If you have been selling on Teachers Pay Teachers for a while, you know that sales slow way down in the summer. This can be super frustrating, but it’s important to realize this is NORMAL! Most sellers experience a dip in sales during this time of year because teachers are not thinking about the next school year. However, you can stay focused and increase Teachers Pay Teachers sales with these tips!
Run Promotions to Increase Teachers Pay Teachers Sales
Since sales are not coming in very organically at this time, participating in different sales and creating your own promotions can be a great boost.
Hashtag Sales:
Hashtag sales are promotions that are organized by different groups of TpT sellers. They often have deals that are “no-brainers” for buyers, like half-off or dollar deals. While it may not seem FUN to discount a product down to a dollar, these sales are a great way to increase your exposure and build an audience.
DISCLAIMER
Do NOT “jump” into a hashtag sale without communicating with the group that is running it. Some of the hashtag sales you see on Teachers Pay Teachers are run by sellers who have paid to be part of the sale, or by course groups. You always want to make sure you are in the group that is running the sale and that you follow the rules accordingly. Don’t be afraid to ask!!
Effort: low
Payout: low-mid (depending on what products you choose)
Store Sales:
You may also choose to run your own promotions/sales. I have seen sellers do a big discount on specific products or bundles for 1-2 days of the week, or do a week of discounts on different products. It is important to note that you WILL need to market your sale outside of TpT so these sales won’t work as well (or at all) if you don’t have a social media platform/audience to reach out to. Email lists, Instagram or Facebook are great options if they are available to you!
Effort: mid
Payout: low-high (depending on how big/committed your following is)
Create a Course/Workshop
This option requires planning and work ahead of time, but can be an excellent way to make up for profits lost in the summer. Consider this: you create a two-hour video training on something teachers need help with and sell it for $40. If you sell 10, you’ve made $400! Or, you create a 10-hour course for teachers and sell it for $100. If you sell 10, you’ve made $1000. Wahoo!
Workshop
A workshop could be a live or pre-recorded training on anything you feel would be helpful professional development for teachers. Some “big idea” topics could include:
- classroom management
- organization tips
- reading/writing workshop
- guided reading
- centres in the classroom
- kindergarten
- spec-ed
- inclusivity
- read alouds
Again, you will need an audience to market the workshop to – but this is a great goal to work up to as you get further along in your TpT business! Remember, you do NOT need a huge audience. If you have 1000 committed and engaged followers, they will be more likely to see your posts and purchase than if you have 10 000 that aren’t invested in you.
Course
A course requires more backwards planning & thoughtfulness to be successful. It can also be a great thing to work up to! Keep your eye out for a more detailed post on launching a course in the future ?
How do I Increase My Teachers Pay Teachers Sales WITHOUT a following?
If you don’t have any marketing platforms set up, don’t stress. Typically, that means you are a newer seller and means you have so many better things to focus on!
I ask you to forget about the numbers and cha-chings in the summer months and focus on the following tasks to get ready for an incredible back-to-school season.
- Brand Clean-Up: perhaps you rushed your TpT storefront/branding when you started. Summer is a GREAT time to rebrand, get clear on your mission and fix up your storefront. This post has lots of details on setting up your storefront.
- Product Creation: if you are a newer seller, focus on getting 50 products in your TpT store. This will give buyers a wide range of products to choose from during back-to-school and will allow you to be found in more searches.
- Product Optimization: if you have 50+ products in your store, work on optimizing some of those listings. Make sure you have an eye-catching cover, keyword-rich title/description, and clear previews. Check out this post for more details.
- Marketing: this post has made it clear that marketing is important! Pick 1-2 platforms to learn and get started with so that you have a sustainable marketing strategy that can grow your business. I suggest starting an email list & Pinterest account!
TpT 101: Roadmap to Consistent Sales
Want more? Sign up for my FREE workshop on getting to your first $1000 and creating more consistent sales on TpT by clicking here.
