Digital Products for Your Online Course Creation Business
As an online course creator, you already possess valuable knowledge about instructional design, curriculum structure, and platform management. Selling digital products alongside your service business creates passive income while establishing you as an authority in your niche. Your existing clients often become your best customers for complementary templates, guides, and tools.
Digital products also serve as lead magnets that attract potential course creation clients. Someone downloading your course template might later hire you to build their full program.
Course Curriculum Templates
What it is: Pre-built templates showing proven module structures, lesson outlines, and pacing guides for specific course types (coaching programs, technical skills, soft skills, etc.). These save creators weeks of planning work.
Who buys it: Experienced subject matter experts and coaches who know their content but struggle with instructional design and course sequencing.
How to create it: Document the curriculum frameworks you’ve already built for clients, removing proprietary information. Organize them by course type and create clear examples showing how each section works. Add explanation text so buyers understand the reasoning behind your structure.
Where to sell it: Gumroad, your own website, or Teachable marketplace. These appeal to creators actively building courses, so course creation communities and Facebook groups work well for promotion.
Realistic income: $27–$97 per template. High volume sellers move 50–200 units monthly, generating $1,350–$19,400 monthly at the upper range.
Course Launch Checklist and Timeline
What it is: A detailed, downloadable checklist covering everything from platform setup through the first week of launch—including technical tasks, marketing timing, email sequences, and common pitfalls to avoid.
Who buys it: First-time and second-time course creators who feel overwhelmed by the complexity of launching and want assurance they’re not forgetting critical steps.
How to create it: Build from your own launch playbook. Break down every step you perform before a client’s course goes live. Include specific timelines (e.g., “14 days before: finalize module names”), decision points, and troubleshooting tips.
Where to sell it: Gumroad works well for checklists. Also consider bundling this with other products. Many creators list these on their website as a $17–$37 lead magnet to capture emails.
Realistic income: $17–$47 per checklist. Lower price point drives higher volume; expect 100–500 sales monthly for established sellers, totaling $1,700–$23,500 monthly.
Video Script Templates for Course Content
What it is: Ready-to-edit scripts for common lesson types—introductions, explanations, demos, Q&A sections, and conclusions—formatted for on-camera delivery and e-learning best practices.
Who buys it: Subject matter experts and entrepreneurs who can teach their material but struggle to translate knowledge into compelling video lessons.
How to create it: Write scripts based on your best-performing client course videos. Create versions for different lesson types and length (5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes). Include speaker notes on pacing, tone, and where to add on-screen graphics.
Where to sell it: Gumroad or Etsy are strong channels. Promote in video creation communities, course creator forums, and Facebook groups for aspiring instructors.
Realistic income: $37–$77 per template pack. Monthly sales typically range 30–150 units for established products, generating $1,110–$11,550 monthly.
Student Engagement and Retention Strategies Guide
What it is: A comprehensive PDF or downloadable guide detailing specific tactics to reduce dropout rates, increase lesson completion, and build community—with examples of what to say, when to send communications, and which platform features to use.
Who buys it: Course creators who’ve launched but see students dropping off or struggling to complete lessons, and those planning a second course who want better retention upfront.
How to create it: Document the specific engagement strategies you’ve implemented successfully for clients. Include email templates, discussion prompts, milestone rewards, and community-building activities. Add data about what improved completion rates if you have it.
Where to sell it: Sell on your own website as a standalone product or bundle. Gumroad and Teachable marketplace also work. Promote to your email list and course creator communities.
Realistic income: $47–$127 per guide. This positions as premium content, so volume is lower (30–100 monthly sales typical) but margin is higher, totaling $1,410–$12,700 monthly.
Course Platform Comparison and Setup Guide
What it is: An honest, in-depth comparison of popular course platforms (Teachable, Kajabi, Thinkific, Moodle, etc.) with setup instructions for your top two or three recommendations, plus troubleshooting for common technical issues.
Who buys it: Entrepreneurs and coaches deciding which platform to launch on, or creators currently struggling with their platform’s features.
How to create it: Document your hands-on experience with each platform. Create side-by-side comparisons on cost, features, integrations, and ease of use. Then provide step-by-step setup walkthroughs for the best choices, with screenshots.
Where to sell it: Your website works best here, since this serves as a lead magnet attracting future clients. You can also sell on Gumroad. Price it lower to drive volume and capture email addresses.
Realistic income: $17–$37 per guide. Often used as an email lead magnet, so measure success by email list growth and client conversion, not pure revenue. Direct sales typically 50–300 monthly, generating $850–$11,100 monthly.
Course Pricing Strategy Workbook
What it is: An interactive PDF or downloadable workbook with frameworks, calculators, and worksheets to help creators determine their ideal course price based on target market, delivery format, and business goals.
Who buys it: Experienced creators and coaches who know their course is valuable but feel uncertain about pricing—especially those worried about pricing too low or too high.
How to create it: Design worksheets that walk through market research, competitor analysis, cost calculations, and psychological pricing principles. Include real examples from your clients’ successful launches. Add a simple calculator (Google Sheets or downloadable Excel file) that shows different price scenarios.
Where to sell it: Gumroad, your website, or pre-course Facebook groups. This is particularly effective as a low-cost upsell to people who’ve already downloaded one of your free resources.
Realistic income: $27–$67 per workbook. Workbooks typically see strong conversions due to their interactive nature; expect 50–200 monthly sales for established products, totaling $1,350–$13,400 monthly.
Email Sequence Templates for Course Marketing
What it is: Pre-written, editable email sequences for the pre-launch phase, launch week, post-launch nurturing, and re-engagement—with subject lines, copy, and psychological triggers proven to work in course marketing.
Who buys it: Course creators comfortable with their content but struggling to write persuasive marketing emails, or those without email marketing experience.
How to create it: Extract your best-performing email sequences from client campaigns. Anonymize and generalize them so they work across niches. Include A/B test results if available. Provide both the email copy and guidance on how to customize for different audiences.
Where to sell it: Gumroad, Etsy, or your website. Promote in email marketing communities and course creator groups.
Realistic income: $37–$87 per template pack. Monthly sales of 40–180 units typical, generating $1,480–$15,660 monthly.
Getting Started With Digital Products
- Start with a checklist or template you’ve already created. Choose the digital product that requires the least additional work. If you have a launch checklist you use with every client, turn that into your first product immediately.
- Package it into a clean PDF or document. Use a template from Canva or design a simple PDF yourself. The design doesn’t need to be elaborate, just professional and readable.
- Set up a sales page on Gumroad. Gumroad handles payments and delivery automatically. Write a short description explaining who should buy it and what problem it solves.
- Promote to your existing email list and network. Email your current clients and contacts with a clear explanation of the product and its value. This generates your first sales quickly.
- Gather feedback and improve. Ask early buyers for feedback. Use their suggestions to refine the product, then create a version two with improvements.
- Expand into related digital products. Once one product sells consistently, develop two more that complement it or serve the same audience with different needs.
Pricing Your Digital Products
Your course creator audience understands that knowledge and tools have value—they already pay for courses, software, and templates. Price based on the time it saves and the results it enables, not on production cost. A curriculum template worth $500 in implementation time should cost $47–$97; a comprehensive strategy guide worth 10 hours of consulting should cost $67–$127. Avoid underpricing; creators expect higher-quality digital products and associate low prices with low value.
Consider your positioning. If you position as a premium course creation consultant, price digital products at the higher end of typical ranges. If you’re building an audience through affordable tools, use lower prices to drive volume and capture email addresses for future service sales. Most successful course creators bundle digital products—buying the curriculum template, script templates, and email sequences together often sells at a 30% discount to drive larger transactions and increase customer lifetime value.