Starting a digital product business

Starting a digital product business requires quite a bit of work upfront, but you can definitely still build a successful digital product business.

How do you make it successful?

You need to treat it like a business, not a hobby. You need to be consistent and determined to figure everything out. Things will feel hard at different points along the way, but you can't give up - you have to soldier on if you want it to be a success. 

Business registration and taxes

We cannot provide you with information regarding whether you need to register your business or to do with taxes - you need to discuss this with your tax accountant as they are experts in their field and can give you tailored advice.

Picking a niche

If you haven’t started your store because you can’t decide what to create, you are not alone. We see lots of people getting stuck at this stage. This is why I want to address it and help you move past this stage. 

So, what is a niche? 

A niche is basically an area that you are looking to target. Popular niches for digital products are: Business Templates, Event Stationery, Planners, Activities, Clipart, Digital Stickers, Sublimation, SVG’s, Mockups, etc. 

So what should you do if you are stuck? 

I would recommend that you pick your top 3 ‘niches’ that you are thinking about creating products for and start making products for each of these niches. Then, once you have created products, think about what did you enjoy making? What did you not enjoy making? Which product looked the best? What product would you prefer to recreate multiple times? You will soon realise what you prefer to create. 

If you can’t think of 3 niches you might want to create items for, think about yourself as your ideal customer - which items would you look for online? What do you wish you could find and buy? Make a list and start there. 

You want to create your storefront asap and start creating and listing products. Don’t get held up by it not being perfect, it is likely your first few products will not be great and that's OK.

In the beginning, it's all about learning and developing your skillset. You are learning design, marketing and about being a business owner all in one go and you likely won't be amazing at all of it straight away. They are skills you need to develop over time.

But you don’t need to be a qualified designer and you don’t need to know anything about business, you can start where you are and, as long as you put in the effort to learn and practice, you will improve and you will see success. 

The main thing is to get started as you will learn and improve so much by taking action.

Can I have more than one niche in my store? 

We recommend only focussing on one niche in your store. 

Selling on Etsy works best when you pick just one type of product to sell, which is called a "niche." Instead of selling lots of different products, focus on one category or theme. This helps you really understand what your customers like, and you can make products that match their interests. It also makes your shop stand out and builds a strong brand.

When you specialize, people are more likely to remember and trust your shop. Moreover, the Etsy algorithm tends to favor specialized stores, potentially boosting visibility and attracting a more engaged customer base.

Feeling overwhelmed

It's perfectly normal to feel overwhelmed when starting out, after all you are learning a lot of new skills and taking in a lot of new information. The best thing to do is just focus on one thing at a time. Learn to master just one thing at a time. Then as you get the hang of that, start with the next thing. It will all come together faster than you think and you will be a pro in no time!

Building an email list

It's important to build an email list so that you have direct access to your leads and customers and you can make them offers and direct them to listings. 

We have a great mini-course called Legendary lead magnets to help you build your email list.

If you are in PIS log into the portal and then click this link to access it: Passive Income Society (jessa.com.au)

If you are in TCS log into the portal and then click this link to access it: Template Creators Society (jessa.com.au)

Inspiration V's copying

It's very important to have a strong code of ethics in your business. You can look at other people's listings for inspiration but it's very important not to make direct copies or plagiarise someone's content. Copying is a breach of copyright and they could come after you to protect their intellectual property. 

So how do you take inspiration? 

You can look at the types of colours, fonts, layouts and elements people have used. For instance, maybe you see a neutral colour palette with lots of shades of beige and browns performing really well on a listing. Then you could make your own neutral colour palette but maybe you try neutral colours with beige, browns and greens.