Driving Online Sales Growth and Understanding TpT Analytics

Almost 6 months through the year and I’ve already doubled my sales! Read on to find out how!

In this post:

The Data
Frequency of Sales & Closing the Sales Gap
Looking at the Numbers
Re-Cap & Action Items

The Data

The data shared here is regarding January 1st 2023 through May 31st 2023 & January 1st 2024 through May 31st 2024. I like to take a little time every few months to analyze the amazing data TpT shares with sellers. All sellers should take advantage of these metrics. I don’t think just making more money on a given day is really the most important goal. Instead, I believe consistency is what really makes an impact. Having consistent sales tells you a lot about your business and how you are engaging with customers.

Here is an overview of my shop so you have an idea of where my numbers are coming from:

70 products listed
Average price per product $4
Average amount in sales per week $45ish
TpT Store Ranking 91st percentile
Number of followers 37
Number of reviews 54

First, let’s look at frequency of sales

If you notice in image A, there are gaps in sales for multiple days at a time back in 2023. But in image B that is not the case. Rarely do I go days without at least one sale. Likewise, my average daily sales are higher. Between these two aspects, my year-to-date sales are double what they were for the same months last year.

How to Reduce the Sales Gap

#1 – In 2023 I had fewer products in my shop.

I believe increasing the number of listings I have helped me become more visible. It also created a sense of trust for my potential customers. Imagine a TpT shop with ten items; two are math centers, five are grammar task cards, and three are planners. The best product images in the world are not going to tell me this seller is creating consistently high quality, specialized products that I can count on.

Customers want to know that they are investing in a seller they can rely on. A shop can absolutely sell all different types of products! Many do it very successfully. What I am suggesting is that (especially when you are starting out) you upload at least 15 – 25 of one type of product before uploading something very different from the first one.

I definitely made this mistake early on. It was like, “Consistency? What’s that?”

I listed grammar worksheets (oh so basic and sad looking), slideshow templates, assessments, I had one planner… My store was all over the place. Why? Because I was trying to sell products I saw on TpT that had lots of reviews. I should have been honing in on my niche.

#2 – Hone Your Niche

I admit that it took me a long time to really narrow down what I not only wanted to sell on TpT, but what I could spend hundreds and hundreds of hours doing without going insane. Basically, I had to become intentional with the products I was creating. Once I did that, I got into a rhythm that created consistency.

My products, short stories that I write and create assessments for, take about three weeks to complete. All of a sudden, I was listing products consistently, which meant I had content to post on social media and could blog about regularly. (Without getting too far off topic, this is the first step toward being able to batch content and really have an evergreen business making you money while you sleep.)

#3 – How I List Products

Once again, I feel like I was a little late to understanding the importance of this. After I had started getting intentional about what I listed, who it was for, and what format I wanted it to be I started seeing my work pay off and sales increased. To this day, the number one selling item in my shop is a simple short story with ten assessment questions.

So, naturally, I used this as a template going forward. All my future listings had the same categories, same title… But that was NOT helping. I just kept selling this one resource. It was also the only thing getting reviews, which encouraged people to buy it instead of taking a chance on all the others. So frustrating…

Then it dawned on me – Duh! I need to differentiate how I list my products. Suddenly, my other products were actually getting viewed, and purchased! Still not as much as this one, but it is also the only one with a bunch of reviews.

Take advantage of the different category sections when listing a new product, especially the resource type. I actually found that while I was listing my products just for 6th, 7th, and 8th grades, reviewers were using them with 5th and 9th grades. So I expanded the grade levels I use when listing products. The lesson here is to pay attention to the reviews AND the data TpT includes such as “grades used with.”

This info is for my best seller. As with any lesson we teach, there will be younger students that are advanced, and older students that need the extra support, so it makes sense that even 3rd graders can use this product. Many of the reviews in my shop are from ELL teachers using the products with their 9th graders.

Back to the numbers –

So, in 2023 I had gaps in my sales. These gaps are astronomically smaller than they were in 2022 and 2021. But, in 2024 the gaps are almost nonexistent. I look forward to the day I’m pulling in $300 a day rather than $200 a month. But for now I have to acknowledge the amazing progress I’ve made so far. Part of this progress is stemming from the increase in my views. Increased views are another benefit of having a lot of products listed in your shop, but that’s not all.

Like my sales, my views have more than doubled so far this year over last year. The fact that my sales match this growth, you would think my conversion rate would be really high… So did I.

Actually, my conversion rate is half of what it was last year… After thinking about it, I understand that doubling my views doesn’t necessarily mean doubling my conversion rates. From the research I’ve done, and TpT sellers I study, a 6% conversion rate is good (13% was better lol). It is interesting to me that I’ve doubled my sales, doubled my views, but lost half my conversions. I’d love for you to leave a comment if you can explain why this is or how the numbers work – numbers are NOT my thing.

Re-Cap & Action Items

Listing products is great! And having a lot of the same type of product really helps show that you are a master in your field. But, if everything you have is 3rd grade literacy centers, that is VERY narrow as far as searching goes.

Make sure you give your listings a variety of “resource types” and “grade levels” as well as varying your titles
List products consistently (and share with your followers that you’ve listed a new product)
Allow yourself time to discover and fine tune your niche (it doesn’t happen overnight)
Have a good-size selection of each type of product you offer rather than a small scattering of many different products.
Share your products across social media, YouTube, and Pinterest (free marketing is an invaluable asset and we should appreciate it)

Pay attention to all the data TpT provides. There are invaluable numbers here that you would be hard-pressed to get anywhere else.

Watch your sales vs views
Look at overall and individual product conversion rates
Read reviews (and reply to them)
Don’t ignore the grades that use your products

It took me a long time to get where I am (and some huge life changes). I know a lot of sellers sell way more than I do, but we all started at zero. Hopefully, it helps you to follow me in my journey. I know one day soon that I will be able to live off of my Whole Mindset business, and I know you will too. Just remember – live with intention, take calculated action, and acknowledge your successes (no matter how small).