What's New: Selling low-cost digital products

(from the latest issue of the Indie Hackers newsletter)

Many founders focus on creating high-ticket digital products:

• But low-cost digital products are easier to sell, less expensive to create, and can be bundled together to increase the total order amount.
• Having a client ask for a refund can be discouraging. Be sure to set realistic expectations upfront, and create effective communication channels.
• Juggling 8 startups at once. Arian Adeli divides tasks into two categories, maintenance and expansion, and allocates time to each accordingly.

The creator economy is booming, and paid membership programs are key to sustainable growth. Memberful offers reliable, easy-to-use tools to build a membership business from your own website. Maintain full control of your brand, while seamlessly integrating with your tech stack. Get started for free today. #ad

Selling Low-Cost Digital Products 🛠

by Marc Andre

One of my favorite ways to monetize a website or online business is by creating and selling digital products. I’m currently working on digital products for founders and startups at Founder Reports.

Many people focus on creating high-ticket digital products, like courses. But low-cost digital products present excellent opportunities!

Often impulse purchases

Lower-priced products are significantly easier to sell. Most people won’t spend $500 or $1K on a course without a lot of thought and plenty of research. But many people will buy a $27 product without much thought.

Lots of small sales can easily add up.

Relatively inexpensive to create

I’ve created a lot of my own products, but I’ve also hired freelancers to create products for me. Many simple digital products don’t cost a lot to create, making it possible for just about anyone to start.

I’ve hired many freelancers through Upwork to create products. They were people who created high-quality products, but didn’t have a lot of sales. Many of them were happy to work for me; I offered a flat rate for each product they created.

Fastest way to profit

Sell your products on marketplaces, bundle deal sites, and other popular sites. Building your own audience is the best option, but there are plenty of opportunities to make money by selling your products in other places, especially when you’re just starting out.

A strong email list

Digital products and email lists work incredibly well together. There’s no better way to promote and sell your digital products than through an email list.

You can email your list whenever you have a new product to offer, or whenever you run a sale or promotion. You can also share tutorials, testimonials, and other content with your email list to help sell your products.

Small purchases often lead to repeat or bigger purchases in the future!

Bundling is key

My sites encouraged visitors to purchase bundles, rather than individual products. The results were incredible!

If your pricing and offer makes sense, many people will choose to pay more for a bundle for a better value. Partnering with other founders can really help, too.

Increase the average order

With order bumps, customers are offered additional products on the checkout page. You can customize the offer so they see products closely related to the one they’re already purchasing. And, if you give a discount, many people will accept the offer.

Upsells involve an additional offer after the purchase is completed. Upsells are typically for a higher-priced product.

Wrapping up

Don’t underestimate the long-term value of digital products. Timeless products can generate revenue for years!

Discuss this story.

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Lessons Learned From Refunding a Client 💸

by Kazi Mohammed Erfan

I recently faced some challenges that prompted me to reevaluate, and make some important changes to the way I run my design agency, Pentaclay. Here's what I've learned!

Direct payments without a consultation can backfire

Initially, I was excited when a client subscribed without the need for a 15 minute call with me. However, the project turned out to be more complex than expected, leading to multiple design direction changes and a prolonged timeline. This taught me the importance of establishing communication upfront.

Quality over speed

The project, which would normally take a couple of days, extended out over three weeks, due to unforeseen challenges. Recognizing that the final result didn't meet expectations, I decided to refund the 15 day subscription fee.

Quality should always take precedence a over quick turnaround.

Changes ahead

To ensure a smoother client experience and maintain high-quality standards, I'm implementing the following changes:

• No more direct payment links: I've decided to remove direct payment links to encourage clients to engage in a 15 minute consultation call before subscribing. This step aims to foster open communication, and set realistic expectations from the outset.

• Mandatory 15 minute consultation: All potential clients will now be required to go through a brief consultation call. This will help me ensure that we're a good fit for each other.

While I acknowledge that these changes might result in losing a few potential clients, I believe that prioritizing quality and establishing clear communication channels will contribute to the long-term success of Pentaclay.

If you're interested in our work, or in potentially becoming one of the two new clients we're taking on this month, check us out!

Discuss this story.

In the News 📰

from the Growth Trends newsletter

📝 TikTok's guide to effective ad bidding strategies.

🔎 What to do when broad targeting fails.

💲 Link to your product here. Our most affordable ad.

🍄 Magic mushroom school is in session.

👩‍💼 In the vast majority of jobs, humans are still cheaper than AI.

🥳 The Apple Macintosh turned 40 today.

Check out Growth Trends for more curated news items focused on user acquisition and new product ideas.

Arian Adeli's Framework for Juggling Multiple Startups 🤹‍♀️

by Arian Adeli

I am currently bootstrapping a venture studio, Evernomic, with a focus on the media industry.

My projects

Some of our projects include:

• Newsletters, including Internet Is Beautiful and Discovery Dose.
• SaaS projects, like Feedboard.
• A local newspaper in the Netherlands.
• A private deal-sourcing service.
• Websites, including Find Your Newsletter.

Evernomic itself takes a lot of work. We also have contracts with other companies, and many side projects, including:

• Quora spaces with 2M+ monthly views.
• Telegram Channels with 20K+ subscribers.
• An exclusive community of writers at prestigious publications.
• An internal API for detecting how interesting headlines are.

I am also still in university. People often look down on that and underestimate me for it, but it's something I aim to go through, regardless of my success in business.

Plus, I hate the idea of being one-dimensional. I don't want to only be good at business, or any one thing.

My process

I have developed what I call the Maintenance and Expansion Framework. I divide my workload, and things that require headspace, into two categories:

1. Maintenance: Ongoing commitments that require my continued attention on a regular basis. These things are necessary in order to keep me going on the same trajectory. They're things I need to do to maintain my current progress.

2. Expansion: One-time or open-ended tasks that improve the overall condition of my life, whether it's in business, fitness, or happiness.

I like to always leave a free margin to try new things, waste some time, and let things go wrong (not to the degree of facing detrimental consequences, though). Therefore, I'm very picky with things I commit to, and I try to minimize commitments overall. The only decisions that truly concern me are those that lock me into a certain future.

My schedule

A typical day for me looks something like:

• My daily routine (working out, eating, etc.).
• Maintenance tasks.
• 3-4 Expansion tasks at a time.

This division gives a game changing order to my life. I understand what I need to do at the bare minimum, so I can focus on multiple domains within my life and business simultaneously.

Within Evernomic, I try to build systems and frameworks through which we push our projects, to give us a streamlined, efficient approach. Plus, things get delegated effectively, which minimizes commitments to low-yielding tasks on the higher levels.

Naturally, focusing on so many things simultaneously has its drawbacks, too. I often fail to meet deadlines, often don't end up acting on plans I've had, and often don't reach my goals. In fact, at any given moment, I'm probably not doing too well.

However, I've learned that time has a magic of its own. Whenever I've looked back on my progress over a few months, I've been pleasantly surprised. Now, I've decided to trust the process and keep pushing forward, no matter what!

Discuss this story.

The Tweetmaster's Pick 🐦

by Tweetmaster Flex

I post the tweets indie hackers share the most. Here's today's pick:

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Special thanks to Jay Avery for editing this issue, to Gabriella Federico for the illustrations, and to Marc Andre, Darko, Kazi Mohammed Erfan, and Arian Adeli for contributing posts. —Channing