It IS a business!

I really didn't know what to expect when I joined the Teachers Pay Teachers Sellers Challenge (hosted by Amber at PreppyZestyTeacherista, Ashley at Teach Create Motivate, Emily at Third in Hollywood, and Jen at Sparkling in Second), but it has certainly provided a kick in the pants to get my store close to where it should be.

Up until very recently, I didn't really think of it as a business. I know it's called a "store", but in my head, it was more of a hobby. I think that was mistake number 1. I just posted my "products" (still didn't think of it as a business) hoping that they were useful and user-friendly. Sale-ability, marketing, branding... none of that occurred to me.

And because of that, when someone started a post discussing Terms of Use pages on the TpT Seller Challenge Facebook page, it got me thinking. Why didn't I have one of those? If I want others to take me seriously and respect my products, I think I need those things that say I take myself seriously. Like a Terms of Use page.

So, here it is! I even figured out how to add hyperlinks to it.

Now for the somewhat arduous task of inserting it into all my existing products... I guess I can do that as I work on updating all my covers too. :)

So what about you? If you sell, did you have trouble taking yourself seriously?

Daring to Dream

I suppose to start out with, reviving this blog is daring to dream itself.

However, the last time I tried this, I had thought, "What a great way to remember my FIRST year of teaching... I'll keep a blog!" Then I actually started teaching and realized how much work - so, so much work - is involved in teaching, especially when it's your first year and you're starting from scratch.

Now, as an older and wiser teacher with five full years under my belt (ha!), I'm hoping maybe I can do this. I've got the incentive of all those other Teachers Pay Teachers sellers out there who all seem to be saying, "YES, you need a blog!"

So, this blog will also be my Genius Hour project that I'll work on while my dual credit English 12/College Composition seniors work on their Genius Hour projects (more on that later).

What I'm hoping to gain from my TpT store

When I started my Teachers Pay Teachers sellers account, I had a basic account for probably six months. I wasn't really sure what I expected out of it. In fact, I think I mostly planned to download free items, but I figured that if the seller's account was free too, I might as well post some of those middle school units I wouldn't be needing as I changed jobs to a high school teacher. It took a while, but I still remember how exciting that first sale was. It was as if someone out there was saying, "Hey, it looks like you know what you're doing. I'm going to PAY MONEY for your work!"

That feeling was incredible. Validation.

The first part of my dream was simply taking pride in my work. I mean, I had always been proud of what I was doing in the classroom, but it is so hard to share with non-teachers (and even other teachers - I hated feeling like I was bragging, especially as a young teacher). So my store allowed me to really have a concrete reason to feel pride in my work, and I had people that I could share it with who might even pay some of their own hard-earned money to purchase my work.

When I finally did the math and realized that I actually could be making a lot more money, even with spending the money for the premium account, my dreams started to materialize. This money, for us, is not in the budget. Some of it goes on our Starbucks card. I used some to buy a second pair of glasses. I bought a skirt from JC Penney's. You know, fun stuff! Guilt-free, non-budgeted fun stuff!

Finally, after completing my first year as a premium seller, my husband and I decided that we would save as much as we could (minus some Starbucks money still) to take a vacation. I'm not sure when or where just yet, because we've got big J and the twins to think about, but we are thinking maybe Vegas. I'd kind of like to make it coincide with the TpT conference, but we'll see what he thinks about that. :)

This TpT Seller's Challenge has been great motivation so far. I'd already revamped several product covers, as well as some products themselves, and now, I'm getting re-committed to this blog. There's no time like the present!