Kristen 0:00
Hey y’all and welcome back. Let’s address the elephant in the room, you might have noticed the podcast has a new name, you are listening to The Savvy Seller. I’ll get into what that means and why I decided to make this change in just a bit.
Kristen 0:18
But first, I am excited to share with you today my biggest takeaway from this year’s TPT Forward conference. Then I’ll get into an update on what’s going on with the podcast and how I’m supporting you as sellers, and some very practical steps for expanding your business no matter where you sell your digital products. We’ll get into all of that right after the shiny new show intro check it out.
Kristen 0:48
Are you a digital product or course creator selling on platforms like Teachers Pay Teachers, Etsy or your own website? Ready to grow your business, but not into the kind of constant hustle that leads straight to burnout? Then you’re in the right place. Welcome to The Savvy Seller. I’m Kristin Doyle, and I’m here to give you no fluff tools and strategies that move the needle for your business without burning you out in the process. Things like SEO, know stress marketing, email list building automations, and so much more. Let’s get started y’all.
Kristen 1:28
Today, I want to start off by sharing a little bit about my experience at this year’s TPT conference in San Diego. This was my 10th conference as an attendee, and I had the honor of presenting for the sixth year. Heading into the TPD conference, I will be honest, I was feeling pretty burnt out.
Kristen 1:47
It is no secret that this last year, year and a half, really maybe two years have been really tough on all of us in the TBT community. With lots of transitions, algorithm changes and shifts in buyer behavior that have really tested our resilience. And I was definitely feeling the heaviness of all of that headed to TPT Forward this year.
Kristen 2:13
I know a lot of veteran sellers skip these conferences, because you think there’s nothing new to learn, and it won’t be worth it. And I can totally understand that feeling. But I would challenge you. First of all, if you don’t learn anything, you might not be paying close enough attention to every session. Because I picked up a new idea or two in every single session that I attended this year, and I’ve been selling on TPT for a dozen years now.
Kristen 2:44
Sometimes it’s a new trick, or a shortcut to save me some time. Maybe a fresh perspective or a different way of thinking about something. Is it earth shattering like the drinking from a firehose feeling that I had my first couple of conferences? No. But those ideas, those fresh perspectives are still so good and so worthwhile, and helpful for growing my business.
Kristen 3:13
I’ve learned that once you get to a certain point in your business, it’s not that you need to learn more things. Because there’s really not that much more to learn. But going to conferences and getting these fresh perspectives can still make a big difference and keeping you moving forward in your business. And sometimes the real win at an in-person event like this one has less to do with learning new things and more to do with how you’re feeling at the end of it.
Kristen 3:43
I have to say this year’s biggest,best takeaway for me was the sheer boost of motivation, and the refreshing burst of energy that I felt. Like I said, I headed into this conference feeling this sense of heaviness and feeling burnt out. And when I got on the plane to head home, I felt light and refreshed and excited about diving back into my business and trying out some new strategies, some different ideas that I had picked up out of the sessions that I went to.
Kristen 4:17
One big highlight for me was my friend Jacqueline Ortiz’s keynote when she reminded us of Deanna Jumps keynote at the very first conference where Deanna shared that she had prayed, “Lord, if you’ll show me the way I’ll do the work,” and that had really spoken to Jackie and also spoke to me in that very first conference. So it was so inspiring to hear Jackie’s story and how that quote had affected her and much the same way that it had me. It was such a good reminder of why we do what we do. So Jackie, if you’re listening, thank you again and I am so happy and so proud to call you a friend.
Kristen 4:57
And while we are talking about friends and feeling so rejuvenated after this conference, I cannot forget to give a special shout out to everyone that I got to spend time with. I will not even attempt to name you all, but you know who you are. From the amazing meals we shared to walks that were way longer than anticipated and included a lot of hills to kayaking in the cave with seals. Thank you so much. Every one of you helped fill my cup in ways I didn’t even realize that I needed.
Kristen 5:32
It was a week of reconnecting not just on the business side of things, but with the community and that spirit that makes this all worth it. So I am so so grateful for the time I got to spend with each of you.
Kristen 5:45
Here’s my piece of advice for everyone listening. Whenever you have the chance to attend in person events directly related to your business, go. Those connections that you make with people who really understand and get what you do are priceless. Connecting face to face in person can really lift your spirits and spark creativity in ways that just don’t happen on a zoom call or in a virtual summit. And in the words of David Rose, it’s all a write off. So go to the conferences, go to the in person events and make those connections I promise it will be worth it.
Kristen 6:28
Alright, moving on to an exciting update around here on the podcast. Let’s talk about why we are just Savvy Sellers now. Yes, the podcast has a new name, The Savvy Seller. But the goal, the focus, my mission is still the same. So why the change. It is really all about being more inclusive and being able to reach more incredible digital product creators.
Kristen 6:58
First of all, I think it’s important to recognize that even inside our TPT community, this community is not made up solely of teachers. We’ve got speech language pathologists and counselors and amazing graphic artists and so many other talented people who are creating educational content. And the original name of the podcast, The Savvy Teacher Seller, as much as I love it, it kind of unintentionally set some boundaries around who the show is for and who belongs here. And those boundaries don’t really reflect the diversity in this community that we have.
Kristen 7:33
Another more practical reason for the shift in name is the limitations that the old name kind of put on the show and on me when I am sharing and reaching out to people. Sometimes it’s a little challenging to share episodes with new listeners, or to reach out to guests outside the TPT niche because the title of the show seemed very exclusively teacher centric. So by opening things up a little bit, I also get to open the doors to a wider variety of guests and topics. And that all boils down to creating better conversations and sharing better insights with you.
Kristen 8:13
Here’s what’s not changing. My focus is still on providing you with hustle free strategies for building and scaling your online business. Whether it is mastering SEO for more consistent organic traffic, growing your email list, automating your marketing, refining your product listings. These are all challenges that are universal across all platforms for all digital sellers. And I will still be talking about them with you and still be talking about things specific to TPT as well.
Kristen 8:45
For those of you who have been loyal listeners, thank you so much. And rest assured the podcast you love is still here. We are just growing this community to embrace more online business owners. And yes, that includes you. Remember, you are not just a TPT seller, you are a real online business owner. And yes, we’re just savvy about it.
Kristen 9:08
I am really excited about the new perspectives and the new solutions that we can be exploring together as this podcast grows.
Kristen 9:17
As much as I walked away from the TPT conference feeling rejuvenated about my TPT business, I also still believe it’s important not to put all our eggs in one basket. If you’re trying to build a long lasting business, it can’t be solely dependent on a platform that you don’t own even if you love that platform. And even if that platform is a huge part, maybe even the biggest part of what you do.
Kristen 9:44
As we’ve seen over the last few years, when you rely on a single platform, their changes can significantly affect your visibility and your sales. So with that in mind, one of my goals is to help you build a business where you have some control and some parts of that business that you really do own, so that you can adjust strategies and adapt to marketplace changes. Whether that means selling through your own website, building and nurturing an email list or creating sales funnels that point people to your products.
Kristen 10:18
When it comes to expanding your business beyond a marketplace, like TPT, the first thing that you need is your own website. And a lot of people think that expanding or diversifying means you have to open your own website store. I know that can be a scary step. But you don’t have to do that right away. Even if you know you’re not ready for that, I still recommend having your own website. Because when you have your own little slice of the web, this gives you a place to send people so that you can build an email list and continue connecting with them and selling even if you’re only selling on TPT.
Kristen 10:55
You can warm up pixel audiences so you can start running ads. Whether that’s now or one day down the road. You can create sales pages to better sell your products. And it’s great for helping to establish yourself as an expert in your field as well.
Kristen 11:11
The next step, once you have a website set up is to choose some of your products that are kind of like the cornerstone of your business. These might be bigger products or bundles, product lines, some of your best sellers. Think about those products that are really worth putting in more time and more effort to get more sales.
Kristen 11:32
I would look for products that are high converting that get really high conversion rates. Because those should do really well if you send more traffic to them. These might be TPT products that you want to get more attention on or offers off of TPT like courses and memberships. Once you pick those core scalable offers, it’s time to set up a simple sales system that runs on automation.
Kristen 11:57
A really simple version of this could look something like creating an email opt in for a lead magnet that’s directly related to the product you want to sell. And then setting up a simple email sequence in your email provider that points people back to a sales page you’ve created on your website so that you can really show off your product, what’s included, the pain points it solves, the testimonials that you have from people who have loved it. And then that sales page can lead people right to the TPT checkout for your product. So it doesn’t have to be something super complex. And you don’t have to deal with collecting the money and all on your own, you can still send people over to TPT for that part.
Kristen 12:41
If you want to get a little more advanced, you can start adding in extra things like countdown timers. You can use more complex email sequences that send different emails based on the subscribers actions and tags that might be applied to them. And you can sell those products on your own website as well. So there’s lots of room to keep this as simple as possible, or to get a lot more complex and more advanced with it depending on where you are.
Kristen 13:08
Let’s talk about some of my favorite tools for doing this. So to set up your website, I swear by WordPress paired with Elementor for the design. It makes it really easy to design something beautiful because everything is drag and drop. With WordPress, you’re going to need your domain and hosting. So I recommend Namecheap for getting your domain set up with free domain security. And then for hosting Bigscoots is hands down the best. They have never let me down in terms of site speed, keeping your site running consistently, and having great customer support.
Kristen 13:46
To manage your email list and automate those sales sequences, I recommend using ConvertKit. It is very user friendly, and includes a lot of great features. They even have a plan right now that is free for up to 10,000 subscribers. I’ll make sure we have links to all of those in the show notes for today’s episode, so you can make sure that you’re finding the right things.
Kristen 14:10
All right, it is about time to wrap up this episode. After a month off of episodes I had a lot I wanted to share with you. So it’s been pretty packed from the TPT conference, to this fresh new podcast identity, to exploring some actionable steps for you to grow your business beyond just one single platform. I hope you found this episode helpful.
Kristen 14:33
And I would love to hear your thoughts on this change to The Savvy Seller. Are there topics you want to dive into? Guests you would love to hear from? Let me know. The best place to reach me is either to DM me on Instagram @Kristindoyle.co or you can text the show directly at the link in the show notes. I really appreciate your feedback especially as I’m working to evolve and improve the show.
Kristen 15:00
Thank you so much for joining me in this exciting new chapter of The Savvy Seller. Make sure to tune in next week because I will be sharing how to solve one of the biggest website problems that I get questions about all the time.
Kristen 15:15
And hey, if you are enjoying the show, help me spread the word about the new name by screenshotting this episode and sharing it on your social media. When you do tag me @Kristendoyle.co and I will pick five people who share and tag me to win one of my mini courses or templates of your choice. Good luck, and I’ll talk to you soon.
