All Episodes

December 2, 2024 β€’ 16 mins

When I think about the most impactful and accessible ways for podcasters to make money from podcasting, especially within the first year, it’s having a digital product. Most of the time your firstΒ  digital product can be created with minimal time and limited overhead. The biggest question is, what are you going to make and how are you going to sell it?

In this episode we’ll work through these two specific questions: what kind of digital product will you create? (What could that look like for you and your podcast?) Then how will you sell it? (How can you take this idea and actually turn it into a product your audience wants to buy?)

πŸ‘‹πŸΌ Want to sell a digital product but you don't know what to make?
Use my free tool that sends you 10 ideas made for YOUR podcast:
https://form.jotform.com/Morgan_Franklin/podcast-digital-product

πŸ“Œ Work with Me 1:1 for Podcast Coaching and Development:
https://morganfranklin.media/contact-morgan-franklin

πŸ‘©πŸ»β€πŸ’» Shop My Podcast Template Store:
https://podcastsforprofit.com

πŸ‘‹πŸ½ Let's connect! You can find me on LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, Threads, and TikTok.

πŸ™‹πŸ»β€β™€οΈ Questions? Comments? Ideas? Message Me:
morgan@morganfranklin.media

Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Morgan Franklin (00:01):
The world of digital products is a magical
and mystical place. It's thepassive income we dreamed of.
It's making money while wesleep. It's confusing. Welcome
to pod School. Today's lesson isgoing to be about how to make
and sell your first digitalproduct when I think about the
most impactful and accessibleways for podcasters to make

(00:22):
money from podcasting,especially within that first
year, it's having a digitalproduct. Most of the time, your
first digital product can becreated with minimal time and
very limited overhead, so youdon't need a lot of time or
money. And I think that that'swhy this is so appealing for new
podcasters. But of course, thebig question is, what are you

(00:44):
gonna make and how are youactually going to sell it. Hello
and welcome to podcast forprofit. My name is Morgan
Franklin. I'm a PodcastProducer, strategist and
educator. This podcast will helpyou create and grow a podcast
that cuts through the noise ofsocial media and speaks directly
to your target audience. Ifyou're ready to create a podcast

(01:05):
that will align you with theexperts in your industry,
position yourself as a trustedleader and create another source
of revenue for your business.You're in the right place in
this episode, we'll talk throughthose two specific questions,
what kind of digital productwill you create? What could that
look like for you in yourpodcast? Then how will you sell

(01:28):
it? How can you take this ideaand actually turn it into a
product that your audience wantsto buy? About a year ago, I
started my own journey trying tofigure out what digital products
I'd sell from this podcast, frommy own podcast, and despite the
glitz and glamor and excitement,I realized that this was not
gonna be as easy as I thought itwas gonna be. First of all, I

(01:51):
had no idea what I was gonnasell. One, what would people
actually want to buy from me?And two, how was I actually
going to create that thing andsell it. Digital products can be
anything, and I want to take asmall step back here to talk
about digital products and whatthey are before we really get
into the episode. Product foliosays that a digital product is

(02:13):
any product or service that isprimarily based on digital
technology, existing in a nonphysical or intangible form.
Okay? What does that mean,right? Basically, that means
that this is a virtual productor service that someone can buy
and use in a virtual space.Again, what does that mean? For
example, I think of one of thefirst digital products that I

(02:36):
ever bought, which was songs onApple iTunes to play on my
iPods. Now, obviously, most ofus will not be selling songs or
any kind of audio like that, butanother product that I remember
buying early on was presets forPhotoshop and Lightroom to edit
photos. I'd buy these fromindependent sellers and use them
in conjunction with my Adobesoftware. And again, you might

(02:58):
not have this kind of digitalproduct either, but look on how
to achieve the same results thatyou've been able to achieve, or
maybe a calendar or a Canvatemplate, or hundreds, literally
hundreds of other things. Thereare endless possibilities on
what you could create and sell.But as I'm sure that you know,
especially as a podcaster,endless possibilities does not

(03:21):
always help you figure out whatyou should be doing or what you
need to create, and that's why Imade the most incredible tool
for all my podcasters, for you,so that you can figure out what
kind of digital product that youcould sell and what your
audience actually wants to buyfrom you. It's a form, and it's
going to be linked in my episodedescription. And how it works is

(03:45):
basically you put in theinformation about your podcast
and your audience, and if youhave any digital products
already, and it'll justinstantly email you 10 ideas for
products you can sell. I've beenworking on this tool for several
weeks, and I am just so excitedfor you to use it. I cannot wait
to hear what you have to say,and all you have to do is take

(04:07):
about a minute and a half tofill out everything about your
podcast and audience, and theideas will be emailed directly
to you. It is that easy.Figuring out what kind of
digital product that you shouldcreate is a lot like figuring
out what your podcast should beabout. That's what it reminds me
of so much, because it needs tobe at the intersection of your

(04:29):
own knowledge and what you haveto provide already and what. The
audience wants to hear from youor to buy from you, there has to
be that like even balance ofwhat we can create and what
people actually want. My bestsuggestion for starting out is
to look at what you've alreadymade for yourself or your
clients. I'll use myself as anexample. I was producing

(04:52):
podcasts professionally forabout three years before I
started thinking about what Iwas gonna sell or any kind of
digital product. So when I wasbrainstorming, I took a look at
all the things that I hadalready created for my clients.
What was I already using on aday to day basis to make this
podcast production work? And mytwo digital products that I

(05:14):
launched with and that I'm stillselling are my podcast media kit
and my podcast guestquestionnaire template. And I'd
made both of those and perfectedthem to the point that I thought
when I'm thinking about what Ithink podcasters need and what
they would need to produce theirfirst podcast well. And I
thought, okay, if this workswell for me, I think other

(05:36):
podcasters would love this too.Take a look at what systems and
tools that you already have inplace, and figure out if there's
any way that you can packagethose up to sell them. I know
that might sound a little bitconfusing, but I think about a
client who I'm working withcurrently that is in the primary
education space, so teachingparents and students about ages

(05:59):
K through fourth grade, so fiveto 10, there are so many
worksheets and templates andcalendars that they could sell
online. And even better, if allof those came with a video or a
podcast episode or a privatepodcast episode to accompany
them, that would be soincredible for a parent who's
trying to help their student inthe classroom, or what about

(06:21):
somebody that's an accountant ora lawyer or a business coach?
There are just so manyworksheets and templates and
guidelines that you could maketo sell to people is insane. But
again, figuring out what to sellis only half the battle, because
maybe you have a great idea fora template or even a live
coaching seminar. How do youmake sure people really want it,

(06:44):
and how do you get it out therefor them to purchase? This is
where I think waitlists are sucha practical and important tool.
A waitlist can be really easy. Iuse kit, formerly known as
ConvertKit, as my emailmanagement software. They
literally have a free landingpage like you don't have to pay
for anything or for any of theirservices. They have a free

(07:06):
landing page where you can setup a wait list and start
collecting people's emails.Also, I want to clarify when I
say waitlist, I mean that youare just collecting people's
contact information that areinterested in an idea that you
have. The you explain is comingout or is in development. That
way, when you finally launch theproduct, you already have a list

(07:28):
of people that you know areinterested in it, and you can
gage the interest of the peoplesigning up on that wait list,
because you would rather make await list that doesn't get any
sign ups, then create an entirecourse that takes you months and
hundreds or 1000s of dollars tomake, and then no one buys it.
So think about setting up a waitlist to get people excited for

(07:51):
any kind of products that you'reeven thinking about making, that
way you can gage, okay, arepeople actually as interested in
this as I am making it. The nextthing is ask the people who are
already working with you. Justsay, hey, I really value you as
a client. I value you as alistener. I want to know what I
could do to make your lifeeasier. What problems are you

(08:14):
having right now? Then go fromthere. You don't have to guess
what people need or what theywant. Ask them what they need.
And think about what people askyou the most. Like, literally,
what are the questions thatpeople ask you the most? What
are people paying you to do themost often? What are your most
listened to episodes? Thinkbeyond your podcast again, what

(08:37):
are you hired most frequently todo, what's the information or
tools that you're giving topeople that they value the
most?Again? And if you're havingany questions about this or
thinking, oh my gosh, I have noidea what people ask me. I want
to plug again, the tool that Imade for you. It is linked in
the episode description, and ittakes account of all of these

(09:00):
questions. All right, so let'ssay that you have an idea of
what you want to do. Let's saythat you're a cake decorator,
and you help other cakedecorators to book out their
entire calendar year. You'reselling a digital calendar, a
profit and loss sheet, and aCanva template set that's
customizable social media postsfor their business. You already

(09:21):
have a podcast about the sametopic, helping cake makers make
money and book their fullcalendar year. So now what we
need to think about is, how areyou going to take this idea to
reality? The first things first,I would make a wait list and.
There that's on your website orthrough your email. Hosting
doesn't really matter. Start await list page and mention it in

(09:44):
every episode. So say, Hey, I'mlaunching these digital
products. Here's what they aregoing to be loosely here's who
it's going to help sign up forthe wait list and be the first
one to know about the launch.And maybe you have a promotional
deal or something, and then putthe wait list in every single
episode description, so thatpeople can easily sign up if

(10:07):
they are interested Next, you'regonna figure out what you
already have and what you needto create. So maybe you already
have all of the things andyou're using them for yourself.
In that case, it wouldn't reallytake that much work, but maybe
you haven't. Maybe you have areally rough profit and loss,
maybe that you're trying todesign some of these things for

(10:29):
podcasters who are just a oneperson show. This is where
things like Upwork and Fiverrare going to be your best
friend. Look for people andvendors that will help you to
design these digital templatesis there are hundreds of people.
This is all that they do. Theyhelp people make digital
products to sell. So type inwhat you're looking for and take

(10:51):
the time to look at what thesedifferent vendors have done.
Read the reviews. This is notsomething that you just want to
pick the first person that popsup. Make sure that you're hiring
someone, that you know what theyare going to be giving you and
that you like what they aregiving you, because think about
it. I mean, after that, you aregoing to take what they give you

(11:14):
and sell it to somebody else. Somake sure that the people that
you are working with arecreating things that you would
be proud and excited to sell.Then from there, and whether
you're cleaning up your ownstuff or you've got your PDF or
Excel or Canva links that you'vebought and helped work with
another person to make thesefiles are going to be ready for

(11:37):
you to start selling to buyers.So how does that process really
work? This is the part where youcan go a lot of different
directions. Personally, I useShopify. This is not sponsored
by Shopify, but I wish it was ifyou have a Squarespace website,
I believe that they do have an Ecommerce capability. Basically,
you just need a place to have adigital storefront to sell this

(12:00):
product. There are hundreds ofways to do this. If you have a
link tree, even in yourInstagram description, I know
that they just launched adigital storefront, and most of
the time it is as easy asuploading the document that you
want to sell. You fill out theinformation about it, and then
you just start selling. There'sa lot of different options, but

(12:22):
my best advice is to do someresearch and see what's going to
serve you the best for theamount of money that you're
putting into it. No one wants tolose money on just hosting their
digital product and not makingany sales, because I've seen
that happen too. So if I wereyou, I would start with a really
low cost option, and especiallyif you only have one or two

(12:45):
products, so that you're notspending 5060, $70 a month and
then maybe not even making thatreturn. Try to go for something
free or under $20 a month. Allright, so now we figured out
what our product will be. Wehave a place where people can
buy it, and now we are taskedwith making sure that people
know why and how to buy it.That's a million dollar

(13:07):
question, right? That's whyevery marketer has a job. But
let me just say, as a podcaster,you already are so far ahead of
the curve, you already have anaudience that is coming to
listen to you. However, this isstill a delicate balance. I've
read hundreds, probably 1000s,of one star podcast reviews
complaining about how the hostis always selling, and it's so

(13:29):
annoying that this podcast isjust one long ad. So again, we
have to make sure that we'realways putting our listener
first, because if they aren'tlistening, it doesn't really
matter how amazing the productis or how great of a job we've
done at marketing it on our ownpodcast. If no one's there to
listen, it really does notmatter. Listeners want value,

(13:51):
and I think as podcasters, thatwe should focus on that a little
bit more when we're trying tosell our own products on our
podcast. How is this productgoing to bring value to your
listener? How can you explainhow it works? How can you
explain how you've used it? Howcan you explain why you made it
sell the benefits of thisproduct and not the features?

(14:14):
How is it going to improve thelistener's life? You know what
to do if you want to sell adigital product, but you still
aren't sure what it could be.Use my free tool. It's linked in
the episode description. It'lltake information about your
podcast and your audience and alittle bit of magic from me and
email you 10 digital productideas that are made specifically

(14:36):
for you and your podcastaudience. It's the most amazing
tool that I have ever made forpodcasters, and I'm so, so proud
of it. I can't wait to hear whatyou think. Like I said, should
take a little bit less than twominutes to use. So go ahead and
give it a try. If you want someone on one, help from me. On how
to create products to sell onyour podcast, or how to sell the

(15:00):
products that you already haveon your podcast. My contact
information will be in theepisode description. You can
schedule a free exploratory callwith me, and as always, I can't
wait to listen to your podcast.Hey, thank you so much for
joining me on this episode. Ifyou enjoyed the podcast and
you'd like to hear more episodeslike this one, go ahead and

(15:22):
subscribe to the show. Newepisodes air every Monday
morning. And if you found thisepisode valuable and you want to
help other business owners andpodcasters, will you leave me a
five star review. It helps theshow rank higher in the charts
and brings more entrepreneursthe information they need to
start making money on their podcast.
Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know
Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted β€” click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

Β© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.