Digital Worksheets | How Worksheets Can Grow Your Email List

Last updated on June 5th, 2023

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!

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, and 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.

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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, 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 it, 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!

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.

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

Related Post: How Bloggers Can Use QR Codes for Easy Money

One design feature we love to add at the end of our worksheets and digital products is a QR code. This is the perfect way a buyer can continue through your funnel and on to your next paid product.

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!)

You can learn more about the perfect worksheet or printable here. Or, you can use our FREE Worksheet Template Pack, available at the bottom of this post, 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!

Related Post: How to Create an Editable PDF the Easy Way

Don’t forget to make your worksheets editable (on both Mac and PC!) for those who prefer to keep things digital.

Then 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.

While it may seem obvious, 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.

If you want to learn more about how you can create your own worksheets, printables, and graphics using Canva, you’ll LOVE our complete Canva course, Confidently Canva!

It’s EVERYTHING you need to know to 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!

We promise digital worksheets will 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!

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS POST:

• 17 Content Upgrade Ideas to Keep Your Readers Coming Back for More
• Anatomy of the Perfect Blog Printable
• 12 Digital Products That Are Selling Like Hotcakes
• How to Create an Editable PDF the Easy Way

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!

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 our business!

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