11 Reasons Why You Should Be Selling Digital Products in 2020

When it comes to making money online and profiting from your website, blog, or channel, one of the most reliable strategies is to sell your own products. Digital products, are one of the easiest to create, and monetize. Digital products, are products, that can be purchased, as a download, online. Some examples are: eBooks, mini eBooks, workbooks, checklists, and printables, online courses, video files, audio files, and podcasts.  I'm sure most of us have a already purchased one, or, a ton. But, have you created one, to be purchased? If not, here are 11 reasons, why you should be selling digital products, in 2020.

Passive Income-
Passive income has been dubbed as “sleep coin,” over the past few years. It sounds exactly like what’s implied, making money in your sleep. I won’t kid you, it’s not something that will happen overnight. It requires time, a viable product, as well, as,  strategic marketing and promotion, of said product.
However, selling digital products is one of the easiest ways to generate passive income. It’s a product that you can sell and deliver, without your physical presence, being required. If you have the right automated delivery system in place, of course. Most website’s online shopping carts are equipped to deliver PDFs at the point of purchase.  
It’s an awesome thing to be on vacation, or watching your favorite Netflix show, and making sales simultaneously!
 
 2. You Only Have To Make It Once-
Once you create a digital product, it’s literally as simple as “one and done.” Once your creation is complete, you can sell it 10s, 100s, and 1,000s of times. Once you have a product, it’s not any more difficult, to sell 1,000 items, as it is, to sell 5. Scalability is one of the most attractive draws for digital product creators. Over the course of time, as information changes, with an online course or an eBook, for example, all you need to do, is update your product, with the new information. If the information is still relevant, sometimes it’s a good idea, to just update and refresh your graphics. But, you don’t have to create a whole new product. 

 3. Low Overhead and Big Profits-
Your biggest investment, with digital products, will be your time and creativity. But mostly, your time. Of course, a planner page or video, won’t require as much time as an eBook or an online course. The cost that goes into making a digital product is usually a “fixed cost.” ie. your web host or shopping cart price, or the program you use to create it. Some platforms and programs are free, like YouTube, Google docs, Keynote, and the basic Canva program. Unlike physical products, which require an upfront investment, storage and warehousing fees, and shipping/delivery costs. With digital products, if they don’t sell, your biggest loss is not money, but time. 
 
 4. The Most Profitable Way To Make Money Online-
 Everyone shops online, to more or lesser, degrees than others. The draw of it, I believe is convenience and timely delivery. Digital products are instantaneous, and either, entertaining or informative. In some cases, both. Which makes them very marketable and viable. When you stir this recipe, the result is PROFITABLE! . 
 

 5. Your Market Is Worldwide-
Unlike a brick and mortar store, where your patrons may be limited to the surrounding area of your store, in the space of the World Wide Web, everyone with internet access is a potential customer. In the age of instant information, we have knowledge, available at the click of button. We want to be able to buy something and instantly access it. No one wants to wait a week for a product to be shipped, or even wait in a checkout line, much anymore. The more accessible your product is, the more attractive purchasing it becomes, and the broader your audience expands.
 
 6. Freedom and Independence-
When creating digital products you can work from almost anywhere that has a Wi-Fi connection. You’re not even limited or confined necessarily to a laptop. Most creations can be produced, right from your phone, with the right apps. For example, I can create most of my products from Canva and Microsoft Word. I recently, started writing many of my blog posts, on my phone, using the Word app. I did it for this one. You can also start a Canva or Word creation on your laptop, and if you have to leave it, for whatever reason, finish it and post or upload from your phone. 
 
  7. You Can Help More People-
Lets face it, you can only schedule so many clients in a day, week, or month, before exhaustion and burn out begins to set in. Also, not everyone will be able to afford ( or are even ready)  to pay for your top tier coaching, consulting, or design services. So having a product with a lower price point  opens your product up to a wider range of potential customers and clients. 
 
 8. You Don’t Have To Handle Physical Products Or Returns-
Most sales of digital products are final. Of course there may be those one off exceptions due to unforeseen circumstances. But, generally speaking, 99.9% of time, you never have to refund an item. And, it goes without saying, they’re impossible to return. Once it goes out, it can't come back in. So you’ll never have to deal with the tedious process of returns and restocking. I used to sell physical products, when I first began monetizing my blog, and the post office runs, for me, were the worse. I didn’t mind packaging, processing, or printing labels, but I hated going to the post office. Now all of those things are just distant memories. Also there is no need for long term, product development and testing. 
 
  9. You Get To Be Your Own Boss-
If you only want to work 3 days a week-you can.     
If you don’t want to work on the weekends-you don’t have to.
 If you only want to work from 10am-4pm- that’s fine, too.
 If you can only work in the midnight hours when your house is quiet (like me) then that’s what it is.

You don’t have to do it anyone’s way, except your own. You can create what you want, how and when, you want to. You don’t have to worry about coming in 5 minutes late, or being apprehensive about asking to leave 30 minutes early, for a Dr.s appt.

There are no quotas and goals, except the ones, you’ve set for yourself. You don’t have to push, market, or promote, something you don’t believe in, or that, you’re not going to get a commission from, or a percentage, off-of. With digital products, your profit margins are usually 100%. You will have the flexibility and freedom, to do what works best,  for you, and not just, what works for “corporate.”
 
 10. You Can Be Creative With Your Passion-
If there’s one thing I know about creative entrepreneurs-it is, that they, (we) are some of the most passionate people, you’ll ever meet. They often get so excited describing a process or something they’re working on. Their creativity is what fuels them. Making something out of nothing. Starting with a blank canvas and at the end having created a “masterpiece.” *Cue a French guy saying "pièce de ré·sis·tance.”

In the normal workplace setting we all know we can’t get too creative with our business emails and correspondence. Usually there’s a script or SOPs they want us to follow. A look, a standard, or air, of professionalism, either in demeanor, conduct, or dress, they want us to adhere to. Etcetera. Etcetera. But in the world of creative entrepreneurship and biz branding, it’s often your quirks and idiosyncrasies, that will cause you to stand out. So the more creative you are, often, the better.
 
 11. Marketing Digital Products Is Simpler-
One of the easiest ways to market digital products is by offering a free sample. Whether it be a couple of pages of the ebook you’ve written, or a few short clips of an online course, or webinar, you’ve created. If you market it correctly, so that it’s engaging or captivating, it’ll literally sell itself. I call it the “try to buy” strategy.  You don’t have to spend a lot of money to advertise it. You can create your own campaigns utilizing the product itself, and your creativity and ingenuity. 
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So this, my fellow creatives, are the 11 reasons why you should definitely be selling digital products in 2020 (and beyond). The market, for them will not diminish, anytime soon. It is only expected to grow. With digital media and video consumption, expanding everyday, you should get in, while the getting is good, and strike, while the proverbial iron, is hot.
 
Let me know, in the comments,  what the #1 reason is, you’d like to become (or became) a digital creator.

Also, if you want to learn, step by step, how to create digital products and upload them for purchase to your online store or blog, click here.