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9 Ways to Use Printables

9 Good Uses for Printables That Sellers Need to Know

Printables or digital downloads have become a popular way to get organized, learn, decorate or accomplish goals. There are printables available in numerous different niches for a variety of different purposes.

Here are nine good uses for printables that you can sell.

Calendars

Yes, your phone has a calendar, but many people still find it easier to record important events by hand in a printable calendar. A digital calendar makes it easy to add events and tasks, but you may find that you have overbooked yourself and moving things around can get complicated. Often on a small screen you have to click to see the full name of an event.

Personally, I like to use both – a digital calendar that sends me reminders and a paper calendar that gives me a visual glance of all my important to-dos and appointments in one place. Paper calendars can also be easier for people in some situations. For example, a teacher who is supervising a classroom may not want to pull out a phone or sit down at a computer just to find out when the staff meeting is.

Planners

Some people may want calendars for just one particular purpose. For example, you might want to sell a fitness calendar or a product launch calendar. Your printable can help guide them in plotting out their workouts or tasks according to the days that they need to accomplish them.

However, a planner can have many other types of pages in addition to the calendar. For example, you might want to add checklists, lists of supplies or goal trackers. Meal planners are especially popular.

A daily planner can also be highly customized to the goals of the person purchasing it. If you buy a planner at the store, it may have times and dates, but few extras. A printable daily planner can add things like to-do lists, daily habits, grocery lists and project planning.

Tracking

Tracking is an important part of achieving one’s goals. Tracking often goes hand in hand with planning and organizing. Trackers can be created in a variety of different niches such as household budgeting, fitness and business.

For example, a blogger might want to track the traffic and income from their blog. A person managing a household might want to track their budget in a variety of different categories such as food and transportation to avoid overspending.  

If your idea is complex, you might want to produce an Excel or Google Sheets spreadsheet instead. A spreadsheet is not necessarily something a person would print out, although they might use it to produce printable reports. However, this is a popular type of digital download. Like a printable tracker, a spreadsheet can help with tracking a variety of different metrics.

Anything related to money lends itself to a spreadsheet. Spreadsheets are great for other types of business metrics such as number of social media followers or website visits.

A spreadsheet does not necessarily need to be numbers-based. For example, you could use a spreadsheet to track your online passwords.

Journaling

Journaling is recognized as a beneficial in everything from mental health to business mindset. However, it can get hard to get started and keep at it. Journaling printables can offer prompts, motivational sayings and space to help people get their thoughts on paper.

Attractive journaling sheets and workbooks can help people stay consistent.

Education

There are a wide range of printables available in education. If you have the skillset to produce educational printables, there are options for teachers, homeschoolers, children of all grade levels and college students.

Printables can help teachers and homeschoolers plan their day, track student progress and more. You could create educational worksheets and games for students. For example, math problems, crosswords and mazes are popular. Kids crafts and colouring sheets are also top sellers. Qualified teachers often produce lesson plans and share them with others. There is even an entire site for educational materials called Teachers Pay Teachers. Pinterest is also a great resource for ideas.

College students might be interested in academic planners and note-taking sheets. Studies show that there is better comprehension and retention when taking notes by hand.

Templates

Templates can be used to produce a variety of materials for everyday life. If you have good graphic design skills, you might want to design templates that people can edit in popular software such as Word, Adobe Creative Suite or Canva.

One way that people use printable templates is to create unique party, event or wedding invitations and other printed supplies such as table numbers, save-the-date cards and thank-you cards.

The business and marketing world is also a place where people need templates. Anyone who has ever run a business will tell you that marketing is a big part of the job. However, many business owners are not particularly creative. Producing templates for reports, brochures, business cards and signage can help them get more done faster.

Art and Décor

Another great option for people who have good design skills is to create art for homes and businesses. Once the person purchases, they can print your art at home or have it professionally printed. Typically, you will want to use common frame sizes for this type of printable.

Patterns

Do you have a creative hobby that you are great at? People use patterns for a variety of hobbies from sewing to papercraft. Of course, you will need a high-level of knowledge and creativity to create this type of printable.

Lead Magnets

Maybe you want to sell things that aren’t printables. Perhaps you are a business coach or a service provider. Creating a digital download that solves a specific problem for your target audience can be a great way to bring people into your business. The most common tactic is to offer a download as a “freebie” in exchange for an email address. You can then contact the person regularly to “nurture” your lead and get their business.

An alternative method is to sell your digital download for a small fee that makes it an easy decision to buy such as $5-$7 and then, on the next page, attempt to sell something more expensive. This is called a “tripwire.” If the person doesn’t buy your more expensive offering, you still have their email address. This allows you to keep nurturing them unless they unsubscribe.

One of the reasons printables are so popular these days is because they have so many uses. Download the free list of profitable printable ideas today.