Journey 23 · Running a businessbeginningbuildingexpanding
Sell It Online
“I want to sell something digitally but I don't know where to start.”
You become: Someone who can take money online
A product, a page, a payment link, and the first stranger who buys. Digital products, physical products and services — the plumbing is the same and it is simpler than it looks.
Understand
What people actually buy online, and what stops them.
Practice
Writing a page, wiring payment, testing the whole path.
Create
A live thing anyone can buy.
Evidence
A first sale from a stranger.
Decide what you're selling
Narrow beats broad, and specific beats clever.
- Create45m
Pick one thing, for one person, solving one problem
Not a store. One product. Write it as: 'a [thing] that helps [specific person] [specific outcome]'. If you cannot name the person narrowly, you cannot write the page, and you certainly cannot advertise it.
You’ll have:One sentence naming product, person and outcome.
- Understand45m
Check somebody is already paying for something like it
Search for what exists. Competition is proof of a market, not a problem — an empty category usually means nobody wants it. Note three competitors, what they charge, and what they leave out.
You’ll have:Three competitors with prices and gaps.
- Understand40m
Price it, and understand what the platform takes
Look up the actual fees: payment processing is commonly around 2.9% plus a fixed amount per transaction, and marketplaces take a percentage on top. Work out what lands from a $30 sale versus a $300 one.
You’ll have:Your take-home on a real price point.
8 more actions · 8h 30m of work
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Build the path to payment
The whole thing is a page and a link. Nothing else is required to start.
- Create2h
Write the sales page in the order people read it
- Practice1h
Take a real payment for $1 and refund it
- Understand1h
Sort out tax, receipts and refunds before you sell
- Practice40m
Make sure it works on a phone
Get the first strangers
The first ten buyers come from people, not from algorithms.
- Practice1h
Sell it to five people you already know
- Practice1h 30m
Put it where the specific person already is
- Create1h
Rewrite the page using their words
- Evidence20m
Bank the first sale from someone you don't know