Selling Digital Products
Why sell digital products?
The simple answer to that question is that they cost nothing to reproduce, so there is 100% profit, no distribution costs, no storage required, no wastage, and the sales can be totally automated and therefore can be sold 24/7 even while you sleep!
So what digital products are there?
Well there are e-books, mp3 music files, videos, audio books and software. The main thing to be aware of is copyright. It's not fair or legal to copy and sell someone elses material, unless you have permission. That is often called 'resale rights'. Sometimes people give you those rights because it advertises and promotes them when you help to distribute their products. For example an e-book might contain a link back to the authors website. Be careful on ebay. If they catch you selling titles that are dubius, they will throw you off. Make it clear to them, with a coment at the top of your selling page, that the material has resale rights'.
e-books
These are nearly always in the 'pdf' format That's Adobe Acrobat 'Portable document Format' The greatest advantage which is that anyone can open and print the document with a free reader (Acrobat Reader) downloaded quickly from the Web. (Get it Here). They can also be password protected. They have other really useful features like being able to contain live web links and embedded sounds and videos as well as animations (like adverts).
mp3 music files
The widely known Apple itunes software can be used to promote your own music. You can upload your music in mp3 format into their store. When anyone downloads the file you get paid!
videos
YouTube
audio books
Audio books can also be saved in the MP3 format. Thes are useful for listening while driving, jogging or cycling etc. They are of course also suitable for the blind or partially sighted.
software
A great way for you to distribute your work as a programmer is to is to give away software and offer the possibility of 'paid for' upgrades. You could give away programs as 'freeware' in order to get publicity and promote your other software or websites. If you are lucky, a major publisher may recognse the potential and take it onbord, possibly incorporating your code into their own software features.
Also. giving away freeware is a way of testing the software and the market potential. You can always then charge for a later version once it is well sorted.
Second Life
The virtual reality cyberspace called second life has a genuine commercial potential. It is possible to buy and sell items that you create in the virtual world as well as promoting things in the real world. You can put up adverts to advertise websites, hold virtual music events or training sessions. The list is endless. Well worth a look.
