Digital Products: Why they are Important to Your Brand

We all want to increase our income and be able to generate additional revenue streams. There are a lot of ways one can go about generating additional streams of income, but I wanted to share a particular strategy that I have used in part to leverage my brand.

One popular strategy is creating your own digital products. Whether you're selling digital products or giving them away for free, the key is to offer value to those who download your product.

Creating your own digital product is an indispensable skill for a successful business today. The eCommerce landscape has matured, and brands are creating their own niche market. As digital products grow even more popular, many companies are choosing to sell a digital product over physical. This is because they understand that when you create a digital product and sell it, you can do it again and again. Once the digital content is created, you can sleep and earn money online.

As an entrepreneur, one of my ventures as been Life in the Overflow Magazine. At the time, as a content creator at MediaBurst Marketing & Design, I decided to create a publication as a platform for my clients, the community, and the latest in gospel news. I published our first issue June 2010 as an eMagazine. After making it available online, we started receiving requests from our readers asking to purchase their own hardcopy, so we moved to digital and print-on-demand. This created yet another stream of passive income as I setup drop-shipping for the print publication.

Now, not only was I able to promote my clients and others in the publication, but my brand also became a premiere national media outlet.

As a small business owner, your brand is the most valuable asset you own. Yet for many entrepreneurs, building a personal brand doesn't come naturally. Without a marketing budget or outside support, it can be hard to get the ball rolling. That's where digital products come in.

The number of digital products that are being sold has increased rapidly over the past few years. There's no denying that you can make money by creating your own digital products like e-books, courses and guides.

In this era of social media and online marketing, digital products are no longer an option for marketers. According to Forbes, a top-selling product can net you $30-$40 per sale or more. Online courses earn you up to $200 per sale for front-end products and up to $1,000 per product for high-end versions. These aren't exaggerations; rather, these are numbers from reputable marketers in their fields (Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income regularly earns $35-$40 per sale).

Digital products can be a vital aspect of any online business. They are relatively easy to create, and once you've created one, it can generate passive income for years to come. This can help your business grow significantly in the long run. I recommend the following four digital products for anyone who wants to start leveraging their brand with digital products.

The internet offers us just about the most perfect channel for any business. The channel seems ideal in that it allows companies to reach their targeted audience from the comfort of their home, with the click of a button. But what's one way we can use this channel to our advantage? Why, by offering products to our target audience of course! Digital products are a great way to offer your target audience something they can immediately download and put to use. It offers them an opportunity to try your product before committing to it. The best part is that digital has never been easier; digital products don't need physical production or distribution costs which makes it virtually free for you.

In this day and age, content is power. If you have an idea and can put it into a blog post, or help someone solve a problem through a video, you're using your content to gain power. The one advantage that many bloggers and influencers have over the competition is their followers — but that's not all they have. They likely also have email lists which means they're constantly sending messages to their followers and building brand loyalty.

With the right strategy and marketing plan, you can make a lasting impression on your customers and grow your business.

Platforms like Shopify , Bigcommerce , and Squarespace have become leading e-commerce solutions, making it incredibly easy to sell a wide variety of digital and physical products online.

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Shanica L. Bell

CEO, Bella Creative Media Group/The Brand Cafe’

Host, The Brand Cafe’ Podcast