If you are starting your own creator business, the hardest part is not building the product. It is choosing the right first product.
Most people pick the wrong thing for a simple reason. They choose based on what sounds impressive instead of what matches their current audience, credibility, and time. That is how you end up spending six weeks recording a course that nobody asked for, or offering coaching when you still feel unclear about your process.
This post will help you choose what to sell first, using a clear decision framework. We will compare templates vs guides vs courses vs coaching based on time to launch, price range, scalability, support load, and which stage they fit best. If your goal is to make your first sale quickly and build toward a predictable creator income, your first product should be the easiest thing to deliver that still creates a real outcome.
The real question is simple: what can I help someone do faster? Every format works. The winning format is the one that turns your skill into a result with the least friction. Think about the outcome you help people get. Then ask one simple question: what is the fastest path from “stuck” to “done” for your buyer? If the buyer needs a repeatable system, a template may be the fastest path. If they need understanding and context, a guide might be better. If they need transformation over time, a course can work. If they need customized direction and accountability, coaching is often the best first purchase.
Now let’s break down the four formats and where each one shines.
Templates: the fastest way to create value for beginners and busy buyers
Templates are pre-built assets that help someone skip blank-page anxiety. They convert well because the value is immediate and tangible.
A template is a great first product when your audience already knows what they want to do and just wants a shortcut. Templates also work well when your niche has clear recurring tasks, like content calendars, client onboarding, budgeting, product launch checklists, pitch decks, Notion systems, Canva designs, or email sequences. Templates are usually the easiest to ship and the easiest to buy. They can also be priced low enough to feel like an impulse purchase, which helps you make your first sales even with a small audience.
The tradeoff is that templates usually require two things to sell consistently: a clear niche and strong positioning. A generic “productivity template” is hard to differentiate. A “Notion client pipeline for freelance video editors” feels designed for a real person. Templates are also a long-term game. Once you have one template that sells, you can create a family of related products and bundle them. A single template can become the front door into your ecosystem.
Choose templates first if you want speed, you can create tangible assets, and your buyer is primarily looking for done-for-you structure.
Guides: the simplest product that builds trust and authority
Guides are structured explanations that help someone learn a process or make a decision. They are lighter than courses, easier to produce, and easier to update.
A guide is a great first product when your audience is asking “how do I do this?” or “what should I choose?” and the main thing they need is clarity. Guides work exceptionally well for decision-heavy topics like pricing, niche selection, content strategy, tool selection, and step-by-step playbooks. They also build authority fast because they make your thinking visible. Buyers get to experience your judgment, your standards, and your point of view. That matters because a guide is often a stepping stone to higher-priced offers later.
The tradeoff with guides is that they must be tight and practical. If your guide reads like a long blog post, it will disappoint buyers. The best guides are short, opinionated, and packed with templates, examples, scripts, and checklists embedded directly into the narrative.
Choose guides first if you can teach a clear method, you want to build credibility, and your audience needs understanding more than assets.
Courses: high perceived value, slower to launch, and easier to get wrong
Courses are structured learning experiences, usually self-paced video. They often have high perceived value and can be priced higher than templates or guides.
The problem is that courses are usually the worst first product for a creator with a small audience. They take time to build, the risk is high, and you are guessing what people want before you have enough feedback. Courses work best when you already know what questions people ask repeatedly, you have proof that your method works, and you can articulate a clear transformation. They also require trust. A course asks for time and effort from the buyer, not just money. If you choose a course as your first offer, the safest move is to sell it before you build it. Set up a waiting list, pre-sell a live version, or teach it in real time. Then record each lesson as you go. That way, the course is shaped by real feedback and you get paid while creating it.
Choose courses first only if you already see demand signals, you can deliver a step-by-step transformation, and you are willing to validate before producing.
Coaching: the fastest path to high income, but it costs time and energy
Coaching is the most direct form of value. It is also the easiest way to charge more early because the outcome is customized and the buyer gets access to you.
Coaching is a great first offer when your audience’s problems are nuanced, when the cost of being wrong is high, and when a template or guide cannot solve the real bottleneck. It is also ideal if you are still figuring out what your product should be, because coaching conversations give you the raw material for everything you will sell later. The tradeoff is that coaching does not scale cleanly. Your calendar becomes your inventory. Support load is high because you are the product. Positioning also matters more. Coaching is hard to sell when it is vague. “Life coaching” is crowded. “Sales page coaching for course creators who already have traffic” is specific and easier to trust.
Choose coaching first if you want to earn more per customer, you can handle delivery time, and you want to learn directly from real clients.
A simple decision framework: pick based on your stage
Instead of asking “what’s best,” ask “what’s best for me right now?”
If you have a small audience and want your first sales quickly, templates or a guide are usually the best choice. They are easy to buy, easy to ship, and they teach you what your audience values. If you have a small audience but strong expertise and want meaningful income fast, coaching can be the best first offer. You trade scalability for speed and learning. If you have a growing audience, clear proof, and a repeatable method, courses become attractive, especially if you pre-sell and build with feedback.
A good rule of thumb is this: start with the smallest product that creates a real outcome, then scale the same result into higher-priced formats.
Pricing expectations that match the format
Pricing depends on your niche and buyer value, but each format has a natural range.
Templates work best as lower-priced offers because buyers expect speed and simplicity. Guides can be priced similarly, especially when they include scripts, examples, and frameworks that feel immediately useful. Courses support higher prices because they promise transformation over time. Coaching supports the highest prices because it is customized, includes accountability, and allows for pricing flexibility.
The key is not the exact number. It is matching price to perceived risk. The higher the price, the more proof, specificity, and reassurance your storefront needs.
The smartest path for most creators: coaching to learn, templates to scale
If you want the most reliable progression, this pattern works across niches: start with a small amount of coaching or 1:1 consulting, even just a few clients. Use those conversations to learn the exact language people use, the objections they have, and the steps that actually get results.
Then turn what you repeat into a template or guide. Once that sells, bundle it. Once the bundle sells, the course becomes obvious. This approach reduces risk and compounds. Your coaching calls become your marketing, your product research, and your proof. Your digital products become the scalable version of the same outcome.
In short, sell the format that delivers a clear outcome with the least effort to create and the least friction to buy. For most creators, that means starting with a template or a guide. For confident experts, it often means starting with coaching. Courses usually come after proof and demand, not before.
Your next step: Build it on Sherpo
No matter which format you choose, your first sale comes down to a storefront that is clear, credible, and easy to buy from.
Sherpo makes it simple to launch a white-label storefront, publish your first product, and start collecting payments without stitching together tools. If you start with a template or guide, you can ship quickly and test demand. If you start with coaching, you can connect your Cal.com calendar.
Pick one outcome your audience wants. Choose the format that delivers it fastest. Launch a simple storefront and collect feedback from real buyers. Start building on Sherpo here.
Giacomo Di Pinto
Dec 18, 2025
6m reading time
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