Can I Sell Digital Copies of Sheet Music Cover Art
Practise you want to sell documents and make coin online? Who wouldn't!? This is a corking way to use your skills and talents to first a business or side hustle.
In this article we'll show you how to speedily get started selling documents. We'll share tips to brand the highest profits possible!
Y'all Tin can Do This
What are y'all good at? What topic could you talk most all day? You tin can turn that passion into money by selling digital documents. You just need to write it out and add some polish.
From supplemental worksheets, guides, and sheet music, to reports and customizable templates, y'all have something to contribute to the earth!
Hither's what we'll cover:
- How To Make Money Selling Documents
- How To Sell Documents (+ Free Gift)
- Pro Tips and Production Ideas
How To Make Money Selling Documents
First, take a look at what's out in that location. How are other like people pricing their documents? What'due south normal for other industries?
Adjacent, the big question is: what value are you offering? To figure information technology out, consider some of the following questions:
What type of document(s) are you lot selling?
- Templates for resumés and stationery tin can be anywhere from $ten to $30
- Detailed reports and informational pieces containing legal, medical, or specialized expertise can range anywhere from $twenty on into the hundreds or even thousands
- Fitness and nutrition guides commonly sell for between $15 and $50.
Are you selling a single certificate or bundle?
- Consider selling collections of documents (such as industry reports, data sets, contact lists, or jotter sets).
- This allows yous to charge a higher price and deliver maximum value.
- But like with any other digital product, unmarried digital documents sell for less than bundles containing multiple documents.
Are there whatever bonus materials?
- Audio version
- Extra worksheet
- Access to bonus content
What are your competitors charging?
- Cheque out marketplaces like Etsy, Creative Market or Envato Elements
- Observe individual digital production stores of your competitors
- Keep in listen that marketplaces tend to have lower pricing in general (sometimes enforced past the platform)
Practice you have clout within your manufacture?
- People volition often pay a premium for the expertise of a trusted source
- If you take a large following or established industry authority, you can factor that into your pricing
Ongoing Revenue
Consider other ways to generate revenue with your documents:
- Subscriptions or recurring memberships
- Cross-promotion or chapter marketing
- Regularly updated "live" documents
- Alternating formats
Subscriptions
The subscription / membership model gives customers ongoing admission to a group of specialized documents.
Some examples would include:
- A drove of legal templates for starting a new digital business concern
- A group of documents for job seekers or career advancement (resumé, embrace alphabetic character, and other professional templates)
- Unlimited admission to canvass music
- Manufacture-specific reports and information sets
Cross-promotion or Affiliate Marketing
Cantankerous-promotion and affiliate marketing are other means to get long-term recurring revenue. Expand your accomplish and get more sales by partnering upward with content creators, influencers, and other high contour people inside your manufacture.
Imagine yous write luxury yacht maintenance manuals and y'all decide to partner with a blogger who talks about luxury yachts and international travel. The result is your products are exposed to a larger audience. You may even get access to an email list full of people who are more likely to exist interested in your products.
"Alive" Documents
You could also try selling access to "alive" documents that are periodically updated, such every bit contact lists, website lists, or data sheets. Customers would be charged a subscription fee for access. New subscribers volition join, revenue volition come in regularly, all without increasing the amount of work involved.
Alternate Formats
Consider creating alternate formats, such as sound, video, or infographics. This can increase their earning potential.
This could include:
- Audio guides
- Podcasts
- Video tutorials
- Other languages
- Variations on colors, layouts, etc.
Repurpose your certificate content into smaller segmented products, or use certain documents every bit lead magnets for gated content!
💶 For more ideas, bank check out our article on pricing digital products
How To Sell Documents (+ Free Gift)
The best way to make the most money selling your documents is on your own website.
Y'all need your own e-commerce store to build your own business. You tin can't really build a successful online business organization on someone else'due south website or marketplace.
It's fast, and tempting, to look to marketplaces like Etsy or Envato Elements. But exist sure to weigh the pros and cons.
| 🟢 Pros | 🔴 Cons |
|---|---|
| Platforms and Marketplaces already go lots of visitors to their site. This may brand it easier for you to observe an audience (merely there's no guarantee). | They have a cut of your revenue. The more you make the more they take. |
| It's easier to list on other sites than build your own website | Your customers are not really your customers, they are the platform's customers |
| You may be able to build an audience more than quickly | No way to practice direct communication with 'your' customers |
| May take no way to follow upwards with 'your' customers after buy, you may desire to help them succeed (sometimes called onboarding) and not exist able to | |
| Can't build your ain consistent brand | |
| Can't control the customer shopping and checkout feel | |
| Y'all have to follow their terms of employ, which can change at any time | |
| Many platforms have limitations on what prices you lot can accuse |
We recommend setting upwards your own shop. Smart entrepreneurs empathize the advantages of having their own D2C (straight to consumer) channel.
Don't worry! In the past setting up your ain ecommerce store was hard. You had to know how to lawmaking and/or hire web developers. Simply now it is easy plenty that you tin can do it yourself with no coding.
The Best Website Tool
The best way to build your ain website is to use WordPress. WordPress offers the best rest of powerful features and affordable prices.
WordPress at present powers 43% of the internet! 43%! No other web technology has ever come up close to fifty-fifty five%.
It'south very likely that all those people are right. And it's very likely that WordPress can do anything you need…and more than!
WordPress has the world'due south largest ecosystem of plugins, templates/themes, and professional person service providers (for custom evolution). No other platform has more than capacity for expansion.
All you need to get started with WordPress is a web host. The good ones will set it up for you or make information technology equally easy as clicking one or two buttons.
- 📄 Click hither for a guide on choosing a WordPress host. There are too discount coupons!
- ⬇️ Already accept a WordPress site? Good. Get gear up to say hello to the easiest way to sell digital products.
The Best eCommerce Tool (For Selling Documents)
The best way to sell your documents on WordPress is Easy Digital Downloads.
Like shooting fish in a barrel Digital Downloads (EDD) is a consummate eCommerce solution. It's ane of the most trusted WordPress plugins ever created in the WordPress community. It has hundreds of 5-star reviews on the WordPress plugin repository.
Yous can have an online store set upwards in mere minutes.
Get started with EDD for free and use it for gratuitous forever. Here's what the gratis version of EDD gets you:
- Protected product files, only paying customers will have admission to motorcar-expiring links
- Full control over pricing
- Shopping cart
- Flexible checkout options
- Discount codes
- Customer management (bones CRM)
- eCommerce reports
- Stripe and/or PayPal integration
Other eCommerce Solutions
👎🏾 Many other e-commerce solutions like WooCommerce are built for selling concrete products.
We dear Woo if y'all are selling physical products. Simply if you're not, you lot'll have to install and set a agglomeration of shipping and inventory management tools that you don't even demand. In some cases, this tin can deadening downwards your website.
If yous are only selling digital products EDD is easier to use.
👎🏿 Other eastward-commerce solutions similar Shopify cost more per month (or year) than a powerful WordPress site.
Worse, your over-priced less-powerful solution can't aggrandize across selling stuff.
Just a less-expensive WordPress site can always expand to do anything else yous need as your business grows.
👎 Market place solutions, as we looked at to a higher place, are fraught with downsides.
The more you lot brand, the more they accept. The middle-man fees and ever-changing terms of utilise don't set you upwardly to build your own successful business, y'all're really building theirs.
👍🏽 Easy Digital Downloads is purpose-congenital for selling digital products like documents.
Information technology's free to utilise. Even if you expand functionality with one of our Passes, information technology costs less per twelvemonth than many solutions. Yous get to decide if, and how much, you want to spend.
EDD = your terms. Y'all decide.
EDD is used past more 50,000 digital creators. People like you and me. Yep! Nosotros use EDD every day on this website.
We have been helping businesses small and large succeed for more than than 10 years. Our defended support squad is e'er ready to help you if you lot demand information technology.
How to Sell your Documents with EDD
Allow's walk through a quick step-by-pace guide for selling a digital document.
- Install EDD
- Make A Product/Download
- Set Upward A Payment Method
Install EDD
First, grab a copy of EDD "core" by clicking the button below. If you accept never installed a plugin on your WordPress site, here is a bang-up tutorial.
Using WordPress and desire to go Easy Digital Downloads for complimentary?
Enter the URL to your WordPress website to install.
Make A Product/Download
Next, after you install Easy Digital Downloads y'all'll meet a new carte du jour detail called Downloads on your WordPress admin bill of fare (left side).
EDD calls the products for auction on your website 'downloads'.
Here's how you make one.
Step one
Starting time, we recommend selling your documents as ZIP files.
On your WordPress dashboard, you need to hover over Downloads and click Add together New.
You need to requite the Download a proper name. And then add a description in the main text area.
Step two
Side by side, set a price for your template nether Download Prices.
Step 3
Next, we need to configure the Download File. This is the document/s the customer gets after purchase. They'll get an car-expiring link on their purchase confirmation folio and confirmation email. This helps prevent piracy. Don't worry you lot can generate a new link, just for them upon request.
- Under File Name type in a phrase that describes the product. We suggest, for this example, typing something like "My Document". This is the clickable link text that will be used on the confirmation page and email.
- Under File URL click Upload a File and upload your Null file. Information technology will automatically be protected from search bots and unauthorized downloads (past non-customers).
Step 4
Last, you need to add an bonny Download Image. This is of import. It's the production image. It's what the customers sees in the virtual 'window' as they are shopping. Make sure it looks nice.
Free Gift
Not sure how to make a product prototype? Click hither to download our free Canva document product paradigm template. You tin edit and customize it all you lot want. You just need a free Canva account!
🎨 Complimentary document production image Canva template
Once yous have an image set, become nether Download Paradigm and upload your image.
Great work! That's it. Click Publish.
Your certificate is a product that is set up to sell. Take a look at it as the customer will see it.
Click on View Download on the top notification banner that appeared after you published.
You'll come across your document on the front-stop of your website. In the screenshot below we are using the free WP Astra theme. Your page'due south wait-and-experience will vary depending on which WordPress theme you lot have.
Fix A Payment Method
Last, you need to set up a mode for customers to pay y'all with a credit carte (or Apple Pay or Google Pay).
We recommend using Stripe for its not bad features and ease of apply. With Stripe you besides can ready up Apple tree Pay or Google Pay. If Stripe is not bachelor in your country, PayPal is a good option.
Click the links below to get started:
- Stripe
- PayPal
- See all of our Payment Gateways
What the Customer Sees
Once a customer makes a purchase they'll go a purchase confirmation e-mail that looks similar this:
You tin customize this email all you want under Downloads > Settings > Emails > Purchase Receipts.
The 'My Document' link that you fix upward to a higher place is what the client uses to catch their download. The link provided expires afterward 24 hours.
- Yous tin change that link expiration time to be whatsoever you want
- You tin can hands reissue a link at any time
Pro Tips and Production Ideas
Hither are our top tips and a list of product ideas to help you lot succeed with selling documents.
File Formats
Common file formats for documents haven't inverse much in the concluding few years. At least not as fast as they have for photographs, video, and audio. Here are a few important formats and their uses.
| FILE | FORMAT INFO | USES |
|---|---|---|
| .DOCX / .Doc | Microsoft Discussion Documents | Frequently used for resumés, reports, and legal/ professional templates) |
| .GDOC | Google Docs (not really a file, only a link/shortcut to a "live" document on the web) | Oftentimes used for resumés, reports, and legal/ professional templates) |
| Adobe Acrobat Reader (stands for portable certificate format) | Typically used for guides, white papers, reports, manuals, printables) | |
| .EPUB | eBook file format | Used for guides, case studies, other informational pieces for use on eBook devices and reading apps |
| .XLSX / XLS | Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet | Used for reports, data, charts |
| .GSHEET | Google Sheets ("live" spreadsheet link/shortcut) | Used for reports, data, charts |
| .PPT | Microsoft PowerPoint Presentation | Used for slide decks and presentations |
| .Cardinal | Apple Keynote Presentation | Used for slide decks and presentations |
| .GLSIDES | Google Slides ("alive" link/shortcut) | Used for slide decks and presentations |
Which Format Should Y'all Sell?
Consider your audience and how they will use the document. For example:
- Will they demand to edit the certificate?
- Start with DOCX files. They work in both Microsoft Word and Google Docs.
- Will they just exist reading the document?
- First with PDFs. There are many ways to create PDF files for free.
- Aggrandize to EPUBs if needed or if you are targeting eReaders. Larn more virtually this on our commodity virtually selling eBooks.
Different Types of Documents
We have detailed guides for many selling unlike types of "documents". This term can hateful many things to many people.
- Selling Graphics and Digital Art
- Selling eBooks
- Selling Photographs
Product Ideas
Looking for ideas for types of documents you can sell? Here'south a brief list to spark your creativity:
- How-to / PDF guides
- Resumé / CV templates
- Manufacture reports
- Manuals
- White papers
- Printable jotter
- Example studies
- Informational pieces
- Data sets
- Manuscripts
- Contact lists
- Canvass music
- Documents for teachers / course activities
- Pedagogy resources
- Budget worksheets
- Formula worksheets
- Journaling templates
- Self-help workbooks
- Legal certificate templates
- Presentation templates
- Alive documents
- Content / web re-create packs
File Previews
Customers are more than likely to buy your products when they understand what they are getting.
- Create a product demo – These can boost sales, minimize refunds, and increment customer confidence.
- Preview Images – These make your products understandable and desireable
- Utilise our free gift – This Canva template we showed yous above – to brand a great preview/product image
As well, when you have good file previews or product images, you take a proven way to promote your products on social media.
Atomic number 82 Magnets
A preview for a certificate can come up in several forms. 1 proven way to increment sales is to make a lead magnet.
In exchange for their electronic mail address, requite potential customers a preview or sample of your document/s. This way they can be sure they similar the content and brand sure it'south what they are looking for. They'll come up back looking for more than!
Talking about your lead magnets on social media is a great mode to spread the discussion nearly your documents to potential buyers.
Watermark Preview Images
Yous may desire to watermark the cover, or images that are in your document.
Watermarking is when you stamp your logo and words similar 'copyright or 'preview' on your photo to forbid unauthorized utilize.
💧 Click here to learn more than almost making watermarks on our commodity most selling photographs.
Use Lorem Ipsum Text
For decades graphic designers have filled their designs with random latin words when they are waiting on existent re-create from their copywriters. This is sometimes called dummy text or placeholder text.
You lot might determine to include Lorem Ipsum demo text in your certificate previews. Here are some websites that generate that kind of text for you (and give you more than history on this practice).
- Lipsum
- Lorem ipsum
Preventing Piracy
The unauthorized use of your products can be mildly annoying. Or, it it happens a lot, result in a staggering loss in sales.
It tin be extremely time-consuming to fight piracy. Copyright and intellectual property laws vary from land to country. And some countries, that will rename unnamed, don't ever respect copyright law.
When you use Piece of cake Digital Downloads to sell your products online you are using some of the strongest anti-piracy tools available. Y'all don't have to worry about your download links.
Here are the 3 key aspects to preventing piracy to keep in listen.
- Commencement, arrive very piece of cake to buy and download your products
- Second, make it every bit hard as possible to download or make unauthorized copies of your downloadable products
- Concluding, focus more on getting customers first. Then, spend time sleuthing effectually for piracy once you are successful, because y'all'll likely never fully prevent it with digital files. Some hacker will find a way.
🔐 EDD has you covered. Learn more about producing digital products.
Selling Physical Documents
EDD is primarily designed for selling digital products. Perfect for downloadable products (files). Notwithstanding, if you want to sell some concrete documents, you can practise this with EDD. Y'all don't demand a completely carve up ecommerce solution.
Check out our Uncomplicated Shipping extension. This requires a Professional person Pass.
Some people may prefer physical copies, or may be willing to pay a premium price for printed versions that save them the hassle of doing the printing themselves!
Decision
Well done. You take learned how to sell documents (and brand money doing information technology). This is a swell way to generate passive income and build a business.
We accept bunches of articles for entrepreneurs and digital creators like you! What exercise you lot desire to learn about next?
- 🤑 The Amazing Benefits of Selling Digital Products
- 💰 The Complete Listing of Digital Products You Can Sell
- 💸 Tips for Pricing Your Digital Products
- 📄 Selling Spreadsheets
Download Like shooting fish in a barrel Digital Downloads now and get started!
Using WordPress and desire to get Easy Digital Downloads for gratuitous?
Enter the URL to your WordPress website to install.
Or grab an EDD Pass to get avant-garde features for growing document stores like Free Downloads (for lead magnets), Recurring payments (for subscriptions), or Amazon S3 / Dropbox integration.
Exist certain to follow u.s.a. on Facebook and Twitter to larn more than about WordPress and selling digital products online.
Source: https://easydigitaldownloads.com/blog/selling-documents/