How to Create Digital Downloads to Sell: 5 Steps +Template

If you have ever created a course or an entire coaching program, you know how much time and effort it takes. That is why you can always start with digital downloads, which are much easier to create. In fact, you can build a consistent income by just selling digital downloads. 

Yet, where do you need to start? What can ensure the success of your digital products? What can you offer as a digital download?  Where can you sell them to reach financial stability? Well, that is a lot of the questions. In this article, we get deeper into each of them. 

To make sure you create and sell your next digital downloads easily, we included the the template in the end. 

The type of digital downloads you can sell 

Whether you want to completely focus on selling digital products or view them as an additional asset to your main courses and program, you can achieve business growth by selling digital downloads. 

For example, they can act as a gateway to your next course, helping you validate the course idea. You can also capture email addresses to use in your further marketing campaigns and cross-sell your other offers. 

Now, when it comes to the type of digital downloads you can create and sell, the opportunities are endless. For example, you can sell

• E-books
• Printable planners
• Calendars 
• Online Courses 
• Stock photos and graphics
• Music and audio files
• Illustrations
• Templates and themes
• Fonts 
• Icon Packs
• Recipes and meal plans
• Workout plans, and so much more. 

The question is, can you actually make money selling digital downloads? 

According to statistics, 2 billion people purchased digital downloads in 2020 only. This comes to prove that people are, in fact, interested in purchasing digital products. All it takes is to come up with a specific offer your audience is looking forward to getting. 

For example, in his YouTube videos, Ali Abdaal claims to have made $957.619 just by selling digital products. And Grace Beverley, who is a fitness influencer, managed to grow her business by selling PDFs on workout plans and nutrition plans. She could sell more than 300.000 units of her digital products for $40 each. 

So, if you have a well-planned strategy in mind you make a consistent income stream by creating and selling digital downloads. 

5 steps to create digital downloads  

In order to have your first digital product ready to sell, you should first get clear with your goal, research what your audience needs, choose a format, get creative, and start promoting your final product. Now, let’s get into more detail. 

Step 1: Choose the format and topic 

The first thing you need to think about is getting specific with the format and topic you want to have your digital download with. As you can see above, there are too many options you can choose from. Your topic somehow decides the format in which you can best deliver that content. Here is what we mean. 

When brainstorming ideas, the most important think is to keep in mind what your audience prefers. For example:

• What is it the troubling question that is on top of their mind all the time? Your digital download will become the easiest solution to it. 
• What would be the best way for you to approach their pain point? For example, do they need a list of tools, practical tips, and inspiration? 
• Let’s suppose a simple “How-to” guide is what addresses their pain point best. In this case, you should consider what they already know about it and what they expect to get. 

Now, if your students need detailed explanations, an eBook or online course can be the best format to deliver it. For practical tools, printable templates or worksheets are usually the best fit.

“When choosing a topic, the first thing you have to know is what it is that you want this digital product to do for you. For instance, if you're a coach, a lot of times, you want to create a digital product because you want to attract more clients. So by sharing a checklist or sharing a three-step guide, you will spark interest and start to pull in more prospects to your business”. 

Angelica Norton, 

Author, entrepreneur 

With that being said, if your digital product solves a problem, fulfills a need, or enhance their skills in a meaningful way, the format and topic do not matter. 

Step 2: Check the demand for your digital download

We are getting one step closer to selling your first digital product. 

Let’s suppose you choose to offer a printable exercise plan for overweight kids. This is a more specific niche than focusing on the workout plan in general. Yet, how can you be sure that people are interested in getting it? That is why we still need to validate if this idea works. The validation process is no different than that of validating an online course idea. 

You can start by searching for your idea on different marketplaces and apps, like Etsy and Amazon. Besides, you can look at similar offers from other coaches’ websites or mobile apps. If there are similar products, try to check how well they’re performing. 

Sometimes, too many people offer the same digital product you want to sell. This means that the competition out there is huge. That does not suggest you have to give up on the idea. Quite the contrary, competition serves as a green flag for you to proceed. 

Huge competition is solely an indicator that you need to work on a more specific niche. To do so, analyze the contents of the resources that are already in the market. Think about

• Are there any points this digital product is missing?
• What the audience was hoping to find inside that this resource lacks?
• How would my own approach provide additional value to what already exists? 
• Can I provide a solution for a more specific problem? 

On the other hand, if your idea is not commonly found, it’s best to test it before fully committing to realizing it. And how can you actually check the demand for your idea? In this case, tools like Google Keyword Planner or Google Trends, Answer the Public, etc., come to your help. 

Let’s say you want to create a workout plan but are unsure what to focus on. In this case, you can type “workout plan” in Answer the Public and choose the language and region. 

As you scroll down, you can see countless results that can give more specific ideas and relevant data on searches. 

Step 3: Create your digital downloads  

By this point, most of the research has already been done. All you have to do is create your digital download based on your findings. 

Depending on what format you choose, this process is different. 

eBooks 

eBooks are one of the most common formats for digital downloads. According to statistics, the number of eBook readers is expected to reach 1 billion by the end of 2027. The great thing is you can create eBooks on every topic and for every case. 

Especially if you are an author, you will not need to handle the shipping or other costs of selling physical books. To create your eBook, you will first need to outline it, get into the writing, and think about the proper formatting. After your eBook draft is ready, you will start editing and proofreading. Finally, you can start promoting and marketing your eBook even before the cover design and final content are ready. 

Printables

Printables can be found everywhere and can be created by anyone. They take less time to create and share, meaning you can easily make revenue if you find the gap in the market. 

To sell printables as digital downloads, you need to decide on the type. For example, you can create planners, worksheets, checklists, art prints, sticker packs, etc. Next, plan your content. You can sketch a rough layout of your printable on paper or use a digital tool. Plan the sections, headings, and overall design. 

To make the process even easier, you can use digital tools, such as Canva, Notion, Adobe Illustrator. If you are using any templates, make sure you customize the template with your own colors, fonts, images, and elements. When people buy your printable, they will be interested in what you have to offer, not the Canva design template they can find at any moment. 

“Even though the platform can provide templates for you, and all you have to do is copy and paste and put your work in there, you really want to put your own creative twist on it. Add some of your personality to it so people can see you in the product, not Canva’s template.  You really want to try and take ownership of your work. And the best way to do that is to make sure that you are also added into the work, including your personality, your creative design, or the direction in which you want your product to look”.

Angelica Norton, 

Author, entrepreneur 

Educational materials

Are you a teacher? You most probably have more resources to sell than you can imagine. You can create lesson plans, study guides, flashcards, or handbooks. All you have to do is make your materials structured and more visually appealing using tools like Google Docs and Canva. 

Then you nee to have your educational materials in a PDF format and sell them through your Uteach, your own website, or Teachers Pay Teachers. 

Step 4: Set the price for your digital product

One of the most challenging parts of creating and selling digital downloads is deciding on the price. The pricing of your products will determine how much marketing effort you need to put into achieving your desired revenue. 

Let’s say you aim to gain 1000$ euros during the first month, and you are selling a $50 dollar template package. This means you need to sell 20 such packages to gain your $1000. On the other hand, if you were to sell a $200-priced eBook, you would just need to sell 5 of them to reach your goal. 

This is what we mean when saying the pricing will depend on your efforts and the value your digital product offers. Here are several pricing strategies you can follow to decide on a price for your digital product. 

Tripwire pricing 

Tripwire Pricing is a strategy where you offer a low-priced product to attract customers and build trust. For example, you could sell a $7 mini-guide or worksheet to get people into your sales funnel. Once they’ve purchased this small item, you can market higher-priced products to them, such as a comprehensive course or a premium membership. This method can help you grow your audience and convert leads into long-term customers.

Low-Ticket pricing

Low-ticket pricing involves setting a lower price point for your digital products, such as $17-$97. These are often budget-friendly items like simple printables or beginner’s guides. With low-ticket pricing, you need to sell more products to reach your revenue goals, but it can be easier to attract customers who are looking for a quick and affordable solution.

High-Ticket Pricing

High-ticket pricing is where you set a higher price for your digital products, like $100.000 or more. This might be for a complete course, a comprehensive coaching program, or an exclusive membership. 

You can also create different tiers for the same digital product, as Aurelius Tjin did. He offers two main plans for his YouTube content planner. The basic option, which includes only the main step, is $27. The more refined version, with his own examples and two additional PDFs, is priced at $47. 

Step 5: Package and promote your product 

The final step resulting in the actual sales of your digital product is coming with a marketing strategy. The main channels we suggest you focus on include email marketing, your website, and social media, especially Pinterest. 

Pinterest is a fantastic platform for promoting digital downloads, especially visual products like printables or templates. All you need to do is create eye-catching pins that link back to your product pages. You can also join group boards and use relevant keywords to increase your reach. Pinterest users often search for specific solutions, so your products have a good chance of being discovered by potential buyers.

Within your digital download promotion strategy, you also want to nurture your audience and build relationships with them. In this case, we should be focusing on email marketing and your social media accounts. 

“Your audience should get to know you, like and trust you. The important thing to keep in mind here is giving much more than you ask for and you take. Make sure that you are sharing some tips or news with them within the niche that you are in”. 

Sandra Di

YouTuber, Freelance graphic designer

And how you are going to get your audience’s emails before they can even purchase your digital downloads? People who mainly create and sell digital product to make a living suggest employing the freebie and wait-list strategies. 

Make sure your opt-in product is relevant to the digital product you sell. Let’s suppose you sell digital planners. You can create a notes worksheet on the same topic and offer that for free, or create a certain variation of your digital planner. If you do not want to create extra resources, you can use the main digital product as well. For example, if you have a 12-page digital planner, the first 2 pages can be available free of charge. 

In this scenario, people become sure that whatever you offer is all they need. Consequently, you get more quality leads. Later, you will be ready to send regular newsletters with useful information and occasional product promotions through email marketing. 

The next important hub when it comes to marketing and selling your digital downloads is your website itself. You can use blog posts, landing pages, and pop-ups to highlight your offerings and drive conversions. Make sure also to use localization and personalization to tailor your marketing efforts to specific audiences.

If you are looking for a solution to build your website easily, we recommend starting with Uteach. It offers lots of design templates for every niche you can choose and cutomize to your brand. Afterward, you can present your online courses, live lessons, digital products on your pages using the widgets.

Create your digital download with Uteach template 

We are done with the hard work! And if you want to put all the above-mentioned steps into practice, you can download Uteach’s customizable template for creating digital downloads. 

The examples in the template include those of fitness, chess, and self-care. You can simply customize the images, content, upload it to your Uteach account and start selling. 

Your template is waiting for you here: Customizable Templates for Creating Digital Downloads