Create Your First Digital Product with AI as Your Creation Buddy

Remember when your teacher would say “buddy up” for class projects? And you’d try to partner with your classmate who was good at the parts you struggled with? Maybe they were great at organizing while you had the creative ideas. Or in my case, they did all the research and writing, and I offered to type it all up!  

Creating your first digital product with AI works the same way. You bring your expertise, your life experience, and you knowledge. AI brings the structure, the organization, and the ability to help you get it all out of your head and onto paper. 

Learning to create digital products with AI doesn’t mean you’re replacing your brain with technology. It’s more about having a (very) patient buddy who helps you organize decades of knowledge into something you can sell.

You don’t need to be a tech wizard to use AI for digital product creation. You just need to know how to have a conversation. 

Why AI Makes the Perfect Buddy for Creating Digital Products

AI doesn’t judge your rough drafts. 

It doesn’t get impatient when you need to rethink something. 

It won’t tell you your idea isn’t good enough or that someone else has already done it.

AI helps you think through your ideas, organize your content, and create the structure you need without staring at a blank page for hours. You stay in charge bringing your unique perspective and expertise while AI handles the heavy lifting of organization and structure.

As a beginner, who might not have much experience with AI for beginners, it  means you can move from “I have so much to share” to “I have an actual product idea” in days instead of months. AI also helps to speed up the messy middle of product creation, which is where most beginners get stuck and never finish.

What You Need to CreatE A Digital Product with AI

You don’t need fancy software or expensive subscriptions to create your first digital product with AI. Here’s your actual starter kit:

A free account with ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini works perfectly!. Pick whichever one feels easiest to you. You’ll also need a general idea about your topic, about an hour of focused time, and your willingness to start messy.

I’ll share a beginner-friendly step-by-step process to create your first digital product with AI (using your favorite AI tool).

Step-by-Step: Create Your First Digital Product with AI

Step 1: Tell AI What You Know

Start by having a conversation with your AI buddy about your topic. Don’t try to be formal or perfect. Just talk the way you’d explain something to a friend who needs your help. Try this prompt:

I want to create a digital product about [your topic]. I've helped people with this for years through [how you've shared this knowledge - your work, volunteer experience, helping friends, etc.]. Can you ask me 5 questions to help me figure out what specific aspect I should focus on?

Let the AI interview you. Answer the questions like you’re talking to a friend over coffee. This conversation helps you get clear on what you actually want to create. AI works best when you treat it like a brainstorming partner, not a robot.

Step 2: Choose Your Digital Product Format

Once you’ve got a solid topic, ask AI to suggest which format might work best for your first digital product. Try this prompt:

Based on what I just told you, should I create a workbook, a guide, an ebook, a checklist, or something else? Give me 2-3 options with a brief explanation of each.

The AI will help you see which format matches how you naturally share information and what your audience needs most. This step alone could save your hours of second-guessing yourself about what type of digital product to create.

Step 3: Build Your Product Outline with AI

This is where using AI for digital product creation really starts saving you time. Instead of staring at a blank page wondering where to start, let AI help you create structure. Try this prompt

Help me create an outline for a [workbook/guide/ebook] about [your topic] for [your specific audience]. Include 5-7 main sections with a brief description of what goes in each one.

You’ll get a framework you can adjust and make your own. Maybe you’ll reorder sections, add something AI missed, or remove what doesn’t fit. You’re the expert, AI is just helping organize your knowledge into a logical flow.

Step 4: Create Your Content Section by Section

Now work through each section of your outline, one at a time. This is where you truly create your digital product with AI as your partner. Don’t try to write everything at once. Try this prompt for each section:

I'm working on the section about [section topic]. Here's what I want to teach: [dump everything in your head about this topic]. Help me organize this into clear, easy-to-follow content for [your audience].

The AI will take your brain dump and help you shape it into something readable. You’ll still need to add your personal examples, your specific stories, your unique insights. Your AI buddy gives you the bones, you add the personality that makes your digital product different from everyone else’s.

Step 5: Develop Exercises and Action Steps

If you’re making a workbook or guide, you need exercises. If it’s a checklist or template, you need clear instructions. AI can help generate ideas while you choose what fits your teaching style. Try this prompt:

For this section, what exercises or action steps would help my audience actually implement what I'm teaching? Give me 3-5 options I can choose from.

Pick the ones that feel right and adjust them to match your style. This is your digital product, not AI’s, so everything should sound like you.

Step 6: Format Your First Digital Product for Delivery

Your last step is getting everything into a deliverable format. This could be as simple as a Google Doc or a basic PDF created in Canva. Try this prompt:

 What's the simplest way to turn this content into a PDF that looks professional but doesn't require design skills? Walk me through the basic steps.

Most beginners start with a simple PDF for their first digital product. You can always upgrade the design later once you’ve made some sales.

Example of Using AI to CreatE a Digital Product

Imagine Sarah, a retired HR professional who spent 30 years helping people navigate difficult workplace conversations. She wants to create something to help women advocate for themselves at work, but doesn’t know where to start.

She could spend an hour working with ChatGPT, using prompts similar to the ones above. By the end of that session, she might have a clear outline for a 12-page guide called “The Conversation Prep Toolkit,” draft content for all five sections, three reflection exercises, and a list of example phrases for different scenarios.

The next day, she could spend another hour adding her personal stories and examples. Then she could use a free Canva template to turn it into a PDF.

Total time investment: About 3 hours spread over two days. Result: A digital product she could sell for $27.

This example shows how using AI for digital product creation works for someone who isn’t a tech expert. She would just need to know how to buddy up with AI and trust her own expertise.

Some Tips for Creating a Digital Product with AI

AI is incredibly helpful, but it’s not magic. Understanding these realities will help you use AI for beginners more effectively and avoid common frustrations.

AI helps you go faster, but it’s not perfect. You’ll still need to review, edit, and personalize everything. AI gives you the first draft, not the final product. Your product creation buddy helps with the heavy lifting while you do the finishing touches.

AI can’t create your unique perspective, your personal stories, or your specific way of explaining things. Those are the pieces that people are paying for.

Learning to prompt AI takes practice. It’s like learning to work with any new partner. You’ll get better at asking the right questions and knowing what to keep or change from AI’s suggestions.

You don’t have to use everything AI suggests. If something doesn’t feel right, change it or skip it. You’re creating YOUR digital product with AI as a helper, not letting AI create a product for you.