A Guide for Beginners.
If you’ve been thinking about how to start making money online, creating and selling a digital product is one of the easiest and most profitable ways to do it. Whether it’s an eBook, online course, or printable, digital products are cost-effective to create, easy to scale, and have the potential for passive income. But here’s the catch: to make real sales, you need to create a digital product that people actually want to buy.
In this blog post, we’ll focus on helping beginners get started by walking you through the entire process, from understanding your audience’s pain points to choosing the best digital product to launch. We’ll also start by recommending the easiest digital product for beginners to create: printables. They’re simple, fast to produce, and can quickly tap into existing market demand.
Ready to create a digital product that people will love and buy? Let’s get started!
Why Printables Are the Easiest Digital Product for Beginners
Before diving into the full digital product creation process, let’s start with printables — the easiest digital product to create as a beginner.
Printables are downloadable, printable items such as planners, checklists, worksheets, tracking sheets or calendars that serve a specific function or solve a particular problem. These products are incredibly versatile and can be tailored to nearly any niche. For example, you can create budget planners for those trying to manage their finances or meal planners for busy parents.
Why Printables are Perfect for Beginners:
- Low Start-Up Costs: No need for special equipment or software. Free design tools like Canva can help you get started right away.
- Quick to Create: Once you have a template or a design idea, you can create multiple variations in just a few hours.
- High Demand: Printables are popular in niches like organization, education, fitness, and personal finance. They’re especially popular on platforms like Etsy and Pinterest.
Examples of Printables:
- Daily or weekly planners
- Budget tracking sheets
- Fitness trackers
- Goal-setting worksheets
- Holiday planners
Understanding Your Audience’s Pain Points
Now that we’ve established that printables are a great starting point, let’s move on to understanding your audience. The most successful digital products solve a specific problem for a target audience. To create a digital product that people actually want to buy, you need to deeply understand their pain points.
Why Knowing Your Audience is Key
The key to creating a digital product that sells is to understand what your target audience is struggling with. For instance, if your audience consists of busy moms, they might need meal planners or chore charts. If your audience is full of entrepreneurs, they might need goal-setting worksheets or monthly budget planners. The better you understand their needs, the more likely they are to buy from you.
Tips for Understanding Your Audience’s Pain Points:
- Follow Social Media Conversations: Look at comments, posts, and questions in Facebook groups, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter) related to your niche.
- Browse Forums and Reddit: Forums are filled with questions and discussions. If you’re considering a specific printable (e.g., a fitness tracker), search for topics where users complain about their fitness tracking struggles.
- Conduct Surveys: Use free tools like Google Forms or Typeform to survey your audience. Ask questions like, “What’s your biggest challenge with managing your time?” or “What do you struggle with most when planning your meals?”
Section 3: Brainstorming the Right Printable Product Idea
Once you’ve researched your audience’s needs, it’s time to brainstorm ideas for the digital product you’re going to create. Focus on combining your skills and knowledge with the pain points you’ve identified. For printables, this process is particularly easy since you can match any specific problem with a practical solution.
Example of Brainstorming for Printables:
- If your audience is overwhelmed by financial management, you can create a monthly budget planner.
- If your audience is struggling with meal planning, you can create a weekly meal planner with sections for grocery lists and recipes.
Popular Printable Ideas:
- Financial Trackers: Budget sheets, expense logs, savings trackers.
- Productivity Planners: Daily planners, to-do lists, goal-setting templates.
- Wellness and Fitness Trackers: Water intake logs, workout sheets, or sleep trackers.
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Section 4: Creating Value With Your Printables
Why Your Printable Needs to Solve a Real Problem
Your printable must do more than look pretty; it has to solve a real problem for your audience. For example, a budget planner must not only help users track their income and expenses but also guide them toward achieving their savings goals. The more actionable your printable is, the more value it provides to your audience.
Tips for Adding Value to Your Printables:
- Functionality: Ensure your printable is easy to use and serves its purpose. Add instructions or guidelines to make it user-friendly.
- Aesthetic Appeal: People love visually appealing designs. Use simple, clean, and attractive design elements to make your printable stand out.
Section 5: Using Tools to Create Your Printables
Recommended Tools for Creating Printables
Creating printables is incredibly easy with the right tools, and many of them are free. Here are the best tools to use:
- Canva: Canva is the go-to tool for beginners. It offers templates that you can customize to create beautiful and functional printables. With drag-and-drop functionality, you can design anything from a planner to a checklist within minutes.
- Google Docs/Slides: For simpler designs, Google Docs and Slides are great for creating straightforward printables like to-do lists and planners.
- Etsy: Once your printable is ready, Etsy is one of the best platforms to sell it. Etsy’s marketplace is already full of shoppers looking for printables, so it’s a great place to get your product in front of an audience.
Section 6: Pricing Your Printables
How to Price Your Printable for Success
Pricing your printable can be tricky, but here are a few strategies that work:
- Competitive Pricing: Check out other printables in your niche on Etsy or Gumroad to see what they’re charging. Price your printable slightly lower or on par to attract early buyers.
- Bundling: Offer bundles of similar printables. For example, instead of selling a single daily planner for $5, create a bundle that includes weekly, monthly, and daily planners for $15.
- Early Bird Discounts: Offer a limited-time discount for your launch. This creates urgency and encourages more sales right out of the gate.
Section 7: Marketing Your Printable Product
Once your printable is ready, it’s time to market it! Here are the most effective ways to promote your printable:
Platforms for Marketing:
- Pinterest: Pinterest is the ideal platform for promoting printables. Create eye-catching pins with images of your product that link back to your Etsy store or website.
- Instagram: Share the benefits of your printables with a carousel post or reel. Show how your printable can solve specific problems for your audience.
- Blog Posts: Write blog posts that provide value and integrate your printables as part of the solution to the problems you’re addressing.
Creating an Effective Call-to-Action (CTA)
Make sure your marketing includes a strong call-to-action that encourages your audience to download or purchase your product.
Examples of strong CTAs:
- “Download your free planner today and take control of your schedule!”
- “Grab your complete budgeting bundle now and start saving money!”
Conclusion: You Can Create a Digital Product People Want to Buy
Creating a digital product, especially starting with printables, is not as complicated as it may seem. By understanding your audience’s pain points, brainstorming the right idea, and using the right tools to bring your product to life, you can create a digital product that people actually want to buy. The best part? You can do it without a huge investment of time or money.