Why I Love Canva for Work
When I started out with my niche websites, the only money I was prepared to spend on my business was my annual Domain payments and monthly subscriptions to Wealthy Affiliate and Jaaxy. (I switched to Yearly at Wealthy Affiliate on Black Friday 2016).
I opted for the FREE versions of everything else.
Free Online Tools for Bloggers
As you know, we get free web hosting for 25 Domains at Wealthy Affiliate plus another 25 Siterubix sites, so hosting was covered.
I used Mailchimp for email marketing because it was FREE for the first 2000 email subscribers. I switched to GetResponse early this year when I discovered that MailChimp was not friendly to Affiliate Marketers.
I used only free WordPress Themes until I purchased Divi by Elegant Themes on Black Friday 2018.
I used the free version of Board Booster instead of paying for Tailwind to grow my Pinterest account until Board Booster closed down.
And, of course, like most bloggers, I happily enjoyed the FREE version of Canva for 3 years. I found the free version wonderful, perfectly adequate for my needs as a new blogger.
And then Canva started promoting Canva for Work.
And, as with every financial decision in my business, I entered into hot internal debate for a good few weeks.
At $9.99 a month, Canva for Work is not a huge financial decision but I was happy with the free version so I didn't know if switching over would be worth it.
So I tried Canva for Work free for a month and decided to go for their $99 a year deal.
Here's why.
Why I love Canva for Work
What sets Canva for Work apart from the free version, in my opinion is the access to a bunch more FREE Images.
Yes, I know we have over a million free images in Site Content and they have served me very well.
Using Canva's Images Saves Me Time
What's nice about having free images in Canva is that you don't have to download them from Site Content and then re-upload them to Canva first. They are right there, on the design platform.
More Free Images at my disposal
And, for my niches (Mom Entrepreneurs, Mom Bloggers and Breastfeeding Moms), I've found a bunch of new images I haven't found in Site Content. Wooohoo! Guess I was going to run out sometime.
I can add Animation to my Images
And... when you publish images in Canva for Work, you get the option to publish your design as an Animation, either a GIF or a Movie.
Say whaaat?
You can create your own GIF's?
Yup, I just created one. The file was too big to upload to this post, so here's a screenshot.
I can Create Movies on Canva
I also recently created a Presentation on Canva for my Xtraordinary Women talk.
That, I turned into a movie (MP4) which I uploaded to YouTube and a PDF file which I uploaded to Slideshare.
Logo Design and Rebrand
I recently ditched the logo I bought on Fiverr for Inspiring Mompreneurs and created my own logo on Canva.
I was never quite happy with the logo I paid for or the rebrand I did last year.
The colours were all wrong, not bright and happy.
I also received so many compliments about the logo I created myself on Canva for LaurenKinghorn, that I just decided to go for it.
Inspiring Mompreneurs looks like this now. Much more me.
While I was at it, I created a new logo for Happy Human Pacifier on Canva too.
I also started standardising my Pinterest Pins, using the same font and style for all my latest pins.
I have no doubt I'll rebrand again in the future but I'm happy with my latest rebrand - for now.
Brand Kit
One of the great things about Canva for Work is that you can create a Brand Kit, with your Brand's Colours and Fonts.
You can also keep your logos and images you use often in a Folder for easy access (not sure if you can also do this with the Free version).
Why I Love Canva for Work
In essence, I believe Canva for Work has helped me become more professional - and for $99 a year, that's a steal.
Are You using Canva for Work?
And do you love it as much as I do?
I have only one gripe about Canva.
Why, oh why, don't they have an Affiliate Program? I found a page somewhere on Canva's site a while ago where you could express your interest in an Affiliate Program. Apparently, they will email all those who expressed an interest the moment they start one.
Wouldn't that be cool?
To Your Success
Recent Comments
105
Hi,
I love Canva I use it all the time. For various sites of mine. I try and keep them separate from each business lol. They all go intermittent.
I am just trying to work on what account I had with My Pinterest as it goes fab with pins too.
Awesome post Lauren. Canva is so easy to use so much easier than photo shop. Lol. I can't get my head round photoshop. :)
Debs :)
Hey Debs, lovely to hear from you and Thanks for your fab comment.
I've never tried Photoshop so I can't compare. The first time I ever designed anything was on Canva and I just loved how easy it was use.
Me too.
My daughter loves photoshop. I don't get on with it but Canva is something I use all the time it's a really cool. Fab post great to catch up with you again too Lauren. :)
I'm a little confused about the spam rules. This post is helpful in my opinion, and I probably spam too when I'm trying to be helpful. I don't want to have to be more rigid when I share here.
Regarding Canva, I also use Canva for work. I really like the feature where you can instantly resize images for multiple platforms. I was spending a lot of time resizing and recreating for social media prior.
Oh goodness... yes! Forgot to mention the instant resizing, Tiffany. Thanks so much for picking that up and for highlighting it in your comment.
And Thanks for your support and encouragement. Yes, my intention was to help, certainly not to harm. I've sent Kyle an email with a link to my post, to make sure I'm not breaking the rules.
I like to keep it clean and am happy to post this info on my own site if it's a problem to have it up here - I just thought the info would be more useful to fellow bloggers.
And, as Canva has no affiliate program, I have nothing to gain by promoting Canva for Work other than to serve the community.
You are not violating rules Lauren your ok sweetie. There is no affiliate programme as of yet for Canva. About time there was though lol.
You are ok posting what you have.
:)
I love Canva and use it all the time, I must admit I only use the free version and not really even looked into the paid option and the benefits of it.
Thanks for the insight here Lauren maybe a closer look is needed,
Martin
Brilliant Martin. I was also super happy with the free version.
I would have loved to have known what I know now when I was deciding whether to upgrade or not. Trusting you have enough info to make a more informed decision now.
I'm just using the regular Canva for now too, but really appreciate your feedback around upgrading, makes it a lot easier to make the decision when it comes up. Thank you!
Awesome, Beth. Glad I could help. I struggled to find enough information on it when I was making my decision and it took me a while to figure out its true worth.
I use Canva too and I love it. I haven't thought about upgrading yet as I don't see the need, at least for now.
Hi Alica, that's cool. I also was perfectly happy using the free version for the longest time.
Great post, Lauren. I also tried Canva for work for a month. Like you, after the month was over I purchased it for a year. I absolutely love it.
I just love Canva too ... though as with many things, I could become more efficient at using it!
With Grace and Gratitude
Karen
Hello Karen how are you girl it's eons since I have seen you about.
We need to catch up girl :)
I have been absent because I have two parents with two different diseases at the same time and there are no happy endings :( It has been taking up a lot of my time over the last few months.
I have had to concentrate on my websites when I have had the chance to actually work.
But as Arnie says “I’ll be back” :)
With Grace and Gratitude
Karen
Oh Karen I am so sorry about your parents. :(
I hope you are ok. Sending you a big E-Hug.
Take care sweetie. x
Thanks for the info about Canva for Work, Lauren. I haven't used it, but I like that they have a brand kit, in addition to everything else. Very reasonable pricing too. Thank you! :)
Colleen
I think this is a very nice review, is it ok to put our business on there? (Not sure if it is against self-promotion rule?)
Thanks Rebecca. Congratulations on becoming an Ambassador! Woohoo!
Very good question. I think that when we give details of our business in this way, to teach and train, it's acceptable. I have not added links to any of my websites. Links to my sites are still exactly where they should be - on my profile.
Thank you! I do go by Becca. I like reading your blogs. So, if my tutorials have my biz name, that is fine...just double checking. I did this one for my No One Likes Pricks Campaign on Canva
I think so Becca, I'm going to check with Kyle. I popped over to your website to check a couple of weeks back and I see you've been busy... it's time we published your post. Let me know when and how you'd like to proceed.
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Hi Lauren, Thanks for sharing....I was wondering how to spruce up my photos.... I didn't realize I could accomplish that with Canva. I check them out!
Great stuff T! Have fun playing on Canva.
Yes, it is...I just got it today and I was able to create my first logo with it! It is AWESOME!! Thanks again for sharing!