Selling digital products is one of the easiest ways to earn passive income online. If you have a valuable skill set, you can turn it into a digital product, and it is possible to sell digital products even without a website. So, let’s talk about this.
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You can share your knowledge, skills, or talents and eventually make extra cash along the way.
Digital products like e-books, audio products, downloadable templates, research papers, or online courses are increasingly attractive because of their low creation costs (your primary investment being your time and expertise) and inherently scalable nature.
Suppose you’re an expert in any field. In that case, I can guarantee some people will pay for an accelerated learning experience through digital guides and instructional videos.
What is a digital product?
A digital product is an intangible product that can be consumed in digital form. The most common examples of digital products are E-books, digital audio products, digital video products, online courses, web templates, mobile applications, photos, digital graphics design files, digital subscriptions, mobile, and cloud-based applications.
The full list can be endless. Basically, anything that exists in digital form is a digital product.
Where can I sell my downloadable products?
You might think that everyone who sells a digital product has a website. Actually, you don’t have to have a website to successfully sell digital products online.
However, you need a follower base on social media or a strategy to get traffic to your sales page.
But don’t worry! Even if you are not a social media mogul, you still can Flood Your Sites With Free Traffic. Check this Newbie-Friendly Method to start.
There are several platforms that make a life for online hustlers such as yourself easier, even if you are a complete beginner.
Here I will list the best of them.
Etsy
If you are just starting out, you probably don’t have an audience where to promote your digital product. The smartest way is to borrow someone else’s audience using platforms like Etsy.
Selling a digital goods on Etsy is just like creating a listing for a physical product, except you have to upload the file your customers will receive when they make a purchase.
Etsy allows you to upload audio, image, or text files to your listing. Here is a detailed guide on how to create a digital listing on Etsy.
Flurly
Flurly is the most affordable platform to sell digital products online.
On Flurly everyone can create a sales page and sell any digital products in under a minute. All process will take you no more than 5 minutes.
There are no set up fees and no monthly subscription fees. The platform keeps 1% commission after the processing fees, which are 2.9% + 30¢ of each sale.
Here is a short video, how to create a listing on Flurly.
After you can share your sales page on social media or across any other channel where your potential audience is.
Flurly’s sales page is well optimized not only for PC but also for mobile screens.
Besides, Flury allows you to scale when your hustle grows.
Option “memberships” enable creators to give their fans access to exclusive content in exchange for a monthly membership fee.
Flury has flexible payout options. You can directly receive your money to your bank or PayPal account 7-10 days after every sale. There are no minimum payout balance or additional transfer fees.
Gumroad
Gumroad is another popular online platform where you can create your sales page for your digital product. It works in a similar way as Flury.
When you register for an account, you will be able to create a link for what you are selling and then use this link on social media or send it directly to your clients.
Gumroad has two pricing plans – Getting started and Creator. There is what you will get with the starter plan:
- No monthly fee
- Unlimited products
- Real-time analytics
- Customer management
- Limited posts and workflows
- SD streaming
- 5% + charge fee (3.5% + 30¢)
Creator’s plan comes with a fixed $10 monthly subscription (for less than 1,000 customers). You will get:
- Gumroad branding removal
- Add your own CSS
- Introduce as much of your own style to your pages as you’d like.
- Use your own domain
- Unlimited posts and workflows
- Unlimited HD streaming
- 3.5% + 30¢ per charge only
Gumroad offers payout every Friday. There are several payout options: direct bank deposit, debit card, or transfer to your PayPal account.
Here is the video with a step-by-step tutorial on how to sell digital products on Gumroad.
Sellwire
Sellwire is another platform that works similar to the previous two mentioned here. As a no-hassle alternative to complex eCommerce setups, Sellwire makes it simple to start selling digital products.
Unlike other platforms mentioned before, the use of Sellwire is a bit more complicated because you must have your own payment provider.
Here is how it works:
- Create an account with Sellwire.
- Upload your digital products.
- Connect your payment provider (Paypal or Stripe) and set your price.
- Share your product link, people pay and download your file, and you get paid instantly.
The platform operates on a subscription basis.They have a free trial. So, you can sell 1 file for free. After Sellwire has three plans at your disposal:
Solo
- $9 per month
- Manage up to 10 files
- Unlimited file versions
- Unlimited orders
Agency
- $29 per month
- The perfect plan for growing companies
- Manage up to 50 files
- Unlimited file versions
- Unlimited orders
Enterprise
- $89 per month
- Big company? Or just want the best?
- Manage up to unlimited files
- Unlimited file versions
- Unlimited orders
Most people use Sellwire to sell things that they’ve made, like eBooks, audio files, videos, plugins, scripts, and photos. Basically, anything that you can “upload” as a single file you can sell with Sellwire.
SimpleGoods
SimpleGoods is an easy-to-use selling platform for digital goods. The platform offers ab option to add a popup checkout to any website. If you don’t have a website, you can use their hosted payment pages.
Check out their easy guides on how to use their checkout page or how to connect their platform to WordPress, SquareSpace, or any other website here.
Also, this platform has 3 subscription plans: “Start”, “Grow” and “Expand”.
The “Start” plan is free. You have to pay only 3% fee per sale, and you can upload up to 3 products with it.
With “Grow” you get $9 monthly subscription, and you have 1% fee per sale. With this plan, you can sell up to 10 Products and sell subscriptions.
Finally, “Expand” comes with $29 monthly subscription, and there is no sales fee. With the “Expand” plan, you can sell up to 50 Products and sell subscriptions.
ClickBank
ClickBank operates differently than other platforms mentioned here. ClickBank is a one-stop shopping cart, payment processor, and affiliate program altogether.
As a creator, you can list your digital products for sale. The sales are made by affiliates. As a seller, you have to give them a part of your earnings as a commission, which is a fair deal because ClickBank is the well-known marketplace for selling digital products.
According to the platform, ClickBank completes nearly 20,000 orders dayly. The platform has over 100,000 affiliates who can sell your products.
Watch this video on how to list your digital products in ClickBank.
Besides commissions to sellers, there are also several fees that you have to pay for ClickBank. To start selling with ClickBank, you have to upload your digital product for approval. Once the ClickBank team approves your product, you will have to pay a one-time $49.95 activation charge. You can pay the fee by credit/debit card, PayPal, or money order.
There is also 7.5% + $1.00 sales fee for each sale.
Visit this page for a detailed pricing description and complete set of instructions on how to sell on ClickBank.
What digital products are in demand?
Streaming video and audio files and online games are the bestsellers of the digital market share. The Digital Media market is projected to reach US$ 292,402m in 2021, and the market’s largest segment is Video Games, with a projected market volume of US$154,630m in 2021.
According to the Internet’s leading statistics database Statista, most revenue will be generated in the United States.
“I don’t have a crew and funds to make an online game, so what kind of digital products can I sell?”, I hear you say.
Don’t worry! There are tons of ways how you can create digital goods from your own expertise and knowledge. You don’t need a team of software developers or inexhaustible funds to do it.
What kind of digital products can I sell?
Obviously, it depends on your interests, skills, and field of expertise. But here are some digital product ideas almost anyone can create right now:
Stock photos
If you have a digital camera or just a smartphone with a good camera, you can make and sell stock photos.
Stock photos aren’t always fancy, as you might think. For example, you can sell pictures of your feet.
People buy all kinds of photos for different purposes; you never know what might sell! I actually wrote a whole post about How To Make Money With Photography, so check it out for more information.
If you own a smartphone (iPhone, Samsung, whatever), then you already have everything you need to take create incredible photographs. Check this online course How to make perfect photography with your iPhone.
Stock video, for example drone footage
The same as stock photos, also stock video clips are trendy products in the digital marketplace. Aerial filmmaking is one of the most fun things that you can do with drones. It’s also one of the most profitable because not everyone has a drone and the skills to operate it.
In fact, many companies actually purchase nature shots and urban landscapes drone footage from independent creators because they are very versatile and can be spliced seamlessly into tourism videos, advertisements, or even on feature films.
If you already have a drone, you have a perfect digital product to sell in your hands.
E-book
The eBook is one of the most popular digital product types out there because it is easy to create, sell, and consume one!
Here is the video about how to create an eBook for free!
If you have expertise in a specific subject, you can create an eBook with very little; All you really need is access to a computer, inspiration, and time. If you already have a blog, you can even repurpose published content.
Audio samples
Audio samples are great niche digital products with a growing audience that is always looking for new sounds and inspiration. The good thing is, you don’t have to be musically talented or play a musical instrument.
Recordings of different sounds from urban or nature ambient can be created with zero musical experience. Besides, it is doable without special equipment. iPhone voice memo recordings are good enough for these purposes.
If you have musical skills and know-how, consider creating and selling instrumental samples, vocal samples, or music loops.
But don’t take my word for it, here is the video from the talented gentleman. He is actually making good money selling audio samples.
Digital Documents
Digital documents such as industry reports, white papers, balance sheets, or legal letters are also in high demand. Especially if you have something original and never published on the open net in your hands.
Suppose you have expertise in the legal business. In that case, there are tons of legal templates people search for, from tenancy contract templates to non-disclosure agreements.
Let’s wrap it up!
As you see, selling digital products is a low-cost and easy way to open a new revenue stream.
Read also: Is it still worth opening an eCommerce store in 2021?
You can try to make it big and eventually replace your day job, or maybe you just want a passive side hustle. Whatever your reasons are, diversifying your revenue and finding new income streams is a smart move. Best of all, you get a chance to make money with your skills and knowledge.
