The Easiest Digital Products to Create and Sell for People in Their 50s
The easiest digital products to create and sell in your 50s include items such as printable planners, ebooks, resource lists, and Canva templates. These digital products can be created with free tools like Canva and Google Docs. List your items on Etsy or Gumroad and drive traffic to your listing using platforms like Pinterest, a blog, or YouTube.
Digital products are some of the best products to sell online. However, for some middle aged folks, it can feel intimidating to create them. What separates an easy digital product from a hard one is creation time, tools needed, skills that may be needed, and how fast it can go live after you have the idea for it.
When you’re in your 50s you are likely balancing a job, family, caregiving, or health, so you need income sources that fit into your schedule. Every product listed below can be created using free tools, finished in less than a day, and listed for sale within a week.
If you also want to see how digital products connect to a bigger passive income strategy, I cover that at digitalsystemslab.com, including a free training that shows the full picture.
What makes a digital product “easy”
The four ease factors
There are four factors to consider for making an easy digital product:
- Creation time: can it be finished in one afternoon to one day?
- Skill required: is Canva or Google Docs enough: no coding, no design degree?
- Tools needed: are all tools free or low cost to access?
- Time to live: can it be uploaded and listed for sale within 24 hours of the idea?
Easy doesn’t mean low value
Do not mistake “easy” for low value. Easy digital product creation does not equate to a low-value or “cheap” product. Consider some of the simplest digital products such as a one-page checklist or resource list that sell for $7-$19 and only take about 30 minutes to make.
Buyers are willing to pay for the result that the product delivers versus the time it took to create it. A product that is well-targeted and branded will consistently outsell a complex one in a vague niche.
Also read: How to Profitably Sell Digital Products Online Over 50 With No Experience
Checklists and resource lists
- Ease level: Very Easy — write it in a doc, format in Canva, export as PDF
- Earning Potential: $5–$15/sale – Bundles of 5–10 checklists sell for $19–$37
- Time to create: 30–60 minutes for a single checklist – A bundle of 5 takes one afternoon
What it is
A checklist or resource list can be a simple PDF that walks buyers through a process, task, or decision. Good examples of this include:
- A moving checklist for empty nesters
- Medication management tracker
- Home maintenance seasonal checklist, caregiver daily checklist
Why it’s the easiest starting point
This type of digital product has an easy starting point because no design skills are needed. A readable list in Canva is enough. Your own life experience can help you naturally generate dozens of checklist ideas. A checklist can also be repurposed into a bundle of 5 or 10 at a higher price point.
Strong checklist niche ideas for people over 50
If you’re needing some ideas for checklist ideas for people over 50, here are some to get you started:
- Retirement planning checklist
- Downsizing your home checklist
- Estate planning starter guide
- Caregiver weekly task list
- Healthy eating reset checklist
- Pre-travel health prep list
Printable journal pages and prompted journals
- Ease level: Very Easy — duplicate a single Canva page to build a full journal
- Earning Potential: $5–$17/single journal – 30-day guided journals sell for $17–$27
- Time to create: 1–2 hours for a 30-page prompted journal
What it is
A printable journal page or prompted journals are PDF files with daily or weekly prompts. Your customers can print them at home and use as a self-reflection or goal-setting tool. There is no need for fancy design. Use a clean header, a prompt, and lined space to write. That is really all that is needed for the entire page.
Why it’s easy for people in their 50s
Your life experience gives you plenty of ideas for prompts about identity, purpose, reinvention, and other topics that resonate with this age group. All you need to do is duplicate one Canva page 30 times and change the prompt on each page. You can have your entire journal built in one afternoon. Journal pages are an evergreen niche that has demand on Etsy year-round.
Single-page printable planners and trackers
- Ease level: Very Easy – one Canva page, export as PDF
- Earning Potential: $3–$9/single page – Bundles of 5–10 sell for $12–$25
- Time to create: 45–90 minutes per design – Bundle of 5 takes one afternoon
What it is
A single-page printable planner or tracker is a PDF file that users can print and fill in. These can be weekly meal planners, daily habit trackers, medication logs, grocery lists, mood trackers, and water intake logs to name some options. Create them using a simple grid or box layout. You can find dozens of free planner templates to begin with on Canva.
Why it works so well
These single-page printables work well on Etsy as they are some of the highest volume digital products. Planners and trackers have a massive built-in demand on that platform. You can create a one-page design in under 2 hours and create bundles to increase pricing. For an underserved niche, consider health-focused trackers for the 50+ market.
Printable planners are one of the most accessible starting points for digital product income, and they pair naturally with what I share at digitalsystemslab.com. Take a look when you’re ready to see how it all fits together, including the free training.
How-to guides and beginner tutorials
- Ease level: Very Easy – write what you know, format in Docs, add a Canva cover
- Earning Potential: $9–$27/guide – Comprehensive how-to bundles sell for $37–$67
- Time to create: 2–3 hours for a 5–10 page guide on a topic you know well
What it is
Some of the easiest digital products to create and sell are how-to guides and beginner tutorials. They are PDF guides that walk a beginner through something you already know how to do. Think about a process, a skill, a system, a recipe collection, or life lesson. For example: how to declutter your home in one weekend, a beginner’s guide to intermittent fasting after 50, or how to start a container garden.
Why it’s perfect for people in their 50s
You have the experience that the younger generation are now searching for guidance on. It’s easy to write in a conversational manner making it simple for you to write and for your buyers to consume. Your life experience serves as credibility versus having any type of credentials.
See also: Side Hustles for People in Their 50s
Canva social media templates
- Ease level: Easy – customize existing Canva templates and sell as a pack
- Earning Potential: $9–$29/pack – Niche packs of 30 templates sell for $29–$49
- Time to create: 2–4 hours for a pack of 10–15 branded templates
What it is
These are Canva templates that are used for Instagram posts, Pinterest pins, Facebook posts, or story slides. Your buyers will get a sharable Canva link end can edit within their own Canva account. Some good nices to consider for these social media templates include:
- Real estate agents
- Life coaches
- Health and wellness brands
- Restaurants
- Teachers
Why it’s easy to create
They are easy to create because you can start with existing free templates on Canva. Simply change the colors, fonts, and placeholder text for a specific niche. You can duplicate a base design to create 10-15 templates in one afternoon. Deliver your product as a shareable Canva link so there is nothing to download.
Email templates and scripts
- Ease level: Easy – write in plain language, format as PDF or Google Doc
- Earning Potential: $15–$47/pack – Niche-specific email sequences sell for $47–$97
- Time to create: 2–3 hours for a pack of 10 fill-in-the-blank email templates
What it is
These templates are fill-in-the blank email templates that can be used by small business owners, freelancers, or job seekers. They can include follow-up emails, client onboarding sequences, and networking outreach. You can deliver them as a PDF or Google Doc that have clearly marked fill-in sections.
Why it’s easy for people in their 50s
You likely already have decades of email wirting experience without even realizing it. A small business owner may pay for the convenience of saving them writing time. You don’t need to have any design skills as a clean, readable format in Google Docs is all that is needed.
Don’t miss: 5 Realistic Side Hustles for Middle-Aged Women That Actually Pay Consistently
Simple spreadsheet budgets and trackers
- Ease level: Easy – build in Google Sheets, share as a template link
- Earning Potential: $9–$35/template – Retirement budget spreadsheets sell for $27–$47
- Time to create: 2–4 hours for a fully functional budget or tracking spreadsheet
What it is
Spreadsheet and budget trackers are also some of the easiest digital products to create and sell. These products can be created in Google sheets or Excel. They help your customers track things like monthly budgets, medical expenses, home inventory, retirement savings, and grocery spending to name some options. They can be delivered as shareable Googe Sheets links that buyers can copy to their own Drive and use immediately.
Why it’s easy for people in their 50s
If you’ve worked in the corporate world, you are probably well-versed in how to create and use a spreadsheet tracker. Google Sheets is free to use and familiar to most people. To give you a starting point, financial and health tracking spreadsheets for the 50+ niche are undersupplied on Etsy.
Spreadsheets are one of my favorite easy digital products for people over 50, you’re probably already making them for yourself. If you want to see how digital products like these feed into a bigger passive income strategy, check out what I share at digitalsystemslab.com.
Short eBooks and mini-guides (5–15 pages)
- Ease level: Easy – write conversationally, keep to 5–15 pages, add a Canva cover
- Earning Potential: $7–$27/eBook – Niche-specific mini-guides sell for $17–$47
- Time to create: Half a day for a focused 5–10 page guide on a topic you know well
What it is
Ebooks and mini-guides are some of my favorite and easiest digital products to create and sell. They are short, focused PDF files covering a specific topic. They do not need to be full-length guides. Instead, they should be easy for a reader to consume within 20-20 minutes. Examples of topics for mini-guides include:
- Managing blood sugar through diet after 50
- A beginner’s guide to Pinterest for small business
- How to negotiate your salary in your 50s
Why short works better for beginners
Short mini-guides work well for beginners because you can create them faster and get to your first sale faster as well. People appreciate and will pay for the convenience of getting the solution they need. Therefore, most will prefer a concise and actionable guide over a long comprehensive book. A simple 10-page guide can sell for $17-$27. It’s not about the length of the guide but instead the value of it.
Keep reading: Middle-Aged People Earning Extra Income Online
All 8 products ranked by ease of creation
| Digital Product | Creation Time | Tools Needed | Earning Potential | Ease Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Checklists | 30–60 min | Google Docs + Canva | $5–$37/bundle | ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑ |
| Journal Pages | 1–2 hrs | Canva (free) | $5–$27 | ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑ |
| Single-Page Planners | 1–2 hrs | Canva (free) | $3–$25/bundle | ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑ |
| How-To Guides | 2–3 hrs | Google Docs + Canva | $9–$67 | ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑ |
| Canva Templates | 2–4 hrs | Canva (free) | $9–$49/pack | ⭑⭑⭑⭑ |
| Email Templates | 2–3 hrs | Google Docs | $15–$97 | ⭑⭑⭑⭑ |
| Spreadsheet Trackers | 2–4 hrs | Google Sheets (free) | $9–$47 | ⭑⭑⭑⭑ |
| Short eBooks | Half a day | Google Docs + Canva | $7–$47 | ⭑⭑⭑⭑ |
Common questions about creating digital products in your 50s
What is the easiest digital product to create and sell?
One of the easiest digital products to create and sell are single-page checklists or resource lists. They can be created in Google Docs and formatted in Canva in a short amount of time. List your products on Etsy or Gumroad the same day. No design skills required, no special software, and no prior selling experience.
What is the fastest digital product to create and sell?
A fast digital product to create is a checklist or single-page printable. These are some of the easiest digital products to create and sell as they can be created and listed for sale in under two hours. The fastest path is to write the content in Google Docs, add a simple header in Canva, and export as a PDF file. Upload your file directly to Etsy or Gumroad.
How do I create and sell Canva templates with no design experience?
The easiest way to create and sell Canva templates without any design experience is to use Canva’s free template library. Search for the type of template you want to sell (Instagram posts, planner pages, etc.), customize the colors, fonts, and placeholder text for a specific niche, and then share the finished design as a Canva template link.
Do digital products have to be long to sell well?
Not at all. Most people are concerned about what the product delivers, not the length of pages it has. Don’t overthink your product. A well-targeted 3-page checklist that solves a specific problem can outperform a 50-page ebook on a random topic. Digital products with focused, actionable content can generate better reviews and repeat buyers.
Can I sell digital products while working a full-time job?
Yes. You can create products in your free time such as in the evenings or weekends. Digital products can sell 24/7 so they create passive income once they are listed for sale. They also deliver themselves so you are not having to deal with shipping and handling.
Worth a read: Earning an Extra Few Hundred Dollars a Month Online in Your 50s
Your first product is probably something you already know how to make
The 8 digital products on this list are some of the easiest digital products to create and sell in your 50s. You can create them all using free tools and they can be created in under a day and up for sale within the week.
The biggest barrier to creating a digital product isn’t skill or time, it often has to do with choosing one and taking action. Most people in their 50s already have the knowledge to create at least three of these digital products today.
Your next step is to pick a topic that you know well and spend an afternoon creating your product. It all begins with taking action. You’ll be amazed at how quickly you can create a digital product based on something that you already know.
Before you go: How to Profitably Sell Digital Products Online Over 50 With No Experience
Once you’ve created your first digital product, the next step is making sure it’s part of a broader income strategy, not just a single listing floating in the void. I share how that bigger picture works at digitalsystemslab.com, and there’s a free training there that shows exactly how digital products, affiliate marketing, and Pinterest traffic all work together to build real passive income in your 50s.
