On Sunday, I had a Live chat with an entrepreneur who built his entire business on digital products. When he started, he was building one digital product a week to figure out what worked and what didn’t.
Anfernee started his entrepreneurial journey in August 2023.
Like every new solopreneur, he describes those early months as “being everywhere and knowing nothing.”
Facebook groups. Twitter. Reddit. Anywhere creators gathered, he was there.
But something kept happening. Creators were getting suspended, throttled, limited. Algorithms flared up and died down. Their reach fluctuated without warning.
He realised quickly:
He needed an email list.
So he Googled, researched, and kept stumbling upon creators he admired. Many of them on Substack.
It ticked all his boxes:
Free to start
Easy to use
Simple publishing flow
Email built-in
He joined Substack in April 2024, almost a year into his entrepreneurial journey, and started writing without a plan, a niche, or a posting schedule.
His first few posts? He says they were“horrible.”
(For the record, I told him never to edit them. Our early work is living proof of growth, and it inspires others more than we realise.)
“Knowledge is free. Implementation is paid.”
This is the heart of Anfernee’s business model.
He gives away 80% of his knowledge for free.
But when someone wants to implement what he teaches, that’s where the paid offers come in.
And implementation comes in two forms:
Done-with-you
Done-for-you
What I love is the simplicity of his philosophy:
“There’s no shortage of free knowledge online. What people lack is confidence, skills, motivation, accountability, and a roadmap.”
This is true for writing.
This is true for Substack.
This is true for digital products.
This is why he doesn’t believe in hoarding information.
The three skills you need to create digital products
I asked Anfernee what someone needs to create and sell digital products for the very first time.
His answer surprised me. And inspired me.
1. Courage
The courage to begin.
The courage to do it badly.
The courage to release something imperfect.
Most people get stuck because they want to learn how before they ever attempt doing.
He says:
“Taking action is the real skill. Learning how to do something without doing it gives you a false sense of accomplishment.”
I felt this one in my bones.
2. Copywriting
Not book-writing.
Not storytelling.
Copywriting.
The kind that gently nudges people to take action.
He shared something powerful:
“Every time I write, I know exactly where the CTA goes. My KPI is how many people take that action.”
It’s not about being salesy.
It’s about being clear.
3. Meta-learning (learning how to learn fast)
Whether you’re creating:
• an ebook
• a checklist
• a spreadsheet
• a Canva template
• a toolkit
• a mini-course
—you don’t need to master everything.
You just need the skill of learning fast enough to take the first step.
“Learn the bare minimum to click the first button. Then create.”
This is the mindset that allowed him to create one product a week.
Validation isn’t a skill — it’s an action.
I probed him on niche, validation, and market research.
He said something I’ll probably remember forever:
“Validation isn’t a skill. It’s an action. People feel good learning how to validate but never validating. Just validate. Now.”
This is why creators remain stuck for months.
We replace action with study.
We confuse movement with progress.
We take courses on how to validate instead of actually validating.
Your digital products must be inter-connected (Not Scattered)
Scattered products weaken your business.
Instead, build a value ladder that leads people naturally upward.
Start at the top:
What is your highest value offer right now?
Now work backwards.
After someone finishes Product 1, what is the most logical next step?
Then the next step.
Then the next.
I told him this is how we write books. At the back of our novel we say, if you liked this book you’ll like this one too, and then give the first chapter of the next novel.
He suggestion:
“In digital products, don’t say ‘If you liked this, you’ll like this.’
Say: ‘Now that you’ve achieved this transformation, the next step is here.’”
This is the key word that followed us throughout the conversation:
Transformation.
Every product must promise a transformation.
Not a lesson.
Not a module.
Not information.
A transformation.
When you define the transformation, you immediately know:
how much to teach
what to include
what to leave out
where the “next product” sits
how to keep your audience moving forward
Why most online courses fail, and what works instead
Anfernee not a fan of traditional online courses.
“Only 15% complete them,” he said. “Great for the seller. Terrible for the buyer.”
But challenges?
Cohorts?
Gold.
Because they force action.
Learning becomes a side effect.
Writing notes becomes a habit.
Creating digital products becomes a rhythm.
Publishing becomes a routine.
In my own 30-Day Substack Notes Challenge, people wrote two notes a day, made comments, and engaged consistently.
Many of them grew faster than me.
Action creates transformation.
Not information.
What you can take forward:
Knowledge is free; implementation is paid.
When building a digital product or a course, make sure transformation is built into it.
Align all your digital products into a connected value-ladder.
Take action. Don’t wait for perfection.
I hope you gain a lot from this conversation.
You can download Anfernee’s Solopreneur Success Blueprint or Solopreneur Success Hub for free.
Thank you,
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As always, thanks for reading.
Author Circle is a newsletter that helps writers, creators, and professionals turn their knowledge into income streams through the 90-Day Write-Grow-Monetize Program so they can build a business with clarity, confidence, and a clear roadmap.
