%. Creating that product, but it's 90% marketing mm-hmm and a lot of it comes down to traffic strategies, right? Traffic strategies coming into your business.
[00:20:39] Cuz if nobody knows that you exist, they're not going to know about your online course. They're not gonna know about your free lead magnet. They're not going to know about you. It all. So that's why I place a ton of emphasis in my business on being visible in the. The market basically, and, you know, making sure that people know that I exist and there's a lot of different strategies that I focus on there.
[00:21:07] Um, but that would be one of my biggest tips for folks. Got
[00:21:11] Veronica: it. I love that. And I'm writing that down because I think that's, um, definitely something people aren't aren't um, tuned into. Um, what other are tips do you have for folks who are thinking about entering into this space?
[00:21:25] Destini: I would say, um, do it sooner than later, you know, dip your toes into it, start testing it out, create that small digital product, even as maybe it's just a template or a swipe file to start with.
[00:21:40] Yeah. Um, you know, dip your toes in it. Testing, you know, start to sell it because selling digital products is different than selling your services, selling your services is, um, you know, you, a lot of times you can do that on referrals, right? Once you have happy customers, they'll tell other people, um, is, is easier.
[00:22:02] In my opinion, you know, I've been in, uh, both a Facebook ad consultant, and now I strictly focus on digital products and affiliate type income, but it was easier. For me. And a lot of people that I talk to to sell services, selling digital products is a little bit more difficult, right? It takes a little bit more marketing skill.
[00:22:22] So I would encourage you to kind of, you know, dip your toes into it, create that little, you know, that bees. Small digital product, whether it's some mini course, whether it's templates or swipe files or something like that. And, you know, test it out, test it out with your audience, get feedback from them.
[00:22:39] You know, what else may they ask for? And your audience will guide you and let you know what you need to do next.
[00:22:46] Veronica: No. That's great. Great advice. So, um, destiny, how can people work with you? Because I know as listeners are tuning in and they're taking notes, the next question automatically is, well, how do I work with her?
[00:22:58] Because this may be a little overwhelming for me. Other people are probably like, yes, I'm on board. I'm gonna go research and do what you said. But if, if you're in the first, but how do they
[00:23:07] Destini: connect? Yeah. So I would say if you are a podcasted listener, which a lot of you may be definitely, um, check out our podcast, which is the course creators, MBA podcasts.
[00:23:18] We do a ton of tips related to creating digital products and also selling them. And of course you can reach me on my website, which is destiny co.com. And we have a ton of, of free resources, no matter what's. Stage of your business business that you're in, whether you're just first creating your digital products or dipping your toes in it, or if you've been around for a while and you really wanna kind of beef up your evergreen sales funnels.
[00:23:45] Veronica: I love it. It's great content. I will definitely be checking it out. I love your podcast. Um, and I love all the tips and strategies that you offer because I think it plays really well into your visibility strategy. Yes. And all those components that can just lead to the next conversation. Um, and that's exactly what we're trying to do is we're trying to connect with our ideal client and get them the resources they need so that they feel like they've got some value.
[00:24:11] Destini: Thank you so much, Veronica. All
[00:24:13] Veronica: right. You guys connect. I'm going leave her, uh, website up for those of you listening. It's D I S T I N I C O P p.com. It will be in the show notes. I want you to connect with destiny. She's got some phenomenal resources for you. If digital products or what you're looking to move into, you don't wanna miss her podcast and you wanna see all the resources that she has available on her website.
[00:24:37] So I'm gonna wrap up this episode of Saturday sound bites. I look forward to connecting and talking about all the things that will grow your business, including advertising, marketing, public relations, branding, and networking. You can always connect with me on my website@veronicavisofor.com. And with that, I will wrap up this episode by sending you lots of positive energy and light.