What I learned in my 5th month on Teachers Pay Teachers

It's officially my 5th month on Teachers Pay Teachers (woohoo!). Sales have been slow, but that does not matter as long as I do not stop. And I won't stop! I'm unstoppable! 😎 5 months is not long, but I have learned many things. Today I will share the things I have learned in my five months on Teachers Pay Teachers.

1. Square covers and thumbnails are essential.

I can't stress this enough. I have changed my cover/thumbnail style so many times in my five months, and it made a HUGE difference in the appearance of my store. It is like looking at my Instagram posts-- organized and clean.

What my thumbnails look like

my product covers

I am using Canva Pro (I'm on a free trial, but I will continue using the pro after the trial ends), and wow, I'm in love with Canva! It has so many things to offer compared to Microsoft PowerPoint. You can add fonts, and brand color, remove the background, and more! Not only that, Canva Pro is way cheaper here in Brazil. It's only about $4 - $5 per month. If you're a new TpT seller, I recommend you play with Canva for your covers and product creation. You're going to love it!

2. SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

I know a thing or two about SEO, but I'm not the best person to ask. I have purchased Misty Miller's course about adding keywords to your title and description, and after changing all my product covers, I started editing them right in time for the BTS sale.

Here is what you need to do: Imagine searching for something on Google. What do you type? What do you think people type when they search for that particular thing? When you have a TpT product about parts of speech, what do people type on the search bar about parts of speech? That's your keyword.

If your parts of speech products are worksheets, you name them Parts of Speech Worksheets. You can also add the grade level. And then add more keywords to the description. Say what the product is about and how it will help teachers in their classes. The last one is essential when writing clear descriptions. And the reason why teachers go to TpT is they need help. SEO is vital for your product to be found in searches.

Another tip:

Make your titles specific by using the TpT search bar.
Don't just go for Parts of Speech or Basic Negation.
Add more things to your titles, like worksheets, Google Slides, or Boom Cards, depending on your product.

Look at this other example. I typed Basic Concepts, and my product did not appear. There are more than 50,000 results, and there is no way your product will go on the first page unless you have a lot of reviews. But I made the search very specific (I need Basic Concepts but about negation), and my product appeared on the first page of the search result!

If you're interested, you may check the product here.

3. If this is your thing, join giveaways before the TpT sales to win $10 gift cards!

This is how TpT promotes its sales-- by giving away gift cards. And while I didn't have a good BTS sale, I was able to score a $10 gift card to buy clip arts! I was not expecting a lot in this BTS sale, but I joined a lot of giveaways, and the hard work paid off!

The picture below was my purchase from the recent BTS sale. I ensured that the clip arts I bought were the one I needed. In the end, I only paid $4, which is not a lot. It took me a long time to decide because I didn't want the money to go to waste!

4. Don't give a s*** about store ratings.

I received two 2-star ratings for my freebies. FREEbies. From 4.6, my store rating went down to 4.3. I was annoyed because it was already free for you to download and use. You could either not write a review or give it five stars. Is that too much to ask?

But I realized there was nothing I could do. It's out of my control. I have to keep going and not be bothered by stars or store ratings, or else I'll go crazy!

Additional info: You can email TpT at support@teacherspayteachers.com to remove the Thank You review because they consider it spam. They deleted it, but not the second one because it does not violate any rules.

5. Marketing makes a big difference!

Are you not good at marketing? Don't worry! We always learn as we go. Right now, I market on Pinterest. I get views, but I only got one Pinterest sale in my five months of selling. But again, marketing is not an instant success. It takes time.

One thing I like about Pinterest is once your product is out there, it's there forever. And you're going to look back on your pins six months or a year after, and when you check your Traffic on the TpT Dashboard, you will harvest the fruit of your Pinterest labor! When my earnings are better, I would also love to promote pins.

Tip: Make sure you are using a Pinterest business account. And pin and pin and pin with keywords and SEO in mind. 😄

6. Teachers Pay Teachers is a long journey.

Don't treat TpT as your ticket to overnight success unless you have magic powers. I am not there yet. But I know I'll get there. It will take time, but I'm excited about what's more to come.

Success is not instant but a result of a long journey and hard work.

I hope these things are helpful/will help start a TpT store. You can connect with me on Instagram or ask questions in the comment box below. Let's continue working to achieve our goals. We'll get there for sure! I'm here if you need some motivation. Good luck!

Talk soon.