If you're reading this you most likely want to gain knowledge of the different types of products that can be made within Canva and sold online for extra cash and passive income.
If you're a bit unsure when it comes to the different products and what each one entails then this blog is going to break it down for you. By the end, you will have a clearer idea of the direction you want to go when it comes to what digital product to sell.
After selling over 9000 digital products I compiled this list of 5 digital products you can create using Canva. I have sold all of these in my online stores and will be giving you the low-down on each one and some advice when it comes to the top tips of creating each of these. Oh, and NO you do not need any design skills to sell products you make on Canva.
1 - Printable planners
I started off selling printable planners and would recommend this 10/10 it is a simple way to start off selling digital products and will teach you so much when it comes to the design and execution of an idea along the way.
What exactly is a printable planner and how would you create one? A printable planner in Canva is simple to create by starting with a blank “US Letter size” clean design slate. From there on you can create your planner and once completed you can save it as a pdf and VOILA! Your pdf file is your end-product. It sounds simple right? That’s because it is! Of course, a lot of work goes into creating a printable planner that will sell well within your niche (choosing a niche is equally as important by the way). The backbone of it all is quite simple.
So what would my top tips be for selling printable planners?
Choose your niche wisely, but you don’t have to stick to it. You, of course, are in no way bound to stick to your niche but it’s just much easier to make the right educated decision from the get-go than bouncing around. I went into making business, marketing, and social media planners because this is what I had some knowledge of. Start by thinking of something you could teach someone about or a topic that you have a huge interest in.
Do market research. This is applicable with any product you make but market research before creation is so important. Spending hours or days making a product that ends up not selling because you have no competitive advantage will only demotivate you and set you back from the start
Get a proofreader. There is nothing worse when selling a printable only to have a customer come back and tell you that you have spelled something incorrectly. Yup, I’m blushing because this happened to me! I didn’t wait for other customers to complain, I immediately corrected it and paid someone to help me proofread my planners. Someone on the other end is using their money to purchase something from you that they expect to be of high quality. They are going to print it out and if there is a bunch of mistakes once they have printed it out they will not be happy.
2 - Instagram templates
Instagram templates are when you create an Instagram post or story design in Canva for someone to purchase and then edit to suit their brand or business. You can create general engagement ones or go more niched (my recommendation) and create templates for hairdressers, beauticians, coaches, and more. When I started selling editable Canva templates 2 years ago my first product was a pretty in pink Instagram post template bundle for engagement. Instagram templates are still hugely popular but with that comes the problem of so many people creating them that going for the classic “engagement pack” probably won’t cut it anymore.
Let’s take a look at my top tips for selling Instagram type templates:
Go niched! Yes, you can do the charts and graphs, engagement pack, or coaches bundle BUT going niche will be your superpower. Instagram templates that I have sold where they were niched down have made me more $$$ faster. Look at niche templates where there are only a few made but the ones that are made and being sold are popular and being sold daily.
Don’t overdo it. You don’t need to make 1000 templates in one pack to stand out from the rest. Good quality templates that are unique will sell better than cheaper bigger bundles.
Bundle up. Create post templates and story templates then sell them separately and bundle them too for more exposure and sales!
3 - Canva planner templates
Canva planner templates are becoming more and more popular and are a market that is not oversaturated (just yet). Even when it does get oversaturated there are also things you can do and ways to pivot to stand out in a crowded market.
When selling Canva planner templates you are essentially creating a planner that your customer can then edit and access inside of Canva. Your client can then use the template as a base to create a unique planner to sell or for clients and customers. This product you will sell with a commercial or limited commercial use depending on how you would like your Canva planner to be used, shared, and distributed. The whole point is for an end product to be made but for the actual template itself not to be shared or resold.
I sell this self-care planner over here. My customers can use this Canva planner to sell their printable version after making changes to the fonts, colors, and styles to get a unique look. They can also use the planner as is to share with clients, customers, or within a membership or course. A huge reason these are so popular now is that people want to sell more printable but not create the whole thing from scratch.
My top tips for creating Canva planners would be:
Clear on the license. Be very clear on your terms of use and the license you want to sell your planner under. There is nothing worse than something selling an exact copy of your template and only changing one thing.
Keep it simple. Currently, so many people want to sell digital products and are looking for simple and high-quality templates to use as a base for their design to tell. If you include too much “frill” in your design potential customer might feel that it would be too much effort to create the look they want so they end up purchasing a simpler planner template so that they can create their unique look more efficiently.
4 - One-pagers
One-pagers (for the lack of a better word hehe 😜 ) are one-page printable or even two that you can sell. They are quick to create and will be a great base to start from if you plan on making printable planners.
I created an order form that sold for $2 in 2019 and has sold over 400. This means I didn’t make much more than $800 from that but it’s $800 I never had before and it drove so much more traffic to my shop that ended up purchasing higher-priced items. So having a low-priced digital product that can boost your traffic is a great strategy to increase your sales and revenue as well.
Some hints I can give you when it comes to one-pagers:
Don’t overthink it. This applies to all digital designs but doesn’t overthink a one-page printable too much. Use it as an opportunity to play around with styles, fonts, and looks.
Use them as market research. As stated in the previous tip you can use these one-page printables to play around with different branding and looks. See what sells well and base your printable planners with more pages on the same fonts and style.
5 - Guide or workbook
Selling a guide or workbook is selling a digital product that is a combination of information, planning, and tools to help teach your customer something. This is a great product because there is less competition (not everyone has the knowledge you do). But, you will have to have that knowledge and cannot sell a guide on a topic you know nothing about so it will take a bit more time and effort to create.
An example of this type of product is my list of 200 content ideas that you can find HERE.
I have used my knowledge of content to create a digital product that teaches my customer the content pillars and gives instant access to 200 content ideas.
My top tips for creating a workbook or guide style product would be:
Be clear on what you want to teach. Know the exact purpose of your guide or workbook and be sure that you have the knowledge and skill to teach someone this topic throughout your guide.
Start small - you do not need to start with a 100-page guide for it to be a success. I mentioned my 200 content ideas for $8 that you can grab here. It is short, sweet, and to the point and I have sold A LOT!
So that sums up my 5 top products that can be created in Canva to make you more income! P.s. If you don’t want to start from scratch and want to create a printable planner to sell have a look at these templates available to you that comes with the license for you to make a printable planner. (NB - You cannot sell these as templates and the fonts, colors, design needs to be changed so that it has its unique look when selling.)
Share & save for later
