There are a lot of good reasons to get into the business of selling digital products. Today we’re going to look at the benefits of selling them both as an affiliate and as an information product creator. Use it as motivation to get started selling digital products in your niche.
First and foremost, you should be selling digital products because that’s what your market expects. We live in the information age and have knowledge available at the press of a button. We want to be able to buy something and instantly access it. Instead of ordering a physical book or DVD and waiting for it to arrive in the mail, we expect to be able to buy it, download it to our favorite digital device, and start consuming it right away.
From a seller’s point of view, digital products are a safe bet because there aren’t a lot of costs involved in developing the product. Your main investment will be the time it takes you to create a digital product. Start small, test the waters by selling info-products as an affiliate, and get your feet wet. You can type up a short report in a few days, turn it into a pdf, and have it up for sale on your website without spending any money. Of course, you have the option of hiring a writer, editor, graphic designer, etc., but it’s not necessary. It’s easy to create your first few digital products on a budget and outsource once you become profitable.
Another big reason why you should be creating your own digital products is that it’s a passive stream of income. You do the work of setting up the product once and then have something to sell going forward without any or much additional work. You can focus on marketing or create the next product while this one continues to sell for months and years to come.
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Last but not least, you should consider creating digital products because it’s one of the most profitable ways to monetize your online business. Your target audience wants to learn, wants to solve problems, and wants to be entertained. You spend a lot of time engaging them, getting them to read your blog, sign up for your newsletter or emails, and gaining their trust. They are ready for more and happy to pay you for your time and efforts. Start creating a few different digital products and see for yourself just how profitable this business model can be.
Written, Audio, Or Video – Popular Digital Product Formats Explained
Digital information products can come in a variety of different formats. In this article, I want to briefly go over some of the most common formats. Think of this as an overview to help you in your decision-making process of what types of products to create. This is by no means an all-inclusive list. Instead, we’re focusing on the most common and easiest to create products. These are the types of information products you can create in your home office without a lot of specialized knowledge or software.
Written Content Products
Let’s start with written content. This includes eBooks and short reports along with workbooks, checklists, and various printables. These information products are usually created with a word processor in either MS Word or Google docs and compiled into a pdf file for easy downloading and printing for your customers.
Audio Products
Audio products are voice recordings that are usually delivered as an MP3 file. This can then be downloaded to a smartphone or mp3 player for easy listening on the go. Of course, most computers also have media players that can play this type of file for your customers.
Audio recordings can be recorded conversations or interviews, podcasts, audio books and the likes. If you prefer speaking your content over writing it, this is a great option to consider.
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Video Products
Video products are the most challenging to create from a technical point of view. You need a webcam or camera to record and software to edit your videos. They can then be saved and downloaded in a video file format like MP4, or you can upload the file to a video site like YouTube or Vimeo and allow your customers to stream the video from there.
Common video products include talking head videos, screen capture videos, or how to videos. What format you choose will largely depend on your target audience and your subject matter.
Feel Free To Mix and Match
It’s important to realize that you don’t have to choose just one format and stick with it. People have different preferences and learning styles. Some will appreciate a written guide, while others prefer to listen to an audio version while they are commuting to work or going for a run or watch a video on their laptop or tablet. You can add a lot of value to your information products by offering them in different formats for your customers. In other words, mix and match.