Guest Post: Tips On Starting An E-Commerce Business From BowTiedGarden
The sooner you start your e-commerce business, the better.
I'm not saying you should rush into it without thinking things through, but I am saying that timing is everything when it comes to starting an e-commerce business.
And if you're thinking about starting an e-commerce business, BowtiedGarden knows precisely what you're going through.
He and Mrs. Garden only recently launched BowTiedScents, and they have been growing it ever since.
I asked if they would give us more insight regarding their experience thus far.
Mr. Garden has learned a lot from doing this and wants to share some of what he's learned with you!
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Bow-Tied Garden’s Shopify Experience
Bow-Tied Parrotfish requested a brief summary of my experience creating a Shopify E-Commerce store for www.bowtiedscents.com. I was hesitant initially because there wasn’t much to write about.
Then I thought about it and figured there may be a number of you, dear readers, whom have no idea how to even start an E-com store. Maybe you have an idea of something you want to sell but are confused by modern technology. Many in the Bow-Tied Jungle have deep experience working with tech; building websites; or whipping up quick E-com storefronts.
Some have experience creating businesses in general and can make quick pivots to the web. There may be some of you that don’t have this experience (like me) and you’re looking for a step by step guide to get started. The Jungle can be intimidating. Some there would say, “just Google it”.
However, once you’ve put your proverbial foot in the water, you realize that Google is mostly unhelpful. There isn’t much deep information there; it's just SEO (Search Engine Optimized) websites that hit certain keywords with affiliate links. Google owns YouTube so the same rules apply.
If you’ve made it to Parrot-Fish’s substack then you aren’t looking for someone to “build it for you”. You’re looking for a first step.
The First Step
Shopify makes this entire process very easy to follow. My first step was going to www.shopify.com and working through the below images. I was able to get a free trial for $1 a month for three months. Shopify will walk you through a step by step process in order to recommend the best fit for you.
This process is self explanatory: Shopify will ask you some questions like, are you just starting out or are you already selling things in person? All you have to do is click a box.
Depending on your selections above Shopify will guide you through additional steps to get started.
The Second Step
I’ve gone through the initial process, how do I start selling my products? Well, I had a business name in mind (not very creative) and needed a domain. I learned about websites and domains from Bow-Tied Opposum’s website https://bowtiedopossum.com/.
I created my first websites using his guide so I had already known about domain registration. Here’s the thing though, you don’t need this for Shopify. You can use Shopify’s service to buy a domain name which is what I did and it was simple. Once I owned the domain my storefront was “coming soon”.
The Third Step
Shopify has a number of preset themes to use for your website. You can pay for themes with additional features but I used the free one. Once you decide on the template it’s straight forward. You can upload any images you want to use to Shopify and plug them in wherever.
You can rewrite any of the headlines and any text boxes with ease. You can choose theme colors or make all the colors different. The best thing is there’s no way to screw it up.
Your store is “coming soon” and can be erased and redone to your heart’s content. Once you’ve settled on a design it’s easy to add and subtract whatever elements of the site you wish.
You can play with a variety of themes and pick the one you like best. Each theme may be fully customized.
The Fourth Step
You’ve selected the themes, colors, and pictures now what? Well, now you add your products. Again, Shopify will take you step by step through this. It really does most of the work for you.
Just click on the products tab which will bring you to the image below and click the add product button. It’s that simple. You can then add your product’s information. You can save your products as drafts then activate them when the store is ready.
When you finish adding all of your products you’ll move on to the Settings tab in the picture to the left at the bottom. This will bring you to the next page.
The Fifth Step
Once you’ve hit the settings tab this is what you’ll see. Everything here is self explanatory. Just click through the tabs and explore. I still have a bit of trouble getting shipping options perfected. Once you have everything set, just activate the store and it’ll go live.
I could probably write pages and pages of detail for each tab. The great news is that Shopify has an excellent help section for all of these settings. It took me about a month of a few hours a week setting up my store.
I could have done it quicker had I dedicated more time to it. Don’t be afraid to start. It isn’t that difficult. Follow the 5 simple steps and you’ll be on your way to selling widgets galore! This was my experience setting up my very first E-Commerce store. These are the steps I took to get to www.bowtiedscents.com
A Kind Thank You to Bow-Tied Parrotfish and
Until Next Time
Bow-Tied Garden / Scents
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Thank you again BowTiedGarden for sharing your e-commerce store launch experience with us! I know many will find this absolutely useful. 🙌