Selling Digital Products Online

While it might have been needed for many years, today you don’t have to have any physical products (in stock) to make a perfectly profitable business. Drop shipping is one way to work around the need to keep inventory, affiliate sales are another. But today I’d like to focus on that business opportunity that is staring you right in the eye: Selling digital products online.

What is a digital product?

The definition of a digital product is any product that is delivered through digital means. Think about downloads, software, and knowledge products like webinars, ebooks, community memberships, etc. Think about this: A digital product isn’t a service, but you can’t physically hold it in your hands either.

Digital products have many different formats: PDFs, word or excel sheets, audio files, or any other digital format, including images, video, and audio.

The only limit to creating and selling digital products is your imagination, and a bit of originality goes very far as digital products are concerned.  

How to create your first digital product?

There are hundreds of great ideas for digital products. The first step is to pick a product idea that has some selling potential. In startup lingo, checking the selling potential is also referred to as product validation.

A start might be to take some problem you have, or knowledge you already have and turn that into a digital solution, training course, or other that would sell. To make sure your digital products are made quickly and are of super value, base them on the knowledge you already have mixed with industry knowledge you get from researching a bit more.

There are already ebooks, webinars, podcasts, etc. These types of digital products are great for inspiration The type of product determines in part the creation method, but let’s look at a popular product and options:

Video for business webinars and training video

The high production value option would be to get a professional studio and record and get an editor to cut and edit your videos. However, you’ll be surprised how close a “normal” webcam or phone camera can get you with a proper microphone and lighting. We estimate that more than 80% of webinars and training videos are currently captured with a simple home setup.

An online course you can create with a combination of video, audio, PDFs and guides such as handouts and worksheets.

While live webinars do well through any video conferencing tool like zoom, the method to deliver professional courses (especially if it is an on-demand product) would be through an Online Course Platform, that has all the features for selling, course use and advanced interactive features like polls, Q&A and notetaking.

4 benefits of selling digital products

Digital products are easier to scale, and therefore can be a great growth strategy. Take an hour and think about what knowledge you could turn into a digital product. What is the digital product that is an alternative to currently offered products and services? Get inspired and go!

1. Digital products are easy to update and change

Digital products are easy to update and change. You can simply upload a new copy of your digital product, then click on the date for when you want it to go live. It’s as simple as that! 

The best part is that this means that if there is something wrong with an older version, you can easily replace it with a newer one without going through the whole process again.

2. Digital products can be accessed from anywhere in the world

Digital products are able to be accessed from anywhere in the world. This is great for those who want to work from home, or have a business that operates internationally. There are also many benefits to using digital products like being able to update them whenever you choose and not having any shipping costs.

3. Digital products are less expensive, making them more cost-effective for businesses with smaller budgets.

Digital products are less expensive than physical products. You don’t need to pay for the shipping, packing materials, or any of that extra cost when you’re selling digital items. There are also no inventory and storage costs! 

In comparison with physical goods, there is an opportunity to make more money because your production costs are lower and your overhead is nonexistent. As a business owner, you’ll find it quite easy to focus on marketing while still making a profit.

4. If you have a digital product, you don’t need to keep any inventory

If you have a digital product, you don’t need to keep any inventory. You can release the product and then create more as needed (even if that means just one copy). This saves on storage space, shipping costs, and most importantly money. It also reduces the risk of having an inventory sell out or be ruined due to natural disasters. 

Related: Learn how to market your products with the best small business marketing tools.

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