When you’ve just started a Teachers Pay Teachers account and you are looking for inspiration, it’s encouraging to see someone who is right ahead of you on the journey. That’s me. I’m in the trenches, making an average take home of $200 each month of Teachers Pay Teachers after having my shop for about a year and a half. And you can do it, too!
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How to Make Money in your Teachers Pay Teachers Shop
I currently make an average of $200 take home each month on Teachers Pay Teachers.
But guess what? It didn’t start out that way.
My first month had a few sales, and then it was crickets for two months. I believe this is because I started my shop in May, and then teachers were out of school in June and July.
But then things started to pick up again in August.
For the first school year (with the exception of December) I averaged about $100 a month to take home. (I say “take home” because with each sale, Teachers Pay Teachers takes a small commission. So what I “earned” is more than what I “took home.”)
December was different because I really worked hard on creating a lot of Christmas products. So that month of my first year, I took home about $400.
I worked hard to end the school year (and my first year in Teachers Pay Teachers) with 100 products in the shop.
In the summer that followed, I began to sell more per month.
My sales numbers quickly doubled, and I’ve consistently made $200 take home instead of $100 take home.
I’m confident this number will only grow the longer I have a shop and consistently add quality products to it.
Which brings me to my next point.
If you want to sell consistently on Teachers Pay Teachers, your sales will directly correlate with the quality of your products.
Teachers Pay Teachers Tip: Your Sales Will Directly Correlate with the Quality of Your Products
This stands to reason, right?
If you want to make consistent money in your shop, you need to have quality products.
Ultimately, there are two keys to selling products on Teachers Pay Teachers.
You must create products that teachers want and at the time they want them.
Key #1: Create Products that Teachers Want
To sell consistently on Teachers Pay Teachers, you must create products that teachers want.
Does that sound difficult? It doesn’t have to be.
If you are currently a teacher or have been one in the past, you probably have a better handle on this than you think.
Just think back through your career and look for instances when you remember thinking, “Man, I wish I’d had…”
Whatever you finished that sentence with might be a solid idea for a product!
For example, when I taught high school English, there were times that I wish I had something to occupy my kids’ attention when other things were going on, such as testing. When they were done with their tests early, they were often encouraged to read a book. But due to the variety of learning styles and interests in my classroom, I wished I had multiple options for them to choose from.
In my Teachers Pay Teachers shop, I came up with one solution: coloring sheets!
One of the main types of products I sell are coloring sheets. I currently sell packs for different holidays and seasons, and soon I hope to include more packs that are subject-specific, or generic, or related to famous classic novels.
When you know what teachers want in their classroom–what you wanted yourself–you will have a better idea of what products will be quality and worth your time to create for your Teachers Pay Teachers shop.
Key #2: Create Products When Teachers Want Them
Earlier I mentioned seasons and holidays.
Keep things like that in mind when creating products for teachers. If you want consistent sales, you’ll want to create products that are relevant and timely.
Think about it. When it’s October, teachers want products based on Halloween.
They’re not looking for Easter or St. Patrick’s Day. Yet. They want products that deal with the units they’re currently focusing on in their classrooms.
Same goes for holidays. Create winter-themed products when we’re nearing winter, not when we’re nearing summer.
Another way to be strategic about this is with chronological or sequential studies.
For example, if you sell American Literature products, starting with Native American traditions or Colonial literature would be wise if you’re starting your shop in the summer or very early school year, like August or September. If you’re near the middle of the year, perhaps working on a Romanticism unit would be a timely idea.
Making sense?
Teachers need certain products more at certain times of the year than at others, so to have a better chance at sales, I suggest creating products when you suspect teachers might want them.
How I Consistently Make $200 a Month on Teachers Pay Teachers
So, now to the nitty gritty details! Here are seven tips for how I made $200 a month on Teachers Pay Teachers and how you can, too! Follow these steps and continue striving for products that are relevant and timely for teachers, and you’ll be well on your way to making consistent money.
Step 1: Know What Teachers Want
As mentioned above, know what teachers want. That’s the most important focus.
You can have the most professional looking material and all the marketing in the world, but if your product isn’t something teachers want, it won’t sell.
That’s the blunt truth, my friend. 🙂
Before creating a product, think about what you need/needed as a teacher. If you’re not sure, ask a teacher friend. My mother-in-law is also a teacher but for a different grade than I taught, so it’s always helpful to get her opinion about what is needed in the classroom.
Once you know what they want, you can start settling into a niche!
Step 2: Find a Niche
What is a niche?
A niche is like a category. When you are looking for a niche in which to sell, you’re looking for a category of topics you’d be interested in (and proficient at) creating and selling.
For example, I was an English teacher before I left the workforce to raise my children. I also love art. So I create both English products (especially writing and grammar), and I create coloring sheets and clip art.
You need to pick a niche for your Teachers Pay Teachers shop. Over time, you can widen or hone in your niche, depending on your interests and what seems to be selling well. But until then, you’ve got to start somewhere.
Here are a few questions to ask yourself before picking a niche:
- What are you good at?
- What gets you excited?
- What problems do you see in the world?
- What holes do you see in your curriculum?
- What do your teacher friends complain about needing?
- What subject do you teach/have you taught?
In the long run, picking a niche will really help you produce products that you know your customers will want, so I highly recommend picking a niche for your Teachers Pay Teachers shop.
Find Your TPT Niche with this Workbook!
Step 3: Offer Timely Products
As I mentioned before, create products that are timely. Are there current events that need discussing? Upcoming holidays that need celebrating? Seasons that need to be explored? Think about what is going on RIGHT NOW in the world and use that as inspiration for the products you create. Chances are, teachers are searching for that same thing right now.
Step 4: Create Appealing and Helpful Preview Photos
Since these are digital products sold in an online store, teachers can’t pick them up and try them out before purchasing. So it’s important to create appealing and helpful preview photos!
There are two ways to create thumbnail photos for your products.
- Teachers Pay Teachers can automatically create them for you
- You can create and upload them yourself
In my honest opinion, you are best off going with option 2 and creating your own thumbnail photos for customers to view. Then you can be sure your products are displayed in the most appealing way possible.
When you are creating an image to be used as a preview photo (they call it a “thumbnail image”), the recommended dimension is at least 750 pixels (square) and the file size can be a maximum of 2MB (though you can definitely make it smaller than 2MB!).
Here are 3 quick tips for creating appealing thumbnail images for Teachers Pay Teachers:
- Large, legible font title
- Clear image of product (especially being used)
- Short, legible descriptions that explain the products’ high points
Step 5: Create Informative Product Descriptions
Beneath your thumbnail images, you’ll have the opportunity to go into detail about the product. You’ll want to create a product description that is informative and easy to read.
A product description that is easy to read will likely include:
- A short, opening paragraph that explains the product
- A list or paragraph explaining what the customer will recieve
- A list or paragraph explaining the products’ main features and how it can be used in the classroom
- A paragraph of any disclaimers or terms of use you may have, such as if your product can be used for personal or commercial use.
Some optional (but helpful) things to include in your product description:
- Similar products in your store that customers might like
- Explaining how customers can earn credit for more TPT products if they leave you a review (feedback)
- Links to where customers can find you on social media
- A copyright symbol followed by your name or company
Creating information and easy to read product descriptions will make customers more likely to purchase from you. They can see what you offer and they can understand what the product can do for them.
Step 6: Price Your Products Competitively
Pricing your products can be difficult. How do you know where to price your merchandise?
One good rule of thumb is to look around and see what others are selling their similar products for. If customers are buying their products and leaving positive reviews, you may want to consider pricing your products near that amount.
Another good rule of thumb is to think about how much you would personally pay for a product like that. Try to step back from the product and look at it objectively. Is it helpful? Is it appealing? Does it do the job it was created to do? How much would you pay if someone else was selling this exact thing?
Keeping tips like this in mind when pricing your products will help you stay relevant and competitive on the Teachers Pay Teachers marketplace.
Step 7: Run Sales at Appropriate Times
The last tip is to run sales in your shop. But not just any time… be strategic about your sales.
There are no hard-and-fast rules about when is the most appropriate time to run a sale. Just be sure not to run them too often (for example, once a month might be too often for an all-store sale).
Let’s say Christmas is coming in a couple of weeks. You have Christmas products in your shop, and having been a teacher, you know customers will be looking for last minute products. You also know that most schools get out for Christmas a couple days before, like around the 22nd.
Knowing details like that will help you be more strategic about when you want to run a sale.
Teachers Pay Teachers gives you many options when running a sale.
- You can put your entire store on sale or just specific products
- You can choose the duration of the sale, from 1 to 4 days long.
- You choose the actual date(s) of the sale.
- You get to pick the discount offered on your products. Options include 5%, 10%, 15%, or 20% off. (There is currently not an option for offering different discounts for different products. You can only offer one discount for everything you’ve marked as part of the sale.)
TPT also throws a site-wide sale a few times a year that you are welcomed to join. Those are always fun, and a lot of marketing is done to drum up excitement.
Conclusion to How I Consistently Sell $200 in my Teachers Pay Teachers Shop
Selling on Teachers Pay Teachers can seem difficult at first, but I know you can do it!
Let’s review. To get consistent sales on TPT, follow these 6 steps:
- Know What Teachers Want
- Find a Niche
- Offer Timely Products
- Create Appealing and Helpful Thumbnail Images
- Create Information Product Descriptions
- Run Sales at Appropriate Times
These steps will take you some time to perfect–in fact, you will probably always find things to tweak. And that’s okay! Learning and getting better at sales is a part of the process.
But at the beginning of your journey, if you follow the steps I’ve laid out in this article, you’ll be well on your way to having great sales that are consistent and uptrending!
Until next time…
Be your best self,
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