From Idea To Sale: How To Create Digital Downloads To Sell

Are you going to produce digital products and sell them? We are here to advise you on the best methods to create digital downloads to sell. The interesting benefit of selling digital downloads is that everyone can do it. Thanks to e-commerce, you can make money selling downloads quickly and easily.

This means when you sell digital products, you don’t have to be concerned about:

• Manufacturing

• Shipping

• Inventory

However, the process of creating and selling digital products can seem overwhelming for beginners. From ideation to production to marketing, there are a lot of moving parts to consider.

Here, I’m going to explain digital product downloads with their different types. Whether you’re a writer, designer, musician, or any other type of creative, the strategies I’ll discuss can be applied to a wide range of digital products.

What Are Digital Downloads?

Digital downloads or electronic items are basically virtual products that are available in digital format. You can sell any kind of digital download product copies, and all you need is a PC or laptop.

These digital downloads or digital products may be:

• Purchased for a fixed price.

• Traded for goods or services.

• Distributed for free.

• Distributed in return for donations.

The price of your product may be determined by its manufacturing costs and the necessary steps to generate it. 

Here, I will discuss the main kinds of digital products one can sell.

Types of Digital Downloads To Sell

There are many types of digital downloads that can be sold online, including:

• E-books

• Music files

• Video tutorials

• Stock photos and graphics

• Software programs

• Printables (such as planners, calendars, and coloring pages)

• Website templates and themes

• Mobile app downloads

• Online courses and training materials

How To Create Digital Downloads To Sell? (Step-By-Step)

To create digital downloads to sell, you will first need to create the content that you want to sell, such as an ebook, music track, or digital artwork. Once you have created your content, you can use a variety of tools and platforms to package and distribute it as a digital download.

Developing digital downloads requires mainly two steps:

• Finding the right software to create your files 

• Ensuring that your items are truly downloadable

Below we will get to the step-by-step process, but you can also check out this free workshop from Gold City Ventures to get a jump on making money with printables online.

Step 1: Discover Your Skills & Abilities

To create digital downloads to sell, the first step is to discover your skills and abilities. This will help you identify what type of products you can create and sell successfully.

Take some time to reflect on your areas of expertise, whether it’s graphic design, writing, or photography.

Here are some skills or expertise you may excel at: 

• Photography

• Illustration

• Website development

• Something else completely

Secondly, choose the most suitable digital download business idea that perfectly aligns with your current skills and expertise.

Step 2: Brainstorm Product Ideas

When brainstorming product ideas for digital downloads, you will definitely discover that numerous digital businesses already own the marketplace. In this scenario, like any businessman, you will also have to choose a different strategy. Doing this will prevent you from entering saturated markets.

The possibilities are endless, but here are some tips to help you come up with ideas:

• Consider your niche: What topics or themes relate to your brand or niche? For example, if you run a fitness blog, you could consider creating digital downloads of workout plans or nutrition guides.

• Look at bestsellers in your industry: Check out what other successful digital sellers in your industry are creating and see if there are any gaps that you can fill with your own unique offerings.

• Think about what would be helpful for your audience: What problems do they have that you can solve with a digital download? For example, if you have a parenting blog, you could create printable chore charts or meal planners as Etsy digital downloads.

• Get creative: Don’t be afraid to think outside the box and come up with unique and interesting ideas that will set you apart from the competition.

Step 3: Check the Demand

Like every businessman’s tactic, you must perform market research. You must analyze the demands of your products in the market before you create digital products and digital files. This step must be done before getting overly excited about your excellent digital product ideas.

In this step, you must ensure that people are in need of your product and they are looking for it online. If you avoid this step, you may waste your time building a digital product that has no demand in the future.

Here, I want to suggest you Google Trends to determine the popularity of certain product keywords or discover related search terms. Suppose you are considering selling printables, but you are unsure of the design theme.

In Google Trends, you will enter printables and choose the market area of your choice search region. I suggest you use the Worldwide search region for other search results.

In the second step, you should specify the search duration. If you like your product to be current and in line with customer demand, then select the duration of the past 90 days.

Lastly, you have to press enter and then scroll down to show suggested searches.

Now if you have multiple ideas in mind, you should utilize Google Trends to identify the digital files and products with the greatest demand in the marketplace.

Alternatively, you can also borrow ideas about your digital products from the related outcomes of search queries. Moreover, for comparison, you should put all the keywords into Google Trends to see which has the most searches. 

Step 4: Identify a Target Market

Before you start your digital download business and sell digital products, you should generate as many product ideas as possible for your initial plan. There are so many different digital product opportunities available so the next thing you would do is finalize the products you want to develop.

It is definitely tempting to design original products that nobody has ever seen before. That’s why you must strive to constantly keep your prospective consumers in mind.

In the following, I have covered important points for you to think about the following:

• What are the needs of your customers regarding your product?

• What are the problems your customers are facing specifically?

• How would your product benefit them?

• What changes and improvements does your product provide exactly?

You should keep in mind that no matter who your target market is, your products must be valuable and beneficial for them. It should help make positive changes and improvements in your customers’ lifestyles by resolving their specific problems.

But like most successful businessmen, don’t forget to also choose a niche and digital products to sell that you’re genuinely passionate about.

Step 5: Create Your Product

After determining the market for your digital download, it is time to begin creating your products. Product creation is ultimately the most enjoyable part of selling digital products.

To create digital downloads to sell, you must have specific resources and the number of hours available. 

Let’s take an example to clarify the concept. If you are making a composite and eBook, this composition may take about two weeks. Moreover, it can further take a week to collaborate with your designer to transform a Google Doc or Word Doc into a professional digital download.

To create a course, you will need time to design the following:

• The curriculum

• Lesson plans

• Exercises

Step 6: Get Creative

Ready to launch and get started selling digital downloads?

Depending on the kind of digital download you need to make, there are some tools that can help you get creative and simplify creating digital products.

Here are a few helpful tools and software you may want to take into account for making and selling digital products:

• Audacity: This is a freely available sound and music editing software.

• iMovie: This is also a free video editing software for Mac users.

• Canva: it is a popular and entirely free internet visual design creating ebooks, as well as workbooks. 

• Adobe Illustrator: Tool that ideal to use  if you are interested in graphic artists providing elements of graphic design

• Teachable: It is a platform for creating and hosting online courses that makes the process simple.

5 Best Places To Sell Digital Downloads

Are you seeking a platform for selling digital downloads? Let me explain the five best places to sell your digital downloads including:

• PDF downloads

• E-books

• Online courses

These are the top 5 best websites to sell your digital products:

1. Creative Market

If you’re looking for a platform to sell digital downloads, Creative Market is a great option to consider. This online marketplace allows creators to sell their designs, fonts, templates, and other digital products directly to customers.

With a user-friendly interface and a large community of buyers and sellers, Creative Market offers a great opportunity for independent creators to showcase their work and make sales.

Plus, the platform takes care of payment processing and provides analytics and marketing tools to help sellers grow their businesses.

So if you have digital products to sell, be sure to check out Creative Market as one of the best places to sell your goods.

2. Sellfy

For marketers who want to market digital products on an online store, Sellfy is the best option because it provides incredibly straightforward ways to market digital products.

Along with the eCommerce platform, it also provides quick and handy solutions to:

• Boost sales and 

• Advertise products on social media

Here on Sellfy, 32,000 creators are selling their services and have been earning money regularly.

After some research, I have found that design objects are the most viewed products on Sellfy. They are among the 150,000+ unique digital products available for sale.

Other popular products include:

• e-Books

• Comic books

• Video

• Music material

Sellfy is a platform where you don’t need a website to sell your digital downloads. Moreover, there is an option to connect it using your web page to have greater authority over design and brand exposure.

3. Sell Digital Downloads on Etsy

There are about 93 million buyers who are engaged on Etsy shop. On this platform, people who want to purchase original digital products make up their clientele. You can create digital files, digital prints, digital art, digital templates, and digital forms and sell them online on an Etsy store.

While Etsy mainly specializes in offering handmade and vintage goods, it’s also a fantastic platform for digital products like digital planners for example.

You can also make Etsy digital downloads listings for: 

• Software

• Audio files

• Ebooks

4. Teachable

Teachable is a great platform for selling digital downloads, especially if you’re looking for an all-in-one solution that includes course creation tools, hosting, and payment processing.

If you are searching for a website to sell educational or knowledge-related digital downloads, then I suggest Teachable as the best option. Teachable is open to any kind of expertise or niche.

On this platform, you may build courses, and publish them at your convenient time. You can also set your own pricing.

Here are some of the key benefits of using Teachable to sell your digital downloads:

• Easy course creation

• Secure hosting

• Flexible pricing options

• Integrated payment processing

5. Shopify Store

If you’re looking to sell digital downloads, you can choose to have your own website. A Shopify store can be a great option. With Shopify, you can easily set up a storefront and offer your digital products for sale.

With its user-friendly interface and built-in marketing tools, it’s a popular choice for many online sellers for creating their own ecommerce store.

It’s important to know that Shopify stores are the pioneers of contemporary e-commerce. It enables its users to build online stores for both tangible and intangible commodities.

Shopify also offers a range of apps and plugins that can help you optimize your store for sales and marketing. By utilizing this platform, you can streamline the process of selling your digital downloads and reach a wider audience of potential customers.

Other Effective Platforms for Selling Your Digital Downloads

• For Selling Music: iTunes, Amazon, Spotify etc.

• For Selling Templates: Creative Fabrica, Gumroad etc.

• For Selling Printables: Etsy.

• For Selling Software: Steam, GOG etc.

• For Selling SaaS Software: Appsumo, Dealify, etc.

Conclusion

I hope you found this step-by-step guide on creating and selling digital downloads helpful.

Again it’s important to find the right marketplace for your digital downloads and digital products–whether you want to create digital products, such as e-books, music files, video tutorials, stock photos, software programs, and online courses.

Lastly, ensure that you’re creating and selling digital downloads that offer great value to your customers. If you have any questions or something to add, then please feel free to comment below.