Should You Be Making Digital Products for Your Business in 2019?

Digital products are all the rage in 2019. Sometimes it seems like everyone’s selling their latest course, coaching program or premium download bundle. And they’re making money from it too.

So the question you’re probably asking is, “Could making digital products be a good idea for my business too?” The short answer is a resounding yes.

Even if you’re not running a digital business, but your business has a presence online, there are multiple digital products you could be making that might help you attract and convert customers and even make a bit of extra income. Whether it’s something bigger, like an online course or e-book, or even a smaller guide, PDF tutorial or template, there are many types of digital products worth considering based on the time, energy and information you have to share.

Not convinced? Here are a few timely factors to consider that will help you see just how valuable the addition of digital products might be to your business.

 

 

1. You work in one of the most profitable digital product niches

 

When it comes to selling products online, there are certain industries and niches that have been experiencing serious booms in the past few years.

A few of these include:

• Planners (from regular day planners to niche planners for blogging, fitness, etc.)
• Smartphone accessories
• Subscription boxes
• Facial and hair products (for men and women)
• Fitness and nutrition convenience products
• Home automation (think smart light bulbs and Amazon Echo)
• CBD and marijuana-related products
• Food delivery services

If you already operate in one of these thriving niches, now is the time to capitalize on that by creating additional products and services that may help to convert the increased traffic you get on your site.

Of course, one of the best ways to do this is by offering a low-friction digital product that can capture your audience quickly and help convert them into investing into bigger ticket items.

 

 

2. You’re struggling to keep up with the demand for your services

 

One of the biggest problems entrepreneurs, particularly those in the service industry, usually encounter a few years into business is realizing that they can’t effectively serve everyone as their client base grows. They struggle on the workload of juggling too many projects at once and end up losing out, because the quality of their “product” dwindles in the eyes of the consumer. Or they quickly reach burnout, with their health and personal life suffering as a result. Scalability is a challenge.

So what do you do about it? The first step is to turn the business services into documented systems and processes, which can be run without the entrepreneur getting involved, i.e. via automating, outsourcing or hiring employees.

Another good way of handling demand growth is to convert some or all of your service into a digital product. If there are some steps in your process that are mostly the same for each client, and they can handle the work on their own, or with a little guidance from you, then this is a great opportunity for teaching people with digital products.

Turning your system into an instructional video or PDF guide they can use will take the burden off your shoulders while still allowing them the full benefit of your service – and access to you if they have any additional questions. When taking this approach, you should always be mindful about who your audience is and what they will accept. An audience that is more tech-savvy and already spend most of their time in front of a screen will most likely be more open to such a change. You may also wish to create a written, audio and video version of similar material to cater to various preferences.

Additionally, by turning your service into a product, you may be able to access a whole new market which may not have been able to afford one-on-one services but still want your advice and expertise, making this not just a smart move for productivity, but a profitable one too.

 

 

3. You’ve created years of content or a unique business strategy

 

Once you’ve been in business for a while, you start to accumulate a wealth of information and content that you barely realize exists. You’ve been blogging consistently, streamlining your business with systems and processes, creating checklists and documents, and even sending emails that have the same information over and over again.

To you, this may just seem like a random business-as-usual collection of things, but to others, this is seriously valuable information that they would be willing to pay for.

Go through your online storage and business tools and see which of the below items you have that could be packaged and offered as a digital product:

• A swipe file collection of creative work that you use for inspiration
• Document templates such as contracts, proposals, and questionnaires that you use to run your business
• Email templates for converting and onboarding new clients
• Tool templates such as Trello boards, PowerPoint slides and Google forms that can be copied indefinitely for others to use
• Specific strategies or techniques you use to execute, improve, or streamline areas of your business that may be useful to similar business owners or clients
• Multiple blog posts that can be compiled into an e-book or tutorial guide

All of these are things we develop over time but never see how valuable they are as products themselves. Well, now that you know, it’s time to start selling them as the useful resources they are.

 

Get your digital product ducks in a row

 

To sum things up, digital products are a great way to earn extra income in your business and an easy way to quickly convert new customers. Every business owner should be looking into creating them. However, you should be even more interested in doing so right away if:

• You are operating in a booming niche or industry that’s getting a lot of attention online
• You can meet the high demand for your services with a digital product that can free up your time, still benefit your existing customers and win over new ones who may not be able to afford your one-on-one services
• You have a lot of proprietary business materials laying around that can be compiled into a useful collection for your clients or other owners of similar businesses.

There’s never a bad time to grow your business and opening a new passive income revenue stream with digital products is one of the best ways to do it. The only question left to ask is… when are you going to get started?