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Why Most Digital Products Fail
Unless you master this one brutal rule.
Miroslav Novohradsky
September 21, 2025
In partnership with
Most digital products fail.
Not because the creator wasn’t “passionate enough.” Not because the market was “too saturated.”
And definitely not because “people don’t support small creators.”
They fail because the creator wasted 80% of their time on the wrong things.
The fonts. The color palette. The perfect logo. The cute Canva mockups.
Meanwhile, the 20% that actually sells a product, problem-solving, marketing, distribution, gets whatever scraps of energy are left at 2 a.m.
Flip that.
That’s the 80/20 rule.
Spend 80% of your effort on the 20% of activities that actually move money into your bank account.
Everything else? Optional.
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Nobody Cares About Your Logo
When you’re starting out, you think design is everything.
Wrong.
Nobody bought a course because the slides were aesthetic.
Nobody downloaded an e-book because the cover had the exact shade of millennial beige.
Nobody subscribed because your brand colors “evoked trust.”
They buy because the product solves a problem they actually have.
Solve their insomnia.
Fix their workflow.
Make them look good in front of their boss.
That’s it. That’s the 20%.
The “Sexy” 80% That Actually Doesn’t Matter
Here’s where creators waste time:
Tweaking your website when you don’t even have traffic.
Recording a fancy intro video before proving people want the thing.
Building 6 bonus modules when 1 killer module would be enough.
Spending weeks naming your digital product when nobody even knows you exist yet.
All noise.
All ego-driven.
All distractions that let you feel productive without actually creating something people want to pay for.
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The Boring 20% That Pays Your Rent
Want to know what actually works?
Talk to your audience. Find out what they’re struggling with. Don’t assume, ask.
Ship fast, ugly, and useful. Version 1 doesn’t need polish. It needs proof of demand.
Get distribution right. If nobody sees your product, it doesn’t matter how good it is. Marketing is not optional. It’s the product.
Refine with feedback. Not with your gut. Not with your ego. With actual user feedback.
It is boring, I know. That’s why nobody wants to do it.
But boring makes money. Sexy does not.
If You Don’t Sell, You Don’t Exist
I know, I know, “I just want to create.”
Cool.
But if you want money in exchange for your creations, you’re not an artist.
You’re in business.
And in business, if it doesn’t sell, it doesn’t matter.
This is why creators drown in “passion projects.” They confuse creating with selling. They think the act of publishing is enough.
It’s not.
Selling is part of the creative process.
The 80/20 Rule in Practice
Let’s make this real.
Imagine you have 10 hours this week to work on your digital product.
Here’s how most beginners spend it:
4 hours designing the perfect cover
3 hours tweaking fonts and formatting
2 hours writing the first draft
1 hour brainstorming “launch ideas”
Here’s the 80/20 version:
6 hours talking to potential customers, researching forums, analyzing competitors
2 hours building the bare-minimum version of the product
1 hour writing a sales page
1 hour crafting 3 posts that drive people to the sales page
Which creator do you think gets paid?
Why Most Digital Products Collect Dust
The graveyard of the internet is full of digital products that no one wanted.
Not because the idea was bad. But because the creator skipped the 20%.
They didn’t validate the idea. They didn’t test demand. They didn’t market.
They created in silence, launched with a whisper, and then got mad when nobody showed up.
So, if your digital product flopped, it’s not because people don’t “support small businesses.” It’s because you didn’t do the 20%.
Distribution Eats Design for Breakfast
If you only remember one thing, remember this:
A mediocre product with great distribution will outsell a brilliant product that nobody hears about.
Every. Single. Time.
Creators hate this. They want the art to “speak for itself.” But the internet doesn’t work like that.
You need:
A newsletter.
A content engine (posts, videos, podcasts,pick your weapon).
Partnerships and collaborations.
Repetition of your message until people finally get it.
Because here’s the ugly truth: If you’re not selling every day, you’re not building a business. You’re building a diary.
The 80/20 Shortcut
If you’re overwhelmed, here’s your cheat sheet:
Validate first. Don’t build before you know people care.
Build lean. The simplest version that works.
Sell early. Put it in front of people before it’s “perfect.”
Market constantly. Your product is invisible until you make it impossible to ignore.
Iterate. Don’t perfect in private. Perfect in public.
Do those five steps, and congratulations, you’ve done the 20%.l items can easily become part of a customer’s regular holiday decorations.
You don’t deserve sales just because you worked hard.
Effort doesn’t equal value.
What deserves sales is a product that solves a real problem for real people, delivered with clarity, marketed with consistency, and sold without apology.
Do that, and the 80/20 rule stops being a theory.
It becomes your unfair advantage.
Have a nice day,
Miroslav from The Design Nexus
TOOLS YOU SHOULD TRY
Even if you sell products other than mugs or t-shirts, it doesn't mean it will cost you more.
There are tools that can help you with the tasks, and most of them have free versions.
Research: ProfitTree
Graphic Designs: Creative Fabrica
Vectorizing: Vectorizer AI
Disclaimer: Within the article, you will find affiliate links. If you decide to purchase through these links, I want to sincerely assure you that I will receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
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