Planners are popular products that many people find useful for organizing their lives. If you have a great planner idea, printing and selling planners can be a fun and profitable side business. As a professional planner manufacturer, I’m excited to share exactly how to create, print and sell your own custom planners.
Why Print Planners
People love planners. In 2024, the global stationery and cards market is predicted to be worth $307 billion. Planners and journals are a major part of this huge industry.
Even in our increasingly digital world, many people still prefer paper planners over digital calendars. Studies show writing things down on paper helps you remember important tasks better. And the tactile feeling of pen on paper can’t be replicated digitally.
Printing your own planners is easier and more affordable than ever. Modern print-on-demand services allow you to upload your planner design and have it printed and shipped without needing to order bulk inventory.
So if you have a great planner idea, there’s never been a better time to make it a reality.
How to Print a Planner to Sell
Define Your Niche
The planner market is quite broad, so it helps to focus your efforts on a specific niche. Before designing your planner, think about your ideal customer and what their needs are.
Here are some popular planner niches to consider:
- Fitness and health: Help people track meals, exercises and progress towards their fitness goals.
- Students: Useful tools for organizing homework, tests, activities and college applications.
- Professionals: Scheduling, note-taking and expense tracking for business people.
- New parents: Keep track of feeding times, milestones and memories from baby’s first years.
- Crafters: Scheduling for creative projects and budgets for craft supplies.
- Teachers: Plan lessons, grade assignments and coordinate parent communications.
Really dig into your niche audience to understand what they’d find most useful in a planner. Search Etsy and Amazon to see what’s already available and think about how you can provide something unique.
Design Your Planner
Once you’ve settled on a niche, it’s time to start designing. Even if you don’t consider yourself artsy, there are some easy tools that make planner design simple.
USE TEMPLATES
Rather than designing totally from scratch, I recommend starting with premade templates. Sites like Etsy sell templates for creating planners in programs like Canva, Illustrator and InDesign.
Find a template with dimensions, layouts and design elements that appeal to you. Then customize it with your own color scheme, brand elements, and features tailored to your niche.
INCLUDE THE ESSENTIALS
While adding niche-specific features is important, don’t forget to include planner basics like:
- Dated calendar pages
- Daily/weekly schedule views
- Goal-setting sections
- Blank lined pages
- Contacts and passwords
FOCUS ON AESTHETICS
Planners are visual products, so aesthetics matter. Some elements to make your planner visually appealing:
- Use an attractive yet readable font. Avoid anything too ornate.
- Incorporate relevant graphics and icons. Images related to your niche help reinforce the theme.
- Include decorative elements. Things like banners, frames and dividers add nice touches.
- Create different cover options. Offer customers multiple style choices.
Spend time making sure your planner looks professionally designed. This increases perceived value.
Print Your Planner Digitally
Once your planner design is complete, it’s time to get it printed.
Rather than printing locally or ordering expensive bulk inventory, I recommend leveraging print-on-demand (POD) technology.
HOW PRINT ON DEMAND WORKS
POD allows you to upload your planner design to an online printing company. Whenever a customer orders your planner, POD printers produce a single copy and ship it directly to the buyer.
This means zero upfront printing costs or storage fees. POD platforms like Printify handle printing, shipping and even product listings for you.
CHOOSING A PLATFORM
Printify and Printful are two excellent POD companies. Both integrate directly with online sales channels like Etsy, Shopify and eBay.
When comparing them, pay attention to:
- Print quality
- Shipping prices
- Product selection
- Seller fees
- Order processing times
Take advantage of free sample kits to test print quality before listing your planners for sale.
Create Your Sales Listings
To start selling your planners, you’ll need an online sales channel. Etsy and Shopify are great options, with built-in support for print-on-demand fulfillment.
When creating your sales listings, focus on catching shoppers’ eyes with attractive product photos showing your planner designs.
Use keywords and descriptive listing titles so interested buyers can easily find your planners during searches. Share details on dimensions, number of pages, etc. to set accurate expectations.
Finally, highlight what makes your planner special to convince shoppers why it’s better than alternatives.
Market Your Planners
With your print-on-demand planners listed for sale, it’s time to drive some traffic.
LEVERAGE SOCIAL MEDIA
Platforms like Pinterest and Instagram are fantastic for promoting planner products visually. Share photos that showcase your designs and niche-relevant graphics. Utilize targeted hashtags so interested users can discover your products.
You can also run paid social ads to get your planners in front of larger, hyper-targeted audiences.
BUILD AN EMAIL LIST
Email marketing allows you to repeatedly promote new planner launches and sales to interested subscribers.
Offer a small discount or freebie in exchange for emails. Send a regular newsletter with planner inspiration, organization tips, or updates on new releases.
PARTNER WITH INFLUENCERS
Reach out to influencers like YouTubers and bloggers popular among your niche audience. See if they’re interested in featuring or reviewing your planners. Most are happy to share quality products with their followers.
The launch of a new planner should be an exciting event for your target customers. Get creative with your marketing so buyers are eagerly awaiting each new release.
Scale Your Planner Business
As your planner sales pick up momentum, look for ways to expand your product line.
Adding planner variations and extensions keeps current customers engaged, while also helping you appeal to a wider audience.
Some ideas:
- Launch updated editions each year
- Offer mini and pocket-sized planners
- Release themed special editions
- Sell add-on sticker packs
- Create companion journals
Subscription services are another excellent way to scale a planner business. You could offer:
- A monthly planner subscription
- Quarterly seasonal editions
- An annual year-long mega planner
Subscription programs encourage repeat business and help forecast production needs.
Final Thoughts
Launching your own line of printed planners is an exciting way to explore your creativity while potentially earning some nice side income.
Just remember finding a specific niche, crafting a visually appealing design, leveraging print-on-demand technology, and actively promoting your products are keys to success.
If the initial launch goes well, consider expanding your planner catalogue to keep momentum going year after year. Wishing you the best of luck with your new print business!