Behind the Design Weekly Series: From Concept to Online Digital Planner Shop | Episode #0
Welcome back, The Pink Ink® community! Today, we’ll be starting an exciting new series that offers insights into the digital planner design process by following a real-life business. The weekly updates will follow Claudia Emanuel, one of our Pink Ink team members, as she builds her digital planner business step-by-step, from the concept to the online shop.
We understand that creating a personalized digital planner from scratch may feel overwhelming, which is why we’ve designed this series to provide an inside look into the process from beginning to end. Following along with an entrepreneur on their journey and gaining access to tips, advice, and stories can offer that extra boost or structure you’re looking for.
About The Pink Ink®
At The Pink Ink®, we’ve turned our own digital planner business into a successful enterprise that now teaches others to do the same. Shay established The Pink Ink® in 2018 as one of the first digital planner sellers on Etsy and grew it to help aspiring designers to create, launch, and market their planners to create passive income and diversify revenue streams. Within 2 weeks, her store made its first sale, and within 2 months, it covered Shay’s full-time income!
With our experience and knowledge, we want to watch others reach financial freedom in their own lives and experience the benefits of running an online shop for themselves and loved ones. To read our full story, check out The Pink Ink’s About Us page.
About The Digital Planner Academy® Hybrid Program
The Digital Planner Academy Hybrid Program is designed to teach other entrepreneurs and aspiring business owners how to create their own digital planners through design software and real-world advice from mentors. We walk students through the process of creating and selling their own digital product from beginning to end with a goal of helping you reach financial freedom.
Every year, we do updates on our customers’ needs and shifts in online business. In 2023, we turned this into a hybrid program where you not only get access to video lessons, but you also receive 1:1 feedback and support from The Pink Ink® team, whether for general support, design ideas, or initial launch.
If you’re ready to get started in building your digital planner business, check out our blog The Digital Planner Academy® Program - the Best Online Course for Aspiring Digital Planner Business Owners and follow along with our weekly Behind the Design series.
The Purpose of This Weekly Series
What exactly is Behind the Design and why did we create it?
Shay was once an aspiring business owner, so she understands the stressful process of building a company from the ground up. Especially as one of the first in her niche, Shay paved the way for other business owners and picked up valuable skills that she now shares with others. She hopes to ignite creativity and help others do the same.
The best way to accomplish this is by demonstrating how it’s done through a step-by-step process– and what better way than to watch an entrepreneur reach success in real-time? There’s potential challenges that lie in the path of any creative individual – it’s inevitable – but it’s important to overcome these obstacles. Following another designer provides motivation to overcome these challenges, practical guidance and advice, and realistic steps and expectations.
Getting started is often the hardest part, but it’s never too late. In fact, now’s the perfect time! Take this opportunity to take the first step and build your business alongside Claudia. You’ll learn so much through this process, and you’ll reap the rewards of hard work and dedication. Let’s take that first leap together!
Season One: Claudia’s Journey
As a team member of The Pink Ink®, Claudia Emanuel has a long past with the company that has turned into branching out and creating her own digital planner businesses. She works alongside Shay by helping with daily tasks and customer support, and we’re excited to share that Claudia will be launching her own business, Ciao Bella Media.
Since our overarching goal is to help others design and launch their own digital planners, we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to provide an inside view of the process. Claudia currently lives in Italy and has been working remotely in marketing, but she feels that it’s time for a change.
In her video, Caludia highlights that creativity truly matters to her. Alongside marketing, Claudia is immersed in the world of creative arts and photography, which she feels like is lacking in her life right now. As she says, it’s important for your overall well-being to constantly nurture and cultivate your creative side.
That’s one reason why she chose to create digital planners and start her side business. Through design and creative thinking, Claudia can integrate more creativity into her work, allowing her to cultivate her interests and improve her well-being.
If you’re in a similar situation and feel like you’re ready to transition your niche or start your own business, we encourage you to follow Claudia throughout this series. Being in a similar place in your career, whether in the middle of a change or getting started on your next project, will add real-life connection. Joining along will offer you support and guidance as you navigate the next step of your life.
What to Expect
This weekly video series will offer a variety of tips, tricks, guidance, and advice. We don’t want to spoil too much, but here’s a sneak peek into what the upcoming weeks will include. You won’t want to miss out on this if you’re serious about finding success in the digital planner niche.
Claudia will be starting from the very beginning, which means that we’ll cover the ideation and planning stage of her journey within the first couple of weeks. We could argue that this is the most important phase, laying out a framework and guide for the entire project.
The following weeks will cover the digital design section, in which we’ll offer many resources such as blogs and courses to help you dive deeper. Our Digital Planner Academy Hybrid Program is one of our most popular, including step-by-step guides and an active community of mentors and peers. Finally, we’ll watch as Claudia goes through the marketing and launch phases, which focuses more on the business element.
The series is also designed to be easy to follow. Each video and blog post will highlight main points that will help you take your planner to the next level, so we encourage you to implement these key takeaways in your own life
We also want this series to be real and honest, so as we follow Claudia throughout the weeks, there may be sudden changes, unpredictable circumstances, or unforeseen challenges. Watching how Claudia handles these changes can provide a realistic view and encourage you to do the same if you reach obstacles.
If overcome, obstacles can lead to victories, which we’re hoping to see within this series. This is often the best, most rewarding part of the process, but it doesn’t happen without determination. If you’re ready to put in the effort, be sure to come back for next week’s update!
Join Us on an Adventure
With a goal to empower individuals to unlock their true creative potential like Claudia is doing, The Pink Ink® team is excited to see where this series leads. We invite you to join us on this exciting adventure and take grasp of the unique opportunity provided. With Claudia and The Pink Ink® members at your side, you have the tools and support to achieve success.
To stay up to date with each piece of the series, you can sign up to receive weekly email updates. We’re looking forward to the insights and creativity that each week offers, and we’re excited to welcome you into our community!
Sign Up Today
Join us on our weekly series by subscribing to follow the blog for updates! We’d love to hear your comments and thoughts on the series, whether on how it’s helped you, where we can improve, or what you’ve learned from Claudia’s story. If you know other entrepreneurs or creatives who could benefit from this series, share this blog post to spread the word and help someone else. We’re excited to take this journey with you. See you next week!
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