Unless you’re doing something that needs an exclusive partnership or you’re doing an engineering discovery, any product can be built by another person.
On top of that, if you do decide to build, do the hard yards to enhance it basis feedback and add critical features — and then a new player sees what you’ve built and gives those features from start, at a lower price.
This is not hypothetical. This is a real possibility we all face each day.
To save your products from competition, you need a factor that compounds — you come in late, you lose ground. And it can’t be features, since that works in the opposite way.
That factor is Trust.
What trust actually means here
For me, trust in a digital product is not a psychological, vague term.
It has to be a series of things I can do to demonstrate trustworthiness.
This article lays out a set of filters people apply to figure out whether they can trust your products or not. If your marketing efforts, landing page, marketing script, social media posts, pass all filters, your product is in for the long haul.
The filter ladder
The next filters work in a sequence. In the user’s mind: Will it give me the results I want, then how do I believe it’ll actually do what it’s saying, then is that outcome worth the cost it brings?
Filter #1: Whether this is an experiment that will stop working before I get anything out of it, or has it spent its time in the market?
There are far more products being shipped into the world than ever before.
At the same time, far more products are being dropped in a month’s time.
People know they’ll have to spend time learning the product. There’s less and less acceptance of a vibe coded experimental tool since it may completely vanish in a month.
If a product has spent some time in the market, then it would have gone through some testing, some iteration — and despite that the builder has committed to stay — then this must be worth trying.
Staying in the game is the bare minimum needed to start the trust cycle.
Filter #2: Does the builder know what my biggest pain point is?
People need to know the pain it resolves.
If you can name the pain points clearly, you’re in. People will read the rest.
People know way better than to fall for the high energy salesy pitch about digital products. What you say about their pain has to be a calm and living experience, not a forced understanding of it.
This is specially true since most marketing content is AI generated and AI usually starts with a high energy sales pitch. You need to tune it down.
Filter #3: Is the person behind it trustworthy?
The biggest asset in social media today is not your writing style, or your knowledge.
It’s you being your human self.
Filter #4: Has it worked for others?
If people see others using the product and giving positive reviews, it not only gives them confidence that this works.
It makes them fear a real FOMO.
If you can share brand names, even if they’re not well known, it adds a layer of professionalism that no new product can match.
This is another aspect that grows and compounds over time. The more time you’ve spent, the more people can talk about your product, and grow you beyond any new competitor.
To pass this filter, show things like number of downloads or users, ratings and testimonials. When launching a new product, sharing reviews from your beta phase will work.
Filter #5: How will the product pay multifold of its cost in one month?
Product price has to be a no-brainer deal.
If you can show the ROI immediately, great. If not, value stack to make it look like they’re winning the deal, not you.
Things like community access of other buyers, your additional products at discount, and even a one-time consultation call — things that bring value beyond a feature is the best thing you can add to your products.
The more time your product stays, the more cycles of differentiated value your product will have. A new entrant can’t copy that.
The filter ladder
If you’re building right now — which of these five filters do you think your product fails at?
On top of that, if you do decide to build, do the hard yards to enhance it basis feedback and add critical features — and then a new player sees what you’ve built and gives those features from start, at a lower price.
This is not hypothetical. This is a real possibility we all face each day.
To save your products from competition, you need a factor that compounds — you come in late, you lose ground. And it can’t be features, since that works in the opposite way.
That factor is Trust.
What trust actually means here
For me, trust in a digital product is not a psychological, vague term.
It has to be a series of things I can do to demonstrate trustworthiness.
This article lays out a set of filters people apply to figure out whether they can trust your products or not. If your marketing efforts, landing page, marketing script, social media posts, pass all filters, your product is in for the long haul.
The filter ladder
The next filters work in a sequence. In the user’s mind: Will it give me the results I want, then how do I believe it’ll actually do what it’s saying, then is that outcome worth the cost it brings?
Filter #1: Whether this is an experiment that will stop working before I get anything out of it, or has it spent its time in the market?
There are far more products being shipped into the world than ever before.
At the same time, far more products are being dropped in a month’s time.
People know they’ll have to spend time learning the product. There’s less and less acceptance of a vibe coded experimental tool since it may completely vanish in a month.
If a product has spent some time in the market, then it would have gone through some testing, some iteration — and despite that the builder has committed to stay — then this must be worth trying.
Staying in the game is the bare minimum needed to start the trust cycle.
Filter #2: Does the builder know what my biggest pain point is?
People need to know the pain it resolves.
If you can name the pain points clearly, you’re in. People will read the rest.
People know way better than to fall for the high energy salesy pitch about digital products. What you say about their pain has to be a calm and living experience, not a forced understanding of it.
This is specially true since most marketing content is AI generated and AI usually starts with a high energy sales pitch. You need to tune it down.
Filter #3: Is the person behind it trustworthy?
The biggest asset in social media today is not your writing style, or your knowledge.
It’s you being your human self.
- Who you are and your journey — if you’re selling something big ticket then this matters a lot. A brief note about yourself goes a long way.
- What are you capable of — it’s your credentials, experience and, if relevant, ideology. People need to know who’s selling, why they sell, and what made them an expert at this.
- Do you do what you say — this comes from your presence. You need presence, and you need consistency of actions.
Filter #4: Has it worked for others?
If people see others using the product and giving positive reviews, it not only gives them confidence that this works.
It makes them fear a real FOMO.
If you can share brand names, even if they’re not well known, it adds a layer of professionalism that no new product can match.
This is another aspect that grows and compounds over time. The more time you’ve spent, the more people can talk about your product, and grow you beyond any new competitor.
To pass this filter, show things like number of downloads or users, ratings and testimonials. When launching a new product, sharing reviews from your beta phase will work.
Filter #5: How will the product pay multifold of its cost in one month?
Product price has to be a no-brainer deal.
If you can show the ROI immediately, great. If not, value stack to make it look like they’re winning the deal, not you.
Things like community access of other buyers, your additional products at discount, and even a one-time consultation call — things that bring value beyond a feature is the best thing you can add to your products.
The more time your product stays, the more cycles of differentiated value your product will have. A new entrant can’t copy that.
The filter ladder
- #1: Whether this is an experiment product that will stop working before I get anything out of it, or has it spent its time in the market?
- #2: Does the builder know what my biggest pain point is?
- #3: Is the person behind it trustworthy?
- #4: Has it worked for others?
- #5: How will the product pay multifold of its cost in one month?
If you’re building right now — which of these five filters do you think your product fails at?