Give Credit Where Credit is Due

We all learned in school that copying is bad.  Copying and not giving the original author credit is even worse.  That’s called plagiarism and it’s considered unethical and dishonest.   Stealing material that has been copyrighted can land you a fine or time in jail. 

In our work with TpT, it is important to make sure that we are not inadvertently using copyrighted material without giving credit to the original author or illustrator.  This is something that I struggle with at times.  Of course, I agree completely that it is right to give credit to the person who originally wrote or designed anything that I use in my products.  (Notice that I left the copyright symbol and the illustrator's name in the cartoon I pasted above!)  My problem is keeping track of who I should be giving credit to!

I’ve started to add to my files the logos of every seller that I purchase a product from.  For example, in my “Camping Whimsy” clipart file, I have the logo for the store Whimsy Clips.  Many authors and artists include this logo in their “terms of use”, but some don’t.  In that case, I have to do a little investigating to find the logo on a webpage or blog.  If I can’t find an official logo, I use the picture from the seller’s TpT or etsy store.  I hyperlink the logo or picture back to the seller’s store. 

I put these seller logos on a “Credits” page in every product that I sell.  (Of course, I only include the sellers that actually contributed to that particular product).  Here’s an example of one of my “Credits” pages:

 There are many people who have credit pages that are lots more professional looking than mine.  I'm working on developing my own style and trying to figure out how to make my work as professional as possible.  I'm sure that I've made mistakes along the way!  But for now, the important thing is to do my best to be an honest and ethical TpT seller.  

Setting TpT Goals

Everybody has been telling me that June is a slow month here on TpT.  I get it.  Teachers are finishing up school and the last thing they’re going to want to be doing is thinking about purchasing new products for their classroom.  So my expectations are not high for this month. 

Which doesn’t mean that I have no goals.  I set TpT goals every month.  (Ok… I exaggerate.  I have set goals for the past TWO months.  But I intend to make it a regular practice!)  I have printed my goals and they’re hanging on my wall so that they can mock me.  (I mean motivate me.) 

I think it’s important that new TpT sellers don’t limit our goals to just sales or money made.  If you’re like me, you’re not making a ton of money at this stage of the game so it’s better to focus on a variety of goals.  Here are mine from last month and this month:

MAY Goals

*Sales:  Double April’s sales (Done… almost TRIPLED!)

*Start a FB page for my business (Done)

*Re-design my product covers to make them all 8x8 squares (Done)

*Have 25 QUALITY products in store (Done… 30 products)

*Pin at least three times a week on Pinterest (Still working on this)

JUNE Goals 

*Match May’s sales

*Have 40 FB “likes” on my page (currently at 18)

*Blog at least once a week

*Pin at least three times a week

*Have 50 followers on TpT  (Currently at 34)

*Have 35 HIGH QUALITY products in store

What goals do you have for the next month?

Timely TpT Products

I am realizing that products geared towards a specific time of the year are like gold on TpT.  I recently posted some preschool and kindergarten graduation diplomas and certificates.  They are selling like hotcakes!  (Ok, maybe “warm cakes” is more accurate, but it’s still better than anything I sold last month!) 

This has made me really think about the importance of having products that teachers need WHEN they need them.  This is another one of my “Duh” moments because this is such a simple idea that I should have gotten it long ago.

As much as I don’t like seeing Christmas decorations in stores when it’s not even October, that’s what I have to do.  I need to think several months in advance about what people what be shopping for so that I have those products ready before the shoppers need them. 

I thought about making a spread sheet of seasonal products, including when I should develop the products and when shoppers would potentially buy them.  But my head was starting to swim with too much information!  I think for now, I’ll just stick to my informal rule that I should start to develop products at least 2 months before I think a shopper would need it.  But of course that rule is subject to change because my world is crazy and rules don’t last very long here! 

The Peaks and Valleys of my TpT graph

My dashboard graph looks like a mountain landscape!  SO many ups and downs!!!  This is my May graph (without the numbers):

I’m posting this for those of you who are new to TpT, like I am.  This is only my second full month as a seller and I’m still trying to figure out the patterns of ups and downs. While I’m oh-so-grateful for those “mountain peak” days, I am less grateful for the days that flatline at zero sales. 

I have no tips or advice for you on this.  I’m just hoping that misery loves company and you’ll appreciate my empathy if you’re in the same situation!  And always remember… Patience is Key!  (If I keep saying that, maybe I’ll really start to live it!)

And now, I think it’s time for a glass of wine.  

Square Covers

After spending a LOT of time looking at TpT products, I have come to the conclusion that square product covers are generally more attractive than letter page sized covers.  (If your products don’t have covers, PLEASE add these… think of them like a magazine ad.  They really do sell products!) 

I’ve been working on converting all of my product covers from covers like this: 

To something more like this: 

The first cover looks fine, but this size can get cut off in TpT previews.  The second looks much more professional on the TpT pages.  (Keep in mind that I’m still learning.  There are many better examples of covers if you look around the TpT stores!)

So, how do you create these covers?  Do you remember in my last post when I explained how to change the size of PowerPoint slides?  This is basically all you need to do in order to make your square cover pages.

Let’s assume that you have already made a product with a lovely letter-sized cover page.  You’re going to keep that letter-sized cover on your product.  The only thing you’re going to change is the picture that you post with your product description when you upload your TpT product. 

(Please note… this is NOT a real product cover.  I made this super quickly to show you how to change the size.  Please make your covers much more interesting and appealing than this one!

You will need to start a new PowerPoint presentation.  Remember how to change the slide size?  (If not, take a look at my "Why PowerPoint beats Word" post from 5/11)

Change your slide size to 8x8 inches. 

Leave that blank PowerPoint slide open, and locate your saved cover in your files.  Open the cover and right click on the small image of the cover that is on the left side of your screen.  Click “copy”.  

Now, go back to your blank copy of the 8x8 slide and paste your cover onto the left side of the screen. (You will have a blank slide above your cover… go ahead and delete this slide.)

You will probably need to resize your background, text and images to look better in the square box.  Usually you can just drag the background and images to make them bigger, and it’s easy to resize your text in PowerPoint.  Also, now that your cover is larger you have room to add some more graphics if you want. 

There’s just one more step before you can post this cover in your product description.  Save your slide as a png or jpeg.  Now you’re ready to post it!

Why PowerPoint beats Word

 I just had one of those “DUH” moments.  You know, the ones where you just want to smack yourself on the forehead and say, “What the HECK was I thinking”?!  

When I started making products for TpT (about a month and a half ago) I used Microsoft Word to develop my products.  If you’re doing the same thing, I urge you to STOP NOW!!!  I don’t have a problem with Word.  Word is good for some things.  I’m actually writing this blog on Word before I transfer it to my Blogger site.  But Word is NOT good for making TpT products.  

I have learned that you want to use POWERPOINT for creating products.  It’s so much easier!!!  I really wish I had figured this out earlier.  In PowerPoint, you can move images around easily and copy (or delete) entire slides.  It’s just SO much more user-friendly if you have to edit your final product.  

This isn't intended to be a full tutorial on how to use PowerPoint, but here's one tip to get you started:

Change your paper size!

After you open up a new "presentation"  you will probably want to change your paper size. PowerPoint automatically starts projects at a size that is appropriate if you are going to show your pages  to a large audience using a projector.However, this is not an appropriate size if you want your pages to be printed.  So, you're going to want to click on the "design" tab at the top of the page.  (I'm using the newest version of PowerPoint.  Your screen might look a little different if you are using an earlier version.

In the newest version of PowerPoint you will see a tab that says "slide size".  Click that, and you will see a drop down menu of slide sizes.  Click on "Custom Slide Size".  From there, you will see another drop down menu.  If you want printable paper, choose "Letter Paper" .  Be sure to change the setting from "Landscape" to "Portrait"  if needed.  Then click "Ok" and you're set to go.

 In older versions you will need to take an extra step.  After opening the "Design" tab, click on "Page Set up".  This will bring you to the drop down menu where you can find the setting for "Letter Paper".  

You can also manually enter your page sizes if you want something other than letter sized paper.

Have fun experimenting with PowerPoint!  

TpT Sales Woes

TpT is having a big sale right now, and I’m having a store sale at the same time.  And guess how many sales I’ve gotten since the sale started… NONE.  Yep.  Zero.  Zip.  Nothing.  I’ll keep working on making products and hopefully things will get better soon.  I have to continue to think positively!  In the meantime, I am continuing to focus on creating great products in the hopes that they WILL sell one day. 

I’ve decided to focus on two lines of products… social/ emotional guides and science curriculum guides.  At first glance, these might seem like two completely unrelated subjects.  (And they kind of are…) but in my world, it all makes sense.  For me, it’s all about the WHOLE child.  I’m concerned about the emotional, social and academic growth of the child.  And I hope my products reflect that.