If you missed my overview of Day 1 of the Teachers Pay Teachers conference, head over HERE.
I was determined to make the 2nd day better than the first, and that started with leaving extra early to avoid traffic. The universe had different plans for me because I locked myself out of the house, for the first time EVER, right before leaving. I had to wait 45 minutes for my mom to bring over the spare key, and then spend a few more minutes fixing my hair that the Florida humidity ruined. It was a terrible way to start the day, but I knew things would only get better.
Thankfully there was no traffic on the way to the conference, but I realized another big problem right after I parked. I forgot my wallet at home. Seriously, I don’t know how this all happened. I started freaking out because I knew I had to pay $20 just to get out of the parking lot. Luck finally came my way when I found my credit card (that I never use) at the bottom of my purse. After this meltdown was complete, I was ready to start my day at the conference!
Session 5: Social Media Round Up with Ashley Schroder
This is one session I knew I was going to sign up for when I registered for the conference. I started following Ashley on social media when she started periscoping at the conference in 2015. I love her energy and her passion for teaching. She shared tips and tricks for each platform (Periscope, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat), as well as giving suggestions for influencers to follow.
During her talk on Facebook she mentioned Catherine Reed’s (Brown Bag Teacher) session, which was all about Facebook, and how informative it was. I heard SO MANY good things about this Facebook session that I kind of regret not finding a way to go, but Ashley gave me some good pointers to get started with Facebook. Once again, video was brought up with Facebook Live. It’s clear I need to get over this video fear if I want to grow my business. She also talked about scheduling posts with Hootsuite and using memes to help gain followers and engagement. My facebook page is SUPER new, but check it out here: https://www.facebook.com/teachruncreate
Ashley also talked about using the “explore tool” on Instagram to find new accounts, and using airplane mode to schedule. You can’t schedule posts in Instagram like in Twitter or Facebook, but you can get posts ready to go.
With Snapchat, she mentioned using bit.ly links and telling followers to screen shot it for later. I haven’t tried this yet, but it seems like a very powerful strategy. There are many other “snappers” using this strategy, but I’m not always compelled to screen shot their link myself. I used to screen shot tons of things, but then I forgot all about them. Maybe it’s just me…
Ashley ended her session by talking very briefly about some Twitter talks (#tptchat on Sunday and #teacherfriends on Tuesday) and the importance of building an e-mail list.
Session 6: What I did Right, What I did Wrong Panel with Erica Bohrer, Deanna Jump, Chris Kesler, and DeeDee Wills
This session was a refreshing change to the other sessions as it was almost 100% led by the audience. Each speaker took about 5 minutes to briefly discuss what they did right and wrong, then they opened it up for questions. Hearing how these big sellers made similar mistakes to the ones I’ve made was reassuring that I’m not alone. I especially enjoyed hearing Chris talk. He talked a lot more about the intentional entrepreneurial side of the Teachers Pay Teachers. He recommended a book, The 10x Rule by Grant Cardone, to help us expand our goals. I downloaded the book on Audible immediately and its phenomenal. If you have never used Audible, you can get a free trial to check out this book for free. Check it out at audible.com
Someone asked if any of the sellers had any problems with their district having conflicting opinions about their making income on TeachersPayTeachers. This has always been a big concern of mine, so I was glad someone asked this! I had no idea Deanna ran into some problems with her first district and resigned before any resolution came from it. Erica said she avoids issues by sharing her resources with her entire district – great idea.
Session 7: Tap Into Homeschool with Jodi Durgin
As a former elementary school and a home schooling mom, Jodi had a wealth of information to share about promoting our TpT materials to the homeschool community. Did you know the percent of families homeschooling increases by about 7% annually!? WOW! I really enjoyed the simple and powerful tips Jodi shared to make our products more appealing for homeschool families. She shared how we can turn commonly used education terms (from our product descriptions) into more homeschool friendly words. For example, change ‘common core’ to ‘skills’, ‘students’ to ‘kids’ and ‘teachers’ to ‘educators’.
She suggested creating a “Homeschool” board on Pinterest to share our ideas that are most beneficial for this community, as well as using the hashtag #homeschool on Instagram when appropriate.
Session 8: Stay Relevant and Build a Long Term Brand with Angela Watson
My last session of the conference was with Angela Watson. She talked more about business in general, than giving specific ideas. I really appreciated the way she set up her session, as it pushed me to start brainstorming ideas immediately. She briefly discussed Pat Flynn’s new book, Will it Fly, which I thought was super cool since I had just finished reading this book. This is another great book that I suggest you check out. It’s great on Audible because Pat is actually the one reading it and he adds in extra tidbits of information.
Angela mentioned the importance of creating editable products on TeachersPayTeachers. This is a newer trend and I’ve definitely seen an increase in sales on some of the products I’ve already updated to be editable.
Overall, I had a great time at the conference! I was able to meet so many other sellers and build connections that I know will last. The sessions were jam packed with valuable content that I know I will play an impact in helping my store grow. More than anything though, I enjoyed being surrounded by the enormous amount of positivity and true passion for teaching. It was clear that above anything else, kids are staying at the heart of TeachersPayTeachers. Everything we do is to improve education for OUR kids.
