Last updated on October 19th, 2022

Digital products are exactly how we make 80-90% of our full-time blogging income. The best part? It’s completely PASSIVE once you get your product created! Find exactly what product to make for your blog AND grab our free ebook template to make it happen!

Want our FREE Ebook (includes worksheet pages) for Canva OR InDesign? It’s available in our evergrowing Design Vault! Get that product made, out there, and generate income in no time at all!

The very first monetization course I took was about 5 minutes after I started a blog.

I always knew I wanted my blog to be a business. As it was, I started blogging in order to generate an income from home.

The person teaching the course was all about “products, products, products.”

Of course, not knowing anything about the online world, my mind went to “physical products” not digital products.

Thus started the Etsy shop.

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My Etsy shop was a success and a failure all at the same time. People liked my stuff and bought it, however, each product needed to be individually sewn and put together.

I sold things like military-inspired blankets, dog collars, keychains, etc. They were embroidered and would take me anywhere from an hour to a day to create.

The orders piled up and soon I had a two-week waitlist and was spending almost ALL of my time at the sewing machine. Cursing at it and getting frustrated.

I hated it. I quickly decided this wasn’t for me and I needed a way to generate a more passive income.

And then I learned about digital products.

The thing about digital products, especially for bloggers, is that they can be a hit or miss. Luckily they cost almost nothing to make (especially when you design them yourself using Canva).

The key is to build your audience first, and your product second.

Related Post: The Easy Way to Create and Sell Printable Products

Ask them what they want, survey them, hang out in Facebook groups where they ask questions, and keep a running list of reader questions/concerns. 

Once you know your readers’ problem, then it’s time to brainstorm solutions. 

If you do that, they’ll buy it. 

And if you design it where it’s visually appealing and easy to use… You’ve hit the jackpot.

By the way, if you’re needing more help with this check out our FREE Product Creation Training!

Now let’s jump right into the 12 best digital products (that sell like hotcakes)!

1. WORKBOOKS

Workbooks are something that works for almost every niche. There is something you can teach your audience that can be stepped out into a workbook. Take a moment to brainstorm!

I’ve seen everything from cleaning and organizing, to budgeting and finances. Seriously, I’ve even seen a workbook on parenting techniques and getting your child to listen (cool, right?).

Workbooks sell because it’s a step-by-step way of teaching that walks someone through the process of solving their problem. I’m a workbook junkie. Show me a Pinterest-pretty workbook and I’ll buy it.

Can’t quite commit to a full workbook just yet? Don’t worry, we have you covered with another hot digital product idea!

Start small by creating worksheets using our worksheet templates inside our FREE Design Vault!

Related Post: 5 Easy Ways to Create Worksheets to Grow Your Blog Fast

Worksheets were one of our very first digital products/lead magnets we used to grow our email list to now OVER 20k subscribers! and I’ll buy it.

2. WORKSHOPS

Workshops are somewhere between workbook and e-course (kind of a combination of both, actually). This is an interactive e-course that includes worksheets and other learning material.

The selling point of the “workshop” is that the person is able to interact with you and other students, rather than an e-course which is self-paced and usually through a program like Teachable.

Related Post: How To Sell Tons of Courses on Teachable

Workshops are not generally held all the time because of the need for the creator to be involved. But, when a course is not constantly open for enrollment, it builds suspense and urgency and people are more likely to jump on it when it opens.

Another amazing thing about workshops is that you don’t spend nearly as much time “creating” it. Full e-courses can take months to build.

If you decide to sell a workshop, you can spend about an hour outlining what you’ll cover in the class and set up a sales page. That’s it!

The “product” is created when you spend the 1-2 hours teaching and then you’re done!

3. PLANNERS

People LOVE planners and there are so many ways you can go with this. You can create a life planner, budget planner, organizational planner, chore planner, meal planner, etc.

QUICK TIP: Create multiple themed planners and then give people the option to purchase multiple ones! That way, they can essentially “customize” their planner by having the sections they need and you can get repeat sales!

Once you have a few planner options, you can also offer bundles at a lower cost.

Planners also make fantastic digital products. Again, show me a Pinterest-pretty planner and I’m in!

4. E-COURSES

E-courses are so popular because it helps your reader learn something and it also creates a passive income for you. They can either be created for free through email or through a platform like Teachable (just like us!).

When you create an e-course through a platform, you can also set up an affiliate program and get people to promote your course for free. E-courses generally take more time to make than other digital products but can be sold for 3, 4, even 5 figures!

The best e-courses also have worksheets, checklists, and video content as well. Take the time to make your course awesome and it will absolutely pay off.

SIDE NOTE: Grab our FREE Product Creators QuickStart Kit with a checklist, cheatsheet, and Canva eBook template to help you plan, design, and launch your first (or next) digital product!

5. E-BOOKS

E-books are a great tripwire, opt-in, or digital product. You can sell it through your blog and you can also put it up on Amazon, Etsy, or even through ConvertKit Commerce!

E-books are pretty easy to make because you can repurpose a lot of your existing content, particularly if you have a blog post series or a lot of posts on ONE topic.

Related Post: 5 Ways to Build Your List by Repurposing Blog Content

The key to an e-book that actually sells is a killer cover though, which I go over in my course Confidently Canva.

You can make an awesome cover in Canva and then upload it to myecovermaker.com and create an eye-catching 3D model. They say, “don’t judge a book by its cover” but people totally do, especially online.

6. MEMBERSHIP SITES

Membership sites are fantastic for recurring income. The possibilities for membership sites are pretty endless.

Maybe you’re a fitness blogger? Create a membership site that provides different workout routines, meal plans, and accountability meetings each month.

Maybe you sell sewing patterns? Each month you can release a new set of patterns for your members. The list can go on and on.

SIDE NOTE: Join our FREE Facebook community to help brainstorm membership ideas for your digital products!

Some memberships are less about “new product” delivery (unlike our template membership!) and more about community and interaction. Many include weekly or monthly meetings, some have support groups, and others have challenges.

You can really get creative with it! Each month you can release a new set of patterns for your members.

7. COACHING SESSIONS

Coaching is less “passive” than most other digital products. It does involve time with your client but it allows for individualization and a personalized approach for your customer, which is a major selling point.

Plus, much like selling digital workshops, coaching doesn’t require actually creating anything ahead of time!

The “product” is the time you spend with your client so there’s really not much to do prior except setting up a sales page and possibly an onboarding system to allow your client to sign contracts, book appointments, and pay.

SIDE NOTE: Before we retired our design coaching service, we used and loved Dubsado!

Each person learns differently, and each person is at a different point in their journey. Allowing a set amount of time to talk about where your client is, where they want to be, and how to get it is priceless.

Not to mention, a lot of people are willing to pay higher price points for this.

8. APPS

You do NOT need to be an app developer to create an app.

All you need is a killer idea. You can hire an app developer to create it for you (find one on upwork.com) and then you can sell it.

Another way to make money with apps is to treat it as its own sales funnel by offering the app for free and having an upgraded paid version or in-app purchases.

This is the least popular out of all the digital products we mentioned but the upsells within the app will pay off!

9. TEMPLATES

If creating digital templates to sell sounds like your cup of tea, you’re in the right place.

“Done for you” solutions are always a big hit! Especially anything that has to do with copy, spreadsheets (with formulas), etc.

Templates are essentially fill-in-the-blank mini-products that someone can customize to make their own. It gives them a jumping-off point and saves them a ton of time (like our templates)!

Our biggest source of income has always been from selling digital templates. They work for every niche because they’re entirely customizable.

Aside from graphic design products to sell, copy templates, spreadsheet templates, and many other versions of templates can easily be shared via Google Docs. Make sure the Doc or spreadsheet is in view-only mode and instruct people to make a copy before editing.

10. PATTERNS

Typically, this is more for the craft niche. Sewing, knitting, crochet, etc. These patterns are awesome digital products and they totally sell like hotcakes. People love them!

Not to mention, things like these make great tripwires, bundles, and opportunities for a membership site.

In my opinion, though, patterns fall under an “instructional format” digital product.

This can include things like recipes, DIY, and the like. Anything that requires a list of needed items and then step-by-step instructions.

You’re essentially teaching someone how to create something and it’s amazing!

11. DOWNLOADABLE FILES

If you know how to create files like fonts, embroidery art, clip art, stock photography, etc. then you have it made, my friend.

People, especially bloggers or any content creators, pay good money for things like this!

Plus you can sell it on your own site along with sites like Creative Market (entirely digital products) or Etsy. If you do stock photography, sell it to the major stock photo sites and boost your income even more!

Of course, these things are also great to sell to clients as well. Selling to clients requires a little more “time for money” than other digital products.

However, you can sell it at a much higher price point!

12. SWIPE FILES

People love to know how you did it! Swipe files are a file (you can create one in Google Drive) that includes your exact copy for things like sales pages, launches, emails, etc.

The idea is that they will personalize it to their own style of writing that fits their product (similar to a template), but you are giving them direction.

It’s a huge bonus if you’ve had success. If you can say something like “the sales copy that made me $10,000 in 3 days” you are pretty much guaranteed to make sales.

The benefit of this is that you’ve already created it, you’re just packaging it up and selling it. The downside is that you may be exposing yourself to copycats.

Realistically, that’ll happen with all digital products. Be sure to make your Terms of Service very clear!

Of course, having the idea for digital products is one thing.

But knowing how to make it is another.

The majority of these things can be made or designed in something like Canva (you can also grab our FREE Product Design Planner to help you get started).

It doesn’t take a fancy, expensive product to make digital products sell. It just takes an eye-catching design that stands out among all the other things fighting for your audience’s attention.

Once they buy it, your amazing content will keep them coming back for more.

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS POST:

• FREE Design Vault
• The Easy Way to Create and Sell Printable Products
• FREE Product Creators QuickStart Kit (including eBook)
• 5 Easy Ways to Create Worksheets to Grow Your Blog Fast
• FREE Product Creation Training
• 5 Ways to Build Your List by Repurposing Blog Content
• FREE Product Design Planner

Don’t forget to grab your FREE Ebook template (that includes worksheet pages)! It’s the PERFECT jumping-off point to any paid product (or even lead magnets!) that you can customize to fit your brand and use to start making that passive income.

TRY CANVA PRO FREE FOR 30 DAYS

Start your FREE Canva Pro trial today and unlock ALL of their incredible time-saving features that’ll cut your design time down to just minutes.

To be honest? It’s the best $12.99/mo OR $119/yr we spend on our business because that time we save with every single design is put back into making MORE money in your business!

WANT TO SAVE THIS FOR LATER? PIN IT TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD!⬇

Last updated on October 19th, 2022

Digital worksheets make great lead magnets because they’re super quick to make and help your reader take action. In this article, you’ll learn how to design digital worksheets AND the top 5 ways you can use worksheets to grow your blog!

Ready to grow your email list? Get our FREE Worksheet Template Pack! These fully editable Canva templates are perfect for creating high-converting digital worksheets!

Owning a business is the best job, the best feeling we’ve ever had. It’s also the most frustrating one.

Doesn’t it seem like everyone else has it figured out? Everywhere you turn, someone who seems to be making a million dollars after 3 months of blogging.

And here you sit, struggling with engagement, pumping out content, writing to your email list, doing ALL the things.

You invest, learn, and haven’t seen that return just yet.

That little time before you actually start making money with your blog is one of the most challenging times in business.

It’s also the time that people generally give up.

Of course, there will always be ups and downs. Like when you finally figure out a social media network, an algorithm change tanks your traffic.

Or when you set up an opt-in that took you a whole day to put together, and no one subscribes. It’s frustrating, right?

We totally get it. We’ve been there, and it’s NOT fun. But then we discovered the power of digital worksheets.

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The one thing we consistently make for our blog (aside from newsletter content) is digital worksheets.

We’d create the worksheet, add it to our resource library, make a post about it, do a Facebook live to talk about it, then send it to our existing list as a NEW freebie.

Not only did that help us nurture our audience, but it also helped us develop even more content and grow our email list.

BENEFITS OF DIGITAL WORKSHEETS

Digital worksheets are great because they help people take action. If they’re taking action, they’re implementing YOUR strategies.

Once people have success with your methods, you have not only helped them, but you have now established trust with this person. They know their life is easier when they listen to you.

Think of the last time you implemented strategies you learned from a blogger.

• How did you feel as you were taking action?
• How did you feel after you were done?
• How did you feel when you saw success from their strategies?

Those feelings will make selling a whole lot easier. They’ll trust your suggestions because you’re genuinely trying to help them, and they know that you know what you’re talking about!

If you’re a brand new blogger, you may not know what that feels like just yet. And that’s okay!

Did you ever have a lot of information thrown at you without any way to process it?

Digital worksheets complement that information by putting it into action. You’re writing it down, working through it, processing, and remembering it.

Don’t forget to grab our FREE Worksheet Template Pack so you can elevate your content and put it into action!

Now that we know the incredible benefits of digital worksheets let’s jump into HOW you can use them to grow your blog.

#1: As a content upgrade

Digital worksheets make a great content upgrade, especially any kind of informational or instructional post. Anytime you’re walking someone through a solution, adding a digital worksheet helps transform your words from theory to action.

Examples of digital worksheets as a content upgrade are:

• Planners (home, blog, etc.)
• Weekly calendars
• Trackers (budget, progress, goals, etc.)

Plus, it helps the person have your information and the work they put in for future reference.

Related Post: 17 Content Upgrade Ideas to Keep Your Readers Coming Back for More

It’s just an added bonus that digital worksheets help grow your email list when used as a content upgrade!

#2: Actionable task for your email list

As we mentioned earlier, we’d always send new digital worksheets, printables, and freebies to our email list to nurture them and develop trust.

The strategy was simply taking a recent post and expanding on it in a more actionable way. We want someone to close our email after reading it and be so motivated that they actually do the thing we’ve called them to do.

And having a digital worksheet makes that really easy.

Being able to say, “download and fill out the worksheet” is easier than “Now go do all the things I just talked about.”

Not to mention, it actually helps increase your click-through rates which directly improves deliverability!

Related Post: Increase Click-Throughs and Boost Conversions with One Click

Here’s an example of how we send new freebies to our audience via email.

There are no new graphics, no promotional email, just a mention at the bottom of an email.

We don’t know for sure, but it seems like 99% of the population LOVE digital worksheets!

#3: To get people working for it

Have you ever seen people run challenges that promote giveaways to those who complete assignments?

We love it! And here’s why.

When you have a giveaway, and all you want them to do is sign up for your list, it might get those people on your list.

BUT, they only signed up because they wanted that free thing, and that’s it.

We’ve almost always found that people who sign up for a giveaway never even open an email unless the subject line is “Congrats, you’re the winner.”

This makes your list cold, resulting in poor deliverability, poor open rates, and less over-business growth.

The thing is that when you make them work for it, you’re getting them involved while giving them a tiny sample of what you have to offer.

We’ve seen giveaways with daily “challenges” and the people are only entered to win if they complete all the challenges. We’ve also seen ones with a set of questions to answer.

Putting together a quick digital worksheet is an excellent way to have all your answers organized and easily referable.

If someone puts in the time and effort to win your free thing, they are way more interested in you and your business and much more likely to be a good lead for future sales.

#4: As a product

Do you want to know what we do with our worksheets AFTER we send them to our list? Repurpose them.

Take your worksheets, expand on them, add some in-depth content, and you’ve got a digital product ready to sell.

Related Post: 12 Digital Products That Are Selling Like Hotcakes

Create a simple sales page, design a few Pinterest pins and social media posts, and add it to your email funnel for new subscribers.

DESIGN NOTE: ConvertKit makes building funnels, creating automation, and tagging subscribers super simple. Since day one of our business, we’ve been using it and absolutely love it!

One and done product = passive income.

If you need some digital worksheet product ideas, check out these 40 best-selling Printables on Etsy. Some of those worksheets are pure genius!

#5: As part of your e-course

Have your heart set on an e-course? Guess what! You still need digital worksheets. The same goes for webinars and even masterminds.

Worksheets, again, help put your module or lesson into action.

If you’re getting people to take action, they’re going to implement your ideas and should have success.

If they succeed (or even simply finish your course), they’ll get so much more out of it. You’ll have satisfied customers while also making a difference in their lives.

You’ll probably want also to include checklists and other printable material in your course, but the same design principles apply.

The same goes for webinars! If you’re giving your attendee a worksheet, they’re much more likely to follow along and be engaged in your presentation.

Related Post: 6 Key Elements to an Amazing Webinar That Converts

Which means they’re more likely to make it to the end. And if they do, the odds of making a sale go UP.

HOW TO MAKE DIGITAL WORKSHEETS

Head on over to Canva to design your digital worksheets! If starting with a blank page, your go-to size will be 8in. x 11.5in letter-size page.

Add an eye-catching header and a simple border. Add your content, design elements, boxes, and other items as needed (like checkboxes, charts, lines, etc.)

Keep your digital worksheets minimal (lots of white space), so they’re easily printable. Nothing is more frustrating than wasting half an ink cartridge on one printable!

(We’ve done it accidentally, and it was NOT fun!)

Or, you can use our FREE Worksheet Template Pack to cut your design time in half.

Simply change the colors and fonts to match your brand. Add your content and adjust any boxes as needed to fit your text. Click ‘Download,’ and you’re good to go!

Don’t forget to create a promo image for your blog post and a few Pinterest pins that lead to a landing page. Lastly, send it to your list as mentioned above in #2, and you’re all set.

I’m sure it’s obvious, but we cannot get enough of digital worksheets!

DIGITAL WORKSHEETS ARE GREAT TO HELP GROW YOUR BLOG.

We’re all about actionable advice, and digital worksheets help people implement ideas. You want your readers to take action – bottom line.

We promise that they’ll make it much easier when you’re ready to sell your first digital product to your email list.

And in order to have them clicking that ‘Buy’ button and practically throwing their money at you, you need to build that trust. It all starts with trust!

Don’t forget to grab our FREE Worksheet Template Pack! These fully editable Canva templates will help you create actionable worksheets that build trust, so they’re ready to buy!

TRY CANVA PRO FREE FOR 30 DAYS

Start your FREE Canva Pro trial today and unlock ALL of their incredible time-saving features that’ll cut your design time to just minutes.

To be honest? It’s the best $12.99/mo OR $119/yr we spend on our business because that time we save with every single design is put back into making MORE money in your business!

WANT TO SAVE THIS FOR LATER? PIN IT TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD!⬇