Looking for some ideas for keeping your business organized? You'll love this podcast episode with special guest Ayten Disbudak of The Language Adventurist!

Ayten became an active TPT seller in 2021. She is a former kindergarten teacher who loves creating educational resources and multilingual classroom decor to help elementary teachers and homeschooling families around the world.

Ayten shares what she's learned about keeping her business organized and how her brand strategy has helped her focus on what's important for her audience.

Episode Highlights

• Struggles faced in trying to be more organized
• Strategies learned on being more organized in Ayten's TPT business
• Favorite organization tools that have worked for her

Connect with Ayten

Website

Instagram: @languageadventurist

TPT Store

Mentioned in this episode:

Sign up for the Spice Up Your Store on-demand session!

Did you miss TPT Forward 2024? Looking for ways to update your TPT store page strategically (and in little time)? You'll love the NEWEST and up-to-date version of my Spice Up Your Store Page training. We talk about how to make your store page a valuable shopping experience for your customers and tips to make it cohesive, appealing, and true to your brand - without spending too much time fussing over the little details. We focus on what truly are the most important areas of the store page!

Register for the Spice Up Your Store Training!

Kirsten 0:04

You're listening to the creative teacher podcast, a show for busy teachers looking for ways to engage, inspire and make an impact in their teacher businesses. I'm Kiersten, a teacher business owner who is all about simple and actionable tips, strategies and resources that result in wins, big or small. If you're looking for that extra spark of creativity, you've come to the right place. Let's dive in together.

Hi there, welcome to another episode of the creative Teacher Podcast. Today we've got a special guest on the podcast, and she is going to be talking all about organization. This is something I know a lot of us struggle with as TPT sellers and teachers and parents and spouses. We probably may not be the best at organization and the language adventurous is going to share with us a little bit of what she's learned in this TPT journey on being a little bit more organized and kind of having ducks together in a row. A former kindergarten teacher who loves creating educational resources and multilingual classroom decor to help elementary teachers and homeschooling families around the world. She is multitalented with a lot of really cool things under her belt. She's multilingual and multicultural and fluent and several languages. So I think it's really interesting to hear her perspective of her journey as a TPT seller and just ways she's found to better organize her TPT business and her life overall. So I'm really looking forward to speaking with her and I hope you enjoy as well.

All right, so today we have a special guest. We are so excited to have you on the podcast. Welcome to the show.

Ayten 2:08

Thank you, Kiersten. I'm so excited to be here. Thank you for having me.

Kirsten 2:12

You're welcome. So if you could tell us a little bit about yourself, and also a little bit about your TPT business.

Ayten 2:23

Kirsten 3:25

That's amazing. Okay, yes, that's so awesome. What that what you're able to do with your experience, and your background, and how you can kind of infuse that into your TPT store. So yes, that's really, really cool. So today, we're going to be talking a little bit about a lot about the main topic, how we can be a little bit more organized as TPT sellers. I know personally, I am not the most organized not just for like TPT, but just life in general. I just so scatterbrained and so it is hard to get tasks done and just have some type of organization, whether it's how I'm creating my resources or how I'm scheduling out things. So I'm really glad you're here to talk about this today. Let's start with the first thing what are some common struggles TPT sellers might face when we might be trying to be more organized, especially in the new year.

Ayten 4:27

Definitely yeah. Well, I will talk about a little bit about the things that I run to like the like my main issues and that is like staying organized with my computer files, staying organized with my bookkeeping and organizing my clipart and this is a big one especially if you have a lot of resources is used like finding your resources because I bulletin boards. So in the beginning I had like 25 bulletin boards and They were all bulletin boards. And they were all like welcome bulletin boards and in different languages and hello multilingual bulletin boards. But then, like, it took me like 30 minutes to find a document. So then I realized, like, Okay, I need to use more specific and more descriptive things for for my names for the bulletin boards. So that that was like a huge thing for me. consistent branding, I would say to be organized in that was kind of like a struggle for me to have a content calendar, like, like the word I've never heard of the word before. That was like, What do you mean a content calendar? So like, that's

Kirsten 5:41

not something we think of as teachers. Yeah.

Ayten 5:44

Keeping track of what you want to do. And when and like those things, like how silly it even sounds, I really needed to learn that. And using platforms, like when you start off, and when you Google stuff, there is so much out there. And I really got lost. And every day, I was just like, oh, which social media planner should I use? Or schedule? Or should I use or, and before I knew it, I was more busy on those not so at that moment, not so relevant tasks, instead of really like focusing on the core on the core of your business and creating a routine in that. So that was for me, like that, those are my main main problems of organizing my business, when I started last year,

Kirsten 6:38

I can relate to a lot of that, and I know many listeners can relate to that it especially I can think off the top of my head, like my files, number one, like they're usually I named them, but I still have trouble finding them. And that's the same with on Canva. Because I do create a lot on Canva. My Files are not organized there. So there is a lot of struggles, especially as you're trying to, you know, create and create and create and, you know, just, it kind of gets overwhelming the more products you have, that you're trying to sell. So I definitely, I'm sure many people have that same type of struggle. So what are some tips that you have learned in the last year or so on being more organized in your TPT? Business?

Ayten 7:28

I do have a few. The first one I think that really worked well for me is to use separate browsers. So I use Chrome for my business. And I use Safari for my personal stuff. Okay, so that in the beginning, it was like weird, but now I got, you know, really used to it. And I see that it really like helps my brain to say like, Okay, now I'm going to do private things to be more focused on my private things, and I'm going to do business things. And also with your history and bookmarking and everything, it just made a little bit more sense to me now to use different browsers for for, you know, like the mindset. So okay, now this browser is open. So I know I'm going to do business. The other one is more personal and fun of what I really had to learn was to really separate the costs of my business. So I opened a separate bank account just for TPT. And my everything that involves my business, and another bank for my personal stuff. And I keep track of that. And when I was keeping track of that, I learned that it's also good to have like, an overview of what kind of reoccurring costs you're going to have every month. Because last year, I was so like, surprised that I had one month more costs than the other month. And I just have to go and look in search for everything. But now I have a yearly overview of what I need to pay every month. So for example, a lot of things I pay annually. So I know in February, I will have higher costs than let's say December. So to have an overview of your costs, I think is I think is one of the base you know that you know like what you're earning and what is going what going out because you need to base your decisions on on that. So that is something that I thought really like just keeping track of it. In one document I use Google Sheets helped me to stay more organized. Another thing that I also did is I put the logo on from my clipart the logo of the clipart seller on my folder to find it quicker. And before I had my clipart organized by the artist, but now recognizing it by themes Because I am I am creating bulletin boards and classroom decor and usually that has like one main theme. So for me, it made more sense to organize it by like, let's say winter this or Christmas or spring, or let's say like flax to do that way that really helped me to stay more organized. And I also what I did is like I had a diary of my roadmap, because everybody like you read, you go online, and you read blog posts, and everybody has their own way of creating and working. And I really focused the last month with a daily like a diary track keeping track of what like how you are creating resources, and what you do next, to promote it on your social platforms. And once I kind of like saw how much time I was spending on certain things, it really helped me to, you know, like fine tune my issues, like I was spending too much time on Canva, because I couldn't decide on colors, or I was spending too much time on finding the perfect clipart. So once you track how much time you spend on things, you also like fine tune in things like okay, I need to improve with decision making, or I need to be consistent with branding, or it just helps you so much, I think to to tailor down what your business needs. Of course, templates that helps a lot for your products. But also because that's what I that would that's something that I've heard a lot like, oh, you need templates to create resources. But I realized you also need templates to brand, your your store and your products. And I just thought, you know, like, if you have a one consistent way of doing that, maybe it looks a little bit boring, but at the end of the day, you get it done quicker, right. And I to learn that it's better to be done than to have it perfect, right? I love and I've learned that along the way, you constantly have to fine tune your product and update your products as well. So that's like a mindset shift that happened like that. I thought like, Okay, I have this product, but it's not like a done thing, you always have to go back and revise. And when you keep a track, like when you have your own diary, you can see what you're actually doing and how much time you're spending on it really helped me to change my own behavior. Because when you work as a TPT seller, you are kind of like a lone, it's, it's basically you're a solopreneur like, there's nobody that gives feedback to you or nobody that says like, Oh, you've been working on this thing for like six hours now. And it should be done. So you so having that diary really helped me to see what what I was doing. And giving and helped me to give myself feedback. So that's something that I really like as it's not an organization tip. But it's I think a tip that can help you to see what you are doing. And I'm you're spending on stuff.

Yeah, for sure. I really love all of those tips that you have. And maybe some people might have some type of journal or planner. I could also think maybe using clickup or Asana, some type of project management tool, that's another way you can kind of have it as a diary, as you're clicking all the tasks that you're completing and putting them in, just to see how much you can get done or what you get done. And when you get it done. There have been some products where I think it takes a couple days, and it ends up taking twice as long. And it's helpful to see that in my clickup to like, Okay, I really, so next time I plan a similar resource. I know it's not going to take me just two days, I already know based on what I wrote in the previous time, that I need four days to plan it out.

Yeah, so it helps you basically to create your own roadmap in, in what your own workflow is. Mm hmm. That's gonna end to my I think, like a very strong one is that I've learned that it's better to invest in your routines and routines that work for you than constantly, you know, like looking for other external tools to help you to stay organized. You know, like when you when you know what time goes in what I think it's better to, it's helpful to set goals and to you know, like, be organized and that's an Another thing that I think helped me a lot to be more organized this I set goals. And in the beginning like last year, my goals were very vague like, like, oh, I want to have a lot of followers, or oh, I want to have like five products. And then along the way you're learning like those things, of course matter. But what matters the most is that, you know, like that your teachers that buy your stuff are happy, and that you can connect with them, and that they can share what they are or how they are using your resources. And actually, that is kind of giving you the right input to improve your business and grow your business. And in the beginning, I just thought like setting goals was like, oh, I need 200 products, I need 500 followers, I need this, I need that. And now I'm kind of like learning that. You need to set goals that are reasonable and manageable for for your own business. And that's going to help you also to be better organized, and not scatter.

Yeah, I love that tip too. Because I know, sometimes we have these arbitrary like, Oh, if I have this many followers or products, then I'll be successful. But it's sometimes those numbers are varying between person to person, and from year to year, just based off of what happens previously. So it's good to be able to think, goal wise thinking more manageable based off of what you are able to do, you know, so. But yes, those are awesome organization tips. What stood out to me was one of the very first ones, where you said to use two different browsers, one for personal and one for business like that. Maybe that would help a lot for me as far as because I don't usually use Safari, I usually use Chrome for everything. But maybe thinking about like, if I'm looking up recipes, or just little like checking my personal email, it would be nice to have that all in Safari just to kind of make it more compartmentalized and thinking in different, like you said, different mindsets for different browsers, that's a great way to compartmentalize and make it more organized. So I really, really think I'm going to try that tip this year.

Let me know how it goes. I'm really curious. It helped me a lot. It's just like a you know, like, it's a mind shift, I think. And the same happened to me when I was kind of like keeping track of how I was spending my hours on my business. And I had some days where I was looking the whole day on on Etsy or on Canva, for templates to use for my social media. And I was like, I'm not sure if this is going to be really helpful for my teachers that want to have an amazing ESL classroom or a multilingual classroom declaration. Like I don't think that's going to help. But what is help is that I talk to them and ask them what their needs, what they need, and how, what colors they like, and, and stuff like that. Help me to be more focused in how I want to organize the business.

Yeah, those are some really good points to think about. All right, going into some tools, you kind of mentioned a few, but what are some of your favorite organization tools that have worked for you as far as staying more organized?

Well, my number one is from bare wood labs, flat pack, like the best investment ever? Yes, it did that, you know, like makes life easier. And yeah, that that would be my number one advice for everybody. If you don't have it, get it, it's such a time saver. So my second tip would be use different browsers just you know, like separate your business and your private everything. Also your expenses, because it's really easy when you buy a clipart that's just like $3 to say like, Oh, it doesn't matter, just you know, like, I'll just pay with my personal account. But at the end of the year, it's all adding up. And it's just better to have I think, a different account for for all your business expenses. And my third tip basically is create your own workflow. And to do that you need to keep track of what you are doing for your business in a day or, you know, like a new in a week. So you can fine tune it, what to fine tune it to what your business needs. And not to think because now in social media, when you go on to on Instagram or Tiktok or whatnot, everybody has something to say about how you should run your Business. And that really confused me. And I was also noticing that I was giving mixed messages to the teachers that would land on my TPT store. And now I'm trying to deliver one clear message. And that's that I'm here to create a multilingual classroom decor. Because I want to convey the message that all languages matter not only English, even though the students main objective is to learn English, but we should not forget about his or her home language. And kind of like an inclusive message that I also want to share with, with all schools, all teachers. And I discovered that by discovering basically my own roadmap, that is also again, helping me to stay more organized and prioritize what my business needs.

I love that you mentioned that because a lot of what you're saying is really organizing your messaging, which is a part of your brand strategy. So that's a really great point to think about is if you are not really thinking about a clear strategy, and where you want to go with your business, or what who you want to focus on and what message you want to send out to your audience, it's really going to be like you said, like all these different things, because oh, well, this person says, I need to talk more about this. And we need to do more of this. So the fact that you've decided, you know, what I'm going to focus in on this message. I think that brought clarity for you. And it's helped, it is nice to be able to be more organized in the fact that you don't have to worry about other different types of messages, you get to focus on what the main message you want to convey to your audience.

Yeah, my journey, this was my journey, like I had to be organized in my head. Say, and then I realized, okay, so I need to make it, I need to, you know, like, divide my stuff. This is private, this is personal. And I need to have the basics like the clipart. How do you organize a click on your clipart? How do you name your files? Because, you know, if you have 200 products, and they're all bulletin boards, and you want to find it, it's gonna be a challenge to find a quick, you know, so that also made me think about like, so should I call it hello in different languages? Or should I call it multilingual Hello, bulletin board, like, you know, like you, you think about it, and that helps you to name it better. And as you are thinking about what you're doing in little details, I noticed that it also helps you to prioritize how you should organize your business. And I realized that it looked that it looks different for everybody. Because everybody has a different way of doing things and a different message and a different style.

Absolutely, totally agree. Every brand is different and unique in their own way. And that's what makes us all TPT sellers. That's just part of the business. So yeah, that's a great point. All right. So before we finish this interview, I have some fun questions to ask you. Very random, but I thought it would be fun to ask you though. The first question. Are you a morning person or a night owl?

I'm a morning person. I get a really early and I love to have a very long morning routine, and then start my business.

Love that. I'm also a morning person. Okay, second question. What is a non business related podcast or show that you are really into right now?

A show? Like a TV show.

Or series or podcast episode or podcast, whatever you wish.

I'm thinking of like, this has nothing to do with with anything that I'm doing. But there is on Netflix. In the Indian matchmaker.

Yes, I've seen that. I've seen all three seasons. I love it.

I love it. So I started that and I can't wait because when I when I start cooking, I always watch it so I can't wait to start cooking, cooking and watching Indian matchmaker. I think it's so interesting.

It is very, very different culture. And that's what makes it interesting to watch. Love it. Okay, last question. You're at a karaoke bar and a celebrity walks in. Who is it and what song would you choose for a duet,

or a duet? Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. Okay,

with which celebrity with

the I check you

You're a very cool, yes. That would be a lot of fun. I 10 Thank you so much for being here. Where can we connect with you? And kind of if maybe there might be some ESL teachers listening? Where can we find more information about you and your business?

Well, I have a blog, language adventures.com. And I'm on all social media platforms as language adventurist. So I'll hope you I hope you guys can find me over there. And if not, maybe you can, you know, put my details into your podcast, so it's easier for people to find me and if they wanted about ESL, or if they have ideas about what I should create for their classrooms. I would love to hear it.

Awesome. Well, thank you for being here.

Thank you for having me.

Thanks for listening to the creative teacher podcast. If you enjoyed listening to today's episode, feel free to subscribe and leave a review. I'd love to hear your feedback. You can also follow me on Instagram at the southern teach dot designs. Have an amazing day.