I was totally blessed to attend the TpT Conference in Orlando on Wednesday and Thursday. It is 48 hours of mind-blowing, never stopping, walk, listen, and take noting, meet peopling, smile and wave moments like no other conference I've ever attended! To say that it is excitement is to downplay everything about it! Amazing is a great word to use, but still can't capture it all. Here are my Five for Friday take-aways with a freebie at the end!
Mindset
I’d have to say this was totally mind-blowing for me. I know, sounds obvious right! However, when you enter a world for the
first time, things hit you in a different way.
When like-minded people surround you, you adjust your thinking. I have been spending my whole time on TpT
just feeling great about a sale, that it was fun, that it was just extra
money. I have a different mindset
now. It has to be. There are parts of this that are a
business. I’ve begun to wrap my mind
around that. And, who doesn’t want
success in a business=mindset. I
attended a session specifically about this very thing. It was amazing and finished my first day on
Wednesday. It made me really begin to
process as the evening went on. I’m here
to say, set your mind on what you want and how you want it to be. It is very powerful to meet million dollar
teachers and know they are still happy teachers, down to earth, that it doesn’t
steal your joy or make you greedy and above others. SET YOUR MIND! So, where’s your mindset.
Money
Again, I had to begin to think about this as real money. Up until now I pictured it as play
money. Things I could buy for me, things
I could do for my family. I have paid
for a mission trip for my son and myself.
But now, this is MONEY! I
attended a financial session (after hearing in the mindset session that if you
are at the beginning of your TpT success, make a business plan and have that as
your mindset!) The gentleman that
presented was a teacher who just was wise in his finances. He made himself a millionaire by simply
teaching himself what he needed to do! As
a seller, we need to be investing what we are making and really use our profit
to build our personal finances. Time to
change my mindset!
Networking
Wow! There are SO
many people at the conference-and many know each other at this point. There were times I really struggled to fit in
or find my “tribe”. I met some wonderful
ladies the first night and I did find them from time to time. I met some of my local ladies and I was glad
for that. I met some of the Florida
Bloggers, I’m happy for that. I attended
a wonderful session on Building a Tribe, and that’s where I met a group of
ladies that I seemed to bond with. Both
are also from Florida and we seem to work well with each other. I will be working on building these
relationships and building more within the larger group of excellent sellers
that I met. I have to say, it brought to
me the importance of finding people to network with and it changed my mindset
about how to build and grow my business!
Opportunity!
There are moments to grab-and you need to! I was able to speak with one of the TpT Main
Players and two things happened! 1. She
took a picture of my store logo to remember me by! And, 2.
I used what we were talking about to mention a product in my store and
SHE WROTE IT DOWN! Yes, she WROTE IT
DOWN! Now, it may go absolutely nowhere,
but I grabbed a moment.
My moment was with this lovely lady!! :)
I think the
whole event is about grabbing moments, even if they are small. You don’t have to be in the group of laughing
sellers. You don’t have to stick like
glue to pals. You don’t have to pass out
the most business cards. You have to
seize moments. Some sellers were
surprised when they heard all the Teacher Super Stars I just walked up to and
started talking too. I was looking for
those moments! Why not! I guess I had good mindset on that one!
If you haven't met Rachel Lynnet, you haven't met the nicest person ever! She is amazing!
ONE THING
My final take away is that there is one and ONLY ONE thing
that guarantees success and repeated sales-QUALITY! There
is no formula-QUALITY! That exact word was used over and over again-from
products, to pins, to videos made, to blog posts (Thanks Teeny Tiny Teacher-you
were awesome!), to pictures taken that you use.
If it isn’t quality, you will not go anywhere. You’ll get basic sales, but you won’t get
repeat sales. You want repeat
sales. Unless you commit to the best of
the very best of product development, you will just make basic sales. Quality not quantity matters. So, I’m making this my COMPLETE mindset. I’ve always believed that, but there are
still a couple of things that I need to really work on in my store to attain
what I believe are my current levels of quality! I’m excited that this is the key, and that it
is not some formula that I was missing because I can’t read the forums because
they blow my mind. That I can’t
participate in Pinning Parties. That I
can’t get to my blog all the time.
Quality!
In the middle of the night from Wednesday to Thursday I woke
up with the BEST idea-only to completely forget it! Trust me, going to the Conference makes your
brain go on Hyper-active Hyper-drive!
Luckily, at Cracker Barrel during breakfast it came back to me! A wonderful waitress lent me a pen and one of
her order sheets. I jazzed it up and
made it just for this post. This BEST
idea-a basic set of business plan questions that you can fill out to begin to
guide your thinking. These came from a
combination of all the sessions and all the ideas sort of jammed into one form! So, it is yours, for free! We all need to set
our minds on how to be the BEST quality we can be! I’m excited to share it with you! Down load it here!
Leave your comments and thoughts about this post! I’m excited to hear what they are!
Had to randomly share my photo too!
Hi, Julie, you are absolutely right! The conference left me changed and inspired and for all of the reasons you mentioned! I plan to approach my TpT store very differently now. I wish I had met you - but there's always next year! I'm off to begin processing all that I learned! Thanks and take care!
ReplyDeleteProcessing with take days! I just started thinking about all the links, groups, and things I have to go through! Yes, it would have been nice to meet you too! Next year!
DeleteYES! The TPT conference was amazing! Mindset, Tribes, and QUALITY were my favorite takeaways. Oh, and I may just have to embrace video! :)
ReplyDeleteI also LOVED Rachel Lynette - so down to earth and so NICE!
I know!! Video!! I've got some ideas and have a few weeks before school starts to try it out! It is on my list for SURE!
DeleteThank you so much for sharing...such great information for all of us who weren't able to attend the conference.
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome!
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post! You are so right when you say seize those moments big and small at the conference.
ReplyDeleteTeaching, Love, Cupcakes
Yes, it will be the thing I remember to do next time! It is so different going through groups and pages now because I have met so many people and I know who they are now! Seize those moments!
DeleteThanks, Julie, for all your you-are-there descriptions! I feel like I was there with you.
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome! Thanks!
Delete