When you think about popular sales platforms like Etsy, homemade physical goods usually come to mind.
However, there’s also lucrative opportunity to sell digital goods on these traditional platforms.
In this article, we’ll delve into this unexplored territory. Here are the key questions we’ll address:
– What kind of digital products can you sell?
– Where can you showcase and sell these items?
– How can you optimize your sales for maximum profit?
But before we dive in, a quick heads-up:
Typically, you stand to make more money by selling digital products on your own platform. Here’s why:
– You retain all your profits without sharing any with a third party. When you use external platforms to sell your goods, they usually take a chunk of your earnings through monthly fees or per-sale transactions. Selling on your own platform saves you money in the long run.
– You avoid price wars. External platforms often attract bargain hunters, forcing sellers to lower their prices to compete. Selling on your own platform lets you target your desired market without compromising on price.
– Your traffic stays on your site. Third-party platforms can divert your traffic towards other offers, reducing your conversion rates significantly.
For these reasons (and more), we recommend selling your digital goods on your own website, preferably using Product Dyno for memberships, courses, or software.
Now, you might wonder: why bother with third-party platforms at all?
The answer lies in strategic marketing to tap into new traffic sources. We’ll explore this further in the “How Do You Sell These Digital Goods?” section shortly.
But before we delve into strategy, let’s first explore the types of digital products you can sell and where you can list them.
What Types of Digital Goods Can You Sell?
If you’re in the business of selling information products, then of course you can offer all the usual suspects.
This might include downloadable books, reports, apps, software, or plugins.
You could also provide videos, audios, courses, memberships, and tools like checklists, worksheets, templates, or planners.
But why not think outside the box a bit and offer blueprints, patterns, and similar items?
For instance, you could sell patterns for creating custom dog clothes, a collection of quilting patterns, or instructions for making a cozy winter stocking cap.
You could also provide patterns for crafting an afghan, blueprints for constructing a backyard chicken coop, or plans for building a traditional Finnish sauna.
How about offering blueprints for setting up a hydroponic garden or instructions for building a hunting shed?
These are just a few ideas to kickstart your creativity.
Consider your target audience, determine what they’re looking for, and come up with a variety of unique concepts.
Now, onto the next question… Where should you go from here?
Where Can You Sell These Digital Goods?
So, when it comes to this strategy, you have the option to utilize both platforms that are popular for selling digital goods, as well as those that are traditionally used for selling physical goods.
As I mentioned before, Etsy is well-known for homemade physical goods.
However, you can also sell digital goods there – especially if they cater to people interested in arts and crafts.
For instance, you could offer downloadable patterns for creating dog clothes, human clothes, quilts, or similar items.
In simpler terms, this isn’t the place to push your “how to make money online” books.
Instead, you can provide targeted information like patterns, “how to” guides in the arts and crafts niche, and the like.
If you’re marketing digital info-products, then you might want to think about listing a book for sale on the Kindle Marketplace.
This book could act as a lead magnet or a tripwire product that you offer at a very low cost (or even for free at times, especially if you enroll your book in the Kindle Select program).
The important thing here is to make sure you promote your lead page from within your Kindle book.
This is because you won’t get the customer list when you make a sale on this platform, so offering something closely related for free can help you get your customers onto your mailing list.
If you’re selling a video course, you could consider uploading a tripwire product to Udemy.
Once again, you wouldn’t want to sell your main products here due to various issues like low pricing, fees, and poor conversions.
Nevertheless, you could use the platform strategically to funnel people into your sales process (where you can then offer them higher-priced items from your own website).
A quick heads up: The examples above are just a few ways to sell digital goods on third-party platforms.
However, you can flip this approach and sell physical goods on these platforms, especially on those that don’t allow digital goods.
You could then sell your digital products on the back end.
For instance, the Facebook Marketplace bans digital goods. If you want to tap into a wider audience using this marketplace, you could try two approaches:
1. Offer your digital product in a physical format. For instance, if you’re selling videos, you could create a hard copy DVD and sell it on the marketplace. Then, you could sell your digital goods on the back end.
2. Sell a related physical product. For example, if you’re selling bodybuilding information, you might sell whey protein on the marketplace and then offer your info-products on the back end.
Now, let’s delve into the strategy…
How Do You Sell These Digital Goods?
At the outset of this discussion, the general recommendation is to market your digital products on your own platform with ProductDyno.
However, strategically selling digital items on third-party platforms can provide a broader reach within your target market.
The key is to refrain placing your entire sales funnel on a third-party platform.
Instead, the goal is to offer a tripwire product on these platforms to attract your audience and guide them into your sales funnel, where you can then offer them additional products and services through your own platform.
The crucial aspect here is to sell something closely aligned with your customers’ interests.
For instance, if you’re marketing a bodybuilding video that teaches novice bodybuilders popular lifts, you could offer “Volume 2” as a follow-up product.
There are various methods to sell your backend offers:
1. Incorporate the offer directly into the product. For example, if you’re selling a quilting pattern, consider including a backend offer within the pattern’s instructions.
2. Reach out to your new customers via email. If you have access to your customers’ email addresses, it’s advisable to follow up with them through email communication.
However, this may not always be feasible, as mentioned earlier (e.g., when selling a book on the Kindle platform, you may not receive the customer list). In such cases, ensure to include a free offer in your product that directs them to your lead page.
Advanced Tip: Consider sending a flyer. If you have transformed your digital product into a physical item, including a flyer in the shipment can be an effective way to promote additional offers.
In Summary…
Looking to expand your reach and boost your income? Consider exploring the option of selling digital products on external platforms like Etsy.
However, it’s crucial not to offer your entire sales funnel on these platforms, as it may leave you at a disadvantage.
Instead, focus on showcasing your tripwire product or lead magnet to draw in a specific audience.
Once you’ve attracted these new customers, you can then introduce them to additional digital products on the backend.
