EARN EXTRA CASH THROUGH TPT!
If you're reading this blog post right now, either you're interested in selling teacher resources on TPT, or you have started selling and want to increase sales. Now, I'm no expert, and I'm not claiming to have a foolproof method to making money on TPT, but in my first year of selling on Teacherspayteachers.com, I made USD 14,462.91 before taxes.
Not too shabby, I must say. In all honesty, it's more than I ever thought I would make off in TPT in one year. That being said, it didn't come easy. There were numerous times that I thought to myself: ''I'm in way over my head''. I knew nothing about digital marketing, payouts, taxes, or social media. Still, I knew what teachers wanted from a resource (through personal experiences), which was my starting point. This post will highlight some of the crucial lessons I've learned in my first year of selling. In the future, I will go dive into these topics, but for now, just knowing that you can make money on TPT (when enough effort is put into it) will suffice. Hopefully, I can save you some time and get you started on your TPT journey.
MY STORY
I read that most blog posts include a story, so let me tell you mine. I've always wanted to start my own TPT store. If you look at my store statistics, you'll notice that I opened a store in 2015. I intended to start making resources back then, but as you know, life sometimes gets in the way. Fast-forward five years to the beginning of covid, and I finally began to take it seriously (I needed a hobby to keep me sane). I invested as much time as possible into creating various resources that I felt were useful, mainly math puzzles. Unfortunately, that was my first mistake.
In truth, my first products sold the least. I was right in thinking that math puzzles were helpful for every teacher, but I was a little naive in thinking that someone hadn't already come up with that idea.
Tip 1. Do Your Research! Focus on One Major Objective!
My first little piece of advice is to do your research! Find out what the market is lacking, and build off on that. Find your niche and tailor the majority of your resources to it. I’d like to use the restaurant analogy to explain my reasoning. When you think about it, the best kinds of restaurants are the ones that offer a specific type of food. You wouldn't go to an Italian restaurant for their burgers and fries, would you?
If your store provides too many kinds of resources, you won't build much of a following (at least, at first, you won't). Buyers will be overwhelmed or a little skeptical of you. For example, I wouldn't recommend offering kindergarten and intermediate resources in the early stages of your store. Start with one grade and work your way from there.
Once you find your starting point (mine was grade 8 science units), start making resources, as many as possible. At this point, your only primary objective is to create quality products. You can worry about marketing it at a later point in time.
Tip 2. Patience!
The graph I showed you earlier represents a year's profit, starting from the beginning of the school year. Looking back, I probably should have changed the timeline of this post. I started working on my store in March of 2020, right at the beginning of covid. It wasn't until June 2020 that I sold my first product. I sold a tarsia puzzle for a whopping $1 (I only kept 35 cents). It takes time to sell a resource. You're going against the odds here. Most people would rather buy from a reputable store than a new one. So, be patient. It might take you a week, a month, or three months to sell your first product, but it WILL sell eventually.
At the moment, TPT is my passive income. I took a little hiatus from creating resources. In all honesty, I became a little obsessive. So, to end this blog post as fast as possible so you don't get bored, my fourth piece of advice is to pace yourself. Trust me; you're going to want to work ALL THE TIME. Don't. You need to realize that this is going to take time. It's tacky, but Rome wasn't built in a day. I mean, Jeff Bezos started Amazon by selling books (I'm not saying that you will make as much as JB. If you want that type of money, this blog post is not for you). Anyways, you get my point.
Tip 3. Distinguish Your Product!
I'm not sure I have to mention this but, make sure you make good product previews and descriptions. At least one of your pictures should include a table of contents. That way, there's no surprise on the buyer's end. I'd also try to develop a unique style. Get creative but stay consistent. You want people to recognize your work, even if they can't see the store name. Please take a look at some of my products. I make resources for various topics, but they look similar, so people know it's my work.
Don't be afraid to re-brand. You'll improve your editing skills and creative styles as time passes. Remember that it's never too late to re-brand, but you may have a substantial amount of work ahead of you, depending on when you decide to do it. It took me some time (months) to get it right, but I think I'm happy with my current style. At least, for now, I am.
Tip 4. Quality Advertising!
As time passes, you'll begin to make some money, and you're probably going to want to spend it. I suggest learning a bit about advertising. There's a reason corporations spend millions of dollars on advertising. SEO is king when it comes to that, but I don't want to get into too much detail for fear that I'm losing your interest already. I'll post about it at a later time. So, my final tip: spend some of your earnings on advertisements. It will take some time to understand the process, but it can't hurt if you invest $20 of your payments, from time to time, on various social media platforms. Did I mention you should have social media platforms?
Tip 5: Get on Social Media!
Choose one to start with, and work your way to the others.
If I continue to write, I'll just come up with more tips, so I'll end it for now. I'm looking forward to helping you through your TPT journey... It's going to be an interesting one, I can guarantee it.
Mr. Teacher
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