A few months ago I created this super cute aesthetic workout tracker in Google Sheets in hopes that it would motivate me to get my butt back in the gym. It didn’t! But I didn’t want that workout tracker to go to waste, so I decided to put it on my Etsy store and I have actually sold a surprising number of them.

I also just love spreadsheets. In general, I always find that when I’m going through a phase of being overwhelmed, just the sheer thought of opening my ClickUp, the project management tool that I absolutely love, I just can’t do it.

It just feels too much to open it and kind of go through my to-do’s. So I always revert back to just a good old-fashioned spreadsheet.

In this tutorial, I’m going to show you how I took that workout track, turned it into a Google sheet template and published it as a listing on Etsy.

Create Google Sheets

You can see an image below of the workout and cardio program tracker that I created.

It has three tabs the workout and cardio tracker combined, the workout tracker on its own, and then the cardio tracker on its own.

I also have a read-me page here that just kind of steps you through how to go about setting up the tracker and using it.

My tip here would be to ensure that when you create your Google sheet, you have saved it somewhere where you’re not going to unintentionally move, edit, or delete it.

You’ll see below a screenshot of my Google Drive where you can see that I have this template saved under Digital Products → Google Sheet Templates → Workout Program Tracker. And then I have a specific folder that says final share file.

So I know that the file that’s in there is the one that I am sharing with people.

Get Google Sheets Share Link

Once you’ve finalised your Google Sheet, you’ll want to set up the share link.

To access the share link, click the blue ‘Share’ button in the top right corner of the Google Sheet.

Ensure that the general access link is set as anyone with the link will be able to view the Google Sheet because we don’t want them to be able to comment or edit your file.

Once we have that, we want to copy that link and hit done.

SHARE LINK HACK

Now my tip here is actually to get that link and paste it into your browser.

You’ll see at the end of the share link it says Sharing.

What we want to do is replace the word Sharing with Copy.

The reason for this is it’s going to force people to make a copy of the template as opposed to having to open it and then go file, and make a copy.

This is going to automatically do that for them. So now if I follow the new share link we’ve created, you’ll see that it’s going to bring up a page that asks you if you would like to make a copy of the Google Sheet.

A really easy way for people to be able to access and duplicate that template into their own Google drives.

Create PDF for Google Sheets

Next, we need to create the PDF that we’re going to be giving our customers after they purchase our Google Sheet, which will have the link included in it.

I create all of my share link PDFs in Canva.

In my PDF I’ve included instructions on how to access Google, a link to set up a Google account if they haven’t already and also what they can expect once they click the Google Sheet share link.

Once they click the ‘access template’ button, they’ll immediately be directed to the make a copy page.

I’ve also included some instructions on accessing the Read Me tab in the workout tracker to show them how to use it.

If you’ve created quite a robust Google Sheet template, or any template really, I would highly recommend creating a tutorial video that walks people through how to use that template as opposed to just having an instruction page. Most people will find following a video a lot easier than following written text.

The way that I choose to do this is to record the video, and then upload it as unlisted on YouTube. Then I take the link from YouTube and embed it into my PDF as well.

Create Listing Graphics

Next, we need to create the listing graphics that you’re going to use to advertise your product. Again, I do all of this in Canva.

If you want a more in-depth tutorial on how I actually build out my listings on Etsy you can check out my other tutorial here.

To give you a quick overview of the listing graphics I created for my Workout Tracker Google Sheet, the main graphic has a mockup of the tracker, and the Google Sheets icon to show that it is specific for Google Sheets.

This is important because It will not work as a Google Excel spreadsheet. I mean, it likely will, but I know that sometimes if you’re moving from Google Sheets to Excel Excel to Google Sheets, there are some formatting things that don’t transfer well. So I made sure to point out that this is specific to Google Sheets.

The second listing is a video of the workout track walking you through how to use it. Then after that I have graphics explaining how it works, the three-tab options that are included, and that they can access it on all devices.

Conclusion

Then after all that the final step is to upload it to whichever platform you are selling your products on, whether it’s on your own website, Etsy, Creative Market, or wherever you choose to sell your products.

And there we have it, that’s how I took my simple workout tracker and turned it into a Google Sheet Template to sell online.