I Made $4,066 Selling Digital Products (Without Social Media or Paid Ads)
Here’s my simple system you can start using today
You’re sitting on a goldmine. You probably just don’t know how to mine it yet.
In less than 12 months, I made $4,396 purely from digital products. No social media viral threads. No complex funnels. No ad spend.
Just a simple system.
You can do this too, and to be honest, you should.
Because digital products aren’t just “nice to have.” They’re your ticket to scalable income, audience leverage, and finally detaching your revenue from your time.
I’ve set a funnel and an automation that sells for me, yes, while I sleep.
Let’s break it down.
Why Digital Products (Especially Right Now)
Most content creators stay trapped in the same exhausting cycle:
Writing. Posting.
Chasing the algorithm.
Burnout.
Sound familiar?
The problem isn’t your content. The problem is you’re not capitalizing on your audience’s attention. Attention without monetization is just noise.
A digital product flips your script.
You create once.
Sell infinitely.
Build assets instead of chasing followers. You can’t scale sitting on rented grounds.
You wake up, and someone bought your PDF while you were drinking coffee. That’s real leverage.
How I Did It: My 3-Part System
No fluff. No theory. This is what actually works.
1. Start With Your Audience’s Problems
Don’t create products out of thin air.
I extract product ideas directly from:
My readers’ emails. I ask them questions in the welcome email and some answers. I help them, and I also get insights for my products.
My comments. People say what they need if you can listen. Read your comments intentionally, not transactionally.
The questions people ask. Chats, communities, Quora even. I use my ask-me-anything podcast to get ideas.
Your content. The best-performing pieces are a huge signal. Double down on that.
Simply ask. Send and email asking your audience what would they want to know more about. Then build it. You can do that over an email or in your community chat if you have a Substack.
If you’re already publishing content, your audience is literally telling you what they’ll pay for. Listen. Document. Then build.
2. Build Products From Your Content, Not For Your Content
Biggest mistake? Trying to reinvent the wheel.
I repurpose:
My best-performing posts
My most requested guides
My private coaching notes
Your best products are already hidden inside your existing work.
Don’t think of it as starting from scratch, package your expertise.
3. Sell Strategically (Not Mass Market)
This part is critical.
I don’t throw products and hope strangers will buy them. They won’t.
You might have the best product of the world but if no one knows about it you won’t sell.
So yes, you need to ask for the money. No other way around, sorry.
If you have issues with this, fix your mindset first.
I use a laddered offer strategy:
Free content builds trust. I have a freebie I use to grow my list. Once someone subscribes, they enter my funnel.
Paid subscriptions are my low-ticket. I use digital products as subscriber benefits. What if free subscribers don’t convert?
I turn my paywalled content into digital products (courses and guides) and offer them to free subscribers.
I reward paid subscribers with extra perks. I sell products to free subscribers. Everyone wins.
No complicated launches. Just a simple ecosystem that feeds itself.
One Huge Mistake to Avoid
Most writers use digital products with paid subscriptions wrong.
Blinded by the desire to make more money faster, they sell digital products to all of their subscribers, and maybe give a discount to paid subscribers.
But that’s only ruining your paid subscriber retention.
Why?
Because you charge for something that should’ve been in your paid subscription. Something they already paid for. You’ll only get unsubscribes in the long run.
“But subscriptions are low ticket. I give too much value for nothing. There’s no way to upsell them…” yes, yes, I hear you.
Few people understand the subscription business. It’s not a straightforward price-value relationship. You price for an average lifetime, not for just one annual fee.
Do you know how long people will stay with you? The average retention rate on Substack is about 60% (last time I checked). My current rate is 90%, but I don’t have enough data yet. Those rates are close to what I observe in my 9–5.
So I’d take an average of 18–24 months in length. If you charge $5/month, that is $120 already.
Does that seem too low?
Breaking news: Some people will stay even longer with you. If you build for them, you’ll have more of them. If you build for the ones that stay 6 months, you’ll have more of them.
That’s how the subscription business works.
That’s what most writers don’t get.
The name of the game of any subscription business is retention.
Not “make more money fast” type of strategy.
I keep everything in my paid subscriptions. I upsell with high ticket services.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not using ONLY digital products as paid subscriber benefits. I use them as a complimentary benefit, something that’s tangible. A one-time asset is not what will keep them paying in the long run.
The Tools That Make This Stupid Simple
I use Gumroad, and I’ll tell you why:
Built-in audience discoverability (they bring me customers).
I don’t need fancy websites, they have all the basics.
They handle payments, taxes, and delivery.
My conversion rate sits at 12% — and I’m not even pushing hard yet.
How?
I have a lot of free stuff and most of them have upsells. That’s what I love about Gumroad. You have all the functionality you need to build good funnels.
It’s Not “Bigger Audience”. It’s Better Offers
Creators love to obsess over follower or subscriber counts.
I don’t care.
I care about:
Solving real problems.
Creating simple, clear products.
Offering the right thing to the right people at the right time.
That’s why this works.
$4,396 may not be millions, but it’s infinitely more scalable than grinding out posts for free (or for peanuts).
And I’m just starting :)
How You Can Start Today — My Simple System
Here’s your 5-step crash plan:
1.Audit your content.
List your most helpful, popular, or requested topics.
2. Validate with your audience.
Don’t just send a simple email: “If I made X, would you want it?” People will tell you they will buy but then they won’t. Don’t blame them, it’s human nature. Better do this (that’s what big corporates do): Do a pilot. Create a mini product and see if they use it. I give these for free to my paid subscribers (another great benefit of subscription business — you get a sandbox to test your future offers).
3. Package ONE small offer.
Cheat sheet, mini-course, guide, template or a mini-book — keep it simple.
4. Set up on Gumroad (or similar).
Done is better than perfect. Don’t obsess over style and design. Make sure you have a landing page that converts.
5. Promote through your content and list.
Start talking about it in every piece of content you create. Don’t say “buy my product”, people hate to be sold to. Write about the problem it solves and link to it naturally. A subtle CTA saying “here’s where to start” is a much more powerful sales tactic than shouting out into the void.
6.Automate If you have an email list like me, build an automation in Kit - this way you sell to each of your new subscribers. If you don’t have an email list, start building one ASAP. It’s an automated money-making machine that selss while you sleep.
And if you’re still stuck, here’s a free masterclass you can take next week. (I’ll be there too).
One Final Note
This is not rocket science. You don’t need to be a marketing expert. You don’t need a huge list. You don’t even need to “feel ready.”
Yes, your first product will flop. Face it. Embrace it. That’s the path to success.
Fail, but fail fast. Learn. Then build a system.
Digital products aren’t some “bonus income stream.” They’re how creators finally buy back their time.
I know because that’s exactly what they’re doing for me.
Stay Unplugged!
Yana
P.S. Here’s the link to the free masterclass again. It’s a must. I’ll be there too.
👉 Start a discussion in the Unplugged community! Get help or simply introduce yourself and connect with like-minded members, and create meaningful connections.
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