Why you shouldn’t buy my products
📝 Table of Contents
Introduction
Like many other full-time creators, a small portion of my income comes from selling digital products I’ve created.
This is a great revenue stream that I think most creators should be taking advantage of, especially since it’s scaleable and low-maintenance (once the products are created). But in this post, I will go against the grain and explain why you shouldn’t buy my products.
No, this is not some reverse psychology tactic.
Yes, I realize writing this will probably hurt my income.
But in a world where anyone can sell anything online, I think it’s essential to think more deliberately about our purchasing decisions. Most of us have limited time and money and should think twice about where we invest it.
So let’s dig into it.
Why you shouldn’t buy
1. I’m not an expert
This point is fuelled by impostor syndrome, but it’s true. I don’t consider myself to be an expert in anything. I’m just a guy who enjoys being creative and building stuff on the internet and has found a few ways to make it profitable.
Here’s a list of things I haven’t achieved:
I haven’t built a massive following online
I don’t own a multi-million-dollar marketing agency
I haven’t bought any Lambos or Ferraris
I’ve never written a book or given a TED talk
I’m not trying to put myself down here; just be realistic. I’m not an expert in any of these areas (or any one specific area). Instead, I focused on skill stacking and becoming a generalist—someone who knows enough about all the different pieces to make them fit together.
I know enough about video production to charge $10k for client projects. I know enough about web design to build my websites and make them convert. I know enough about SEO to drive +20k visitors/month to them. And I know enough about tech to create automations so it all runs seamlessly.
But I’m not an expert in any one of those areas. There are people that know WAY more about design, SEO, and automation than I do. So if you’d rather learn from an industry expert (rather than a generalist), I recommend looking elsewhere.
I went from not knowing how to shoot video, to working with larger local brands in under a year thanks to SEO.
2. You don’t need it
Don’t let anyone convince you that you NEED their products to be successful. This is complete and utter bullshit - anyone who markets their products this way should be ashamed of themselves.
You don’t need anything or anyone to be successful.
All you need is time and a strong desire to learn & grow. If you have the drive to learn (and know how to use Google), then you teach yourself any skill for free. This includes high-leverage skills like design, copywriting, and SEO. Hell, you can even get a Harvard-level education for $0.
Have faith in yourself. With enough time, you can teach yourself anything.
3. You have different goals
Every decision I make in my business is to help move me closer to my ideal lifestyle. But my idea of a “rich life” might differ significantly from yours.
Money is not my goal. Time freedom is.
To me, a rich life means spending ample time with loved ones, creating things on the internet, networking, expanding my knowledge, exploring new places, investing, and enjoying complete freedom in deciding how to spend my time.
You might notice I didn’t mention buying a Lamborghini or owning the Jets. There’s nothing wrong with those goals; it’s just not what I need to live a rich life. I’m also not saying money is evil. Money is fundamental to buying time freedom; it’s just not the end goal.
I don’t want to be Bezos, Gates or Elon.
There’s no point in having a billion dollars if it means I’m working 60 hours per week doing something I hate. Life is short, and time is the one resource we can’t buy more of - so I’d rather optimize for time freedom and spend my time/energy doing things I enjoy, with people I love.
If that’s not your vibe, that’s totally cool. Find someone with the lifestyle you want to have, and learn from them instead.
Being able to camp whenever I want without having to get approval is my idea of a rich life.
4. It might not work for you
This should be a disclaimer on EVERY product/service that is sold online - but I rarely see it mentioned. Just because something worked for me doesn’t mean it will work for you.
As entrepreneurs and creative business owners, we are always looking for ways to improve and grow our businesses. We want to learn from others and take on their advice, but it's important to remember that what worked for one business may not necessarily work for another.
Disclaimer: I will only share strategies that I’ve tried/tested myself. I’ve seen many creators give advice about topics they have no experience with. It’s like an 18-year-old giving marriage advice - mostly useless. I will never give advice that I can’t directly source from my own experience.
But just because a particular strategy or approach worked well for me, does not mean that it will automatically yield the same results for someone else.
Every business is unique, with different strengths, weaknesses, and challenges. Experimenting and trying new things is crucial, so remember that not every solution is one-size-fits-all. Keep an open mind, be willing to take risks, and stay true to what works for your specific situation.
Why you should buy
Now that I’ve covered all the reasons why you shouldn’t buy my products, here are a few scenarios where I think it makes sense. I say this not as a salesman for my own products, but as a consumer of other creators’ products, too.
1. You want to save time
This is the biggest reason I regularly invest in software, courses, templates, and coaching.
While I often prefer to learn the skills myself, there are scenarios where I just don’t have the time/energy to learn everything from scratch. And in those cases, I prefer to learn from someone who has already figured out what I’m trying to do, and learn it directly from them.
Figuring out what worked best for other people is one of the best cheat codes I’ve found in business.
For example, I recently completed the ‘Lean Email’ course from Pat Walls (founder of Starter Story). This is a $249 course on building profitable email workflows (aka a very niche topic). While I could spend the next year building, testing, and optimizing my own email flows to learn myself… I would rather just pay $249 and learn exactly what worked for them (especially since they generate $30k/month from email, lol).
This allows me to learn and execute much faster, which will yield better short and long-term results.
For my own products, the Video Agency™ SQSP Template will save you time from having to learn about landing page design, CRO, optimal site structure, etc. I spent years learning and testing this stuff on my own website, which this template was built from. You just have to fill in your own images/copywriting, and you can launch a beautiful, well-optimized, high-converting website in less than a few hours.
For the Video Agency™ SEO Course, you don’t have to spend 3 years learning and testing different SEO strategies to see what works. I share the exact things that worked in my own businesses, with shortcuts on how you can do it faster.
Again, you can definitely learn all of these skills on your own (and I encourage you to do so), but if you’re on a time crunch and want to see results faster, then IMO this is a good reason to buy.
The Video Agency™ SQSP Template combines everything I’ve learned about design, conversion optimization and SEO into a single template. This is the same website template that I built for my own video agency.
2. Unique skills combo
Although I’m not an expert, the unique combination of skills that I have has helped me tremendously. And that combination gives me a unique viewpoint on building/growing a creative business.
Here’s a bit about my background:
I worked in tech for most of my career, including 3.5 years at Unbounce (the world’s best landing page software)
I taught the flagship Digital Marketing course at BrainStation for two years
I learned about SEO to generate 20k+ visitors/month to my websites
I started a one-person video production agency and grew it to $150k in my first year
I opened a dating profile photography company and scaled it to 10 locations across North America
Because of this unique combination of skills, I could build, launch and market my creative businesses with ease.
In my first year of business, I was able to outrank all of my local competitors and land more clients than I knew what to do with. I’m not saying this to brag; it’s just how things worked out.
Here’s the thing, though - I recognize how lucky I am to have a background in tech. It’s one of my most significant advantages. So as a creator, it’s my job to distill those experiences and share what I’ve learned to give other people that advantage, too.
It’s why my Video Agency™ SEO Course has an entire 1-hour chapter dedicated to landing page design. Design is pretty much NEVER covered in SEO courses, but this way I can share what I learned about building high-performing landing pages at Unbounce and give you that unique advantage, too. Because it’s not just SEO; it’s the unique combination of skills that makes it work so well.
It’s also why my Video Agency™ Squarespace Template has an entire guide dedicated to website structure + SEO. I noticed other Squarespace templates only focus on how it looks (rather than how it performs). But what’s the point of a nice-looking website if it doesn’t generate any business? It’s not just the design; it’s the unique combination of design + SEO + strategy + copywriting + conversion optimization that makes it so effective.
Either way, if the course/product/template you’re buying brings together a unique set of skills that can help you in your business, then I think that’s a pretty good reason to buy, also.
At Unbounce, it was our job to build a community of the best marketers and landing page designers from over the world. I learned so much from our customers that I would later on use in my own businesses.
Conclusion
So here's the deal: I'm just a regular guy who's found a way to make my creative endeavors profitable by skill stacking and becoming a generalist. When I create a product, course, or template - it’s because I did the thing myself first and succeeded with it. And me making it available for others to buy is like giving away my shortcuts.
But hey, I might not be everyone’s cup of tea. I get it - we all have different goals and aspirations. Ultimately, the choice is yours. Just make sure you always make informed decisions about how you spend your time/money.
That is all. ✌️
