avatarBurk

Summary

Burk Rosemann has earned more from Gumroad by offering free products in one month than from paid products in the first six months combined, emphasizing the value of long-term goals over quick profits.

Abstract

Burk Rosemann, a digital product creator, shares his success story on Gumroad, where he initially struggled to sell his products. After pivoting to a strategy of offering free products, he saw a significant increase in his earnings. Within a month, the revenue from these free offerings surpassed the total income from his first six months of selling paid products. Rosemann utilizes Gumroad's pay-what-you-want feature, which has allowed him to amass an email list of nearly 2000 subscribers and earn $200 from free products. He has since expanded his offerings to include Notion templates for Medium writers, which have contributed to his growing income. Rosemann advocates for focusing on long-term goals, such as building an email list and establishing oneself as a content creator, as the key to online success rather than seeking immediate financial gains.

Opinions

  • Rosemann believes that giving away free products can be a viable income strategy, as evidenced by his own experience.
  • He emphasizes the importance of long-term goals, like building an email list and marketing content, for sustainable online success.
  • Rosemann suggests that offering free products can lead to more opportunities and a stronger customer base.
  • He views the pay-what-you-want model as an effective way to earn money while still providing value to customers who may choose to download for free.
  • Rosemann encourages other writers to consider Medium membership to potentially earn money from their writing, as he did when he started out.

With Free Products, I’ve Made More Money On Gumroad This Month Than I Made In My First 6 Combined

Yes, money with free products

Design vector created by freepik — www.freepik.com

Here’s the deal. It isn’t a lot of money. Yet!

But the trajectory is looking good.

What I’m trying to show you is how long term goals are more important than a quick buck.

Let’s dive in!

Backstory

In December 2019, I started selling digital products on Gumroad. That failed miserably.

A couple of months later, I decided to give those products away for free. That went well.

I amassed an email list of almost 2000 people to date and made $200 with free products.

Screenshot by author

How?

Gumroad offers the option to let customer pay what they want. They can download your product for free or give you an amount of their choice.

Overall, with my first set of products — a few iOS icons packs — I made $150. It ain’t much, but it adds up.

Since then, however, I’ve released two new free products on Gumroad. With those alone, I made $50 in a couple of weeks. More than I made in my first 6 months on Gumroad combined, and 1/4 of my total earnings on the platform in about 15 months.

That’s incredible. Free stuff can go along way.

These two new products are Notion templates for Medium writers. Check them out here.

Gumroad store by author

The bottom line

Everyone can become successful online. A quick buck, however, is hard to come by.

It’s the long term goals you should chase, not the easy and quick money.

Start with free stuff, build an email list, market the content and yourself, and then watch your opportunities grow.

Eventually, I will add more paid products to my Gumroad store and offer them to the growing list of customers.

It all started with free products. Adding up all income streams, my overall earnings per months have outgrown my monthly income from my 9–to-5 job at Google.

Start small, think big!

P.S.: First, you should get my posts in your inbox. Do that here! Secondly, if you like to experience Medium yourself, consider supporting me and thousands of other writers by signing up for a membership. It only costs $5 per month, and you have the chance to make money with your writing as well. When I started, I made $3000 in 6 months. By signing up with this link, you’ll support me directly with a portion of your fee, it won’t cost you more. If you do so, thank you a million times!

Money
Business
Entrepreneurship
Gumroad
Creativity
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