You need a website for your small business. The problem? You don’t know a bit from a byte, and you know about as much HTML as Hungarian. Is it hopeless, or is there a solution for you that doesn’t involve hiring a pricey tech hero?
Relax. You’ve got this! In fact, we will walk you through it, step by step. Even if you don’t have a minute of coding experience, you can set up using any one of the reliable, user-friendly website builders available. Today, we’ll walk you through how to set up a website using one of the most popular options: a service called Squarespace.
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What You’ll Need To Start Your Squarespace Website
Because Squarespace offers new users a free 14-day trial, you won’t need a credit card or any payment method to set up a store. You will need:
A computer and internet connection
An email account, Google ID, or Apple ID
A name for your store
Product photos and descriptions
How To Build A Squarespace Website
Now that you’re ready to log on, the next question is how to actually use Squarespace to build a website for your business. We will go through the steps, one by one, and show you how easy it can be to build a Squarespace web store. Start by creating an account, using your Google account, your Apple ID, or your email address. Add a password, and you’re in! You won’t need a credit card, because when you sign up for a Squarespace account, you automatically activate a 14-day free trial period.
Alright, let’s walk through the steps involved in creating a Squarespace store in more detail.
Set Up Your Account
From the start, Squarespace sets itself apart from most other eCommerce platforms or website builders. First, the signup page is visually arresting. Squarespace hosts sites for many musicians, photographers, artists, designers, interior designers, and other creative types.
Screenshot of Squarespace webpage, captured 9/4/2020
After creating your account, you’ll be guided to choose options to describe your site’s purpose. If you don’t see your choice among the 21 options listed, you can enter some keywords to get suggestions.
Screenshot of Squarespace webpage, captured 9/4/2020
Next, you’ll be asked to pick your top goals for the site you’ll be creating. Choose all that apply.
Screenshot of Squarespace webpage, captured 9/4/2020
The top option is Sell products, and you can add as many as you want. Squarespace uses your answers to these two sets of questions to guide you to a set of template options, although you’re free to browse the full set.
The final question you’ll be asked during this setup phase is to describe where you are in the process of building a website and a business. At each stage in the setup, you’re given the option to choose I’m just browsing. Other options run the gamut from Collecting inspiration to Growing an existing business.
Screenshot of Squarespace webpage, captured 9/4/2020
Choose Your Theme
Now it’s time for the fun part â selecting the look you want for your store. This is another area where Squarespace sets itself apart, because unlike other eCommerce platforms, the 110 pre-built themes you’ll find on Squarespace all are available at no charge. You don’t need to feel limited in your choices by what your budget will allow.
Squarespace groups themes loosely by website type, so you’ll see right away that you’re able to browse categories designed to appeal to certain types of businesses, such as musicians or bands, wedding planners, local businesses, or online stores. Feel free to look around at all the themes you want, because you can always choose a theme from another category and use it for your eCommerce site.
Screenshot of Squarespace webpage, captured 9/4/2020
Take your time to explore your options and preview as many themes as grab your eye before you choose the theme you’d like to use. While it’s possible to switch themes later, if you change your mind, it’s not easy to do so. What if you can’t choose? There’s a site builder you can use to build a custom site. You can add blank pages too, and use your own text and images as you’d like.
Build Your Site
Once you’ve selected the theme you want to work with, you’ll need to give your store a name. Then you’ll be treated to a walk-through of the steps involved in setting up a store. Be sure to watch the short introduction video when Squarespace prompts you to. It offers a quick tour of the options you’ll have as you develop your online store.
Ready to start building your store? On the left side of the page, you’ll see a simple and clean admin menu, and on the right, you’ll see the default for the template you chose. Click the Edit button to make changes, like adding photos and text. You can add new pages, too, by clicking New Page. Choose the fonts and colors you want, so they match your vision for your brand or your existing marketing choices.
Screenshot of Squarespace webpage, captured 9/8/2020
One handy feature is a toggle button you can use to switch between three types of page views: desktop, tablet, and mobile phone. As you edit your pages and build your store, check occasionally to make sure your design works on all three types. That’s not as hard as it sounds, since Squarespace sites are responsive.
Add eCommerce
As fun as it is to tinker with the headers, the footers, photos, links, and more, don’t forget what you came to Squarespace for: eCommerce! When you have put together a website that’s ready to tell your story and introduce your products to potential customers, click the link on the admin that says Commerce to be guided through the five-step process of setting up your site for sales.
Screenshot of Squarespace webpage, captured 9/8/2020
You’ll want to add products, add a way to get paid, think about shipping options, choose your subscription plan, and then take your store live. Squarespace offers a demonstration for each step. We’ll walk through those steps one at a time, too.
Add Products: Click on the Inventory button, and you’ll immediately be prompted to subscribe to a plan. If you’ve looked into the options and know what you want, you can upgrade now, but you can proceed without doing that. Just click the OK button, and you’ll arrive at a blank page that lets you add products. If you haven’t already created a product page, you’ll be prompted to make one now. Again, add photos and text, but this time with a Shop button.
Set Up To Receive Payments:Â When you click on the button for adding payment methods, you’ll again be reminded that you need to upgrade to a Business and Commerce plan to add a payment processor to your store. Squarespace lets you choose between Stripe and PayPal, and you can use Square for in-person sales if you’re in the U.S. Your store currency setting defaults to U.S. dollars, so if you’re selling outside the States, you can choose from more than two dozen currencies.
Take Charge Of Shipping: Squarespace offers two methods for calculating shipping fees: flat rate and by weight. And you can use Squarespace to request price quotes from FedEx, UPS, and the USPS for your typical packages, including different shipping methods and speeds and types of packaging. You can even add a standard postage markup, as a percentage, so you recoup some of your shipping costs from each sale.
Choose A Subscription Plan:Â By this point, you probably have taken advantage of your free trial period and gotten pretty far along in setting up your online store. Now it’s time to choose a plan and get ready to take your site live. Squarespace offers four payment plans. All of them include a free custom domain, SSL certificate, unlimited bandwidth and storage, 24/7 customer support, basic metrics, and access to Squarespace extensions. All but the lowest level Personal plan allow eCommerce.
Screenshot of Squarespace webpage, captured 9/15/2020
Among the eCommerce plans, only the lowest level Business plan includes transaction fees of 3%. Higher-level plans do not charge any transaction fees. Choose to pay annually, rather than monthly, and you can save up to 30% on the plan you choose. If you pay annually, the plans will cost $18 for the Business plan, $26 for the Basic, and $40 for Advanced. Each plan is fully integrated for eCommerce, but as you go up in service level you gain additional features like abandoned cart recovery, analytics, and marketing tools.
Screenshot of Squarespace webpage, captured 9/15/2020
5. Take Your Store Live:Â You set up your online store, added products, and took care of details like payment processing and shipping options. Now it’s time to let customers know about your store and start taking orders! Hit the Publish button, and that’s it â your Squarespace store is ready to start making sales for you.
How To Promote Your New Squarespace Site
Rather than waiting for customers to find your Squarespace store, you can take some simple steps to draw them in. And Squarespace offers some good tools for doing just that. From your admin, select the Marketing tab to get started.
Screenshot of Squarespace webpage, captured 9/15/2020
From SEO (search engine optimization) strategies to social media promotion aids, you can use Squarespace resources to draw attention to your store and your products on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Reddit, Tumblr, and Pinterest. Once you select and pay for a plan, you can take advantage of an automatic Google Ads credit too.
When you’ve gotten familiar with Squarespace marketing options, you may be ready to take your strategies to the next level. If you learn about marketing strategies for growing your online store and put them in action, you’ll be well on the way to eCommerce success.
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The post How To Build A Squarespace Website For Your Business The Easy Way appeared first on Merchant Maverick.
This post originally appeared at How to Choose the Best Free Website Builder for Your Website via ShivarWeb
Thanks to free website builders, creating a webpage has become something that almost anyone can do. Because there are so many options out there when it comes to finding a website builder, though, it can be challenging to know which one is the best choice for your future website.
Because different websites need different things, there is no “one size” fits all for website builders. Different products offer various features, especially when working on their free plans. Since the free option of a service can have limitations, you want to make an informed decision before starting work on your site.
Summary – Best Free Website Builder Options
Based on my experience working with many website builders, there are a few that are a good fit for most people. They all have free plans available with a variety of limits.
Google Product
Easy Setup
Focus on Simplicity
Quick Site Appeal
Google Sites
View Plans
Built-in Features
Drag + Drop Design
Focus on Usability
Growing Site Appeal
Wix
View Plans
Lots of Options
Future-proofing
Focus on Versatility
Content Site Appeal
WordPress
View Plans
Focused on other free options?
MailChimp is email & digital marketing software with a bundled website builder that’s free up to 2,000 contacts (see review). View plans.
And Weebly has the best ecommerce options with their free plans (see review). View Plans.
To help you learn how to choose the best free website builder, we’ve gathered together the factors you should consider when comparing your options.
Primary Considerations
With so many free website builders out there, it’s not so surprising that some are of better quality than others. No matter what you plan to do with your site, here are some things that you’ll want to look for in your options.
Ads
Some free website builders keep themselves operating through the income of paid membership users. However, a much more common approach is for them to place ads on free plan users’ sites.
That said, these advertisements come in many forms. Some are obtrusive and distract visitors from your content, while others are much more subtle. The less space a required ad takes up on your webpage, the better it will be for you.
Domain Name
The domain name is the part of the URL that indicates your website. Having a custom domain name makes it easier for potential visitors to navigate to your webpage—which is essential if you want to attract business and hits.
Many free website builders will give you a customizable section that is part of your larger domain name—take yoursite.wix.com, for example. This structure is most common and is simple enough that it won’t get in the way of visitors remembering your site.
On the flip side, some free website builders have complicated domain names that aren’t very user friendly. While rare, some products will allow you a wholly unique domain for free, though you will still need to pay to obtain your custom domain.
Upgrade Cost
For some people, a free plan will be all they ever need. Much more likely, though, is that an upgrade will be necessary for the future. Though you may not be starting with a paid plan, it’s good to consider the cost of upgrading—and the features that are available for the price.
With this bit of groundwork, you can save yourself the hassle of moving your site to another builder if you don’t like the upgrade options.
Security (SSL Certificate)
Cybersecurity is essential, and an SSL certificate is a part of what keeps your website safe. Unfortunately, not all free website builders have this feature as a part of their free plan.
Without an SSL certificate, your website may be left open to attacks that can impact you and your visitors. While you don’t want to go without one generally, you should always have an SSL certificate if you plan to conduct ecommerce on your site.
Storage and Size
The amount of storage on your website will ultimately impact how large your site can be. In particular, sites that plan to host a lot of videos or photos will need high amounts of storage space.
You should also consider how many pages your site needs, as some free plans put limits on this capability. If you only need a one-page website (and there are some excellent options explicitly geared towards this out there), it won’t be an issue. If you want a large site with multiple pages, check these limitations before you commit.
Bandwidth
Similarly, bandwidth refers to how much data your site can transmit over a given amount of time. In the context of a free website builder, you don’t want this number to be too low. If it is, it can potentially impact the amount of traffic that your site can handle, impacting your visitor’s experience.
Mobile Responsiveness
Computers are not the only way that we access the internet anymore—a majority of activity comes from mobile phones, tablets, and other devices. For your webpage to operate well between these different devices, it will need to have a responsive design—and this capability shouldn’t be optional.
Confirm that your website builder of choice allows for the creation of a mobile responsive page before committing. If not, you’ll be better off with another product.
Ease of Use
Even if a free website builder has a lot of promising back end features, it’s still critical to pay attention to what it’s like to use.
The entire point of using one of these platforms is that you don’t have to build a website from scratch, so you want the process of creating your desired site to be simple.
Many free website builders will use a drag and drop approach, making it easy to put everything in its place—though some are more beginner-friendly than others.
If nothing else, one of the benefits of a free plan is that you don’t need to pay any money upfront, so you can try different options to see which one is the most intuitive for you to use.
Customization Level
When considering design aspects, you will want your website to have enough creative freedom to stand out online. One area to pay close attention to when looking at website builders is to see how many templates you have access to on the free plan.
Some will let you access the complete library, while others will only give you a partial selection. Also, check the available designs. An outdated looking template can reduce the traffic that comes to your site and stays there.
While you can customize a lot with website builders, there are some restrictions. Some platforms will allow you to have higher levels of customization, though you’ll need some coding knowledge to pull it off. Consider what skills you’re willing to learn before you make your final selection.
Features
Some free website builders are flexible, while other brands have specialized in providing for a specific audience. If you’re planning to set up a blog, for example, you want to ensure that the website builder you choose can set up a blog.
Ecommerce (Optional)
Ecommerce functionality will allow you to accept payments through your site and to set up an online store.
In comparison to a paid plan, though, ecommerce features will generally be on the limited side with a free option. That doesn’t mean you can’t find some good options out there, just that they’re hard to come by.
If you don’t plan to build an ecommerce-capable website, you don’t need to worry about these features.
However, if this is your focus, starting out searching for worthwhile free ecommerce plans will save you a lot of hassle and significantly narrow down your options.
Support
In case you run into a technical issue, you’ll want to have support to help. Some website builders will have libraries of videos and articles on how to work the platform, while others will provide live support.
Note that if a website builder is popular, you may be able to find help from the community as well.
Secondary Considerations
While we’ve covered the basics of what to look for in free website builders, you’ll also want to make specific decisions depending on the type of site you plan to use. It’s always best to understand what tools and features you’ll need, then narrow your search down to the website builders that offer those features on their free plans.
For Photographers & Artists
If you plan to use your site to promote your photography or art, you’ll need a lot of media space available. While lower quality images take up less space, they’re not the best decision for promoting yourself.
To ensure you can keep a high-quality archive, your website builder should have a high data limit. While rare, some free plans will allow for unlimited storage space.
For Nonprofits
When setting up a nonprofit organization website, you’ll need a website that can accept donations directly or direct visitors to the appropriate donation links.
Even if they don’t have a built-in donation function, see if you can embed codes on the site (like a PayPal button).
For Classrooms & Teachers
Building educational websites can require some specific features, but you can get a lot of use from free website builders.
Factor in features like templates, site designs, forums, and log-in features for students in your search. Privacy functionality is also essential for protecting the information of any students
For Small Businesses
Some small business sites will focus on promoting their services, but you can also set up a website to sell products. For those who wish to do so, having ecommerce functionality is going to be an essential feature.
Free ecommerce features tend to have strict limits on how many products you can sell at a time, while other free plans may not include any ecommerce functionality. Know that, in time, you will likely need to upgrade to a paid plan to take full advantage of ecommerce tools for your business.
General Tips
Want some extra tips? Consider these before you start your free website builder hunt:
Plan your site before you search. If you know what you want your website to be like, you can make a more informed decision when comparing options.
Consider if you need third-party extensions. If you want to connect content from YouTube onto your site, can the builder handle it?
Think forward. A successful website will eventually grow. If you foresee yourself ultimately growing out of the free plan, do you like the options that the paid plan offers?
Make sure there’s a free plan and not just a free trial. Some popular website builders, like Squarespace, only have a free trial in place, and you’ll have to pay to maintain service. If keeping things free is your goal, then confirm the service plans before you commit.
Next Steps
Now that you know how to choose the best free website builder to meet your needs, you may be wondering what comes next. Naturally, you’ll need to compare free website builders and pick the one that meets your needs. After that, follow these steps to get your website off the ground!
Sign up – Go to your builder of choice’s website and follow the steps to sign up. You’ll need to provide an email and a password. The platform may also ask you to create a username.
Begin the design process – What this looks like can vary between website builders. Some will have you fill in a design quiz to make a starting point for you, while others will drop you straight into selecting a template.
Add your content – After you have a base to work with, you can begin updating any placeholder content (such as text or photos) to your site’s information. As you go, you can tweak elements of the already existing design, such as colors, layouts, and more, depending on what’s available.
Go live! – After you’ve completed all the design work, you can press “Publish” and let your site out into the world for people to visit. Note that some website builders won’t allow you to update your site after it’s gone live, so be careful once you’ve chosen to do so.
Wrap Up
Since different websites have different needs, there’s no “one size fits all” solution available. Here’s a summary of the best options that I’ve found for most readers.
Google Product
Easy Setup
Focus on Simplicity
Quick Site Appeal
Google Sites
View Plans
Built-in Features
Drag + Drop Design
Focus on Usability
Growing Site Appeal
Wix
View Plans
Lots of Options
Future-proofing
Focus on Versatility
Content Site Appeal
WordPress
View Plans
Focused on other free options?
MailChimp is email & digital marketing software with a bundled website builder that’s free up to 2,000 contacts (see review). View plans.
And Weebly has the best ecommerce options with their free plans (see review). View Plans.
With the variety of options out there, there’s a free website builder that’s perfect for your needs. All you need to do is use the factors and tips we’ve provided to find which one is best for you!
This post originally appeared at Best Website Builder For Selling Products via ShivarWeb
E-commerce is booming. And not just Amazon. With better fulfillment, COVID-19 changes, and more familiarity, buying online has become normal for everyone. As more people buy products online, the sites that businesses use to sell their items are becoming more critical for competition.
Website builders can help small businesses make attractive and functional sites to sell their products. They not only make building a website accessible & convenient, they also bundle technically complex functionality like shopping carts, payments, and order management into a single subscription.
However, it can be overwhelming to wade through all the options. The truth is, there isn’t an absolute best website builder for selling products.
All builders have tradeoffs, and you should pick the one with the right mix of features for your particular budget, resources, and expertise.
In this article, I’ll dive deep into what considerations you should be thinking about during your website builder search. The important thing is that you know how to choose the best option for your needs. Once you’ve got that down, knowing what to choose comes easily.
Summary – Best Website Builder for Selling Products
Based on my experience working with many website builders, there are a few that are a good fit for most people. They all have free plans available to try. They are each best if you want…
Simple Ecommerce
Square Payments
Focus on Simplicity
Small Site Appeal
Weebly
View Plans
Built-in Features
Drag + Drop Design
Focus on Usability
Broad Appeal
Wix
View Plans
Lots of Options
Future-proofing
Focus on Ecommerce
Online Store Appeal
Shopify
View Plans
Focused on content + products?
WordPress.com is a website builder focused on publishing & content that has also has capability to sell products. View Plans.
What Are The Benefits Of Selling Products on Your Own Site?
We will start by taking a look at the benefits of having an e-commerce site for your products.
More Money Gets Spent Online Every Year
In the first quarter of 2019 alone, consumers in the US spent over $99 billion on e-commerce. If you want your business to remain profitable as online shopping increases, having an online store is vital. More than that, you need an online store that can deliver a quality shopping experience.
A Website Costs Less Than An Actual Store
Suppose you decide to run a brick-and-mortar store. In that case, there are plenty of costs to consider, including rent, staff salaries, licenses and permits, utility bills, maintenance bills, supplies, and design.
Meanwhile, running a website provides savings on these costs. Sure, running an e-commerce website comes with its own set of fees, including hosting, marketing, plugins, and feature costs. However, in the long run, these expenses are lower than those of running a physical storefront. Lower costs, in turn, means that the return on investment could be much higher.
A Website Enables You To Provide Convenience To Your Customers
Put yourself in your customers’ shoes. When they’re feeling a little lazy, tired, or sick, they’ll appreciate the convenience of doing their shopping without having to walk or drive to a store.
By allowing people to find what they want faster and more easily online, you encourage them to spend more. The selling proposition is higher, and the friction is lower.
You Benefit From Online Search Traffic
Did you know that about 33 percent of people start the search for products they want on Google?
By having an e-commerce website, you put your products in front of all those eyeballs, making it easier for them to discover your merchandise.
Assuming you have some solid SEO, which is easy with the right website builder, all the products you list on your site get indexed by Google and other search engines. This indexing drastically increases your chances of making sales, simply because you have more reach.
Primary Considerations When Choosing Selling Your Products on a Website Builder
There is a broad spectrum of online e-commerce platforms out there, and you need to choose one that fits your particular needs. Choosing a website builder is a lot like buying a car. No matter which car you buy, they will all get you from one point to another.
However, you might want other features depending on your specific needs, such as your budget, the type of products you sell, how many shoppers you expect to have, the maintenance costs, and the number of changes you have to make during operations.
With an e-commerce website builder, you’re getting the same core functionality across the board. You get the ability to build a platform on which you can list your products, have a shopping cart that people can add products to, and a payment processor.
However, there may also be other considerations you might have that would ultimately influence your decision. Below are some of the most important of these:
How User-friendly Is The Website Builder?
Some website builders are more interested in offering as many features as possible, rather than making their platform user friendly for consumers.
A feature-packed builder isn’t necessarily wrong; it is just a trade-off that you should understand. You might not mind looking through the platform’s knowledge base or asking questions on how to solve particular problems in the forum.
On the other hand, you might instead prefer something easy to use that lacks advanced features. It depends on how much time you want to spend building and managing your website.
This consideration is also important for selling products. Are you looking to build a full ecommerce operation with hundreds of SKUs or are you looking to selling a dozen pieces of merchandise?
For example, Shopify is far and away the most versatile ecommerce website builder. But it has a lot of ecommerce features that some website owners don’t need (like inventory management) in addition to missing some website publishing features that some website owners might need (like blog comments).
Other website builders like Wix might provide a super-simple setup with easy product integration while limiting growth into a large ecommerce operation with strong organic traffic.
How Is The Customer Service?
A related issue is customer support. In case you’re stuck, it’s a great convenience to ask someone for help. Whether you have the technical knowledge, you should see what customer service options the website builder offers.
Having the opportunity to ask for help via phone, email, or chat application can be valuable during the website design process, and if you have any questions during regular business operations.
Additionally, think about how you prefer to solve issues. Some platforms like Shopify and WordPress have huge numbers of freelancers available to help with any task in addition to internal support.
What Is Your Budget?
Just like your budget helps you narrow down your list of options at a car dealership, so does it thin down your choices for website builders.
The more money you spend, the more feature-rich your platform. Fortunately, however, most of the essential features for a simple e-commerce website are quite affordable for most business owners.
You want to get the most that you can for your budget without wasting money on extras features that you will never use.
Does The Platform Allow For Custom Designs?
A significant consideration you will need to make when choosing an e-commerce website building platform is whether it allows custom design.
Wix Designs
Most platforms have a range of “themes” from which you can choose. However, some of them make it especially hard to build a custom design or change existing themes.
A simple drag-and-drop interface with lots of themes is easy to use, but you run the risk of having an e-commerce website that looks like other e-commerce websites (or struggling to make it *just right*). This is the track that Wix & Weebly take.
On the other hand, a platform that allows for custom designs might be a little harder to use, but it gives you endless options for how your website will look. This is the track that Shopify takes. They have a drag & drop builder, but really push you to buy or build your own custom design.
A compromise could be a builder that allows you to alter existing themes to make them look different from competitors.
Secondary Considerations: What Else Do You Need to Think About When Choosing a Website Builder
When choosing the best website builder for selling items online, you need to consider more than the basics. Here is what else you should be thinking.
Can You Add Extensions or Apps?
If you want to add plugins and extensions to your website, you should probably go for a platform that allows you to make such additions.
Note, however, that the more leeway a platform gives you to customize your site with plugins and extensions, the more complicated things will be.
It may also mean spending extra as many third-party extensions are for sale.
Will You Be Doing Content Marketing?
Is an online store all you want, or would you like to incorporate a blog or social media feed for some content marketing? Some website builders only offer pure e-commerce stores, while others provide lots of features to build marketing strategies right into your store.
Such content marketing tools can save time in the future because they make marketing more straightforward and cheaper.
Does The Platform Allow For Offline Sales?
Standard e-commerce platforms allow you to manage your inventory and orders. However, some are better at managing your offline sales than others. Depending on how heavy your offline sales traffic is, you might want a platform that syncs well with this aspect of your operation.
SEO & Marketing Tools
SEO is an integral part of making your website and products easily discoverable online. Look for an e-commerce platform that employs SEO best practices and gives you as much control as you need over your website’s SEO features.
Hosting
Some e-commerce platforms will include hosting in some form while others only provide you with a website builder, leaving you to arrange the hosting. An all-in-one e-commerce platform will make your life easier, as the hosting will be taken care of as part of the package.
However, this option might be more expensive than shopping for your host on your own, and you might have less control over things like domain ownership and SEO. Some platforms like WordPress.com allow you to move to a self-hosted website easily since it runs with the same WooCommerce plugin that powers a self-hosted ecommerce store.
It is crucial to pick a platform that meets your needs in this area.
General Tips on Choosing Specific Site Builders
What kind of options are available? There are plenty of website builders on the market, but some stand out.
While there are plenty of options on the market, there are some examples of what you can expect from different ranges of website builders.
Getting A Highly Customizable Builder
Some website builders offer innumerable options and plugins.
The challenge with customizable builders is that you might face a steep learning curve. Especially for beginners, navigating a website builder/content management system can be challenging. You’ll also need to explore (and possibly pay for) third-party plugins for your store.
Powerful site builders with endless options can enable you to create the ideal storefront, however. The catch could be that you have to hire someone to handle the store setup if you don’t have the time or the tech skills to do it yourself.
Getting A Site Builder And Hosting In One Package
There are plenty of site builder plus hosting options to choose from when it comes to e-commerce.
Building a website via drag-and-drop design is simple. You get high uptime, unlimited bandwidth on many tiers, a fast content delivery network, and the ability to buy and own your domain name.
The flip side of bigger site builder plus hosting packages is that they are not free. There are paid plans that you need to invest in, which means you should budget to spend some money on the platform every month. You need to understand that package options are not a one-time expense and plan accordingly.
Should You Choose A Recognizable Name?
There are many recognizable names in the e-commerce industry, like BigCommerce, Shopify, GoDaddy, Squarespace, and more.
With many big-name site builders, you can expect everything to be handled for you, including shopping carts, email forwarding, and even a free domain, depending on the platform.
The great thing about bigger platforms is that they save you from the headache of trying to figure things like security and hosting all by yourself.
The flip side is that many of these site builders will cost you a monthly subscription that varies according to the features you choose to include in your store. This investment may be too significant if you are only selling a few products or focusing on marketing instead of sales.
One other thing to note about more recognizable site builders is that it is very easy to research their services because so many people use them. Ease of research is one of the reasons to go with a recognizable name.
Next Steps
As you can see, there are plenty of options when it comes to e-commerce website builders. You have lots of choices, but that also makes it easy to get overwhelmed.
Based on my experience working with many website builders, there are a few that are a good fit for most people. They all have free plans available to try. They are each best if you want…
Simple Ecommerce
Simple Payments
Focus on Simplicity
Small Site Appeal
Weebly
View Plans
Built-in Features
Drag + Drop Design
Focus on Usability
Broad Appeal
Wix
View Plans
Lots of Options
Future-proofing
Focus on Ecommerce
Online Store Appeal
Shopify
View Plans
Focused on content + products?
WordPress.com is a website builder focused on publishing & content that has also has capability to sell products. View Plans.
By taking stock of your specific needs and comparing them to what is available in the market, you can pick an e-commerce website builder that fits your needs.
The good news is that the platforms listed above will meet the needs of most online store owners, so choosing from among them makes the work easier. Whichever option you go for, the important thing to remember is that having an online store is better than not having a store at all.
If you’ve looked into using a DIY website builder service to create a website for your business, it’s likely that you’ve come across Squarespace. Squarespace is a tool that allows you to create a great-looking and functional website without having to possess coding knowledge or hire a team of developers.
However, you may not be familiar with the particulars of how Squarespace works and how it stacks up against other website building software apps. That’s why we’ve set out to define exactly what Squarespace is and clarify how you can use it to benefit your small business. Read on for a full exploration.
What Is Squarespace?
Squarespace is a cloud-based SaaS (software as a service) website builder. You can try it out for free for 14 days without being required to enter your payment information. To continue with Squarespace after your trial period is up, you’ll have to choose from between Squarespace’s four subscription plans, each of which is offered both on a month-to-month basis and on an annual basis. Because the annual option is offered at a discount and comes with a free domain for a year, we recommend it over the monthly option.
A Squarespace subscription includes hosting for your website, SSL security, and 24/7 customer support.
Perhaps the main factor that distinguishes Squarespace from the competition is its commitment to elegant design. Squarespace’s templates look and perform better than just about any templates you’ll find in a DIY website builder, making Squarespace a particularly good website solution for artists, photographers, and others for whom sharp aesthetics are of paramount importance.
How Does Squarespace Work?
Like nearly every other website builder, Squarespace uses the SaaS model, meaning the software is cloud-based and that you won’t have to install anything. As I mentioned earlier, Squarespace is a paid subscription service with four different subscription plans. These plans run from $12/month to $40/month with an annual subscription. For more details on the cost of using Squarespace, including hosting and payment processing fees, read our Squarespace pricing article.
Squarespace brings together a wide array of elements and features that give freelancers and business owners the ability to create gorgeous and functional websites. Here is but a sampling of them:
Smart Image Handling: Squarespace gives you some nice tools to refine your custom images, such as optional Image Zoom, Set Focal Point (to ensure the best part of your image is centered in any thumbnail), galleries, automatic image scaling, automatic text wrapping, and display effects. Another feature photographers will appreciate is progressive image loading — enabling this will ensure that the images on the top of your website load first, speeding up loading times for visitors.
Device View: Squarespace lets you check out your site in three configurations: desktop, tablet, and mobile. As you build your site, this feature means you can make sure your site performs well on each device type.
Conversion Metrics: View your siteâs performance, learn about your siteâs traffic, and identify sticking points for your visitors.
SEO Features: Customize image file names, product tags, and meta descriptions.
Forms: Squarespaceâs editor gives you access to a number of attractive prefab contact forms. You can easily customizable these forms to fit your business needs. Add as many form fields as you wish, along with checkboxes, radio buttons, and the like.
Blogging: Squarespaceâs blogging system is one of the platformâs highlights. From the ability to schedule posts to the option to have multiple authors posting to the same blog, Squarespaceâs blogging capabilities are excellent. You can even host a podcast on a Squarespace blog. The commenting system is pretty sophisticated as well.
Sell Physical & Digital Products: Squarespace’s capable eCommerce system lets you sell and deliver digital content as well as physical offerings. You can also use your Squarespace store to accept donations.
Inventory Management:Â Track inventory for products and product variants.
Shipping Calculator:Â Use the real-time shipping calculator to charge precise shipping rates for USPS, UPS, and FedEx.
Subscriptions:Â Sell recurring and limited subscriptions.
Squarespace Commerce App: The Commerce App allows iOS and Android device users the ability to run their businesses from anywhere. The App includes an integrated barcode scanner, inventory management, discount creation, and the ability to process in-person sales.
Squarespace Point Of Sale: Squarespace just introduced its new Point of Sale system, which allows you to connect your Squarespace Commerce App with a Square Reader for magstripe, contactless, and chip transactions. The system connects to your inventory management, making it easy to manage a store with both in-person and eCommerce elements. Square POS is included with a Basic/Advanced Commerce subscription, and no Squarespace transaction fees are charged beyond the base cost of Squareâs payment processing.
The Benefits Of Squarespace
Squarespace’s appeal lies in the fact that it offers both accessibility and advanced functionality. While there are website builders out there that are even simpler and easier to use, just as there are circumstances that call for a more sophisticated solution such as a custom developer-built website or a WordPress site, Squarespace aims for the sweet spot that encompasses ease of use, sharp aesthetics, and utility.
What’s more, Squarespace is a relatively cost-effective website solution. While you will find website builders offering cheaper subscription plans, the differences aren’t huge, and the cost of hiring developers to build you a custom website with the kind of aesthetic precision Squarespace offers is going to be several orders of magnitude higher.
Excellent templates
Easy to use
Great for photography and blogging
Capable eCommerce system for online and in-person selling
Free 14-day trial — you don’t need to give your payment information until you sign up for a paid plan
The Drawbacks Of Squarespace
As I mentioned above, Squarespace isn’t the cheapest website solution out there. Many other website builders offer a bare-bones free plan, while Squarespace only offers a 14-day free trial. However, this lack of a free plan shouldn’t trouble most business owners — the free plans offered by the likes of Wix and Weebly are quite limited in the features they offer.
Another drawback: Although Squarespace can host a good online store and can even facilitate offline commerce with its new POS system, it still doesn’t quite measure up with the likes of Shopify when it comes to eCommerce. You simply won’t get access to as many merchant features as you would with Shopify. Furthermore, Squarespace only offers two payment processing options for online sales (and only one — Square — for offline sales).
Squarespace’s customer support comes in for its share of criticism as well, with many users noting the lack of phone support.
Limited integrations
Limited eCommerce features
No free plan
Limited customer service options
Who Should Use Squarespace?
Squarespace’s capabilities match up very well with the needs of artists, photographers, podcasters, bloggers, and freelancers in general. The software allows you to create a professional, elegant website without breaking the bank. It’s as simple as that.
Likewise, Squarespace’s eCommerce features make it a good choice for smaller eCommerce outfits as well as certain types of brick-and-mortar establishments. Larger, high-volume eCommerce businesses are better served by dedicated eCommerce services like Shopify or BigCommerce, however.
How Does Squarespace Compare To Wix, WordPress, & Others?
As I’ve said, Squarespace’s eCommerce chops don’t quite compare with the likes of Shopify. Read our Shopify VS Squarespace piece for more on this comparison. While smaller sellers will find a lot to like about Squarespace, more ambitious merchants will find even more to like about Shopify.
Another Squarespace competitor you’ve likely come across is Wix, which is currently the most widely used website builder on the planet. As we wrote in our Wix VS Squarespace comparison article, we give Wix the overall edge; it’s even easier to use than Squarespace, and it offers a much greater range of add-ons and integrations through its Wix App Market. However, that’s not to say that Wix is better for everyone. Squarespace’s superior aesthetics still make it a more fitting choice for art, photography, blogging, and podcasting.
Another Squarespace alternative we should discuss is WordPress. WordPress is a Content Management System (CMS), not a DIY website builder, so this isn’t quite an apples-to-apples comparison. However, a WordPress site can integrate with a much wider range of products and services than can Squarespace and is almost infinitely customizable. If you need a business website with more advanced functionality than Squarespace can offer and/or you want to retain the option of taking your site to a different web host should you grow dissatisfied with your current one, you should look into creating a website with WordPress instead.
That said, WordPress is nowhere near as user-friendly as Squarespace, and unless you possess some serious web development skills, you’ll likely need to outsource the creation of your site to a team of web developers and designers, thus making a WordPress site cost-prohibitive for smaller businesses and freelancers.
How To Get Started With Squarespace
Getting started with Squarespace is a cinch. First, you sign up — you don’t need to enter your credit card information at this stage, just your email address and a password. If you want to continue using Squarespace for free, you can do so for a period of 14 days. If you’re ready to purchase a subscription plan, you’ll be able to immediately buy a domain for your site from Squarespace. If you get an annual subscription, you’ll pay nothing for your domain for the first year. Domains cost $20-$70 each subsequent year when purchased through Squarespace. And if you opt to use Squarespace for free for the free trial period, you’ll get a temporary Squarespace-branded URL.
After answering some basic questions about the purpose of your site, you’ll be able to choose a template. You can narrow down your search by selecting a category (templates are organized into categories based on site purpose) or by simply typing your site’s purpose into the box provided (“To sell my artwork” for example). After choosing a template, you’ll be taken to the dashboard to start editing your site.
At this point, you’ll be able to add pages to your site and edit them to your heart’s content. Squarespace’s site editing system is fairly self-explanatory, and to the extent that it isn’t, Squarespace provides a knowledgebase, tutorial videos, webinars, and more to help you understand the editor.
At this point, you can edit your site and integrate some of the more basic tools on offer. For access to the more advanced features, including many of the eCommerce tools, you’ll need to sign up for a paid subscription. For a look at some of Squarespace’s best feature add-ons, read our post detailing Squarespace’s 8 best integrations.
Is Squarespace For Me?
Squarespace is an excellent tool for those who want to create a design-forward website for their business without spending a boatload and without having to learn code. Artists, photographers, bloggers, podcasters, and owners of smaller online stores are particularly well-positioned to take advantage of what Squarespace has to offer.
If you’re curious, give Squarespace a try and explore it thoroughly during your 14-day trial period. See if the template designs are to your tastes and if the editor works to your liking. If you find Squarespace to be a good fit for your business — or if you don’t — drop us a comment and let us know about your experience!
If you think another website builder might better fit your needs, check out our article on the 10 best Squarespace alternatives.
The post What Is Squarespace & Is It Right For You? appeared first on Merchant Maverick.
These days, we see delivery options everywhere. You can request on-demand delivery for your groceries, prescriptions, and take-out orders. With so many consumers turning to these options for convenience — and safety in light of the coronavirus crisis — you may be wondering: Is there space in the market for you?
Owning a delivery business is a great opportunity for many entrepreneurs. Depending on the niche you plan to serve, you can start your own business with just one vehicle and no employees. What’s more, you can quickly scale your delivery business as demand increases.
Are you considering starting your own delivery business, but you aren’t sure how to start? Keep reading for a step-by-step guide to starting a delivery business.
Why Start A Delivery Business?
One of the main reasons you should consider starting a delivery business is the steady increase in demand and market share.
According to the State of Logistics Report 2019, the market size of same-day delivery services in the US is expected to reach $7.4 billion in 2020 (up from an estimated $6.1 billion last year). What’s more, this report projects market size will increase to $8.5 billion in 2021.
The same report reveals how same-day delivery services are divided by delivery types. Fourteen percent of the market share of same-day deliveries are C2C deliveries (for example, transactions from Craigslist, eBay, and Facebook Marketplace), while 23% are B2B deliveries, and 63% are B2C deliveries.
By starting your own delivery business, you can take advantage of this demand for same-day delivery.
How Much Does A Delivery Business Cost?
Startup expenses for beginning a delivery business vary, depending on many factors. That said, you should plan for the following expenses:
Purchasing or leasing vehicle(s)
Fuel costs
Vehicle maintenance
Time (your time and your employees’ or contractors’ time)
Cost of operating a physical location (if you have one)
As you plan for your business, make sure you create a budget that accounts for all the expenses listed above as well as any other relevant expenses.
How Much Does It Cost To Become An Amazon Delivery Service Partner?
Perhaps you’ve seen advertisements online for Amazon’s Delivery Service Partner (DSP) program for entrepreneurs. These advertisements state that with Amazon, you can start your own delivery business for as little as $10,000 capital. These advertisements make running a delivery business look easy. All your business comes through Amazon, so there’s no need to find customers, and with very little startup cost, you can begin managing a team of 100 employees who drive a fleet of 10-40 vans.
Amazon makes this program look very desirable, stating that its DSP program is highly competitive and that you’ll profit $75K-$300K per year. However, I advise you to do your research before applying to become a DSP. I’ve seen numerous reviews that break down the costs of operating this type of business, revealing that according to Amazon’s numbers, you’re only likely to profit $7,500 per van each year. This is a very slim profit margin, and to earn this profit, you have to take on a lot of liability.
For more information on the potential downsides of becoming an Amazon DSP, check out this video from Franchise City.
Types Of Delivery Services
There are many possible niches your business can fill. We recommend that you consider partnering with local businesses that frequently need to deliver their products to consumers or other businesses. Here are a few niches you should consider:
Grocery delivery
Pharmacy delivery
Floral delivery
B2B delivery
Yard supplies delivery
Furniture delivery
Dry cleaning delivery
Starting A Delivery Service: The Step-By-Step Guide
Once you have an idea of the type of delivery business you want to start, it’s time to take action! Here are the first nine steps you should take to start a delivery service.
Step 1: Make A Business Plan For Your Delivery Business
The first step in starting any business is to make a business plan. We recommend starting with a one-page business plan, in which you list the following information about your business:
The problem your business solves
Objectives
Experience
Target market
Competition
Financial summary
Marketing strategy
For more information on writing a business plan, try our article: The ‘How-To’ For One Page Business Plans. You’ll even find a downloadable form on this page that you can use to create your business plan.
Step 2: Look For Funding
Every startup requires capital, and with a delivery business, you have to invest in a lot of equipment up front. If you don’t currently have the funds you need to start your business, we suggest looking into financing options. Here are a few options you might consider:
Business loans
Business lines of credit
Business credit cards
Merchant cash advances
Personal loans
Crowdfunding
Invoice factoring
Equipment financing
For more information on each of these financing options, read our article, 8 Ways To Finance Your Small Business.
Step 3: Find Business Software
Finding the right software for your business can streamline your day-to-day operations, and it can even reduce the number of people you have to hire to get your business started. Here are a few types of software that you should consider adding to your business, along with a few software recommendations:
GPS Software: Use this software to locate delivery pickup and drop-off locations. You can use a device such as Garmin for your GPS navigation, or you can use a free app on your mobile device (such as Google Maps).
Mileage Tracking Software: Mileage tracking software helps you bill clients accurately, and it can help you claim business expenses during tax season. One of our preferred accounting software, QuickBooks Self-Employed, has an app that you can use for tracking mileage. Or you can use an app such as MileIQ.
Accounting Software: Every business needs good accounting software. We like QuickBooks Online and Xero.
CRM Software: CRM (customer relationship management) software helps you track customers’ contact info and interactions. A couple of good options are Salesforce and Zoho CRM.
Website Builder Software: Build a website for your delivery business using an affordable and easy-to-use website builder. We recommend Squarespace and Wix to most business owners.
Time Tracking Software: If you hire employees or independent contractors to drive your vehicles, you’ll need a tool to track their time. Some time tracking software packages even include GPS tracking features. Check out our article, Must-Have Time Tracking Software Businesses Should Know About, for a few recommendations.
Step 4: Source Equipment For Your Delivery Business
One of the big startup costs you should anticipate is the cost of equipment. Depending on the types of products you decide to deliver, you’ll need to choose equipment that can help deliver shipments safely and efficiently. Here are a few examples of equipment you may need:
Vehicles (sprinter vans, pickup trucks, freight trucks, trailers, or refrigerated trucks, depending on your shipments)
Dollies
Ratchet straps
Moving blankets
GPS systems
Cell phones or radios for all team members
Tablets and card readers for processing payments and signing off on orders
As you create a list of the types of equipment you need, you should also consider how you’ll pay for that equipment. Will you purchase it outright or use equipment financing? Make sure you calculate the interest rates you pay for equipment financing into your business’s budget.
Step 5: Register Your Business & Get Insurance
To legally register your business, you first have to decide on a business structure. The business structure you choose depends on the amount of liability you are comfortable with and if you plan on hiring employees. Business structures include:
Sole Proprietorship
General Partnership
Limited Partnership
Limited Liability Partnership
Limited Liability Limited Partnership
C-corporation
S-corporation
Limited Liability Company (LLC)
Nonprofit
Cooperative
If you are just starting up, and you plan on working independently for a while, a sole proprietorship is a good option. However, if you plan on hiring employees, you should look into setting up an LLC. For more information on the pros and cons of each business structure, try our complete guide to business structures.
The next step is to register your business name. As you choose a name for your business, consider using keywords, such as “delivery,” “same-day delivery,” or even “floral delivery.” That will help your business appear in Google searches. During this step, you should also look into available domain names. Choosing your business name and domain name at the same time can help you create consistent branding and make your site easier to find online.
Your final steps are to register your business with the IRS, register for business licenses and permits, and register with your state’s revenue office. For more information on these steps, see our article, How To Register Your Business: The Complete Guide.
Purchase Insurance
As you set up the legal part of your business, make sure you sign up for any necessary insurance. These insurance plans protect you and your business, and they also protect your employees. Here are some types of insurance you should purchase:
General Liability Insurance: This insurance package covers delivery services and delivered products. This insurance protects companies against lawsuits related to delivery services. Learn more about small business liability insurance.
Commercial Auto Insurance: Commercial auto insurance covers damage or theft done to a fleet of vehicles, an owner’s vehicle used commercially, or an independent contractor’s vehicle. Also, commercial auto insurance covers bodily injury and medical expenses. If your business operates trucks, you may also need commercial truck insurance. Read What Is Commercial Auto Insurance & Do You Need It? for more information.
Garage Liability Insurance: If you plan on storing vehicles on-site, you’ll also need garage liability insurance.
Commercial Property Insurance: To protect your employees’ property (things they store in their vehicle while they are at work), you can also sign up for commercial property insurance.
Workers’ Compensation Insurance: Workers’ compensation insurance is required in most states. This insurance covers medical costs and lost wages for work-related injuries.
Step 6: Create Your Online Presence & Marketing Plan
The next step you should take in starting your business is to create a solid online presence and marketing plan.
Your business’s online presence is the overall impact of your brand’s website, review pages, and social media interactions. Essentially, your online presence is made up of everything your brand has done online. Work to create a strong online presence from the very beginning by building a beautiful and easy-to-navigate website and registering your business with business directories, such as Google My Business and Yelp. For more information on developing an online presence, read How To Build An Online Presence For Your Business In 9 Simple Steps.
Finding & Keeping Customers
As you build up your business’s online presence, you should also consider the ways you will draw customers to your business. Make a plan for acquiring and retaining clients. Will you purchase online advertisements or claim an ad spot on the radio? Will you place ads on billboards or in the local newspaper? Will you partner with local businesses and rely on them for new customers?
No matter what you decide, make sure you have a plan for your marketing approach. And if your attempt doesn’t pan out, adjust your marketing strategy, and try again.
Once you have found customers, do your best to draw them back to your service by giving them a great experience and having quality marketing strategies. We recommend using CRM software to keep track of your former customers and reach out to them again in the future. Learn more about how to retain repeat customers with our article, 11 Ways Businesses Should Be Using CRM Software.
Step 7: Determine Your Rates For Delivery
Your next step is to decide on how much you’ll charge for deliveries. There are a few different ways you can price your services.
Many delivery companies charge on a per-mile basis. Each mile driven costs a set amount. In another model, you can charge a base rate and then add per-mile costs on top of that base rate.
As you set your prices, you should also determine the boundaries in which you will deliver orders. You can choose to not make any deliveries outside of these boundaries or charge a distance surcharge.
Make sure that your prices account for your company’s total overhead (including fuel, vehicle maintenance, time, and other costs) to protect your profit margin.
Step 8: Set Up Payment Processing
As more businesses transition to accepting digital payments, you should also consider what your payment solutions will be. If you choose to accept digital payments (which we recommend), you need to set up a payment processor.
The payment methods that are best for your business depend on who your delivery business serves. If you deliver directly to consumers (and consumers pay upon delivery), you’ll need a good method for accepting credit card payments. A mobile device with a card reader would work well in this instance. A couple of good payment processors that allow you to accept payments this way are Square and Payment Depot Mobile.
If you serve other businesses, however, you should consider alternative payment methods. Businesses that sell B2B can often qualify for lower credit card processing rates, so it might be worth pursuing a processor that caters specifically to B2B companies. On the other hand, ACH (automated clearing house) payments are cheaper overall, and they are a good alternative to credit card payments. For additional guidelines on accepting payments as a B2B business, check out The Complete Guide To B2B Payment Processing: Credit Cards, ACH, Software & More.
Step 9: Manage Expenses For Your Delivery Service
As you operate your business, you should have a plan for how you’ll track and manage expenses.
Use good accounting software to track tax-deductible expenses, such as fuel, repairs, and new equipment. Take a look at our article about tax write-offs for more information.
In addition, you should make a plan for how employees will purchase fuel on the road. Will you give drivers access to the company credit card, or will you reimburse your employees for their gas purchases? Make plans for these expenses before you begin your first delivery.
Is Starting A Delivery Business Right For You?
Does starting your own delivery business still seem right for you? Are you prepared to handle the challenges of planning delivery routes, and are you ready to face the competition of the ever-popular delivery apps?
If you’ve answered yes, we’re here to support you as you begin! Sign up for our newsletter to get up-to-date information on owning and operating a small business. To read more about starting your own business, take a look at these articles:
The ‘How-To’ For One Page Business Plans
8 Ways To Finance Your Small Business
How To Register Your Business: The Complete Guide
Types Of Business Structures: The Complete Guide
How To Build An Online Presence For Your Business In 9 Simple Steps
The Complete Guide To B2B Payment Processing: Credit Cards, ACH, Software & More
The post How To Start A Delivery Business In 9 Easy, Hassle-Free Steps appeared first on Merchant Maverick.
This post originally appeared at Essential Guide To Choosing A Website Designer via ShivarWeb
So you need to know how to choose a website designer.
But here’s the problem.
“It depends” is both the most correct and the most unhelpful answer.
There have never been more choices in the website design industry than now. But paradoxically, all those choices make actually choosing more difficult than ever.
The secret to choosing wisely is to understand exactly what you need rather than attempting to sort & filter all the choices on offer.
Like any other large purchase… a house, car, appliance, etc – ditch the idea of a “best” – and instead, write out your exact needs, requirements, and goals. The best option for you will usually self-select itself.
In other words, choose a website designer through elimination based your goals rather than searching out the one right fit.
With that concept in mind, here’s how to walk through the process of elimination to choose the right website designer for your project.
1. Define Your Technology Needs
How do you need your website to function?
Are you looking to build a “brochure site” – a place with your basic information and contact information?
Or are you looking to build something with certain functionality?
This step is critical because it decides what type of web designer or developer or agency you’ll need to hire.
A pure-play web designer usually does not actually work with HTML / CSS, much less traditional web languages like Javascript, PHP, etc. Pure-play web designers usually work in Photoshop and focus on branding, color palettes, imagery, feel, and user experience.
A pure-play web designer will often work with a front-end web developer to implement a design. The front-end of a website is what the user sees & navigates. A front-end developer will know HTML / CSS and Javascript – and will be comfortable with “back-end” technologies.
Back-end technology involves databases, scripts, and APIs – and generally making sure the computers are all talking to each other correctly.
Now – you’ll likely hire someone who is an expert in one, is knowledgeable in another, and is familiar with the third. If you hire an agency, then they’ll have all three.
Additionally, many designers / developers / agencies will work with certain platforms that already have core functionality built-in. When they work with these platforms, it will speed up the process and lower the costs…but also means that the client (you) needs to have some familiarity with what tools they are using.
But the main thing you need to think about is how much functionality does your site need? This will determine what type of website designer you’ll need, and how to discuss their process.
What To Consider
What functionality do you want now?
How do you want your website to grow?
Do you need to edit & manage your site content?
Do your visitors need to work with the site at all?
What To Avoid
Avoid using vague concepts or ideas.
Avoid accidental technology lock-in.
Example Scenarios
Think about a new fashion brand. Are you more focused on developing content or retailing clothes? Do you need to manage inventory? Do you want to build a community? How do you want to integrate your social presence?
A web designer could build a self-hosted WordPress website to handle the content and then add-in ecommerce with an ecommerce plugin, but it might be harder to manage inventory & social integration. They could also build an online store with Shopify to focus on ecommerce & social, but might hamstring your big content plans.
Think about a new non-profit website. Do you have expertise to manage & maintain the website? Do you need donation abilities or portal logins? Do you need to integrate with certain profiles?
A web designer could build a self-hosted WordPress website that could easily integrate donations and would be cheap upfront, but it would be harder to maintain long-term without someone who can train on the platform. They could also use a hosted website builder like Wix or WordPress.com that might have fewer upfront capabilities, but would be much easier to maintain in-house over the long-term.
Now – the designer that you choose should be flexible but also knowledgeable. It’s better to trust someone that you trust…but also verify that they deeply understand your needs.
2. Define Your Design Needs
How do you want your website to look and feel?
Unless you’ve had to design something for a client, it’s hard to understand how difficult it is to translate a vague idea in someone else’s brain into a tangible creation.
Sure, there are bad designers out there, but usually, the more specific you are about your design needs, the better product you’ll get.
Draw out something – anything – to show even the most basic direction you’d like to go.
Collect websites that you like – and note what you like about them. Here’s a bunch of example round-ups that I’ve written.
Wix Website Examples
WordPress Website Examples
Professional Personal Website Examples
Online Portfolio Examples
Weebly Website Examples
GoDaddy Website Examples
Restaurant Website Examples
Church Website Examples
Shopify Website Examples
Write out your frustrations with existing designs.
Additionally, keep in mind that it’s possible to develop some design assets yourself and let a web designer translate those existing assets into a website design.
For example, I’ve had clients use a photographer and bring in a web designer to build a site layout around their amazing professional images. I’ve built sites around a 99designs logo that clients have already made. Some clients even use automated design generators like Tailor Brands to create a look that a web developer can plug & play into a theme or template.
Once you have all your specifics down – you can use it to choose the right web designer.
What To Consider
The right web designer will be able to tell you how achievable certain features, looks, etc are.
Think about what process you’d like to work with. Do you want choices at every stage? How do you like to give and receive feedback? What are the most important parts of the design? When budget inevitably comes up, what are you willing to cut or prioritize?
What To Avoid
Avoid designers who can’t tell you how they’ll approach a design problem. Look for designers who do not have a stated process.
A written design process is best for you and them. Feedback stages can go on forever and make everyone frustrated.
Avoid vague wishes – even with emotions, be as specific and as concrete as possible.
Example Scenarios
Think about a restaurant website. An established restaurant will likely already have quite a bit of design assets in its physical location. Between logos, fonts, colors, ambience, etc – a web designer should already have a good bit to work off. Hiring a designer will be less about getting the design right and more about the layout, navigation, and design asset conversion right.
Think about a brand-new yoga studio. A startup might need a website design that can translate offline and throughout social media. Here, the owner will need to make a choice about developing a logo & brand feel separately (via a specialist graphic designer or logo contractor or AI brand software) or letting the website designer drive the look of the business.
3. Define Your Business Needs
What role does your website serve in your business?
Some of this will go back to your design and technology needs, but it’s especially pressing to consider before you define your budget & scope.
Think about how your business gets customers and how you do your marketing.
How will/does your website drive leads/sales? Is it something that your referrals & salespeople will offer as a brochure…or will your website need to drive new leads from online visitors?
Will it need to integrate with any business processes such as inventory or bookkeeping or order-taking? Do you want to move your business processes to the website via marketing/sales automation?
Are there any existing software providers that you want to integrate with your website now or in the future?
What To Consider
Think about both the near and medium term needs of your business.
Think about your domain names – and how you want to setup your email and online services.
Think about the incremental value of your website – what number of leads could it drive? What is a new lead worth?
What To Avoid
Avoid too much complexity – integrations and versatility make your website last.
Avoid thinking of your website as a cost – it’s an investment.
Avoid designers who do not work with integrations or cannot build out features that you need.
Avoid designers who cannot make a business case for changing your existing business processes.
Avoid designers who cannot explain how & why their approach will work through the medium term.
Avoid quick, “duct-tape” solutions.
Example Scenarios
Think about a local property management. An accounting firm could do well with a “brochure website” that simply funnels people to the phone and in-person consults. A nice brochure website (i.e., a website that simple provides information) might do fine. But what if the firm wants to add in client tools, secure portals, content marketing, direct listings, etc? Those features would require a website that can expand and develop over time. It might be worth developing a self-hosted website with a designer on retainer.
Think about a new jewelry business. A jewelry business might do business exclusively on Etsy, and want a blog to connect with customers. It might be easy to get a custom theme on a hosted platform like WordPress.com. However, it also might be a better choice to go a different direction at the beginning to integrate Etsy or lay the foundation for a non-Etsy online store.
4. Define Your Budget & Scope
How much money and time do you have to spend right now?
And “as cheap as possible” is not an answer – if this is your thinking, you should not be looking for a custom website designer. You should look for alternative options.
Your website is an investment, not a cost. If you approach it the same way you’d approach bulk-buying office pens…then you’re not going to get the result you want.
Now – I understand the desire to get the biggest return for your investment. But remember that it’s usually better to maximize your return rather than minimize your investment.
What To Consider
Think about your existing cashflow situation. Write out what a single new lead is worth.
Write out existing costs of having a poor or non-existent website.
Write out features, functionality, and design choices that you’d prioritize.
Think about payoff period and amortize your budget. In other words, if you budget $10,000 – and you expect the site to last 50 months, then that is $200/mo. Does that match your expected value?
What To Avoid
Avoid thinking about your budget in a silo – always tie it to scope or value.
Avoid thinking that you can have everything. Think about keeping your options open.
Avoid thinking about having a one and done project. Think about ongoing costs to either you, your staff or your designer.
5. Define Your Sources & Alternative Options
What type of designer do you want? And how do you find them?
The bad news is that most good website designers are not super-easy to find.
The good news is that your competitors don’t know that. If you put in a bit of work to find the right website designers – you’ll have a much better range of choices.
What To Consider
Good website designers have plenty of work. If someone is spending a lot of money on advertising & acquisition, then they are probably a giant agency with a churn and burn process.
Good website designers want to work with good clients. I used to work with web design clients, and I would take a great client for half-pay over a bad client. In fact, at a certain point, there’s not enough money in the world to take on a bad client.
Conversations and back and forths are not billable. That is not good for you or the designer. The more specific you are, the better.
What To Avoid
Googling what everyone else is googling.
Expecting more from a person or platform than is reasonable given how much effort you’ve put in.
Where To Look
Now – you could always do a Google Search. But I promise that you will likely be disappointed. Here are some better places to look.
For local designer / developer
Local web designers are usually horrendous at marketing their services. But many clients want a local designer that they can talk to in person.
Your approach will depend on your metro area, of course, but here’s where I’d look.
Look for meetups to stalk. Web designers are always looking to upgrade skills and you can usually find some at a local workshop, class or meetup.
Do a really specific Google search – one with search operators. Like this.
Ask your favorite local businesses for referrals.
Use city specific directories – this works especially well in smaller metros.
For a WordPress designer / developer
WordPress is an incredibly versatile content management system. It’s not ideal for every site, but it’s like 4 door SUV / Sedan of the Internet. It’ll probably do the job for you.
Now – the issue is that basically anybody can call themselves a “WordPress developer” – even if they really don’t know how the software works at its core.
It’s important to do #1 and #2 – because you’ll need to know if you are hiring a designer / developer who works with WordPress as their software of choice vs. someone who actually develops websites with WordPress.
Here’s where I’d look –
Stalk local WordPress meetups.
Stalk the attendees of WordCamps – big gatherings of designers who use WordPress.
Stalk the community support forums of WordPress.org
Do an incredibly specific Google search with something like intext:”Work with me”
One side note about WordPress designers – since they’ll likely use certain themes/theme frameworks – you’ll be able to negotiate a bit more on scope and do more with DIY.
For [other platform] designer / developer
Now there are plenty of other software options out there – especially “hosted options” like Squarespace, Weebly, Shopify, Wix, Bigcommerce, etc.
The key here is to understand the technology and what exactly you are buying (ie, you are paying more for a custom design over functionality since the hosted option bundles lots of functionality in with your hosting).
Lean heavily on the services’ support forums and Experts Exchange to find prospective designers.
For a general designer / developer
The great thing about web design is that you can work with a global talent pool if you want. There are challenges to working remotely but a lot of upside if you can do it well.
Again, for this search, I’d recommend relying more on internal platforms over random searches. Here’s a few examples.
99designs is a good option for contest-run design only competitions. I’ve implemented designs that my clients have bought through them. Here’s my general review.
Dribbble is the big hangout for designers doing cutting edge work.
Most developers will have a profile on Github or StackExchange or HackerNews. Look for ones who have good answers.
Fiverr is a surprisingly good platform if you are willing to try a few gigs before committing to a single designer. I’ve used them for several side projects.
Upwork is also good if you are willing to do a test project with several designers before choosing.
Tailor Brands is an AI-powered self-service platform that will develop a logo and entire branding setup for less than $100.
You’ll also find that vendors on ThemeForest will do custom work in addition to other marketplaces like CreativeMarket.
The point here is that a bit more effort into searching for good designers will give you much better options than general googling.
Alternatives to a Custom Website Designer
Now if you’re thinking “ok – I just need a simple, straightforward website, not a roundabout search” – then you’ll want to look into some Alternative Options.
Skip down to some alternate ways to get a website without having to choose a website designer.
6. Ask for Proposals
Now that you have a few website designers to choose from, the next step is to send out a proposal.
The better your proposal, the better your options will be.
Think about how you would like to be approached if you were a web designer.
Would you prefer a vague email asking how much a website costs? Or would you prefer a detailed description of a the project along with a ballpark budget range?
What To Consider
Providing a ballpark budget is the fastest, simplest & most accurate way to get on the same page as a website designer. Your budget does not determine your end cost – but it does determine who you even talk to. As an analogy – it’s how website designers know whether you are shopping for a used Toyota Corolla or a brand-new Ferrari.
Make your project easy to say yes to. Keep the next step & primary ask simple and straightforward (ie, “are you interested in the project?”, “if interested, what additional details do you need?”)
What To Avoid
Avoid sending lots of feeler emails with no intention of hiring.
Avoid sending an email with too much information or too many asks.
7. Follow up with Questions & Request for References & Portfolio
However the designer communicates upfront is how the project will progress. Communication never improves over a project – it only degrades. Look for a high benchmark to start.
What To Consider
You are using your requirements, questions, and details to get prospective web designers to rule themselves out.
Think about your priorities – sending too many questions is just as bad as too few.
What To Avoid
Avoid dictating the entire process. Remember that the designer’s questions for you can tell you as much as your questions for them.
Avoid making the designer do too much back and forth. If you think a call will be necessary during the design process, do this entire step via a phone call.
8. Request Contract & Project Plan (and declines)
Tangible expectations in writing help everyone in every engagement.
At this point, you should be able to choose a website designer.
The next step is to request a contract and a project plan from the designer that you want to work with.
A written contract helps *everyone* in the project. The contract should spell out “deliverables”, costs, responsibilities, intellectual property rights, and an adjudicating body.
A project plan helps *everyone* understand expectations, responsibilities, and timelines. This does not have to be complicated. It should communicate clearly though who is responsible for what and when.
Lastly, for the designers that you did not choose, be sure to send a polite decline. Even if it’s as simple as “Thank you for providing this information. We have decided to work with another company. We will keep your company in mind for future project & referrals.” You’ll save the everyone needless follow-ups.
9. Follow up & Communicate Clearly
A good website designer cannot help a bad client.
What To Consider
The website is going to be *yours* so you need to make sure you have all the information you need to make decisions.
Make sure you have all the technical documentation in your control.
Remember that a lot of design work depends on fast, accurate feedback.
Budget for not only time but also money for incidentals (ie, photography) and technical issues.
What To Avoid
Interrupting the project plan and micromanaging.
Providing the wrong feedback at the wrong stage.
Avoid verbal conversations without follow-up written documentation. Phone call notes are essential.
Conclusion & Next Steps
Choosing a website designer does not have to be a daunting process full of frustration and unknowns.
It does require that you clearly understand what you want, when you want it, and to clearly communicate your expectations.
If you are trying to find a good website designer – follow the process and you’ll be set!
Alternate Conclusion & Next Steps
Now – if you have read this post and found it useful…but…
You’re thinking “I just need a website! It’s 2020 – I just need a simple, affordable, quick standard website – not a complicated purchase with contracts and whatnot”
I hear you. I have friends who have been there. And there are options out there – but it’s not a quality custom website designer.
Here’s some options –
#0 – DIY w/ Automated Branding & Design
Many design options (including the ones below) require you to coordinate your branding, even if you are able to purchase assets like a logo or social media photos. But that leaves a lot up to you.
There is one company that focuses on completely automated branding – Tailor Brands. I’ve begun using them for my side projects. They AI and machine learning to create a whole range of design assets & guidelines.
They also have a bundled website builder or you can use them to complement #1 through #3. Check out Tailor Brands here. Read my review here.
Other website builders also bundle a logo designer with their software. Wix has a template driven logo designer as does Shopify.
#1 – DIY with a Website Builder
There are companies that specialize in businesses with a budget and no design or technical expertise. They provide hosting and pre-made templates all for a single monthly subscription. You might not get all the functionality that you want…but you will get a secure, fast, good looking website.
To find the right website one, take my website builder quiz or see my recommendations here.
I also have an online store builder quiz with recommendations here if you need ecommerce.
#2 – DIY with self-hosted WordPress
WordPress is a the most popular, most supported, and most versatile “content management system” on the Internet. It’s free community supported software that you install on a hosting account (ie, you rent part of a server from a hosting company). The software has a learning curve, but you’ll have 100% control and 100% of your options open. You’ll also be able to call in specific experts on specific problems. Or install do-it-all themes / templates.
I wrote a WordPress Website Setup Guide here.
#3 – Purchase Website Design from a Hosting Company
This option is a blend of #1 and #2 – if you want full control over your site with unlimited options for the future…but don’t want the learning curve of setting up a design yourself, then you can sometimes purchase website design services from a hosting company. They are usually able to provide these services much cheaper than an independent website designer since you’re also using their hosting services.
For these projects, I recommend InMotion Hosting – they have great support and are the hosting company for this website. See their design services here.
Other resources include –
How To Try WordPress Before Purchasing
Choosing Your Website Color Palette
Features Customer Want in a Local Website
Building Different Types of Websites with Templates
We are living in what might generously be called “uncertain times.” As humanity retreats indoors as much as possible to avoid the disastrous COVID-19 pandemic, we’re all searching for ways to keep the bills paid. One option that has become more attractive in this era of stay-at-home orders is podcasting. It’s work that can be performed from home and, crucially, consumed from home.
However, even if you have a solid idea for a podcast and begin to build an audience, monetizing a podcast can prove difficult. Monetizing a podcast to the point where you stand to earn a life-sustaining amount of money is even more difficult. That’s why we’re posting this guide detailing how a podcast can make money and the steps you can take to building a podcast that earns you serious revenue. It won’t be easy, but in these perilous times, what is?
How To Make Money From Podcasting
While it’s tempting to think that podcasting might be a way for you to make some quick money, the reality is that no podcast monetization strategy will work if you don’t have a listener base. Your first focus needs to be on releasing content that people enjoy — content that inspires people to invite you into their lives. The success of any monetization strategy depends on you having built an audience first.
Once you have an audience, you can implement monetization strategies. Essentially, podcast monetization strategies can be divided into two categories: direct and indirect. Direct monetization involves the selling of your podcast itself — we’ll explain how you can do this. By contrast, indirect monetization involves using your podcast as the means to sell other things. Regardless of your monetization strategies, just remember that your primary responsibility is to your audience. If you don’t cater to them and keep them entertained before all else, no monetization strategy is going to be worth the effort.
Now, let’s delve into the details and discuss specific podcast monetization strategies.
10 Ways To Monetize Your Podcast
1) Ask Your Listeners For Donations
This isn’t going to give you much of a revenue stream in itself, but it is something you can do, in conjunction with more lucrative strategies, that can help you earn money from your podcast. If you host your podcast on your own website — something you can do relatively affordably with services like SoundCloud and Squarespace — you can always include a PayPal donation button (or a link to donate to your Stripe or Square account — whatever you want to use for payment processing) and encourage people to donate.
To successfully monetize your podcast, you’ll need to do considerably more than just ask for donations. However, it’s something you can start doing immediately and without much hassle.
2) Sell Subscriptions To Your Podcast
Once people are in the habit of consuming your content, the next step is to start charging people for that content. Services like Patreon and Podia let you establish a subscription system where people pay to access your podcast. Many podcasters use Patreon to set up multiple membership tiers, granting subscribers increasing levels of content and other rewards.
Now, if you place all your content behind a paywall and reserve everything for paying subscribers, you might have trouble expanding your reach and attracting new listeners who aren’t familiar with you yet. That’s why it’s helpful to look into what other podcasters have done to solve this conundrum. For example, the folks behind the political podcast Chapo Trap House — currently Patreon’s top-earning account, pulling in over $168K each month — record two podcast episodes per week, with one episode released to everyone for free and the other reserved for paid subscribers.
Now, you can experiment with your free-content-to-paid-content ratio, but it’s generally a good idea to leave a portion of your podcast episodes outside your paywall to attract more casual listeners.
3) Sell Merch (Among Other Things)
This is often done by popular podcasters. In addition to selling access to your podcast itself, you can also offer branded merchandise (t-shirts, laptop stickers, mugs, etc.) to higher-tier subscribers. You can also offer paid access to such things as online courses, exclusive interviews, and other content that leverages demand for your product (that would be you).
You can even sell your consulting services if your podcast touches on a subject with which you have considerable expertise. The point is, once your podcast has become popular to the point where you and your brand are worth something, it may be time to cash in on that popularity.
Of course, this won’t pay dividends when you’re just starting out. If people aren’t familiar with your brand, you can’t use your brand to push sales.
4) Put Your Back Catalog Behind The Paywall
You may want to try this strategy once you’ve been podcasting a while and have built up a hefty back catalog of episodes. While it’s typically a good idea to keep at least some of your new episodes free for everyone in order to expand your audience, monetizing your back catalog is a worthwhile option once you’ve been in the podcasting game for a while.
5) Repurpose Old Content Into A Book & Sell It
While you make money selling new content, you can further monetize your old content at the same time. One thing you can do with your older content is repackage it and sell it in new forms.
If you’ve done a number of podcasts on a particular topic in the past and you have a particular fondness for them, you could transcribe them (either in full or selectively), add content as you see fit, and compile it all into a book, which you could then sell on Amazon. Don’t forget to promote your book on your podcast!
6) Publish Your Podcasts To YouTube
YouTube makes it easy to publish and monetize videos, so with a bit of video editing, you can earn money by publishing podcast episodes to YouTube. You could just add a static image as your video and run the episode audio along with it, or you can actually film yourself recording the podcast.
You could try taking an episode and breaking it into shorter segments for easy digestibility for YouTube. This way, you can get multiple pieces of YouTube content from a single podcast episode.
7) Affiliate Marketing
We’ve covered how you can make money by selling your own products related to your podcast. Let’s now discuss how you can make money selling products that aren’t yours. One way to do this is through affiliate marketing.
There are many affiliate programs that you can just sign up for; you’ll begin earning money as soon as people start signing up with your affiliate link. These programs don’t require you to get approval from the company, and these links can keep earning you revenue for months or even years to come so long as the program remains active. You may also want to set up a blog containing information on the products you mention on your show.
The products you sell should be related to what you do and what you actually use in the course of doing your podcast — otherwise, you could start to lose authenticity points with your audience. To this end, you’ll also want to disclose your affiliate relationships. Transparency is the key to selling products without making your audience feel alienated.
8) “Traditional” Advertising
Affiliate marketing is all the rage these days, but there’s still room for “regular” marketing and advertising to supplement your podcasting revenue. Look into the various podcast ad networks out there — these networks can connect you to advertisers and will take care of the details for you, though you’ll need a sizable audience to get their business.
If you have a small-ish (under 5K listeners per month) but loyal audience, you can try to connect directly with companies that want to reach your particular audience — particularly if yours is a niche podcast with an audience that may be attracted to products of a particular bent.
9) Host Live Events
Obviously, this isn’t something you should do at this particular moment in time (April 2020). But once it becomes safe to start having live events again, podcasters who have built a sizable audience can earn significant money from ticket sales by putting on live events. This is especially true for those whose podcasts are dedicated to covering TV shows/movies/etc. — if you can manage to get an actor or reality show star to appear at an event, you could be rolling in ticket revenue.
As an alternative, during these stay-at-home times, you could try doing a live streaming event where you sell access to your stream and connect with your listeners. People are especially hungry for human connection right now, so this may be a monetization strategy that fits the times.
10) Have Guests Pay To Appear On Your Show
This isn’t a monetization tactic that will fit many podcasts. If your appeal as a host is grounded in personal authenticity, this may actually be counterproductive. However, it may be on-brand for certain types of business podcasts.
If this describes what you do, try looking into finding guests for your podcast whom you can charge for the exposure. It may be challenging to make the podcast episode not feel like one long advertorial, and you’ll want to be transparent about what you’re doing. However, some podcasts do make this work.
Monetizing A Podcast: FAQs
Let’s quickly answer some common questions about podcast monetization.
Is podcasting a good way to make money?
It’s true that the majority of podcasts don’t generate significant revenue. After all, it’s difficult to build up an audience — and an audience is an absolute prerequisite for monetization. Yet the numerous examples of successful monetized podcasts show that it can certainly be done.
In the early stages, concentrate on putting out content that attracts listeners. Only after you generate significant interest should you explore the monetization techniques discussed here. You have to learn to walk before you can run!
How much money can you make with a podcast?
Earlier, I mentioned the fact that Chapo Trap House pulls in over $168K/month in Patreon subscriptions alone. However, Chapo is definitely an outlier, so don’t expect to make anywhere near that much — especially not from subscriptions alone.
Though it’s very difficult to estimate the average amount of money you can earn via each one of the above monetization techniques, a study by AdvertiseCast lists the current average CPM (cost per thousand listeners) for a 30-second podcast ad as $18 and the current average CPM for a 60-second podcast ad as $25. So, if your podcast manages to get a million listeners per episode, charging for ads at these rates can earn you $18K for a 30-second ad or $25K for a 60-second ad (minus the ad agency’s cut). Keep in mind that this is just from one particular monetization technique.
How many listeners do you need to monetize a podcast?
This will depend on the nature of your podcast and how aggressively you monetize it. Colin Gray of thepodcasthost.com writes that sponsorship agencies tend to require that a podcast has 3000-5000 listeners per episode before taking them on, but that it’s possible to earn decent sponsorship income with 1000-2000 listeners per episode, particularly if you have a devoted niche audience.
How long does it take to monetize a podcast?
This depends entirely on how quickly you can build a listener base. Remember, no audience, no revenue.
Try to focus more on building your audience than monetization at first. It’s not really possible to rush this step, so it’s impossible to estimate how long it will take the average podcaster to earn real money. Just know that once you’ve built an audience, you have a plethora of techniques at your disposal to earn money doing what you love.
Find The Best Ways To Monetize Your Podcast Through Experimentation
No two podcasts are the same, so there isn’t any particular monetization formula that will work equally well for all podcasters. This means that, once you’ve built an audience, you’ll have to experiment with different monetization methods before you find the right mix of techniques.
Are you a podcaster? Do you have experience with these (or any other) monetization techniques? If so, drop us a comment — we’d love to hear from you.
Remember that as you pursue your podcasting endeavor, Merchant Maverick has a bounty of resources that can help you in your journey. Here are just a few!
How To Accept Donations Online
Loans For Freelance Businesses: Your 10 Best Options
8 Ways To Finance Your Small Business
Crowdfunding For Startups: 8 Tips For Launching
The post Monetize Your Podcast With These 10 Proven Methods appeared first on Merchant Maverick.
Are you looking to start selling online? With the steady increase in popularity of online shopping, developing your own online store is crucial to ensuring you meet the needs and expectations of your customers.
But for many new online sellers (including those who already operate a brick-and-mortar business, as well as those who are just beginning), the costs of operating an online store can feel overwhelming. There’s the monthly subscription rate that you pay to your eCommerce platform, as well as the cost of transaction fees, payment processing, software extensions, and integrations.
Fortunately, you can ease some of the costs of opening an online store when you use a free eCommerce platform. Although you still have to pay for other expenses related to online selling (such as the cost of payment processing and software extensions), at least you won’t have to pay to use the actual selling software. This reduction in costs can lower the barrier to entry and help many businesses take the first steps to start selling online.
Free eCommerce software tends to come in two forms. Some software is available as a free plan on an all-inclusive cloud-based software. These free plans tend to give users the basic features they need for online selling while placing limits on product listings and advanced features. The other form of free eCommerce software is downloadable open-source software. This software is always free to use, and it does not limit its users in any way. That said, it is not nearly as user friendly as cloud-based software, and the software does not include web hosting or customer support.
It’s clear that each type of free eCommerce software offers its own advantages and disadvantages. Fortunately, both cloud-based software and open source software are great options for sellers who are looking to get started with a free eCommerce platform.
Best Free eCommerce Platforms
In this article, we’ll cover the best free eCommerce platforms on the market. Some of these options are free plans for cloud-based eCommerce software, while others are free open source eCommerce software. All of the free eCommerce platforms in this list meet our standards for security, available features, customer support, and usability.
Big Cartel
Best for makers and artists who plan to list only a few items at a time.
Big Cartel is a cloud-based online store builder that is designed specifically with artists in mind. Content creators and makers of all types use Big Cartel to establish a website, build out an online store, and sell their digital and physical products. Big Cartel is incredibly simple and easy to use, which makes it an excellent option for anyone who is new to online selling.
Additionally, Big Cartel is a great alternative to marketplace selling, and their free option makes it accessible for everyone. Using this free plan, sellers can list up to five products on their online stores, and they gain access to Big Cartel’s most basic selling features. Keep reading to learn more of what’s available with Big Cartel’s free plan.
Pros
Easy to use
Geared toward artists
Customer support available for all users
Cons
Limited products
Not scalable
Limited integrations
Big Cartel Pricing
In this article we will be focusing primarily on Big Cartel’s free plan, but it’s important that you know about their paid plans as well. Big Cartel keeps pricing for their plans fairly low, ranging from just $10/month to $30/month. Each increase in pricing gives users access to more product listings and features. At the highest level plan, sellers can list up to 300 products.
Big Cartel’s Gold (free) Plan includes all of the features you need for basic online selling, although it limits users to just five product listings.
The Gold Plan includes:
Five products
One image per product
Use your own domain
Google Analytics
Full code customization
Inventory tracking
Discount codes
Automatic tax calculations
Advanced tax settings
Product option groups
Features
As we’ve mentioned, Big Cartel is a simple selling solution. Its aim is to provide sellers with an easy-to-use platform, and part of the way Big Cartel accomplishes this mission is by including only the features that most merchants need to sell online. You won’t find any fancy bells and whistles here–just the basics. Here are a few of the features you can expect from Big Cartel:
Sell on Facebook
Inventory management
SEO features like plain-text URLs and automatic sitemap generation
Google Analytics
There are a few potential downsides to using Big Cartel. The first is the limited feature set and the reduced ability to customize your software. If you have a number of specific needs that you are trying to solve, Big Cartel might not be the right option. In addition, Big Cartel has a fairly small selection of extensions and payment methods. This further limits your ability to customize the software to suit your business.
Fortunately, Big Cartel does a good job when it comes to customer support. Although they do not offer any phone support, they do have a very good response time via email (we consistently receive replies in under two hours) and their self-help tools–such as the help center, the pre-recorded live classes, and the blog–are good resources for figuring things out on your own.Â
When To Use Big Cartel
We think that Big Cartel is best for small businesses and artists. Because of the limits on product listings, the free plan in particular is best suited to hobby sellers or artists who sell only a few pieces at a time.
WooCommerce
Best for small to mid-size businesses that want to add an online store to their WordPress site.
WooCommerce is an open-source shopping cart plug-in designed for use on WordPress. WooCommerce is free to download and use, and it allows you to easily add an online store to your existing WordPress site. With over 84 million downloads, WooCommerce is incredibly popular. The software currently accounts for 26% of the top one million sites worldwide.
Although WooCommerce is free to download, it isn’t totally free to operate. You’ll have to pay for your WordPress account, as well as web hosting, security, and extensions. That said, WooCommerce is still an excellent choice for many businesses. The open-source software is completely customizable and full of useful features for online selling. All-in-all, WooCommerce is one of our favorite open-source solutions. Keep reading to learn more about why we love WooCommerce.
Pros
Always free
Customizable
Scalable
Numerous integrations available
Cons
Limited customer support
Site hosting not included
Add-ons often necessary
Steep learning curve
WooCommerce Pricing
WooCommerce is an open-source WordPress plugin that’s free to download and use.
That said, there are a few expenses you should account for as you implement WooCommerce. You still have to pay for your WordPress site, along with your web hosting and domain name. You also will likely need to purchase a few add-ons and extensions for your online store. These add-ons range in price from free to hundreds of dollars. Fortunately, they are all available as one-time purchases.
Features
WooCommerce follows a Core + Extensions model when it comes to features. In an effort to keep the software easy to use, they offer only core features already built in. These core features include everything the average merchant needs to get started. Any advanced features are available as extensions. Here are a few of the core features that come built-in with all WooCommerce downloads:
Sell physical and digital products
Shipping calculator
Create coupons and discounts
Product reviews
Google Analytics
Although WooCommerce is a generally well-liked software, there are a few downsides to the platform. One downside is the learning curve that users must overcome. While it isn’t the most difficult software to use, it isn’t necessarily intuitive, and it will likely take some time to get the hang of daily use. What’s more, the cost of adding new features via extension can quickly add up. If you aren’t careful, WooCommerce could become more expensive than a cloud-based software with a monthly payment plan.
When it comes to customer support, WooCommerce is like most open-source software. There are very few options for personalized support from WooCommerce representatives. Instead, customer support takes the form of self-help resources. Available resources include a knowledge base, developer documentation, and a community forum. If you need personalized support, you can also hire a WooExpert to help out.
When To Use WooCommerce
We recommend WooCommerce to small to mid-size businesses. In particular, WooCommerce is best for businesses that want to add an online store to their WordPress site. WooCommerce works well for sellers who want a customizable solution and who don’t mind figuring things out on their own.
PrestaShop
Best for mid-size businesses that can handle a technical challenge and need a way to sell internationally.
PrestaShop is a open-source eCommerce solution with an international reach. PrestaShop allows users to sell their goods across the globe with multiple available currencies, languages, and international payment processors. As an open-source solution, PrestaShop is free to download and use, although you’ll still have to foot the bill for web hosting, support, and extensions.
PrestaShop is one of the more technically complex options on this list. In order to get the best use of the software, you need a solid understanding of code, or you need the resources to hire someone who can manage the technicalities for you. In exchange for this complexity, however, you gain access to a strong selection of features and customization. Keep reading to learn what we like best about PrestaShop.
Pros
Always free
Highly customizable
Numerous integrations
Excellent support materials
Strong user community
Cons
Expensive customer support
Developer skills required
PrestaShop Pricing
PrestaShop is free to download and use.
That said, you will still need to account for a few expenses related to running an online store. PrestaShop users pay for their own hosting, domain name, site security, payment processing, and technical support.
Features
PrestaShop offers over 600 features already built into their free software. Here’s a bit of what those features include:
Inventory management
Filtered search
Tax calculation
Create coupons and discounts
Sell internationally
Reports and analytics
Despite these positives, however, PrestaShop is not a perfect solution. The software shares many of the drawbacks that are typical of open-source software. Although the program is free to download, users still have to account for the cost of hosting and integrations, as well as expenses related to hiring a developer. In addition, in order to get the best use of the software, you really need to understand how to code.
Similarly, PrestaShop is like most open-source software in that support is available primarily through self-help resources. You can use the knowledge base, user forum, and some web ticket support to find answers to your questions about the software. In order to get a dedicated support representative, however, you’ll have to pay an additional cost.
When To Use PrestaShop
Because of the technical challenge involved with using the software, PrestaShop is best suited to mid-size businesses that have the resources to hire a developer. PrestaShop is great for businesses that need advanced features, including the ability to sell internationally.
Square Online Store
Best for sellers who already use Square to process in-person payments.
Square is a payment processing company that has revolutionized the way small businesses are able to accept payments. Now, Square is expanding its offerings to provide sellers with an omnichannel selling platform. You can now create an online store that connects seamlessly with Square’s Point of Sale system. And the best part is, this online store (with hosting, domain name, security, and customer support) is completely free for merchants who use Square.
Square Online Store was designed using Weebly’s website building software. This means that the software is incredibly easy to use. Square Online Store is available for free to anyone who processes their payments via Square, and they also offer a few paid plans that include additional features and payment processing options. We’ve been impressed with Square Online Store as a free, cloud-based option for online selling. Keep reading to find out why.
Pros
Easy to use
Ideal for low-volume merchants
Sell in-person and online
Integrates with the Square ecosystem
Cons
Limited customization
Limited features
Only one payment option
Square Online Store Pricing
Square Online Store’s free plan includes a basic feature set, up to 500 MB of storage, and the ability to process payments through Square. Three paid plans are also available, ranging in price from $16/month to $79/month. These paid plans include additional features, storage, and payment processing options (lower processing rates and access to PayPal processing).
Square Online Store’s free plan includes:
2.9% + $0.30 per transaction (via Square)
Unlimited products
Automatic inventory, orders and items sync with Square POS
Instagram integration
Pinterest integration
Free SSL security
500MB storage
Inventory management
Order status text alerts
In-store pickup
Automatic tax calculator
Coupon codes
Square gift cards
SEO features
Lead capture and contact forms
Order customization
Support via a community forum, email, chat, and phone
Features
Square Online Store’s free plan gives users access to only the basic features that you need for online selling. Here’s a quick list of some available features:
Sell digital and physical products
Sell memberships, services, and carry-out orders
Sync with Square POS
Automatic tax calculator
Create coupons and discounts
Sell and accept gift cards
As with all free plans, Square Online Stores comes with limitations. You can only process payments through Square, and you do not get access to real-time shipping rate calculations.
Fortunately, there are no limitations placed on customer support. You can reach customer support via phone, email, and live chat. You can also always access the help center, community forum, and tutorial videos. We’re impressed that Square Online Store offers personalized support even on their free plan. This is a very uncommon benefit.
When To Use Square Online Store
Square Online Store is best for merchants who already sell using Square Point Of Sale, and who are looking for a way to take their store online. We recommend Square Online Store’s free plan to individuals and startups, and we recommend the paid plan to small businesses.
Ecwid
Best for individuals and beginning sellers who need an easy to use platform.
Ecwid is a cloud-based shopping cart widget that allows you to add an online store to any website. With Ecwid you can choose to build an entire website from scratch, or you can add an online store tab to your pre-existing website by just copy-pasting a couple of lines of code. Ecwid allows you to sell on multiple different channels at the same time, including on social media sites, on marketplaces (such as Amazon and eBay), and in person.
Ecwid is a very affordable platform, with the highest pricing plan set at just $30/month. They also offer a free plan, which we’ll be discussing here. Ecwid is user friendly, which makes it an excellent option for small businesses and startups. Many individual sellers will likely find that Ecwid’s free plan offers the features and usability they need to venture into online selling.
Pros
Suited for startups
Easy to use
Add an online store to any existing site
Cons
Not scalable
Basic design tools
Ecwid Pricing
Ecwid’s free plan comes with a paired down feature set. In order to get access to the full selection of features, you have to subscribe to a paid plan. These plans range in price from $15/month to $35/month. Each step up in pricing includes more features, more products listings, and more available sales channels.
Here’s what’s available in Ecwid’s Free Plan:
Online store
List 10 products
Advertising on Facebook, Google, Pinterest, and Snapchat
Unlimited bandwidth
Instant Site builder
Sell on multiple sites
Facebook pixel
Apple Pay (via Stripe)
GDPR compliance
Self-help support options
Features
Ecwid’s free plan includes only the fundamentals of online selling. You can list up to ten products, market your products on social media, adjust the look of your online store, accept payments, and process orders. Here are a few available features:
Sell on multiple websites and in-person
Social media integrations
List product variants like size and color
Automatically translate your store in 50 different languages
Although Ecwid certainly has a lot to offer its users, it has a few limitations as well. The biggest drawback of Ecwid’s free plan is the limit they place on available features. You do not get access to features like automatic tax calculation, inventory tracking, discount creation, or digital products. You are also restricted to just ten product listings. This makes Ecwid’s free plan only good for the smallest online sellers (those who are just starting out, or artists who sell their pieces as a profitable hobby).
Support for users of Ecwid’s free plan is available via email. You can also find answers in self-help resources like the help center, tutorial videos, and community forums.
When To Use Ecwid
Ecwid’s free plan is best for individuals and beginning sellers who are looking for an easy way to take their products online. Growing sellers will quickly have to transition to a paid plan, but Ecwid’s free plan is a great starting point for many.
Magento
Best for mid-size and large businesses that want a customizable solution and can handle a technical challenge.
Magento is a software company that offers multiple solutions for online selling. In this article, we are focusing on Magento Open Source (formerly called Magento Community Edition), which is a free, downloadable selling software. Magento Open Source is completely customizable, and it comes with loads of features already built-in.
As an open-source solution, Magento is not known for its ease of use. In fact, you really need to have a good amount of experience with software development in order to implement this platform. With that in mind, we recommend Magento primarily to mid-size businesses that have a team of software professionals on hand.
Pros
Free to download
Impressive feature set
Highly customizable
Highly scalable
Active, global user community
Cons
Developer skills required
Steep learning curve
No customer support
Magento Pricing
Magento is free for users to download and use.
However, Magento is not a “cost-free” selling solution. In order to get your online store running, you’ll have to pay for web hosting, a domain name, integrations and extensions, and payment processing. Also, if you don’t have experience with code (especially PHP), you’ll have to hire a developer.
Features
Magento offers an incredible number of features, even without any add-ons. Here are a few available features:
Coupons and discounts
Share on social buttons
Sell digital products and bundles
Multi-site capabilities
Filtered search
Tax and shipping calculations
Unfortunately, in order to access these features, users have to overcome a steep learning curve. Without the support of a developer, this learning curve may be too much for some businesses. In addition, while Magento is free to download, the platform can quickly turn into an expensive option when you consider the cost of hosting and integrations, as well as the cost of hiring a developer.
Magento is also a challenge for some users because of its limited customer support. Magento does not offer any support through phone, live chat, or email. Instead, you have to figure things out on your own with the user guide, community forum, and developer documentation.
When To Use Magento
Magento is a great solution for mid-size to large businesses that need a customizable and feature-rich selling software. Magento is only a good option for smaller businesses if they have the resources to hire a developer.
Free Shopping Carts VS Open Source eCommerce
All of the solutions we present above fall into one of two categories: a free plan on a cloud-based software, or an open-source downloadable software. Lets take a closer look at these two categories to find out which option is best for your business.
What Is Open Source eCommerce?
Open source eCommerce software are software that are made available to the general public. You can typically download the software for free, and all of the documentation that was used to build the software is available for public use. In general, open-source software is highly customizable, with strong features. Typically, companies that create open-source software make money on software extensions and technical support, rather than sale of the software itself.
The Pros & Cons Of Open Source eCommerce Platforms
Take a look below for the common advantages and disadvantages of open source eCommerce platforms:
Pros
Free to download
Feature rich
Customizable
No monthly subscription costs
Cons
Web hosting not included
Users manage their own security
No personalized customer support
More difficult to learn and use
Developer support often required
Businesses that benefit from open source software are typically mid-size to large businesses. These businesses need customizable software, and they often have access to a developer.
What To Look For With Good Free eCommerce Software
Here’s how to identify a secure, high-quality free software option:
Open Source: For open source software, look for an option that is free to download and doesn’t make you pay for software updates. Look for lots of built-in features and a strong user community. Dive into the community forum and online reviews of the software to find out if general opinion of the software is positive or negative.
Cloud-based: When it comes to free plans on a cloud-based software, you should look for the ability to list at least 5-10 products. Double check that the software offers free hosting and domain names, as well as customer support options. It’s also a good idea to look for affordable paid plans in case you need to upgrade from the free plan in the future.
As you look for a free eCommerce software, you should also keep your eyes peeled for warning signs that a software may not be worth your time. Be wary of free plans that are so limited they are largely unusable. You should also be cautious of software that are not well reviewed online. Software without a significant number of reviews or software with a large number of negative reviews are often out-dated and clumsy to use.
FAQs
Look below for answers to some Frequently Asked Questions regarding free eCommerce software.
Which free eCommerce software is best?
We think the best free eCommerce software overall is WooCommerce. WooCommerce provides the tools that most businesses need to sell online, and it is relatively easy to use. For sellers who prefer an all-in-one selling solution, however, we recommend Square Online Store. This software has the advantage of including web hosting, even though the feature set is much more limited than WooCommerce’s.
Are there free website builders with eCommerce built-in?
BigCartel, Ecwid, and Square Online Store (built on Weebly’s software) all offer elements of both website building and eCommerce. However, many popular website building software, like Wix, Weebly, and Squarespace, do not offer any free eCommerce features.
Do any free eCommerce platforms have unlimited products?
All open-source eCommerce platforms allow users to list unlimited products. Square Online Store is the only cloud-based eCommerce solution we know of that has unlimited products on their free plan (although, they do place a limit on data storage).
When would I have to upgrade to paid eCommerce software?
Typically, you have to upgrade to paid eCommerce software in order to list more than ten products and access features like real-time shipping and tax calculation. This only applies to cloud-based software since most open-source platforms are always free.
How To Choose The Right Free eCommerce Platform
Choosing the right eCommerce platform for your business is a process that involves careful consideration. In order to land on a great choice, you’ll have to make a number of smaller decisions along the way.
The first choice you should make is between cloud-based software and open source software. This decision should be based on your technical experience and your preferences regarding customization. Sellers who’d prefer to have their site’s hosting and security managed on their behalf should choose cloud-based software, while sellers who prioritize customization should choose open-source software.
Now that you’ve decided between cloud-based and open source software, you should take some time to come up with a list of features that your business absolutely must have. These should include key features like the ability to list digital products, calculate taxes and shipping costs automatically, and track your inventory totals. You should also look into customer support options–make sure that your business can manage with the support options available.
Once you’ve found a few software options that might work for your business, dive into the available customer reviews. Find out if users have a generally positive experience with the platform. If not, look elsewhere!
Finally, once you’re narrowed your options to one or two platforms, take the plunge and sign up for (or download) the software. Since it’s free, you’ve got nothing to lose, and there’s no harm in testing multiple products. Trying out the software for yourself will give you a good understanding of whether or not a software can work for your business.
If you choose to use any of the software on this list, we feel confident that you’ll have a positive experience. Even if the software isn’t a perfect solution, it is free, and it’s hard to go too wrong with a free option! No matter which software you select, we wish you the best of luck in your venture into online selling.
For more information on setting up an online store, check out our Complete Guide To Starting An Online Store For Your Brick & Mortar Business as well as our free eBook: The Beginner’s Guide To Starting An Online Store.
The post The Best Free eCommerce Platforms & Shopping Carts appeared first on Merchant Maverick.
In the time of the novel coronavirus outbreak, hairstylists, makeup artists, nail technicians, and salons in general are all in a really, really tough spot. Many state and city governments have mandated closures of these types of businesses. Some states that have ordered the closure of salon businesses include Minnesota, Ohio, Kentucky, and Nevada—and the list is sure to grow. Salons in some states are still open for the time being, but business has slowed to a trickle.
In this article, I’ll offer you some useful advice on how your salon can adapt and survive during this incredibly trying time.Â
Why The Beauty Industry Is Going To Be Hit Hard By Coronavirus
Given the current state of things with social distancing guidelines and mandatory closures of nonessential businesses, hair salons, makeup artists, barbershops, spas, and other similar businesses are all suffering. Salons, their employees, and independent contractors who rent space will all be affected.
Even if your business is still legally allowed to remain open, you might have to make the difficult decision to close temporarily due to the pandemic. Salon workers have a job that requires close physical contact with people, putting both the customer and the worker at risk. Worse still, many salon workers are contractors, who have to build their own business from the ground up and keep a book of clients—and many of these workers don’t have health insurance.
4 Things You Can Do Right Now To Protect Your Business
Here are some actionable steps you can take to limit the spread of coronavirus and protect clients and workers if your business is still open:
Relax Cancellation Policies
Obviously, many customers are going to be canceling right now, and for good reason. Although there’s no rule or law that says you need to waive cancelation fees or refund down payments right now, there’s a good chance that if you don’t, the customer will not return to your salon once the current crisis is over.
Revisit Sanitation & Hygiene
Make sure your business in compliance with the CDC’s sanitation and hygiene guidelines re: COVID-19 (see CDC: Interim Guidance for Businesses & Employers). If you operate a medical spa that employs doctors and/or nurses, you should also follow the CDC Guidelines For Healthcare Professionals.
Revisit Attendance Policies For Employees
Now is the time to encourage sick employees or workers who may have been exposed to the virus to call in sick—with or without a doctor’s note. This may require you to relax your current attendance policy. Specifically, here’s what the CDC is recommending right now:
Employees who have symptoms of acute respiratory illness are recommended to stay home and not come to work until they are free of fever (100.4° F [38.0° C] or greater using an oral thermometer), signs of a fever, and any other symptoms for at least 24 hours, without the use of fever-reducing or other symptom-altering medicines.
Communicate With Clients
Remind customers to not come in if theyâre sick or have been exposed to someone who might be carrying the virus. You should also communicate with your clients about whether or not your location is still open, if your hours of operation have changed, and information about your sanitation policy. You can use email and social media for these communications.
6 Things You Can Do To Keep Your Business Going In Hard Times
Here is a list of things you can do today to help keep your business afloat during this time of extreme uncertainty.
Analyze Cash Flow
Take a look at your bank account, your bills, and your income. How much money do you have, and how long will it last you? Can you survive a closure or reduced business? How long can you reasonably afford to close for? Interest rates are at rock bottom right now, so it could make sense to invest in a small business loan that will help you bridge the gap during this temporary lack of cash flow.
Add Gift Cards
Selling gift cards allows clients to buy services now and redeem them later. Some POS systems, including Square, Shopify, and Clover, allow you to sell digital gift cards, which makes things even easier during this time of social distancing. Depending on your setup, you may be able to sell gift cards on your website or on social media. Once you’re all set up, send a text or email to customers with a link to buy a digital gift card from you, perhaps at a discounted rate.
Sell Online
In addition to gift cards, an eCommerce website allows you to sell merchandise, such as beauty products, “home spa” kits, or anything else that relates to business. And again, you can use text or email marketing to advertise whatever it is you’re selling. If you don’t have an eCommerce-enabled website, you can look into options offered by your salon POS system or use a web builder such as Wix or Squarespace to set one up.
Look Into Business Interruption Insurance
If you have business interruption insurance, find out whether your insurance policy includes disruptions from communicable diseases. If you don’t have an insurance policy that would cover a closure related to COVID-19, find out if you can get one before it hits your area. It may be too late to get a policy to help you with COVID-related business losses, but it doesn’t hurt to check, or to protect your business for the next crisis.
Talk With Creditors
Stay in communication with your landlord, creditors, and vendors to whom you owe money or have contractual obligations. They may be willing to work with you and will appreciate that you’re making an effort rather than just dropping off. Some relief may be available to help you meet your obligations or pause some of your bills—for example, governments in some states and cities are prohibiting evictions and utility shut-offs.
Look Into Unemployment Benefits
Even if employees are not fully laid off and are on reduced hours, they might be able to claim for time off during the outbreak. Put together some resources to provide unemployment information for your employees. As a business owner, you should be able to file for unemployment if you were paid a normal salary that had unemployment taxes taken out. Self-employed individuals and independent contractors are not generally eligible to receive unemployment benefits, but it is possible that states may expand unemployment benefits to these types of workers as the epidemic progresses.
Coronavirus Resources For Small Business
Here are some additional resources for beauty/wellness professionals and small businesses in general:
What SBA Disaster Loans Are & How To Qualify For One
The Fed Has Cut Interest Rates To A 12-Year Low: Hereâs What It Could Mean For Your Business
Small Business Outbreak & Pandemic Guide: Coronavirus Edition
How To Implement A Gift Card Program For Small Business: What You Need To Know & How To Get Started
Social Distancing For Small Business: How You Can Adapt & Survive The Coronavirus
Coronavirus Payments Guide: Everything You Need To Know About Switching To Online & Phone Payments
If you need funds for your salon right now, I would head straight to the SBA’s disaster loan assistance hub, as the SBA has made disaster relief funds immediately available for businesses suffering economic injury due to COVID-19.
Being Proactive Is The Best Safeguard For Your Business
Now is the time to act. Even if your business is still doing okay, you need to get on top of this now and start making plans before the epidemic hits your area. If all you do today is send out emails to customers, you’re still taking action to keep your business going, even if your salon’s doors are temporarily closed.
For more advice, be sure to check out our complete collection of Coronavirus (COVID-19) Guides & Resources where you can find more helpful advice about coronavirus and small businesses. We’re adding to this information hub every day, so keep checking for more small business advice and updates.
The post Salon Survival Guide: Coronavirus Edition appeared first on Merchant Maverick.
Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve witnessed a lot of changes. In an attempt to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), state governments have taken some dramatic measures, closing schools, banning public gatherings, and temporarily closing the dining areas of bars and restaurants.
During such an uncertain time, many business owners are wondering what impact this virus will have on their businesses. In eCommerce, in particular, there are mixed worries. While some sellers are concerned about selling out of high-demand products, others are worried about supply chain, or that they won’t be able to ship their products to an anxious nation.
In this article, we’ll be explaining a few of the eCommerce trends and concerns related to COVID-19. We’ll also be giving some tips and resources to help you stay profitable and safe during this time.
How Coronavirus Is Affecting The eCommerce Industry
Let’s first take a look at a few of the ways the coronavirus is affecting online sellers.
Increase In Sales
Already, we’ve seen consumer buying habits shift during this crisis. First, hand sanitizer vanished from shelves. Then it was toilet paper. Now, following guidelines to practice social distancing, many people are staying at home. Instead of tackling the crowds at grocery stores, many consumers have taken their shopping online, purchasing household goods like cleaning products, medical supplies, paper products, and shelf-stable foods.
There is some evidence that online sales will increase during this crisis. Sales on grocery delivery services such as Amazon Fresh and Instacart almost quadrupled between March 12th and 14th compared with the same period last year (Rakuten Intelligence). And according to research from Marketing Land, this year online spending is supposed to reach 12% of total retail spending (up from 11.4% in Q4 2019), depending on the virus’s impact on the economy. As more people turn to online shopping, you can expect to see an increase in sales among some industries.
Possible Delivery Changes
With an influx of online orders, it is possible that there will be changes and delays in shipping times. A surge of packages could overwhelm shipping carriers’ abilities. In response, Amazon is currently offering customers the option of choosing No-Rush shipping to allow Amazon to serve customers with the most urgent needs first.
Worries about shipment times are further complicated by Amazon’s recent announcement regarding Fulfillment By Amazon. On March 17th, Amazon announced its plan to serve customers by placing a hold on warehouse deliveries. They are currently only accepting deliveries of household staples, medical supplies, and other high-demand products. This rule will be in place until April 5th at the earliest. This rule could be a major obstacle for some sellers who usually rely on Fulfillment By Amazon. Amazon states that if your inventory runs out in their warehouses, you can continue to sell on their platform, but you must organize delivery of products on your own.
Concerns About Supply Chain
We have already seen the coronavirus disrupt the supply chain. Ever since the virus began to ravage China, it has closed down many manufacturers, leading to significant delays in shipments, even as Chinese factories begin to reopen. Now, concerns are turning to other global factories. According to research by Statista, 44% of the American retailers who participated in one survey expect to face production delays, and 40% expect to have inventory shortages throughout the year.
Changes In Industry Demand
While some industries may see an increase in sales, others, like salons and services, may see a decrease because of social distancing. Below, we’ll mention trends we expect to see among some eCommerce industries:
Fashion: Fashion purchases related to travel (i.e. swimsuits and luggage) will likely decline.
Health & Wellness: Spending on health and wellness products have already increased, especially on products directly related to reducing the spread of the virus (face masks) or handling its symptoms (cough medications).
Household Goods: Online purchases of household supplies such as detergents, foodstuffs, paper products, and cleaning supplies are expected to increase as consumers limit their time spent in public.
Books & Movies: Purchases on books and movies, especially on digital streaming, are expected to increase.
8 Tips For eCommerce Business During COVID-19
Despite all of the difficulties that the coronavirus has brought, merchants are still pressing on. Here are a few of the strategies that other merchants are using right now to deal with the uncertainty of the current times.
Take A Deep Breath & Create A Plan
I encourage you to take a minute to step away from the constant stream of media. Go on a walk, and take a few deep breaths. Good decisions are not made in the fog of panic. Make sure you have steadied yourself and eased away some of the anxiety before you start making big decisions for your business.
Now that you’ve had a minute to refocus, it’s time to create a game plan. Take a serious look at your business and identify areas of strength, areas of risk, and areas of need. Do you need to limit purchases or reduce advertising in order to keep up with an increase in sales? Or, do you need to find another sales niche in order to target a new market? Are there any risks or needs in your supply chain?
Once you’ve identified these three areas in your business, you can start formulating plans to address them.
Find Your Sales Niche
Do your best to find a new sales niche within the changing landscape. As schools close and parents begin working from home, customers are looking for ways to meet their new needs. Consider what your customers’ needs might be and work to develop a solution for them. For example, if you sell art supplies, you might create an art kit for parents to buy from their children who are suddenly stuck at home. Or, if you sell personal care items, try creating an at-home spa kit for people who looking for comfort in a stressful time.
You might even try reaching out to your customers via email or social media to find out what they need. Then, work to develop a marketable solution for that new need.
Adjust Your Marketing
You’ll likely need to change your marketing strategy in order to better fit with the changing economic environment. Americans will be spending an increasing amount of time at home. Consider investing in marketing that you can direct to consumers in their homes. Now might be a good time to invest in video advertising that can be broadcast on local TV or even featured in some YouTube videos. Continue investing in advertising on social media and search engines. People are looking to the internet for both news of the current crisis as well as diversion and distractions, so investment in online advertising has the opportunity to reach many eyes.
You should also carefully consider the content of your marketing. For example, as more people stay home and cancel trips, you should rethink any of the travel-based summer marketing you may have had planned. Focus instead on summer marketing that prioritizes living locally.
You should also come up with a few marketing themes that are line with new policies surrounding social distancing. As big brands like KFC and Hershey’s pull ads that feature actors licking food from their fingers and hugging, you should also consider the way your advertisements will be received in a health-conscious culture. Keep in mind that some actions featured in your former advertising could be considered inconsiderate in the current crisis. Consider featuring families at home or people engaging in solo outdoor activities. Do your best to stay relatable in changing the cultural norms.
Maintain Good Relationships With Customers
One thing that hasn’t changed in the past few weeks is your relationship with your customers. Keep this relationship strong by communicating frequently with the people you serve. Let them know about any measures you have taken to ensure their safety and to prevent the spread of the virus. Be honest and upfront with any potential delays in shipments and production. Customers want to be able to anticipate the arrival date of their products, and advising them of any delays beforehand can help customers shift their expectations early on.
If your supply chain has been significantly affected by the coronavirus, you might also consider putting a note about your inventory issues on relevant product pages. Mark products that are out of stock, and enable pre-ordering for those products if you’d like. Letting your customers know about potential fulfillment delays before they place an order will go a long way in keeping customers happy.
Analyze Your Cash Flow & Expenses
If you haven’t already, take a serious look at your cash flow. Are you able to make payroll for the foreseeable month? Will you be able to purchase inventory?
If things are tight, you may be able to get a working capital loan. A loan will give you the flexibility to make the moves you need to make, even while revenue is low. The US Small Business Administration announced on March 12th that they will be providing disaster assistance loans for small businesses impacted by the novel coronavirus. For more information, check out the SBA announcement and our article: What SBA Disaster Relief Loans Are & How To Qualify For One.
Work On Other Productive Tasks
If your orders have slowed, and you find that you have a lot of time on your hands, now might be a good opportunity to turn your attention to a project you’ve been putting off. If you have the resources and abilities, try giving your website a new look. Easy-to-use website builders like Squarespace, Shopify, Wix, and Weebly, make this a task that you can do on your own. Or, perhaps now is a good time to create an emergency plan for what you’ll do if the current condition stretches out beyond a couple of months. Alternatively, you could spend available downtime strengthening your marketing campaigns. Hopefully, that will help you to get the orders coming in soon!
Take Care Of Yourself & Your Employees
Your businesses can’t operate without people, and your people need to stay safe right now. If it’s possible, organize a way for your team to work from home. Here at Merchant Maverick, we’ve been a remote team for years. We use communication tools (like Slack and GSuite), as well as project management software, to plan, organize, and execute our projects.
If working remotely isn’t an option, make sure you follow government guidelines about social distancing and that you provide sick time for anyone who may need it. Let’s take care of each other in this stressful time.
Give Back To Your Customers & Community
Giving back is one of the best ways to feel better during a stressful time. Look for opportunities to support at-risk groups in your community. We’ve been particularly inspired by this list from Forbes of 50 ways larger companies are helping their communities.
At Merchant Maverick, we are giving back by working to supply business owners with the tools they need to overcome this crisis. We hope the resources in this article have been helpful to you, and we hope you are able to find help elsewhere on the site as well.
Getting Your eCommerce Business Through Tough Times
There’s no doubt that things are hard right now. But keep hope in knowing that your business has overcome hard times before. The businesses we’ve come to know here at Merchant Maverick are innovative, resilient, and resourceful. We can get through this together.
Take a look below for a list of resources that can help you find solutions to the current crisis:
Merchant Maverick Resources
Our Hub for Coronavirus (COVID-19) Guides & Resources
Small Business Outbreak & Pandemic Guide: Coronavirus Edition
What SBA Disaster Relief Loans Are & How To Qualify For One
Coronavirus Survival Guide For Restaurants
How To Use (& Avoid Using) Business Credit During The Coronavirus Pandemic
External Resources
Facebook’s Business Resource Hub
CNBC Article: Treasury and IRS to delay tax payment deadline by 90 days
US Small Business Administration (SBA) Webpage: SBA to Provide Disaster Assistance Loans for Small Businesses Impacted by Coronavirus (COVID-19)
The post What The Coronavirus Means For eCommerce & What Your Business Can Do About It appeared first on Merchant Maverick.
