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Simplifying DIY Design

Simple Graphic Design To Grow Your Blog

30+ Blogging Tools and Resources I Used to Grow My Blog

by 15 Comments

Last updated on June 28th, 2022

Digital products are exactly how we make 80-90% of our full-time blogging income. The best part? It’s completely PASSIVE once you get your product created! Find exactly what product to make for your blog AND grab our free ebook template to make it happen!

Want our FREE Ebook (includes worksheet pages) for Canva OR InDesign? It’s available in our evergrowing Design Vault! Get that product made, out there, and generate income in no time at all!

GET THE FREE DIGITAL PRODUCT TEMPLATE NOW!

Literally, every second of your day counts.

Especially when you are a new blogger that works from home. Especially if you are a mom with small kids.

Especially if you want to grow your blog quickly.

As a side note: if you’re NOT a new blogger, you can check out my post about the tools I use to run my blog once I hit the six-figure point right here. This post contains resources and tools I used when I was still growing my blog.

And it seems like everyone has some kind of tool that you absolutely need (and buy). And this ONE TOOL will streamline your entire business.

It will magically make you go from zero to millions. It’s the missing piece that your business has been dying for.

Well. I’ve bought a lot of things. I’ve tried a lot of things. Here’s exactly what I used to go from launch date to over $2,000/month in just 3 months.

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

WEBSITE

Pixel Me Designs

We might be a design agency, but we’re definitely not web designers. Laura is not only affordable, but she did an amazing job with our branding and website. We wanted bold and colorful, and we got it. The wait list was a bit long, but worth it. We highly suggest getting on her waitlist as soon as possible!

SiteGround

We made the switch to Siteground after Bluehost shut down another one of our websites after we had a post go viral. They said, “we were taking up too much space on the server.” So, we did some research and made the switch to SiteGround. We LOVE them, and they have excellent customer service.

Thrive

We use thrive to build all of our lead boxes. We especially love that it was a one-time cost instead of a monthly fee. It’s easy to use and looks professional.

WRITING

Grammarly

The thing we love about Grammarly is that it works on any screen on your computer (not just the web). So whether you’re writing in email, Facebook, Google Docs, WordPress, etc., it;ll highlight the spelling or grammar error. Just click and it’ll fix it for you! It can’t get easier than that!

The Copy Word

If you struggle with captivating copywriting, this is the site for you. We downloaded her freebie on writing Facebook ad copy, followed it, and literally got this message a few hours later from one of our subscribers who saw the ad:

Fabulous ad! So well written. It’s hitting all my pain points! It makes me want to sign up again! Really nice work.

LIST BUILDING

ConvertKit

We’ve had ConvertKit since day one in our business and love our choice with this! I especially love that we can segment, tag, and build funnels to automate sequences and SALES. Yes, automated sales!

Email Marketing Strategy Solved

Follow this list-building course, and you’ll know how to organically build an engaged list of qualified leads for your business. The course walks you through getting creepy close to your avatar (in a good way) and nurturing your list, so they trust you, LOVE you, and want to buy from you. The methods in this strategy were the first thing that actually made sense to me. I was able to implement it and stick to it, and it was a game-changer!

RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS

Trello

I think most of you know that I’m a HUGE Trello fan! I even have already made boards in our resource library for you to use. Trello has been a game-changer for me when it comes to planning out my content and my projects, not to mention stepping out my goals. LOVE!! And again, free.

Dubsado

We use this for literally anything client-related and bookkeeping. It allows you to send forms, invoices, contracts, and pretty much anything else to any client or brand you’re working with. You can also store and send canned email responses to save time which is hands down our favorite part.

SendOwl

If you sell digital products, SendOwl is a great tool. They handle the monetary transaction and delivery of our products which means we don’t need WooCommerce to sell our digital products.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Recurpost

This tool is legit gold for automatically posting social media posts on a rotation. You load up different libraries with content (so for example, blog posts, other’s content, memes and quotes, engagement questions, etc.) and set it to a schedule.

Social Media Templates

Believe it or not, we use our own templatesThese save a TON of time when it comes to making our social media images. They are custom-made to match your brand and style. All I need to do is swap out the background image and change the title. Done and done.

Facebook Ads

After implementing the strategy I learned in List Love, I set up a Facebook ad to promote my freebie. I also created a tripwire to cover the cost of the Facebook ads (& then some!!)

CREATIVE NEEDS

Canva

You probably saw this coming from a mile away. YES, Canva is most definitely in my toolbox. I could go on forever about it, but one of the ways it really makes my life easier is by letting me quickly resize images. So I make my pin, my featured image, and my Facebook image super fast. Another great way is by setting up templates for myself so I can just make a copy and swap out the image and title.

Want to learn more about designing in Canva? 
Click here to enroll in our FREE Canva 101 workshop!

Renderforest

Helps me make cool text videos to promote blog posts and my freebies. Another awesome tool is Lumen5. We all know that video is the way the world is headed, but I don’t know about you, I don’t always feel up to doing a live sesh, so this is a super quick way to create an interesting video for your social media platforms.

Depositphotos

I have officially been turned OFF from those free sites like Pexels and Pixabay. If you haven’t heard, people are putting their images on these sites then taking them off and suing people that use them for copyright infringement. No thanks. I definitely knew I wanted to purchase my stock photos, and DepositPhoto was the best for my buck.

I tried other similarly priced sites, and the quality of photos just didn’t click for me. I’m extremely happy with the photos available on Depositphoto.

Creative Market

I. LOVE. Creative Market. Seriously! They have weekly freebies (like free fonts, graphics, etc.). They also have awesome bundles (like 700 fonts for $20 and other crazy awesome deals). Personally, I like to find deals on graphic clipart, so I don’t have to worry about purchasing the licensing for individual Canva design elements.

Ecover Maker

I use this to make all my 3D images of books, binders, and gadgets for my product and freebie promotional photos. These make the digital products look professional and eye-catching.

If you want to learn more about creating product photos, click here.

Pixistock

These are styled stock photos that are just beautiful. She sends also sends out free stock images each month. She has a great resource library with a TON of free, beautiful stock photos.

Here’s my full disclosure. Blogging is hard.

I did not start with “no knowledge of blogging” when I started this site. I had already been blogging on my other site and learning. It’s true I started with zero subscribers and zero income.

Less than 3 months after I launched, I had reached 500 subscribers and earned over $1500 in a one-month span.

But again, I had a strategy, I had learned and spent time building a foundation for my blog before officially launching. But I also knew when to say good enough, let’s click that button and launch it!

I was also willing to invest, despite our tight budget. I had to be careful and make smart investments. In addition, I also had to measure whether or not a tool was working fairly quickly to determine if I could afford to keep it paying for it.

There are so many tools out there it is easy to think you need to buy yet another thing.

You start to feel overwhelmed. You start getting FOMO.

Start small. Start with a foundation and work up from there.

This is a big list- you by no means need to go buy everything on this list your first week of blogging. This is not an all-inclusive list either; it’s simply the tools I use for my blog.

Start your blog, start writing, and set up an email list.

Then start weighing your investments: Do you really need ANOTHER course or would your money be better spent on hiring a designer to create you a product that you can SELL over and over?

Do you need another tool or maybe you could hire a VA to take care of social media for you? Do you really need a new outfit or can you get some templates created for your brand? You get the idea.

Everyone’s business is different. And you will start learning what you can really afford as you go. Most of the tools on this list are free, so why not give them a shot? REALLY try it for at least a month and see if it’s made an impact.z

Everything else will come with time as you grow your blog into an actual business.

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS POST:

Want our FREE Ebook (includes worksheet pages) for Canva OR InDesign? It’s available in our evergrowing Design Vault! Get that product made, out there, and generate income in no time at all!

GET THE FREE DIGITAL PRODUCT TEMPLATE NOW!

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 down 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!⬇

I always struggled to grow my blog but then I found these amazing and mostly free resources. These are the exact products and blogging tools I used to grow my blog- and grow my email list- from zero to actually making money from home
Learn all about my absolute favorite, can't-run-my-blog-without-them tools that helped me go from launch to $2k per month after only 3 months. Make more money blogging with these blogging resources to help you grow your blog and make money from home. #blogging #bloggrowth #makemoneyblogging #bloggingtools

The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Media Kit that Makes Money

by 3 Comments

Last updated on July 28th, 2022

Media kits are the linchpin to nailing sponsored opportunities! In this article you’ll learn what needs to go in your media kit, how to design a media kit, and you’ll also get a free media kit template– creating a media kit for bloggers has never been easier!!

My first real paycheck from blogging was a sponsored post thanks to my Media Kit!

I was frustrated after months of not getting anywhere. To be fair, when I first started blogging I really thought I just needed to write random things and put up a few ads and I’d be making a full-time income.

At least that’s what I gathered from the first couple of Pinterest articles I had clicked on.

I needed to start making an income and the 26 cents in my Adsense account wasn’t exactly cutting it. I couldn’t even manage to get over 1k pageviews each month.

Start making money with you blog using our free media kit template, customizable in Canva! Even if you don't know how to design, you can create a professional media kit that brands won't be able to turn away!

When I finally got serious about blogging as a business, I was able to grow my pageviews to over 10k my first month and book my very first sponsored post… for a whole $22 (hey, it’s better than 26 cents right??)

But my next sponsored post a month later (pageviews were about 26k at that time) was for $180… better right? This was the second month after I had restarted my blog.

PS: Check out the exact tools I used to start making $2k/per within THREE months!!

Here’s what I did to get my first sponsored post:

  • I made a media kit
  • I searched Instagram for businesses in my niche that were newish and made a list
  • Then I picked two businesses and sent them emails directly with post ideas

The second time around:

  • I set up a sponsorship package with different rates and services
  • I sent my media kit first, along with my post ideas
  • When I heard back, I sent my sponsorship package

I booked my highest priced package shortly after (the same day I found out I was having baby #2.. That was a good day!)

What is a media kit?

A media kit is a quick overview of who you are, what your business is, who your audience is, and your stats. The purpose is to give a brand a sense of your business so they can decide if working with you for sponsorships (or other opportunities) will be a good fit. 

After all, the best sponsorship opportunities are ones that benefit the audiences of both parties.

“But my numbers are low, I’m nowhere near ready for a media kit”

Media kits are, in my opinion, one of the first things you should set up.

Like seriously:

  1. Launch your site
  2. Write your pillar content
  3. Design a freebie
  4. Make a media kit
  5. Everything else

You can always update your numbers as you go, but don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! Check out these tips and tricks to help increase your pageviews (we’re talking 100,000 page views)! PLUS I have an already-designed-for you FREE media kit that you can edit to fit your brand and your stats. Pretty amazing, right!?

Start making money with you blog using our free media kit template, customizable in Canva! Even if you don't know how to design, you can create a professional media kit that brands won't be able to turn away!

You don’t need big numbers, you need a professional and clean looking media kit. What you need to have is confidence as you approach brands (and be strategic about the brands you decide to pitch) and you need to know your worth.

My first sponsored post was well undervalued. While my numbers may have been low, that post ended up being one of my top 5 posts for about 2 years. The amount of traffic that that $22 post sent them was unbelievably impressive.

But media kits are also needed for other opportunities such as:

  • Giveaways
  • Product reviews
  • Influencing for a conference or event
  • Brand Ambassadorship
  • Landing guest posts or interviews on podcasts
  • The list goes on…

How to easily make a media kit

A very basic, one-page media kit is all that’s needed when you first start out. Especially if you are going after both compensated and non-compensated opportunities. As you grow, you may want to expand to a more advanced multi-page media kit with a monetization package.

Here’s what you need to get started:

  • Your logo
  • Your Stats
  • Elevator pitch
  • “About me” blurb
  • Media kit template
  • A general idea of what services you would like to offer (I have included some examples on our media kit template)

Then, pick your color palette and gather your design elements. You will likely need icons for your blog stats and social media stats, and you may also want to include charts or graphics if you have a more advanced media kit.

If you are using our media kit template, you won’t have to search for design elements as they are already included (you can swap them out though, if you choose). You can get access to this template at the end of the article!

Include the following information in your media kit:

  • Introduction: What is your business
  • About you: Who are you and why do you do what you do
  • Stats: audience age and gender
  • Pageviews
  • Email list
  • Social media stats
  • Services offered
  • Contact info
  • Professional headshot (optional but encouraged)
  • Testimonials and social proof (optional but encouraged)
  • Sponsorship/monetization package and information (optional but encouraged especially if blogging as a business)
  • Top traffic channels (optional)
  • Top locations of an audience (optional)

Monetization options

Creating a sponsorship package is a great way to start monetizing your blog. Start by deciding on what services you would like to offer and pricing them individually.

Then, create a number of different packages that include different combinations of those services, each priced differently.

For example, if you offer sponsored blog posts, social media campaigns, newsletter campaigns, and ad space then you could consider creating three options:

Lite option: 1 blog post, 1 social share, and 1 newsletter mention

Medium option: 1 blog post, 10 social shares over 2 weeks, 2 newsletter mentions

Advanced option: 2 blog posts, 20 social shares over 1 month, 2 newsletter mentions, and ad space for 30 days

You would price these things at a slightly lower price point than if the services were purchased individually. You could also create longer-term sponsorship opportunities (like 3-6 month contracts). This would mean a recurring income for you and also more exposure for the brand you’re working with. 

Side note: if you are looking for a tool that does bookkeeping, client onboarding, contract signing, sending invoices, and a ton of other awesome stuff then check out Dubsado. I use, LOVE, and highly recommend it!

So, whether you are ready for your very first paycheck, or you are ready to really level up your monetization strategy; stop putting it off! Design your media kit now, you can always update it later as you grow!

DOWNLOAD OUR FREE MEDIA KIT TEMPLATE NOW!

Our media kit is included in our FREE resource library! By filling out the form below, you will get access to not only the media kit template, but all of our other free editable Canva templates, step by step tutorials, and other design tools!

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

When you sign up to our email list you'll get instant access to this canva template, PLUS you'll get access to all of our tutorials and tools in our design library as well!

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

Design a media kit that makes money! Presentation matters and if you want to monetize your blog by getting sponsored campaign, you need a professionally designed media kit. But here's the thing; you can design it yourself! Plus, I even have a free canva template to help! #blogging #getsponsoredcampaigns #makemoneyblogging #monetizeyourblog #mediakit #mediakittemplate #designamediakit

5 Awesome Typography Tips: How to Design with Canva Fonts

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Last updated on January 19th, 2023

In this article you’ll learn how to design with fonts and Canva font design tips that I use when creating blog graphics. I always want my brand and my graphics to stand out but be easy to read. These font tips will help you pick the right fonts for your brand and your graphics!

How to Design with Canva Fonts

Can I be honest for a minute?

I hate logos. I really do. It’s the main reason I opted out of going to college for graphic design.

I really, really didn’t want a career that required me to sit in a cubicle and make logos for businesses all day.

Fortunately, even though graphic design is a big part of my career now, I don’t have to make boring logos all day.

Nor do I have to sit in a cubicle.

But I think the reason that people struggle with logos is the font.

Typography isn't always easy, whether you are designing logos, the layout of your worksheets, or social media designs. These simple tips will help you rock your next design-- make sure to get the cheatsheet!

I also think the reason why bloggers struggle with social media design is that it’s the blogger-equivalent to logos.

You need that eye-catching (but not overwhelming) font design on each image.

So whether you are working on your logo or working on your social media designs, hopefully, these tips can help!

Side note: I have a really helpful cheatsheet at the bottom of this post, so keep an eye out for it- it’s a must-have for your blogging binder!!

Design with font: 5 Awesome typography tips

(By the way, “typography” is just a fancy word for designing with fonts and we actually have a whole lesson dedicated to this in our

Canva 101 Workshop!

)

1. Pair script with sans-serif

Of course, there are exceptions to this rule, but the gist of it is that Script fonts pair best with Sans-Serif fonts.

If you’re unfamiliar with a Sans-Serif font, here’s an example of a Script font and a Sans-Serif font to see the difference:

While they’re both the same size, the Script font is just a little fancier and a bit more ‘complicated’ to the eye.

On the other hand, the Sans-Serif is much more simple, so they complement each other well. That style of font works especially well on smaller-sized graphics and screens like Pinterest pins.

Related Post: Anatomy of the Perfect Pinterest Pin Design

Consumers spend more time on their phones than computers and laptops, so we need to ensure we’re designing for both mobile and desktop.

If your website, pin design, or even an opt-in landing page is using hard-to-read fonts, you WILL miss out on that subscriber!

2. Never use more than one script

Two different scripts should never be used in the same design. It’s very overwhelming and can be difficult for the eye to read.

If you can’t captivate your readers in just a few seconds because they’re not sure what your pin says, they’re moving on.

The only time we EVER use a second script is when we use a “&” symbol (ampersand) and want it to look different than the one that comes with the script I’ve used in the text.

DESIGN TIP: Great Vibes font has an awesome ampersand!

Personally, we like the sweepy, elegant-looking “&” symbols. But as our brand evolves, we’re using simpler, bold fonts for both clarity and style.

Now, we get it. Script fonts are stunning; we’d use them everywhere if we could, but they’re just not practical for everyday use.

3. Keep to 2-3 different fonts per design

We actually learned this one in design school, and we’d say it still holds true.

In an average design, we use up to three fonts. Two different fonts in the header and (maybe) a separate font for the body text.

Our Pinterest pins vary from two to three fonts, as well as email graphics and lead magnet designs. Generally, we use a san serif font, a bold/large font, and a script font. But like we said, not always.

Can you have a killer pin design using only two fonts? Absolutely!

If you’re up in the air about your font combinations, choose simple over complex until you’re comfortable with your designs.

4. Use pre-paired font combinations

We’ve literally talked to people who’ve spent hours trying to mix the right fonts.

That can be a deterrent for many beginner bloggers because if they struggle with the branding stage, they’ll think the rest of their journey will be just as difficult, if not worse.

We’ve been there, we know how that feels!

When we stumbled upon these FREE design generators, we were grinning from ear to ear.

Related Post: FREE Design Generators to Choose Colors, Fonts, and Logos

All the hair-pulling, finger-tapping, and eye-rubbing work of finding font combinations that actually work together is done.

Just pick a starting font and click away until you find your perfect brand font combination!

5. Get a signature “brand” font to use in all your designs (& where to get them)

Investing in a brand-specific font can be a big game-changer. I’m not one to get obsessively “brand-y” in all of my designs, but I do think that it provides consistency in your products and also saves you time from having to come up with something totally different each time.

I also think it benefits you to have a brand-specific font in your social media images.

Not only will people start to think of you and your business when they see your pins (and your font) but it will also help your designs stand out among a very overly saturated social media platform.

Pssst! Use our FREE brand board template to add in all of your brand’s fonts, colors, and logos so you can see if they play well together! 

There is an argument as well for Pinterest putting images with unique images and fonts in front of more eyes. I think this is mostly because so many people are using the same images and fonts (you know, because they’re free) that Pinterest gets them confused and thinks it’s duplicate content.

My favorite place to get signature fonts is Font Bundles and Creative Market— they sometimes have free signature fonts or font bundles that give you a TON of fonts for a low, low price.

Bonus Tip: Use a LOT of text boxes

Here’s an extra tip. I think most people would be amazed at how many text boxes I actually have in a design (even my pins).

I actually have a different text box for every line and every font; with the exception of long bodies of text, like in a workbook.

The benefit of this being that I can put my lines of text close together, line them up in unique ways, and I can have “accent” words that are in different fonts.

I personally think this brings your overall design to the next level and helps it stand out in the crowd.

Bonus Tip 2: Use easy font design techniques to help your text stand out

Check out our video tutorial on how to really easily create font that stands out with these super simple techniques. You can also pretty easily create textured font in Canva (think glitters or metallic gold!): watch that tutorial here.

Designing with fonts isn’t difficult

It simply takes practice, and as a blogger, you will get plenty of that!

Start with these simple tips, print off my cheatsheet, and put it in your blogging binder.

Then, start practicing.

Once you get the hang of font design, it’s pretty fun to play around with it!

Learn how to incorporate your new, beautiful fonts into your graphics by rocking the basics of Canva! 

Want even more awesome Canva tips and tricks? Check out how to create the perfect printable to skyrocket your blogging income!

GET OUR FREE FONT PAIRINGS CHEAT SHEET NOW!

Just fill out the form below and get our FREE cheatsheet along with all of our FREE templates, tutorials, and design tools!

This cheatsheet is available in our FREE Design Library! Just fill out the form to get access!

Sign up for our email list and you'll get instant access to this cheat sheet, PLUS you will also get access to all of our free canva templates and design tutorials as well!

REMEMBER IT FOR LATER, PIN IT TO YOUR FAVORITE BOARD ⬇

Font design tips for bloggers! Find out exactly what you need to know about designing with font for your blog graphics and easy design techniques to use to make your font stand out! #designforbloggers #blogdesign #bloggraphics #socialmediagraphics #designforblog

 

Easy Digital Products | How to Make Printables to Sell

by 9 Comments

Last updated on March 2nd, 2023

Learning how to make printables to sell will be your best decision for your blog. Printables not only pave the way for higher-priced products, but you’ll be able to grow your email list and make passive income with your blog!

Bloggers are sometimes quick to monetize. They know they want to turn their blog into a business, while others see it strictly as a creative outlet or hobby.

For us, we wanted our very first blog to operate as a business right from the get-go.

So, naturally, we did what any other ambitious blogger would do. We hopped on Google and searched for ways we could make money blogging.

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

GET THE FREE QUICKSTART KIT!

We absorbed all the “advice” we could from blog articles, signed up for (so many) webinars, and invested in courses to learn more. We were committed to making this blog-turn business successful!

Turns out, we needed a product. A few days later, a product was out there for the digital world to see… and hopefully buy. Instead, crickets.

We didn’t have an audience or anyone to promote our product.

So, why would we expect to have any sales? We had zero dollars to invest in advertising, and we didn’t even really know if this was something people wanted.

The thing is, we had it all backward.

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

How to make printables to sell so you can make money blogging through passive income. Plus FREE Canva templates for making your own printables to sell!

We quickly learned that you need to build your audience first and your product second.

Not only does this allow you to survey them and make something that will solve their problems, but it will sell like hotcakes because they’re already asking for it!

You actually HAVE people sitting there waiting to buy your product. You just have to find a way to hear them.

Side note: We talk about this a LOT more in our FREE product creation masterclass if you’d like to sign up!

IDENTIFY THE RIGHT PRODUCT

For some, their instant thought of a product is that it has to be tangible, which is not always the case. We don’t sell a single physical product yet make six figures annually.

The beauty of digital products is that you make them once and can sell them a million times over. Very little maintenance is required, depending on whether the product needs regular updates and the occasional customer service issue, such as deliverability.

However, you need to identify the right product for your audience before you can learn how to make printables to sell.

  • What are they struggling with?
  • What would solve their problem?
  • How badly do they want that problem solved?
  • WHY do they need that problem solved?
  • What’s at stake if they don’t solve it?

It’s common for bloggers to overthink this process. All you have to do is ask!

Think about it. If a brand reached out to you looking to create something that solved your biggest problem, would you not spill the beans and tell them EVERYTHING this product needs?

That’s what we thought!

SURVEY YOUR AUDIENCE

Before selling printables, you need to create them. And to create them, you need to know WHAT you’re making.

Using the questions above as a guide, set up a survey (we use Google Forms) that you can send to your list. See why having an email list is important?

You’ll be surprised how many people are willing to complete surveys like this, especially if you’ve been nurturing them all this time. They’ll want to help and feel excited about being heard, nurturing them even more!

Once your audience brainstorms your printable products for you, you can put it all together.

The more printables you can come up with, the better! Send out another survey or have a poll in your Facebook group that lets them vote on which product they want the most.

This gets your audience talking in the comments because they’ll see different ways to use each product that they hadn’t thought about.

DESIGN YOUR PRINTABLES

It’s time to make printables to sell! First, we just want to clarify that when we say “printable,” we don’t mean a checklist or inspirational quote in pretty text. For example, we’re talking about digital products that can be printed, such as a planner or workbook.

We like to brainstorm and outline first because it makes designing a lot less overwhelming. Sometimes we’ll even draw it out on a piece of paper before laying it out in Canva.

Related Post: Anatomy of a Killer Blog Printable

And yes, you can absolutely make printables to sell using Canva! You don’t need fancy programs like InDesign or Illustrator. In fact, every single one of our design templates is created right inside Canva.

  • Product mockups
  • Social media graphics
  • Pinterest pins
  • Promotional + launch graphics
  • Workbooks
  • Canva templates to sell

Still not convinced? We made an 80+ page printable workbook in Canva, which generated the author of that workbook over $100k in 3 months! Isn’t Canva awesome?

BUILD YOUR CUSTOMER JOURNEY

Now that you’ve made your printables, you need a way to actually sell them!

You can choose from many options – Etsy, Shopify, Teachable, self-hosted, etc. We’ve tried them ALL, and if things weren’t confusing enough, they all have their own advantages.

With Etsy, it’s much easier and quicker to get traffic to your ‘shop.’ But you don’t own your email list, so reconnecting with your buyers proves difficult. Oh, and don’t forget the fees.

Shopify has come a LONG way over the years and is gaining much traction for both physical and digital product sellers.

Side note: We LOVE these Shopify templates from Easy Website Themes. Because they’re crafted by an official Shopify developer, they’re designed for top-notch site speed as well as aesthetics. Get 20% off your purchase with our code, SIMPLIFY20!

If you rely on Google for shop traffic, it’ll take a bit longer than Etsy to build momentum.

We prefer Teachable just because it’s easier to manage all of our products since they’re in one place. But if we had to do it all over again, we would definitely go with Shopify for our printables.

Related Post: Best Tools for Creating and Selling Digital Products

Regardless if you choose Etsy or Shopify, your printables will automatically be delivered upon purchase, so there’s no extra work for you. If you go with Teachable, login details are sent instead.

If you go with Shopify or something like Teachable, they tie in with ConvertKit, making automating your list a breeze.

Once someone purchases one of your products, they’re automatically added to a series of welcome sequences that focus on nurturing to build even more trust.

LAUNCH TO YOUR READERS

Product launches are stressful. Don’t worry, you’re not alone.

We recommend planning a series of emails before launching, also known as pre-launch content.

This is meant to agitate the problem that your printable solves without actually mentioning anything about your product. It’s warming up your audience. They’re thinking, “Oh yeah, I struggle with that!”

Then, plan your launch series. This is where you’ll announce your product, talk about the benefits, send out answers to questions (asked or not), and send the last-minute reminder.

You can even experiment with offering an early bird discount for those that buy in the first 24-72 hours, depending on how long your launch is.

How to make printables to sell so you can make money blogging through passive income. Plus FREE Canva templates for making your own printables to sell!

SIDE NOTE: Grab our FREE Product Creators QuickStart Kit with a checklist, cheatsheet, and Canva eBook template to help you plan, design, and launch your first (or next) digital product!

SET UP WEBINARS

Plan your webinar for the very beginning of your launch week. Choose a topic for your webinar that relates to the problem your product solves and invite your email list to register. Optionally, you can set up a Facebook ad to get sign-ups.

Use the webinar as the first step of a sales funnel. At the end, offer your product and a bonus if they buy now. Answer any questions related to the problem or product.

We personally use LeadPages because all of our webinars are now pre-recorded, but Zoom works great, too!

ADD AFFILIATE LINKS

Don’t forget that you can increase the monetization of your printables (and even courses) by adding affiliate links. If your eBook talks about a course you’re an affiliate for, link it!

Another option would be to have a resource page for your printable product, which you can send that includes affiliate links to related products/services.

Affiliate income can be completely passive, meaning you can make money while you sleep!

You can also set up your own affiliate program to increase your product’s reach even further. They promote the product to their audience in exchange for a small commission. It’s a win-win for everyone!

UPDATE OLD CONTENT

This often gets overlooked but can drive some massive sales your way! Google loves updated content, which is an absolute must if you’re also using Pinterest to grow your blog.

Keeping your content updated is a surefire way to keep traffic coming to your older blog posts and keep those readers happy. No one likes reading outdated content!

Related Post: 5 Ways to Build Your List by Repurposing Blog Content

If any of your content is related to your printable product, add a content box that announces it. Make it stand out and say something like:

UPDATE [DATE]: If you’re looking for more info on this topic, my new product XYZ just launched! I’m so excited for you to check it out, just click here! [add link to sales page]

If it’s only available for a set number of days, make sure to remove the boxes after your launch ends. But if it’s an evergreen printable (available all year round), continue to mention it in any related content.

Consider adding a sentence or two about how you discuss this topic in your product and include the link if they want to check it out.

Here are a couple of examples of how we did that with one of our holiday products here and here.

When used right, printables can actually grow your blog.

Not only can printables be an incredible way to grow your email list, but more advanced printable products can be used to skyrocket your income.

The key is knowing which ones to give away for free and which to sell. Be picky, and remember that giving something away for free does NOT mean you won’t make money from that subscriber.

Free products should be strategically created to attract the right person for the paid product. We get emails all the time saying our Product Creators QuickStart Kit shouldn’t be free because of its value.

Well, that’s the point! We wanted to show our audience we know products and help them get started with selling their own digital product.

We then offer our full product creation system for those that want to really leverage digital products to make a full-time income.

It all starts with your audience, even if you just want to make printables to sell (and not full-blown courses).

Always focus on your audience, and you’ll never go wrong!

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS POST:

Don’t forget to grab our FREE Product Creators QuickStart Kit! You’ll get a checklist, cheatsheet, and Canva design template to help you nail your launch!

GET THE FREE PRODUCT QUICKSTART KIT!

TRY CANVA PRO FREE FOR 30 DAYS

Start your FREE Canva Pro trial today and unlock ALL of their incredible time-saving features that 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 design is put back into making MORE money in our business!

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

Learn how to use printable products to grow your blog. They are the best way to monetize a blog, especially when used as a tripwire or part of a funnel, they can create sustainable and recurring income and help you make money blogging. Digital products are easy and cheap to create which means more money for your blogging business! #printables #digitalproducts #design #blogdesign

17 Content Upgrade Ideas in 2022 | Grow Your Email List Fast

by 6 Comments

Last updated on January 20th, 2023

Lead magnets are a blogger’s most powerful tool. A great content upgrade is what has your audience joining your email list, which isn’t susceptible to algorithm changes. Keep your readers coming back for more, and grow that list with a killer opt-in!

Want our FREE Ebook (includes worksheet pages) for Canva OR InDesign? It’s available in our ever-growing Design Vault! Get that content upgrade made, out there, and grow your list!

GET THE FREE EBOOK TEMPLATE NOW!

As fellow bloggers, we think at this point, we can all agree on one thing: An email list matters!

Your email list is the foundation of your business.

It’s where you engage with your readers, build trust, and generate most of your income.

It’s absolutely the most important part of your business. This is the one aspect of blogging that you actually have control over. You don’t have control of social media algorithms tanking your traffic.

But your list? You own it. You can control your sales and your traffic just by nurturing that relationship. However, building your list can take time.

Especially if all you have to offer is “sign up to stay updated on our latest posts.”

Nope. We don’t want an RSS feed, and your audience doesn’t, either. RSS feeds are impersonal, and honestly? They can get annoying. If that’s not enough, they won’t build a relationship with your list.

Remember this post later! Pin it to your favorite Pinterest board! ⬇

Content upgrades are a great way to provide real value to your readers. Grow your email list by creating a content upgrade your audience actually wants!

And, you’re passing up on a big opportunity if you don’t have a decent lead magnet (or a few).

When Simplifying DIY Design was born, we made content upgrades right from the get-go. In doing so, our first ten blog posts had a dedicated lead magnet.

Why?

  1. This will speed up the growth of your list immensely
  2. If you blog about several topics, you can target your readers based on their subject interest and segment your list so you can deliver content they really want
  3. It provides value to your reader and keeps them coming back for more
  4. It starts to build trust when your reader knows how much you’re willing to give to help solve their problems

The easiest way to grow your list is by adding a content upgrade to your posts (especially your top 10). Make sure it’s related to that particular blog post and something that your reader simply can’t pass up.

1. EBOOKS

You can put these together very quickly. You can even repurpose old blog content, a popular email, or blog series. Create a beautiful cover and attractive overall design to step it up a notch.

Related Post: 5 Ways to Build Your List by Repurposing Blog Content

Save it as a PDF and deliver it using automation with something like ConvertKit when your reader signs up for your freebie.

SIDE NOTE: We have an eBook Canva template available in our FREE Design Vault!

Just like creating an ebook is super easy, setting up your automated delivery using ConvertKit is even easier. We’ve been using ConvertKit since day 1 of our business, and we absolutely LOVE it!

2. CHECKLISTS

This is super easy for any type of “list” post. If you spend 5 minutes on Pinterest, you’ll know that they’re VERY popular!

Have 40 ways to save money? Make it a checklist. Did you just post a delicious recipe on the blog? Make a grocery checklist.

Now’s a great time to mention we have a Pinterest design checklist in our FREE Design Vault. See? You can convert almost any topic into a checklist!

We’re suckers for a great checklist because we love crossing stuff off! This adds value by giving your content a more “actionable” approach.

Nothing says action more than checking off a box that’s DONE!

3. WORKSHEETS

Worksheets are so simple to design in Canva, and people love to have a walkthrough approach. Have a post on budgeting? Create a worksheet to walk them through the steps using our FREE Canva worksheet templates!

Help your audience actually implement your ideas and show them that you know what you’re talking about and can help them.

Related Post: 5 Easy Ways to Create Worksheets to Grow Your Blog

Worksheets have been such a game-changer for our audience that we decided to write a whole post on how they can really boost your blog growth!

If worksheets sound like your thing, don’t forget to grab our FREE Canva worksheet templates mentioned above!

4. PRINTABLE ART

This is especially a good one for any kind of motivational post. Or maybe it’s a “kick in the pants” kind of post that fires someone up with some tough love that they’re SO glad someone finally said it.

This is the style of email we love to send out, and we can’t tell you how many replies we get saying, “this is exactly what I needed to hear!”

Either way, take a quote- make it super pretty in Canva, and offer it as an opt-in for people to print and hang on their wall.

Related Post: The Easy Way to Create and Sell Printable Products

An added bonus is that they’ll think of you and your blog every time they look at it.

We even created mobile wallpaper art with motivational quotes in our Complete Blogger Template Toolkit. That’s how popular this style of content upgrade is!

5. RESOURCE LISTS

Another very easy-to-design opt-in that provides massive value to your readers is a resource list. Resource lists are essentially PDFs of your favorite resources about a specific topic and go into short detail about each one.

Give it an attractive spin like, “The resources I used to pay off 40K in debt in just 2 years,” and you’ll be amazed at how well it converts.

We’re actually in the process of creating this exact content upgrade for our blog post of blogging tools we used to go from $0 to $3k in 3 months!

6. TEMPLATES

You can easily create a template or any kind of “editable” design if you have Canva Pro. This can work for any niche and be a HUGE list builder (since people usually pay for things like this).

We grew our list to over 20k subscribers using our Canva design templates. Even better, our paid products (also Canva templates) consistently bring in five figures a month!

Learn how to use Canva to grow your blog! Our comprehensive Canva course teaches bloggers how to use Canva, design lead magnets, and more - with confidence!

If you’re new to Canva and want to create your own design templates as a content upgrade (or even paid products), we DEFINITELY recommend you check out our COMPLETE Canva course, Confidently Canva.

You’ll learn everything there is to know about Canva so you can feel completely confident in your designs because now you truly understand the tool you’re using and the design concepts involved.

Enroll now and get $20 off Confidently Canva today!

7. DEMOS/TUTORIALS

We’re convinced that adulthood is just about Googling things that we don’t know how to do. But we’re visual learners, so if an article offers a video tutorial or demo, we’re all in!

These can bring your content to the next level (hence the term ‘content upgrade’) and help connect with your reader as well. YouTube is the second most popular search engine (under Google) for a reason!

This will be a GREAT content upgrade to accompany a blog series. Promote the next “step” or tutorial with each video for an effortless transition. Simplicity is key!

Not sure what we’re talking about? Check out our Blog Graphics That Convert: Video Series to see this content upgrade in action.

8. GUIDES

This step-by-step plan helps your readers put your content into action. Honestly, people like to be told what to do (or “guided”).

They usually have some kind of problem they need solving (which is likely how they found your site in the first place). A guide makes a perfect addition to your bank of content upgrades.

9. MINI WORKBOOKS

Turn your post into a mini workbook. These are similar to “guides,” but when you design it, make your reader step it out through lots of fill-in-the-blanks, charts, graphs, questions they need to answer, etc.

As you’re designing, one thing to keep in mind is befriending white space.

We’ve seen a lot of color-heavy guides and mini workbooks that look beautiful on screen but are NOT printer-friendly. We know our particular audience loves printables, so we make sure to use lots of white space for quick and easy prints.

These mini workbooks can efficiently be designed in Canva and turned into a PDF for your reader to print and fill out.

Related Post: The Easy Way to Create Editable Printables for Your Readers

Don’t forget to make an editable version for those that prefer to keep their documents digital!

10. WEBINARS (OR FILES FROM ONE)

Have a blog post that relates to a product you sell? That’s great because they make evergreening your product super simple!

This is a great chance to offer a webinar as a content upgrade if you don’t have time for live webinars all the time (let’s be honest, who does?); you can offer the recorded file of your last webinar as your content upgrade instead.

We just signed up and watched a recorded file of a webinar (they had multiple viewings per day) and still thought it was great nonetheless.

We knew we wanted to tackle webinars in the early stages of our business to overcome the dreaded stage fright with a minimal audience, of course!

We took a ton of notes to help us improve our conversions and make the most out of our webinars.

11. PODCASTS

If you have a podcast that you also work on (kind of like a radio talk show but for blogs), you can offer your best episode as a content upgrade.

For example, we were reading a blog post about building your email list, and the content upgrade was a podcast episode full of ahhmazing info with Clay (founder of Leadpages).

Because here’s the thing. They can tell you where to go to listen, and depending on their podcast host, you may have to download an app. It sounds like a lot of work to hear something, doesn’t it?

By offering it as a content upgrade, the episode is delivered straight to our inbox in a format where we can hear it regardless of mobile device or computer.

12. CHALLENGE

People love challenges because they need to know they can do them, right?

You can run a challenge through your email newsletter or your Facebook Group (if you have one).

Challenges convert incredibly well around the holiday seasons, which is fantastic because you can add in upsells to boost your Q4 sales!

Related Post: Holiday Freebies to Boost Your List Growth for Q4

Need ideas for your next challenge content upgrade? Check these out.

  • “Build Your Christmas Fund Challenge”
  • “New Years Organizational Challenge: Get Organized and Rock the New Year”
  • “New Year, New You 30-Day Get Fit Challenge”

There are SO many ways you can incorporate a challenge into your blog, no matter the season!

13. MASTERMIND/FACEBOOK GROUP

Offer access to your mastermind or Facebook Group as a content upgrade.

Make sure to add a question to your Facebook Group application that allows the person to put in their email address so you can double-check that they’ve signed up for your email list.

This also funnels people from Facebook to your email list if they find you on Facebook first and want to join your group but see that they need to subscribe first.

We get quite a few requests to join our Facebook Group each week that found us through Facebook suggestions which is always lovely.

14. GIVEAWAY

These can be a gold mine and tank your stats across the board, so be careful with this one.

The key is making the giveaway item related to your content and blog. This should not be like a “swag bag,” gift card, or some other vanity item that someone signs up for and then never opens another email from you ever again because they just wanted that free thing.

Instant open and conversation rate killer!

So, if you have a coaching service, maybe you can run a giveaway for a complimentary session. Or, if you talk about starting a blog, offer a giveaway for a blogging course or ebook.

As we said, giveaways can be a great content upgrade if done right.

15. FREE CONSULTS

This is great for bloggers that offer coaching services. Free 15-minute sessions can give your reader a great look into your knowledge and what you can do for them. This will build your email list, but it will quickly convert that new subscriber to a customer.

Before we retired our design consulting service, we offered this exact content upgrade and were always signing new clients during the free session!

16. TRANSCRIPTS

If you post video content, you can offer a PDF transcript as a content upgrade. This converts surprisingly well and is very quick and easy to put together. Make a killer header in Canva to dress it up because whether we like it or not, presentation matters!

17. VIDEO

Many people consume content better in video form (hello reels!), so offering a video to go along with your blog post can be a great content upgrade and help build a relationship with your reader.

We remember landing on a blog post from Google about something we were itching to learn more about. A few seconds in, a pop-up appeared promoting the accompanying video.

That was pure genius because we, of COURSE, wanted to watch the video. Instant email sign-up!

This content upgrade is skyrocketing in popularity for obvious reasons, so take advantage of them.

Don’t underestimate the power of an awesome opt-in.

Don’t cheap out by thinking you don’t need an awesome Pinterest pretty content upgrade just because it’s free for the reader. Not that they cost a ton to make; you can create almost any content upgrade for FREE!

Your email list will make you money when it comes to blogging, so make it count as easily as you can.

You can always offer a more advanced version of your content upgrade as a tripwire or repurpose it into a course or other product. We know plenty of bloggers who have an ebook as an opt-in and sell it on Amazon for money.

Nowadays, it takes a lot for a person to give up their email, so make your content upgrade worth it. Workbooks, checklists, templates, ebooks, consulting, etc. These are all things that offer your readers real value.

Once they’re on your list, shower them with more content upgrades and start nurturing that relationship. Digital products are how you’re going to get them, keep them, and turn them into customers. Don’t underestimate that power!

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS POST:

Don’t forget to grab your FREE Ebook template (that includes worksheet pages)! It’s the PERFECT jumping-off point to any paid product (or even lead magnets!) that you can customize to fit your brand and use to start making that passive income.

GET THE FREE EBOOK TEMPLATE NOW!

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 down 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 our business!

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

Content upgrades are a great way to provide real value to your readers. Grow your email list by creating a content upgrade your audience actually wants!

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