If you’re a blogger and want to make money on the side, then selling Canva templates is a viable side hustle you can explore. Making a steady income isn’t as difficult as it sounds either. Here you’ll find out how to design templates, how to sell them, and how much money you can expect to make.
Why You Should Sell Canva Templates
Selling Canva templates is a great way for you to make money on the side of your blog. It can be a great source of income and allows you to share your creative spark with a bigger audience. With the demand for digital products continually increasing, it’s a viable option for those who want to diversify their income. One thing to take note of when selling templates is that you need to design unique products, and you also need to solve a problem. Catering to specific niches is often the way to go, as this will help your side venture to take off.
Profit Potential of Selling Canva Templates
Selling Canva templates can be lucrative, but only if you target a specific niche. You also tend to create templates that people want to pay for. Canva templates sell for up to $15, so if you manage to sell just 100 of them, you can expect to make $1500. Pricing your digital download can be tough, so make sure that you’re tracking what other templates are going for so you can keep your business profitable. With any business, you will also have expenses to pay out. One of the main reasons why selling templates is so popular is because it’s cheap to do. There’s not a huge up-front investment, but you will have some recurring expenses.
Your Canva account will cost you £100 a year if you’re in the UK. If you want to start a free account, you can do so, but a Pro account will gain you access to a ton of new features.
You also have licensing fees to pay. With some templates, as well as commercial objectives. You may have to pay for a license. If you sell your templates through a site then you will have to pay for the upkeep and maintenance of your domain. If you want to sell on Etsy, then a monthly fee will also need to be made. Some designers use additional tools, like Photoshop to create better product images so that they can promote their template. If this is something you’d be interested in, then remember you’ll be paying monthly costs with that too. With that being said, the Canva templates you can create when you have access to software like this are limitless.
Types of Templates You Can Create
- Social Media Graphics
- Website Banners
- Email Templates
- Calendars
- Event Invitations
- Brochures
- CVs
- Stickers
- Presentations
- Blog Graphics
- And more
Where Can You Sell Your Canva Templates?
So now you know what profit potential there’s to be had by creating a Canva template, and the type of templates you can create, it’s time to move on to where you can sell them. Some of the most popular options can be found below.
Etsy
Etsy is a top marketplace for those who want to sell Canva templates. It’s best suited to those who don’t have a full website yet and who want to test the waters a bit.
Fees You’ll Pay by Selling through Etsy:
- $0.20 per product
- 6.5% transaction fee
- Payment processing fees
- Etsy Plus (optional) $10 a month
Creative Market
Creative Market is yet another marketplace that you can take advantage of. It’s not the most profitable platform to work with, however, as they charge a hefty fee every single time you make a sale.
- 50% commission from every sale
Your Website
If you want to sell through your site then this is how you will make the most money. You don’t have to pay a percentage of your sales to a marketing platform and you have full flexibility when it comes to the design. The fees include:
- The cost of building your site
- Maintenance
- Content and SEO
- Ads and unique landing pages
Selling your Templates
If you want to sell your templates then the first thing you need to do is create a Canva account. You need to figure out if you want a free account, or if you want to be part of the Pro plan.
When you have an account, you then need to look for inspiration. You can find template inspiration online from sites such as Creative Market, Behance, Canva, Etsy, and Dribble. Just make sure that you’re taking inspiration, and not copying anyone else’s templates. It’s a bad business decision, as template rip-offs never do well. It’s also worth considering whether or not you are going to use Canva Pro graphics to create your templates. If you use Pro, then your customers will also need Pro to access your full template. This might cause you some issues with licensing.
Best Niches to Explore with Canva Templates
As mentioned earlier, targeting a niche is one of the best things you can do. Some of the most profitable niches can be found below.
Health and Fitness
Design templates that are focused on workout plans. Make sure that you are exploring meal planners and fitness trackers while taking advantage of personalization through wellness journals.
Education
Elevate the educational journey for learners by selling lesson plans, worksheets, and certificates. Course material should be visually appealing.
Travel
Trip planning and exploration are a huge part of travel. Make stunning destination guides and put in the work to create inspiring journals. You’ll be making sales in no time.
Food
Create charming recipe cards and menu templates. You should also try to create blog graphics and informative guides if possible. Try and use visually appealing graphics and also make sure that you are using your experience to bring the culinary experience to life.
Delivering your Content
Knowing how you are going to deliver your templates is so important. You need to have them in a format that is ready to go. First of all, create a shareable link from within Canva. Next, decide how you are going to deliver it. A lot of people conclude that putting it in a PDF document is the way to go. Others have a link to a ‘thank you’ page, and they also have a sales funnel that helps with more leads.
Market your Content
Seasoned sellers will always tell you that you need to have a few good images to go with so potential buyers can decide to buy them. This is a great way for you to show your customers what you can do and it also demonstrates what helps to set you apart. You also need to publish your content. Whatever option you go with, templates won’t sell themselves. You can’t publish your template and then expect customers to stumble across you by chance. If you want to make the most out of your website then you need to get good at promoting yourself. You need to know that there are a few things that you can do to try and leverage links in your bio and you also need to try and create a visually appealing landing page. If you can do this along with using clear CTAs then this will help you to drive sales more than you realise. At the same time, you should be encouraging opt-ins to your newsletter. The more you can work to create a community of people who are interested, the more you can sustain the monetization of your brand.
Send a message to everyone on your subscriber list and take advantage of social media channels. The more you can promote your posts and the more you can take advantage of higher engagement rates, the better. You can also send abandoned cart emails to anyone who has checked out the templates that you have to offer, but who hasn’t bought them yet.
Another thing you can do is collaborate with other creatives too. Remember that at the top, there is enough room for everyone. Reach out to other people and find out who else is working within the niche. Find out if anyone would be open to some cross-promotion, and this is the best way for you to dip your toes into a new market while experimenting a little.
When it comes to selling your Canva templates, you have to remember that what works for you, might not work for someone else. If you’re selling niche templates then this may require a whole new form of marketing, with a very specific process so you can target the right audience. By taking things like this into account, you can make it easier to get the result you want out of your side hustle while enhancing your blogging opportunities.
