Shopify Tips for Newbies: Preparing Your Way for Success

Did you know that Shopify has over 1,000,000 merchants from over 170 countries around the world? This just proves how this e-commerce platform helps in making the task of running an online store a lot easier. But this number includes every single business which has made the decision to create an online presence and sell their products online via an online store.

It doesn’t make a categorization of the successful ones and those that failed and once you get an idea of how many shops actually made it to the pinnacle of success, you might feel discouraged to a certain level. There is over 90% of this total number that failed and only less than 10% actually succeeded. But it doesn’t mean that yours will fall into that abyss of failure too.

How to Ensure Shopify Success

There isn’t any definite formula for ensuring success in Shopify. There may be sites out there that promise success when you follow their program or scheme but the truth is there isn’t a single plan or strategy. Every business is unique and not all products will have the same target customers. It is therefore important that you know what it takes to create a successful Shopify business and you’re familiar with every available tool or strategy out there that will get you closer to that goal. That’s precisely what the meat of this article will be.

What You Need

Before starting with any step for building your very own Shopify business, there are things that should already be in place so you’ll have a smoother transition from one step to the other. It’s wiser to have these things sorted out before you start paying for a monthly subscription for Shopify. Here’s a list of some of the most crucial things that you need to get prepared.

1. Identify Your Passion and Find Products That Match It

There is nothing more enjoyable than doing the things that you truly love. The same is true when you’re engaging into a long time (or possibly a lifetime) venture such as doing business. Selling products online takes a lot of time and preparation and if you’re not passionate about what you’re doing, chances are you’re going to feel tired along the way. So definitely consider your interests and passion and if possible, find products that will match that.

By doing so, you are actually making the chance of having a successful Shopify business a lot higher compared to choosing something just because it is popular but the product itself doesn’t even appeal to your passion and interest. If you are starting from nothing then you’ll see how this very first step would ensure that you’re continually working towards advancement and overall growth.

2. Choose the Right Product

You can sell any product on Shopify but there is no guarantee that every single one of them will make your shop a big hit to your target customers. That is why choosing the right product is crucial! But how do you know that it’s a good product to sell. What are the criteria for judging a product whether it’s going to sell or not. One very important idea to consider is whether or not the product addresses certain customer needs. People would tend to purchase something that makes their life easier or something that solves a particular problem so be sure to choose a product that does solve a problem or make life better for them.

To get deeper insight on this, you can do extensive market research or spy on social media. Try to find some ideas on what people has been purchasing in the past few months. Look for trending DIY videos and see if you can find a product in there that you can sell. These are preliminary steps that you need to go through if you are to create an online shop that will become the next big hit!

3. Check for Legalities and Restrictions

You might love camping and other outdoor activities and are looking to sell camping knives to people who share the same interest and that is something that’s a good choice. However, there’s a big possibility that the list of countries which you can sell and ship such products to would be limited. Some countries have strict regulations on products like knives, firearms, and other products that can pose danger if not used well so be sure that your product won’t have any issue with such kinds of restrictions.

Consider selling other stuff that can be sold to such audiences instead like paracords, camping stoves, camping chairs, water bottles, etc. These products won’t have any issue in terms of import regulations and restrictions so you can be sure that your customers from any country can receive them.

4. Set Up All the Needed Financial Accounts

Are you going to accept Paypal and Card payments? How about checks? Customers choose to purchase from a shop that offers the mode of payment which they prefer. Paypal can be a good place to start but definitely explore other payment channels that you can use for your shop. Be aware of the advantages and disadvantages of each one so you can ensure that you’re going to pick the perfect choice.

5. Consider Hiring a Virtual Assistant in the Future

Depending on your business needs and the size of growth that your shop will undergo, you will need to consider hiring someone else to help you with the tasks in maintaining your Shopify business and ensure that everything operates as they are supposed to. You may need someone to handle order processing, product research, and uploading for instance while somebody else handles your social media pages, life chat, and customer support making sure that a system is setup so urgent ones can be prioritized and solved quickly.

You simply can’t run a growing online store alone and you need to be ready to accept that fact. Hire people as you see the need arise and don’t delay in doing so. Remember that maintaining a good shop reputation is key to overall growth so it will be a wise thing to hire a virtual assistant to do the job. There are several outsourcing sites out there where you can find VA’s who would have the skills that you’re looking for and the beauty about it is you can get crucial things sorted out by a VA at a lower salary rate.

6. Choose the Perfect Theme

There is no single theme on Shopify that will be perfect for every type of product so definitely choose the best theme for the kind of product or brand that you are trying to create. If you are into selling women’s accessories then definitely choose a theme that will match your products, something that has a girly color to it and easily attracts feminine attention. For outdoor stuff and other camping suppliers, pick that olive green and camouflage themes which convey the spirit of adventure and outdoors.

Also, consider some customizations to ensure that your website is optimized for every purpose especially for conversions. Not all website visitors will make a purchase from your shop but if you made every design enhancements and got the layout customized so that every visitor is enticed to make a purchase then you’ll get better sales and more profit every time!

7. Get Familiar with SEO

SEO or Search Engine Optimization is a marketing technique that seeks to place your business or website into the top search results of search engines like Google, MSN, Yahoo, etc. One source of traffic that websites get is from search engines that is why it is important that you ensure your website appears at the top list of the search results all the time. One way that successful shops do this is by including a blog to their own store which discusses topics that would be of interest to their target customers. Shopify has a built-in SEO feature that can assist you with this so definitely explore that.

Start Things By Making Some Sure Steps

Right before deciding which Shopify subscription you would choose for your shop, be sure to first ensure that you’ve gone through each tip above. It’s pays to have all those things in place before you make a commitment. Find your passion and see if there are potent products that you can sell. If there’s none then look for second options.

Set up all the needed payment channels for your customers to choose from. Having more than one payment channel is better than having only one as troubles and other issues can happen anytime. Starting a business on Shopify may sound intimidating for newbies but with the right help along with proper tools and marketing strategies, reaching success would be much easier to accomplish.

If you’ve already started a shop and need a new marketing strategy then definitely explore Ambassador Affiliate Marketing. If you’re new with it then ask us how. We’re here and always ready to offer help and assist you with the overall process. It’s easy and you can set it up on your Shopify store in a few minutes.

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