How to make Money as an Artist: Digital Products

As a creative, designer, illustrator, or artist, it can be challenging to make a steady income from your passion. But, luckily, the internet has opened up a whole new world of possibilities for creatives to make money from their skills. One of the easiest and most popular ways to monetize your creativity is by selling digital products online.
I started exactly with that: Selling digital products, in my case digital scrapbooking kits, online. I didn't know a lot about digital products. I just thought it would be a great idea to have products I can sell again and again without creating them again. You see: I definitely was a greenhorn.

Me, the "Greenhorn", selling digital products 😉

What are digital products?

Digital products are creative assets that can be sold and downloaded online. Some examples of digital products include illustrations, patterns, textures, design templates, fonts, and even audio files like music or sound effects. Digital products can be sold on various platforms such as Etsy, Creative Market, or Gumroad. In case you have music you can even sell it on Apple or Amazon.

Why should you sell digital products?

Selling digital products has many advantages over other forms of monetization for creatives. Here are a few of them:

  • Passive income: Once you've created a digital product, it can be sold indefinitely, without you having to create anything new.
  • Low overhead: There are minimal costs involved in creating and selling digital products, so the profit margins can be high.
  • Reach a global audience: The internet allows you to sell your digital products to people all over the world, giving you a much wider potential customer base.
  • Flexibility: You can create and sell digital products on your own schedule, which allows you to have more control over your work-life balance.

    • How to sell digital products

    Selling digital products is relatively straightforward, but it does require some effort on your part. Here are some steps to follow:

  • Choose a platform: There are many online marketplaces where you can sell your digital products, such as Etsy, Creative Market, DesignCuts, DesignBundles, TheHungryJPG or Gumroad (and many more). Each platform has its own requirements and fee structures, so do your research to find the best fit for your needs.
    You can of course also sell your digital products on your website or find niche specific stores where you can sell them. For example: I still sell my digital scrapbooking kits at MyMemories, a website with a scrapbooking software also selling digital scrapbooking kits.
  • Create your digital product: Choose a product that you think will be popular with your target audience, and create it using your preferred design software. Make sure that your product is of high quality and visually appealing. What sounds like a quick process in these two sentences is definitely not. Do your research and take your time. What do you like? What do you use? What do you want to sell to ask just a few questions you should keep in mind.
    We talk more about that in the Safari Lounge Designer Classes.
  • Upload your product: Once you've created your digital product, you'll need to upload it to your chosen platform. Be sure to include a detailed description and clear images of your product. Also keep in mind that each platform has its own requirements for sizes, files, packaging and so on. So my recommendation is: Focus on one platform and move to a second one much later.
  • Set a price: Consider the time and effort it took to create your digital product when setting your price. You'll also want to research the prices of similar products on the platform you've chosen. My tip: Don't sell your products too cheap. It's much easier to set a sale and give your customers a percentage off when you have a scope.
  • Promote your product: Once your digital product is listed, you'll need to promote it to your target audience. You can do this by sharing it on social media, running ads, or collaborating with influencers in your niche. And: Make sure that you do not just do it once. Promote it again and again and use your digital products to show your potential customers what you can do with it.

    • From my Experience

    While reading the article you can already find some tips and tricks I included from a lot of frustration I felt from creating digital products as well as my experience from selling my own and those of my designers.
    Don't think it's super easy to sell digital products. You do not sit down, throw a digital product together and sell it on Etsy or a similar platform. It's more that you need to think who you create this product for and what people should and can do with it.
    And once done it's even better to do it with the product yourself. Show others that you use your product, that's pretty important.
    So yes, selling digital products can be a lucrative business model - even selling digital scrapbooking kits was - but you need to do your homework first and figure who you are designing for.
    Also keep in mind that selling digital products is like nearly any other income model for artists not passive in a way that you do not need to do anything anymore forever.
    Yes, once you have the product ready, once you have shown it to your audience and advertised it you can move to the next one. But to create a steady income you wether need to create new products in a specific time frame or advertise what you have again and again. This is how you make sure that people don't forget you.

    Conclusion

    Selling digital products is an excellent way for creatives to monetize their skills and make a steady income - not completely passive but somehow. With minimal overhead and a global potential customer base, it's a low-risk way to start earning money from your passion. So, why not give it a try and see where it takes you?

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