Hey, there teacher sellers!  At the start of every new quarter, you might be asking yourself, “How the hell can I use my TpT data for quarterly planning?

Does this sound familiar? You know that you have some resources in your TpT store that are doing pretty well. They account for most of your sales because you see them popping up time and again when you hear that all too familiar cha-ching.

There are also those resources sitting on the shelves collecting virtual dust. When they sell, you cringe just a little bit because you know that they could be better. Don’t worry – I have them too.

Do you spend your next quarter giving those cringeworthy resources a makeover? Should you flip them, investing time, energy, and possibly money in having product photos taken so your instinct isn’t to hide under a rock when they sell?

Or, should you dive into the specifics of your hot sellers, getting nosey with the data and hoping it will spill the tea about how to make it that much better? Of course, you could always decide to spend time expanding your store offerings, but which product lines are on fleek?

Two Approaches to Quarterly Planning:

The answers to these questions are very personal; everyone will have different goals when sitting down for quarterly planning. I may hang out with my OG products and get them glammed up after spending many nights at home going braless, messy bun, and all. 

You might make seven completely new products and hit the trendiest club in town. Girl, you are always slaying it! We may experience the same growth and work equally as hard. But, the circles we run in each quarter may not mingle. 

No one approach is better, but the gossip is waiting to be spilled in your Teachers Pay Teachers dashboard.

The goal of this post is three fold:

1. Detail some ways that you can approach TpT quarterly planning using data-informed decisions
2. The data you will want to consider when making these choices.
3. How to track your progress

How can you plan for the next quarter? Let’s open a bottle of wine and get started.

Step 1: Downloading and analyzing your TpT store data:

If you want to make the most of your time this quarter, you must cozy up to your TpT data. There’s a boatload of numbers waitin’ for you in your product stats, and it’s hotter than a long-awaited date night without the kids. Since we all know those date nights are few and far between, we must make the most of them, so get real about what you want to accomplish this quarter in your TpT business. 

The first step is easy, peasy, lemon squeezy. Export your TpT stats to an Excel file.

Now it’s decision time. Will you:

• Give some TLC to your current products
• Spice it up by adding something new to your TpT store
• Go all out and do a little bit of both; why not? You’re a little wild

IF you’re giving TLC:

• Focus on the cream of the crop, the top 20%. You can slice that pie a number of ways: 1) earners, 2) views, 3) conversions
• Get strategic – what 3 – 5 products could do even better if you spruced them up a little? These are your top priority, so treat them like the VIPs they are.
• What’s the VIP treatment? There’s a cheat sheet for that, so make sure you grab it. It will share with you the data you need and how to use it to freshen up your product listing.

Are you spicing it up and adding something new?

• Get sleuthing using this data cheat. 
• If you want to slay the future, you gotta learn from the past. Dig into what was popular or brought in the big bucks last year during the same quarter.
• Brainstorm like crazy on how to expand those lines.What related products will make your customers swoon? Get your creative juices flowing.
• Once your list is as long as a CVS receipt, get realistic.Select 3 – 5 products you’re going to crush this quarter. You can always add more if you need to. For now, focus on those few that are going to make a killer impact on your store this quarter.

OR, are you doubling down (makeovers and new products):

• Use the tactics for both sections above, diving into the data and identifying top performers that need a new style, and hot trends that need to be expanded
• Select 1 – 3 products and make these your bread and butter. Don’t worry, you can always add more later.

Step 2: Make a Plan 

Because you can’t wish your way to success, you need to make a plan. Are you setting aside a little time everyday, or a chunk of time once a week. Whatever it is, make a date with your business to work on these goals.

Speaking of goals, get them out of your head and on paper. Tell a friend, get some accountability, or join a mastermind. You need some business besties to help you stay true to what your want.

When it’s time to work, be intentional about how you are going to spend your time. Don’t get distracted. Make sure you are investing in the tasks that are going to move your business forward.

Step 3: Track your progress:

You already downloaded your TpT store data, and you’re close to cracking the code. 

If you are focused on optimizing, pay close attention to pageviews, previews, and conversions. These are the secret sauce to what’s really working, or not, in your TpT products. It takes time, so don’t give up right away. This is a long game and it can take time to see results. 

And, for all of my product creators out there, don’t get too down if your products don’t win the popularity contest right out of the gate. Play around with titles and SEO to get the eyeballs on your products. You’re products are the bomb. They will get the views they deserve, so don’t freak out right away.

Quarterly PlanningQuick Summary:

1. Your TpT data is the secret to success.
2. Updating products? Get the data cheat sheet version 2.0
3. Expanding products? Get the data cheat sheet version 1.0
4. It is possible to balance both, babe.
5. Make a plan to get shit done. Don’t forget to download your TpT data at the end of the quarter and start the process over again.

Alright, it’s time to get ready, girl. My glass is empty, and I am ready to tackle my goals and come out hot at the end of the quarter.