Did you know that you can sell digital products on Etsy?! People around the world are taking advantage of popular e-commerce websites to expand their businesses. If you wish to learn how to sell digital downloads on Etsy, then you’ve come to the right place. In this blog, we will cover all the ins and outs of creating digital products and selling them on Etsy.
Digital Products Popularity
Digital products are extremely popular and come in all sorts of forms. If you are interested in becoming a seller on Etsy, the first step is to make a great digital product. Digital products are opposite to physical products and are only available online as something one downloads or uses digitally, like on their laptop, computer or mobile phone.
You will love being a business owner of a digital product when compared to any other business, especially brick-and-mortar shops because you do not need to worry about inventory, rental prices and other salaries.
Here are some common digital products that do well on Etsy:
- Templates can be for pretty much anything, like resume templates, ebook templates, website designs, social media, workout plans, website designs and more. This is good for graphic designers, HR specialists, web designers, and anyone who is willing to get a little creative.
- Business cards that can be personalized for people’s businesses.
- Calendars are a great way to build beautiful organization templates that people can download and use to improve their week and month.
- Wedding invitations will always be necessary and brides and grooms-to-be can purchase designs that speak to their partnership to invite their loved ones.
- Photographs are great digital products for people that want to show off their creativity behind lenses.
- Logos for new businesses are a great product to generate income on Etsy.
- Zoom backgrounds for our ever-growing online world.
Are you still waiting to be hit with your big idea? Get inspired by my list of digital product ideas here!
How to Create Digital Products
There are a number of steps to create digital products to begin your new business.
Step 1: Complete Market Research
Market research should always be the first step. You want to find out what is performing well on Etsy, what isn’t, and what is missing! Your goal is to bring something new and exciting to the scene so that customers will be drawn in without you contributing to an already saturated space.
Step 2: Decide What Your Digital Product Will Be
With your market research information in tow, spend time determining what digital product you want to create. It should be something you feel comfortable doing, but you don’t need to be an expert in the topic, yet you should add value to the space. Remember, the more specific and unique your digital products are, the better!
Step 3: Create Your Digital Product
Step three is an exciting step—it is time to create your new product. You can use one of the following ways to make your digital product:
- Canva
Canva is an online graphic design website that makes creating digital products incredibly accessible. It is a relatively easy website to understand and the learning curve is considered low. If you don’t want to create your product completely from scratch, you can take advantage of the site’s templates that are available for a wide range of products. Canva is available with both a free and paid version. Luckily, the free version is really inclusive but if you wish to access premium graphics and certain types of files, a paid pro account will be needed.
- Adobe Illustrator
Go wild and create show-stopping designs, icons, and graphics on Adobe Illustrator on either a desktop or iPad. Adobe Illustrator is what true professional graphic designers use, so be aware that there is a pretty steep learning curve and it is not a free application.
- Hire a freelancer
If you don’t have the time or creativity, you can hire a designer to create the product for you to sell on Etsy! There are great sites such as Fiverr or UpWork where you find yourself someone who can make your vision come to life.
Step 4: Open Your Etsy Store
I am the biggest fan of Etsy—it is where I made my start and reached my success. Currently, on Etsy, it connects 81.9 million buyers to 4.36 million sellers. When done right, digital products are super popular on the site and Etsy is a trusted website that is super user-friendly with low upfront costs to be a seller.
Getting started on Etsy is straightforward. You will first want to create an Etsy shopper account. Then, find your profile and scroll down to “Sell on Etsy.” It will then take you through very intuitive prompts for becoming a seller and setting up your shop! It will ask you questions like the name of your Etsy store, and some personal details and ask you to set up your payment information.
The most effort will be completing your shop’s “About” section! Here is where you want to create hype and excitement about your product and explain your brand. Highlight what makes you stand out and ensure it is all cohesive, professional and easily understood.
Step 5: Running Your Etsy Business
After your new business page is set up on Etsy, you can then create product listings. When adding the products listing, be careful when selecting the photos and try to provide plenty of great, clear photos so that customers are clear on what you are offering.
It is also important to be mindful of the wording on your page, as Etsy works with keywords to garner attention to the page. Use an Etsy keyword research tool or free keyword research methods to find strong keywords to use.
Step 6: Marketing Your Shop
To educate others and share your wonderful product, you will need to spend time marketing your product. You can use social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok to market your Etsy digital downloads.
While I hope this blog is a great starting resource, areas such as SEO, setting up a very strong Etsy page and excellent marketing strategies are covered in extensive detail in my exclusive Digital Shop from Scratch masterclass course! Check it out today to get started in creating a top-notch Etsy page.
