How I Left the Classroom and Grew My Teachers Pay Teachers Shop

Welcome back, beautiful girl boss rock star unicorns! It has been quite the abnormal year! Everything was so unpredictable, it was difficult to decide what content was helpful to put out. One thing I’ve been so grateful for throughout everything is having several streams of income, a flexible schedule, and the ability to focus where and when I need to. So this is the beginning of a series of posts about the ways I’ve found to use your creativity and work at home. One of those ways is Teachers Pay Teachers.

Side note: I’m not going to be using the term “passive income” for any of my income streams. I have yet to find a truly “set it and forget it” way to earn money. Everything I do does require time, planning, and marketing, but I love every minute of it, and that’s what makes it amazing.

It all started with my Teachers Pay Teachers shop. I was teaching preschool and purchased things from other sellers for a few years for my classroom. If I couldn’t find something I wanted, I would find a way to make it myself. At some point, this clicked and I realized I could start a shop and list the things I was making for other teachers.

It started as a night and weekend hobby while I taught preschool. Full transparency, I was starting to feel major burnout from teaching (that is an entirely other blog post for another day), and creating teaching activities and printables was fulfilling my creative needs and sparking the joy that I was starting to lose in the classroom. I spent every extra minute I had outside of work making products and dreaming up new ones.

In March 2020, I hit five years since I listed my very first product. The first year was a lot of trial and error to figure out what teaching activities I made were popular. The second year, I pivoted my focus to learning graphic design and illustration. My store became part preschool activities and predominantly clipart. I have always loved drawing and when I realized there was a need for it in teaching activities, I learned as fast as I could.

May 26, 2020 marked three years since I left the classroom and dedicated my time to my Teachers Pay Teachers shop full time. In these three years, I’ve continued to create products and am continuously learning new things along the way. When I had limited time to work on my shop, I focused entirely on making products to build my store. Now that I have more time, I have added in creating content for social media like Instagram, marketing through Pinterest, and blogging! Each of those could be their own blog post as well!

Five years sounds like a long time, but when you love what you’re doing, you don’t even realize it’s passing. I’ve missed my “anniversary” every single year! This also goes to show that I was not an overnight success, nor am I where I want to be just yet. So many times on the internet, we don’t hear of someone until they’ve “made it big”, and it makes us think they just started yesterday and happen to have this natural, unattainable talent and that’s why they “made it” and we haven’t yet. This is so not true! Everything takes time and consistency.

That leads me to my five tips for you, if you are thinking about starting a Teachers Pay Teachers Shop or if you already started and want to make sure you’re on the right path. I hope I can save someone some time in their journey!

One. Make ALL the things. Get a notebook, or a Google Keep list (have you guys used this?! I’m OBSESSED), or just a document in your cloud drive, whatever is most easily accessible for you at any time of day when inspiration hits. Keep a running list of product ideas. Spend your first year making different kinds of products from your list. See what sells and what doesn’t. If it sells, make more of that thing with different categories or seasonal themes. Make discounted bundles of those products. This is a fast way to find out what teachers want from you! 

Two. Once you’ve made all the things, now you can analyze which products are your best sellers. This is an easy way to find your niche and audience! Use this information to ask yourself what other things this audience and niche would benefit from. This will help you brainstorm what products to make next! 

Three. Build a social media presence. I wish I had done this sooner. For at least my first year, I had zero social media presence. When I started my Instagram account, I started to find a community. Again, this did not happen overnight, and the sooner you start, the better! My best advice here is to think of your social media presence as a way for people to know, like, and trust you, NOT a way to advertise. That’s another blog post! 

Four. I’ve seen some super cute and clever shop/brand names, but I would highly recommend using your own name in your business name, for a few different reasons. If you ever want to pivot and change your niche, you won’t have to change your business name. If you’re like me and want to do all the things, you totally can, and it will all fall under the brand umbrella of “you”. Or, if you’re certain that you want to focus all your energy into one specific product type or niche, work that into your business name, like stickers, clipart, or printables. People will see that your expertise is that one thing, and they will remember you for it. 

Five. Never stop learning! Learning a new app or program might speed up your workflow and improve the quality of your products. There are so many tutorials out there! Start with the free content on YouTube and if you really want to dive into something new, try a free trial of Skillshare. I’ve paid for Skillshare for two years now and I swear by it. 

BONUS TIP! Use quality clipart in your products! I could recommend a few great places to start! (wink face!) 

And there you have it! That is how I got to where I am today. If you want to hear more about any of the tips I shared, leave me a comment or find me on Instagram @lisamarklesparkles! See you next time!