It's so exciting when you sign up to sell on TPT. You start thinking about putting all of your classroom made things on there and the money you will make from people buying what you created. However, we need to take a few moments and think about what we are doing and what we are uploading to TPT. You are now selling. That means you are now a business. Which means everything you use and upload to TPT comes with some rules. ❇ ❇  THINK COMMERCIAL USE!  ❇ ❇ In this post, I want to focus on three areas software images fonts These are definitely not the only areas of selling where there are rules, but we'll start with these three. Software You can use just about any software you want to create your resources. There are many choices out there including ✢  Powerpoint ✢  Keynote ✢  Canva ✢  Photoshop ✢  InDesign ✢  Google Slides™ ✢  and many more! When it comes to using software, you do need a version that is allowed to be used for commercial use.......

When I first started selling on Teachers Pay Teachers, I made a lot of mistakes just like everyone else when they first start. One of the areas I made a lot of mistakes was uploading a product. I didn't know the ins and outs of uploading a product. I just wanted to get my creation up as fast as possible. Now that I've been selling for several years I'm pretty comfortable uploading new products. I'm going to go through 7 things that you want to make sure you take notice of when uploading a new product to your TPT store. I look at a lot of stores each week and these are items that I notice missing in a lot of new stores. 1) Are you just writing a sentence or 2 for your description? Many times new sellers will write just a couple of sentences in the description box and quickly move on. We actually need to put a bit more into that box.  I recommend doing the following: ⇒  Write a paragraph about the product and why the buyer needs it. ⇒  Add a bullet point list about what i......

Teachers wanting to get started with a Teachers Pay Teachers store are always looking for tips and advice on how to do it and what they should know from the beginning. Today I'm sharing some tips for you if you are in that spot. I started selling on TPT in August of 2013. I previously had a business of creating and selling digital scrapbook kits. I made a little extra "fun money". Well, the lady who owned the site closed it. That left me with a need to find something that would continue to provide that $30-50 a month "fun money". ✽   ✽  I do love a good Vera Bradley bag, so "fun money" was a desire of mine.  ✽   ✽   As I was browsing TPT for things to purchase for my classroom, I realized that selling on TPT could be my thing. As a Special Ed Resource teacher, I had been making things forever for my students. So I jumped right in. I had no idea what I was doing. There weren't FB groups to get advice from. There weren't blog posts to re......

Are you a TPT seller that needs some basic beginning guidance? I offer an on-going workshop to offer you tips to help you move your store along. During this course, I will walk you through freshening up your store front give you some information on how to create products and all that goes into creating a product provide some other tips for your TPT store go over some ideas for marketing If you join the Access Version of the workshop, you will also have access to me to ask questions and get feedback on your store. If you just want the information without the FB group and access, you can do the DIY Version of the workshop. You should already have a TPT store (it can be empty) to take this course. Email me at littleroomunderthestairs@gmail.com if you need help with this step. For more information or to sign up, click the link below. Click link here to join  ☞   TPT New Seller Workshop If you aren't sure if this workshop is a good fit for you,......

You've created materials for your classroom for awhile now. You've decided you need a little extra cash. You decide to sell your created materials on TPT. Now what? That was me 6 years ago. I decided to just jump in and create things to sell. I had no idea what I was really doing. There wasn't a lot of information out there about creating and selling resources. I would try things to see if they would work. Some did and some didn't. I just kept learning and redoing things to make them better. It was scary to try something new, but it was well worth it. You have the teacher know-how for the materials. The design aspects will come as you learn. You just need to step out and give it a try if you enjoy creating lessons and activities. Here are a few things to get you started with your own TpT Store. 1) Log in to your buyer account. Hover over My TpT and click on Become a Seller. Fill out the form - be sure to put in your PayPal email address so you can get pai......

Sales, sales everywhere! It's my mother's birthday - throw a sale. I have a new puppy - throw a sale. I think the weather changed - throw a sale. I might eat at a fancy restaurant tonight - throw a sale. Okay, these are exaggerations, but it seems people are throwing sales all the time. You don't need to throw a sale every time the wind changes. That would be a lot here in Indiana. If you have something special you want to celebrate, then by all means do that. If you are throwing a sale just to throw a sale and get customers, don't do it. ...

So you've started selling on TPT. You have a few products in your store. You are ready to sell, sell, sell. You sell an item one day. Maybe two sales another day. You get excited. Maybe this will work. And then ... no sales for several days. Now you are feeling bad about yourself and your store. Maybe this isn't for you. Any of that sound familiar? That's how it goes for most TPT sellers. Selling at TPT is like a roller coaster ride. There will be ups and downs. Some days you'll feel like you're in a spiral downward slide. And some days you'll be thrown for a loop. You have to roll with the ups and downs, the twists and turns. The thing about this roller coaster ride is that it's yours and you are in control. It takes a lot of patience and hard work. You can't get down and out about not making a sale. You can't whine when sales are slow or non-existent. You can't compare your journey to someone else's. We've all been there - no sales ......

What do your TPT resources need? Your final resource that you upload to TPT should have the following added to it: ⇛ An amazing cover ⇛ Your quality product (any directions, student pages, answer keys) ⇛ A Terms of Use (TOU) page ⇛ Credit for clip art/photos and font artists per their TOU ⇛ Your email, blog, and social media contacts with hyperlinks ⇛ Other products you offer (upsell) with hyperlinks Cover Every resource you make needs a cover whether the resource is free or paid. I like to create a rectangular cover that is included with my resource PDF and a square cover (any square size will do) that is uploaded to TPT separately. It is super important that you create your OWN style for your cover so that you stand out from other sellers. Do not duplicate someone else's cover design. You can find more information about covers on the following blog posts: Product Covers and Why You Need Them  Video Choose a Size for Your Cover Anatomy of a TPT Cover Taking a Closer Look a......

Hi all! I have a short video of some cover examples - do's and dont's. There are some beautiful covers on TPT. Mine are fine and they're my style. I suggest you look around at different stores, get some ideas, and make covers that are YOUR style. Please don't copy someone else's style - make them you. I have added the blog to Bloglovin' if you like to find your favorite blog posts there. The button is right above my photo in the sidebar. Have you joined the newsletter yet? When you join you will receive an email for confirmation. Be sure to click on that confirmation or the system won't add you to the list. Click below to join! If you have any questions regarding your store, feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email at littleroomunderthestairs@gmail.com. ...

**IMPORTANT** - Be sure that whatever you use is for commercial use and you follow the Terms of Use outlined by the artist!! Once you've selected your size, it's time to build a cover. Here are some items to consider when creating a cover. ⇒ BACKGROUND Choose a background paper or photo. You don't want something too distracting to take away from your title. ⇒ FRAME I like to use a frame with a white background so the title doesn't blend into the paper/photo. ...

Now that you know you need covers for your TPT products, it's time to find out a little more about covers. (If you missed the post on the need for covers, click here >> Product Covers and Why You Need Them .) Cover Size Decisions Using a portrait/landscape cover means you can just upload your product and use the generated thumbnails. Using a square cover gives you more real estate to have a larger title and use the graphics that you want. You do have to upload this & your other thumbnails separately which is not a huge deal. I started out with portrait/landscape covers. It was easy to do since it fit with the size of the resource. I finally converted over to a square cover. One way to do this is to use the portrait cover and have a strip of black on the side. I did that for a while and it worked for me until a lot of other sellers started doing the same thing. I don't suggest everyone do that because the point is for YOUR products to stand out in the sea of......

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Do you NEED covers for your TPT Products? YES!! Product covers are a necessary part of our TPT products. This is the first thing that buyers will see and hopefully be attracted to. Why? When you go to the grocery store, everywhere you look you will see products with "covers" - cereal boxes, cookie packages, ice cream containers, vegetable cans. They all have a cover or label to entice you to purchase the product. Have you check out the magazine section or a book store? They are all vying for your attention with their attractive covers. It's the same thing for our TPT products. You want to add a cover that is eye-catching so that when your cover is viewed in search it will capture people's attention and stop their scroll. Hopefully they will be intrigued enough to click on your cover and see what you product is all about. Every free and paid resource that you post on TPT needs to have a cover. You will upload this separate from your product. There is a space when you c......