Are you looking for ways to make money without already having an audience? If so, then selling digital products with a few tricks may be the perfect solution. So in this post, you’ll learn how to sell courses online and make over $100K online.
Yes, you read it right. You can make this much money or more by selling digital products like courses with no audience and investment.
There is no need to worry about things like shipping and inventory with digital products. You can create them with minimal effort and $0. Plus, you can reach a global audience with ease.
To be honest, it’s not as simple as it sounds here. But it is true, and you can do it! All you need is a tremendous amount of effort, which is worth it.
What is a Digital Product?
A digital product is a non-physical product that exists in the digital world. It can be anything from an ebook, an online course, or a software program to something that can be downloaded or accessed online.
Do Digital Products Sell?
With nearly everything available for free, it’s easy to question the viability of digital goods in selling. But the fact is that digital products do sell. They sell because they offer value that people are willing to pay for.
The customers or users buy the knowledge, time-saving, or convenience that the product offers. The free stuff may not be as organized, reliable, or comprehensive as the paid product.
For example, an ebook on “How to Sell Courses Online and Make Over $100K” may offer more value than a blog post because it should be comprehensive. And a complete video course would be more detailed than just the ebook.
Hence, people are willing to pay for it.
The great thing about digital products like courses is that there are no limits on how much you can make from selling them.
How to Sell Courses Online in 2023
Now that you know what types of digital courses are in demand let’s look at how to sell them. First, I’ll give you an idea of promoting online courses. Then, I’ll share my experience of selling them using YouTube and a blog.
1/ Brainstorm Your Ideas & Define Your Target Audience
Before you start promoting your digital product, you need to have a clear idea of what you’re selling. That means brainstorming your ideas and doing some market research.
Think about everything you could sell. Once you’ve figured that out, consider your target audience. Riches are in the niches! So niche down and define your best customers or clients.
For example, when I first started offering and promoting courses via YouTube and Udemy, I researched before starting technical Computer Science courses. And my video about IIS (Internet Information Services) still ranks number one on YouTube.
What you can do:
- Go to YouTube Keyword Tool
- Enter the primary keyword.
- And search for the right keywords to target.
The tool provides you with all the keywords related to the primary keyword. Keep repeating the process by changing the primary keyword. After that, you need to validate your ideas.
2/ Validate Your Idea
Validating your idea in the market is probably the most critical step in the journey of selling online courses. You could have the best product globally, but if there’s no demand for it, you won’t make any money.
That’s why it’s so essential to validate your idea before you start promoting your digital product.
What you can do it validate your ideas:
- Write down all the ideas.
- Assess the market size.
- Research for the search volume.
- Do a survey or interview.
- Test your product or service.
When I promote courses or any digital product on YouTube, I research it on TubeBuddy or Morningfa. me. These tools give me a clear idea about the search volume, competition, and more. For the blog, I jump on Ahrefs or SEMRush to do research.
3/ Create Your Course to Sell Online
Once you’ve validated your idea and know that there’s a demand for it, it’s time to create your digital course. Creating it can be a bit daunting, but it’s doable. And the great thing is that you don’t need to be an expert to create one.
4/ Launch An Affiliate Program
Affiliate programs are a great way to promote your digital products like courses. And the best thing is that you don’t need to spend any money on advertising. You can simply pay your affiliates a commission for every sale they make.
If you want to create an affiliate program, I recommend using Tapfiliate or Easy Affiliate plugin. These online tools make it super easy to set up an affiliate program.
Or you can also promote your digital courses on platforms like:
- ClickBank
- Impact
- ShareASale
- Podia
- SendOwl
- BigCommerce
And the list goes on.
5/ Launch Your Online Course On the Right Platforms
The most common way to sell digital products is through your website. You can create a sales page for each product and use an e-commerce platform like Shopify, WooCommerce, or Big Commerce.
This is how you can sell digital products using WooCommerce.
I created my platform,E-MMARKET Academy after I validated the potential of my courses on Udemy. So I have used third-party platforms and my website to sell my digital courses. Both have pros and cons!
6/ Drive Traffic Through Digital Marketing
You have brainstormed about a digital product, validated the idea, created it, and launched it on the right platform. So good so far! But don’t stop!
Now it’s time to start promoting your product and drive traffic to your product page. There are various digital marketing channels that you can use to promote your products:
- Email marketing.
- Influencer Marketing.
- Content marketing (YouTube, blog, podcast).
- Paid advertising (Google Ads, Quora Ads, and more).
- Social media marketing (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn).
In my case, I’ve used them all except for influencer marketing. I’ve written blogs, created YouTube videos, and run paid ads to drive traffic to my product pages.
But YouTube has been the most successful channel for me. It has allowed me to reach a wider audience and sell more courses online. But I never pushed anyone to buy my course whatsoever!
7/ Scale Your Business To Make Over $100K
Don’t just settle! Be hungry and scale your business.
I had zero dollars investment, zero subscribers on my YouTube channel, and zero viewers on my blog when I started. And now, I have made over $100K by selling online courses via YouTube and Udemy.
