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EPISODE 68

Your TPT Product Creation Checklist

TPT Product Creation Checklist

If you’ve ever felt stuck or unsure about how to approach creating a new product, this episode is for you. I’ve put together a TPT product creation checklist that will help you streamline your product creation process and ultimately boost your sales.

We’ll cover the importance of market research, creating a product outline, design and layout, SEO, quality control, pricing strategies, and more. Plus, I’ll share what to look for when it’s time to re-evaluate your product after it’s gone live…because we all know this is a continuous process!

Wherever you are in your creation, I hope this TPT product creation checklist helps you to be extra intentional with your resources so that your sales can increase. If this episode is helpful, don’t forget to follow, rate, and review the show on Apple Podcasts!

01:04 Why you need to do market research, and what to look for during the process

04:47 My go-to tools for creating high-quality TPT resources

07:30  What to consider when making decisions about pricing your product

08:47 – Tips for planning a new product launch that will build buzz and give you a boost in SEO

0:03
Okay, TPT sellers ready to see growth in your busines? 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 sales. Let’s get started, y’all.

0:21
Hey, y’all, and welcome back to another episode of the savvy teacher seller. I’m your host, Kristen Doyle. And if you have ever felt overwhelmed by the whole product creation process, then this is an episode that you don’t want to miss. Today we’re diving into a TPT product creation checklist.

0:41
I totally get it, the process of creating a brand new product can be really overwhelming. And a lot of us just want to jump right in and start creating already. But what if I told you that having the right process in place could streamline your workflow and boost your sales? Let’s talk about what that process might look like.

1:04
Before you ever get started on a new product or a new product line, you want to start by doing a little market research. This is important because the last thing you want to do is spend hours and hours creating a product nobody is looking for, or creating a product that there are already 1000s of options out there for.

1:26
So check the things that are trending in your niche. Look for gaps in the market where teachers are looking for things and not finding them. A great way to do that is to look at what teachers are looking for in the Facebook groups that you’re in, or even to ask your own audience.

1:44
And then once you have your idea, ask your audience what they would like to see included in that product. Now this can be as simple as dropping a poll on your Instagram stories or sending out an email and asking teachers to hit reply if this is something you’re interested in, and let me know what you’re hoping I’ll include in this resource that you’re getting ready to create.

2:08
The next thing you should do before you ever start creating is outline your product. This can be a huge time saver, because this outline then turns into your blueprint for the product. And it helps to keep you focused. So think about what kinds of things you’ll include in the product. And all of the different types of activities or student pages that you might need to make this a really well rounded resource.

2:32
While you’re planning out your product outline. Don’t forget about some important must haves beyond just the student pages that the teacher will print off and use with their class. Make sure you are also considering including things like a Clickable table of contents, that helps teachers find different parts of your resource really quickly, teaching notes or even full on lesson plans for your product.

2:58
With so many new teachers now, it really is going to become more important that we’re providing good instructions, good teaching notes, good plans to help them learn how to implement the types of lessons and activities that we’re creating. So make sure you’re including those make a list of standards that are covered, if that is relevant to your product. And I always recommend linking some related resources and at least one page of your product somewhere.

3:27
And the last thing I would say you always need to include is an answer key. Because so many teachers are either new to teaching or even if they’re not new to teaching, then you’re probably short on time. And an answer key can really help them to be able to use your product, and then evaluate how their students are doing on that product much quicker than if they have to create their own answer key before they grade something.

3:54
Even if your product doesn’t include cut and dry right and wrong answers, you can still include an answer key that gives some suggested responses and leaves room for students to have different correct answers.

4:07
Another thing you want to be thinking about as you’re first getting started creating your product is the design and the layout. And this is where most of us want to start is with the design because we are excited to put our ideas on the screen and see them taking shape on these pages that will get printed out.

4:26
And it is absolutely true that teachers are more likely to purchase and to be happy with your purchase and then they leave positive reviews if your product looks good, in addition to having really high quality educational content. So make sure that you’re not forgetting about the design as you’re creating your product.

4:47
My go to tools for creating actual products are Keynote or if you’re not a Mac user PowerPoint would be your alternative. I like to use Keynote or PowerPoint for printing All Pages, because they are completely flexible in terms of layouts and where I put different text boxes, different graphics, all of those things are very flexible. But the text editing is still really easy on keynote, and PowerPoint, they really are intended to have a lot of text on them.

5:20
I absolutely love Canva for things like covers thumbnails and previews, but I do not use it for the actual product. And the reason for that is that I find that it just lacks some of the text editing functionality that Keynote or PowerPoint have. So I use Canva for all of those promotional pieces. But I use Keynote or if you’re on a PC, PowerPoint, for the actual product printables.

5:46
Now once you’ve created your product, and you’re getting ready to list it, you’ll want to make sure that you do a little keyword research and work on your SEO. Good SEO or Search Engine Optimization helps your product show up higher in searches. So make sure you’re doing your keyword research before you sit down to list the product on TPT. Because those keywords that you choose to target should show up in your title and in your product description.

6:16
You can use the suggested search terms in the TPT search bar as a guide because those are popular search terms. Or you can use a tool like YDP’s keyword finder for more detailed keyword research. Definitely take a peek at some similar high ranking products as well to see what types of keywords they’re using.

6:35
Another thing that you will want to make sure you do before you list your product is spend some extra time on quality control. Now I know the last thing we want to do when we have created a whole product is create more things. But typos and mistakes can lead to bad reviews and refund requests and nobody wants that. So my best recommendation is to hire a proofreader and send your product out to be proof read.

7:03
Now I know that that can take extra time, and then it does cost money. But really having another person to look at your product is the best way to get any little typos or other mistakes cleaned up so that you have a really high quality product going out to teachers. You could also use a tool like Grammarly or even just ask a teacher friend to review it if hiring isn’t an option for you right now.

7:30
Once you’re ready to post your product, you are going to need to make a decision about pricing. So I would encourage you to price based on the value that your product is providing to the teacher and the students. And not just on the amount of time it took you to create or how many pages are included. After you’ve created your product, not before because we don’t want to get inspired and end up creating something just like someone else’s.

7:56
After your product has been created, do a little research, check out what else is available that is similar to your product. Keep in mind, this doesn’t have to be the exact same thing. In fact, hopefully yours is unique and there’s nothing quite like it out there. But use a little research to get a feel for the general price range for the type of product that you’ve created and the amount of content or the amount of time that it takes up for a teacher and then adjust your pricing based on your conversion rate once you start getting more page views on it.

8:32
So choose a price based on your feelings about the value and the general price range for similar products. And then go back and make some adjustments down the road. I always say that pricing is not permanent. So make sure you’re checking up on them and adjusting them over time.

8:47
The last thing you want to do is come up with a plan for launching your brand new product or product line. A strong launch can really help to move your product up in the search ranks, and can help indicate its long term success as well. So some strategies you might want to use are to promote your product on social media, maybe even run some ads to it.

9:12
Definitely send it out in a note to followers and email your list. Don’t just rely on the fact that TPT sends out your new product in that new products email, because all that shows up there is the cover image for the product, part of the title and the price. So if you are sending out your new product and a note to followers, in an email to your list, you’re promoting it on social media. Those are places where you really can show off your product in ways that that TPT new product email just doesn’t do for you.

9:45
Another thing that you might consider doing as part of your launch plan is giving those very first buyers an early bird discount. We all love to get that early bird discount, and you can do that on TPT as well. You might set your product at At 50% off for the first 48 hours, or something like that, and that really can help to give you an initial sales boost, which is great not only for your sales numbers, but it’s also really good for SEO purposes.

10:13
So, today we have covered market research outlining design, SEO, quality control, pricing, and a launch plan for your product. Your action step for this week really depends on where you are right now in the product creation cycle. So if you’re thinking about a new product or a new product line you might want to start working on then I would encourage you to pump the brakes.

10:38
Instead of diving straight into the work, do a little market research or create a good solid outline for where you’re going with this product or this product line. If on the flip side, you’re almost finished with a product, then take the time to get it proofed and to plan out your new product launch strategy.

10:58
Alright friends, that is a wrap on our deep dive into the TPT product creation checklist process. If you found this episode helpful, then I would love for you to hit the Follow button on your podcast app and even leave a review. It helps more than you know, and I really appreciate it. I’ll talk to you soon.

11:18
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 Kristindoyle.co/TPT. Talk to you soon.

Ready to see growth in your business? You’re in the right place.

I’m here to give you no-fluff tools and strategies that will really make an impact on your sales. We’re talking SEO, improving product listings, leveraging your website, and more. 

About Your Host

Your host, Kristen Doyle, has a decade of experience selling on TpT and has made all the mistakes so that you don’t have to! As a web designer and the go-to SEO expert in the TpT world, she loves helping TpT sellers stand out in the crowd & grow their businesses with passive income strategies.

Tune in to hear Kristen cover all aspects of running a TpT business – from leveraging SEO, to improving product listings, to effective TpT seller strategies for your store and website.

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