How to Create and Launch your First Digital Product and Planner
It's hard to believe that 2022 is just around the corner, but if you're like me and love all things organization and productivity, you may already be thinking about what physical or digital planner you're going to purchase for the new year. However, I have a question for you - have you thought about creating your own digital planner to both use and sell to others? Selling a downloadable product, like a digital planner, is one of the easiest ways to make money while working from home without the overwhelm that comes from entrepreneurship.
Maybe you're thinking that creating and selling a digital product is way too saturated of a market for you to dive into, but with your unique perspective, you can create products that resonate with a niche audience to create loyal customers who come back every year (and maybe a few times in between!) that love your digital products.
Launching a business in time for the new year means getting a head start today so that you can have a strategic product to sell when the time comes! Now we aren't just talking about the work it will take to design the planner of your dreams, we're talking about building a business from scratch. We're going to be covering:
Setting up your business foundations
Designing your first digital planner
Successfully launching your business + products
How to start a digital planning business
Starting a business is like planting a seed. You need the right soil, gentle work, and lots of nourishment before you see the plant grow and bloom. The same is true with starting a business! There's a lot of planning and forethought that goes into an effective brand launch.
First, we need to decide to whom we are going to sell our products. In other words, we need to pick a niche. You can learn all about niching down in this blog post. After you know who you're going to sell to, ask yourself what problem your products are going to solve. Create a mission and a purpose for your brand that you can carry out through everything you do.
You can learn more about successfully starting a digital planning business in this blog post and through our signature program the Digital Planner Academy.
How to make a digital planner
If you're familiar with paper planning, then it may take a bit to get used to the idea of creating a planner digitally when you can't feel the real thing in your hands. To design your planner, you can use tools like Apple Keynote and Affinity Publisher. Before you dive in, read a few blog posts or watch YouTube videos to learn your way around these tools.
The first time you go to create your digital planner, you may realize that a lot of your time is going to be spent in trial and error. Compare the paper planners you have around you with a digital planner to familiarize yourself with their similarities and differences. Decide on the essential pages your planner needs to have. This can vary depending on the person you're designing for, so remember to pick a niche before you start designing! To make your planner unique, brainstorm some unique features that will attract potential customers to your product. Plan out your digital planner calendar, cover, bonus pages, and the unique design that will attract the right group of people.
Now that you've honed your design skills and have the ultimate vision for your digital planner in mind, it's time to bring it to life! Open up your favorite design software and get to work creating the planner your audience needs!
Psst! Need a bit of guidance navigating the design world? Check out my course, Digital Planner Design that teaches you everything you need to know!
Once you've designed your planner, it's time to test it in the real world to make sure it's totally usable! Package up your planner and test it out yourself for a few weeks.
Do you notice any broken links?
Any missing sections that would be nice to have?
Are there any sections that it turns out you don't really use?
Finding the answers to these questions can ensure that your customers will receive a fully functional planner filled with helpful resources they'll be sure to use.
You've tested and refined your product - now what? If you would like additional confirmation that your product is ready to be launched, reach out to some in your target audience and ask if they would be interested in beta-testing your product. Then you can go through another round of revisions from actual potential customers!
How to market and launch your digital planning business
The pre-work has been and the time has come to officially launch your brand new digital planner to the world! But how? Come up with a launch strategy. This can mean making use of all the digital marketing platforms you've been promoting on, collecting the names of people who are either interested in or would be a good fit for your planner, and engaging with ideal customers so that when it comes time to launch, you have an active audience ready to buy from you! What does this mean for all your marketing platforms?
Instagram marketing - make sure you're present daily! Posting and engaging with your audience will help your brand be at the forefront of people's minds and push your content to their account (and similar accounts). Take a day to batch your content for the week leading up to your launch and the week of your launch. Make Reels, design posts, film stories, and put in the work now so you won't have a stressful launch!
Pinterest marketing & blogging - Create blog posts that will help you generate new leads that may be interested in purchasing your digital planner. These could address topics such as what digital planning is, how to get started, and how to choose the right planner for you. Next, create Pinterest pins with keywords in the title and descriptions. Post them incrementally throughout your launch period to increase website traffic and sales!
Email marketing - this is one of my favorite forms of marketing because my email list is where some of my warmest leads, people who are ready to buy, are hanging out! Take another day to batch create email sequences to send to your list throughout your launch period. Make sure you have enticing email subject lines to increase your open rates. You can also treat your email list as a VIP area, meaning that these subscribers get an exclusive discount when your digital planner launches, inciting them to make a purchase.
It can seem overwhelming to launch a business, but it doesn't have to be stressful! Soon enough, you can be making enough money from passive income to support you and your family. The Pink Ink blog is filled with helpful tips and tricks to guide you through the world of entrepreneurship!