In this blog post, I'll show you 7 ways to save time with templates. Using templates will save you time and improve efficiency, productivity, and consistency. If you don't use templates, you should.
Do you use templates in your business?
Most businesses, bloggers, and marketers are using at least a few templates. For example, they may be using a template to create invoices or proposals.
However, they may overlook many other documents, projects, and designs where they should use templates to save time and work more efficiently.
For example, if you have a document that you send to all new clients regularly, you should create a template instead of recreating it each time. Your document will have a predefined page layout, fonts, margins, and styles and all you'll need to do is to fill in any new content.
What Are Templates?
Templates are ready-made documents you can use over and over again. You can use a template for any document that you need to create over and over again rather than creating content from scratch.
Templates simplify the creation of documents. You can save templates on your computer or online. And you typically change or add just a few details each time you use a template.
Benefits of Using Templates
- Save time and reduce your workload. Free up time to focus on running your business.
- Improve efficiency & consistency. Just open a template that has your layout and formatting, and add your content.
- Stop procrastination. How often did you sit in front of a blank screen, thinking about how to get started on a project or task?
- Present a professional image.
Getting Started With Templates
To get started with using templates, think about what documents you use the most, what projects you work on often, and what images you create over and over again.
Then, start creating templates for those documents. Or look for existing templates you can buy.
7 Ways To Save Time With Templates
You can use templates for a wide variety of projects
You can see examples below of several types of documents, projects, and designs that are easier to create when using templates.
1. Social Media Images
Most bloggers spend too much time creating social media images. If you do, then this is one of the first places where you should use templates.
If your social media images aren’t getting enough clicks or it takes too much time to create them, buying social media templates will help you tremendously!
Using social media templates will also help you create more compelling social media images.
Why you should use professional templates to design social media images:
- Save time with templates: Dramatically cut down the time you spend designing social media images. And free up time for other marketing tasks.
- Create beautiful, professional-looking images in minutes without being a designer. Your images will be more eye-catching and attention-grabbing.
- Get better-performing images. You will get more clicks and shares when posting well-designed images and they will have a much better chance to go viral.
- Make multiple social media images easily with templates.
How to make variations of the same social media image
Here are some easy ways to create variations of the same social media image:
- Use different layouts
- Use different images/photos
- Use different colors
- Use different headlines/text
- Change the image size (reduce, enlarge, or crop the image)
- Change the image angle
- Change the position/location of the image (e.g. put the image at the bottom for one social image and put it at the top for the next one)
Using templates will make it super easy to come up with different designs.
2. Save Time With Marketing Templates
You can benefit from using templates for just about any type of marketing function.
You can find a variety of fill-in-the-blank private label/PLR marketing templates at PLR sites, including templates for content creation, content repurposing, product creation, list building, newsletters, budgeting, social media marketing, podcasting, advertising, copywriting, and many more. Get a list of my favorite PLR providers here.
Are you struggling to get things done? Look no further, planners are the answer!
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When you have a lot of work to do, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. But with the help of planners, you can make your marketing efforts more efficient.
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- Get a clear action plan and take actionable steps to implement your marketing strategies.
- Know exactly what marketing tasks you need to do and when.
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- Stay on track and meet all your important deadlines.
Unlock the power of planners, stay on schedule, and take your business growth to new heights.
Take a peek at these planners and start planning your marketing more efficiently today!
3. Same Time With Email Marketing Templates
Use email templates or samples to write email messages fast!
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Check out my ready-to-use email samples here.
4. Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
If you are sending the same email message repeatedly, email templates can shorten the process and save time spent responding to emails. Create templates with answers to the most commonly asked via email.
5. Lead Magnet Templates for List Building
There are many templates you can use to make email marketing easier, faster, and more effective.
Using Canva templates is the easiest and fastest way to create lead magnets. Canva is a user-friendly graphic design tool that is easy to use even for non-designers.
Canva templates include pre-made layouts, backgrounds, fonts, and other design elements that make it easy to create professional-looking designs with just a few clicks. And your designs will be more eye-catching and attention-grabbing.
You don’t have to waste time thinking about the design and how to place the different elements. You'll have a variety of ready-to-go design ideas so that you will be able to quickly put together a great lead magnet.
You can create amazing opt-in freebies with Canva templates such as checklists, ebooks, planners, calendars, worksheets, quizzes, and more. Just put in your text, your brand colors, fonts, your own photos, or free stock photos, and you’re done. See my blog post to get a list of The Best Free Stock Photos and Images.
Canva lead magnet templates
Use Canva lead magnet templates to create lead magnets fast.
Check out my Minimalist 68 Canva Lead Magnet Templates here. These templates will work with the free Canva version. If you don't have a Canva account, you can sign up for a free account here.
PowerPoint and MS Word lead magnet templates
Check out these Fill-in-The-Blanks Templates for Journals, Planners, Worksheets, To-Do Lists, and Checklists from EHubKit. These are PowerPoint and Doc templates. Get this Editable and Brandable template pack with complete Private Label Commercial Use Rights.
6. Online Courses, Ebooks, and Reports
Online courses, Ebooks, and reports often include content parts that are similar such as a cover image, introduction, worksheets, and action steps.
A branded template can include document size, headers, footers, a cover page, sections, an introduction, your fonts, font sizes, margin sizes, page numbers, and more.
You can create templates with the format and parts that stay the same and you'll just have to add the content when creating a new product.
You can even create templates for the promotional images you use for promoting your courses and lead magnets.
7. Contracts and Agreements Templates
Check out these legal templates for bloggers:
Comprehensive Legal Bundle Packages
Terms and Conditions Template, Privacy Policy Template, Affiliate Agreement
Disclaimer Template, Confidentiality Agreement, Sponsored Posts Contract Template, Coaching Agreement, Guest Blogger Agreement
Partnership Agreement, and many other legal agreements.
You can never have enough templates!
If you’re not using templates now, it’s time to start using them. Continue to grow your templates. Think about where you can use templates that will help you save time so you can focus on more important business tasks.
Get My Free Canva Lead Magnet Templates to help you create your own lead magnets and see what a time saver my Canva templates really are.
BLOGGING RESOURCES
- Checklists, Worksheets & Planners to Set up a Money-Making Blog.
- Hosting: Bluehost & SiteGround.
- WordPress themes: ElegantThemes/Divi, GeneratePress, Genesis theme from StudioPress & DIYThemes.
- Popular email marketing providers: Aweber, GetResponse, ConvertKit, and MailChimp.
- The best online spelling and grammar checker: Grammarly.