How I Made $200,000 Selling Lightroom Presets (Digital Products)

I’ve been selling Lightroom presets for years now.

And across all the different marketplaces I’ve used over the years, they’ve generated over $200,000 in revenue.

The funny thing is that this whole thing started almost by accident.

But it also introduced me to an idea that I’ve become slightly obsessed with over the years:

Create once, sell forever.

Digital products are honestly one of the most underrated ways to make money online.

A lot of people are quietly making serious money with them, and most people don’t even realise it’s happening.

So I wanted to share how this started for me, what worked, what didn’t, and what I’ve learned from building a digital product business around presets.

How my first presets happened (completely by accident)

My first preset pack was called Lightroom Presets Collection 01.

At the time it was mainly designed for mirrorless cameras.

Photography has always been something I’ve enjoyed.

Ever since I was a kid I’ve been obsessed with taking pictures.

I even remember messing around with flip phones years ago just taking random photos.

When I eventually got more into photography, I started sharing my photos on Instagram.

Naturally, people started asking a question I kept seeing over and over again:

“What presets are you using?”

At the time, selling presets didn’t really click for me.

I didn’t even realise there was a market for them.

But eventually I decided to quickly put together a pack based on the edits I was already using in Lightroom.

I shared it on Instagram.

And to my surprise, people actually started buying them.

I don’t remember exactly how much I made in the beginning, but I do remember thinking that it was promising.

Promising enough that I ended up making two more preset collections after that.

Why my presets actually sold

When I look back now, I think the reason they sold was actually quite simple.

People would see how my photos looked and they wanted to replicate that style.

They liked the aesthetic.

A preset that could recreate that look with one click made it extremely appealing.

The other thing to remember is that a lot of photographers are already spending thousands of dollars on cameras and lenses.

So spending $20, $30 or $40 on presets really isn’t a big deal.

Presets also sell themselves quite well.

People can literally see:

• the photos
• the editing style
• the before and after

So they already understand the value before they buy.

The mistake I wish I didn’t make

Looking back, there’s one mistake I definitely made.

I wish I had my presets ready much earlier.

A lot of people think you need to build an audience first and then sell a product.

But I actually think it’s the other way around.

It’s better to have a product first, and then figure out how to market it.

I was posting photos on Instagram for probably a year or two before I even thought about selling presets.

And now when I think about it, I probably missed out on one or two years of potential sales.

The product should exist as early as possible.

How I marketed my presets

Most of my marketing has always been extremely simple.

I just share photos on Instagram.

That’s still my main form of marketing today.

I post a mix of:

• travel photography
• product photography
• desk setup photos
• random things I’m shooting

Interestingly, product photography is actually what helped my Instagram grow the most.

I would take photos of things like iPhones, my desk setup, or other products.

Over time I realised that I had developed a clean aesthetic that people really liked.

And that’s what people wanted to replicate.

Carousels also work really well.

So when I travel, I’ll often post a carousel of photos from a trip.

I also sometimes post before-and-after reels showing how the presets transform an image.

Nothing too complicated.

Nothing that takes hours.

Just simple content that anyone could realistically create.

Occasionally I’ll mention in the caption that I have presets available.

Something like:

“Presets available, link in bio” – as you can see in the screenshot above.

But I don’t do this on every post.

I don’t want it to feel spammy.

The idea is just that people know they exist, and if they’re interested they can check them out.

You don’t need to be an expert

One thing I want to make clear is that I don’t consider myself a professional photographer.

I’m definitely not an expert.

And I think that’s important.

A lot of people think they need to know everything before they start something.

But you really don’t.

You just need to start.

You figure things out as you go.

That’s honestly how most of my life has worked.

I didn’t know what I was doing when I started most things — I just figured it out along the way.

The biggest mistake people make with digital products

One mistake I see a lot of people make is building a product and then doing nothing to market it.

They expect sales to just appear out of nowhere.

But marketing is incredibly important.

And right now, social media marketing is probably the easiest it has ever been.

In the past, marketing was mostly about who had the biggest budget.

Who could afford the most advertising.

Today you can reach millions of people organically, without spending money.

That’s a huge advantage.

Expanding into iPhone presets

After my original presets did well, I eventually expanded into iPhone presets.

This ended up becoming one of my most popular products.

Today we have a bundle with over 150 iPhone presets.

And it makes sense when you think about it.

Almost everyone has an iPhone.

And if you have a Pro iPhone, you can shoot ProRAW photos, which means you can use Lightroom presets.

People who buy expensive phones usually care about the camera.

So spending around $39 on presets that instantly improve their photos feels like a pretty good deal.

Creating my own marketplace

Eventually I created a dedicated marketplace called PlatSupply.

This is where I now sell most of my digital products.

Originally I was selling presets under my own name and personal brand.

But as things grew and I started working with a team, it made more sense to separate it into its own brand.

Now Plat Supply sells multiple products, not just presets.

My pricing strategy (or lack thereof)

People often ask about pricing strategy.

Honestly, I don’t really have one.

I’ve seen presets sell for hundreds of dollars.

And I’ve seen some sell for $5.

I wanted mine to feel valuable, but not ridiculously expensive.

So I settled around $39.

When I first started selling presets years ago they were around $19.

Over time I gradually increased the price as the value improved.

Why digital products are so powerful

Digital products are honestly one of the easiest business models I’ve ever come across.

The costs are extremely low.

And the profit margins can be huge.

Once you create the product, you can keep selling it for years.

I still have digital products I created 10 years ago that are still generating sales today.

Which is crazy when you think about it.

Something I made a decade ago is still making money.

Understanding value

Presets are actually a great example of a digital product that provides clear value.

They’re basically one-click solutions.

Instead of spending hours editing photos, someone can apply a preset in seconds.

The value comes from the time saved and the aesthetic they get instantly.

Digital products that changed my life

Selling digital products has genuinely changed my life.

Over the years I’ve sold:

• presets
• wallpapers
• templates
• mockups
• and other digital products

Altogether they’ve generated millions of dollars in revenue.

Even things like mockups are surprisingly good digital products.

Agencies and businesses buy them because it saves them time.

Instead of setting up a photoshoot for a product, they can just drop the product image into a mockup.

That’s worth paying for.

The real secret to digital products

The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that digital products work best when they save people time.

If your product helps someone skip a complicated process or achieve something faster, that’s where the value is.

It’s the same reason things like Notion templates, editing presets, design mockups etc. all sell so well.

People are paying for convenience.

Advice if you want to create digital products

If you’re thinking about making digital products, there are a few things I would recommend.

First, figure out what makes your product unique.

It doesn’t need to be something that has never existed before.

It just needs to be unique enough that someone would choose it over something else.

Second, start with something simple.

If you’re new to this, you don’t want to spend months building something only to realise that nobody wants it.

Start with something that’s quick to make and test.

And finally, make it easy to buy.

A lot of people try to build complicated websites with fancy animations.

But buyers usually don’t care about that.

If you look at my store, it’s incredibly simple.

Just a white background and product thumbnails.

Buyers want to quickly understand what the product is, what value it provides, and how to buy it.

That’s it.