Fall is here. The leaves are turning quickly, and falling to the ground. It’s such a pretty time of year; both my favourite and least favourite. I’m not excited about winter at all. What I am excited about is learning how to create products quickly. Read on to find out more!
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I have spent the past couple of weeks getting some yard work done, enjoying the warm weather as much as possible, and working on designing new planners and printables for my new Etsy Shop. I am gradually moving some of the printables over from my first Etsy Shop, as they are mopre in tune with the new one.
Something I have learned recently is PowerPoint can be used to make planners and printables just as easily as Affinity Publisher or Canva. If you have Microsft 365 (or any MS product) you should have access to PowerPoint as well. I’m taking a course now on creating products over at Share Your Brilliance entitled Create 30 Products in 30 Days and it has me spending several hours in the evening at my computer. Between it and trying to finish up the computer side of our community history book, it’s a wonder I get any sleep at all.
In the course mentioned above D’vorah shows students how to create colour palettes, streamline a filing system (so you can access your products quickly), and replicate the same planner in different themes. My first was a Thanksgiving Planner, which is now in my TOLA50Printables Etsy Shop. I’m happy with how it turned out, and since Canada and the US celebrate at different times I feel it has potential for this holiday season.
A little word of advice: follow the instructions for saving your files just how D’vorah instructs. I thought I could skip a step, and my file DID NOT save like I wanted it to. I now have a PDF but cannot edit the original because I didn’t save it the way I should have. I’m glad it’s done the way I want, and that I created a short video of it for my Etsy listing before I messed up.
The bonus to this course is you get a template to work with. It has so many options: dated, undated, one page per month, two pages per month, weekly pages (at least 3 if I recall correctly), and a small variety of daily layouts.
I personally prefer to create undated planners as they are evergreen (meaning they can be used year after year; simply print a new copy when you fill the old one). Plus, they don’t have to be constantly updated, so you can spend your time creating new products instead of updating old ones. To me that’s a win-win.
There will be times you want to use images, or use different pages than what is included in the templates with the course. Yes, you can find free stock images online but I prefer to pay for mine. I use Creative Market for the majority of my graphics. One of my recent purchases has been this Halloween Bundle which I have used to make a card for my Etsy Shop. With Halloween being just around the corner it’s a good time to get some cards and games listed.
As with any products you create planning ahead is beneficial, especially when it comes to holidays. Have you noticed the Halloween and Christmas items in the stores yet? It seems like summer is barely over before Christmas stock starts making an appearance. I don’t know about you, but I find it showing up earlier and earlier. By the time Christmas rolls around I’ve had enough. (I love Christmas but hearing nothing but Christmas music in every store from the beginning of November gets a little old.)
Okay, back to product creation. If you want to maximize your earnings, start planning and creating for the holidays at least 2 or 3 months ahead. It takes time for customers to notice your shop, especially if you’re not advertising. Create, list, and utilize Pinterest. If you have a newsletter be sure to mention the upcoming holidays and link to your products. I’m the first to admit I’m horrible at pinning, mainly because I get sucked into the Pinterest Rabbit Hole. It’s good karma to pin the content of others more than your own.
Time to go out and enjoy the warm weather for a little while, then get my butt back in my chair and do my “homework” from my 30 Products course. I think a walk is in order, and perhaps take some pictures for my autumn planners.
Have a wonderful day, and let me know what you’re working on.
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