There are so many styles of planners that are popular and available out there. I imagine if you looked around your own office, or home right now you might find several different types you have tried out over the years and you know which one you prefer.
One of the most popular styles is one that easily lays flat. This makes writing on both sides of the paper easier for your customer as they won't need to hold down the entire thing in order to use it.
Planners that don't lay flat are a leading cause of complaints.
We are going to look at the top 3 styles so you can look into which is going to be best suited for your needs.
Wire-O
- The pages can be opened a full 360 degrees.
- The pages turn easily and stay put.
- It can accommodate low page counts or high page counts.
- It works well with index tabs.
- It is a readily available binding method.
Coil
- It allows books to lay flat.
- It can accommodate a wide range of page counts.
- It can be folded entirely over.
- Pages can be added or removed after binding.
Notebook
- Spine not attached to text block.
- It allows books to lay flat.
- Uses a more labor-intensive process of cold glue instead of hot glue.
- The cold glue also ensured that the pages are very difficult to pull loose.
Now if you do choose Notebook style, you will need to consider how important it is for you that your planner lays flat because there are surprisingly few domestic printers who can do a true lay-flat binding. It is a more time-consuming and costly process so you will need to do your research with your specific print company to ensure they truly do a lay flat print before you go into mass production.
Much like in the previous blog post where we discussed picking the correct paper for your planner, keeping the useability of your product for your customer top of mind will allow you to make the most informed decisions.
Have other questions about creating a planner?
Inside our Planner Academy you get access to both a packed curriculum AND weekly Q&A calls where we discuss everything you could possibly need to know about creating, designing, printing, and selling a planner. Here’s a few of the questions we recently covered in one of our Q&A calls:
- What to include and exclude to keep costs low and quality high
- How to add embellishments like tear-offs and tabs cost-effectively
- A big mistake people make when selecting their printer that keeps them stuck and having to charge way more than they wanted for their planner
- When to launch the planner for maximum sales potential
- The 2 pieces that take the longest and how to fast track them
- The behind-the-scenes process I followed to create my Lean Out Planner
There's a lot more inside the Planner Academy too - check it out to learn more.
Want to learn how to scale your business with a planner?
Then you want to watch my free masterclass where I share:
- The top 5 mistakes people make when creating a Planner, Workbook, or Journal for their business
- How a planner can be leveraged to help you scale an existing coaching, consulting, or service-based business
- How to get your planner created in the next 90 days
Click here to register for instant access to the masterclass.
by Crista Grasso
Crista Grasso is the go-to strategic planning expert for leading global businesses and online entrepreneurs when they want to scale. Known as the "Business Optimizer", Crista has the ability to quickly cut through noise and focus on optimizing the core things that will make the biggest impact to scale a business simply and sustainably. She specializes in helping businesses gain clarity on the most important things that will drive maximum value for their clients and maximum profits for their business. She is the creator of the Lean Out Method, 90 Day Lean Out Planner, and host of the Lean Out Your Business Podcast.
