The Journey of a TpT Product

The making of a TpT (Teachers Pay Teachers) product can be quite time consuming. I want to take you through the process of how I create my products so you can get a better understanding of what’s involved. This post would be great for new sellers or those who want to start selling on TpT! Welcome to the journey.

Step 1: Idea factory! Sometimes inspiration strikes on a whim, other times I have similar products and want to do a different theme or whatnot. I typically keep a running list of ideas. Warning: there might be several days/weeks that I go without creating something because the motivation or inspiration just isn’t there. The creative process can’t be rushed!

Step 2: Decide which program to use. I have a Macbook Air now, so I can use either Office or the Mac equivalents. I started out with Powerpoint, but lately have been trying out Keynote too. Powerpoint is my go-to though because I know my way around it pretty well.

Step 3: To template or not to template. For some of my products, I have a general template that I can copy and paste to create. For others, I have to start from scratch. You have to consider things like: how many cards you want on a page, if there will be worksheets, number of color-ink heavy graphics, etc. This can take some time.

Step 4: Create: Many of my products take several hours to create because I have to think up original stories, sentences, etc. I don’t think I’ve EVER finished a product in one sitting. I get distracted, I lose motivation, I hit a wall, you name it. Sometimes you have to just walk away. When creating, you have to consider things like font (is it easy to read?), graphics (are they kid friendly? too babyish for older students? too distracting?), and overall aesthetic appeal.

Step 5: Cover page and credits page:  Cover pages can take some time because you obviously want it to look pretty. The cover page is what buyers will see FIRST, and we all know how valuable first impressions are. For the credits page, I have a template that I add the graphics credits too, but I’m constantly trying to think of ways to make this page look better.

Step 6: Proofread: And don’t proofread your own because you’ll miss tons of things after staring at it for 93948 hours. Find some trusted friends or other sellers to look it over and offer suggestions.

Step 7: Preview: If you want your product to have a preview on TpT, you need to spend some time creating this. Don’t forget to write “preview” across the pages, so people can’t use them (unless you want them to be able to).

Step 8: Assemble and take pictures: Sometimes I like to assemble my product and take pictures, so buyers will be able to see the finished product. This works well for social media too (Instagram, Facebook, etc).

Step 9: Upload: Now you’re ready to upload to TpT! Hooray! You want your description to be thorough, so buyers know what they are getting. You need to decide on a price too, which can be tricky because you don’t want to undervalue all the time it took to create this resource. Once you hit submit, you’ll have a link to the product.

Step 10: Breathe a sigh of relief. Then repeat!

Note: Every seller has his/her own way of creating; this is just mine!