Do you want to start selling digital products?
These days, it seems like everyone wants to add digital products to their business offerings, and for good reason. Selling digital products is often much cheaper and simpler than selling physical products. But how do you decide what sort of digital product to sell?
In this article, we’ll go through some of the best digital products to start selling today. It’s a long list, so feel free to jump to the section that most interests you.
What is a Digital Product?
Digital productsare intangible items consumed or accessed digitally. Examples include ebooks, music, software, online courses, video games, apps, and movies. Unlike physical goods, they don’t require physical inventory and can be accessed anywhere via email, stream, or download.
Why Sell Digital Products?
There are several reasons why selling digital products can be a good idea:
- Wide reach: Digital products can be sold and delivered to customers anywhere in the world with an internet connection.
- Low overhead costs: Unlike physical products, you don’t have to worry about manufacturing costs, shipping expenses, or storage space for digital products. This keeps your profit margins high.
- Easy to scale: With digital products, you can easily reach a large audience without having to increase production costs. In most cases, the same digital file can be sold over and over.
- Versatility: Digital products can take many forms, such as e-books, courses, software, music, and more. This allows you to offer a variety of products to your customers.
- Continuous income: Digital products can generate continuous income through recurring billing, such as yearly software licenses or monthly membership fees.
- Passive income: Once you create a digital product marketing funnel, that funnel can earn money on autopilot without any further effort from you.
Because of these advantages, digital products are a great way to start your own online business. You can sell digital products as a side hustle alongside a job or other responsibilities, or grow it to a profitable full-time career.
Digital products are a useful lead generation strategy for service-based businesses. For instance, a wedding planner could sell a digital wedding planning template. Customers who buy the template are most likely planning a wedding, and thus the target audience for the wedding planner’s services.
Now let’s look at the different types of digital products
Types of Digital Products
There are 5 main categories of digital goods that business owners can sell online:
Documents & Files
These digital products can be static, like an eBook or how-to guide, or interactive like an Excel spreadsheet template.
Software
These are programs that can run on a computer or mobile device. Apps, plugins, and themes are popular digital products.
Digital Media
Podcasts, video content, stock photography, audiobooks, and other digital media can be sold or licensed.
Online Courses
E-learning courses, workshops, and webinars are a highly profitable type of digital product. They’re especially good for generating leads for higher-ticket services.
Communities
If you have a talent for bringing people together, you can create online spaces where people with similar interests or roles can meet and discuss interesting topics and ideas.
Next, we’ll go through some specific ideas from each category for different industries and markets.
42 Best Digital Product Ideas and Examples
Digital Product Ideas for Bloggers
1. eBook: Write a book about a topic you’re passionate about and sell it as a PDF or on Amazon Kindle. You can even collect your most popular blog posts that you’ve already written into an eBook.
Example 1: Blogger Mandarin Mama has an eBook related to one of the topics on her blog.
Example 2: The food blogger Just One Cookbook has eBooks of her favorite recipes.
2. Printable: Create printable worksheets, checklists, or wall art related to your blog’s theme and sell them online.
Example 3: The Making Frugal Fun blog sells printable planners for many areas of life.
3. Online course: Teach your readers something about your blog topic by creating an online course with video lessons, quizzes, and interactive elements.
Example 4: Play Learn Thrive has online courses for creating a workable play space for children.
4. Audio or video series: Share your knowledge in audio or video format and sell it as a series of lessons.
5. Webinar: Host live webinars on topics related to your blog and sell tickets to attend.
Example 5: Lifestyle blogger Christina Galbato hosts a webinar on turning your blog into a business.
6. Coaching or consulting: Offer one-on-one coaching or consulting services to help your readers with specific challenges or goals.
Example 6: The Decor Fix provides home decoration coaching services in addition to free blog articles about home decor.
7. Newsletter or membership site: Create a paid newsletter or turn your blog into a paid membership site that offers exclusive content, tools, and support to your readers.
Example 7: Stratechery has plenty of free content but even more is available when readers upgrade to Stratechery Plus.
8. Product bundles: Put together a bundle of digital products related to your blog’s topic and sell it as a package deal.
Best Digital Products for Artists & Creatives
9. Digital art prints: Sell digital versions of your artwork that can be printed by your customers at home or at a print shop.
Example 8: Etsy has plenty of digital prints for sale in a variety of different styles.
10. Vector files: Sell vector versions of your illustrations or designs that can be scaled and used for a variety of purposes.
11. Stock graphics: Create and sell a collection of graphics, icons, and elements that other artists and designers can use in their own projects.
Example 9: Black Illustrations has a large collection of stock illustrations featuring Black people.
12. Lightroom presets: Create custom Adobe Lightroom presets for photographers and sell them online.
Example 10: Mastin Labs was founded by a photographer to offer presets that make photo editing easier.
13. Video tutorials: Teach others how to create digital art, design, or photography and sell access to your instructional videos. You can sell these individually or as part of a bundle or membership site.
14. 3D models: Create 3D models and sell them to animation studios, game developers, or online marketplaces.
15. Graphic design templates: Create and sell templates for websites, landing pages, business cards, PowerPoint presentations, or other design projects.
Example 11: Creative Market features tons of graphic design templates, fonts, and more.
16. Music or sound effects: Compose music or create sound effects and sell them for use in films, games, or other projects.
17. Stock photos: Offer a collection of high-quality stock photos that your readers can use on their own websites or social media.
Example 12: Death to Stock offers unlimited use of stock photos and videos for a membership fee, with new content every month.
18. Theme or plugin: If you know how to code in addition to your design skills, create a custom WordPress theme or plugin. You can sell it on your blog or on a marketplace like CodeCanyon.
Example 13: Easy Digital Downloads is a digital product that lets you sell digital products!
19. Fonts and brushes: Design your own custom fonts or Photoshop brushes for other professionals to use.
Example 14: Behance has a wide variety of Photoshop brushes for sale.
Digital Products to Sell for Kids
20. Kids’ mobile apps: Create an educational or fun app that is designed for kids and sell it on the App Store or Google Play.
Example 15: Cosmic Kids has a children’s yoga app as well as a variety of printables and class plans available in their online store.
21. Online games: Build and sell online games that are designed for kids and that teach them new skills or knowledge.
Example 16: Adsumudi has a free online version of their card game for kids and families to try out.
22. Kids’ printables: Create printable activity sheets, coloring pages, or puzzles related to your theme and sell them online.
Example 17: Blossom and Root sells printable homeschooling curriculum materials.
23. Kids’ music: Compose or perform music that is designed for kids and sell it as a digital download or on streaming platforms.
24. Kids’ stickers or emojis: Create and sell a set of stickers or emojis that kids can use in messaging apps or on social media.
Example 18: These custom emoji packs are available on Etsy.
Digital Products for Coaches
25. Workbooks: Create worksheets or workbooks that help people work through their goals and objectives step by step.
Example 19: This workbook coaches business owners in writing their own case studies.
26. Group coaching program: Offer a group coaching program where you guide and support a group of people through your specific process.
Example 20: The Like a Boss mastermind is a group program that teaches freelance copywriters how to build their businesses.
27. One-on-one coaching: Offer one-on-one coaching sessions either in-person or through video conferencing.
Example 21: This career coach offers a 1:1 coaching package for job seekers.
28. Virtual summits or conferences: Host virtual conferences where you bring together experts in a specific field to provide education and inspiration.
Example 22: This leadership coach hosted a virtual summit for sports organizations and team leaders.
Digital Product Ideas for Fitness & Wellness Professionals
29. Online workout programs: Create an online workout program that people can follow from home, with videos, instructions, and printables.
Example 22: Fitness Blender has standalone workout programs as well as a subscription-based memberships for beginners to advanced exercisers.
30. Meal plans: Create meal plans that people can follow to achieve their health and fitness goals.
Example 23: Fitness Blender also has meal plans available to support users who are strength training or too busy to spend a lot of time cooking or working out.
31. Workout challenges: Create and sell workout challenges that help people get in shape and reach their fitness goals.
Example 23: Blogilates offers free workout challenges as a way to build their email list, but you can also create paid workout challenges.
32. Virtual classes or training sessions: Offer virtual classes or one-on-one training sessions where people can work out with you from the comfort of their own home.
Best Digital Products for Authors & Writers
33. Digital books: Sell digital copies of the novels and other books that you’ve already written. This is easy if you’re self-publishing your book. For traditionally published books, talk to your publisher about selling digital copies.
Example 24: Author Lyn South has digital copies of her book available in multiple formats.
34. Writing courses: Create an online course that teaches people how to write, or teaches a specific aspect of writing.
Example 25: Dr. Stephanie Han offers a variety of live writing classes in addition to her own works.
35. Editing or proofreading packages: Offer editing or proofreading services to help writers improve the quality of their writing.
Example 26: Writer Joanne Machin also provides developmental and copy editing services for other authors.
36. Writing prompts or exercises: Create writing prompts or exercises that help writers get inspired and develop their skills.
37. Writing coaching: Offer one-on-one writing coaching sessions either in-person or through video conferencing.
Example 27: Writing coach and ghostwriter Maggie Frank-Hsu offers a group coaching program for business owners and thought leaders working on their books.
38. Book templates or formatting services: Create and sell book templates or formatting services to help authors get their work published.
Digital Product Examples for Freelancers
39. Freelance job board or marketplace: Create a job board or marketplace where freelancers can find work and clients can find freelancers.
Example 28: Freelancing Gems is a paid membership that includes a job board, freelancing templates, and more.
40. Freelance management tools: Create and sell tools that help freelancers manage their work, such as project management software, time tracking tools, or invoicing software.
Example 29: Wethos allows freelancers to scope projects and invoice clients, all in one platform.
41. Freelance mentorship program: Offer a mentorship program where you work with freelancers to help them improve their skills and achieve their goals.
Example 30: Tom Hirst offers a 1:1 freelance mentoring program for freelancers at all stages of their careers.
42. Templates: Sell the templates you use for copywriting, social media, or web design. This can convert some of the leads you have who may not be able to work with you one-on-one.
How to Sell Digital Products Online
Selling digital products is a great way to make money online. Here are the steps to get started:
- Choose a product: Pick a product that you know about and can create easily. It could be an e-book, online course, printables, audio program, or any of the other ideas from this list.
- Build your audience: Build your audience by creating content and promoting it on your blog, social media, or other online channels. You can also join online communities related to your product to reach more people.
- Create your product: Use tools like Canva, Adobe Creative Cloud, or other software to create your product. Make sure it is high-quality and provides value to your customers.
- Choose a platform: Choose an eCommerce platform to sell your product on, such as Gumroad, Sellfy, or Shopify. These platforms allow you to easily manage your sales and payments.
- Set a price: Determine the value of your product and set a price that reflects its worth. You can also offer discounts or promotions to encourage people to buy.
- Start marketing: Start marketing your product by promoting it on your blog, social media, email list, or other online channels. You can also offer a free trial or sample to help people understand the value of your product.
- Start selling: Once you start marketing your product, people will start buying it. Make sure your eCommerce store has a secure payment process in place and that you deliver your product promptly.
- Provide great customer service: Make sure your customers are happy by providing great customer service. Respond to their questions, provide support, and offer refunds if necessary.
By following these steps, you can successfully sell digital products and make money online. Remember, success takes time, so be patient and keep promoting your product. The more you promote your product, the more sales you will make.
Also, make sure to continuously improve your product and offer new and updated versions to keep your existing and potential customers interested.
Summary: Most Profitable Digital Products to Sell Online
We hope this list of digital products gives you some inspiration for your own business. The best type of digital product depends on your industry and target audience, but generally here are the most high-demand ones:
- Online courses and other educational products
- Licensed digital media
- Membership sites
- Plugins and apps
If you’re ready to start selling your digital downloads, check out our list of the best digital download plugins for WordPress.
To sell more digital products on any platform, get started with OptinMonster!
Disclosure: Our content is reader-supported. This means if you click on some of our links, then we may earn a commission. We only recommend products that we believe will add value to our readers.
