Haiden Hibbert
If you’re a content creator or entrepreneur looking to monetize your website, selling digital products on WordPress is an excellent way to share your expertise and increase your income.
If you already know what you’re going to sell, great! The next step is figuring out how. Don’t worry – you don’t need to set up a full-blown online store, configure multiple plugins, or hire a developer to get things running for you. Whether you plan on selling an eBook, membership, online course, or something else, we’ve got a few super simple, yet lucrative tips on how to accept payments on WordPress websites.
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Option 1: Accept one-time payments
One of the simplest ways to start accepting payments on your WordPress website is to sell individual digital products. This offers quick and easy access for customers and is the lowest barrier to entry for content creators and entrepreneurs. Because let’s face it – not all of us have time to create a five-part masterclass or 100-piece template bundle. But a short ebook, PDF guide, or video tutorial is a simple way to repurpose your existing content or expert knowledge so you can start accepting payments right away.
Other ideas for one-off digital products include:
- Online Courses
- Plug-ins
- Tutorials
- Canva templates
- Live coaching calls
- Webinars
Take ellenfisher.com for example. This content creator offers a few different digital products on her website, from a podcast to a membership community to a selection of ebooks. While anyone who visits her site can listen to her podcast, you have to join her membership for a monthly or annual cost to get access to exclusive content.
But what about the people who are interested in her content but aren’t ready to commit to a full-blown membership? Ellen’s ebooks are the perfect happy-medium for these website visitors, allowing them to make a one-time purchase and giving Ellen another income stream.
Option 2: Sell membership access to earn recurring revenue
If you’re looking for a way to earn recurring revenue on your WordPress site, the approach will look a little different than accepting one-time payments. One of the best ways to make passive income is to offer a paid membership, which is like an all access pass to the resources on your website (or select resources if you want to offer different pricing tiers). This works great if you have a content library or set of resources that you plan on updating, improving, and adding to overtime. Because that’s the key for memberships – ongoing, consistent value.
Let’s check out online fitness studio, Withsara for example. Withsara is a health and fitness community for women that offers on-demand classes, weekly schedules, challenges, and 1-on-1 coaching sessions. All members have to do is pay a monthly or annual fee, and they get immediate access to 300+ classes.
That’s the beauty of memberships – you can give customers a few payment options so they can choose what works best for them. Have them select between monthly or annual memberships, or give them the option of lifetime access for a discounted rate.
Types of Membership Content
One of the biggest advantages for creators and entrepreneurs is that you can bundle your digital products and package it as a membership to access everything.
Here are some of the most popular types of content to include in a membership:
- Content library
- Online course
- Newsletters
- Podcasts
- Community
- Digital magazine
- Ebooks
- Live coaching calls
Option 3: Accept multiple payments for high-priced items (i.e. 3 payments of $250)
If you’re selling a higher ticket item like a comprehensive course or mentorship program, you can also give your customers the option to divide the cost of your product across multiple payments. This lowers the barrier to entry for customers who really want to experience your product or service but don’t have the funds to pay for it all upfront (and of course, more customers for you is always a plus!).
One business accepting multiple payments on their new coaching program is ElevatED, an online community designed to connect, inspire, and empower educators. The 5-week program costs $997, but they’re giving customers the opportunity to split the total cost into two or three payments.
How to Accept Payments on your Digital Products
Now that you have an idea of how to go about selling your digital products on WordPress, let’s get to the fun part – getting paid for them!
You may be considering setting up a payment gateway to accept payments on WordPress (like Stripe, PayPal, etc), but it’s important to keep in mind that these systems can be a bit challenging and time consuming to configure. So if you’re wanting to get your digital product or membership launched ASAP, you’ll want to consider other options.
Let’s take a look at a simple alternative that makes accepting payments and running your online business a breeze.
Accepting payments on WordPress with MemberSpace
MemberSpace is a tool that helps entrepreneurs and creators sell their digital products in just a few simple steps – no technical knowledge necessary. And because MemberSpace has a built-in Stripe integration, you’ll be able to easily accept payments on WordPress without having to worry about setting up any other tools.
Here’s how it works:- Download our free WordPress membership plugin.
- Set pricing for your digital product or membership plans.
- Connect MemberSpace to an existing or new Stripe account and get paid as soon as your first customer makes a purchase or a member signs up.
- Restrict access to specific content, pages, or entire sections of your website and grant access when your customers pay for your product or join your membership.
In addition to accepting payments, MemberSpace has a host of other features to help support you and your online business, such as:
- Email campaigns
- Dunning
- Member management
- Flexible plans and billing
- Integrations (Stripe, Zapier, Rewardful, etc.)
- Custom styling
- API access
Selling digital products is a great way to earn a passive income and gain more customers. With MemberSpace, you can easily accept payments on WordPress from customers as well as offer different payment options such as one-time payments, recurring membership payments, and multiple-payment plans. Whether you are selling courses, plugins or ebooks, MemberSpace provides the perfect solution for your WordPress website!
Have questions for us? Feel free to reach out or test things out by signing up for a free account.
