What is a Digital Product?
Imagine... you've just tucked your little ones into bed, and instead of feeling drained after a long day at work, you're bursting with excitement as you sit down at your laptop, ready to spend an hour on your passion project – your digital product. You're in total control, and your creativity is flowing as you develop something amazing that will help your future customers achieve a goal or solve a problem.
Digital products are information products and their primary purpose is to provide value, simplify processes, save time, or enhance the user's experience in some way. They can be online courses, memberships, subscriptions, eBooks, PDFs, templates, themes, presets, plug-ins, software, apps, and even art, music, and stock photos. They're not physical or tangible items, but instead, they live in the digital realm, making them easy to create, distribute, and manage. They're created using a computer or laptop. Unlike physical products, digital products are intangible and hosted online, making them easily accessible to customers via their smartphones, tablets, laptops, or desktop computers. Customers may sign in to your website to access your product (like an online course, membership, software, or plug-in) or they may download your digital product (PDFs, templates, photo presets, eBooks, videos, audio files, art, etc.)
The beauty of digital products lies in their scalability and low maintenance requirements. You create your digital masterpiece once and can sell it many times. This makes them ideal if you're looking for flexibility, freedom, and a lucrative income stream. Best of all, you don't need to worry about shipping, inventory, or a pesky trip to the post office. And you can automate the marketing, sales, and delivery of digital products, so you can have more time than you would with even the most flexible traditional job.
Digital Product Examples
The types of digital products you can create expand all the time as people think of new things to create. But, here are a few popular types of digital products you can create:
- Online Course - Have you ever had a friend ask you for advice, and you thought, "I could teach a whole class on this?" Well, guess what? You can! Share your expertise and help others learn something new through an online course. An online course is perfect for teaching in-depth about a topic. Courses are usually purchased once and the user gets unlimited access and future updates. Most course creators build it modularly, so it’s easy to update. Courses are usually hosted on your website and your customers sign in to access the content. Alternatively, you can create an eMail course, and your customers sign up to receive a part of it each day or each week. You use software and automation to send it to them according to the timeline promised.
- Blended or Hybrid Online Course - There are a ton of online courses out there, and people can learn a lot for free too. But blended (or hybrid) courses offer more than just content. They offer a learning experience. Blended/Hybrid courses include group or 1:1 coaching, mentoring, peer interaction, and any other kind of interactive experience you'd like to offer. The key to a successful hybrid course, is to offer a transformation (bridge the knowledge gap and help them achieve their goal, not just learn about how to do it). This is your chance to really connect with your audience and help them achieve their goals while giving them a unique and valuable experience.
- Membership - If you love creating content and have a knack for bringing people together, why not create a membership site? You can offer exclusive content, resources, and a community where your members can connect, learn, and grow together. If you have a membership, you typically create and/or curate and publish exclusive content for members on a consistent basis, over a longer period of time. They’re either paid for annually or monthly, and customers get access to content and resources that you make available to them while they’re subscribed. Memberships can take more time weekly if you have time to spare, so it may not be the first product you create, but they're great for recurring income.
- Subscription - Although both involve a recurring payment, subscriptions are different from memberships. With a subscription, typically the buyer is paying for one, well-defined item or set of items that you create each month and send to each subscriber. Think of it like a subscription box - you get the same kinds of things each month, but the creator decides what goes in it and you're pleasantly surprised each month when you receive it. A digital version of this could be something like new templates that continue a visual theme or social media graphics.
- Template - Templates are very popular digital products, especially templates that save people time, help them accomplish something with less effort, and/or give them a more polished look. Think about what you're good at – maybe it's graphic design, web design, or even productivity – and use your skills to create templates that make life easier for others.
Here are a few examples of the types of templates you could create:- Realtors need brochures, flyers, posters, etc. If you're a graphic designer, you could save them time by creating templates they can tweak.
- Web designers may use themes to save time when designing a website. You could create WordPress themes.
- New marketers need email templates. If you're a copywriter, you could sell templates or swipe files to save them time and help them write higher-converting emails.
- People who are into productivity are always looking for Notion or Obsidian templates. If you love productivity and have systems that work for you, you could learn these programs and create/sell templates.
Always ask your ideal customers what they want and need before you start creating templates.
- eBook - Got a story to tell or knowledge to share? An eBook is a perfect way to package that information and share it with the world. eBooks are great for static content that isn’t going to change often. An eBook doesn’t need to be the entire solution to someone’s problem, it can be a stepping stone to solving a bigger problem or it could help them change their mindset around a problem. It could be one part of a larger product ecosystem that you offer. eBooks typically have the ability to bookmark pages, highlight information, make annotations, etc. An eBook can be 40 pages or 200+ pages. They need to be accessible on your website or you can host them where more people can access them (like Amazon Kindle).
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PDFs - PDFs are similar to eBooks, but they don’t usually have the functionality of highlighting, bookmarking, and annotating. They can be easily updated, but consider keeping a list of those who downloaded them so you can send them the updates as you make them. PDFs are super easy to create and often used when you need fewer pages than you may find in an eBook. There are many uses for PDFs, but here are two examples: PDFs could be written like a book or they could be a collection of worksheets to walk someone through a process or help them solve a problem by providing detailed instructions.
- License to use your digital content - Do you have a creative flair? Sell licenses for your digital creations, like fonts, icons, stock photos, graphics, illustrations, filters or presets, audio, and/or video assets. and more. You can even offer monthly subscriptions or sell your files individually through online marketplaces like Creative Market or Etsy. You could sell monthly access to download as many files as they want or you could sell your files individually (like you'll find on Creative Market, Etsy, and other online marketplaces). You can also host them on your own website in addition to marketplaces.
- Art and Music - Flex your creative muscles and make high-resolution digital art, music, or even ringtones and phone wallpapers that people can download and enjoy. For any visual art, consider offering high-resolution files for printing at home and you can recommend your favorite printing service (with an affiliate link, of course) for those who want a physical copy of your artwork (no need to ship anything).
- Software, Apps, Plug-ins - If you're tech-savvy or a programmer, or even if you're just learning to use no-code and low-code platforms, you can create digital solutions to help others overcome obstacles in their personal or professional lives. Just remember that these options might require more frequent updates and customer support.
So, how do you decide which digital product to create? Instead of following trends or listening to someone else's opinion, the answer lies in talking to your ideal customers.
Find your niche, identify your ideal customers, and then dig deep to understand their needs and problems. You're the expert, and it's your job to create the best solution for them. Trust your instincts, and don't be afraid to experiment and pivot as you learn more about your audience.
Which Digital Product Should You Create?
If anyone answers that question for you - if they tell you which kind of product to create - please don’t listen to them. If they’re doing that, they aren’t putting your customer first.
It’s one thing to tell you what’s popular right now. Trends are helpful. But the best way to figure out what you to create is to ask your ideal customers.
- Figure out what your niche is going to be.
- Decide who you want to work with (that’s your ideal customer).
- Then, ask your ideal customers questions to figure out what their problem is and how you'll solve it. Don't ask your ideal customer what digital product they want. They just want to solve the problem. It's your job as the expert to analyze the problem and create the best solution to bridge the gap between where your ideal customers are and where they want to be. They may not know what the solution looks like. If you can use a laptop, you can create almost every kind of digital product I've listed above (software and apps are the hardest, but everything else is about equal in terms of difficulty... they're not that difficult). Consider the digital products that will give the results and are the easiest to create and maintain.
The answer to "which digital product should I create" is unique to every niche and every group of ideal customers. That’s why I don’t tell you to create a course or a membership or a bunch of templates. I’m not your ideal audience… and I can’t give you that answer. But I can show you how to figure it out, and how to create the digital product they want to buy.
Will I Enjoy a Digital Product Business?
Are you wondering if a digital product business is right for you? Ask yourself the following questions. If you can say yes to 1-2 of the following, this may be a good online business for you.:
- Are you looking for more time and freedom than a 9-5 job can offer?
- Is there a problem you can solve, or a goal you can help people achieve with your skills, knowledge, or experience?
- Are you passionate about something others want to learn or need help with?
- Have you gone through an experience that could benefit others?
- Can you create something that makes life easier, better, or more enjoyable for others?
- Are you an introvert who prefers to work behind the scenes, rather than be in the spotlight?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, a digital product business could be your ticket to a more fulfilling, flexible, and financially rewarding life.
Remember, you don't need to be a world-renowned expert or have a massive following to create a successful digital product. You just need to know more than your ideal customer and be willing to share your knowledge and experience with the world.
Don't wait for the perfect time to start your digital product journey! Let your creativity flow, believe in yourself, and take that first step towards creating the life you've always dreamed of. I believe in you, and I know you can do it!
How I can help:
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Erin Gibbens
Online Business & Marketing Strategist
I was an overworked, busy mom 🤹♀️ who wanted more time with my kids when they were little. It took years of trial and error to find the right business model for the flexibility I wanted, but I didn't give up. If you want to start an online business and prioritize your life much faster, you're in the right place. I'll show you exactly how to do it without all the trial and error. NO HUSTLE needed.
