6 tips to successful Digital Planner Business

What is a digital planner business? A digital planner business is essentially a stationery business, only all the products you sell are digital. All your planners will come in a digital file format that your customers buy to download and use.

The digital planner business is an awesome business to get into! You get to be creative and make passive income from your work. But it can also come with some downsides too. For example, as orders start coming in and customers are wanting more of your products, you might find yourself struggling with day to day tasks like keeping up with your growing client list, sending promotional emails or responding to questions or requests. When your products are a hit, things can get hectic real fast.

Take it from me, I’ve been a digital planner and product designer since 2018. Check out my top tips on how you can build a system for your digital product business to keep from going crazy!

Tip #1 Build a collection and not a by-product

Consider this: would you rather list a new planner on Etsy every day or every 3-6 months? You probably would rather launch every 3-6 months, right? Who wants to go through all that busywork every day? Big stationery brands like Rifle Paper Co. use collection methods which means they release one collection at a time. A collection will be centered around a certain theme like travel or black and white photography or flowers.

Tip #2 Make a plan

Don’t worry, this part isn’t about boring business plans;) But it does involve planning your digital product collection.

I really advise that you think ahead and don’t just take your digital planning business a day at a time. Think 1-2 years out. Consider the products you want to launch, think about their designs, what new ideas do you want to offer, what things are trending right now, etc. Then, plan out how many collections you would like to release and the dates when you want to release them.

If you’re not great at planning, that’s okay. Nowadays there are so many planning aids to help you build your empire. Try using programs like Airtable or Asana to help you map out your collection release and launches.

Tip #3 Systematize your products (and templates and everything!)

Every great chef has their signature dish. Every great designer has their signature look. And every great digital planner business has their signature collection. If you haven’t already, it’s important to create the collection that will be your brand’s signature that’s available at all times while other collections come and go. This design will be the basis of your other collections which you will mix and match with your new products.

You DON’T need to start designing everything from scratch every time. Instead, you can repurpose what you’ve already done by creating a template system for every new product. For example:

Planner templates (dated, undated, vertical, horizontal)
Notebook templates (vertical, horizontal)
Sticker page templates
Etsy product mockup templates
Instagram templates
Instagram story new product launch template

When you have the templates all ready, all you have to do is apply the new design or change the information. Templates are major time-savers so whenever you can make a template for a product or promotional communication, do it.

When you systemize your digital planner business, you give yourself a huge break and increase productivity. That time you were always spending reinventing the wheel can now be spent any way you choose- relaxing, researching new inspiration or working on your next collection.

Tip #4 Develop a signature design and seasonal designs

Collections have so many possibilities. A traditional way to do collections is to make them seasonal. So, in addition to your signature collection (see Tip #3), you’ll also offer seasonal limited-time collections.

Build hype around your limited-time collection before the launch to get people excited. (Don’t make the same mistake I once did- designing a Valentine’s Planner on Valentine’s Day!)

Tip #5 Design ahead of time!

Don’t leave your collection designing for the last minute. The further in advance you start the process, the better. Three months to a year in advance is ideal. That way, you have plenty of time to let the creative process unfold, to feel inspired and to enjoy the process of designing digital planners.

And don’t forget that by designing in advance, you get the jump on marketing. Every now and then, you can drop a sneak peek preview on social media to let your clients know something new and exciting is coming soon!

Tip #6 Write your design workflow

From ideation to promotion, get your design workflow written down so that you can just focus on designing and not have to wonder what goes next in the process.

You can easily build your workflow on programs like Asana, which allows you to list everything in your process in an easy and accessible way. An organized workflow will cut down on the time you waste thinking about what to do next. During your design process, you can use it as a reference to help you stay focused and on track. Knowing your design workflow from the get-go will keep you from becoming overwhelmed, which is the enemy of creativity. Avoid such pitfalls by staying organized.

Want to learn the ins and outs of the digital planning business? Learn about my signature program Digital Planner Academy that’s all about starting and scaling a digital stationery business!

Also, check out my course Scale with Airtable to help you stay organized with your digital product business.

We’re so close to selling! But first, you need to set up your shop - click here to get 40 free listings.

I personally think Etsy is a great platform to start out on. First things first, you need to get everything ready to upload to sell. Once you have your products ready, you can create your Etsy shop.

You need to do the obvious steps, like create your shop name, and upload beautiful product photos. But think bigger, you also need to consider keywords. Think like a customer to determine the keywords that they will be searching to find your items.

Start with creating your Etsy seller account – super easy, just fill in a few details and you’re set! For digital planners, you’ll be setting up a Digital listing so be sure to choose Digital from the listing type.
Set-up your shop with your banner, bio, rules, FAQ, and your story- make your digital Etsy shop your own, choose a unique style that sets you apart from other digital stationery shops.
Add your first product - at this stage you’ll be uploading your files so that customers can access them when they make a purchase. Use stunning images to represent your product and optimized descriptions to grab shopper’s attention and bring in sales.

Step 6 – Share and promote

Don’t stop now, promoting your products should be top priority next. After all, having a digital product business doesn’t mean you sit and relax. It means you create and then you sell!

You’ve just created a beautiful digital planner, now is the time to shine! You need to learn the ins and outs of promoting digital products, like SEO, Pinterest, email marketing, and of course, Instagram. Make a plan to be present on social media, showcase your product with examples and don’t forget to post on Pinterest, it should be your business’ best friend.

Setting up a successful digital planner and digital stationery business is not easy and you need to be patient, motivated and committed. That’s why picking a niche that brings you joy every time you open your laptop is important and should be part of your digital planner journey.

Love digital planners? Wanna sell them?

Check out my Digital Planner Academy where I dive further into creating a profitable digital planner business and selling them on Etsy. If you’re completely inspired and ready to get started creating your own digital planner, then you will love my Digital Planner Academy program, it is a step by step program to help build and scale a digital planner business with done for you systems, products, templates, and marketing strategies.