Digital Products to Sell on Etsy and Beyond
Key Takeaways
A digital product is any product that can be delivered automatically, usually via email, without having to package or ship it.
Every handmade business owner should be selling a digital product! There is always something simple your audience would be happy to buy from you quickly and easily.
Most digital products fall into the categories of a digital download, an e-book, or an online course or workshop.
There are an unlimited amount of ways you can create one, but you'll have more options if you are also open to teaching your craft.
These types of products can help you create a consistent income, stability, and you can sell them for years with no additional work.
To start selling, you'll need to do some market research to find out what your audience really wants, and spend time regularly promoting it, just like any other product.
Ok crafty friends - strap in...we're going to go a little outside the box today and talk about some less common ways to make a sustainable income as an artist. As a handmade business owner, you should understand that your number one goal is to create a consistent income, and it's not always so straightforward. That's why creative digital products might be your one way ticket to freedom.
*Disclaimer - if you've been following me a while, you know that my whole goal is to get you OFF Etsy, and selling from your own website. However, in this case, as long as you are also selling from your own website and emails, I believe that getting your digital product on even more sites can help you profit faster from digital items!
While the majority of craft artists start out by selling items they are making by hand, designing supplemental digital products to sell on Etsy, your website, or print on demand sites can be a profitable way to build up another income stream! Better yet, you don't need to be extremely tech-savvy, or make your digital product anything super complicated.
Intrigued? Wait til you hear what's possible for you...grab a pen!
What exactly is a digital product?
Digital products are an amazing supplement to a handmade business. They allow you to create a product once, then sell it over and over again (literally in your sleep), while never having to make or ship anything.
There are a great variety of digital products you can create, and you can choose yours based on whatever fits in well to your craft and vibe. But to keep it simple, it's basically any product that you can deliver digitally through a link, download, or email.
There is one exception that I will include although it's not actually digital...which is selling your designs through P.O.D., or 'Print On Demand' websites.
In this case, while your customers are ordering a physical product with your designs on it, once the order is in, the transaction still acts as a digital product since you don't have to ship anything...your order is all taken care of by the P.O.D. company! (Yay!)
This makes it super simple to sell this type of work everywhere and anytime, which serves the same goal as the digital products we'll talk about next!
Who should sell digital products?
In my opinion...every creative business owner should sell a digital product! And here's why...
Whether or not you are aware of it yet, there is likely something you could offer your customers digitally that they would love to buy! It's also one of the best ways to make some side cash (or a significant income stream).
Most artists or crafters can come up with a few simple product ideas that blend in seamlessly with their existing handmade products. It just takes a little thought, a bit of research, and a simple setup.
While I do think every artist should sell something like this, I especially think that artists that enjoy sharing or teaching their crafting process should be taking advantage of this. The world of online and in person craft workshops is very profitable (just ask me how I first quit my day job! ;)).
Have I convinced you yet? Next let's go over what you could possibly sell digitally.
What types of digital products can a craft artist sell?
I almost hate to write a list here because I don't want you to think that these are the only options, so when skimming through this list, just keep in mind that you can literally invent ANY kind of digital product you can imagine. Any product that makes sense for your handmade business that your customers are wanting or asking for is worth creating!
However, in general, most digital products will fall into one of these main categories:
a digital download (pdf, template, art print, etc)
an e-book
an online course or recorded workshop (great for those teaching their craft!)
Examples of digital craft products may look like:
Knitting guides and digital patterns for specific projects
DIY jewelry guide
Digital print downloads (prints of original artwork, photography, or digital illustrations)
An e-book with instructions for your top 10 quilting hacks to speed up their process
A coloring book with your illustrations
An online weaving course for non-local people who can't take your IRL workshop
Digital art downloads (art that people can download and apply to their own products, like t-shirts, decals, stickers, mugs, etc.)
Like I said, the sky is the limit here! Let your ideas flow.
You'll notice I have some crafty educational type products in that list...and I know this is not for everyone, BUT if you are the type of creative who enjoys teaching your craft process to other creatives, educational digital products are an amazing opportunity to make a new stream of income.
If people have been asking you to share your craft process, or you find it fun and easy to share what you do as you make your products, offering this crafty education through digital products could be your one way ticket to creating profit and going part or full time (this is what did it for me!).
The best thing is that you can kill 2 birds with one stone here.
If you sell ceramics for the kitchen, and you also sell an e-book showing how to make your own hand built ceramic mug at home, you can promote your products at the same time you're promoting your e-book. Done and done.
In my opinion, if teaching comes to you naturally, then it's kind of silly NOT to be selling some easy product like an e-book or download!
So, to recap:
For those who don't want to teach: sewing/knitting/any type of digital pattern, coloring books, and downloadable art are some great items to sell.
For those who want to teach: ebooks/online courses/pre-recorded videos, (or look up other ideas!) are perfect for you to sell.
How can selling these type of products help my craft business?
First off, it creates another safety net for you. If you can build up income from these types of digital sales, you don't have to worry as much if another stream fizzles out. Second, it helps to build up a consistent income. Third, you can create the item one time and profit for years from it! Fourth, you can promote it alongside your other handmade products easily if you set it up the right way. And fifth, you will never have to package, ship, or take a digital download to the post office once you make a sale ;).
What kind of tools and setup do I need to sell creative digital products?
Ah yes, the details. First off, when it comes to digital products to sell on etsy, etc, don't let the tech stuff hold you back from selling digital products. Your setup really can be very simple. It all depends on where you're selling online.
If you're not the most techy person in the world, you might want to stick to marketplace sites like Etsy or website platforms that already have a built in setup for delivering digital products automatically, once a purchase is made. This way, when someone buys, you don't have to do anything at all! The payment is collected like normal, and the customer will receive an email with the attached pdf download, e-book, etc.
To set this up, you'll create a regular listing in your shop...uploading photos, adding a product title and description just like normal, but instead you'll specify that this is a digital product. You should then be prompted to fill out some additional info as well as upload the digital file.
You should also have the option to add a note, or to customize the email that they receive with the digital download. This is important to update. You want to add any details you think they need to know about the product, thank them for their purchase, and maybe even prompt them to follow you on social media or subscribe to your newsletter. In some cases it might even make sense to promote a related product, but use your best judgement here.
For those of you that are a little more advanced, you can set this all up through your email service provider. The difference here is that you can take advantage of some email marketing magic and get subscribers funneled directly into an email sequence that keeps them engaged, and sells additional related products to them on autopilot.
Additionally, if you don't have a shop set up on your website, but you sell products through another platform or CRM, you can just create a landing page or sales page with the item and people can purchase through links in your emails. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, don't worry about it!)
Want to learn more about this kind of stuff? Make sure you're getting my weekly emails!
How can I get started?
You can get started by...doing some annoying research (womp womp). But if you learn one thing from this post, it's to never ever, ever build a time consuming digital product without being sure there is a demand for it first.
How do you know if your people want it? You can get this info by doing short surveys or asking a few questions to your existing audience of ideal customers. Or, if you don't have that yet, you can go out and find your ideal customers online or in person to get their feedback. You'll learn a lot quickly about what they are willing to buy.
Here's my favorite question to ask my audience when I'm planning out a new digital product:
"What's your biggest struggle when it comes to (your niche)?"
For example, if you create sewing patterns you can ask people, "What's your biggest struggle when it comes to following a sewing pattern?"
This is a specific question designed to give you the exact answers you need to design a product that will satisfy them. If they say that there are never enough images, you can add more in yours. If they say that the steps are not detailed enough, you know what to do. This is how you create a winning product! (You can also ask this question for any handmade product you create as well!).
Next, you can decide on a product based off your customer's feedback and then start building it. Building your product this way will give you the best chance of creating something that will fly off your virtual shelves! There are a ton of tools (free and paid) that you can use to design your digital products. Canva works great for most simple downloadables.
After that, you'll need to decide where you'll sell it. Upload it into whatever platform you've chosen, and make sure everything is automated, and works properly before promoting it.
Once you have your digital product uploaded and available to sell online, sit back and relax, you did it!
JK, now you need to spend time every week promoting it and letting your followers know about it 😅. Chances are, as a new handmade business owner, you don't have a lot of traffic yet. That's why it's CRITICAL to build an email list for your craft business. This will make promoting ALL of your products easy peasy and will soon become your business' most valuable asset.
Mistakes to avoid
Although online art courses and digital craft patterns are considered items that create 'passive' income, take this with a grain of salt. While this is as close to passive income as you can probably get, nothing is 100% passive in reality. There is the initial work that goes into creating your product, but you also need to make sure that the right people are finding out about it on a regular basis. Let's talk about a few common mistakes that I see artists making when it comes to figuring out how to sell digital products on etsy and beyond.
Mistake 1: Spending time making a digital product that nobody wants.
Do your due diligence to find out what your ideal customer wants from you. This means talking, emailing, calling, surveying your existing audience to get their opinion). If you don't have any audience yet, go find your ideal customer out in the wild.
Offer a small incentive for their opinion. Doing this work will mean the difference between wasted time and a dud product that doesn't sell, versus one that will bring you consistent income, day in and day out, for years to come.
Mistake 2: Not promoting your digital product
Yes...part of the beauty of having this type of easy product in your shop is that you can set it up and leave it, but if people don't know about it (and especially if you don't have traffic coming regularly to your shop), then this is extra important for you to do! A digital craft product is like any other item in your shop.
You need to talk about it, share it often, show people how to use it, etc. For example, if you sell sewing patterns, make something with your own pattern and share that along with a link to the pattern. That way, they realize the possibilities of what they can actually create.
you’re on your way!
The exciting world of digital products might not have been what you had in mind when you started a handmade business, however, discovering the best digital products to sell on etsy and other platforms is an excellent way to make more money as a creative business owner while doing less physical work. It can create security, flexibility, and a new opportunity for your customers to enjoy your work in a different way.
Sound a little overwhelming but still want to give it a shot? I've been selling digital craft products for years and I've already made all the mistakes when it comes to both development and marketing crafty digital products.
No need to waste time learning all this yourself, I can walk you through each step inside my group coaching program for artists and crafters, Handmade & Paid. Wondering if group coaching is the right move for you? Let's chat! Join me for a free Creative Clarity Call to talk details about your ideas and future dream business!
Frequently Asked Questions
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Although I wouldn’t recommend it as your main sales platform, you can definitely make some money selling digital products on Etsy. As with any products you’re selling, you’ll still have to put in time and effort to make sure your listings get found and sell.
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A digital product can be anywhere from a pdf download, an e-book, a pre-recorded video, or an online course. Most artists can use one or all of these methods to sell creative products online fairly easily.
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Some popular products artists can create to sell online include downloadable art prints, calendars and planners, logos and branding art, and wall art. However, this is just a tiny sample of ideas of what is possible with this online medium.
