The Rebranded Teacher

5 Things I've Learned Starting a New TpT Store in 2024

Lauren Fulton - The Rebranded Teacher

Ready to uncover the secrets behind building a successful Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT) business from scratch? Join me, Lauren Fulton, as I recount my 2024 journey of starting a new (2nd!) TPT store in a completely different niche after eight years of growing and running an established store. You’ll hear firsthand about the hurdles I faced while juggling multiple tasks and the critical role that experimentation played in my product creation process. Discover why narrowing your focus can lead to better outcomes and how pivoting to smaller, more manageable products boosted my sales.

This episode doesn’t just stop at my personal narrative; it's packed with actionable insights on market research and product testing. Learn how starting small and trying different resources can help pinpoint what resonates with buyers, allowing you to refine your strategy more effectively. We’ll challenge the myth that a vast product catalog is necessary for financial success, showcasing how a few well-researched offerings can make a substantial impact. Plus, get a behind-the-scenes look at the numbers and strategies that have driven my new TPT business forward. Subscribe now for weekly tips and strategies tailored for TPT sellers aiming to grow their businesses.

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Rebranded Teacher Podcast. My name is Lauren Fulton. I'm a full-time teacher, author and seller on Teachers, pay Teachers, and I help other teacher entrepreneurs grow their TPT businesses in a way that's purposeful and sustainable. So if you're looking for actionable, step-by-step ways to grow your business, you're in the right place. Let's get started it. We're back and things look a little different.

Speaker 1:

As you can see, behind me, it's one of the reasons why I've kind of been on hiatus for a little bit is that we've been moving. Among other things, life has just kind of gotten very, very hectic, and so I've been spending some time trying to get things settled, but we're not quite there yet. So right now, I'm operating with no studio lighting and a teeny, tiny little lavalier mic, which is totally fine because it does the job and it gets me here to talk to you guys, and we have lots to talk about. So one of the big things that I want to kind of share are some of the takeaways and lessons that I've learned while starting a new business and TPT business in 2024. So, if you're new here, I have been selling on TPT since summer of 2016. So for eight years and this year, in May of 2024,. I started a new TPT store, which, if you want to learn more about that, I have a private podcast that has multiple episodes where you can hear kind of what that journey looks like. But today I'm sharing some of the big takeaways that I've had personally that have come from just starting a brand new TPT store and starting everything over in a new niche at this stage in my career. So my very first, probably biggest, takeaway has been that there's a lot that you have to learn all at the same time.

Speaker 1:

Now, it's easier the second time. Don't get me wrong, because there are a lot of things that you learn the first time that you don't have to learn again. Right, like I didn't have to choose what my email marketing platform was going to be. I didn't have to try to figure out how to set up a website. I didn't have to choose what my email marketing platform was going to be. I didn't have to try to figure out how to set up a website. I didn't have to learn how to create resources although obviously I'm creating resources for a completely different niche but like my PowerPoint, my software, like all the stuff uploading a product to TPT, all of that there's just a huge learning curve where you're trying to take in a bunch of information, apply it to your business and do so many different things at one time, and it can be really overwhelming, even if you've done it before. So like going back to kind of square. One kind of gave me a taste to remember what it was like when I was first starting. Even though it's easier the second time, it's still really difficult. Learning the new market, doing all the things, trying to implement everything at the same time it's a lot, a lot all at once. The second takeaway that I've had is that some experimenting is necessary with product creation, and I've always kind of been in the camp of create something that meets a need and then stick with what you have until it works or it proves to you that it's not working. Right, it proves to you that it's not working. The fine line is, how do you define whether or not you've given something enough of an opportunity to say definitively this is not going to work, or I just haven't given it enough time? So let me just give you an example.

Speaker 1:

In this new TPT business I had a product line that I originally started with and then I tried to create an accompanying resource for that product line and it was immediately apparent to me like I sent out an email about it. I marketed it like it was obvious to me that this was not going to work, wasn't going to sell and at least not sell as well as I was hoping. To date, I've only sold I think maybe two. To date, I've only sold I think maybe two, and so that's that's it. Of this resource. That was probably my second product to create, so it's been on the store shelf since at least June, maybe end of May, and I've only sold it twice, and it's an accompanying product for a product that has sold many, many times. So between it not really getting any organic traction and the fact that my existing audience was not interested in it, it told me I didn't really need to make the time to continue to create resources like it for my particular niche. That said, after a little while with that original set of resources, they were selling, but they just weren't selling as well as I wanted them to, and so I started to experiment with creating something that was much smaller, much easier, and those started selling really well. In fact, I've just started uploading them this week. I think I'm almost at $60 for the week, which for a brand new store that only has six paid resources in it. I'm really ecstatic about that.

Speaker 1:

So I have learned that you do need to do some experimenting with your resources, but don't be all over the place. Experiment within the niche that you have. So, for me, I market to busy homeschool moms who are looking for resources that are going to be a perfect fit for their lifestyle and their children, which is they're very busy, and so I still stayed within that niche, still stayed within that wheelhouse. So, rather than going, okay, well, this whole homeschool mom thing is not really going to work, I still stayed within that whole niche. I just tried a different resource to see if that was going to be a better approach for them or a better fit for them, because it was a better fit for me. And so when I tried that and when I experimented without going too far outside of the box, I was able to find something that would be a really good fit, and so now I can concentrate my efforts on really expanding that product line out before I go back to the original product line that I had and continue to expand that out. Okay, so some experimenting is necessary If you create a product line in the very beginning which I love to do, I love a product line but don't feel like you have to be married to that, like, okay, I'm going to create this one line of resources and I'm not going to stop until it's done.

Speaker 1:

I think that there's a really great time and place for that and you should do that at some point. But early on, in the very beginning, when you're still getting to know the platform, still getting to know what sells, still getting to know your audience, sometimes it's really nice to just do a very small variety and see which one takes off better and then focus all your efforts on that. And that's not to say, obviously, like I've only made like 60 bucks this week, so it's not to say that that's going to be like this massive moneymaker for you and you're going to immediately start to like replace your salary with this strategy. That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is that using some experimentation to see what works best out of, say, three different resources before you create an entire product line for all those different types, can be a really great investment for your time. So doing a little experimenting is necessary, but then, once you found something that your buyers seem to like, take off with it, like run with it and don't look back. So this line of resources that I'm creating, I'm planning on creating them through the end of the year so that I can bundle them and having them all completely finished by the end, hopefully by the end of this month, maybe early October, so that I can go ahead and bundle them together before moving on to the next resource line. So this doesn't mean that this is going to be my million dollar money making idea. It doesn't mean that. But I did do some experimenting to see what they would like best, what they responded to best out of three different options, before saying, okay, this is the one that we're going to go ahead and finish it out. Okay.

Speaker 1:

Number three market research is king. I knew this before starting the TPT store, but boy am I like cemented in this now. Like, market research is absolutely king. If you are creating resources solely because they are resources that you need, you are creating resources solely because they are resources that you need in your classroom, or solely because they are resources that you need as a homeschool mom, then that's great, but it's not going to get you the desired results, unless your desired result is just to create resources for your students or your kids and make a little bit of money right. But if you really want to create some passive income, if you really want to create an income stream for you and for your family, then conducting market research is going to be essential. And by market research what I mean is this I mean before you create the product, before you buy the clip art, right Before you do those things, you really want to make sure that you know that there's a spot in the market for you.

Speaker 1:

So, for example, there are some themes that I would love to create for my preschool resources that I'm creating right now, but I don't see a market for that. I don't see that buyers are actively looking for those types of resources. I would love to do a space like astronaut type of theme for one of my morning warmup packets, but, honestly, I'm not seeing a lot of people searching for that, and so that tells me that, yes, I could create that, but I'm not going to get the greatest return on my investment as I would if I make dinosaurs or transportation or something like that, where moms and dads and preschool teachers are actively looking for those themes because their students or their kids are already interested in them. Okay, so, first doing the market research before you even create the product, to see are people even looking for this? Is the market oversaturated? Does it already have way too much of the specific type of product that I'm trying to create so that there's not even a space for me, right? So doing that, and then after that you really, once you've decided, okay, this is the product that I'm going to make, you really need to do the market research to see what covers and thumbnails and previews look like for that specific type of resource. So, for example, with my big worksheet packets that I had, what I was seeing trending were real life photographs of the products in action. So for those resources, I printed the resources, staged them which didn't take a lot of work because my toddler was doing the curriculum anyway and took photos, edited them and put them on the cover and inside some of the previews and thumbnails. But for another product line that I have, I was noticing that it was just PNG images of the actual, more like the resource pages. It was just digital mock-ups or just product pages just shown on the cover. And so, while I wasn't copying anybody's cover or anything like that. It told me that that was what was trending in the market for that particular type of resource and that's what buyers were responding to, and so, rather than me having to like print stage photograph those items, I didn't have to do that. So not only did that save me time, but it potentially created a higher converting resource, product cover and preview, because I was following what the market was telling me that buyers were attracted to. Okay, so doing that market research can really help you out, and doing it for each product line, for even each individual resource, can really go a long way before you start investing time and money into creating a specific line of resources.

Speaker 1:

The next thing is you don't need a lot of products to start making money. So I think that there's this kind of antiquated rule of 50 of like. When you have 50 resources, that's really when you're going to start to see the money come in, and I can tell you that that was true for my first TPT business. Something about hitting about 50 resources that gave buyers enough to choose from. They started shopping, my store started purchasing multiple resources, all of that great stuff that you really want them to do. But I can tell you I had way more than six paid products in my store when I had my first three-figure month, originally on TPT. I now have six paid products in my store. I've already had my first three-figure month and I'm looking at kind of like a multi-three-figure month this month for the month of September, which I'm really excited about, but I only have six paid products.

Speaker 1:

If I had more than six paid products, would I be making more money? Yes, probably so, but really and truly the key is creating resources that you know your buyers are going to want and taking the time to conduct that market research, taking the time to test things out and do some of that experimenting that I was talking about earlier. While it did slow down my product creation, it's ultimately going to give me a greater return on my investment. And really the bigger thing is it is such great positive affirmation to realize like I don't need to create you know four or 500 resources before I start making money. When I see I'm making you know at least $50 a week with six products, then I see that I can kind of start to scale that and I can really start to get a good idea of how much money I'll be making with 25 products, say 50 products or things like that, and it gives me a really good focus. So you don't have to have a lot of resources to start making money. You really just need a few good items and you need a few resources that your buyers and your audience are attracted to.

Speaker 1:

Number five ChatGPT makes a lot of things easier than it was eight years ago. Truly, writing an email is easier than it was eight years ago, writing an about me section for your TPT store easier than it was eight years ago. There are a lot of things that I kind of get stuck on as someone who's entering a new market where I can tell ChatGPT, here is my ideal customer, here is my intended audience. Can you write me a sales email or can you write me a blog post. That's a really big one that covers these points right here, uses this type of tone and, and then I can take what it spits out to me and I can edit it, rather than having to start from scratch. So ChatGPT really makes so many things so much easier.

Speaker 1:

So if you're not utilizing ChatGPT, even as an experienced TPT seller but I mean definitely if you're not using it in the beginning don't be intimidated by it. It makes so many things so much easier. I'm about to start using it to write some note to followers for my established TPT store, because I really don't spend a lot of time on that and I need to be doing that more because I have quite a few followers in that store and I kind of feel like that's a wasted opportunity that I'm not utilizing. And so if you have something that you're not doing, then using ChatGPT to do it is a really great idea, because you can't mess anything up right. So my five big takeaways have been that there's a lot to learn all at once.

Speaker 1:

So if you're brand new and you're feeling really overwhelmed this is my second time around and honestly, I've felt overwhelmed by a lot of things, particularly by the stress of trying to feel like I need to do it all right the first time, and even though I know that that's not true, I still kind of feel that stress and that pressure, because I want to be doing the email marketing, I want to be doing the blogging, I want to be doing all those things because I know how to do them, and so I feel like I should be doing them. Don't put that kind of pressure on yourself. Take it one step at a time and just know that once you get over that hump of doing it the first time, it gets a whole lot easier. And then the second was experimenting sometimes is necessary. So don't spend a lot of time creating something if you're not seeing it sell.

Speaker 1:

So if you put a couple of products on the market and they're not really selling at all, maybe take some time to experiment with a different type of resource and try, say, three different product types, give it a little bit of time, see which ones are kind of taking off, which ones your audience is gravitating towards, and then really lean into the winner of those three. Conduct that market research, do not skip it. You don't need a lot of products to start making money. So really just even just starting with three resources, seeing where each one of those three resources go, leaning into one of those to create a product line and it can even be a small product line of five or six or 10 resources. It could be a small product line, but just go ahead and get them going and get them bundled together. And then finally again use chat, gpt to make a lot of these things easier writing your product descriptions, sending those notes to followers, emails, blogging, all the things. Utilize ChatGPT because it can be a really big game changer and can save you so much time.

Speaker 1:

All right, thanks so much for being here. You guys, I'm going to see you next week. We're going to be talking about some things that I'm doing in my TPT business in the next three months. So some things that I'm doing for my new store, some things that I'm doing for my established store and the next three months. So some things that I'm doing for my new store, some things that I'm doing for my established store.

Speaker 1:

And again, if you want to learn more about my new TPT business, you can check out my private podcast. I think at this point we're close to like 10 episodes in Kind of document it from the very beginning, all the way through to where we are now, some things that I've done, some things that have worked, some things that haven't, kind of talking through all of the numbers, the ups and downs and kind of the nitty gritty. All the fun little details are there on the private podcast. And if you're not subscribed to this channel, make sure you hit the subscribe button, because I put out weekly content for TPT sellers to help you start and grow your TPT business. So you don't wanna miss that. All right, you guys, I'm gonna see you right back here next.