Articles on creating and selling digital products

Digital products are things you make once and sell online many times, like courses, memberships, templates, ebooks and event recordings.

There's nothing to ship, so each extra sale costs you almost nothing.

A digital product keeps paying you for years after you make it.

It can become recurring revenue, and it grows your email list at the same time.

An online course is a digital product, created for and delivered on the web, that teaches a skill or a process and usually solves a problem.

A membership site is a subscription-based online business where people pay for monthly access to exclusive content.

Recurring revenue is any product or service that customers buy on a predictable basis, like a subscription they pay for monthly or yearly.

Start with something small that solves one problem, like a checklist, a template or a short course.

Give a free version away as a lead magnet, and sell the full one to the people who use it.

Pre-sell the idea before you build the course.

Survey your email list, analyze what they tell you, then run a pre-launch webinar and sell the idea.

Once people buy, you know it’s worth creating.

How to create an online course breaks it into 7 steps: set your foundation, grow your audience, pre-sell, create, deliver, launch, and set it up for growth.

No.

With the right strategy you can create a year’s worth of content in 7 days or less, like Michael Hyatt did for Platform University.

Kevin Kelly, the founding editor of Wired, wrote the original “1,000 True Fans” article in 2008.

The idea: if you find 1,000 people who will buy, or at least promote, everything you make, you can earn enough to live comfortably.

No.

You don’t need a ton of people, but you do need a few, and the faster you find them, the faster you can change your business and your lifestyle.

No.

Small lists are often more responsive, convert better and are great for beta testing.

And if you have no list at all, a virtual event can build one for you.

Sell them to your email list, through partners and affiliates, and with launches like a virtual summit or a workshop.

An event gives people a reason to buy now.

A course is paid once and teaches one thing from start to finish.

A membership is paid every month for ongoing content, a community or access, which makes it recurring revenue.

Recurring fees give you predictable revenue, are more affordable for members and push them to take action.

A one-time fee gives you a big payment upfront and is simpler to set up.

My courses, like Virtual Summit Mastery, the All Access Passes of my virtual summits, and my membership, AI Creator OS, where every AI Creator Summit session lives after the event.