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Oh hey there – welcome to the complete guide for digital product ideas that you can sell on your site. I’m excited you’re here.
Before we get started talking about tons of different types of digital products that you can create and sell online, I want to talk basics first.
What is a digital product?
Yes, that’s a great place to start.
What is a digital product?
A digital product is something that can be created and sold exclusively online. It is not a physical product (though, I suppose you can print out a digital download, thereby making it a physical product, but you get the point).
The great thing about digital products is that they can add an amazing source of passive income to your business.
Yes, you may have to spend some time initially creating the product, but once it is made, you can sell it COUNTLESS times. Imagine that. You do the work once, but get to profit from it endlessly. Doesn’t that sound like the dream?
Of course it is easier said than done.
You’ll soon find that some products are easier to make than others. A full online course, for example, could realistically take you weeks or even months to pull together.
But even just one teeny tiny digital product that you sell for less than $50 online could make the world of a difference for your blossoming business.
Sell that $50 product just 10 times and that’s already $500. A simple digital product can add a lot of cash flow into your business that could change the way you work, and the way you live.
In this post, we’re going to walk you through several potentially successful digital product ideas that you could create and sell online. Be open minded when reading through these ideas for digital products. Don't rule any out until you really understand how they can apply to you and your business.
Ready?
Let's dive in.
1. Workshops (live and/or recorded) one of the most underrated digital product ideas
Did you know that you can host a workshop online and sell access to it? This can be done live, meaning you sell tickets ahead of time to a live workshop,but it can also be done after the fact – sell access to the recording.
I’ve seen this done a few times, most recently from LizWhite.co, who has sold access to a previously recorded workshop titled “Insta 10k”, that details her journey from 3,000 Instagram followers to 10,000 in the matter of months.
This type of digital product is particularly brilliant. Why? Because all you need to do is:
- prep the content (prepare the slides and deliver)
- Have a tool to record the content (you can do this for free using the Google Hangouts/Youtube Live tools)
- Have a website (so you can embed the workshop onto a web page)
- Have access to a payment gateway like Stripe or PayPal
And, you know what? You don't even NEED to have a slide deck to present a workshop live or recorded. In fact, Liz's workshop consisted of her talking to the camera through her talking points without any pre-made slides. Yes, it was still valuable and worth the investment!
That’s it. So easy. Spend 60-90 minutes hosting your workshop, and the recording makes passive income for your business for a live time.
2. Printables
There are so many ways you can create and sell printables in your business. I love how absolutely adaptable they can be in so many different niches.
Are you a blogger for homeschool teachers? Sell worksheet printables so parents can access them and use them easily.
EverydayPartiesShop.com sells party printables to moms so they can DIY their parties at home in a cool, frugal way. How cool and creative!
There are limitless ways to add printables to your website and they don’t cost much at all to create.
The great thing about printables is that you can create them relatively easily and you can do so for free, especially if you are using a tool like Canva.
Realistically speaking, a printable can be created within a few hours.
3. Spreadsheets and Progress Trackers
Lots of people are suckers for a good spreadsheet to keep them organized and on track. Why wouldn't they be? Well crafted spreadsheets and progress trackers are absolutely addicting, especially if they come with the promise of simplifying life and providing value!
Here is a great example of spreadsheets and progress trackers!
This is a Food and Health Tracker Spreadsheet for $49. It helps you achieve your best body by keeping track of your nutrition.
All you need to make a spreadsheet is a decent understanding of Microsoft Excel or Google Spreadsheets. Honestly, that’s it. Do a bit of designing and you’re good to sell.
The biggest upside to creating and selling a spreadsheet or tracker as a digital product is that it actually isn’t that hard to create, especially if you are familiar with the tools necessary.
The biggest challenge, though, is some people might think, “Why can’t I just make that myself?” Or even, “I can find that online for free.”
To overcome that challenge, you need to have a good selling point for the spreadsheet. With a sound understanding of how to craft a solid marketing message that sells, you'll have no problem with this at all.
4. Guides or Tutorials
Are you a total wiz at something that other people just constantly want to pick your brain about? You might be the perfect candidate to create an “ultimate guide” or “complete tutorial” on a specific topic.
Guides and tutorials are not that challenging to complete. You can write them in Microsoft Word or Google docs and then bundle them into a PDF to sell. By the way, are you seeing a major pattern here? A lot of these digital product ideas are NOT hard or time consuming to create!
I love this specific example of a guide. Personally, I used this product several years ago and I loved it. It's a half marathon training guide. Love it!!!
The cool thing about these digital products is that they virtually sell themselves because guides and tutorials are JAM PACKED with value in one place.
5. Ebooks
You know I’m a lover of ebooks. I think they’re incredibly versatile. Truly, there are a ton of different ways to incorporate ebooks into a multitude of different niches.
Take a look at my girl Liz Wilcox from the Virtual Campground, for example. Liz compiled a bunch of “crappy RV” stories into a book and started selling it. It’s geared to entertain existing RVers and it’s definitely doing a good job of it, too.
For some reason, the idea of creating an ebook can be horribly intimidating to prospective digital product creators. I SOOOO wish that wasn't the case. An ebook isn't necessarily a book in the traditional sense of the world.
An ebook can be kind of like a workbook.
An ebook can be a compilation of information or even stories (like it is in the case of “Tales from the Black Tank”).
Ebooks can be anything and everything. They can be long or they can be short. There really are no rules when it comes to creating an ebook so don't get scared away just because you're not a fan of writing lots of content.
Ebooks can be created for free using a tool like Microsoft Word (or even Canva if they are short). Bundle them into a PDF and sell them using something like sendowl or gumroad.
6. Online Courses
Everyone and their mom is creating an online course right? Well, there's a reason for that, isn't it?
E-learning is revolutionary and it's changing the way we think, process information, and how we do business. The good news for you is that it's NOT too late to create and sell an online course. The trick here is to make sure you position it well.
- What information can you teach in an online course?
- What transformational experience can you provide to your students (why should they buy? What will they learn? How will their life be different?)
- How can you target your course to a specific group of people so that your audience is niched down and narrow enough that it doesn't get lost in the noise?
I love online courses because they provide you with cool opportunity to pack a shit ton of value in one place. This usually means that your customers LOVE you by the time they complete the course. This also means that you can charge premium prices for courses – because they have a high level of perceived value.
The big downside to online courses is that they can often take longer to create than other digital products. Depending on the topic of your course and the type of content that you want to include in your course, it can take several months to complete it.
Also, if you're scared of recording video and being in front of the camera, creating a course might scare you. Always keep in mind that it is not necessary to have video in your course – it's just a plus.
Does it cost money to make a course? The best answer is this: it doesn't have to cost anything at all if you don't want it to. Realistically, you can create a really awesome online course without spending anything but your time. So don't let money stop you from pursuing this option.
And if you're wondering what tech you can use to host your online course, I love using this (and you can use it for free).
7. Design Templates
There’s a template for just about anything. As a bride to be, I purchased several wedding-centric templates that made my life 7000 times easier.
For example, I purchased a “wedding seating chart” template that I took to Office Depot and had printed on a big cardstock poster board and stood up on an easel at the wedding reception.
The big selling point to templates is that they MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIER and save you A TON OF TIME.
I kid you not, I looked at that template and said to myself, “Eden, you can literally make this for free in Canva.”
In fact, I started making it for free in Canva. But I quickly realized it would take me a few hours to get it right. So I decided to suck it up and pay that $9 to save me a few hours of time. No regrets, it looked stunning.
One of my blog readers sells physical products (things that she crochets by hand) but decided she wanted to add in another element to her business – a digital product! How might she do that if she sells physical products? Good question, friend. She is going to create a template crochet pattern that people can pay to download and use. How absolutely brilliant!
The list can go on and on with how you can create design templates and sell them. Even something as simple as creating basic pin designs that someone can edit easily themselves could add a lot of revenue to your business model.
8. Content Scripts
If you’ve ever thought to yourself, “Hey, I know I need to write xyz but I have no idea where to start” then content scripts as a product will make complete sense to you.
Companies teaching business can sell a series of email scripts for a 7-day sales funnel, for example, that buyers can edit themselves.
Take a look at my friend Emily McGee's evergreen sales funnel scripts – she sells her successful sales funnel scripts so that people can copy them and use in their own businesses.
Do you write about applying and interviewing to jobs? Sell a resume template.
Need to write a sales page? Find a sales page template online! Easy peasy.
Not sure how to pitch a guest post on a site? Buy a guest post pitch template pack. Done.
The big selling point for content scripts is that they eliminate a lot of the guesswork that may play a role in creating your own content. Additionally, they cut your workload down a ton, and you just can’t beat that. If you could pay $20 to save 10 hours of work, wouldn’t you?
Content scripts are not necessarily the easies to create time wise, especially if you are a SLOW content creator. If that's you, I'd recommend starting with one of the digital product ideas that take less time for you to create. But if you're a quick creator, this is a great option for you. It can be created and sold FOR FREE using Google Docs or Microsoft Word, for example!
Final Thoughts
I hope this articles makes the idea of creating a digital product a little bit less intimidating. My number one goal is to help you realize that there are countless profitable digital product ideas out there that you can implement in your business strategy. Even if you are a business that sells physical products, adding in a hip digital product to your online portfolio could be a really creative way to diversify your sources of income! Even if you are someone who primarily sells services, creating one of these awesome digital product ideas geared towards your clients could help provide value to them in a way that personal one to one services can't – and with less time commitment, too! Stay open minded to the idea of how you can incorporate a digital product into your business – you just never know how it could change your life!
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Ideas? Talk to me in the comments!