How To Start a Business for $0 in 2024 Selling Digital Products

Summary

In this informative video, Aurelius guides viewers on launching a digital product business with minimal investment. He emphasizes the simplicity of starting and introduces free tools like Ubersuggest and Semrush for niche and keyword research. The script details creating digital products, such as eBooks, using Canva and outlines strategies for selling them on platforms like Gumroad and Payhip. Aurelius also stresses the importance of consistent content creation across social media to build an audience and drive sales.

Takeaways

• 🚀 Start a digital product business with minimal investment, focusing on creating original products rather than dropshipping or affiliate marketing.
• 🔍 Conduct basic research to identify a niche and potential products using free tools like Ubersuggest to gauge search volume and monetization potential.
• 📈 Analyze search volume, SEO difficulty, and cost per click to assess the viability and competition level of a niche.
• 🛠️ Use additional tools like Semrush and vidIQ for comprehensive keyword research and to find inspiration for digital products or content.
• 📊 Consider Google Trends to evaluate the long-term sustainability and interest in a niche over time.
• 🎯 Look at existing marketplaces like Udemy to understand what products are selling and what content might be in demand.
• 📝 Create digital products such as eBooks using tools like Canva, starting from templates and customizing to fit your vision.
• 💻 Utilize AI tools like ChatGPT for assistance in generating content ideas or outlines, like a table of contents for an eBook.
• 🛍️ Choose a platform to sell digital products, with options like Gumroad, Payhip, and Lemon Squeezy each having their own fee structures and features.
• 📈 Promote your products through consistent content creation on platforms that resonate with your target audience and where you feel comfortable producing content.
• 🔗 Incorporate calls to action in your content that direct potential customers to your product listings, using link-in-bio strategies or video descriptions.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the video by Aurelius?

The main topic of the video is a step-by-step process to start a digital product business for $0, focusing on creating your own products like eBooks and courses, rather than drop shipping or affiliate marketing.

What is the first step Aurelius suggests in starting an online business?

The first step Aurelius suggests is to do some basic research to identify the niche and potential products to sell online, using tools like Ubersuggest by Neil Patel for keyword research.

Why is Ubersuggest a good starting tool for research according to the video?

Ubersuggest is a good starting tool because it's free with limitations, allowing beginners to perform basic keyword research without any cost, and it provides insights like search volume, SEO difficulty, and cost per click.

What does the video suggest about the importance of search volume in keyword research?

The video suggests that search volume is crucial as it indicates how many times a particular term is searched for per month, giving an idea of the demand and interest in the niche.

How does the video address the concern of monetizing a passion-based business idea?

The video acknowledges the concern but emphasizes the importance of research to validate the monetization potential of a passion-based business idea.

What alternative tools does the video mention for keyword research besides Ubersuggest?

The video mentions Semrush, vidIQ, and Google Trends as alternative tools for keyword research, each with their unique features and capabilities.

What is the significance of the cost per click (CPC) in the video's context?

The significance of CPC in the video's context is that it indicates the competitiveness and profitability of a keyword or term; higher CPC suggests more advertisers are willing to pay more for clicks, indicating a potentially profitable niche.

What is the purpose of using Google Trends in the research phase as discussed in the video?

Google Trends is used to analyze the search interest over time for a particular keyword, helping to understand the trend and sustainability of a niche, which is important for long-term planning.

How does the video suggest using the Udemy platform for research?

The video suggests looking at Udemy to see what courses are being offered in the niche, how many students have enrolled, and the curriculum of successful courses, which can provide insights into what products or content might be successful.

What is the video's stance on the necessity of creating content for promoting a digital product?

The video emphasizes that creating content is essential for promoting a digital product, as it helps build an audience and trust, which are crucial for sales. It also mentions that content creation is a cost-effective strategy that requires consistency and patience.

What platforms for selling digital products does the video discuss?

The video discusses Gumroad, Payhip, and Lemon Squeezy as platforms for selling digital products, each with different features and fee structures.

What advice does the video give regarding the selection of platforms to sell digital products?

The video advises against spreading efforts across multiple platforms like Gumroad, Payhip, and Lemon Squeezy. Instead, it recommends choosing one platform to focus on and directing the audience there.

What is the role of AI in the content creation process as mentioned in the video?

The video mentions AI, specifically ChatGPT, as a tool to assist in content creation, such as generating ideas for a table of contents, when one is stuck for ideas or needs assistance.

How does the video describe the process of creating an eBook using Canva?

The video describes the process as starting with logging into a Canva account, searching for document templates, selecting one, customizing it with images and text, and then downloading the final product as a PDF.

What is the video's perspective on the importance of taking the first step in starting an online business?

The video emphasizes that taking the first step is crucial, as it sets the momentum for the subsequent steps. It advises against overcomplicating the process and encourages action over procrastination.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 Starting a Digital Product Business for $0

Aurelius introduces a step-by-step guide to starting a digital product business with minimal investment. The focus is on creating original products like eBooks and courses, rather than drop shipping or affiliate marketing. The video promises to share tools for beginners to set up their online business without the need for extensive resources. The importance of taking action and not getting overwhelmed with the process is emphasized. The first step is basic research to identify a niche and potential products, leveraging free tools like Ubersuggest by Neil Patel to gauge search volume, SEO difficulty, and monetization potential.

05:02

🔍 Conducting Keyword Research for Digital Products

This paragraph delves into the importance of keyword research for digital products, using tools like Ubersuggest, Semrush, and vidIQ to analyze search volumes, keyword ideas, and related terms. It discusses the significance of search volume as an indicator of market interest and the use of Google Trends to assess the sustainability and longevity of a niche. The paragraph also touches on the value of observing social media platforms for audience insights and the competitive landscape on marketplaces like Udemy.

10:05

📚 Creating Digital Products Using Canva

The speaker demonstrates how to create an ebook using Canva, starting with selecting a template and customizing it with images and text. They mention the availability of both free and premium templates and the process of replacing placeholders with original content. The paragraph highlights the ease of use of Canva and the ability to create visually appealing products with minimal design skills. It also suggests using AI tools like ChatGPT for assistance in generating content ideas, such as a table of contents for an ebook.

15:08

🛍️ Choosing the Right Platform to Sell Digital Products

The paragraph discusses various platforms for selling digital products, such as Gumroad, Payhip, and Lemon Squeezy. It compares their fees, features, and the ease of use, highlighting the importance of selecting a single platform to focus marketing efforts. It also addresses the misconception that uploading products to multiple platforms will automatically increase sales, stressing the need for consistent marketing and promotion.

20:08

📈 Promoting and Selling Digital Products Through Content Creation

The final paragraph emphasizes the necessity of content creation for promoting digital products. It outlines strategies for using Instagram, YouTube, and other platforms to build an audience and trust, which can lead to sales. The speaker shares personal experiences with YouTube, discussing the evergreen nature of video content and the use of tools like vidIQ for keyword research. The paragraph concludes by stressing the importance of taking the first step in the ideation and research process, as the subsequent steps will follow more naturally.

25:12

👋 Conclusion and Call to Action

In the concluding paragraph, the speaker summarizes the video's content, encouraging viewers to take the first step in starting their digital product business. They invite viewers to like the video if they found it helpful and provide additional resources and tools in the description box. The speaker also suggests other relevant videos for further learning and ends with a friendly sign-off.

Keywords

💡Digital Product Business

A digital product business refers to a commercial venture that sells products in a digital format, such as eBooks, online courses, or software. In the video's context, the host is guiding viewers on how to start such a business with minimal to no initial investment, emphasizing creating original products rather than engaging in drop shipping or affiliate marketing.

💡Content Creator

A content creator is an individual or entity that generates various forms of content meant for consumption, such as articles, videos, podcasts, or graphics. In the script, the host mentions content creators as one of the target groups for the video, implying that their skills in content creation can be leveraged to produce digital products for sale online.

💡Niche

In marketing, a niche refers to a targeted, specific segment of the market that has particular needs or interests. The video script encourages viewers to identify a niche for their digital products based on their passions, hobbies, interests, or skills, and to use research tools to validate the market demand for their potential offerings.

💡Ubersuggest

Ubersuggest is a free online tool by Neil Patel designed for keyword research, helping users find popular search terms and assess SEO competition. The script mentions it as a starting point for basic research on potential digital products, indicating its utility for gauging search volume and monetization potential.

💡SEO Difficulty

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Difficulty refers to the competitiveness and effort required to rank high in search engine results for a specific keyword or phrase. The video script explains that beginners can initially disregard SEO difficulty when researching, as it's not the primary focus in the early stages of starting a digital product business.

💡Cost Per Click (CPC)

Cost Per Click is the amount an advertiser pays each time a user clicks on their advertisement. In the script, CPC is highlighted as an indicator of keyword profitability and competitive intensity, suggesting that higher CPC values may indicate a more lucrative but competitive niche.

💡Semrush

Semrush is a comprehensive digital marketing tool that offers various services, including search volume data and keyword ideas. The video script positions Semrush as another keyword research tool that can provide insights into global search volumes and related keyword suggestions to help in the product creation process.

💡vidIQ

vidIQ is a YouTube analytics tool that helps users discover popular video topics and optimize their content for better visibility on the platform. The host of the video recommends vidIQ for gathering ideas on YouTube topics and titles, emphasizing its role in identifying high-search-volume keywords for digital products.

💡Google Trends

Google Trends is a tool that shows the popularity of search queries in Google Search over time. The script describes using Google Trends to analyze the search interest in a keyword like 'callisthenics' over the past five years, providing insights into the sustainability and potential longevity of a niche.

💡Ebook

An ebook, or electronic book, is a digital version of a traditional print book that can be read on electronic devices. The video script discusses creating an ebook as one form of digital product, demonstrating the process of designing and producing an ebook using Canva, a graphic design platform.

💡Gumroad

Gumroad is an online platform that allows creators to sell their digital products, such as ebooks and online courses, directly to consumers. The script mentions Gumroad as one of the platforms for selling digital products, noting its ease of use but also its transaction fees.

💡Payhip

Payhip is a competitor to Gumroad, offering a platform for selling digital products with a different fee structure and additional customization options for the store. The video script compares Payhip with Gumroad, highlighting its lower transaction fees and store builder features.

💡Lemon Squeezy

Lemon Squeezy is another platform for selling digital products, with a simple fee structure and a focus on handling payments and sales tax compliance. The script introduces Lemon Squeezy as an alternative to Gumroad and Payhip, noting its status as a merchant of record and its payout frequency.

💡Consistency

Consistency in content creation refers to the regular production and sharing of content to maintain audience engagement and grow a following. The video script emphasizes the importance of consistency, especially on platforms like Instagram and YouTube, to nurture an audience that may eventually become customers.

💡YouTube SEO

YouTube SEO refers to the practice of optimizing video content to rank higher in YouTube's search results, increasing visibility and reach. The script discusses using tools like vidIQ for keyword research to improve YouTube SEO, which can indirectly promote digital products by driving traffic to the creator's offerings.

Highlights

Aurelius introduces a step-by-step guide to starting a digital product business with minimal investment.

The video focuses on creating original digital products rather than dropshipping or affiliate marketing.

Content creators, coaches, and online sellers can benefit from the strategies shared for digital products like eBooks and courses.

Beginners are advised against overcomplicating the process of starting an online business.

Aurelius shares the exact tools needed to start a business for $0, emphasizing simplicity and action.

Basic research is crucial, and Ubersuggest by Neil Patel is recommended for niche and product idea validation.

The importance of search volume in indicating market interest for a potential product is discussed.

SEO difficulty and cost per click are analyzed to gauge the competitiveness and profitability of a niche.

Stemrush and vidIQ are introduced as tools for keyword research and YouTube content ideas.

Google Trends is highlighted as an underrated tool for understanding the long-term viability of a niche.

Marketplace research on platforms like Udemy provides insights into existing successful courses and audience interest.

Social media analysis, including comments, is recommended to identify audience challenges and demands.

The creation phase involves using tools like Canva to design eBooks and other digital products.

AI assistance, such as ChatGPT, can help generate content ideas like table of contents for eBooks.

Gumroad, Payhip, and Lemon Squeezy are compared as platforms for selling digital products, each with its own fee structure.

The importance of not spreading efforts across multiple selling platforms is emphasized for focus and simplicity.

Content creation on platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and Medium is crucial for audience building and product promotion.

Consistency and patience in content creation are key to building trust and eventually driving sales.

Aurelius concludes by encouraging viewers to take the first step in their digital product business journey.

Transcripts

- Hey y'all, it's Aurelius.

Welcome back to the channel.

All right, so in this video you are going

to learn a step-by-step process

to starting your very own digital product business for $0

and next to nothing.

So what you'll be learning are the steps

so that you can set up your own online business.

And we're not talking so much about things

like drop shipping and affiliate marketing,

but more so creating your own products.

So if you're a content creator, a coach,

or someone who wants to simply sell products online

and in a digital form such as eBooks

and courses, then this video is for you.

In many cases that I see beginners seem to overcomplicate

and overwhelm themselves on the process

of starting an online business when in fact

you can get started for next to nothing, $0,

and I'll be sharing the exact tools

that you can get started with in this video.

But don't get overwhelmed with thinking

that you need everything and all your ducks lined up

to get started because the process really is simple,

it's just a matter of taking action.

So with that said, let's get started.

Okay, the very first step you are going to wanna take

is to do some basic research.

You wanna have an idealise, of what niche you're going

to enter and what products you could potentially sell online

and to your audience.

I assume that you already know what your passions, hobbies,

interests, or skills are,

because that's a good starting point in terms of

what niche you'll be entering.

And some people may say, don't go for something

that is based on your passion

because it might not be monetizable.

That's where the research comes in, of course.

But a good starting ground

and a good tool to start with is Ubersuggest by Neil Patel

and it's free with limitations.

And just like all of these free tools,

there are limitations.

And if you do want more results, for instance,

like with Ubersuggest, then you are going to upgrade.

But for the most part, you are just going

to use the basic options and results that it gives you.

So what I've started with is callisthenics for beginners.

And if you don't what callisthenics is,

it's a form of working out, right?

It's a way to work out using your body weight,

but that's what it is.

And what I've searched for is callisthenics for beginners,

and I've chosen English

and location United States since for the most part,

this is what my market is.

And you do a simple search.

What you'll be given are the search results

such as search volume.

You've got SEO difficulty, pay difficulty

and costs per click.

But what you wanna look at is the search volume,

and this is per month.

And it saying that there's 6,600 searches per month,

which is average, and that gives you an indication as to

how high, moderate or low a particular search term is.

For SEO difficulty, you can ignore this

because you are not going to so much set up a website

and then have that ranked up.

That's icing on the cake.

But we're not so much gonna focus on that

because SEO does take quite a number of months

to start seeing results, paid difficulties

where the ads show on Google

and it's showing how difficult it is compared to, you know,

if you are going to have enter a niche where there are lots

of advertisers for a particular keyword

or key term, then that's where this is indicated.

And it's saying easy because not many advertisers

are advertising and targeting these keywords,

does give you indication in terms of the viability

on how monetizable it is as well.

And cost per click, this is how much advertisers are willing

to pay for per click.

And the higher it is, the more competitive it is.

And this does give you an indication as to

how profitable a keyword or key term is.

The more higher, the more difficult it is

and the more it's going to cost you.

Because advertisers know that in order to gain a lead

that's going to cost them X amount,

but that'll convert into let's say a $100.

So if they're only paying, let's say $5

and then that converts to a $100,

then that's a good return on investment, right?

So people in the niche of finance, crypto,

all that that's high costs a lot of money to advertise for,

that's where the difficulty lies at,

how competitive a particular niche or key term may be.

But not to overwhelm you, you don't need

to look at all these finer details.

I think the biggest thing you need

to look at is the search volume.

This gives you an indication, you wanna see that

at least some people are searching for

what you wanna create.

This is a product, let's say an ebook

or an online course that I wanna create

called callisthenics for beginners,

or I wanna create an online course targeting beginners

in the callisthenics community.

Another tool you can use

to do some keyword research is called Semrush.

And this one also gives you the search volume

and they do use their own backend system

and algorithm to give you these types of results.

So it may not be consistent,

everything's laid out differently as you can see compared

to Ubersuggest.

So it really depends what kind of layout you like as well.

And it shows you the volume based on

geographical location as well as global.

So globally, callisthenics for beginners

get searched 15.6 K times per month.

It also gives you keyword ideas.

So based on these keywords, people are also searching

for callisthenics workout plan for beginners.

So if you could create something like a workout plan,

that would be ideal because it still gets searched.

Another tool you could use,

but more focused on YouTube search results is vidIQ.

I've been using this for many years

to gather ideas on YouTube topics and titles

and things like that, and it's been a game changer

all because of vidIQ.

So for instance, you could use the keyword tool,

enter the keyword,

so I've just entered callisthenics for beginners once again,

and you'll see the keyword results as well

as related keywords.

And you'll see the search volume.

So callisthenics for beginners on YouTube

get searched over 255,000 times.

You'll also be able to see related keywords,

so anything related to callisthenics for beginners,

like learn callisthenics

or how to start callisthenics for beginners,

at home workouts, body weight training,

callisthenics exercises.

And again, this gives you more ideas on what kind

of articles, content pieces even,

and an online course you could create.

And by the way, vidIQ is the exception.

It is a paid tool, however you can sign up for free,

but get limited results.

However, if you want full results like what you see here

with all the keywords and ideas,

then you can use the dedicated page below

and there's a link in the description box

so that you can get a full 30 day trial of the premium plan.

This is called the boost plan for just $1.

So $1 is all you need to pay to get full access

to the boost plan that gives you full 30 days of access.

Now if you do sign up, you can get results,

you can use all the other tools as well.

Enter the keywords that you want.

For me, at least with my YouTube channel,

vidIQ is a good starting ground

and a starting point to give me ideas

and topics to talk about.

But in our case, we are looking to create offers

such as online courses, eBooks, and other digital products.

But again, this is just a good starting ground.

Another free research tool,

and one that I feel is underrated is Google Trends.

So Google Trends, how it works is you enter a search term,

what I've put in is callisthenics.

So we're talking of a keyword that has a more broader sense

so that I can see the actual trend of callisthenics.

I've made sure to select worldwide as opposed

to a geographical location

and in the past five years so that I can see the trend

and where it's gone from the starting point

all the way to date.

And based on this graph, it is on a incline trend.

It's not so much like a crazy hype trend,

but it's consistent, right?

So this is a niche that I could say to myself,

it's sustainable, it's long term,

there's good longevity in this niche

if I want to enter it.

You could also compare it to something like home workout.

Let's do a quick search

and you'll see interest over time, home workout,

the search term, at least has more interests

than callisthenics.

So people on Google last searching for home workout

as opposed to callisthenics,

but it does give you, again, a good indication on the trend.

Alright, another way to do some research is

to look at the marketplace,

look on places like Udemy if you wanna create

online courses and sell online courses.

In this case, I search for callisthenics

and was brought to this,

how to start callisthenics for beginners.

And this callisthenics instructor has been selling this

and has 1,599 students who have enrolled and bought this.

So it gives you an indication as to, yeah,

people are interested in this, they are buying it,

and this is the course curriculum

and the contents that he's got in his course.

Down below you'll see other related courses,

and right here it says, "Students also bought,"

"Bodyweight Workout" and there's like 11,290 students

that took this and that's a high number right there.

I mean, you do the math, this is in Australian dollars,

but US is about something like 35 US dollars, you know,

multiply that by 11,290, not exactly sure,

but yeah, you go ahead and work it out.

So this instructor with this particular online course

has sold 11,290 times as you saw,

but if I go to his profile, you can see

that overall he's got over 72,000 students

from his six courses.

Other ways to do some research is to do the obvious,

and that is to simply look online,

look on social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok,

you know, you've got Threads now too, as well as

of course YouTube, look in particular at the comments

that people are placing on those videos that are related

to your topic, niche, whatever you wanna create.

And that gives you a very good indication in terms of

what people are struggling with, what their challenges are,

what they're asking, and the demand.

If people are liking that particular comment,

that gives you an indication that other people

have that issue, that problem, or that question.

So don't rely so much on using these keyword tools,

which is a good starting point,

but it's all based on metrics and analytics.

At the end of the day, you will be selling to humans

and the people and the audience on these platforms.

Hopefully by now I've given you the resources

and tools to do some proper research

before moving on to the next step.

And I hope that you can see the importance

of doing the proper research and planning,

because if you don't do it, then you are going

to go, basically, go ahead blindly.

All right, step two is the creation phase.

And you wanna create, based on the research

that you did in the previous step, if you are going

to create a course on callisthenics for beginners

for instance, and you have kind of validated that

and you're thinking, yeah, this is a product

that I wanna create,

this is an ebook I wanna create in particular,

then you can move on to the next step.

And what I'll be showing you is

how to create an ebook in Canva.

I'm not going to go through every single step.

I've got a tonne of videos

on how to actually create one in Canva.

I'll link it all up in description box below for that

so you can go through it step by step.

But what I wanna show you is once you log into

your Canva account,

you do a simple search for document, right?

So we'll search for document

and what you'll see is an option to click on documents

and this will bring you to the document templates.

This sometimes does come under A4 document

and also US letter size.

So it depends what size you want,

there's no one size fits all,

and you can lay out your ebook in an A4 format

or a US letter size.

You could even do it in a landscape.

It really depends what you are trying

to illustrate in your ebook.

If you have images that need to be, you know,

landscape format, then yeah, look for a landscape document

instead right here.

But this is where we can begin

and select a template to our liking.

Do note that there are some paid templates here indicated

with the little crown icon showing PRO,

but feel free to look

through the other templates which may interest you.

And if you hover over some of them, you'll see the contents

of those templates.

Even if you look at a template

and you're saying, "Oh yeah, it's not to my aesthetics,

not to my liking."

Then you could still use it

and it's a good foundation to start with.

So let's say we like this one here.

I'll click once, click on customise this template.

We can start by replacing the image.

So we could go to photos,

and if you don't see photos, you just need

to add the Photos app to the navigation on the left here.

So simply search for photos or find it right here

and that'll place it right here.

I'm going to search for callisthenics so we can see

what images come up.

Do note there are some paid photos as well indicated

with the crown icon once again,

but if you take a look at this one here, it doesn't.

So what you can easily do is just drag

and drop the photo to the existing and that'll replace it.

And the rest is pretty simple.

Replace anything you do want to edit,

and in most cases you will need to,

so we'll say callisthenics and we'll say, for beginners,

and you can of course just replace

or resize the text so that it fits

or is aligned the way you want,

something like that.

And you could go

and play around with different font styles

depending on the look that you want.

Instead of the URL down here, I can just put

by the author name, which is, you know,

I'll just put in my name here, continue with the rest

of the pages, filling in the details, replacing the photos,

and you can create the ebook the way you want.

If I'm creating a callisthenics workout plan

and I wanna show people how to actually do the move,

I can simply use one of these pages

and let's say how to do a handstand

and this is what I want to teach them.

So it's as simple as that.

And changing the title as well,

HOW TO HANDSTAND, all right?

And just replacing or more so resizing

and then putting the image right there

and then putting the instructions on what to do.

So in this case we've got step one, do this or that,

and we're gonna progress from handstand doing

certain exercises to get to that goal.

But if you want a comprehensive step by step tutorial

on how to create an ebook,

again, do look in the description box below

where there are a few resources for you to go through.

I do wanna point out that we do have AI, in this case,

we've got ChatGPT to assist us if you ever need assistance

on let's say coming up with a table of contents.

So I could very easily go into ChatGPT

and say, you know, I want to give them an idea in terms

of what I'm creating.

So I am creating a callisthenics ebook for beginners.

Could you provide an example table of contents.

In a realistic scenario,

I would go into more detail

so that ChatGPT will give me a better result

for my table of contents.

But let's just use this in this example,

and here's what it's coming up with for me.

So callisthenics for beginners,

and we've got introduction, understanding,

setting up your workout routine,

essential exercises and more.

So this is pretty good starting ground,

and we can play around with this of course,

and with anything that AI produces,

I would definitely customise it and not just leave it as is.

So feel free to use AI to your advantage.

Use it whenever you're stuck with content or ideas.

And the last thing you wanna do is put everything on a halt.

And because if something is stopping you,

then it's not a good thing, right?

You wanna continue going and keeping the momentum going.

But once you're done with your product, it's a matter

of downloading the guide

and there's an option to click on download

and you wanna select PDF as an option as opposed to PNG

of image and then click on Download

and that's the product creation phase.

All right, so step three is the platform to use

to sell your digital product.

And in this case, I'm going to first start with Gumroad

as one of the most obvious ones.

Now, the downfall right off the bat is that

they do charge a 10% fee, flat fee it is,

on top of the fees that they charge for PayPal

and Stripe use and the payment processing fee.

So it's about 3% from my understanding.

So you are gonna pay something like 13% at the end

of the day for every single sale that you make.

So something important to keep in mind,

especially if you are going for volume

and if you're thinking that if you're doing

a product launch, you're going to make

a large amount of sales,

then yeah, that's something to consider.

But I will say the interface is really easy

and intuitive to use.

You simply enter your product name, select what type

of product you're creating, such as a digital product,

course or ebook, set your price,

and then go through the other steps later on.

In addition, Gumroad does feature this kind of marketplace,

which they call Discover.

And your product could be potentially featured here

and recommended whenever someone purchases

a similar product, but there's no guarantee at the end

of the day you still need to do the marketing and selling

and promoting of your own product

because they're not just going to feature right here

where it says recommended for you or staff picks.

You do need to at least make a couple of sales to show that,

yeah, this is a legit product

and there are some criteria that you actually need

to meet in order to get your product listed

in the Gumroad Discover marketplace.

Okay, the next platform

where you can host your product is on Payhip,

Payhip's, very similar, it's actually a competitor

to Gumroad.

The difference is with the features of course,

and it's pricing where it's less.

So you're only going to pay 5% transaction fee in addition

to the PayPal and or Stripe fee that they charge.

So you're looking at about 8% fee per sale,

otherwise you could upgrade to one of its monthly plans,

saving you on the transaction fee.

So 2% versus 5% or the Pro being no transaction fee,

but you still need to pay the PayPal/Stripe fee.

The interface is simple as well to use

and you select what you wanna sell such as

a digital product or course,

and the process is very similar.

You upload the product, in this case we created an ebook.

You upload that product file that PDF file,

complete the rest of the details,

adding your product image into your description

and publish your product.

What I do like about Payhip versus Gumroad is

that they've got this flexible store builder,

so you can customise your store to your liking, just like

what you see here on the left is where you can control

the products that show.

You can also change the header.

You've got the footer add a different section,

as well as different pages on your Payhip store.

So you've got a collections page, you've got different pages

that you can also create.

So if you've got an About Me page, you can create that here.

You can even change the store style going

from different colours, fonts, buttons,

and other elements on your page,

as well as different themes as well.

I can click on Switch to another theme

and go from this default one to one of these other ones

as you can see.

Another platform you could use is called Lemon Squeezy.

Their pricing is similar to Payhip's, whereas 5%,

but there's just a simple 50 cent per transaction fee

as opposed to that 2.9 fee that PayPal and Stripe adds.

The product process is a lot simpler

and there's not much flexibility.

And that's one of the cons of using Lemon Squeezy.

Enter the product name, give it a little description,

which is quite limited and you can't really do much

in terms of formatting.

You can bold things, you can make italics, things like that,

but that's about it.

And choose your pricing

and a few other things like adding your PDF file right here.

But what I do like about Lemon Squeeze is that

they are considered a merchant of record,

meaning they are resellers

of your product and they handle all the payments

and that's what they heavily focus on,

fully automated sales tax compliance.

So they handle the tax based on your customer's location

and their tax regulation, any disputes,

chargebacks and things like that,

Lemon Squeezy takes care of.

Lemon Squeezy does hold your funds

and they pay out every two weeks, so twice a month.

Whereas with Gumroad, I think it's every seven days.

And with Payhip, they don't have that holding system.

You simply integrate your Stripe or PayPal account

and then the funds go directly into your account.

Gumroad can also do this

as well if you integrate your PayPal account.

A common question I get is, can I just upload my product

to all of these platforms, Gumroad, Payhip

and Lemon Squeezy and other platforms?

The answer is no. It's not going to make a difference.

Just because you've created your product

and uploaded it, it doesn't mean

that people will magically come

and see and buy your product.

You at the end of the day, still have to do the marketing

and sales and promotion

of your product so that you can sell it.

Yes, there are marketplaces such as Etsy

and Redbubble where you can list your products

and potentially make sales,

but the chances of that is very low

because you still need to make some sales in order to have

Etsy and Redbubble push your product up

in the listings and as results.

So you still need to make those sales

to answer that question, right?

I wouldn't bother uploading your product to all

of the platforms, it's just going to overwhelm you.

And rather than doing that, you wanna consolidate

and have everything on one platform.

So choose one of the platforms of the three

that I recommend.

And so you are just focusing on that

and leading your audience, your people,

and your potential customers to that one store.

Okay, so at this point you've done your research

and planning, you've created your product and you've put it

and you've selected a platform to sell your product.

The next step is to actually promote and sell your product.

And this is where the hard part really is

because as much as I'd like to say, yeah,

sales will start coming as soon as you create a product

that really isn't the case

because again, you need to promote your product.

And in order to do that, the best way is

to start creating content based on your niche.

Creating content costs $0,

and it really just is a game of consistency, persistence,

and a bit of a waiting game because it's not like just

because you posted one

or two pieces of content on let's say Instagram

or YouTube, that viewers and people will start coming

and seeing your store.

It's not the case. You have to keep going.

You may take a hundred posts, you may take 200 posts.

For me on my YouTube channel, at least it,

I didn't make a breakthrough

until something like a hundred videos.

So that first a hundred pieces

of content may be the hardest,

but I'd say that it's probably the most important

because that's where the learnings come,

that's where you'll fail, and then you get back up

and learn from that.

You'll know what topics will resonate with your audience

and you do more of that.

But let's go and take a look at some ways on

how I do with content.

Firstly, on Instagram, Instagram isn't my heaviest

and the biggest platform that I focus on as you know,

because I am on YouTube predominantly,

and we'll discuss that later on.

But on Instagram in particular, I'm posting here

and there, it's not consistent.

I did mention, yeah, consistency does matter,

I do wanna be more consistent on Instagram,

but you just need to find that platform

that you feel suits your vibe, suits your personality,

and where you feel natural of creating content,

you could feel more natural creating content

in words, right?

So that's where articles and Medium comes in

and Threads, which is a new platform for posting

kind of text space, short messages like Twitter.

So you gotta find that platform that makes it more natural

for your way of creating.

So if Instagram's a thing, then yeah, go ahead

and create Instagram posts, which is in the form of photos

or images and quotes.

You could even go with Instagram reels,

which is more moving.

And with video that is you could create Instagram carousels

where there's quite a few number of slides

that one can go through and view.

So as you can see, there are many forms

of creating content on Instagram in particular.

Now, where people will actually see your product

and your store is in your bio.

So if you click on my link in the bio, it actually goes

to a link in bio page

where it features multiple links of mine.

Viewers will be able to see my latest video as well

as signing up to my newsletter and my products, right?

So I've got my Master YouTube Content Planner,

I've got my 50 digital Product ideas, PDF guide

that people can buy me a coffee or donate.

And this is how you can feature your product and promote it.

So your content, whenever you talk about it,

you could have a call to action in the description

of your post, okay, so your post is right here,

and then you could have a CTA

or call to action that says, "Go to my link in bio

to get the guide or to learn more."

You repeat the cycle by creating more content on Instagram.

And the only thing I don't like about Instagram

is that it's all about relevancy and recency.

So you have to keep spinning the wheels.

And this cycle, it's kind of vicious in a way

is what I call it, because you have

to keep creating content, right?

Whereas with YouTube it's a little more evergreen

or I'd say a lot more evergreen

because you create that video once

and then you could potentially continue getting views

for many years down the road.

So that right there is a simple Instagram strategy

that you could follow.

It's nothing groundbreaking, right?

It's just a matter of creating content

and then nurturing that audience that you build

so that you gain that like that trust

and people lead to that offer of yours.

Whereas on my YouTube,

I feature links in the description of my video.

So let's say, this one right here, the YouTube SEO course,

this is a video,

and where I'm monetize is right here in the description.

So people can get a trial of vidIQ for $1,

which I mentioned earlier in this video.

And down below are my other links.

And surprisingly these links do get clicks.

A past video that I posted about five AI tools to turn text

to videos generated quite a number of links to each

of those five tools.

So each of them gains something anywhere from 2000

to 5,000 clicks.

So that right there does show that it's proven, right?

Many people do look at the description

and then they go to that link that you referred to.

Continuing on with the description.

You'll see tools

and gear I use, which takes them to my shop and the tools.

I've got recommended tools, which are affiliate links.

But again, this could be a link directly

to your offer on Payhip or on Gumroad or on Lemon Squeezy.

At the end of the day, it is a matter

of consistently posting content.

So choose a platform, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube.

I love YouTube because of that evergreen element

to it whereby I've got some of my popular videos,

this one's gained 4.3 million, this one right here,

from 1.5, I posted two years ago, and it still gets views.

And I'm not saying that you have to be on camera

to start a YouTube channel.

In fact, many YouTube channels

that have done well over a hundred thousand subscribers,

have created a faceless YouTube channel

where it's simply educational, it's all presentation based.

And with the addition of AI, you could use an AI voiceover

to voiceover that text or that slide

or that presentation of yours.

And it's worth noting again, if you are going

to pursue YouTube, then it's a good idea

to use a tool like vidIQ

to do some research on those keywords.

And as I said, many of my videos that you see here

that have done well

are because of doing that proper research using vidIQ

and know exactly what keywords to target,

such as how to change the colour of an imported image.

And those are some keywords I extracted

from my research using vidIQ.

And this one alone has gained 233,000 views.

Traffic, in other words, your audience

and your customers are the lifeblood of your business.

So focus on creating content so you can start building

that following that subscriber base

and nurture them, ensuring that you take care of them

and not just posting content for the sake of it.

And once you do build that trust,

and if your offer's good, people will buy it.

As you can tell by now,

work is required, effort is required.

And also patience because it's not like just

because you know how to create a product,

you've got it up there of one of the platforms

that people will magically come

and you'll start making sales.

But hopefully I've given you a clear system, an outline

that you can follow step by step as opposed

to overwhelming yourself with all these strategies

and tactics that you've learned from other people.

And then that results to procrastinating

and just not getting started.

So I've shown you the tools, I've given you the resources

to get started for free, $0.

And as you saw, there are options to upgrade to paid plans,

which gives you more results, things like that.

But essentially, you don't need all that to get started.

You can get started for free using the tools

and choose which platform you want.

Don't use all three platforms that I mentioned such as

Gumroad, Payhip, and Lemon Squeezy.

Just choose one.

The most important thing you can do right now

is to take that first step.

Take that first step in doing that ideation,

doing that research, and then from that,

the following steps just come naturally easy.

But that's all from me.

Hope this video was helpful

and if it was, by all means give this video a thumbs up.

In the meantime, I'll leave up a couple of relevant videos

for you to watch here and here as well

as all in description box below, and all the tools

and resources that I mentioned in this video.

Talk soon and do take care.

(upbeat music)