Are you looking to start a digital product business but don't know where to start? Or maybe you've been dabbling in digital products, online courses, or eBooks but want to take your business to the next level? In either case, this guide is for you.
This guide will walk you through everything you need to know to create and sell digital products online. We'll cover all the tools and resources you need and tips for creating a successful, productized business.
So whether you're just starting or are looking for ways to take your side hustle to the next level, read on for tips and advice on the simplest way to sell online.
Summary of Creating And Selling Products Online
- Identify Demand: Use tools like Google Trends and explore online marketplaces to gauge market interest.
- Create a Valuable Lead Magnet: To build an audience, offer high-quality freebies related to your digital product.
- Develop Your Digital Product: Base your product on market research and ensure it meets customer needs.
- Build a Sales Funnel: Create an automated process to guide potential customers towards purchase.
- Email Marketing for Non-Buyers: Develop email sequences that provide value and create a sense of urgency.
- Choose a Traffic Source: Focus on organic traffic or paid ads, depending on your audience and budget.
- Use a Digital Product Platform: Protect your products and manage sales with a reliable platform.
- Implement Evergreen Deadline Funnels: Create urgency with time-sensitive offers to boost sales.
Why Create Digital Products?
Creating digital products is one of the best online business models to try out and can generate passive income for years.
Not only are digital products easy and inexpensive to create, but they can be sold repeatedly without additional costs. You make the product once and then reap the benefits (and profits) for years.
That's precisely what you'll learn in this digital creation guide. So strap in and take notes because you'll come out with a digital product idea to launch in no time.
What Are The Best Digital Product Ideas To Sell Online?
When I created my first digital product, I wasn't sure which type of content to create.
Here's a quick overview of the most profitable digital products to create for your website or online store.
Use this as inspiration for your own productized business.
- eBooks
- Online Courses
- Membership Sites
- PDF Worksheets or Templates
- Software or Apps
- Stock Photos or Graphics
- Physical Products with a Digital Component
- Consultation or Online Services
- Digital Art
- Digital Downloads such as video courses
Now that you know the digital items you can create, it's time to open up your services online. This is the beginning of a new start for your own online business.
How To Create Digital Products In Five Simple Steps
Let's continue with this guide if you're ready to make money online and open yourself to a vast buyers market.
1. Check the demand
First, you should ensure a target market for what you want to sell online.
I've heard horror stories of digital creators creating an online course or membership site to find out they get no sales, waste time, and think that digital marketing is a scam.
Here are a few methods for searching for product demand:
Google Trends
The huge digital goods and downloads market can be dreadful to research, but Google Trends is a great tool to help you understand product demand.
Enter a keyword or phrase related to your product, and Google will show you how often that term has been searched over time. You can also see how searches vary by region, allowing you to tailor your marketing efforts accordingly.
Also, Google Trends can help you compare demand for different products, giving insight into which ones are most popular with consumers.
With this valuable information at your fingertips, you'll be able to make informed decisions about what digital products to develop and market, ensuring that your business stays ahead of the curve.
Search Online Marketplaces
Not many people have thought of this, but I love finding potential opportunities through marketplaces like Appsumo or Product Hunt.
These and other eCommerce platforms promote digital items currently popular and in demand by potential customers.
This is an excellent way to get ideas for new products or services and a feel for what's selling well online.
Your Email List
If you've built an active email list, this is a great way to gauge demand for new products.
You can send out a survey to your list or use a tool like Google Forms to get feedback from subscribers about what type of product or service they would be interested in purchasing.
Best email marketing software for digital products. I use this to run my newsletters, email funnels, and updates.
This is an excellent method since you're getting direct feedback from people who have already shown an interest in your potential offer.
Social Media Comments
One of my favorite and sneaky ways to find underserved ideas is going to youtube comments and looking for people asking questions that haven't been answered yet.
Side note:
This can work on all social media platforms, such as Instagram and TikTok.
This is a fantastic way to get ideas for content that you can turn into digital products since you know an audience is searching for it.
2. Create A Free Lead Magnet Worth Buying
One of the biggest misconceptions is lead magnets. Many marketers love them or think they're a huge pain.
If you want to make money online with digital products, you need an audience. And the best way to get an audience is by offering something of value for free in exchange for an email address.
This could be a PDF report, cheat sheet, video training, or mini-course. You can also come up with your digital product ideas using Jasper.ai.
Many creators have made money with AI and creating digital lead magnets.
I use Jasper AI to write all my blog articles and social media content. This AI writing tool lets you create a blog post in seconds with just the push of one button!
The key is ensuring your freebie is high quality and closely related to the digital product you're selling.
For example, if you plan on selling an online course on copywriting, your lead magnet could be a PDF report on the ten best copywriting tips.
Keep this in mind when you create digital products.
3. Start Building Your Digital Product Offer
Now it's time to create your outline for the digital product you will sell.
This is where the demand research you did in step one comes into play. You should have a pretty good idea of what people want and are willing to pay for.
Related:
You can also learn how to create mockups for your online products in this blog post.
When creating your offer, you'll want to follow these steps:
- A Welcome Video
- What They Will Learn
- The Content
- Recapping Everything, They Learned
- Wrapping Up
This goes for anything when selling digital products online, including downloadable guides, templates, and video courses.
4. Create Your Sales Funnel Process
Now it's time to create your automated sales funnel.
Eddy's Definition:
A sales funnel the process that takes a potential customer from awareness to purchase.
The goal of any sales funnel is to move people through the stages of your funnel until they reach the point of purchase.
I usually recommend using a sales funnel builder, but you can host your funnel pages on your website, such as Woocommerce or other blogging resources.
Other websites can help you build a sales process, such as:
- Thrivecart
- Clickfunnels 2.0
- Shopify
- Kajabi
- Podia
- Sendowl
- Easy Digital Downloads
5. Create An Email Sequence For Those That Didn't Purchase Upfront
You've created a digital product and found a huge market. People are interested, and you're making sales. But what about the people that didn't purchase upfront? How can you create a sequence of emails that will gently nudge them towards your product?
The first step is to create an email sequence that offers value. This could be in the form of tips, tricks, or helpful information about your product. You want to make sure that your audience sees you as an expert in your field and that they can trust you to provide quality information.
The second step is to create a sense of urgency. You want your readers to feel like they need your product in their lives. This could be in the form of a special offer or discount for those that purchase within a certain timeframe. You want to ensure that your offer is compelling enough to get people to take action.
The third step is to create a sense of community. You want your readers to feel like they are part of something larger.
This could be in the form of social media groups, forums, or even just providing helpful comments on related blog posts. You want people to see you as someone that they can connect with and that they can trust.
By following these steps, you can create an email sequence that will gently nudge those that didn't purchase upfront towards your digital product.
By providing value, creating a sense of urgency, and creating a sense of community, you can increase the chances that people will take action and buy your product.
How To Sell Your Digital Products
Now it's time to start selling your digital products and turn your side hustle into a full-time business.
Pick A Traffic Source
Are you trying to start a blog and gain organic traffic to your products, or will you take the shortcut and run paid ads? Regardless of your traffic source, you must be prepared to invest time and money into your marketing efforts.
There's no one correct answer when choosing a traffic source. It depends on your products, your audience, and your budget.
If you're starting, I recommend focusing on organic traffic, such as short-form content or SEO. Once you have a steady stream of traffic, you can experiment with paid traffic sources such as Google Ads or Facebook Ads.
The important thing is to focus on one traffic source at a time and to build up your marketing efforts slowly over time.
Related Blog Post: How To Start AI Blogging
Use A Digital Product Platform
A digital product platform will protect your digital files from piracy and allow you to track sales, create discount codes, and deliver your products automatically.
There are many digital product platforms to choose from, such as:
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4.0Start A Free Trial Our ReviewSamCart is the leading eCommerce platform for selling online. It has everything you need to drive traffic, collect payments, and ship orders all in one place with an intuitive user interface that makes managing your business easier than ever before!
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
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4.0Start A Free Trial Our Review
Sell digital products, print-on-demand, & more with Sellfy. Perfect for Content Creators & YouTubers.
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
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4.5Start A Free Trial Our Review
Ready to start selling online? Use Podia to monetize your audience by selling online courses, digital products, & more!
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
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Start A Free Trial
Host and sell your digital products, subscriptions, memberships and more with Sendowl
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
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Start A Free Trial
Use this software to sell your digital downloads.
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
You also can use free software but beware of the limitations. For example, you won't be able to track sales or offer discount codes if you use WordPress to sell your products.
Create Evergreen Deadline Funnels
If you want to earn recurring revenue, I'd recommend investing in an evergreen marketing tool like Deadline funnels.
Deadline funnel is one of the best tools for evergreen marketing. You can create exact times for your products and services.
This will create urgency and a sense of FOMO (fear of missing out) for your products, meaning people are likelier to take action and purchase.
It's also an excellent way to increase customer value over time as you can offer additional products through upsells and downsells in your evergreen funnel.
The Pros And Cons Of Selling Digital Products
Many businesses selling physical products are now selling digital products as well. This can become a great high-income skill.
This can be a great way to reach a larger audience and boost sales. However, you should be aware of some pros and cons of selling digital products before you make the switch.
Selling digital products requires less inventory and storage space than selling physical products. You also don't have to worry about damaged or lost items, as customers will have access to their purchases immediately after payment.
Additionally, selling digital products allows you to reach a global market, as customers can purchase your products anywhere in the world. On the downside, selling digital products can be challenging if you don't have your website.
You'll need to set up a payment system and find a way to deliver the product to your customers. You'll also need to create marketing materials and promote your product online.
Overall, selling digital products has advantages and disadvantages, but it's worth considering if you're looking for ways to grow your business.
Final Thoughts: How To Create And Sell Digital Products
So, you finally know to start selling digital goods, you understand that you can host these products on your own website, a platform for digital products, and you also know how important it is to have an evergreen marketing strategy in place.
This should give you a strong foundation for getting your first sales.
If you have any questions or need help getting started, try going on YouTube and looking up free content on how to create a digital product online.
