I've experimented with digital products for a decade. Here's what worked, what didn't, and what I learned.

I've been creating and selling online since 2011.Now that this type of workstyle has been dubbed the Creator Economy, I thought it would be fun to look back at how much I earned from each project and what I learned.This post includes details on my:✔️ Ebooks✔️ Courses✔️ NewslettersIncluding successes and failures.And what's the same vs. different in today's Creator Economy 👇***2011 (I was 30)⭐ Launched my first ebook, How to Build a Part-Time Social Media BusinessIt sold for $24.Lifetime earnings: $33,316What I learned: This way of making a living is fun and lucrative.***2011⭐ Ebook 2: How to Take a Career Break to Travel, sold for $29.I left my job to travel Africa & wanted to help others take a similar adventure.But... the ebook flopped.Lifetime earnings: $1,124What I learned: Topic was too niche to sell big.***2012⭐ My first paid newsletter, Solopreneur Secrets. $5/mo.Didn't earn much.What I learned: I was stretched too thin to give this enough attention. But I fell in love with the paid newsletter concept.***2012 ⭐ Ebook 3: How to Create a Social Media StrategyI experimented with a higher price point, $59. It worked.Lifetime earnings: $59,320What I learned: People will pay for resources that help them make money.And creating an upsell funnel WORKS.My two social media ebooks complemented each other. People bought the $24 one, then returned for the other. Or they'd buy both at the same time as a package, at a discounted rate.Lifetime earnings for the package was in the 10s of thousands. I wish I had exact numbers for the package because it's probably the most powerful lesson in this post.***2012⭐ My first course, How to Become a Twitter Power User. It was a simple email autoresponder series, one tip each day.Sold for $99. I didn't earn much (don't have exact numbers). Still, people on Twitter still remind me they took the course back in the day!What I learned: I had fun putting this one together, but I never created an engine for evergreen sales. Without that, you have to keep promoting to continue to sell.***2014⭐ Ebook 4: Turn Your Side Hustle Into a Full-Time BusinessSold for $47.Lifetime earnings: $6,339What I learned: I think this could've done better if I'd reframed it with a better title. Title is everything.***2014⭐ First bundle of other creators' products, sold on The Write Life, a website for writers (I no longer own this site, sold it in early 2021)Price: $79.3-day earnings: $34,000What we learned: People loved this concept and would pay more. We increased price to $99 the next year and doubled our revenue. (This reporter wrote a good piece on how we did it.)***2020⭐ Ebook 5: The Money Guide for Freelance WritersCo-authored with my accountant dad.Earnings so far: $6,125While I haven't marketed it much, this is the only ebook I still offer for sale.What I learned: I wrote this as a passion project; I don't want it to be the topic I'm known for, and I knew I wouldn't put a lot of effort into promotion once it was published. But it was a lot of work for a passion project! Since I don't really promote it, most sales (we get a few a month now) come through a few affiliates we got on board at launch.***What's different about selling "info products" now vs. then?💡 Communities are essential. Back then you could get away without them💡 The space is more crowded. It's harder to sell💡 More, better creator tools to choose from; you don't have to MacGyver solutionsBut overall, so much is the same.💡 It's possible to package your knowledge into a product others want💡 Margins are huge, because the only real costs are your time + tools💡 Experimenting is key to success***I'm using my learnings as I launch my next company, They Got Acquired.Our mission is to redefine startup success by featuring acquisitions of online businesses between $100K-$50M, deals that are too small to be covered in mainstream tech publications but can be life-changing for founders.While I don't envision us selling ebooks or courses (at least not our own; we might sell resources created by others), we will package information and sell that information in a way that's useful to entrepreneurs.For now, it's all free. Add your email at TheyGotAcquired.com to be notified when we launch in January.GOT QUESTIONS? I'll answer them in the comments. see hubwealthy.com/wealthy