In partnership with

THIS WEEK’S LESSON

Stop Giving Away Your Best Stuff (And Other Hard Truths About Digital Business)

I just wrapped up a coaching call that left me shaking my head — not at the founder I was talking to, but at myself.

For 9 years, I've been making the same mistake this person was about to make. And it's probably costing both of us serious money.

The founder had built an incredible resource hub for educators. The kind of stuff people desperately need and can't find anywhere else.

Their solution? Give it all away for free.

Here's why that's a problem, plus other crucial lessons about building a digital business:

1. Free ≠ Impact

Many Former Educator Founders have a giving mindset. We want to help. Make an impact. Change lives.

But here's the truth: Giving everything away for free often reduces your impact.

Why? Because you can't sustainably help people if you're not making money. You'll burn out, give up, or have to take a day job that pulls you away from your mission.

Plus, people value what they pay for. When someone invests money, they invest attention.

The solution?

Use the 3:37 ratio — give away 3 valuable resources for free, sell 37 premium ones. This creates a sustainable business while still providing tons of free value.

(don’t read this literally … the point is a have a few high value freebies, and sell the rest)

2. Simplicity = Velocity

This founder's landing page looked like the Library of Congress catalog system had a baby with Wikipedia.

And that baby …

Ugly AF.

Every resource was available immediately.

The problem? When you show people everything, they see nothing.

Your landing page should do ONE thing well. Have ONE clear call to action. Solve ONE specific problem.

I think I do that pretty well. Here is an example.

Remember: Complexity is the enemy of conversion.

3. Digital Products Are Digital Air

Here's what clicked during our call: When you create a digital product — you essentially are selling digital air. Create them once, sell them infinitely.

Compare that to community building or coaching, which require constant time and energy. Those can be valuable offerings, but they shouldn't be your only revenue stream.

This founder was planning to give away their entire resource library for free, then charge for a community. That's backwards.

The smarter play? Sell the digital resources (which scale infinitely) and use community as an enhancement, not your core offering.

The Bottom Line

Every Former Educator Founder faces the same challenge: balancing impact with income.

But remember - serving others and building a profitable business aren't mutually exclusive. They're mutually essential.

Your mission deserves to be sustainable. Your impact deserves to scale. And that starts with charging for value.

So stop giving away all your best stuff. Your bank account (and, ironically, your impact) will thank you.

Now go make that money …