Your First Teachers Pay Teachers Product from Start to Finish
NOTE: Please watch the video for a visual of exactly how to follow these steps.
Your First Teachers Pay Teachers Product from Start to Finish
There are a couple of important things to consider before you begin uploading your product to TPT and the very first thing is that your first item has to be a free one, something that you give away. The common issue that the majority of people face is that they work hard on a product, but when it's time to post it they just couldn’t put a price on it which eventually delays their store opening.
If you’re also planning to start a Teachers Pay Teachers store but not quite sure how to create an actual product preview and post it on TPT, you are in the right place!
I’ve put together this article to help you to streamline the process from creating to uploading products.
I’ll walk you through how to upload your first paid product on TPT from start to finish and show you some tips and tricks on how to secure the images, share the files and upload them to the website. Let’s get into it!
Pricing your Products
To put a price on your product, do some research on your competitors to see how much they are selling their products for. While choosing a price, keep in mind that you have to pay TPT seller fee on every sale you make, so read the payout rates and fees details carefully before setting the price.
Secure your Images
Before posting your products on TPT secure the images or clipart you have specifically drawn up for your brand or purchased from anybody else. To secure an image, make it a part of a background so it won’t be movable anymore and no one can steal it. Go to the file, download, and select the format you want. Next, go to the background tab, choose an image, and drag and drop the image you want to set as a background.
Linking Resources to Your Slides
If you wish to link other resources to your Google Drive presentation, you have to get a sharing link. Go to Google Drive, right-click on the resource you want to link, click “Share” and then click “Anyone with this link” and copy it. Paste the copied link in your browser and erase everything up to the word edit and type the word “Copy”. This is the link that you’ll give to your buyers so they can make a copy of the representation instead of using your original presentation. Take that forced copy link and attach it to the image in your Google Slides that you want them to be directed at.
Create Preview and Thumbnails
After having your links in place, you need to create a preview file and thumbnails to make your product ready to be uploaded. To share your product with buyers, create a pdf file with a link where the buyer can access the product. TPT offers a way to link directly from your Google Drive, but it’s a bit confusing and creates a new folder on your drive so it’s better to stick make an access file with a link.
You can turn the template for your access file into a pdf file just by changing the product image and links. To get the link, go to your Google Drive, find the lesson you want to sell, right-click on it and then click “Share” and set the option to “Anyone with this link can edit”. Copy the link, paste in a new tab and delete everything up to the word “Edit” and type “Copy” to generate a forced copy of the lesson. Next copy the link and insert a hyperlink in your PowerPoint so when your buyers purchase the product, they will get a Pdf and to access the product they have to click on the link. After your access file is ready, download it as a Pdf and upload it on the Teacher Pay Teachers website to make it accessible for the buyers.
The preview file is similar to the access file and you can choose up to 4 slides. It includes a cover same as in the access file, images from the lesson, main selling points of the lesson, and some product links that buyers might be interested in. The preview file is saved in Pdf format while thumbnails need to be saved in JPEG. TPT sellers use square thumbnails as they look visually appealing.
Uploading the Product on TPT
Now your product is ready to be uploaded on Teacher pay Teachers. Follow these steps to upload your product to the TPT store:
1. Click on ‘My Product Listings” and then on “Add Digital Product” and select upload a resource.
2. Upload the product and add a title.
3. Upload a preview file so the buyer can see what the product actually looks like.
4. Add a description of the product.
5. Choose the “Type of Resource” and “Grade Level” it is made for.
6. Choose the subject area, add teaching duration and number of pages along with the answer key.
7. If you’re new on TPT, make a resource category by going to ‘My Product Listings” and “Manage your Categories” and place the product in a category.
8. Choose between free or paid. As a new seller, TPT will make your share a free resource to get noticed by buyers.
9. Choose thumbnails you’ve made and click submit to finish uploading.
If you’re already been working on Teacher Pay Teachers, you may have lessons similar to each other which makes the uploading process much easier. You can create similar listings by simply copying the description from the previous listings and paste it to the new ones with slight changes.
To create “Similar Listings” go-to the quick edit of the previous listing and click on “Create a similar listing”. Teachers Pay Teacher will copy the previous product and bring in all the wording without you doing anything. To make it even easier, you can highlight the areas you want to change from lesson to lesson. Click on the product file and select the product you want to upload. Next upload the thumbnails you’ve already made. Lastly, write the description and click on “Create Product” to finish the process.
Now your product has been uploaded to Teacher Pay Teachers ready to be purchased.