The #1 mistake that kills 90% of digital products before they launch
Why your "great" product idea might be doomed to fail
If you’ve been following us for a while, you probably know what I’m about to say.
But the reason we repeat this so much is because if you don’t grasp this one principle then you’ll forever struggle as a digital creator.
Whether you’re making YouTube videos, writing LinkedIn posts, or building your first digital product, the secret to success on the internet is starting from a place of specificity.
And this week I want to help you come up with a specific product idea.
…so you don’t fall into the same trap we see 90% of creators make when launching their first product.
To do this, I’m going to show you how we come up with our own high-quality product ideas using the Profitable Product Idea Blueprint. It’s built on the same principles we teach inside Ship 30 for 30 and Premium Ghostwriting Academy.
In case you missed it, here’s the big idea:
“Specificity is the secret.”
The first step is ALWAYS specificity.
You know this.
In fact, AI exaggerates this, right?
If you don't give AI specific instructions, it won't provide specific high-quality output. Vague inputs lead to vague outputs.
The same is true for product ideas.
Which is why a great product idea comes from wanting to help a specific person solve a very specific problem.
Here’s the mistake:
Most people start brainstorming product ideas in giant mega-categories like:
Healthcare
Technology
Productivity
Financial Services
Etc.
These categories are MASSIVE.
Inside "healthcare" alone, you could be talking to doctors, physical therapists, healthcare executives, startup founders, or insurance providers.
Each group has completely different problems, goals, and pain points.
When you try to solve problems for "everyone in healthcare," you end up solving problems for no one.
Which is why the first step coming up with a digital product idea is to niche down.
Ideally:
Mega-Category →
Niche →
Niche-Within-Niche
It’s a game of specificity.
The more specific you get, the easier it becomes to identify real, painful problems worth solving.
For example:
"Healthcare" is massive. It’s broad, bureaucratic, and hard to penetrate. Everyone agrees it’s broken, but no one knows where to start. Now compare that to this niche within a niche for Healthcare: Physical Therapy for Remote Workers.
Here are three specific problems they face:
“Every time I lift my toddler, my lower back tweaks.”
“I sit at a desk for 10+ hours a day and my hips are so tight I can’t sleep.”
“My neck and shoulders are constantly stiff from back-to-back Zoom calls.”
See the difference?
Instead of trying to fix "healthcare," you're solving three specific, painful problems for remote workers who need physical therapy. This makes it 10X easier to find the people dealing with these exact issues, validate their pain points, and then create a solution to solve those problems.
When you get this specific, the problems become obvious.
So, before you run off and build your product, make sure you pick an industry, then pick a niche, then pick a niche-within-a-niche.
Tomorrow, I'll show you exactly how to pick your niche-within-niche using a simple framework and AI prompt that works for any industry.
Chat soon,
—Dickie & Cole
Co-Founders of Ship 30 For 30
Co-Founders of Premium Ghostwriting Academy
Co-Founders of Typeshare
Co-Founders of Write With AI
P.S. This framework builds on the For Who / So That framework.
So if you're not familiar, you can click here to get caught up.
And if you want the complete shortcut to creating your first digital product using AI…