11:34Maria Wendt · Tutorial
Don't Know What Digital Products To Sell? Watch This.
Three simple scales - virality, ease of creation, ease of selling - for picking which digital product to build next.
July 21st 2025The argument in one line.
Only three digital-product formats reliably sell — video courses, PDF bundles, and audio files — and each converts on an opposite rule: courses win on precision, bundles win on volume, audio wins only with a sharp angle.
Read if. Skip if.
READ IF YOU ARE…
- You're about to launch your first digital product and want to pick a format with a real chance of selling instead of guessing.
- You've launched a PDF or template bundle before that didn't sell and want to know whether the problem is the format or the execution.
- You're deciding between a video course, a template bundle, and an audio product and want the tradeoffs in creation effort versus ease of selling.
- You already sell digital products but want the specific tactics — hyper-specific naming, bundle volume, sales angle — for the format you've chosen.
SKIP IF…
- You're building a physical product or a service-based offer — this is specific to downloadable video, document, or audio files.
- You're past the 'which format' decision and need a traffic or ad-scaling strategy — this video is about the product itself, not the marketing engine behind it.
The full version, fast.
Only three digital-product formats reliably sell: video courses, PDF/template bundles, and audio files, and each converts on a different rule. Video courses carry the highest perceived value and sell easiest, so keep them hyper-specific and as short as the promised result allows — precision drives sales, not runtime. PDF bundles work the opposite way: more content and more pages read as more value, so bundles should be built robust rather than trimmed down. Audio files are the hardest to produce and sell, since listeners have nothing but the recording to judge, and only work with a distinct angle. For a first launch, a hyper-specific video course is the safer bet — fastest to create, easiest to sell — provided a real marketing plan follows it.
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00:00 – 00:17
01 · Cold Open
Credibility hook: millions in digital-product sales, near-100,000 students. Sets up the promise to teach the three product types that sell and the ones that flop.
00:17 – 02:07
02 · The Promise: Sell Fast or Adjust
Uses a student's Facebook post (ads turned on at 6am, first sale at 8am) to define the standard for a good launch: a sale within hours, not weeks. States that many students hit six and seven figures without ads.
02:07 – 03:22
03 · Bringing Out the Notes
Switches from camera-only to an iPad (Notability) split-screen for handwritten notes; brief aside about the app before getting into the list.
03:22 – 04:26
04 · The Three Product Types
Sketches and names the three formats that go viral: video courses (VC), PDF bundles, and audio files.
04:26 – 07:59
05 · Video Courses: Most Common, Easiest to Sell
Video courses are the biggest personal moneymaker ($27-$3,300 price range, ~$14M total). Easiest to sell due to perceived value. Key rules: make them hyper-specific (Instagram Stories example sold 700 copies in 24 hours) and keep them short — less is more, filmable on a webcam or phone with no editor.
07:59 – 10:39
06 · PDF Bundles: More Is More
PDF bundles cover any non-video/audio digital file (spreadsheets, Canva templates, etc). Opposite rule from courses: more is more — bundles should be robust (near 100 pages, not 17). Sales angle is value-to-price ratio. Recommends creativemarket.com and Etsy for research.
10:39 – 11:37
07 · Audio Files: Hardest to Sell
Audio is the hardest format to sell and produce — free audio content is everywhere on YouTube, and production quality can't hide behind visuals the way video can.
11:37 – 13:04
08 · Case Study: The Cleaning-Routine Podcast
Screen-shares an Instagram account (audio cleaning routines narrated like a true-crime radio show, published daily) as proof an audio product can work with the right angle.
13:04 – 15:56
09 · The Verdict + What to Watch Next
Presents an ease-of-creation vs. ease-of-selling chart for all three formats, recommends video courses for beginners, notes a PDF bundle case study (~$1,000/day gardening guide), and points to a companion marketing video as the next step.
Lines worth screenshotting.
- Video courses carry more built-in perceived value than PDF bundles or audio files, which is why they are the easiest of the three formats to sell.
- A hyper-specific course promise — 'how to sell more with Instagram Stories,' not 'how to become wealthy' — sold 700 copies in the first 24 hours after launch.
- In video courses, less is more: the right length is the minimum number of lessons needed to deliver the promised result, since watching a course is work.
- In PDF bundles, the opposite rule applies — more is more, because bundle value is judged by volume, not by how efficiently it delivers a result.
- A roughly 100-page PDF bundle sells where a 17-page version of the same content doesn't, because the sales angle for bundles is a value-to-price ratio.
- Video courses can be filmed entirely on a webcam or phone with no editor — production polish isn't what's blocking a first product from selling.
- Audio-only products are the hardest of the three formats to sell because listeners have nothing but the recording itself to judge, with no visual to compensate for weak production.
- One creator's audio product succeeds by wrapping a mundane cleaning routine inside a narrated true-crime-style story, publishing new episodes daily to keep buyers subscribed.
- A PDF gardening guide reportedly generated roughly £30,000 (about $1,000/day) for one seller, proof bundles can perform even though they're harder to sell than courses.
- Selling courses priced from $27 to $3,300, this creator attributes roughly $14,000,000 in revenue to video courses alone.
- creativemarket.com and Etsy are recommended as research tools for finding proven PDF-bundle ideas in any niche before building one from scratch.
- If a digital product isn't producing a sale within hours to days of launch, that's a signal to adjust the offer itself, not to wait longer for traction.
Pick one of three products, then match its rule.
WHAT TO LEARN
Video courses, PDF bundles, and audio files each sell for a different reason — video courses win on perceived value, PDF bundles win on volume, and audio files only work with a highly specific angle.
02The Promise: Sell Fast or Adjust
- A viral-ready digital product should produce a sale within hours of turning on ads or promotion, not weeks — that speed is the signal the offer is right, not a fluke.
- Selling fast isn't limited to paid ads: many six- and seven-figure product launches in this method run with zero ad spend, on organic promotion alone.
- If a product hasn't sold within days of launch, that's a signal to adjust the offer itself, not to wait longer or add more marketing.
04The Three Product Types
- Three digital-product formats account for nearly all reliable digital-product sales: video courses, PDF/template bundles, and audio files.
- Picking one of these three known-good formats removes most of the guesswork that causes new creators' first launches to flop.
05Video Courses: Most Common, Easiest to Sell
- Video courses carry the highest perceived value of the three formats, which makes them the easiest to sell even before a creator has an audience.
- A hyper-specific course promise (e.g., 'how to sell more with Instagram Stories') outsells a broad one (e.g., 'how to become wealthy') because it attracts people who already know they have that exact problem.
- More videos does not mean more value — the right length is the minimum number of lessons required for the student to get the promised result, since watching is work.
- A course can be filmed entirely on a webcam or phone with no editor; production quality is not what limits early sales.
06PDF Bundles: More Is More
- PDF/template bundles follow the opposite rule from video courses: more is more, because volume is what creates perceived value in a bundle.
- A bundle needs to feel 'robust' — closer to 100 pages than 17 — because the sales angle is a value-to-price ratio, not a promise of the fastest path to a result.
- Searching a niche on creativemarket.com or Etsy surfaces proven bundle ideas and formats before building a version from scratch.
- PDF bundle doesn't mean literal PDF — spreadsheets, Canva templates, and Google Sheets qualify as long as there's no video or audio recording involved.
07Audio Files: Hardest to Sell
- Audio is the hardest of the three formats to both produce and sell, because listeners have nothing but the recording to judge — a flaw in audio quality can't be masked the way weak lighting can in video.
- Audio products compete against a glut of free audio content already on YouTube, so the format only works with a clearly differentiated angle.
08Case Study: The Cleaning-Routine Podcast
- A cleaning-routine audio product wrapped inside a true-crime-style narrated story is the kind of specific angle that makes an audio-only product work — the novelty is the reason to buy, not the utility alone.
- Publishing new episodes daily kept that audio product's audience returning, showing audio products can sustain repeat purchases through a series format rather than a single one-off file.
09The Verdict + What to Watch Next
- For a first digital product, video courses are the safer starting recommendation: fastest to create (webcam, ~12 videos) and easiest to sell, because of built-in perceived value.
- Format alone doesn't guarantee sales — a marketing plan for turning on traffic and driving the first sale matters as much as which of the three product types is chosen.
- A PDF bundle can still produce five- and six-figure results (one example nets roughly $1,000/day) — it just requires persuading buyers of value the way a video course doesn't have to.
Terms worth knowing.
- PDF bundle
- A downloadable collection of templates, spreadsheets, or documents sold as one bundled product rather than a single file — treated as its own category, separate from video courses or audio files.
- Value-to-price ratio
- The sales angle used for PDF bundles: making the amount of content included feel disproportionately large compared to the price charged, so the deal feels obviously worth it.
- Hyper-specific (offer)
- A course or product promise narrowed to one exact outcome for one exact audience, rather than a broad topic — presented as the key driver of video-course sales.
- creativemarket.com
- A marketplace for digital design assets, cited as a place to research proven PDF-bundle and template ideas by searching a given industry or niche.
Things they pointed at.
Lines you could clip.
01:37
“You launch it, they buy, boom, you get money. That's the goal.”
05:53
“It's been twenty-four hours since I launched it, and I've already sold 700 copies of it.”
08:45
“Interestingly enough, more is more here. Isn't that interesting?”
12:17
“The only way that you could do this is with a digital or like with an audio file.”
Word for word.
Read-along
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metaphorstory
00:00I have personally sold millions of dollars worth of digital products, but probably more importantly, I've helped almost 100,000 students.
00:07Um, we're very close to our one hundredth. I think when I looked last, were at, like, 78,000, 79,000 students, which is just insane.
00:14And they are from all different industries selling all different kinds of things. And if I know anything, it's the kind of digital products that sell really, really well and the kind of products that flop and are terrible. And my goal is to save you from making flops.
00:27So in this video, what I'm going do is I'm going to teach you the three kinds of products that sell really, really well, the three kinds of digital products that sell really well, um, and how to make them go really well. So you're not just going to get, you know, like a little list. I'm going to actually tell you what you need to know and what you need to not do so you don't mess it up for yourself.
00:44Because nothing would be more discouraging than going to launch a digital product and it flopping. And I wrote here in my notes, the key is to pick a product that goes viral because if it goes viral, it will sell right away. This is my student Amanda.
00:58She decided to do ads, by the way, just to clarify. You don't have to do ads at all. I have a ton of students who are making, some of them, over a million dollars, tons of them hundreds of thousands of dollars, and tons of them thousands of dollars, there's no wrong number here, without running a single ad.
01:15But she chose to do ads, and the thing I want to illustrate is this is the kind of product that goes viral. This is the kind of thing that we want to do where we turn our ads on or we start promoting it, and two hours later we get a sale.
01:29This is the kind of a reality that I'm looking for for each and every one of you when you go to launch your digital products because if it sells this well right away, it's going to make you a lot of money. And so this is don't think that you need to take weeks to make a sale.
01:43Don't think that you need to take months to take a sale. My best students are the ones who are making sales hours after they launch or like right away, as soon as they launch. That's the idea.
01:51You launch it, they buy, boom, you get money. That's the goal. And so that's what we're gonna do in this video.
01:56I'm gonna walk you through the three kinds of digital products that always do really, really well, and then even more importantly, how to do well with them. So let me turn this little bad boy off here.
02:07If you see me looking down, it's because I wrote a lot of notes, I don't wanna mess it up. I wanna say everything for you guys.
02:16What I wrote most importantly, just for you you guys to know if you have sold a digital product before, is that typically if it does not sell right away, it's a sign that it needs some adjusting or tweaking. So if your digital product isn't selling, it might need help.
02:28A lot of times people have the great beginnings of a good offer, but they don't have what they need to, like, take it over to the next level. And the best thing that you can do is pick a digital product type that you know will do well and have a strong chance of going viral. So what I'm gonna do is turn on my iPad here, and we're just gonna talk about all three of these types of digital products and kinda give you, like, pro tips for each of them.
02:55Boom. Okay.
02:57In case people always ask me what this app is, by the way, it's called Notability. I love it. I'm a I'm a huge fan of it.
03:04I've used it for, like, since 2018.
03:07So
03:08seven years? Is that oh my gosh.
03:12That's ridiculous. Okay. So that's really crazy.
03:16I've been doing this for as long as I have. Okay. So here are the three product types.
03:22Three product types that tend to go viral.
03:27First one is video courses. We'll just put VC for video courses.
03:33Second
03:35is a PDF bundle, not a PDF, a PDF bundle.
03:39So PDF, I'm gonna put bundle here so we don't forget. And then finally,
03:48audio files. Now I have a big note on audio files. They can do so well when they do well, so we'll talk about that.
03:55So, okay. These are the three types. If you want a product that's gonna go viral, you're either gonna be doing a video course, very common, you've probably heard of it, some kind of PDF bundle.
04:07And when I say PDF bundle, by the way, I mean like any kind of like digital,
04:12like, a spreadsheet or a template or invitations, that would fall into that category. And then finally, we have an audio file, which we'll talk about.
04:23So,
04:26yeah, I'm gonna go into video files first, like video courses. Video courses is how I've made most of my money.
04:34I sell courses around $27 to $3,300, and I've made, like, $14,000,000 doing that. So it's a big moneymaker for me.
04:43I do have tons of PDF bundles that I sell as well, tons of templates, tons of scripts. So it's not just video courses that I sell, but but this is the most common, so we'll just write that.
04:55We'll say most common. It's a pretty safe bet to do a video course.
05:01Here's another reason why it's a good idea. They're the easiest to sell. There's a lot of inherent perceived value in a video course that's not necessarily there in a digital PDF or an audio file.
05:15You have to work a little bit harder to prove the value. So these video courses are easiest to sell. When you make them, this is a really, really important tip, so listen up.
05:24When you make these courses, make them hyper specific. So someone was in my coaching program and she asked me yesterday about a course, and it was far too general.
05:36It was like if I were to make a course on becoming wealthy versus a course on how to make more sales with Instagram stories. That's a real course I launched.
05:48That's a hyper specific course. How to make more sales with Instagram stories.
05:53And I sold seven it's been twenty four hours since I launched it, and I've already sold 700 copies of it when I talked last to my marketing team. It's probably close to 800, if not more at this point. So hyper specific ones go viral.
06:07Hyper specific ones sell. How to become wealthy? It's just so vague.
06:11It's just too broad. So your video courses have to be really, really, really specific. And then this is very important.
06:18A lot of people think that they have to put a ton of videos in their video courses, but actually .
06:27So think about it this way. What is the least amount of videos I need to make in order for the student to have a result I promised?
06:38So I'm not thinking how can I add more so it feels really valuable? I'm thinking what's the least amount of videos they need to watch? Cause it's a chore to watch something, right?
06:47Let's be real, like it's work. So what's the least amount of videos that they need to watch in order to get the result I've achieved? And I've gotten really good at figuring out what information is necessary and how package it up in a way that's really, really tangible for my students, which is why I have so many testimonials and why I'm so well known in my industry for helping people do what I do.
07:06It's because I've learned that less is more. So in your video courses, don't stuff them. And then finally, you can film with a webcam.
07:16You don't need an editor. I don't use an editor for YouTube too, by the way. Like, clearly, this is a webcam.
07:22I'm on my computer. I click start, and then I click end. A lot of the things we think that we need in order to be successful are just excuses for not showing up.
07:33That's the truth. So you can film your video courses with your an iPhone flipped like this.
07:41And by the way, my iPhone, I don't if you can see it here, it's cracked to hell and back. I don't think you can see it, but, like, across everywhere, it's super cracked on both sides.
07:51So it's a mess, and I've every iPhone I've ever had has been super cracked. It's fine. Okay.
07:59Let's talk about PDF files. So just to clarify, like I said, PDF bundles.
08:05So you're not selling one thing. You're selling bundles. And it doesn't have to literally be a PDF.
08:12It can be Google Sheets if that makes you know, if you're, like, making financial spreadsheets. It can be Canva files.
08:21Right? It doesn't have to but when I say PDF bundles, I just mean something that doesn't have a video in it.
08:27Right? Something that's like you're writing it or illustrating it, but you're not recording yourself, whether it's audio or video.
08:36Like a digital file is basically what I mean. So interestingly enough, more is more here.
08:45Isn't that interesting? With PDF bundles, , not less is more, because it has a higher perceived value. So if I include a 180 templates to help you grow with your Instagram content, that's way more valuable than eight content templates.
09:03Right? So a 180 is way more valuable than eight. And so and and 17 scripts is more valuable than three scripts.
09:14But it's different than with video courses because if I if you're watching a video course and I can teach you what you need to know in three videos versus 17 videos, you'd rather learn it in three videos. And so it's about understanding when less is more and when more is more.
09:30And with PDF bundles, more is more, so . I wrote that your bundles should be pretty robust. Like, really make them beefy.
09:39The number one reason why some of my students' bundles before they came to me weren't selling was because they were had like a 17 page PDF. And I'm like, you need to have a 100 page PDF if you want this thing to sell.
09:51It needs to be so much more than you think it does in order to really sell. And the value and sales angle here, so sales angle, is, like, value to price ratio.
10:05Basically, oh my gosh. You're getting all of this for this low price? That's an amazing deal.
10:10I have to have that. That's the sales angle. Here's a pro tip.
10:16Search creativemarket.com. So go to creativemarket.com and put your industry in the search bar, and you'll get tons of tons of inspiration for different ideas for amazing PDF bundles, amazing digital files, tons.
10:32Creative market's a really good one. Etsy's a really good one. So creativemarket.com, put your industry in.
10:37Now I wanna talk about audio files. I'm gonna share my screen actually for audio files in a second here, so hang tight.
10:47These are the hardest to sell. So hard to sell. I'll say that right out of the gate.
10:52Hard to sell, also hard to produce. People can get so much audio stuff for free on YouTube, you know,
11:03you really have to be intentional. There's and I'm gonna give you the reason I'm sharing my screen is because I'm gonna give you actual examples of people who are crushing it with their audio files.
11:14Some people really do do they see success. So, like, you can see success with this. You just have to know what you you have to know why it makes sense to do an audio file
11:25instead of a video.
11:29So let me show you. Let me show you. Here's what I'm gonna do.
11:31I'm gonna pause my I'm gonna share my screen here, and I'm gonna show you the lady that I wanna give who's a great example of someone who has found her niche and is crushing it with her audio file. It's a great product.
11:43Okay. So let me
11:46am I sharing my screen? I am. Okay.
11:48Hang on.
11:51Perfect. Okay. So this is a great example.
11:56I'm just gonna click it. So really quickly, to show what she does, she does audio cleaning routines.
12:04So it's crazy, but it's perfect for what she does.
12:10Um, she literally makes these audio recordings that are like a radio show, like murder mysteries, basically, and she does new episodes daily, which is crazy.
12:23And then you can clean, and so it'll basically be like, okay, now what we're gonna do is we're gonna move over to the kitchen and we're gonna clean the kitchen sink.
12:33And then she'll continue with the murder mystery. It's crazy, and the only way that you could do this is with a digital or like with an audio file.
12:43And so it's yeah, know.
12:47That's so funny. She's also just like good at social media. POB, tried listening to the nineteen fifties true crime cleaning routine and now feels like your house is always magically clean because dishes, laundry, decluttering, weekly tasks get done autopilot.
12:58Like, that's just so cool. And the only way that you could do that is with audio. So what I want to do now is give you my recommendation on what you should do.
13:10So I made a handy little chart for you. Let me grab that. Really, the the takeaway here, what I just think is so cool is that I'm gonna go away for you in a second, just FYI.
13:22Okay. Hang on. Here we go.
13:24Alright. Here we go. So think about it this way.
13:27Before you make a decision, and then I'm gonna give you a whole marketing plan for what you decide. I'm gonna tell you exactly how to market it so it goes viral. Before you decide, take a look at this.
13:37For ease of creation, video courses are the easiest to create. I know it sounds crazy, but if you're thinking about it from you're making a really specific video product and you're filming it with a webcam and it's around 12 videos, it's actually pretty damn easy.
13:51PDF bundles are harder because you gotta, like, really put the work in. You gotta stand out from everybody else. People think they're easier, so more people do it, so it's like a more saturated industry.
13:59They're actually a little harder than video course. Audio files, tough. You gotta have good equipment.
14:04You gotta have a voice that note, like, doesn't sound terrible. And you just gotta be you gotta be your production quality for audio, because it's the only sensory thing, the only thing your body is doing is listening to it, there's nothing to distract you.
14:20So if it's bad, it's bad. At least with video, if the lighting isn't great, the audio might sound good. Or you might be focusing on the person, and so you're less worried about the lighting.
14:30When it's audio, it's just audio, so the only thing your ears can do is hear. Tough. Tough to create.
14:36And then you have video course. Ease of selling, really easy if you pick a specific topic.
14:41If you under like, if you go hyper specific, you naturally attract the people who wanna solve that problem.
14:47It's pretty easy. So nothing in life is perfectly easy, which is why I'm gonna go into my marketing plan because you're gonna there's gonna be elbow grease however way you spin it, but that's fine.
14:57You're not afraid of work. PDF bundle, again, like you have to persuade people of the value of it. You can.
15:03People do all the time. I have a student who had her first it was like almost $3,030,000 pounds, so not $30,000, £30,000 selling a gardening guide.
15:16That's like $1,000 a day selling a PDF gardening guide.
15:20Like, you don't misunderstand me. You can do it. Do not misunderstand me at all.
15:25And then audio files, again, like, you gotta know what you're doing there. So my recommendation, if you're just getting started and if you're new, my recommendation is do do a video course. I think that's gonna be the best bet.
15:37If you decide to do a video course, and frankly, any which one you do decide, you need a marketing plan. So I sat down and I filmed an entire marketing course for you. I put it up here on YouTube.
15:46It's the next video. Go watch it. It's gonna tell you everything that you need to do once you do decide to launch your product.
15:51Watch that next. It's gonna blow your mind. I can't wait for you to see it.
The Hook
The bait, then the rug-pull.
She opens with a credentials dump — millions in digital-product sales, tens of thousands of students — then narrows the whole video to three formats and the opposite rules that make each one sell.
Named ideas worth stealing.
03:22list
The Three Product Types
- Video Courses
- PDF Bundles
- Audio Files
The three digital-product formats presented as the ones that reliably sell, sketched live on an iPad as VC / PDF bundle / audio-file icons.
Steal fordeciding what format a first digital product should take
13:04model
Ease of Creation vs. Ease of Selling Scale
A two-gauge chart ranking video courses, PDF bundles, and audio files on how easy each is to create versus how easy each is to sell, used to justify recommending video courses to beginners.
Steal forchoosing a first product format by weighing production effort against sales difficulty
10:01concept
Value-to-Price Ratio (bundle sales angle)
The sales angle for PDF bundles: make the amount of included content feel disproportionately large relative to the price, so the deal reads as an obvious steal.
Steal forpricing and positioning any bundled offer, not just PDFs
How they asked for the click.
VERBAL ASK
15:29next-video
“I sat down and I filmed an entire marketing course for you. I put it up here on YouTube. It's the next video. Go watch it.”
Soft CTA pointing to a companion marketing video rather than a direct product pitch inside the video itself; the harder pitches (free book, paid course) live only in the description.
MENTIONED ON CAMERA
FROM THE DESCRIPTION
PRIMARY CTAWhere the creator wants you to go next.
OTHER LINKSAlso linked in the description.
Visual structure at a glance.
