3 years selling digital products on the side.
I've been thinking about this a lot lately. I've built a few things over the years. A WordPress plugin, a couple of UI templates, a React component library. Sold them on the side. But "sold" is generous. Some months it's $200, some months $40. Nothing that changes anything.
I keep reading success stories about developers making $3k, $5k, even $10k a month from templates or plugins. And I believe some of them are real. But I also notice most of those posts are either from 2018 to 2020, or they're vague on the actual numbers.
So I'm curious what people here have actually experienced.
What platform did you use? ThemeForest, Gumroad, Lemon Squeezy, your own site?
What actually drove sales? Was it SEO? The marketplace's own traffic? Your own audience?
Is it actually passive, or are you constantly updating, supporting, and marketing?
I'm not looking for motivation. I'm just trying to find out if passive income from digital products is mostly a story people tell.
I think the “passive income” framing is where a lot of digital product advice gets misleading.
For small plugins, templates, and component libraries, the product usually does not sell passively until one distribution channel is already working. That could be marketplace search, SEO, an audience, integrations, or repeat buyer traffic. Without that, it becomes a tiny product sitting on a shelf.
The useful question is probably not “which platform is best?” but “where does the buyer already search when the pain is active?”
A WordPress plugin can work on marketplace/search intent. UI templates need visual proof and distribution where builders browse. A React component library usually needs developer trust, docs, examples, and a very specific use case.
So I’d separate the products and diagnose each one by buyer intent, not by platform. Some products are marketplace-led. Some are SEO-led. Some need founder-led distribution. Treating them all as “digital products” makes the GTM too blurry.
This reframe is genuinely useful. I've been treating all three products the same and wondering why results are inconsistent — but you're right, they're completely different buyer journeys.
The WordPress plugin has search intent behind it. Someone has a problem, they Google it, they find a solution. That one actually does okay when I don't touch it. The UI templates are different — nobody's Googling "buy UI kit," they're browsing Dribbble or hunting through marketplaces visually. And the React library? I think I just built something I personally wanted and hoped developers would find it. No real distribution thinking at all.
The "where does the buyer already search when the pain is active" question is the clearest way I've heard it put. Going to actually sit down and answer that for each one separately.
Exactly. The mistake is treating them like one portfolio when each one probably needs a different acquisition engine.
For the WordPress plugin, I’d think search intent and problem keywords.
For the UI templates, I’d think visual proof, marketplace browsing, and creator/designer distribution.
For the React library, I’d think trust, docs, examples, and one narrow dev use case where the pain is obvious.
So the real move is probably not “grow my digital products.” It is deciding which product has the cleanest buyer intent and pushing that one first.
I can put together a short written breakdown mapping each product to its best channel, buyer intent, positioning angle, and simple next steps.
Share your email if you want me to send the details privately.
Appreciate the breakdown — mapping each product to its acquisition model rather than a generic "grow digital products" plan is way more actionable than most advice I've read on this.
The React library one stings a bit. "One narrow dev use case where the pain is obvious" — I genuinely don't think I ever defined that. I just built what I wanted and published it.
Would love to see that breakdown. You can reach me at [email protected].
Just emailed you the details, Alex. It should be in your inbox.
Thanks so much! Just checked and saw it. Really appreciate you taking the time to put that together. This kind of strategic thinking is exactly what I've been missing. Going to go through it carefully and probably hit you up with questions if that's cool.
Perfect, got it. I’ll email you there.
The React library part is probably the most important to diagnose because if the use case is unclear, distribution will always feel random no matter how good the library is.
Yeah, that's exactly it. I think that's where I went wrong with the library. I was so focused on building something I thought was cool that I never really nailed down who it was for and what specific problem it solved for them. Looking back, I probably should have talked to developers first before writing a single line of code. Hard lesson, but a valuable one.
Exactly. That’s the core issue.
I sent you the cleaner version by email yesterday so we do not have to turn the thread into a long teardown. Best place to start is probably the React library, because that’s where the buyer/use-case gap seems the most unclear.
Makes total sense. I'll dive into the React library breakdown first — that's definitely where I've felt most lost on the "who actually needs this" question. Appreciate you sending the cleaner version over. Will take a look and reach out if anything isn't clear.
Sounds good.
Start with the React library because that is where the buyer/use-case gap seems the most expensive.
If you go through it and want me to turn that part into a sharper positioning/use-case plan, send me the specific questions by email and I’ll keep it focused.