The Rebranded Teacher
The Rebranded Teacher
3 Things TpT Sellers Waste Time On (and What to Do Instead)
If you've been pouring endless hours into your Teachers Pay Teachers business without seeing meaningful growth, you might be falling victim to one of the three biggest time-wasters plaguing TPT sellers. As someone who's navigated the TPT marketplace for nine years (five of them full-time), I've witnessed countless talented educators spinning their wheels on activities that simply don't drive results.
The first culprit? Obsessive product revision. While quality matters, constantly updating your first dozen products means you'll never reach that critical 50-100 product threshold where momentum builds. Instead of revising every time you learn something new, apply that knowledge to your upcoming products. Consider implementing a revision ratio—perhaps updating one older product for every five new ones you create. This keeps your catalog growing while gradually improving older listings without getting stuck in revision limbo.
Over-researching is another silent killer of TPT success. The research phase feels deceptively productive while protecting you from the vulnerability of action. But you don't need perfect knowledge to begin—you just need to know the first step. Complete that step, then research the next one. This step-by-step approach prevents the analysis paralysis that keeps so many promising sellers permanently stuck in preparation mode rather than production.
Perhaps most heartbreaking are the passion projects that don't sell. We all have resources we'd love to create, but without market demand, they become expensive hobbies rather than business assets. Before investing significant time in any resource, ask yourself: Is there an existing audience actively searching for this solution? If not, are you willing to build awareness through marketing? Your time is valuable, and ultimately, you deserve financial compensation for your expertise and effort.
Ready to focus on strategies that actually work? Check out my YouTube channel for nearly 200 videos packed with practical TPT growth tactics. Search "Lauren Fulton" to discover more ways to build a purposeful, sustainable teacher business that respects your time and rewards your effort.
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The #1 TpT Growth Strategy That No One Talks About
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3 Seasonal Product Strategies to Maximize Earnings
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXkXQVqV1zw
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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. One of the fastest ways to grow your TPT store is to stop doing the stuff that doesn't move the needle.
Speaker 1:Today, I'm calling out three of the biggest time wasters that I see TPT sellers doing all the time, and I'm giving you a better, faster way to grow your store instead. If you're new here, hi, I'm Lauren. I've been a TPT seller for nine years. I cannot even believe that I'm saying that it's been nine years on TPT. I left the classroom and have been doing TPT full-time since 2019. But in the last five years, I've really focused on helping other TPT sellers grow their businesses, and that's what I'm most excited about and that's what I'm here to help you do today. So we're going to talk about ways that you could be wasting your time. So I see people doing this all the time and, to be honest, definitely done a few of these myself.
Speaker 1:Number one time waster that I see on TPT is product revision. Now don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that product revision is a time waster. What I'm saying is the way that you're doing it might be a huge waste of time. If you've been selling on TPT for 5, 10, 15 years, then chances are you should be in product revision, like you should be working really hard at revising some of your resources. But if you're still on the train to get 50 or 100 resources in your store, product revision ain't where you should be spending your time, at least not the majority of it. Let's talk about why, when you are creating those first 50 products especially the first 100, yes, but definitely those first 50 products when you're in that zone of creation, you are learning so much and chances are you're taking in a lot of information from experts, you're listening to advice, you're learning from your mistakes, you're getting a lot of really great feedback from your own products and your own data in your store, as well as from outside sources.
Speaker 1:And here's the thing that can happen is that if you're not careful, you could spend literally 75 to 100% of your time just going back and making changes to those original products. I mean, I've talked to countless people who feel this need, and this is especially true if you're type A. They feel this need, like as soon as they learn something new, they feel like they need to go apply it to the products that they've already created. Like, oh, I've just learned I've been doing covers wrong. I need to go add a value grab to all of my covers now. And some of you may even be listening to me like what's a value grab? Because I'm pretty sure I don't have those on my covers and I definitely need to add them now.
Speaker 1:But that's not the point. The point is that if you're not careful, you could spend all of your time revising your first 12 products in your store and never make it to product number 50. Because those first 50 products, and even 100 products you are learning so, so much that literally it could be a full-time job just going back and revising those first 10 or 15 products. So here's what you need to be doing instead as you're learning new information, you're taking in new skills, you're honing the skills that you already have and you're learning what to do and what not to do. Rather than giving into the temptation to go back and update those older resources, apply it to the new products that you are creating and get feedback from there. Because even if you think, like I know exactly what to do and you may you may be great at it. Like you may know the first time like, hey, this is exactly what I need to do, I know what a value grab is, I need to add it, and you may do it perfectly the first time, most people don't. So like, even though it might be better, it's still not going to be perfect and I hate to use the term perfect, because so many people get wrapped up in that and don't get wrapped up in perfection. Like that's not what I'm trying to say, but like it may still not be exactly what your product needs.
Speaker 1:So take what you've learned, apply it to the new products that you're creating to create better products, strengthen the products that you have in mind you still need to be filling your store shelves and so apply what you're learning to those newer resources. But realize that what you know right now is not at all what you're going to know in six months. You know five new things right now. Like, right now you've learned five new things that you want to apply to those older resources. In six months it'll be 15 new things. So it's better to go ahead and apply to those new products what you're learning and then, in six months, once you've hit that 50 product mark, go ahead and come all the way back to those new resources and apply the 15 things that you learned. So you only have to update one time versus having to update 15 times, because you feel the need to update the product every single time you learn something new. Do you see what I'm saying? And so you could waste an awful lot of time trying to update things, and I know I get it.
Speaker 1:Some of you are like Perfect, makes sense, great, that's all you need to say, lauren. Others of you are internally having a dialogue and discussion with me like yeah, but it's kind of embarrassing, or I really want those resources to sell, or I'm not putting my best foot forward for my business. Turn off the noise, focus on the products that you are creating, the new resources, and if it really really bothers you, then update at a ratio. Say, for every five new products you create, you can go back and you can update one older listing and if that makes you feel better, then you can do that. So update at a ratio.
Speaker 1:Number two is over researching. This is such a hard one because I feel like there are some people who are going to hear this and they're going to use this as an excuse to like not research, but the number of people who are going to be like I don't need to do market research, I don't need to do any of that Few and far between. I'm talking about those who might be listening, who are paralyzed by the thought of doing something wrong or paralyzed by the thought of not giving something their best or doing it right, and I want to say this with like all the love in my heart that I can If you have been talking about doing something in your business, whether it's actually starting your TPT store, if you haven't started your TPT store and you're watching this video, turn this video off and go start your TPT store, like that's what I'm going to say. But I know there are people who are watching this video right now, who have been talking for a long time about something that they really want to do inside of their business, but they don't feel like they're ready to do it, because they still feel like they have something that they need to learn or they need to research or they don't know all of the steps. Yet.
Speaker 1:You don't need to know all 10 steps to success in order to start your email list. You don't need to know all 10 steps to success in order to start your email list. You don't need to know all 10 steps to success in order to post your first product on TPT. You don't need to know all 5,000 steps to success in order to finally start social media marketing. You don't need to take a course for any of it. All you need to know in order to get started is what the first step is. You just need the first step and then, once you've accomplished the first step, then you research what to do for the next step.
Speaker 1:And I know for a lot of people you're like I cannot do that because I'm going to mess too many things up. But the thing is is that I see people over and over and over again wasting so much time researching and being stuck in the research phase because there's a tendency the research phase feels safe. It really does Like it feels really safe because you can't mess it up if you haven't done anything yet, but you feel like you're making progress because you're researching it and you're getting ready to do the thing that you've been wanting to do. So if you are stuck in the research phase for something that you know you need to do in your business, or you want to do in your business, or something that you need to start in your business, then I want you to look up today, like, what is the first step that I need to do? Do that first step. And the first step is not research. Okay, complete the first step and then research the next step. And just take it one step at a time and don't research the next step until you've completed the step before. So you don't need to know all 10 steps, just go ahead and move forward.
Speaker 1:And some of you are going to identify with that more than others. Others of you are a little bit more like me and you're like yeah, I'm just jumping in and I'm doing it and then we'll figure it out later. Like I'll jump into the pool and then I will figure out how to swim afterwards. And then there are people who are sitting on the sideline going, wow, you are such an idiot floundering in the water right now. But you know what? We're in the water and sometimes you just kind of need to get in the water. Okay, let's move on to number three. This one is hard to hear. You know what I feel like. I almost like need to hold your hand while I say this one. So you know, like just give me your hand for a minute.
Speaker 1:Passion projects. This is like one of the biggest time wasters that I see. Tpt sellers wasting time on all the time are passion projects, and the teacher in me wants to be like yes, girl, pursue your passion, make that resource that you wish you had when you were in the classroom, do it. People are going to be so excited they're going to buy it. But you know what? A lot of passion projects don't sell. They don't, and it's really sad, but it's true. And that doesn't mean that you can't ever create that passion project, but maybe now is just not the time for it. Like it's really great when the thing that we are super passionate about aligns with what people really want and are looking for in the classroom and want to spend money on. When those two things happen, it's beautiful, it's fantastic.
Speaker 1:And some of you are going, ah, bad advice, lauren, because I created my passion project and that's what made me a million dollars and you know what it lined out for you. That's fantastic. But you guys, some people have passions that nobody wants to buy and I'm not saying that that's you. I'm just saying sometimes it's true and it's sad to me because I know how much love and time and attention that you may have put into this resource and I don't want to be the one to tell you that no one wants to buy it. But, honestly, sometimes it's just the truth. So, before you pursue that passion project, before you do that thing, you need to ask yourself, number one is there an existing audience of people who are actively searching for the solution for this product, or is there a market? Is there a group of people who are actively searching for this product? If yes, great, go ahead and create it. If no, then you need to ask yourself am I willing to do the work to build the audience and to do the marketing to educate buyers as to why they would need this product in the first place, so that they know to look for it, so they know it's here, so they know I have a solution to their problem? If the answer to that is yes, go ahead and create it.
Speaker 1:It just like hurts my heart to see sellers who really wanna make a living on TPT and they wanna start making $1,000 a month and they spend all of this time pouring into resources that they think buyers are gonna love and want, because it's something that they would have loved and wanted, but buyers are not looking for it or they don't know to look for it yet. Something that they would have loved and wanted, but buyers are not looking for it or they don't know to look for it yet, and so they put it out there and it's like crickets and it's really disheartening to spend time on that. So ask yourself those two questions before I invest time in this passion project Is there a current market for it? If not, am I willing to build the market for that? Just a couple of things to consider before you start investing your time and energy into those passion projects.
Speaker 1:At the end of the day, here's the thing your time is valuable as a TPT seller. Like if you're creating resources, maybe out of a place of goodwill, maybe out of passion yes, but chances are if you're here watching this video, you're wanting to get money for your time. Like you're wanting to get paid for your time. And I've had people ask me before, like, at what point do I say I'm making 60 cents an hour, lauren? When do I hang it up Like, when do I say I'm not doing this anymore? When do I wave the white flag and say, okay, I'm done? And you shouldn't. Your time is valuable. You shouldn't be making 60 cents an hour.
Speaker 1:And in the beginning, yeah, we may put in a lot of grunt work, we might put in a lot of sacrifice, just as if you're building any other business, but at some point you need to be getting paid substantially for the time that you are investing. And so these three things if you're doing any one of these three things, these are the biggest way to reduce wasted time in your TPT business and make sure that you are creating resources that are going to sell and that you are investing your time in a way that really makes sense for your business. Now, if you want to learn more about what types of resources to create that can help you get traction faster on TPT, then I would encourage you to watch the last two videos that I put out. So I put out a video on creating seasonal resources that sell, and then I also put out a video on the number one growth strategy for TPT sellers that no one talks about. Both of these contain really actionable, practical product creation strategies that can help skyrocket your business and help make sure that you are actually getting a return on your time investment, because you deserve to get paid for your time.
Speaker 1:If you enjoyed the podcast, make sure to check out the YouTube channel. We have almost 200 videos on YouTube right now. So if you want to learn more and grow more, make sure and check out our YouTube channel. Just search for Lauren Fulton and you will find me on there, where you can catch up on some of your favorites and also learn more practical ways to grow your TPT business. Thanks so much for being here, you guys. I'm going to see you right back here.