There are so many ways to go about building a successful digital product business. However, there are a handful of mistakes that I see time and time again that stop entrepreneurs who would otherwise be successful in their tracks. And I DON’T want this to be you. 

So hopefully I’m going to save you the headache that some of these mistakes caused me by sharing these top seven mistakes I see digital product sellers make and how you can avoid making the same mistakes.

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1. Believing the Market is Oversaturated

I hear this belief time and time again from peers, coaching clients and even in my comment section on YouTube. While, yes, Etsy is a competitive marketplace, it’s not oversaturated to the point where new businesses can’t take off. 

Here’s the hard truth. Almost anything with lucrative opportunities — like making a six-figure income, being your own boss, or starting a creative career — will be competitive. 

And, it’s not hard to see why. 

After all, why do you want to make six figures with a digital product business? Is it to increase your current income? The ability to work from home or remotely anywhere in the world? More time with your kids? 

Whatever your reason is, many other people share the same desires. 

What separates you and them is the hard work and grit to build a digital products business. Most people watch videos like this and never act. Some people may start a shop but give up after listing only one or two products. These shops didn’t fail because the market was oversaturated. They failed because they never opened their shop or gave it a fair chance at success. 

The digital products world is competitive, but there is plenty of room for new, emerging businesses! New trends are constantly popping up, which can give you an edge in launching your new digital products shop and gaining traction until you develop your customer base. 

2. Not Dedicating Enough Time

Building a digital products business is not like working for an employer. You’re not guaranteed an hourly wage. If anything, you’ll spend many hours and days working for free until your shop gains traction, and you start seeing those amazing passive sales trickling in while you sleep. 

Unfortunately, this scares away many people who don’t want to feel like they are “wasting their time” creating products only to have no guaranteed income for it. 

But, this is an employee mindset. As a digital products entrepreneur, you’re the boss. You’re in the driver's seat, and you can’t look at things through the eyes of an employee or hourly rate, or you’ll never want to invest the time needed to build your business. 

I’m going to be real with you. You will have many unpaid hours of work at first. However, it’ll be worth it when, months later, you’re waking up to sales and literally earning money in your sleep. 

You just need to take a chance on yourself and believe that you can learn, adapt, and create a successful business. 

3. Giving Up Too Soon

I see so many people give up too soon and lose out on massive opportunities that were just around the corner. 

This mistake is SO hard to watch because I always want those around me to succeed, and seeing someone throw in the towel too early is heart wrenching when you consider the massive opportunity for making thousands of dollars a month that a digital products business can create. 

I’m going to give it to you straight. If you’re not willing to stick around during the months when your shop isn’t making much money or even when you feel like you’re moving backward, you’re not going to reach the months where your shop is bringing in $5,000, $8,000, or even $10,000.

You can’t measure a business’ progress linearly. Often, I see other shop owners not make much “progress” for months, and then their shop suddenly takes off when a product becomes a hot seller, changing the entire trajectory of their business. Don’t give up before this happens to you. 

Stay consistent, and keep uploading new products (even if it’s only a few a week!) — a slow and steady pace wins the race. 

4. Focusing On ALL Social Media

If you read other posts from or you’ve watched my YouTube videos, you’ve probably heard me recommend starting an email list and social media platforms to expand your digital products business. 

However, this shouldn’t be your main priority, especially not when you’re just getting started. I see way TOO many new sellers trying to keep up with posting on five different platforms when it would be a much better use of their time to launch new products and just post on one platform. 

Focus on the ONE social media platform that best suits your product and target audience, but don’t dedicate so much time to social media that it detracts from creating new products.

If you don’t want to be on social media at all, that’s fine…Email works just as good if not better, so start growing your list from the beginning with easy email automation tools like Everbee that are built for Etsy sellers.

5. You Don’t Have a Goal or WHY for Your Business

This might be hard to hear but, You could have the most impressive products, marketing, and business strategy, but if you don’t have strong goals or a WHY behind why you’re building a digital products business, you will eventually burn out. 

If you don’t set firm goals, you can’t measure your success or learn from your failures, which leaves you in an endless cycle of never improving — a VERY dangerous place for any business owner to be. 

Strong goals include listing a certain number of new products each week, researching five new products, or completing relevant courses (like mine, haha;))!

Then, consider your deeper WHY. What is driving you to create this business? Is it to explore an artistic passion of yours? Get out of a dead-end job? Or, free up time so you can spend more time with your kids? 

Your WHY needs to be highly specific, so avoid generic statements like “I want to be rich.” 

Instead, create a specific WHY like “I want to make a six-figure income with my digital product business so I can leave my job, pay down debt, take a vacation to the beach, and spend more time with my dog and husband.”

Whatever your goal and WHY is, write it down and pin it to your bulletin board or somewhere that you’ll see it regularly and think about it every single day. When you’re feeling exhausted or discouraged, remember your WHY and dig deep to keep going after it. 

Remember, the only thing separating those who fail and those who succeed is grit. Keep moving forward so you can start hitting your business goals and reaching your WHY. 

6. Going It Alone

They say it takes a village to raise a child, and the same is true for creating a business. 

Starting a digital product business is very lonely, especially when most people won’t understand what you’re even doing or why you want to leave your nine-to-five job. It’s even tougher when you’re dedicating long hours and not reaping the financial rewards (YET). 

Keeping your inner fire and passion for building a digital products business is essential to keep yourself motivated, inspired, and going, so find other online business owners that you can talk to. Whether that’s a friend or joining a Facebook Group — although I recommend scoping the group out first as many of them are very negative. Find a community, (hint), like the private community I’ve created for extra education, insight from other sellers, and the essential support you’ll need to grow your business. 

7. Overcomplicating Your Goals

There are only 24 hours in a day, and as much as I, a busy mom and multiple business owner, wish there were more hours in the day, that’s all we have. 

I’ve seen WAY too many new sellers set outrageous goals, whether they are complicated, far too many (think like over 50 goals!), or overly ambitious.  

Consider your life situation when making your goals and avoid overcomplicating them, as not meeting any of your goals is a surefire way to lose motivation. 

For example, if you’re working a full-time job and are a mom, you’re probably not going to have four hours a day to work on your business. But you may be able to wake up an hour earlier or spend a few hours on the weekend working on your business.

Stay realistic with your goal setting so it fits within your lifestyle. You’ll most likely need to make some sacrifices, such as not sleeping in or watching your favorite TV show for a few months, but the rewards are SO worth it. 

I hope you found this helpful and maybe take a step back to think about if you are leaning into any of these mistakes and letting it affect your progress.

Need Support?

Looking for a course and community that is different than all the others out there, due to the level of support you receive during your Etsy journey via live Q&A calls, daily support in a private community, shop audits, and PLR products you can edit/resell, then be sure to check out the Digital Product Profit Blueprint and I hope to see you in there! :)