How to Make Money Selling Templates Online

Templates are one of my favorite digital products to create and sell. They're fast to build, easy to price, and the buyers come ready to purchase because they already know they have a problem to solve.

I've made money selling templates across several categories — spreadsheet templates, Notion templates, email templates, Canva design templates — and the basic model works the same way every time: find a repeating problem, create a reusable solution, package it, and sell it.

Here's how to do it.

Why Templates Sell So Well

Most digital products sell information. Templates sell time.

When someone buys a guide, they're buying knowledge they'll need to apply and figure out. When someone buys a template, they're buying a head start on something they already know they need to do.

The value is immediately clear: instead of spending three hours building a content calendar from scratch, they buy your template for $27 and spend 20 minutes customizing it. That's an obvious trade.

This "time saved" value proposition is why templates often sell at higher conversion rates than information products. Buyers aren't evaluating whether they'll have time to read it or implement it — they can see exactly what they're getting.

What Types of Templates Sell

Not all templates are created equal. Here's what I've found performs best:

Spreadsheet templates — Budget trackers, project trackers, client management systems, financial calculators, habit trackers. Google Sheets and Excel are universal, and people regularly pay $17–$47 for a well-designed spreadsheet they'd otherwise spend a weekend building.

Notion templates — Productivity systems, business operating systems, content calendars, project management setups. The Notion template market is active and growing, with buyers regularly spending $20–$97 on complex, well-organized setups.

Canva templates — Social media graphics, lead magnet designs, presentation decks, workbook layouts. Design templates are consistently one of the best-selling categories on digital product platforms.

Email templates / sequences — Welcome sequences, sales emails, nurture campaigns. Copywriting is hard for most business owners, so done-for-you email templates command real money — $47 to $197 or more for a complete series.

Standard operating procedure (SOP) templates — Business process documents, onboarding checklists, content workflows. These sell well to business owners and freelancers who need professional structure quickly.

How to Create Templates That People Actually Buy

The biggest mistake in template creation is building what sounds cool to you instead of what solves a real, specific problem for a real, specific person.

Start with the problem, not the format. Go to relevant communities — subreddits, Facebook groups, forums — and look for recurring questions. "What's the best way to track my freelance clients?" "Does anyone have a Notion setup for managing multiple projects?" "How should I organize my small business finances?" Every one of these questions is a product.

Build for the exact buyer who asked the question. If the question was about freelance client management, the template should be designed specifically for freelancers — with the fields they need, the workflows that match how they actually work, and a structure that makes sense for their specific situation.

Include instructions. This is often overlooked but it dramatically reduces refund requests and increases positive reviews. A brief "how to use this template" section — even just a short video walkthrough — makes buyers feel confident and increases the perceived value of your product.

Where to Sell Templates Online

There are several options, each with tradeoffs.

Etsy has built-in traffic for digital products, especially templates. The downside is fees and discoverability depending on competition. It's a good starting point if you have no existing audience.

Gumroad is simple and low-friction. Fees are reasonable. Good for getting your first sales without technical setup.

Your own store gives you the best margins and the most control over how your products are presented. I use MadeThis.com for my own template store because it handles checkout and digital delivery automatically, so I can focus entirely on creating and marketing rather than maintaining a storefront.

Many template sellers use more than one channel — a marketplace for traffic discovery and their own store for direct sales with higher margins.

What to Charge

Pricing templates is an area where most beginners undersell themselves.

• Single, simple template: $9–$19
• Polished, feature-rich single template: $19–$37
• Template pack (5–10 related templates): $27–$67
• Comprehensive system or bundle (15+ templates + guide): $47–$127
• Premium, niche-specific complete toolkit: $97–$197

The "what's a reasonable price" question depends on the specific transformation the template creates, not on how long it took you to build it. A spreadsheet that saves someone four hours of work per week is worth $47. Price it there.

Building Traffic to Your Templates

Templates don't sell themselves — you need to get them in front of the right buyers.

SEO content is my primary driver. I write blog posts targeting the exact search terms my ideal buyers would use — "freelance client tracker template" or "Notion content calendar template." These posts rank in Google, drive traffic, and convert consistently because people searching those terms already know what they want.

Pinterest is excellent for template sellers because Pinterest is essentially a search engine with visual thumbnails. A well-designed pin showing your template can drive traffic for months.

Community mentions — sharing your template in relevant communities when it's genuinely helpful (not spammy) — can generate early momentum and initial reviews.

The combination of SEO content and one social channel is enough to build a sustainable template business over time. You don't need to be everywhere.

Getting Your First Reviews

Your first few reviews are everything. Buyers rely on social proof, especially for products from creators they don't know.

To get your first reviews: consider offering the template at a discounted price for the first 10–20 buyers in exchange for an honest review. Or share it with a small community and ask for feedback.

Once you have 5–10 positive reviews, conversions tend to improve significantly. Getting those first reviews is the only momentum problem you actually need to solve.

Templates are one of the most underrated ways to earn online. The creation time is low, the demand is consistent, and once you build one product that resonates, it's relatively straightforward to build a catalog. Start with one template, get it live, get reviews, and build from there.