How to Batch Create Products for Your TpT Business
Ever felt like creating products takes forever? Like, by the time you're done, you've binge-watched half a Netflix series and drained your coffee pot dry? I get it. Let's fix that– batch creating is about to change your life.
Why Batching Feels Like Magic
I think of creating products for my store like filling up a jar with marbles. For years now, I've done them one at a time. Painfully slow. Now I can grab a handful of marbles and drop them in all at once.
That's the magic of batch creating. It's a really simple shift that takes you from creating products start to finish and getting lost along the way . . . to creating one step at a time over multiple days.
You can save yourself hours, boost productivity, and keep your business humming like a well-oiled machine.
A Huge Time-Saver: My 12-Product Win
Here’s the thing: I was able to create 12 products in just seven hours. Usually, it would take me around 24 hours to complete the same number of products individually. It’s a huge timesaver, and this post will walk you through how I did it and how you can do it too.
Planning for Your Batch Project
Start by choosing what products to batch create, and what music you're going to listen to while you belt out those 12 product PDFs in a few hours.
In my case, I worked on bulletin board borders for fall and Thanksgiving themes. I chose borders because they're one of my best sellers this month, so I wanted to give my future self a bigger paycheck, and it was something I was wanting to create soon anyway.
The key here is to be organized from the get-go.
Avoid the Grocery Store Trap
Jumping straight into product creation without a plan is like going grocery shopping while you're hungry– You'll spend way too much time wandering, picking up things you don't need (don't look at my clip art collection, this isn't about me, we're talking about you here) and wondering why you're even in this aisle. Let's avoid that mess all together.
The Science Behind Task Switching
There have been loads of studies that show changing tasks is one of the biggest time wasters out there. This lead me to decide to try batching, and I'm hooked. Let's get down to business though, this is how you can implement it in your business.
Speaking of saving time, don’t stop with product creation! Check out this article for tips on crafting a killer morning routine—because a productive day starts the minute you roll out of bed.
Steps I Took to Batch Products on TpT:
I stumbled across batch creating by accident. I've long felt like I am just one person, there's too much to do alone, and I can't possibly be any more productive than I am now.
I decided this week I was going to try working on products in one go and see how many I could get done as quickly as possible.
By the end of it, I was stunned–How had I not been doing this all along? That's when I decided that if there is a task that exists, I'mma try to batch it.
Here's how I started:
- Downloaded Seasonal Patterns / Clip Art for This Project
I raided my stash of patterns I have saved in my Creative Fabrica account, and it was like Black Friday at a craft store. I started with 30 designs . . . way too many . . . and trimmed it down to just the Thanksgiving and Fall themed ones.
This way, I could easily create my “more resources” page and not change it again the entire session. I didn't want the other patterns to feel bad, so I downloaded them too, and they're waiting for their turn in my “later” folder.
No more mid-project panic about picking the right image, the key here is make those decisions upfront so when you're designing you're JUST DESIGNING. - Name and Categorize Your To Do List
Organize your files. I can't stress how important this is to make this process super simple for you. For each set, I labeled them in my to-do list by their download name in my folders. For example, “Thanksgiving 12 Patterns” lets me see exactly what’s next in line to work on, even though I wouldn't use that to name my product. - Simultaneous Downloads
I kept my downloads open and ready to go so that I could quickly grab what I needed. This little trick stops you from constantly searching around—everything you need is at your fingertips. I like to keep several folders open at a time. I had my downloads, as well as the place where they live on my hard drive open. When I completed the PDF, I deleted it from my downloads.
Batch Processing Your Products
Now, let’s talk production.
Here’s the magic of batch creating: I worked in stages, which allowed me to fly through each step. I wasn’t flipping back and forth between tasks; I was focusing on one thing at a time and applying it across all 12 products before moving to the next step.
This prevents distraction and helps you settle into a rhythm, which makes you EVEN FASTER.
Get in the Zone with a Workflow That Works
With your plan in place and your resources at the ready, it's time to get in the zone. Here's the workflow that helped me knock out 12 products in record time:
- Create Your Product
I had a template I wanted to use (there are loads inside the membership, this one was in the classroom decor section) so I stripped it down to just the parts I was going to use, and then I spent time on my “more products” page, which is where I direct them to other products they may like. I made them all Thanksgiving or Winter products, so that I wouldn't have to edit that page again, and could reuse it for my entire process. - Create Your Shop Images
Next, I made shop images for each product. I saved parts of each image as individual JPEGs. That way, I could reuse them and save time when uploading to my store. - Work from a Template
When creating the product listings, I utilized templates. I copied my most successful listing that was relevant to the product line I'm creating (in this case, my groovy borders product), made slight edits to fit the new product, and boom—instant listing. - Descriptions and Details
I edited descriptions in bulk. By using a nearly identical layout for each product, I simply swapped out keywords like “Thanksgiving” for “Fall,” and voila! A polished listing in a fraction of the time.
For example, if you’re creating multiple products for classroom decor, you can apply this same technique to save time by streamlining your shop descriptions and image creation.
Save Yourself Hours by Pre-Planning
Pre-planning plays a massive role in how efficient your batch creation will be. I would argue you should spend the majority of your batching time on this. The better prepared you are, the quicker everything else will be.
Decision fatigue is a nasty beast you don't want to mess with. If you wait until the last minute you'll be picking between two nearly identical turkeys for twenty minutes trying to decide if you want it to have a bowtie, or no bowtie.
Say goodbye to your productivity.
Instead, do all the decision-making at the beginning so that you can flow through the creation process without any interruptions. Just click and replace.
Think of it like meal prepping for the week: you wouldn’t stop halfway through chopping onions to debate whether you even like onions, would you? Pre-planning keeps the tears from slicing onions and decision fatigue where it belongs—far away from your batch day.
Here's What You Can Plan Now For Success Later
For me, this happens a day before I start working. I use up all my decisions for the day in this part of my planning, and it's so worth it.
I like to copy and paste my clip art into a special folder so I can easily find it (and not get distracted by the other fun goodies I have in my hard drive) because we want this to be SUPER easy, we don't want to lose focus and end up in ADHD hyperfocus on the history of the Kennedy curse instead of working on our products.
Clip Art and Design Choices
Choose the clip art ahead of time. Set a timer, and decide within that time.
I suffer from this definitely incurable disease called “I've Purchased Too Many Clip Arts and Now I Can't Decide Which One To Use” and I'm pretty sure about half of my students also have this problem, so at least I'm in good company.
Anyway, the key to your future success with batching is planning the clip art out ahead of time. For example, an alphabet themed “write the room” activity will use 12 images, so have those twelve images already put together in a folder so you don't have to choose.
File Organization
- Create clearly labeled folders for each step of your process (“clip art”, “backgrounds”, and “PDF”
- Keep both your downloads and hard drive folders open to move files quickly.
- Delete or archive files once you've complete that step to avoid clutter and see what's left.
Avoid common distractions by being fully prepared. This strategy saves so much time, and you won’t have to search for anything while you’re in “creation mode.”
How Much Time Do You Really Save?
I saved 18 hours by batching these 12 products.
That is two full work days or, as I like to think of it, 18 hours I can spend not working. What do people even do with an extra 18 hours? I will probably use that extra time finding fonts I love on Creative Fabrica.
If I didn’t plan ahead or work in stages, it would’ve easily taken me twice as long.
Creating one product from scratch, including all the decision-making along the way, is a major time drain. I normally take between an hour and a half and two hours just working on one product.
Batching Isn't One Size Fits All
If batch creating doesn’t seem like it would work for you, like I thought it wouldn't work for me, consider tweaking it to suit your needs.
The idea is to take any repetitive task, and do it in bulk.
If you're staring at your to-do list thinking ‘there is just no way,' trust me– you've got this. With a little planning and a touch of batch magic, you'll be breezing through your tasks like a pro.
What Will You Batch First?
Once you try batching, you’ll wonder how you survived without it. So, what will you batch first? Share your plans in the comments—I can’t wait to cheer you on! And if this post helped you, pin it, share it, or send it to a friend who needs a little extra time in their day.
