Crickets to Cha-Chings, Episode 207: 5 Hidden Canva Tools for Creating Digital Products

Host: Cody Berman (Gold City Ventures)
Guest: Jen Michelle
Date: October 6, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Cody Berman sits down with digital product designer Jen Michelle to reveal five lesser-known—but incredibly powerful—Canva tools and features for anyone creating and selling digital products, especially Etsy entrepreneurs. The discussion covers not just the mechanics of each tool, but also Jen’s practical workflow tips, advice for standing out in the digital marketplace, and firsthand anecdotes from their own creative journeys.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Jen Michelle’s Journey Into Digital Design

• Jen shares her entry-point to digital products, starting with personal projects for family and evolving to Etsy sales and teaching others design:
  • "I actually started creating digital products, I don't know, years ago, before I even knew what digital products were." ([00:25])
  • She leveraged Canva at work and saw its evolution over the years, now viewing it as a replacement for traditional design programs like Adobe Suite.
  • Cody agrees: "Canva is replacing like Adobe Suite in Photoshop... it is night and day now." ([02:02])

The Importance of Market Research Before You Create

• Don't “create in a vacuum”—Jen and Cody both made early mistakes by designing products without understanding demand.
  • Jen's process:
    • Use Etsy's search bar to check active demand.
    • Look for “bestsellers” and items “in 20+ carts.”
    • Leverage market research tools like Erank, Marmalead for keyword/search volume and competition.
    • "You want to look for things that have low competition and high searches." ([04:01])
  • Tips for niche product creation:
    • Start broad (e.g. baby shower invitation) then niche down (e.g. dinosaur baby boy shower invitation).
    • "The riches are in the niches. The weirder you can get with your keyword variations, as long as there's people searching for it, the more likely you are to get those sales." —Cody ([04:57])

Deep Dive: 5 Hidden Canva Tools

1. Batch Editing: Quick Edits for Colors & Fonts

[05:32 - 09:27]

• Instead of changing every page or element individually, Jen recommends using the “Change All” option:
  • Change a color or font across an entire document in seconds.
  • Caution: Will affect every occurrence (any unique instances need to be reset manually).
  • Notable tip:
    • "If you're using change all, you would have to go back and change that just that one." —Jen ([07:30])
• Copy Style (Paint Roller):
  • Use the paint roller icon to seamlessly copy colors/styles from one element to others—applies to text and graphics.
    • "Not a lot of people know about it, even though it's like right here and it's a copy style tool." —Jen ([07:44])
  • Allows you to coordinate graphic colors with your theme instantly.

2. Brand Kit for Quick, On-Brand Design

[09:36 - 12:14]

• Available with Canva Pro.
• Store your logos, fonts, color palettes, templates, and even brand voice.
• Instantly apply brand colors/fonts to your whole product.
  • "Just click it again until you find one that you love... And if you do find a color combination that you love, you can come down here and apply it to all pages." —Jen ([11:04])
• Use “brand voice” to generate written copy right within Canva, eliminating the need to switch to external AI tools.
• Cody comments on the power of systems:
  • "Even if this saves you 20 seconds every time, you're going to create something that adds up over years and years." ([11:30])

3. Magic Resize for Multiple Product Formats

[12:17 - 15:19]

• Also a Canva Pro feature.
• Effortlessly adapt your design to multiple sizes (A4, Letter, Square, etc.) with one action.
  • "If you want to create different sizes, check this out... You can select multiple resizing options at once. You could create four different sizes with the click of one button. That's why it's called Magic." —Cody ([14:06 - 14:28])
• Practical note: Very different aspect ratios may need manual adjustments post-resize.
  • "If you start like really messing with the shapes, just go and double check those designs and move things around accordingly." —Cody ([14:40])

4. Bulk Create for Fast, Large-Scale Product Creation

[15:24 - 19:37]

• Ideal for journals, trackers, or any product with repeated but slightly varied text/pages.
• Jen’s workflow:
  1. Use Magic Write to generate prompts (e.g. 30 guided journal prompts).
  2. Copy prompts, use Bulk Create App, enter prompts, and connect the data to a template page.
  3. Instantly generate a separate page for each prompt (e.g. 30 journal pages).
  • "If you want to add your cover page and any other pages you want, you do that after... it will end up copying the cover page and you'll have 30 cover pages as well." —Jen ([19:32])
• Pro tip: Be careful connecting your data to the right element; otherwise, you may have to redo the bulk generation.

5. Canva Sheets: The Spreadsheet Revolution

[20:04 - 24:35]

• Brand new feature in Canva—think Excel or Google Sheets, but inside Canva.
• Perfect for digital products like budget trackers and habit logs.
• Simple but powerful:
  • Insert dropdown menus, assign project collaborators, add links, and generate formulas using “Magic Formulas”—describe what you want, Canva builds the formula.
  • "You don't even need to be an expert at formulas and spreadsheets to be able to create these because Canva has made it so easy." —Jen ([20:04])
  • Instantly generate charts with Magic Charts.
  • Analyze sheets to spot trends right inside the app.
• Delivery: Send buyers a template link via Etsy or Shopify for instant access.
  • "You can deliver it as a template link and then they'll be able to have access to it." —Jen ([24:35])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On market research:
  "The last thing you want is you spend hours creating some product just to find out that nobody actually wants that thing."
  —Cody ([02:02])

• On Canva's evolution:
  "Canva is replacing like Adobe Suite in Photoshop... what you can do now compared to what you could do then, it is night and day."
  —Cody ([02:02])

• On the power of niche products:
  "The riches are in the niches. The weirder you can get with your keyword variations, as long as there's people searching for it, the more likely you are to get those sales."
  —Cody ([04:57])

• On the Brand Kit:
  "You can do the same thing for fonts. If you want to add a text box to add new text to your page, all you do is come in your brand kit, click here. And then it already has the exact font size and formatting, so you don't have to change anything and you can just start typing."
  —Jen ([11:05])

• On systematizing design:
  "Even if this saves you 20 seconds every time, you're going to create something that adds up over years and years. Like, it really makes a difference."
  —Cody ([11:30])

• On Canva Sheets taking over:
  "Canva sheets is. They're taking everybody's lunch, huh? They're. They're coming after Excel. They're coming after the Adobe suite, like Canva just continues to iterate and add cool stuff, which I'm not complaining about at all."
  —Cody ([23:55])

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Intro & Jen’s Background: [00:00 – 03:03]
• Market Research for Digital Products: [03:04 – 05:06]
• Batch Editing & Copy Style: [05:32 – 09:27]
• Brand Kit Walkthrough: [09:36 – 12:14]
• Magic Resize Explained: [12:17 – 15:19]
• Bulk Create Demonstration: [15:24 – 19:37]
• Canva Sheets Introduction & Tips: [20:04 – 24:41]
• Where to Connect with Jen: [25:10 – 25:22]

Where to Find Jen Michelle

• Instagram: @imjenmichelle
• Facebook: Made by Jen Michel

Summary:
Jen Michelle’s insights and hands-on Canva walkthroughs demystified advanced tools that save time, elevate your digital products, and simplify scaling—essential knowledge if you’re serious about Etsy or digital entrepreneurship. This episode will equip both new and seasoned creators with practical shortcuts and strategic wisdom to make their next Canva project easier, faster, and more profitable.