TPT TIPS for TUES: EDIT LIKE CRAZY

This Article can also be Known as "TRY TRY AGAIN, UGH." I'll explain why in a minute.
You all know I'm Gina @ the Perfetto
WritingRoom. One Word, One Store, One Blog, All things Writing! I am trying to remind people because my friends tell me "Gina, I can't find you when I enter your store name." Someone then apprised me of the fact that even adding a space can throw off the search. NOW, on to the explanation. . . 

Don't Forget Your Coffee!

 
The Value of DOING it ALL AGAIN. . .

So why the Ugh?

If you hear those birds tweet a tweeting away outside like I do, spring is here and summer is already biting at its heels. If you are thinking of joining teacherspayteachers or TPT, just started, are fairly newbie-ish, or even if it your first real summer cycle, be prepared for the epic slowdown.  It hurts, it really hurts.

On the tpt forums, the word is out. "What can I do to keep the sales coming in?" or, " How do I improve my sales in the summer?" There are numerous threads on this topic. Check them out, then start your own!

Advice you'll get regarding SUMMER is THIS:

• It's a great time to remake those lower selling products
• It's a great time to remake your covers
• It's a great time to prepare for September and make back-to-        school products
• It's a great time to do anything you didn't have time to do when you were selling like water during a drought
• Sometimes, even changing your title may get a great product that isn't selling more sales (who knew?)

• If you have been wanting to: work on a blog, pin future items that may begin to sell in a month or so, take a tutorial on TBTS (Teaching Blog Traffic School, by Charity Preston a TpTer who helps you advance your advertising ability and social media skills), make NEW products...... Well, the theory goes if you aren't raking in bucks anyway, why bother advertising for extra hours? You might as well properly position yourself now.

Many of the ideas above are "squirrel techniques." You know, the conscientious squirrel who spent the summer and fall putting all the acorns in his caches so that when winter came he'd be good and fat?

While some intrepid folks suggest making summer or camp materials, or pinning winter products for people in Australia since it is a growing market and people will buy your products, ONLY YOU can decide what's best for you, your store, and your brand. 

. . . . 

FOR A LONG TIME, PEOPLE on the $1000 thread have been saying that you have to Try Try, Again. Here is my Epic Simile: Don't be like Thelma and Louise.

Don't we ALL just want to keep on going? OOH a new idea. Let's keep going, like Thelma and Louise in that cool car, with our sunglasses and babushka, do-rag, kerchief-thingies on, racing onward to the vast unknown of fabulous mind-blowing ideas. Driving onward, onward, over that cliff, and into the inexorable CRASH of low sales and disillusionment, knowing at the very end that yes, we had it coming all along. 

Yeah. Because you can't just leave your problems behind. A bad husband, bills, trouble with the law (or crappy covers, complaints from customers, and typos) in your wake. You and your wallet will eventually end up flat at the bottom of a chasm. You know. . . ...kinda like Thelma and Louise? 

Forgive my epic simile above. Most of the advice about:

• Changing your titles
• Changing/Improving your Products
• ADDING products to your store
• Updating your covers

1.  is good advice ALL YEAR ROUND, not just for spring, summer, and the impending release of the students to the wilds of the suburbs, city streets, or pools, gardens and backyards of the world.
2. Before you read anything, know that results are not typical, and the goal is to inspire, NOT compare. YOU, I and we all can achieve what we want. Just as we tell our kids and students not to compare; let's use the examples below to put a fire under us so that we too may do even better things than what we are doing now. 



Melissa Shutler - Visit her Store!

Melissa's advice - " I was here for 4-5 months before hitting 4-digits. . . .Just keep working. I have 117 products in my store. I constantly update my old products to keep them fresh. I add new products monthly. . . ."






Visit this store - Work Smarter, Not Harder!

Advice from this seller. . . .This is my third month with TPT and I have over $1,000 for March . . . I do set a goal of two new products a month.  I currently have 70 products.  Some have never sold and I will probably redo them this summer when I have more time.



Visit 4 the Love of Math's Store

 Advice from Love of Math: . . . then had my first "crazy" month in August - I made around $2500 and literally stared at my dashboard in disbelief all month long.
I added around  60 products to my store between May-August which helped a lot. Over the summer I also redid most of my covers, updated products, and added a page to almost all of my products that had links to similar products as well as to my store home page. It was hard work, it was worth it! 

SO WHAT's the LESSON??

• It is worth it to REDO your covers
• It is worth it to go back in to products to improve them, to add links to your store and to other products, or to change your title
• It is essential to build your store and add products.
• It COULD result in a sales explosion!

A Before and After

 Cover of my best-selling product, Above

"Complete Glossary of Literary Terms"

 - This always was a fantastic resource.

I thought the original cover was "super cool, snazzy, and totally top-drawer" and  had a "pinterest look" about it on the front cover. It actually was busy, unclear, and probably slowed my sales.

Now...BEHOLD! The new cover!!!

This is finally available for purchase in the new form. This is a better, clearer, more graphic cover. I redid the ENTIRE product, adding store and companion product links. I transposed the entire product from Word to PowerPoint. So much work, but worth it.

    

GOD BLESS - and remember to visit PerfettoWritingRoom Every Tuesday and Friday for Tips and Features! 

And visit my store 

YOUR TURN - SHARE WITH ALL OF US!

1. What have you done that has given you the 

BIGGEST BOOST in sales?

2. How many products do you try to create during the summer (if you can)?

3. What is YOUR position on editing, revisiting, changing and updating versus making new products? The best sellers seem to do both, but how do you manage this?