How to Sell Teaching Resources Online | Sell Lesson Plans in 2024

Last updated: December 10, 2023

If you are a teacher, you have probably spent countless hours pouring your heart and soul into creating lesson plans and teaching materials for your students. But did you know that you can also sell your teaching resources online and earn extra income? Thanks to the internet, teachers can now generate additional income while simultaneously serving a worthwhile educational purpose with educators around the world!

In this blog post, we will discuss how to create lesson plans to sell, how to sell teaching resources online, and answer some frequently asked questions about selling teaching materials online.

How to Create Lesson Plans to Sell

Depending on where you are starting, you might have no educational materials or you may already have some materials you’ve developed at some point in the past. Either way, you will need to format them into digital files in order to sell and distribute them online. There are several ways that you can do this (from easiest to more advanced):

• If your resources aren’t already in digital format, you can scan them as PDFs using a high quality scanner
• If your resources are already in digital format (e.g. Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or Powerpoint), you can convert your files into non-editable PDFs
• If you want to add a little flair to your digital files (e.g. adding images, graphs, fun clip arts and fonts, etc), you can use Canva’s free online graphic design tool
• If you’re a little savvier in design software, you can also use Adobe InDesign to create professional documents that are aesthetically pleasing

Here are some teaching material ideas that you can create and sell:

• Ebooks
• Flashcards
• Homework
• Video tutorials
• Reading guides
• Presentations
• Lesson plans and curriculum
• Worksheets
• Printable activities
• Tests, quizzes, assignments, and assessments

Here are some tips to ensure that you’re creating teaching materials that will sell well:

• Clearly state what students will learn and what skills they will develop through your teacher resources
• Use visuals aids such as diagrams, images, and videos that can help students understand complex concepts
• Focus on a specific niche or education e.g. Montessori. You can even do a surface-level keyword research using Google Trends or Google Keyword Planner to see what other teachers are looking for
• Be mindful of the intellectual property rights regarding any of the materials which you create

How to Sell Teaching Resources Online for Free

Once you have created your teaching resources, it’s time to start selling them online. Here’s how to get started:

1. Create a website or online store

Platforms like Payhip are completely free and they make it easy to create a website without any coding knowledge.

Payhip is an eCommerce platform for digital products. You can sell any digital products or sell educational products such as worksheets, lesson plans, assessments, printables, flash cards, and you can even create an engaging online course or start a membership for your teaching materials.

Here are some things that you can look forward to when you use Payhip to sell educational materials:

• Generous free plan: You’ll get unlimited access to the entire platform’s features for free! There’s a 5% fee for every order (up to a maximum of $99/month)
•  Easy-to-use website builder and free website themes
• Free fully hosted website/storefront
• Automatic delivery of your digital products to your customers
• Instant and secure payout via Paypal and Stripe
• Marketing tools such as discount code, affiliate marketing, referral system, cross-sell, upsell, and more

Go to Payhip home page and sign up for a free account to explore the platform yourself. You won’t be asked to input any payment information, so you can take your time to decide whether this is the right platform for you.

2. Upload your listings

Once you’ve created an account on Payhip, you can upload your teaching resources as product listings. Be sure to include a detailed description of each teaching resource, along with any relevant images or videos.

You’ll also need to set the prices for your teaching resources. If you’re using Payhip, you’ll be able to set the price to $0 to make your educational materials free for all, or you can also set it to a pay-what-you-want pricing (you can set any minimum price) so your buyers can volunteer to pay any amount that they want. Pretty nifty tool to have educators helping each other!

3. Add payment information

You’ll need to set up your payment information to be able to receive payments from your customers. Payhip provides integrations with Stripe or Paypal. You can connect to either one or both of them. If you don’t have a Stripe or Paypal account yet, don’t worry, you can sign up for free through Payhip’s dashboard.

4. (Optional) Customize your store

If you want to stand out from the crowd, consider customizing your store with a unique design or branding. Payhip has a comprehensive guide on how to build and customize your website for free (no technical skills needed!).

Here’s an example of a website selling teaching resources:

5. Promote your teaching resources online

Promoting your teaching resources online store is just as important as creating high-quality resources. Without effective promotion, your store might go unnoticed by potential buyers.

There are many ways to promote your store, and the following strategies can be done without any budget:

• Create lead magnets or free teaching resources that your customers can download in exchange for signing up for your email list. You can then use email marketing to keep in touch with the people who have visited your website, and promote your products in the future.
• Promote your teaching resources via social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and Instagram. Even better, showcase how your teaching resources can be used in an educational setting.
• Create a blog. By sharing valuable content related to your niche, you can attract potential customers to your website and establish yourself as an authority in your field. Blogging also helps you improve your search engine rankings and drive more organic traffic to your website.
• Finally, consider collaborating with other educators or businesses in your niche to promote each other’s products and grow your audience.

FAQ on Selling Teacher Resources

Here are some frequently asked questions about selling educational materials online:

What are teaching resources?

Teaching resources refer to any materials or tools used by teachers or educators to facilitate learning and instruction in the classroom or online. These resources can include textbooks, workbooks, lesson plans, assessments, educational videos, interactive software, online quizzes, and more.

Teaching resources can be designed for use in a variety of subjects and grade levels, from preschool to higher education. The goal of teaching resources is to enhance the learning experience for students and help teachers meet their instructional goals.

How do I sell teaching materials?

As teachers, you can sell your teaching materials online through your own website or through online marketplaces such as Teachers Pay Teachers, Teachers Notebook, Etsy, and Educents. Bear in mind that selling through an online marketplace tends to cut your profit margins as they usually charge higher fees than if you were to sell lesson plans through your own website using platforms like Payhip.

How much money can you earn selling teaching materials?

The amount of money you can earn as a teacher selling teaching materials varies depending on the quality and value of your resources, as well as your marketing efforts. Most teachers who sell online educational materials as additional side income might earn about $500 per month, but there are teachers who have earned $24,000 online by selling wall charts and student data sheets for fifth graders, and other teachers like Deanna Jump who made over $1 million in sales over 2 years.

Final Thoughts – Sell Lesson Plans Today!

As teachers, selling teaching resources online can be a lucrative way to earn extra income and share your expertise with other teachers. We are rooting for your journey to becoming a successful teacherpreneur.

When you’re ready to get started, sign up for a free account on Payhip to start selling your teaching resources within less than 5 minutes.

If you’re keen on learning more about various ways to establish your income with your teaching expertise, we recommend reading our guide on How to Make Money Teaching.