#105 - No Magic Pill: 3 Skills That Beat Shortcuts for Selling Online

Feeling FOMO from all the flashy “funnel in a day” and AI bot shortcuts flooding your feed?

Same, girl. I'm calling BS on the quick-fix marketing myths and walking you through what really builds a sustainable, sellable digital product: skills.

If you're planning to launch something new in 2026: a course, workshop, template, or scalable offer - then please listen to this first. 

I'm sharing three essential skills that lead to real conversions:
 ✔️ Market research that actually reflects your audience
 ✔️ Design that builds desire and trust
 ✔️ Messaging that makes people say “I need this NOW”

Plus, I share details about my upcoming 4-Week Digital Product Coaching Program starting February 9 - designed to help you launch a high-converting digital product in 30 days or less.

RESOURCES: 

My links page: http://www.deborahcsmith.com/links

🎁 Grab the Quick Launch Checklist

📦 Get the Digital Product Toolkit

 💬 DM or email me to join the Feb coaching program!

Mindset to Market is a Luminous Creative Production. If you'd like to learn more about our business coaching program and group coaching container, please visit us online at DeborahcSmith.com.

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Mindset to Market is produced by Deborah C. Smith and designed to inspire and support big-hearted creatives in finding their own unique path, building a sustainable business, and creating financial, spiritual, mental wellness and abundance.

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Transcript

 Hey there, rockstar. It's time to do a little skill building. So, question, have you noticed a veritable flood of shortcut marketing ads on the internet lately? Uh, these are ads that are selling you a magic pill, a quick fix, or a very fast way to get to a big, big goal. So like, just plug your offer into this six figure funnel and, you know, funnel in a day.

Or use this bot to create everything for you in minutes. And they don't come right out and say you're gonna make millions overnight, but there's subtle, you know, dollar signs and it's all very driven to make you think you're gonna make very fast catch. And they're definitely hinting at, you know, overnight success.

So if you've ever caught yourself, if. You know, consuming this content and then wondering like, wait, what am I, am I missing something? Is everyone else doing this faster and, and easier than, than I am? And the answer is no, actually. Um, but I think it's worth dissecting a little bit. So today I wanna help you flip that script a little bit and we're gonna talk about why you're not behind and how building real skills is what's actually gonna move your business forward.

Especially if you want to launch something new in 2026, whether that's a digital product or a program, or a course that's actually gonna sell. So let's talk about it. Hey there. Welcome to the Mindset to Market Podcast, your go-to place for practical tools and solutions for the everyday challenges of being a creative and spiritual solopreneur living in a material world.

I'm your host. Deborah Smith. I'm a holistic business coach with 17 years of experience, and I help my clients bust through mindset blocks and build a daily practice that prioritizes your business's financial growth as well as your personal health and wellness. I'm here to offer you support, creativity, mindset, practical how-tos, and getting into imperfect messy actions so you can find balance while building the dream.

Business. If you're a purpose-driven solepreneur, who's working on that dream one day at a time, then you're in the right place. Let's dive in. Okay, so at the beginning of a new year, which we're still in the start of a new year, for people listening in real time. If you're in the time machine and you're listening to this in the future, this is still applicable because building real skills will never go out of style.

Um, it's really an important aspect of entrepreneurship actually. So, and I say this. All the love in my heart and some serious kind of slanty side eye to the internet marketers who use these tactics, but there is no bot blueprint or cheat code that will replace skill building, period. Point blank. I said what I said, and so these, these ads for quick fixes work because they create fomo.

So I know you've seen what I'm talking about and I'm not. Mad at anybody using AI or creating shortcuts for getting your work done? I actually think it's really smart to use, you know, organizational tools like that to help save a tremendous amount of time. Um, and I love my, you know, the AI that I, the AI assistants that I've set up to help me with executive function and just organizing things.

However, no AI can replace relationship building that is necessary for. Sales. Right? And there's a lot of other things that it can't replace. So skill building as an entrepreneur is still relevant and still important. You still have to do it. You cannot buy a plug and play anything and then just not do that work.

So, um, but these ads are really insidious and they really just kind of whisper in your ear, you know, if you buy this thing, then you're, you're. You're an overnight success or you know, it just kind of can lead you to question yourself the path and the pace that you're moving at. And I see that as a little bit of a problem because none of these tools can teach you how to.

Write a sales message that truly converts. I mean, they can give you scripts, but you still need to know your ideal clients. You know where their heart is at and how they feel about the product you're selling. And you need to really understand your own branding and messaging. And there's a special, unique sauce that goes into conversion messaging for your product or service, right?

It's not gonna be the same for every person, so you can't just borrow a script from somebody else if you sell a different product, right? You need to. Customize these things and learn the skill of communicating the value of what you sell. You know, in a ver a variety of different scenarios, not just, you know, scripted messaging in a dm.

And again, I am four templates, four scripts for ai, but I don't think any of those things can replace you building the skill of. You know, confidently talking about your work. So understanding what your audience actually wants, like doing research, designing things that make people feel really seen and supported and building trust over time are, are actual skills.

So, and I believe honestly that that's the real work that people don't talk enough about in the entrepreneurial sort of online chatter, like on threads or wherever. Because, you know, learn these six essential digital skills over a long period of time and practice them a ton before you master them.

Doesn't sell as fast as plug your data into this template and chill, right? People show ads of people on the beach and you know, people like with a lot of money and it, it is just sort of, it, it triggers us to think that we're missing something. But you have not missed out on any secret. You're not behind.

I like, I feel like I say that every week on this podcast. You're not behind, but you're not, you know, if you're building something new and unique, um, and, and at whatever phase you are at, in the building of that thing, doing the work of building your business is where the magic lies. Because as you do the work, you, you, it un you unfold.

You unfold, you blossom. In honor of the art of skill building and the practice of, you know, being a unique, one of one personal brand who is developing an offer that they can, you know, a service or a product that you can share with the world. Um, I thought I would just do a quickie breakdown of some skills that you can stack that will help you sell so.

A skill stack that sells. And I got three little gems for you, and I'm gonna talk about this as it relates to creating a digital product or a digital asset because so much of the success that I see with online business owners is having a diversified offer suite. And so having some type of downloadable.

Or, you know, lives on the internet and can be purchased at any point in time. Like, that's an important thing, I believe to have as a part of your larger offer suite. So, of course, a workshop, a training, a template, some type of digital asset that you can sell or that acts as a really powerful audience builder.

So, um, with that, with that focus clear, with the digital product clear, um, these are three core skills that actually matter that will actually move the needle in any given day. So one is everybody's favorite market research, actually knowing what they will pay for right now. And here's the thing, this is a moving target, so you can't just be like, oh, I did market research in 2025.

You have to do it again. The world has changed drastically. People's pocketbooks have shifted. The, you know, economy is different. People's political leanings have changed where people put their attention and their alliances with, you know, products and services changes. And also the marketplace changes. So there's new products and services being developed all the time.

That may be. A competitor for you or just have changed the way information is being shared around your topic or niche. So you have to keep your finger on the pulse of your, your market, the specific you know, area in which your product or service. It can be found. So it could be an industry or it could be, you know, a specific type of product, but you gotta do market research.

And so this is not just what do you wanna teach about this topic, but really understanding an urgent problem that your audience is trying to solve. Because when we're talking about. The internet, there's such a short amount of attention span that you have to get people's attention, and if they're actively searching for a solution to a problem, you're much more likely to get their attention if you are talking about a solution to that problem, as opposed to just some, you know, something that's adjacent and interesting, but.

The actual solution they seek. So, and then beyond that, you wanna really understand what words they use to describe it. So this is where so many people, so many creators go wrong. They skip the research and they build in isolation and, you know, use their own words to describe the thing that they created but don't, don't really know.

How their audience would talk about that thing. And so this is, this is a common problem. So we have to make sure we do market research, and that is a skill. So, um, if you have never grabbed a copy of my quick launch digital product checklist, um, I, I created like a master checklist, which is every single thing you might ever need to.

Conceive design and launch a digital product. And it's just a free list checklist, but it's helpful thing to kind of wrap your head around all the different pieces of the process. Um, so if you want that checklist, it's free. Uh. It will be linked in my show notes, but I've discovered that on Apple Music and Spotify, sometimes you can't actually click the link.

So it's also lives on my personal website links list, and that's just debra c smith.com/links. Um, and my name is spelled the old fashioned way, D-E-B-O-R-A-H, middle initial C-S-M-I-T h.com. Forward slash links, and if you go there, you'll get a bunch of resources. Okay. So yeah, the, the quick launch checklist kind of gives you clarity on the process, and one of those steps in the process of, of launching a digital product is the research piece.

Um, so think about that the next time you're thinking about creating something that you wanna sell. If you don't start with research, you might miss the mark on what your audience is looking for. And that brings me to number two, which is design aesthetic. So making your product visi visibly desirable is really important when we're talking about, again, that same internet landscape where you've really only got a couple of seconds to catch people's attention.

So people actually do, they do judge a book by its cover on the internet. Now, this is mainly because we are so inundated with. You know, so many different visual takes on marketing and messaging. Um, it's, it's, I think it's, doesn't have to be fancy, but I do think. Creating a high value feel with your design aesthetic is important.

So your visuals, your layout, the delivery of the words, the copy that where it lives on the page, they all build trust. And so yes, use a template, um, and yes, use AI to help you, you know, cook up some ideas, but at the same time. Look out in the world at, you know, do again, go into, go on the internet and do a little bit of research and notice what grabs your attention.

Just take five minutes, right? This is, this is the skill building. Actually, pause what you're doing. And go log on to, you know, a, a social media app that you enjoy being on, where your audience likely hangs out and scroll for visual, eye catching things. What gets your attention the most and why? And take note and.

This would be a great thing that you can ask if you ever do market research and actually interview people who, who fall into the criteria of people you're trying to attract. Um, ask them the kind of things that they take notice of what grabs their attention. They may not be hyper aware of it, but they might.

So it's just, again, it's just something to think about and to take some time to conceive how your visual design is gonna impact. And potentially catch the attention. Another piece of that is color, which really, um, does impact the mood and the feeling that a person gets. So, obviously, you know, something very red is gonna be fiery and bring kind of a heightened attention like that.

Blue is very calming, green is very, you know, natural and speaks to kind of wellness and there's obvious things like that. But, um, you can go into color psychology. And obviously there's fantastic designers out there and there's fantastic templates. Um, I, I have a ton of templates that I've used over the years that have been, that have been testing, you know, which of these convert better than the others in terms of graphic design for, you know.

You know, little Instagram ads that I do, or Facebook ads and over, over time, it is a skill that I've built is to take notice of like what types of content gets people's attention around certain topics and stuff. So you can test this for your own offer. And yes, testing things takes time and it's not a magic pill, and you can't just get to the answer, you know, within a matter of seconds.

But I promise you, if you do this and you take time to actually think like your client, your ideal audience member. And, and look around with them in mind. You will learn what might catch their attention. And then of course, you know, you can use templates to quicken the, the process of designing. You can use Canva templates or you can hire a template tribes or somebody to give you some bespoke templates.

Or you can design your own if you're good at designing. I'm not a very good graphic designer, so I. Or, I mean, I just do tons and tons of it, so I'm fast at it. But some, I use people's templates transparently. I always start with a template and then make it my own. Um, and I do, inside the digital product toolkit, I give a ton of templates that I have created.

Um, but I also offer design tips and tools that help elevate the way your offer will actually look without having to hire a designer. You can do this yourself, uh, but. The skill here is noticing design elements that peak interest, noticing colors that align with the vibe and the mood you wanna create.

And, you know, creating an elevated feel so that when you're selling it feels professional. Okay. And when I should mention, um, I, I partnered with, well, I became an affiliate of. The Google branded doc that was created by, um, Nadine Hannafin, and it is freaking amazing. I've used it with a bunch of my clients and I've used it for myself, even though I have a fully designed website and like custom landing pages.

It's just such a cool tool. And that's also on my links page if you wanna go check it out. And what that is, is like a highly designed, beautifully branded Google doc with a whole bunch of different, um, templates and color. Pallets and just tremendously gorgeous, very flexible design that you can whip together.

A sales page, actually you can whip together a quick sales page for a variety of different, um, offers. It's just kind of a brilliant tool that she created. So go check that out. It's in my, uh, on the links page. Okay. The third skill that I wanna feature here is conversion messaging, and that's really about knowing how to sell your offer.

Now, your product does not sell itself. A website does not sell your product. Landing pages do not sell your product. Great copy should help sell your product, um, because it's your message. That sells your product, right? And so that's, so that's you actively being, you know, confidently being visible and in spaces talking about your product, but also words on pages.

Um, so copy on your website, copy on your landing page and sales page, and the way that you message about it in your content online, in your emails. That's what's gonna sell people on your offer if you say the kind of words that are going to get them to. Perk up. Pay attention and feel, feel called to learn more and potentially take an action, make a, make a purchase.

And so in, in order to do this, the skill here is really answering some, a few very important questions. Who is this for? Because you're not for everybody. Your offer is not for everybody. You cannot save the world. You cannot help everybody. You should not try to, in fact, the the smaller of a niche you can.

Choose when you're first getting started, the quicker you'll make sales because it is easier for people to say, oh, that's for me when you call them out, hyper specifically. So I'm not suggesting that you cannot expand and create a lot of variations or have multiple different ideal clients. But I do think when you're first getting started in online business, and particularly with selling digital products.

Speaking to a very hyper-specific client just makes it so much easier and it goes much quicker to make a sale. So knowing who's for very specifically, um, and really kind of niching down is one part of conversion messaging. Um, and then, you know, understanding how to explain the benefits, like what they're gonna walk away with if they purchase something from you.

That's a critical tool and skill, um, I should say. So learning how to speak to. The feeling they're gonna have as opposed to like listing all the deliverables of the product that you created. It's very important that people buy with feelings. They don't buy, you know, a number of hours of calls. They don't buy, you know, a special chat room.

They buy the feeling that they're supported while they're making big decisions, right? People don't buy, you know. Leather seats and, well, people with cars might buy leather seats and tires. I shouldn't say that, but essentially, when people buy a car, it's less about the features and it's more about the feeling that they're gonna get.

Is it security? Is it speed? Is it status? Right? So people buy with feelings. They think about how they're gonna feel if they get your product, and to take it back to that FOMO messaging from the top, if they feel like they're missing out, that will usher them to make a purchase. But that's kind of false advertising, right?

Because, you know, I think ethical marketing tries to avoid FOMO as much as possible. You can build urgency without fomo. You can create the fe the sense of scarcity if it's, if it's actually truly scarce. So you can be ethical about how you build some momentum without, you know, kind of pulling the wool over people's eyes.

Um, and then the third part of conversion messaging is why now? Why does your offer need to be? Purchased right now. So, because if it feels kind of meh or if it's like, oh, this is great, but I don't need that right now. It's not gonna convert in the online space. It may convert if you're talking to somebody, person to person, or if you're speaking in front of a room.

Um, but when we're talking about just straight up digital product sales, like people scrolling the internet or searching for something. If your offer doesn't feel relevant in this red hot moment for them, like it solves a level 10 problem that they have, and they, and, and your messaging explains why they need to do it now or why they need to get it now.

Even if the product is amazing and superior to other products that you know, like, you know, in the, in the, in the same niche or field, it won't matter. It won't convert if they don't read the words on your page or read your, you know, email and how, and walk away with an understanding of what the value of doing it right now is.

And like I said, you have such a short attention span with them, so you have to make it make sense right now. And again, this is a skill that you can practice and get really good at. I used to suck at this. I was like terrible at sales 10 years ago. Um, but I knew that it was a learnable skill and I knew that if I wanted to be a successful entrepreneur, I was gonna have to practice it.

So I have, you know, I've done all the trainings and all of the practicing since then. And of course, you know, a decade later I've been selling online for a long time. But, um. It was not always easy for me. Um, I talk about this in my private podcast, which is, um, talks a lot about premium sales and how to attract the right types of buyers.

Um, also linked on my links list if you're interested in that. Um, so I also wanna mention this is a good, um, segue. To, if you're interested in practicing all of the above, um, I am. You can come do this with me live in February. So if you've been sitting in an idea for a course or a workshop, or a training or a template or something that you can sell in the digital space, that could be a standalone thing that lives on your website, but you can also talk about it, you know, in your stories and in your LinkedIn page.

And if you know that you need support to actually finally get it launched in the right way, um, I am gonna be hosting another four week sprint coaching program that works in conjunction with my digital product toolkit. It's gonna happen, it's gonna start on February 9th, and it'll run for four total weeks.

So there's three weeks. Um, each week there's a module, and then the fourth week is like a f. Final implementation week to make sure you get it done. Um, it, the promise of the digital product toolkit is that you can create a high converting digital product in 30 days or less. Um, but in this workshop, we're actually going to do it together.

It's a coaching program. It'll be a private container with a little community space, and there'll be a weekly. You know, like sort of training. You've got the modules and stuff, but I'm gonna be coaching it so you'll have live feedback on your offer. I will help you with market research tools that actually work and methods that work.

You'll get guidance to make your product look beautiful and also be functional. And hands on support with your messaging, including messaging scripts. So it's a very amazing, um, process. I did this twice last year and it was super fun as well. And it was great energy in the rooms because it's all creative and everyone created incredible digital products.

Many of them sold within the the month container, and everyone started selling as soon as it was done. So that was really, um, I would call that a success. But, um, this is not about, you know, rushing through another, throw it together, launch. It's about really actually doing the skill building and learning how to build something that's gonna work for you again and again and again.

So even if you uplevel your product or your offer, you will have. Learned what works by doing it. So, um, just a quick recap on those three skills. It's market research, knowing what people will actually pay for design aesthetic, making it look desirable because you do have such a short intention span. And then conversion messaging, understanding what words are going to get your ideal client to say, I need that right now.

And I think that might be the most challenging skill. Um, all of these are moving targets. These are always evolving, but there are things that you can truly learn how to do much more quickly and efficiently if you practice them. So come build it with me starting February 9th. Um, and I'll be talking about that more and I'll send some emails.

If you're not on my email list, you can get on that email list, guess where on my website. And also, um, if you go to that links page, there's a spot right there. So just deborah c smith.com/links where you can get all this stuff and. I just wanna remind you, you are not behind. You are not missing out on anything.

There is no magic pill. There is no quick fix. Absolutely save yourself like a lifetime of, you know, organizational work using ai, you know, create tools that support your marketing and your research and all the things. But you still have to do the work. And so you are in that work. As an entrepreneur, you're always in the work.

Uh, and, and, and skills. Real practiced earned skills are going to carry you further than any shortcut ever will. And so I, I promise you that, you know, I have a lot of experience with, with working with my clients one-on-one and, uh, my one-on-one programs are six months for a reason. Because we sit and make difficult decisions about their brand, about how they, you know, really pairing away at who they can best serve.

These decisions take time to make, and they often take trial and error. So building something that lasts will take you time. And so. I would, I would just caution you if you run up against some of this FOMO marketing that's like, seems to be just wildly rampant right now. And just sit and say to yourself, you know, is this something that I absolutely need before you fall down somebody's clever rabbit hole?

Um, and, and can you learn to do it yourself or build something will slightly slower and more sustainable pace. Um, so if you want the details on the February coaching program. At this juncture, just shoot me an email or DM me. I did not build a sales page for it because I'm doing a whole bunch of other stuff in January, but it is gonna start February 9th.

So you can just DM me and let me know you're interested. I would love to hear what you're working on and see if it's a good fit. Um, and with that, my friends, I'm gonna jump off and end it there and just let you know that I'm on my way to Pod Fest down in Florida this weekend. I'm super excited. I'm hoping to capture some interviews with some.

Um, some peers of mine while I'm there, and I'm excited because last year I went and it just, it really just got me so excited about how I could use this, this platform, this podcast, to support more people in growing. Profitable, sustainable online businesses. So, um, I cannot wait to go fill the well with more juicy podcast skills.

Um, looking forward to that. And if you're gonna be there, hit me up. Let me know. Let's meet in person. I would love to meet you. Yeah. And that's it. And then I will be seeing you same time, same place next week. Until then, and as always, may you be vibrant.