Calling all Teacherpreneurs! I’m excited to share the start of a new series here at Laugh Eat Learn all about making your Teachers Pay Teachers shop the best it can be! First up is that quotebox space; the ideal space for branding and/or promotion for your best selling products. If you have one already installed, really are in need of one, or have no idea what I’m talking about, this tutorial will be perfect for you to make your store even better!

Other Teacherpreneurs friends? Pin it to save!

What is a quotebox image?

Let’s start at the basics. If you don’t know what a quotebox image is, it’s that gray space right near your profile picture on TPT (see below!) The quotebox was used for a quote of your choice that would appear in (boring) gray text. It was/is functional but not very pretty. But I’m not here to share how to make your store functional (okay, maybe I will a little bit) but ultimately we want our stores to thrive and be beautiful. Credit for figuring out this workspace goes to Christi Fultz when she blew most teacherpreneur’s minds with how to add an image here to boost up your store!

Why should I add a quotebox image to my shop?

As mentioned above, it’s more than just being functional on TPT. You want to use every space on TPT to brand yourself to your potential buyers. You want your buyer to come to your store and feel welcomed, notice your branding, and see what you have to offer to better their days in the classroom. I always featured buyer favorites in the spaces available but you can easily link to social media or a blog/site address.  All in all it’s a win win. You have a beautiful store, with ad space in more than just the normal TPT spaces. Now let’s get down to learning how to add this to your shop!

1. Getting the size & color right – free PPT template

First things first, you want to make sure you get the sizing right. I personally use 450 by 176 pixels or 3 inches by 1.6 inches (Rounded). You can go a little more than 176 or a little less but you don’t really want to go any wider than 450. This will ensure that it stays within your gray quotebox space. For the background, you could either do completely transparent or you can match the gray color which is color code: #f1f1f1. To help this process for you, make sure to download the FREE PowerPoint Template I created. The template will appear to be much smaller than it saves, I usually zoom in to 200% to create the image as this is about the size it will save as.

2. Design your heart out

Now comes the fun part. Using the template from above (or making your own in whatever program you choose to use), begin to set up your design. Things to think about, what do you want to feature? What do you want it to say to your potential buyers? Think about the space you have, if you are going to feature a product, make sure you don’t make your covers too small. I usually only add 3 covers (4 max) when I design for my clients. You also want to make sure everything is contained within the size of the quotebox so it doesn’t get cut off (trust me, it will look odd floating in your quotebox space). If you need some examples, check out my portfolio of ones I’ve created for my past clients.

3. Saving your hard work

Once you have completed your look you want to add to your shop, you need to make sure you save a copy of your original PowerPoint so you can always come back and edit later on. I save all my quotebox images in a folder so I know exactly where to find them. After you save your original, you’ll want to save your image as a PNG. This will be the best quality image for your store. To do this from PowerPoint:

• On your PowerPoint slide, select all the pieces of your design by pressing the keys command + A or Ctrl+A
• Right click > Select “Group” > Group. Everything should be combined in one box.
• While still selected, right click again > “Save As Picture”. Save the image on your computer, it should say PNG, if not, select PNG (trust me!)

4. Uploading to the internet

You’ll want to host your new image somewhere secure on the internet. You can easily do this from Blogger, WordPress or something like Photobucket. Upload the image to your prefered hosting and find the DIRECT link to the image. Copy this link!

5. Shorten your picture link

Now that you have your direct link to your quotebox image, you need to shorten the actual link for it to fit into the quotebox space. There are limited characters here so you want to make sure to save your space in that! I use Tiny URL, but you could use Bit.ly or Google too. Once you shorten it, copy this URL and move onto uploading to TPT.

6. Uploading to TPT

To upload, you’ll need to head to your TPT shop and go to your Dashboard. Near your profile picture on Dashboard, you’ll find “Edit Profile”. Find “Personal Quote”, this is where you will be adding your code for the quotebox image to appear. The following code is what you need to use (exactly like this) for it to work correctly. Feel free to copy and paste this code below into your Personal Quote space:

The coding has to appear as it is above in that space. Both links need to be tiny as there are only 140 characters to use in the personal quotebox. If you would like the image to just be stand alone with no link if someone clicks on it use the following code only:

<img src=”TINY URL TO IMAGE”>

Next, scroll down and save the code. You should see the image now in the profile after you saved it. If for whatever reason your image is now showing up after you save, something in the coding is probably off. The quotation marks can be SUPER sensitive if not properly used. They need to be straight quotations, without any curve in it at all (I know that sounds odd but trust me). If you are having trouble, try copying/pasting the code in a notepad or text.

After it has been successfully saved, you’ll be able to travel to your shop and see your brand new quotebox image! This is a fantastic way to drive customers to specific products, product lines or categories. You can link your image to anything in your store, social media, or even your blog. Just remember tiny URLs for everything as it’s only 140 characters!