The Importance of Having a TPT Buddy or Mentor with Laura Fogle

Kirsten 0:00

One thing that I've learned from having a TPT business is that it is not something you can do alone. You have to have some support, whether that's through a Facebook community, or with a friend in real life or online or a mentor. So I'm so excited because Laura Fogle is here with us on the creative teacher podcast to talk exactly about that and why it is important not to be alone in this space. Laura has been happily selling resources in her TPT store for eight years. Her store and her blog is happy teacher happy students. She focuses on creative elementary and middle school resources for all subjects. She's a former third grade teacher, Florida native mom of three and lover of thrift stores, reading the great outdoors and of course, creating new and creative resources for teachers. So I'm excited for you to hear our conversation that we had, I think it's so great. And I think you would really get a lot of value out of it.

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. All right, we have a special guest with us. Laura Fogle. Thank you for joining the creative teacher podcast.

Laura 2:55

Wonderful. I'm so excited to talk to you.

Kirsten 2:57

Yes, me too. So tell me about yourself. And you can talk about you know, when you were in the classroom, and just kind of your journey from being a teacher to now being a TPT seller.

Laura 3:14

I posted my first product in: 2014

Kirsten 6:17

Okay, awesome. That's so cool that you have that, like you actually knew the person that got you into DPT, a lot of that, you know, with us knowing people, you know, online and all of that stuff. It's kind of hard to make those connections. But it's great that you have this actual real life person that tells you they're like, Hey, you should get on that board, you can have a TPT store and also be at home and all of that kind of stuff. So it's really cool that you got to firsthand talk to somebody who was already in TPT.

Laura 6:53

Yes, because I don't think I would have had, I would have been brave enough to do it if I didn't know her and trusted her. And we worked directly across the hall from each other. So we need to do each other really well. And I put my faith in her and put my faith in myself that I can make products that sell. And so far, so good. It's been about nine years.

Kirsten 7:12

That's awesome. So of course, since she kind of started before you, she probably, as you kind of said, helped you mentored you, which leads into our whole conversation today about having a TPT friend or TPT, buddy. And so my next question for you is why is it important to have a TPT? Friend or mentor? It doesn't? Of course not. It doesn't always have to be in person. You don't always have to find somebody across the hall from you. But just in general, Why could it be important to have somebody that you meet either in person or online?

Laura 7:47

There's a few reasons I think it's extremely beneficial, especially in our very specific business. In First of all, most of the time, if you're a teacher, you tend to be somewhat outgoing, you'd like to be around other people. And when if you decide to leave the classroom, and you're working at home with tiny children, it can be hard if you don't have anyone to bounce ideas off of like, when you're working at school, you can talk around the coffee machine as a jam. So you can use see people in the hallway to share ideas. But it can be very lonely as a TPT. Seller at times. And there's not a lot of people that understand what our business even is. I mean, I get asked all the time what I do, and I try to explain it and like a sentence or two. And they get it if there are either a teacher or like on her TPT. But half the time their eyes glaze over. So the great thing about having a friend and mentor a buddy and that understands TPT is they speak your same language. There's someone that you can talk to about things like conversion rates, and covers and previews and how your Facebook ads are doing. And you can do that, even if you don't see them in person. I mean, I my main bestie for TBT is my friend Julianne, we go out to lunch regularly, we go to the beach, she loves my kids. So we have an in person relationship. But there's lots of people that I talked to through Instagram and on Facebook that I've never met in person, but just being able to talk to someone that speaks your same TPT language, and also gives you some of that time to speak to another adult.

Kirsten 9:23

Yeah. Because it is kind of, especially if you're at home with just kids, you're pretty much either talking to yourself or talking to kids, but it is nice to have some adult conversation with somebody who understands the whole thing with views and TPT acquisitions and or I excel acquisitions and all of that, you know, just venting, sharing successes, all of that. So I totally agree with that. So next, just talk about some benefits, like what are the benefits of having a TPT mentor, or a buddy just does doesn't have to be somebody that's coaching you with TPT. It could just be somebody that you can just talk to what are some benefits for that?

Laura: 10:08

I think anytime I talk to someone about TPT, I learned something like that I've been doing this for nine years, I thought I knew a lot. And I do feel like I know a lot. Every time I talk to someone, whether it's my friend or at the conference, I learned something every time no matter what level like the seller is, if they're a brand new seller, if they've been selling even longer than me, there's always something new to learn that someone else is doing. One major thing that I learned way too late. I don't know why this took me so long. But I had a lot of products priced at 295. Which, as you probably know, if you sell something under $3, TPT takes that extra 15 cent fee. And I was just out to lunch with Julianne one day, and we just were randomly talking about that. And I'm like, Oh, darn it, I've been selling things at 295. For years now just think of all those extra like 20 cents. So even just a simple comment, I don't know what we're talking about. And I went back that day and made sure all my things are 295, or at least $3. Because that's not gonna make a difference in sales. But it does make a difference in in having that transaction taken off. So just having someone to talk to and you don't always have to know where the conversation is going. But we also if people especially on Instagram that asked specific questions, too. And I've started hiring some of those people, like for Pinterest and Facebook ads. And I had someone design my website. So I've reached out to people and just start chatting with them, because I could tell that they were an expert in their specific field. And then it turns into someone that I work with. And then I have that ongoing conversation, whatever I need somebody that's good at WordPress, because I know nothing about WordPress. But I have a friend that does

Kirsten: 11:55

nice. Yes. And that's part of the reason I still have not been to an in person conference. And that is exactly the reason why I want to I want to meet all those people that I've met online, and have feel like I know them in person already just taking that next step and going and meeting up with people. But yes, I totally love those benefits. I think those are always helpful. Now, maybe you've just whether you've just started on TPT, or you've been at it, it can be kind of hard to even find people to connect with or collaborate with. So what are some tips on if someone wanted to find TPT friends or TPT buddies? How could they find people to collaborate with or connect with?

Laura: 12:42

One way that I found people, at least a few years ago was through the Facebook groups. I know wallflowers is one of the big ones. And I've seen people that has posted on there. Hey, are there any other sellers in the metro Chicago area? Or over here? Are people joining mastermind groups? Like don't feel afraid to just reach out and ask Does anybody else live in my part of the world? And if you want to meet up in person, or does Does anybody else have a Tuesday night available by we can chat about TPT and share our expertise and things. I went to my first in person Conference this past year. And I did the virtual ones before that. But it was the first in person when I was able to go to as my kids are getting bigger. And I absolutely loved it. I felt like I learned so much. And honestly I felt like I learned more just from talking to people and chatting like I breakfast and at the happy hours. And all those things. I felt like I learned more talking to individual people in the conference sessions. Because you never know what someone else's experiences and you don't know what they have to teach you until you start talking to them. So if you can go to the conference, I would also recommend, go up and talk to people in person, you're there for a reason. Don't be shy. I'm not a shy person. I'll go up and talk to anybody. But I'm going to be there. So if anybody wants to look me up large, I'll go and say, Hey, let's meet up. I'll be there in Boston. But just don't be afraid to join a group of people. Especially when you're sleepy. And you know, everyone speaks the same language. Definitely searching on the Facebook groups. You used to be able to search on TPT by the city that people lived in. And I don't think you can do that anymore. Yeah, I don't live close to me through that. And I know I'm in Florida. And I know there's a TPTs Florida sellers group, specifically on Facebook. And I'm sure there are other states as well. But maybe we also are an international group of sellers. So of course it doesn't have to be close to you. The benefit of having someone that lives somewhat close to you is my friend and I have gone parasailing together and we did one the virtual conferences at a hotel on the beach. The cuz we live pretty concentrated. Yeah, that's exactly um, so your conversations can be longer when you have hours with them versus like, a one hour mastermind. All that.

Kirsten: 15:11

Yes. And I like I Reese, I guess a year ago, I met up with a few Texas sellers. So I mean, just in what I learned in that time that we had dinner together was so and it was just nice to be able to see them face to face. So I definitely support that even doesn't like I'm naturally not as extroverted. So I mean, it doesn't matter if you're extroverted or introverted, just reaching out can benefit everybody in the long run.

Laura: 15:43

So you have a common thing to talk about, like, you know, yeah. Or like, what's the name of your store? Well, what are you?

Kirsten: 15:51

What kind of resources do you sell? You know,

Laura: 15:54

there's that kind of conversation starters when you're a seller? Yes.

Kirsten: 15:58

So another question I have for you is, is it better to find someone locally? We kind of answer you already kind of answered this question, but I'll just say it anyway. Is it better to find somebody locally? Or is it okay to connect with someone virtually,

Laura: 16:14

I'd say take what you can get where you can get it. Yeah, if you can find local, that loves your children, like they're her own, then do that. But I also, I just recently started, Zoom calling with a TBT. Coach, and I have not met her in person, she'll be at the conference. But I've learned so much just through these weekly zoom calls. Her name is Patty Firth, She's the owner behind madly learning. And if anybody's interested in learning more about her coaching is Patty firth.com. And I haven't met her in person yet. But just having I think I've had five hour long calls, I've learned something every time. And you start to feel like you know the person because you're kind of in their house with them. I mean, you get to see what's behind that you get to see their kids coming every once in a while. So this thing, I am more of an in person, person in general, I love having face to face chats. But if that's not possible, you can get all the same benefits from finding somebody online. I like talking like this, like seeing someone's face more than just typing to them. Because like, you can send an email, you can send a DM and kind of get to know somebody, when you're having a back and forth conversation. I feel like the conversation just gets bigger. And you Yeah, there's more that you can talk about. And it's quicker than waiting for someone to respond back to you. Definitely don't be afraid to zoom call doesn't matter what you look like just yeah.

Kirsten: 17:43

Yes, definitely agree with that. I've met like some of my TPT friends or some of my best TPT friends. We started with DMing and email, and then we went to zoom. And I have one locally that we meet face to face for coffee every once in a while. So it's definitely like, either way, it's great. But you know, I guess it could be based on your preferences. But I think in some form or another, there should be some form of communication with other sellers. So tell me you mentioned like you've learned a lot of things from several people that you meet with regularly, what have you can you share a couple of things like specifically that you've learned from collaborating with other TPT sellers.

Laura: 18:30

Something I've learned a lot from my friend Julianne is, was how to treat my store as a business and not just a place where I throw resources up. So I've been selling regularly for about nine years. But it took me until about a year and a half ago to finally form an LLC, filing as an S corp and all that tax stuff that I just kind of wanted to ignore. But it took my friend telling me over and over again, you need to file an LLC. These are the reasons why this is like I'll say when your tax is that has been a huge benefit is learning because you don't as the TPT seller. I mean, I have a master's in education, but I don't know, I didn't know how to run a business. And talking with Patty Firth my coach now, she's been convincing me to hire out for certain tasks, especially with three kids, the youngest being five months old. I don't have as much time as I want to keep on scaling my business. So she's given me the push lately to start hiring for things. And same thing treating it as a business where you're the CEO and the owner versus just hey, I made a key product today. Like I have almost 100 products in my store. So I love the product creation side and I felt pretty competent in that. But yeah, the the most thing, main thing I've learned is treating it as a business. My friend gave me a great birthday present one time this kind of birthday present you can get my TPT seller. She handed me an envelope. We were out to lunch in LA And then at the time, and I opened it up, and it was a gift certificate to get a professional logo for my store. No, I had made my logo, probably in Microsoft Word back in 2014. And it was awful. And she there was someone on TPT I think it's Happily Ever After is their store. And she designed logos for TPT sellers and made like the store banner for my store. And I wouldn't have done that for myself. So like having somebody that knew, and kind of was able to give you the push, like, you need to look a little bit more professional. Your logo is all here to get a good one. Yeah. So just I like talking to people that are in all stages of their TPT business. But I think I learned the most from people that are a step or two ahead of me. Because that I learned things about the business side.

Kirsten: 20:52

Well, those reasons sound great as well, I think it's so I think it's great to you know, be able to learn from a, I guess, you know, those going ahead of paving the path, I'm not sure how to describe it, but like they have some insight they might have been where you might have been beforehand. And they, you know, just getting ideas, you don't have to always follow those ideas from people. But it's always good to get some insight in, you know, perspectives that you would have not thought of by yourself. So

Laura: 21:27

it's nice to be that person. For other people, too. I have a lot of friends that are always like, hey, I want to start a TPT store. And the whole spiel, you talk to them about PowerPoint and square covers and the previews and how to do the SEO. And I love giving that information to people. And then either they do it or they decide it's too much work, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah,

Kirsten: 21:49

I've tried recruiting, like I told one of my former co workers, she is super good at hand lettering and all of that, and like, you can create your own thoughts on TPT. And everybody would buy them. So yeah, I've tried to convince some friends as well.

Laura: 22:05

been learning. When I first first putting products up, I knew nothing about keywords and SEO. And back in 2014, it was still kind of cool to do the keyword stuffing at the bottom of your descriptions, which is not best practices anymore. But I had no idea that like, even just simply typing in your words into the search bar TPT and seeing what suggestions come up. Like that was something my friend taught me very early on. And it was like my mind was blown. Like, no, that's why no one's seeing my products is because I called them like these cutesy names. Exactly. So yeah, speaking to someone that understands SEO and keyword research that taught me a ton and is I think one of the biggest things that's important as a seller. I mean, your covers and your product are obviously at the forefront too. But people can't find your product and then they can't buy your product.

Kirsten: 22:56

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, one of my favorite things, I guess out of all, you know, Colette like, I don't know how it just happens just kind of naturally happens you like, as far as online, you're following somebody, they're following you. And they like a lot of your posts, you like a lot of their posts, and it then it turns into, like it just kind of naturally flows like you somehow become more connected with certain people, whether you, you might see them in different places. So I love how I think us as TPT sellers have gone and met I don't know collaborated with other people, whether it's online and then eventually leads in person. So I love just being able to connect with others and I but when I started my Instagram account, I had no idea. There was this whole world of TPT sellers with all these Instagram accounts. So it's pretty cool how I guess our niche has gotten super close. I'm not even sure how to describe it.

Laura: 24:03

Like I've never met you in person, but I know that you had a baby recently at about the same time I did, right? Yeah, Instagram. Yeah. And something that's really nice to think about being I mean, I love TPT everything about it. But one of my favorite things about the seller community is there's not a ton. I don't feel like there's a lot of competition like cutthroat competition between sellers because we all have such unique product lines and things that we're doing and ages that we're selling for and the way we do it is unique. So it's not like we're all selling the exact same product or having to like, we're having to fight for space on the search results or something. Yeah, but it always feels, especially at the conference in person. It feels very welcoming and people wanting to help each other like there's space for everybody in the TPT world or even on the first page of search results,

Kirsten: 24:52

but right yeah, I feel like he wants to have that anywhere else either. So yeah, I guess we value as a community we value Collaboration over competition

Laura: 25:04

Yes, I think that's that's the teacher thing. I think

Kirsten: 25:06

that's probably where we get it from. All right, well, thank you so much for coming on the show. If we were wanting to connect with you where can we find you online?

Laura: 25:19

Okay, sir all over the internet. I am happy teacher, happy students. I borrowed that from Happy wife happy life. Okay, my Teachers Pay Teachers, my Instagram, my website is all happy teacher happy students. Because I truly believe that a happy creative welfare teacher leads to a classroom of happy students. Grade. That's me. And if you're gonna come to the conference in Boston, anybody out there I would love to meet you and talk more TPT

Kirsten: 25:53

Well, thank you again for being on the show.

Laura: 25:56

Thank you.

Kirsten: 26:09

Thanks for tuning in 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 find me on Instagram at the southern teach. I cannot wait for you to join me in the next episode for more tips and inspiration. Have an amazing day.