How Freelancers Can Use Stan To Diversify And Monetize Their Expertise

The creator economy is no longer reserved just for influencers, content creators, and those with large social media followings. The rise of SaaS platforms like Stan has empowered freelancers and solo business owners to monetize their skills and expertise further by selling digital products online.

This growing industry complements the traditional freelance model of working directly with clients and exchanging time for money.

It makes sense: most freelancers face the challenge of growing their business, working with multiple clients, hitting max capacity, and capping their revenue. Let’s explore how freelancers can use Stan to diversify and monetize their business further.

What Is Stan?

Stan is an all-in-one e-commerce platform. It allows freelancers (or anyone looking to monetize their knowledge) the ability to set up an online storefront and sell digital products. These could be eBooks, templates, courses, memberships, and more. Stan users can grow an email list and can utilize an appointment booking system for coaching and consulting services.

Crossing the $30 million mark in annual recurring revenue, Steven Bartlett, entrepreneur and host of The Diary of a CEO, recently became a co-owner of the growing company.

It’s easy to see why it’s on an upwards trajectory; Stan makes it possible for anyone to diversify their business in a scalable and sustainable way without requiring a large existing audience.

How To Use Stan As A Freelancer

Freelancers typically manage a fluctuating number of clients and revenue and operate as one-person businesses, so diversifying into different revenue streams is essential.

As the adage goes: “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”

Freelancers already possess a wealth of knowledge, so it makes sense to package this knowledge into evergreen products that can be sold at any time to anyone around the world, with no client work required.

Better yet, Stan allows time-strapped freelancers to create an online store without the need for existing coding or website development skills. It simplifies the freelancer tech stack with its built-in tools like payment systems and email builders.

There are a couple of key steps to making the most of this new revenue stream.

Create A Digital Product To Sell On Your Stan Store

Firstly, freelancers will need to create a digital project to sell on Stan. Here are the most common types:

• eBooks and guides: One of the most popular and easiest assets to create. For example, freelancers could create a PDF “Beginners Guide” or “How-To Guide” in their niche.
• Templates: Plug-and-play templates that customers can use instantly. For example, a freelance copywriter may create templates for high-converting sales page copy and sell these to small business owners.
• Online courses. Courses can be created on the Stan platform itself. For example, a freelance music teacher could create a pre-recorded course on the fundamentals of learning piano.
• Memberships: Create a community around your offering. Freelancers could create a membership offering behind-the-scenes access and exclusive content to their subscribers for a monthly fee.
• Coaching or 1:1 consultations: Freelancers of all niches could offer a 1-hour consultation session from their Stan Store, providing upfront value for a premium price.

By selling digital products like these online, freelancers can sustainably scale their revenue by creating an offering once and selling it over and over again.

Use Social Media To Drive Traffic To Your Stan Store

Creating a digital product and adding it to a Stan Store is just the first part of the process. The next step is to drive traffic to the store. Here are a few ways freelancers can use social media to do this:

• Link in bio: Add your store link to all of your social media bios or “link in bio”. Use a compelling call-to-action in your bio to direct visitors to your link.
• Create content that converts: Remind your audience about your offers via posts, reels, carousels, and stories. Integrate these sales-focused posts into your social media content strategy.
• Offer a freebie first: Create a free product (lead magnet) and promote it on social media to build up your email list. Once subscribed, nurture them with value-first email sequences (Stan Pro users can create email marketing flows) and promote your paid offerings.
• Share testimonials and reviews: Build trust in your digital product by sharing customer reviews on social media. Encourage customers to share their experience or transformation with your product on their channels so you can collect user-generated content.
• Conduct Q&As: By conducting Q&As or “ask me anything” sessions with your audience (social media stories are a great way to do this), you’ll better understand their pain points and what they need help with. Then, you can refine your offerings or create further digital products that solve these problems.

Creators are making money via social media and e-commerce platforms every day, so there’s no reason why freelancers can’t seize the opportunity as well. Platforms like Stan empower freelancers from all kinds of professions and niches to monetize their expertise and diversify their business in new ways.