Why Should TpT Sellers Use Pinterest?

Why is Pinterest so important and a necessity for TpT sellers?

You keep hearing me say, Pinterest is the key!  But why?!  And how can you use it efficiently?  Keep reading!

As educators, our audience goes to Pinterest for inspiration and ideas for their classroom.  Think of Pinterest as a search engine, NOT AS A SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM!!  Due to algorithm changes, people don't follow people as often, they follow interests.  People also tend to go onto Pinterest and search for what they are looking for.  What does that mean for us as TpT sellers?  We want our content where our audience is searching!!  

What should we pin?

Remember, people are searching for inspiration and ideas.  If they wanted to buy automatically, they would go to TpT directly.  That said, can you put products on Pinterest...YES!  But I would recommend using product in action photos more times than just your TpT cover image.  You want it to fit with the Pinterest mindset. You want this "buyer" to see the inspiration and how that product will help them.

What else can  you pin?  Blog posts!!!  This is the best thing to pin!  People want inspiration and FREE ideas....(not just freebies).  What will someone be searching for?  How can you help them?  

Things To Remember:

People mostly view Pinterest on their phones.  That means you want your pin images to be mobile friendly.  You also want the blog post that it takes them to to also be mobile friendly.  Think big fonts, bright colors, not too cluttered with image collages.

Reasons Pinterest May Not Work:

• You aren't pinning clear, easy to read images
• You aren't writing intriguing captions
• You aren't pinning often.  You should be pinning AT LEAST 5 times daily!
• You aren't pinning into boards that represent your brand
• You didn't showcase who you are in your Pinterest profile
• You aren't directing them to content that is interesting enough
• You are giving all the "goods" in the pin and they don't need to click in to read more and be able to execute
• You are spamming the same pin over and over at the same time.  Spread them out!
• You are only pinning to TpT, not blog
• You are only pinning your own content, not others as well.  Pinterest wants to see that you are contributing to the culture of Pinterest.
• You aren't pinning with keywords in mind.  What are people typing into the search?  Use those keywords in your image and description.
• You are only selling and not helping.
• You are only pinning into collaborative boards, and not your own.  Collaborative boards don't have the same impact as they used to.
• You aren't analyzing what is working and what isn't.  Keep doing what works.  Pin it again.
• You are deleting pins before you pin it again.  Don't do that!   No need!  Just pin again, as long as there is time interval in between and you pinned other content in meantime, you are fine!  Audience won't notice you pinned it again.

You said pin often and in multiple boards.  What do you mean?

You should have a nice variety of pinterest boards on your account.  They should cover all the topics and areas you create products in and write blog posts about.  Think topics that make up your day/school year.  One product or blog post may AND SHOULD fall into multiple categories.  You should pin that pin into the various boards it will fall into.  You SHOULD NOT do it all at one time!  It should be pinned once a day up to once a week or more!  This way, you should pin it AGAIN into the same board once a month!  So when someone searches on Pinterest for that topic any week of the month, your pin will come up in search since it is fresh as it as pinned again into a different board each week.  You always want your pin to be fresh.  Don't spam, spread them out.  No need to delete pins when you repin!

How can you pin often without taking too much time away from life/work?

Tailwind!  You can set it and forget it!  Want a free trial of 100 pins to test it out?!  Click HERE to learn more!  I will be doing more blog posts on the topic!

What does this tell you?

Pinning is essential to your TpT business.  Your audience is there and needs you!  Be there when they are searching.  Don't just sell, help, inspire, and motivate!  Bring them to your website/blog and showcase your expertise!  Earn their trust and the right to sell to them!   Keep blogging like a boss and write awesome content that your audience will need, not want!  They may not even know they need it!  Make them realize  it.  Solve their problems!

Have more questions about Pinterest?  Write them in the comments or feel free to hop into my Facebook group and ask there!  Join the group by clicking HERE!

Should TpT Sellers Use Blogger or Wordpress?

Two blogging platforms?  Which one is for you?

Ok, you may be asking first, what is the difference?!

Blogger:  Owned by Google, free account, has the ".blogspot.com" in your domain, easy to learn, you don't need to pay for hosting, you don't own the content and Google can shut it down at any point, not as sophisticated.

Wordpress:  (aka .org NOT .com).  You must buy your own hosting and domain (tons of companies out there to do price comparisons), there is a learning curve, the plugins can be overwhelming but once you get them figured out you have a lot of customization and capabilities, you own the content, and more flexibility in design/layout.

What platform is this blog?

This blog is a blogger blog.  Why?  I wanted to have one of each!  I wanted to be able to reference blogger codes and layouts while helping clients.  

What platform is your Speech Time Fun blog?

When I started, I didn't know what  I was doing and I started with a blogger, designed it myself (was pretty ugly), and learned how to just write and get an audience with it.  I didn't know if anyone would read it and also blogging wasn't as huge back then too.  Once my audience grew and my business too, I decided to take the plunge.  After 3 years on blogger, I paid a blog designer to do the layout and transfer of content.  Totally recommend paying someone to do it!!  I wanted to stand out more.  I wanted more layout and design options.  I wanted the potential to be able to house content and maybe even have a store one day on my site.  You can only do these things with a Wordpress blog.  Was it a learning curve, yes but one that I would recommend to anyone that wants to really utilize their blog to grow an audience and showcase their brand.

What should you consider when making the decision?

Cost!  This is a huge factor!  Can't afford to pay a monthly expense for hosting, then don't!  Also, the cost of getting a Wordpress blog designed is higher as well.  

Time!  Do you have the time to learn an elaborate platform?  Do you want to learn all of the plugins that are out there so that you can fully utilize Wordpress?  Do you want to learn all about SEO and all of the capabilities there are on Wordpress?

Heart!  Do you love blogging?  Is it your passion?  Consider a Wordpress site.  If you don't love it and feel like it is a chore, consider Blogger!

Where are you in your journey?  Are you a new TpT seller?  Are you still learning your brand, style, and growing your audience?  Are you still struggling to fill your store with products?  Don't go crazy right now designing a thorough website.  You can easily have a Blogger site to use as your hub/central location.  You want a place where people can go to find more about you.  What kind of teacher are you?  How are you like your reader?  How can they relate to you?  You can accomplish this on ANY site, blogger or wordpress.  Trust me, I did it for over 3 years!

Want more to read on this topic?  I highly recommend this blog post from Meagan of I Teach What's Your Superpower.  Click HERE to read it!  She knows her stuff since she is also a blog designer!

My last recommendation!

If you do decide to stay on Blogger, please please do my a favor...and buy your domain!  You can easily have it be redirected to your blogger site (I did it with this site!).  Why is this so important?  You want to own it and claim it quick.  You don't want someone else taking it, just like any other social media name!  Also, if you wait to long, "someone out there" can find out that there is a blogger site doing well and buy is that the price goes up.  This happened to me with my Speech Time Fun blog.  It was not fun trying to get that domain.  I was stalking all domain companies waiting to see if the price fluctuated.  I even had friends stalking it too.  A friend actually saw the price go down and I jumped and bought it!  Don't let this happen to you.  It also looks more professional and is easier to remember to have a .com without the .blogspot.com

Want to learn more?  Watch my video below!

Why Should TpT Sellers Blog?

You have a TpT store, why should you also blog?

Branding

By having a blog, you have a place for buyers to learn more about you, view you as an expert, and can learn to rely on you.  They can learn what your strengths are and connect with your style and personality.  You can be yourself.  You can share more about you.  You can give your audience a glimpse into the live and teachings of YOU!  You have more flexibility to give the readers what they want compared to just on TpT itself and on social media.  

Marketing

Although you can market your products your blog, I don't recommend only doing that!  I recommend helping your readers out, solving their problems, saving the day!  Every once in a while though, it is OK to share a product that can help them out too!  By sharing valuable and consistent content, you will earn the right to market more!

Standing Out

There are so many sellers on TpT now.  Do you really want to rely on search?  Do you really want to compete against the millions of products that have similar titles or search keywords?  By having a blog, you can stand out amongst your competitors.  You can be unique, showcase your skills, and put a face and voice behind your TpT products.  

Buyers want to feel like they know the person they are shopping from.  It is very hard to grow an audience on social media these days since it is SO crowded.  By blogging, you can pin your blog posts to Pinterest (which is really a search engine) and be organically discovered for solving problems.  That is how you stand out.  That is how you get buyers to know, like, and trust you.  Show them they can trust you.  Show them that you are just like them and having similar struggles as them.

Where should you start?

Do you have a blog yet?  If so, you are already there!  If not, consider starting one.  This blog is housed under blogspot which is a free service.  I bought the domain name so that it is easy for a reader to remember and type in.  It is really easy to have the domain be redirected to your blog spot account.  Why did I decide to use blogspot?  My Speech Time Fun blog is Wordpress but I wanted another platform so that I could answer blog spot questions from all of you!  I wanted to prove to you that you can still accomplish your goals under any platform.  It is all about the content and the person writing it and how they get their voice heard.

So you have a blog now what?

Write!  Think about what problems you face or what questions you receive.  Solve problems.  What can you write about that will be what someone is already searching for but doesn't already exist.  Put new valuable content out there.  Help educators.  Show that you can be relied on.  Pin it so that it can be found!

Want to learn more about why I think blogging is so important for TpT sellers?  View my video below!