Kristen
Hey y’all. Today is a special episode where I get to talk to Jessica Davault. Jessica is a Speech-Language Pathologist in Texas and the author of the social skills book, Devon Makes a Friend. She is the owner of The Gift of Gab store on TpT. Jessica loves creating Teaching Guides to help guide educators through the process of strategically teaching complex topics (such as social communication) so that they can focus on TEACHING with confidence.
Kristen
Today, Jessica and I are talking about motherhood, balancing it all in your business and how she is using SEO to grow her business during nap time. All right, let’s get to the show.
Kristen
Hey, TPT sellers ready to see growth in your business. You’re in the right place. Welcome to the savvy teacher seller. I’m Kristen Doyle. And I’m here to give you no fluff tools and strategies that will really make an impact on your sale. Let’s get started y’all.
Kristen
Welcome Jessica. I’m so excited to be talking to you today. Thank you for taking some time to be here. Can you tell us just a little bit about kind of how you started your TPT business?
Jessica
Yeah, so I started my TPT business back in 2017. I had a teacher friend at the campus that I was working, she was the first grade teacher. And she had left to go on maternity leave, she left the classroom and she started TPT after she had her first baby. And so she started it and she was like Jessica, you’ve got to do this.
Jessica
This is amazing. This is a great way to earn extra money because she knew that I was wanting to leave the classroom at that time. And so we had met at Starbucks, and she was trying to convince me to start a store. And I was like, oh, sure I can do this. So I went and I was pregnant at the time. I don’t think I said that.
Jessica
I was pregnant with my son at the time. And I went and I bought like a $200 computer. And I sat down in my like bed and was like okay, I’m gonna start TPT I can do this. I can figure it out. And I had absolutely no clue what I was doing. I mean, none. I literally remember texting my friend and was like, Okay, I just opened PowerPoint.
Jessica
And the screen is huge. Like, you know, the default one is really like that widescreen. It’s like how do I turn it into the size of a paper like this isn’t right? So I started literally from scratch with like, nothing, I had no clue what I was doing. So anyways, started there, and then just kind of kept learning a little bit at a time until I’ve gotten to where I am now.
Kristen
So funny that you both kind of started right around the time you were having babies because I did top. I started my store when my son was I don’t know, two or three months old. It was over that summer kind of right on the end of my maternity leave. And I don’t know why I thought I should start a business and have a baby and go back to work all at the same time.
Jessica
But it worked out. I didn’t realize that it was a business at the time. Like, it just was like, oh, I’ll just mess around on my computer, and I’ll make money for it, which I guess shows how my mindset has changed over that.
Kristen
Yeah. And I think that’s where so many of us started was this is just a little hobby thing. I’m just gonna throw some stuff up on TPT and see what happens. And then you all of a sudden realize somewhere down the road, like, Oh, crap, I’m running a business right now. And now I have to treat it like a business and I have to think about taxes and marketing.
Jessica
All strategy and yes, definitely. Anyways, yeah, that’s, that’s when I started. I remember working during his nap time back in the glorious days when he would nap for like three hours at a time. And like, just sit and pound out like my first few resources.
Kristen
And that was what I did for a long time. It was my naptime hustle. I guess technically, it still is. But now it’s my quiet time hustle. Instead of naptime because my babies don’t nap anymore.
Kristen
Oh, yeah. No, we are all the way out of naps at my house too. I’m not even trying anymore.
Jessica
Yeah, it’s just for like an hour.
Kristen
So speaking of things that you’re doing for work, what do you find.. I know you’re squeezing work in when you can. And so how has that kind of affected what you’re able to do for your business and what you’re focusing on?
Jessica
Hmm, okay. That’s a good question. So I have like this hybrid life. It’s what I call it. I do work part time, I’m a speech pathologist. So, I do work part time I see a few kids, I’m not at in the public schools anymore, I work at a private school. So I do see some kids there. And then I “stay at home”, which I have an air quotes, part time, because I do the school, then I do part time, and then I do TPT kind of in the mix.
Jessica
And so my, like strategy for doing stuff is, like my creation strategy will mostly be if I see my own students needing something, and I like to make for my own students that I’m seeing, and finding ways to like work for them. So if I can make it myself, I like to make it myself. And usually, you know, I just feel like, it’s a little bit better because I have that personal connection and do that. So if I get new ideas, that’s usually where it comes from, is from working with them.
Jessica
If so, I worked in get the ideas there. And then, like I said, my quiet time, naptime hustle is when I really either will work on the new product creation, or I’ll work on, you know, either updating stuff or marketing stuff, or whatever. And like, for the longest time, I like from 1 to 330 was my TPT time, and I would just would crank out as much as I could from 1 to 330 every day.
Jessica
And that has changed a little this year, my son went to kindergarten. So still working on how the new schedules gonna look. But yeah, it was kind of my time for that.
Kristen
I know. As moms who are working, basically full time jobs, yours is kind of split between different things. But we’re really still working full time. That’s how mine is too, because I’m split between my web design and my SEO coaching and my TPT store. So I’m really still working full time, even though I’m at home. And it is it’s just a constant adjustment. We’re always shifting and changing, and adjusting what we’re working on and how it’s all going to fit into our life.
Jessica
Yes, I feel like I always have like 50 plates spinning in the air at one time. And I’m trying to keep them all up and not let everything crashed to the ground.
Kristen
Well, and I think for me, that is one of the reasons I like SEO so much. And I know that we are going to talk a little about what you’ve been doing with SEO in your store today.
Kristen
But that’s one of the things I like about it is that it’s that thing I can do in a little bit of time, and I don’t have to keep cranking out content, it’s something that lasts longer something that I can put in a little time now and see results for months or years to come from that work that I did. What about you? What kind of led you into learning about SEO for your business?
Jessica
Okay, first of all, just exactly I want to touch on like, what you said was I have a very strong policy of the things in my store, that things that I’m gonna learn and work on as far as marketing have to have some sort of long term value. Like I don’t even have an Instagram, because I tried it. And I got so frustrated that I would spend all of this time trying to make this content and it would be gone in two seconds. And nobody would interact with it, and nobody would do anything.
Jessica
And so I would be on my phone constantly telling my kids stop, stop, stop, Mommy needs to post this, Mommy needs to post this. And then nothing would happen. And so I went to blogging, I do YouTube, I learned about the SEO for all of those reasons of I want everything I focus on to have a long term effect where it’s going to keep working, when I’m not working. And I don’t have to be sitting with it all the time.
Kristen
Yeah, and you don’t have to keep cranking out content, because on your blog and your YouTube. Those are both very SEO driven platforms where you can put your stuff out and get it up in search results. And then it just keeps rolling along when you’re not necessarily publishing new content, or not nearly as often at least and publishing new content. What were you trying that wasn’t working before you started working SEO, I know you said you’ve had an Instagram account?
Jessica
I did Instagram for a little bit. It didn’t work. I really at the very beginning of my journey was just kind of like shooting stuff all over the place and had no clue I had no strategy, what I was doing at all. So the Instagram is gone. Let’s see, I do Pinterest. Like I said I do YouTube. I’ve written a book. So I have some stuff on Amazon. And I do the blog, and TPT.
Kristen
I think spread all over just like I am, you do things everywhere.
Jessica
I do and I always have like a million big ideas. And I just want to like run with the idea as fast as I can until it’s out of my head or it drives me absolutely crazy.
Kristen
Yes. I completely relate. So when it comes to SEO, I know you are one of my SEO for teacher authors student. Can you talk a little bit about what you learned and how that has benefited you?
Jessica
Yeah. So like I said, I’ve said a few times, I had no clue what I was doing when I started. And I didn’t even know what SEO was. I didn’t even know how to turn a paper to paper size and PowerPoint. So it was again, part of my like, journey, the same friend that I mentioned, has really been like really helpful. As we’ve gone through this journey together, she’s still TPT, too.
Jessica
And I remember when I got my blog, and I was telling her about it, and I was so excited that I had got it set up. And she was telling me like, oh, I can’t wait, you know, to get Yoast was what she wanted the Yoast plug in. She’s like, because I want to learn more about SEO and make sure I’m optimizing my blog posts. And we were texting. And I literally, like switched over to my browser in my phone. It was like, What is SEO? Because I had absolutely no clue what it was.
Kristen
Yeah. And so what she’s talking about.
Jessica
Yeah, I was like, this is another language. And she’s been like that throughout our whole relationship. She’s always kind of like a few steps above me, which has been really helpful.
Kristen
So good to have that friend who’s like a step ahead of you that you can learn from and bounce ideas off of.
Jessica
Yes. And she’s such a sweet like, encouraging person to like, she’s great.
Jessica
So anyways, I like googling SEO. Finally, see, okay, this is what SEO is. And kind of just keep it in the back of my head, because I was so overwhelmed with all of it. Like, it just seemed like so much for somebody who doesn’t know anything. And I then remember, I don’t remember, like the timeline for all of this. But that was when I first heard about SEO. And then I remember the 2020 Virtual TPT Conference. And I believe you did a presentation.
Kristen
Yes I did.
Jessica
Yes and I watched it. And that’s how I got connected with you.
Kristen
I think it was what, what TPT sellers need to know about SEO or something like that.
Jessica
Yeah, maybe. And that may be why I was watching it, because. So that’s how I found you. And that’s how I got connected with you. And I signed up for your email list. And then I remember, I mean, I guess it was a few months after the conference. I remember like sitting in the backyard, and I was pushing my kids on the swing. And I like got the email that said that you were opening an SEO course.
Jessica
And I like sat there and was like, I really want to do this. Like I really want to do this. But I don’t know if I can justify it. Because I’m so cheap and stingy, that I didn’t wanted to pay for it. And I don’t even think I did it the first. The first round, you opened it. And I remember regretting it and kicking myself the entire time. And then when I got the email the second time, I was like I’m doing it like I need to do this.
Kristen
I don’t know how many times I have been that person. The cart closes on something. And as soon as it does, i’m like I really should have done that and i’m waiting for the next time it opens.
Jessica
But that’s kind of like my strategy. Like, just like shopping in general is like, Okay, if I put it away, and I keep thinking about it, that means I really want it. And then I’ll go back and get it and I’ll be happy. If I forget about it and I don’t care, then it’s not something I need.
Kristen
Yeah, that’s so true.
Jessica
So I kept thinking about it. And so then the second time the course opened, I think I like got it within like seconds of you opening it. And I watch through the course. And I felt like I kind of like I said, I’ve learned bits and pieces along the way. So it kind of took things I was already doing. And gave me more of like the reason why behind them. And like an understanding and like a foundation. I still don’t think I’m an expert by any means. But I have a functional knowledge of what I need to be doing and a basic understanding of why. And I have seen some results from it that have been, you know, really helpful.
Kristen
Yeah, let’s talk about some of those results a little. What have you seen?
Jessica
So the very first SEO thing that I did, and I actually have some numbers here because I wanted to share them was when I started optimizing titles on TPT. And this was like the biggest change in my business of when I went from making like, not as much to like really seeing growth almost overnight, like kind of like you talked about it. Like was an instantaneous, This is awesomekind of a moment.
Jessica
March of 2019 was when I started, like learning how to optimize stuff. February of 2019, before I knew anything, and was just totally winging it, I made $143 from my store. Okay, March of 2019, when I started optimizing, I jumped that up to $230. And then, now you are lifting April of 2019, it went up to $358.
Jessica
Each month, it started slowly growing until one year from when I started in March of 2020. I was at $2,460, for the earning.
Kristen
That’s awesome. Like, what growth in a year.
Jessica
I know, that was like the coolest thing. And so that was, you know, part of it. Learning how to optimize like the snippet and get better at my snippets. And then learning how from your course I learned how to optimize like my blog better. And so my blog traffic is always like my second coming in for earning wise from TPT as well.
Jessica
So it’s just like all this, you know, we talked about a big money place in the air. It’s like this complex machine where everything is just working together to kind of grow and improve.
Kristen
And you almost have to have multiple plates in the air. And think it’s about how much attention each of those plates is taking. Right? Are you constantly juggling them all? Or can you set this one spinning? And let it go and set the next one spinning and let it go? And that’s a whole different experience, right? From juggling. All the time.
Jessica
Yes, absolutely.
Kristen
That’s amazing. Love hearing results story. So thank you for sharing.
Jessica
No problem. I like hearing the numbers.
Kristen
Yeah, the numbers are so fun. I love looking back at mine and seeing like, Oh, this is when I change that and look at my sales increase because of it.
Jessica
I don’t have a lot of places like that, where I’m like, this is what I did that changed it. But that was one of the things that I was like this is what changed. And this is where the growth really started to happen.
Kristen
Yeah, that’s awesome. So you really started implementing some SEO strategies before you even took the course and then you took the course. And I’m curious to hear kind of how are things going since you took the course and started implementing even more things and learning more about SEO?
Jessica
Yeah, so I have had consistent, well, I’m gonna put a caveat in because we’re recording this in 2022, and the teacher shortage and inflation and all this
Kristen
Right?
Jessica
Up until like, 2022, I guess, except for August 2022. I have had consistent growth. Every month I’ve beat my goal. My goal is always to beat every month from the year before. So yeah, if I’m talking August 2022, I want it to beat August 2021. And so I have hit that goal every year until now.
Kristen
Yeah and I think that’s such a smart way to set your goals because everything on TPT is so seasonal. So comparing to the same month, the year before, that’s what I always do in my goal setting as well. I look at what did I make last year? How much do I want? What’s my increased goal for this year?
Jessica
So anyways, I would say from the course, that has definitely played a part in my blog, I feel like I have a really good conversion rate from my blog. And that so I’m getting people in and I am I understanding the logistics of how that works. And all of those little boxes that I need to be checking to optimize it and again, try to get the biggest bang for my buck.
Jessica
The blog has grown significantly and that is mostly what I attribute the growth to from your course, if I had not known some of these other SEO things before the course that definitely would have helped with the TPT store as well. And again, that foundational understanding and the reason why is really was my biggest takeaway instead of just like doing what somebody told me to do. Now I understand and I guess I have some more like empowerment, I feel more empowered to kind of do things for myself.
Kristen
Yeah, I was gonna say when you understand the foundation, you understand the why behind the things that we do, that gives you the confidence to bend the rules sometimes or break the rules even or push the envelope and try something that you think might go too far and know that you’re either gonna push, and it’s gonna go too far, and you can always walk it back and change whatever you were doing, or you’re gonna push a little harder, and it’s going to work better than you could have ever imagined.
Kristen
So I think understanding that foundation really does give you that sort of confidence to be able to try those different things and branch out from just, you know, plugging away at your blog posts and checking to make sure your SEO plugin gives you the green and moving on. But you can actually kind of push things a little bit and try to help things move up even higher in the search.
Jessica
And I’ll also say, other areas that I’ve worked on SEO, you don’t always have the little green light like you have on your blog. So like, you know, when I’m writing my descriptions on TPT, and I’m doing my titles, there’s not a little green light there, to make sure I’m getting it.
Jessica
With Your Youtube stuff?
Jessica
And exactly what the YouTube stuff it. There’s no little green light there. So I’m taking all of those strategies, trying to put it in there. When I was doing on Amazon for the book, and I was trying to like write the description and all of that stuff. There was no little green light there.
Jessica
Like I was having to take things that I’ve learned in other places. And it was a little nerve wracking being like, I don’t even know if I’m doing this, right. But I knew a strategy. And I felt confident, you know, being like, okay, here is the snippet, here’s the keywords I’m shooting for, I can at least do this and know that I’ve made a solid effort at using some good SEO.
Kristen
Yeah. And the reality is, and I know, we’ve talked about this in the course on some of our calls and stuff, too. But the reality is your SEO plugin, whether you’re using Yoast or rankmath, or something else, whatever green light they give you, it is really based on them, scanning your text.
Kristen
And so a lot of times that requires you to write things in a way that really doesn’t feel natural, just to make them recognize that you use the right keywords and things, then it makes your post not read well.
Kristen
And there are lots of other things you can be doing for SEO, some of those rules that I break on a regular basis are changing the way I use the keywords so that it reads naturally, instead of just following along with what my plugin is telling me I need to do. There are a lot of times my plugin doesn’t like how I’ve use keywords, but I know because I understand SEO, that this is really okay.
Kristen
Maybe they gave me a 75 or whatever on my SEO plugin. But I know that I’ve got the keywords in there more, it’s just being used in a different way that I know, Google understands. But the plugin can’t because they’re just limited in that way.
Jessica
Right. And that’s similar. Like, you know, being a speech pathologist, I have a lot of technical words or ways that we say things in the plugin, you know, is like, well, these are, you know, these don’t match these aren’t synonyms are equal or whatever. And I’m I know, but they are like, I know that they are and this will be okay.
Kristen
Yes. And ultimately, Google knows a lot more than the SEO plugins do. So Google is probably picking up on them, even though your SEO plugin might not be.
Jessica
Yeah, well, and then anybody who’s, you know, reading it, would read it and know that it is.
Kristen
So you were saying that your blog is consistently your second highest traffic source? I’m assuming after TPT search, because that’s everyone’s highest? One question people are always asking is how to get people from your blog to your products. So can you share a couple of strategies that have worked well for you?
Jessica
So my, like niche or my like, the way my favorite products that I’ve made, I call them teaching guides, and I specifically, like I said, I have made resources for my own students. And not just my own students, especially in the very beginning, picking areas that I did not feel confident in as a speech pathologist.
Jessica
And I felt insecure teaching. And I wanted somebody to walk me through all of the steps of okay, here is how we start with, say, nonverbal communication.
Jessica
Here’s where we’re going to start. Here’s how we’re going to teach it in a very structured, very strategic way. And so that is like the whole resource. I go back and use them all the time. And I love going back and telling parents like have a plan. I feel really confident and explaining here’s what we’re going to do and how we’re going to do it.
Kristen
Well, and with this teacher shortage we have right now, every district everywhere is hiring so much new staff. We’re going to have more brand new people in teaching positions, counseling positions, speech pathologists, we’re going to have so anymore new people who don’t know everything yet, you know, they feel like they get thrown in and they need that support desperately.
Kristen
That’s one of the things I have been preaching this summer is, whatever you can do to support brand new teachers and your resources, like, now is the time to do that. And I feel like that whole product line, that’s exactly what you’re doing.
Jessica
Thank you. I tried because it was, you know, the idea is, when I was at a newer speech path, what did I wish somebody had taught me, you know, because these social skills are so tricky to teach, because they’re so vague, and most of us have just naturally picked up on them. So breaking them down into a step by step and strategic, you know, pattern is kind of, it’s really pretty tricky for us, who just kind of get it.
Kristen
So anyways, what I have done on the blog is, I go back, and I basically reteach how to do that. So I take the steps kind of out of the resource, and I teach them, okay, here’s how to teach nonverbal communication. And then I rewrite kind of the strategy in the blog.
Kristen
So it kind of gives them the opportunity to either DIY it using my methods, and they’ve kind of seen my strategy, and they know what they’re gonna get in the resource, or they want to save some of that time and that really hard planning, they can go over and just grab the resource from my store. So that’s mostly what my blog posts kind of are and that’s mostly what my YouTube videos are too.
Kristen
Yeah. So I’m going to ask you a question. And it might sound like I’m pushing back and playing devil’s advocate, but I really just want you to tell everybody else because I know this is a great strategy. One thing that I hear from people a lot is this fear that if they tell all about what’s in the product, if they put the whole teaching strategy in a blog post, then people won’t buy the product.
Kristen
So what would you say to that? What have you seen as results? Or what do you find with your audience after they read that blog post? Do they take off and do it on their own? Or are they headed over to your store to buy the product?
Jessica
No, they do not. I mean, I’m sure some of them do it on their own. But what they have realized, as they have read my blog post is that I have saved them a lot of time, by just first of all, creating the worksheets. So even within the blog post, they’re not getting the worksheets, and the companion activities that go along with it. So that alone is saving them a bunch of time to not have to actually create the hard copies of things.
Jessica
The strategy itself also takes a long time to kind of think through and implement. And I say all the time, I actually became a better speech pathologist when I stopped working full time, because I had a minute to think through how to teach these things.
Jessica
You know, I could sit for three hours at a time during naptime and process how to teach nonverbal communication or conversation skills or friendship making skills. And in the classroom, when I was working full time, it was just so stressful always see kids, I never had time to do that.
Jessica
So anyways, I think they realize that I’m saving them a lot of time, a lot of energy, a lot of brainpower when they can just click over to the store and for $5 or $6, get all of this and just be ready to go. And they can walk home at the end of the day instead of you know, yeah.
Jessica
And I would also say that I have won them over with my knowledge and my expertise, which I say kind of loosely, but they can see that I know what I’m talking about when they’ve read the blog post. So they know with confidence when they head over to the resource that what’s in this resource is going to match a theory or a thought pattern that they’re already believing in.
Kristen
Yeah, absolutely. It sets you up as that expert, it makes you the person that they trust. And then like you said, I have found in my own store, I’ve done some kind of similar blog posts. And people when they like your method, when they realized that this is a good strategy.
Kristen
The people who are my ideal customers, and I’m sure yours too, they don’t want to go create it themselves. I’m sure there are people who read it and go create things themselves, because that’s their style, and that’s fine.
Kristen
And you’re there providing a great service for them too. But those people that are our ideal customers are the ones who would just rather fork over the $5 and buy the already done product ready to go and not have to worry about creating anything. So you’re really providing them a great service and then filling that need right where they need it.
Kristen
Well, thank you so, so much for chatting with me today, this is fun. I love learning a little bit more about your business and talking about how you’re using SEO to really drive that blog traffic and get people into your store. That’s always such a fun thing for me to chat with people about.
Kristen
I always like to leave my listeners with an action step. So what would you suggest as kind of a first step for any TPT sellers who are maybe new to thinking about their SEO, or they’re trying to figure out how to leverage SEO in their TPT business.
Jessica
My tip would be learning how to make an engaging and interesting snippet that kind of has like a hook that also is incorporating your keyword. For example, like I can’t remember when I first started, I would have probably, you know, that first line in the resource, or the product description would have been something like this product has 21 pages to teach nonverbal communication. And even now, I like cringe because I hate that like this product. Like I’d never call them products anymore. Like this is a resource, like this is something to help you.
Jessica
But anyways, now, for that nonverbal communication resource, it would be something like nonverbal communication can be really tricky to teach. Most of us have learned this social skill effortlessly, which makes breaking it down into easy to understand lessons difficult.
Jessica
So just kind of learning how to like, Okay, I’ve touched on a pain point a little bit. And I’ve also inserted that key word of, nonverbal communication, and social skills, and I’ve kind of all slid it and weaved it together to make something that somebody reads it and they’re intrigued by and want to click on instead of just putting it out there.
Jessica
So that would be my tip is learning how to rewrite those snippets with your keywords. But also in a way that is interesting to your buyer.
Kristen
Yeah, I love that tip. Absolutely. And it’s a tricky little thing to work through to get the keywords in. But also get that kind of emotional connection with whatever their pain point is your solving. And tell a little bit about your resource at the same time, it can feel a little tricky, but it is really one of those skills that the more you practice it, the easier it gets. And the more naturally those phrases and those paragraphs kind of just flow.
Jessica
Yes, definitely. It’s almost like a puzzle, and you’re putting all the pieces together. And then you get it and you’re like, Ooh, this is satisfying. Like, this is good.
Kristen
Yeah. Well, before we go, please tell everybody where they can find you if they want to connect with you a little bit.
Jessica
Yeah, I am The Gift of Gab store on TPT as my store. And it is The Gift of Gab, there’s some other ones that are very. And then for my blog, it is the-gift-of-gab.com. Because I did not realize, again, when I started that I needed to have something a little bit more unique because there’s lots of the gifts of gab out there. So anyways, you got to have the dashes.
Jessica
And then on YouTube, it’s the Gift of Gab Speech Therapy, you can search for that and find it. And then on Amazon, I have a book called Devon Makes a Friend and you can just search for that. It’s a social skills making friends teaching book.
Kristen
Thank you so much for being here and chatting today. It was so good talking with you.
Jessica
Thank you so much for having me. I was so excited. I have always had a dream to be on a podcast. So this has crossed something off my bucket list today. Thank you for giving me the opportunity.
Kristen
Thank you so much for listening. If you loved this episode, take a screenshot and share it on Instagram and tag us. You can also get all of Jessica’s information and connect with her right in the show notes at kristendoyle.co/episode16. Talk to you soon.
Kristen
I hope you enjoyed today’s episode. If you did, please share it with another teacher seller who would also find it helpful. For more resources on Growing Your TPT business. Head to kristendoyle.co/TPT. Talk to you soon.
