Information products are one of the biggest digital media opportunities to increase revenue. They’re also the most underutilized secondary source of revenue.
Businesses tend to focus exclusively on one primary source of revenue. With very little additional effort, you can add any number of digital ‘side hustles’ to help grow the bottom line. One of those side businesses is online learning and information products.
Online teaching can be in the form of ebooks, special reports, whitepapers, podcasts, downloads/printables, videos, and/or private membership sites. These digital knowledge products can be sold individually or be combined into complete online guides & courses.
The most recent data from Statistics Canada indicates the global demand for digital downloads is high and Canada is no exception.
In the specified time period:
- Two-thirds of adult Canadians bought digital products, spending $8.1 billion or about $412 each.
- 91% of those who earn over $100,000/year reported purchasing digital products.
- Canadian men ($505) spent more than women ($312).
- Total spending on ebooks (most popular), audiobooks, podcasts, online newspapers and magazines reached $0.7 billion.
These numbers are notably higher among younger Canadians. However, even Canadians 65 and older purchased at least one digital product.
Information & digital learning products can be:
- A business on its own, featuring your expertise (Infopreneur).
- Used to compliment an existing online or offline business (bringing in clients, sales or traffic).
- Deployed for branding and proving superior expertise.
- Developed to generate multiple streams of income.
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There are some very successful “infopreneurs” and “edupreneurs” out there and a lot of them make a very comfortable living with web-based learning products. Many successful online businesses also use digital products as effective lead magnets for list building and lead generation. Online courses are often offered to generate traffic, establish a high level of expertise, retain customers, improve engagement, or as part of a sales funnel upsell.
“We are seeing a dramatic increase in online course creation across every single industry right now – everything from business and marketing to personal development and fitness,” said Andrea Merson, former director of marketing at Thinkific.
E-learning products provide ongoing revenue in tough times, and add another revenue stream in good times too.
Proven Benefits of Selling Digital Information Products
There are plenty of benefits to offering your own information products that extend well beyond a nice revenue stream:
➤ Online learning is a hot market. People are paying for information at an incredible rate of $355 million dollars/day. That’s expected to triple within the next five years, according to Forbes.
➤ Digital products are inexpensive to create, requiring little more than your time.
➤ Delivery costs won’t impact your sales because all products are downloaded.
➤ Info-products and ebooks are an amazing way to score clients, no matter what business you’re in, and they’re an excellent branding tool.
➤ Digital products are a source of recurring revenue, along with endless up-selling opportunities via sales funnels.
➤ Your info-products are the perfect place for affiliate marketing, creating yet another revenue stream.
➤ Unlike hard products, such as printed books, online training products can be easily updated, expanded, or repurposed.
➤ You can establish and prove your expertise, which increases sales and invites opportunities like interviews, speaking engagements, coaching opportunities, or book deals.
Getting Started
- Choose a topic with which you are very familiar and have advanced knowledge in. Make sure it’s directly related to your business.
- Decide what delivery methods you’ll use (written, video, audio, printable, and so on).
- Start a text file with basic information as a reference for updates, including fonts, colour scheme hex codes, settings, etc.
- Gather any existing material you’ll use, such as your past webinars or blog posts, interviews, royalty-free content, and so on.
- As you begin to develop your information products, save templates of both your written work and visuals for consistency and branding.
The Top Ecommerce Platforms for Selling Digital Products
You’ll need specific functionality to sell and deliver digital products, and several platforms have everything you require. Most provide some level of marketing features or opportunities that further ensure your success, such as email list building, sales funnels, or affiliate programs. Security is also in place, such as secure checkout, fraud prevention and product theft prevention.
The following digital download platforms are all relatively easy to use and provide the functionality necessary for you to sell online, deliver downloads, and manage sales. To make the best choice for your specific business, take them for a test drive with a free trial.
Sellfy facilitates the sale of all digital downloads, including ebooks, videos, audio & music, and any other files like PSD, AI, and so on.
Sell any type of digital product with SendOwl, from ebooks to software, as well as physical products and services, subscriptions or memberships.
The Shopify Digital Downloads App is free to Shopify users, plus there are more download apps available in their app store.
Thinkific is a Canadian learning ecommerce platform that helps you transform your expertise into courses, communities, memberships, downloads, and other high-quality learning experiences. From landing pages to advanced sales tools, Thinkific is a complete solution for anyone in the business of online education.
Podia facilitates the creation, sale and promotion of online courses, memberships and digital downloads.
Check out The Best Ecommerce Platforms for Digital Product Downloads for further guidance.
What kind of information or digital learning products will your company offer? Please share your questions in the comments below, or join us in the Online Business Canada Facebook group.
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Last Updated on January 16, 2026 by Melody McKinnon, Online Business & Marketing Manager
