54: Why You're Not Taking Action on Your TPT Store (It's Not What You Think)

Speaker A: Hey, teacher friend. Welcome to Online Business for Teachers, the podcast for educators who are tired of being tired and wondering if there's more out there. Are you up late googling online jobs for teachers or how to make extra money from home? Do you dream about starting a business, working from home, or finally getting paid for the resources you've already created without adding more stress to your plate? I'm Monica Lopez, a former teacher who was burnt out, overwhelmed, and secretly searching

Speaker B: for a way out.

Speaker A: I wanted more time with my kids, the freedom to work from home, and a way to make money doing something I actually enjoyed. That's when I discovered the simplest path. Creating and selling my own teacher resources using the skills I already had. Now I help teachers like you turn your ideas into income with step by step guidance. We'll talk about finding time to grow your business and the mindset shifts that help you believe it's actually possible. So close those lesson plans and grab your favorite drink. It is your turn now.

Speaker B: Okay, so today I want to talk about something that I hear from many teachers and TPT sellers as well as wannabe TPT sellers, and that's I know what I need to do. I just don't do it. In fact, if we all did what we were supposed to do, well, if we all did what we knew we were supposed to do, so many problems would be solved, right? When I ask teachers why they don't do what they know they should be doing, they answer something along the lines of I don't have time or life gets in the way, or I'm a teacher, I'm busy, I'm a parent, I have a million things going on. I get that. But here's the thing, guys. When I actually dig into it with people, that's not really what's going on. I mean, it is, but not really. You know, what's actually going on is fear is overwhelm and decision fatigue. And today I want to talk about all those three things. Because once you can name what's actually stopping you, it becomes a lot easier to get rid of it. Okay, we have to identify the problem before we solve it. Okay, so let's start here. When I talk to teachers and TBT sellers who are stuck, what I usually hear is, I don't have time. Life gets in the way. I want to work on my store, but by the time I get home from school, I'm exhausted. I have kids, I have family, I have 100 other things to do. I get that you're a teacher, maybe a parent, caregiver. Something you're pulled in so many different directions. But what's really happening is that we're not making our business a priority. So many of us think that we don't have enough time, but that's not true. We have time for the things that we prioritize. So what happens is we go through the motions. We let life happen, and our goals just sit there waiting for us to get. Get them. So your store just sits there. Your ideas stay in your head. Your products that you created are just sitting in a folder in your computer, not listed, not out there making you any money. So the question is, why do we keep doing that? Why do we keep pushing our goals to the back burner? That is what we're going to be talking about today. All right, so what is actually going on underneath all of this? I honestly think that for the most part, it is fear. But it's not the kind of fear that you're probably thinking. Most of us don't even realize it's fear. It's more like a subconscious self sabotage. Your brain is doing it without you even knowing it. And a big part of that comes from the fact that teachers are wired to give. That's our job. We give our time, we give our energy, our, uh, knowledge, and we truly don't even ask for much in return. So when you start a business and now you have to sell something, now you have to ask people to pay you for your work. And that is a completely different mindset. And a lot of teachers have never made that switch. What this looks like is you're thinking like a creator instead of thinking like a seller. And those are two very different things. I also hear teachers say things like, I just don't have an entrepreneurial spirit. I wasn't born that way, and I want to offer something new here. Okay, you were not born a teacher with a master's degree either. You learned that you develop those skills over time. Running a business is the exact same thing. It's a skill that you can learn. But the brain doesn't want or doesn't like learning new things. It just wants to stay where it's comfortable. And that resistance is just your brain doing what brains do. It doesn't mean that you can't do this. You just have to train your brain to, to do it. Just like you trained your brain to learn all of these teaching skills. It's the same thing. All right, let me tell you about a teacher that I was talking to recently. She had incredible products. She was so vivid when she described them. To me, I mean, I loved the way she explained her work. It was amazing. She had so much knowledge and so much passion because behind what she created. But her covers weren't showing that, um, they were a little plain, and her thumbnails were a little text heavy. In her previews, they just weren't showing what was actually inside that product. And she said to me, well, other teachers just don't understand the value of what I'm giving them. And I, uh, what I told her was, you need to show them. Because the way you just described your product to me right now is what your buyers need to see. They have no way of knowing what is inside unless you actually show them. So we ended up coming up with a plan for her to create some videos because she was comfortable doing that so she could actually demonstrate what her products were, because she was so good at explaining, explaining it. She just wasn't doing that in her store. She was thinking like a creator. She needed to start thinking like a seller. And that's something that we as teachers need to learn, because unless we have some type of background in selling, we're not trained to do that. All right, so let's talk about the other two problems here. Overwhelm and decision fatigue. Because these two work together, and they're going to shut you down so fast that you're not even going to know what happened. What I know about TPT is that creating the product is the easy part. That is your zone. You know your content, you know what teachers need. You can build a resource in your sleep, but listing it, oh, my goodness. This is where we freeze. At least that's how it is at the beginning. Because now you have to make a hundred small decisions. What do I put in the thumbnail? What goes in the preview? How do I write the description? What do I even name this thing? What keywords do I use? How many pages should the preview be? And don't even get me started with, oh, my gosh, all of these standards are covered. Should I put them all in there or not? Right. I have seen so many posts in Facebook groups, so many where. Where sellers say, I have a ton of products on my computer that I have, I've never listed. I love creating, but the listing process is just too much, and they just stop. And that right there is called overwhelm. And then there's decision fatigue, which is its own thing, because it is not just about the listing. It's about everything. Should I start a store? Should I start an email list? Should I be on TikTok? Should I start a blog? Should I be on Pinterest? Should I sell on my own site or just stay on tbt? Should I focus on the niche or cover everything? I have all of these ideas. Can I put them all in the same store? Should I do two different stores? There are so many things out there, y', all, that is called decision fatigue. Because when you can't decide, you actually do nothing. And you tell yourself that you're still thinking about it, but really you're just spinning. And then on top of that, the what ifs start, right? What if nobody buys? What if I'm wasting my time? What if I get in trouble for copyright? What if someone wants a refund? What if someone judges me? What if my cover is not good enough? What if nobody reads my blog? What if people laugh at me? What if that title doesn't work? What if I have a typo, right? And the list just keeps going? There's no bottom to it, I promise you. Been there. It just keeps going. This kind of spiral is not something that you can fix with another planner or, or blocking time out or even like batching, right? That's not, that's not something that has a physical solution like that. This type of spiral is an overthinking problem, and there's a whole nother solution for that one. So what's the solution? All right, let's go there. We are living in a time where AI can answer almost any question that, that you have. Google has tutorials on everything. You can figure out how to set up a TPT store, write a product description, design a, uh, cover. By the way, if you need a step by step guide on that and you don't want to Google it and you don't want to use AI. I actually have a mini course. It's totally free and it's called the TPT Store Starter Kit. And it'll show you how to create a polished professional store that is ready to make sales. And it'll walk you through designing your logo and brand elements and creating covers and thumbnails and previews that convert and setting up your store visuals in Canva or PowerPoint and building a storefront that you are actually proud to share. Okay, you can get that one at www.yourteacherbiz.com free-mini-course I don't know why I put all those dashes in there. Www.yourteacherbiz.com free-mini-course okay, you can get it there and you can start. If you don't have a store up Yet. Or even if you already have a store, but you're kind of doubting whether it's set up correctly or you just want to make it more consistent. Download that course and you are going to be on your way to having an amazing store set up. Okay, um. All right, so back to Google and AI. For some people, that's totally enough and that's okay. They just find the answer and they go do the thing. In fact, there's so many things that I can just do that with, but there are other things that I can't. A lot of teachers need more than information. They need someone to actually listen to them, not just tell them what to do. They need someone to listen to what is actually going on in their head, look at their specific store, hear their specific worries, and help them think through it. If you are one of these people, you're not just a TPT seller who needs to fix our thumbnails. You're a whole person with a whole life. And sometimes you just need someone to actually listen to. Hear your problems, your thoughts, your fears, your worries, and help you think through them without judgment. You want validation. You need that human connection. You need someone who can help you take action instead of speaking spinning. You desire real confidence in what you are building. You need to believe in your own ideas. You deserve a space to process your thoughts and figure out your next move without feeling like you're going to be judged or laughed at. Or you may be the person who needs direction from someone who has been there and can see you, not just your store. You might need to reframe failure, because failure in business is not personal. And so many of us take it personal. It's just part part of the process. You need to build a stronger identity as a business owner, not just a teacher. Because you are both. And you can do both. Because the things you're going through right now are not unique to you. Every single person building a TPT store hits these same walls. The slow months, the self doubt, the moments where you almost quit. But when you have never run a business before, those walls feel like mountains. Like something huge that you have to figure out how to get over before you can keep going. Y', all, those aren't mountains, they're hills. They are very normal, part of the process. But you don't know that because you've never seen them before. So I am here to help you get through them. If anything that I said today felt like I was talking directly to you, I probably was because I hear this from teachers all the time. And every single one of them thought their situation was different, that their fear was bigger or their store was more behind or their problems were more complicated than everybody else's. Y', all, they're not. And yours aren't either. And that is actually good news because, y', all, you've built an entire career out of learning hard things. You went to school, you got your degree, you figured out classroom management and IEPs and differentiation and a hundred other things that nobody handed you a manual for. Building a business is just the next hard thing. And you don't have to figure it out alone. If you are stuck in that spiral right now and you're not sure what's actually holding you back, let's talk. I do one on one calls where we just have a real conversation. You tell me what's going on, I listen, and we figure it out together. We figure out what's actually in the way and what your next move looks like. Y', all, it is not a sales pitch. It's just a conversation. The link to schedule is in the show notes. So go ahead and get down there right now and schedule your call. Alright, guys, that is it for today. I will see you next week. Bye.

Speaker A: Hey, teacher friend. I hope you enjoyed today's episode. If this show is helping you dream a little bigger, would you take 30 seconds to leave a quick review? It means the world to me and it helps more teachers find their way to this podcast. I'll meet you back here next week. Take care and keep dreaming bigger.