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.
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.
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!
