"One thing I think new creators should be aware of when starting their business is the danger of expectations and assumptions. It’s very easy as a creator to decide that you know what your ideal customer wants or needs and to create the wrong product.

I’ve personally made this mistake and been so sure that my product was not only a great fit but was going to sell out. When the sales didn’t roll in, I doubled down on my mistake by turning to paid ads on the assumption that not enough people were aware of my program. When the sales didn’t materialize, I wondered if I had made the wrong decision to become a creator.

What I’ve come to realize instead is that no matter how well it’s marketed, a product that is a poor fit for the ideal customer will never sell. Now I pilot new courses and programs through a process in which I co-create the program with a small cohort of people. This allows me to get better feedback earlier and prevents me from wasting a lot of time building a program no one wants.

Whatever process creators adopt, it’s going to be critical to get feedback earlier in the creation process in order to make sure that the product is a good fit for their ideal customer. The goal should be for the ideal customer to see what’s been created and think, 'Wow! I feel like this was made just for me!'"