Create and Sell Digital Products Easily
It’s not enough to know what digital products are – you need to know how to actually create and sell digital products easily! Learn how to create and actually get people to buy your digital products.
Create and Sell Digital Products Easily | How to ACTUALLY create and sell your digital products
Want to watch a video version of this post? I’ve got you covered!
Before we dive in, I want to remind you about the free digital product blueprint that I created for you! If you want to get a step-by-step guide to creating digital products, definitely grab it below.
Get the Digital Product Blueprint
First things first – you need to decide what type of digital product you want to sell.
You can reference this post all about seven different types of digital products you could sell if you’re feeling stuck! But before you go any further, determine which type of digital product you want to learn how to create and sell.
But how do I know which one to pick?
It can seem like a big choice, but I promise, it’s not that hard. You need to figure out what your client or customer is struggling with that you can provide a solution for!
Once you figure out what your ideal customer struggles with that you can help them overcome, you can use the process of elimination to find the best digital product. Which one is the best method of delivery for your solution?
Then, get in the mind of your client or customer. Ask yourself how they would best like to receive this information. Would they prefer a swipe file that they can use immediately or a workbook?
If you have an audience that’s already established, ASK THEM which one they prefer. Go on Instagram stories and do a poll, ask a question in the community tab on YouTube, or something else. Get their feedback! If you don’t have an audience yet, go find one or two people who fit your ideal client and struggle with the problem you want to solve and ask them directly.
So how do I actually create a digital product?
Each type of digital product is created a different way and sold in a different way. Every person is going to have a different preference about how they create or sell!
I’m including a list of different programs you can use to create your digital product, but don’t think this list is exhaustive. Use whatever program you prefer, even if it’s not on my list!
Programs you can use to create digital products
Alright, here we go. This list is in order of easiest to hardest (in my mind, at least).
For text-based products…
Google Docs! Seriously, folks – don’t make this harder than it needs to be. Create it in a Google Doc and download as a PDF, or just get a shareable link. E-books, workbooks and swipe files can all be made in Google Docs.
You might want to create (or have someone else create) a graphic to use as the cover of your workbook or E-book, but remember, the importance lies in the information. Beauty is worth a lot with digital products, but DO NOT let the looks hold you back from getting started!
Canva is a mid-level creation tool that you can definitely use to create text-based products.
Adobe InDesign is another option! This one has a steep learning curve. Feel free to use it if you’re familiar with it, but don’t feel like you have to learn how to use it just to get started.
For graphics-based products…
Canva! Again, don’t overcomplicate things. You can create art, downloadable graphics, digital stickers, or graphic templates in Canva without having to learn another difficult software.
You’ll notice a theme here – I DO NOT believe in overcomplicating anything! This has been one of the biggest changes for me as I have created and sold digital products over the years. In the past, I was stuck on doing something “the best way” (whatever that means) even if it took me 10,000 times longer.
I honestly think that done is better than perfect. Get that information in the hands of people and stop holding onto it waiting for it to be perfect!
For software templates…
You’ll create the template within that software! If you’re selling Photoshop templates, make them in Photoshop. Boom, done.
Get creating and get it done without complicating things too much! People will care much more about how your resource helped them in their journey than whether or not you think it’s perfect.
Take my digital planners for example. I made them in InDesign because I hailed from the world of InDesign in college. I know tons of very successful people who sell digital planners they created in Keynote or in Canva. Just do it!
Now, figure out how to sell it! Get it in the hands of those customers, friends.
Over the years, I’ve learned that easier is better for selling digital products. There’s a theme here, folks! Do what works for you in the situation you’re in right now. You can change it or upgrade it later, but start selling it now.
Because your products are digital, you need a system that allows someone to purchase and then receive a download link or a clickable link to access their purchase.
There are two main ways to deliver digital products:
Direct Download
After purchase, your customer sees a button that allows them to download your product, OR
Linking Somewhere
You deliver them a link to your product that is not a direct download (think a Canva template or a Google Doc)
How do I deliver my digital product to my customer?
If you don’t want to spend the money on another program to sell digital products, you don’t have to! You can absolutely embed a PayPal button on a page where people can buy your digital product, link that PayPal button to your email marketing system, and then send your customer an email at purchase that gives them a download link.
Use SendOwl or another dedicated system
There are systems out there specifically dedicated to deliver digital products. One of them is SendOwl. If you don’t have your own website and want a simple and inexpensive software, SendOwl is good! It’s entirely dedicated to delivering digital products, so you know it’s doing what you need.
Use Shopify or WooCommerce on your own site
Another option is to set it up to sell on your own store through Shopify or WordPress and WooCommerce. I use WooCommerce to sell my digital products, and they do have the option to install WooCommerce on your self-hosted WordPress site without any additional charge.
Use Etsy or Creative Market
The third option is great for people who aren’t big on tech or setting up a lot of additional programs right now. Etsy is a great option, folks! You can absolutely set up an Etsy store to sell your digital products and get them out there quickly. Etsy will charge you listing fees and take a percentage of sales for each transaction, but they have their own vat of traffic that could discover you! If you don’t have a ton of traffic on your own site, this is a great place to start.
Creative Market is a very similar platform to Etsy. The biggest difference is that Creative Market is more for selling templates rather than something like a workbook or E-book. You won’t want to sell information here, but templates are great to sell there!
You can couple the third option with some of the others, too. I sell my digital planners on Etsy and on my online shop. I NEVER EVER EVER send somebody personally to my Etsy store – they get a direct link to my website. That way, Etsy doesn’t take additional fees and I can collect their email address on purchase. But, you can use these in an intertwined way to take advantage of the Etsy traffic and your own traffic!
The final way I’m talking about selling your digital products is definitely the most intricate. This is an option you can explore after you’ve sold digital products for awhile. If you’re just getting started, the options above are great!
Use an Advanced Selling Strategy: Sales Funnels
If you have known how to create and sell digital products for awhile and want to up your game, you can create a sales funnel. You can use programs like ClickFunnels or Leadpages. I have my funnels where my sales pages are built on my own site and customers checkout on ThriveCart.
Selling digital products in a funnel can increase the cart value of every transaction. Let me give you an example.
I sell a Digital Planning Starter Pack in a bundle. It isn’t available on my site – you have to go through the funnel to purchase. That means there is a whole checkout process rather than just adding it to a cart.
I wanted to be able to UPSELL people with every possible sale by giving them other things they need besides a digital planner. I specifically wanted to filter out people who are entrepreneurs buying this and people who are not. The reason? If you aren’t an entrepreneur, I don’t have anything else to sell you. I’m still glad you purchased from me, but this is probably the extent of what you'll buy. If you are an entrepreneur, though, I’ve got TONS more where that came from!
So, let’s say I have someone who wants the Digital Planning Starter Pack. On checkout, I can offer them an additional product as an upsell – maybe it’s 100 extra stickers for $7.00. Then, they’ll get another offer before checkout to get seven more planner layouts. Essentially, I’m selling the planner in a funnel so that I can increase the cart value. And, if I make the extra products targeted to entrepreneurs, I’ll have an idea of new customers that I could sell something else to later!
Whew! That's all there is to know about how to create and sell digital products. Don't forget to grab the Digital Product Blueprint below!
