Transforming a Teaching Business with Instagram Success with Melody Munch

Discover how a dash of creativity and an Instagram account sparked an educational revolution for Melody from Mrs. Munch's Munchkins, who joins us to recount her metamorphosis from classroom teacher to full time TPT author. Her tale unfolds as we explore the serendipitous Instagram interactions that led to the creation of sought-after TPT resources, proving that sharing your passion can indeed lead to prosperity. Melody's vibrant story is an emblem of how seizing the opportunities presented by social media could be the catalyst for an entrepreneurial leap.

This episode peels back the curtain on the ever-changing world of Instagram marketing, revealing the integral role of storytelling, authenticity, and audience engagement in the ascent of content creators. As we dissect the strategies and nuances of building a compelling digital presence, you'll learn why consistency and adaptability are your allies in the Instagram arena. We also tackle the practicalities of leveraging Instagram's marketing potential without breaking the bank, providing a beacon for newcomers and seasoned creators alike.

Embarking on a journey from the classroom to the digital domain of educational resource creation brings its own set of challenges and rewards. We candidly share our strategies for maintaining a strong connection with the teaching community while navigating this transition. The discussion culminates with insights into the upcoming Teacher Seller Summit, where Melody will be sharing her expertise among a bevy of distinguished presenters, offering invaluable guidance for educators looking to enrich their classrooms and expand their businesses. Join us for an episode brimming with inspiration and actionable advice, perfect for anyone with a heart for education and an eye for opportunity.

Get Your Teacher Seller's Summit Tickets Here!
https://laurenfulton.krtra.com/t/GCAZVNWw1Ka4

Melody's Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/mrsmunchsmunchkins/?hl=en

Melody's Teachers Pay Teachers Store
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Mrs-Munchs-Munchkins

Melody's Website
https://mrsmunchsmunchkins.com/

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Today we have someone very special who's going to be talking about her experience using Instagram to grow her TPT business and ultimately leave the classroom to do TPT full time. And when I say grow her TPT business, I mean grow her TPT business. She was able to bring in over $300,000 in just two years. You absolutely do not want to miss this conversation with Melody from Mrs Munchkin's. We are so happy to have her. Let's meet Melody. Hey Melody, how are you?

Speaker 2: 0:32

Hi, lauren, I'm doing so good. Thanks for letting me be on your podcast.

Speaker 1: 0:37

Oh, I'm thrilled to have you. The pleasure is all mine and I'm excited to chat Instagram.

Speaker 1: 0:43

Instagram is one of those things that, when I first started, it was actually like my main form of marketing, like years and years ago, and since then I'm like, yeah, no, I don't want to put the makeup on, like I don't really want to do that. I'm really excited to hear from you and for listeners to be able to hear from you, because you've been very successful with it. But before we dive into Instagram, would you just take a moment, tell everyone about yourself, who you are, what you do?

Speaker 2: 1:08

Yes, of course. Well, my name's Melody Munch and if you're on social media you'll find me at Mrs Munch's Munchkins is the name of my store and all my pages and I live in Tulsa with my husband, nick. We've been married about eight years now and my TPT journey technically began gosh, I guess around the same time, but I kind of didn't take it seriously till the last three years, I would say is when I really felt like, okay, I'm a TPT seller now, so yeah, I sell my resources there. I taught in the classroom second grade for eight years, absolutely loved it, and this is my first year where I decided to go full-time teacher resource creation, so that's where we're at, and I'm assuming that Instagram played a big role in allowing you to do that and allowing you to really build it really did.

Speaker 2: 1:55

Yes, it really did. I don't think I would have really poured into my store and made that shift from like, oh, this is just like something that I kind of like think about every now and then to let me really try to pour into this, if it hadn't been for Instagram.

Speaker 1: 2:11

Yeah, that's awesome. So let's talk about this. Which came first, instagram or TPT? Was it Instagram? Because you're kind of a teacher influencer is kind of how I always thought of you. You know, like you have TPT, you have other things in the market, but like in the world of Instagram, I would think teacher influencer is kind of the box or the category.

Speaker 2: 2:31

I love that. Yeah, I definitely started more just like let me share ideas, let me share what I'm doing today, and I didn't even discover Instagram until my maybe third year teaching. I'd heard about it from another teacher friend down the hall. So I guess, technically, tpt was first, but I don't know. I would say Instagram was really first and that it led to me really pouring into TPT, like I mentioned. So, technically, I listed my first product when I was student teaching, because we, like, were asked to create a unit and TPT was this new thing, and I was like, hey, other people are selling their stuff. I had to make this unit. Sure, let's, you know, list it. And then, you know, in the recent years I was like that is littered with Google images that are not, you know, not something I should have been using. So that product has been deactivated. But, yeah, I would say Instagram came first in that, as I was sharing ideas there, people started to ask for certain things I'd made and then I was like, wow, people would actually buy this and so that's cool. And so then I would list things, and particularly one thing that did well on Instagram was sharing classroom songs.

Speaker 2: 3:40

I loved making songs for learning and just for community building that we'd sing at the start of our day. And people really liked those and would ask me to send them the lyrics. So I used to like have a note in my phone with the lyrics typed out and I would copy and paste direct messages to hundreds and hundreds of people for days and it was so fun. But then they'd be like I love this song, can I have your other songs? And so I'd be like caught. You know hours copy and pasting. And then somebody in my Instagram direct messages was the one who said you should just make this a TPT product. I would pay to have all this organized and to have all the lyrics for all your songs. And I was like really, so they paid for that. Okay, like I guess I'll try it. And it turned out she was right. So that was really a big step for me. Was that resource and growing that resource little?

Speaker 1: 4:30

by little over years. That's amazing. That's incredible. So when you first started, what year was this?

Speaker 2: 4:36

when you started on Instagram, I think it would have been end of 2018.

Speaker 1: 4:41

Yeah, so pre-reels right Like pre-reels, yes Stories were a thing in 2018, right, they were Okay.

Speaker 2: 4:51

Yeah, I remember there was a couple Facebook groups that were like challenges you could do as a teacher on Instagram and there'd be like story challenges where you'd share about a certain topic each day. I remember trying that and yeah, it was definitely different, but lots of photos and then you could do video clips but you couldn't put any words on them or anything. It was just like a raw video clip.

Speaker 1: 5:15

It was pretty different then because I think, yeah, maybe like end of 20, sometime in 2019.

Speaker 2: 5:21

Right, yeah, and I was late to jump on that. I was kind of like I don't know, this is just going to go away, like I didn't really know how I felt about those. So I didn't make my first reel until I feel like 2021, like maybe February 2021. I was like all right, I'll try. And that proved to be a really good decision because I think just at that time, instagram was just so excited when somebody posted a reel that they really helped your account grow if you did that, so that definitely was something that helped me grow faster back then.

Speaker 1: 5:56

So we just talked about a little bit about the differences between how Instagram was when you first started and how it is now. Do you and this is kind of a two-part question Instagram was when you first started and how it is now? Do you and this is kind of a two-part question have you seen the changes that have taken place in Instagram, as people are maybe not interacting as much or I know that I've heard a lot of people saying that I don't know if that's affected you or maybe not browsing as much, maybe not spending as much time focusing on consumer material or educational material? Have you noticed any kind of a shift in recent years and do you believe that Instagram is still a great place to start your marketing, or is it worth the investment that's?

Speaker 2: 6:39

a good question. I do feel like Instagram is going to always be evolving, as with everything, but you do kind of have to notice how it ebbs and flows and make adjustments, and so I feel like I'm always learning, like, okay, this is working better, this is not. So right now. I feel like people love to be told a story and they love like storytelling, and how you're sharing something that worked for you or being able to relate to you is something that I just see. Stories have always been powerful, but just the way your storytelling I've noticed right now, using your voice, like even just a voiceover over B-roll type footage, has been something doing really well, and I feel like in the past, people weren't really watching with their sound on as much, and so I always heard, like that that didn't really matter, that you could just pick a song. So now, if I do a voiceover, I'm, like you know, often adding text to it so that people can do either or, but that seems to be working really well, and I think some of that is just people wanting that connection. You know, like connecting to the person behind the account as part of that. So that's something that I'm trying to do more of, which is a little challenging in this season, being that it's my first year trying to do more of, which is a little challenging in this season, being that it's my first year fully out of the classroom and I can talk about kind of how I'm trying to get creative with being able to do that without being in the actual classroom and just being able to share. This is what we did today, and I do think it's worth it, though, because I feel like something great for new creators right now is that I don't think Instagram is any easier if you have a large following than if you don't.

Speaker 2: 8:18

I feel like it's really, if your content resonates, then your content is drawing in new people, and even if you have a lot of people, if your content doesn't resonate for some reason, then even if you have a large following, it might not show that content to your followers the same way.

Speaker 2: 8:35

So I feel like that kind of leveled the playing ground a bit is that it's really just like if your content is something people like to see, they're going to keep showing it to all these different people, and I feel like that's also comforting in the fact that you don't have to worry about like your content necessarily going viral, like that's great, but that's not the goal of every piece of content.

Speaker 2: 8:58

The goal is for it to reach people that need it, that will use it. So if you're just putting it out there, your resource, even if it is just a photo or if it is a video just being able to get new eyeballs that don't know your store exists onto your products and having a way for them to quickly access your things is going to be something really worthwhile. And I mean it does cost time, but it's free marketing and that you're not paying to be on Instagram. So, especially for newer sellers who might not feel like they want to pour a bunch of money into marketing, that is a great place to start because it's free. So I love that about Instagram.

Speaker 1: 9:39

I love it.

Speaker 1: 9:40

You said a couple of things that I kind of want to touch on for a minute. The first thing that you said was that you're watching your metrics, you're understanding that there are ebbs and flows and you're watching to see what performs well and you're looking at the data, which I think for people who I'm not going to say that this is true for all people, but I think for a lot of people when they're thinking about using social media or using Instagram, they're thinking I'm going to put something out there and it's either going to do well or it's not, and they're not really looking for that pattern. And first, in order to find that pattern, I would imagine you're having to post content consistently in order to find that pattern, and then you're also having to really watch your metrics and pay attention to how it does, and you have to experiment and think outside the box and not just use the pre-made templates and not just do what you're seeing somebody else do, and all of that to say it's a lot of work right, oh, yeah, yeah, definitely.

Speaker 2: 10:41

Yeah, I feel like you have to be willing to throw quite a few things at the wall and see what sticks. You know, and if you're only taking a shot every once a month or something, it's going to be really hard to feel encouraged because you just don't have enough, you don't have the odds of enough chances being tossed out to see what's working. So, yeah, I do feel like you have to kind of give it some time and be consistent and, like you know, okay, I'm going to do two things a week or three things a week to really give yourself a chance to be successful and to see things grow.

Speaker 1: 11:17

That's one of those things that, for me, that was where I was, like I'm out, you know, because of my personality type because of the way my lifestyle is set up, but I know that so many people much prefer Instagram and they prefer marketing on Instagram and, like you said, it's free, which is a massive draw.

Speaker 2: 11:34

Yes.

Speaker 1: 11:35

You're able to really showcase your products and let people get to know you when so you'll let know, like and trust factor.

Speaker 1: 11:43

So so many opportunities on Instagram. So the second thing is, when we're talking about you leaving the classroom because you mentioned earlier that that comes with some challenges how have you approached that? Because that's actually a question that I get asked a lot in terms of marketing. Like I'm leaving the classroom, I'm no longer a teacher. How do I connect with them? Do I come right out and like address the elephant in the room Like what does?

Speaker 2: 12:07

that look like yeah. So for me, I definitely wanted my people to know what was going on with me, just because I was very much sharing my daily ins and outs, so I didn't want there to be any like question of what was going on. So I did make a video in the summer explaining that I had just a lot on my plate and it was time to remove something. And it just made the most sense for me to remove teaching at this time because it did take up more time for less income and that just it didn't make sense on paper. It was really hard to make sense of in my heart because I love teaching and I can still see myself doing it again someday. Just would have to be a different season where I'm not going as hard TPT or I have other people working for me or something. But I knew in this season something needed to go and we chose my husband and I chose that it was going to be teaching for this year's to slow down. So I just explained my decision. There's always going to be people that don't like your decision, no matter what you're choosing, and so having to be okay with that and myself that this is the decision and this is what it is for right now, and I'm just going to share what it is. It's not really for anyone to say their opinion. I mean they can, but like it's not changing anything. You know, this is just what it is. And then for me it's just saying like okay, well, now I actually have more time to serve my ideal customer because I am full time.

Speaker 2: 13:29

So for me it was a lot of listening like what do you need? And asking my audience, polling them, asking them where they lacked for resources so that I could be making those things. And I know for me there were a lot of things I would make for my own classroom that I didn't have time to TPTify. I didn't have time to purchase all the clipboard and the fonts and set everything up in a way that I could list it. So for me that was like Priority number one is there are all these things people have been asking me for that I've never been able to list Like now is the time I can go back and make these things into a TPT line of products.

Speaker 2: 14:06

So that's kind of what I chose to focus on is sharing those new things that people were already asking for, or listening to what my audience was asking for, that they needed, and trying to serve them by creating that. So those were kind of two things that have helped. And then for me, reaching out to teachers that are in the classroom to test new resources or use existing ones has been something that is a way for me to give back to the teaching community. But also I can use if that footage, if they take footage of those things, I can use that on my page to show real classroom in the classroom examples. So a mixed bag of those things I can use that on my page to show real classroom in the classroom examples.

Speaker 2: 14:42

So a mixed bag of those things has kind of been my approach. But for me authenticity is important. So I wanted to make sure people knew this is what I'm doing this year and that I'm going to be serving them from a different shoe, a different viewpoint, but it actually frees me up to serve them even better in a lot of ways.

Speaker 1: 15:01

Absolutely, and I love how you focused on that. It frees you up to serve them better in a lot of ways, and that's what you're saying is something that I tell people all the time is that teachers 99% of them don't care if you're still in the classroom or not. They care whether or not you're helpful to them. Right thing is like I'm polling them. I'm I'm finding out what it is they need from me. I'm creating those resources that they've been asking for and I haven't been able to give to them. I'm sending them free material for in their classroom that they wouldn't be able to get before. Like now. I have the time to do those things and, as you're helping and serving your community, I'm sure you're finding that creating the content the way that you created it before is probably a lot different, but I would assume the majority of them are still very receptive to the content and grateful for the help.

Speaker 2: 15:51

Yes, yeah, I do think overwhelmingly people have been very encouraging and understanding and, yes, like you said, if the resource is helpful to them, most people are just like great, that's, what I need is a resource that helps me. So they are not picky about if you're in the classroom. I've seen a few things about like if you're not in the classroom, sit down, like we only need teachers that are in the classroom, and it kind of steps on my toes a little bit. But then I think like, oh, they probably just don't realize. Like asking a teacher that's full time in the classroom to be the only one that makes resources, like what that would actually look like, because that's like two jobs on a teacher that you know they're creating in their spare time and that's also taking away from something else usually their families and I just don't think that's, you know, if they really thought about it.

Speaker 2: 16:40

I don't think that's fair to say we only want to get resources from teachers teaching, because that's just not practical. I mean, even the curriculum in the classroom is often not created by teachers who are teaching, you know. Hopefully it's by people that have education experience, and so I think that's also where we bring the value is that I was in your shoes and so I do know what it's like, and when I'm making something, I'm thinking about okay, if they introduce this or if they ask this question, then this kid's going to blurt out no or whatever. So I need to reword that. You know you have that educators mindset as you create, so you do have that perspective that will benefit them. So, yeah, at the end of the day, I feel like that's. Those are the people that I'm wanting to serve, are people who just want to take a resource that will help them, and so that's who we focus on.

Speaker 1: 17:28

And I think, I think too, people get so caught up in what I call the loud minority. It's kind of like education, is kind of like politics there's always the loud minority, which side of the fence you land on, and those people are so loud that you kind of think that that's how the majority feel. And it's really not, you know it's just a few who feel that way.

Speaker 1: 17:48

So I love that you're finding that that the majority of people are still really supportive and really grateful for the help. Yeah, talking about you know, making those connections and building those connections with people and making sure that you're presenting yourself in such a way so that the people who need your resources can actually find you and identify with you and be like, yeah, I get this, this person's meeting my need and this is what I want to see. What type of mindset do you think you should adopt if you really want to market successfully on Instagram and not just be putting content up for the sake of putting content up for the sake of being consistent, but like, if you really want to market successfully on Instagram and not just be putting content up for the sake of putting content up for the sake of being consistent, but like, if you really want to tap into that ideal customer and find them on Instagram, what kind of mindset do you think you need to adopt in order to do that?

Speaker 2: 18:31

Yeah, so you kind of mentioned an IDA or ideal customer. Avatar is somebody that you have in your mind and I think with each piece of content you're doing, you're just trying to think like how would this help this ideal customer that I have with, whatever their problems are or whatever season of teaching it is? If there's a resource that you have that you know could be helpful to that customer, then your mindset is like, okay, how can I showcase this in a way that they clearly understand it, could use it right away and are like excited about it? So basically, like, how could I serve them? Is the mindset that you're going in with is how can I showcase this in a way where they understand it and it serves them and is exciting to them to use?

Speaker 2: 19:15

So there's so many different things you can try, but some resources are more self-explanatory and could make do with just a photo. So, like right now, I've been making some seasonal bookmarks. Those are pretty self-explanatory you can see a picture and you know exactly what it is and how you'd use it. But other resources that might be like a unit of different activities might do better in a video form unless there's lots of printable elements, and for me. I use classroom slides a lot, so showcasing those in a video and showing all the different slides is usually more effective. If I have 60 slides in a set and showing a few images of just three or four slides, it's more effective to do a video for that. It's more effective to do a video for that. So kind of choosing what content fits your resource and just thinking of how you can showcase how it would serve your customer.

Speaker 1: 20:05

So you're going to be at Teacher Seller Summit. You're going to be talking a lot about marketing on Instagram, how to do that, the ins and outs. Can you tell us a little bit about what your session is going to be about? Kind of give us a little teaser.

Speaker 2: 20:18

Yes, I'm so excited to talk all things Instagram because, like we've mentioned, that was really what drove my store. So, yeah, we're going to talk about schedules, like how to create a schedule for yourself, because I feel like that's where a lot of people get stuck, is just what you don't plan to happen, doesn't happen, and so I'm going to talk about how I do that, how repurposing content for multiple avenues has been really useful to me, and talking to people that are full-time sellers about how to partner up with teachers in the classroom. I call them my product partners, and they're a group of people that I send options to every month. They pick one or two of the resources that they want to use and then they get that resource for free in exchange for some content, and then I also do pay them on top of that for their time. But that gives me a bank of content and my Google Drive. I can just go to my little folder and they have all their content in there, so that has created for people that feel stuck like what do I share about?

Speaker 2: 21:20

That would be a really great way for you to have a bank of content to pull from. So we're going to talk about things like that. And then, of course, if you're not familiar with ManyChat, that is a comment automation system that you definitely want to know about, if you don't already, where it will automatically be sending out links to people to ask for them on your content, so that you don't have to send that manually and people can get things right in their inbox that they're interested in will really increase the amount of sales you see coming from Instagram.

Speaker 1: 21:50

I'm so glad that you're here. I cannot wait for your Teacher Seller Summit session. I do want to mention, before we get off, you know, whenever last year, because you were a speaker at Teacher Seller Summit last year as well and when Brooklyn got a yes from you, she was like we got a celebrity. Like I'm not, I got Mrs Munch's Munchkins. Oh that's amazing, so we're even more thrilled to have you back for year two. Where can listeners connect with you if they want to learn more?

Speaker 2: 22:18

Yes, so, as I mentioned, mrs Munch's Munchkins is my main page where you'll see all my resources. And then just a couple of weeks ago, I decided to start a separate page for TPT sellers because I do get asked for tips a lot and I didn't love sharing that on my other page because not everybody needed them and I didn't want it to cloud out my resource tips and things like that. So I made a separate Instagram that's called selling with Melody and you can find TPT tips there. Still building that one, but going to be sharing more there soon of ways to help TPT sellers.

Speaker 1: 22:53

I love that and I'm so excited for that. We'll put a link for that down inside of the description. Thanks so much for being here, melody, and I can't wait to see you at TSS. Yes, same here. Thanks, lauren. Thanks so much for being here. You guys, if you want to learn more from Melody, you can connect with her on Instagram. You'll find the link to her Instagram account down inside of the description. You definitely want to connect with her, but you also don't want to miss her session at Teacher Seller Summit. Along with many other credible presenters like Faria Henley, kristen Doyle, kristen Hammond and so so many more. They're going to be sharing a lot of information about how to grow your teacher business, how to expand your teacher business and how to organize your life so that you can focus on your teacher business, and you absolutely don't want to miss it. That's going to start June 27. And you'll find a link to purchase your ticket down inside of.