⚫

⚪

Read Time: 4 Minutes

The Rise of Tool Building: How to Monetize Your Knowledge with Notion

Last year I realized Notion’s flexibility makes it the perfect platform for creating valuable digital products and assets.

Whether you’re a consultant, coach, freelancer or agency, you can use Notion to package up your expertise into powerful tools. This helps you:

Establish authority and thought leadership
Create new passive income streams
Deliver insane value to clients and customers

But if you’re new to building digital products, the process can feel overwhelming fast. Where do you even start?

Here's a step-by-step guide to go from idea to execution:

Step 1 → Identify What Your Audience NEEDS (Not just what they want)

The first step is researching your audience to pinpoint their biggest struggles and pain points.

Ask yourself:

What problems do they commonly face?
Where are they wasting time or money?
What outcomes are they trying to achieve?

Look for areas where you can provide value with your knowledge.

Surveys, interviews and conversations with ideal clients are great ways to discover needs.

Then, you need to figure out how you can build something that is:

Interactive
Useful
Valuable

To solve their needs.

This is actually pretty easy with Notion, because you can build systems, templates, checklists, etc. that will help your target customers solve their own problems.

It can be something as simple as a database of information or a list of prompts.

The point here is to get creative and think about how you can solve ONE chunk of their problem.

This will not only create good will in their minds (I mean..you’re just giving them the answer they need after all) but it will help you showcase what you’re capable of and thus, build authority.

Once you get clear on this part, it’s time to map out the customer’s journey to getting the most value possible from your tool.

Step 2 → Map Out the User Journey

Once you've identified a need to solve, map out the journey your tool will take users on from start to finish.

Outline how they will:

Get introduced to your tool
Understand its value
Learn how to use it
Integrate it into their work
Achieve the desired outcome

Sketch out this process before you start building.

It will inform what features and structure you need.

BUT! Here’s the key:

You need to have the next step in mind before you ever launch this tool.

What would be the ideal next step in your funnel after they finish using your tool?

Is it to book a call with you?

To buy the full course?

To buy an upgraded version of the tool?

You need to have that answer in mind so you can give them JUST enough of what they need and then entice them to take that next step to get even more of the good stuff.

Step 3 → Outline Key Features and Structure

Now it’s time to outline the functionality and format of your tool.

Ask yourself:

What are the core features needed to solve this problem?
How should the information be structured and organized?
What extras would enhance the user experience?
How will this tool integrate into workflows?

Create a Notion doc to sketch out pages, databases, and features.

Then, it’s time to build.

Step 4 → Build a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

Don’t try to launch a massive tool right off the bat.

Start by building the absolute minimum needed to solve the core problem.

Create a stripped down MVP version you can test with a small group of ideal users.

The feedback will help you understand what resonates before investing more time.

Want proof it works?

This past week I launched my “MVP” product.

It’s a free mini-course that teaches fellow Notion creators how to become high-ticket Notion consultants.

I built it as a giveaway first because – while I had the idea for the full course, I wanted to make sure there was enough demand for said course before I built the whole thing out.

The result?

Over 100 downloads, a bunch of comments, some great feedback, and a path forward to building out the full Mastermind course.

Now you may be asking:

“Madison, is a course really a tool?”

YES! Yes it is.

Because I included interactive homework inside each lesson that they can use to take immediate action.

It’s not JUST a course.

It’s a tool to help them implement the knowledge right away and start seeing results.

Just look at these 2 DMs I got within the first few DAYS of people using my new tool:

So yes, a course is a perfectly viable option for a tool.

You just need to make sure it’s more than an info dump.

It has to actually provide TANGIBLE benefit to your customer.

That’s how you entice them to buy from you again and again and again…

Which means you need to make sure it’s excellent!

Here’s how:

Step 5 → Gather Feedback and Refine

Once you have an MVP, share it with hand-picked users and gather feedback through surveys, interviews etc.

Ask what they liked, what was confusing, and what they’d change.

Then refine and enhance your product based on insights from real-world usage.

Repeat this process until you have a robust tool that effectively solves your audience's struggles!

Notion makes it simple to build knowledge tools that demonstrate value and establish authority.

If you want more of a breakdown of how to think through Notion as a tool builder, check out the thread I posted recently that walks you through this process.