After Mallaury Agyei left behind her corporate job to focus on her family, she created a pregnancy and birth blog, which she eventually sold for 5 figures.
This left her with free time to start a new project.
After identifying a market need, she tried her hand at creating Pinterest templates. Her creations were an instant success, which led her to dive deeper into the industry.
Today she earns $5k a month by selling private label rights templates and printables on Etsy and her website, Premium PLR for Bloggers, and she’s got big plans to grow her business even further.
Keep reading to find out:
- Why she created her first blog
- How she discovered the template market
- How she started selling templates and printables
- How many templates and printables she’s sold
- Where her earnings come from
- Her main marketing strategies
- Her thoughts on SEO
- Her approach to keyword research
- How she uses her email list
- The tools she swears by
- Her biggest challenge
- Her greatest accomplishment
- Her main mistake
- Her advice for other entrepreneurs
Meet Mallaury Agyei
My name is Mallaury and I live in Toronto, Canada with my husband and two kids.
While I initially dreamed of becoming an OB-GYN, I discovered my passion for business during my teenage years and decided to pursue it.
After completing college and university, I entered the finance world and rapidly advanced through the corporate ranks.
Between 2015 and 2017, I got married and started a family, which led me to step away from my corporate job to fully embrace motherhood.
Why She Created Her Site
Unlike most people who start businesses with a detailed plan, my journey into online entrepreneurship was quite different.
I left the world of finance at 24 with a newborn and a toddler just 15 months apart. That phase of my life inspired me to start a pregnancy and birth blog, which I grew into a full-time income source over the next few years.
Eventually, I decided to sell the blog, leaving me with extra time to contemplate my next move.
That blog was getting between 40k-50k pageviews each month and I sold it for around $25,000. Also, I grew my Pinterest to a couple thousand followers and over 1 million monthly pageviews.
As a creative person who gets bored easily, I was eager to dive into something new.
In 2021, I decided to earn some extra income during the holidays. While browsing through various creator groups on Facebook, I noticed many people were making money by selling Pinterest templates.
Having designed many templates for my blog, I decided to give it a try, albeit reluctantly.
I created a set of 10 templates and priced each one at $15. To my surprise, I sold four that day!
Coming from the blogging world, where payments from my ad network Mediavine and affiliate earnings were often delayed, the gratification of earning $60 and being able to cash it out right away was exhilarating.
This small win inspired me to continue designing.
I sold them inside the Facebook group. It’s a buy-and-sell group for creators, so people were looking for templates to buy and they came across mine and purchased them.
Within a few weeks, I gained recognition in these groups, and managing the influx of orders became challenging.
With my husband’s encouragement, I decided to launch Premium PLR For Bloggers. It’s crazy because I initially aimed to make a little extra cash within the cozy confines of these Facebook groups.
Never in a million years did I think I’d go from mom blogger to digital product shop owner!
I started with just five products in my shop, working diligently between my children’s naps to expand my offerings.
But remember, I had no plan! I just knew my designs were nice enough to make me a couple hundred dollars a day. I would spend hours browsing various blogs that piqued my interest and designing templates and printables that I thought would be suitable.
I began with food-focused printables and templates, and gradually introduced items for other niches over time.
Since then, I’ve dedicated thousands of hours to perfecting my craft, building my brand, and growing my business.
To date, I’ve sold over 8,300 printables and templates, served 700 customers, and processed over 3,100 orders.
This year I’ll hit $200,000 in sales since I started and I’m incredibly proud of how far I’ve come.
How Much She’s Earning
This year, I’m on track to earn $72,000. So far, I’ve made $36,256, and with Q4 approaching—my busiest season—I expect to earn the bulk of my income then.
The breakdown of my main income streams as of 2024 is as follows:
Digital product sales 55%
Monthly subscriptions 40%
Affiliate sales 5%
In terms of traffic, I get about 47,000 page views per year. I have a printable and template shop, not a blog currently.
Her Main Marketing Strategies
My top marketing strategy is to focus on my email list and Facebook group. I’ve dedicated significant time to building strong, organic relationships with my customers.
One customer even told me she keeps coming back because she appreciates the quality and effort I put into my designs, and she plans to be a customer for life.
This personal approach not only ensures repeat business, but also fosters word of mouth, which drives additional traffic to my shop.
While I’m exploring ads as a way to quickly scale my business, this relationship-focused method remains my primary strategy.
By nurturing these connections, I create a sense of community and trust, which sets me apart from more conventional marketing methods.
Mallaury’s Thoughts on SEO
SEO is crucial for my printable and template shop because it helps ensure my products are easily discoverable by potential customers.
My strategy starts with keyword optimization, using tools like Everbee and Etsy to find relevant terms and incorporating them into my product titles, descriptions, and tags.
I also plan to start a blog soon, which will focus on linking to products in the shop section of my website. This will help create valuable content that resonates with my audience and drives organic traffic.
Keyword Research
For my digital product shop, keyword research is crucial for making sure my printables and templates are easy to find.
I start by brainstorming relevant keywords and phrases that potential customers might use. Then, I use tools like Everbee and Etsy to identify popular and related terms specific to the digital products market.
Checking out what my competitors are targeting helps me spot gaps and opportunities. I incorporate these keywords into my product titles, descriptions, and tags to boost visibility.
I keep the process simple by focusing on what my ideal customer would search for, thinking about what I’d look up if I were them!
Link Building
Link building is really important for boosting SEO and driving traffic to my site. I use my affiliate program for this—affiliates link back to my website and shop, which helps with visibility and credibility.
Right now, I focus on building strong relationships with my affiliates to ensure they provide quality backlinks.
What hasn’t worked as well is trying to get links from low-quality or irrelevant sites.
These don’t benefit my SEO and can even hurt it. Sticking with trusted affiliates and creating valuable content has been much more effective.
Her Content Creation Process
I create content by working through a large list of products for each quarter.
I set aside 2 to 3 days a week exclusively for design work, selecting projects based on my current inspiration.
My process begins with choosing color palettes, font pairings, and graphic elements or photos. I then start with a blank design on Canva, experimenting with various ideas until I have a rough draft I’m pleased with.
From there, I refine the draft until it becomes a final product I’m happy with. I haven’t launched the blog portion of my website yet, so there are currently no articles live.
Her Email List
I have a lot of opt-ins, including a huge vault of free digital products that come with resell rights. I promote it on TikTok and my Facebook group, and I participate in a few B2B bundle events each year.
In these events, I get to showcase my most popular opt-in to over 200,000 people, as these events are a collaborative effort among multiple business owners.
By contributing a high-value freebie, I gain access to a wider audience, and in return, the participants get access to a wealth of resources. This strategy has been incredibly effective in growing my email list, as people are eager to sign up to receive valuable, free content.
Additionally, I nurture my email list by regularly sending out helpful tips, exclusive offers, and updates, which keeps my audience engaged and interested in what I have to offer.
I typically spend about 20 hours each week working on my business and I dedicate a bit more time during the 4th quarter, when things get busier. I also have a fantastic VA who helps me manage tasks and keep everything running smoothly.
First and foremost is Canva! I use it for all of my design work, so it’s essential for my business.
I also rely on MailChimp to communicate effectively with my subscribers.
Lastly, I love Facebook because it helps me connect directly with my community. Through my Facebook group, I can share updates, engage with my audience, and gather valuable feedback.
Her Biggest Challenge
The biggest challenge I’ve faced as I’ve grown my business is managing the balance between maintaining high-quality work and handling the increasing volume of orders and tasks.
As my business expanded, I found it difficult to juggle all the responsibilities on my own while ensuring that every product met my high standards.
This struggle was compounded by the need to constantly innovate and keep up with market demands. It wasn’t until I started outsourcing and hiring help that I was able to effectively manage the workload and focus on what I love most—designing and connecting with my customers.
Her Greatest Accomplishment
One of my most significant accomplishments is having my work featured by creators of prominent blogs that have been showcased on major platforms like BuzzFeed, ABC News, Tasting Table, and Reader’s Digest.
It’s incredibly gratifying to see my designs used by such well-known sites.
Additionally, being able to work for myself on my own terms is something I’m immensely proud of.
It’s empowering to manage my business on my schedule while still achieving meaningful success and recognition.
What She Wishes She Knew When She Started
What I’ve learned and wish I had known from the start is that it’s okay to ask for help!
In the beginning, I tried to handle everything myself, from design work to customer service, which often led to burnout and stress.
Understanding that it’s perfectly fine to delegate tasks and bring in support would have made a huge difference.
It’s also okay to pivot! My initial business model only allowed my digital products to be used by my customers, for personal use. Then I decided to pivot and sell my digital product with resell rights included. That’s when my business exploded.
Her Greatest Mistake
The biggest mistake I’ve made on my entrepreneurial journey was not outsourcing sooner. As a perfectionist who is very particular about details, the idea of letting someone else take control of certain aspects of my business was intimidating.
I often found myself overwhelmed and stressed because I was trying to handle everything on my own.
Being a full-time homeschool mom with limited time during the day, I realized that I needed to step outside my comfort zone and hire a VA.
Taking that leap has made a significant difference, allowing me to manage my workload more effectively and reduce stress.
Her Advice for Other Entrepreneurs
My advice to entrepreneurs building their own businesses right now is to focus on your own journey and take outrageous online income claims with a grain of salt.
The digital product world is thriving, but many newcomers promising quick success often have not put in the work themselves.
This can be discouraging when you don’t see immediate results, especially if you enter the field with good intentions.
Take it from someone who has been in this business for years: achieving great success is definitely possible, but it requires a lot of time and effort.
You don’t need to know everything from the start—just begin, set clear goals, and maintain realistic expectations. And remember, avoid comparing yourself to others.
Everyone’s path is unique, and staying focused on your own progress will help you grow and succeed.
