We're back with Season 5 of Katy Calls BS! We need to clear something up about digital products and digital product ecosystems. They are not the same. A digital product is a single item. A digital product ecosystem is a connected system where every product has a defined job and leads to the next. That difference is why some digital products for service business owners sell but most don't.

I see a lot of job posts online for people wanting to hire someone to create editable digital products for Etsy or Shopify. Lots of templates, printables, workbooks, and other things along those lines. Totally reasonable post but there is so much more to digital products.

This episode clears up the difference between design and strategy. Plus who you need to hire for what job. Both valid and have skills but they are different.

You'll hear:

• The difference between a digital product and digital product ecosystem
• Why the graphics don't sell the product
• Why generic content and generic templates are losing ground FAST
• A 4-question filter to run before you hire anymore to design a product for you
• A special announcement!

If your digital product strategy has felt like guesswork or been non existent, this episode gives you the structure you need. Ready for the next step? Book your Digital Product Infrastructure Audit, link on show site.

Book Your Audit Here

Connect with Katy on IG:

@katycallsbs and @themillersocial

150 episodes is a BIG deal! We're celebrating with a very real conversation.

A service business built entirely on client work doesn't fail, it hits a ceiling. Understanding what that trajectory looks like in three years and five years is how you decide whether it's a choice or just what happened.

Most service business owners aren't choosing the client-only model. They're just not choosing anything else. Since I'm here to call out the BS, I am going to lay out what it looks like when you continue to let it choose you.

You'll hear:

• What "client-work" really means as a business model
• A realistic 3 year and 5 year projection: what gets better, what gets harder, and what goes quietly wrong
• How this choice works for some and not for others
• The alternative options
• Where to start, where to pause, and where to breathe

At the end of the day, this is your business, your choice. I do know the burnout rate is exceptionally high for business owners and I am not a fan of that statistic. Most of us want an alternative. Here is your alternative.

If you need help looking at the full picture, I can help with a Digital Product Infrastructure Audit. Book in the show bio.

Connect with Katy on IG @katycallsbs or @themillersocial

Most service business owners already have everything they need to create multiple income streams, they just can't see it. Everything you need is hidden in you do every single day for your clients or in the files you've created for your business.

In this episode of Katy Calls BS, I'm talking about the blind spot we all have as business owners. We can spot a gap in someone else's business in minutes. We know the issue within a few minutes of a zoom call. We see the fix when we check out the website. But why can't we do it for ourselves?

You'll hear:

• Why we fall into the "I can do it myself" blindspot
• Four reasons proximity kills your ability to value your expertise
• How to take one framework and turn it into five income streams
• Why income diversification isn't about new ideas

You already know how to do this. You have everything you need. This episode helps you see it in your own business.

Book your Digital Product Infrastructure Audit to get outside eyes on your business, link in show bio.

Connect with Katy on IG @katycallsbs and @themillersocial

A lead magnet that hasn't been updated in years could be sending the wrong signals to the right people before they ever get to your sales page. Most service business owners build their free resources once, plug it into a welcome sequence, and move on. This could by costing you business!

In this episode of Katy Calls BS, I break down why the common "set and forget" approach to lead magnets and freebies is quietly working against service-based businesses.

You'll hear:

• What's structurally broken in most freebies right now
• What an authority asset needs to do
• Generic vs. specific lead magnets and how to update yours
• A 3 question audit you can do this week

Your lead magnet is building trust and honestly doing the most important work in your business. It's time to make some updates. But first, listen to this quick episode.

If you want a real look at what your authority layer can do for your business (and what it should be doing) book your Digital Product Infrastructure Audit. Link in show bio.

More on the four layers of the Digital Product Ecosystem in Episode 138.

Connect with Katy on Instagram @themillersocial and @katycallsbs

There's some level of delusion to this whole entrepreneur thing. A self-belief that gets you started. But without income diversification and a backup plan, that belief becomes the only thing holding your business up and it is not stable.

Research backs up a lot of this delusional belief we have to start a business. It's one of our greatest assets. But the stat we hear the most is most small businesses don't make it past five years. Delusion can't be the whole plan though, you have to pair it with skills.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• Why entrepreneurs require a level of self-belief that outpaces the evidence we might fail (and why it's kind of the whole job)
• The feast or famine problem most business owners face
• Why relying on one source of income is not it
• Why the plan to just build the digital product is the easy part
• 3 questions to ask to make sure you are not operating on belief alone

Whatever you do, build structure behind the excitement, belief, blind faith, or delusion. You know you have the skills to back it up because you started a business.

If you want a real look at what your business needs beyond belief or you want to start building those extra streams of income but you aren't sure where to start, book your Digital Product Infrastructure Audit. Link in show bio.

Connect with Katy on IG:

@themillersocial and @katycallsbs

I have strong feelings about the Cybertruck but we are relating it to digital products. The Cybertruck is the perfect example of ego-driven design. Building something you want instead of what your buyer needs is super common in the digital product space. It's often why they underperform.

In this episode we are talking about why digital product fail when you build them for your own vision instead of what your buyer needs.

You'll hear:

• Why ego-driven product design fails and what the Cybertruck has in common with digital products that don't sell
• Why format should follow function
• The digital product recall
• How to test before launch
• Building an anti-Cybertruck digital product using five questions to ask before you build or launch anything

Whether you love it or hate it, this vehicle was built for the creator's vision not the buyer. If you want to find out whether your product was designed for your buyer or for your own vision, first listen this episode, then book your Digital Product Infrastructure Audit. Link in show bio.

Most of us are measuring the wrong thing. The autonomy ratio is the relationship between revenue generated and manual interventions required to generate it. It's the metric that tells a solopreneur, service based business owner, whether their business is getting more sustainable or just more busy.

Most of us measure how much we got done, revenue, clients served, posts published, views, but those are all inputs. None of that tells you whether your business is giving you. more freedom or getting heavier.

In the last part of this three part series, we're talking about how to bring it all together.

You'll hear:

• What the autonomy ratio is, how to calculate it, and what it tells you about your business
• The five question monthly stress test for your business
• The best way to scale your business without burnout
• Building business freedom on your terms

We didn't start businesses to be miserable. I think we all knew it would challenging but there is supposed to be some level of freedom. Let's find it.

If you need help finding your autonomy ratio, the Digital Product Infrastructure Audit can help. Book yours today! Link in show bio.

Connect with Katy on IG @themillersocial and the show @katycallsbs

Building a digital product ecosystem that sells without you is the dream when it comes to recurring revenue. It doesn't require a complex funnel, but you do need a well written email sequence or two for your audience to make a clear decision about the next step.

In part one of this series, we talked about the three high-leverage assets you need as a service based business owner. This episode covers how to connect these assets and automate the handoffs so you aren't manually moving your leads from freebie offer to 1:1 client work.

You'll hear:

• What the invisible handoff looks like
• Tools you can use
• Where to be present in your business vs. where to let the system do its work
• Smart filtering, a lesson for every business owner

This is part 2 of a three part series on building a leaner, better working digital product ecosystem.

If you want help mapping where these sequences should live in your current ecosystem, schedule your Digital Product Infrastructure Audit. Link in show bio.

Be sure to follow Katy online @themillersocial and the show @katycallsbs