This content outlines a 72-hour challenge to create, list, and sell a digital notebook, emphasizing a focused, step-by-step approach to achieve a first sale and potentially expand into physical product offerings.
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I have a challenge for you. If you give
this your full focus for the next 72
hours, you're going to have your first
digital notebook created, listed, and
sold. Just follow every single step I
share in this video. And as a bonus,
I'll show you how to offer a physical
version of your notebook at no cost to
you to increase your chances of making
that first sale. There are sellers
making hundreds and even thousands of
dollars selling digital notebooks. And I
genuinely believe that if you can sell
just one, you can sell many. It all
comes down to your effort and
consistency. So, let's get into your
plan for the first 24 hours of this
challenge. It starts with step one,
where you're going to choose the idea of
your notebook. I feel like it's easy to
either spend way too much time
overthinking this step or copy what
everyone else is doing. But your goal is
to make it specific and something
designed for a particular person with a
clear and unique purpose. What usually
happens is people jump straight into
Canva without thinking about who their
notebook is for or why someone would buy
it. And that's exactly why their
products tend to sit with no traffic and
no sales. Try to keep in mind that
people don't just buy a digital
notebook. They buy a tool that helps
them solve a small specific problem in
their life. So, here's how you're going
to find your profitable notebook idea
today. First, identify the purpose of
it. And this can come straight from what
you naturally use notebooks for. Is it
journaling, content planning, budgeting,
studying? For example, I recently
created a notion planner that's focused
on time blocking, and habit tracking
because this is what I personally like
to use my physical planners for. Next,
identify the person it's for. Who would
actually need this notebook? Maybe it's
college students, online entrepreneurs,
or busy working moms. My Notion Planner
was specifically created for busy
full-time workers that are also building
a business on the side. So, they need
help blocking their day for maximum
productivity and efficiency. Then,
you're going to research what's already
selling. So, you can go on to Etsy,
Pinterest, or Amazon and type in your
idea. You can start off broad like
digital planner, digital journal, or
gratitude notebook, for example, just to
get some ideas, but then try typing more
specifically what you want to sell. So,
for example, it could be content planner
for product-based businesses and scroll
through some products to get ideas of
what bestsellers are including. This
will also give you an idea of what
software you'll need to create your
planner, but I'll get into that in a
second. Once you have validated that
your notebook idea is in demand, it's
time to refine your angle. Take what's
already working in the market and make
it your own. You can do this by giving
it a unique look, like your own color
palette or aesthetic, a unique
structure, like adding prompts,
sections, or trackers that others don't
have, or a unique focus, for example,
tailoring it to one target customer. So,
going back to my planner example, I
offered two time blocking templates
depending on how my customers prefer to
structure their day. So, giving them
these options helped mine stand out from
other listings. This is just one way I
made mine slightly more unique. Now that
you have a rough idea of what your
notebook is all about, I have three
recommendations on how you create it.
Depending on what it is, you can use
Canva, Notion, or Google Sheets. Canva
is best if you're keeping it simple and
focusing more on aesthetic. So things
like planners or journals where the
design and layout really matter. You
could put more of your energy into
creating multiple basic planners but
with really beautiful covers that speak
to a particular person. Or you can spend
time customizing pre-made Canva
templates to include different types of
pages. I have a digital notebook
tutorial on this which I will link for
you down below. Notion is perfect if you
want your notebook to be more
interactive or functional like a
productivity dashboard, a content
planner, or a goal tracker that people
can actually use digitally. So, similar
to the example I've been sharing, and if
you want to watch my process on how I
made this, I'll link that for you down
below as well. And Google Sheets are
ideal for data-driven or organizational
notebooks like finance trackers or
business planners where users can input
and calculate information. Okay, we're
still on day one of making some
important decisions, but we're on step
two now where you're going to further
validate your idea. And the best way to
do this is to simply ask. Trust me, this
step is so important. Otherwise, you
risk wasting hours creating a notebook
only to find out that no one actually
needs it. So, let's make sure there's
real demand first. Start by polling your
audience on social media. Even if you
only have a small following, post a
quick poll on your Instagram stories.
asking people what type of planner or
notebook they would actually use. I did
this before creating my notion planner
and the results literally shaped the
entire design. At the same time, you can
do a poll inside niche communities that
allow it. So, join a few Facebook groups
or online spaces where your target
audience hangs out and post something
casual like, "Hey, I'm doing some market
research and I'd love your input. I'm
thinking of creating a and then insert
your type of notebook. What would make
it actually useful for you? I've run
polls in Facebook groups before and I've
gotten some super valuable feedback.
Then ask your friends. Think about
people you already know who might fit
your target customer and ask them what
they would actually want inside a
planner like this. They'll often share
insights you'd never think of on your
own. The goal here is to gather as many
genuine responses as you can and start
spotting patterns. Are people mentioning
similar features, struggles, or layouts
they want? That's what will guide you
toward exactly what to create. All
right, we're officially on day two of
this challenge, and this is where things
start to [music] get fun. Step three is
all about building your digital
notebook. You've already done the hard
work of validating your idea, so now
it's time to actually bring it to life.
I think it's easy to lose momentum here
because you might start overthinking the
design, getting stuck in perfectionism,
or spending literally days tweaking your
fonts, your colors, and your layouts.
But the goal of this challenge is not to
make the perfect notebook. It's to make
your first sale. You can always refine
it, improve on it, or redesign it later
once you have real customer feedback. We
want to get it out into the world as
quickly as possible. So, for today,
block out a few focused hours. Remove
all distractions like your phone and any
extra tabs on your computer and commit
to getting your first version done. I
always remind myself that done is better
than [music] perfect because you can't
sell what isn't finished. Open up the
software you picked from step one and
start building out your notebook. If
you're using Canva to create your
digital notebook, specifically basic
lined notebooks with beautiful front
covers, then you can offer it as a
physical notebook, which would be a
separate option for your customers. This
will increase the chances of making a
sale because many people love receiving
a physical version, especially when it's
more or less a basic planner. To offer a
physical version of your notebook at no
cost to you, you can use a print
ondemand company like Printify, which
will create, package, and deliver your
notebooks to your customers every time
you make a sale. So, all you have to do
is upload your design onto their
website. You'll also need to integrate
your shop with Printify, whether that's
on Etsy, Shopify, Amazon, in order for
this to work properly. I show you how to
do that in this video here. So, I'll
link that for you down below. I'm
excited to partner with them in this
video so that you can get a 1 month free
trial of their premium plan, which gives
you a big advantage over your
competitors because you're able to keep
costs lower for your customers. You can
sign up for free using the link below
and you can always cancel after your
trial is up and just continue with their
free plan. Okay, so remember how I
mentioned if you are creating kind of
like a basic planner to just focus
heavily on the design of the cover and
make sure that it speaks to a particular
person. So that's why my example has a
thoughtful and meaningful quote with
some beautiful floral graphics. Now to
get something similar, you could just go
to elements and then type in vintage
floral background or vintage flowers or
something like that. And I got this idea
of making a positive affirmation
notebook just by doing some research.
And I personally gravitate towards these
simple planners with beautiful quotes on
the front and they're performing really
well. So, we're going to go with that
here. Once you have your cover design,
just go to share. Let's go to download.
And then you're going to want to pick
PNG or JPEG. So, I'm going to go to
JPEG. And then I'm just going to
increase the quality all the way up. You
can do that if you have the pro account.
And then we're just going to download
it. Then you can head over to Printify
and select the catalog. and we're just
going to go to the search bar and type
in notebook to see our options. [music]
So, I'm gonna go with the spiral
notebook, which is the bestseller. Let's
go ahead and do that. Scroll down and go
to start designing. And then you're just
going to drag and drop in your image
here. Or you can go to upload on the
left side here. So, I'm going to drag it
in. I'm just going to adjust the design
to fit the whole cover. Then you can go
to preview to see what it looks like.
And it looks really beautiful in my
opinion. What's great is you can
actually use these mock-ups that
Printify has generated for you in your
listing. So, let's go to save product.
Now, this is where you can edit all the
details of your listing before you
publish. You can add some more mockups,
whether you want to use the mockups that
Printify generated or add in your own,
update the title and description, add in
some tags, and once you're finished, as
long as your website or your shop is
properly integrated, you can go ahead
and publish and it will automatically
[clears throat] show up live in your
shop. Once your notebook is finished,
it's time to list it for sale. And this
is way simpler than you think. So, you
have many options here, but I'll only
recommend two of them for the sake of
time. You can use either Etsy or PayHip.
And this just comes down to personal
preference. If you'd like to use PayHip,
which is completely free for selling
digital products online and very easy to
use, I actually have a video on how to
set this up. So, I'll link that for you
down below. All you really need is a
mockup image of your notebook, which you
can make right inside Canva. They have
pre-made templates for this, or you can
just use their easy mockup feature. This
is an example of my notion planner. I
basically screenshot sections of my
planner and used Canvas mockup feature
to create this entire image. It took me
about 10 to 20 minutes in total to
create a few images. Have a clear title,
a short description outlining the
benefits and features, and a call to
action with a buy [music] button. Here's
an example of my basic sales page for
the notion planner that I sold. We've
made it to day three of this challenge
and this is where everything comes
together. We're on step four where it's
time to market your notebook and make
your first sale. So, let's get your
notebook in front of the right people.
First of all, please do not post about
your product just once and then
disappear, assuming no one's interested
if it doesn't sell right away. People
literally need to see your offer
multiple times before they decide to
buy. And no, you don't need a massive
audience or a complex marketing
strategy. You just need to show up
consistently for a short burst of time
and give people a clear reason to buy
your notebook now. So, for the next 24
hours, here's exactly what you're going
to do. First, run a 24-hour sale. Even a
small discount or launch price creates
urgency and gets people excited to grab
it before the price goes up. I did this
with my planner and gave a 50% off
discount for anyone that bought it the
first day. Next, reach out to everyone
who voted or gave feedback in step two.
Send them a DM to let them know that
your notebook is live and thank them for
their input. That personal touch goes a
long way and they might just decide to
buy because you created something they
genuinely wanted. Then post about it on
social media a lot. Create at least
three Instagram reels or Tik Toks, and
at least one to two carousels showing
your notebook in action, the design
process, or the transformation it
offers. Pair that with Instagram stories
and a clear call to action with a link
to purchase in your bio. And always
focus on the value of your product
rather than spamming people to buy it.
So, don't just say, "My new digital
notebook is out." Instead, show people
what it will do for them. For example,
this is the exact planner I'm using to
stay organized and consistent as a busy
content creator. If you do all of this,
you'll be amazed at how many people are
ready to support you, especially the
ones who've been quietly watching your
journey. Your very first sale is proof
that it's possible. And when you've done
it once, you can do it again and again.
From here, you can refine your notebook,
create new versions, or even expand it
into a full product line. Be sure to
sign up for Printify for free using the
link below if you're offering digital
planners in Canva. And if you want to
see exactly how to list your digital
notebook on Pay Hip step by step, you
can watch this video next and I'll see
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