What To Do After A Teachers Pay Teachers Conference

It is the middle of July and the Teachers Pay Teachers conference is now over. If you are like me, your brain has been stretched and pulled. Feeling a little overwhelmed? Maybe a lot? What you do these next couple weeks will truly determine the value of that conference. So, what should you do? Keep reading!

Notes from the Conference

Did you take a lot of notes? Are you a notetaker or can you recall minute information presented? Confession here, my focus during a conference is usually horrible. The Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT) conference lands less than two weeks from finishing school where I live. I am still in recovery mode. 3 – 5 days listening to teacher sellers tell you to do all the things is not what I need right now, though, I am very thankful that the conference was virtual this year. And, that option is available next year. But I digress.

If it has been a few days since you attended your last TpT conference, pull out your notes.

• did you make highlights in your notes?
• what did you star?
• which speakers did you connect with?
• did you write any questions in the margins?
• are you a doodler?

Organizing Your Notes

Where do you keep your notes? Most often, mine go into a notebook, sometimes, never to be seen again. I have had an Evernote account for a while and am considering moving them to there. But will I visit them? One of the workshops that I attended at the 2021 conference was on systems (Erin Waters – School of Sellers). She recommended Trello.com. In her handouts, she provided a template to start your own board.

Now, I spent some time last year looking at different project management systems. I currently have an Airtable and ClickUp account. I was sure I had looked at Trello last year, but realized quickly that no account existed. So I spend one afternoon creating four boards for my business. With their free account, you can create up to 10 boards on Trello. And this was something I liked! So if you are looking for somewhere to put your notes that you are going to take action with, check Trello out. Here is a screenshot of my Trello board. Original template was provided by Erin Water (see links above).

What to Do with Your Teachers Pay Teachers Conference Notes?

After you have organized them, decide which 3 tasks you can implement today or this week. It is a common discussion among teacher-sellers whether to rest or work over the summer. As I don’t create a lot of products during the school, I focus my energy on creation during weekends and holidays. This works for me, but you do you! It’s about deciding what is important for you. Building a business, whether it is a side hustle or a full time job, takes work. I have built my business tired and expect to continue to do it this way for another 1-2 years. But I am doing this for my economic future. This is my retirement plan. Everyone has their reasons for having a Teachers Pay Teachers business.

Re-Watch Videos from the TpT Conference?

As we have the opportunity to watch and re-watch videos, next week I hope to watch between 3-5 videos, a couple re-watches and a couple for the first time. I was part of a teacher collaboration on Youtube and having watched the other teachers’ videos, there are a couple videos I want to check out. What about you? Were there videos that you want to watch again? The conference really did provide excellent information that can propel you and your business for the next year or two.

Make Products

The whole point of going to a Teachers Pay Teachers conference is to build your business, so create some value-based products. It is easy to go down the rabbit trails of organization but if you plan on making money using Teachers Pay Teachers, then you need to make products. Do a big brain dump to get all your thoughts out on either paper or digital. Spend no more than 30 minutes. Then look at your list and see if you can organize some of them to fit into a product line. Then get at it!

If you have templates, use them. If you don’t, then use the next product you are going to make to create those templates or use your previous one to create templates. Templates will save you a lot of time in the long run. A new blog post on creating templates is coming!

Enjoy the Journey

Another confession, I don’t always like to create products. I was watching to Youtube video of a productivity guru and he said that if you don’t enjoy it, you won’t do it. That has happened to me. I will go a month or two without finishing/uploading a product. His suggestion, make a game out of it. I’m still working on that idea, but in the meantime, I’m choosing to enjoy making products. Celebrate all wins if it helps.

Going to Next Year’s Teachers Pay Teachers Conference ?

As it is virtual, probably. Next summer, Lord willing, I play to travel to England. But honestly, I don’t want to think about next year. I want to think about today. What am I going to do today? Was there anything I learned that I can implement today in my product creation or thumbnails, or product descriptions, etc.

So, what are you going to do today? Rest, spend time with family? Work for 1 hour, 2 hours, 5 hours, 10 hours? Do what you need to do. Success is not about results, as it is about what you are going to do when no one is watching. Teachers Pay Teachers is a long term business. Yes, you can make some money quickly but if you are building it for financial gains in the near future, then take what you’ve learned and build it!

Happy Creating!