Does it feel like you’re sales on Teachers Pay Teachers have fallen lately?
I’ve been getting this question a lot, especially in our Facebook group for TpT Sellers. So I thought I’d share a few things on the matter.
First, for me, I’ve had about 10% drop in my TpT earnings over a year sale. Considering that I have more products than this time last year, I would hope that I was increasing revenue, not decreasing it. So for those of you saying you’re sales are down, I’m there with you. However, part of my declining sales is my fault, which I’ll explain below.
But I believe a part of this drop is due to the circumstances surrounding our current situation, which I’ll also discuss below.
Second, I’m sure not everybody is having a lower than normal. However, because I’ve seen enough people asking about it, I felt I should share some insights.
Reason 1: TpT is More Crowded Than Ever
There are more sellers and more products on the platform than there were at this time last year. And the amount keeps growing.
This means that when someone searches for something on TpT, there are more options to choose from. How will you stand out amongst so much competition?
Reason 2: AI
We hate to hear it, but these AI services, like Chat GPT, are taking potential customers off of the platform. I’ve heard many stories of teachers going to these services to create resources for themselves instead of spending money on TpT.
How will you make sure that your resources can withstand the wave of alternate intelligence that is luring potential customers away?
Reason 3: The New Search Algorithm
In case you hadn’t heard, TpT rolled out a New Search Algorithm back in October that had a dramatic impact on many TpT Sellers. So much so, that TpT immediately unrolled it.
I created a short video explaining the new algorithm that you can see here.
In this video, I said that I thought TpT’s new algorithm was here to stay. The reason was that TpT said that the store was making more money as a result of this new algorithm.
And sure enough, not that long after Teachers Pay Teachers announced that they were discontinuing the new algorithm, they reversed that and said in a Town Hall that they were phasing it back in.
And I believe they will continue to do so for the reason I mentioned above; it results in buyers spending more money on the platform.
The new search algorithm does impact experienced buyers and buyers who have high performing products more than other sellers. And while, overall, it is supposed to help buyers and sellers, I believe a lot of us are feeling the pain of this new algorithm again being rolled back into our lives.
How will you make sure that the new TpT Personalized Search Algorithm doesn’t negatively impact your store?
What Should You Do?
We’ve identified three potential causes of your sluggish sales numbers: (1) Crowded Market (2) ChatGPT and other AI programs (3) The New Search Algorithm
And I’ve asked three questions throughout this post, all of which are essentially the same thing. ‘How will you protect yourself amongst these new realities?’
How can you make sure that teachers come to you instead of other sellers? How can you stand out amongst so many resources? How can ensure that customers keep purchasing your products, when they might be able to create something on ChatGPT? And how will you insulate yourself from the New TpT Algorithm, when your traditional rankings might fall dramatically?
Some Solutions
I believe these are all legitimate questions. The landscape is changing. And if you aren’t finding answers to the questions I posed above, you might be in for some tough times as a seller on the platform.
You should focus on two things: optimizing your products so that they stand out and convert well. And controlling your traffic.
Optimize Your Products for Traffic
If you want more people to click on your products over other sellers, you need to focus on creating eye-catching, amazing covers, and SEO rich product titles.
When teachers are searching for teaching resources, they usually type something into a search algorithm. If you want your products to show up in the search algorithm, your product title is a great place to optimize. If you have a keyword rich heading, your TpT resource is likely to rank high on that search, which will help you get more people to your product page.
If you want help optimizing your product titles, read this article. (not available until May 31, 2024)
Another way to increase views on your products is by having a great product cover.
When a customer is on the platform, or on a search engine, looking at many different resources, the main thing they are looking at is the cover images.
If you have an amazing cover image, yours will stand out and it will be more likely to be clicked on.
If you want help making great cover images, read this article.
If you want my premade Cover Image template, so that you make beautiful cover images every time in just a matter of minutes, click here to check them out.
Optimizing your Resources for Conversions
Because you might be getting less traffic, for the reasons I mentioned above, you’ve got to make the most of every opportunity. If your products have good preview images, a great preview file, and a strong product description, you will dramatically increase your conversion rates.
By the way, having a high conversion rate will help you rank well on the TpT Search Algorithm.
If you want help with these, click on the links below.
- How to Make Preview Image Thumbnails that Drive Sales
- What to Put in your Preview File to Increase Conversions
- Creating Great Product Descriptions
A Free Download to Help with Optimizing your Posts and TpT Store
Control your Traffic
In this post we talked about protecting our store the overcrowded market that is TeachersPayTeachers – which is growing in the number of resources it has, making it harder for our products to get discovered. We also talked about protecting ourselves from AI and the new TpT Search Algorithm (or any adjustments to any algorithms in the future that would impact our business).
You can build a beautiful hedge of protection around your store’s income by controlling the traffic to your store.
Imagine hitting a button on your computer, and immediately driving traffic to your store and products. And not just any kind of traffic, the right traffic. Your ideal customers and people who already like your brand or have already purchased your products and know how great they are.
That’s the power of digital marketing. If you have an email list, a blog, a social media page, a Pinterest board, you will do well. The algorithm will impact you much less because you own a list of customers and have a way to reach out and communicate with them, regardless of the circumstances.
Not all digital platforms are created equal. I emphasize the value of an email list, first. It will be very profitable for you. Not only does it have a higher return on investment than any other form of marketing, it is also the most protected – meaning you don’t have to worry about a change in an algorithm or a Search Engine update. Your email list is still yours and you can still contact them. I have tons of resources to help you with your email list, and other forms of digital marketing.
If you haven’t started your email marketing journey yet, I recommend my Email Starter Kit, which is free.
If you already have an email list, the email starter kit does have some good resources. Or you can also check out my 5 Post Challenge. A video-based course that will show you five different types of emails (or blogs) you can write to increase your revenue and establish your voice. It is also free.
A Personal Note
If you’re still reading this, I’m impressed (it’s a long one).
But I said at the beginning that I would tell you why my sales are down. Besides the reasons mentioned above, which could be part of the issue, my main issue is that I haven’t been giving my TpT store the energy it deserves to continue to grow. I haven’t been emailing my list, posting on social, or blogging very much lately. I haven’t even been creating new products – though I am in the process fo updating old ones and optimizing their page and my storefront.
The reason is that I have started focussing more on this business, the one that serves Teacher Sellers. It has been much less profitable, but at the moment it has been more fulfilling. I started a membership where we meet weekly, have trainings, and I have a full suite of classes on email marketing, blogging, and TpT optimization (and more). If you want to learn more about it, click here.
