I have been a seller on this platform for eight years and I have almost hit $50,000 in earnings. Overtime, that doesn't seem like a lot, but yay for this teacher-prenuer because I have been able to do so much with the extra money! I never dreamt in a thousand years I'd actually make this kind of money selling my teacher resources, but I have. I'm not going to lie. There are months where I will make a killing and there are months where I make just enough to buy some groceries, which is more then enough! This was money that I didn't have before to spend on my children, trips, or groceries and I thank the good Lord for it.
I'm not going to preach to you and tell you to get off your lazy booty and get out there, but if you want to make some extra cash here's how I did it.
Step 1: Sign up to sell with a Premium Seller account!!! I'm sure you've got the standard membership at this point if you know anything about TpT. I had this same membership and I only used it to download resources for my own classroom. I took the plunge and switched my account to a seller account in 2012. Signing up for a Teachers Pay Teachers account is super easy!
Step 2: Open a PayPal account if you don't have one already. Listen, people! It's the new age and having one of these babies is going to help you out tremendously. Also, if you want to get paid through the platform, you're going to need one of these. You will need your bank account information handy. If it makes you feel better, open up an extra checking account just for this. PayPal will then make two small deposits into your account to verify you are the owner. You will then check your statement and enter the amount of the two deposits on PayPay so they know it's you. Easy as pie.
Step 3: Do some research and figure out what areas interest you the most. What grades do you teach? What subject areas are your favorite? Or do you have an idea for classroom decor? Next, you need to figure out what program you want to use for creating your resources. I use Power Point for a lot of my resources. I'll be uploading a tutorial on that very soon! You can also use Adobe Illustrator and I also use Photoshop to help out with making my cover pages spectacular. Sorry, I'm getting carried away and probably freaking you all out just a tad.
Step 4: Let's tone it down a little. You need to invest in a little commercial font and clipart in order to get started and make your cover pages look amazing. If you're a little scared of the cover page developing idea, don't be because I've created a one of a kind resource for you guys. Click here to go check it out. I'm considering making it free just to help my fellow entrepreneurs out, but this bad boy hasn't been posted long. I'm anxious to see what happens. Inside, I've got fifteen cover pages to make your life easy. All you have to do is change the titles and you're done!
Step 5: Make your first product and you are going to want to actually try it out in your classroom. Take some real life pictures and see what happens. Maybe it's a worksheet or something else. The sky is the limit here. Maybe it's a behavior management system. It's your thing!
Step 6: You only need two products to start, One free and One paid. Take your time and make these two the best products ever! Your first item on TpT has to be free, it's a sample for prospecting buyers to see what kind of work you create.
Step 7: Take a deep breath and don't go out buying all kinds of clipart and expensive programs at first. This isn't for everyone so keep that in mind, but don't give up! Selling on this platform can be so rewarding!
