What counts as intellectual property
A course, a template, a book, software, a design, a brand, a licence. Anything created once that can be sold repeatedly without you being present each time.
You do not need to be the world expert. You need to be a few steps ahead of a specific group of people and willing to explain what you know clearly.
Pick a narrow audience and ship something small
Narrow beats broad. A guide for one type of person with one problem sells better than a general resource for everyone, and it is far quicker to build.
- ·Choose an audience you already belong to or work with.
- ·Make the first product small enough to finish in weeks, not years.
- ·Publish free work publicly so people can find you before they buy.
- ·Build an email list from day one. It is the only audience you own.
- ·Register the domain and brand properly, and keep your source files.
Income that compounds after the work stops
Once something sells, improvement compounds: the same asset gets updated, bundled, translated or licensed. Distribution, not creation, becomes the constraint, which is why the audience matters more than the product.
The rocks under this island
Building for years without selling, pricing on time spent rather than value delivered, renting your audience on one platform, ignoring ownership and licensing, and quitting at the first quiet month.
Keep going, free
Explore the IP & Digital Income island in The Archipelago
Package your knowledge. Help others. Create income that scales globally. Inside the island you get the full overview, the behavioural rocks to avoid, curated books, podcasts, videos and tools, concrete first steps you can tick off, and Campfire Conversation prompts to ask a parent or grandparent.
The first island is free for anyone. The Handwritten Edition book opens all six.
Common questions
- Do I need an audience before I create something?
- It helps, but publishing useful free work while you build the product is usually the fastest way to get both.
- How do I price a first digital product?
- Price on the value of the outcome for the buyer, not on the hours it took you to make.
- Where can I go deeper?
- IP & Digital Income is one of the six islands in The Archipelago, with tools, first steps and conversation prompts.