Vince Massara

Smart Edupreneur Podcast

15 Weird but effective tips for selling on Teachers Pay Teachers

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Starting a business as a teacher is hard and selling on Teachers Pay Teachers or The Wheel can seem like an extremely daunting task.

Whilst there are tools to make it easier when it comes to marketing online, there is a lot to learn. In fact, you’ll make mistakes early that seem so obvious with the power of hindsight; I know I did.

 

Click here to visit out our ultimate guide

to selling teaching resources

 

Luckily, I have you covered.

What if some of the best in the business told you what they wish they knew when they started. Would that help?

Thought so.

Granted, there are some great ways to get traffic to your store, but there is a lot of noise by so-called internet marketing experts out there. It can be easy to be lead astray in the beginning, so make sure you take on the advice of these TPT sellers because they’re all awesome and have made the simple mistakes so you don’t have to.

 

TPT sellers give their best advice for people who want to start selling on Teachers Pay Teachers.

I went and asked some of the best Australian TPT sellers, and some from overseas on their top tips.

 

What is the one thing I wish I knew before selling on Teacher Pay Teachers?

1. Veronica from Teachezy

TPT Store
Facebook
Instagram
Pinterest
Blog

I wish I had known how to design right from the start. That has been a huge learning curve and now I make about half of the clip art in my products, as well as all my logos, banners, gifs, and social media images. It makes a huge difference. If I want a koala in a tree holding a stop sign for a resource, I just now make it. I love not having any rules about how I can use the images as they are my own. Unfortunately, I now have older products that need updating…will get to them in time. I do use other clip art as well as making clip art it is time-consuming.

Image result for tech teacher pto3

2. Tech Teacher Pto3

TPT Store
YouTube
Instagram
Blog

The one thing I wish I knew before starting my business is how much happier it made me. I was initially scared to invest time and energy because I couldn’t see it paying off but once I started and the snowball got going I realised how much I loved being my own boss. There is always something new to learn and I find the time dedicated to my own business is so rewarding! The more I do the more I earn. Energy in equals energy out. The satisfaction it gives me is worth all the effort.

 

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3. Oceanview Resources

TPT Store
Personal Store
Designed By Teachers
Instagram
Facebook

I wish I had learned to work smarter earlier eg I use PowerPoint to create my resources etc and I only last year realised that setting up templates was the way to go!!! Slow learner!!!
Now I have templates for covers, TOU and copyright, previews, clip artist logos which are hyperlinked etc Task cards, class decor so so easy now
I wish I had discovered Tabitha Carro’s flapjack Factory and smartphone marketing schools a lot earlier
My final tip would be once you start to buy clipart, have a system of organisation that makes it easier for you to find what you want!!! I am currently sorting mine and it’s a challenge: TIP if you are buying clipart on TPT you can always go back to the site and download it
Final tip- diversify. Don’t rely on just one selling platform. My SELZ store is my own business and way more profitable than TPT

4.  Sarah from Curiosity and the Hungry Mind

Instagram – @curiosity_and_the_hungry_mind
Twitter – @mySTEMclassroom
I wish I knew how to prioritize. I didn’t have to be doing it ALL at the same time.
selling on Teacher Pay Teachers

5. Hinemoa from Top Teaching Tasks

The one thing I wish I knew before starting my business was all of the hats I would be wearing: product designer, marketer, accountant, collaborator, cheerleader, and more! There is a LOT more to running a business than I originally considered! This is probably a good thing or I would have been too scared to begin.

6. Tanya from Resourcing Time

So many things but I wish I knew how to market my products. I am getting better but it is still a steep learning curve. Teachers always tend to undersell themselves and I think I have just carried that through to my business.

7. Melissa from Ridgy Didge Resources

TPT Store 

I wish I knew how important consistent branding is in communicating a clear image and purpose for my business. Not addressing this from the start has cost me valuable hours (and is continuing to do so). Going back and rebranding 200+ resources is not fun!!
 

8. Mandi from MindRoar Teaching Resources

The one thing I wish I knew before starting my business is to identify what sort of resources I want to make and to make them consistently from the start.  I started off posting old resources and then got disheartened when they didn’t sell – but they weren’t terribly engaging or something that a classroom teacher just wouldn’t have the time to create.  When I started making resources that I would love to use, resources created to be more visually appealing and more engaging, my sales slowly started to pick up (although I am still very much at the ‘beginning’ stage of this business).

9. Maribel from The Wordy Owl

How to market to reach a wider audience and increase sales.

10. Annie from Kindergarten Matters

The one thing I wish I knew before I started my business is to set a theme so that everything is cohesive and recognisable as my brand.  I am slowly now changing older products etc so they all link in with my store name, logo, product, covers, blog etc.

11. Madhura from The Innovius Ideas

How to narrow down your niche and marketing.

12. Colleen from Real lessons for the Teenage Mind

While marketing is very important, but it also takes some time for clients to find out for themselves about your fantastic content!

13.  Mrs Strawberry

TPT Store

Blog

When first starting out on TPT I wish I had known about the importance of having my copyright information on EVERY page. It was a very time-consuming job adding this information to my products all at once rather than just as I created a new product.

14. Jennifer from The Connett Connection

Don’t get caught up in comparing your store to those who have been in the business for years, you will not get that kind of success overnight. It comes with time and consistent work.

15. Alisha & Ashleigh from Rainbow Sky Creations

Our business has had a little life of its own. It started out as a passion project for Alisha and I and soon turned into a business that requires lots of love and attention for it to continue to grow. In hindsight, wish we saw Rainbow Sky Creations as a business from the beginning. Although some of the success we have achieved is contributed to it being something we are both passionate about, viewing it as a serious business from the get-go would have saved us time in the long run as we would have set more professional foundations and had a clearer vision. We are both teachers and are experts in that area, but running a successful business takes on another set of skills and has been a huge area of growth for us. We have learned a lot from fellow teacher authors but also from business podcasts, webinars and online courses. Our advice to anyone wanting to take on the challenge would be to believe in yourself, your ideas and set your business up to serve others.
See Ash from Rainbow Sky Creations discuss TPT selling in this Smart Edupreneur Podcast episode

The takeaways: What you should do before starting a TPT store

When starting your TPT store, or any online business, getting expert info is always a great idea. Some of the best pieces of advice you can take away from experienced TPT sellers are:

  1. Treat your Teachers Pay Teachers store like a business from the start.
  2. Focus on a target market – If you try to be everything to everybody, odds are you’ll struggle to make traction.
  3. Start branding early – make your work recognisable.
  4. Start blogging and diversify your income.

 

You’re almost ready to start!

If you’re interested in starting a TPT store, make sure you do the following.

  1. Visit the TPT selling guide here.
  2. Check this out, and promote your free products.
  3. Share this article around. The below image is perfect for Pinterest

 

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