Shopify

Our view at Stack - Shopify has just about everything you need if you're looking to sell online. It excels with unlimited products, user-friendly setup, and 24/7 support. It offers 6,000+ app integrations, abandoned cart recovery, and shipping discounts up to 88%. Plus, it allows selling both online and in-person, scaling as your business grows.

If Shopify is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Shopify has just about everything you need if you're looking to sell online. It excels with unlimited products, user-friendly setup, and 24/7 support. It offers 6,000+ app integrations, abandoned cart recovery, and shipping discounts up to 88%. Plus, it allows selling both online and in-person, scaling as your business grows.

If Shopify is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Shopify has just about everything you need if you're looking to sell online. It excels with unlimited products, user-friendly setup, and 24/7 support. It offers 6,000+ app integrations, abandoned cart recovery, and shipping discounts up to 88%. Plus, it allows selling both online and in-person, scaling as your business grows.

Dad Gang Co., a hat brand that has sold more than 250,000 hats in just two years, started with a simple idea among friends. Co-founders Bart Szaniewski, Grant Eastey, and Ejay O’Donnell noticed a gap in the market for cool, wearable products that celebrated fatherhood without resorting to cheesy jokes or slogans.

“You get lawn mowing jokes, you get New Balance sneakers, you get just goofy stuff,” Bart says. “We wanted to find a product that was simple, but was very high quality. And that meant something.” He explains he was looking for something to wear more regularly that represented his life of being a dad.

The term “dad gang” originated in the friends’ group chat as a way to signal when parenting duties called. This inside joke evolved into a brand that resonates with fathers everywhere, offering them a way to proudly display their role without resorting to clichés. Ahead are some of the strategies Dad Gang Co. used over the past two years to grow and scale.

Building a community-driven brand

Dad Gang’s success stems from its ability to create a genuine community around its products. One example is in its design. Every hat has “IYKYK”—short for “If you know, you know”—stitched onto the side. “It’s like that little nod. …’I know what you’re going through,’” Ejay says.

Dad Gang also started a Facebook group for VIPs, where the brand’s most ardent fans could join to chat about fatherhood and Dad Gang’s products. It was like the founders’ group chat, but shared with a larger community.

Scaling fulfillment

For a brand that started as a small side project, the founders had to be scrappy. They started with just $750 in an initial investment to purchase the first round of 100 hats, and sold out in three days. Then they put in a bigger order, and it sold out in a week. It was clear they were on to something.

The challenge, though, was fulfilling orders from their homes before partnering with a third-party logistics provider (3PL). EJ turned his house into a fulfillment space for a few months—just in time for the fledgling company’s first Black Friday rush. “EJ was doing [fulfillment] during a crazy period of where we were getting, like, 800 orders a day,” Bart says. He was balancing not only fulfillment, but also a full-time job and his responsibilities as a dad.

After that first holiday season, Dad Gang Co. found a 3PL to help the growing business with fulfillment.

Collaborating with athletes

Grant explains that partnerships with celebrity dads have come about organically. In fact, the founders usually find out about athletes wearing their hats the same way everyone else does: watching TV or seeing it on social media.

Buddy sends me video.

🤣 pic.twitter.com/jKczKrynrz

— Bart (@TheSzef) July 26, 2024

Dad Gang has partnered with high-profile athletes like baseball player Mookie Betts, using these collaborations to show how celebrities embrace fatherhood. 

Staying true to friendship—and community

Dad Gang has now sold more than 250,000 hats and counting, but the brand remains focused on its core community of everyday dads. “We want to be known as Dad Gang, a hat company for the most part, but the community is much bigger than anything,” says Bart.

The team continues to listen to their customers, developing new products like flat-bill hats, new colorways, and bucket hats based on community feedback.

As Dad Gang looks to the future, it remains committed to its original vision: creating high-quality, affordable products that allow fathers to proudly display their role while building a supportive community.

“We don’t have any scale-to-the-moon goals,” Bart concludes. “We just want to keep building a fun brand together as three best friends and keep that kind of rhythm going.”

To learn more about Dad Gang Co. and how its founders grew their community online, listen to the full interview on Shopify Masters.

If Shopify is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Shopify has just about everything you need if you're looking to sell online. It excels with unlimited products, user-friendly setup, and 24/7 support. It offers 6,000+ app integrations, abandoned cart recovery, and shipping discounts up to 88%. Plus, it allows selling both online and in-person, scaling as your business grows.

Offers, coupons, discounts, and deals. There will come a time when most online merchants will be faced with the decision of whether to offer discounts, when to offer them, and how much they should be worth.

Offering discounts can be a powerful weapon in your conversion arsenal to drive customer loyalty. But, used haphazardly, you can do significant damage to your brand or, worse, become unprofitable.

Ahead, you’ll learn about the best discount and coupon code ideas you can use to drive customer loyalty and conversions.

21 discount code ideas for ecommerce stores

1. Weekly/monthly discounts
2. Prelaunch offers
3. Holiday and seasonal deals
4. Abandoned cart coupon code
5. Email/newsletter subscription offer
6. Incentives for liking, following, and sharing on social media
7. Referral promo code
8. First-time shopper offer
9. Minimum purchase discount
10. Exclusive social offers
11. Customer loyalty offers
12. Exit-intent offer
13. Retargeted promotions
14. Influencer offers (bloggers, celebrities, etc.)
15. Offers for purchasing online
16. Coupons for purchasing in-person
17. Event attendance offers
18. Customer milestone discounts
19. Flash sale discount
20. Eco-friendly discount
21. Military/student discount

There are a hundred and one ways you can use sales, offers, discounts, and deals to drive customer loyalty, acquisition, and conversions. Let’s take a look at some of the most popular options below, along with an example for each.

1. Weekly/monthly discounts

These are traditional sales used to drive conversions. Often, these sales are used at the end of a month or quarter to increase revenues to meet business goals.

Weekly or monthly discounts are great for using at the end of a quarter or season, especially if you need to sell off seasonal stock to make way for new products.

Tips and best practices:

• Use a stock countdown timer app to create a sense of urgency around dwindling stock
• Sweeten the deal with BOGO and product bundling offers
• Emphasize the “last chance” nature of the offer, also to create urgency

2. Prelaunch offers

If you’re still in the prelaunch stage of your business or maybe even launching a new product, you can use prelaunch offers to drive traffic and pique interest, turning new customers into loyal customers.

Prelaunch offers are great for building awareness of your brand prior to the launch of your store or for promoting new products.

Tips and best practices:

• Stay-in-touch with customers by collecting email addresses so you can update them when your product’s getting closer to launch
• Use a preorder app to allow your first batch of customers early access to your new product.

3. Holiday and seasonal deals

The holiday season, including Black Friday Cyber Monday, is the biggest shopping season of the year. Special holiday offers are perfectly-timed to increase the average cart total when shoppers are the most eager to do so. 

Tips and best practices:

• People tend to be shopping for others around this time, so even if you’re selling products meant for one audience (say, children’s toys), you’ll still want to market to the people doing the buying (in this case; parents)
• Unique and novelty products stand to benefit most from this type of sale, since shoppers want their gifts to be unique

4. Abandoned cart coupon code

With close to 70% of all people abandoning their carts, abandoned cart email offers can be a powerful tactic to bring those people back.

Sending abandoned cart coupon codes can be a great way to recover these lost sales. 

Tips and best practices:

• Personalize your abandoned cart emails with your customer’s name and the product they left in their cart
• Include a call-to-action (CTA) button so your customers can easily return to their cart to complete their purchase

5. Email/newsletter subscription offer

Building an email list is extremely important for online retailers. By providing an offer in exchange for visitors’ email addresses, you increase the chance of a conversion. You also get their email, providing you with the opportunity to build a relationship, foster customer loyalty, and market to them in the future.

Tips and best practices:

• Let customers know what they can expect from your newsletter; for example, you might say something like “Get exclusive offers and be the first to know about our newest products”
• Include sharing options in your newsletter so recipients can spread the word about your brand and products via social media and email.

6. Incentives for liking, following, and sharing on social media

One of the hardest parts of running a new online store is getting the word out. Giving visitors and customers an incentive to share your store with their social circles can be an effective way to create inexpensive word-of-mouth referrals.

7. Referral promo code

People are much more likely to purchase from you if referred by a friend or family member. Use this to your advantage and leverage offers to encourage referrals. You can choose to give a deal to the person referring, the person being referred, or both.

Tips and best practices:

• Use a referral app like ReferralCandy to create a referral marketing program that encourages buyers to share your products for discounts

8. First-time shopper offer

A lot of potential customers might be hesitant to buy from you if they’re less familiar with your brand. Providing a first-timer’s offer could be just the nudge a first-time visitor needs to be converted to a paying customer.

Tips and best practices:

• First impressions are important, so make sure that after the purchase has been completed, the customer’s order is shipped quickly; a good first experience is crucial to getting the most out of this type of discount.

9. Minimum purchase discount

An offer based on the total value of a shopping cart is an effective upselling and cross-selling tactic to encourage customers to spend more, increasing your average order size. A strategic way to incorporate this into your online store is to calculate your average order value for the previous few months and offer a discount or free shipping on all orders 10% to 20% over your average order value.

You can also offer minimum purchase discounts for specific collections and products. If there’s a particular collection you want customers to focus on, try adding a minimum purchase discount to incentivize your audience.

Tips and best practices:

• Use a quantity breaks app to apply discounts automatically to orders over a certain threshold
• Products that need to be replenished or refilled stand to benefit the most from this type of discount, since customers will want to act quickly to get a discount that might not be available at a later date

10. Exclusive social offers

Exclusive offers on your social networks can be a great way to build customer loyalty with those who follow you. Plus, this coupon code idea provides a reason for new people to subscribe to your social channels, which will allow you to market to them in the future as well.

Tips and best practices:

• Consider widening the scope of your campaign by boosting your discount offers with paid social media ads.

11. Customer loyalty offers

Rewarding customer loyalty can build an even stronger bond while providing discounts to customers who already spend money with you. You can easily make discount codes exclusive to specific groups of customers with Shopify.

Tips and best practices:

• It can be as simple as sending your best customers a personal email with a discount or credit, using an automated email marketing app like Klaviyo to send email offers when someone makes a certain number of purchases
• You might also consider implementing a customer loyalty program using a loyalty app like LoyaltyLion

12. Exit-intent offer

Sometimes all it takes to convert a visitor to a customer is a last-second offer before they leave. An exit-intent offer will pop up just as your visitor is about to leave your site or close the tab, presenting them with a final offer to purchase.

Tips and best practices:

• Exit-intent offers should convey a bold, simple message that encourages visitors to complete their purchase before leaving
• Use an exit intent app like Optimonk to create exit intent popups in your ecommerce store

13. Retargeted promotions

Retargeted offers are effective because they’re only shown to people who have been on your site before. That means that they already know who you are. The ads serve as a reminder to come back, and the offer serves as a nudge to purchase.

Tips and best practices:

• Retargeting discounts work best if they’re specific to your customer’s journey, so try segmenting your audience into groups and creating retargeting promotions specific to those segments

14. Influencer offers (bloggers, celebrities, etc.)

Partnering with influential people that have large audiences is a great way to increase exposure to your brand. And by providing an exclusive offer to the influencer’s network, you’re more likely to convert their fans to your customers.

Tips and best practices:

• Make a discount code that’s relevant to your influencer’s audience, so it will be easier for their followers to remember and use the discount code
• Make sure to work with influencers that have a similar target audience to your brand

15. Offers for purchasing online

If you want to drive online sales, consider incentivizing online purchases. Whether you want to use your ecommerce site to supplement your brick-and-mortar sales or create a customer base outside of Amazon, you can drive online conversions by offering something in return.

Tips and best practices:

• Consider using a pop-up bar app that offers your discount to visitors as soon as they arrive on your site

16. Coupons for purchasing in-person

Just as you can drive online sales with offers, you can also drive in-person sales. This can be at your brick-and-mortar location, if you have one, or at in-person events, such as festivals, fairs, expos, and trade shows.

Tips and best practices:

• In-person experiences are a great way to build brand awareness and loyalty, since shoppers tend to remember in-person encounters more vividly
• Consider paid Google or Facebook ads that geo-target online store visitors who live near your brick-and-mortar locations

17. Event attendance offers

If you host events, in-person or virtually, you can reward attendees with discounts or free gifts. These discounts can be given during the event or after the event. This helps to continue to nurture the relationship with engaged customers and drive more customer loyalty. Plus, it’ll likely encourage attendance for your next event.

Tips and best practices:

• Keep your audience engaged in the days leading up to the event by promoting it on social media and in email marketing
• The fear-of-missing-out can play a big part in getting visitors to attend your event, so make sure to emphasize the exclusivity and timeliness of your offer

18. Customer milestone discounts

If you have a customer loyalty program, customer milestones are especially important. These milestones could be personal to the customer, such as a birthday or anniversary.

Other milestones can celebrate the relationship you’ve built with one another. Those would include the anniversary of the customer’s first purchase or date they joined your customer loyalty program, spending a certain amount of money, making a certain number of purchases, or various engagements with your brand.

Tips and best practices:

• Thank you customers for their loyalty in your marketing copy for these types of discounts; showing your appreciation will go a long way in sustaining brand loyalty

19. Flash sale discounts

Flash sales are limited-time promotions where products or services go for a short time at a big deal. It’s an effective discount strategy because it builds urgency and taps into customers’ fear of missing out (FOMO), so people buy on impulse.

Tips and best practices:

• Get your audience hyped up by marketing your flash sale ahead of time with email, SMS, and social media.
• The shorter the sale, the more people are motivated to act right away.
• Make sure you have enough inventory and that your website can handle increased traffic.

20. Eco-friendly discounts 

Promos for eco-friendly discounts encourage customers to buy more sustainably. Customers can get discounts for choosing green products, eco-friendly shipping options, or participating in recycling or reusing.

Tips and best practices:

• Provide incentives like deep discounts or loyalty points for customers who choose eco-friendly options.
• Collaborate with reputable environmental nonprofits to offer discounts tied to donations or purchases.

21. Military/student discounts 

Discounts for active-duty military, veterans, and students exist to honor their service or education. These discounts are usually ongoing rather than time-limited, and they often require verification of military or student status.

Nike, for example, offers a 10% military discount and a 10% student discount on most items. To get the discount, military personnel must verify their status through SheerID, while students must verify their status through UNiDAYS. They can save on Nike’s popular athletic wear and shoes both in-store and online with these discounts.

Tips and best practices:

• Use a reliable verification system like SheerID to ensure only eligible people can get the discount.
• Promote your military and student discounts through your website and in-store, as many eligible customers actively seek out these discounts. 

Types of offers, coupons, and discounts

There are several types of discounts and offers you have at your disposal. Let’s take a look at some of the most common:

Each of these can be offered in Shopify using two different types of discounts:

Percentage-based discount 📊

One popular way to offer discounts is through percentage-based discounts. This can include smaller incentive percentages like 5% or 10% off, larger discounts to really drive sales like 20% and 25%, or significant percentages like 50%+ to liquidate merchandise that’s old or isn’t moving. You can also easily apply these discounts to multiple collections, products, and locations in Shopify, or offer them based on a specific purchase, like “Buy two sneakers, get 50% off any sweater.”

Dollar value discount 💰

Dollar value-based offers can be positioned as a credit. This makes people feel like they’re wasting money if they don’t use it. Pair one of these with a minimum purchase amount to increase its impact, like “Spend $200, get $20 off.”.

An easy trick to keep in mind when deciding between a percentage or fixed amount discount for a specific product is the “rule of 100”. If your item is less than $100.00, use a percentage discount; if higher, use a fixed amount discount. This is a psychological trigger that will result in the highest perceived value for your customers.

Free shipping 🚚

Shipping costs are one major reason for shopping cart abandonment. Offering free shipping is a great way to mitigate this and increase conversions.

Use free shipping in conjunction with a minimum purchase requirement to increase your average order value, which you can set up as a shipping setting in Shopify. You can even combine your free shipping offer with other seasonal promotions, like a 20% discount code for email subscribers, to increase the value of your offer.

Learn more:

Free gift 🎁

A free gift with a purchase can be a great way to provide additional value to customers. If used strategically, it can also be used to increase average order size and/or to get rid of product that isn’t moving. You can set a minimum purchase requirement or a volume requirement using a Buy X, Get Y discount in Shopify to offer a free gift for orders over $200, or once someone buys 5 items. 

Automatic discounts ✅

Automatic discounts apply to every eligible cart, and customers see them on the cart page before they start the checkout process. It’s a great way to run a storewide promotion on a product, category, or on all of your products without making your customers enter a discount code.

Plus, when there’s already a discount applied to their cart, there’s no need for customers to leave checkout to hunt for a discount code—or email you because they couldn’t find the code you sent. All this adds up to smoother experience for your customers, and potentially higher conversion rates for you.

Discount codes ⌨️

Discount codes are codes that your customers enter during the checkout process to redeem a specific offer. They’re a tried-and-true way to offer discounts to the right people, whether that’s everyone on your email list or a specific segment like new subscribers or repeat customers. 

Using discount codes can also help you track the success of your marketing efforts. If you’re running multiple campaigns, creating a separate discount code for each can make it easier to see the relative impact on sales. 

Do discounts and coupon codes help with sales?

Yes, discounts, coupon, and promo codes help increase sales. The lower price attracts customers who may not have previously considered your products. 

Offering discounts to existing customers also improves brand loyalty and repeat sales. For example, if a customer frequently buys a specific hand soap, offering a coupon code for that hand soap can make them feel valued and understood.

These benefits depend on careful planning. Use promo codes too much and it can ruin your brand reputation. Polysleep, an antimicrobial foam mattress brand, used these codes the smart way one Black Friday Cyber Monday.

In a Shopify Masters episode, the founder explains how they purposely leaked discount codes to their email list three days before the big shopping holiday. It causes a ripple effect as people shared the email with family and friends. This led to a massive uptick in sales for the team during BFCM.

Make the most of your offers, coupons, and discounts

Offers and discounts aren’t right for every online business. If you start with a clear goal in mind, a firm understanding of the brand, and a willingness to experiment, you can most effectively use offers to meet your objectives, build customer loyalty, and boost sales.

Illustration by Eugenia Mello.

If Shopify is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Shopify has just about everything you need if you're looking to sell online. It excels with unlimited products, user-friendly setup, and 24/7 support. It offers 6,000+ app integrations, abandoned cart recovery, and shipping discounts up to 88%. Plus, it allows selling both online and in-person, scaling as your business grows.

If Shopify is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Shopify has just about everything you need if you're looking to sell online. It excels with unlimited products, user-friendly setup, and 24/7 support. It offers 6,000+ app integrations, abandoned cart recovery, and shipping discounts up to 88%. Plus, it allows selling both online and in-person, scaling as your business grows.

Many entrepreneurs start a business with little more than a dream and a shoestring budget.

In fact, some business models require very little upfront costs, and at Shopify, we’ve personally witnessed the success of countless entrepreneurs with humble beginnings. But among the small businesses that get their business off the ground and don’t last, more than a third cite a shortage of cash as the reason. 

We wanted to understand: How much does it cost to run a business—really? And do aspiring entrepreneurs have any misconceptions about what those costs will look like in their first year of business? 

We surveyed 150 aspiring entrepreneurs and 300 small business owners in the US to find out exactly that. 

How much does it cost to start a business?

Small business owners spend an average of $40,000 in their first full year of business. But the costs of starting a business vary greatly and depend on many different factors, like the industry you’re operating in, your business model, the size of your team, your cost of goods, and so on. 

We also asked our respondents to take it one step further—we had them look back at their first-year records and tell us how much money they allocated to various business expenses as a percentage of their total budget. To keep it simple, we bucketed the following functions and cost categories to help you budget when starting a new online business:

1. Product costs
2. Operating costs
3. Online store costs
4. Shipping costs
5. Offline costs
6. Staff costs
7. Marketing costs

1. Product costs

Product-related expenses are an unavoidable part of running an ecommerce business. If you don’t spend money on raw materials, inventory, suppliers, manufacturing, or patents, you wouldn’t have anything to sell. 

Product costs are the biggest expense by a country mile. Our study found that in the first year of trading, product costs account for almost one-third (31.6%) of a small business’s expenses.

They’re not only the most expensive; they also the hardest expense to keep down. Some 21% of businesses said that costs associated with their inventory, such as product testing and receiving and returning defective products, as well as surplus inventory, could quickly rack up bills.

2. Operating costs

Operating costs cover expenses to get your business functional, plus day-to-day running costs to keep your store active. These include incorporation (like a limited liability company) or legal fees, accounting software, and services.

Small businesses spend an average of 11% of their budget on these operating costs. But some 23% of entrepreneurs cited one-time small business startup costs like licenses, permits, and business insurance as unexpectedly costly. They were also surprised that they were charged to incorporate both state-wide and federally in the US. 

Plus, in the qualitative component of our study, business owners repeatedly mentioned taxes and accounting as painfully cumbersome—and worth hiring professional help for.

3. Online store costs

When we asked our aspiring entrepreneurs how much they thought their first year of business would cost them, they wholly overestimated in one area: their online store. Aspiring entrepreneurs expected to spend 12% of their budget on online costs in their first year, but they actually spent only 9%. 

The perceived cost and complexity of launching and scaling an online business remains a barrier to entry for many aspiring entrepreneurs. But it’s largely unfounded. For Shopify’s part, our core ethos is to enable precisely those entrepreneurs who don’t have coding or design skills to create an online store. And to do so affordably. 

Our research corroborates this. Of the 300 business owners surveyed, we found Shopify customers spent an average of $38,000 on their business in the first year, compared to non-Shopify customers who spent an average of $41,000 in their first year.

4. Shipping costs

The process of getting a product to the end customer is an expense any ecommerce company needs to consider. Regardless of whether you’re shipping inventory from your own warehouse or using dropshipping suppliers, around 8.7% of your annual expenses will be spent on shipping. This includes packaging, labels, and shipping insurance costs.

Some34% of businesses cited packaging costs, damaged or returned items, and general shipping fees. This was particularly painful for businesses with low shipping volumes in the early stages. 

5. Offline costs

Are you supplementing your online store with in-person sales? There are expenses associated with selling offline, such as stall or table fees, office space, rent, and gas to travel to the location. 

How much you’ll spend on this differs depending on whether you have a permanent brick and mortar business or use the pop-up model. An online business that sells at the occasional craft market will have much lower offline expenses than one with a permanent brick-and-mortar store. But as a rough guide, the average business spends 10.5% on offline expenses in their first year of trading.

6. Staff costs

When you’re a solopreneur, you have limited resources: They start and end with you. You’re limited to the skills you possess and the skills you’re willing to learn. Many business owners reach a milestone in their career where they need to weigh the financial costs of hiring help with the time costs of doing everything by themselves. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, having employees dramatically increases overall spend. If you choose to go the solo business ownership route, you can spend less than one-third of what businesses with employees spend.

The average business spends 18.8% of its first year’s budget on staffing costs like salaries, benefits, and perks. But companies that reported higher revenue in their first year spent significantly more on team costs—almost one-third of their total budget. 

The relationship between revenue and team costs may seem like an obvious one: If you make more money, you can afford to pay yourself and hire employees. But the relationship goes both ways. Adding members to your team can also drive revenue growth.

7. Marketing costs

Marketing is more of an art than a science, and getting the budget exactly right at the beginning is tough. Spend too little, and you won’t get your brand in front of buyers; spend too much, and you’re less likely to hit your break-even point.

When we asked business owners, “How much did marketing account for as a percentage of your overall budget?” we found a significant relationship between marketing spend and revenue. The less money a business made overall, the more it spent on marketing strategy. And the inverse was true too: The more money a business made overall, the less it spent on marketing.

Our findings, as well as findings by experts from the US Small Business Administration, suggest that the sweet spot for a marketing budget for an early stage B2C business is between 7% and 12% of revenue. This should be enough to cover logo, branding, ads, and printed materials.

How to calculate your business startup costs

There are average business costs to consider when planning your budget:

• Essential vs. optional expenses. Before budgeting for an expense, ask yourself: Is it absolutely critical and something that the business fundamentally needs? Advertising, for example, is something that can help you grow faster—but it’s not essential. Plenty of businesses have grown using free advertising.
• One-time vs. recurring expenses. You’ll only pay once to file patents and have a lawyer help with company formation documents, but expenses like rent, salaries, and software subscriptions are ongoing. Break down your average startup costs into these two categories to help with financial planning over your first year.
• Fixed costs vs. variable costs. Even if your startup costs are ongoing, the price might change from month to month. Utility bills and loan repayments, for example, might stay consistent, whereas production expenses are variable costs that fluctuate depending on how in-demand your products are.

After analyzing trends among high-earning businesses and consulting startup advisers, there is a range that’s advisable to spend on typical costs in your first year:

• Operations: 10% to 15% 
• Product: 28% to 36% 
• Shipping: 8% to 12%
• Online: 9% to 10%
• Marketing: 7% to 12% 
• Team: 14% to 30%

Remember: starting a successful business is a marathon, not a sprint. Don’t measure the success of your new business by your first-year profitability. Give yourself a runway of 18 to 24 months to get off the ground. 

Accepting that your first year of business may not be very profitable is important for both financial planning and mental preparation. Many founders are the last to be paid in their first year, as all of the company’s revenue goes back into the business. That’s perfectly normal. 

Spend the first year opening your online store testing, reiterating, and reinvesting your sales back into your business using the above budget guidelines.

How to get money to start a business

• Personal savings
• Financial support from friends and family
• Personal loan
• Merchant cash advance
• Crowdfunding
• Venture capital
• Business credit cards

What happens if an unexpected event (e.g., a pandemic, a recession, or both) throws off your projections? It’s always a good idea to do some contingency planning and set aside a cash reserve, just in case.

While new entrepreneurs often rely on their personal savings to keep their business afloat in the early days, one-third of respondents reported reinvesting revenue from their business sales to cover their actual costs in the first year. 

Other business financing options to supplement your initial investment include:

Personal savings

Do you have money saved from previous jobs, businesses, or house sales? Savings are the most popular way to secure funding for a new business. Two-thirds of entrepreneurs polled in our survey said this is how they got enough money to set up their business.

Financial support from friends and family

If you’re lucky enough to have friends and family who want to support your new business, take a loan from them to cover your first year’s expenses. Almost one-quarter (23%) of entrepreneurs go this route. 

Personal loan

Banks offer small business loans to help entrepreneurs start their own companies. Some 21% of small business owners choose this option. Just be cautious that if you can’t repay the bank loan for any reason, you’re personally liable. 

Merchant cash advance

This type of business loan helps you secure startup funding that you’ll pay back as a percentage of sales. Shopify Capital, for example, lets you keep ownership of your company and automatically repay the loan when you generate new sales.

Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding is a way to source a large amount of money from a wide pool of people. Platforms like Kickstarter, Wefunder, and Indiegogo help you raise money from investors without having to pay back the loan. However, crowdfunding is a complex and time-consuming process. It can take months to launch a successful campaign.

Venture capital

If you have a unique product, want to grow fast, and you don’t mind giving away equity, venture capital firms can invest in your small business. This option usually comes with much more paperwork, higher commitments, and aggressive growth. But it can give you access to experts alongside cash to get started. 

Business credit cards

A business credit card can help cover initial startup costs like equipment or office supplies. Some also offer rewards or cashback on purchases which can help offset business expenses. One drawback to credit cards is that you can easily accumulate high-interest debt that becomes unmanageable over time. 

For companies struggling to make sales in their first year, creating a comprehensive financial plan with how much you’re going to need and how you’re going to use it will make it easier when you’re applying for a small business loan or trying to attract investors. 

Don’t think of this as taking on debt: startup expenses are necessary to generate revenue, so the return on your investment will likely be greater than the upfront costs.

If Shopify is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Shopify has just about everything you need if you're looking to sell online. It excels with unlimited products, user-friendly setup, and 24/7 support. It offers 6,000+ app integrations, abandoned cart recovery, and shipping discounts up to 88%. Plus, it allows selling both online and in-person, scaling as your business grows.

If Shopify is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Shopify has just about everything you need if you're looking to sell online. It excels with unlimited products, user-friendly setup, and 24/7 support. It offers 6,000+ app integrations, abandoned cart recovery, and shipping discounts up to 88%. Plus, it allows selling both online and in-person, scaling as your business grows.

If Shopify is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Shopify has just about everything you need if you're looking to sell online. It excels with unlimited products, user-friendly setup, and 24/7 support. It offers 6,000+ app integrations, abandoned cart recovery, and shipping discounts up to 88%. Plus, it allows selling both online and in-person, scaling as your business grows.

Imagine your artwork on t-shirts, your designs on posters, or your logo on backpacks and water bottles. How about turning your writing into a self-published book? With print on demand, it’s easy to design or customize everyday items and sell them online.

This guide explores print on demand, a business model that’s grown in popularity in recent years. Below, find essential tips on launching your print-on-demand business, plus links to four of the best print-on-demand services.

What is print on demand?

Print on demand (POD) is a business model where products, such as apparel, accessories, or home decor, are produced when an order is received. When a customer places an order, the product is printed, packed, and shipped by a third-party print-on-demand service. For sellers, this eliminates the need to purchase and manage inventory.

Products commonly sold through print on demand include t-shirts, mugs, posters, and books. The method appeals to many sellers because it enables them to test different designs and product ideas without a big financial investment.

You can use print-on-demand services to:

• Test a small business idea or new product line without the risk of buying inventory
• Monetize your YouTube audience or fans of your art with branded merchandise
• Create original products for niche customers like CrossFit enthusiasts or French bulldog owners
• Produce small batches of products to promote your event or brand
• Offer products that celebrate seasonal holidays or reference cultural trends
• Compare designs and products to see which your customers prefer

Pros and cons of print on demand

Print on demand is a dropshipping business model, simplifying the process of selling customized products. When you make a sale, your print-on-demand service takes care of production, packing, and shipping.

This model is an accessible way to run an online business, offering several benefits:

• Quick to market: Design a product and list it for sale in minutes.
• No inventory: Run a low-cost, low-risk business that doesn’t handle inventory.
• Outsourced fulfillment: Your print-on-demand partner takes care of shipping.

However, print on demand also has limitations to consider:

• Higher cost per item: Since you won’t purchase items in bulk, they cost more per unit.
• Limited control over shipping: You may not be able to set shipping costs or customize the delivery experience.
• Customization constraints: Print-on-demand services are often unable to accommodate complex design requests.

4 popular print-on-demand services

With a growing number of options, it’s important to pick a print-on-demand service that matches your needs in product selection, shipping speed, and pricing. 

For example, a seemingly great deal on shipping costs might lose its appeal if your customers need to wait three weeks to receive their orders. The wrong choice can cost you more than money; it can impact your brand’s growth.

Do your homework—use Google and review sites to thoroughly vet potential partners. Start by considering these four popular print-on-demand services:

1. Printful

Printful is a popular choice among print-on-demand sites because of its wide selection of high-quality products and brands (Gildan, American Apparel, etc.), easy-to-use mockup generators, and options for adding your own branding to the unboxing experience.

For apparel products, Printful offers several printing techniques:

• Direct to garment: Print is applied directly to clothing.
• Cut and sew: The article of clothing is cut, printed on, and then put back together for a seamless print across the entire piece.
• Embroidery: A threaded design.

You should also be mindful of how additional customizations affect the price. Printing on the sleeve or inside label, for example, will usually mean paying a nominal fee in addition to the base cost.

Besides apparel, Printful also offers mugs, bedding, pillows, framed posters, beach towels, aprons, and more.

2. Printify

Printify is another print-on-demand service that features the usual selection of t-shirts and hoodies. What’s notable is it also offers an international vendor network that enables a number of unique white-label products, such as jewelry, clocks, shoes, and water bottles. In fact, the platform boasts over 200 products you can print on.

While Printify is free to use, a premium subscription is available that gives you up to 20% off of all products for $24.99 per month, which is a solid option if you’re looking to scale up and improve your profit margins.

3. Gooten

Like Printify, Gooten offers a wide range of products that you can customize with several that are unique to Gooten, such as calendars and dog beds.

However, since Gooten uses an international network of vendors and dropshippers to print its products, there’s also a lot more variance between its items in terms of print quality and shipping. But that also means you’re likely to see lower product and shipping prices.

Gooten has an intuitive image editor that gives you a good sense of what your final product will look like.

4. Lulu

Lulu is a self-publishing platform for printing and distributing your own books and ebooks, offering many of the tools you’d need. It’s one of the most popular print-on-demand companies.

Lulu Direct is its print-on-demand offering and lets you choose from a wide selection of book sizes, binding types, and page quality to build your own book product.

While there is no built-in editor to design your book, Lulu Xpress does offer downloadable templates to get you started. It even has a transparent pricing calculator to help you cost out your project, including various shipping options.

There are also discounts available if you’d like to order in bulk.

Check out more of the best print-on-demand companies and sites.

5 tips for starting with print on demand

Using a print-on-demand service is often easier than managing your own inventory, but there are unique considerations to be aware of.

Here are some essential best practices for any print-on-demand business:

1. Use a print-on-demand app

While marketplaces like Etsy offer an easy way to list your products, starting an online store is the best way to build a long-term online presence and truly promote your brand.

Make your business simpler by using a print-on-demand app that integrates with your online store platform. That way, you can import your designs into your website with a few clicks.

When you build a print-on-demand store, you control the shopping experience—from the look and feel of your store to how customers interact with your brand and discover your products.

Additionally, having your own store enables you to build a customer email list, run targeted ads, and sell on social media, all of which are effective ways to maintain a profitable relationship with your audience.

2. Always order samples

Sellers should feel confident about the quality of their products, even when they’re sourced from a third party such as a print-on-demand service.

The best way to ensure your products look and feel as intended is to be your own customer and experience first-hand what it’s like to receive your products. Place sample orders through your online store to test out your entire shopping experience, from browsing to delivery.

Some services, like Printful, offer a sample discount of up to 20% to help sellers validate their design choices.

Beyond ensuring product quality, samples can also be used to take product photos for your website and social media profiles. 

3. Create mockups of your products

While samples can help you snap compelling photos of your products, mockups are also an effective visual marketing element and will be a prominent part of your store’s product pages.

Many print-on-demand services can help you create mockups, showing your products on a person or as a flat lay. But there are other services and plenty of free mockup templates that can also bring your products to life.

Mockups help customers visualize products, so it can literally pay to go the extra mile. PlaceIt is an easy-to-use mockup generator that lets you create photo and video mockups. Or, if you know the basics of Photoshop or other photo editing tools, you can browse Mockup World or Behance for templates.

4. Be strategic about shipping

Even though you won’t be shipping products yourself, it’s up to you to set expectations and communicate with customers throughout the shipping process. The best print-on-demand companies will be transparent about shipping and proactive about sharing information, but you remain the point of customer contact.

Be sure to account for printing times when it comes to shipping. Add anywhere from two to four days for production, or more for complex orders.

Outline what customers should expect concerning shipping on your FAQ page or a dedicated Shipping page.

If possible, absorb shipping costs into your retail prices. Extra shipping costs added at checkout may deter some customers, while the incentive of “free shipping” can enrich your marketing efforts.

For example, you may be able to leverage free shipping to justify longer wait times. Many consumers will wait a bit longer for an order if they feel it will save them money on shipping.

5. Find a niche audience

Since the print-on-demand model offers smaller profit margins, you’ll want to be strategic about how you position your brand. Having a clearly defined audience can help you lower the cost of acquiring customers, increasing your potential profits.

Finding a niche makes it easier to grow an audience. Some niche marketing tactics to try include: 

Creating designs when you’re not a designer

Design plays a crucial role in creating successful print-on-demand products. But you don’t need to be a full-time designer to source original designs.

There are many ways to commission or produce your own designs, as long as you understand a few key concepts that will help you work effectively with designers.

First, and most important, is preparing your design file. When working with designers, you should specify that your design is for printing. This implies that it should be saved at a resolution of 300 dots per inch (dpi). The dimensions of the images you upload should be the same size as the printing area for the product. 

Note that print specifications will change depending on the printing technique used. When in doubt, just send the designer the print specs for the specific product so they understand the context.

In most cases, the file you upload will be a PNG or PSD. Keep in mind that if you use a transparent background, the color of the t-shirt will be your background color.

Where to find design ideas and designers

In the best-case scenario, you’re a designer or know one you can work well with. But don’t be discouraged if you don’t have access to design skills. That’s what outsourcing is for.

You can find designers to work with on Behance or 99designs who can produce usable designs as long as you provide clear instructions. Here’s how you can add clarity and context for a design project:

• Share insight into your audience. Tell them what it’s for and who your audience is. Showing them your website can help.
• Clearly explain what you want. Use your initial pitch and subsequent revisions (you should get at least one or two) to over-communicate what you’re looking for, and try to provide concrete feedback every step of the way.
• Provide examples for inspiration. Give them a reference to base the design on, or point to past work that you liked.

There are lots of talented designers, so you should be able to find someone to bring your idea to life. The really tricky part is figuring out what you want to design in the first place.

This will depend on your target audience for the product, but you can find design inspiration on social media networks like Pinterest and Subreddits, or wherever your potential customers hang out online.

Look for content, messaging, or styles that resonate with your target audience. Just be sure you’re not directly copying or infringing on anyone else’s work.

Social media is also a great place to litmus test your ideas. Create a mini focus group by:

• Posting to your personal network
• Using Instagram’s Poll and Question stickers to solicit feedback
• Sharing a design idea with a subreddit

Design, sell, and grow

Print-on-demand services offer an accessible place to begin for new entrepreneurs, or for anyone who just wants to test an idea before they invest in it. There are thousands of white-label products out there that you can make your own, and no shortage of possible designs to pair with them.

Select combinations will inevitably sell better than the rest, but it’s relatively easy to repurpose the same core design for several products.

If your business idea pans out and you start generating a meaningful number of sales, you can always graduate from print on demand to holding your own inventory, or continue to use these services while finding new ways to grow your audience.

The greatest advantage of the print-on-demand model is the flexibility it affords your business and the time it gives you back to focus on growth.

If Shopify is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Shopify has just about everything you need if you're looking to sell online. It excels with unlimited products, user-friendly setup, and 24/7 support. It offers 6,000+ app integrations, abandoned cart recovery, and shipping discounts up to 88%. Plus, it allows selling both online and in-person, scaling as your business grows.

Sometimes entrepreneurship isn’t a choice—it’s a necessity. When your ideas and goals don’t exist anywhere else, you have to bring your own vision to life. This was the case for Alexa Curtis, founder of Be Fearless Inc. Feeling like she didn’t fit in with her peers, Alexa started blogging at just 12 years old, sharing her journey around mental health and self-confidence. Today, ten years later, Be Fearless has blossomed into a full-fledged lifestyle brand and multimedia platform, complete with a podcast, speaking engagements, and educational programs all designed to empower young people through mental health awareness and self-confidence building. 

Alexa’s journey is remarkable: she became one of the first creators to sell her show to Radio Disney and secured partnerships with major brands like T-Mobile and British Airways—all through cold pitching. Her experience offers valuable lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs and content creators looking to stand out in the digital landscape. Ahead, explore the steps from Alexa’s journey that will help you build a personal brand.

1. Find your niche and your “why”

Before launching your brand, it’s crucial to define your niche and underlying motivation clearly. This focus will guide your content and business decisions. “You can’t just go into this wanting to become famous or make a name for yourself. There has to be a why,” Alexa says. For her, the “why” was creating an outlet for herself as a kid from a modest background with no connections, and wanting to make friends on the internet.

Spend time reflecting on your unique strengths and passions. What problem can you solve that no one else is addressing? Let this guide your brand’s direction.

2. Be bold in pitching—and ready to act fast

Don’t be afraid to reach out directly to potential partners or clients. Research to find the team member who handles the relevant area of business. Craft a compelling and creative pitch, and be prepared to act quickly when opportunities arise.

Alexa’s big break came from a bold move—sending a cold email to more than 400 media executives. This led to a meeting with Radio Disney and, ultimately, a show deal. “You get one chance to prove yourself,” Alexa notes. “And if you don’t take the leap, you don’t get the chance.”

Within 72 hours of receiving interest from Disney, Alexa moved to Los Angeles—without a signed contract. While risky, this decision demonstrated her commitment and led to a significant opportunity. Be willing to take calculated risks to pursue big opportunities. Prepare contingency plans, but don’t let fear hold you back.

3. Create a standard operating procedure (SOP)

Managing a personal brand can be complex, especially when juggling multiple partnerships. Alexa uses a standard operating procedure (SOP) framework, documenting step-by-step processes, best practices, and lessons learned in order to streamline operations as she progresses. “Anytime I’ve made a mistake that I don’t want to happen again, I put it in that document so somebody else doesn’t make that mistake,” she explains. This will improve efficiency, help you avoid repeated mistakes, and ultimately lead to booking more clients.

4. Focus on value

While social media followers can be important, Alexa emphasizes the value of genuine connections and diverse skills over metrics. When pitching to brands, she suggests thinking through the skills you’ll want to gain in addition to a paycheck. Through her brand partnerships, Alexa has developed a range of skills beyond content creation, such as:

• Negotiation: Learning to advocate for fair compensation and mutually beneficial terms.
• Content strategy: Crafting compelling narratives that align with both her brand and her partners’.
• Social media marketing: Mastering platform-specific tactics to maximize engagement.
• Analytics and reporting: Measuring campaign success and providing valuable insights to partners.

“You can come to the table and sell so much more and make so much more money” when you have these additional skills, Alexa says.

5. Embrace change and learn from mistakes

Alexa views mistakes as learning opportunities rather than regrets. ““I actually love the mistakes that I’ve made,” she says. This mindset has allowed her to adapt and grow her brand over time.

For example, early on, Alexa says she made the mistake of undervaluing her services, accepting deals that didn’t adequately compensate her for her time and effort. As a result, she developed a more professional approach to partnerships, creating standard pricing structures and learning to articulate her value proposition more effectively.

By focusing on authenticity, taking calculated risks, and continuously learning, Alexa has built a successful career working on projects she’s passionate about.

For more inspiration and detailed advice from Alexa, plus a discussion on how she made her way out of debt, be sure to listen to her full Shopify Masters interview.

If Shopify is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Shopify has just about everything you need if you're looking to sell online. It excels with unlimited products, user-friendly setup, and 24/7 support. It offers 6,000+ app integrations, abandoned cart recovery, and shipping discounts up to 88%. Plus, it allows selling both online and in-person, scaling as your business grows.

Interested in making money online but not ready to start a full-fledged business? There are several inroads to making extra money on the internet—even if you have no skills or experience.

From side gigs to selling used stuff to offering tutoring services, there are many ideas you can consider. Compared to some of the conventional ways of making money online, the recommendations ahead are lower effort, and you won’t need as much technical experience to accomplish them. This article covers how fast you can begin to earn extra cash online and the skills or tools required to get started. 

Ready? It’s time to explore how to make money online for beginners, with 28 ideas you can act on today. 

28 ways to make money online for beginners

1. Sell your stuff secondhand
2. Become a virtual assistant
3. Test websites and apps
4. Rent your belongings
5. Look for side gigs
6. Become a content consumer
7. License your photography to stock photo websites
8. Start freelancing
9. Resell or consign your clothing
10. Start a blog
11. Become a pet sitter
12. Take online surveys
13. Sell print-on-demand products
14. Buy and sell domain names
15. Start a dropshipping business
16. Sell products through online marketplaces
17. Become an online tutor
18. Create an online course or workshop
19. Try affiliate marketing
20. Rent a room in your home
21. Offer landscaping services
22. Participate in online focus groups
23. Offer child care services
24. Sell handmade crafts or art
25. Do transcriptions
26. Become a social media manager
27. Create and sell printables
28. Review products online

✏️ Note: Once you start to earn money online as a beginner, you can consider leveling up to an online business, like launching your own ecommerce store. Look for the “🚀 Level up” tag in the ideas below to help you make even more money online. 

1. Sell your stuff secondhand

One of the quickest ways to earn cash fast is selling stuff online. Clean out your storage and sell anything you don’t use, including furniture, toys, tools, gaming equipment, and home décor. Local and online marketplaces like eBay, Facebook Marketplace, and VarageSale are great places to sell your stuff.

Best for: Those looking to make money online quickly.
Startup time: Less than an hour.
Effort level: Low.
Time to first payment: Varies, depending on the online selling sites you’re using to sell your items.

What to know:

• Each marketplace has its own rules and fees. Make sure you understand them before you sign up.
• If you’re interested in selling on Facebook Marketplace, read our guide on how to sell on Facebook.
• The Shopify Starter Plan is ideal for beginners looking to dip their toes into selling online.

🚀 Level up: If you enjoy this process, you can start a legitimate reseller business and sell anything from vintage clothing to refurbished electronics, and open your own store on a platform like Shopify.

2. Become a virtual assistant

You can make money online from the comfort of your own home by becoming a virtual assistant (VA). This means you can provide services to clients in any part of the world. Tasks may include data entry, content creation, monitoring social media accounts, or managing calendars.

Best for: Those looking to make money online from home.

Startup time: A few hours.
Effort to start: Low.
Time to first payment: Depends on the terms negotiated with your client or the online platform where you secured the gig.

What to know:

• Some clients are looking for specific skills in a VA. Be sure to list all your relevant skills and highlight your strengths to stand out.
• Standard career listing sites will have VA job listings, as will freelance sites like Upwork and Fiverr.

💡Tip: Once you get more experience, create your own website to advertise your services and gain clients directly.

3. Test websites and apps

Market research companies often are looking for consumers to test websites, try products or software like video games or apps, and provide feedback or reviews. Find opportunities like this on sites like UserTesting.

Best for: Those interested in the latest trends and products.
Startup time: A few minutes to create an account on each site.
Effort level: Low to medium, depending on the format.
Time to first payment: Varies by service and platform.

What to know:

• Some sites require a minimum balance before they pay out your earnings.
• Most market research sites require participants to be 18 years of age or older.
• You’ll receive an email when a project goes live, but you have to act fast or someone else will take it.

4. Rent your belongings

The sharing economy is upon us. There’s no need to buy things like lawnmowers, small power tools, cars, and household appliances if you only need them for a short while. Your house could be filled with underused things that others would like to rent. Sites like FriendWithA make it possible to rent products like this and earn extra cash.

🚀 Level up: Finding success with renting your belongings? Why not build your own clothing brand, rent a specific type of product like wedding dresses, or start a tool rental business?

Best for: Making money online quickly and consistently, owners of items in high demand in the rental market.
Startup time: An hour or two to upload your products to relevant sites and to browse listings.
Effort level: Low.
First payout: Usually immediately, but check the terms of each rental platform.

What to know:

• Get insurance or choose a site that offers insurance on your products in case they become damaged or lost. 
• Rental platforms usually require both renters and rentees to be 18 years of age or over. 

5. Look for side gigs

The classic way to earn money while keeping a full-time job, side gigs can help you earn money online through a variety of tasks, such as data entry, transcription, or manual labor. Use platforms like Fiverr or TaskRabbit to create profiles promoting yourself for side gigs like these. You can also consider food delivery or driving as a side gig, making money through apps like Uber or GrubHub.

🚀 Level up: Once you gain experience and clients through a marketplace, set up a simple ecommerce site to sell specific tasks or take on custom jobs—earning directly from your clients.

Best for: Those looking to make money online quickly.
Startup time: Less than an hour.
Effort to start: Medium.
Time to first payment: Varies depending on the freelance marketplace or app you use.

What to know:

• Some side gig marketplaces require an upfront fee to sign up, so read the fine print carefully.
• Review the side gig marketplace’s payment schedule to make sure it works for you.
• For administrative side gigs, in most cases, you will only require a solid internet connection and a device. Delivery side gigs require a motor vehicle of some sort and a valid driver’s license, while manual labor side gigs may have physical strength requirements. 

6. Become a content consumer

In a 2023 episode of the Search Engine podcast, guest and journalist Taylor Lorenz predicted content consumer as a job of the future.

A growing phenomenon among Gen Z freelancers and internet savvy job seekers, content consumers are for-hire assistants that can help internet personalities and businesses consume content on social media to spot trends, aggregate news, and stay current in the online landscape. 

🚀 Level up: Content consumption and content creation can go hand in hand. If you become versed in Internet and social media trends, you could be an asset for companies looking for content creators—and potentially make more money online.

Best for: Social media savvy internet users.
Startup time: A few hours.
Effort to start: Low.
Time to first payment: Depends on your arrangement with your clients.

What to know:

• Content consumer is a relatively new job title. Advertise your services on online platforms for freelance work and be sure to detail your offerings, niche (if applicable), and the benefits of hiring you.

7. License your photography to stock photo websites

Have a great eye for photography? A quick way to earn cash for your work is to license your photos to stock photography sites like iStock. You can also upload images to free stock sites like Burst to help build up your name as a photographer.

🚀 Level up: After you make a name for yourself in the stock photography business, start selling your photos as prints by opening your own store on an online platform like Shopify.

Best for: Beginner creatives looking to get a start as a professional photographer.
Startup time: Less than an hour (if you already have photos).
Effort level: Low.
Time to first payment: Varies, depending on the site you’re using to license your photos.

What to know:

• Before you apply, understand what each stock photo site is looking for in terms of subject matter and photo quality. 

8. Start freelancing

An increasingly popular home business idea is offering freelance services to clients online. Copywriting, graphic design, translation, and digital marketing are common freelance opportunities offered by businesses today. Use freelance marketplaces like Upwork, 99Designs, or PeoplePerHour, and set up a simple website to showcase your portfolio of work. 

🚀 Level up: Templatize your expertise and sell it as digital products like PDF guides. That’s how Jack Butcher scaled his brand, Visualize Value. With this idea, you can sell the same content over and over to make consistent money online.

Best for: Those with beginner skills in a particular subject like data entry, web development, or freelance writing.
Startup time: Low (you can start freelancing through a marketplace even without a website).
Effort level: Medium.
Time to first payment: Depends on your payment terms with your clients.

What to know:

• Collect examples of your work in a portfolio, references, and customer testimonials. Feature these on your website to showcase your talent.
• Know your worth and set your pricing accordingly.
• You will require a portfolio of your work and accounts for freelance marketplaces.

9. Resell or consign your clothing

Selling your unwanted clothes and accessories is a popular way to earn cash fast and clear clutter at the same time. Mobile apps like Depop, Poshmark, and Craigslist offer easy ways to upload clothing photos and descriptions without needing to build a brand or website. Sell your goods to local buyers only or offer to ship.

🚀 Level up: Upgrade to selling via a marketplace or start your own online thrift or vintage clothing store.

Best for: Fashion trendsetters with big closets.
Startup time: Minimal—simply shoot, post, and describe each item.
Effort level: Low to start (minimal ongoing effort is required to communicate with potential buyers and ship items, if necessary).
Time to first payout: Depends on the platform you use

What to know:

• Upload your products to multiple sites to increase their chances of selling.
• Most selling apps take a cut of your profit or charge a fee for each listing. 

10. Start a blog

Blogging is a longtime favorite for digital entrepreneurs like Ryan Robinson and Mattie James. Running a blog lets you share your thoughts, expertise, and experiences on topics you’re passionate about. With platforms like WordPress, you can start a blog with zero technical skills. Then monetize it with ads, sponsored content, or selling your own products and services. 

Best for: Writers and enthusiasts with a passion for a particular subject.
Startup time: A few hours to set up, ongoing effort required to maintain and grow.
Effort level: Medium to high.
Time to first payment: Several months, as building traffic and readership takes time.

What to know:

• Regularly publishing high-quality content is critical for growing a blog. Make a publishing schedule and stick to it. 
• Focus on a specific niche rather than a broad topic to attract a dedicated audience. 

11. Become a pet sitter

After the pandemic pet boom and the subsequent return to the office, plenty of lonely dogs and cats are looking for companionship. Sites like Rover help connect pet lovers (that’s you!) with pet owners for pet sitting, dog walking, and cat visits. 

🚀 Level up: Start your own pet business by setting up a website and selling your services and pet-related goods to make even more money online.

Best for: Pet lovers who don’t want the commitment of ownership.
Startup time: An hour to set up your account.
Effort level: Medium to hard, depending on the number of clients you take on.
Time to first payment: Varies, depending on the app or service you use.

What to know:

12. Take online surveys

One of the fastest ways to make money online for beginners is completing online surveys. There are many survey sites and mobile apps that pay users to give their opinion on anything from their shopping behaviors to how they feel about specific product categories. These surveys help brands make business decisions or create new products.

Best for: Those with extra time (and lots of opinions) looking to make money online quickly.
Startup time: A few minutes.
Effort to start: Low.
Time to first payment: Depends on the survey platform’s payment structure.

What to know:

• Many survey sites pay in points and you need to earn a certain amount before you redeem them.
• Completing online surveys is not a get rich quick scheme, as hourly rates tend to net out to well below minimum wage. Don’t expect this idea to be a reliable or sustainable source of income. Rather, it can provide a few extra bucks to supplement other income sources.

13. Sell print-on-demand products

Thanks to a production method called print on demand (POD), artists and creators can customize white label products with their own designs, without the need to hold or ship inventory. When a customer places an order through your shop, the print-on-demand company of your choice will print your design on a product, fulfill the order, and ship it to the customer.

POD options include t-shirts, mugs, tote bags, or fan merch. This model lets you create customized products quickly, making it a low-risk, low-investment way to earn extra income.

Best for: Beginner creatives looking to make money online from their craft, emerging influencers looking to create fan merch.
Startup time: A few hours to set up an ecommerce platform and print-on-demand integration.
Effort level: Easy to start if you already have designs to upload (easy to medium to maintain).
Time to first payment: After you sell a product, expect a wait period of around five days to receive funds on most platforms. 

What to know:

• After you set up a store, browse the many print-on-demand suppliers to compare pricing, quality, and product lineup.
• Most ecommerce platforms require that you are at least 18 years of age.
• Requirements vary by country and region, but some products may require you to have licenses, permits, or certifications.

14. Buy and sell domain names

Choosing a memorable domain name for a business website is a crucial part of the branding exercise. Many new brands seek the perfect domain name to represent their business and improve discoverability.

You can watch trends and buy related domain names on sites like Shopify, Namecheap, GoDaddy, and Hover. To make the most of this idea, buy up a number of domains and sell each for a small profit. 

Best for: Those with some money to invest upfront.
Startup time: Less than an hour.
Effort level: Minimal.
Time to first payment: Varies, depending on form of payment accepted.

What to know:

• Buying and selling domain names is not always a way to make fast money. You may sit on a domain for months or even years before seeing a return.
• Understand laws on trademarked names.

15. Start a dropshipping business

Another low-cost ecommerce business model is dropshipping, in which products are shipped to customers directly from the vendor or manufacturer. This is a popular way to make money online for beginners, since the seller does not handle inventory or shipping—you’re simply responsible for driving traffic and customer service. 

Best for: Beginners looking to test the waters with their own ecommerce store.
Startup time: A few hours to set up a store and source vendors.
Effort level: Medium to start and grow the business, low effort to maintain.
Time to first payment: After you sell a product, expect a wait period of around five days to receive funds on most platforms. 

What to know:

• You can create a Shopify store and test it out with a free trial.
• AliExpress and other dropshipping suppliers are great places to start for sourcing products. 
• Most ecommerce platforms require that you are at least 18 years of age.
• Requirements vary by country and region, but some products may require you to have licenses, permits, or certifications.

💡Tip: Due to the ability to be nimble, dropshippers can follow trends and sell trending products as they emerge. Keep tabs on trending topics on social media platforms like TikTok.

16. Sell products through online marketplaces

Due to their built-in audiences seeking specific products, online marketplaces are often launch points for many now-successful brands. For example, Etsy is a go-to source for buyers looking for handmade and vintage items, while Amazon is a global destination for product discovery and research.

You can get up and running quickly because there is less pressure on the seller to drive their own website traffic or build a more robust brand. 

🚀 Level up: Take your online business to the next level by building your own store. You can even sell products on both Etsy and Shopify, syncing inventory with an app like Etsy Marketplace Integration.

Best for: Those with vintage or handmade products to sell.
Startup time: An hour or two to set up your account and add products.
Effort level: Depends on your product and business model.
Time to first payment: Anywhere from the day after to 14 days after you make a sale, depending on the marketplace.

What to know:

• Follow Etsy’s guidelines around what you can sell and acceptable use of the platform.
• You must comply with Amazon’s seller policies to be in good standing.
• Most marketplaces require that you are at least 18 years of age.
• Sellers between 13 and 18 years of age may use Etsy with the supervision of a parent or guardian.

17. Become an online tutor

If you are knowledgeable in subjects like biology, math, or languages, you could earn income on the side with online tutoring. With sites like TutorMe and Fiverr, you can easily find students who need your help. Or set up a simple website and use social media and peer recommendations to drive traffic and sign-ups.

🚀 Level up: If you find success with tutoring, try selling your own online courses through a dedicated ecommerce store.

Best for: Aspiring educators, those looking for experience before creating an online course.
Startup time: A few hours to set up a website or an account on a tutoring platform.
Effort level: Medium to start. Ongoing effort level depends on how many students you take on.
Time to first payment: Varies, depending on how you bill your students. 

What to know:

• Most freelance sites require proof that you are skilled in the subject matter. 
• Expect transaction fees on tutoring platforms.
• You will require knowledge of subject matter and any necessary licenses or diplomas required by each platform and subject.

18. Create an online course or workshop 

Do you have a special set of skills to share with the world? Share them online with a course or workshop. Platforms like Udemy, Teachable, and Skillshare make it easy to create and market educational content to a global audience. Whether it’s a photography or coding course, people are hungry for knowledge in various fields. 

Best for: People with specialized knowledge or skills in a particular area.
Startup time: Several hours to weeks, depending on course length and content.
Effort level: High to create the course, low to medium to maintain.
Time to first payment: Varies by platform, usually within a month after course sales begin.

What to know:

• Creating a great course is only half the battle—you also need to market it properly. Use social media, email marketing, and partnerships with other educators to spread the word.

19. Try affiliate marketing

Here’s the rundown on affiliate marketing: You can sign up for a brand’s affiliate marketing program, which lets you share their unique affiliate links to promote their products on your site or social media account. When someone buys a product after clicking your affiliate link, you’ll receive credit for the referral, along with a commission. A solid content marketing strategy around your affiliate links will help you drive visits, clicks, and buys—and earn passive income.

Best for: Anyone with an audience online.
Startup time: A couple hours.
Effort level: Medium to start, very low effort to maintain.
Time to first payment: Varies, depending on the success of the affiliate links and the payment terms you set with the brands.

What to know:

• Sign up for Shopify Collabs to get access to brands offering affiliate programs to creators and influencers.
• Disclaimers are required by the Federal Trade Commission and most reputable affiliate programs. You are required to let your audience know if you are being paid to promote a product.
• You will require your own website, blog, or social media accounts where you can promote products. 

20. Rent a room in your home

Using online listing services and apartment rental sites, you can advertise a space for rent in your home. Whether it’s subletting an extra room in your rental apartment or renting out a garage or basement apartment in your home, you can make money online without specialized skills or experience. Depending on what you have available (and are willing to manage), you can even rent out space for a variety of recurring uses, like as an artist’s studio or band practice space.

Best for: Property owners or renters looking to save money on living expenses.
Startup time: Depends on whether your space needs upgrades in order to rent.
Effort to start: Depends on the condition of the space, medium effort to maintain the space and manage relationships with tenants.
Time to first payment: Usually at the start of the rental agreement period.

What to know:

• Renting a space in your home will require you to act as landlord and superintendent when you’re just starting out. This means you’ll be responsible for safety and repairs in the space or unit.
• Look into any impacts to your home insurance and taxes before you get started. You will also need to meet local requirements for rental units. 
• Consider more of a beginner approach by listing your room on a short term accommodation site like Airbnb.

21. Offer landscaping services

While this is not strictly an online job, you can make money online by creating an online store or using online platforms to advertise and sell your landscaping services. Target your local community by running ads on social media platforms or create listings on local buy and sell websites. Offer services such as gardening, mowing, and other handy outdoor tasks. 

Best for: Outdoor lovers, those who enjoy working with their hands.
Startup time: A few hours.
Effort to start: Low.
Time to first payment: Depends on your arrangement with your clients.

What to know:

• This is an excellent business idea for teens to save money for college. Operate a small landscaping service in the summer months when school is out.
• You will likely require equipment like gardening tools or a mower. 

22. Participate in online focus groups

Businesses do focus groups to get more in-depth feedback on their products and services. These sessions are usually paid more than standard surveys, and they can be done online via video conferencing tools like Zoom or Google Meet. Websites like User Interviews, Respondent, and FocusGroups.org are a great place to start for finding focus groups. 

Best for: People who enjoy sharing their opinions in a group setting.
Startup time: A few minutes to sign up on focus group platforms.
Effort level: Low to medium.
Time to first payment: Usually within a week or two after the focus group session.

What to know:

• Focus groups often require you to complete a pre-screening survey to see if you fit the demographic and psychological criteria. These surveys can be detailed and can take time to complete.

23. Offer child care services

Child care is another money making idea that isn’t strictly online. However, you can use online tools to advertise your services, book clients, and share testimonials. While running a formal child care business requires licenses and/or certifications, in most regions you can get hired as an occasional babysitter to make extra money.

Best for: Aspiring educators, students, and youth.
Startup time: An hour or so.
Effort to start: Low.
Time to first payment: Usually immediately after each child care session.

What to know:

• Training like a formal babysitter’s course and first aid certification will help you market yourself as a trusted child care provider.

24. Sell handmade crafts or art

Crafting or creating art for sale is another idea that’s not only online. You can sell handmade goods through platforms like Etsy, Handmade at Amazon, or even create your own Shopify store. From knitted items to paintings and jewelry, your possibilities are endless. 

Best for: Creative folks with a hobby they can monetize.
Startup time: A few hours to set up a store and list items.
Effort level: Medium.
Time to first payment: Varies depending on the platform and sales

What to know:

• Brush up on your photography skills as high-quality photos are important for selling handmade products online. 
• Share the story behind your work to give it some emotional value. Describe your creative process, the materials you use, and the inspiration behind a piece to connect with potential buyers on a personal level.
• Don’t forget about packaging! Secure packages so your products don’t get damaged during transit. Add a bit of flare to your packages (like a handwritten note) to make it a unique branded experience. 

25. Do transcriptions 

There are several sites that offer part-time work to transcribers. Transcription services like Rev or freelance sites like Upwork are great places to start. Some jobs may require a certain level of typing speed or demonstrated proficiency of language. While payouts vary by job and by typing speed, you can make on average $20 per hour by transcribing audio and video. 

Best for: Those with fast typing speed, attention to detail, and good grasp of the source material’s language.
Startup time: An hour or so.
Effort to start: Low.
Time to first payment: Depends on the payout terms of the site or client.

What to know:

• Most transcriber roles are gig work, meaning you get paid per piece or transcribed hour of content.

26. Become a social media manager

Businesses of all sizes today need help managing their social media accounts. If you can create exciting content and grow a social media following, you can offer social media management services. Platforms like Fiverr and Upwork have tons of job opportunities available for beginners. 

Best for: Social media enthusiasts with a good understanding of platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.
Startup time: A few hours to set up profiles and start reaching out to potential clients.
Effort level: Medium to high.
Time to first payment: Varies by client payment terms.

What to know:

• Being a social media manager means being aware of trends and changes. Platforms frequently update their algorithms and features, and different posts go viral each day. If you can quickly adapt to these changes, you can improve engagement metrics for your clients.
• It’s helpful to have analytics skills as a social media manager. Understand metrics like engagement rates, reach, impressions, and conversion rates so you can show the ROI of your strategies to clients.
• Develop communication skills to build trust with clients and win them over for longer term contracts. 

27. Create and sell printables

If you have a knack for design, selling printables can be a money maker for beginners. Printables are digital files that customers download and print themselves. Some examples of printables include planners, templates, party decorations, worksheets, and coloring books. You can sell printables on Etsy, Teachers Pay Teachers, or your own website. 

Best for: Creatives with basic design skills.
Startup time: A few hours to create and list printables.
Effort level: Low to medium.
Time to first payment: Varies by platform and sales.

What to know:

• Focusing on a niche can help you earn more sales. More relevant and useful printables can stand out in a crowded market.
• Make your printables customizable so customers can tailor them to fit their needs. 
• Showcase mockups on your product pages so customers can see what the printable will actually look like once they buy it. 

28. Review products online 

Write detailed, honest reviews about a company’s products and earn money online. Platforms like Influenster, Smiley360, and Review Stream will pay you for reviewing products you already use, or new ones they send to you for free. 

Best for: Those who enjoy trying new products and writing reviews.
Startup time: A few minutes to sign up on review platforms.
Effort level: Low.
Time to first payment: Varies by platform, but often within a few weeks after submitting reviews.

What to know:

• Platforms prioritize quality and honest reviews. So be sure to provide thorough, unbiased, and detailed feedback to stay credible (and earn more money).
• There might be specific guidelines for submitting reviews, like word count, photo requirements, and formatting. Pay attention to these guidelines to make sure you get published.

💡 Tip: Many of the ideas above will help you earn extra money with a startup time of just a few hours. Some may require basic skills or access to specific online platforms. If you’re looking for more advanced ideas to make money, like selling online courses or becoming a digital marketing consultant, refer to our guide to how to make money online.

Start making money online today—no experience required

Ready to make money online as a beginner? You’re now armed with plenty of ideas to get started. Whether you’re looking for a data entry role or exploring the world of entrepreneurship on your way to opening an online store, there’s an opportunity for every motivation.

If Shopify is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Shopify has just about everything you need if you're looking to sell online. It excels with unlimited products, user-friendly setup, and 24/7 support. It offers 6,000+ app integrations, abandoned cart recovery, and shipping discounts up to 88%. Plus, it allows selling both online and in-person, scaling as your business grows.

Anyone who’s had the thrill of catching a wild Pikachu on their street corner while playing Pokémon Go, the popular mobile game, has experienced augmented reality.

The market for technologies like augmented and virtual reality is expected to be worth more than $250 billion by 2028, and ecommerce businesses have good reasons to invest. It can increase your bottom line by improving sales and reducing product returns—but only if you’re using the right AR technology.

There are plenty of options for ecommerce businesses that want to incorporate AR features into their websites. Here are 11 of the most popular augmented reality apps you can choose from, with examples of how to use them.

What is augmented reality?

Augmented reality (AR) is a type of technology that uses digital elements to enhance the user’s real-world environment. It overlays computer-generated sensory input—sound, video, graphics, or GPS data—onto a real-world view, typically through a wearable or mobile device. The result is an immersive and interactive merging of the physical and digital worlds.

Unlike virtual reality (VR), which creates an entirely immersive computer-generated environment, AR combines computer-generated imagery with the real world.

11 best augmented reality apps

1. Shopify AR
2. Google Lens
3. ThreeKit
4. Vuforia
5. GIPHY World
6. ARuler
7. Augment
8. IKEA Place
9. Houzz
10. Zapworks
11. YouCam Makeup

Explore some of the most popular AR apps on the market: 

1. Shopify AR

Shopify offers an AR tool, Shopify AR, that integrates with your Shopify ecommerce site. Users can overlay images, 3D models, and videos of your products onto their live surroundings using desktop or mobile devices. Notable brands that use it include Allbirds, Pure Cycles, Arthaus, and Instant Pot.

Shopify’s AR app allows you to add images or models directly to product pages or by using metafields—so the models map to a specific product category, and make the products more discoverable by visitors on your site, on marketplaces, and on search engines.

The Shopify App Store is also home to several other of the best AR apps, including a 3D model viewer, virtual eyewear try-on tool, and 3D virtual store creator. And because they integrate with your ecommerce store, you won’t have to leave Shopify to offer AR to your online shoppers.

2. Google Lens

Google Lens allows users to take pictures of objects and search for them online using image recognition technology. People can download Google Lens on their iOS or Android devices to identify unknown products that interest them.

You can integrate the Google Lens app with your ecommerce site, driving sales by connecting customers with outfits, furniture, or other goods they see out in the world.

3. Threekit

Threekit helps businesses build 3D models of products to display on ecommerce sites. 

With Threekit models, customers can view all angles of a product and try different styles, sizes, or colors. The platform lets customers test 3D models in their homes or other spaces by superimposing the objects over personal photos or videos.

4. Vuforia

Vuforia Engine is a software development tool that allows brands to create augmented reality experiences. You could use it to create 3D models of your products or allow online shoppers to customize product attributes (such as the color or materials) on your product pages.

That said, Vuforia is geared toward enterprise brands. It might be more difficult to get to grips with the AR software if you don’t already have some knowledge of how the technology works. 

5. GIPHY World

GIPHY World is an AR app from GIPHY, the most popular website for finding and creating GIFs. It allows you to place GIFs on an overlay of your camera stream. It’s available for Oculus and Vive headsets, as well as devices that download apps from the Apple App Store.

The biggest advantage of GIPHY World is that GIFs in its library (all 10 billion+ of them) are available to experience in 3D. In an ecommerce context, that means you can create your own GIF, upload it to GIPHY, and let customers see your products in their environment through the GIPHY World app. 

6. ARuler

ARuler is an augmented reality app that lets users measure the distance between two points. It’s ideal if online shoppers are debating whether a product will fit in the place they’re planning.

If you’re selling furniture online, for example, customers might be hesitant to purchase a sofa if they’re unsure that it will fit in their lounge area. You could divert them to the ARuler app. It will measure the gap they have available (in their preferred unit: metric or imperial) so that they can be confident the sofa they purchase is the right size. 

7. Augment

Augment has its own AR technology that’s specifically designed for ecommerce merchants. Its Web 3D feature allows shoppers to view your product from any angle—without having to leave your online store to download another app. 

Augment’s 3D Factory tool can also help you turn two or three static images into 3D models. And you can do it at scale: Augment allows brands to upload a list of your shop’s products that need 3D models. After that, you can add the models to your online store from your 3D Vault so that your prospective customers can use them in purchasing decisions.

8. IKEA Place

IKEA was one of the first brands to foray into the world of AR. Launched back in 2017, the IKEA Place app uses augmented reality to show customers how its furniture looks in their own homes. The app automatically scales the 3D model of a product based on the room’s dimensions.

IKEA reports that its AR app has a 98% accuracy rate. 

9. Houzz

Houzz is a home décor company with an AR app that helps customers envision what products look like in their homes. Shoppers can use the AR app on their phone to rotate, zoom, and reposition 3D models of furniture within their home.

Houzz’s AR app is available for iPhone, iPad, and Android. It runs on Apple’s ARKit technology and allows online shoppers to complete their purchase once they’re satisfied with how the furniture will look. 

10. Zapworks

Zapworks’ AR technology specializes in low- or no-code tools that help ecommerce owners create their own AR apps. It’s a good option if you don’t have advanced coding skills.

Zapworks is owned by Zappar, an agency that specializes in helping brands create their own AR apps. So, if you do need an expert pair of hands, you can contact its team for support.

11. YouCam Makeup

YouCam Makeup is one of the most popular AR apps for consumers in the beauty industry. Boasting over 100 million downloads in the Google Play Store alone, it allows users to change their hair color, reshape their faces, apply makeup, and whiten their teeth using face mapping technology.

YouCam Makeup also collaborates with brands to showcase their products in the AR app. It’s collaborated with household names like L’Oréal, Target, and Estée Lauder. Each brand can show its inventory using the AR app—and reach its millions of users—without developing and marketing its own branded AR software.

Top uses for AR apps in ecommerce

Enhanced online shopping experiences

Augmented reality apps let online shoppers see what products look like in the flesh, whether that’s a makeup product on their own skin or a piece of furniture in their home. It gives them a better understanding of a product’s size, shape, and appearance, something that’s hard to gauge with traditional 2D product imagery.

Interactive marketing and advertising

Experiential marketing invites potential customers to participate in memorable experiences. It’s these kinds of experiences that modern shoppers say they want from their favorite brands.

AR apps allow ecommerce brands to create immersive experiences without the logistical hassle of choosing a date, time, and location for the experience to take place. Plus, because AR experiences are virtual, they’re instantly more accessible. People don’t have to be in a certain location at a specific time; they can use AR technology to participate whenever, wherever.

Virtual product trials and demos

Brick-and-mortar retail is still booming because it offers benefits that online shopping simply can’t. AR apps bring personalized shopping experiences to the masses without forcing people to head in-store and chat with a sales assistant. 

The YouCam Makeup AR app, for example, allows online shoppers to experiment with different makeup shades before buying something. It’s a “try before you buy” approach that can convince on-the-fence shoppers to make their first purchase.

Education and training

It’s not just potential customers who rely on AR apps. If a first-time customer is unsure of how to use the product they’ve just bought, you can alleviate pressure on your customer service team by pointing out your interactive training manuals. 

Augmented reality can turn traditional product manuals into interactive, step-by-step guides. Customers can use their device’s camera to retrieve product set-up guides next to a live feed, making it easier to understand complex assembly instructions or manuals.

Navigation and maps integration

Google Maps is perhaps the most well-known AR app to offer this feature. If users are confused about where their destination is or when to take a turn, they can open their device’s camera and see directions overlaid on their phone screen.

Google also announced it’s working with retailers to expand its AR experiences. Users can scan a shopfront, then press AR Experience and see the 3D content on an overlay of the storefront, as well as share the experience with friends using a QR code on social media.

Interactive games

Pokémon Go set the scene for interactive games that blend offline experiences with AR technology. Similarly, online merchants can create their own interactive tools to gamify the shopping experience. 

For example, you could:

• Reward existing customers with loyalty points when they use your AR app.
• Host a treasure hunt for in-person shoppers to locate surprise items around your retail store.
• Create competitions for customers to experiment with your AR apps and share their results on social media to win a prize. 

Benefits of augmented reality applications for ecommerce sites

If you’re not yet sold on implementing AR apps in your ecommerce experiences, here are three benefits that might convince you otherwise:

Increase sales

Companies can use augmented reality to enhance the customer experience, allowing users to virtually try on clothes, makeup, glasses, or gear or try out furniture in their apartments. This kind of AR experience helps reduce the perceived risk of purchasing a product they have not tested out physically. 

Reduce product returns

Since augmented reality can help visualize and test products, customers can be more certain about what they’re buying and, therefore, less likely to make returns or contact you with issues. This is more common than you might think: 31% of all items bought online are later returned because the product looked different upon arrival.

Boost customer satisfaction

AR is popular amongst younger generations; nine in 10 Gen Zers say they’re interested in AR shopping experiences, particularly those that show how a piece of furniture or decoration would look from their mobile phones. Tapping into what customers want is an excellent way to increase their satisfaction, leading to repeat business and increased sales.

Implement augmented reality into your business with Shopify AR

Augmented reality can sound intimidating if you’re not clued in to how the technology works.

Shopify AR makes it more accessible to anyone, anywhere—even if you’re not a coding whizz. It can bring your products to life using 3D models and allow iOS or Android shoppers to visualize your products in their homes before they buy.

If Shopify is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Shopify has just about everything you need if you're looking to sell online. It excels with unlimited products, user-friendly setup, and 24/7 support. It offers 6,000+ app integrations, abandoned cart recovery, and shipping discounts up to 88%. Plus, it allows selling both online and in-person, scaling as your business grows.

“People want to do business with people they like” is a sales adage that’s truer today than ever. Customers aren’t satisfied with ads or billboards alone. They want to be heard, entertained, and supported.

That’s the promise of influencer marketing. 

Influencer marketing can help you reach new audiences, build brand awareness, and increase trust. If you know your audience, you can explore influencer marketing for your brand and products—no matter your company size. 

Learn how influencer marketing can help you meet brand goals with step-by-step instructions for setting up an influencer campaign. Discover real examples from top online brands and get advice from the pros.

What is influencer marketing?

Influencer marketing means working with influencers to promote your company, product, service, or message to their audience. These partnerships are usually paid arrangements in which influencers create content for a brand. 

Compensation can range from multi-year cash contracts to one-time product exchanges, discounts, or vouchers. 

Influencers are creators and celebrities who’ve built reputations around a specific niche or built sizable audiences around their personal brands. They create content across a number of platforms, including:

• Instagram
• YouTube
• TikTok
• Facebook
• Blogs
• X (formerly Twitter)
• Twitch
• Snapchat

Instagram holds the top spot for influencer marketing in 2024 and is expected to do so until 2025. 

Benefits of investing in influencer marketing

According to one study, 49% of all participants and 87% of Gen Z participants said they choose products recommended by influencers. Influencer campaigns can help brands meet business goals like increasing sales, growing brand awareness, and building audiences. 

Here are a few other ways brands can benefit from influencer marketing:

1. Form deeper relationships

Influencers use authentic presentation and engagement to foster deeper customer relationships with brands. In recent years, this dynamic of brand to influencer to audience has become a media staple.

Of course, for deeper relationships to form, the influencer’s personal brand and your own need to match (values, industry, audience, etc.). However, for maximum impact, your business should also provide its audience value.

2. Increase reach

Another obvious benefit of influencer marketing is the potential for increased reach from tapping into a wider audience. Social media users across platforms continue to rise. TikTok, for example, is expected to grow to 955 billion users by 2025.

Despite the potential, algorithm changes, ad fatigue, and privacy concerns all contribute to lower return on investment (ROI) in some forms of social media advertising. Influencer marketing allows brands to dodge these issues by working with creators who already have organic reach.

Depending on your goals, influencers with large audiences can help you reach broad audiences, while those with small, niche followers can help you target specific ones. 

3. Boost social engagement

Greater social engagement often leads to higher brand awareness. Also, when brands communicate in their audience’s language, they’ll often garner more brand advocates.

If engagement is a goal, choose partnerships and channels carefully. Engagement rates differ across platforms. Audience size also matters, and micro-influencers typically have higher engagement rates than their mega-influencer counterparts.

4. Gain higher earned media value

The last major benefit of influencer marketing is the potential for higher ROI from earned media value (EMV). EMV refers to unpaid interactions, like when an influencer’s followers or their followers’ followers discuss and connect on your brand. Meaningful connections like this can lead to increased sales. 

By involving an influencer in your marketing, you stand a better chance of increasing your EMV. One survey found businesses make $6.50 for every $1 spent on influencer marketing.

Influencer marketing examples

Explore companies that successfully work with social media influencers to reach potential customers and meet business goals. Get inspired by their tried-and-tested tactics and apply their learnings to your own influencer marketing.

Healthish

Healthish co-founders Emily Chong and Nathan Chan worked with Instagram influencers to promote the brand’s signature water bottle launch.

“We’re in a fortunate position where the product is relatively low cost,” Nathan explains. “We just send out [products] to many subsections of the market.”

Healthish’s influencer marketing strategy involves sending free products to relevant influencers, such as fitness vloggers, fashion influencers, and other groups related to its target market. These creators then share images and videos of its products online—but only if they love the product. 

“We don’t even ask people to post if they don’t want to,” Nathan says. “We just say, ‘If you love the products, we’d love for you to share it with your community or fans or audience.’” 

🎧 Listen: To learn more about the influencer marketing approach that turned Healthish into a million-dollar brand, hear from its founders on the Shopify Masters podcast.

Nominal

Nominal is a jewelry brand that blends culture and fashion to create meaningful accessories. Founded by business and life partners Lena Sarsour and Akram Abdallah, Nominal quickly grew from an idea to a seven-figure business, thanks to influencer marketing.

“Influencer marketing has been huge to us,” Akram says. “From the very beginning, we, of course, had no budget at all. We couldn’t afford anybody.” So what did Akram and Lena do? They gifted influencers free jewelry. If the influencers enjoyed the products and found them sharable, they would post about the brand on social media.

Nominal would even ask influencers if they could repost their content on the brand’s feed. “Although we didn’t pay them, now we have [branded] content that a lot of people follow and see. We build that credibility through a famous person wearing our product.”

🎧 Listen: Learn more about Nominal’s marketing strategy by catching the founders on the Shopify Masters podcast.

Explore more influencer marketing examples from Shopify store owners:

Types of influencers

Definitions can vary, but social media influencers typically fall into one of five tiers: nano, micro, mid, macro, and mega. When developing an influencer marketing strategy, be sure to find the right influencer at the right level for your project.

Nano influencers (1,000–10,000)

Nano-influencers are everyday people with emerging personal brands. They often have between 1,000 and 10,000 social media followers. Their feeds aren’t glamorous or polished, and their photos typically aren’t edited. Being an influencer is not their full-time job.

However, nano-influencers are excellent allies for growing ecommerce brands for two reasons:

1. They’ve built a lot of trust with their followers, which results in high engagement rates.
2. They’re the most affordable.

Data shows that nano-influencers have noticeably higher engagement rates than bigger accounts, averaging over 4%.

Micro-influencers (10,000–100,000)

Micro-influencers are social media accounts with between 10,000 and 100,000 followers. 

Micro-influencers often have more compact and targeted audiences than larger accounts, and they have a loyal following they engage with regularly. 

While micro-influencers may be more expensive than nano-influencers, they can still provide that one-on-one feeling when promoting your business.

Mid-tier influencers (100,000–500,000)

Mid-tier influencers have a community of between 100,000 and 500,000 followers across platforms. Despite the high numbers, mid-tier influencers tend to have well-segmented audiences. For example, a fitness brand could gain maximum exposure with its target audience by collaborating with a mid-tier fitness influencer. This mid-tier group is also more affordable and easier to contact than big influencers.

Macro-influencers (500,000–1 million)

Macro-influencers are individuals with between 500,000 and one million followers. These influencers make great brand collaborators because they have extensive experience in the space. They know their target audience and what they like, and they won’t jeopardize their followers’ trust by partnering with the wrong brands.

Working with macro-influencers brings a handful of benefits:

1. Their audience is highly relevant to your brand and its offerings.
2. They have massive reach.
3. They have a streamlined process for working with brands.

With all this experience comes a price tag that, depending on the platform, one source estimates to be between $1,000 and $10,000. Macro- and mega-influencers may also be harder to reach, as you typically have to contact them through representatives or agents.

Mega influencers (1 million+)

You’re probably familiar with mega-influencers. These are social media celebrities with audiences of more than one million followers.

Mega-influencers like Ryan Trahan, MrBeast, and Unnecessary Inventions can provide massive reach for your brand. These superstars also leverage their reputations to confer credibility on your brand. A single collab with a mega-influencer can run anywhere from $10,000 to six figures.

6 steps to an effective influencer marketing strategy 

Finding a social media influencer and agreeing on a collaboration with them can be a time-consuming exercise that’s challenging to scale. For best results, use this process to stay on track:

1. Do your homework
2. Set a clear brief
3. Choose relevant influencers
4. Learn how to reach out
5. Agree on a collaboration structure
6. Maximize content value

1. Do your homework

You can learn a lot from other brands’ influencer marketing approaches. Discover what works for them, get inspiration from the types of content they post, and look at which posts get the most engagement. Use a tool like Hootsuite to compare your social media metrics with those of others.

Consider researching non-competitors who share similar demographics. Say you run a watch brand like Shore Projects. You may keep an eye on backpack and accessory brand Herschel Supply Co. because of its similar customer base. 

2. Create a clear brief

Your campaign will be more successful if you give an influencer creative freedom to produce content their audience will love. 

It’s better to trust them—the experts of their own audience—to create an authentic and engaging campaign for you rather than assigning the exact images, captions, and hashtags you want them to use.

However, it’s also important that they represent your brand accurately. Supply the influencer with an outline of your expectations, a brand primer, or even a mood board to inspire the campaign.

3. Choose relevant influencers

Once you have a clear idea of what you want to achieve, the next step is finding relevant influencers. Getting this wrong can cost you reach, engagement, and potential sales. After all, you don’t want a budget travel influencer showcasing your luxury backpack. Not only will their audience not be interested in your product, they might spite your brand for it. 

“Start by finding influencers that align with your brand values and audience. That way, your product feels like a natural progression of their content and not a forced endorsement,” says Ryan Prior, head of marketing at Modash. 

There are influencers in every market. One way to identify right-fit influencers is to do an Instagram hashtag search to find the top hashtags in your market and look for posts with high engagement.

Shopify Collabs is a great tool for starting your influencer marketing journey. There, you can search influencers by industry and other categories to find partners seeking brand collabs.

“A lot of people will make the mistake where they’ll spend money or send products to just about any influencer, anybody that has a lot of followers,” says Akram. “It’s not the best strategy, and also a waste of time and money.”

It’s not just about audience size. The influencer’s audience needs to be engaged. Genuine positive comments are a more valuable signal of a strong social following than likes alone.

To determine a fit between your brand and an influencer, ask these four questions:

1. What are this influencer’s interests or passions? 
2. Does my brand share their interests or passions?
3. If not, does my brand relate to the influencer’s interests or passions?
4. How would my brand’s message sound coming from this influencer?

The better the fit, the more authentic the endorsement will feel. And the more authentic the endorsement feels to the influencer’s audience, the more likely they are to follow the recommendations.

This creative partnership between Goya Foods and popular nutritionist Amanda Holtzer showcases the power of a good fit between brand and influencer.

4. Learn how to reach out

Learning how to reach out and effectively position your brand pitch to influencers is essential. 

For larger influencers

To set up an influencer marketing deal with a macro-influencer, you need to work with their representatives, most likely their agent and their manager.

• Agents: Agents find work for their clients and negotiate contracts on their behalf.
• Managers: Think of managers as the CEOs of their clients’ businesses—you’ll need their buy-in on any partnership.

Use celebrity contact info databases to reach influencers’ agents, managers, and publicists.

For smaller influencers

A benefit of targeting micro-influencers is you can reach out to them directly. 

But since micro-influencers aren’t as visible as macro-influencers, the challenge is finding them.

For that, try BuzzSumo, Shopify Collabs, or other influencer marketplaces, where you can search for influencers based on keywords in their social media bios, and sort potential matches by interest, industry, and audience size.

How to structure your outreach message

Reaching out to larger influencers is best done via a brief email to agents or managers. If you’re reaching out to micro-influencers, message them directly by email or their social media channel. Your goal should be to anticipate their questions in one message so they can decide whether or not to discuss the opportunity further. Limit your first email to the key details:

• Who are you interested in? (For macro-influencer agents only.)
• What do you want them to do, and on which channels?
• When do you need a response?
• Why do you think your brand is a good match?

You need to demonstrate that there’s a good fit between your brand and the influencer. Remember, managers are focused on their client’s long-term prospects, so be prepared to sell them on why a partnership with your brand is a good career move.

Following up and following through

Influencers and their representatives are busy, so if you don’t hear back right away, don’t assume they’re not interested. It’s perfectly OK to follow up. 

A good rule of thumb for following up is five to seven business days after your first email. If another week goes by and you still haven’t heard back, move on to the next influencers on your list.

If you partner with a macro-influencer, their agent will handle the contract. With micro-influencers, you’ll usually work with them directly. In either case, assuming you’ve clearly communicated what you expect the influencer to do and what they’ll get in return, the paperwork should be straightforward.

5. Agree on a collaboration structure

Once you’ve found the influencers you want to work with, you’ll need to reach out to them and agree on a collaboration structure. Consider these six key aspects in your negotiations:

1. Time frame. Be upfront about the deadline and highlight that it’s imperative they meet it.
2. Output. Clearly outline what you want them to produce, for example, two pieces of content—one to be published on the influencer’s account with a mention of your brand and one to use at your discretion.
3. Content usage. Let them know what content usage rights you want. 
4. Payment. Top influencers require a fee for their services. Occasionally, they may be willing to negotiate or accept a free product/service/experience as part of their fee. When you’re negotiating a price, remember that you’re paying for multiple services: content creation, usage rights, and access to a new audience.
5. Sponsored hashtag. Regulations on sponsored content vary around the world and change all the time. Err on the side of caution and use #spon or #ad. 
6. Campaign goal. Communicate a clear goal for the influencer campaign. That could be as simple as increasing followers on your account or driving clicks from their Instagram bio to your website to increase sales. 

Protect your brand: tips for Instagram marketing campaigns

These best practices ensure you don’t get burned when working with influencers:

• Withhold the influencer’s full fee until the work meets your expectations. You can pay influencers an upfront deposit (usually 50%), with the balance due once the work is completed. This payment structure reassures the influencer you will pay them, while protecting your investment. 
• Work with influencers who are active on a marketplace or represented by an influencer marketing agency—they’ll be likeliest to deliver as promised, since bad feedback will negatively affect their future prospects.
• Before signing a contract with an influencer, look for red flags about their work on influencer marketing campaigns by speaking with former clients.

6. Maximize the content value

Get additional value out of sponsored Instagram content by repurposing it for other channels. Here are three ways to maximize influencer content value:

• Publish it on a product page. Not only does it look great, but influencer content provides social proof and can even inspire customers to submit content.
• Publish it as a Facebook ad. Add influencer content to your ads and test the results. “By using influencer content, we are now able to refresh our ad units on a regular basis,” Shore Projects co-founder Neil Waller says. “On top of that, using influencer content has improved our conversion rate by 19%.” 
• Publish it on your social media channels. User-generated content from influencers should be relatable, engaging, and shareable, so don’t forget to post it to your socials—just make sure you have the right to do so, first.

Influencer campaign payment structures

Here are the most common payment structures and considerations for influencer endorsements on social media.

Licensing and rights to content

The standard format for an influencer marketing campaign is for the influencer to post about a brand or product on their own social media account. You might think that you own the rights to that post, since your brand or product is featured in it. However, it’s actually the content creator who owns it.

If an influencer made a post on their account promoting your brand, you may have to pay a licensing fee to reuse their content on your own social media account. It may be possible to work out a deal that gives your brand ownership or unlimited use of the content.

Pay per post

The most typical payment arrangement is known as “pay per post.” With these deals, you pay the influencer a certain amount of money for a set number of posts. The pricing for these deals can fluctuate based on factors like the influencer’s follower count.

The cost per post can also vary depending on the type of post. For example, a travel blogger with more than 100,000 followers charges $1,000 per “static” (no video, no slideshow) post on Instagram and $200 for an Instagram Story.

If you’re not sure you can afford a pay-per-post deal, a temporary post can be cost effective. But you get what you pay for—since Instagram Stories only last 24 hours, your campaign will probably have less visibility.

Link in bio (add-on)

With link-in-bio deals, the influencer includes a link to your brand’s site in their social media bio, keeping it pinned to the top of their account page or profile to drive direct traffic to your site. You can set up a custom link-in-bio using Shopify’s Linkpop.

Since a link in an influencer’s bio increases the visibility of your campaign, most influencers charge up to 40% more to include one as an add-on.

Multiplatform influencer campaign

If you’re targeting an influencer with a large following on multiple social media platforms, you should consider a multiplatform campaign with posts on each of the influencers accounts, to increase visibility. Many influencers offer bundled pricing for multiplatform campaigns.

Free product as payment

Paying with products takes effort since you need to find an influencer who’s a good fit and who genuinely likes your products. Larger influencers typically expect payment and will not accept in-kind offers.

“A very popular strategy is gifting. You send out free products to influencers, either [with] no strings attached and hope that they post, or you take a barter deal in exchange for deliverables,” says Ryan of Modash. “This is generally a very high-volume strategy, meaning you can send out a thousand packages, and the cost is just the product and shipping.” 

But this breaks down if your product value is too high. For high-value products, consider long-term partnerships or paid collaborations to ensure a worthwhile return on investment. Another strategy involves performance-based payments, where influencers earn based on their sales, tracked through promo codes or affiliate links.

Commission

Commission is offering payment for each sale, lead, or engagement. In this model, you only pay influencers when their endorsement leads directly to your chosen success metric(s).

The commission structure ensures brands pay only for results, but most influencers prefer flat fees. The way they see it, why put in the effort to endorse a brand without guaranteed compensation?

Influencer marketing platforms

Finding the right creator partners remains one of the biggest challenges for brands that run influencer marketing campaigns. As influencer marketing becomes more popular, companies and apps that simplify the process continue to pop up.

Many offer campaign-enhancing features like affiliate program management, marketplaces, analytics, and relationship management software.

Here are some of the best platforms for finding influencers:

Shopify Collabs

Shopify Collabs is an influencer marketing platform offering ecommerce brands access to creators across social media channels. 

The platform offers a range of tools to help you build authentic relationships with creators. You can send them products and discounts directly from your Shopify store and create unique discount codes and referral links to track creator-driven sales.

Shopify Collabs helps you to find creators who are aligned with your brand and invite them to apply to your affiliate program. Creators can also apply directly from your application page. With easy-to-understand analytics, you can track the performance of your affiliate program and keep tabs on the creators and products that are driving sales.

Grin

Grin is a highly rated influencer marketing software for ecommerce brands. It offers 37 million influencers across social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitch.

Grin provides tools to nurture authentic relationships and track success, from reporting and analytics to content management and payments. It also integrates with Shopify to handle shipping logistics for sales made through influencers.

Upfluence

Upfluence is a self-serve platform for finding influencers, and is used by brands like Amazon, Verizon, Universal, and Zappos. Set your own prices and find influencers to fit your criteria with more than 20 advanced search filters. The platform provides access to influencers’ performance stats by analyzing audience size, engagement rates, posting habits, and more.

Upfluence also helps you identify influential customers and fans. When a visitor shops on your site, it analyzes their social data and adds them as affiliates for your campaigns. Whether you’re a large or small business, Upfluence helps you run campaigns efficiently and maximize your influencer marketing ROI.

Creator.co

Creator.co is a new influencer marketplace with more than 500 million influencers. Its automation software helps young brands connect with the right influencers.

Creator.co offers a self-service option where you can find influencers manually. It also offers a “hands-free” option where you define your ideal influencer and campaign so its automated system can find the best fit.

Tagger by Sprout Social

Tagger by Sprout Social is an influencer marketing platform integrated with Sprout Social’s social media management solution. It combines influencer search features with management tools so you can switch from finding influencers to negotiating contracts in a single tool. 

Improving your social media marketing with an influencer strategy

Influencer marketing can help you find customers and influence their purchasing decisions, ultimately driving sales for your business. Influencers can also build your brand image and make your products desirable to a target market.

With this guide in hand, you’ll be well on your way to growing your follower count across social networks, building traction for your brand, and growing your business online.

If Shopify is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Shopify has just about everything you need if you're looking to sell online. It excels with unlimited products, user-friendly setup, and 24/7 support. It offers 6,000+ app integrations, abandoned cart recovery, and shipping discounts up to 88%. Plus, it allows selling both online and in-person, scaling as your business grows.

Imagine the largest publication in your industry, or even a local news affiliate, giving you free press. Now picture how much exposure and traffic that would bring to your business.

Good press coverage allows you to borrow the trust of those publications and give authority to your brand. 

“Press validates a brand and what customers have heard through word of mouth,” says Sara Spiegel, owner of public relations firm w/Sara PR. The result? More sales.

How can business owners make it easy for websites, magazines, and publishers to write about them? By sharing a strong company press kit. Here’s how to create your own press kit, with our free press kit template.

What is a press kit?

A press kit, also known as a digital media kit, is a document or page on your website that contains resources and information for reporters and publishers. The best press kits make it easy for reporters to learn about a product and brand, and to access photos and marketing materials they can use in a story. 

Press kits are a common and convenient format for creating and distributing content for promotional purposes. You can use them to announce product launches, mergers and acquisitions, company news, and special events.

Why create a press kit?

By providing an electronic press kit, you’re saying, “Hey, we love press. Here’s everything you need to put your story together, as well as how to reach us.” 

A good media kit doesn’t guarantee media coverage for your business; it just makes getting that free publicity a bit easier. When you’re networking and reaching out to publications, you’ll always have your media kit to refer to and share with reporters—and since you’ve done some of the work for them upfront, they may be more receptive to your pitch. 

An online press kit isn’t only for reporters or major publications. It gives anyone who wants to talk about or promote your business the tools they need to do it effectively. This includes podcasters, bloggers, influencers, or even a fan sharing your story in an online community.

What to include in a press kit

What you put in your press kit will vary depending on your business and what you have to work with, but a good press kit may include:

Story and mission

This is your “why.” Share your story: How your business came to be. Tell reporters a little about yourself and why you’re doing what you’re doing.

“Clearly and succinctly lay out what makes your brand special in the category,” says Jessica Postiglione, CEO and founder of supplements company Bonny. “What are you doing that the competition isn’t? Are you offering the consumer greater value? Are you more sustainable? Are you creating a new category?”

In this press kit example from Annmarie Skin Care, the brand shares its story, mission statement, and unique process, which gives press an insight into what it is as a brand.

Business facts

Collect these often-shared data points in an easy-to-read fact sheet to prevent incorrect numbers from being shared. Consider including these key facts about your business: 

• How long have you been in business? 

• How many customers have you served? 

• How many units have you sold? 

• Where is your business located? 

• Where’s your product manufactured? 

Visual assets

Make it easy for content publishers to use your logo and other assets by providing high-resolution versions with transparent backgrounds, where possible. 

This press kit example from ecommerce brand The Mantry has images prepared for print (which requires higher quality photos) and digital, all of which are downloadable from the brand’s site.

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Team member bios

You may want to highlight your business’s founder or other key team members in your press kit, especially if you have an interesting founder story. 

Press releases

If you have current or past press releases, include them. These could be new product announcements, updates about the company, or news about partnerships and collaborations.

Press coverage

If you’ve been featured in the press before, include links. This can include blog posts, interviews, magazine articles, and videos. If your business has been mentioned on a podcast, on the radio, or on a local news station, link to the clip or embed the media on your ecommerce press kit page.

Doing so gives people interested in talking about your business something to work from. 

“Only share your best press,” Sara Spiegel advises. “As the caliber rises, lose the stuff that’s not as valuable.”

Contact information

How should publications contact you? Many businesses prefer to have a dedicated press email address, such as press@yourbusiness.com. A specific email address ensures press queries won’t get lost in a sea of customer service requests, so you can respond to them quickly.

This ecommerce press kit example from Dropps directs press inquiries to the brand’s dedicated media contact email, PR@dropps.com.

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Spelling or pronunciation

If your business has unique spelling, capitalization, or pronunciation, you can use your media kit to specify how you wish your brand name to be printed and said. For example, if you are “CompanyName” and not “Company Name” or “Companyname,” make it clear.

Awards and certifications

Share any awards and recognition your business has received from trade or consumer groups. Also include any differentiating certifications, like B Corp certification. These can contribute legitimacy to your business and inspire more trust in your products.

Charity and nonprofit work

Include any charities you support or nonprofit work your business has been involved with. These can establish your company as a compassionate and socially conscious brand—qualities that are increasingly important to today’s consumers.

Quotes

Create a set of canned quotes that media can use in their publications. This can be both from your leadership team and your employees. This makes it easier for reporters to attribute direct quotes without having to reach out or coordinate an interview.

How to make a digital press kit

1. Choose your template
2. Write your company overview
3. List a few milestones
4. Gather your media assets
5. Add it to your website

Now that you know what goes into your press kit, let’s look at how you can create one for your business.

1. Choose your template

Before picking out any testimonials or About Us content, choose how you plan to make your media kit available for press inquiries. For instance, do you want journalists to contact your PR team for your media kit or access it on their own from your website? 

Format impacts how people will feature your brand. If you make it easy to access your press materials, you’ll likely get more and better press coverage. 

A downloadable PDF is a professional-looking way to introduce your brand. If you choose to go the PDF route, a media kit template is a great way to ensure your press kit includes all the necessary information. Media kit templates typically provide prompts and editable fields for you to add your company’s details.

2. Write your company overview

Describe your brand and its product in a few sentences. This can be a great place to talk about your company mission, vision, and goals. Consider including relevant details like:

• Founding date

• Size of company or number of employees

• Background information

• Press contact information

Keep all your company information up to date. It’s likely the first part of your press kit a journalist will see.

3. List a few milestones

Chronicle your company’s success from beginning to end, starting with the most recent successes. Mention milestones that best support your brand story. 

This part of your press kit could include details not covered in your overview. Journalists will want to learn about your company, so you may want to also cover:

• Fundraising stage and marquis investors

• Key features of your products

• Your differentiators

• Your target audience

Help journalists visualize how your business impacts the market. Remember, they want to feature brands that align with their readers. If you clearly define your audience, it could motivate journalists with similar demographics to write more about your company.

4. Gather your media assets

Your press kit should include assets that help journalists create a story about your business. These include:

• Company logo

• Team photos or headshots

• Fact sheets

• Case studies

• Press releases

• Publication logos

• Media mentions

Make your media assets easy to download. You can use a file sharing service like Dropbox or group assets together and let journalists download to their computer.

5. Add it to your website

Whether you’re creating a downloadable or interactive press kit, add it to your website. While you may not want or need a link in your main navigation, it’s a good idea to include a Press or Media link in the footer of your site. 

Most reporters and publishers will know to look for it there. Adding a press kit to your online store can also help with search engine optimization and drive traffic to your website.

Press kit examples: the best ecommerce media kits

If you need additional inspiration, check out these ecommerce businesses doing press kits right:

Holstee

Mindfulness brand Holstee uses a text-based approach to its press kit. However, it helps key information pop with featured quotes. Holstee also lists all the relevant publications it’s been featured in, which establishes credibility. If you want to get in touch, you can find contact details and downloadable assets like photos of the founders, and product images at the bottom of the page.

LuminAID

Solar lighting brand LuminAID includes a series of photos, videos, and blog posts in its press kit. Journalists can read the story behind the brand, download LuminAID’s press kit, or get in touch with its public relations team for more information.

Huit Denim

Premium denim company Huit keeps things simple with the press section of its website. It provides a press email right at the top of the page, followed by select features, a three-sentence boilerplate (brand language that can be repeated elsewhere), and a paragraph-long bio of the company’s founders.

Getting press for your ecommerce business

It’s your turn now. When you’re considering putting together an online media kit for your store, think about the websites and publications you want to be on and what you can put together that will make it easier to get covered there. 

Remember that you still need to network and put yourself out there if you want to get press coverage for your business. A media kit only makes it easier for reporters to talk about you consistently and accurately. You still need to do the work to make it happen.

If Shopify is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Shopify has just about everything you need if you're looking to sell online. It excels with unlimited products, user-friendly setup, and 24/7 support. It offers 6,000+ app integrations, abandoned cart recovery, and shipping discounts up to 88%. Plus, it allows selling both online and in-person, scaling as your business grows.

David Levy launched his tabletop grill company, Bola Grills, in time for the summer barbecue season. It was the culmination of two years of product development, crowdfunding, and manufacturing. David says the moment of making his Shopify store live felt unreal. “It really felt like getting to the end of a journey, but then realizing that the journey is really just starting,” David says. Here’s what he’s learned so far in the launch process.

Take the risk

David loves hosting dinners, but didn’t like missing out on engaging conversations because he was tethered to a traditional backyard grill. This frustration sparked an idea for a tabletop grill that would allow him to cook and participate in dinner table conversations simultaneously.

David had never designed a product before, but he did some research and found the challenge of making his dream grill a fun one. “You see anybody that’s been successful, they all say the same thing. And it’s, ‘If you don’t take that shot, nothing is ever going to come,’” David says.

Validate your business ideas with crowdfunding

David turned to crowdfunding to gauge interest in his idea and secure initial funds. His Indiegogo campaign provided market validation by raising approximately $22,000 and selling 94 grills in 30 days. Any hesitation he had dissipated, he knew the market was ready for a tabletop grill at the price point he could sell it for.

“I would highly recommend crowdfunding to anybody that’s starting a product because you’re able to sell the idea and actually get revenue in without having the product,” David says. 

Find reliable production partners

While he found some college students through Facebook that were able to create a non-working prototype for visuals to use in the Indiegogo campaign, building a working prototype was more challenging.

David initially opted to work with a company that could help with design and recommend manufacturers to help transition his idea into a tangible product. However, this proved to be both expensive and fruitless, because all of the samples came back with defects. It almost led him to abandon his idea altogether.

“After about the fifth sample that they sent me, I made one of the most difficult decisions of my life. And that was if I wanted to pull the plug altogether or push through and find a new manufacturer and basically start over,” David says. He eventually reached out to a manufacturer that had contacted him after seeing his Indiegogo campaign. This second manufacturer was able to produce better samples and deliver the first set of grills in time to ship for summer 2024.

Get a warehouse for fulfillment

Some first-time entrepreneurs are able to fulfill their orders from their living room. But David’s products were too big, he needed a separate space to store the shipment from his manufacturer. He considered getting warehouse space, but thought he could save money by renting a storage unit instead. The only problem? The pallet wouldn’t fit through the door, so he had to unload his shipment to get it inside.

He hired U-Haul movers to help transfer products from the shipping container to a storage unit, highlighting the physical and logistical efforts involved. “Storage unit costs were significantly lower, but it involved monumental effort to unload a 40-foot container into the unit,” David recounts.

Be ready to launch

David didn’t want to waste any time. He meticulously prepared for his product’s launch before he even received his first shipment of tabletop grills. David built and customized his Shopify store, captured content, and set up ad campaigns ahead of time, so the moment the first Bola Grills arrived, he was ready to launch both the website and online ads immediately. 

David was pleasantly surprised to get orders right away, some of them from people who had preordered the grill and wanted to buy Bola Grills attachments for it.

To hear more about David’s product development and launch journey, listen to the full interview on Shopify Masters.

If Shopify is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Shopify has just about everything you need if you're looking to sell online. It excels with unlimited products, user-friendly setup, and 24/7 support. It offers 6,000+ app integrations, abandoned cart recovery, and shipping discounts up to 88%. Plus, it allows selling both online and in-person, scaling as your business grows.

If Shopify is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Shopify has just about everything you need if you're looking to sell online. It excels with unlimited products, user-friendly setup, and 24/7 support. It offers 6,000+ app integrations, abandoned cart recovery, and shipping discounts up to 88%. Plus, it allows selling both online and in-person, scaling as your business grows.

If Shopify is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Shopify has just about everything you need if you're looking to sell online. It excels with unlimited products, user-friendly setup, and 24/7 support. It offers 6,000+ app integrations, abandoned cart recovery, and shipping discounts up to 88%. Plus, it allows selling both online and in-person, scaling as your business grows.

If Shopify is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Shopify has just about everything you need if you're looking to sell online. It excels with unlimited products, user-friendly setup, and 24/7 support. It offers 6,000+ app integrations, abandoned cart recovery, and shipping discounts up to 88%. Plus, it allows selling both online and in-person, scaling as your business grows.

Today’s consumers are inundated with social media ads, and they’ve become experts at spotting overhyped claims. Testimonial advertising helps a product or service stand out from the competition by offering real proof of its worth.

Customer testimonials are the digital version of word-of-mouth marketing, which you can use on any of your marketing channels. They’re powerful tools that capture attention while building trust and credibility.

Learn more about how testimonial advertising works, why it’s so effective, and how to use testimonial ads to market your brand.

What is testimonial advertising?

Testimonial ads are bite-sized customer success stories that businesses share with their online audience. They’re a marketing strategy using the positive experiences of actual customers to demonstrate the value of a product or service.

The ultimate goal of testimonial ads is to convince potential customers they can achieve similar positive results: “If it worked for them, it could work for me too!”

Testimonials can improve your marketing efforts by transforming your brand’s claims into credible customer stories that connect with potential customers. They can range from influencer testimonials to verified online reviews from everyday people.

Benefits of testimonial advertising

Here are a few of the main benefits of testimonial ads:

Builds trust and credibility

Most of us are naturally skeptical of marketing claims; we know that traditional ads have actors and can manipulate the results of their products. But look at testimonial ad examples and you’ll see real customers who endorse the brand after using it in their daily lives. This authenticity resonates with audiences who perceive testimonials as unbiased and therefore more credible than traditional ad copy.

Provides social proof

Testimonials serve as social proof, or the idea that we look to the actions of others to guide our own behavior. By featuring real people, testimonials bridge the gap between skepticism and belief. Testimonial ads from people similar to your target audience can be particularly impactful and help your customers envision themselves using your product or service.

Creates emotional connection

Customer testimonials with a strong emotional pull can create an authentic connection with your audience. By sharing these first-hand accounts and stories, you humanize your brand and allow viewers to engage on a deeper level. It feels more relatable and compelling to hear about someone’s experience using a product or service than it does to read an impersonal marketing claim.

Drives conversions

Customers often share similar concerns about a product. Testimonials can address potential customers’ most common hesitations and potentially increase your conversion rates. They provide the reassurance that is sometimes needed to make a purchase and can be the deciding factor for customers who are on the fence. 

5 tips for successful testimonial advertising

1. Choose authentic testimonials
2. Target the right audience
3. Highlight specific benefits
4. Use strategic placement
5. Include a call to action

Here are some helpful tips to keep in mind when creating a testimonial ad:

1. Choose authentic testimonials

A real person with genuine enthusiasm for a product is often more compelling than an actor delivering lines. Encourage your most loyal customers to leave a testimonial. You may want to offer a discount or reward, but if they feel pressured to do so, the feedback you receive in return may not be genuine.

2. Target the right audience

To make your testimonial ads more effective, collect testimonials from each of your customer groups and then match them to your audience segments. This personalization can help you connect testimonials with the customers most likely to be persuaded by them. 

For example, you might share short clips of young professionals discussing your product on TikTok, feature busy millennials on an Instagram post, and retirees in a longer Facebook video testimonial ad. Making sure that your testimonials are seen on the platforms where your customers are most active will enhance engagement with your content.

3. Highlight specific benefits

Avoid generic praise like “This product is amazing!” Instead, choose testimonials that clearly explain the specific benefits of your product or service. Focusing on these details makes the testimonial more impactful and persuasive. Guide your customers toward sharing detailed feedback by creating prompts for them to leave a testimonial through surveys, email follow-ups, or a pop-up after making a purchase.

4. Use strategic placement

The ideal platform for a testimonial ad depends on the format of the customer feedback. By including video testimonials in your social media posts, you can grab your audience’s attention and increase awareness of your product. You can also use written testimonials with star ratings on product pages to influence buyers at the point of sale. Try varying the formats and locations of testimonial ads to maximize their effectiveness.

🌟Resource: Beyond Star Ratings: Get Ecommerce Reviews From Customers

5. Include a call to action

Give your audience something to do after a powerful testimonial. Whether the call to action is to visit your website, sign up for a free trial, or learn more about the product, make sure it is obvious. Point the audience in the direction of the next step in the purchase process. A clear and compelling call to action increases both the likelihood of a sale and ongoing engagement with your brand.

Examples of testimonial advertising

Here are a few different types of testimonial ads to inspire your own marketing strategy:

Quote testimonials

The brand Coyote Vest, which specializes in protective gear for pets, created a dedicated testimonial page on its website to share quotes from real customers who have used the company’s vests to protect their pets from coyote attacks.

The page title “Does the CoyoteVest work?” immediately addresses a common customer question. The stories and customer photos that follow directly demonstrate the product’s value in keeping pets safe, providing compelling evidence and reassuring potential buyers of its effectiveness.

Video testimonials

Video testimonials serve as a powerful tool for Barner, an eyewear brand known for its blue-light-blocking glasses, to establish a stronger connection with potential clients. Rather than relying solely on text, the website’s video testimonials page features footage of actual consumers discussing the advantages of Barner’s glasses, creating a more engaging and immersive experience.

Hovering over each video ad reveals brief review summaries, which Barner uses to further promote user engagement. With benefits like “comfortable to wear” or “now my eyes are relaxed,” these teasers persuade viewers to watch the full video testimonial to learn more about the value of the product.

Product reviews

Including product reviews in your marketing strategy allows your customers to become ambassadors for your brand. Their personal experiences speak for themselves and save you time and marketing resources while helping you build credibility with potential buyers.

The apparel brand Kirrin Finch is a prime example of how to use product reviews to your advantage.

The company’s website has a dedicated Reviews section that is easily accessible from the homepage and displays more than 2,000 customer reviews for its menswear-inspired clothing. In addition to fostering trust, the brand’s decision to feature consumer-generated content likely helps its search engine optimization (SEO) ranking, which increases its visibility to potential buyers searching for similar products online.

If Shopify is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Our view at Stack - Shopify has just about everything you need if you're looking to sell online. It excels with unlimited products, user-friendly setup, and 24/7 support. It offers 6,000+ app integrations, abandoned cart recovery, and shipping discounts up to 88%. Plus, it allows selling both online and in-person, scaling as your business grows.

If Shopify is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.