Last Updated: April 12, 2026
Selling digital products on Instagram with zero followers is completely doable. You need three things: a product, a Flodesk checkout page, and a way to get your link in front of people. The simplest path is a $17-27 PDF guide or Canva template, a Flodesk checkout page that handles payment and product delivery without a website, and $5/day in Meta ads pointing to it. That’s the whole setup.
I (Rebecca Rice) built Simple Creator Co. to six figures in four months starting from zero followers using exactly this method. This post breaks down how it actually works.
This is for you if you have an idea for a digital product, an Instagram account with little to no following, and you want to know how the actual selling mechanism works. Not theory. The real setup.
What Does “Selling Digital Products on Instagram” Actually Mean?
Instagram is not where the transaction happens. That part is important to understand from the start.
When someone buys your digital product, they click a link in your bio, land on your Flodesk checkout page, pay, and receive the product automatically. Instagram is the traffic source. Flodesk is where the sale happens.
This is why you don’t need a website, a Shopify store, or any complicated tech setup. Flodesk handles your sales page, payment processing, and product delivery in one place. You create the page once, drop the link in your Instagram bio, and you’re open for business!
The product itself is just a file. A PDF guide, a Canva template, a short Loom video tutorial. If you can share a private link, it can be a digital product. And once it’s created, it can sell over and over without any additional work from you.
What Do You Need to Get Started?
The list is shorter than you think.
You need a digital product. Something you’ve created that someone would pay for. A meal planning template. A beginner guide to something you already know. A set of Canva graphics. Think about what people already ask you about, and package that into a simple downloadable resource. If you’re not sure what to create yet, grab my free Beginner’s Guide to Digital Products for a head start. You can also learn how to make it in creating your first digital product.
You need a Flodesk checkout page. This is your sales page and payment processor in one. You write a headline, describe what the buyer gets, upload your product file, set your price ($17-27 is the sweet spot for a beginner’s first product), and connect Stripe to collect payment. When someone buys, Flodesk automatically sends them the file. No website needed. Read more about why you don’t need a website to start.
You need a bio link. Go to your Instagram profile, edit your bio, and paste in your Flodesk checkout link. That’s your storefront. Anyone who visits your profile can click straight to your product.
That’s the setup. Three things. Product, Flodesk page, bio link.
How Do You Get People to Actually See Your Product?
Here is where most beginner guides fall short. They tell you to “post consistently” and “grow your audience” before you think about selling. That advice will have you waiting months before you see a single sale.
My approach is different. When I coach students one-on-one, I always start with paid ads, and for good reason. Meta ads (Facebook and Instagram ads combined) let you put your product in front of the exact people who would buy it, starting day one, with no existing audience required. The starting point is $5/day.
You set up a simple ad that drives people directly to your Flodesk checkout page. You target the right audience, say, moms interested in side hustles or craft enthusiasts, depending on your product. The ad runs while you sleep. Simple Creator Co. broke six figures in four months starting from zero followers, using paid ads as the only traffic source.
If paid ads feel like too much right now, organic Instagram still works. Post Reels with a clear call to action. Not “link in bio” but something like “Comment the word ‘GUIDE’ and I’ll send you the link.” When someone comments, Manychat sends them your checkout link automatically in a DM. Instagram rewards this kind of engagement, so the Reel gets more reach and more people see your product.
Either path leads to the same place: your Flodesk checkout. The difference is speed. Paid ads are faster. Organic takes longer but costs nothing upfront.
What About Building an Audience First?
Here’s the thing about this question: it assumes you need an audience before you can make sales. You don’t.
The beginner mom asking “should I wait until I have more followers to sell?” is asking the wrong question. The right question is: does my product solve a real problem, and can I get it in front of people who have that problem?
If the answer is yes, and it can be yes from day one with paid ads, waiting is just delaying your first sale. Rebecca’s students inside Made to Sell regularly make their first sale within 24 hours of launching, many without a significant following. One student made $1,500 in her first 30 days starting from scratch.
Building an audience and making sales can happen at the same time! You don’t have to earn your way into selling. You can sell while you’re still building.
The long-term play is absolutely to build an Instagram presence that keeps driving traffic to your product without ads. That’s what Sell on Repeat covers. But you don’t have to wait for that system before your first sale happens.
My first digital product was $10. I made it during nap time. The first time someone bought it, I was folding laundry. That $10 product eventually helped build a business with $2M+ in sales, not because it went viral, but because I put a system behind it. The system started simple: product, checkout page, traffic. That’s still how it works.
Right now, the most direct path to your first digital product sale on Instagram is to stop waiting for a following and start building the setup that lets you sell without one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a lot of Instagram followers to start selling digital products?
No. You need a product and a way to get traffic to it. Paid ads ($5/day on Meta) let you drive buyers to your Flodesk checkout page from day one, no following required. Many students inside Made to Sell make their first sale within 24 hours of launching, before they’ve built any significant audience.
What kind of digital products sell well on Instagram?
PDF guides, Canva templates, Loom video tutorials, and Google Docs templates are the easiest to create and sell as a beginner. The key is that your product solves a specific problem for a specific person. Price them at $17-27 for your first product.
Do I need a website to sell digital products on Instagram?
No. Flodesk handles your sales page and checkout in one place. There’s no website or domain required. You create a Flodesk checkout page, drop the link in your Instagram bio, and that’s your storefront. You can learn more about where to actually sell your product as a beginner.
How much does it cost to start selling digital products on Instagram?
The main costs are your product creation tool (Canva has a free version), Flodesk for your checkout page, and optionally $5/day in Meta ads. Many people launch for under $20 total using free tools.
What if I post on Instagram and nobody buys?
That’s usually a traffic problem, not a product problem. Not enough people saw it. One post is never enough. The question to ask is: “how many people actually saw my checkout page this week?” Read more about making your first digital product sale when you feel stuck.
Can I sell digital products on Instagram without running ads?
Yes. The organic strategy is to post Reels consistently, use a call-to-action that asks people to comment a keyword, and let Manychat send them the checkout link automatically in a DM. This takes longer than paid ads but costs nothing upfront.
If you’re ready to build your first digital product and set up the Instagram system that sells it, Made to Sell walks you through everything from idea to checkout page in a way that actually makes sense for beginners. Rebecca covers product creation, Flodesk setup, and the simple launch strategy that gets your first sale without needing a big following.
About Rebecca Rice: Rebecca Rice is the founder of Simple Creator Co. and has helped over 8,800 students create and sell digital products online. She built a $2M+ digital product business starting with a $10 product she made during nap time, and now teaches everyday women how to do the same at thesimplecreator.com.
Friend, you don’t need a thousand followers to start. You need one product, one checkout page, and one way to get people there. That’s the whole thing!
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