Digital products are one of the easiest ways to generate passive income in your online business.
In fact, I’ve generated income to the tune of $9,398 in one month selling them!
And not only that, they’re also one of the most profitable. Once you make them, you can sell them over and over again with very little effort in delivery.
In this post, I’m sharing 5 digital products you can create and sell online to help your ideal client while making passive income.
Want to discover even more digital products? Check out my 54 Digital Product Ideas Guide!
1. Printables as a Digital Product.
A printable is simply a digital product that you can print out onto paper.
So you create the printable, sell it to someone who needs and wants to buy it, and then they print it out to use it!
One example of a printable is a pricelist.
For instance, when I had my photography business, I had my pricelist printed out to share with potential clients in my studio.
When I learned there were other photographers who struggled with creating their own pricelists, I decided to sell my pricelist as a printable.
Basically, I transformed my pricelist into a template for other photographers to use.
They could easily purchase my pricelist template, edit it online to their own pricing and branding, and print it out for use in their own studio.
Now because photographers use Photoshop, that’s what I used to create my template.
But unless you’re working with ideal clients that use a specific platform like Photoshop, I recommend you make your template printable in Canva.
Canva is an accessible design platform to even people with no design experience so they can easily edit your template.
Other ideas for printables include a habits tracker that someone can hang on the refrigerator, a daily agenda, or a meal planner.
2. Stock Images or Stock Video.
The second kind of digital product you can create to generate passive income is stock images or stock videos.
Now you may be thinking, “there are a ton of stock image and stock video sites online, Molly!”
But the truth is, if you have an ideal client that needs specific types of images or videos, you’ll save them a lot of time by providing them with a curated selection of images or videos.
Pretty much any ideal client could benefit from curated stock images or videos. Niches like dentists, bakers, florists, homeschooling moms, and many more!
Rather than your audience having to search for what they need on a mainstream site, they have your curated selection from which they can quickly and easily pick what they need.
3. Directory
This next digital product is a little out-of-the-box, but it’s perfect for you if you don’t have information or knowledge of your own to share.
A directory allows you to take information that already exists and organize it into a one-stop shop for your audience.
For example, you could research what common things people local to you are looking for.
Things like handymen, babysitters, events, or certain types of stores. Then collect those options into a directory for people to find in one place.
You can make money through the directory by:
- Charging people to access the directory.
- Charging businesses to be listed on the directory.
- Setting up Google Ads inside of your directory.
Want even more ideas on which digital product to create? My 54 Digital Product Ideas Guide will help!
4. Paid Podcasts
Paid podcasts are a popular digital product that can appeal to different ideal clients or audiences.
A paid podcast is essentially just like a regular podcast except people have to pay to access it.
You can set up a paid podcast using platforms like Hello Audio. Hello Audio allows you to create your very own private podcast to sell and that your buyers can listen to your paid podcast on their preferred podcast platform.
Before creating a paid podcast, you want to think about whether your topic would be good delivered via audio.
Think about ideal clients like runners or people who love to exercise and who may want to listen while they are training. Busy parents on the go who want to listen while they are taking care of chores or driving their kids back and forth to activities.
I even took horseback riding lessons once and the owner had her own audio app that gave you riding tips while you were actually riding her horses.
5. Online Workshop Digital Product.
The last digital product I am going to share is the one I recommend most.
And it is an online workshop or training!
Online workshops are one of my favorite digital products to sell and I’m going to share my exact framework for creating and selling yours below:
- Grow a following of at least 100 email subscribers. Use the platform of your choice, whether it’s Facebook, YouTube, or another social media platform.
- Survey your list to find out their biggest pain point. Do not skip this step! Otherwise you’ll could create something that won’t sell.
- Choose a topic. Look for trends in the survey to choose a problem you can solve using an online workshop.
- Sell your online workshop. You can charge anywhere from $20 to $200 depending on how big the problem is that you are solving.
- Automate it. Once you’ve proven that people will purchase your workshop, create an automation to deliver it on autopilot.
How To Sell Your Digital Products
Once you decide which digital product to create, build a funnel inside of a platform like Systeme.io to sell it!
Systeme.io is one of the easiest platforms to set up your funnels, especially if you’re just starting out selling your first digital product.
Inside of Systeme.io, you can set your checkout page, your thank you page after people purchase, and an email confirmation that has a link to your digital product.
Curious about other digital products you can sell online? Check out my 54 Digital Product Ideas Guide!!
Final Thoughts about Digital Products
These are just a few popular digital products you can create to generate passive income as a side hustle or in your online business.
They are simple to create, in demand in pretty much every industry, and you can create and sell them over and over and over again.
This post was about 5 of the best digital products to sell online.
Some of the links in this article may be affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission, at no additional cost to you, if you decide to make a purchase through one of our recommended partners. We only recommend products and services we trust and believe will be beneficial to our readers. This helps support our efforts in bringing you valuable content.