Stop Guessing and Start Testing: The 6-Step Validation Process
One of the most painful mistakes you can make as a digital product creator is spending weeks or months building something that nobody wants to buy.
I’ve seen it happen over and over:
- Someone gets excited about an idea
- Pours their heart and soul into creating the product
- Launches it
- Hears crickets
Zero sales. Zero interest.
And all that time and effort feels wasted.
But Here’s the Good News
You don’t have to guess whether your product will sell.
You can validate your idea before you create it.
And today I’m going to show you exactly how to do that in just a few simple steps.
What is Product Validation?
Product validation is the process of testing whether people actually want what you’re planning to create before you invest time and money building it.
Think of it like a safety net:
✅ It protects you from wasting resources on ideas that won’t work
✅ It gives you confidence to move forward with ideas that will
The 6-Step Product Validation Process
Step 1: Define Your Idea Clearly
You can’t validate something that’s vague.
You need to know:
- Exactly what you’re planning to create
- Who it’s for
- What problem it solves
Write it down in one sentence.
Example:
“I want to create a course that teaches freelance writers how to find high-paying clients using LinkedIn.”
That’s:
✅ Clear
✅ Specific
✅ Testable
Step 2: Research Existing Demand
Before you create anything, you need to make sure people are already looking for solutions to this problem.
How to Research Demand:
✅ Google Search:
Search for your topic. Are there:
- Blog posts about it?
- YouTube videos?
- People running ads?
If yes, that’s a good sign. It means there’s interest and people are spending money to reach that audience.
✅ Amazon:
Search for books on your topic.
- Are there bestselling books?
- Read the reviews
- What do people love?
- What do they wish was included?
This gives you insight into what your audience wants.
✅ Course Platforms (Udemy, Skillshare):
Are there courses similar to your idea?
- How many students have enrolled?
- What are the ratings?
If a course has thousands of students and high ratings, that’s validation that people are willing to pay for this type of content.
Step 3: Talk to Your Target Audience
This is the most important step and the one most people skip.
Don’t assume you know what your audience wants. Ask them directly.
Where to Talk to Your Audience:
✅ Facebook Groups/Reddit/Forums:
- Look at the questions people are asking
- What are they struggling with?
- What solutions have they tried that didn’t work?
You can even post a question and ask people what they wish existed.
✅ Email Survey:
If you have an email list, send a survey:
- “What’s your biggest challenge right now?”
- “What type of product would help you the most?”
You’ll get direct feedback from the people most likely to buy from you.
Step 4: Create a Simple Landing Page to Test Interest
You don’t need to build the product yet.
Just create a landing page that describes:
- What the product will be
- Who it’s for
- What results it will deliver
Add a waitlist signup form or a pre-order button.
Then drive traffic to that page:
- Share it in groups
- Post it on social media
- Run a small ad campaign
What You’re Testing:
The goal isn’t to make a bunch of sales yet.
The goal is to see if people are interested enough to take action.
If people are:
✅ Signing up for the waitlist
✅ Clicking the pre-order button
You know you’re onto something.
If nobody’s engaging, that’s a red flag that you need to adjust your idea.
Step 5: Offer a Beta Version or Early Access
Once you’ve confirmed there’s interest, create a simplified version of your product.
It doesn’t have to be perfect. It just needs to deliver the core value.
Offer it at a discounted price to a small group of early adopters (the people who signed up for your waitlist).
The Benefits of This Approach:
- You make money before the product is even fully finished
- You get real feedback from real customers that you can use to improve the final version
You’re not guessing anymore. You’re building based on what your customers actually want.
Step 6: Analyze the Feedback and Iterate
After your beta launch, ask your customers:
- What did they love?
- What could be better?
Look for patterns.
If multiple people mention the same thing, that’s something you need to address.
Use that feedback to refine your product before you launch it to a bigger audience.
Why This Process Works
This might sound like extra work, but it saves you time in the long run.
It’s much easier to adjust your idea early than to realize months later that you built the wrong thing.
Real Example: How I Validated a Course Idea
Before I created one of my most successful courses, I posted a question in a Facebook group:
“What’s the biggest challenge for people trying to launch their first digital product?”
I got dozens of responses.
The #1 answer: People didn’t know how to create sales copy that converted.
Based on that feedback, I created a course specifically focused on using AI to write sales copy.
I pre-sold it to 20 people before I even recorded the lessons.
By the time I launched it publicly, I already knew it would sell because I had validated every step of the way.
That’s the power of validation.
You:
✅ Remove the risk
✅ Remove the guesswork
✅ Build something people actually want
Your Action Plan
Think about the product idea you’ve been sitting on.
Step 1: Write it down in one clear sentence
Step 2: Research the demand
Step 3: Talk to your audience
Step 4: Create a landing page
Step 5: Test interest
Step 6: Offer a beta version
Step 7: Iterate based on feedback
Ready to Validate Your Product Idea?
Want to see a detailed walkthrough of this entire validation process?
I’ve put together a complete training that includes:
✅ Examples of landing pages
✅ Survey question templates
✅ How to analyze your results
✅ Real case studies of successful validations
👉 Click here to watch the free training now
Don’t waste months creating something that won’t sell.
Validate your idea first. Build what people actually want.
That’s how you succeed.
