Having a Long-Term and Sustainable Business on TPT with Lauren Fulton

Kirsten 0:01

You're listening to the creative teacher podcast, a show for busy teachers looking for ways to engage, inspire and make an impact in their teacher businesses. I'm Kiersten, a teacher business owner who is all about simple and actionable tips, strategies and resources that result in wins, big or small. If you're looking for that extra spark of creativity, you've come to the right place. Let's dive in together.

Hey there, welcome to another episode of the creative Teacher Podcast. Today we have a special guest, and it is Lauren Fulton of the rebranded teacher. She's here talking with me about building a long term sustainable business on TPT. This was a really great conversation that we had, and I can't wait for you to listen in. If you don't know Lauren recently co hosted the teacher seller Summit. And she also has her own podcast and YouTube channel, the rebranded Teacher Podcast. So I'm super excited to have you here. Let's go ahead and listen to that interview. All right, we have a special guest on the creative teacher podcast. Lauren Fulton is here. Welcome to the show.

Lauren 2:22

Thank you so much for having me, Kirsten.

Kirsten 2:24

Yes, I'm so excited. You're here. Because I know that the topic that you're gonna share is very important. So just give a little bit of info about yourself and your journey as a teacher seller. What inspired you to even start a TPT business?

Lauren 2:43

Oh, gosh, well, I started back in 2016. It was in I think, my second year of teaching, or maybe it was the summer after my second year of teaching. And I had some resources like most teachers that I'd made for my classroom, I thought they were amazing. They really weren't, they weren't that grade. Oh, you know. And I was like, you know, what, I should put these up on Teachers Pay teacher's just for fun. And so it was kind of my summer project where I took two resources that I had made for my classroom, and put them up, it took me the entire summer to put those two resources on TPT I was so proud of the finished product. And of course, in hindsight, you know, I probably had to go back and revise them What, like 12 times or something, you know, because they were really awful. But it was kind of started off as something that was just going to be a hobby for me, it was just going to be fun. And I thought, Oh, if I could make like one sale or to sales, or even just make like, you know, five or $10 a mile and like that was just going to be kind of fun for me. And then by the next summer, I had kind of changed my tune. And I was like, No, you know what, I think that when I hit five years in the classroom, that's going to be it for me, like that's going to be my cap. So I need to come up with a way to make some additional money, like I'm gonna have to, you know, maybe see this as a little bit more than just a hobby. And I think it took from we'll see I put those first two resources up that summer and I did add a couple more resources during the fall, and just kind of forgot about it. And then there was the February sale. I can't even remember if they still do they still even have the February sale they do.

Kirsten 4:21

Yeah, so yeah.

Lauren 4:23

Okay. Well, I had no idea that they even had TPT sales. That's how like, how new I was it everything. I didn't know that there was a TPT sale going on. But I guess from the increased traffic to this website, I made $14 One day during that sale, and I was like, Oh my gosh, like this is it. This is this is this is what I need to do. And I think like that February I made like 40 bucks like the next month I made like $50 and I was convinced I was like this is it like I could do this for a living. So I spent that next summer really adding new resources Is that into the year, I think it was December, I took Shelly racist course, and kind of started to just really take the business more seriously. And by 2019, I had left the classroom, and I was out earning my teaching salary on TPT. And I've been doing it ever since.

Kirsten 5:20

Wow, that's amazing, amazing story. And I love how like, I know, I started the same way where I was like, I guess I'll have the upload these TPT resources, like I'm making them for the classroom, and we just kind of put it up there. And you know, enough for Starbucks money or whatever, you know, but then something happens. And for you, it was that sale, and it like your possibilities become like, you're like, oh my gosh, I can I there's actually I can do something with this. So that's really great that you had that epiphany. So I know kind of going into, like, you know, we're growing like every month or we have an increase, like we're noticing, there's like this escalation of sales, increased traffic to your store and your website. So there's some type of momentum building. So our conversation today is kind of really talking about maintaining that and having some type of long term strategy for your TPT business. So I'm really excited to chat about this. And I know that like, you know, both of us, we started out selling resources that we created in the classrooms and uploaded them without really thinking about a strategy. We're just like sharing, you know, like, we're just, you know, these are resources helped me maybe it'll help somebody else. So we know that growing a business long term can be a little difficult. So what would you consider short term strategies to grow a TPT? Business? And why would you consider those only short term?

Lauren 6:53

Yeah, so I want to kind of take it back to my personal story a little bit and say that the TPT game, because you started, what 2015 2016? When did you start on TPT?

Kirsten 7:03

Technically, I opened it in 2013. Okay, but I was like, very, like, not, it was like the posting ghost, that was my strategy for like, seven years. So it was and then 2020 is when I was like an active seller. Okay.

Lauren 7:18

But you definitely know, like, you definitely know what I'm about to say. And that is that it's a different game, post COVID Oh, yeah, really was before, you know, when I started in 2016, you could put two really, in my mind horribly, put together resources, you know, that were thrown together. In Microsoft Word, they weren't formatted very well. And, you know, God forbid, you open it in anything, like in a different version of Microsoft Word, it probably was gonna be all over the place, you know. And it was still sold. Yeah. And that's not to say that they flew off the shelves or anything like that, I definitely didn't have that kind of experience. But that is to say that you could get by with a lot more back then. And you certainly could get by with not driving your own traffic back, then you could rely a whole lot more on search engine optimization, and TPT, organic traffic from search. So the game has definitely changed over the last couple of years. And then now as the economy is changing, it's changed even more. So some of the things that were short term strategies for me back then wouldn't be enough of a short term strategy today. So for sure, when it comes to like short term strategy, you're a brand new seller, I mean, the very first thing that you have to do is you have to have products to sell, you can have like the biggest Instagram, you can have the biggest email list, you can have the biggest audience and all this traffic to drive. But if you don't have resources in your store, it's not really going to be all that marketing isn't going to be serving you like it could. So for sure, you really want to focus on putting together high quality resources and stocking your store shelves. And in the very, very beginning. For me, it would have been extremely overwhelming to try to master covers, previews, search engine optimization, and just creating products like doing those four things would have been really overwhelming to master them all at once. So it's a give yourself some time to be able to do those things like stock your store shelves, learn what works in your niche for covers and previews, maybe just create one full product line. And then when you're finished with that full product line, go back and say, Okay, I'm gonna see how are those covers performing like, are they bringing in views, let's take a look at SEO for that product line. And let's see if we can get some more eyes on those resources that I just created. And then once you've kind of optimized that a little bit, take a little break, create a new product line, then go back to square one with those covers and previews again, and kind of start looking at those things again, and really just the emphasis This would be in the short term, focusing on creating those products and optimizing them for TPT. Once you've done those two things, you've created resources and you optimize them for TPT, it's really time to start thinking about more long term growth. And even in the short term, I would say like, if you've completed a couple of product lines, you should go ahead and start thinking about in your first year, probably, how am I going to market these resources? So kind of figuring out those three things, stocking your store shelves, making sure that your resources are performing like they're, they're up to par? And then how am I going to start marketing those resources, and it kind of bleeds into I feel like short term strategies versus long term strategies, those two things in the TPT world right now, are kind of merging together a whole lot faster, like you really kind of need to be, I'm not gonna say you don't need to necessarily begin with the end in mind. But it's really nice if you can start to think towards that end goal and those long term goals sooner rather than later. Because it's really difficult to get your resources, brand new resources to rank in TPT, search for relevant popular keywords, or for relevant keyword search terms. So really thinking about how am I going to drive that traffic? And how am I going to do that long term and kind of thinking about that, even in the short term is really helpful.

Kirsten: 11:36

Yeah, all great, amazing tips there. Yeah, I know, it's really has been frustrating for a lot of TPT sellers in the last year, with the personalized search for a while. And then now just general, like, they're at the time of this recording, where we're like we're noticing, with a lot of seller stores, there's a decrease in sales. And it's really frustrating for a lot of people. And, you know, of course, every TPT business is different, some people are incorporating those long term strategies already and still seeing a decline. Some people are incorporating short term strategies, and you know, seeing declines as well. So I think across the board, it's just really frustrating. But of course, there's a lot of factors in play for that. But those are really great things to keep in mind for that. So you're talking about how, you know, of course, product listing optimization, doing everything you need to on TPT. Getting that in check is really great. The for the short term, let's talk a little more about long term strategies, what are some steps to grow your business so that it is long term, and sustainable. And like you said, I love that beginning with the end in mind.

Lauren: 12:52

So I think it's really important to understand as a TPT, business owner, or as a business owner, excuse me, who sells on TPT, that it's I kind of the how TPT works and how selling on TPT works and how that needs to function and operate as a business in order for you to have long term growth and success. And I kind of view selling on TPT kind of like being a part of an MLM. And I know that like, you know, MLM is either one of those words where it's kind of like a, you know, some people there's this, there's a stigma attached to a right, like, you know, some people don't like them don't want anything to do with them. Other people love them. Like, it doesn't really matter where you stand, like you could make millions of dollars in an MLM. Or you could lose money in an MLM. And the same thing is true on TPT. But really, the reason that I kind of think about those two, these two businesses as being very similar is that with an MLM, one of the things and one of the reasons why it gets so much hate is because you don't own the product, right. So if you are a part of an MLM business, or you have a business, you know, that does any type of multilevel marketing or partners with a multilevel marketing company. You are the traffic driver, but you don't have the product on TPT. When you first start you are you have the product, but you're not the traffic driver. And really, if you think about it, or if I if I think about it, I'm not going to put words in anybody else's mouth. But I know for me, I would rather have the traffic driving part of it, because then I have the ability if I have the audience, I can drive that traffic anywhere. So I'd rather be a part of an MLM and sell somebody else's product than to be a seller on TPT and not have any control over whether or not traffic gets to my product.

Kirsten: 14:50

Wow. Yeah. True.

Lauren: 14:53

Because I can take that product like yeah, at the end of the day and this was something that people used to say all the time whenever I first heard on TV Team was like, you know, you own the product, like it was this really amazing thing? Well, yeah, you do own the product, but you have to have somebody to sell it to like, if you have no customers of your own, then who's gonna buy the product? Where's that money going to come from? If I sell for an MLM if I sell somebody else's product, I have the audience, just switch over to another MLM. Just switch over to selling another product. Right? Exactly, yeah, but neither one of those systems are great. Like, this is why MLMs get flack. And this is why I knock saying that TPT sellers who are first starting to get some fly, like, that's not what I'm saying. But I'm just saying like, this is the problem, if I just focus on listing resources on TPT, optimizing them for TPT search, and I'm not focused on growing my business as a whole. This is where the issue comes into play with either one of those business models is that if one I only own one part of the business, like there's only one piece of that business that I can control, and I need to be able to control all aspects of my business as much as I can, in order to create long term growth and stability. And for the success of my business to be somewhat in my hands. I mean, like I say, in my hands, and I want to say like very definitively like I'm in control, but really, I'm not, you know, I have no control over the economy, there are some things that no one can control. But as much as I can, I need to make sure that my business is really well rounded. So if I take TPT out of the equation, what do I have left? Do I have a complete business? Or do I just have a product within one to sell it to? And so for the long term success of my business, I really have to think about how do I provide the customers and the product. If I have both, then I have a complete business. And I can move that business to any platform I want, I can move it to my own website, I can move it somewhere else, I could sell another product other than the products on TPT. I have so many more options. And you know, I don't want to just say like, oh, this is why I've not been affected by the economy, like not like that at all. Because, you know, God is the person that he showed me this many, many times in my life, like, I know, when million percent God is the reason why I have customers like for sure. So I'm not crediting this to myself, but I do think that he's given me some wisdom in this area of my business to say, like, Okay, I need to make sure that I'm prepared for Worst case scenario, and make sure that I'm growing the areas of my business that I can. And I've not been affected by the economy, I'm still seeing growth, because I have my own customers, and I'm not relying on TPT. And because I have my own customers, I can sell my own products that are separate from CPT, that have really allowed me allowed my business to flourish, in spite of the economy, in spite of the TPT search debacle, in spite of all those things, like it's given me, it's given my business so much civility. And if I could say it helped give any piece of advice to any TPT business owner, it would be focused on owning your own customers. Yeah, for sure. You know, there's just no substitute for that you have the products already, so now focused on owning your customers. And it's gonna give you so much more freedom and so much more peace of mind. You know, I sold, you know, I was doing pretty well, when I left the classroom in 2019. And I was seeing all this growth, and I was super excited about it. And then the pandemic hit, and I had like, no digital resources. And I remember, like, literally, like, I was one of those people that was like, calculating, like, I'm setting up proportions every month to be like, Okay, how much money if I've made this much in the first 10 days? How should I How much should I make, you know, by the end of the month, I don't do that anymore, because that's too stressful. That's definitely what I was doing back then. And I was like, I think this is gonna be my first five figure month, March of 2020. Like, that was it I was, I was counting my eggs before they hatched. And it was like, you know, the Eighth of March or something? Well, just a few days later, like, I'm having the worst month of my life, and I'm pregnant. So you know, like, there's, I'm freaking out. And that's the kind of thing that I just turned my world upside down. For me. It really showed me like, I've got to have more stability for my family. I've got to have more stability for myself and more peace for myself. Because having that many factors that are outside of my control there. There's nothing I can do about it. It's It's scary. Yeah. So with this whole economy with the TPT search debacle with everything, I've been very fortunate and I think that's been the biggest blessing From thinking long term and putting long term growth strategies inside of my business, that's been the biggest blessing that's come out of it is that you know, TPT changes something and it's not stressful for me, my okay, they change to something, you know, we'll roll with it. If we need to learn something new, we'll learn something new. If there's not anything we can do about it. There's not anything we can do about it, we'll just focus on driving traffic elsewhere, and it's not a big deal. Do you know what I mean?

Kirsten: 20:26

Yeah, definitely, there's so many great points in there that you'd hit like, I don't even know where to begin with that. But I also have been fortunate, like, I'm counting my blessings. Because over the last year, I haven't been negatively affected with everything that's come through TPT in the economy. So and I'm like this, as, at the time of this recording, I'm on par to have my best month ever so far, and TPT. And so I'm just really fortunate, and I love your like, you know, doesn't matter if TPT goes away, I still have my audience, I still have other levers that I can, you know, focus it on and still create, you know, revenue from that. So, I love everything that you're saying about that,

Lauren: 21:14

I want to go back to something that you just said, because I think that right now, in the current TPT climate, not very many people are saying it, you're saying like, I've not been affected, I'm on par to have my best month,

Kirsten: 21:26

wherever you are in online spaces where TPT sellers are, you're gonna see a lot of noise. And it's hard for those people who are doing well to say something and not receive any type of negative backlash or anything like that. So it is hard. I've been pretty real on my Instagram, like I'll share like, I because I want people to know that it is still possible. Like I was here deciding I'm gonna take my business seriously, after everything shut down with COVID. But and I'm still making increase in sales year over year. But it's not because I'm just on TPT I have all other you know, I have lots of other I know I've audience on different platforms, my email list, and I just launched a membership. So there's all kinds of things in play. And I know you're like with the same way with your you know, you have the teacher seller side of your business as long as well as math teachers. And you have a lot of conferences that you host. And so I know you've got a lot of different

Lauren: 22:27

irons in the fire. Yes, yeah. Yes. So yeah, for sure. It feels a little like rubbing salt in the wounds to when people are like, oh, you know, are kicking them when they're down? Like, Well, I'm not down. But I do think it's, I think like what you said, it's really important for people to hear that we're not all suffering. And I think it's hard to say that. And you know, especially you know, if somebody's listening right now, and they are suffering, like that's not, I don't say that to rub that in people's faces. To me. It's It's hopeful, like, not everybody is is struggling? And maybe if, and I know some people are doing everything, right, like some people are implementing all best practices, like they're driving their own traffic, they've been working really hard at this for a long time. So I'm not knocking that, like, I know, there are legitimate factors that play with the economy, there are things that are outside of all of our control, and we're all doing the best we can with what we have. But really focusing on especially if you're a new seller, and you're listening now and you're hearing like long term seller saying, you know, scared of what the future for TPT is going to be like, you know, that it's you can build your business in such a way that at least if something happens with TPT that you have options, you know,

Kirsten: 23:46

exactly.

Lauren: 23:47

So yeah,

Kirsten: 23:48

what you said reminded me of a post I saw recently on instagram about the playdough brand. How we know it today is like they sell playdough for kids. It's like a toy pretty much. But that particular company was not at all in the toy industry. It was mainly used as I think, a wallpaper cleaner back in the day before World War Two. And I think a family member they use that to make some type of Christmas decoration at a nursing or like a hospital or Children's Hospital. And then they realize that potential and that's when they decided to shift and pivot and made it more marketable for kids and that's when their brand exploded. And it's kind of thinking about like, kind of in hand of what you're saying like having like, what if TPT is gone, what do you have left? In the same way you want to think of how you can pivot your business, you know, if needed, like going into a different niche or if you're seeing some type of success in a certain area of your business, like hyper focusing on that a little bit more and seeing where that goes. So yeah, that's that was some think that what you said reminded me of that.

Lauren: 25:02

I agree. I think that's awesome because like, to me teachers are the most adaptable creatures there are like, I have never known people who are as ingenious as teachers are. Like they can take, you know, scotch tape and paper and like make it this incredible like land of make believe inside of their inside of their classrooms like they're incredible. And if you set yourself up to have options, when push comes to shove, you'll figure out how to rebrand yourself. Like, you'll figure out how to remarket those resources or turn them into something like the you know, the Play Doh company. Did you know if they didn't do it? Like teachers can do it? For sure.

Kirsten: 25:42

Absolutely, totally agree. Okay, so I have some bonus rapid fire questions for you. Are you ready? I'm ready. Okay, question number one, what is your favorite font to use in your products that you create?

Lauren: 25:55

Oh, my gosh, PB pour over coffee all day, every day. It's in every single branded event that we do, like it's in memberships. It's literally everything that I do PB for over coffee. I love it.

Kirsten: 26:07

Nice. I'll have to look that one up. All right. The second question, what is your best way to unwind after a busy day?

Lauren: 26:16

I am real basic. In fact, my husband and I were having a debate over this the other day, because we're getting a new bed and he was like, when we get the new bed, you we can't be eating in the bed. And by waking me to you know, it doesn't mean him. And my favorite thing is like, you know, get a snack get and of course, I'm pregnant right now. So like, it's always, you know, like a popsicle like cookies, milk, like, whatever. It's never a healthy snack.

Kirsten: 26:42

It's like, that's how it is. That's like, yeah, that's what the baby wants. So that's right. It wants

Lauren: 26:47

what it wants. What can I say? I'm getting a little snack sitting in the bed, turning on a TV show. Yeah, that

Kirsten: 26:55

sounds awesome. Okay, and then my last question. I know you're from Texas, and there's like, a little bit of a debate is the Texas considered the South? Okay.

Lauren: 27:03

So first of all, I was really scared because I thought you were going to ask me like Texas Tech, UT. And some sort of sports related question I would not know the answer to. Yeah, Texas is Texas is the south like, I don't really know why that's a debate. Yeah, I don't either. I grew up thinking and still believe like everybody else who says they're in the South. Like, they just think they're in the South. It's really Texas. Yeah.

Kirsten: 27:28

Totally agree with you. 100%. All right. Well, where can we learn more from you about growing a long term sustainable TPT business?

Lauren: 27:40

Yeah, so I have a podcast, the rebranded teacher and I'm there every week. I also have a membership for teacher authors, it's currently closed, but I'll I'll give you the link for the waitlist person, or you could go to the rebranded teacher.com Let me get redirect you to the waitlist, and will open at some point, probably the first of 2020 for for new members. But inside of there actually have a course called strategic growth, which walks you through step by step like how to strategically grow your business, but we also do monthly challenges, we do things that sets that set members up for long term success, not only in TPT, but in all areas of their business. And we do it in a way that's really fun. You know, we play prices, right games, like we, we turn monthly challenges into, like Plinko and you know, those kind of fun games. So, um, yeah, there, you could join the waitlist for that, or you could listen to my podcast rebranded teacher. Sounds good.

Kirsten: 28:46

And I know like, I'm sure that's going to be amazing because your recent teacher cellar summit that you hosted or co hosted was absolutely amazing. Like, I love that so we're on

Lauren: 28:59

year two I think of RTA rebranded Teacher Academy the membership and and it's so much fun, like the people are the best people in the world. We have co working groups, we have you know, little clubs or whatever that meet up. It's, it's so much fun. We just this is actually the first time in its history that it's ever been closed. It used to be open year round. But it's I found that it's a lot more manageable and I can focus on, you know, my current members a lot better if I close it and open it. So we'll be doing another opening in January, but it's it's a lot of fun.

Kirsten: 29:31

Yeah, that sounds fun. So if you're listening, you're interested, I highly recommend you get on that waitlist. So because she's got a lot of great stuff, a lot of great content. I really hope you enjoyed that episode. I loved the conversation we had. So if you are interested in learning more from Lauren, I highly recommend that you check out the rebranded Teacher Podcast she shares weekly episodes And she also has a YouTube channel that you can watch. And if you're interested in that waitlist, I will make sure to link that in the show notes so you can sign up for the waitlist so that you are in the know when she will be opening up her rebranded teacher membership. All right. Well, that's it. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week.

Thanks for listening to the creative teacher podcast. If you enjoyed listening to today's episode, feel free to subscribe and leave a review. I'd love to hear your feedback. You can also follow me on Instagram at the southern teach dot designs. Have an amazing day.