Yo, Eric here.

Alright, let’s cut the crap. You hear “digital products” thrown around. Sounds fancy, maybe complicated. Like something only tech gurus or slick marketers can pull off.

Wrong.

Digital products are one of the simplest, smartest ways to make serious bank online. Especially if you’re running something like Instagram shadow pages, like we teach over at Shadow Pages (check out start.shadowpages.io if you haven’t — seriously, game changer).

I’ve seen students go from zero to making thousands a month with these. Why? Because you create it once, and it can sell over and over. And over.

No shipping. No inventory. Pure profit (almost).

So, what the hell are digital products? And how can you actually use them to get paid?

Digital Products 101: The Lowdown

Forget physical stuff for a second. No t-shirts, no dropshipping fidget spinners from China.

A digital product is anything you sell that someone can download or access online. That’s it.

Think about it:

• Ebooks & Guides: Got knowledge on a topic? Fitness, cooking, making money online (hint hint), fixing old cars? Write it down, package it as a PDF. Boom. Digital product.
• Video Courses: Can you teach something on video? How to use software, play guitar, edit photos? Record it, host it. Digital product.
• Templates & Presets: Good at design? Create social media templates, Lightroom presets, website themes. Digital product.
• Software & Tools: Got coding skills? Build a small app, a browser extension, a script that solves a problem. Digital product.
• Stock Photos/Videos/Music: Creative type? Sell your photos, video clips, or music tracks.
• Memberships & Communities: Offer exclusive content, coaching, or a private group for a recurring fee. This is a big one.

See the pattern? It’s about packaging your knowledge, skills, or creative assets into something valuable that people will pay for, delivered digitally.

Why Digital Products CRUSH Physical Products (Most of the Time)

I’m not saying physical products are dead. But for starting out, for building passive income streams, digital is king. Here’s why:

1. Low Startup Costs: You’re not buying inventory. No manufacturing. Your main cost is your time and maybe some software to create it.
2. High Profit Margins: Once it’s made, almost every sale is pure profit. No cost of goods sold for each unit.
3. Scalability: Sell one, sell a million. The delivery is the same — a download link or access. You don’t need a bigger warehouse.
4. Automation: Set up a sales page, a payment processor, and an email autoresponder. Sales can happen 24/7, even while you’re sleeping or traveling (like many of my students, and myself — you can see some of my journey on my Instagram @erichustls).
5. Global Reach: Sell to anyone, anywhere in the world with an internet connection.
6. Flexibility: Update it, improve it, bundle it. Way easier than recalling a physical product.

Think about it. If you’re building an audience with a Shadow Page, you’ve got people interested in a specific topic. What’s the easiest, most profitable thing to offer them? A digital product that solves their problem or gives them what they want. Instantly.

“But Eric, I’m Not an Expert! What Could I Possibly Sell?”

This is the biggest mental block I see. People think they need a PhD or 20 years of experience.

Bullcrap.

You don’t need to be the world’s #1 expert. You just need to know more than your target audience on a specific topic, or be able to package information in a way that’s easier for them to consume.

• Solved a problem for yourself? Maybe you figured out how to get great at a video game, or how to meal prep for a week in an hour. That’s a digital product.
• Good at something specific? Even if it seems small. Excel spreadsheets? Canva graphics? Writing good emails? Productize it.
• Curated information? Sometimes people pay for convenience. A list of the top 100 tools for X, or a swipe file of 50 proven headlines. That’s value.

Remember, people pay for solutions and shortcuts. If you can save them time, solve a pain point, or help them achieve a goal, they’ll pay for it.

At Shadow Pages, we teach people how to build audiences around niches. Once you have that audience, creating a simple digital product that serves them is the next logical step to serious income.

How to Actually Make Money with This Stuff (And a Shortcut…)

Alright, so you’ve got an idea for your own product. How do you turn it into cash?

1. Know Your Audience: What do they actually want? What are their biggest problems? Don’t guess. Ask them. Survey them. Look at what they’re already buying or searching for.
2. Create a High-Value Product (If It’s Yours): Don’t just slap something together. Make it good. Over-deliver. Solve the problem effectively.
3. Build a Simple Sales Page: You don’t need anything fancy. Clear headline, what the product is, what it does for them (benefits!), who it’s for, price, buy button. Testimonials if you have them.
4. Price It Right: Don’t undervalue yourself, but be realistic for your audience and the value provided. You can always test different price points.
5. Promote It: This is where your Shadow Page, your email list, your social media comes in. Tell people about it. Consistently.

But what if creating your own product sounds like too much damn work right now?

Here’s a shortcut a lot of smart people use: Affiliate Digital Marketing.

Basically, you find someone else’s awesome digital product that your audience would love. You promote it. And when someone buys through your unique link, you get a cut. A commission.

No product creation. No customer service for the product itself. Just find good stuff, share it, and get paid.

This is a killer way to start making money online while you’re maybe building your own thing in the background, or if you just want to focus on audience building and promotion. Lots of our Shadow Pages students use this to get cash flowing fast.

And the most important part, whether it’s your product or someone else’s? Start simple.

Your first promotion doesn’t need to be for some thousand-dollar course. Find a solid ebook, a useful template, something that genuinely helps your audience. Get some wins. Build that trust.

I’ve seen students at start.shadowpages.io start with simple affiliate offers and then, once they’ve got momentum and cash flow, they often create their own higher-ticket products. It’s all about smart steps.

Stop Overthinking. Start Doing.

Digital products — whether yours or someone else’s that you promote — aren’t some mythical beast. They’re a tool. A damn powerful one.

If you’re building an online presence, especially an anonymous one like a Shadow Page, digital products are your fast track to real monetization. Forget begging for brand deals or scraping by on ad revenue pennies. This is how you build actual wealth online.

Got an idea? Even a tiny one? Explore it. Test it.

The barrier to entry is lower than ever. The potential? Sky high.

What’s the first digital product idea — or affiliate product you could promote — that popped into your head reading this? Drop it in the comments. Let’s see what you’ve got.

And hey, if you’re serious about not just dreaming about this stuff but actually doing it, and want to see the systems we use to make this a reality with Shadow Pages, maybe it’s time to stop just reading and start learning how the game is really played. You can usually find out more over at start.shadowpages.io when we’ve got spots open. Just saying.

Originally published at https://start.shadowpages.io.