Your Ultimate A to Z Guide on How to Start Making Money Selling Planners 

To really make money selling planners, you need to:
☑ Pick the right niche
☑ Design something eye-catching and functional
☑ Use strong SEO and listing strategy
☑ Promote it like you mean it
☑ Stay consistent and market smartly

So to bust the myth that planners are “boring” or “too saturated,” I’m walking you through the ultimate A-to-Z guide on how to turn a planner idea into real sales notifications.

Let’s dive in.

Step 1: Choose the Right Niche (Yes, the dreaded niche talk again)

Here’s what to do:

💡 Manually scroll through the market.

Before you get fancy with tools, go on Etsy, Amazon, or Pinterest and search "planner" in general. Now look at:

⁃ Bestsellers

⁃ What pops up consistently

⁃ What’s lacking or boring

⁃ Any niches underrepresented

Ask yourself:

⁃ Is there a pain point no one is solving?

⁃ Can I make this more fun, aesthetic, or useful?

⁃ Do I have personal insight into this topic?

For example: A “med student planner” would hit different coming from someone who’s lived through those long nights, messy scrubs, and caffeine-fueled exams.

💡 Use niche spy tools

⁃ On Etsy? Use Everbee. It tells you which listings are selling, their revenue estimates, and keyword data. Basically Etsy x-ray vision.

⁃ Outside Etsy? Try Niche Scraper or InsightFactory. Super helpful to validate demand and spot what’s trending across platforms.

📌 Pro tip: Don’t spend weeks on “the perfect” idea. Validate it fast. If there's interest + low-ish competition + you can bring value = GO FOR IT.

Step 2: Design Your Product (a.k.a. Don’t Just Slap Boxes on a Page)

Designing a planner feels fun… until you’re 17 pages in and your font is somehow Comic Sans and your color palette screams 2009.

Here’s how to make this phase less stressful and way more effective:

Use Canva (Start Simple)

Search “planner” in Canva and get inspired. Screenshot layouts you love and analyze:

☑ Structure

☑ Color harmony

☑ Elements used

☑ Font choices

💡 Or you can use AI:

You’ve probably scrolled through the market before, wondering, “When did these people launch so many high-quality planners in such a short time?”

Meanwhile, you’re still struggling to pick the right font for your own planner. The answer is simple: AI.

Of course, there’s a long debate about how to use it without losing your personal touch. I recommend reading more about it here: Let AI Build Your Digital Products—You Focus on Selling.

If you prefer starting from scratch using Canva, begin by opening a new design file and setting your custom dimensions (usually 8.5x11 inches for printable or portrait A4 for digital).

1- Choose your palette wisely

Colors matter. Like, a lot. A visually aesthetic planner is more likely to get clicks (that’s not official, but it sure feels true).

Try Coolors to generate the perfect palette. Pro tip: choose calming or niche-fitting tones.

⁃ Mental health planners usually go well with soft, calming colors like soft blues and lavender.

⁃ Fitness planners often pop with bold and energetic colors like red, black, and neon green.

⁃ Wedding planners typically lean toward elegant, romantic shades like pastels, cream, and blush.

⁃ Business planners look sleek and professional in colors like navy, gold, and different shades of grey.

2- Pick the perfect fonts

Stick with 1 professional font + 1 playful font if your niche allows it. Avoid hard-to-read script fonts or anything too crowded.

3- Plan your content:

Ask: What will this planner actually help people do?

Make a list:

☑ Monthly overview?

☑ Weekly goals?

☑ Mood tracker?

☑ Meal planner?

☑ Wedding guest list?

Organize your sections. Then start designing each one with intention.

4- Add unique features

Here’s where you stand out:

↪ Include motivational or funny quotes

↪ Add icons, illustrations, or themed stickers

↪ Make it interactive (checkboxes, fill-in prompts)

↪ Include “special event” sections or seasonal content

5- Save and secure your planner

Once you’re happy with the layout, save it as a PDF for printables or a hyperlinked PDF for digital planners.

Always back it up to Google Drive or Dropbox. You’ll thank yourself later when your laptop freaks out.

Step 3: List Your Product With Strong SEO (AKA: How People Find You)

1- Choose the right platform

⁃ Etsy: A powerful marketplace with built-in traffic and millions of active buyers searching daily.

Downsides? It has listing and transaction fees, and competition can be intense.

⁃ Gumroad: Great for beginners. It’s free to list products and super easy to use, but it doesn’t have much organic traffic—so you’ll need to bring your own audience.

⁃ Amazon KDP: Perfect for physical or low-content planners. You can publish for free and reach a massive global audience.

But design flexibility is limited, and competition is high.

⁃ Your own website: Best for long-term branding and control. You keep all your profits and can customize everything—but you’ll need to drive traffic yourself and handle SEO or ads.

⁃ Payhip: Similar to Gumroad, but with a few extra perks like membership options. Still limited when it comes to customization, though.

2- SEO Strategy 101

To get your product found:

Title:
Include niche + keywords

“2025 ADHD Digital Planner for Focus & Productivity - Hyperlinked PDF”

Description:
First 2–3 lines matter most for SEO. Use them to hit keywords again. Then explain who it’s for, what problems it solves, and list the features.

Tags/Keywords:
Use all available keyword slots! Some ideas:

⁃ "printable planner"

⁃ "student planner 2025"

⁃ "digital ADHD planner"

⁃ "hyperlinked pdf planner"

⁃ "meal tracker planner"

📌 Pro Tip: Don’t just copy popular listings. Find long-tail keywords. Less competition = better chance to rank.

Step 4: Promote That Planner Like a Boss

Listen, even the best planner in the world won’t sell if no one sees it.

Time to be your own hype team. Here’s how to do it (without turning into a full-time influencer):

↪ Pinterest = your best friend

Pinterest isn’t just mood boards and wedding inspo. It’s a search engine—and a goldmine for digital products.

⁃ Create niche-related pins (mockups of your planner, how-tos, lifestyle content)

⁃ Link each pin to your blog, sales page, or Etsy listing

⁃ Stay consistent—Pinterest rewards regular content

You don’t need to be a graphic designer. Canva has Pinterest templates for that.

↪ Social Media Strategy

Choose 1-2 platforms max. No need to be on 5 apps and burn out.

⁃ Instagram: Post behind-the-scenes, planner tips, and mockups

⁃ TikTok: “Day in the life using my ADHD planner” style videos go viral

⁃ YouTube Shorts: Quick how-tos and walkthroughs of your planner

Always link back to your shop, and use relevant hashtags.

↪ Blog + Email Combo

If you have a website (which I highly recommend), write blog posts that drive traffic to your planners. Example topics:

⁃ “10 Planners That Actually Help With Anxiety”

⁃ “How I Organize My Entire Week With One Digital Page”

Capture emails with a freebie (like a mini planner or a checklist) and promote your full product later.

Step 5: Stay Consistent & Market Smart

Here’s a little secret: Most people give up right before things take off.

Keep showing up. Tweak. Experiment. Promote weekly. And when you feel like quitting, run a flash sale instead.

Smart Marketing Ideas

☑ Limited-time discounts (hello, FOMO)

☑ Bundle planners and charge more

☑ Add new sections every season

☑ Promote planners around key events:

⁃ New Year’s resolutions (December–January)

⁃ Back to school (August–September)

⁃ Wedding season (Spring–Summer)

⁃ Summer body planners (April–May)

⁃ Holiday prep planners (October–December)

Keep an eye on what’s happening in the world and ride the wave!

Final Thoughts: Your First Sale Is Closer Than You Think

Here’s the truth: selling planners isn’t dead, boring, or a waste of time.

People want structure. People want pretty. People want their life together, and your planner might just be the thing that helps them do it.

So to wrap it all up:

☑ Pick a niche people actually want
☑ Design something useful and beautiful
☑ Optimize your listing for SEO like a pro
☑ Promote it smartly on Pinterest + your site
☑ Stay consistent and ride planner season waves

And most importantly: don’t give up at the ugly middle.

Now go build that planner empire.