5 High-Demand Digital Products Being Sold Online for a Quick Profit

Before the pandemic many Americans had already taken on a "side hustle" trying to make ends meet. Nearly half reported having a second job or a product they were selling to generate more income. The financial strain on families and uncertainty about the future caused by COVID-19 has increased those numbers among creative individuals. Many are selling their digital products online and making a very nice second income.

You too can enhance your income by using your talent or hobby to create a very profitable side hustle. Here are five high-demand digital products that are quickly selling online and making a nice second income for their creators:

1. eBooks

If you consider yourself a good writer and have an important idea or story to share, use your skills to write eBooks and sell them online.
What are eBooks? They are digital publications with content that ranges from marketing pieces to promote a business to personal stories and novels.

Why offer ebooks for sale? If you’re a good writer, you can make a very generous second income by selling your work online. Topics of interest to potential readers are virtually unlimited, which means that writing and publishing eBooks is an excellent option for you.
Also, there is no requirement that says you have to confine yourself to one genre.

Furthermore, eBooks cost little or nothing to produce. There is no need for writers to purchase expensive software or tools to create an eBook. All that’s needed is the ability to write well and to convert the writings into a downloadable file, which is typically a PDF. Therefore, the cost to publish an eBook is basically the author’s time.

Most eBooks are priced anywhere from $2.99 to $9.99, so if you price your book right and take advantage of a large online audience, you can quickly make money. In fact, the sale of eBooks is generating $1.02 billion a year, and self-published authors are responsible for half the sales.

Tips for selling eBooks:

• You don’t necessarily have to sell your book on Amazon. Consider your other options because this company will take a huge cut of your royalties. By directly offering your eBook for sale on your own website you maintain full control and keep your profits.
• Consider creating a whole series of eBooks. This way you can generate a continuous income stream with serialized content that your existing audience is interested in reading.
• Before launching your eBook, you need to come up with an effective marketing strategy to maximize revenue. Make sure that your audience will be able to find and purchase your eBook. A book funnel can be a very effective marketing technique for generating leads and eBook sales if done right.

2. Music

Rather than featuring your music on YouTube, letting people listen to it for free, you can make money selling your music online.
You can put your music on MP3 files or format them on wav, so your fans can enjoy your music and others can use it when they need royalty-free music for their audio/visual projects.

Why offer your music for sale? There is a huge market out there for music that can be digitally downloaded. In fact, the revenue generated from digital music is expected to reach nearly $7 million in 2020. This market mostly consists of music lovers looking for new tunes and content creators who are always looking for royalty-free tracks for their projects.

Talented singer/songwriters and musicians are selling their songs or sound clips and loops online to many types of buyers at good prices. If you have a passion for music and want to share yours with a wide audience, there is no reason why you shouldn’t make money at this.

Tips for singer/songwriters and musicians:

• Create your own website for selling your music. Otherwise, third-party middlemen will grab a large percentage of your profits. For example, iTunes claims about 30%, which can hinder your potential for success.
• You will need to do some market research to figure out how to approach your pricing. The question is whether to charge for every download or to perhaps offer a monthly subscription. To determine which way to go It’s important that you understand your audience and their buying patterns.

3. eLearning Courses

If you are an expert in a given field, creating a course, and selling it online can be a great way to make additional income.
There are a couple of ways you can do this. You can create a video of yourself teaching the class and sell it as a downloaded. Or you can teach your class live at a predetermined time via video conference.

Why offer your class(es) for sale? The pandemic has greatly impacted the education sector, probably more than most other industries. The result is that eLearning, which had already become very popular, will continue to be in high demand.

This means that instructors have a very unique money-making opportunity, especially since the education market across the world is expected to reach nearly $320 billion by 2025. Because it is very difficult to safely conduct in-person classes, students and hobbyists are looking for ways to learn online. Furthermore, there is no end to the possibilities for course content.

Tips for instructors:

• To increase profits, bundle your course with additional downloadable material, like an eBook on the same subject.
• Prices for online courses vary widely. Keep track of how much time you’re investing in creating your course and make sure that the price you set reflects this.

4. Social Media Presets

Due to COVID-19 people are rarely traveling and meeting up in person. But all across the world people are using social media more than ever in reaching out to loved ones, friends, colleagues, and others. If you’re artistic with a talent for design, you can make a nice second income selling social media presets online to content creators.

What are social media presets? Artists and graphic designers are using Adobe’s Lightroom for creating “presets,” which are pre-made filters. Filmmakers, photographers, and influencers use these in creating their imagery and they’re quite prevalent on social media.

Why offer your presets for sale? There continues to be a growing demand for high-quality imagery on social media. According to a Harris Poll conducted last year, about half of all adults in the U.S. had increased their use of social media since the pandemic started.

It’s true that social media influencers in the fashion and travel industries have been adversely affected by the pandemic. However, business has never been better for influencers in the fitness, healthcare, and food industries. These influencers are always searching for great looking high-quality presets to maintain their output on social media.

On the other hand, if you happen to be an influencer and would like to add another income stream, you may want to consider selling the presets you’ve created for your own use to others online.

Tips for selling presets:

• Bundle your presets into specific themes, so users can avoid searching through every single filter before making their purchase.
• Determine who your target customer is and price your presets accordingly. Some will have no trouble spending more than $100 for a themed bundle, while others may be on a very limited budget.
• Create your own website for selling your presets. If you offer them on an online marketplace like Adobe Add-ons or Etsy, you’ll need to abide by their terms, which can change unexpectedly.

5. Photography

If your hobby is photography and you have a treasure trove of interesting photos you can sell them online as digital downloads.
What is the demand? Marketers and content creators are always on the lookout for royalty-free photography and art enthusiasts and decorators are searching online for fine art.

Why offer your photos for sale? There’s a huge market out there for commercial photography as well as fine art. In fact, the global market for digital photography is expected to reach nearly $49 billion this year. If you have a talent for photography, why not claim your share?

Web designers, content creators and online marketers are constantly searching for high-quality images in the form of non-stock photos. If you own a high-end digital camera and you consider yourself a talented photographer, you can make a nice income selling your photos. The average cost of one stock photo is anywhere from $1 to $15. How many downloads you generate will determine how much money you make.

Tips for selling your photos:

• It’s important that you price your photos based on their quality and how unique your photos are compared to others. Buyers will always pay a premium for photos of incredibly high-quality.
• The only way you’ll be able to determine how to price your photos is by doing some market research. Your choices are to charge for each downloaded photo or via a monthly subscription. It’s important that you understand your target customers and their buying patterns before you choose your strategy.

Which digital product will you sell?

There is no better time than now to use your talent to create an ongoing revenue stream. Whether you are a talented writer, musician, artist, or photographer you can BI3 - Online Shopping Mall. If you have expertise in a particular field, why not share your expertise by creating valuable eLearning courses to sell online?