Digital eCommerce is my ardour, and it has modified my lifestyle.
I began providing digital downloads by myself virtually over a decade in the past.
Because the President of Straightforward Digital Downloads, I additionally assist hundreds of profitable people and companies obtain their desires by promoting digital downloads, like ebooks, software program, paperwork, and extra from their web sites.
From my expertise of promoting digital downloads and serving to individuals accomplish that, listed below are 5 essential classes I imagine each beginner vendor must know.
Notice: It is a visitor put up by Chris Klosowski, the president of Easy Digital Downloads, the very best digital eCommerce plugin for WordPress. That is an knowledgeable column that we publish each different Thursday, the place we invite a WordPress knowledgeable to share their experiences with our readers.
![Lessons I learned by selling digital downloads Lessons I learned by selling digital downloads](https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/5-lessons-i-learned-by-selling-digital-downloads-og.png)
Why Promote Digital Downloads for Passive Earnings?
Whereas there are a number of alternative ways to make a passive revenue on-line, creating and promoting digital downloads is probably one of the best ways to make a good revenue with minimal effort.
You Don’t Want a Lot of Site visitors to Succeed
You possibly can earn money by displaying promoting, however there are compromises. With advertisements, you’ll want lots of visitors to make a good revenue. Driving lots of visitors may be time-consuming and tedious. With affiliate marketing online, however, you don’t have management over the product’s high quality.
By promoting digital merchandise, you get full management over what you promote. To succeed, you don’t essentially want lots of visitors. You simply want to draw the precise viewers who’s fascinated by your providing.
As an illustration, one in every of our clients, Sam Parrett from SetSailStudios.com, monetizes his web site by creating and promoting niche-specific merchandise — downloadable fonts, which completely aligns together with his ardour as a graphic designer.
![setsail setsailstudio](https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/setsail.jpg)
![setsail setsailstudio](https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/setsail.jpg)
Not like individuals who monetize their web sites with advertisements, he doesn’t have to fret about selecting a broader area of interest that he’s not acquainted with and publishing content material in that area of interest to draw a better visitors quantity.
In his case, it’s simpler for him to supply and promote digital downloads in a distinct segment he’s acquainted with than monetizing his web site with advertisements in a broader area of interest the place he’s not comfy with
Create As soon as and Promote Ceaselessly
Promoting digital merchandise additionally has a bonus over bodily merchandise.
You’ll by no means run out of inventory as a result of you may repeatedly promote a digital product eternally. Which means you don’t want to fret about maintaining stock and ordering or creating extra inventory.
You additionally received’t have to pay for storage or spend time packing and delivery merchandise to clients. Anybody from world wide can simply buy and obtain a digital product. Which means you may promote from the consolation of your private home and with little to no funding.
1. Select a Digital Product Primarily based on Your Experience
Promoting digital downloads is all in regards to the product, and your first job is to resolve on which merchandise you’ll promote. There are many well-liked digital merchandise to select from.
eBooks are the preferred digital product individuals select to monetize. Nonetheless, you might select to promote music, movies, eBooks, or audiobooks primarily based in your experience.
If you happen to want inspiration, listed below are examples from our clients who promote various kinds of digital merchandise:
- EscapeRoomGeeks.com: They create and promote printable Escape Room Kits for numerous age teams. Prospects buy a package (or bundle of kits), obtain the printable belongings, assemble the challenges after which a gaggle of youngsters can attempt to resolve them.
- BrushGalaxy.com: Brush Galaxy is a market the place you should purchase and promote customized brushes for Procreate (the main digital illustration app for iPads)
- MrsMactivity.co.uk: They promote membership entry to hundreds of artistic, curriculum-aligned main training sources.
When deciding on a product, be sure to decide on the one primarily based in your experience and the product format you’re comfy with.
2. Make Positive Your Product Solves a Drawback
You’ll have to create a product that solves an actual drawback. On the finish of the day, potential clients will solely go to your web site if it solves their drawback.
Ask your self the next questions: Why would somebody purchase your product? What drawback are you seeking to resolve?
I’ve discovered that to reply these questions, it helps to write out a mission statement.
The assertion ought to describe the particular drawback (or issues) you are attempting to unravel.
You possibly can write these as advantages in your web site.
This will provide you with a built-in buyer base and be sure to meet your buyer’s expectations in the course of the post-purchase course of.
3. Perceive Who Your Prospects Are
The subsequent query to reply is, ‘Who’re you promoting to?’ I like to recommend spending a while considering clearly about this and writing precise solutions down on paper.
You need to create an in depth description of your typical buyer. Have a transparent image of what they appear like in your thoughts.
Desirous about this buyer at every stage will enable you to keep on observe. Do that when contemplating new options, writing your web site copy, and fixing bugs.
Right here’s an instance from one in every of our clients, Mrs Mactivity Resources, the place they earn money from promoting on-line sources for Early Years educators. The ‘who’ is acknowledged clearly on the web site in order that academics can simply see whether or not the sources will meet their wants.
![Clearly Identify Who Your Product Is For Clearly Identify Who Your Product Is For](https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/digdownwho.png)
![Clearly Identify Who Your Product Is For Clearly Identify Who Your Product Is For](https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/digdownwho.png)
4. Select the Proper Platform to Promote
There are many platforms the place you may simply promote digital merchandise.
You possibly can both promote the merchandise on a third-party market or create your personal on-line retailer. Switching to a unique platform sooner or later may be hectic, so carry out due diligence earlier than choosing a platform.
Promote on a Third-Social gathering Market
Third-party marketplaces do make sign-up simple and have a low preliminary value. Nonetheless, you’ll find yourself paying excessive transaction charges of as much as 30% for each product you promote.
You additionally don’t personal your personal knowledge; you simply hire it. Your product listings, buyer info, and buy knowledge are all saved on another person’s server. Migrating to a unique platform later may be extraordinarily troublesome if not unattainable.
You Might Create Your Personal On-line Retailer
Your different choice is to create your personal digital obtain retailer utilizing WordPress, the preferred platform for constructing web sites and on-line shops.
With a digital eCommerce platform like Easy Digital Downloads, you pay completely nothing because the transaction charges.
Moreover that, you’ll personal your personal knowledge. The license keys are all in your WordPress database. The acquisition knowledge and buyer info are in your database. So, if you wish to shift to a brand new web site, then you may simply migrate your personal knowledge over.
Right here’s how one can create your personal digital downloads retailer step-by-step.
5. Select an Optimum Value to Maximize Your Income
Relating to pricing your merchandise, there are three useful ideas to bear in mind.
Make It Simpler for Your Buyer to Make a Determination
The primary key to your product providing is making it simple for the client to decide. This turns out to be useful, particularly if you happen to’re promoting lots of merchandise. In that case, it turns into troublesome for the potential buyer to know which one they should resolve their drawback.
A number of our shopper’s shops resolve this with bundling. They group some merchandise collectively which can be comparable or assist obtain a selected path. This implies clients don’t want to choose and select which one they need. They only pay one flat price and get all of them.
![Bundle Example Bundle Example](https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/digdownbundleexample.jpg)
![Bundle Example Bundle Example](https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/digdownbundleexample.jpg)
Bundles are in all probability the best approach to cut back selection paralysis. In addition they enable you to create pricing web page as a result of you may simply listing your bundles as a substitute of getting to cowl your whole particular person merchandise.
They will additionally assist cut back your refund charges. With out a bundle, a buyer would possibly select Product A once they actually need Product B. This often leads to a request for a refund. With a bundle, they get each options and may select the one which works for them.
Don’t Race to the Backside With Pricing
Racing to the underside on value can harm your progress.
You might have a competitor who sells hundreds of PDF paperwork and printables for $1.25. You is likely to be tempted to see that as the value level you have to be at.
Sadly, such a technique will undercut your progress too.
In reality, companies usually cowl all their prices of their pricing, together with the prices for hosting, a website title, a software program license, an electronic mail advertising and marketing service, and extra.
However it’s additionally essential to know that there are different extra prices, also called smooth prices, for operating a enterprise, reminiscent of buyer help. If you’re not charging sufficient to your product, then the primary buyer help ticket could eat up any earnings you made on the preliminary buy.
So that you must take note of your smooth prices and perceive that these are revenue eaters. Be sure to construct these into your pricing.
Experiment With Pricing
It’s OK to experiment with pricing. You possibly can attempt elevating or reducing costs just a little bit to seek out the purpose the place you might be optimizing conversions.
In case your product is fixing an issue, then conversions received’t be laborious to come back by. However that you must discover the value level the place you might be really worthwhile, and experimenting could assist.
That’s it!
I hope these sensible ideas can assist you get a head begin in promoting digital downloads. You may additionally need to see guides on the right way to promote movies on-line or the very best WordPress plugins to develop enterprise web sites.
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