is the creator behind on Substack with 3,000 subscribers and 8,000 subscribers on Kit.
Just two years ago, he had zero writing experience.
He didn’t have hours of spare time.
He wasn’t an “expert.”
And he definitely didn’t have a huge audience.
But in the past year, he’s created 6 digital products, and now makes ~$4K/month.
To learn how he did this, I went live with Derek.
Here are a few takeaways that stood out from our conversation.
1. Digital products are much faster to monetize than paid subscriptions.
Selling on Substack can be slow, but products give you quicker wins.
“Digital products are really easy to make money from and it's just really hard to make money with paid subscriptions. It takes a lot of time and effort.
When you start to look at how much time you're spending on your paid subs, you feel like, this is not a very good return on your time a little bit.
My personal advice would go down the digital product route and don't go down the paid subscriber route.”
Derek Hughes
2. The most important thing to create and sell digital products:
Understand the buyer psychology.
“Some of the things is around understanding the triggers that cause people to buy. And usually it's emotion rather than logic. It's around their fears and their desires.
You need to know your audience's fears and desires, and you need to tap into them and basically know what the triggers are for people to buy.”
Derek Hughes
3. His 3 biggest mistakes in creating digital products:
Overload, Shyness, Wrong Prioritization.
“First mistake is like putting too much stuff, and thinking that helps people, it doesn't.
Second is shying away from sales and marketing. I was really resistant to sales and marketing because it's just a bit sleazy and pushy. But if you think that you're just communicating in a way to help people and learning how to do that, that would be the kind of second thing.
The third thing is realizing that what people buy is a transformation. They don't buy a lot of content. Nobody wants more content. They want a transformation. So they want something to change and just offer them a change.”
Derek Hughes
In our conversation, he shared his journey to becoming a digital product expert, and the biggest lessons he’s learned along the way.
But these highlights are just the tip of the iceberg.
He’s got some news for you:
A digital product launchpad, 6-week live program designed for those ready to launch their first digital product.
Want the details? Keep reading!
🚀 Learn how to create your first digital product with Derek’s proven system!
I'm excited to share with you that Derek is now ready to help you create your first digital product with The Digital Product Launchpad*.
Made for people who don’t come from a business background.
Zero fluff.
A step-by-step guideline.
Inside, you’ll get:
6 Live Coaching Sessions: Get step-by-step guidance, real-time feedback, and Q&A
Find Your Winning Idea
A Repeatable System You Can Use Again
Ready-to-go Templates & Prompts
A proven sales page template that converts
Derek’s go-to email prompts to launch emails in 20 mins or less
3 simple templates that helped him make $3K in one week
Free or low-cost tools without any tech overwhelm
Real Accountability + Community: Weekly check-ins to keep you on track
👉 First cohort starts June 23, and spots are limited!
Turn what you already know into something people will pay for.
Click the button below to check further details.
*includes affiliate links
