Top 12 TeacherspayTeachers Tips & Tricks

I recently opened my teachers pay teachers store less than 2 months ago and have already started making a profit. As I gradually build my store, brand and blog, I picked up a few tricks along the way. Here is what I learned:

1. Take Your Time: Focus on making quality products. You could have a hundred products that only sell once in a blue moon or one great, useful, unique product that everyone loves and buys. 
2. Add a Copyright to ALL of your products. Copyright © 2012 Miss. Whimsy is what I insert into my footer. Play it safe and save everything to a USB as well. If you have additional copyright questions here is a great TpT Resource.
3. Buy the Premium Membership: If you are really serious about turning this into a financial opportunity buy the premium membership and do it early on. It is a much better return on your investment. 
4. Use Social Media: get the word out about your store. Create a blog, twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. I personally was hesitant to do so because I thought it would be a lot to maintain but they really are great tools to get your name out there and a little effort goes a long way. 
5. Join Group Pin Boards! They have a lot more followers then you probably do and can help you get the word out about any new products, sales or freebies you are having. 
6. Read the TpT Newsletters: I am still working my way through them but they are written by an experienced seller(s) and have great ideas and reminders. 
7. Blog About It: The top Sellers all have them. Create a blog, meaningful content, a great layout and then post it here on the website: TpT Blog Page. Share with your readers how to use your products, and use high quality pictures to get your point across. Blog about unique ideas and then pin them! Better your blog by doing your research and learning new things. Also, make sure it doesn't take a long time to load your blog! Keep it simple.
8. Use Excel: When is a better time to add new products or advertise on Pinterest? On your sellers page there is a graph with your earnings however I created a spreadsheet of the days of the week and continually tally the days that buyers buy. As of today, Sundays and Thursdays are my highest days (with the exception of sales days like Cyber Monday) and I advertise between 3-4pm or around 8pm. Think about the time zone of your buyers as well. 
9. To Do Lists: Ah, when do they end? I've created mine on excel and categorized them by color. Red is for blog ideas, orange is for TpT product ideas, green is for weekly to-dos, and blue is for my sales goals. I also have a purple category for popular keywords to use in the titles of my products. Download the TpT Sellers Handbook  on your sellers dashboard to check them out.
10. Refresh: After creating a product don't post it right away. Sleep on it. When you look back at your product with "fresh eyes" you may have missed something. A spelling error or new idea may arise. 
11. Sales: Have them at least once every season if not once a month. They are a great way to drive traffic to your store(after advertising on Pinterest of course). Also, TpT has big sales that I would encourage you to get involved in. These sales are advertised by lots of other sellers who have lots of other buyers.
12. Improve: If a product isn't selling after a few weeks, either find a way to improve it, make it free, or both. You spent the time making something so don't feel the need to take it down. Also, there is a common theme among teachers, we like to share and having a few free items is also a great way for other teachers to learn more about the quality of your work. Plus, there is a great feature that allows you to revise your products and let your sellers re-download the updated version for no additional cost. Did you forget to add a copyright? Wanna create a better cover page? Go for it.

Bonus: You can also submit your free products to be featured in the TpT Newsletter Promotion!

Good luck!