7 Digital Services You Can Sell Online, Explained

Intro

Exports of services delivered online reached $5.26 trillion worldwide in twenty twenty-five. Seven digital services you can sell online, explained, each with how it pays and its first step. Number one needs no money at all, and it puts a local shop on the map. Every number here comes from an international trade report and each platform's own pages, linked in the description.

7. Product photos for online shops

Number seven, product photos for online shops, comes with the size already set by the store's help page. Shopify's help center lists the photo specs, so you know the goal from the start. For square product images, it says 2,048 by 2,048 pixels usually displays best. It also says a consistent aspect ratio keeps the featured images the same size.

You photograph a local shop's products with the phone or camera you already have. The shop then adds those photos to its online store. The shop pays you for the photos, and Shopify's help page only sets the specs. Shopify says product images can be any size up to 5,000 by 5,000 pixels, or twenty-five megapixels.

Each file needs to be smaller than twenty megabytes. The help page names PNG as the best file type for most product images, followed by JPEG. Megapixels are pixel width times pixel height, divided by 1 million. By our count, a square photo of 2,048 pixels per side is about four megapixels.

This weekend's first step uses the help page's targets: a few square sample photos, saved as PNG or JPEG. It takes a phone or camera, good light, and a shop that sells online. Shopify's page covers the photo specs, not the deal between you and the shop. Rules for selling services and taxes differ where you live.

Next, short videos for the same shop, made with a free editor. Subscribe, because next we break down the free editor behind short videos for local shops.

6. Short videos with DaVinci Resolve

For number six, short videos for local shops, the editor itself has a free version. DaVinci Resolve's own page says the free version lets you learn the same tools professional artists use. You edit short videos for a local shop from clips shot on a phone. The shop then posts them on its social accounts.

The shop pays you for the edited videos, and the free version of DaVinci Resolve costs nothing. The official page says the free version works with virtually all eight-bit video formats at up to sixty frames per second. It handles resolutions as high as Ultra HD, 3,840 by 2,160. It covers editing, color, VFX, motion graphics and audio.

The official page says the cut page is perfect for projects with tight deadlines. It also lists vertical timeline editing and hundreds of titles, transitions and effects. The page calls the interface fast to learn and easy for new users. It also includes multi-user collaboration and HDR grading.

DaVinci Resolve Studio includes everything in the free version plus the DaVinci AI Neural Engine and more effects. This weekend, the official page's own button is the first step: Download DaVinci Resolve Free. It takes a computer that runs it, clips from the shop, and time to learn the editing page. Every clip and finished video still needs the shop's approval before it goes out.

Rules for selling services, music rights and taxes differ where you live. Once the videos are ready, they need a steady schedule, and Buffer's free plan is built for that.

5. Social posts with Buffer

With number five, social posts for a local shop, Buffer's free limit counts queued posts, not days. Buffer's help page says the Free plan allows ten posts per channel, up to thirty with three channels connected. It adds that this is not a daily, weekly or monthly limit. It is the number of posts you can store in each channel's queue at any one time.

So if you share one post per day, you can schedule up to ten days ahead. You plan and schedule a local shop's posts, so the shop shows up regularly. Nobody has to post by hand every day. The shop pays you for running its posts, and the free plan costs nothing.

Buffer's pricing page lists Free forever, with up to three channels and ten scheduled posts per channel. Buffer says the free queue refills anytime, so the ten slots open up again as posts go out. Channels include a shop's social accounts and its Google Business Profile. Paid plans are billed per channel, so you only pay for the accounts you actually manage.

During a paid trial, the page says you can switch to the Free plan at any time. This weekend, the official page shows the first step: sign up for the Free plan. Then you connect up to three of the shop's channels, with the owner's permission. It takes the shop's photos and news, that permission, and a weekly plan of posts.

Each social network also has its own daily posting limits. Rules and taxes differ where you live. Next, something you design once and sell as a file.

4. Templates with Lemon Squeezy

Number four, templates you sell online, comes with sales tax handled by Lemon Squeezy. It acts as the merchant of record, so the platform covers the taxes on each sale. Its help page says the small fee covers card transaction fees, currency conversion fees and taxes. You sell digital templates you design, like planners, spreadsheets or slide decks, delivered as files.

Lemon Squeezy's pricing page says it's free to start, with no trial and no contract. The fee is 5% plus fifty cents per sale, with no monthly charges for ecommerce features. Some payments carry extras, such as 1.5% for PayPal and half a percent for subscription payments. By our count, on a twenty-dollar template, 5% plus fifty cents leaves $18 and fifty cents, before any extra fees.

Net sales go to your bank account or PayPal account. Payouts are created twice monthly, on the first and the fifteenth. Net sales are held thirteen days, then become available on the fourteenth and twenty-eighth. Payouts can take one to five days to appear in your bank account.

This weekend, the help page shows the first step: sign up, and a new store starts in test mode. To sell, you fill in a short questionnaire and verify your identity, and approvals typically happen in two to three business days. It takes a template you made yourself and a bank or PayPal account where the platform pays out. Taxes on your income and the rules for selling still differ where you live.

Next, we move from selling files to teaching a short class on Skillshare. We're halfway. Each service starts with an official page you can open today.

3. Skillshare: teaching a short class

On Skillshare, our number three, the first lesson of every class is free to watch. Skillshare's help page says one-lesson classes are entirely free and not eligible for royalties. Teacher payments are based on members' watch time and engagement with your classes. Each month, part of subscription revenue goes into the Teacher Fund.

Your share depends on your qualifying watch time compared with other eligible teachers. Skillshare's help page says it is not possible to estimate future payouts in advance. This weekend, the form at skillshare dot com slash teach asks you to categorize your content and outline your class. You also share an example of your teaching and agree to the content guidelines.

Applications are accepted in English only, and you need approval before your first class. Once approved, you get the class upload tool and a welcome packet for new teachers. A short-form class runs two to fifteen minutes of video and includes a class project. Short-form classes don't need an introduction or an outro.

Standard classes run longer than fifteen minutes. New classes go live right after you submit them. Skillshare's moderation team then reviews each new class within seventy-two hours. To qualify each month, you need fifty followers and a quality class published in the past eighteen months.

You also need more than 400 qualifying minutes in the month, from paid members only. By our count, 400 minutes in a thirty-day month is about thirteen minutes of watching a day. Teacher payments are sent through Tipalti on the sixteenth of each month. Rules, fees and taxes can differ where you live.

In one breath: photos, videos and posts for shops, templates you sell, and classes you teach. Next, a way to turn your writing into something readers can pay for. If you want more ways to earn, the video on seven ways people make extra money is linked on screen.

2. Substack: a newsletter readers can pay for

Here's number two, Substack, where publishing is free no matter how many subscribers you have. Paid subscriptions are optional, and you can turn them on later. You write a newsletter, and before you charge anything, readers can pledge to pay later. A pledge means a subscriber agrees to pay if and when you turn on paid subscriptions.

They enter payment details, but there is no immediate charge. You get an email each time someone pledges. If you turn on paid subscriptions, Substack keeps 10% of subscription revenue, and Stripe charges its own processing fees. You set the price, from a minimum of $5 a month or $30 a year.

Readers can choose a monthly, yearly or founding member plan. By our count, at the five-dollar minimum, Substack's 10% is fifty cents a month per reader, before Stripe's fee. You get paid through a Stripe account linked to your bank. Substack says payments usually arrive within forty-eight hours of each transaction.

The help page shows the first step: click Create account on Substack's website. Then set up your profile with a photo, your first name and a short bio. Then click the plus sign and select Post to write your first piece. A new publication starts out public by default.

Setting up a Stripe account takes just minutes, and the details it asks for depend on where you live. It takes something to write about regularly, a profile, and later a Stripe account for paid subscriptions. If you change your price, only new paid subscribers pay the new rate, and taxes differ where you live. Our last item needs no money at all and starts with a shop near you.

1. A local shop's Google profile

Number one: it needs no money at all, and it puts a local shop on the map. This service keeps a shop's free Business Profile on Google up to date for its owner. The owner can invite you as a manager, so the profile is managed without sharing the password. Google's help page says each user needs their own Google Account to manage a profile without sharing a password.

For the shop, you keep its details current and its posts fresh. Google's help page says managers can edit main business info, like hours and address. They can also create, manage and publish posts, and respond to reviews. Adding and editing cover photos and additional photos is on the manager list too.

When a profile is added and verified, customers can find the business on Search and Maps, says Google. Google states that you can add or claim your business at no charge. So the money moves from the shop to you, for keeping its profile up to date. The profile itself stays free for the shop.

This weekend, the help page shows the owner opening the profile and selecting People and access. Then the owner selects Add, enters your email address, and chooses Manager under Access. One last select on Invite, and invited users can accept and become users right away. If the shop has no profile yet, Google's page lists business dot google dot com slash add.

Then the owner picks a verification option and follows the on-screen steps. It takes a Google Account of your own, a phone or computer, and a shop owner who invites you. Some features unlock only after a seven-day wait, like deleting the profile or removing other managers. Rules for local services and taxes differ where you live.

That is the last of our seven digital services, so let us put all seven side by side.

Recap

Number seven, product photos: shoot square samples at the help page's suggested size. Number six, short videos: download the free version of DaVinci Resolve. Number five, social posts: start Buffer's free plan and connect up to three channels. Number four, templates: open a free Lemon Squeezy store and activate it.

Number three, Skillshare: send the teaching form with an outline of your class. Number two, Substack: create an account and publish your first post. Number one, Google: have a shop owner invite you as a profile manager. Today, open the official page of the one that fits you and check its first requirement.

Which service would you sell first? Tell us in the comments. Results vary, rules differ where you live, and this is information only, not financial advice. Next on Wealth Filings, watch seven ways people make extra money, linked on screen.

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