Creative daily

Selling digital products on Etsy A Complete guide to Digital Success

Aug 23, 2023

Are you seeking ways to earn cash during your sleep? or while you wash dishes? Perhaps while you travel across the globe?

If you're searching for a passive income stream (or maybe a new creative outlet) to potentially make an immense amount of cash, you might want to start selling digital products on Etsy .

If the idea of selling digital goods on Etsy makes you curious take a look at this thorough guide to discover the information you need before you begin selling digital products through your personal Etsy shop.

Here's what we'll cover:

What is the definition of digital goods that are available on Etsy?

There are a variety of good motives to consider selling digital products online:

  • A low investment, but potentially high returns
  • Digital goods can be sold with higher margins than physical products
  • No inventory, shipping, or rent
  • Automatic delivery to passive income
  • Create a niche at scale

Making money selling digital goods on the internet is an excellent method to engage with your artistic side and business-minded energy... all while making some additional spending cash.

While entering the business world of small businesses could be daunting, e-commerce company Etsy has simplified the process of creating marketing, selling, and distributing digital products -- so it's a breeze!

What is it? Etsy is an excellent platform for selling digital products

Most likely, you've had the pleasure of hearing about (and even purchased from) the global online marketplace Etsy  which is where artists can offer their unique hand-crafted, vintage or customized items for anybody to purchase.

Etsy is a great starting point to sell digital goods for several reasons.

  • Etsy is already home to a huge user base, so if you choose and market your products well, the potential is endless.
  • Etsy takes only a small percentage from each sale, so it's relatively affordable
  • Etsy has the option of a non-branded online store, called Pattern , which lets you build your website with the same uniqueness as your brand
  • Etsy will automatically deliver customized files to clients when they make a purchase.

In short, Esty offers a user-friendly platform that gives creators the visual tools needed to sell aesthetically-pleasing digital products that fit any niche.

Knowing the market for digital goods on Etsy

Etsy is a marketplace that boasts an extremely active number of users. The numbers show that there are more than 95 million buyers active on Etsy in 2023.

This is among advantages of choosing to sell digital items through Etsy: there's an devoted and established audience of trusted customers ready to make purchases within any specific niche.

Etsy is the home of makers and DIYers. It makes Etsy the ideal place to start selling any kind of unique digital product.

Different types of digital products

Here are a few examples of the most well-known digital products that are sold through Etsy:

  • Planners
  • Checklists
  • Worksheets
  • templates (social media web, resume, excel budgets)
  • Electronic stickers (cosmetic labels)
  • Cards that print (wedding or restaurant cards, for events, etc.)
  • Sheets of coloring
  • Cards (thank-you birthday, business, thank-you, recipe, invitations)
  • Journals
  • Learning materials for kids
  • Sewing patterns
  • Photo-editing presets
  • Phone wallpapers/widgets

How to find your niche and target audience

If you're experimenting with your creative abilities or you have a clear idea of the product you want to sell One of the most important aspects to think about is who your ideal customer.

Set up your Etsy shop for digital products

After you've learned about Etsy and the Etsy marketplace and perhaps considered what products you could be selling, we'll show you how to set an online Etsy store!

In the process of establishing the Etsy shop is simple thanks to their simple website. For creating your Etsy shop simply follow these steps:

Making a seller's account

The first step is to click "Sell at Etsy' on the lower left of the Etsy site for the country you reside in Follow the steps to set up your seller account.

Selecting a name for your shop and branding

Following that, Etsy will prompt you to pick a name your shop. Do not worry if you're not completely sure of what you'd like to call it (or perhaps what you'd like to offer) since you'll have the ability to easily change the name later on.

The method of branding and creating your own unique store and product can begin once you've been selling and finding your rhythm with the website, however it's helpful to develop an idea in the beginning of your idea for what you would like the shop to appear as.

Listing and uploading digital items

The next step will take the longest time as you'll need to enter photos and descriptions of your items. You are basically creating a "listing" that is similar to the one on Facebook Marketplace, which you've most likely previously used to buy or sell previously-loved items.

When you've got your digital product ready to go, you ned to post images or video for your product's life so buyers know exactly what they're buying when they buy.

There's no need to worry if you don't have any items to add yet- you can still start your own shop, and add or edit items later in the section.

Making product descriptions more efficient and tags

When setting up your shop it is your responsibility to showcase the benefits your digital item has to have to offer. Be sure to use catchy titles and eye-grabbing description -- customers may only be able to read the very first couple of lines in your description. So be sure to make these lines count!

Aiming at particular SEO terms (more about this in the future) on your listing is also extremely beneficial to making sure your shop's accessible and simple for buyers to find.

It is also a great spot to display the hard work that you have put into your work, as well as let buyers know how your shop's products and digital items is unique and distinct in comparison to other stores.

Setting prices and information about delivery

In the next section, you can allow you to determine your pricing per unit and choose the method of delivery.

The selling of digital items via Etsy is just like making a listing on an actual product except that when you're selling an item that is digital, you don't have to worry about shipping logistics.

If you're making an Etsy listing for a digital product you have two options you could do it- as immediate downloads or as an item that is made-to-order. Instant downloads are automatically sent to the buyer, whereas custom-made items are ones that you customize for the customer. After that, Etsy will be able to send the item out as soon as they're uploaded.

Easy peasy, hassle-free delivery!

How you get paid

The final stage in creating the Etsy shop is where you add all of the information necessary to figure out the method of payment (Etsy has a range of different payment options), and has all the other things needed to set up billing for your shop.

This section also covers security in the shop, to ensure that all of your personal information is protected.

Good practices for selling digital items on Etsy

After you've got your Etsy shop set up, it's time to learn how you can earn profits for your amazing designs.

These are some best ways to make sure your products are popular and selling fast:

The creation of high-quality, unique items

In some categories, Etsy can be a highly saturated market, so an effective strategy is to sell products that have high demand and very little competition.

It's just not the sole option to achieve success. Following your passion and creating the things you enjoy doing can pay off -- prospective customers will notice the quality and details of your job.

Crafting high-quality digital products can help you be noticed, especially when the industry you're selling in is very competitive.

Tips for creating compelling digital designs

One of the best tools for making eye-catching, highly in-demand digital designs is Canva. This graphic design platform provides both paid and free choices for digital art and designs.

Canva offers a variety of customizable templates that are perfect for creating your own unique digital products to sell on Etsy.

In the event that designing not your thing (which is totally okay) and you're still looking to market unique digital items on Etsy it is possible to hire a designer to help create your ideas. Sites such as UpWork or Fiverr let you seek freelancers who can help you in any way you need when creating digital products.

Your products should stand above the rest

Look at the marketplace for your digital products and find out what competitors are doing. Discovering ways to stand out from your competitors can provide you with ideas for how you can make your service distinct and improve your business.

Expanding your digital enterprise through Etsy

After you've created your product and shop and have established your shop, there are some strategies to grow your online creation company. If you follow these tips, you should be able to start seeing that money flowing in!

A strong brand name

Etsy is a huge platform with millions of sellers -- in the year 2022, approximately 7.47 million sellers have sold items on the marketplace and that's why creating a brand image is vital to succeed on Etsy.

A strong brand identity means that you'll be remembered by your customers, which will lead to increased sales, more frequent customers, and more great reviews.

Your brand identity is all about the display of your personality and your values in the goods that you offer.

There are a few ways to build a strong brand image include looking at the five Ps that define your business: purpose, perception, personality Position and Promotion of your business.

Enhancing your line of products and services

Expanding your digital product line is an excellent method to attract new customers and keep people coming back to your shop. Creating new digital products on Etsy can also help widen your target audience, making your shop more discoverable.

The best thing about selling digital goods is that, once you've made something, that's all you have to do! Then, you can relax and enjoy watching your work get sold over and over repeatedly without even lifting a hand.

An analysis of sales and information from searches

It's beneficial to your company to keep track of and monitor the sales data and other search information.

The Search Analytics will let you know how your shop performs by giving you insights into how people find your products and which tags you have on your products are most popular, as well as the volume of visitors your listings for products get from search results. This is vital information to ensuring that your business is successful.

Etsy provides helpful tips in the Selling Handbook to understand the data you collect on sales and search analytics.

Implementing effective marketing strategies

Here are some successful marketing strategies for you:

  • Set up with branded social media profiles for your company (have an attractive and professional looking business Instagram profile and make TikTok videos promoting your product to help discoverability)
  • Make a website with HTML0 Pattern , which lets you design and create a new site that is not branded by Etsy (you remain with your original Etsy shop, it just automatically syncs with your Pattern site)

Utilizing SEO techniques to increase the visibility of your website

It is very useful to learn the basics of SEO or search engine optimization (SEO), which is essentially making your site more user-friendly. Targeting frequently searched keywords in the titles of your products and descriptions can help the search engine rankings of your Etsy shop to be found by more people (and ultimately more profitable).

Adjusting and changing your search optimization strategy may help you stay ahead of the curve and increase the volume of your Etsy's search engine traffic.

Some common issues when selling digital products on Etsy

The process of setting up a store through Etsy can provide a wealth of potential economic benefits... However, this doesn't mean there won't be any bumps in the road along the way!

Like any other company, there are a few things to be cautious of:

Etsy enforces strict copyright infringement policies that protect intellectual property. If Etsy is notified of intellectual property rights infringement, Etsy must remove the specified content (including the product listing).

Be cautious If you're concerned that your work could be identical to what's on the market -- you'd hate to be able to see your work removed from your online store.

Handling copycats and rivals

Since Etsy is a huge market, it's not surprising that there's a lot of competition. This means there could be copycats. Finding work identical to yours could be stressful. It's vital to be aware of your rights and the right time to decide to take action.

Keep up to date with Etsy policies and changes

Be aware of Etsy's policies when creating your online shop selling digital goods on Etsy's marketplace. It's a good idea to stay up-to-date with any policies and changes that could affect your company.

Study of cases: Successful sellers of digital products on Etsy

Here are some examples of individuals who have succeeded in earning a passive income by selling digital products through Etsy:

Rachel Jones: MoneyHackingMama.com

Rachel Jones is living the dream of having a side business -- on top of having two sons and beginning her career as a part-time job. She designs and sells printables for download on Etsy.

Rachel was hired in the year 2018 before deciding to fully work on her own with her Etsy business by 2021. She explains that a major moment in her career was when she first started employing eRank for help in gaining traffic through keyword research and competition analysis.

The lucrative gig has enabled her to average over $10,000 in sales per month... Mama! !

Ralu Petrea: Outline Planner

The process took Ralu Petrea one week to introduce her best-selling Paperless Planner on Etsy and 2 years to improve it - now it's her full-time job. Ralu started without a following, no business plan and even a brand name that she taken from an earlier venture that didn't succeed.

From November 2018 until October 2020 Ralu made her planners available exclusively via Etsy and surpassed 90,000 dollars in sales.

Through a masterful adaptation of the paper-based planners for tablets, she has created an original product that covers a very broad market area... an example of how the attention to detail when creating top-quality products will pay off.

Kayla: Amma Rose Designs

Kayla left her 9-5 job and began her Etsy shop, selling business planning tools in 2018. After a few hours and effort, Kayla was able to earn close to $100,000 from the sales of her Etsy shop.

The advice Kayla wants first-time Etsy sellers to be aware of is: "The greater the time and effort you put into your business at the beginning, the sooner you'll have the chance to step up a little."

One of the most important tips that Kayla preaches is to remember to listen to your customers' needs and concerns... this will benefit your business over the long run!

In conclusion...

Exploring the possibility of selling digital products via Etsy

Selling digital products through Etsy can open the doors to different income streams.

Beginning your own Etsy shop that sells digital items is a great method to let loose your creativity and earn some passive income, with minimal effort to keep your shop operating once you've got it operating effortlessly.

If you believe this is the right path for you, then it's the perfect time to turn those artistic wheels turning and start setting up your the shop... best of luck!