The basics of selling digital products and 3 foolproof things anyone can sell
Nowadays, anyone can quickly and easily create anything from eBooks to online courses. They're what's known as digital products and whether you're a small mom-and-pops bakery, a large fashion brand, or a solo entrepreneur, you too can take advantage of digital products to earn some additional income.
How? It's easy. Create some interesting, educational, and/or entertaining content around a topic that the people visiting your website might be interested in. The content can be video, audio, or text - whatever you're more comfortable with. Then put the content on your website, set a price, and you're done!
Here's a quick example - let's say you're the owner of a local cafe and your customers love your croissants. You can create a detailed 1-page recipe PDF where you share your secrets and provide a step-by-step guide to how you make those croissants. Offer people visiting your website to download the guide for a price of, let’s say, 1 EUR. That's it - you've created a digital product.
Super flexibility
You can charge more, you can charge less. You can create recipe PDFs for all your pastries. You can compile multiple recipes into an e-cookbook. You can ditch the text format and create videos instead - visually demonstrating how to make croissants in a home environment. You can evolve this into a full-blown course. Or, instead of focusing on recipes, you can create a guide about how to run a cafe, how to source good ingredients, or how to set up a business. The possibilities are endless.
We're only touching the tip of the iceberg. Digital products go beyond just eBooks and courses. You can sell designs, photography, audiobooks, digital templates of all sorts, and so much more. Your products don't necessarily need to be related to your business and you can set up a separate store where you sell your digital products.
In this article, we'll talk about the benefits of making digital products, give you some examples of digital products that are always in high demand, explain how to make the most of your digital products, and show how to add digital products to your Mozello store.
4 reasons why digital products are awesome:
You unlock an additional revenue stream that is independent of your core business
This is particularly important in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Having multiple income sources makes your business safer, in case one of them crumbles, like in the case of cafes that stood near-empty due to quarantines.
Once you create a digital product - you're done
A great croissant recipe isn't going to change. You can keep your digital product on your website for years to come. Even if you only charge 1 EUR per download, over the years, the sales will add up to a fantastic return on investment.
You can create as many digital products as you like
Whether you want to have a single book with 100 recipes or 100 PDFs with one recipe in each, it's up to you. Plus, you can constantly create new digital products - it's infinitely scalable.
You already have all the tools you need to get started
To create a digital product, all you need is your smartphone, computer, and some inspiration. You've already crossed 2 things off that list and we're here to help with the third. Let's dive into some digital product ideas.
3 types of digital products that are always in high demand
1. Digital courses and educational videos
Digital courses are courses people can take virtually and they come in all shapes and sizes - from full college-like courses with assignments and tests to simple series of educational videos. As long as you can teach people something about a particular topic, making a digital course can be a fun and rewarding endeavor.
Digital courses are set to grow in demand substantially over the next few years. Before the pandemic induced lockdowns, Forbes reported that the global online learning market was estimated to reach $350 billion by 2025. However, due to the 2020 pandemic, the market value of eLearning is set to be even higher.
Many students, professionals, and just generally curious people are using digital courses to study everything from digital marketing to the foundations of botany. An in-depth exploration of interesting topics or a well-crafted guide to learning practical skills is bound to generate an audience.
Here's a fantastic example from Bright Trip:
If you've got knowledge and experience to share, you can sell your area of expertise in the form of a digital course. You can create tutorials, videos, guides, or written lessons. Whichever format you feel most comfortable with and will best help your audience learn a topic, that's the one to go with.
Once you have some content, just pop it up on your online store and/or join a digital course marketplace like Coursera or Udemy and upload it there to reach a wider audience.
2. eBooks and PDFs
In light of the ever-growing publishing industry and the popularity of e-readers, smartphones, and tablets, the eBook has been a top-selling digital product for years.
In 2021, the eBook market is set to surpass the 1 billion user mark, with market revenue reaching $15.5 billion.
If you've got a knack for writing, eBooks are an ideal digital product to look into. Even if writing isn't your strong suit, a captivating story, an informative guide, or insightful research can be all you need to capture an audience.
Here's an interesting example from Wit Berry that is something between an eBook and a PDF guide:
Writing an entire book can be intimidating, so you can start light with some simple PDFs, like the example of the croissant recipe mentioned earlier. It's what's inside that counts. As long as you deliver some information that is of value to the buyer, they'll be happy.
3. Photography and design
Photography, graphic design, and other types of digital art are in high demand in the market right now. Bloggers, website managers, social media influencers, and business owners are ready to pay for relevant imagery and infographics that help engage their followers and customers.
In 2021, over 70% of businesses will heavily rely on visual content in their marketing strategies, as it boosts information retention by 65%. Plus, all you need is a glance to see how visual content already penetrates every corner of the internet.
You can earn money by creating logos, quality photographs, infographics, posters, or any other digital art by selling them directly to customers or licensing them for a set fee.
Here's an example from Connary Fagen, Inc. selling fonts:
“I'm worried nobody will buy my digital products”
That's a common worry. A good place to start is creating products for your existing audience. To continue our cafe example, your website visitors are likely to be more interested in the pastries, rather than how to build a cafe business from scratch. So a recipe book might perform better than a business guide.
To give another example, if you're a physical therapist, it makes more sense to sell a PDF with “10 exercises for a healthier back”, rather than a digital course on “How to become a physical therapist”, since you probably already have an audience that's interested in the former.
That being said, even if you don't manage to sell a single product (which is highly unlikely), the content you have created can be used for marketing! You can publish your recipes, designs, photos, courses, guides on your website and make them freely accessible. This can help drive more traffic to your website and gain new customers. Learn more about the benefits of blogging here.
Also, instead of cash payment, you can ask your users for their email in exchange for the content you've created. This can help you build an email list of an interested audience to whom you can send updates about new pastries in your cafe, or about other digital products you create, thus turning your website visitors into subscribers and customers. Learn more about the benefits of email marketing here.
In any scenario, good content will help you grow your business.
How to sell a digital product on Mozello
You can easily sell your digital products with a Mozello created online store. To add your digital product, just go to Catalog management → Add product → Advanced settings and check the “This is a digital product” box:
Then just upload your product and add a message for the recipient. Of course, don't forget the usual things - add a nice photo, set a price, and give the product an accurate and interesting description.
That's it.
Conclusion
Your business is more than just your physical products or services. Digital products let you monetize the other elements of your entrepreneurship - your knowledge, skills, and experience. They're easy to make, there are lots of formats, and the digital products you end up creating can have a lasting impact on your business.
But remember - you don't even have to be a business owner to get started. Whether you're a guru in your industry with insightful know-how, or a single parent with some personal tips to share - you can take advantage of digital products and unlock an additional stream of income.
So, what will you create first?