As a teacher, business owner, wife, friend and more, I have much I have to do in my life as I’m sure you do as well. This is why, I’m always looking for time savers that will keep productivity high without sucking all the time from my day. To save time on creating products, I create templates in Powerpoint for all my series of products. These are products that I know will look the same but will have a different theme or concept. Making templates in all aspects of your business can save so much time plus it gives you a cohesive look to your store and products.
How to Create a Template in Powerpoint
Open Powerpoint and create your template.
Name your template by saving it.
Click File –> Save as Template –> Save
Your template has been created!
To create a new product using your template, you’ll open Powerpoint, then click File –> New From Template. Find your template and begin creating!
Template Ideas for Your TpT Business
Pinterest pin and long pin
thumbnail
task cards
clip cards
cards for games
board games
Tips When Creating Templates
Make sure everything is centered. An easy way to do this is to click on whatever it is you want centered then click Arrange –> Align and whatever alignment you want.
Use tables to create boxes that are the same size. I use tables when creating cards, clip cards, task cards basically any type of card!
Put in text boxes and type something in them in the font you’ll use so you don’t have to enter new ones each time.
When I first started selling on TpT, I loved hearing the cha-ching from my TpT app but I didn’t know exactly what was coming in each month compared to what I was spending each month. All I knew is that I was hoping the cha-ching was more than the spending. Now that I’ve been selling for about a year an a half or so, I’ve started tracking my finances to be sure I come out making more money than spending monthly. That’s why, I created a TpT Financial Tracking Sheet.
This resource is super helpful as it shows me exactly what I’m making each month and breaks down where I’m spending money (for business purposes) as well. Read on to see how I track my finances each month and to get your own TpT Financial Tracking Sheet.
Monthly Tracking
At the beginning of each month, I go to my TpT dashboard and check how much money I made for the previous month. For example, around July 1st I’ll check my income for the month of June. I also track my expenses. These are things that I use for my business such as clip art I purchase to make resources, canva (for images), Convertkit (to give you awesome freebies through email) and Link in Profile (to put links to Instagram images). These mostly stay the same so I know how much I need to make each month in order to be in the positive.
Goal Setting
It’s good practice to set goals for next month. I find that when I set goals, I tend to be more motivated and focused. I have to be honest, I could definitely be better at this (but hey, we’re all human). I’ll be making a point to be better at setting a monthly goal when I fill out my previous month’s financial tracking sheet.
You can set a monthly goal each month too when you fill out your own TpT Financial Tracking Sheet. Get yours below!
TeachersPayTeachers has become a big part of my professional life. I’ve had my TpT store for a couple of years, however I only really got serious a little over a year ago. When I decided to get serious, I researched and tried to learn everything I could about product creation, marketing, and everything TpT. I want to share what I’ve learned throughout this journey of selling on TeacherspayTeachers.
What I’ve Learned About Selling on TeachersPayTeachers for One Year
Use Powerpoint
I learned this the hard way, after making an entire bundle on pages (Macs version of word). Before I knew that PowerPoint was the way to go for product creation, I used pages and struggled with formatting things exactly how I wanted it. It was never perfect and it really bugged me. It also took tons of time. Then, I learned that most TpTers use PowerPoint because it’s way easier to format and move things around! Since I learned this, I’ve never looked back and I ONLY use PowerPoint when creating a product.
One thing I kept hearing when listening to podcasts or researching online is to invest in your business. From the day you open a TpT store, treat it as your business, not just a hobby. When you look at it as a business, you take more seriously and so does your potential buyers.
When I started a store, I knew I wanted to start a blog to have a platform to market my products. I invested in a blogging course, Elite Blog Academy. With this course, I learned how to start my blog, what’s important in blogging and how to get my posts seen. I’ve also invested in my business by buying quality clip art. Yes, there are a lot of cute free clip art sets online, however if you want to create quality products, you must purchase some quality clip art. Although I’ve sort of become clip art obsessed, especially for Creating4theClassroom‘s clip art, I know it’ll pay off in the long run because my products have that professional look.
Learn How You Can Best Market
When you first start out on TpT, there’s so much to do and you already feel like your behind when looking at all the other TpT authors out there. I know that marketing is important for business because how are your buyers going to find you if you don’t market? What I learned was to focus on one or two platforms. I learned what platforms I was best at and enjoyed most. Those platforms are Instagram, Pinterest and blogging. I have a Facebook as well but haven’t put any time into it because I just haven’t had the time to figure it out yet, and that’s okay! Facebook isn’t something I use in my personal life, so it just didn’t call me the way the other platforms did.
Of course I probably don’t need to tell you this, but it’s so important to take your time on your products. I’ll be honest, sometimes (especially when I’m making a big bundle) I’ll get bored with it and want to just finish it and throw it up, so that I can be done and can work on something new and more exciting. When I feel this way, I know that I’m not in my best creating mood. Instead of creating, I’ll focus on a different aspect of my business like the marketing or blogging. Then, when I’m feeling inspired or energized, I’ll work on creating or finishing a product.
Only Make What You’re Going to Use in Your Classroom
You know your grade level best which means you’re an expert in what your students are learning, what they struggle with and how to best engage them. It just doesn’t make sense for a kinder teacher like me to create fifth grade content. It also wouldn’t be helpful to me, my students or my classroom. When you make things you’re going to use in your classroom, you’re more enthusiastic and believe in your products more.
Test Out Your Products
When you create resources for the classroom, you also need to test them out. I cannot tell you how many times I’ll make something, have my students use it and they’ll say something like “it’s hard to read” or “what do we do?”. Sometimes, I even catch a spelling mistake, oops! When you test out your products with your own class, you’re able to see what works and what you need to change, before you put it up on TpT. This eliminates some not so good reviews that you could receive from having these problems.
TpT is Not a Get Rich Quick Situation
I’ve been selling for a little over a year on TeachersPayTeachers and although I have seen a ton of growth, I’m no where near a top seller or making what I want to make. It takes a ton of time and lots of energy to earn money on TpT. My advice to new sellers is to keep on making quality products and do not give up. Once I had about 50 products in my store, I saw more sales. Now that I have this blog, I’m seeing even more sales. Keep on chugging along and you will make it!
TeachersPayTeachers is such an amazing opportunity for teachers to make a little (or a lot) of extra money selling things that help other teachers! I’ve always been a creative person and enjoy challenging myself to create things, so when I found out about TeachersPayTeachers, I knew I wanted to eventually become a seller.
I’ve been selling for over a year now and I’ve learned so much about this side hustle. I am by no means an expert and there is still so much more that I have to learn as well, but I want to share 8 things that I find super helpful when starting out on TpT.
8 Super Helpful Tips When Starting Out on TpT
1. Create things you are passionate about.
Of course this sounds like a no-brainer but create things that 1. you’re passionate about and 2. you’re really going to use in your own classroom. When I was first starting out, I just wanted to create anything. So, I chose projects that would be helpful to my classroom but sometimes I wasn’t passionate about. After I had been selling for a few months, I noticed that the things I was more passionate about sold more, probably because I was putting my all into it.
2. Make products in Powerpoint.
If you haven’t heard this yet, this is one of the most important things you can do when creating resources. When I first started out, I used pages and it was a disaster trying to transfer things to Powerpoint, so do yourself a favor and just start with Powerpoint. Powerpoint makes it easier to move things around, duplicate, etc. I set up templates in Powerpoint for portrait resources, landscape resources, thumbnails and Pinterest pins. Check out my blog post below on how to create editable resources in Powerpoint.
Square thumbnails just look better! To make it easier on yourself, start making your square covers right from the start. I realized this after I had been selling for a while and then I had to go back and redo my thumbnails. Set up a template in Powerpoint that’s 12 x 12 to make them easy to create.
4. Use simple fonts/clip art.
I’ve found that my products look more cohesive when I stick to only a few clip artists and a few fonts. This makes it easier for my followers to recognize my products when they’re searching for something.
5. Make a thank you/credit page you use on every product.
Create a thank you/credit page to use on every product. I tweak this page a little depending on the clip art and fonts I used and who I need to give credit to. I also include a “Let’s Connect” section to link my social media and give my buyers a way to connect with me.
6. While you create the thumbnail, create a pin for Pinterest.
I admit I need to be better at this but it’s so helpful to create everything at once. So, when you create your thumbnail, design a pin for Pinterest, then pin it! I like using real photos as much as I can for my pins because buyers can see my product in action.
7. Use your teacher Instagram to post a picture of your product in action.
Speaking of product in action.. use your teacher Instagram to showcase your product! Also, you can use your story to give buyers a better idea of how to use your resource. If you don’t have a teacher Instagram read why you should here.
When you’re first starting out, it’s hard to want to continue because you may not see the dollar signs rolling in just yet. Keep creating! Once I had around 50 products I started seeing consistent money. The more products you have the more buyers can purchase!
Do you sell on TpT? Leave a comment with your best TpT tip below!
Free downloads are so appreciated by many teachers and are super important to have in your store but are often under-utilized by many TpT sellers. Now, I know what you’re thinking: how is a FREE download going to make me money on TpT? And, why is it beneficial to have free resources in my store? It’s actually more important than you might think. Read on to find out why.
The Importance of Free Resources on TpT
Showcases the Quality of Your Work
When you offer a free resource you’re able to show buyers what kind of work you do and the quality of it. Don’t just slap up a half put together product and call it a day.. make sure you put the same amount of effort into the free resources as you do your paid resources. Buyers are going to notice the quality and will more likely purchase from you in the future.
Gets Your Name Out
Let’s face it, more people are probably going to click download on a free resource than a paid. If that’s true then make your free resources worth it. At the end of all my resources, I have a thank you and credits page. This page links to my store and to my social media accounts as well as my blog. The idea is that if a buyer likes a product, they’ll search more of my products and my name is remembered for future buys.
Can Lead to Bigger Sales
You can also utilize free resources by making them a sample or a portion of a larger paid resource. A lot of TpT sellers will put a free sample of a larger bundle or big product so buyers can test out if they like the product before purchasing. This is similar to companies sending samples of a curriculum to help teachers and administrators decide if they want to purchase. I’ve utilized this in my Guided Reading Bundle. I put a portion of this resource (the reading strategy bookmarks) for free.
You’ve started a TpT store and you’ve spent tons of time perfecting your resource so teachers around the world can use it in their classroom. Now you’re finally ready to upload a product to share with the teaching community. Look no further, here are the steps you need to take to put your resource in your store.
Step by Step
Click on “My Product Listings”.
Then “Add Digital Product” and choose to upload a resource or a video.
Upload the product and give it a title.
Upload a preview (if you have one). It’s a good idea to create a preview so buyers can see your product closer than just the small thumbnail.
Write out the description for your product. Make sure you are very detailed in what is included so buyers know exactly what to expect.
Pick the “Type of Resource” and “Grade levels” it is meant for.
Choose the subject area. I try to always choose three so it comes up in multiple categories.
Add teaching duration, number of pages and answer key.
Place the resource in a category. If you’re just starting a store, you won’t have categories yet. You can make categories by going to “My Product Listings” and “Manage Your Categories”. These categories show up on the side of your store so it’s easier for customers to browse the different resources you have.
Choose free or paid. (If this is your first resource, TpT will make you share a free resource so buyers get to know your work.)
Choose to upload to your own thumbnails. (These are the pictures you see when you first look at the product.) Choose up to 4 pictures. Many TpT authors use square thumbnails because they’re more appealing to the eye.
Click submit! Congratulations, you’ve uploaded a product to your store!!
Have you been thinking about starting a TpT store? What’s stopping you? About two years ago, I registered as a basic seller on TpT and knew absolutely nothing about creating a store. For the first 6 months or so, I had two products up and couldn’t find the time to give my store any attention. My store sat for a while until summer break when I decided I would add a few more products. The first time I heard cha-ching through my TpT app notification, I knew I wanted to put more time and effort into creating my store that would help other teachers while earning a little extra $$ on the side!
Since then, I have researched, watched youtubes, tried and failed, tried and succeeded and learned so much about teacherspayteachers and creating a store. I want to inspire you to take that leap and open up your own TpT store! Don’t wait any longer, take the step and dive right in, even if you don’t have it all figured out (which you won’t, and I still don’t).
Steps to open a TpT store
Become a member of TpT. I’m assuming if you’re reading this, you’re already a member but just incase.. you’ll need to register in order to become a seller. If you already have a TpT account, you use the same account as your buyer account. (If you have an account, skip to step 3.)
2. Fill out the information to create your account.
3. Under the tab “My TpT” you’ll find “Become a Seller”. Press this and enter your information.
4. Once you enter your information, a tour of your dashboard will pop up. Read through and get a feel for what you can find where.
5. Create your first product and upload! TpT will have you upload your “Primary Free Download” first so you can introduce your work to the TpT community.
6. To add a new resource click “My Product Listings” and then “Add Digital Product” in the lower left corner.
TpT Tip
If you plan on really giving this a go and selling a handful or more products, upgrade to a Premium Seller Account right away. This is $59.95 a year, however, it is SO worth it because you get a higher payout. I waited to upgrade until I started selling more products but wish I became a premium seller earlier!
Congratulations on opening your new TpT store! Teachers have such amazing gifts that can be shared to the community through this platform. It’s amazing to be apart of!
Now that you have your store, what do you want to know more about? Leave a comment below so I can answer your questions in following blog posts. Also, let me know your TpT store name so I can check it out and leave you some love!
