Blogging can be a very lucrative online business if done right. There are thousands of successful bloggers out here in these blogging streets and more are joining the game every day… because it’s a great and flexible way to earn income from home.
Content creation plays an important part in the process. In fact, a lot of successful bloggers make money from having thousands of page views on their site each month. But for startup blogs, it may take months (or years) to achieve that much traffic, let alone a full-time income coming from display ads.
New bloggers need to create clever ways to make money blogging fast.
This is where creating and selling digital products comes into play.
Today, I’m going to share with you how to create digital products that will help your startup blog make money while waiting for SEO to kick in.
This is a guest post written by lawyer and blogger Crystallace. She blogs over at HeyCrystallace.com. Affiliate links used. See full disclosure here.
WHAT ARE DIGITAL PRODUCTS?
A digital product is anything sold online that is most commonly represented in digital format.
These products can be created and acquired using our PC/laptop, mobile phones, or tablet. For example, digital products can be:
- E-books
- Templates
- Websites
- Apps
- Fonts
- Audio/video files
- IG templates
- Online courses, etc.
There are also digital products that can be turned into physical products. Some of these digital products include:
- Ebooks
- Decorative art prints
- Decorative text quotes
- Printables
- Planners
HOW TO CREATE DIGITAL PRODUCTS?
There are many ways to create a digital product. Ideally, you need a reliable internet connection and devices like a PC, laptop, or tablet to get started creating your digital product.
You can sometimes create it using your mobile phone, too. However, I find that a laptop or PC is your best tool for this task.
You might need to do some writing, editing, and design work, depending on the type of digital product you choose to create.
HOW TO GET STARTED
Here is a step-by-step formula for creating your first digital product to sell.
1. FIND OUT WHAT YOUR AUDIENCE NEEDS
Social media platforms are extremely helpful in terms of real-time engagement. You can use Google forms to create a survey, Facebook polls, or by simply posting a question.
2. CREATE A BETA PRODUCT
A beta product can be a mini-course, ebook, or printable that you can offer for a small fee or free. This is going to be the backbone of your first digital product.
3. FIND BETA TESTERS
Select 5 or more people (depending on your demographics) from your audience to test the product, ask for feedback, make the necessary improvements, and officially launch the product.
A very important note: Before you share your business or product idea with anyone, protect yourself with a strong Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). My 9-page template is a legally binding contract between you and another person/business to agree not to share confidential information with anyone.
Remember, it is your responsibility to protect your blog, your business, and your products.
4. CREATE A SALES FUNNEL
Now that your product is ready to go, the next step is to create a sales funnel. A sales funnel is basically a way to turn your leads into paying customers.
Your sales funnel may include email sequences, Facebook ads, social media posts/announcements, payment gateways, and an affiliate program. Whatever you need to make a sale, is part of the sales funnel.
You can actually prepare this while polishing your digital product. But just to be on the safe side, you can either hire someone to do this for you or prioritize the product before moving on to the next task.
5. LAUNCH THE PRODUCT
Now, that everything is all set, it’s time to make the announcement. It’s showtime!
WHAT KIND OF DIGITAL PRODUCTS CAN I SELL?
Keep step one (mentioned above) in mind when deciding what digital product you want to create and sell. It needs to be something your audience wants or needs, AND something that they will pay for.
Here is a list of some of the most profitable digital products for bloggers.
- Ebooks
- Printables
- Online courses
- Membership programs
- WordPress themes
- Fonts
- Recipes
- Arts and crafts
- Apps
- Pinterest pin templates
- Instagram presets
- Images
- Instagram highlight covers
- A blog
- Digital art
The sky’s the limit when it comes to creating digital products to sell.
HOW TO SELL DIGITAL PRODUCTS ON YOUR BLOG
Now, let’s talk about making that first sale. Ideally, it would be easy for you to have a tool that will automate the sales process. Basically, how to make money while you sleep. To achieve this, you need:
1. AN E-COMMERCE PLATFORM
This is a separate website or platform that will house your digital products and allow people to purchase them. You can use a marketplace like Etsy or Shopify. Or you can upload your digital products to a simple platform like Sendowl.
Your second option:
2. AN E-COMMERCE PLUGIN
Since you already have a website running, why not turn it into a one-stop-shop? You can install the Woocommerce plugin to acquire e-commerce features like a storefront and secure payment gateways.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I love creating digital products for my blog, primarily because it allows me to make money without relying so much on web traffic.
My digital products enable me to have passive income, while I work on other ways of scaling my blogging business.
Lastly, I find that digital products can last forever. I can make changes, improve my add-to-cart features, launch new products every quarter, all that good stuff. Having digital products changed the way I see blogging. And I hope you’ll find this as an opportunity to make money on your blog, too.
To learn more about my products and services, you can check out my Online Shop right here.