23 Digital Products Authors, Bloggers and Freelance Writers Can Sell Online

Today, we are living in times where businesses can be conducted from entirely from our couches - From start to finish.

As an author/writer, whether you’re looking for a side hustle or ready to start an e-commerce empire, what both cases have in common is, that they both leverage the undisputable paybacks of selling digital products.

Here are some benefits of selling digital products online:

Generate passive income

You only have to make the digital product once. After it’s been released, you can iterate and sell them as many times as you can and enjoy a steady stream of income.

Low/No upfront costs

Doesn’t demand much of an upfront investment as you just need a laptop and internet connection.

Scalability

You can sell as many products as you can manage. There are no challenges like inventory management or warehouse space. It all reside in one of your drives and people can pay you to get the product in their device in no time. Truly, the sky’s the limit!

Forget about logistics

The headaches like warehouse space, stocking products, packaging and shipping - all problems that physical product sellers have - digital product sellers never have to deal with.

Get a direct channel to your customers

Isn’t it good news for your business and when you know that consumers are more likely to trust people/companies who are easy to contact?

Flexibility with more freedom

When you don’t have to be there 24/7 to sell your products or to oversee the various aspects like shipping, billing and all then that frees up time for you to focus on other important things - Like your family, your dog or cat (Depending on if you are cat or dog person), or whatever else makes you happy.

Reach a wider market

Why only sell in your own country when you can sell across the globe. This also gives you an opportunity to sell to those clients who may not be able to afford your higher priced services but could afford your digital products. In simple words - make your business open and accessible to everyone.

If all this isn’t love at first sight, I don’t know what is!

So, the biggest question really is – what to sell?

And if you are contemplating the same question and then this list of digital products to sell is the only thing you need.

First, let’s quickly get it out of the way - what are digital products?

They’re fundamentally digital assets or pieces of media that can be sold online over and over. Unlike physical goods, a digital product is limitless; you never have to replenish your inventory.

If you ever bought an eBook or bought a track from iTunes or a PDF document, then you’re already using digital products.

In these trying times of COVID-19, businesses and freelancers have seen a boom in the demand to sell digital products leading to a boom in their passive income.

Nearly 60% of the world’s population is now online, and so digital products allow you to access an enormous market. If you haven’t done it yet then it's the right time for you to jump on the digital product bandwagon!

Now that I’ve got you all hyped up about how great digital products are, and now it’s time for me to show you the best digital product ideas for bloggers, writers and authors (24 ideas, to be precise)!

As writers we have two channels here-

1. Create digital products for other writers,

2. Create digital products related to your book.

Here are some of my topmost ideas for digital products for Authors, Bloggers, and Freelance writers.

Fiction and non-fiction ebooks and audiobooks

As an author this seem obvious and your books can be a key source of passive income, so make the most of it!

Audiobooks

Another growing market to sell your books in one more format.

Deleted chapters, spin-offs books/series, short stories, and extra scenes

Launched a new book – why not share some extra snippets for your readers to buy or use as a lead magnet to get their email IDs to grow your community.

Self-publishing guides

More writers are now getting interested in self-publishing, but the information overload may make them feel overwhelmed with things like cover design, editing, promotion, marketing and so on. If you’ve already been there, why not share what got your there.

Novel Outline sheet

People may have great ideas for books, but then if they aren’t sure how to map them out your downloadable novel outline planning sheet takes out the guesswork.

Character sheet

Your character sheets on how you build memorable fan favorite characters. Sell the template to other writers or share a filled template with your readers to get their emails to grow your community.

Private community

Set up a private Facebook group for writers where they can share their questions and get answers and feedback.

Limited time challenges

Set up a 5-day or a 3-day challenge on specific goals like getting first 10 reviews or learning Facebook Ads for writers and share your tactics.

Ebooks about writing

Example - A book writing kit for your audience to download, detailing top methods and tips to get the first draft done. Literally sky is the limit.

Video courses

Create a video series of learning a platform like Amazon or Facebook or BookBub or strategies like Email marketing.

Character Wallpapers

Who doesn’t love a nice background for their desktop or smartphone.

Membership site

Set up a web page or a site with exclusive content that customers can access through a monthly or yearly subscription.

Planners and journals

Share your top tips, routines or motivation tidbits in a printable PDF.

Podcasts

This is one more avenue to share your ideas and you know that audio content is getting more popular than ever, and it’s easy to produce! All you need is a USB microphone and an internet connection. Interview other authors, share book news, industry news, tips and tactics, insider tips and ideas with your audience.

Downloadable guides

If you’re an art fanatic or a lifestyle blogger or a book marketing expert, you could create an ebook or PDF guide to show your followers how it’s done.

Self-assessment tool

I love quizzes like these by Ramit Sethi. You can do something like this too.

Beginner’s guide to freelancing

Pen a short ebook on how you started as a freelancer.

Certificate course

Produce a course on your profession.

Paid newsletter

Use platforms like Podia, Substack, Medium or Patreon to share newsletters, guides and tutorials via a paid subscription.

Printable journals and trackers

You know what it is. Help your audience to map their career goals with a printable worksheet or journal.

Create a website design checklist

Paid Webinars and Masterclasses

Share your specialized knowledge in a live webinar or e-learning series.

Paid Workshops

These are exclusive workshops with personal connect with your students and that’s why sold at a premium.

So, what will you start selling?

As the digital product space is evolving there are certain products that are rising in popularity for digital sales. The only thing that matters is how are you are going to leverage your strengths to create a product that helps your audience and create a sustained source of income for you.

Tell me what do you think of this list. Did I miss any products?

• Is there something you believe we’ll see more of in the upcoming years and beyond?

• Are you already selling digital products on your site? Or are you interested in getting started? Join the conversation in the comments below!

• And remember to sign up to my mailing list to keep an eye out for future blog posts that will dig deeper into the how to build passive income from your writing.

Also, let me know if there is something, you’d like to see me cover in more detail!