How to create digital downloads to sell online, quickly and easily

Creating digital downloads to sell online can be profitable for coaches, online business owners, and content creators. There is a multitude of digital products that can be sold online and many ways to make them.

Follow along as we explore two of the most popular digital download products; eBooks and video courses. I’ll show you the fastest and easiest way to create digital downloads to sell online, so you can skip the time-wasting, attract an audience, and start generating sales and profits.

Digital downloads are attractive for clients or customers for a number of reasons. They are portable and can usually be accessed from any device, anywhere in the world. This makes them a great option for people who travel frequently or work on the go. And, depending on how you price them, they can be more affordable compared to physical products, because there are no shipping costs involved, and the files can be distributed electronically at little or no cost.

For coaches and content creators, selling digital downloads means increased profits. Because these products often don’t cost a lot to create, you can make more profit per sale than with traditional physical products, and you have unlimited products to sell. Additionally, the internet provides an uncapped potential for selling digital products, so you can reach a global audience with just a few clicks of the mouse.

The most profitable digital downloads: Our top 3

We’ve picked our top 3 most profitable digital products from the list.

1. Software and apps
2. eBooks
3. Courses: Video, Audio or text-based, or a combination

In terms of risk for creating these products, items number two and three have the lowest risk as the time commitment to create the products is lower than for creating software and apps.

The easiest digital products to create: Our top 3

The level of difficulty for anything, including digital product creation, depends on your existing skillset. What a list of the easiest digital products to create looks like for one person, may look completely different for another. If you have limited skills in graphic design or video, then you may find that creating eBooks is the easiest option.

Some people may feel that they don’t have the writing skills to be able to create an eBook, however in this post were are going to explore a solution that makes it faster and easier than ever for anyone to create an eBook, without even having strong writing skills.

This shortcut for eBook creation can also be used for course creation with videos, audio or text, membership products and you can even use the content for blog posts, social media posts, and podcast content creation. So with this digital product creation shortcut in mind, here is what our list of the easiest digital products to create looks like:

1. eBooks
2. Courses: Video, audio or text-based, or a combination
3. Printables: Workbooks, planners

While eBooks and Courses have been very popular for a long time, printables such as workbooks and planners have seen a surge in popularity over the past few years. This is likely because they are very easy to create and don’t require a lot of design or technical skills. While printables can be quick and easy to make, courses have a reputation for being labor-intensive. eBooks can take considerable time to create too, as writing is traditionally a time-consuming process. However, with the right tools and processes in place, all of these products can be created relatively quickly. Read on, as in a moment we will discuss how to make the writing process more efficient.

So without further ado, let’s take a look at how to easily create a digital product, or a whole range of digital downloads, to sell online.

How to make digital downloads to sell

If you plan to sell digital downloads online, it’s likely you will want to make your own digital products. Creating digital products can be a time-consuming and frustrating experience, if you haven’t done it before or if you don’t have a proven process to follow. In this post we will explore the simplest way to create digital products as well as the most lucrative and popular digital products that you can sell online. Let’s start by looking at the five key steps in the product creation process:

1. Research: Start by doing some research on the topic and decide what the content in your product will be about.
2. Validate: Look for evidence that your idea will have a market. Check out articles, tutorials, videos, products, and other resources that show there is interest in your topic.
3. Plan: Decide the format of your digital product. Will you sell an eBook, video course, audio course, workbook, images, music, or something else? Then, plan out the content for your product.
4. Create: It’s time to start creating the content for your digital product. Once your content has been created, you are ready to package it up and make it available for purchase. You can do this by setting up a sales page on your website and adding PayPal buttons or other payment methods to allow customers to buy your digital download. You can also use shopping cart software to manage your products and payments.
5. Make your digital product accessible: Finally, you’ll need to create download links for customers once they have made their purchase. This process may seem daunting at first, but with a little planning and organization it can be easy to create a digital product to sell online. By following these simple steps, you can start generating passive income from your products in no time!

We’ve discussed many positives that result from selling digital products, but what about the negatives? What are the biggest challenges that coaches, business owners, and content creators face when creating digital products? Ask anyone who have created a digital download and they’ll tell you that the content creation is time-consuming and tricky if you don’t have strong skills. This is why so many coaches and online business owners fail to get their digital product idea off the ground.

Creating a digital product, and content in general, takes time. When you are a one-person show, or you only have a small team, it’s difficult to find that time to create quality content. But by not having digital items to sell, it’s incredibly difficult to attract an audience, and cashflow, for your online business.

If you are a service business, it’s a good idea to not have all your eggs in one basket. What happens if your clients drop off? What will happen if you get sick or need to take time out from work? If you diversify your offerings by selling digital products in addition to your services, you can still have revenues coming in even when you can’t show up for work.

That’s why successful coaches either outsource their content writing (expensive) or buy done-for-you content (very affordable) to create a product to sell online, with less time and effort.

What is done-for-you content?

Done-for-you content is prewritten content, written specifically for your niche, that you can use as-is to create products to sell, for example, eBooks and videos courses, or you can use parts of and mix it in with your own content.

Whatever method you choose, done-for-you content can save hours, days, or even weeks of arduous product creation time. With done-for-you content, you can create eBooks to sell online in minutes rather than days or weeks. This can help you jumpstart your business or grow it faster, in less time, and with less effort.

This post will teach you how to easily create digital downloads to sell online using done-for-you content. You will learn how to create your products, what tools to use, and where you can sell your digital product.

Quality is key

When it comes to making digital downloads to sell online, quality content is key. If your customers are happy with what they’ve purchased, they are more likely to buy from you again and to spread the word to others about your product. This means it’s essential to either take the time to create high-quality products that your customers will love.

If you are purchasing done-for-you content to create your digital product, ensure that the content you purchase is high quality. Poorly researched and written content and products are worse than no content or products at all. By focusing on quality content, you can establish your brand as a trustworthy one, set your business apart from the competition, and increase sales.

So let’s take a look at how to quickly and easily make a quality digital product to sell, with done-for-you content.

How to quickly make eBooks

As we’ve established, successful online business owners know that time is money, and finding ways to save time in the product creation and content creation process is essential. That’s why done-for-you content is valued.

By now you are probably wondering, what is the process to follow when using done-for-you content to create your product?

We’ve distilled the process down to eight easy steps:

1. 1. Purchase your selected done-for-you content: Ensure that it is quality content by checking out a sample first.
   2. Choose a topic: Decide what your eBook will be about. Choose something that will both interest your ideal customer and aligns with some, or all, of the content you have purchased
   3. Do research on the topic to see if there are any content gaps: Are there any missing topics or audience questions that you feel should be answered that are not in the content you purchased.
   4. Outline your eBook: Armed with your DFY content and your research, make an outline for your eBook.
   5. Create your eBook, and write more content: We use Google Docs to create our eBooks. It’s free and very easy to use. If necessary, add more content, or simply write a short forward for your book. Add a table of contents.
   6. Edit and proofread your eBook: Proofread yourself and get someone else to proofread it too. Sometimes other people will see gaps and errors that you do not see.
   7. Create a cover for your product: Create a cover using Canva or another graphics creator. We love Canva because there is a free version to use with many attractive pre-designed templates. The learning curve is fairly low so it’s likely you will have created your over in minutes.
   8. Add your cover to your text document: Download your eBook cover as a .jpg or .png file and add it to your Google Doc.

Congratulations, you have just created your product in record time using done-for-you content!

How to create an ebook from PDF online for free

To turn your eBook into a PDF you will need to follow these steps:

1. Convert your Google Doc to a PDF: In Google Sheets, go to File>Print then select Save as PDF and click Save.
2. Publish your eBook: Publish your eBook on your desired platform and start selling.

Tools and resources for creating an eBook

The quick and easy eBook creation method that we’ve just explored requires only two tools and one resource:

eBook creation tools

Google docs or Microsoft Word: For housing and editing the text of your eBook and adding the graphics (pre-created in Canva). You will also create your final PDF from within Google Docs.

Canva: Create your eBook cover and any other graphics. The free version of Canva has some great graphics which is more than enough for creating the graphics for a few eBook covers, but Canva Pro provides even more graphics templates.

eBook creation resources

Done-for-you content: Ready-made content that you can purchase to create your eBook. Depending on the usage rights of the content you purchase, you can use the content as is, or you can add more of your own self-written content.

How to easily create online courses

Creating a course doesn’t need to be a mammoth task. By using done-for-you content it’s possible to cut the time for planning and writing content for online courses from weeks down to minutes. Follow these six steps to create content for your next course:

1. Buy quality done-for-you content: Choose content that fits your niche and ensure the usage rights allow you to use it to create content in different forms (ie video).
2. Select your course topic: What will your course be about? Make sure it’s aligned with your target audience’s interests and incorporates some or all of the content you have purchased.
3. Check to see what content is missing: Do you need to add more of your own writing to the content you purchased (and do the usage rights allow for this).
4. Outline your video course: Make an outline of each module/section it will include.
5. Create your course, and add more content, if necessary: You’ll need a video camera (most current smartphones have a camera that produces good enough quality for video) an/o screen capture software. You may also like to use slides if you are using screen capture software. Google slides is a free and easy-to-use product.
6. Decide where you will host your course: There are many options available for hosting online courses. There are plugins for WordPress sites for creating memberships in which you can create your course. There are also hosted video course services which we will explore in the section below.

Tools for creating a video course

The quick and easy video creation method that we’ve just explored requires only four tools and one resource:

Video course creation tools

Video camera or smartphone video: For filming your video, if you want to appear on the screen.

Screen capture software: If you want to show your audience what is on your computer screen while you explain processes or concepts.

• Camtasia is a popular screen capture software.

Google Slides: Create slides to walk your audience through your content with a visual aid.

Video course hosting software and plugins: If you are a WordPress user, there are many membership plugins available for hosting your videos and providing access to your paid course, below are two that are robust:

• MemberPress
• LearnDash

If you would prefer to have your video course on hosted software, There are numerous options. Two that we have used and trust are:

• Teachable
• MemberVault
• GuruCan

Video course creation resources

Done-for-you content: Ready-made content to use to quick-start your video content creations. Check the usage rights of the content, to ensure you can recreate it in video format and add more of your own content.

3 key takeaways for creating a digital download to sell

1. Use done-for-you content to create eBooks and as the basis for video courses to create content in minutes (for ebook) or hours (for video courses), rather than wasting precious time writing everything yourself
2. Make sure your content is high quality and provides value to your customers. Not all done-for-you content is created equally. Ensure it’s written by an experienced writer and marketer and check out a sample to see the quality if you need reassurance.
3. Follow the steps and tool and resource lists above to create quality content quickly and easily.

Creating an online store on a website to sell digital downloads

Once your digital download has been created, whether it’s an eBook, a video course, a bundle of printables, you are ready to make your product available for purchase. There are many places you can sell digital goods, with one of the most popular being on your own website.

Once you have created a website, you can set up a sales page and use shopping cart software to allow customers to buy. Three popular shopping cart plugins for managing your products and payments are WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, and Studiocart. Once your shopping cart software is set up, you will need to create a download link for customers to download your digital file once they have made their purchase.

Setting everything up to sell digital downloads on your website may seem daunting at first, but with a little planning and organization it can be easy to create digital products that sell online.

Using Etsy to sell digital products

If setting up and maintaining an online store on a website seems like too much of a commitment, creating an Etsy shop can be an easy way to start selling digital products. Whether you intend to sell eBooks, courses, templates, printables, digital art, or something else, you’ll find a market of hungry buyers on Etsy.

Etsy is a busy marketplace and even without promoting your content it’s possible to makes sales, however by marketing your products in search engines or social media, you can increase the sales potential of your digital products.

Marketing and promoting digital products

Once you’ve followed these simple steps, you’ll be ready to start promoting and selling your digital products. To attract traffic to your Etsy shop or to your website, you’ll need to either use paid traffic such as a Facebook Ads or Etsy Ads, or organic traffic. Organic traffic is the term used to describe visits to your website from a search engine’s organic results or from social media, rather than from paid ads.

One of the advantages of selling your digital in terms of building your own online store on a website is that you can capture the email addresses of customers. Once the customer has joined your email list you can offer them other items that you have for sale, increasing the Customer Lifetime Value. Selling more products to existing, happy customers takes less time and effort that finding new customers as they already know, like and trust your business and the quality of your products.

Content On Autopilot – Quality Done-For-You content

You need quality digital downloads to be able to attract clients and generate profits, but as a busy business owner, it’s often a struggle to find time to do so. After all, writing quality content can take up a huge amount of time. But you don’t need to hire more employees or even hire freelancers to create digital downloads to sell online.

With done-for-you content, most of the legwork is done, and you can easily create eBooks and video content for your online course in less time. Done-for-you content is also a cost-effective way to approach product creation, often working out to cost as much twenty to fifty times less than it would hire a writer to create the same content.

Our done-for-you content kit, Content On Autopilot contains 50 articles in the business niche to help business coaches and marketers in the business niche to fast track content and product creation. These include articles that cover different aspects of business growth, entrepreneur mindset, online marketing, social media marketing, sales, and more.

Included in Content On Autopilot is a vault of images, so you can add a stock photo to the front of your eBook or images to your video course. The possibilities are limitless. The content can be used to create products, use as blog posts, for social media content, or to create podcast episodes.

Create eBooks, courses, blog posts social media content & more, faster

If you are struggling to find the time or the skills to create quality content or products to start or grow your business, Content On Autopilot offers the jumpstart that you need. Get 50 quality articles and thousands of images that you can use to create products, including eBooks, printables, video courses, and more, to attract more clients or sell more to existing clients.

Discover how to plan or create a product in minutes, rather than days, weeks, or months.