Things you CAN’T control on Teacher’s Pay Teachers:
How much another individual earns in a month.
The
forums are always buzzing about “this was my best/worst” month ever! It can be
disheartening to see that people are having a great month, when you look at
your graph and are disappointed. Keep in
mind; it’s all subjective! No two stores
are exactly alike, so sales won’t be alike either! You also don’t know what someone’s definition
of a good month is!
How much time other individuals have to work on TpT!
Maybe you do TpT full time, maybe
you teach full time, maybe you’re in school, maybe you have kids, maybe you
don’t, maybe you put all your “free” time into your store, maybe you work on it
when you feel like it. These are all
variables that YOU can’t control about others. 
The NEWSLETTER
It can
be so frustrating to submit week…after week….after week. I submitted almost weekly for 10 months
straight before I got a spot in May! Then I waited about 2 months and have been
resubmitting each week. YOU can’t
control what TpT picks! All you can do it keep trying! As Dory says “just keep swimming, just keep
swimming”! 
Things you CAN control!
The quality of your products!
Spend the time making something your
best! The extra day, week, or month it
will take you to “perfect” it will pay off in more positive feedback and pay
off in the long run.
Update as needed!
One thing I’ve
learned when I reached my 1st anniversary on TpT is that my first
products did have the same quality standard that my new ones had. I had learned SOOOO much on the forums and my
craft evolved into a high quality product.
I spent many house revamping some old products. Some of my “oldies but goodies” are still in
their original form….but many are improved. Here is a before and after product that I updated! I definitely saw more sales with the updated cover! |
| Old Cover |
 |
| New Cover |
How much time you dedicate to marketing.
Some weeks I have hours to dedicate to
marketing. Some days I’m just too tired
to think about it. What you put into
marketing is up to you!
Having interested followers!
The TpT forums are full of “follower
snowballs”. My advice- STAY AWAY! All these groups do is inflate your follower
number. While it is a confidence
booster to see your numbers go up; why have followers who don’t really care
about your products? I opened my store
in July 2013 and have 383 followers! I am so thankful for these folks! I am humbled every day that there are 383
people who feel MY store is worth following! Along those same lines; don’t put a Q & A
asking someone to check out your store and follow you back. It’s tacky!
Tracking your data!
I track my store monthly. I write down how much I’ve earned, how many
followers I have, and how much feedback. You can control what type of data you track....and it can give you a realistic view of your store.
My graph for sales is so much fun to watch! I have added a picture of my
earnings so far (of course I took off the actual numbers……what to know why? see
post 1 under “things you can’t control”). Everyone always says TpT is a roller-coaster ride and you can tell from my graph that it will have it's up and it's downs but overall I'm headed in the right direction!
Feel Proud!
Every single seller should be feel proud of their
accomplishments! Whether you have 1
product of 1,000 products – GOOD FOR
YOU! Teachers and students are benefiting
all over the WORLD from your expertise!
