Selling digital products: 15+ ideas (incl. quick guide)

Selling digital products: 15+ ideas (incl. quick guide)

One ingenious way that offers many unique benefits to build an online income is selling digital products.

Once produced, these can be sold in any number. As a result, a business model based on digital products can be scaled at will and has almost no earnings limits.

Sounds exciting?

In this article, I have collected 15 digital products for you that have established themselves as bestsellers in recent years and could certainly bring you a nice income.

Here we go!

1. Online Courses

Online courses are THE digital product par excellence. After all, you can create your own course from every topic. It doesn’t matter whether you’re fishing for carp, building a coffee table yourself or teaching the dog to walk, there are no limits to creativity here.

Another advantage is that the price range is very wide.

There are online courses for €19 to €5,000, depending on the length of the course and the target group addressed.

So if you have expert knowledge in a certain niche, you should consider making a course out of it.

The practical implementation is really simple today. Numerous providers offer all-in-one solutions that you can use to create not only sales pages, but also the course area and even take care of the entire payment process for you. So you really only have to create and upload the course content yourself.

Tip: An online course can be marketed particularly well if you already have a reach (e.g. Instagram channel, your own blog or YouTube Chanel).

Advantages

• High selling prices possible
• No technical know-how required
• No dedicated website required
• Easiest way to monetize already existing community
• Consolidate expert positioning

Disadvantages

• Partly high competition
• Without range it will be difficult

2. E-Books

Along with online courses, e-books are also among the clear winners of digitization. Even though it’s nice to hold a printed book in your hands, many readers have discovered Kindle and Co.

The advantages of e-books are obvious: you have a library of thousands of books in your pocket and you don’t even have to leave the house to buy new bestsellers.

You too can benefit from this!

Both fiction and non-fiction books can be sold over the Internet. Either via your own website or a retailer such as Amazon. Amazon in particular makes it easy to get started with its KDP (Kindle Direct Plublishing) program, but retains a large part of the sales proceeds. Therefore, selling via your own website or shop is always better.

By the way: To create an e-book, it is actually sufficient to open a Word document and start writing. Everything else like the cover design you can either e.g. B. with tools like Canva or hand it over to other freelancers.

To see whether e-books are still worthwhile, just take a look at the Amazon bestseller ranking. Here, the smaller the number, the more sales.

The publisher description “Independently published” tells you that this is an author who used the KDP program.

Advantages

• Can be started immediately from home
• Any topic can be put into a book
• No running costs
• Outsourcing of many areas possible
• Non-fiction and novels possible

Disadvantages

• Gigantic competition
• Amazon keeps a large part of the revenue

3. Social Payment

If you like putting yourself in the limelight and are ready to put photos and videos online, then the social payment business model could be the right choice.

Platforms like OnlyFans or Patreon allow you to publish multimedia content that is only made accessible to visitors in return for payment.

Especially if you already have some reach on social media like Facebook or Instagram, this could be the way to monetize premium content.

At this point, a warning to parents: Please check what content your children spread about themselves on these media. Unfortunately, teenagers are often seduced by third parties into intimate photographs.

OnlyFans and Patreon work, that’s a fact. However, in order to generate really high earnings, you should have a certain level of awareness or be ready for images that encourage clicking.

Advantages

• Immediate entry possible
• Any type of content can be monetized
• A fan community can be built up quickly
• No running costs

Disadvantages

• range required

4. Premium-Content

In the past, have you stumbled across an online newspaper article or blog post where only the first few sentences were free to read – viewing the entire content would have required a one-time payment or subscription?

More and more information service providers such as news agencies or daily newspapers are choosing this “premium content” business model.

Why?

Very simple: Because it works and is much more pleasant for the reader than overloading the website with advertisements.

If you already have your own blog, you can consider creating premium content that is only available for a fee. In practical terms, a closed member area, similar to that of an online course, is sufficient for this.

Advantages

• Can be applied to existing content
• Hohe Conversion-Rate
• Technically easy to implement
• Much more pleasant than advertisements

Disadvantages

• May encounter criticism from regular readers

5. Themes, Plugins und Add-ons

Do you have experience with WordPress or another program and are you not averse to programming? Then developing plugins, themes or other add-ons can be a great way for you to sell digital products.

Even if there are now more than 50,000 extensions in the marketplace, to stay with the example of WordPress, there is still a lot of untapped potential.

The earning opportunities are very high with this type of product, since you can also offer subscription models that secure recurring income in addition to the classic one-time purchase.

Tip: So-called freemium plugins work particularly well here. In addition to a free version that is listed in the WordPress marketplace, customers can expand the range of functions with a paid upgrade.

Florian Simeth has not only created numerous plugins, themes or Gutenberg blocks himself in recent years, but now also shares his knowledge in personal coaching.

Advantages

• High earning potential
• Recurring revenue through subscription model
• No seed capital required
• No limits in creativity
• Large community for questions and problems

Disadvantages

• A lot of technical know-how required

6. Templates

It doesn’t matter whether it’s Excel, Word or another program: templates are needed always and everywhere and are a brilliant option for you to create and sell digital products.

These templates do not have to be complex at all, but simply contain frequently required functions or help with the creation of frequently used documents.

I’ll give you some examples:

• Accounting Template for Excel
• Product presentation in PowerPoint
• Letterhead in Word

As you can see, you don’t have to be a professional to create suitable templates.

I chose MS Office as an example here because most people are familiar with it and use it regularly. Therefore, templates will have the greatest chance of success here. Of course, you can also develop templates for various other niche programs.

Incidentally, these templates can then be sold either on your own website or on a marketplace such as Etsy.

A good example of this is templates for MS Office. These are sold like the proverbial hot cakes. A closer look at individual listings on Etsy shows this.

In addition to the rating, the copies sold are also given here.

Who would have thought that a budget template for Excel could be sold almost 6,000 times? Extrapolated to the stated price of €5.55, this corresponds to an impressive income of almost €30,000.

Advantages

• No high expertise required
• A product portfolio can be built up quickly
• No own website necessary
• High revenue potential

Disadvantages

• No high selling prices possible

7. Apps

If you have programming knowledge, developing apps is an ingenious way to create a digital product from this knowledge. AI chatbots like ChatGPT make it easier than ever to get started with app development.

The great thing about app development is without a doubt the flexibility. From smartphone games to budget planners to current fuel prices at the pump, you can really develop your own app from any topic.

You can generate income later either via premium models (paid apps) or so-called in-app purchases.

By the way: Strictly speaking, you don’t even have to be able to program today to launch your own app. In addition to being able to hire freelancers through Fiverr or Upwork, you could also use an app maker. However, only simple applications can be created with this.

There are countless success stories in the field of app development. After all, very few successful applications were actually developed by the large corporations that own them today. Rather, behind it are individuals who later sold their product for a lot of money.

Advantages

• No seed capital required
• In theory, no programming knowledge required (but better!)
• High income possible
• Easy access to the iOS and Android marketplace
• Many different pricing models

Disadvantages

• High competition
• Experience and know-how required

8. Develop own software

Of course, what applies to apps also applies to any other software: When programming, you are by no means tied to the target group of the smartphone market, but can of course also develop software for desktop PCs.

Even if this market is significantly more complex, it probably offers even more income potential on the other side.

Advantages

• No seed capital required
• High income possible
• Sell ​​directly via your own website or marketplaces
• Great chances for exit (acquisition by large company)

Disadvantages

• A lot of technical know-how required

9. Newsletter

With a newsletter you can not only stay in touch with your community and earn money by promoting your products or placing affiliate links.

A newsletter can also be paid for directly as premium content.

Examples of this type of product are found primarily in the financial industry in the form of stock market letters. These newsletters provide investment tips and give a rough overview of the current market situation.

However, with a premium newsletter you are not tied to this topic. Theoretically, a paid newsletter can be set up in every niche. In marketing, for example, you could publish case studies on a weekly basis and link them to practical tips and your experience. As a successful entrepreneur, you could offer important advice and point out problems to young professionals.

So: If you have something to say and would like to get in touch with your community on a weekly basis, then the paid newsletter could be the right format for you! And creating a newsletter is really something anyone can do.

Advantages

• No seed capital required
• Lively exchange with the community
• Reach all members at the push of a button
• Crystal-clear statistics (open rate) provide information about popular content

Disadvantages

• Running costs depending on the list size
• Regular newsletters required

10. Graphic Designs and Templates

Graphic design templates and templates are to be understood in a similar way to the MS Office templates already mentioned: You create ready-made basic graphics that can then be adapted to your own wishes.

These templates are usually created on the basis of Adobe Photoshop, as the .ai file format is often used here. Canva templates are also very popular, especially in the online marketing scene.

The good news is that you can also sell these templates through marketplaces like Etsy and don’t need your own website.

By the way: The print-on-demand area in particular often relies on design templates. This business area alone could generate numerous customers for your work.

To show you how well design templates sell online, let me take another look at the Etsy marketplace.

The following Instagram templates for Canva, which really didn’t have to be elaborately designed and could certainly be created by you with a little practice, have already achieved 4,225 sales at a price of 4.36 EUR. The designer was able to earn an unbelievable EUR 18,421 with this template.

Working hours?

Probably 6 to 7 hours if that. If you use an AI image generator to help, probably even less.

Advantages

• No experience necessary
• High earning potential
• Fast portfolio building
• No dedicated website required

Disadvantages

• Only low selling prices
• High competition

11. Video Games

Do you like to gamble and are you also a passionate programmer? Why not combine these two qualities and create a product that sells well online: video games.

Not only PC games, but also smartphone games are excellent for sales.

With the help of tools like Unreal Engine or CryEngine2, the programming work is even reduced to a minimum, so that even an inexperienced designer can start with an idea and get further help from programmers via Fiverr or Upwork.

However, previous experience in terms of game architecture and design is essential.

By the way: In the case of PC games, it is advisable to sell them on your own website. Smartphone games, on the other hand, should be distributed via the corresponding marketplaces for the operating systems (iOS or Android).

Advantages

• Great revenue potential
• Numerous tools available
• Support available through Fiverr and Upwork

Disadvantages

• It doesn’t work without previous experience
• High hurdles when selling
• Constant care required

12. Code snippet

As a programmer, you can sell code snippets and automation scenarios that other programmers can incorporate into their work.

You have the choice of creating general-purpose snippets or programming specific parts for someone else’s work on demand.

The great thing is: You don’t even need your own website.

There are marketplaces for selling code snippets. It is sufficient to upload your work here.

Advantages

• No seed capital required
• Low competition due to subject specificity
• Older work can also be monetized
• Selling snippets is often the start of larger projects
• High earning potential

Disadvantages

• High level of programming language expertise required
• Codes can be copied

13. Data Collection or Statistics

If you have special data collection and statistics that were collected as part of surveys or research, then you can sell them to commercial companies.

An example: You run a dog blog with a newsletter. You could start a survey among your participants, answering specific questions that can be very valuable to a dog insurance provider.

The effort to get such data is certainly great. The earning potential on the other hand is all the higher.

Attention: Please make sure to explain to visitors and participants in surveys that the data collected will be passed on!

Advantages

• No cost required
• Very high selling prices possible
• Technical effort low
• Monetize visitors to your website through data collection

Disadvantages

• Please note data protection and consent

14. Fonts

If you have an artistic streak and a sense of aesthetics, then selling premium fonts might be for you.

This can easily be implemented on platforms such as Calligraphr.

Manuscripts in particular are very popular and can be sold excellently on marketplaces such as Etsy or on your own website.

The great thing about this product is that you really don’t need any or very little previous experience and can theoretically start developing your own font right away.

I want to once again use Etsy to show you how successful selling fonts can be.

The “Handwriting Bundle” listed below generated a total of 15,655 sales at a price of €17.43. That is a proud income of almost €280,000.

Advantages

• No seed capital required
• Online tools support the creation
• Can be sold through Etsy
• High income possible

Disadvantages

• Big competition

15. Recipes

Attention amateur cooks: recipes are an ingeniously simple but incredibly well-suited product to be sold online.

Recipes can be distributed in many different ways. For example, you could send new recipes via email every day in a paid offer, provide a premium member area on your website, or summarize the most popular recipes in an e-book.

Previous experience is really not necessary here.

If you can cook, you can also sell recipes online!

Tip: Combine free recipes (to build reach) with premium dishes.

Advantages

• No previous experience necessary
• No seed capital required
• Recipe ideas never run out (infinite growth potential)
• Many different sales channels

Disadvantages

• Gigantic competition

More ideas for digital products

Didn’t find any of the 15 ideas that you liked?

No problem. Here you will find 30+ more ideas for your next digital product:

1. coloring pages
2. Puzzle
3. (Motivational) sayings to print out
4. Designs for stationery etc.
5. Games for children (on paper, e.g. in the direction of battleships, city, country, river, etc.)
6. instructions
7. nutrition plans
8. organization charts
9. Lists (templates for to-do lists, etc.)
10. conversion tables
11. Tables for measurements of specific things
12. packing lists
13. Material ones
14. calendar
15. Handicraft templates (e.g. knotting instructions, knitting patterns, sewing patterns, etc.)
16. Organizers (labels, etc.)
17. Layouts (e.g. for photo albums, cards, etc.)
18. tarot cards
19. City maps with specific markings (e.g. city map with 10 places to visit with children, etc.)
20. Folding templates (e.g. for gift packaging etc.)
21. Posters, postcards etc. to print out
22. Habit tracker (which you can use to track sports activities, etc.)
23. E-Books
24. recipes
25. music sheet 
26. Workbooks
27. Development tracker (e.g. for pets: forms to record how an animal develops, what skills it learns, etc.)
28. Memory aids (e.g. for school or university)
29. Design paper sample to print out yourself (for your own design paper, wrapping paper, etc.)
30. Design templates for online courses and other coaching products
31. comparison tables
32. Vocabulary cards / grammar aids for learning a language
33. Photo editing presets

Advantages of digital products over physical products

1. You can make them yourself

Digital products are usually easy to design yourself. In my area, it is mostly coloring pictures, design templates, learning exercises, etc.

I can create all these documents myself on the computer. I only need the necessary programs, such as Canva (I used it to create all the worksheets here in the course).

2. They are infinitely scalable

Basically, digital products are infinitely scalable, since they can be duplicated at will without the need for new raw materials.

While with physical products the cost increases with the number of products, with digital products we only have to invest upfront (mostly time).

3. You don’t have to mail them

Postage costs are a factor that should not be underestimated when selling physical products online.

In addition, there are the costs for packaging and shipping labels. In addition, the parcels have to be driven to the post office (many parcel service providers also offer collection for business customers, but initially you take them to the post office yourself).

4. You can easily sell them all over the world

While selling physical products to other countries is not that easy, it is super easy with digital products.

You don’t have to worry about postage costs and customs, you only have to take taxes into account, which many shop systems can do automatically.

5. The accounting effort is less

If you only sell digital products, you can use other sales platforms.

The advantage of such sales platforms is that they may take over the entire sales process for you and at the end of the month you only get a single invoice for all your sales.

Of course, such a service costs a little more, but it can still be worthwhile because it simplifies the bookkeeping enormously.

How can I sell digital products?

In this section, I want to give you five different ways to sell your digital products.

1. Shopify

Shopify is among the most popular online store solutions .

There is a reason for this: The system is simple and therefore perfect for beginners. In addition, a Shopify store grows with the needs of its operator. A small niche shop can easily become a large e-commerce platform and creating your shop is not difficult either.

Shopify is not only suitable for selling physical products, but also makes it possible to deliver digital products, for example via a download link that is generated after a sale.

2. WooCommerce (if you have your own WordPress website)

If you run your own WordPress-based website and want to offer digital products as a supplement, then WooCommerce is certainly the ideal solution.

With the help of the WooCommerce plugin, you can integrate an online shop directly on your site, giving your customers a very convenient shopping experience.

The technical implementation is particularly easy, since the WooCommerce plugin fits seamlessly into the WordPress environment. New products are created in a similar way to a blog post and can then be downloaded in a protected download area that can only be accessed after the purchase has been completed.

3. Selling Platforms

If you do not yet have your own website and do not want to create one to sell your digital products, you can use a sales platform such as Amazon or Shopify.

These are so-called vendors who act as a kind of middleman.

The advantage: You don’t have to worry about the technical implementation, the sending of invoices or the delivery of the products. You only create a digital product, the sales platform takes care of the rest.

4. Marketplaces

I have already addressed the Etsy marketplace several times in the previous chapters.

There are many other representatives online, such as eBay, that enable the sale of digital products.

The advantage of such a marketplace is that you don’t have to worry about the technical implementation. You also benefit from the fact that they usually have excellent visitor numbers. So you don’t have to worry about traffic.

In addition, marketplaces earn money by selling your products. So it is in the interest of the marketplace that you make high sales. Therefore, your products will be actively advertised, for example in newsletters or on the sales pages of other listings (e.g. with boxes like “You might also be interested in this”).

5. Abo-Softwares

If you operate your digital products as part of a subscription model, you can use subscription software such as Paddle or FastSpring. They take care of the registration as well as the later billing and the sending of the invoices.

An example: You run a premium newsletter. Potential interested parties register via a landing page provided by the provider of the subscription software. After registration, they transfer the e-mail address to your mailing list and take care of everything else. So you can fully concentrate on the creation of your newsletter.

FAQ

Here I have put together answers to frequently asked questions about selling digital products: