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Teachers Pay Teachers Seller Tips: An Easy Guide To Your First Marketing Funnel

Set It And Forget It Why TpT Sellers Need Marketing Funnels

Imagine setting up a system that guides your best customers right to your products… on autopilot

TpT Sellers are SO. BUSY. Most of us are still teaching full time, while trying to build a side hustle and dreaming of building a business so that we can stop teaching and have more time… but have no time to do it.

By the time you finally finish a product and post it to TpT, I know you feel like you’ve just finished a marathon. I know that you don’t want me to tell you you should do more things.

But if you do just ONE more thing in your business this week – make it this.

Imagine guiding people to your products while you’re sleeping, or taking a walk with your kids, or making more products. This is what a marketing funnel does for you.

You know how you have to post all the time on social media and you still don’t make that many sales? A marketing funnel is the opposite of that.

A funnel is the crock pot of marketing. You set it and forget it, and it just keeps doing it’s thing and selling all your stuff for you.

Most TpT sellers don’t really have a plan for promoting their products. They finish a product, post it on TpT and then wait for something to happen.

You can definitely make sales this way – but it takes a lot longer. You’re relying on TpT’s search engine to bring in all your traffic, which can be difficult especially if your product is new.

But you can get a jump on the competition by taking control of your sales using marketing funnels. A marketing funnel sets up a clear path from your customer to your product, making it easy for them to make a decision to purchase. And you don’t have to be there holding the sign.

tpt seller marketing funnel
Teachers Pay Teachers Seller Tips: An Easy Guide To Your First Marketing Funnel 4

A Bare Bones Funnel Example

  1. You need to have a mailing list set up first.
  2. Choose a product line, bundle, or single large product. (Creating a funnel for a single $3 product would be overkill)
  3. Create a small “teaser” version of the product to offer as a freebie.
  4. Gather email addresses in exchange for the freebie.
  5. Set a short follow-up sequence that will go to each email address after they sign up for the freebie that promotes the full version of the product.
  6. Set a path for customers to find your freebie using SEO, Pinterest, Social Media, etc.

Important Note: Regardless of how well you set up your funnel, it won’t work unless the product and the freebie are both high quality. Ideally you should choose a product that already sells well as the focus for your first funnel.

Common Mistakes TpT Sellers Make with Marketing Funnels

Mistake #1: Doing It Backwards

I have seen quite a few blog posts and podcasts for teacher sellers that describe “Awareness” (top of the funnel) as the first step.

This is completely backwards.

teacher seller funnel preview
Download your own copy of the Marketing funnel blueprint below!

In order for a funnel to naturally guide your customers toward your product, it’s really important that you start with knowing who your customer is and what product your are funneling to. Then you work backwards back up the funnel (as with the steps above) to craft a path your customer will be happy to follow.

Mistake #2: Thinking one general funnel is enough

Another mistake I often see sellers make is just building one general funnel to their store and then calling it a day – but the truth is that general funnels typically aren’t specific enough to generate a lot of sales. You will have a lot more success with marketing funnels if you create a specific one for each of your major product lines.

For more details on how to set up your marketing funnel with a printable blueprint, fill out the form to download the freebie below.


Starting a TpT Store can be frustrating and confusing. Why do it alone if you don’t have to?

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