My Thoughts on Teachers Sharing Products They Buy from Me

I've been a teacher my entire adult life, and I laugh to think how much money I have spent from my own pockets in my nearly 30 year career. I've also been a single mom, so I know what it's like to stretch every penny. As I embark on my adventure of selling resources online, I've done a lot of research online and have become active in several forums for sellers. There seems to be a lot of discussion about site licenses and sellers are understandably concerned about illicit sharing of products they offer for sale.

Here are my thoughts on how I want to approach this for my store.

*I put my watermark (not my logo, but my website name -teachinginspirations.com) on every page of every product I sell. I try to make it as least distracting as possible, while still being visible. I also make sure it is in a spot that is hard to simply cut off before copies are made. I want people to know who created the product. It is the best advertisement I can think of for future sales.

*According to my research (US Dept of Education Statistics), there are about 98,000 public schools and 33,000 private schools for grades K-12 in the United States alone. This does not even account for home-schools and schools in other countries that also are very active on TPT and similar sites. So if a teacher in one school shares one of my items with other teachers in the same school, that is not upsetting to me. Again, I think of it as good will and advertising since my website name is on it. Perhaps one of those teachers will be curious to find out what else I have for sale, or mention me to colleagues in another school. It's a win. Besides, I know that teachers often go in together to buy things so that they all end up getting more as a group to share among themselves than any of them would ever have gotten on their own with no intention of sharing.

*Technology has come light years from the days of purple mimeograph copies that were the norm when I first started teaching. A copy of anything can be shared a thousand times in the blink of an eye, so yes, I would be concerned if someone shared my work on a website, or some other mass media method. And I will probably find the need from time to time to ask someone to remove something from a webpage, etc. But I have enough stress without looking for more, so searching out poachers is probably not going to be high on my list of priorities.

*My goal is to make the best product I can, offer each product in a package that is affordable, bundle for added value and provide prompt and encouraging feedback.

*The primary objective of my TPT store, and the banners and products I list on Zazzle, is to share things that I create with others who are as passionate about teaching as I am. Yes, I would like to make some extra money, who wouldn't? But I want this endeavor to feed my creative spirit, not to be a make-a-sell-at-all-costs enterprise.

These are all my ideas here at the beginning of my selling adventure. I'm sure my point of view is going to change somewhat
as I get beyond the first sale that I was so excited to make today. I just hope I will keep a positive attitude and good perspective on what I want to accomplish.


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