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Sometimes the biggest obstacles to us getting started with a digital downloads business is knowing whether or not our artwork or product is good enough to sell.

When you’re just getting started, this is probably one of the top things (other than lack of time) that will stop someone from ever actually starting their shop.

BUT – there’s a way around this!

Here’s the thing – your product is most likely awesome.

And – I think you probably know this, but we can get so hung up on “what if it doesn’t work?” that we talk ourselves into not even trying to begin with.

PERISH THAT THOUGHT, MY FRIEND!

But – I get it – sometimes you need some reassurance. So, here are some ways for you to know if your product is good enough to sell:

1. People have told you to sell it

Have you ever had anyone tell you “Whoah your (art ability etc) is awesome, you should sell that!”? If you have, most likely your product is sell-worthy.

And no – don’t tell me they were talking about a different project or a different “thing” – they were talking about something you made with your skill, and that skill isn’t magically going away.

If you knit hats you designed yourself and people have told you that you should sell them, but you know that you wouldn’t make enough money to have them be worthwhile, your own unique knitting patterns would TOTALLY be sell-worthy.

If you do Lightroom photo editing with custom presets you made and people have told you that your work is amazing and you should do that professionally, but you’d rather not do client work, those presets are a goldmine for you.

Do you get what I mean here?

2. If you show your product to your target market, are they impressed?

I’m gonna tell you about a super sneaky trick I employed when I was first learning how to do SVGs. I didn’t do it for this purpose, but in hindsight it’s one of the BEST ways (IMO) to gauge whether or not your product is good enough.

I would make a really awesome design, and then I’d make a finished project with it. I’d then take some really awesome photos of it, and post it in the wooden sign/cricut/silhouette groups on Facebook.

And I often would get quite a few people either asking what the font was, or where I bought the design, etc.

Hint – if you show it to people and they are all like “OMG where did you get that, I want it for myself!” You’ve probably got yourself a winner.

Other hint – if you’ve got some sort of social media account where you’ve been showing people what you do and you have actual followers who are interested in what you do, you’re golden.

3. All you gotta do is ASK!

This one seems simple but can actually be pretty hard. Really – one of the best ways to do it is ASK people.

If you have people in your life personally that you trust to give you an honest opinion, ASK them what they think.

Although – I would say it’s probably best to ask the type of people you’d be targeting, or your peers. Facebook groups are awesome for this.

Just show a picture of your product and say “Hey I’ve been thinking about selling my SVGs/printables/knitting patterns/woodworking plans/(insert product here), but I’m having doubts. Do you guys think these are something people would buy?”

Now – this one is highly variable because it SERIOUSLY depends on the people you’re asking and so you definitely want to use discretion here.

And for the love of all that is holy, don’t ask your grandma who loves every single thing you do because of COURSE she’ll say it’s good enough but you’ll never trust that advice anyway because you know she’s saying it because she loves you.

Conversely, if you have someone in your life who is always kinda negative about the things you do (which, by the way, you shouldn’t – you do NOT need negative people like that in your life, trust me), do not ask them because they will immediately just be like “nah it sucks” and you know it.

4. An HONEST self evaluation.

I know, I know. It’s hard. But for real – you need to be able to set yourself aside, push away your ego and your lizard brain both and evaluate your product.

And – don’t ask yourself if people would buy it. What you want to do is ask yourself honestly if your product is as good or better as people out there selling similar items.

Don’t look at it with the eyes of a professional whatever-it-is-you-do-er.

Look at it from the eyes of your consumer. Compare it with other products out there – preferably the products that other people STARTED with.

I mean – honestly, I was NOT all that good when I started. I really wasn’t.

I’ll never call myself an artist – just being honest here.

But I was able to take myself out of myself enough (lol) to evaluate what I was able to do and ask myself if that’s something that was comparable to what else that was out there. And it was.

Depending on what you are selling, just understand that many people would rather pay for your skill than spend the time developing their own. Amy Porterfield always says “All you need is a 10% edge” and she’s absolutely correct.

5. JUST DO IT.

Ahhh, the hard part. But – this is my biggest advice.

DO IT ANYWAY.

Seriously. Stop tweaking, stop second guessing, and do it anyway.

Because if you set up a shop on Etsy (which is what I recommend starting out, since they have built in traffic and it’s a low cost way to start off), what’s the worst thing that can happen?

People not buying your product?

But… NEWSFLASH they aren’t buying it NOW, are they?? Because you haven’t made it for them.

The issue is NOT that your product isn’t good enough. The issue almost always is that YOU don’t have enough confidence in yourself.

So imma give you some tough love and tell you to get over yourself and DO IT ANYWAY.

I get it –  it’s terrifying. You’re afraid.

You don’t have the confidence and I’m willing to bet you’re afraid of getting your hopes up and having them dashed if it doesn’t work.

But… the thing is you’ll never succeed if you don’t try.

You need to just do it.

If it doesn’t work out, well, you’re no worse off than you were before you even tried.

And here’s the thing – I know it’s hard because you don’t know really how to get started. And that’s okay.

I’ve got your back!

I created a simple, condensed (ish) 10-step guide to walk you through the process of getting your business up and running.

It is a special, FREE bonus I give out to my new email subscribers, so if you’d like to read it, you are welcome to sign up below and you’ll receive the guide instantly.