How to Find Your Winning Niche as a Digital Planner Creator in 2026
Did you know there are only 60 days left in the year? It’s wild how fast time flies — but that’s exactly why now is the perfect time to pause, reflect, and set yourself up for a fresh start. The truth is, you don’t need to wait for January 1st to make changes or chase your dreams. Any day you decide to take action can be your “new year.”
That’s the mindset behind The Pink Ink’s 60 Day Set-Up Series — a chance to spend the last two months of the year setting intentional goals for 2026, one week and one focus at a time. Because the difference between hitting the ground running in the new year and scrambling to figure things out… often comes down to what you do right now.
Why Goal Clarity Matters
Setting goals isn’t just about writing down what you want to achieve — it’s about getting clear on why those goals matter and how they fit into the bigger picture of your business. The right mindset helps you think creatively, stay confident, and see your ideas through, even when things feel uncertain.
There’s no such thing as a “bad” business idea — but the magic happens when you figure out what makes your approach unique. That clarity gives you confidence, focus, and the ability to stand out in an ever-growing digital marketplace.
Once your mindset is in the right place, you can start looking at your goals from a deeper perspective: What do you want to create? Who do you want to help? And how do you want your brand to feel?
But clarity isn’t just for your goals, it’s for your direction, too. The same way you define where you want to go, you also need to define how you’ll get there and who you’ll bring along with you. That’s where understanding your niche comes in. Your niche is more than just a category or label — it’s the unique blend of your skills, interests, and perspective that sets your shop apart. Getting clear on it early gives your creativity a purpose, your designs a focus, and your marketing a message that actually connects.
Your Niche
Think of your niche as the foundation of your business. It’s the space you carve out in the digital planning world where your skills, creativity, and purpose all meet. And to know that information, you need to know your why.
If you don't know why you're creating your product, the meaning of it is also going to be lost in your audience. If your audience is confused about the product that you're promoting, the chances of them actually purchasing it drop drastically.
Identifying your why should be relatively simple, all you need to do is think back to when you first got the idea of selling digital stationery. What problems did you notice that you wanted to solve? What struggles were people facing that resonated with you? And lastly, why did you decide to pursue digital planning?
The clearer you get on these answers, the easier it becomes to design products that feel cohesive, purposeful, and true to you. When people can sense the genuine care you have for them and they realize that you're not just doing this for the money, then you're one step closer to convincing them to buy from you. A strong niche gives your business direction — it keeps you from feeling like you’re creating at random and helps your brand start to feel like a brand instead of a collection of ideas.
Once you’ve pinpointed what you do best and the kind of impact you want to make, the next step is figuring out who will benefit most from it.
Find Your Niche & Launch Your Etsy Shop
Digital Planner Academy teaches you to find your winning niche, create your signature planner, and build a sustainable digital product business. Pair it with my Etsy Launch Guide to get your shop up and running.
Your Audience
Defining your audience can be daunting! It can seem like you're limiting yourself to only one sort of customer! It may not feel like the right thing to do when you're first starting out and just want to make sales, but it can actually be a blessing in disguise. The Pink Ink was one of the first digital planning businesses on Etsy back in 2018, so when I first started, defining my audience didn’t feel necessary. To be honest, it was one of the last things on my mind.
Once I made the decision to focus on a specific audience, the only regret I had was not doing it sooner. It's what truly helped my business skyrocket. It allowed me to find my zone of genius and unleash my knowledge and creativity. I became known in this space as an expert for the people I served best — my target audience.
The bottom line? Getting clear on your audience will help you stand out amongst competitors.
Your audience should sit at the intersection of three things: your passions and interests, the problem you solve, and the products you offer. This ensures that you enjoy the work you do while still connecting with a profitable market. As an example, let's say that I’m passionate about all things organization and productivity. I see a problem in the world of small business owners — they aren’t organized enough and are losing out on time and money-making opportunities. I sell digital planners, so I know that my products can help small business owners save time and increase revenue. Therefore, I can define my audience as entrepreneurs and specifically market my planners to them!
Need a bit of inspiration to identify your audience? See if any of these resonate with you:
Students or teachers
Mothers and mompreneurs
Service providers
Product-based businesses
Wellness and health professionals
Creatives, artists, and visionaries
Digital nomads
Your Planner Style
The beauty of the digital planning industry is that it allows you to share what you're passionate about with others so that you can make a living doing what you love. As you tune into what you’re truly passionate about, you’ll discover that your passion makes you unique.
Chances are if you feel passionate about something, then others probably do too. They’ll identify with your interest and you can use them to create a unique planner style that is easily recognizable and in demand.
How to pick an interest to turn into your planner style:
Brain dump all of the things you are passionate about. Don’t hold back or judge yourself. Just write everything down, no matter how silly or insignificant you think it may seem.
Narrow down the list to concentrate on the ideas you think will resonate best with your niche and audience. Which of your ideas solve the most problems? Which are most relevant to your customers's lives? Which ideas are the most viable to turn into a planner?
Do proper market research by looking on Etsy, Facebook, and Pinterest to find out what other people in these niches are doing. Look at the features, styles, and prices, then note what ways you can contribute to this niche with your own planner. If you can spot an area that someone isn’t addressing yet, then you know your product will have an audience.
Now that you have the bones together, it's time to think about aesthetics. This is the fun part! Choose a versatile, recognizable color palette that can be built on top of or toned down to be used anywhere. Now think about icons, illustrations, and other branding elements that will help you build a brand presence your dream customers likely won't forget anytime soon.
You Have Clarity, Now What?
Clarity is one of the most powerful tools you can give yourself as a business owner, even a new or aspiring one. Whether it’s understanding your niche, defining your audience, or discovering your unique planner style, each piece works together to help you achieve the goals you set out to accomplish.
This blog is the first of six in The Pink Ink® 60 Day Set-Up Series, where each week we’ll focus on one specific goal designed to help you set up your digital planning business for success in 2026.
If today’s post sparked ideas and you’re ready to start building a solid foundation for your shop, you’ll love what’s coming next. For a limited time, when you enroll in Digital Planner Academy, you’ll get our Etsy Guide & Planner completely free.
Inside the Academy, you’ll learn how to build, grow, and scale your digital planner business with confidence — from designing your first product to marketing your shop and streamlining your systems. The Etsy Guide & Planner is the perfect companion to help you apply everything you learn directly to your shop and start seeing results faster.
You can click here to learn about the program and enroll. I would love to see you inside and help you to keep pursuing your goals!
