Latest news with #digitalgoods
Forbes
21-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Why Freelancers Need a Digital Product Revenue Stream
Every freelancer knows the challenges of growing and scaling their business. But many of us freelance alongside other jobs, or may have hit full client capacity. So how can we scale our business without continuing to exchange time for money? One way is to create a revenue stream that requires an initial time investment to set it up, but then continues to sell on autopilot. This revenue stream involves selling a digital product. Deloitte found that U.S. adults spend $120 to $130 monthly on digital goods and services. Freelancers have the golden opportunity to capitalize on this demand by creating their own digital goods such as templates, online courses, recorded webinars, eBooks, PDF guides, or even AI agents. Whether you freelance full-time or as a side-hustle, selling a digital product is a smart way to add revenue without significantly increasing your time commitments. Here's why: You're already an expert in what you do. How could you package up your knowledge or skills in a way that benefits more people, beyond your client roster? Let's say you're a graphic designer. You could create a set of social media templates that other businesses could plug-and-play, and sell these as a low-ticket offer to those not ready to invest in your design services. Think: what types of questions do you regularly receive from clients or your online audience? What topics or pain points do they ask to 'pick your brain' over? You could package up your unique knowledge on this topic into a PDF guide or eBook. Even though it takes some time to set up a digital product revenue stream including creating the actual product, setting up the system to sell it on (such as a Stan Store, Beacons, or Linktree page), and some ongoing marketing to promote it, it can be relatively 'hands-off' yet highly scalable. Here are two ways to scale your digital product revenue stream: Taking the time to create a digital product that offers more in-depth, comprehensive knowledge than your free public content (e.g. social media posts) helps to position you as a thought leader or expert in your field. If your digital product helps your audience solve a problem, this increases trust in your brand, which is imperative to business growth. According to Deloitte, 88% of customers who highly trust a brand would buy again, and 62% buy almost exclusively from that brand. High trust has the potential to turn into referrals, positive reviews, references, or citations in other content, and could even lead to speaking gigs or podcast appearances. All of which help build your brand. Creating and selling your own digital products is a smart business strategy for freelancers, especially in today's unpredictable economic landscape. It's a great way to grow your revenue without exhausting your time each week, so that you can focus on your hands-on client work.
TechCrunch
08-05-2025
- Business
- TechCrunch
Appfigures: Apple made over $10B from US App Store comissions last year
Over $10 billion — that's how much revenue Apple's U.S. App Store raked in last year, according to a new analysis by app intelligence provider Appfigures. The firm's estimates indicate that U.S. App Store revenue from commissions more than doubled between 2020 and 2024. In 2020, Apple's share of App Store commissions was approximately $4.76 billion, growing to over $10.1 billion by 2024. Based on Appfigures' data, U.S. App Store developers generated $33.68 billion in gross revenue from their apps and games using Apple's payments system in 2024, and took home $23.57 billion after Apple's cut. Image Credits:Appfigures Though Apple doesn't typically break out its App Store revenue during earnings, it did publish a report in May 2023 where it said the App Store globally generated $104 billion in estimated billings for digital goods and services in 2022. However, Appfigures' analysis found the App Store made $61.5 billion globally in 2022, which grew to $91.3 billion in 2024. From this, Apple made more than $27.39 billion in commissions globally last year, Appfigures also said. That leads to a discrepancy between Appfigures' analysis and Apple's own. This can be explained by an important caveat found in Apple's report. Under Apple's chart, it states that its 'billings and sales' figures are 'not the same as App Store billings.' That's important here. Techcrunch event Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you've built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you've built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | BOOK NOW When Apple wrote its report, the company was trying to show how big the App Store is and how key it is to the overall economy, so it merged App Store revenue with revenue generated outside the App Store to generate its total for the 'Billings and Sales' category. In the report, Apple calculated the portion of an app's total revenue that is facilitated by the App Store, even if the purchase was made elsewhere. For instance, if a user buys a subscription to Hulu on the web, but then spends 60% of their time streaming Hulu on Apple devices, Apple credits itself with facilitating 60% of that user's spend. (To determine usage, the report relied on third-party sources, like market research firms, to estimate how much usage occurred on smartphones versus tablets, desktops, or TVs.) Apple also allows enterprises to distribute apps with in-app purchases, but these aren't visible in the App Store. 'Grave Irreparable Harm?' Examining the numbers around U.S. Apple App Store revenue is more relevant than ever in the wake of the recent court ruling that now prevents Apple from charging a 27% commission on transactions that take place outside the App Store. Apple initially attempted to comply with the court's injunction resulting from its antitrust battle with Fortnite maker Epic Games by making changes that wouldn't harm App Store profits. To do so, Apple last year gave developers a way to apply for an exception to its App Store rules so they could add web links inside their apps that directed customers to external purchases. However, Apple continued to charge a 27% commission on those purchases and dictated how the website links should appear. (This even included the use of 'scare screens' to warn consumers of the dangers of making purchases outside the App Store.) Last week, a judge ruled that Apple was in 'willful violation' of the 2021 injunction by continuing to collect fees on purchases made outside apps and by creating new anticompetitive barriers. This decision forced Apple to update its U.S. App Store rules, which now allow developers to link out to other ways for consumers to make purchases, without obstacles or commissions. Since then, several apps have taken advantage of the ability to introduce web payments, including Spotify, Amazon Kindle, and Patreon. One small game emulator called Delta is now supporting itself via Patreon memberships, too. Apple is appealing the decision, arguing in its most recent filing that the ruling causes Apple 'grave irreparable harm.' 'These restrictions, which will cost Apple substantial sums annually, are based on conduct that has never been adjudicated to be (and is not) unlawful,' Apple's filing stated. 'Rather, they were imposed to punish Apple for purported non-compliance with an earlier state-law injunction that is itself invalid.' This argument won't likely go over well with developers, as many believe Apple should have lowered commissions for everyone years ago, not just for small business developers. Appfigures' analysis also broke down U.S. App Store revenue by apps and games, which generated Apple approximately $6.28 billion and $3.83 billion, respectively, in 2024. Together, these figures highlight how critical App Store revenue remains to Apple's bottom line, and why it's fighting so hard to retain control.
Fast Company
08-05-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
Thanks to DOGE, Gumroad's founder has a second job with the VA
Sahil Lavingia has had just three jobs over a 15-year career in tech. The first was as the second employee of Pinterest. The second was by founding the startup Gumroad, a successful, famously lean company that makes it easy for content creators to sell digital goods. The third? As an unpaid contractor supporting the Department of Veterans Affairs in a role facilitated by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a fact recently revealed in a Wired piece. One of these things is not like—and is far more controversial than—the others. But Lavingia, who chose not to speak to Wired but reached out to me after I drew attention to the piece, makes no excuses for his decision to join DOGE's tidal wave of on-the-fly federal contractors. He says he's able to work without pay because of Gumroad's success—and that he is driven by a sense of mission.
