The internet has opened up a world of possibilities for entrepreneurs looking to start an online business. With low start-up costs, global reach, and limitless scalability, selling digital products online is an increasingly attractive option.

Digital products provide passive income and require no ongoing production costs. You simply create the product once and can sell it over and over again. Digital products also allow for instant delivery and automation.

This makes it possible to sell digital products with no physical infrastructure or staff required. You don’t need a warehouse or retail storefront.

In this article, we’ll explore the 15 best digital products you can create and sell online right now. These are proven digital products with existing customer demand that can be created by anyone with passion and expertise in the topic.

1. Online Courses

One of the most popular digital products is online courses. Online courses allow you to sell your knowledge and expertise to students across the globe.

You can use platforms like Teachable, Thinkific or Podia to create your course, manage your students and process payments. Topics like cooking, photography, marketing, business and design are all prime course topics.

The great thing about online courses is that once created, they can earn you passive income for years to come. You just need to focus your time on marketing the course.

Make sure you niche down your course topic so it appeals to a specific audience. For example, a course on food photography will do better than a course on photography in general.

2. Ebooks

Ebooks are similar to courses in that they allow you to package your expertise into a digital product. However, they are generally shorter, available instantly and less expensive than courses.

Ebooks still require time and effort to outline, research and write. But you can create them more quickly than courses and sell them at a lower price point, making them another excellent passive income stream.

Niche focused ebooks on topics like fitness, productivity, business and psychology tend to sell well. You can sell them directly from your website or list them on ebook marketplaces like Kindle Direct Publishing.

3. Online Coaching & Mentoring

For entrepreneurs with particular expertise, offering personal coaching and mentoring can be a lucrative digital product. Coaches offer clients 1-on-1 guidance to achieve specific goals.

You can structure your coaching as a package of video calls over a defined period of time. This allows you to charge a premium rate for personal access to your knowledge.

Topics like health, fitness, dating, career development, business strategy and life purpose are all areas people seek coaching in. You can promote your services through your website, speaking gigs and social media.

4. Video Courses

While standard online courses rely on written materials and downloads, video courses contain video-based lessons. The popularity of YouTube shows that people love consuming video content.

Video courses allow you to demonstrate concepts visually, making them ideal for tactile skills like playing an instrument, painting, dance, crafts, magic and more.

Platforms like Teachable, Podia and Thinkific make it easy to host your videos, drip feed content and sell your course. You can then promote your video course to your target audience.

5. Online Workshops & Retreats

Online workshops and retreats take your digital products up a level by offering live coaching and interaction.

Workshops may be a one-off group class or a series of classes across multiple weeks. Online retreats mimic in-person retreats through a scheduled program of classes, coaching and community.

These interactive digital products allow you to offer a high-touch service and build personal relationships with attendees. You can host them on platforms like Zoom, Demio or Gather.

6. Membership Sites

Membership sites provide ongoing access to your content for a monthly or yearly fee. This gives you predictable recurring revenue from your members.

You can offer discussion forums, monthly training sessions, Q&As, discounts and other membership perks. Niche interest areas with engaged audiences like gardening, investing, pet care and spirituality are great niches for membership sites.

Membership site platforms like Mighty Networks, Circle and Memberful make launching and managing your membership site simple.

7. Downloadable Printables

Printables like planners, trackers, worksheets, guides, templates, labels and more can be created and sold online with no inventory required.

For example, you could sell a workbook for language learners to practice vocabulary and grammar. Or meal planning printables with grocery lists and recipes.

These printables are typically sold as PDF downloads. You can sell them individually or in bundles. Printable products pair well with online courses and membership sites.

8. Stock Photos

Stock photos continue to grow in popularity and provide ongoing passive income. You simply take high-quality photos and list them on stock photo sites like Shutterstock and iStock.

Then every time someone licenses your photo to use, you earn a royalty payment. Nature, lifestyle, business, travel and food photos tend to sell well.

With a quality camera and some photography skills, you can build up a portfolio of hundreds of photos for sale. This can earn you royalties for years to come.

9. Stock Music & Sound Effects

In the same way stock photos provide ongoing passive income, you can also sell royalty-free music tracks and sound effect samples online.

Whether you make electronic music or record natural sounds, you can sell these audio files on marketplaces like AudioJungle.

Producers, vloggers, advertisers and more will license your tracks for their projects. While each track may only earn pennies, collectively they add up over thousands of sales.

10. Software & Apps

While more technical to create, software and smartphone apps can become truly passive income streams at scale.

Once your software or app is built, customers can purchase and download it online with no further work required from you. Just focus your efforts on improving it over time.

Productivity apps, game apps, web browser extensions, photography apps and more are popular types of software you can develop and sell. You can offer them paid upfront, by subscription, or with in-app purchases.

11. Graphic Design Templates

From social media posts to business cards, graphic templates allow people to create visual content quickly and professionally.

You can create templates for programs like Canva, Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop then sell them online directly or via marketplaces.

Focus your graphic templates on specific uses and industries. Templates for stream graphics, YouTube thumbnails, real estate ads, online store ads and Instagram posts all sell well.

12. 3D Models & Digital Assets

If you have 3D modeling and design skills, platforms like TurboSquid allow you to sell 3D models online.

You can create 3D models of objects, buildings, clothing, vehicles, plants and more. These can be sold to game developers, architects, VR projects, advertising and film production.

Even if you’re not highly skilled, you can buy assets like 3D models, digital backgrounds, textures, mockups and icons then repackage them into bundles to resell.

13. Podcast Ads & Sponsorships

If you host a popular podcast, you can generate revenue by having businesses pay to sponsor your show and run ads.

The key metric is downloads, so focus on growing your listeners. 10,000+ downloads per episode is typically required to start attracting sponsors and advertisers.

Niche podcasts focused on topics like business, health, tech and finance tend to attract the most sponsors as the audience aligns with many products and services.

14. Digital Downloads of Physical Products

While most of the digital products covered don’t require any physical products, some do. For example, you can sell:

• Recipes and meal plans along with packaged ingredients to cook the meals
• DIY project instructions paired with pre-cut materials packs needed for the projects
• Workout plans along with gym equipment like weights and resistance bands

So don’t rule out leveraging physical products to complement your digital products. Just focus on digital delivery and automation wherever possible.

15. NFTs

NFTs (non-fungible tokens) allow you to sell digital artworks, music, videos, memes and more by creating verifiable digital records of ownership on a blockchain.

While NFTs are speculative currently, they offer a new way to monetize digital content, especially visual artwork.

You list your NFTs on marketplaces like OpenSea and Rarible. When someone purchases it, you earn the money and retain ownership rights. The buyer owns the original copy.

Key Takeaways

• Online courses, ebooks, coaching, and memberships leverage your expertise into passive income streams.
• Digital downloads like printables, photos, music and templates are excellent passive online business models.
• Software, apps and podcast sponsorships have huge upside but require more upfront effort.
• NFTs allow you to sell digital artworks with blockchain verification of authenticity and ownership.
• Niche down your products for defined target audiences willing to pay higher prices.
• Use platforms to handle course/membership logistics so you can focus on creating great content.
• Building an audience and great marketing will boost sales of any digital product business.

With low start-up costs and the power of the internet, selling digital products is easier than ever in 2023. Pick a digital product niche you feel passionate about pursuing and start creating something of value to sell online.

The passive income potential is huge once your digital product is up and running. And by directly serving customers, you’ll gain more freedom and control than being reliant on a traditional 9 to 5 job.