Are you tired of the client-for-hour exchange? Does it feel like your income is capped by the number of hours in a day? If you’re a coach or consultant, you know this struggle all too well.
Your expertise is valuable, but trading time for money can only take you so far. So, what’s the next step? The answer is monetizing digital products.
Let’s break down how you can scale your impact and your income without adding more hours to your calendar. This isn’t about working harder; it’s about working smarter.
Why Should Coaches Even Bother with Monetizing Digital Products?
Let’s get straight to it. Shifting from a pure one-on-one service model to one that includes digital products is a game-changer. It’s about building a more sustainable and scalable business.
The primary benefit is creating passive income streams. You create a product once, and you can sell it over and over again. This decouples your time from your revenue. Beyond that, digital products allow you to achieve true scalability—helping hundreds or thousands of people instead of just a handful.
Plus, offering valuable digital resources enhances your authority and trustworthiness in your niche. You become the go-to expert with a library of solutions.
Tip: Start small. Your first digital product doesn’t need to be a massive, all-encompassing course. A simple workbook or template can be a perfect entry point.
The 5 Core Digital Products Coaches and Consultants Are Selling
Wondering what kind of products to create? Most successful coaches focus on a few key formats. Here are the most popular and effective options for monetizing digital products.
1. Ebooks and Workbooks
Ebooks and workbooks are fantastic entry-level products. They are relatively easy to create and offer a low-risk purchase for your audience. Think of it as packaging your expertise into a digestible, actionable format.
Real-World Example: A business coach could create a “90-Day Business Planner” workbook that guides new entrepreneurs through setting and tracking their goals. You can easily design professional-looking ebooks using tools like Canva.
2. Online Courses
Online courses are the powerhouse of digital products. They allow you to dive deep into a topic and guide your students through a transformative process. Because of their depth, they have a high perceived value and can be priced accordingly.
Your course can include video lessons, downloadable worksheets, and community access. Platforms like Teachable or Kajabi make it incredibly simple to build and sell your course without any technical headaches.
3. Memberships and Communities
Do you want predictable, recurring revenue? A membership or paid community is your answer. This model focuses on providing ongoing value, such as monthly coaching calls, new content, and exclusive access to a community of peers.
The key to a successful membership is community. People will come for the content but stay for the connections and support. This is one of the most powerful ways of monetizing digital products for long-term growth.
4. Templates and Toolkits
Your clients are busy. They want results, and they want them fast. Templates and toolkits are “done-for-you” solutions that save them time and effort. These are often digital files they can download and use immediately.
Real-World Example: A marketing consultant could sell a “Social Media Content Toolkit” that includes a content calendar, post templates, and a hashtag library. It’s a quick win for your customer and an easy product for you to deliver.
5. Paid Webinars and Workshops
A paid webinar or a live workshop is a great way to teach a specific skill in a focused, interactive setting. You can charge a one-time fee for access to a 90-minute session where you solve a very specific problem for your audience.
You can host these live using platforms like Zoom and sell the recording afterward as another small digital product. It’s a brilliant way to create a new revenue stream from a single event.
How to Get Started with Your First Digital Product
Feeling inspired? Good. Getting started is simpler than you think. You don’t need a fancy studio or a huge budget. Follow these steps.
Step 1: Identify a Problem You Can Solve
Your best product ideas come from your audience. What questions do they ask you over and over? What is their biggest struggle? Create a product that solves that one specific problem. Don’t try to boil the ocean.
Step 2: Choose the Right Format
Once you know the problem, match it to the best format. Is it a complex process that needs step-by-step guidance? An online course is perfect. Is it a need for a simple tool to save time? A template is the way to go.
Step 3: Create a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
Perfection is the enemy of progress. Your goal is not to create the perfect product, but to create a finished product. Create a simple version (an MVP), sell it to a small group, get feedback, and then improve it. This ensures you build something people actually want and will pay for.
Your Next Steps
Shifting from pure service to a mix of services and products is how you build a resilient coaching or consulting business. By monetizing digital products, you open up new revenue streams, help more people, and reclaim your time.
So, take a look at your expertise. What’s one problem you can solve for your audience right now? Start there. Your future, more scalable business will thank you for it.