work from home – Page 9 – Take on Life After 50

Creating Printables as a Side Hustle

It’s hard to believe September is half over. Kids are back in school, and we’re once again faced with restrictions. I’m really hoping life can get back to some sort of normal soon.

Being unable to go a lot of places has not been all bad, however. I have been able to work on both of my Etsy Shops and have even made some sales. I know I could do more in terms of sales, but I’ve been concentrating more on creating than marketing.

Disclaimer: Links within this post are either to my own products, or products I endorse. I may receive a small commission should you make a purchase through an affiliate link, at no extra cost to you. My blog is supported through commissions and sales of my products. Plus, if you like what you read you can show your support by pinning this post, sharing on social media, or buy me a coffee. Thank you for your continued support.

Creating printables for my TOLA50Printables shop has been fun. I have purchased some templates with PLR Rights, which means I can modify and sell the content; as long as I export as a PDF.

Using templates with PLR Rights is easier than creating from scratch, but it’s not just a matter of adding your name to the template and calling it yours. You have to take the time to use your brand’s colours, fonts, and content.

What I like about printables is I can spend a few hours creating one, then list it. Once listed I don’t have to worry about filling orders because they’re all digital downloads. I can then take the time not spent filling orders and create more, or work on my pattern designs and physical products. My eyes get a little buggy from spending too many hours in front of my computer, so it’s nice to have another creative outlet.

Designing crochet patterns has led me to creating printables for crochet artists. I know which steps are needed when it comes to pattern design, as well as what is needed when selling those items at a craft fair or online. By utilizing my own knowledge I can help others who are perhaps just getting started in the crafting business.

The learning curve can sometimes be steep, so creating products to make a small business get off the ground faster is important to me. I know I made a lot of mistakes along the way, but without those mistakes I wouldn’t be able to help others.

Now that I’m becoming more familiar with Affinity Publisher and utilizing Power Point a little more, I can take my first Crochet Business printables and revamp them to better suit my customers. The one I currently have listed in my NotJustAlpacaDesigns Etsy Shop was designed in Canva but I know I can improve it in Affinity Publisher.

I tend to try to make things perfect in the beginning, but I have come to realize the main thing is to get the products out there. If it’s never listed or shown to anyone, how can improvements be made? Customer feedback is important, and you should always try to find the positive; even when the customer is less than polite. (I have never had anyone downright rude, but I have seen it happen to others.)

If you’re considering starting a printables business as a side hustle, you have a lot of options for both products and platforms.

You can create and sell items such as:

planners
journals
cards (birthday, anniversary, sympathy, graduation, wedding, etc.)
wine labels
trackers
charts
vehicle maintenance logs
plant care records
babysitter’s list
petsitter’s list
housesitter’s list
garden planners
…and so much more.

There is a bigger variety of printable to create than places to sell them but that doesn’t mean you can’t be successful. As mentioned, I’m and Etsy Shop owner and I like the fact I don’t have to spend countless hours putting myself out there. Etsy takes care of the listings, transactions, and downloads. Its built-in search engine helps point customers in the direction of your products, provided you have utilized keywords, descriptions, and tags.

Another way of getting my printables out there is by having them available directly through my website. I have to admit, I haven’t taken full advantage of this feature yet but have dabbled a little. I do have my latest ebook available via clicking the picture of it.

Another platform for selling digital products is Shopify. I do have to say I’m not familiar with how the platform works, but a quick Google Search did let me know it does have options of digital or physical products.

Amazon is another platform if you’re interested in creating ebooks. As an author I have used it for years to sell my fiction and nonfiction titles, but not for anything that’s only a few pages.

In conclusion, I do have to say Etsy is my first choice for selling printables. It’s easy to upload a file, and adding the description, title, and tags is straightforward. The listing fees are low which is perfect for anyone on a budget, and the automatic renewal feature is fantastic.

Now that I’m taking charge of my wellbeing again (grief can sure kick the crap out of a person) I’m focusing on the things I want to do, and the things I enjoy doing. I foresee my experiences playing a huge part in what I’m capable of doing, and becoming. And I have these cards to thank for the positive outlook, no matter how my day begins.

Have you thought about starting a printables business? If so, what will your first product be?

If you like what you read you can show your support by pinning this post, sharing on social media, or buy me a coffee.

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Etsy Shop #2: My New Side Hustle

I did it! I opened a second Etsy Shop!

Why would I open another you ask?

Well, so I can branch out a little more without my existing shop looking like it’s a mish-mosh of stuff. (And I hate to say it, but right now that’s how it looks to me.)

I’m a creator, and I think it’s time to get back into creating patterns and small physical items for sale. There are so many neat things to be made from yarn, alpaca fiber, and macrame cord. And I have all three in abundance.

I’m looking forward to adding more products to both of my shops and seeing which one does better: physical products or digital products. It’s going to be an interesting experiment, and preferably a profitable one.

According to the experts a successful Etsy Shop can be attributed to SEO, lots of photos of the products, and competitive pricing. Something else that seems to be a contributing factor is free shipping for physical products.

Digital products are automatically delivered to your customers as soon as payment has been made, so there’s no need to charge any shipping on them. That’s one of the perks of offering digital products. Another is they can be bought by anyone in the world at any time of day, so you can even earn money while you sleep.

With the holiday season coming up I foresee Etsy being the place to shop for many gifts. And with the COVID-19 restrictions coming back into play (at least here in Alberta) online shopping is going to continue to be the way to go. I know I’ll be doing some of my gift shopping through Etsy.

If you are considering opening an Etsy Shop, there’s no better time to do it than now. Listing fees are low, and you can easily work in the cost of any additional fees into your prices. I have items in both shops advertised, but only have the stats for my first one. The second is in its very early stages, so I won’t be able to see any stats for at least a month or more.

It can be frustrating to a new shop owner when the sales don’t come pouring in right away. My advice is to be patient, utilize SEO in your product descriptions, and use Etsy Ads if your budget allows. I currently have a few of my products advertised, with a budget of $1.00/day. That’s not a lot, but it’s what I’m comfortable paying for advertising at this point in time.

If you don’t have an advertising budget, Pinterest is a good place to place your products. It’s good karma to pin the products of others in addition to your own. Pinterest likes to see pins from a variety of sites/businesses. This practice makes you appear less spammy as well. Group like things on your boards, even if they are similar to yours.

Now that my new shop is open and I have a few products added to it, I’m going to go out and enjoy the afternoon by cutting up some trees for firewood. Last night was a beautiful evening, and I’m hoping tonight will be the same. Harvest is well underway, which means the smell of grain dust in the air. (One of my favourite smells).

Have a wonderful long weekend, and I’ll keep you posted on what is working for me and my Etsy Shops. I’m excited to see when the first sale will be!

If you like what you read you can show your support by pinning this post, sharing on social media, or buy me a coffee.

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2 Done-for-You Side Hustles

Looking for an easy side hustle? The two mentioned in this post can have you on your way to earning some extra cash within a few days.

When it comes to side hustles I know how hard it can be to find one that works without taking a ton of time.

The first one I’m sharing with you today is the Digital Business Startup by Yadsia Iglesias. It comes with templates, video tutorials, and the option to become an affiliate of her products (which I have recently done).

The cost is currently $297 (which is what I paid several months ago) but it has everything you need to get started. The beauty of it is there is also a payment plan available if you’re unable to pay the entire amount at once.

If you’re familiar with Canva you’ll find this a breeze because of the editable templates. If you’re not, it’s easy to learn through her video tutorials. Not only will you learn how to make digital and printable planners, printables, create ads, and how to sell a planner on Etsy; you are also granted commercial use of the templates. What this means is you can edit the templates to make the planners and printables to sell. However, you may not sell the templates themselves.

I bought the DBS Program several months ago, and have used the templates for my own products. One of them is my Printable Weekly Planner, which is available in US Letter Size. It may also be printed 2 pages to a sheet if you prefer a smaller size planner.

The nice thing about creating printables and digital planners is once they are listed, you can earn money while you work your regular job, sleep, or even while you’re on vacation. How cool is that!

The second one I’m sharing today is Design and Sell Canva Templates. This one is also by Yadsia Iglesias, and is currently listed at $97.

This one is a little different from the first one in that it allows you to create and sell templates instead of the finished printable/digital products. The benefits to this type is you can charge a little more because you are giving your customer the commercial rights to your templates. They in turn can use your templates to create and sell their own planners and printables. They cannot, however, use your templates to create and sell their own templates.

Once again, this is a side hustle in which most of the work has been done for you. All you have to do is edit to suit your needs, make a copy, and sell it on your website or via Etsy (or whichever platform you choose).

You will, however, need Canva Pro to utilize this particular course. I am a Canva Pro user, and recently upgraded from paying monthly to an annual membership. It saved me some money, and I can easily recoup my cost by selling a couple of templates.

In conclusion, when you don’t have a lot of time for a side hustle, the two I talked about in this post are a good option. Work your way through the video tutorials, download the templates, and edit in Canva. A little work in the beginning can lead to sales for months, even years, to come.

If you like what you read you can show your support by pinning this post, sharing on social media, or buy me a coffee.

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