I am an interface and user experience designer.
Mid-July of this year – that’s just slightly more than a month ago from the publication of this post – I launched a icon set/embeddable font-face called Tipogram. In that first month, it’s accounted for more than 10% of my monthly income. Not too shabby! Here’s how I did it.
Building your own “digital goods” business – that being a concern that sells bits rather than atoms – is way easier than you might have thought. If you’re willing to put in a modicum of effort, you could have your own digital goods site up and running within a month (if not sooner). Here is the recipe:
And you’re set! Thanks for reading.
Actually, that’s only true if you’d like to peddle your wares on one of the existing marketplaces – but if you’re like me, you want to have control over the entire experience. You get the satisfaction of a job well done, learn valuable lessons, and you get to keep all the money.
Here’s are the other bits you’ll need:
* Marketing is key. You don’t need clout (or Klout™) to get the word out but you do need a good idea of who you’re selling to so you can tell them about the awesome thing you’re about to deliver to them. This is the leg up that existing marketplaces and deal sites have on you, but it’s not at all insurmountable.
Great! Let’s make some digital goods. Here’s where you can let your imagination run wild and make that thing you always wanted to make!
Whoa! Hold up. You could do that if you like being disappointed. What you should do is have a look at your potential customers. What are they buying? In my case, we’re talking about designers. They buy tutorials, typefaces, textures, and yes, icon sets. Horses for courses, friend.
Let’s say you’re a photographer. You’re going to have a hard time selling to nurses. You know cameras and film and f-stops. Why do nurses care about that? The answer: they don’t. But you know who does? Other photographers. Lest ye forget, ‘photographers’ is a wide and ample pool, too. Try adding the adjectives “amateur, pro, nature”. You’ve just defined a market segment and an even more focused product. High five.
Done? Got a firmer grasp on your future customers? Let’s rock. You’ve got it figured out what it is you’re going to make. If it’s an icon set, draw icons. E-book? Get writing. I did this by allowing for my procrastinatory tendencies, and using the S.M.A.R.T. system. The what? That’s right, it’s:
By which you can build a system for yourself where at one end, you’re Joe Average and at the other, you’re Joe Average, Captain of Industry, Esquire. More specifically, you’re breaking down the things you need to do into fun little time-boxed units that are small enough and easy enough to knock them off regularly. Maybe after dinner, or when the kids are in bed, or once you’ve fragged some noobs. Make deadlines that you can meet, then stick to them.
I got my icon set done because I convinced my brain (the part that wants to drink G&Ts and watch Top Gear) that I could easily make at LEAST five icons every night. I ended up doing more than that and had them all done in short order. It was also something I cared about and that I found satisfying and enjoyable. If you end up downing gin and watching Top Gear because having to make just ONE MORE DAMN ICON IS GOING TO MAKE YOU FLIP, then maybe you should rethink what you’re making.
Once that’s done, you’re done the slog. You’re over the hump. Mission accomplished. The rest is pretty easy.
You like money too? We should hang out some time. You’re going to need a way to collect payment for your goods. For small transactions, your best bet is probably Paypal. Feefighters has an awesome Paypal vs. Merchant Account calculator that you can play with, but really, when just starting out, Paypal is the more economically viable option. Note that we’re talking about Paypal Standard, not Pro. It’s technically way easier than every other option, and will allow you to start getting in on that sweet credit-card charging action in no time. You’ll need a Paypal Business Account, but you can get one of those for free.
In my case, I set up a Paypal-specific e-mail address so I can easily track my sales (since transaction details get e-mailed to you). I also linked up my chequing account so I could periodically sweep my dollars from Paypal’s clutches into my own bank. This takes a few days, but you can go ahead and start selling without having done that bit.
If digital goods are the boxes on the shelves, your sales site is the shelves. And the store itself. And the road that leads to the store. Basically this is a terrible metaphor, but what a successful sales site should do is threefold:
Hopefully you know a designer, developer, or both if you need some help making a website, but there are innumerable options for you to get your own up and running. In fact, you may end up using somebody else’s digital goods to help sell yours. It’s the circle of life!
Remember: people like to look at something that’s well-designed, but even more than that, they like to get the information they want and GTFO. Adhere to the K.I.S.S. principle.
This step is the best step ever. Guess what? Somebody already built an entire digital distribution toolchain for you! In fact, there’s a bunch of them! And they’re all pretty great! Personally, I used Pulley because I think it looks great and works like a champ. Other options may be more to your liking. I ALSO picked Pulley because it integrates seamlessly with Paypal Standard, manages all the distribution parts for you (you know, actually delivering your digital goods to people who have paid for them), and the price is right. Dude, it’s $6/month for the starter plan! I spend more than that on coffee, daily. Which reminds me: cut back on coffee.
Sign up, put in your Paypal credentials, upload your goods and set a price. You’ll get back a sales link that you can use on your sales website. Distribution: CRUSHED. On to the fun part.
Marketing is a many-splendored thing. There are so many awesome ways to reach out to people and more are being invented every day. Pick some and try them out! Twitter? Great for getting the word out and making connections! Social news & link sites, like Reddit? Great for finding like-minded individuals. Facebook? Great for people who love farms!
Halt – no Farmville burns in this step, guy. If your market is on Facebook, YOU’RE on Facebook, because that’s how you get to them. Marketing isn’t about YOU, it’s about making a connection, having a conversation. If you’re too cool for Facebook then you’re too cool for lots of people who will happily buy from you. And nobody is that cool.
The fun thing about marketing is that it’s exactly as great as you make it. There are lots of other icon sets out there and those people want you to buy their set instead. Do I think you should buy mine? HECK YEAH, and I’ll never get sick of telling you why. Marketing isn’t spamming people! If you’re interested in what you’re talking about, and you’re putting yourself out there, that’s awesome and people will respond to it. If you’re doing the marketing equivalent of reading Powerpoint bullets? Rethink your strategy.
Hooray! You’re through the gauntlet. Now you know the pitfalls and hidden gotchas of the whole thing. Was it really that bad? I submit that it was not… hopefully it was actually kind of fun. And when that first sale comes rolling in? That is pure gravy.
The best part: you’ve got this under your belt. You’ve got some practice in and the NEXT product you make (or Mark II of this one) will be that much more polished and fantastic. Hopefully all of this was of some help – now stop waiting for permission and make something awesome.
There’s a lot more to running an online business (of any sort) than just following guides – you should understand this hows and whys. If you like what you read here, you’ll probably also like a course that’s all about business ass-kicking – 30×500. As a highly satisfied alumnus of same, I can happily tell you it’s money well spent.
@Togsy Ha – that’s amazing but clearly not right. I’ll look into it.