Does the Teachers Pay Teachers marketplace sound like a place you’d be curious to try? Here are 6 simple steps to follow in order to sell curriculum on Teachers Pay Teachers that will rock the socks off your customers!
When I started to sell curriculum on Teachers Pay Teachers back in 2018, I didn’t know what to expect. I had a little knowledge of selling online because I’d sold other types of products in my Etsy store, but this was my first real jump into digital resources that are highly targeted. (Which means the market is smaller and more focused… I mean, it’s basically just teachers on TPT, not the entire world, right? It’s much easier to reach the people you need to reach because you don’t have other types of people to sift through.)
Even though I had a (very) limited knowledge of selling products online, I really didn’t know much. Over time, I have picked up some helpful tips by observing some of the best on the TPT site. It’s amazing what some of these men and women do! Some make a full-time income off the resources they create! Can you image the possibilities if that happened to you?
Well, it all starts with creating solid products and uploading them to sell on Teachers Pay Teachers… and I’m about to show you how to do that.
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Why Creating Solid Resources is So Important When You Sell Curriculum on Teachers Pay Teachers
Let’s use our imaginations for a minute. Pretend you have a closet full of shoes. (Okay, let’s be honest. Some of you don’t have to pretend!) A lot of shoes means a lot of options, right?
Well, it depends.
Let’s say that some of these shoes are really old. Maybe you’ve had them since high school or college, and now they’re misshapen. Dirty. A couple might even have a hole or a broken sole.
Plus, there might be others that are nice, but they don’t fit. They either never fit at all, or they don’t fit anymore because your feet changed after your first pregnancy. (Anyone else, or was that just me?)
And there are probably some shoes in that massive collection that you don’t even like. For whatever reason, they’re in your closet even though you never EVER wear them, and they’re collecting dust, maybe jumbled in a dark corner.
Does any of this sound familiar?
Round and round the closet you go, inspecting like this every pair of shoes you own. By the time you reach the last pair, you realize there is actually a very small percentage of shoes you actually wear, love, and get complimented on. Am I right? Sure, there are probably exceptions to this rule, but the basic principle remains: Quality Over Quantity.
The same goes for your TPT store. Like the old shoes, you might have some resources that are outdated for whatever reason. And like the nice shoes that don’t fit, you may have some products that don’t actually sell well on Teachers Pay Teachers. (For example, if you sold pregnancy and birth announcements, they really aren’t related to TPT on much of any level.) And the shoes you never ever wear and don’t like? Those are the products you slapped together, put a poorly-rendered product picture on it, and then never went back to update anything.
These are examples of products you may have in your store if your focus was on Quantity Over Quality. It’s super easy to get caught in this trap. You’re excited, and you just want to sell curriculum on Teachers Pay Teachers, not worry about all the other ins and outs of a business. But if you find yourself cutting corners in order to get your curriculum out there, then you also probably know that the quality on these products have suffered. Sure, your store is brimming now with products… but is anyone buying any of it? And if they are, are they leaving super positive reviews?
Back to the shoe analogy, remember those few pairs of shoes you actually wear and love? Those are your quality shoes. And when you sell curriculum on Teachers Pay Teachers, you want your store to contain a baseline of quality. It’s better to have 10 products that are absolutely amazing and change the lives of teachers and students than to have 150 products that are bought maybe once or twice each and never get reviews (or at least glowing ones).
Creating Quality Products is Easier When You Know Your Niche.
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6 Simple Steps to Sell Curriculum on Teachers Pay Teachers
So now that you know the type of products to sell on TPT, let’s look at HOW to sell it. You know your plan, but you need to implement it. Here are six simple steps to sell curriculum on Teachers Pay Teachers that will jumpstart your success.
Step 1: Create a Seller Account
When you first get on the Teachers Pay Teachers website, you need to create an account in order to sell. But not just any account, because you can have either a buyer or a buyer/seller account. You want the latter.
First, you click “Join Us” at the top right corner of your screen, as seen in this picture here.
Second, you’ll see three different membership options. If you are a parent and planning to only buy materials, then you’d select the free TpT Membership. However, you want to sell curriculum on Teachers Pay Teachers, so you’d need to either select the Basic Seller Account or the Premium Seller Account.
Step 2: Sign Up for a Premium Shop
I would highly suggest signing up for a Premium Seller Account instead of a Basic Seller Account. You may be asking why, as it costs money while the other is seemingly free. Well, here’s the deal…
Benefits of Having a Premium Seller Account
- You receive a higher payout rate with a Premium Account (meaning, TpT doesn’t take as big a cut on each purchase).
- You can upload larger files (which could potentially mean better resources)
- You can upload video resources (And we’re all going digital these days, aren’t we?)
- You get access to other premium features and marketing tools
You can learn more about the difference between a Basic Seller Account and a Premium Seller Account here in this post…. Coming Soon!
Is it wise to get a premium seller account right away? I’d say yes! It’s currently only $60 a year, which equals out to a whopping FIVE DOLLARS a month. Five dollars, my friend! That’s a cup of coffee some places. And even better, that’s probably about the cost of your first resource. So you basically have to sell next to nothing in order to make that money back each year. (Which you will TOTALLY do, because you rock!)
Step 3: Attach a PayPal Account
After you create an account, you’ll need to attach a PayPal account, so you can be paid. I love using my PayPal account for TpT because it allows me to keep my funds easily accessible to me online. Each month, Teachers Pay Teachers will take the sales you’ve made (which you can track, by the way, on your TPT Dashboard!), and deposit them straight into your PayPal account. That’s always a really fun day…. seeing the fruits of your labor.
Step 4: Create a Compelling Profile + Appealing Seller Photo
Yay, you have an account! Now you need to make a profile and add a seller photo. Just follow the prompts and it’ll tell you how to fill out the profile. As far as a seller photo goes, some people use a nice picture of themselves and others create a logo to use as their photo. Some use both!
For example, the shop A Perfect Blend currently uses a photo that showcases herself. It’s a clear photo of only her, and it represents her brand colors and what she’s like as a person.
An example of someone who uses a logo as their photo is Creative Clips. Her graphic is crisp and clean, not to mention eye-catching. She did a great job, I personally think!
Lastly, I use a photo of myself with my logo in my shop, The Creative Notebook. I like this approach for myself because it shows my face but it also gives people a quick reminder of which store is mine. Any little reminder you can give people of your store name is helpful!
There are many ways you can set up an eye-catching profile picture. In fact, I’ve written up a post here that gives you some more easy tips and ideas to create your own logo for Teachers Pay Teachers…. Coming Soon!
Step 5: Make a Free Sample Product
Before you can create any listings, you must first create a free sample product. This is a great opportunity for buyers to test-drive your materials before getting into larger purchases.
But don’t take the easy road and slap something up there you don’t care about. Yes, it’s free, but that means it’ll be viewed by thousands of future potential buyers. Don’t make the mistake of uploading junk. Keep it nice and easy to use, infusing it with the same care that you would any paid product. Remember, you want people to love your free product so much that they come back to pay for more.
For example, my Nonfiction Text Structures poster is currently my shop’s free download. It’s a simple chart layout, but it has worthwhile information that helps students understand and differentiate between text structures.
When you create a quality sample product that will really help teachers and/or students, you’ll be investing in the future of your shop in a powerful way.
Step 6: Create a Paid Product
Once you’ve created and uploaded your free product, it’s time to create a paid product, too!
I’ll warn you, it’s easier said than done. Creating products takes time and if we’re not careful, we can let our shiny object syndrome or boredom distract us from finishing products to upload. Not to mention the techie learning curve if you’ve never used programs like PowerPoint, Illustrator, Canva, or Google Docs to create curriculum for the classroom. But the pitfalls of creating paid products can be overcome, and you can rise to the top if you put your mind to it and continue to learn and execute.
Here Are More Resources to Help You Create Solid Paid Products So You Can Easily Sell Curriculum on Teachers Pay Teachers…
- COMING SOON!
Conclusion to 6 Simple Steps to Sell Curriculum on Teachers Pay Teachers
And you’re on your way! Setting up a TPT store takes 6 steps, and it’s your first move toward meeting the financial goals you’ve set for yourself. If you haven’t set up a financial goal for your TPT store, here are some great goal ideas (COMING SOON!) Not to mention, it’s a great way to make new friends, feel empowered, and change the lives of teachers and students all over the world.
Of course, there are nuances that will boost your chances of sales, but these six steps will get you started on your journey as a seller on Teachers Pay Teachers. It’s a journey worth making, and you can take that to the bank.
Until next time, be your best self!
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