This is the second part of our series on the many ways creators can make money online.
Fortunately for digital creators, there are so. many. ways. to increase income online. This post dives deep into the various types of one-off digital products you can create to monetize your expertise and build a more sustainable business.
Let’s get into it!
Challenges
A challenge is something you literally challenge your audience to do over a period of time. Anywhere from 3 or 5 days to 15, 30 or even 90 days. These can be free or paid, and delivered via social media, email, a membership site, or anywhere else.
Challenges make for great standalone products and excellent loss leaders – low cost, low barrier-to-entry products that serve as someone’s first purchase with you.
Here are some examples of challenges you could create:
- Write consistently (blogs, journal, newsletters etc.)
- Practice gratitude, mindfulness, meditation
- Improve eating habits and nutrition
- Budgeting, spending, saving, investing, debt reduction
- Exercise and fitness
- Improve relationships
- Set and reach specific goals
- Increase business revenue
- Improve parenting skills
- Ask for a raise at work
- Plan dream trips
- Declutter and organize home or office
- Break bad habits or build new habits
- Reduce screen time
The options are endless – you can challenge your audience to do just about anything!
Here are some tips to consider when running a challenge:
- Offer the first 1-3 days free to get signups, then charge for access to the full challenge
- Deliver the challenge details via email, social media or your community site
- Include a short motivational video each day
- Make it easy to participate
- Share positive feedback from participants to keep momentum
- Get feedback afterward and tweak before turning into an evergreen product
- Promote it as a group challenge at first for maximum effect
Challenges are a great way to boost engagement, deliver value, and monetize your expertise!
Workbooks & Guides
Workbooks and guides are similar. A workbook is interactive with fill-in-the-blank exercises, whereas a guide is more instructional.
You can create a workbook or guide on just about any topic relevant to your audience. The key is that it solves a specific problem for them.
Let’s take a look at some examples:
Problem: “I want to improve my relationship but my partner and I fight constantly.”
Guide: A guide to improving spousal communication
Problem: “I want to start a blog but don’t know where to begin.”
Workbook: 8 Easy Steps To Starting A Blog
Problem: “I’m stuck in a dead-end job but have no idea how to switch careers.”
Guide: A guide to discovering your passion and making a career change
Make sure your workbooks and guides are beautifully designed. Canva is a great resource for this – it has tons of templates and designs for only $13/month.
Price your workbook based on the size of the problem it solves and how unique your solution is. The more painful the problem and specialized the solution, the more you can charge. Don’t underprice just to gain market share.
Workbooks and guides make great evergreen products to sell on your website, promote in your email lists, and incorporate into your marketing automation.
Templates
Templates are shortcuts to help people make things quickly and easily. Some examples include:
- Newsletter or landing page templates
- Resumes, invoices, presentations
- Budgeting and forecasting spreadsheets
- Meal planning templates
- Website templates
- Infographics
- Contracts and legal documents
- Sewing patterns and craft templates
- Code and web development templates
Templates remove friction and make difficult tasks easy for your audience. Sell them individually or in bundles. They work well as lead magnets too.
Make sure to incorporate your templates into your marketing automation ecosystem to maximize sales.
Ebooks
Ebooks are one of the most popular types of digital products creators offer. They allow you to go very deep on a specific topic relevant to your audience.
Here are some helpful tips for creating excellent ebooks:
- Choose a narrowly focused topic that solves a burning need for your audience
- Outline the ebook to have a clear beginning, middle, and end
- Include stories, examples, images, diagrams, or other visuals to engage readers
- Format with ample white space, section headers, and clear text formatting
- Optimize length based on topic – could be 20 to 100+ pages
- Hire a designer or use a tool like Canva to make it visually appealing
Package your ebook with other products like workbooks, templates, or courses for a higher price tag. Or use it as a lead magnet to build your email list.
Ebooks allow you to share your knowledge in an in-depth way that helps establish you as an expert. They are versatile products that can be monetized or offered for free in many different ways.
Video Courses
Video courses are similar to online courses but delivered through pre-recorded videos instead of written lessons.
Some of the benefits of video courses:
- They are more engaging than text-based learning
- Video allows your personality to shine through
- They have a higher perceived value than written content
- Videos can be upsold as add-ons to existing courses
Tips for creating excellent video courses:
- Have a clear outline and objectives for each video
- Keep videos concise at 5-15 minutes each
- Include B-roll footage and visuals to keep it dynamic
- Invest in decent video lighting, audio, and editing software
- Promote each video individually on social media for maximum impact
As with online courses, you can offer video courses as all-in-one packaged programs or break them into smaller modules that people can purchase individually.
Promote your program through free preview videos, launch events, affiliate promotions, and of course automated marketing funnels. Video courses are an amazing way to monetize your knowledge and build courses at scale.
Software Tools & Apps
Building software tools like smartphone apps and web apps is more complex than other digital products but can generate steady income if done right.
Some examples of highly successful creator-built apps:
- Headspace (meditation & mindfulness)
- Calm (meditation & sleep stories)
- Blinkist (book summary app)
- Fabulous (habit tracking app)
If you have tech skills, you can build your own apps. If not, you’ll need to hire a developer.
Key considerations for creating an app:
- Solve a very specific problem for a clearly defined audience
- Start with an MVP (minimum viable product) to validate the concept before building out complex features
- Focus on creating a clean UI (user interface) and easy onboarding experience
- Build a marketing plan before launch – viral loops, affiliates, influencers etc.
- Plan for ongoing app maintenance, customer service, and new feature development
Apps require significant upfront investment and ongoing upkeep but have massive income potential when aligned closely with your audience.
Which option is right for you?
No matter which option you pursue, make sure your products directly solve real problems experienced by your audience. And be sure to incorporate them into automated marketing funnels to maximize sales. If you’re struggling to land on the best mix of products for the business and lifestyle you want to create, get in touch. The Level Up Creators team is here to help.
Watch Part 2 in full on the Level Up Creators Podcast on YouTube. And subscribe to get notified when Part 3 of this series is released.
