Digital Products - The benefits and are you ready to launch one?

With creators and coaches growing their followings, it’s almost a no-brainer for them to build an asset to turn those followers into paying customers and monetize their passions.

Let's dive in and take a look at all things digital offers:

But first, What is a digital product?

A digital product is an online business that focuses on creating and selling digital products, such as courses, programs, guides, membership groups, exclusive content, etc… These products are often created by content creators, artists, or online coaches who have expertise in a particular niche or large following and want to monetize through their digital products.

One of the key advantages of a digital business is the potential for massively high-profit margins. Because digital products do not have the same costs associated with production, distribution, and storage as physical products, the profit margins for digital products are insanely higher than other types of products. Plus, there really isn’t much upfront investment at all to launch them.

Another advantage of a digital business is the ability to reach a global audience. With the internet, creators can sell their products to customers all over the world, and make money while they sleep. Because digital products can be distributed and accessed online, they are much easier to scale and grow. Overall, a digital business can be a powerful way for content creators to monetize their expertise and build a successful online business. By creating and selling digital products, creators can reach a global audience, enjoy high-profit margins, and easily scale their business to meet the demands of a growing customer base.

Who should launch a digital product?

Digital products have basically zero financial barriers to entry, so pretty much anyone who is somewhat internet savvy can start them. With that said, not everyone should launch one. A huge mistake people make is thinking if they create a digital product, it will sell itself.

That’s why I always suggest having an online audience built before you launch. The key to launching any online business is to make sure you have traffic and to get the traffic you should have an audience of some sort first. Content creators with followers can leverage their social media followings to grow their digital businesses in several ways.

The biggest suggestion we have is for creators to have an email list or to build an email list before they launch a digital product. There are many reasons for this, but the main reason is with email, you have the full attention of your audience so the conversion rates are SIGNIFICANTLY higher. An email list is also an asset you own.

Without an email list, your digital business may not see the results you are looking for, so it's a better time investment to get started building an email list first, then launch your digital product. The beautiful thing abut an email list is it doesn't need to be hundreds of thousands of people to be successful, if you have a few thousand subscribers, you are good to go.

Overall, if you don’t have a following of some sort first, and an instant source of traffic, you should focus on building one before launching your online business. This will also help you gather feedback and gain clarity on what your audience wants.

The size of your audience that you need before launching depends on your offer, niche, and goals. Some people have small followings but a very expensive niche offer, and some people have huge followings with less valuable offers, All of this is dependent on the creator and niche they are in. If you want help knowing what your offer should be, or if you're ready to launch a digital product, feel free to book a call with us here.

Now that we’ve gone over that, let's quickly run through some of the many benefits of creating a digital product:

Benefits of Creating a Membership Space

1. Give Yourself a Steady Paycheck

Creating a digital product provides a steady and predictable income stream for content creators. This can be a more reliable source of income compared to relying on brand deals or income from social media platforms, which can be unpredictable and subject to the policies and algorithms of the platform. An online business can also provide passive income and can boost your overall income significantly.

Many creators rely solely on brand deals to make money. While brand deals are great,

they come and go, are unpredictable, and come with frustrations like chasing payments, miscommunication, etc…

With your own online business, you’ll have predictable, scalable income coming in each month that will compound exponentially if you do it right.

2. Take Ownership of your Income Stream

Social media is amazing because we need it for traffic. However, Creators who solely use social media to make money are at risk because they don't own their following - the social media platform does.

This puts them at risk of the unpredictable nature of social media. What happens if the algorithm changes and all of a sudden your engagement plummets? Your affiliate links won’t be performing too hot if no one sees them…

As we’ve seen in recent years it’s also very possible for an account to be suspended or for the platform to change its policies or algorithms in a way that affects the creator's ability to reach their audience. And lastly, as we are seeing with TikTok potentially being banned, the whole entire platform could disappear in a flash.

Needless to say, you can lose your income from social media overnight, and it is not smart to only depend on those platforms to make money as there is no insurance policy on your social media pages.

This is why it’s so important to have INDEPENDENT income, income that is generated from an asset you OWN that a digital business will give you. If you have the audience, building the systems for independent income shouldn’t be hard. We can help.

And remember, don’t be fooled and try to generate this income on a platform like instagram subscriptions. Make sure you have full ownership like with a software like Grouped.

3. Monetize your Passion

This one is simple but worth a bullet. Lots of content creators create their content for free. And while this is great and you should absolutely give tons of value for free, You likely have enough authority in your niche, to make money, thanks to your free content creation.

By charging for their content, creators can not only earn income for their work but also have the time and resources to create higher-value content that can have a greater impact on their audience.

By using a digital product to deliver your content, you are able to go above and beyond in solving your customer's problems or giving your die-hard fans closer access to you and make money in the process... You’ll also give yourself the opportunity to be a full-time creator and work for yourself for the rest of your life.

Helping people while making an extremely fruitful living in the process? Sounds good to me... Be sure to head over to Grouped.com to learn how we can help.

4. Monetize your DM’s

At this point, your DMs are probably loaded with people asking you for advice or anything else that takes your time.

Time is money, and there comes a point where you should be charging for it. Creating a digital product allows you to refer people to your offering when they ask you questions about your service.

You will be amazed at how much money you make from people literally asking you to help them. Just don’t be afraid to pull the trigger and sell – remember you are serving your followers by selling them your products, and you should be compensated for that. People get paid to help others - that’s how the world works… So don’t be afraid to get paid. Remember that.

5. Create a Stronger Community

A digital business can provide a sense of community and belonging for both the creator and their audience. By creating a space for their audience to connect with each other and the creator, a membership community can provide a unique and valuable experience for both parties.

Especially for artists and celebrity style creators, if you have die-hard fans and you give them a chance to get closer to you, and get exclusive content like early releases & private live streams, they'll eat it up...

This is assuming the platform you launch your digital product on has a great community element attached to it as Grouped does, people will be able to connect with other like-minded people around a similar topic. This will give them a sense of community and a strong sense of belonging.

For example, if 10 random people are trying to lose weight, it will be hard for them to find like-minded people in their hometowns, but if you launch a digital product, you can connect these people so they have a strong support system and can hold each other accountable.

If done right, launching a digital product with a strong community element can change lives.

6. Flexibility and Control

With a digital business, you have complete control over the content, pricing, and overall direction of your business. You can choose to create a subscription-based model or offer one-time purchases, and you can adjust your pricing as needed.

You can also decide what content to offer and when to release it, giving you flexibility in how you run your business. In addition, a digital business allows you to reach a global audience, regardless of your physical location. This means you can work from anywhere and still have access to your business and income streams.

Overall, a digital business can provide a steadier and more scalable income stream, a sense of community and belonging for both you and your audience, the ability to position yourself as an authority in your field, and flexibility and control over your business. If you are a content creator looking to monetize your content and grow your business, consider launching a digital business and building a membership community.

In conclusion,

With the popularity of digital products on the rise, content creators and coaches have a great opportunity to monetize their expertise through digital businesses. The benefits of a digital business include the potential for high-profit margins, the ability to reach a global audience, and the potential for passive income. Content creators with social media followings can leverage their platforms to promote their products and engage with their audience.

Creators, artists, and online coaches are the people who should be considering launching digital products. If you are a creator with a strong audience, creating the right digital product can change your life forever.

If you are considering launching a digital business, it may be time to take the next step, which is finding the right platform to do it on and the right team to support you. It can be an overwhelming and intimidating process, but I'd love to streamline that for you. You can learn more and get in touch with me here on grouped.com

To your success

-Finn