I rolled my eyes when I first heard about selling digital planners. It sounded like another online scam that was too good to be true. But I was out of money, bored, and desperate for something that didn't need shipping or inventory. So, I tried it.
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I opened a blank Canva template, made something I would use, and then put it on Etsy. That one planner? In two days, it made me $42. That was enough to make me take it seriously. I made changes, designed, and listed things over the next few months. By the end of the first quarter, I had made more than $2,000 in sales.
No ads that cost money. No design skills before. It's just a matter of trying things out, making mistakes, and figuring things out one step at a time. This is everything I did to get there, including what worked, what didn't, and what I would do differently if I had to do it all over again. First, I made a planner that I really needed.
I wasn't trying to follow keywords or trends. I made a "No-Fluff Daily Planner" because I didn't like any of the ones I found online that were too hard to use. I just needed a simple list of things to do, a time block, a meal log, and room for notes. That's all there is to it.
And I thought that if I needed it, other people might too. That way of doing things worked. The fact that my first few sales came from people I didn't know showed me that the product had potential. Next, I didn't think too much about the design tools. I used Canva's free version.
There is no Photoshop. No fancy letters. I chose clear, easy-to-read fonts and layouts. I paid more attention to function than style. I used each version I made for at least a week. I knew that no one else would like filling it out if I didn't.
That feedback loop where I had to do things helped me quickly improve the format. I learnt the most by putting the product up for sale on Etsy. The first listing I made was bad. No SEO, a title that doesn't make sense, and only one picture. It didn't get many views.
I looked at the best-selling items, not to copy them, but to see what made their listings popular. I made my title more specific: "Simple Daily Digital Planner (Undated) for iPad, Goodnotes, or Print." I added mockups of lifestyle photos. I wrote the product description as if I were talking to a friend. I answered questions before they were asked.
The number of views went up. Sales went up too. Giving a bonus with every purchase was one of the best things I ever did. With each download, I gave away a free mini weekly planner. I didn't even tell anyone about it; I just put it in the file. That made a lot of my regular customers message me to say "thank you."
A few of them wrote reviews. Those reviews were more helpful than any ad could be. I never asked for reviews, but I always answered messages with kindness and tried to fix problems as soon as possible. People remember that. I didn't start out with a big catalogue either.
For most of that first month, I only had three planners. One was for tracking your daily expenses, one was for tracking your weekly expenses, and one was for tracking your budget. I stuck to the theme of clean, simple, and useful. I didn't go after every idea that came to mind.
I only made the few things I had better. It wasn't one viral hit that made me $2,000. It came from sales that slowly but surely added up. Some days I made $10, and other days I made $70. But it all added up because digital products don't cost anything after they're made. I made something once and kept getting paid for it.
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| Credit: https://unsplash.com/ |
If I were starting over today, I would focus on two things: making sure each planner solved a real problem and making the Etsy listing as good as a sales page. Those two things changed everything. Have you ever thought about making something for yourself and sharing it with others? What's holding you back from trying?
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