Digital Products for Your Technical Writing Business
Digital products are a natural extension of technical writing work. While client projects generate steady income, digital products let you package your expertise into scalable offerings that work while you sleep. For technical writers, this means templates, guides, and training materials that solve specific problems your target market faces—without requiring you to deliver custom work each time.
The best digital products for this business are those built directly from client work you’ve already done. You’re not starting from scratch; you’re repurposing knowledge you’ve already gained.
API Documentation Templates
What it is: A pre-built template structure with sections, formatting standards, and example content for technical writers tasked with documenting APIs. It includes sections for authentication, endpoints, error codes, and code examples.
Who buys it: Junior technical writers, software developers who need to document their own APIs, and small teams lacking documentation standards.
How to create it: Pull from your best API documentation projects and extract the structure, headings, and formatting that worked well. Remove client-specific details and replace with generic examples. Add a guide explaining each section’s purpose and common pitfalls to avoid. Most writers can create this in 8–12 hours.
Where to sell it: Gumroad, your own website, or documentation-focused marketplaces like Loom or Write the Docs communities. You can also offer it as a lead magnet on your website for email capture.
Realistic income: $15–$35 per purchase. Expect 5–20 sales per month if you market it actively, generating $75–$700 monthly at steady state.
SaaS Onboarding Documentation Checklist
What it is: A detailed checklist and guide for creating effective user onboarding docs for SaaS products, including what sections to include, how to test them, and common mistakes to avoid.
Who buys it: SaaS founders, product managers, and in-house technical writers who need structure for onboarding content.
How to create it: Document every step you take when writing onboarding materials for SaaS clients. Break it into sections: user persona research, feature documentation, troubleshooting, video scripts, and feedback loops. Add real examples (anonymized). Create a downloadable PDF with checkboxes and timelines.
Where to sell it: Sell through Gumroad, your website, or SaaS-specific communities like Indie Hackers or Product Hunt.
Realistic income: $20–$40 per download. You might sell 3–15 copies monthly with moderate promotion, generating $60–$600 monthly.
Technical Writing Style Guide Template
What it is: A customizable style guide template that covers voice, tone, formatting standards, terminology, grammar rules, and brand-specific guidelines. Buyers fill in their own brand details.
Who buys it: Small to mid-sized tech companies, startups, and agencies that need consistency across documentation but can’t hire a full-time technical writer.
How to create it: Compile the best practices from every style guide you’ve created or used. Include sections on active voice, present tense, numbered lists, headings, code formatting, and common terminology decisions. Format it as an editable Google Doc or Word template. Add explanations for why each rule matters.
Where to sell it: Gumroad, your website, or Etsy (marketed to small business owners and agency owners).
Realistic income: $25–$50 per sale. With consistent marketing, expect 5–25 sales monthly, generating $125–$1,250 monthly.
Technical Writing Workflow Course
What it is: A self-paced video course teaching your end-to-end process for writing technical documentation, including research, interviewing subject matter experts, structuring content, and managing revisions.
Who buys it: Career changers learning technical writing, junior writers wanting to improve efficiency, and developers who write documentation for their own projects.
How to create it: Record 6–10 videos (15–30 minutes each) walking through real examples from your work. Use screen recordings and slides. Host on Teachable, Kajabi, or a simpler platform like Gumroad with video uploads. Most writers spend 30–50 hours creating and editing course content.
Where to sell it: Your own website using Teachable or Kajabi, or through Udemy and Skillshare (though these take a larger cut).
Realistic income: $39–$99 course price. Expect 10–40 sales per month with active promotion, generating $390–$3,960 monthly. Udemy courses typically earn $100–$1,000 monthly unless heavily promoted.
Software Release Notes Template Library
What it is: A collection of pre-written release notes templates for different software types (SaaS, mobile apps, desktop software) with formatting examples and tone guidelines.
Who buys it: Product managers, software developers, and small companies releasing frequent updates without dedicated technical writers.
How to create it: Extract anonymized release notes from 3–5 past projects across different software types. Standardize the format, add explanatory notes, and create variations for different audiences (developers vs. end users). Bundle them as a downloadable template pack.
Where to sell it: Gumroad, your website, or Etsy. You can also offer it as a upsell to potential clients.
Realistic income: $12–$30 per purchase. Expect 4–15 sales monthly, generating $48–$450 monthly.
Technical Writing Audit Framework
What it is: A step-by-step framework and checklist for auditing existing documentation—identifying gaps, inconsistencies, and outdated content. Includes scoring systems and prioritization worksheets.
Who buys it: In-house technical writers, content managers, and small tech companies managing documentation without professional writers.
How to create it: Document your process for evaluating client documentation. Build a checklist covering completeness, accuracy, tone consistency, outdated information, and usability. Create a scoring worksheet and prioritization matrix. Present as a downloadable PDF and optional Google Sheets template.
Where to sell it: Gumroad or your website. Market it to tech companies and in-house teams.
Realistic income: $18–$35 per purchase. Expect 3–12 sales monthly, generating $54–$420 monthly.
User Guide Template for Enterprise Software
What it is: A comprehensive template for creating detailed user guides for complex enterprise software, including task-based sections, screenshots callouts, troubleshooting, and glossaries.
Who buys it: Technical writers working on enterprise projects, consultants helping clients document software, and companies transitioning to new systems.
How to create it: Pull from your most detailed user guide projects. Create a structure that separates getting started, core tasks, advanced features, and troubleshooting. Include formatting examples, screenshot annotation standards, and a template for glossary entries. Deliver as an editable Word document or Google Doc.
Where to sell it: Gumroad, your website, or LinkedIn where enterprise professionals spend time.
Realistic income: $30–$60 per purchase. Enterprise-focused products sell fewer copies but at higher prices. Expect 2–8 sales monthly, generating $60–$480 monthly.
Getting Started With Digital Products
- Start with templates. Templates are fastest to create because they’re based on work you’ve already done. Choose your best project, extract the structure, anonymize it, and add instructions. You can create your first template in one weekend.
- Choose one platform. Start with Gumroad—it handles payments, delivery, and email capture without setup complexity. You can expand to your own website later.
- Price conservatively. Launch at $15–$25 to remove friction and get initial customers. You can raise prices once you have reviews and proof of value.
- Create a sales page on your website. Link to it from your homepage and include it in client emails. Your existing audience is your first market.
- Announce it in relevant communities. Share in Write the Docs Slack, technical writing subreddits, and LinkedIn groups. Don’t spam—provide genuine value first.
- Gather feedback from buyers. Email customers 30 days after purchase asking what helped most and what could improve. Use this feedback to update products and create new ones.
- Create a second product within 60 days. Your first product won’t generate significant income. Multiple products diversify your revenue and expose you to different audiences.
Pricing Your Digital Products
Technical writers and small business owners—your primary buyers—research prices carefully. They’re not impulse buyers for every product, but they will pay for solutions that save time or prevent mistakes. Price based on the pain point solved, not on your time. A template saving someone 10 hours of work is worth $40–$60 regardless of whether you spent 5 hours or 15 hours creating it.
Start lower than you think and raise prices after 10–20 sales. You need reviews and proof of value before customers justify higher prices to themselves. Templates and checklists typically price at $15–$40. Courses and comprehensive guides price at $40–$150. Resist the urge to price low as a way to gain traction—low prices attract bargain hunters, not serious buyers. Instead, use customer testimonials and case studies to justify slightly higher prices.