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Simplifying DIY Design

Simple Graphic Design To Grow Your Blog

How to Design a Workbook in Canva + Video Tutorial

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Last updated on April 12th, 2022

Workbooks are so popular because they’re great as a lead magnet or paid digital product. Check out this full tutorial on how to design a workbook in Canva (the easy way) and start growing your email list!

Ready to design a workbook AND launch it? Get our FREE Product Creators QuickStart Kit today! You’ll get a checklist, cheatsheet, and Canva design template to help you nail your launch!

GET THE FREE PRODUCT QUICKSTART KIT NOW!

It’s no secret product creation is where it’s at! It’s a one-and-done thing (for the most part) and it brings in consistent revenue month after month.

But, it’s way easier said than done.

Ever wonder how so many people are able to create a jaw-dropping Canva workbook? Or, how they make them at all?

Well, product creation is one of the things we cannot get enough of. It’s our jam and we’re fine with that because we get to show you exactly how you can do it, too!

The very first workbook we designed was for a client with a VERY large audience. This was before we realized the power of digital products!

She created a very long, 60+ page workbook and she totally rocked the launch.

REMEMBER THIS POST LATER! PIN IT TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD! ⬇

If you're a blogger that is making Digital products or lead magnets then you won't want to miss this post! Find out exactly how to design a workbook in Canva- it's so much easier than I thought!!

Now, we were a bit nervous. We had just started dusting off our graphic design skills and all we had to work with was Canva.

It probably took us over a month to design a workbook between the design, the edits, the testing of usability, even more edits, etc.

But our jaws almost hit the floor when we read her income reports shortly after. Want to take a guess at what they were?

She was able to generate 6 figures from this workbook in the 3 months after the launch. WOW! She seriously rocked it!

WHY DESIGN A WORKBOOK IN CANVA?

It was said before and we’re going to say it again. Product creation is a MUST if you want to go from blog to business.

Workbooks, ebooks, courses, you name it. Product creation is the best way to monetize your blog and make a recurring income from it.

Here are some key points to remember:

  • Have a solid audience in place to survey and find out what they want and need
  • Determine the best learning method whether it’s writing (workbook), watching (video), etc.
  • Don’t just launch it and let it go – Turn it into a tripwire or add an email funnel so it’s still making you money after the launch

SIDE NOTE: Our FREE Product Creators QuickStart Kit will list out all the things you need to do before launching a digital product!

So today I wanted to do a tutorial about creating a product (specifically, a workbook). The thing is, I know this is kind of a “giving too much away for free” type of video but I don’t really care. I started this site to help you learn and that’s what I’m going to do.

Here are the nuts and bolts of it: (make sure to watch the video at the end to see how it’s done!)

START WITH A COVER DESIGN

Whether we like it or not, people judge a book by its cover. Your cover design should be used in product mockups for Pinterest, social media posts, landing pages, the works.

It’s what you’ll use to promote your workbook because it gives your audience an idea of what they’ll get in exchange for an email or credit card.

Related Post: How to Create a Product Mockup Template in Canva

With that said, your workbook cover design needs to be strategically thought out.

It’s the difference between your reader saying “YES I need this!” and “Not even worth my email address.”

  • Busy covers create overwhelm so keep it simple – white space is your friend
  • They say, “don’t judge a book by its cover” but people do it literally all the time
  • Minimal is best even if you have a colorful, busy brand like ours so keep it professional and clean
  • Stick with your brand colors and fonts to maintain brand consistency

When you design a workbook or other digital product, it’s important to choose the style that you want to carry throughout the workbook.

Remember, keep the look of your Canva workbook consistent with your brand for a more organized and cohesive feel.

Related Post: How to Brand Your Blog | Achieve Brand Consistency

Most of the time when we design a workbook, we start by outlining all our sections and what is going on in those sections. This is helpful when it’s time to plan the layout of each page.

You can do this in something like Google Docs or whatever program you use for your content creation.

Use the same type of layout and style throughout the book and decide whether it’s appropriate to add page numbers.

For example, planners may not need page numbers because people might print multiple copies of one page.

Workbooks may need page numbers because the order is important. What if someone prints it and the pages get out of order? Instant frustration!

If the thought of designing a workbook from scratch has you sweating bullets, not to worry, friend. Our Canva workbook templates in the Design Shop offer the perfect solution to blank page paralysis.

Just swap out your colors, fonts (optional), and text. That’s it!

We also cover in-depth how to design your very own printables in our course, Confidently Canva! Enroll now to get $20 OFF!

START CREATING YOUR WORKBOOK LAYOUT DESIGN

After you add your border, header, and any subtitles you might have it’s time to start laying it out.

As we said, we generally try to map this out on a large piece of paper prior to putting it on the screen. Be sure to use a pencil for this step because you may need to erase and adjust as you go.

It’s much easier to work out how things are positioned on paper first rather than on the screen.

We’re a big picture type of group!

You can use shapes to create a writing space for people to ask questions. You can also use things like bullet points or checkboxes to help organize the space that your potential customers will be filling out.

Here are a few examples of some VERY different page layouts from our DiyDesign Creators Vault.

After creating over 100 Canva workbook designs since the start of Simplifying DIY Design, we can confidently say there’s no right or wrong design layout.

It’s all dependent on what your workbook will teach your audience and their particular learning style.

If your Canva workbook has check or text boxes, we recommend converting it into an editable workbook.

Related Post: The Easiest Way to Create an Editable Printable for Your Readers

That way your readers can fill it out whether it’s printed out or kept digital. Little convenient details like this will continue to build trust and credibility with your audience.

CREATE A FUNNEL WITH YOUR CANVA WORKBOOK

Did you notice the QR code on the last page of our workbook template shown above?

That little element bridges the gap between products, thus creating a funnel.

Have you ever…

  • Bought a product (whether it’s a workbook, course, etc.) from a brand you trust
  • Implement the steps taught in the product
  • Want to continue the learning process but don’t know which product to buy next?

This has happened to us so many times and we found it to be a bit frustrating.

We created every single product in our Design Shop to build on from one another. But what we noticed was the influx of emails all saying the same thing.

“I have (product XYZ) but don’t know which product to buy next!”

Now, let us just preface this with that we do NOT mind chatting with our readers via email and Messenger.

But can you imagine the number of readers who are NOT emailing and messaging us who have this same question? That’s sales we’re missing out on!

To remedy this situation, add a QR code to your workbooks, printables, ebooks, etc. as a continuation of your product funnel.

Related Post: Simple Design Hack – How to Use QR Codes for Easy Money

When your reader scans the code, they’ll know the next product you recommend. Send them to a sales page, checkout page, or even something as simple as a blog post that you have monetized.

All in all, workbooks are a great lead magnet or even paid digital product. You can design a workbook from scratch or use a design template to make the creation process even easier (and faster).

And don’t stress, there isn’t a right or wrong way to design a workbook! You’ve got this, friend.

If you have questions on how to copy and paste in Canva, merge Canva designs, Canva keyboard shortcuts, and how to exceed the 100-page limit, check out our top 7 Canva design tips!

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS POST:

Don’t forget to grab our Launch Template Pack now! These fully editable Canva templates will help you create jump-off-the-page product mockups so you can rock your launch!

GET THE PRODUCT LAUNCH TEMPLATE PACK!

WANT TO SAVE THIS FOR LATER? PIN IT TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD!⬇

Want to learn how to easily design a workbook in canva? This is a full video tutorial that will show you exactly how to design a digital product workbook in canva and it's totally free! This can be used by bloggers, shopify owners, etsy sellers, and more to make money online and scale your online business! #digitalproducts #canvatutorial #canvatips #canvatemplates
Ever wonder how to design a workbook in canva for free? Here is a full video tutorial that walks you through step-by-step how to design a workbook for lead magnets, digital products, courses and more! #workbook #designforbloggers #designaworkbook #leadmagnet #digitalproducts

5 Easy Ways To Create Worksheets To Grow Your Blog Fast

by 17 Comments

Last updated on April 15th, 2022

Digital worksheets make great lead magnets because they’re super quick to make and help your reader take action. In this article, you’ll learn how to design digital worksheets AND the top 5 ways you can use worksheets to grow your blog!

Ready to grow your email list? Get our FREE Worksheet Template Pack! These fully editable Canva templates are perfect for creating high-converting digital worksheets!

GET THE WORKSHEET TEMPLATE PACK!

Owning a business is the best job, the best feeling we’ve ever had. It’s also the most frustrating one.

Doesn’t it seem like everyone else has it figured out? Everywhere you turn, someone who seems to be making a million dollars after 3 months of blogging.

And here you sit, struggling with engagement, pumping out content, writing to your email list, doing ALL the things.

You invest, learn, and haven’t seen that return just yet.

That little time before you actually start making money with your blog is one of the most challenging times in business.

It’s also the time that people generally give up.

Of course, there will always be ups and downs. Like when you finally figure out a social media network, an algorithm change tanks your traffic.

Or when you set up an opt-in that took you a whole day to put together, and no one subscribes. It’s frustrating, right?

We totally get it. We’ve been there, and it’s NOT fun. But then we discovered the power of digital worksheets.

WANT TO REMEMBER THIS LATER? SAVE IT TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD! ⬇

Digital worksheets make great lead magnets because they help your reader take action. Learn to design digital worksheets AND how to use them to grow your blog!

The one thing we consistently make for our blog (aside from newsletter content) is digital worksheets.

We’d create the worksheet, add it to our resource library, make a post about it, do a Facebook live to talk about it, then send it to our existing list as a NEW freebie.

Not only did that help us nurture our audience, but it also helped us develop even more content and grow our email list.

BENEFITS OF DIGITAL WORKSHEETS

Digital worksheets are great because they help people take action. If they’re taking action, they’re implementing YOUR strategies.

Once people have success with your methods, you have not only helped them, but you have now established trust with this person. They know their life is easier when they listen to you.

Think of the last time you implemented strategies you learned from a blogger.

  • How did you feel as you were taking action?
  • How did you feel after you were done?
  • How did you feel when you saw success from their strategies?

Those feelings will make selling a whole lot easier. They’ll trust your suggestions because you’re genuinely trying to help them, and they know that you know what you’re talking about!

If you’re a brand new blogger, you may not know what that feels like just yet. And that’s okay!

Did you ever have a lot of information thrown at you without any way to process it?

Digital worksheets complement that information by putting it into action. You’re writing it down, working through it, processing, and remembering it.

Don’t forget to grab our FREE Worksheet Template Pack so you can elevate your content and put it into action!

Now that we know the incredible benefits of digital worksheets let’s jump into HOW you can use them to grow your blog.

#1: As a content upgrade

Digital worksheets make a great content upgrade, especially any kind of informational or instructional post. Anytime you’re walking someone through a solution, adding a digital worksheet helps transform your words from theory to action.

Examples of digital worksheets as a content upgrade are:

  • Planners (home, blog, etc.)
  • Weekly calendars
  • Trackers (budget, progress, goals, etc.)

Plus, it helps the person have your information and the work they put in for future reference.

Related Post: 17 Content Upgrade Ideas to Keep Your Readers Coming Back for More

It’s just an added bonus that digital worksheets help grow your email list when used as a content upgrade!

#2: Actionable task for your email list

As we mentioned earlier, we’d always send new digital worksheets, printables, and freebies to our email list to nurture them and develop trust.

The strategy was simply taking a recent post and expanding on it in a more actionable way. We want someone to close our email after reading it and be so motivated that they actually do the thing we’ve called them to do.

And having a digital worksheet makes that really easy.

Being able to say, “download and fill out the worksheet” is easier than “Now go do all the things I just talked about.”

Not to mention, it actually helps increase your click-through rates which directly improves deliverability!

Related Post: Increase Click-Throughs and Boost Conversions with One Click

Here’s an example of how we send new freebies to our audience via email.

There are no new graphics, no promotional email, just a mention at the bottom of an email.

We don’t know for sure, but it seems like 99% of the population LOVE digital worksheets!

#3: To get people working for it

Have you ever seen people run challenges that promote giveaways to those who complete assignments?

We love it! And here’s why.

When you have a giveaway, and all you want them to do is sign up for your list, it might get those people on your list.

BUT, they only signed up because they wanted that free thing, and that’s it.

We’ve almost always found that people who sign up for a giveaway never even open an email unless the subject line is “Congrats, you’re the winner.”

This makes your list cold, resulting in poor deliverability, poor open rates, and less over-business growth.

The thing is that when you make them work for it, you’re getting them involved while giving them a tiny sample of what you have to offer.

We’ve seen giveaways with daily “challenges” and the people are only entered to win if they complete all the challenges. We’ve also seen ones with a set of questions to answer.

Putting together a quick digital worksheet is an excellent way to have all your answers organized and easily referable.

If someone puts in the time and effort to win your free thing, they are way more interested in you and your business and much more likely to be a good lead for future sales.

#4: As a product

Do you want to know what we do with our worksheets AFTER we send them to our list? Repurpose them.

Take your worksheets, expand on them, add some in-depth content, and you’ve got a digital product ready to sell.

Related Post: 12 Digital Products That Are Selling Like Hotcakes

Create a simple sales page, design a few Pinterest pins and social media posts, and add it to your email funnel for new subscribers.

DESIGN NOTE: ConvertKit makes building funnels, creating automation, and tagging subscribers super simple. Since day one of our business, we’ve been using it and absolutely love it!

One and done product = passive income.

If you need some digital worksheet product ideas, check out these 40 best-selling Printables on Etsy. Some of those worksheets are pure genius!

#5: As part of your e-course

Have your heart set on an e-course? Guess what! You still need digital worksheets. The same goes for webinars and even masterminds.

Worksheets, again, help put your module or lesson into action.

If you’re getting people to take action, they’re going to implement your ideas and should have success.

If they succeed (or even simply finish your course), they’ll get so much more out of it. You’ll have satisfied customers while also making a difference in their lives.

You’ll probably want also to include checklists and other printable material in your course, but the same design principles apply.

The same goes for webinars! If you’re giving your attendee a worksheet, they’re much more likely to follow along and be engaged in your presentation.

Related Post: 6 Key Elements to an Amazing Webinar That Converts

Which means they’re more likely to make it to the end. And if they do, the odds of making a sale go UP.

HOW TO MAKE DIGITAL WORKSHEETS

Head on over to Canva to design your digital worksheets! If starting with a blank page, your go-to size will be 8in. x 11.5in letter-size page.

Add an eye-catching header and a simple border. Add your content, design elements, boxes, and other items as needed (like checkboxes, charts, lines, etc.)

Keep your digital worksheets minimal (lots of white space), so they’re easily printable. Nothing is more frustrating than wasting half an ink cartridge on one printable!

(We’ve done it accidentally, and it was NOT fun!)

Or, you can use our FREE Worksheet Template Pack to cut your design time in half.

Simply change the colors and fonts to match your brand. Add your content and adjust any boxes as needed to fit your text. Click ‘Download,’ and you’re good to go!

Don’t forget to create a promo image for your blog post and a few Pinterest pins that lead to a landing page. Lastly, send it to your list as mentioned above in #2, and you’re all set.

I’m sure it’s obvious, but we cannot get enough of digital worksheets!

DIGITAL WORKSHEETS ARE GREAT TO HELP GROW YOUR BLOG.

We’re all about actionable advice, and digital worksheets help people implement ideas. You want your readers to take action – bottom line.

We promise that they’ll make it much easier when you’re ready to sell your first digital product to your email list.

And in order to have them clicking that ‘Buy’ button and practically throwing their money at you, you need to build that trust. It all starts with trust!

Don’t forget to grab our FREE Worksheet Template Pack! These fully editable Canva templates will help you create actionable worksheets that build trust, so they’re ready to buy!

GET THE WORKSHEET TEMPLATE PACK!

TRY CANVA PRO FREE FOR 30 DAYS

Start your FREE Canva Pro trial today and unlock ALL of their incredible time-saving features that’ll cut your design time to just minutes.

To be honest? It’s the best $12.99/mo OR $119/yr we spend on our business because that time we save with every single design is put back into making MORE money in your business!

WANT TO SAVE THIS FOR LATER? PIN IT TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD!⬇

Digital worksheets make great lead magnets because they help your reader take action. Learn to design digital worksheets AND how to use them to grow your blog!

Best Features for Editing Templates In Canva

by 2 Comments

Last updated on May 25th, 2022

In this post, you’ll learn about the best features for editing templates in Canva. If you’d like to sign up for our free design library and try out our free Canva templates, just click the button below!

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS FREE LIBRARY

WANT TO LISTEN TO THIS POST? CHECK OUT THE AUDIO VERSION ⬇️

Editing templates in Canva

It’s no secret that I absolutely LOVE templates but now Canva has added even more amazing features that make editing them easier than ever.

Back in the day, I was dedicated to finding a workaround for everything. I knew what I wanted Canva to do because of my years using Adobe and learning design but the functions weren’t quite there.

I’d get questions all the time about how to do certain things and if Canva itself didn’t have a solution, then I’d find one. I was essentially the MacGyver of Canva  — getting creative and finding solutions.

(As a side note… can you believe my husband just called me a nerd for making that reference? 😂)

Luckily, designing with Canva is getting easier and quicker every day. It seems like every week they’re coming out with new functions and features and I am so excited!

While I can’t exactly deep dive into every single amazing feature and function (although if that’s what you’re looking for, definitely check out Confidently Canva) I do want to talk about the ones I love specifically for designing with templates.

Here are some of my favorite new features and now they work!

By the way, if you’d like to watch the video – check it out below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKmOyiDWjlQ

You can also subscribe to my channel for more videos about Canva and Design here.

The Style Feature For Instantly Changing Colors and Fonts

To use this feature you’ll first need to configure your brand kit to match the fonts and colors of your branding.

Need help with this? Check out the Five Minute Brand and create a brand that’s perfectly you in just minutes with over 250 done for you Canva templates.

Once you have a brand you love, you’ll head to the brand kit inside of Canva to set your hex codes and brand fonts.

Once your brand is configured, open your template and choose “styles” from the menu.

Click on your brand colors and watch the magic! You can shuffle the colors around as much as you like or manually adjust as needed but it’s definitely way faster than manually changing each element

This is a Canva Pro feature, if you haven’t tried Canva Pro yet, I highly recommend it!

Want to save this post for later? Pin it to your favorite Pinterest board!

Adding shadows to page previews

Yes! Shadows are now a thing! If you’ve never used shadows, you’ll need to integrate them with Canva first

First, upload an image of the page or cover you want to add a shadow to. 

Then go to the effects panel. To integrate, locate shadows under the “you may like” section and click on “connect” 

Once integrated, you’ll see shadows in your effects menu.

You can choose the shadow you want and adjust it as desired.

Animations

Not only can you animate elements but you can also animate text in your designs. This means any template can be an eye-catching animated design with the click of a button. 

Simply click on the text or object that you want to animate, choose “animate” and select the animation option of choice. 

You can mix and match animations as desired and when you’re done, simply download it. 

Side note: these designs are examples of things you might find in the DiyDesign Creators Vault! These design are from June 2021 and are available to download to members until August 1st 2021! Each month you’ll get brand new social media templates and page designs for digital products and printables!

Ability to access my folders from inside my editing screen

This is another Canva Pro feature by the way, and probably one of my favorites!

This feature let’s me mix and match templates with the click of a button and it’s amazing.

To do this, add a new blank page to your project. Click on either “all of your designs” or “folders”

If you don’t already, keeping your templates organized with folders is a game-changer when it comes to organization, be sure to use them

Next, click on the folder that contains the template you’re wanting to add to your project.

Click on the template from the images shown and then choose the page or pages you want to add. 

Check out the grid view if you’re looking for a fast and easy way to rearrange, duplicate, and organize the pages of your project.

If you liked this article, check out 6 Canva Tips and Tricks You Need To Know!

So there you have it, my favorite features for editing templates!

If you’re looking to learn ALL the Canva tricks as well as in-depth lessons, design lessons, and lessons on how to design social media graphics and printables, check out my Confidently Canva course.

If you’re looking to try some templates for free, check out my free design library, just click the button below!

CLICK TO GET ACCESS TO FREE DESIGN LIBRARY

Designing in Canva: Anatomy of a Killer Blog Printable

by 2 Comments

Last updated on June 27th, 2022

Have you ever stared at a blank page on your computer and had no idea where to start?

I have. It sucks. It’s kind of like writer’s block but more frustrating.

Then, you just start going and sometimes you nail it and other times you can’t get it to look right no matter what you do. Or the computer is being slow, Canva is glitching, and you just want to scream.

My husband knows when I’m getting frustrated. He just says “Kara, it’s time to walk away” and I get all grumpy about it and walk away with a huff.

But he’s right (don’t tell him that though!) and sometimes you need to walk away.

However, sometimes you just need the right tools.

Printables are important! They help you engage your email subscribers, they help build your list, and they can even help you generate an income.

Taking the time to create a printable is SO important. If your printable doesn't stand out or if it's so unorganized and unprofessional looking then it will be hard to grow your blog. The perfectly designed printable has the power to grow your email list, help your readers take action, and help you generate income from blogging! Learn how to design a printable in canva!

But if your printable doesn’t stand out, or if it looks like something my 2-year-old could have designed, then it’s difficult to do that.

Luckily, when you use Canva templates — it can help alleviate a lot of the struggle of blank-page-paralysis but I still wanted to go over the anatomy of a killer blog printable.

This is something you may want to have in a printable version for your blog binder, so don’t worry- I made it pretty and stuck it in our design library under “Resources”.

Before I forget though, If you love love LOVE Canva templates like I do be sure to check out our free designs inside the library and if you’re wanting new printable templates every single month then be sure to check out the DiyDesign Creators Vault — not only do you get printable templates each month but you get social media and promotional graphics as well!

By the way, if you’d like to listen to this post, check out the video below:

OK, let’s dive in!

The anatomy of a perfect printable:

  • The header
  • The body/layout
  • The typography
  • Design elements
  • The message: Inspiration or action
  • Whitespace
  • The footer/copyright info
  • The promotion
printable cheatsheet

A show-stopping (or scroll-stopping) header

I use the term “scroll-stopping” because there are SO MANY thing’s fighting for attention in the online space. People are busy and they are usually scrolling while waiting for the school bus or sitting in a waiting room. What’s going to make them stop scrolling long enough to actually read your content?

A killer cover. But, this is a printable. Instead of a cover, you have the header. It is what the eye hits first, which naturally makes it your viewer’s first impression of your product. Is your header going to help your printable stand out in the crowd?

Side note: I actually have a template of 5 killer headers for your product at the bottom of this post! Literally, all you have to do is make a copy of the template for your personal use, choose your favorite header, copy and paste it into your printable and then change the words. You can also personalize the fonts and colors to fit your brand so it’s a win-win. You can even use these headers for your paid products!

The body and layout

Naturally, you want the body of your printable to be stuffed full of super helpful, amazing content. This is your opportunity to solve your reader’s problem. Make it awesome. Make them take action. Make them want more.

Not only does the content need to be awesome, but the layout needs to be clean. It needs to be organized, easy to read and it needs to make sense to the reader. Don’t go crazy here- white space is your friend and now isn’t the time to experiment with the crazy-curly-fun font you found in the latest Creative Market font bundle.

Typography

Speaking of font, typography is a big, fancy word for text. It’s the fonts you use and how you use them. Never add more than 3 different fonts to a design. If you use brand-specific fonts; stick to them.

It will actually save you time when you have a consistent look to all your products (because you don’t have to come up with something new every time) and I promise your readers won’t mind the same look each time either. If you’re needing extra help with your brand, check out my Five Minute Brand templates!

Be consistent. If you use a font like quicksand for the body of your blog posts, use the same thing in your printables. This isn’t a deal-breaker; you can have a different font for your products (especially if you have no control over what font is in your blog posts) but, use it for all your products.

As a general rule, I like to stick with sans-serif fonts for large bodies of text because it’s easier to read. I also like san-serif in headers as well since it pairs better with script fonts. I have another cheat sheet in my design library of different font combos- so make sure you check that out too!

Design elements

Pick 2-3 design elements per design that will help you organize the layout. My favorites are banners and arrows. Banners help distinguish different sections or help identify “important” info. It also dresses it up and looks nice.

In case you are wondering, I also have a cheat sheet of design elements in the design library on my favorite design elements!

The message

Yes, this goes along with the content and body of your printable but I feel that it’s SO important to establish the goal of your overall message/purpose before designing your printable.

Do you want to inspire? Do you want to motivate? Do you want your reader to take action? Answer those questions first because it matters and needs to show in your design.

Whitespace

White space is your friend, especially if you are just starting out with a design.

White space gives a clean and organized appearance. If you use too many design elements or a crazy background color/pattern you are going to give off an overwhelming vibe.

This is likely the opposite reaction you want your reader to feel when they look at your printable.

I know chevrons are pretty but leave them on your kid’s nursery wall. (Fun fact, I actually did a grey chevron wall in my son’s nursery that turned out pretty awesome!)

If you’re completely overwhelmed with terms like “whitespace” I completely understand. I have an really in-depth course on not only Canva but graphic design concepts and how to combine the two to create social media graphics, printable, etc.

There’s a TON of step-by-step instructions and video tutorials to walk you through everything you need to know as a blogger!

If you want to check out Confidently Canva, just click here!

Footer and copyright info

I always include a copyright notice on all my printables. While this doesn’t prevent copyright infringement, it does deter it.

It usually goes something like this, “COPYRIGHT 2017 SIMPLIFYING DIY DESIGN DO NOT COPY, SELL, OR SHARE WWW.SIMPLIFYINGDIYDESIGN.COM”

Call to action or Next Steps

This doesn’t have to be included in every single printable but it’s something that I think is really important and often overlooked.

The point of a lead magnet is to attract your ideal audience, those that want to buy from you (even if you don’t have your own product yet) – so let them know what their next step should be!

This can be anything from checking out another relevant resource, purchasing something, or even just connecting with you on social media.

Guiding your audience to the next step will help them further solve the “problem” they had when they downloaded your printable in the first place!

With each next step, you’re providing more value and you’re getting to help them more and more!

The promotion

While this isn’t part of the actual design, it’s just as important. If you don’t promote your printable, no one will ever see it. So get it out there!

Here are some ideas:

  • Share on social media
  • Make a landing page (this can be done with Elementor, Leadpages, or your email service provide – I love Convertkit)
  • Set up an ad promotion
  • Do a Facebook live
  • Write a blog post about it
  • Share it in relevant Facebook groups
  • Pin, pin, pin!

Designing printables the right way

When you want to freeze, and when you don’t know where to start, take out this cheatsheet and just start (don’t forget to download it from our resource library)!

Honestly, the first thing I start with is the header. Once the header is out of the way, everything else seems to flow so much easier. This is why I think the header template will truly help you with your design.

After the header is out of the way; rock your content lay it out, and make it professional. Put the finishing touches on with design elements and a copyright statement. Then, all that’s left is to promote it.

GET 5 FREE EDITABLE HEADER TEMPLATES TO ROCK YOUR NEXT PRINTABLE

header templates

This template is available in our FREE Design Library! Fill out the form below to get access!

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Recap of resources mentioned in the post:

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Find out what must-have design elements your printable lead magnets should include! Freebie worksheets and other printables are a great way to grow your email list, nurture your current subscribers, and grow your income through passive digital products-- here's how to design the perfect printable in Canva easily! #canvadesignideas #printables #emailmarketing #designforbloggers #blogdesign #printabledesign #leadmagnets
Learn Exactly What Makes The Perfect Printable To Grow Your Blog

3 Updates With Canva You Need To Know About

by 3 Comments

Last updated on June 27th, 2022

Canva updates ALL the time, but there are a few new things I’ve noticed that I’ve been extremely excited about. Let’s jump in!

I’ve been known for “Canva hacks” and “work-arounds” and I’m always trying to learn and teach new things in Canva.

That being said, It’s super exciting when you don’t NEED a time-consuming workaround anymore! That’s exactly what we have here!

The new Canva “kids” will never know the struggle!!

Multiple Links in One Text Box

Most of you that have followed me for a while are aware of my workaround for this.

It involved making multiple text boxes, reducing the transparency of them and overlaying them on top of the original paragraph.

We don’t need to do this anymore! You can now add as many links per text box as your heart desires!

Simply highlight the word you want to turn into a link, click on the “link” button, and type in the URL. Hit apply and repeat as many times as you’d like!

The Line Tool

Canva has pretty much always had lines. This isn’t new.

The problem with the lines that Canva had was that they were extremely difficult to adjust the size/weight of them.

You’d spend forever tinkering and it ultimately ended in frustration.

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Find out what updates canva has made that will eliminate the workarounds and help you design faster than ever!! Ever blogger NEEDS to read this!!

My workaround for this was using the font “Cinzel” and typing underscores.

This was the best font for this because the underscores were perfectly smooth (no dashes) and after you had a line or two done, you could highlight what you already typed and then copy and paste.

Within seconds you had a perfect page of “notebook” style lines.

Well, Canva now has a line tool that allows you to adjust the weight of your lines with a slider! So EASY!

When you add a line to your design, you’ll notice some options pop up next to the color box.

The first one allows you to adjust the weight of the line.

Slide it down to make it thinner, and up to make it thicker.

The next option allows you to quickly change the line into a dotted or dashed line.

The last option allows you to change the front and ends of the line so you can customize it to exactly what you need.

Don’t get me wrong, this is GREAT but if you need an entire page of lines, it still may be faster to do the Cinzel font trick but if you wanted to use the lines, you can always copy and paste them down the page.

Curved Text!

While I love ALL of the text effects the curved text option is probably the effect that I most FREQUENTLY got asked about!

Below is my youtube tutorial on all of the text effects:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZV8oIC9fExY

If you enjoy Canva, design, and blog tutorials please feel free to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more!

As far as the curved text effect goes– this one wins biggest time saver!!

My workaround was quite time-consuming! It involved created a circle in the arch that you wanted and then placing individual letters and rotating them following the arch of the curve.

Then you’d delete the circle at the end of it.

Whew- so glad that will never have to be a thing again!

Now, with a simple click of a button, you can create curved, or even circled text.

Simply type out your text and click on “Effects” then choose “Curve” and use the slider to adjust the curve.

You can make it curve either way and even all the way around into a full circle if you want. Finally!

If you haven’t tried Canva or you’re looking to try out pro– click here to get started! Pro is worth its weight in GOLD in my opinion.

Simply being able to create folders galore is worth the price EASY!

Updates are happening all the time to make the platform better and easier to use.

I LOVE providing design templates, it’s so much fun but I would be lying if I didn’t completely geek out over design tricks/hacks!

I love that these updates make designing even faster (another reason I create templates— I love helping people save time) and I hope you learned a new trick or two!

Don’t forget to sign up for my free Canva templates! Just fill out the form below to get started!

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How To Set Blogging Goals That You Can Actually Achieve

by 4 Comments

Last updated on June 29th, 2022

We set goals in our personal life, so why should our blogs be any different? Learn to set blogging goals for your business that will help you maximize your time and grow your blog faster than ever.

Ready to set achievable goals? Use our FREE Asana Goal-Setting Board Template and map out your blogging goals so you can have the most profitable, focused year yet!

GET THE ASANA BOARD TEMPLATE!

Even before we started and grew our team here at Simplifying DIY Design, we were never really ‘planner people.’

With our constant juggle of kids, family, charity work, church groups, and even other businesses, we spent more time crossing things out rather than using it to stay on track.

Our schedules were constantly changing. Unfortunately, our planners just couldn’t adapt along with us.

To make matters worse, it was impossible to keep our team organized, let alone move the needle forward.

We knew we needed something digital. Something our whole team could access from anywhere, update in a second, and grow with us as we made our way up the six-figure ladder.

All without a steep learning curve or hefty price tag.

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Here's how to set achievable blogging goals for your blogging business that will help you maximize each quarter and grow your blog faster than ever before.

Now, that was just half the battle.

We never struggled with how to set goals for our blog. No… It was figuring out WHAT we all needed to work on collectively to achieve those goals in our small pockets of time.

Because, you know, life.

Learning to set our blogging goals that we could actually achieve AND plan out made all the difference in our blog.

Our friend (and business coach) Kristen from Blog Your Genius told us about her office whiteboard system. Around the same time, we took The 12-Week Blog Growth Strategy.

Armed with our new tools, we created a Trello board system that actually worked for us!

Creating this system designed specifically for us was seriously a game-changer.

It wasn’t until we scaled into a consistent six-figure company that we decided to switch to Asana, which we’ll chat about later in this post.

However, if you want to really dig deep into effectively breaking down your blogging goals into actionable steps that you can “roadmap” through each quarter, we highly recommend The 12-Week Blog Growth Strategy.

Our Trello Goal-Setting System

Now, if you came here hoping this tutorial would be centered around Trello, hear us out.

Asana and Trello are VERY similar in how they both operate. Lists, cards, tags – it’s all the same, so you’ll still get the idea of how we use our goal-setting system.

Not to mention we’re still offering our FREE Goal-Setting Trello board template as well as in Asana!

Now that that’s out of the way let’s jump right in.

Identify three blogging goals for the quarter.

Your goals should be attainable but big enough to give you that scary/excited feeling.

Keep in mind that if your goals are too “easy,” you won’t feel motivated. However, if they’re too big, you’ll feel defeated.

It’s a balance only you can find.

We also like to choose goals directly related to our big yearly goal.

Let’s say our BIG goal is to make six figures this year. Our quarterly blogging goals need to bring us closer to that. What would that entail?

We’ll look at our funnels and work backward to determine our quarterly goals.

Related Post: The Ultimate Guide to Designing a Funnel That Converts

We can’t make money with our blog unless our audience knows about us. To do that, we need website traffic.

Okay, we have the traffic. Now what? We need a way to make money from that traffic.

Email list. We’ll increase our subscriber base.

Just because we have subscribers doesn’t mean we’re making any money. How do we get our email list to make our blog money?

We need some income, whether it’s from products, affiliates, sponsored posts, or client work.

We’re ready to map out our three blogging goals for the quarter.

  1. Make $100 blogging
  2. Increase subscribers
  3. Increase traffic

If your goals look like this, then you need to stop right now.

Your blogging goals need to be specific and measurable.

Using our process, we’ll go back and refine those goals to get us one step closer to determining ACTIONABLE steps.

It’s the HOW behind your goals!

  1. Create a tripwire product to generate $100 per month
  2. Sign up 100 new subscribers per quarter
  3. Increase traffic from 10k to 20k monthly views

These are much more specific, don’t you think?

We don’t simply state that we want to make more money but instead designate a task to accomplish that (for example, the tripwire product).

Related Post: Tripwire Product Ideas to Design for Your Blog Today

In addition, we’ve specified how much we want to grow our email list and how much we want to increase our traffic.

We firmly believe in the ‘out of sight out of mind’ mentality.

To prevent that, the first column in our Asana board is for our ‘Goals.’

setting blogging goals in trello

Break down goals into a master task list

For this, we want to brain dump all the possible things we need to do to reach each of our blogging goals.

If it’s a task that we need to do but doesn’t DIRECTLY relate to one of our THREE quarterly goals, then it does NOT go on the list.

Focused, intentional work that moves the needle forward is what we’re aiming for.

PRO TIP: Stay organized with tags. As you build out your goal-setting system, these colored tags will help you identify goals and applicable tasks quickly and easily.

Breaking down blogging goals into actionable steps

Now that you have all your goals stepped out into tasks, arrange them in the order of completion.

If you find that one can be broken down into even more steps (which is highly likely), add it to a checklist within that card.

To do that:

  1. Click on the card
  2. Located the “Checklist” option on the right side of the card
  3. Add tasks to the checklist
  4. When you complete a task, just click on the checkbox to mark it as ‘Done’
How to add a checklist to a trello card

While we don’t do it for every task, we make sure to set deadlines for ones that absolutely need to be done by a specific date.

If we have a big promotion we’re prepping for, we’ll use due dates to launch on time. If something needs to be sent to another team member, due dates will follow suit.

Monthly goal-planning breakdown

Now that we have our quarters mapped out, we need to break it down further by planning our months.

Looking at our list of tasks in order of completion, we have a few things to consider here.

Which tasks are the most time-consuming? What tasks rely on others to be completed first?

Knowing this, we can break down our quarter into either one month, two months, or three months’ worth of tasks.

For example, our tasks to CREATE A TRIPWIRE are a bit more time-consuming than those needed to INCREASE SUBSCRIBERS.

We’ll break up our tripwire tasks into more manageable, bite-sized chunks throughout the quarter. We can quickly check those off for subscriber tasks within one month, thanks to our design templates!

Weekly goal-planning breakdown

Now that we have our year –> quarter –> month tasks complete, we can work on our weekly goals.

We have quite a few type-A gals on our team. The more thorough our lists, the happier they are!

Depending on the task and its urgency, we’ll go as far as to create daily tasks. But most of the time, we’re perfectly happy week-by-week.

Even though it’s so simple, this is truly magic. We NEVER have to think about what we “should” be doing when we sit at the computer.

There is a vast difference between being productive and being busy.

To help us realize this, we documented our every movement for one week straight.

If we’re checking email, it went on our list. If we’re designing new lead magnets for a product, it went on the list. Even if we found ourselves going down the Facebook rabbit hole, it went on the list.

At the end of each day, we saw our progress.

Having that visual right in front of us spoke volumes. We saw that we were spending a good chunk of time on tasks that were NOT directly related to one of the blogging goals we had set for ourselves.

Talk about an ah-ha moment!

Goal setting method for bloggers and business owners

Why we made the switch to Asana

When we first started with Trello as a brand new business, it worked perfectly at no cost to us. All the features we needed to keep us organized were available on the free plan.

As we grew, we found that we were spending quite a bit on Power-Ups and eventually Trello Gold. It started to feel like we had maxed out its versatility (for us) and used many workarounds and backdoors to fit with our current systems in our business.

But, we kept with it thinking it would be a logistical nightmare to move to another program.

It wasn’t until we saw a webinar about Asana that we realized we were stunting our growth.

We had the opportunity to see Asana work in real-time, doing everything we wanted Trello to do.

That webinar was Uplevel With Asana, which has completely revolutionized our business.

Aside from having the most intuitive blogging goals strategy, we have systems in place for content maintenance, product creation, affiliate marketing, the works.

We have an entire 365 days planned and mapped out, which is such an incredible feeling.

Long story long, Trello was a fantastic starting point for our business. And when it was time to graduate, Asana was there to help us scale to new heights.

Set blogging goals and rock them

Everything we do for our blog has a rhyme or reason. It’s pushing us to grow, try new things, and make waves in the blogging industry.

This is why we turn off comments, remove social media apps from our phones, and disable notifications on our computers. When we’re working, we need to be focused.

We can’t waste a single second.

This goal-setting system lets us see what tasks are constantly being pushed aside. We then can evaluate why we’re not getting them done.

Maybe something needs to be broken down more, researched, or completely outsourced.

We do what works for us and this incredible team. Will it work for every blogger out there? No. But, as we say time and time again, that’s the beauty of templates and systems like Asana and Trello.

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS POST:

Don’t forget to grab our FREE Asana Goal-Setting Board Template! Finally, map out your blogging goals to have the most profitable, focused year yet!

GET THE ASANA BOARD TEMPLATE!

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Here's how to set achievable blogging goals for your blogging business that will help you maximize each quarter and grow your blog faster than ever before.

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