I Launched My First Digital Product on Gumroad

Here is how I did it.

A passive income source is probably a dream come true for many people.

The concept is lucrative because it sells freedom and confidence.

Freedom to manage your life the way you want.

Confidence that you won’t go broke even if you lose your primary income source.

Inspired by content creators, I started writing back in 2020.

I’ve published over 200 articles online, launched Self Made Millennials website, and recently wrote an ebook on “How to hit Google front page.”

The ebook is the first digital product I’ve launched to simply see how it works, what challenges I might undertake, and how my audience reacts to it.

Despite having over three years of marketing experience and helping companies drive customers via organic search, I was still hesitant to write an ebook and share my expertise.

Luckily, the first feedback came very positively, and I am happy to share my journey with you. Perhaps, you are one step away from launching your ebook, and these tips will be helpful.

How I validated my ebook idea

The biggest fear of every content creator is to get lost in the noise.

Like every other writer, I want to be heard and know readers care about my message. It’s easy to say but way more challenging to achieve.

I’ve always dreamed of publishing an ebook. I just never knew what to write about and why anyone would read it.

Seriously, plug any idea into a Google search, and you’ll see lots of free content on the same topic. If it’s free, why would anyone pay money for my ebook?

It’s a common concern for every content creator. However, here is what Jeff Rohde, a founder of J. Scott & Company, says about it:

“People are willing to pay for good content — even if it’s available on your website already.”

I am glad I listened to this advice and did an experiment that helped me figure out my ebook topic idea.

So, here is what I did.

As a marketer and content writer, I’ve been actively writing on this platform. I share my marketing tips, side hustle ideas, and achievements and teach SEO writing.

I wrote many different articles to learn what my audience is interested in and wants to explore further.

Surprisingly, a 7-minute article on how to hit Google front page did well.

The article has got over 1k views and growing. It has also got positive feedback from people who found the content insightful.

The audience is the reason why I used Medium to validate my ebook idea.

Over 3.3k like-minded people follow me, who came here to read and learn. That’s what my ebook should do — educate, entertain and help.

If my readers react extremely positively to my articles, I assumed they would be interested in learning more on this topic from me.

Does it sound logical? Well, it did, at least to me.

I am not active on social, and my email list is relatively small. Instead, I am active on this platform. Therefore, validating an ebook idea through writing succinct posts seemed a good idea.

It took me a week to create an in-depth 50-page ebook, find studies to cite, brainstorm what content to include, and collect data to write a real-life case study.

My ebook is finally live.

I self-published my ebook on Gumroad

I’ve been following Niharikaa Kaur Sodhi for a while and was inspired by her success story on Gumroad.

After closely examining the platform, I decided to give it a try.

In short, Gumroad is a self-publishing online marketplace for creators to sell books, memberships, courses, consultations, checklists, and anything you could come up with.

You neither need a website nor coding experience to sell on Gumroad.

Its functionality lets you quickly create a selling page, write a copy, upload your product (or paste a link to it) and share it with people worldwide.

It took me an hour to create a compelling selling page for my ebook. Here is a link if you want to check it.

Besides, I’ve shared my book with a few people to get their honest feedback. Thank you, Lionel de Nobrega and Philip Hofmacher, for your kind words! You gave me the confidence to create and share more value with people.

Besides Gumroad, I plan to advertise my ebook on my website, which I grew to 1k+ target visitors per month despite having a full-time job.

I don’t leave my hopes to run a popular website one day. I know it takes time and lots of work, but that’s okay. I’ll gradually get there.

Besides, I advertise my book on this platform, on Quora, and social media.

Tim Denning hit five figures selling an ebook by sending one newsletter. I am also excited to see where this endeavor takes me.

I keep telling myself this:

You’ll never know where you’ll end up and what opportunities you’ll unlock unless you give it a try.

My ebook is brand new, but I’ll keep you updated on my stats and achievements. Stay tuned!

Final thoughts

Any idea can turn into an exciting journey and a profitable hustle if you dare to try.

A few years ago I could not imagine myself writing an ebook. Today, it’s available for the whole world to read.

I am excited to see where this journey will bring me.

Even though I am a marketer, sales are not my strongest side.

Therefore, I’ll simply leave a link to my ebook here if you would like to learn how to write blog posts that get to the Google front page.

Thanks for reading and learning together with me.

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