Believe it or not, you can make money by selling printables online, and we are going to teach you how to jumpstart this kind of business from home.
Recently, we all know that the world is facing one of the toughest times in history. People nowadays suffer from the economic effects of COVID-19 pandemic. A lot of us either lost our jobs because of businesses that had to close, or are scared of doing our usual thing because of health and safety reasons.
With the current situation, we are in, working from home is probably the best way to live, at the same time, continue making a living for ourselves and our loved ones.
According to a report published online by Fundera, as of 2020, there are “5 million employees (making up 3.6% of the entire U.S. workforce) work from home for at least half the time.”
Meanwhile, the number of regular work from home employees (except self-employed) has grown by 173% since 2005. With the current situation, experts believe that the numbers will continue to grow in the coming days.
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While there are chances of landing a work from home job, there’s also another way to make money online while at the comfort of your home. You can sell stuff online. It could be food, provide services, or in this case, make money selling printables.
The internet, and of course, digital technology has definitely made a lot of things possible. Then, creative people could not go out of their shells. It was hard selling creative pieces or ideas. Today, with technology, even making and selling printables can add something up for your family’s monthly budget.
Are you wondering how could this be possible?
Well, you are in the right place because we are going to share with you some of the most essential information you need on how you can start making money from selling printables online.
In particular, we are going to talk about the following:
- What is a printable?
- Why sell printables?
- What types of printable will sell?
- How do you make money from selling printables online?
- How much do you make from selling printables online?
- How to make money from selling printables online?
WHAT IS A PRINTABLE?
First of all, before you even jump into selling printables, similar to other kinds of businesses — online or not — it is important that you fully understand the terminology and the whole concept.
Also known as a digital product, a printables refers to graphic design or text that is available in the form of a digital download.
There are various types of printables, which include the following:
- Calendars
- Stickers
- Quotes or Inspirational Sayings
- Art Prints
- Worksheets
- Checklists
- Planners
- Trackers
- Books
- Templates
- Workbooks
- Lesson Plans
- …and many more!
Printables can be used for different purposes. For some, they use it to update their home decors, while others use it for educational purposes.
Printables can be easily downloaded and printed — precisely why it is called a printable.
While there are a lot of free printables online, there are also paid ones — which is what we are highlighting today. You know, making money out of your very own printables.
WHY SELL PRINTABLES?
For some of you who are familiar or maybe are using printables, you must be wondering why to sell them when you can find a lot of free printables online.
That question or thought is, first and foremost, legit.
But, here’s the thing. You sell a printable not just for the sake of earning money, but because you put your heart, mind, and soul into making them. It’s something unique. It is something that you put time and effort into. And for these reasons, you deserve to get paid.
It is something like, if customers want high quality work, then, they have to pay the price.
Guess what? There are actually a lot of people out there who are willing to pay to get the best printables possible.
To put it simply, people will buy your printables because of the following reasons:
- They trust you and your work
- It is right in front of them
- It helps solve a problem
- It makes sense
- The price is reasonable
You see, there could be a number of reasons why you should sell and people will buy. But in the end, people buy your work because it’s you, and they trust that what you offer is a good deal.
Moving on, if you are a mom or you are someone who has regular work but still need a little extra, selling printables is definitely a great idea.
Printables are one of the easiest ways to make passive income online. You basically just create, upload, decide a price, and then, market it.
Unlike other types of online businesses, you do not need to do inventory. Needless to say, you do not need people to help you run the business. You can easily do it by yourself.
WHAT TYPES OF PRINTABLE WILL SELL?
To be brutally honest, it’s hard to tell what specific type or types of printables do sell. However, if you own a blog and you thought of making printables, and sell them, ideally, you offer something that is related to your blog’s niche.
For example, if you run a blog about motherhood, then maybe you can sell planners or checklist printables. If your blog is about interior design, then, quotes and paintings or anything creatively done is the perfect printables to make money from.
You see, it really depends.
Now, if you do not own a blog. Consider your passion or your needs. You may also do your own research among family and friends, or do an online survey in your social media platforms to have an idea of what people within your circle are looking for. Since you are just starting, do not be scared asking your family and friends, or followers. It will surely help you as you create a specific concept for your printables.
HOW DO YOU MAKE MONEY FROM SELLING PRINTABLES ONLINE?
There are a couple of ways on how you can make money selling printables online.
But before that, we thought the video below by Not Taught At School is a good watch. The video basically gives you proven ways on how to earn as much as $278 per hour by selling printables online.
First, you can use your own blog, if you have one. You can market and sell your printables there. All you have to do is create a specific page intended for your printables.
Second, you may use your personal social media platforms. You may post it online, and share the news with your family and friends. You may ask them to repost or share your post on their pages to keep the words going and so it gets to reach more people.
Lastly, you can use online marketplaces like Etsy and Facebook. With Etsy, you got to create an account to start your online business. The same goes for other online marketplaces.
Now, similar to other online businesses or any business for that matter, marketing plays a vital role in the success of your business. No matter how beautiful and helpful your printables are if no one knows about it, it won’t succeed.
You need to reach your target audience. Again, thanks to technology, online marketing is not as hard as you thought. In fact, you just have to click specific buttons and your promotion runs. This requires a few bucks but is definitely worth it.
You may also consider joining Facebook groups where you can sell your printables, or you may also link it on your blogs for your readers to see.
HOW MUCH DO YOU MAKE FROM SELLING PRINTABLES ONLINE?
How much you make from selling printables online depends on a number of factors.
First, you have to take into consideration the number of reaches. Meaning, the number of people who know about what you are selling.
Second, your marketing strategies. How your market your product will affect how your printables will sell.
Third, your work. Yes, your printables itself. It has to be worth it. It has to be very efficient so people will recommend it and buyers will get one for themselves.
Lastly, the price. Your price has to be competitive. Needless to say, it has to be reasonable. When pricing your printables, make sure to do your research. People, after all, will not buy something that they can get at a cheaper price from another seller.
HOW TO MAKE MONEY FROM SELLING PRINTABLES ONLINE?
So, you already know what printables are. This time, we are going to share with you five things you need to do to start making money from selling printables online. These are all proven to be very effective in making your printables business venture a success.
1. Choose an Idea or a Niche
To start off the process, determine the type of printable download you would like to sell.
Avoid cluttered ideas. Make sure to think of a specific niche, and stick to that.
When choosing a niche, we highly recommend going for something that you are passionate about.
For instance, you love baking or cooking, then consider making printables that are related to that. It could be a checklist of baking essentials, or whatever you can think of. If you love traveling, make a bucket list, or compile photos you took when you were traveling and make it decor-worthy.
Choosing something that you are passionate about will make things easier for you. Ideas will come naturally. Also, it will show in your work. When you personally love what you are selling, the more likely you are to always give it your best, and people will see that.
In case you choose a niche that’s already being offered by others, that’s okay. It’s actually a good sign that you are on the right path. While competition is there, it’s also an opportunity to work hard to be able to stand out from the rest.
2. Select a Design Tool or Software
Once you have already determined your niche, it’s time to move forward to the next process — selecting a tool or software to use in making your printables.
What’s nice about printables is that it’s not an expensive kind of business. You do not need a lot of money to be able to make money selling printables. In fact, there are a lot of free tools or software available out there!
While you can always upgrade the program you are using later on when you are just starting, we recommend making use of the free tools or software. That way, you do not need to spend money to be able to kick off your business.
To give you an idea, below are some of the best tools or software you can use when designing your printables:
CANVA
Canva is very famous nowadays. Canva can be downloaded for free. It offers a free basic version that allows you to create beautiful digital designs. All you have to do is use the drag and drop feature.
With Canva, you do not have to be an expert. It’s very easy to use, and there’s a lot that you can do in terms of design and other creative elements that will make your printables really pleasing.
Also, should you want a more pro version, Canva allows you to upgrade to Canva Pro for an additional fee.
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP
Another great option to consider when designing printables is Adobe Photoshop. This software is capable of providing you the most design capabilities of all the options there is out there.
However, Adobe Photoshop comes with a fee. Adobe products start at $20.99 per month for individual programs, or you may opt to get them all in a bundle price of $52.99 per month.
While we highly recommend this software, it would be best to get one when your business is already running, and you already have enough funds to get one. But of course, if you do have spare money, then, go ahead and avail it.
PIXLR
Pixlr is a popular photo editing site. Just like Canva, it’s also free to use. But, should you wish to use its premium editing and design features, you may do so by paying a fee, which starts at $3.99 per month.
Again, these are just some of the tools or software that you may use in creating your printable downloads. There are absolutely a lot more choices out there. You just got to find the one that suits you best. At the end of the day, what will matter is the output, right?
3. Decide On Your Pricing
Deciding how much you are going to sell each printable is probably one of the most challenging parts of the whole process.
When pricing your work, make sure to take into consideration a few factors like the time and effort you put into each printable, overhead cost like electricity, and many more. Also, take into consideration your competitor’s price. As much as possible, you do not want your price to be too high. But, also make sure your work is not undervalued.
To be honest, there really is no specific formula for tagging the right price to your work. It is a matter of testing and retesting until you find the sweet spot for pricing that allows you to make what you are worth, but ensuring it won’t turn off potential buyers.
To give you an idea though, most printables you will find online cost around $2 to $5 per page. But again, it depends on the value that the product offers. Best to do your research to ensure you are not over- or underpricing.
4. Set Up an Online Shop
Of course, to be able to sell your printables online, you will need to set up an online shop or an eCommerce platform. By doing so, you get to display your products, at the same time, safely collect payments from buyers.
There are a lot of online platforms where you can sell your printable downloads. You can sell using online marketplaces like Etsy (as we have mentioned earlier) or Facebook marketplace, you may also consider putting up an Instagram business account, or if you have funds to set up your own online store, you may consider using Shopify, which is one of the best platforms when it comes to online selling.
5. Invest in a Hard Drive or Digital Storage
Storage is essential when you are creating printables. The more quality printables you make, the more you need to store them digitally or through a hard drive. The difference between the two is, the former is more accessible and more convenient.
There are also a couple of options you may consider, but when it comes to digital storage, some of the best sites include Dropbox or Amazon’s Simple Storage service.
By the way, do not forget to give instructions to your customers on how to download the file they bought from you. As much as possible, make the process easy.
FINAL THOUGHTS ON MAKE MONEY SELLING PRINTABLES
Currently, we are facing one of the hardest seasons in global history. Thus, it is not surprising that people both here in the country and from other parts of the world are doing everything they can to make a living.
While some are lucky enough to have a regular income, others need a side hustle to make ends meet. Thanks to digital technology and the internet, online selling from home are made possible.
One of the business ideas you may consider getting into is selling printables. It’s very easy to do and does not require too much overhead cost.
While it doesn’t make you rich, it definitely can help you earn a little more.
Are you excited to try selling printables online?
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