This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Let's say you have something to sell that is digitally delivered. This could be a lot of different things these days. You know, we all buy digital items all the time. It could be a song or an album, digital art, a magazine, a subscription service, an event ticket, access to something other than an event. Could be all kinds of things.
You get the idea, a digital download. In this scenario, which by sheer incredible coincidence connects to the question you're going to hear next from one of our listeners. What is the best way to sell it? To sell it, to provide it, to get it to your customers, to get those customers to send you money. The best platform or mechanism.
Do you need a whole website? Is there an easier way, et cetera, et cetera? That's the question. What is the best way to sell a simple digital download? Detailed question and my answer in just 30 seconds.
[Music]
Hey, this is Callie. I've been listening for years, ever since my sister recommended it to me. So here's my latest project. I'm making a fitness plan that comes with an ebook and audio download. I don't want it to be on Amazon, at least not at first.
I want to control my own pricing, distribution, and keep up with my customers through email. So how should I do that? What's the best way to sell a simple digital download? Should I set up a Shopify store or is there an easier way that still looks good? [Music]
Hey Callie, thanks for being out there.
Congratulations on the latest, what is it, a fitness plan? A fitness plan that comes with an ebook and audio download. I think it's smart in that case to not do it through Amazon just because it is multimedia. If you're just doing an ebook, Amazon's great for that, but you can charge a much higher price typically by packaging it in some form. And so then you need another solution, which is what Callie is looking for.
So should she set up a Shopify store? Well, you could, these days, even the big brands like Shopify, they can do a lot more complex stuff, but they also have options for digital downloads. So basically any e-commerce platform these days or almost any is going to have a way to sell and deliver digital goods. But if you're looking for the simplest, that's what Callie mentioned. I'm going to give a shout out to Gumroad, gumroad.com.
They're not a sponsor. I do know the founder of Gumroad, but it's been a couple of years since I talked to him. I used to be a Gumroad customer myself. Like long ago, I sold digital products using Gumroad. So if you go to gumroad.com, it's just a very, very simple, easy, intuitive system that they have continued to improve year after year.
I really love the ethos of this company. And I think you'll like the design and workflow as well. So if you were selling digital goods, that's what they have specialized in from the beginning, not as an add-on, not as like, okay, you're selling something else that goes out in the mail, but then there's also this digital option. Like that's what they have really focused on. So I'm going to say check out Gumroad and let me know how it goes.
All right, that's it for now. Of course, we've got a new episode every day throughout the holidays and beyond. I'm excited about the new year coming up. I've got a lot of cool stuff to share with you. So be sure you remain subscribed and follow new episode every day.
My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
- From the Onward Project.
