Some newbies mistakenly believe that digital product creation is reserved for those who are already big names, who already have a following, who have certain upper level degrees or experience – but they’re wrong.
Anyone can create a digital product, and it’s often the launch pad for some of the better known experts in a niche. It’s what puts them on the map. And this can be intimidating for some people, who feel shy and uncertain of their abilities to lead others.
But digital product creation is very lucrative. Not only do you earn money from the sales that you generate with your traffic skills, but you also recruit an army of affiliates who go out getting more leads for you to convert, so your earnings expand.
It’s great for anyone who wants to teach in a niche. You don’t have to have a degree, a set number of years’ worth of experience, or anything else. As long as you have an idea and slant for your product, it’s a green light situation.
So what does a digital production endeavor look like? Well first of all, it can be anything you want it to be, as long as it’s online content. The content can come in the form of:
- An eBook
- A membership site
- A video course
- A podcast
…or a combination of those items. So you’ll want to start with whatever format you enjoy most and are experienced with. Sometimes, you have to look at what you’re good at (and not as good at).
For instance, if you “um” and “ah” a lot, then podcasting probably isn’t the right choice for you, unless you work on your verbal skills. If you make tons of typos, spelling or grammatical errors, then text may not be a good fit.
A digital product is going to teach your readers something – educate them about your topic. So if you’re into diet and fitness, you might teach them how to adhere to a Paleo diet plan.
If you’re into survival, it might be how to prepare for 72 hours, or a year. If you’re tackling the dating niche, you might teach men how to pick up women, and so on. You want to have a solution to the problem your target audience is experiencing.
You can launch digital products that are evergreen or trend-based. If you go with a trend product, then you have to jump on the topic quickly and get it to market before your competitors do.
If it’s a seasonal product, then you’ll need to prepare well ahead of the date, and give yourself enough time to recruit affiliates, and give them enough time to plan for your launch – at least 3-4 weeks’ notice.
Play your cards right in your niche, and you can launch one digital course after another. This is why specific “one problem, one solution” courses work so well. Instead of trying to cover everything in one course, you have it broken up into multiple selling opportunities. Plus, it makes it easier on your audience to digest and implement.
You can sell your digital courses on many platforms. Here are a few of the more popular ones:
- ClickBank – this is a digital platform where they handle all of your affiliate payments for you. They have a healthy seller base where all sorts of niches are represented (not just online marketing), such as home and garden, parenting, self-help, and more.
- Udemy – this is a real education-based platform where you list your online course and recruit students from within. Your course has to have at least 30 minutes of content, and 60% of that has to be video.
- JVZoo – this is a great place for affiliates to find products to promote to the Internet Marketing and other target audiences. When you list your product, affiliates can find it in the marketplace and apply for approval to promote it.
- Warrior Plus – this is similar to JVZoo in that it caters primarily to Internet Marketers, but also has other products for sale. This is mainly connected to the Warrior Forum as a place to host your sales letter.
- Your Website – this is hosted on your own domain, and you can connected it directly to PayPal to take payments. There are various programs you can invest in to host an affiliate program where you pay the affiliates yourself. This option does not give you a built in list of customers or affiliates as the other platforms do, so it takes more work.
Why would you want to go this route, instead of just promoting products as an affiliate? There are many reasons, including the fact that maybe you have something unique to say – or you don’t like what’s being taught to people by others.
It’s also a great way to become a published author in digital form, and it provides a level of residual income that you don’t necessarily have with promotions as an affiliate, or with services provided to others.
To get started, you’ll need to decide on a topic you want to teach first. Then pick a specific slant. You’ll want to choose a format. Remember, if it’s going to be hosted on Udemy, then it must contain a good portion of video.
Give yourself time to create good content. This is your reputation on the line, whereas with affiliate promotions, it’s not as much your reputation as it is someone else’s. There’s not set amount, just create enough to thoroughly teach the solution.
Have someone proof it or test it for you after you get it uploaded onto your chosen platform. You want to make sure it’s all in perfect working order and that there are no glitches.
Then begin recruiting affiliates and start work on your follow up product, because digital product creators often develop a series or set of info products they can sell to the same target audience over time.