I know you’ve heard of Lil Nas X. But have you heard of ___YoungKio?___ He’s the 20 year old Dutch producer who created the country trap beat (_btw, with a NIN sample_) that took the pop charts _by storm._ YoungKio (née Kiowa Roukema) sold the beat to Nas X (whom he had never met) for $30 via the BeatStars digital marketplace. His producer-friendly contract stipulated 50% royalties… the rest is history.

YoungKio’s story shows that creating small digital projects is a fun, accessible, and “non” gatekept path for creative expression with a ton of optionality. When it comes to digital products, here’s a warning: __they are the furthest thing possible from a get rich quick scheme.__ The _cowboy hat from Gucci_ will have to wait. But here are a few ideas to get you started: ## Idea #1: The thing you already do Nat Eliason (one of our _raddest, RadReaders_) wants to sell you a portion of his brain. Nope, this ain’t some twisted sci-fi plot; it’s lifetime access to his reading notes over 250 books he’s read. Here’s [Eliason’s pitch]() from his website: __If you went out and bought all of these books, you’d pay around $3,000__. If you then spent the 3-6 hours reading each book, and 1-2 hours taking notes on them, it’d take you anywhere from 800 – 1,600 hours to recreate this. How much does lifetime access cost? __$25 bucks__. Nat was kind enough to share some of the data on this little digital project.

You read that right. That’s $32,200 in lifetime revenue for _an Evernote notebook of his reading notes!!!!_ He shared some additional figures: * The best month was $3,220 (April 2020) * It’s generated > $1,000/month since November 2019 and > $500/mo since December 2018 ## Idea #2: The templates Do your friends salivate over your Excel skills? Did your consulting days teach you a thing or two about making dope Powerpoints? Are your Notion templates straight ???? Templates are a super-lightweight way to get into the digital products game. And with cheap DIY digital storefronts (like Gumroad), you can launch and sell your templates within minutes. Here’s RadReader Paul Millerd, a recovering management consultant (turned digital nomad) [capitalizing on his presentation skills]():

Other examples: * Start [building on the weekends]() (and follow the fun) * Selling [workout programming]() around a niche (pilates, Crossfit, TRX) * Selling premium Notion templates (for [planning](), [performance management](), and [gamifying your life]()) * _(Note: I don’t sell Notion templates, opting instead to provide them to our students and alums)_ ## Idea #3: Learning in public Learning journeys are fun and aspirational. Yet unless you’re deeply in touch with your curiosities AND super self-motivated, learning on your own can be a lonely and meandering exercise. So why not create a learning journey for someone else? Here’s [an example]() from Danielle Morrill:

Using the free Substack email platform, Morrill created a paid daily newsletter ($10/month or $100/year). The subscriber numbers are not public, but as of this writing she’s still in the “As” (reviewing $ADC, $ADES, $ADI, $ADIL). You can see how Substack easily manages the paying subscribers:

(A common _Learning in Public_ product is sharing how you grew your social media audience. I think there’s a lot of snake oil being sold here, but if you’ve followed someone for a long time and seen them do it, the proof is in the pudding. I’d consider [this course]() from Daniel Vassallo, whose feed I respect and enjoy.) __Remember, this ain’t a get rich quick scheme__ In fact, digital product creation is much more of a [Fast Tortoise approach](). Slow and steady, creating your own luck until your own ___YoungKio___ moment! The magic about digital products is that it’s a low-risk way to experiment and develop new skills. Any of the products listed above will teach you about: * Audience development * Product design and naming * Marketing and copywriting * Graphic design * Pricing * Building websites * Payment processing * Customer support You can think of these projects as a _Micro-MBA_. And maybe… just maybe… you can go from ___riding on your horse___ to ___whipping up your Porsche___.