Grow with Angie and April: A Podcast for Teacherpreneurs

You've heard about the importance of building an email list, but what are you supposed to do with it once you have it? We're discussing how to consistently use your list and the importance of growing it today on the podcast. And, we're continuing the conversation in our Mastermind group. Head over there to share what works for you and hear what others are saying: www.growwithusmastermind.com.

Building an email list. It seems to be one of those things that's on every TpTers to-do list, but it's often not something that we focus on. April and I both admit that we haven't been real consistent with sending out emails to our lists over the summer either. That's why we brought Nicki from The Sprinkle Topped Teacher on the podcast to share how she grew her TpT store by focusing on building and using an email list.

A little about Nicki

Nicki started her store, The Sprinkle Topped Teacher, back in September of 2015. Her original focus was on K-3 products, but she has moved into creating resources for a broader audience.

This is her first schoolyear that she is going full time as a TpTer. She recently moved across the country and is using this as her opportunity to try stepping away from the classroom.

If you're thinking about taking the same step, check out our episode So You're Thinking of Going Full Time TpT? It's an exciting step but can feel a little scary too.

Nicki started focusing on building an email list after listening to plenty of business podcasts that talked about the importance of it. And, it really stood out to her when she heard Jenna Kutcher from Goal Digger say that if people subscribe to your email list they are your people.

She spent the entire 2018 year creating products releasing three a month! After that, she felt it was time to start building her list. So, she signed up for Amy Porterfield's Email List Building course and hit the ground running. During the 2019 schoolyear, she only created one resource and spent the rest of her time focusing on growing her email list and the results have been huge!

Don't be afraid to invest in yourself

Nicki mentioned that because she invested in herself and spent the money on the course she was more likely to follow through on completing it. The investment became a type of accountability for her.

April and I have found the same thing to be true. So, don't be afraid to invest in yourself. with courses and software. It might be just the thing that you need as motivation to really get your TpT business growing.

What do you send out to your email list?

Nicki believes in the 90/10 strategy. This means that 90% of what she sends out is focused on serving her customer. The last 10% is leftover for sales.

Every Sunday she sends out the Sunday Sunshine to her email list. The goal is to help her audience fight the Sunday scary. She reminds them of their purpose and value and gives them a freebie or notifies them of a promotion or podcast that shew was on.

On occasion, (that 10%) she sends out a sales email. When she does this it's usually an email the day before the sale and then one on the day of the sale.

Here's the best part—people reply to her emails. They are thankful for them and she gets feedback and reassurance that her emails are a hit with her audience.

What type of format should you use?

Nicki sticks with a simple format for her weekly emails. They begin with an introduction and then include a tip or challenge for the week. After that, she has a closing message and a P.S. that includes something that she's promoting.

You may hear from other sources that you should keep your emails short. But, Nicki mentioned that her emails are long

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This is the final week of our four-week blogging challenge and we are focusing on marketing blog posts. We took the information we covered in our workshop at the TpT Conference and turned it into a challenge. The goal is to help you set up a blogging plan that you can stick to. No big deal if you missed the conference workshop! This challenge will work for any TpTer. Join our mastermind group for blogging accountability as we work through the challenge: www.growwithusmastermind.com.

In Week 4 we are going to focus on putting together everything we learned in the first week and start marketing our blog posts. In order to complete the tasks this week, you're going to need to work through the first 3 weeks.

So, if you're just joining us, go back and check out what you missed:

Plan Your Year: Week 1 - Learn how to set up a blogging plan for the year that's easy to follow.

Blog Optimization & Prep: Week 2 - Focus on optimizing your website so you'll be ready when you start getting blog readers.

Craft an Intentional Post: Week 3 - Learn why you need to be intentional with the posts that you write and what steps to follow.

Let's talk about marketing blog posts

So, you have a beautifully crafted and intentional blog post completed and published. Now what? Do you just wait for the readers to come?

No way! Now is the time to focus on marketing. You want to make it easy for your audience to find your blog post.

Resources to help with marketing blog posts

The first thing I want you to do, if you haven't already, is go download the Challenge Organizer on our Resources page here. In this guide is a checklist that you can use when marketing your blog post.

This is something that you can refer back to with every blog post that you write.

Creating images for marketing

Here's the thing you need to keep in mind when creating images for your blog posts and marketing—keep it easy. There are a few tips that can help you do this.

Canva

There are many different ways you can create images for your blog and marketing. Angie and I both use Canva so that's what we will be discussing here. There is a free version that is still incredibly useful, but we both use the paid version. It allows you to have access to a huge image library and has another incredible tool that I'll share in a minute.

Use templates

Angie and I both use templates for creating our social media and blog post images. You don't need to reinvent the wheel every time you need a new image.

Simply create a design that you like. It should have your branding on it. Then, with every new blog post, all you need to do is create a copy, update the title, and swap out images. The layout is already there and waiting for you, so you can save a lot of time.

If you struggle with design, you can buy templates to use the same way.

Create multiple images at once

Angie is great at this. When she writes a blog post she has five different templates that she uses. This makes it easy for her to create images for Pinterest, Instagram, and anywhere else that she wants to share an image.

If you are doing a shoot with a new resource that you have, take TONS of pictures. Make sure to get them from different angles and sizes so you have options to work with later.

Having many photos to choose from and different image templates will allow you to market and share your blog post over and over without having to use the same image. This allows it not to appear so repetitive.

In the paid version of Canva, you can

This is the 3rd week of our four-week blogging challenge. We are continuing to build off of our Intentional Blogging workshop from the TpT Conference. This challenge was designed to help you learn to write an intentional post and optimize your blog. It's OK if you missed the conference workshop, this challenge will work for any TpTer. Join our mastermind group for blogging accountability as we work through the challenge: www.growwithusmastermind.com.

Week 3 of the challenge is here and we're going to dive into writing an intentional blog post. If you're just joining us for the challenge I encourage you to go back and work through the first two weeks:

Week 1: Plan Your Year - We walked you through how to plan out and choose topics to write about for the entire year (which isn't as many as it sounds like).

Week 2: Blog Optimization & Prep - We discussed areas of your blog that you should optimize before you turn your focus on directing traffic to your site.

Crafting an intentional post

This week we are all going to work through brainstorming and writing one blog post. Here's what we're going to focus on when writing:

Make it SEO friendly

Clearly state what the post is about in the title

Keep goals front and center

The entire purpose of writing intentional posts is to meet the goals of your TpT business. In order to do that, you need to ask yourself a few questions before you start writing:

What are the goals for your post?

How will it benefit your business?

What are you hoping to achieve by writing the post?

What do you want readers to do?

How to write an intentional post

In Grow With Us episode 33, we talked all about intentional blogging. So, instead of restating the same information again, I'll highlight a few things we discussed. Then, if you missed the episode the first time, head over to listen to it or read the show notes.

What blogging intentionally is

How to create a 3 part blog post

The importance of answering questions from your audience

Focusing on quality and not quantity

Plugins that can help you

Blog organizer and checklist

If you haven't downloaded our free resource from the TpT conference yet, you can get that on the Resources page here. The Challenge Organizer document has a place to help you brainstorm your blog post ideas. There's a spot for you to write the post title, post goals, and the main ideas you want to discuss.

Keeping the goals front and center is important because you need to know what action you want readers to take when they finish reading. Your post should be based around leading them in that direction.

The organizer and checklist are designed to make it easier for you when you get to the point of sitting down to write the blog post.

This week our focus is on brainstorming the post, writing it, creating the images, adding the email opt-in, editing it for SEO, and adding in links.

Importance of including links

You want to include links throughout your post for two reasons:

It's good for SEO

It allows you to provide more valuable information for your readers

After you write your blog post go back and look for areas that you can place links. You can link to other blog posts that you have on the topic, your email opt-in, or your TpT store. Remember to keep your blog goals in mind so you know what links to include.

Your links don't always need to be i

This is the 2nd week of our four-week blogging challenge. This is building off of our Intentional Blogging workshop from the TpT Conference.  Over the next several weeks, we will focus on helping you with blog optimization and writing intentional blog posts. It's OK if you missed the conference workshop, this challenge will work for any TpTer. If you are just joining us, make sure to check out Week 1 here and join our mastermind group for blogging accountability as we work through the challenge: www.growwithusmastermind.com.

Week two of the blogging challenge is all about prepping and optimizing your blog for success. Having quality blogs is important, but you want to make sure your site is set up and ready for when people show up. You want your audience to easily find out about you, see your posts, and find your resources.

Let's get started...

Blog Optimization with SEO

Yes, you want to include your SEO keywords within your blog posts, but blog optimization requires to go even further. You need to think about things like your link structure. This should be SEO friendly as well.

What you're looking for is a link that looks like this:

YourBlogName.com/keyword-phrase

Keep your links short, simple, and use your SEO keywords. I just recently got all of my links redirected and switched over. All of my old structured links now redirect to new SEO friendly links.

I actually paid someone to help me with this (learn more about outsourcing in episode 14). If you can redirect your existing blog posts, that's great. But, if that's not something you have time to worry about right now just use this strategy moving forward.

Blog SEO resources

We are going to dive further into SEO keywords next week, but SEO is an important part of prepping and blog optimization. So, here are a few resources:

Past Grow With Us Podcast Episodes

Episode 19: Tips & Tools for Optimizing Your Blog Traffic

Episode 17: SEO Tips with Guest Noelle Pickering

SEO keyword finder tool

Uber Suggest is a great, and FREE, resource! You can enter in a topic that you're interested in and it provides you with a list of ranked keywords.

Challenge resources

Angie and I compiled a list of SEO resources and included them in our Blogging Challenge resource list. You can find them on the main resource page for the challenge here or at the link below. There is one list with SEO for Blogger and one that's SEO for Wordpress.

www.growwithuspodcast.com/challenge/

Prepping your homepage

You want your homepage to me more than just a list of your existing blog posts. When your audience arrives at your homepage, they should be able to find out who you are, what you do, and what you stand for.

There should also be a call-to-action (CTA). You want people to easily be able to sign up for your email list, training course, or anything else that you have as an option for people to opt in for.

You need to include a way for people to interact with and engage with you. If you're just starting out with your blog and haven't created an opt-in yet then encourage them to follow you on social media. The main goal is to make sure that you have a way to continue interacting with them once they click off your blog. You don't want to lose them forever.

Optimizing your contact page

Your "Contact" page is a way for people to easily reach ou

We are super excited to be continuing our TpT Conference workshop on "intentional blogging" in this new blogging challenge. Over the next four weeks, we will focus on helping you with blog planning to be more intentional with your posts. It doesn't matter if you attended the conference or not, we want you to participate! Make sure you head over to our mastermind group for accountability as we work through the challenge together: www.growwithusmastermind.com.

Are you feeling motivated and inspired after attending the TpT conference? We hope so! We were honored to present a workshop this year on intentional blogging. The conference is always a great time for gaining new insight and focus to grow your TpT store.

But, if you didn't attend the conference, don't worry—we've got you covered!

Over the next four weeks, we are embarking on a blogging challenge. If you attended the workshop, you know all about it. If not, that's OK. We are going to provide short podcasts once a week over the next month to walk you through the process of learning to blog intentionally for your TpT business.

What this challenge is and what it's not

This challenge is not blogging every day for 30 days. We'd never ask you to commit to that. We wouldn't do it ourselves! It's not even about blogging once a week.

Last summer we ran a blogging challenge to blog once a week for six weeks. It was rough! So, this year, we are going to focus more on prepping your blog for the entire year.

Yes, it's an entire year of blog planning, but it's going to be simplified and goal oriented. We want to help you succeed!

This challenge is all about quality over quantity. It's better for you to blog less and create content that you're proud of then to pump out new content that's subpar each week. We don't want you to feel stressed about blogging.

Week 1 focus: plan your year

Let's be real, half the hassle of blogging is sitting down and trying to figure out what to post about. That's why intentional blogging is so helpful. We talked about it a lot in our conference workshop, but you can also learn more about it in our podcast episode 33.

You need to know why you're blogging. What are your goals?

Of course, you want to sell everything in your store. But, it's hard to blog about all the resources you have. So, it helps to look at the following things when choosing your focus and finding your sweet spot.

Which products in your store are selling really well

Areas where a lot of others aren't already selling resources and you are

What other teachers consider you an expert on

Here's what this looks like on my blog. I have decided to focus on two areas. My first focus is creating blog posts on the products that are selling well that I don't have a lot of blog posts for just yet. I'm going to focus on explaining why teachers should be trying the activities in their classrooms and how to succeed with them.

My second area of focus is on creating blog posts around the questions that I'm hearing teachers ask a lot in Facebook groups.

Creating an intentional blogging plan

Most successful blogs have one particular theme for their blog. It could be a grade level or a certain type of learning style. Something along those lines.

Before you start mapping out a year of random blog posts, it's important to choose what you're going to focus on. Decide what area you want people to see you as an expert on.

Do not move on from week one until you know what those topics are for you.

And, when it comes to planning a schedule, do what works for you. April and I recommend that you shoot for at least one blog post a month, or two if you can do it. Choose what will work the best for your schedule while allowing you to create qua

We get a lot of blogging questions from TpT sellers. And, since blogging is a great way to grow your audience and sell more products we are going to address one of the most popular questions we get. We are continuing the conversation in our mastermind group so head over to share your blogging tips and ask any related questions: www.growwithusmastermind.com.

One of the questions that we hear the most about blogging from TpT sellers is, "What do I blog about?" And, we totally get it. Choosing a blogging topic can be overwhelming because there are so many things that you can blog about. So, today is all about blogging with intention.

What is intentional blogging?

Intentional blogging is when you really focus on your main niche when writing your blog post. You blog about the things that you are an expert on and stick to it. You think about a call to action for each post and intentionally think about how you craft the post to encourage people to act on that call to action.

The purpose of writing a blog post can be to highlight a product, give away a free resource, make a push to get email addresses, or just giving valuable content for your target audience.

Both Angie and I used to just blog about whatever we were thinking about. We didn't give it a lot of thought and there wasn't a real strategy. But, if we are going to take the time to write a post and people are taking their time to come and read it, then we want to be purposeful about what we want to accomplish.

Blogging intentionally helps you make the best use of your time

I have plenty of old blog posts that I'm working through and trying to move towards having a purpose and a call to action. Blog posts can be good for getting traffic to your blog, but when you have little time to work with, you have to be really intentional about what the blog post is geared towards.

You want to have a goal for your blogs so you don't just go on a random tangent. Angie shares that blogging doesn't come naturally for her. So, when she is going to blog she wants it to be well worth her time and I couldn't agree more.

How to blog intentionally

The first step to blogging intentionally that both Angie and I use, is to think of what we wanted to accomplish from our blog post. Ask yourself what action you want people to take after they read your post. Then, work backward.

For example, if you have a resource that has lost traction and sales have really dropped off, write a blog post about it. You could give teachers ideas on how to use it in their classroom and even create a freebie from it. This can help to boost sales again.

When we create new products, we spend a lot of time promoting them. But, then after a year or two, they start to lose their traction. I like to track my biggest sellers and then when I notice a big drop, I know it's time to make some changes. This could be updating the covers and preview images and writing a really useful blog post that highlights the product.

When you look at the data and you're freaking out because something isn't selling, it's nice to know that you can go and write a blog post about it and it will help it gain traction. This doesn't mean it's a quick process. Blogging is more of a long game, but it's nice to feel like you have some control over it.

So, instead of sitting and staring at a blank screen trying to decide what to write, start by thinking about what you want to accomplish and work backward.

Create a 3 part blog post

Sometimes I split my blog post into three parts.

The first post is about the topic. It might be a how-to type post or something like that.

The second post is something like tips on how teachers are using the resource in the classroom or a "here's what you can do with the resource" type post.

The third post is a roundup of quick tips and social m

The TpT Conference is coming up and we are discussing everything you need to know. But, if you still have questions about it, join us in the MasterMind discussion too. You can find it at www.growwithusmastermind.com.

It's time to get ready for the TpT conference! We'll be there attending and presenting this year and we're super excited. This is our favorite time of year as TpTers. We get to see friends and meet new people.

What we love about the conference

April and I have the same two things that we love the most about the TpT conference—the people and the renewed energy.

The people

At home, most people don't really "get" what we do. But, when we arrive at the conference, we are surrounded by people that "get it". They understand exactly what we do and what we deal with, both the good and the bad.

Your significant other or family and friends don't really understand how frustrating it is to get a question through the Q&A. They don't know the feeling you get when you hear that notification.

The renewed energy

When you head home from the conference you take with you so much renewed energy. You'll feel ready to take on the tasks that you need to in order to grow your business again.

April attended the first conference but I didn't. I had such FOMO (fear of missing out) after that first year that I haven't missed one since.

If the conference is still open for registration when you read this, head over to the site and get signed up!

There have been a lot of questions bouncing around in the group, so we are going to answer the most common questions that we're seeing.

But, first a little about our workshop

This year, April and I are going to be presenting a workshop at the conference. It's called The 30 Day Blogging Challenge.

We are going to blog like we're supposed to over this summer and want to invite you to join along with us. During the workshop, we're going to outline everything you need to do in order to blog intentionally and then set up accountability for you when the conference is done.

When you leave the conference, you will have a plan in place and know what blog posts you're going to create. During the workshop, we'll be there to help you one-on-one. That's why we love workshops!

Once you leave the conference we are going to have three weeks of accountability for you and follow up podcasts.

Not able to attend the conference? You can still join in afterward with the podcast episodes and accountability.

TpT Conference Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q - What should I bring to the conference?

Laptop - YES

I always bring a laptop to the conference with me, but I don't usually take it to sessions. However, if you're coming to our workshop, it will be helpful for you to bring your laptop to it.

It's nice to go back to the room at night and be able to start trying out the things that you're learning. It's also not uncommon to see a group of TpTers sitting around with their laptops out working side-by-side. And, you might meet new people that you want to show something from your store or blog or check out on theirs.

Handouts - You decide

I used to print out all the handouts beforehand and bring them with me to take notes on. But, now I find that it's more beneficial for me to bring one notebook that I call my "[Year] TpT Conference Notebook". I put all my notes from sessions and workshops in here so I can go over them once I get home.

April likes to save all the handouts digitally. She often switches up what workshop she's going to or jumps in on one that has room when she's there. The digital downloads are helpful when they include links.

Our workshop is going to have a blog post template organizer. However, we made it a fillable form so y

There is a lot to wrap your head around when building a TpT business. Today we are taking a break from business strategy and honoring TpT spouses. But, if you are looking for answers and tips for your business, head over to our MasterMind group: www.growwithusmastermind.com.

If you're building a TpT store, you realize how much work really goes into it. It's not a get-rich-quick type of business (not that those really exist anyway). It takes a lot of time and effort whether you are still teaching in the classroom or not. And, then you add all of your regular life to-do's into the mix and it can feel like something's got to give. Enter, the TpT spouse.

TpT spouses are amazing! They do a lot and don't usually get a lot of credit. They support us in our business goals, listen to us stress about things they might not understand, help free up our time so we can work on our business, and some even start to work in the business with us. So, April and I decided that it was time to honor these spouses. We brought on 3 of the TpT husbands that we know so they could share their perspective.

Scott: The husband behind the Not So Wimpy Teacher

First up on our podcast was Scott the husband behind Jamie at the Not So Wimpy Teacher. When Jamie first started the business, Scott thought of it as a hobby. He that she could use it to maybe earn enough money to cover her TpT expenses. Jamie was a teacher and Scott was working full-time at night as a nurse. At that time they also had four young children at home.

He first started helping Jamie out by taking over more of the household chores. Since he worked at night he had a chance to get groceries and clean the house before the kids were home from school. This allowed his wife time to work on her TpT store while she was home in the evening.

But, after downloading the app on his phone he started to hear all the cha-chings and realized the potential of the business. He started helping her with pinning so she had more time for creation. Then, he started listening to podcasts and watching tutorials to learn more about it. As the business continued to grow he was able to cut back on his nursing shifts to take on more of the tasks for the business, eventually quitting his job altogether.

Scott now handles Facebook and Pinterest advertising for the store as well as the finances and technical issues.

Favorite things about the TpT business

Scott admitted it's the best career he's ever had. He enjoys having more time at home and no longer misses his kids' concerts or games. And, he gets to spend more time with his wife. He also loves that there is always something new to learn.

Advice for others

When working with your spouse, make sure you know what your roles are so you aren't always second-guessing each other.

Scott and Jamie use the Wunderlist app to keep track of their business to-dos. This helps to keep their business life and personal life separate. Instead of talking about business all day long this allows them to add things they think of to the app to address once they are working again.

Peter: The husband behind Performing in Education

Peter is April's husband and also a high school government teacher. He admitted that he was not

Selling online courses is a great way to add an additional income stream to your TpT business. If you feel this is outside of your wheelhouse, you won't want to miss this information. We are continuing the conversation in our Mastermind group. Head over there to share what questions you have about creating an online course: www.growwithusmastermind.com.

Selling online professional development courses is a big part of my business. Courses and getting teachers to use your resources go hand-in-hand. You can reach a large audience by combining the two. And, if you're getting a lot of questions about how to implement your resources, it's an effective way to answer questions and teach the information.

I'm going to share what I've learned throughout the past few years of online course creation, but first, here's a little of my story.

A little of my own story creating an online course

Two years ago I decided to put together a video series about project-based learning. I released the first video and started getting a lot of questions. I would refer people to a blog post or video that I had already created answering their questions. Then I realized I should put it all together in one easy to access place in more of a course platform. This concept was starting to become really popular in the TpT world.

Another reason I thought it would be a good idea to tackle a course is that my resources are for 3rd - 5th grade, but I was getting lots of questions from teachers outside of this range. I didn't have any resources for them but wanted to be able to help them use project-based learning in their classrooms.

I was using project-based learning in my own room, and with a class of 35 students, many struggling to learn English, I had really learned to simplify the process. So, I felt I had a lot to offer knowledge so I started putting the course together.

[caption id="attachment_1252" align="aligncenter" width="662"] Original Course (On Teachable)[/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_1253" align="aligncenter" width="662"] Original Course (On Teachable)[/caption]

The results of my online course

Launching the course was a lot of work but I started to get people buying it. And, I was really surprised at how many districts were interested in it. I put the course out there and districts were wanting to purchase 20 or 30 licenses for it.

It was surprising to me because I didn't know districts would pay for this. But, the people they bring in for training charge a lot of money and they're barely able to scrape the surface of whatever it is they are trying to teach. Teachers need actionable steps.

Another reason districts were interested is when you hire people to come to the school you have recommendations or website to look at but aren't really able to see how they are teaching the teachers. I think this helped me because when my course was created, I had a lot of videos out there that they could watch beforehand. They could see how I did the training. This was good for getting both teachers and districts to sign up.

With that quick overview, here are the answers to the questions we hear most often about course creation:

When is the right time to create a course?

I think if you have something that teachers are constantly emailing you about, whether it's good feedback or something they're confused about, then it's time to create a course.

If teachers are having problems in their classroom, many are willing to pay for the training to learn what they