Passive Income for Creatives: PRINTABLE PDFs
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Have you ever scrolled through Etsy, seen a digital product, and thought “I could make that.” The fact is, you really can! With minimal effort, you can start a side hustle by selling digital products today! In this post, I promise to provide you with plenty of ideas and tangible advice so that you can start an Etsy shop right away filled with products to provide you with that passive income you’ve always wanted.
What is a Printable PDF?
The possibilities are endless with printable PDFs! A printable PDF can be just about anything from art, to invitations, to project instructions. Once it’s created and in your shop, it’s ready to be purchased and downloaded instantly by an unlimited amount of consumers. The best part? Aside from fielding a few questions here and there from customers, all effort and time spent on your product is done prior to the sale. Although having a digital product on Etsy may not generate a full income, it can be a pretty amazing side hustle. Typically, shop owners with digital products on Etsy make anywhere from $500-$1000 a month. Not too shabby for income that’s almost entirely passive!
Step 1: Create your PDF
One question I get asked often is what programs to use to create visually appealing digital products. While Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop are great tools, a favorite of mine and one I always mention is Canva. Canva is extremely user-friendly and doesn’t require prior knowledge of Adobe language. Canva is also completely free, however, if you’re serious about using Canva to create and sell digital products, I definitely recommend upgrading to Canva Pro. For around $10 per month, it’s worth the investment to be able to make printable PDF templates that can be edited by your customers. If you make an editable template, you would simply send the link Canva generates to your customer along with some simple instructions. If your customers are purchasing a printable PDF from you, you send a file that’s ready to be printed. Both are great options and it’s nice that Canva is so versatile.
Step 2: Show off your product
Humans are highly visual creatures, so a great way to secure a sale of a printable PDF is to share photos of what the product looks like printed. Check out this post if you need a few tips and tricks for taking better product photos. If you’re not ready to take your own photos, another option is to purchase a photo mockup online. A mockup is basically a photo (typically of a frame or something similar) and you can Photoshop your design into the frame. Here is one example of how a finished mockup looks. These are two great ways to help your item stand out in your Etsy shop and serve those people who need a visual (ie: all of us).
Step 3: Keyword Research
Keywording is one of the most powerful tools you can use to boost your searchability and drive traffic to your page/post/product. It’s no secret that I’m a huge proponent of selecting the best keywords for your content. Since you’ll be posting your product on Etsy, use Etsy as a tool to help you find strong keywords. Look for other products similar to yours and see what keywords popular shops are using. You can also use Pinterest and see what comes up as you’re searching for similar content. Don’t forget to take advantage of free keywording tools like mykeyworder.com (not an affiliate link) Finding strong keywords isn’t too difficult and the three resources I mentioned are completely free, so take advantage!
Step 4: Make your listing an instant download and Include instructions
This step seems fairly straightforward, but I always like to remind people to include instructions in the actual download. This way, the person who purchases your printable PDF doesn’t have to search back through emails or on your Etsy shop to find exactly what they need to know about what they bought. The instructions will vary for each product, but I’ll give you a few examples. If you’re selling an art print, you may want to include information about what size to print. If you’re selling an invitation with crop marks, explain how to cut it down correctly. As you’re creating your product, put yourself in the shoes of a consumer and address any questions they might have. Too much information is better than not enough!
Step 5: Strategize!
After you’ve been selling on Etsy for a little while, you can take a look at your top-selling products to help you develop a great selling strategy. You might even find and stick to a niche so that when people find you they can continue to buy from you! Say you have an Etsy shop that is full of printables for parties and you notice your highest selling items are PDFs for bachelorette party games. Take that information and create more items for bachelorette parties. You might even create your shop around the niche of bachelorette party printables. Generally, when someone finds your product for their party, they will see more like it and you could get multiple sales from one customer.
Want to work one on one with me to implement multiple streams of income into your creative business using my proven strategies? Then I invite you to explore if one-on-one coaching is right for you!
Curious about what other methods of passive income are available to creatives?