The idea that you can make money in your sleep with digital products is pretty damn compelling. But before you dive in and jump on board the passive income train, here's 5 truths you need to know.
I know you've heard this from coaches and online business gurus again and again…
"Create a digital product to make $10k per month of passive income"
I know you've seen this because I have and boy does it sound compelling!
The idea of being able to "make money in your sleep" or "earn thousands while sitting on a beach" sounds exciting.
For some people the idea of selling digital products and making passive income (ie: you create/work once then get paid again and again) is because they're looking for a quick fix.
But for many of us it's because we're wanting to find a sustainable way to make money from an audience we've been building for weeks/months/years with free content.
If you've ever tried to launch a digital product you'll know just how much work goes into not just the creation of the product, but the continuous promotion and selling of it.
I've been selling digital products for years and have made thousands in "passive" revenue but let me tell you, not everything I've launched has worked.
About four years ago I spent 6 weeks developing an online course that I was super duper excited to launch into the big wide world.
I did everything myself, from writing the content to recording the videos to creating the sales funnels to launching but there was one problem… I hadn't created a product that my audience actually wanted.
I created something I wanted to create.
I'd set my launch day and built up a calendar of free webinars and promos because that's what we're told to do.
That's what the gurus say "works".
But after the two week launch, I had sold nothing. I'd spent 8 weeks creating this thing that no one wanted.
But after listening to countless podcasts, I heard similar stories where someone would "fail" on their first launch, then hit it out of the park next time around.
You've just got to have persistence, right?
So I launched again and had just one purchase. Heart breaking stuff.
After hanging up my dreams of having a passive income stream, I took a step back and actually listened to what my audience wanted.
They didn't want another course.
They wanted something that would help them take action right now in the easiest possible way.
And that's how my Email Like a Boss templates were born.
I launched them pre-sale (aka incomplete) and sold 83 copies within a month.
That's 83 people that were happy to part with their hard earned cash before the product even officially launched because I'd created something they actually wanted!
So did I just get lucky or was there something bigger at play?
Here are the 5 truths of launching digital products.
Truth 1: You need an engaged audience to sell to
This audience doesn't need to be large, but you do need to have a group of people that love what you do.
If you're just starting out, focus on building your audience with free content whether that be on social media, YouTube, Medium or via a Podcast then do everything in your power to convert them into subscribers on your email list.
Do this first before creating your digital product because it's much harder (and less effective) doing it in reverse.
Truth 2: Listen to your audience and create what they want
Write down all the questions you get asked by your clients or followers then consider how you could solve these common themes or pain points with a digital product. Is there something that comes up consistently? And more importantly, would your audience actually pay money to solve this problem?
You can then send out a survey to your audience with open ended questions to get more insight into who they are and what will motivate them to make a change.
Truth 3: Start with a low ticket product to test the waters
This one is a little controversial because many coaches recommend the opposite but here's why I believe low ticket products are the place to start.
Firstly, it takes less time and effort so you can test the waters with very little investment. An ebook or templates may take you a day or two to create in Canva for free, while a course will take you weeks to plan, create, record and edit (not to mention you'll likely need to pay between $50 and $150 per month for it to be hosted on a course platform on something like Kajabi or Teachable).
Secondly, you get to test the waters and see if your audience will actually buy from you and if they do, they're going to be more incentivised to provide feedback on what they'd like to see next from you.
Truth 4: Start selling your digital product before it's finished
This takes some courage, but I say go for it! Not only will it prove that people are actually interested in your product, but that you can start making money before you invest a whole bunch of time into creating the thing.
Once I put an outline together for my Email Like a Boss templates I figured out I had 20 templates to write plus a whole bunch of added tips/strategies. I knew that writing all these templates plus designing the pack, sales page, emails and social media posts would take FOREVER so I decided to launch a "pre-sale" version which only includes part one of the templates (5 templates total).
And the result? I had 11 people buy it within the first 24 hours. My goal was to get 20 purchases during the presale period but I got 80 (I share more about this pre-sale launch here).
Truth 5: Don't compare your launch with someone else's
One of the most over promoted messages by online business coaches is that they just had a $100k launch (insert arbitrary number here).
Thing is, they never share just how much money they invested into that launch. It'd be nice to know just how much they spent on advertising, graphic design, copywriting, virtual assistants, sales people, online software and affiliate commissions not to mention how much they spend on their own coaches each month.
Once all these costs add up you would quickly see how a $100k launch could actually be closer to $20k or $10k in revenue which is still great, but no where near the $100k promoted.
All I'm saying is, don't feel bummed if your digital product launch resulted in a few hundred/thousand dollars when you had zero overheads.
After my successful launch of my email marketing templates I've since launched masterclasses, toolkits and courses which have added tens of thousands to my revenue over the years but I've definitely found that the products that take the least effort to create, often make the most money!
I'd love to know, are you excited to dive into the world of selling digital products as an additional revenue stream in your business?