Selling journals on Amazon and Etsy: 101 Guide to earning more POD sales

Many people love to journal. And journals make great gifts. Because of this, selling journals on Amazon and Etsy has become a profitable business opportunity. 

In this 101 guide, you’ll learn tips and strategies for selling journals online. These tips include best practices for product listings, marketing, and customer service. Plus, I share a link to a series of free journal mockups for you to use. You can add the mockups to your product listings and promotional content to make them stand out.

Whether you’re a seasoned ecommerce seller or just starting out, this guide helps you maximize your earnings and grow your business. 

Let’s take a look…

1. Create simple designs for your print-on-demand journals

Here are a few tips about how to create designs to go with your journals: 

Keep your designs simple.

Clean, simple design work best for most products, including journals. Avoid using too many colors, fonts, or graphics. They can make your designs look cluttered and confusing. Plus, they can turn off some shoppers. 

Simple, text-based designs using one black font are the way to go. People often use journals for inspiration, creativity, catharsis, and planning. So keep these uses in mind when you come up with design ideas. 

Use high-quality images.

If you do include images with your designs, make sure they are clear and high-resolution. Low-quality images can make your products look unprofessional. And this can decrease your chances of making sales.

Offer personalization.

Offering personalization options goes a long way with shoppers. Shoppers may want to add their own text, photos, or artwork to your journal designs. So make sure you give them the option to do so. Offering personalization also helps you stand out from the competition.

2. Optimize your listings for selling journals on Amazon and Etsy

Here are some tips about how to optimize your journal listings on Amazon and Etsy:

Write clear, keyword-rich titles.

Your titles should be clear and keyword-rich. But don’t “keyword stuff” your listings. Include keywords that describe your journals, like “faux vegan leather” and “water-resistant.” Just don’t go overboard. You should make your titles  readable. And they should make sense.

To find the most relevant keywords, use tools like…

• Google Keyword Planner
• eRank
• SEMRush

Here are some popular journal-related keywords. They can help you with selling journals on Amazon and Etsy. 

Write detailed descriptions.

Mention your journals’ most important details in their listings’ descriptions. These details include…

• faux vegan leather
• easy to clean
• water-resistant cover
• 112 lined pages
• black satin ribbon bookmark

Think of questions shoppers may have about your journals. Then, provide answers to those questions in your listings’ descriptions. 

Here’s what you need to know about CustomHappy’s print-on-demand journals:

Use high-quality lifestyle images in your listings.

Besides your main product photo, you should add photos that show people using the journals. Photos like these are called lifestyle images. Add photos of people writing in your journals or placing the journals on desks in their homes, schools, or offices. 

Lifestyle images help shoppers visualize what it would be like to own your products. And you can use your product photos to help paint that picture for them. (You can access journal mockups that are free for you to use below.)

3. Provide professional customer service to your customers

An ecommerce business must focus on providing exceptional and proficient customer service. In today’s market, customers expect to receive a high standard of attention and support. And this can result in improved customer loyalty and retention.

Businesses must show attentiveness, responsiveness, and empathy toward their customers’ needs. Timely responses to customer inquiries and addressing issues politely and efficiently are crucial. You should aim to respond to your customers within twenty-four hours.

Furthermore, companies should strive to exceed customers’ expectations. They should make them feel valued and appreciated through personalized recommendations or thoughtful gestures.

In the end, offering professional customer service not only benefits customers but also the business itself. Satisfied customers are more likely to spread positive word-of-mouth marketing and shop with you again.

To simplify your customer service, use copy-and-paste scripts for frequently received customer service inquiries. You can find those customer service scripts here.

4. Offer discounts and run promotions for your journals

Providing discounts and promotions for your journals is an effective way to entice new customers and boost sales. Such offerings incentivize customers to choose your journals over competitors’.

You can offer discounts during special occasions or sales events, including holidays, Black Friday, or Cyber Monday. Another effective strategy is creating customer loyalty programs that reward…

• repeat purchases
• referrals
• social media engagement

Apart from attracting new customers, offering discounts and promotions helps move inventory sitting idle. Providing such incentives for your journals is a smart business move. It can expand your customer base and improve customer loyalty.

Click here to learn more about setting up discounts and coupon codes on Amazon and Etsy.

5. Promote your print-on-demand journals

Here’s how to promote your products to help you with selling journals on Amazon and Etsy. 

Social media marketing:

To showcase your journals, use social media platforms like…

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Twitter
• TikTok
• Pinterest 

In your social media content, post high-quality images and use relevant hashtags to reach a wider audience.

Influencer marketing:

Collaborate with social media influencers with large followings in stationary or home goods niches. You can offer customers free journals or a commission for promoting your journals to their audiences.

Email marketing:

Build an email list of customers interested in your journals. Then, send them regular newsletters highlighting your latest designs, promotions, and discounts.

Content marketing:

Create high-quality content that showcases your journals’ value and uniqueness. This content can include blog posts, videos, and infographics. You can also create ads on Facebook and Instagram to promote your journals. 

Customer reviews:

Encourage your customers to leave reviews. Or they can share your journals on their social media platforms. Positive reviews can help build trust and credibility for your business. 

Collaborations:

Collaborate with other businesses in the stationary or home goods niches. Then, offer special promotions or discounts to these business’ customers.

Hashtags and coupon codes to promote your journals

Hashtags 

Use this list of hashtags to make your social media content visible to more shoppers.

#Journal
#Journaling
#Planner
#Notebook
#JournalInspiration
#Diary
#CreativeJournaling
#Writing
#JournalLove
#PlannerLove
#Stationary
#CreativeJournal
#JournalCommunity
#Notes
#NoteTaking

Coupon codes

Use this list of coupon codes whenever you run promotions for your journals.

JOURNAL
PLANNER
NOTEBOOK
JOURNALING
WRITING
STATIONARY
CREATIVE
EXPRESSYOURSELF
INSPIRATION
NOTES
LEATHERETTE

As always, make sure to adjust the coupon codes to your business’ unique promotions. Also, set clear terms and conditions for each offer you run. 

We’ve also had a bunch of beautiful mockups made for you. Here’s a preview:

Click here to access your free journal mockups

If you want to receive these mockups, sign up here. You won’t need to put in your credit card details on the next page (unless you’d like to sign up for other offers on that page). This is just an easy way for us to get you your mockups in as smooth a way as possible. Enjoy! :)

…Want to see how fast you can take your product listings to the next level? Take advantage of my 14-day free trial of the Easy POD Mastermind! It’s the perfect way to test drive our accountability and action-based strategies. Here’s the link: www.EasyPODTrial.com.

I hope you liked learning about selling journals on Amazon and Etsy. If you have any other tips to share, please leave a comment below. And if you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends and followers. 

P.S. My Journal Bootcamp starts next month and runs for 4 weeks! If you’re interested, let me know!