There is no denying that the internet has revolutionized the way we use products and services today. In fact, a whole new market of digital products has cropped up in the online realm recently. If you are interested in making a decent passive income, then you can tap into this market and start a lucrative business.
Before we get into the nitty-gritty of digital products reselling business, you need to understand a few fundamental things first:
What are Digital Products?
Digital products are digital merchandise that you can sell online. Compared to physical products which once sold have to be restocked, digital products can be sold countless times, at least in theory. So, once you have bought a particular digital product, you will always have it in your inventory.
Digital products can be put into many categories such as videos, audio clips, eBooks, images, graphics assets (vector images, icons, etc.), software applications, digital courses, etc.
What are the Benefits of Reselling Digital Products?
The following are some key benefits of reselling digital products:
- Low Costs: Reselling digital products is a cost-effective business. This is because you do not need to pay for logistics, storage, inventory, etc. Your merchandise is stored in a digital format and maintaining it is easy to afford.
- Passive Income: There are many reasons why passive income opportunities attract investors. For instance, if you earn passive income from reselling digital products, you have lots of free time for your other passion projects and hobbies. Also, the secondary income you earn on top of your main income can be used for other investments.
- Scalability: Scaling the digital products reselling business is a lot easier than many other businesses. Again, this has to do with the easy management of digital assets compared to physical goods. Depending on how well you are able to manage your business, you can easily boost your profits multifold over just a few years.
Understand The Legal Aspects
Now that you understand what digital products are and how reselling them can be a good business idea, let us move on to another important topic- the legal fundamentals. One crucial aspect you need to know in the legal context is that you can resell digital products with three types of rights which are:
- Private Label Rights (PLR)
A PLR license offers you most freedom with how you can resell certain digital products. As a private label reseller, you can customize the digital products or even completely rebrand them however you like. The only thing you cannot do is claim copyright as the other resellers might also be reselling the same products.
- Master Resell Rights (MRR)
The MRR license is the most popular license in this category. With this license, you can resell digital products as many times you want. You can even sell the rights to resell to your customers. However, you cannot modify or rebrand the products with this license.
- Resell Rights (RR)
The RR license also allows you to resell digital products to your customers as long as you do not perform any alterations in the products. You can’t, however, sell the resell rights to your customers.
How to get Started?
If you want to setup a lucrative business of reselling digital products, follow these steps:
- Choose a Niche
Reselling digital products may seem like an easy business, but it is not. Just like any other business, you need to plan everything with great care. One of the most important things you need to choose wisely is the niche.
You cannot setup an online business that resells all kinds of products and expect it to reach great heights. What you need is to identity an audience and pick an appropriate selection of products that they would need. This is established by the niche you pick which could be any of the following: health, food, travel, music, skill development, etc.
Make sure that you have enough data about your audience before you proceed. For instance, you need to know your audience’s average age, location, spending habits, gender, etc. This information will bring clarity in your business plans.
- Choose the Products
There are all kinds of digital products you can resell. Some good options are:
a. Web elements
There is a huge demand for web elements on the internet. You can make a good passive income by reselling web design templates for platforms such as WordPress and thematic elements such as social sharing buttons, fonts, navigational buttons, hero images, etc. Basically, you can sell anything that makes a website theme more attractive.
b. eBooks and online Courses
eBooks is one of the most popular digital products sold online. However, if you want to make a good profit and grow an eBook reselling business, you must invest time in picking the right niche. Do not make the mistake of filling your virtual store with random eBooks. Instead, spend time in learning about your target audience and select your books accordingly.
Online courses are another option you can consider for your reselling business. The demand for e-learning courses has increased a lot in the past few years. After the COVID pandemic, the demand has boosted even more as people are looking for ways to expand their skillset and protect their jobs or get better jobs.
c. White labeled software
Software is another top category in the reselling domain. As the number of mobile and computer users continue to grow, the need for various software applications has also followed suit.
You do not have to be a software developer yourself to make money selling software. You can simply find white label software providers that allow you to resell their programs. You can rebrand the applications and sell them under your brand. You do not have to worry about handling the technical side of the business such as software updates, patches, etc. as all this will be handled by the original provider. Even other aspects such as technical support are also managed by the provider.
- Source Products for Reselling
There are many platforms where you can purchase digital products for reselling. Since a PLR license allows you to modify and rebrand a digital product the way you want, it is best to purchase the products from PLR websites. Some of the top websites in this category are:
a. PLR.me
This website offers the highest quality digital products at reasonable prices. In fact, the platform has completely disrupted the PLR industry by offering a wide selection of PLR products in several niches. Although most products here fall under the category’s wellness and health, you will find enough eBooks, articles, etc. on these and some other niches.
Another important thing to note about the platform is that it offers a flexible pay-as-you-go payment option. In this option, you do not have to purchase a membership to access the contents of the website. You pay only for the products you are interested in.
Recommended for: action guides, lead magnets, eBooks, worksheets, short stories, courses, and articles/blog posts.
b. PLRproducts.com
PLRproducts also offers a good selection of digital products under multiple categories. You may find the pricing of most products here towards the higher end, but the quality justifies the premium. So, you will not have to put in a lot of work into improving the products before you can resell them.
Recommended for: reports, cover graphics, articles, software plugins, website templates and landing pages, etc.
c. IDPLR.com
IDPLR is possibly the biggest PLR member website on the internet as it has over 76,000 members at the time of writing. Another thing that is interesting about this platform is that its paid membership grants you access to all its products. You do not need to pay a penny for any download.
IDPLR has over 12,000 PLR products under difference categories and different licenses. The quality of most products is also decent if not the best.
Recommended for: articles and eBooks, music files, WordPress themes and landing pages, tutorial videos, etc.
- Select the Platform Where You Can Resell
There are two ways to resell your digital products. The first one is to list your products on popular marketplaces such as Amazon or eBay where buyers can find and purchase them. The second one is to build your own online store.
Developing your own online store is challenging and time-consuming. However, it is the best option as you get to control all aspects of the store. Also, you get to keep 100% of the profits you earn by reselling your products.
The following are some of the best online store builders you can use:
- Shopify
- BigCommerce
- Square Online
- Squarespace
Each platform has its strengths and weaknesses. For instance, Square Online is best for ease-of-use, while BigCommerce is best for SEO control. You can choose an appropriate platform based on your needs. That said, do not forget to brand your website. Be sure to use premium website theme, top-notch content, and also a unique company logo. Many of these things you can do on your own. For instance, you can easily make a logo on your own by using a decent logo maker tool. You can also find a premium WordPress theme easily by scanning the top websites that sell WP themes.
- Market Your Products
Once your online store is ready, you need to promote your products so that people get to know about them and make purchases. These are some effective ways to market your products:
List Your Products
Even if you are selling your digital products on your independent online store, it helps to have these products listed on top online marketplaces as well. In fact, the more are the platforms where your products are listed, the wider your reach would be.
These are some top-tier marketplaces where you can list your products:
- Udemy (for online courses)
- Kindle Direct Publishing (for eBooks)
- Ecwid (for software applications)
- Walmart, Amazon, and eBay (for all kinds of digital products)
Start a Blog
Blogging is a great way to market your digital products online and it is also one of the best passive income strategies. It is cost-effective, easy to implement, and helps in getting organic traffic. All you have to do is add a blog section to your business website and start publishing relevant blog posts on a regular basis. Ideally, you should try to write and publish one blog post a day. If that is not possible, you can publish 2-3 posts a week. You can even hire freelancer writer for this job if you do not have enough time at hand.
By writing high-quality blog posts that have target keywords and links, you can attract new internet users to your website organically. If they find your content useful and informative, they will purchase the digital products you have to offer.
There are many ways to boost your blog’s rankings- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques, guest posting, etc. You can find many resources (guides, videos, etc.) on these topics online.
Use Paid Advertising
If you have a decent budget, you can also consider spending some money on paid advertising. There are many platforms where you can display digital advertisements- Google Search, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. However, selecting the right platforms is the key for achieving a high ROI.
Apart from running advertisements, you should also focus on building sales funnels and organizing email marketing campaigns. This is because each buyer goes through different stages before finally purchasing your product- awareness, interest, decision, and action.
Conclusion
The internet offers a plethora of ways to make money online. Reselling digital products is one of the options you can consider. If you are willing to learn, have patience, and can plan to some extent, then there is ample scope for you in this domain. All you have to do is pick a category (under digital products) that you understand the most, follow the steps we have listed above, and create a marketing plan. Gradually, with some trial and error, you will learn how to make a profit and grow business. If done right, your passive income from reselling digital products can easily exceed your primary income.
