How to start a $5,000/month online business

If you're looking to start an online business that can make you a steady stream of income, you might want to consider creating and selling templates for Notion and Canva.

In this blog post, we'll give you a brief overview of what Notion and Canva are, why people use them, and how you can make money from them by creating and selling templates. We'll also share some success stories and tips to help you get started on your journey to earning $5,000/month. 

First, you have to know what you’re working with before you start monetizing it. 

What is Notion?

Notion is a productivity app that can help you organize your life. It's a great tool for note-taking, project management, and even budgeting.

Notion has gained popularity in recent years, especially among students, freelancers, and entrepreneurs. One of the reasons why people love Notion is because it's highly customizable. You can create your own templates to suit your specific needs. 

You can make templates for tracking things like your finances, daily habits, event planning, tasks, and to-do lists. 

How can I make templates for Notion? 

First, you need to decide what kind of templates you want to create. You can create templates for project management, habit tracking, goal setting, or anything else that might be useful for Notion users. 

Once you have a template in mind, you can use Notion's drag-and-drop editor to create it. You can also use Notion's features like formulas and databases to make your templates even more functional.

This might sound kind of confusing, but basically, you can create systems to manage any kind of project. A few examples you can manage:

• Projects for school

• Managing your team

• Managing your business

• Writing your book novel(s) 

• Creating social media content 

There’s an endless list of things people want to track and they need someone to create something to help them. Develop your skills and you can be that helpful person. 

If you want to make money anywhere, you just about always have to help someone in order to make money. 

Where to sell the templates

When it comes to selling Notion templates, there are several platforms you can use. You can sell your templates on Notion Market, Gumroad, or Etsy. Gumroad and Etsy are great options if you want to sell other digital products in addition to Notion templates.

One of the best things about using Etsy and Gumroad is that they are completely free platforms. You can create templates at no cost and offer them for sale on these marketplaces. When you make a sale, you simply pay a commission fee. 

While there is a small fee of 20 cents to list an item on Etsy, you can list up to five different items for only one dollar. List it once, and let these templates repeatedly earn you money every month.

How much money can you make from your templates? Some Notion template creators have reported earning thousands of dollars per month from their templates. Marie Poulin earned over $100,000 in six months from her templates.

Another creator has grown his business from nothing to over $500,000 in sales in just two years! His name is Easlo and he is well-known throughout the Notion community.

Next, we have Canva.

What is Canva? 

Canva is a graphic design tool that allows you to create stunning graphics without design experience. It's an excellent tool for creating social media graphics, presentations, and even eBooks.

Canva has a drag-and-drop editor that's easy to use and thousands of templates you can customize to your liking.

To make Canva templates, you first decide what templates you want to create. You can create templates for social media graphics, YouTube thumbnails, Pinterest pins, or anything useful for content creators. 

Here's an example of something I made for a client recently.  

Before working on these projects, I had no prior experience working with clients. However, I was able to develop my design skills using Canva. 

The client needed a catalog for his clothing brand so that he could market it to business stores and sell his product in-store. This was a huge project. I never made anything like this before. I will say I had to learn a lot for this one.

Additionally, I created an Instagram reel for him, which he shared with his audience. The reel can be found on the right. 

Now, I got two templates I could reuse out of those projects. I can also sell copies on Etsy and Gumroad, increasing the value of my work. You can do the same.

If you want to learn how to acquire clients, here's a link to a post I made just on that. 

Game Theory: A Strategy to Start Acquiring Clients for Content Creators

Once you have a template in mind, you can use Canva's drag-and-drop editor to create it. You can also use Canva's design elements, like photos, fonts, and illustrations, to make your templates more visually appealing.

The great thing about Canva is the massive amount of tutorials and creators you can learn from. Learning as a beginner graphic designer feels tricky at first, but you can always find help from a YouTube video or even TikTok. 

Where can I sell Canva templates?

When selling Canva templates, you can use the same platforms you would for selling Notion templates.

Canva also has its own marketplace for designers called Canva Producers. You can upload your templates to Canva Producers and earn a commission every time someone buys your template.

How much money can I make selling Canva templates?

So, how much money can you make selling Canva templates? Again, it depends on your templates' quality and marketing strategy.

Canva template creators have reported earning anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars monthly from their templates. One Canva template creator, Ana Maria, earned over $11,000 in just six months from her templates. 

Here are a few listings on Etsy that creators made once, and they just keep selling month after month. 

The number under the description indicates how many reviews the seller has. Mind you, not every buyer will leave a review. So you can think of that review count as the minimum amount of sales that seller has made.

These are also single-product designs. As you start creating more designs, you build up the number of templates your store has to offer. Each one, generating monthly income as you work on building more. You work continuously compounding.

That’s the power of making a digital product business. You create one project, and then you can market it for continuous income. 

Repeat the process, and you will make a steady income from these templates 

In time, you can apply your skills to work for clients. You can find them through websites like Fiverr and Upwork, as well as through social media and word of mouth. While these templates are earning you money passively, you can also utilize them for client projects to increase your earnings.

This skill can significantly increase your monthly earnings. 

Conclusion

Starting an online business can be a daunting task, but creating and selling Notion and Canva templates is a great way to earn a steady stream of income. Notion and Canva are both popular tools that people use every day, and there's a high demand for templates that can help users be more productive and creative. 

By following the tips we shared in this blog post and putting in the time and effort to create high-quality templates, you can start earning $5,000/month or more from your online business and leave your 9-to-5 job rat race.