Teachers Pay Teachers Conference July 2014 Session 2 Notes

Thank you so much for all of your positive feedback about my posts!  Honestly, I am learning even more as I process my notes to write these posts so it is a plus for me as well! If you missed my previous posts you can find them here:

                                                               Day 1: Keynote notes
                                                               Day 2: Session 1 Notes 

All of the presenters uploaded their session handouts to TpT for free.  You can find the handouts for this session here.

I wish I was able to share some great pictures with you from this session, but this was my view.  The room was packed!

I did learn a ton during this session, so I will share that with you! Ryan opened up the presentation with this really cool Mario Brothers themed app of some sort that would go off every time someone in the room made a sale.  It was really neat and I wish I could have shown it to you!  He did give us the average earnings for everyone in the room.  It was pretty amazing!

That number is $6,899 if you can't see it.

Being the "Data Ninja" Ryan gave us some helpful tips on how the search ranking works at TpT along with a few other key tidbits.

Search

Search is personalized for each buyer based on items they have looked at and purchased.  That is one of the reasons why we don't usually see ourselves in the featured seller page (we don't buy from ourselves!).

When a person searches for a certain term, the algorithm factors in the buyer's past purchases along with the sales performance of the items. Top sellers' items might come before items that haven't sold as many.  You can see the exact details in the handouts with the (scary looking to some) page with the equations.  It is under the heading How Sorting Works.  The next page shows how items that are sold more have preference in the rankings using the conversion rate which is the # of times a product is sold divided by the # of product views multiplied times 100.  The higher percentage this is, the higher you will rank in the search.

If you don't read any other handout from the conference - read this one!

29% of users search right from the TpT website itself.

How Can I Optimize My Products For Search?

Product titles should be descriptive and simple.  Save the cute names for the covers.  For example, if you title is Dunking Time (a basketball themed division game of some sort) it might not get as many hits as a product entitled Division Review Game.

Ryan pointed out Kelley's Good Morning Work products that garner top page views when searching for good morning work.  Did you know that there are over 185,000 searches for morning work?

If you want to know what buyers are searching for, look at the top bar where you search.  If you click in this box a list of suggestions comes up.  These are the top 5 searches from the day before. I just took this screen shot as I was typing this post.  I had also peeked at it Friday night (the words were the same), so I think it would be safe to check it out weekly if you wanted to know what buyers are looking for.

He suggested putting the parts that will most likely be searched for in the front of your titles.  I already fixed  my own products Kicking It Math - I changed them to have the fact fluency in front instead of the Kicking It Math.  These products are for helping students master their math facts, and that might not be obvious from the name.

He assured us that changing the name does not effect any previous links you may have had anywhere else.  What do you think of the title change?  Is it more descriptive?

Tagging

As of right now, the common core standards that you click on are not included in search.  Keep clicking on them because it is coming, but you will want to list them in the product description as well if you want them to come up in the search.

Don't over tag grade levels.  Don't put K-12 on letter recognition items.  It isn't fair to the high school sellers when your item comes up and it really isn't fair to the buyers who are looking for something else entirely.  Just use the tags that truly fit your product.

Goal Setting

Next up was Kelley Dolling from the Teacher Idea Factory. She told us a little but about her story of turning lemons into lemon-aid when she was forced to take time off her teaching job because of a surgery.  During her recovery time she turned to Teachers Pay Teachers to keep her busy and keep her mind off of what she was missing at school.

Kelley is a pro at ranking high in the search engines at TpT and in tracking her data.  In the handouts are samples of the sheets she uses to track her goals.  Kelley says that she keeps these goal sheets posted on her wall near her desk to keep her on track. She can look up at it and see if there is anything she needs to tweak to meet her goals.  She says it is also helpful to be able to see the growth from quarter to quarter and year to year.  I started keeping a similar goal sheet and I have to agree it is fun to see the growth, especially on those slow days.

Some Tips:

* Track data from many sources (sales, followers, votes, Facebook, blog followers, etc.)

* Put goals where you can SEE them.

* Make changes to products where you don't rank high or areas where you aren't ranking high

As I was commenting on blogs this morning, I noticed that Jennifer White from First Grade Blue Skies has shared some notes and handouts from her presentation.  I did not get to attend her session, so I was excited to see this and wanted to share the info with you as well! Her session was on making your products pop!

I have donated items to a few giveaways going on right now, so you will want to head over and enter to win some amazing prizes.

The first one is in honor of Searching for Teacher Balance's 1st Blogiversary.

The second is our Hot Summer Giveaway where we are giving out a ton of gift cards!  Just in time for back to school!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

TpT Conference 2014 Session 1 Notes - Jen Jones - Hello Buyers! Provide Top-Notch Customer Care For Your Buyers

As I said yesterday, I learned so much during the TpT conference on Friday and I am excited to share what I have learned.  Today I will be sharing my notes from the first session I attended with Jen Jones of Hello Literacy. 

If you missed yesterday's notes from the Keynote, you can find them here.

All of the presenters have uploaded their session handouts to TpT for free.  You can find the handout for this session here.

See how the cover of the handout says, "Someone Tweet this!"  Well, I follow directions well, so I did! LOL!

Jen Jones retweeted me!  I felt like a fan girl for sure!

She even replied on my Instagram! Throughout the conference I was amazed at how giving and sweet all of the presenters were!  No one seemed rushed or like they were too busy or good to talk to you, they all stopped to take pictures and answer questions.  They were really amazing!  I sat near Jen Jones during my last session and took a picture with her.

Enough of my fan-girling and time for the presentation info!

When we walked in the door, her hubby handed us these lanyards and raffle tickets.  

On the badge is a QR code which takes you to a SlideShare of her presentation which she said we could share.  You can find it here.

She started the session with a brief introduction of herself.  If you don't know about her (where have you been???) you can find her TpT site here and her blog here (you will want to take some time to scope this out, it is like PD in a blog!  Just don't say I didn't warn you when you spend 2 hours or more there!).

Then we participated in a clock buddies activity so we could meet each other and network (one of the points of the conference, right?). While I was walking around I got the opportunity to meet Katie Knight from Teacher to the Core.  Love her! I totally forgot to take a picture with her, but she gave me this card which I thought was a brilliant marketing idea, so I am sharing it with you!  She didn't say I could share the QR code for the freebie, so I cut that part off a bit, but I did want to share the marketing idea.  

Remember how I told you yesterday that Deanna Jump said she gave out freebies when she first started out?  Why not have some of these printed out to hand out when you go to teaching conferences, training, etc? If you couldn't see, on the card it offers and exclusive full-sized freebie for her amazing product Shout Outs. It is postcard sized and has a picture of the product cover along with the QR code for free download. You can see her intro to the left.  The other side of the card has links to all of her pages (blog, facebook, pinterest, and TpT).

I had already bought this when it came out and love it!  It is a great way to recognize your students throughout the year.  

Then we came back to our seats and took a poll using poll everywhere. Jen Jones said it is a great way to keep students engaged when they have cell phones, from the classroom to PD.  Even adults love to play with their phones right? Then she talked about customer care before the sale.

Your Profile

Before you make a sale, your buyer finds your product or your store.  Make sure it tells them everything you can! Jen suggests sharing as much information about yourself in your profile as you can.  If you were teacher of the year let everyone know!  

Get a blog 

If you don't have one, get one now.  Having a blog adds to your authority.  Teachers may not buy a product right away, but as they see it again and again and see the value you add through your blog, they will buy the product eventually.  As Jen says, "Blog it! Preach it!"

Social Media

You need to have a presence on social media, Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, etc.  If you want to start with just one, make it Pinterest because that is where 25% of the traffic comes from to TpT.

Q&A

Your Q&A section can make or break you!  Answer questions quickly and respond professionally.  This is the time to show new customers that you are available.

Custom Categories

Jen talked about how even when you go to the same grocery store every week, you still find yourself looking up for the aisle directories. Your store should have custom categories that fit your products to help buyers find more of what they need.  Help them out!

Cognitive Fluency

We learned a new phrase.  Cognitive Fluency is your brain's response to favoring the familiar.  You go to the same store, order the same meals at a restaurant.  Cognitive Fluency at work.  Your products should be the same. Similar but different.

Use What They Give You

Make sure you are using all of the tools available on TpT when you sell your product. Make sure you use ALL 4 thumbnails, the preview, and a complete description.  All products should have a preview.  Many buyers won't buy without one.  Buyers don't like the one page previews with the itty bitty pics that they can't see what they are buying.

Freebies

Freebies get buyers through the door.  Do not make them garbage, make them your best.  Don't make something and then think, I don't really like it and make it a freebie.  Just don't.  Your freebies should reflect the best you have to offer.  They are your Showcase! Make sure they include: credits, terms of use, and information about your paid products.

Always include your store name on EVERY page of your freebie.  What happens if a customer downloads your freebie, loves it and wants to buy something else from you.  If they can't remember where they found it, they can't find you!  I definitely need to add this to my products.

Reviews

60% of consumers want to read a review before they buy something. Mark is your friend! Who is Mark? The mark as useful button!  You can mark good reviews (the ones that leave substantial, constructive feedback) using the mark as useful button and it will rise to the top! You can help other sellers out when you buy items by leaving meaningful explicit feedback.  I know I buy from other sellers - I will definitely make sure to make my feedback even better.

Notes to Followers

Jen suggest sending a note to followers once a month.  Remind them about your store. Tell them something good.  Make them want to read your note. Have a giveaway. Let them know about it! Don't send them during peak times (sales) when everyone else is sending them.  Keep them short and sweet!

Customer Satisfaction

Jen says you need to think long-term.  Don't think about that one sale, you want the customer to come back.  Even more, you want them to talk about you (in a good way, not a bad one!).

Happy customers tell 3 people

Unhappy customers tell 10 people.

Get the 3, avoid the 10.

Demands in the Green Room
Jen reminded us that you just can't please everyone.  For that once in a while customer who is just unreasonable, don't worry about it or let it steal your mojo!

And those are my notes.

Tomorrow I will be blogging about my second session: The Data Advantage (Optimize Your Store) with Ryan VanMeter (Head of Data at Teachers Pay Teachers) & Kelley Dolling from Teacher Idea Factory

Remember if you have any questions you can email me or leave a comment below!  I loved the feedback from yesterday and I will respond to all of you tonight - but for now I am off for some much needed family time at the water park!

Teachers Pay Teachers Conference July 2014 Keynote Notes

I have spent the past few days in Vegas for the first Teachers Pay Teachers Conferences and let me tell you it was amazing! Keeping wit the spirit of the TpT way of working in collaboration and not competition, I wanted to share some of the things I learned with you this week.  The TpT presenters are also sellers and were amazing about sharing with us and I would like to pay that forward. Keep in mind that we were limited to the sessions we attended, so my posts will only be about what I learned.  

However, the good news is that I saw camera crews there and it was said that TpT will be sharing the videos of the sessions in some way or fashion in the near future.  I am really excited about that because I learned so much in the sessions I was able to attend, and I absolutely want to learn more from the ones I couldn't attend.  If you weren't able to make it, be sure to keep your eyes out for them because they are phenomenal!

My plan is to write a post a day about each session that I attended starting with the keynote today.  The next few days will be as follows:

July 13th will be Hello Buyers (Providing Top-Notch Customer Care for Your Buyers) with Jen Jones from Hello Literacy

July 14th will be The Data Advantage (Optimize Your Store) with Ryan VanMeter (Head of Data at Teachers Pay Teachers) & Kelley Dolling from Teacher Idea Factory

July 15th will be Build Your Magnet Marketing Plan with Rachel Lynette from Minds In Bloom

July 16th will be Accelerating Your Store's Success with Erin Cobb from Lovin' Lit

July 17th will be All About Me and my experiences at the conference.  Kind of the ins and outs of why I went, why I am thrilled that I went, my memories, etc.  Also, why you really should go next year if you can!

The keynote in a nutshell was everything about what makes Teachers Pay Teachers the amazing place that it is.

Amy Borrell Berner, the Head of Community and Editorial for Teachers for Teachers Pay Teachers opened up the conference.  She was warm, and bubbly and a great way to get us started and as an introduction to Teachers Pay Teachers.

We had our very own Oscars moment TpT style when the CEO of TpT, John Yoo, took a selfie to show his teens he was a cool Dad. He said it probably wouldn't work, and as a mom of teens, I think he is probably right.  Us sellers definitely thought he was cool though!


I stole this pic from TPT's Facebook because I was on the other side of the room!

Paul Edelman, the founder of TpT was amazing!  He is so down to earth (look at him rocking those blue jeans) and personable.  As he took the stage he got a standing ovation which was well deserved.  The reason I believe it was well deserved is because he has really empowered teachers through his website.  He has allowed us to profit from our intellectual property just like book authors, and songwriters.  It was humbling to hear him say that we deserve it!  I found this article on-line that has many of the things he said in his keynote if you want a more in depth look.

He told us we (teachers) were super heroes who help other teachers make magic moments in their classroom.

And he told us what Teachers Pay Teachers super power is.  I agree, don't you?

They shared a few TpT stats:

They reminded us of the history of TpT.  This is what it looked like in 2008 when I joined.  I was only one of a handful who stood up when they called that year out.  

Yes, I started in 2008, but you might have never known it.  I will share more when I share my TpT story later this week.

Deanna Jump's keynote was so inspiring! Again this is a swiped pic from TpT because I was sitting right there!  Can you see me? LOL!

 I had read her story on her blog and had heard about it in various interviews she has given, so I didn't expect to cry when I heard it live - I was wrong.  I cried!  There were very few dry eyes in the house. And although her story was sad in some places and told of struggle living on a teacher's salary, she is so bubbly and upbeat about everything!  

She shared this quote with us as she told us her story. She didn't just become the number one seller on TpT because she was bubbly - she WORKED at it.

* She sent out freebies to teachers around the country to get them to look at her products.

* She worked with other sellers to collaborate on giveaways, linky parties, etc.

* She learned about marketing her products and making them better.

* She sought out places to speak and teach.

She had a few missteps in the keynote but she handled it with grace.  A quote we will not soon forget from her is "It's about Quantity not Quality!"  She quickly caught herself and made the correction, but it is so true!  As sellers we really need to remember that the quality of our products should always come first! 

My favorite quote of hers happened when a cha-ching went off in the audience and she said, "For every cha-ching that's a teacher who believed in you and your products and used their money to buy it.  Money that they might have needed to purchase something else."

That was so inspiring to me.  I really do appreciate everyone who has purchased a product from me and placed that confidence in me.  It has helped my family in so many ways, and I hope that it has helped you as well.  

To my teacher followers who are not sellers (yet - you may catch the bug, and if you do I would love to help in any way I can), I appreciate you indulging me this week as I post about the conference.  I will be back next week with more teaching ideas.

To my followers who are sellers, I hope you enjoy hearing about what I learned.  If you have any questions, feel free to email me or leave a comment below!

I am linking up with Burst of First for her What happens in Vegas linky party.  Check out what the other bloggers have to say about the trip as well!