Digital Products You Should Start Selling Today

Hey, thanks for joining for another week of New Venture Weekly.

A few weeks ago, we looked into high-ticket digital products you can sell to the ultra-rich.

This week, I want to look at lower-ticket (but not cheap) digital products that can still provide lucrative opportunities.

Also, I thought I’d try Google’s NotebookLM to make an AI podcast for this week’s newsletter. If you want to listen, click here.

Pretty wild what AI can do now. It’s an 11-and-a-half minute 2-sided AI conversation about this entire topic.

They make jokes, human-like speech mistakes, and ask clarifying questions.

Let’s jump in!

🗞️ Things worth checking out

Want to start a business but don’t know where to begin? I created an email-based course that helps you find a profitable business idea, validate demand and make your first sale all within 5 days. Start your journey now.

The best businesses solve specific problems so I’ve created an ever-expanding database of problems that are begging for a better solution. Check it out here.

Are you struggling to find the perfect business idea? What if you could consistently generate profitable business ideas, anytime you wanted? The Idea Factory is designed to help you do exactly that.

⭐️ Examples:

• Ali Abdaal made over $2.5 million in 2021 from his online course Part-Time YouTuber Academy, which teaches people how to build and grow their YouTube channels.

• The Hustle newsletter was sold to HubSpot for around $27 million after growing to 1.5 million subscribers.

• Pat Flynn's Smart Passive Income community generates thousands of dollars monthly from memberships, offering exclusive content and networking.

• Steve Scott has made over $40,000 per month selling eBooks on Kindle. His books focus on habits, productivity, and self-improvement.

• Amanda Hocking made $2.5 million in less than two years by self-publishing her paranormal romance novels on Amazon.

• Makerpad, a community for no-code makers and entrepreneurs, was sold to Zapier for an undisclosed seven-figure amount.

• Pieter Levels' Nomad List, a membership community for digital nomads, makes over $54k in monthly recurring revenue.

• Lenny's Newsletter covers product management, growth, and startups. Lenny Rachitsky charges $150/year and reportedly makes over $300,000 annually from the newsletter.

🧐 Opportunities:

As with any business, you need to find a problem to solve first. Never start with the solution.

Once you’ve found a problem, use one of these digital product formats to solve it.

Side note: You can find a database of problems needing solutions here.

Free to Paid Community

Start with a free community (on Skool, Discord, Slack, Circle, etc) focused on your super-specific niche and problem.

Provide value with discussions, resources, and networking.

Gradually offer premium features like exclusive webinars, direct access to experts, or in-depth content behind a paywall to transition free users to paid members.

Why It Works: A free community allows you to build trust and engagement while gathering feedback. Once the community is highly active, users will be willing to pay for premium content or insider access, turning engaged users into recurring revenue.

Hyper-Niche Paid Community

Create a paid community specifically for professionals or enthusiasts in a hyper-focused niche that again, solves a specific problem.

Offer advanced networking, industry insights, expert guest talks, and actionable advice tailored to their unique needs.

Why It Works: People in hyper-niches are often underserved by general communities. They’re willing to pay for high-value, specific advice and access to exclusive industry peers and experts. These communities grow slowly but have dedicated, high-paying members.

Toolkits & Swipe Files

Develop a collection of digital toolkits, templates, and swipe files specific to your niche.

For example, a database of winning ec-commerce ads and templates for each of those ads like creativeos.io.

You could also do growth marketing playbooks, email funnel templates, and landing page templates. These can be sold as standalone products or part of a subscription.

Why It Works: Toolkits and swipe files offer done-for-you solutions that save time for busy professionals. By providing pre-made frameworks that are easy to customize, you help your audience implement best practices quickly, making them highly valuable and scalable.

Paid Curated Job Boards

Launch a paid job board that curates high-quality, niche-specific job opportunities.

Employers pay to post, or members pay to access premium job listings and connect with recruiters.

You could also offer resume reviews or career coaching as an upsell.

Why It Works: In specialized industries, finding top talent or niche job opportunities is a challenge. A paid, curated job board ensures high-quality, relevant listings for both employers and job seekers, which can drive recurring revenue through subscriptions or posting fees.

Exclusive Industry Benchmarking Data

Offer access to industry-specific benchmarking data - like key performance metrics, revenue insights, and operational best practices.

For example, you could speak to businesses running ads in a specific niche and collect anonymous data on their performance like Jesse Pujji did here.

This could be part of a paid report, dashboard, or membership where companies get real-time data comparisons.

Why It Works: Companies want to know how they measure up against competitors. Offering anonymized, up-to-date benchmarking data allows businesses to make informed decisions and improve performance, making this a highly valuable recurring product.

It can also help people make investment decisions.

White-Label Digital Product Templates

Create digital products like newsletters, courses, guides, or toolkits that can be licensed as white-label assets.

These products can be rebranded and sold by other businesses under their name, offering customization options as part of the package.

Why It Works: White-label products save businesses the time and effort of developing content from scratch. By offering high-quality, customizable templates, you allow other businesses to scale faster, while creating a consistent, passive revenue stream for yourself.

Exclusive Resource Libraries

Build a resource library packed with premium, niche-specific content like research reports, templates, case studies, and toolkits.

Charge for access to the entire library or offer it as part of a subscription where you add new content regularly.

Why It Works: Niche audiences are willing to pay for organized, well-curated resources that are hard to find elsewhere. A library that is constantly updated provides ongoing value and can easily scale as new subscribers join for access to the growing content base.

Niche-Specific Content Curation Service

Offer a paid service where you curate the most relevant and high-quality articles, research papers, tools, and other resources for professionals in a hyper-specific niche.

Deliver this via a weekly newsletter or a membership site.

The TLDR newsletter is a great example of this. Likewise, the Van Trump report does this for the agriculture industry and makes $20m per year with 1 employee.

Why It Works: Content curation saves professionals time by filtering out noise and delivering only the most important information. In a niche market, people are willing to pay for trusted, high-value curation that helps them stay ahead without having to do the legwork themselves.

Digital AI Content Licensing

Do you know all those AI models you see on social media now? The ones with an AI face swapped onto a real video?

Curate a library of niche-specific video clips (e.g., fitness tutorials, cooking demonstrations, office environments, spicy content) for people creating AI-driven content.

These clips could be licensed for use in AI-generated videos or virtual influencers' social media posts.

Go even further by having a SaaS that helps them build their own AI model where they can instantly swap a face onto any image/video and publish it directly to their socials.

Why It Works: AI-generated content creators need real-world assets to ground their productions. By providing high-quality, niche-specific videos, you offer a valuable resource to a fast-growing industry.

🛠 How to Build:

1. Find a Problem

Identify Pain Points in Your Potential Niche:

• Information Overload: Professionals are overwhelmed by the vast amount of content and struggle to find relevant information.

• Lack of Time: Busy schedules prevent people from staying updated with the latest trends and insights.

• Scattered Resources: High-quality content is dispersed across multiple platforms, making it hard to access efficiently.

2. Conduct Research

• Surveys and Interviews: Reach out to your target audience to understand their challenges and needs.

• Online Forums and Communities: Observe discussions to spot recurring issues and unanswered questions.

• Social Media Listening: Monitor hashtags and topics relevant to your niche to gauge interest and pain points.

Define the Problem Clearly:

• Create a problem statement that encapsulates the core issue your audience faces.

  • Example: "Crypto investors struggle to stay updated with rapidly changing regulations and market news due to information overload and lack of centralized resources."

3. Pick a Niche

Criteria for Selecting a Niche:

• Specificity: Choose a niche that is focused but has enough depth for ongoing content (e.g., "vegan bodybuilding diets" instead of just "fitness").

• Passion and Expertise: Select an area you are knowledgeable about or have a strong interest in.

• Market Demand: Ensure there's an audience willing to consume and pay for curated content.

• Competition Analysis: Identify gaps in the market where your service can offer unique value.

4. Validate Your Niche:

• Keyword Research: Use tools like Google Trends to assess interest levels.

• Competitor Analysis: Examine existing services to find what they lack.

• Engagement Metrics: Look at the size and activity of online groups related to your niche.

5. Build a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

Develop Your Value Proposition:

• Clearly articulate the unique benefits your service offers.

  • Example: "A weekly curated newsletter delivering the most crucial updates in sustainable fashion directly to your inbox."

Choose a Platform:

• Newsletter Services: Substack, Mailchimp, or ConvertKit for email newsletters.

• Community Platforms: Slack, Discord, or Circle if incorporating community elements.

• Website Builders: Wix, WordPress, or Squarespace to create a landing page.

Curate Initial Content:

• Set Content Guidelines: Determine what type of content fits your audience's needs.

• Source Quality Material: Follow industry experts, journals, and news sites.

• Create Original Summaries: Add value by summarizing articles and providing insights.

Build an Audience:

• Landing Page: Create a simple website with an explanation of your service and a sign-up form.

• Lead Magnet: Offer a free resource, such as an exclusive report or e-book, to encourage sign-ups.

• Social Media Presence: Establish profiles on platforms where your audience is active.

Set Up Distribution:

• Email Automation: Use an email service provider to automate newsletter delivery. (I like Beehiiv - here’s a 30-day free trial plus 20% off)

• Consistency: Decide on a regular schedule (e.g., weekly, bi-weekly) and stick to it.

Gather Feedback:

• Beta Testers: Invite a small group to try your service and provide feedback.

• Surveys: Use tools like SurveyMonkey or Google Forms to collect user opinions.

• Engage Directly: Encourage replies to your emails to foster engagement and receive insights.

6. Monetization Strategy

Freemium Model:

• Free Tier: Provide basic curated content to attract users.

• Paid Tier: Offer premium content, such as exclusive articles, deeper analysis, or additional resources.

Subscription Plans:

• Pricing Structure: Decide on monthly, quarterly, or annual subscriptions.

• Tiered Options: Create different levels of access (e.g., standard, premium, VIP).

Alternative Revenue Streams:

• Sponsored Content: Partner with brands relevant to your niche.

• Affiliate Marketing: Recommend products or services and earn commissions.

• Advertisements: Include relevant ads in your content (ensure they don't detract from user experience).

I break down every step from idea to first sale in way more detail in Launch in Five.

🚀 How to Grow:

• Start with a free tier to build trust and grow your audience.

• Use social media, forums, and niche communities to drive traffic to your landing page.

• Leverage content marketing (blog posts, guest articles) to attract organic traffic.

• Introduce a paid tier with exclusive content or deeper analysis.

• Offer incentives like lead magnets or free trials to convert free users to paid subscribers.

• Gather user feedback to improve and expand the service.

• Collaborate with influencers or industry experts to co-create content or host webinars.

• Add more premium features like webinars, toolkits, or curated job boards.

• Use email marketing to nurture leads and engage existing subscribers.

• Scale through automation (curation tools, email sequences) to streamline operations.

• Track key metrics (engagement, conversion rates) and optimize based on data.

• Implement referral or affiliate programs to encourage growth through word-of-mouth.

• Run targeted social media ads (Facebook, LinkedIn) to attract niche-specific audiences.

• Host free webinars or virtual events to build authority and attract leads.

• Use content upgrades (e.g., exclusive reports or checklists) to collect email sign-ups.

• Launch a podcast or YouTube channel to establish expertise and reach new audiences.

• Offer free trials or limited-time discounts for the paid tier to boost conversions.

• Participate in or sponsor industry events to build brand visibility.

• Share case studies and success stories to showcase value and build trust.

🔥 Cool Stuff

(Bookmark these)

• Find problems that need business solutions - Access the Problems & Pain Points Database.

• Want to grow your business? Here’s a database of tools that can help.

• Want to promote your startup for free? Here’s a database of free places to promote your startup.

• Want to turn your idea into a business? Check out this business idea checklist.

• Want to differentiate from your competitors? Check out this Differentiation Strategy Guide

• Want to run ads for your business? Use these proven psychological ad positioning strategies.

🤯 Recommendations

Boost Ad Performance Before Going Live

• Get instant AI feedback on your campaign creatives.

• Improve brand visibility and memorability.

• Tweak ads towards your campaign objectives.

• Improve your campaign CTRs and conversions.

• A/B test ads pre-launch, goodbye wasted ad spend!

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