Many know Gumroad as a platform for publishing books, especially for independent authors, but did you know it is much more than that?
Gumroad is an e-commerce platform and online marketplace where people buy and sell digital products such as ebooks, courses and workshops, software, music, stock photos, newsletters, etc.
“Go from 0 to $1” is Gumroad’s slogan. To achieve that and more like Nathan Barry, the creator of Convertkit, who has made over one million dollar from the platform selling his digital products like books and courses, you should know the steps you must take to position yourself for success on Gumroad.
Have a Product
The first step towards making money selling digital products on Gumroad is to have a digital product.
Your digital product can be a book in ebook or audio format, a video game, software, printable designs, stock photos, courses, etc. Once it is in a digital format, you can sell it on Gumroad.
Now you have an idea of the product you want to sell, but if you don’t, you can consider this checklist to help you come up with an idea:
What am I good at? Consider what you know, can produce, or can teach others. This can be a skill, knowledge, or product.
What format can I produce it in? Each idea or knowledge has a best way it should be produced or taught. For example, if you are a software developer and you want to help businesses with their stock-keeping,. This idea can’t be produced in a book format, either ebook or audio. The only way to help businesses is to develop stock-keeping software. An accountant, on the other hand, can teach people stock-keeping by creating a video course or writing an ebook.
I hope you get the idea now. Get an idea based on what you know and can produce, then choose the best means to bring it to life.
Do Your Research
You already know the skills and knowledge you want to share or apply to solving a problem, but that is not all there is to know.
Carrying out research before creating your product is important. It is only through research that you would better understand your idea and how to make it the best. Research will help you identify your competitors. Know what they have or have not done with their products, and find a way to make yours better.
The research will tell you if your product is in high demand. You don’t want to create a product nobody is looking for. Remember that you want to make money while offering value. As a result, you should investigate whether the product is readily available to customers.
If there are, then you are good to go, but if there are none, you may need to change your product.
Also Read: 5 Best Survey Sites to Make Extra Cash in Your Free Time
Create a Gumroad Account
Before you can stand a chance at being a success on the platform, you need an account. To create an account, go to the website, set up your profile bio, choose a username, and upload your profile photo.
Viola! It’s that simple, and your account is up and running.
Create a Product Page and Upload Your Product
Now that you have your Gumroad account, the next step is creating a product page.
A product page is a page where your product is introduced and pitched to the customer. Your product page consists of elements that would make your product stand a better chance at being profitable if it weren’t done rightly. The elements are:
Product Name: A product name is the name of your product. For instance, if you have created a video course on how to make money on Gumroad and have titled it “How to make money on Gumroad selling digital products,” this is your product name.
Product Description: In your product description, you explain what your product is about and how it will positively impact the customer’s life.
Product Cover Image: This is the image of your product that customers see when they visit your product page. Using the right image can increase your CTR and by extension your sales.
Product Thumbnail: This is the image that is shown to your customers when they discover your product on Gumroad Discover or when your product link is shared. They are shown the thumbnail before they click on the product.
Product Summary: A product summary is using few words to summarize what is in the product description.
Price Your Product: In this section, you should price your product. It is always advisable to not price your product blindly. Blind pricing means setting your price without checking out what others are doing, resulting in either overpricing or underpricing your product.
Before entering a price for your product, ensure that you search for similar products or products in the same category, find out the average pricing, and use it as a reference. This would prevent overpricing or underpricing your product.
Product Upload: Once you have priced your product, the next step is to upload it. Your products can come in any format, such as PDF, video, software, etc.
On your computer, search for your product and upload it.
Product Category: select category for the product. For example, if your product is a video course about making money on Gumroad, you can select make money online as the category.
A category helps the platform algorithm understand what the product is about and show it to the correct audience.
Product Tags: product tags are words related to the product and the category. Using our video course example, some of the perfect tags would be making money online, digital products, etc.
Publish Product: After fulfilling all the steps, you can then publish your product, and it will instantly be live on Gumroad. Ensure that you copy your product link after publishing to where you can easily access it.
Promote Your Digital Product
Now that you have your product live on Gumroad, the next thing is to get people to see it and visit your product page.
There are many ways you can promote your product. It can be promoted through paid or free advertising.
Some of the ways you can promote your product are:
Newsletters: Newsletters are an excellent way to get your product in the faces of your audience, but it can only work if you already have an email list or have someone who you can affiliate with, and they show your product to their email subscribers.
Using Paid Ads: You can run a campaign on websites such as Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Google, Quora, etc. Using paid traffic is a faster way to get your product seen and potentially make sales. The downside is that it is not free.
Note, you need the link you copied while publishing it, because that’s your product page link.
Also Read: 5 Best Freelance Platforms for Beginners to Make Money Online
Conclusion
Gumroad is one of the leading marketplaces on the internet for selling digital products. It has experienced great success since its launch in 2011. It has provided many creators a platform to make money from their digital products.
You can become a successful creator by following the steps in this article.
Understand your strength and create a product around your strength; research the market to ensure there are potential buyers; and find a way to make yours better than the rest in your niche.
