If you want to do business online, you need to have a solution you can actually sell online. It all starts with a business idea about what you can sell. This will serve as a compass for setting up, promoting and growing your business. But you might be thinking: “What kind of solutions I can actually sell online?”
In this article I will present six categories covering dozens ideas for solutions you can sell online.
- Digital Material for Download
- Online Courses
- Coaching Services
- Memberships
- Services, Apps and Software
- Promotion and Referrals
1. Digital Material for Download
A simple way to start your online sale is by offering low-cost digital material for download. This includes, among other material:
- Checklists
- Templates
- Workbooks
- Guides
- Books or eBooks
- Infographics
- Tutorial Videos
- Freebies Packs.
The most important thing is to make sure that each material brings additional value and results to your customers, while significantly reducing the time they would otherwise spend in preparing this material on their own and searching online how to do it. You can then sell this kind of digital material at a low price point, or sell more of them together as a package for a higher price. You can also offer digital material as a freebie or bonus when purchasing a higher value product or service.
2. Online Courses
Another good and effective way to do business online is to have online courses. These can be:
Webinars- Online courses
- Online workshops
- Online short or long-term programmes
- Online events
- Handouts of online courses.
Some can be pre-recorded and others can be live. In any case, it is important to make sure that each course brings value and results to your customers, while significantly reducing their time and effort in trying to do things on their own. You can sell spots for your online courses at various price points, depending on the length of the course, the benefits for the participants, and other added value material, products and services provided within the course.
For example, a one hour webinar, a weekend workshop or a five-part online course would have a lower price, while a four to ten-week programme or a six to 12-month programme could be priced at a higher price point. It is also a good idea to offer free webinars to promote lower-priced courses and workshops, during which you then promote your higher-priced programmes.
3. Coaching Services
As an expert in your field and depending on the type of service you provide, another good solution to sell online is coaching. This can be done one on one or in groups, can be short-term or long-term. For example, you can offer:
- Focused coaching
- One on one coaching sessions
- Long-term one on one coaching packages or plans
- Group Coaching.
For coaching is important to position yourself as an expert in the field, someone that can help others achieve their personal or professional goals by developing their knowledge and skills through training and guidance. Coaching services can be provided as weekly or monthly sessions. The price will depend on your expertise, experience and demand.
4. Memberships
In order to build a customer base and increase customer loyalty, you can create a membership, subscription, podcast or online community.
Through this kind of solutions, you can sell more products and services, increase the average spend per customer, and increase referrals. Depending on what you offer, the type of programme, your image and demand, you can create free or paid membership programmes, or a combination of both. If you are just starting, a free membership will help you increase your customer base, while for a more established business, a paid membership will provide a predictable long-term revenue stream.
For memberships, it is important to continuously add new content, material and/or events, all of which need to be relevant for your members and bring them value. In addition, you need to continuously communicate with your members by email, online events, podcasts or other channels. Prices for paid memberships or subscriptions vary by industry, number of members, and benefits provided.
5. Services, Apps and Software
You can also offer other services or create applications and software to sell online. Depending on your industry and type of activity, you can offer:
- Your own services
- An app
- Software
- Business partners’ services, apps or software.
You can provide services in predefined packages or on a project basis, while for apps and software, you can sell them with a onetime fee for download or as a monthly or yearly subscription. Prices for these solutions vary, but you can also offer them as complementary solutions or bonuses within your other offers.
6. Promotion and Referrals
If you don’t have a particular product or service to sell online, or if you want to create an additional revenue stream, you can also do promotion and referrals of other solution providers through:
- Influencer sponsorships
- Affiliate marketing
- Referrer marketing.
If you have a lot of followers on social media, you can generate additional income through sponsorships. Or you can refer or promote someone else’s products or services for a fee or commission. In all these cases, the starting point is to have a large enough customer base or number of followers. Prices then depend on what you are promoting, to how many people and what is the conversion rate.
Summary: How to Choose What to Sell Online?
Once you define your business idea, think about these options for solutions you can sell online. Based on your knowledge, experience, time and resources, evaluate which of these options are the most suitable for your business and will help bring value to your customers.
For example, if you are an expert in a specific field, but you are a solopreneur, you can prepare and sell the following complementary solutions:
- Digital material: prepare an eBook, some templates and checklists;
- Online courses: have some free webinars, a couple of 2-day workshops and a 3 to 6-month programme;
- Coaching services: offer group coaching options.
Once you define which solutions you will prepare, define also how they complement each other and how you can promote each solution within the other solutions.
In the current digital age, it is important for you to know what kind of products and services you can sell online. To find out more details about the various solutions take a look at the IB4SME eBook 40 Solutions to Sell Online.
