what i wish i knew about shopify

hey my name is Elle and I've been listed,as a Shopify expert since 2013. and in,that time I've built over 175 different,Shopify stores and Counting for myself,and my clients the last nine years have,just completely flown by for whenever I,was first selling my products at local,flea markets to launching my very first,Shopify store let's just say there's,been a lot of mistakes made along the,way and if I was just now starting a,Shopify store or e-commerce store in,general right now these are the things,that I wish I had known first off you,need a traffic strategy because build it,and they will come is totally 2 000. you,need to have a plan in place of exactly,who your ideal customer is and how,you're going to be getting them to come,to your online store you need to know,where they're hanging out online what,kind of messaging is going to resonate,with them to get them to come to your,store because without it they're just,not going to know that you exist and,that's obviously a problem,you've also got to think about how you,can make your product more unique so if,you're selling things like coffee mugs,for example what makes someone actually,want to buy your coffee mug over all the,other ones out there in the world,because let's face it there's already so,many designs out there so is it the,wording that's different the design,itself or maybe the material like this,one has gold foil in it what makes yours,more unique and stand out in a crowded,Marketplace me personally I love,drinking coffee and I have a full,collection of coffee mugs that I love to,choose from fill up with coffee and then,leave somewhere around the house and,forget that I had made coffee in the,first place any other parents out here,do that or is it just me please tell me,it's not just,me so even though I have so many coffee,mugs already I still like purchasing,them for myself and giving them as gifts,because they're meaning something to me,and they're unique and different from,all the other ones that I already have,what can you do differently with your,product that stands apart from your,competition so then it makes people want,to purchase it for themselves or,purchase it as a gift you really want to,think about how you can stand out no,matter what Niche you're in so that you,can do things differently and separate,yourself from your competition,foreign,coffee let's talk about something that I,actually really hate doing for my,business,you ready for it,it's social media to be completely,honest if I didn't have a business I,wouldn't do social media at all I'm a,pretty private person but I do have a,business I actually have two businesses,and doing social media is an essential,part of having an online presence you,need to be showing up consistently,online so that people know that you,exist that your products exist and that,you're constantly sharing your news,about your products new offerings and,how you can help your ideal customer now,I'm not saying you have to be on social,media every single day posting because,that's a lot but what I would focus on,is choosing which platforms that your,ideal customer is hanging out online and,what platforms you actually want to post,on as well for me I like YouTube it,works with my personality and my,interest in video editing and,cinematography so it's not that hard for,me to show up consistently on YouTube,however Instagram not so much I'm just,not a fan and it's not really for me so,I'm always behind on a posting on,Instagram and that's okay because I'm,posting elsewhere online so the key is,to find out not only where your ideal,customer is hanging out online but where,you want to be online as well and what,kind of content pieces work best for you,then just think of a consistent posting,schedule so that you can show up you,know one time a week two times a week,whatever it is you just want to be,consistent so create content that you,consistently want to create if you don't,like creating the content well it's,going to be a lot harder to show up,online let's be real,when we're talking about social media,let's talk about how it can feel like,you're constantly on a treadmill just,always trying to put out new content and,thinking of new ideas it can be,exhausting so think about using social,media differently to create some,Evergreen pieces of content for yourself,for example whenever you post on Tick,Tock or Instagram or Facebook it's got a,shorter shelf life and it'll be seen for,a couple days and then poof it's gone,forever but if you post on different,platforms like YouTube or Pinterest or,you do SEO for your site those are great,Evergreen sources of traffic that can,keep sending you traffic to your store,on autopilot for years to come and,that's far better than constantly trying,to just put out more content more,content and more content because believe,me that can get exhausting,oh gosh oh no,I hate Mania whoa too close too close,Okay one of the next big tips is to know,exactly who your ideal customer is and,I'm not just talking about the,demographics of their age their gender,where they're located their education,level yeah that can be somewhat helpful,especially when doing like ads targeting,if you want to narrow that down but it's,more important to know more about them,themselves what are their dreams their,hopes their fears where are they hanging,out online what kind of music do they,like are they in sync fans Backstreet,Boy fans or do they have no idea who,either of these two quality boy bands,from the 90s are because that's a little,sad but once you know this information,you can then tie it into your messaging,so that you can have your product photos,your website copy all resonate with them,and you can add in these little Snippets,throughout so that way whenever they,come across your brand online or look on,your website they instantly see those,images or the website copy and they go,yeah you know what that is me I really,could use this product or oh my gosh,this solves all of my big problems you,want to think through of exactly how you,can pivot,your copy and your images to speak,directly to them huh do you see what I,did there friends frame friend frame,my sister actually made this,nextly you're going to have returns it's,just part of it I used to take it as,something against me personally or my,products but it's not that it's just,part of business so don't make it about,you get over it,yeah that's not fitting,let's actually talk about shipping for a,second it can be a huge ongoing expense,if you're selling physical products that,you actually need to ship out to your,customers especially if you have,products that are different sizes come,in different types of boxes or cylinders,or whatever it is you want to make sure,that you have really prioritized,figuring out what your actual shipping,costs are working with a carrier that,you can get some bulk rates through and,making sure that you're not losing too,much money on shipping or you can,actually pass through some of those,shipping costs to the customers by,increasing the price a little bit,especially if you're doing free shipping,on your store make sure that you've,tested out wherever your Warehouse is,that you're shipping this from or if,you're shipping it from your home what,does it cost for you to send a product,across the US versus in your local state,the shipping costs are definitely going,to vary there so make sure you know what,the roundabout average cost is,especially if you're doing flat rate,shipping or do carrier calculated,shipping it's the exact shipping cost in,any needs to be so that you're not,losing money on shipping honestly you've,really gotta think this through or,you're gonna lose money pretty quick,okay I had to talk about this at some,point and what better place than tip,number eight which is don't forget to,pay your taxes I know it's a scary word,and everybody hates paying them however,if you don't pay them it's gonna be far,more scary my friend when owning a,business there's a couple different,types of taxes that you need to pay like,sales tax for your product and income,tax off the money that you make from,your business now I cover all of this in,a whole separate video and how to set it,up and track it for your store so check,in the info cards above or the,description below for more detailed,information about paying taxes for your,Shopify store just know that it's really,important to prioritize actually putting,aside money to pay that otherwise you're,gonna be hit with a really big tax bill,and not enough money to pay it and no,one wants to be there I actually made,that mistake pretty early on in my,business and it took years to pay it off,so don't don't do that just pay your,taxes right the first time your second,biggest priority with your eCommerce,store is definitely the product,photography you need to make sure you,have great quality photography because,we buy with our eyes but don't think,that you have to go out and spend a,fortune on this you can buy great little,kits like this on Amazon that make it,really easy to take photos at home with,just your smartphone because these,actually have really great cameras on,them you can also buy a lot of other,photography equipment for really,inexpensive on Amazon as well so that,you can upgrade your product photography,also I really highly recommend you try,out some lifestyle photos as well and,get models that look like your ideal,customer to actually be showcasing the,product as the lifestyle photo for,lifestyle photos for one of my newest,Shopify stores selling children's books,I actually hired out a couple of,Lifestyle photographers on Fiverr and I,had really great success I'm super,pleased with those photos if you want to,see a little bit more behind the scenes,of that I've already got another video,on this YouTube channel that you can,find somewhere up there whatever you do,you though don't skip out on the product,photography and don't make it that hard,again you can get stuff on Amazon take,your own photos,next let's talk about your store design,store design is so important and you,want to make sure that you have a great,quality store design so that your site,looks reputable and people feel,confident in purchasing the products,from you and they know that they're,going to actually be receiving them in,the mail however don't procrastinate on,launching your store because you're,trying to make your store design just,perfect I've seen so many times people,are messing with the font size or the,logo size or all these little things,that just aren't that important in the,grand scheme your store design is going,to constantly going through an ebb and,flow as the seasons change and yes your,product images change your messaging,changes it's always going to be changing,there's never going to be an absolute,perfect design that you won't keep,changing after that,so don't let it be a reason that you're,not launching your store today if you,want to know a little bit more about,design I'll link in the description,below a video that I've already done on,picking the best Shopify theme for your,store as well as how to customize your,Shopify theme in just one hour so yeah,it's important but don't let it hold you,back also you've got to start running,paid ads I know I know love them or hate,them everybody's got an opinion but it's,a crucial part of running an online,store because running paid ads lets you,test out different images and copy to,see what works best and what resonates,with your ideal customer it's so,important to know exactly what kind of,images and copy are going to resonate,the most and actually turn into sales,because that's the point at the end of,the day right just know that you're,going to end up losing some money in the,beginning and that's okay again it's,just part of the process but by losing,money at the beginning to see exactly,what works you're going to be able to,have more profitable ads as you continue,advertising your business online,also make sure that you're starting an,email newsletter list from day one you,want to make sure that you're starting a,deeper connection than social media with,your ideal customers because with an,email newsletter list they're literally,raising their hand and saying yes I want,to hear from you don't take that for,granted and just make sure that you're,always trying to stay in contact with,them again it can just be one email a,month but make sure that you're starting,out if you're just getting started with,your Shopify store and you need some,additional help in setting everything up,or you want a step-by-step marketing,plan of how to grow your Shopify store,to six figures and Beyond then check out,some of the links in the description,below also you know like subscribe first,off it's free and secondly it's great to,be surrounded by a group of similar,like-minded entrepreneurs who are all,just working together to grow their,businesses if you want to see more,behind the scenes of my new Shopify,store that I just launched in 2022 then,check out the full playlist over here or,here here,wherever it's at you're going to want to,watch that next

Congratulation! You bave finally finished reading what i wish i knew about shopify and believe you bave enougb understending what i wish i knew about shopify

Come on and read the rest of the article!