For your TpT Store
You finally did it! You did one of the best things that you can do to increase sales on your TpT store. You started a blog!
And now you stare at a blank computer screen wondering what to write.
First, I’m glad you’re here. A blog is going to help you dramatically increase your income.
Second, don’t worry. We all started, struggling on knowing what to write. But that will pass with time. But for now, let’s write our first blog post!
Groundwork
Before we get started, I want you to create a folder on your computer (or wherever you will do most of your work, so Google Drive, OneNote, iPhone Notes, whatever) and call it ‘blog posts.’ Save your work in here. This is a free tip about staying organized.
The next thing you need to do is make sure that you have a free product in your TpT store. This is what we’re going to write about. For help coming up with your free product, read this article.
If you don’t have a free product, that means that you haven’t yet started your TpT journey. I have tons of great resources to help you. But for now, let’s write a blog. You can still participate, but you have to think through what TpT product you are going to create.
Do I Need a TpT Store to Start Blogging?
I’m talking to teachers here – which is who this webpage is dedicated for. If you’re not a teacher, but you are starting a blog, the question you are asking is, “Do I have to have something to sell to start blogging?”
To answer that question, ask yourself what you’re hoping to get out of blogging. Of course, you want to help people and learn new skills. Perhaps even increase your profile. But do you want to make money? If the answer is yes, then you have to have something to sell.
If you don’t yet have a TpT store or something to sell, you can still begin your blogging journey, but you need to have proper expectations. It’s easier to make money online when you have something to offer your readers in exchange for money.
That said, when I started blogging, I did not have a TpT store, or a product to sell. I did not make much money my first year. But I did build a good audience, so that when I finally had something to sell, they were ready to buy. And when I finally opened my TpT store, I hit the ground running, with a lot of traffic, which helped.
Ignore the Experts
Now there are lots of tips that you are going to eventually learn about when it comes to blogging. Things like: blog length, key words, images and alt texts, headings, and everything else.
Since this is your first blog, I want you to not worry about any of it. You’ll also learn things about what types of blogs to write and how often to publish, opt-ins, lead magnets, landing pages, and other best practices. For now, ignore all of it. We’re going to focus on writing one blog post.
Problem Solving
I want you look at that free TpT product we mentioned above. If you have more than one, great, but we’re going to focus on the best one – which should be your featured one. Again, if you’re not a TpT’er, think about the product or service you’ll be promoting on your website.
Ask yourself the following questions about your product:
- What problem does this product solve?
- Why would someone want this product?
- How would it help that teacher in the classroom?
Get Writing!
Now write a short paper addressing the issue that this product solves. PLEASE NOTE, I did not say “write about your product,” I said, “write about the issue” – the issue that this product helps solve.
Let me give you an example.
My free product is a worksheet to help students keep their work organized and make grading easier for teachers.
So I could write a blog post called, “teaching students how to keep their work organized.” Or more specifically, ‘their math work organized’ (the more specific the type of teacher you address, the better.) Another good title would be “How to stop spending so much time grading papers.” What will you write about in your blog post? Remember you want to illustrate a problem and provide solutions (one of which, is your free product).
How to Write
When it comes to writing your blog post, follow this three-step process.
- Problem
- Amplify
- Solution.
Step 1: Paint a picture of the problem: I spent two hours grading a students’ paper. I couldn’t find number three, question 4’s work ran over question 5, and question 8 had three different answers at the bottom, none of which were circled so I didn’t know which one to pick. It shouldn’t take this long to grade all these papers!
Step 2: Amplify the problem: I was missing time with my family because I was spending so much time grading papers. Or, ‘it took so long to grade them, that I gave them back several days after it was due, which didn’t help the students…’
Step 3: Present the Solution: so I decided to dedicate time teaching my students how to keep their work organized and make it easy for me to find their answers. I created this student worksheet to help them.
- “Now I’m not so frustrated, students are learning to organize their work, and I spend a lot less time grading papers. So I have more time to be with my family and my students are getting their work back more quickly so that they can learn from their mistakes.”
You’re only job write now is to write the article. Write it as long or as short as you want.
Edit Your Blog Post
People tend not to read long articles on the internet. They skim them. To help them read more of your content, you’re going to do a few things to make your post more aesthetically appealing.
Trim Up Those Paragraphs
You should not have long paragraphs in your blog. In fact, no paragraph should be longer than four sentences. I know that in our language arts classes we teach students that a paragraph is between four and six sentences, but on the internet, they are between one and three; four tops! For an example, check out th blog post that you’re currently reading! How long are most of the paragraphs?
How to Use Headings to Get More Customers
Headings are the most commonly read pieces of an internet article or blog. So use them to break up your article.
Because headings cause the reader to pause and read, strategically use them to cause the reader to stop skimming and start reading
To do this, spark curiosity with your heading.
For example, if I were writing this article on making your blog pretty, this section could be titled “Use Headings.” That would be an appropriate summary. But instead, I could write “A great way to get the reader to stop skimming!” or “The most commonly read part of your blog.”
Keep it Casual
The third strategy to implement, that will help people read more of your content, is to get rid of formal writing.
Instead, make your blog post conversational. It should read like a script, not a dissertation.
An easy way to accomplish this is to use contractions! Again, I know that when we teach our students to write, we tell them not to use contractions, but blogging and marketing is different; and in this world, contractions are good. Also try not to use long sentences or formal prose. Keep it simple, and keep it moving.
Words that Convert
Our last tip, is to embed words and phrases into your post that people will search for on Google. Use different variations of the word or the phrase and put them into your article – preferably towards the top.
If I were typing this article and putting it on the internet, I would title it, “How to Write a Blog Post that People will Read.”
People who are searching for this are bloggers who are trying to increase their traffic, earn more money online, or grow their audience. So in my post I would try to include those words and phrases.
Things like “Writing a Blog that Gets More Traffic” or “Converts More Sales” Or How to Start Blogging,” “Beginning to Blog,” or something like that.
Who’s Reading Your Blog
Stop and think through the type of reader who would benefit from your article as well as from the TpT product that you are promoting in your blog post. What words are they searching for on Google? Think of different variations of that word, or specific phrases that they would type into Google, and try to get those into your post.
Don’t Forget this VERY Important Step
Did you stop and read this paragraph because of the title? (I’m just saying….)
Anyhow, one last thing before we wrap up our article. The whole reason we wrote this blog post was to get people to your TpT store. Specifically to your free product. So make sure you mention your product at least twice in your blog post. You should mention it in the body of your article, and talk about it briefly – weave it into your post naturally. Then, at the end, make a sales pitch for it. Something like, “if you want to use this resource, you can download it for free in my TpT store. Please make sure to like and follow me if you do.” Or something to that affect. Make a sales pitch and ask for them to like and follow your page.
Make it Pretty
Before posting, we need to add some images.
Images are very important for your blog. Besides making your article look aesthetically pleasing, and often providing visual aids, they are what’s going to get shared on social media. So you want them to be good.
You must have at least 3 images in your blog post.
Image 1: Your TpT Product’s Cover image. Make sure you have that ready to go. If not, you can always just head back over to your TpT store and save it again.
The other two images, which we will be creating, are your blog banner – the main image of the blog – and a Pinterest image. Pinterest is actually one of the best social media platforms for TpT’ers, so if you haven’t already created a Pinterest business account, you need to do that. You can head over to my blog and learn more about why Pinterest is a great place for TpT’ers.
To create both of these images, you’re going to need to head over to Canva.com and start an account. Now if you have already taken my class on how to become a TpT’er, then you already have an account. If not, go to Canva.com and start a free account.
Do NOT pay for an account, and don’t take the 30-day free trial either (not yet! You will want to later, but you won’t use it enough right now to make the most of it).
Make your blog banner and a Pinterest Pin (at least one). I show you how to do both of these in my free course on how to start a blog for your TpT store.
Download your images and save them to the file we made. Make sure to title each image as something relevant to the post – not ‘free tpt blog post title’ – name it the name of the blog post or something else that people will search for, because image titles show up in image searches, which will help you get more traffic to your blog and thus to your TpT store.
Let’s Publish this Baby!
Go to WordPress and add a new post. Copy and paste all of your font into your post.
Convert your headers
Add your images, be sure to give them alt text and resize them
Space them out evenly to make it look appealing.
Add action steps. Under your Pinterest image, tell people ‘if you found this article helpful, share it with your friends’ or simply ‘Pin me!”
Hyperlink your cover image to your TpT product as well as some of your text.
Publish your blog!
Was that a lot of info? Too much too soon? How about instead of reading it all, watch it on a video? It’s free! Join my free online, video-based course “How to Start a Blog for Your TpT Store.”
