The BIG Mistake I Made As A New TPT Seller

Hey teacher author,

I want to talk about the BIG mistake I made as a new TPT seller.

Actually, I feel that I have to confess…I made this mistake for YEARS (not just when I was a new seller).

I know you’re a busy business owner so I’ll get straight to the point.

I didn’t invest in my business.

Yep, I had a mindset problem where I thought I was ‘saving money’ by doing things for free and never paying for anything.

If I had a time machine, I would go back in time to 2015 and shake old me and scream, ‘Invest in your business!’

I truly mean it. I don’t like to think about the thousands of dollars I’ve lost over the years because of this mistake. So, I’m writing this post in the hopes that I’ll be able to prevent other sellers from making the same mistake.

Why Should You Invest?

Ever heard the saying ‘you get out what you put in?’ or ‘you have to spend money to make money’?

Yep, turns out they are true. Doing things for ‘free’, winging it, and figuring it out on my own cost me in the long run.

I wasted time on things I could have automated (e.g. I manually pinned on Pinterest instead of using Tailwind or I manually flattened my products instead of using Flat Pack). Those are hours and hours of my life I will never get back. Those are hours I could have been making TPT products (and therefore money).

I got things wrong. A lot.

Yep, I made so many mistakes because I didn’t take courses and learn how to do things the right way.

I made poor quality resources. Not investing in fonts and clip art early on was a huge mistake. My products looked terrible and didn’t sell well.

So, what should you invest in?

Here’s a list of the things you can spend money on in this business. You don’t have to (and you definitely shouldn’t) do it all at once. But you could try a few things –

• Fees (Teachers Pay Teachers, Boom Learning, etc). The premium seller account on TPT is a MUST. Read more here.
• Clip Art & Fonts (TPT has the best choices!)
• Courses (for TPT in general or for specific marketing platforms like Pinterest)
• Coaching (accountability, ya’ll!)
• Schedulers (like Tailwind for Pinterest)
• Photography equipment (ring lights, backgrounds, props)
• Office Equipment (laptops, printers, stationery)
• Photos (stock photo packages, photo memberships, mock-ups, branded pictures)
• Flattening and Securing Programs (Flat Pack, Adobe Pro)
• Website Costs (domains, hosting, website designers)
• Memberships (masterminds, course memberships, Facebook group memberships).
• Virtual Assistants (outsource and scale your business!)
• Ads (Facebook, Instagram, promoted pins)

What to invest in when you’re new

When you’re a brand-new seller, the premium fee is your main investment. Next, you can get some quality fonts and clip art. That’s enough at first (when you’re not earning a lot).

However, as you grow, it is essential to start investing. I strongly urge you to take a course and learn to do things the right way. You can piece together tips but nothing replaces having the answers in one place.

A lot of the other investments depend on where you’re at in your business. But whatever you do, don’t be stubborn like me and try to do things for free all the time.

I was so smug. I thought I was saving money. It’s pretty ironic that I stunted my growth and lost money because of that mindset!

It’s like running a marathon. Are you going to do it in sandals or are you going to invest in running shoes?

I really wanted to share the big mistake I made as a new TPT seller and I hope you’ve found this post motivational!

Treating TPT like a side hustle can slow your growth. A mindset shift is so important, because TPT is a business! Once you start to see it that way, you begin investing more time and money into it and it grows!

P.S. Are you struggling with Pinterest? Grab my cheat sheet here!