Daily planners are popular tools that help people organize their days. With the right strategy, creating and selling daily planners can be a lucrative business.
In this step-by-step guide, as a professional custom planner printing manufacturer, I’ll walk you through exactly how to create a daily planner from start to finish using tools like Canva. Then, I’ll give you tips on how to actually sell your newly minted planners.
How to Create a Daily Planner to Sell
Choose a Niche and Audience
The first step is deciding who you want to sell planners to.
You could create planners for:
- Busy moms
- Small business owners
- Students
- Teachers
- Fitness enthusiasts
Catering your planner to a specific audience rather than trying to appeal to everyone allows you to include niche-specific elements.
For example, a planner for teachers could include sections for:
- Lesson planning
- Grading
- Class schedules
- Communication logs
While a planner for busy moms might have space for things like:
- Grocery lists
- Cooking plans
- Children’s schedules
Think about the daily activities and responsibilities of your target customer. Then craft your planner around helping organize their unique needs and pain points.
Use Planning Templates
You don’t need to create a planner completely from scratch (unless you really want to). Using templates can save a ton of time with the design process.
Canva offers tons of easy-to-use planner templates covering various styles and layouts. Most are free to use.
Using templates eliminates the need to spend hours designing various planner pages. Simply customize the template to match your niche and branding.
Add colors, fonts, images, icons and text to make it your own. Rearrange or duplicate templates as needed to construct your planner.
Craft Your Planner Pages
Daily planners require certain elements users need to organize their day. Make sure to include:
- A cover page
- Yearly and monthly calendar views
- Daily schedule templates
- To-do lists
- Notes sections
You can also include supplemental pages like:
- Goal trackers
- Habit trackers
- Budget worksheets
- Meal planners
- Gratitude journals
Organize related pages together into clear sections so users can easily navigate to what they need. Number and separate pages to guide readers.
Use catchy section headers like “Menu Planner” rather than just “Menu”. Images and icon graphics help break up walls of text while enhancing visual appeal.
Test with a Focus Group
Before finalizing your planner, get feedback from a few people matching your target audience. Ask them:
- Are all the necessary planning elements included?
- How easy is it to navigate?
- What’s most/least useful?
- Would you use this and recommend it?
Take notes on any missing pieces they expect in a daily planner. Ask for suggestions on extra pages or features to include.
Implement changes based on this constructive criticism to better meet customer needs.
Export, Print and Format
When your planner design is complete, export it as a printable PDF file. Most planning templates on Canva allow you to download directly as a PDF.
If you built your planner across multiple Canva documents, use software like Adobe Acrobat Pro to combine PDF pages into a single file.
For best home printing results, use high quality, heavier weight paper. Consider card stock or 65-80 lb paper to give your planner a polished look and feel.
You can print test copies yourself or order author’s copies from print-on-demand sites like Printify to confirm quality before selling.
For best seller convenience and scalability, keep your final product digital for buyers to print themselves.
Price Your Planner Strategically
Conduct competitive research to determine fair daily planner pricing. Search Etsy and other marketplaces for planners similar to yours.
Factor your costs into your asking price:
- Template purchase fees
- Print supplies
- Labor hours
Aim to price in the average range of comparable planners sold online. Launch with an introductory sale price to incentivize purchases.
Set Up Your Sales Channels
You have several options for selling your digital planners online. Choose the sales channel(s) best fitting your goals:
Etsy – Built-in audience seeking creative goods
eBay – Large existing user base of buyers
Amazon Handmade – Highly visible marketplace
Shopify – Customizable online storefront
No matter where you sell, focus heavily on SEO optimization, promotions and social media marketing to drive traffic.
An aesthetically pleasing shop front entices shoppers to click in and browse your planners. Share your story, creative process and planner uses to connect with buyers.
Deliver excellent customer service throughout transaction processes to encourage referrals and repeat business.
Create Multiple Versions
Branch out beyond your initial planner offering to increase profit potential.
Create multiple versions such as:
- Undated planners
- Academic year planners
- Quarterly or monthly planners
Offer planners tailored to various niches like health enthusiasts, new parents, project managers and more.
Give shoppers style options with different:
- Color schemes
- Cover designs
- Illustrated themes
Sell planner sticker packs allowing further customization. Offer discounted planner bundles.
Expanding your product catalog keeps existing customers coming back while attracting new shoppers.
Outsource Production as You Scale
Printing and shipping planner orders yourself limits possible growth due to effort constraints.
As your daily planner shop succeeds, consider outsourcing fulfillment to print providers like Printify or Printful.
These services produce and mail products straight to customers when orders come in. They can even handle returns or exchanges.
With production and logistics off your plate, you’re free to focus fully on planner product development, design improvements and marketing.
Contracting printing and distribution to fulfillment services streamlines scaling. Your home-based planner side hustle can grow exponentially thanks to automation.
Wrap Up
And that’s everything you need to start a thriving daily planner selling business!
By catering to an underserved niche, thoroughly testing prototypes and leveraging outside fulfillment help, solo creators can find financial freedom offering organized solutions.
The planner demand won’t slow anytime soon. Consistently delighter customers through quality, uniqueness and stellar service seals sustained victory.