Summer is one of my favorite times to work on my Teachers Pay Teachers business!
It’s the perfect opportunity to step back and look at your store with fresh eyes. You don’t necessarily need to create a dozen new products because, sometimes, the biggest difference comes from improving what you’ve already built.
If I were sitting down to give my TPT store a summer refresh before the back-to-school season, here’s exactly what I’d be looking at.
1. Start with Your Best Sellers on TPT
Before creating anything new, I’d open my top-selling products and review them.
These products are already bringing traffic into your store, so even small improvements can have a noticeable impact. Check your covers, previews, descriptions, and resource files to make sure everything still reflects the quality of your work today.
If you’ve improved your design style or learned something new over the past year, your best sellers are the perfect place to apply those updates first.
2. Make Sure Your Product Covers Still Stand Out
Next, I’d scroll through my storefront as if I were a buyer or have someone else look at your store.
Can you quickly tell what each resource is? Is the text readable as a thumbnail? Do your covers feel consistent across your store?
Remember, teachers have to click on your product before they can buy it, and your cover plays a huge role in that first impression.
If you want a deeper dive into what makes a cover stand out, I recently shared my best tips in my post on creating TPT covers and thumbnails that get more clicks.
3. Look at Your Teachers Pay Teachers Product Previews
Once someone clicks on your listing, your preview is what gets them to buy the product.
A strong preview shows teachers exactly what they’re getting. Instead of displaying a few random pages, highlight what’s included, showcase your favorite activities, and answer the questions buyers are likely asking before they purchase.
If your previews haven’t been updated in a while, this is one of the easiest improvements you can make. I also have an entire post on fixing your TPT product previews if you’re looking for ideas.
4. Refresh Your SEO
Summer is also a great time to revisit your product listings.
Read through your titles and descriptions with fresh eyes. Are you using the words teachers are actually searching for? Are there opportunities to improve your keywords or make your descriptions more helpful?
Even small SEO updates can help older resources reach a whole new audience. If you’re not sure where to start, my post on TPT SEO walks through the strategies I use when optimizing my own listings.
5. Look for Product Line Opportunities on TPT
One of my favorite questions to ask is, “How can I build on what’s already working?”
Instead of creating a completely unrelated resource, see if one of your best sellers could become the start of a product line. Maybe it needs another topic, another grade level, or another seasonal version.
Eventually, those product lines become bundles, and those bundles often become some of the highest-value products in your store.
If you haven’t thought much about this strategy before, I shared exactly how I approach it in my post about creating product lines and bundles.
6. Revisit Your Teachers Pay Teachers Bundles
Speaking of bundles, summer is the perfect time to make sure yours are up to date.
Have you created new resources that should be added? Could you combine several related products into a brand-new bundle?
Sometimes you’re only one or two products away from creating a bundle that provides tremendous value for teachers while increasing your average order value.
7. Let Your TPT Data Guide You
When sales feel slow, it’s easy to guess what you should work on next.
Instead, let your data talk to you.
Look at which products consistently sell, which listings receive plenty of views but few purchases, and which resources may need a refresh. Your product statistics often reveal opportunities you wouldn’t notice otherwise.
If you want help interpreting your numbers, I have another post on using data to grow your TPT store that walks through exactly what I look for.
8. Check Your TPT Store Branding
After looking at individual products, zoom back out and look at your store as a whole.
Do your thumbnails feel cohesive? Are your fonts, colors, and branding consistent? Does your storefront reflect the type of business you want to build?
These little details help create a professional shopping experience and make your store more recognizable over time.
9. Don’t Forget About a TPT Email List
If you’re already building an email list, make sure your newer resources include a link to your lead magnet.
If you haven’t started one yet, summer is the perfect time. It’s much easier to add email sign-ups now than after you’ve doubled the size of your store.
If you’re wondering whether it’s worth the effort, I recently wrote about why every TPT seller should start an email list before expanding their business, and it’s something I truly believe every seller should prioritize.
10. Make a Plan for Back-to-School Season
Finally, think ahead.
Back-to-school season will be here before you know it, and teachers often start shopping earlier than many sellers expect.
Take a few minutes to decide which resources you want to create, which listings still need updates, and what projects you’d like to finish before August. Having a plan now makes the busy season feel much more manageable later.
An Improved TPT Store Doesn’t Happen Overnight
The good news is that you don’t have to tackle this entire list in one weekend.
Choose one or two items to work on each week, and by the end of the summer, you’ll have a stronger store than you started with.
Sometimes the biggest growth doesn’t come from creating something brand new. It comes from making dozens of small improvements that help teachers find, understand, and purchase the amazing resources you’ve already created.
Ready to Grow Your TPT Store?
If you’re ready to build a Teachers Pay Teachers business that generates consistent income, I’d love to help.
In my free training, I’ll show you how to choose products teachers are searching for, optimize your listings with SEO, and build a TPT store that continues to grow year after year.
