Teacher side hustles should not have to be a thing. But the reality is they are. From UberEats drivers to Makeup Counter Sales Reps to Course Creators. I will always and forever be an advocate of teachers in the classroom since that’s what you were born to do–TEACH. But if you feel the need to step outside of the classroom to make a bigger impact and income I want you to be able to do it in a way that lights you up inside. So why not use what you already have {an ability to teach} and use your skills to create teacher magic in the online space? 

It never fails, often times when we post something on social media – everyone assumes that we only teach teachers how to make money on Teachers Pay Teachers. Some people say, “I’m just not into that,” or “I tried that once and it doesn’t work.” Heck, even some of our CEO Teacher® Trailblazing students have decided to move away from Teachers Pay Teachers entirely after finding more freedom and success doing other things. I’m going to explain why we love TpT as a beginning step for our students but also go into what the next steps might be if you don’t want to make more income by being a Teachers Pay Teachers seller too. 

This week’s CEO Teacher® in Training wants to know all about how to maximize naptime to work on their teacher side hustles. Tune in to the podcast to hear my answer and learn some time management tips of your own!

If you get started in our programs you’ll hear a lot about The CEO Teacher® Strategy. In short, it’s a diamond-shaped trademarked framework that will help you build on your financial freedom journey one step at a time. At the beginning of your journey, we highly encourage you to start on Teachers pay Teachers. Why? It’s an excellent way to make money fast and create a passive revenue stream for you for years in the future. 

When I say passive revenue stream I mean, you can set up a store and it can generate thousands of dollars for your every money without you doing anything to do….if you do it the right way, to begin with. That’s why we encourage you to start there, but let’s say you just ain’t into it or you aren’t as passionate about making or sharing your teacher resources as some of your teacher friends next door. That’s totally okay too and as we work through our programs we share some insider secrets on why TpT isn’t the best form of income for the long haul. 

Why? 

Mostly because it’s a platform that doesn’t belong to you and limits your access to potential and current customers. Creating an email list of buyers is how internet companies become successful. It’s the heart and soul of what we teach as you move through Level 1 and Level 2 in The CEO Teacher Programs. So, if you aren’t selling on TpT, I want you to focus all of your efforts on generating leads (or people getting on your email list) every single day and building a real sustainable business that belongs to you. That’s the ticket! So let’s jump into a game plan that can help answer the question:

What if I don’t want to be a Teachers Pay Teachers Seller?

If you don’t want to be a TpT seller, you may ask yourself, how can I make extra money as a teacher if I don’t sell on TpT? Our students have an amazing list of things that they’ve done! 

How can teachers make extra money on the side?

From Etsy sellers to course and membership masters – the choice is really up to you. We have some of our students selling stickers and T-shirts, and others using social media as their main income source. Yes, influencing as a teacher is a big thing right now. Some of our students make money each month as full-time bloggers, and others are launching their programs or services. 

Are you looking to coach other teachers? Create an online coaching program that helps teachers bring more calm to the chaos. The list could go on and on and in the coming weeks, I’ll teach you exactly how you can use any of these new pathways to generate extra income.  

Stay tuned because next week I’ll share a secret link to a brand new video training series that will teach you step by step how to follow one of our CEO Teacher® Pathways to generate more income this year and some of our students who are doing exactly that. 

Why we like TpT as an option for Teacher Side Hustles…

Now, going back to TpT for just a second and why we love it as an option. Teachers Pay Teachers allows you to try your hand at branding, graphic design, SEO (or search engine optimization) while also mitigating your risk for loss if you just decide to create a business in a flash. There’s something to be said about easing your way into building an online business and using someone else’s platform at a fraction of the cost of what it would cost you to create your own. We love to start there and learn the ropes and then we will branch out to creating your own website and so much more but creating a business should start in stages. 

• Creation
• Awareness
• Strategy
• List building
• Program creations
• Launching

These stages are vital and if you walk through each one step by step you’ll be able to build a sustainable business. In the creation and awareness phase, you can focus those efforts on TpT and see what your ideal customer may like, what they are searching for and how you can create small products to serve their needs. You’ll receive feedback on what’s working and what’s not (if you’re lucky and have buyers leave a review) but those comments can guide your steps. The more you create the better suited you’ll be for writing blog posts and emails to serve your people. Sometimes we don’t know what we don’t know and having other people tell you what they love or don’t love can help you see the classroom, students or parents through a different lens. 

If you don’t want to be a Teachers Pay Teachers seller that’s okay, but I do think it will take a lot more trial and error on your part as you try to navigate the creation and awareness phase of business on your own. TpT is a great starting point to learn more about what your business could be in the future and what your people would like to see. 

One of our CEO Teacher® Trailblazers, Kayla Norville from Bright in the Middle has created her online business while teaching full time with two toddlers. All of this was made possible through the strategies she’s learned as a CEO Teacher®. The mindset shifts, applying the lessons, and leaning on the community. Kayla’s most memorable piece of this journey? She knows she is never alone, she has a whole CEO Teacher® community cheering her on each and every day!

Looking for more inspiration and wondering how can teachers make extra money on the side?

Sell lesson plans

Develop curriculum

Tutor students

Write a book

Open an Etsy Shop

Sell physical goods like teacher T-shirts

• Create a Coaching Program

Monetize your blog

Become a podcaster or influencer

Create a course or membership