Thanks to the internet, there are so many ways to earn money from your creativity. One of the most flexible ways to start making money from home is by selling printables online. You may have seen printables before on your favorite websites, or maybe you’ve even purchased them yourself.
A printable is a graphic or text that is downloaded and printed for use. The most common types of printables are worksheets and graphics.
What’s great about selling your printables online is that they’re easy to design, and expenses on your end are limited since there’s no shipping or inventory required. If you’ve ever thought about making money from home selling printables online, here’s what you need to get started.
An Idea or Niche
Start by determining what type of printable download you’d like to sell. I recommend choosing a niche that you’re passionate about. Odds are if you’re interested in something, other people will be too.
For example, if you like to travel, you can create travel bucket list printables. If you teach, you can create printable worksheets and lesson plans for other teachers to use. Consider creating downloadable planners and weekly meal organizers if that’s something you’re interested in.
If you see someone else selling printables in your desired niche, this may be a good sign. It’s essential to choose a niche that is in demand but isn’t too broad or too narrow. You want your printables to stand out but also be a product that people need and are searching for.
Once you’ve narrowed down your niche and know what you want to create, the next step is to choose how you’ll design your printable download. The good news is that you don’t need expensive software to start designing your printables.
You can always upgrade the program you’re using later down the line once you start making sales. Here are some of the best tools to choose from when designing your printable downloads.
Canva has a free basic version where you can create beautiful digital designs using their drag and drop feature. You don’t have to be a design expert since Canva has tons of templates to choose from, and they can be easily customized. Canva also makes it easy to properly space and line up elements of your design, so it looks flawless and professional. You can upgrade to Canva Pro for an added fee if you want extra features, but the basic features may be plenty for you to utilize.
PicMonkeyis another platform that helps you edit photos and create digital graphics. PicMonkey has more than 1,000 different templates and fonts to choose from. You can sign up for a free, 7-day trial, and then membership rates start at $7.99.
Pixlr is a photo editing site that is free to use. They also have premium features like text overlays, icons, and different fonts. Pricing starts at $3.99 per month to use the premium editing and design features.
Photoshop is an option to consider when designing your printable downloads. Software Photoshop may provide the most design capabilities out of all the options, but there is a learning curve when it comes to understanding all the features. Adobe products start at $20.99 per month for individual programs, or you can get them all for $52.99 per month. Most of the programs can be downloaded to your iPad as well.
Ecommerce Platform
To sell your printables online, you need to set up an online shop, so you can display products and safely collect payments. Shopify is one of the best platforms to use to sell your printables online.
Shopify has been around since 2004, and they power more than 500,000 e-commerce sites around the world. Sarah Titus is a mom and online entrepreneur who’s made more than $1 million by selling printables online. It’s easy to set up your store on Shopify. Use their drag and drop store-builder feature, and your website will automatically be designed for mobile, which will help you appeal to more customers.
Another thing that I like about Shopify is that you can accept multiple forms of payment, including credit card payments without a third-party supplier. However, Shopify isn’t your only option. You can use ThriveCart, Podia, or even Etsy to sell your printables. Each platform has its pros and cons, so dig around and do some research to find the best e-commerce platform for your printable business.
Digital Storage
The more quality printables you design, the more you may need to store them digitally. Consider investing in a hard drive for your computer or using digital cloud storage like Dropbox or Amazon’s Simple Storage service.
Be sure to give customers instructions on how to download the digital file when they purchase it from you.
Tips to Make Money From Home Selling Printables Online
Prioritize presentation: Your printables should stand out and be fully functional. Be sure to test them out on your own by creating samples that you try from a user’s perspective. When designing your shop page, be sure to use clear images to display a preview of what your printables look like. Also, consider taking a few extra minutes to design a cover page.
Write detailed descriptions: Be specific when describing what your printable is and how it can be used. Describe the different ways that customers can use it, whether that means sticking the document on their fridge, putting it in a frame, or creating a binder with the printables.
Create several products: You’ll want to create several different printables, so you have a diversity of products to sell online. Create different variations of your product even if it’s as simple as changing the color option. Realize that printables will often sell for less than physical products, so if you want to grow your income, you’ll need to diversify what you offer.;
Get reviews: Consider offering your printables for free or at a discounted rate to a few people initially in exchange for an honest review. Reviews and testimonials will help enhance your sales page and also provide social proof that your products are helpful.
Get expert training: If you’re still a little on the fence in terms of how you’ll start or set up your store, consider getting training or advice from experts who have been in your shoes. That way, you can implement their strategies, avoid common mistakes, and reach success faster. Julie Berninger and Cody Berman have a comprehensive program called E-Printables Side Hustle Course, where they teach people how to make money from home selling printables online. They offer templates, video tutorials, and lessons to help you launch your own store fast.
Conclusion
If you’re looking to work flexibly from home but don’t know where to start, consider designing printables to sell online. There are several tools to help you get started on a budget, and all you need to do is brainstorm a good idea that people will want to buy and download. Test out different approaches to see what sells best and offer a variety of products in your shop to help boost sales.
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