Selling digital products is one of the fast-selling business models anyone can use to make passive income but did you know that you can create the best digital products and still end up making zero sales?
Yes. And that’s because a lot of new creators are building digital products around what they want, things that interest them or what they see other people doing. Not necessarily what matters to the market.
As a new creator, there are some strategies you have to put in place if you really want to build and sell sell digital products online. And in this guide, I’ll be sharing with you practical insights and ideas you can use to create a product that gets buyers, generates income and attracts a long-term revenue based on the lessons I’ve learned over the years.
Find a Problem to Solve
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The first time I ever wanted to create a digital product, my main focus was to build a product that matters to me. I felt this was what I wanted and this is what I’m going to sell.
But I was so wrong. Not only did I not get buyers, I made only a single sale. And that was after a year of having the product available online.
Now, things would have been a lot different if I was more focused on solving a problem that someone out there is already looking for solutions to instead of doing what I felt I should do because that’s what I wanted.
At the end of the day, it is not always about trying to create a product. You must be able to solve an actual problem that someone is willing to pay for the solution.
I am not saying that it is not important to build a product that matters to your heart but instead of trying to create for yourself or based on what you want alone, build a solution that will matter to a lot more people other than just yourself.
That means before you think about building and selling digital products, you’re going to conduct a market research, find out what matters to your target audience, glean data from existing competitors and then find a way to set your product apart.
Get into the Right Niche
The fact that you have a problem to solve does not always mean there’s a large market or a decent number of people interested in buying your solutions. That’s another another reality I didn’t realize when I wanted to create a digital product.
So it was not only about the capacity of my product to solve a problem. It was also about the number of people that were interested in the problem I was trying to solve.
Since there was a lot less people in the niche I was getting into, it became difficult to make sales regardless of the quality of my product or the fact that there was an actual need for it.
As a matter of fact, you must get into the right niche if you want to make money selling digital products. Forget about the fact that there is a demand, be sure that there is enough demand to drive sales.
How to find the right Niche?
- Get into communities. Check out communities with a large number of your target audience on Facebook groups, Quora, Twitter Communities etc., to know what people are talking about.
- Conduct a Market Research. Find what is trending in your preferred niche using Google Trends, Keyword tools etc. to understand the search volume and audience interests
- Check out what is selling. Look up digital platforms like Udemy, Shopify, competition websites etc. to find out the fast-selling products
Some niches will always have a demand, but you need a decent volume.
In a nutshell, if you’re not in the right niche you may not be making as much sales as you would even when you have the right product and the right audience.
Validate your Idea
This still ties into making sure that people are actually interested in buying before you create a digital product.
You don’t want to spend your valuable time creating a product you think people are actually going to buy only to find out that they are not interested in it. So, just like a pre-step before any product launch, you have to go ahead and validate your idea.
This is where you take steps like:
- Create a pre-sales offer: This is like a preview to the main product. If you’re selling a product like an ebook for instance, your pre-sales could be a few page offered in return for their email address. This gives you an idea about your target audience’s interest in the product.
- Make an Early Bird Offer: gives you an idea about the number of people that are willing to pay before the launch at discounted rates. The higher the interest, the better your chances at sales.
- Ask your customers. Find potential customers and ask them directly to be sure if they will be interested in your product the moment you launch.
This can also lead you to getting suggestions, ideas and tips to give them something that aligns with them a lot more.
Build a Value Packed Product
After you’ve validated your idea, one of the first things you want to do is to find the right type of digital product that works for your audience and then go ahead use that to build a value packed product that delivers real value.
Let’s say you have a teaching expertise. In that case you can consider building a digital product like a course, a workshop, training etc.
If you’re a designer or your strength lies in the creative and design niche, you can consider building templates, planners etc. It is important to find you’re the right product type that matches your areas of strength or niche and your audience expectations.
Additionally, it is not enough to create a digital product. Build a product that is so valuable that it cannot be ignored. This is very important.
Go above and beyond to meet the needs of your target audience. Make your product stand out and with the right marketing, that product will speak for itself.
Create a Sales System
Selling a digital product does not mean you’re going to always show up to push the sales. With the right sales system, you can create the perfect passive income stream using your digital product setup.
You can set up a full automated sales system by yourself using a landing page or on your own website with ecommerce plugins or other digital download plugins. This option gives you a full control of the sales pipelines.
On the other hand, you can use third party sales platforms like Udemy, Selar, Shopify, making use of their in-built sales system.
Which ever system you choose, before you create a digital product and have it live, remember to have in place the right platform for hosting your products, the right payment mechanisms and be sure you have everything all tested and working properly before your launch date.
Promote your Product
Product don’t sell themselves. Remember I mentioned that I created a really good product but I barely made sales? Well, outside the things I mentioned earlier, one of the challenges I had was poor marketing.
I really did not push in a lot of effort into marketing and promoting my product because I believed it will sell since I’d given it my best shot. But, I was wrong.
Even with the best product, you have to get your products right in front of your target market if you want to make sales. And there are a number of ways to go about this, including the following:
- Share your Story. Use storytelling to create strategic content around your product even while you’re building it.
- Create Content. Get on social media and blogs. Create long form and short form content that relates to the product
- Optimize for Visibility. Use search engine optimization strategies on your blog, website and landing page to get your product visible across the web
- Engage in Paid Marketing. You can use social media platform advertising options like meta ads, Google PPC etc. to advertise and get your products in front of your target audience
- Engage in Strategic Partnerships. Partner with content creators, influencers and other brands in your industry to pus the visibility of your products
At the end of the day, marketing is very important. With the right marketing, you can create a digital product that actually sales, even if you’re a complete beginner.
Above all, have a marketing goal. Make sure there’s a specific goal you want to achieve with your product at specific intervals be it monthly, weekly or daily and then get a marketing plan that can deliver on this.
Iterate & Grow your Product
After you launch, you’re going to get feedback. Be it higher sales, lower sales, positive or negative comments, all of this are feedbacks. You want to pay attention to these.
Listening to customer feedback, direct demands and monitoring my business metrics was one of the top factors that led to a turnaround for our subsequent products.
Use the feedback you get to improve on your product. As your business continues to grow, make plans to accommodate even more options to meet your customer demands.
Also, create and follow a business plan. Do not leave your product to chance. Use the systems you already have in place to achieve your goals.
Where a particular system fails to deliver, iterate until it delivers outcomes. Tweak where you have to and make adjustments where necessary to meet with market demands and trends.
Conclusion
Nearly anyone with the right skills, tools and strategy can create a digital product but if you want to create a product that sales, you have to be very strategic.
Beyond taking these steps, be ready to start small. Confirm there’s a demand for your idea and build as soon as you can. Do not worry about failure. Even that is a useful tool that can guide your success.
Focus on using the insights you gather, the skills and the experience you garner through your journey to shape your growth. And finally, Learn the right digital skills, get the mentorship and guidance to create the right product by signing up with our academy here.
Now it’s your turn. What are some of your challenges when it comes to creating a digital product? Drop your comments below.
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