
THANK YOU!
I hope I'm not being too dramatic when I say this: Your enrollment is changing my life for the better.
I have a mentor named Mark, who is also deep in eCommerce and entrepreneurship. He is someone I would consider very successful, and someone I try to emulate. Mark wrote a book titled "Mentor to Millions" where he goes through the ups and down of entrepreneurship and how mentoring the next generation brought a lot of purpose to his life. The premise being: Each person you mentor can mentor dozens of others, and those mentees can mentor dozens of others, and so on. Over time, the mentorship of one person can touch the lives on millions. You are now a part of my journey.
Over the years, I've found the things that stick with me the most are the relationships I've created. Specifically, when someone tells me that I've affected their life in a positive way. I hope to do this with you as well.
Mark always uses a metaphor about mentorship:
It's like climbing a mountain. If you have never climbed the mountain before you haven no idea how to get to the top. It might take you hours or days to find the way up. But if a good mentor comes along that has climbed the mountain before to show you the path, It's far easier to make it to the top.
I'm showing you the path. Now it's time for you to walk with me.
Here's another piece that I hope isn't too dramatic:
eCommerce and entrepreneurship changed my life.
I didn't do well working for "the man". I didn't like clocking in and out when I was "supposed to". I didn't like menial tasks that didn't affect my life in any way.
So here's what I did: I gave up. That is, I gave up working a 9-5. I decided that life is too short and my time is best managed by me and only me. I exercise when I want, I take calls when my schedule allows, and I travel as I see fit. No "Paid Time Off" at work. No "morning staff meetings". I want this for everyone, especially you, the person investing in this course.
What can online entrepreneurship do for me?
Can it give me control of my day? Sure
Allow me to spend more time with people who matter? Check
Get me rich? Yep
Build generations of wealth for my children? If you get it right.
So let's keep in touch.
You're in my "coaching tree" now. I'm happy to have you.
Keep up with me on LinkedIn and Instagram. Email me at brad@ecommerceuniversity.co. At the end of this course, you'll be receiving an invite to our exclusive graduate Facebook group as well, so keep an eye out for that.
THANK YOU!
Explore why advertising choices matter in ecommerce and the consequences of cost per acquisition and cost per click, and learn the main traffic channels to run your own Shopify store.
Explore ecommerce fundamentals and Shopify basics, from warehouse operations and shipping options to product creation, SEO, paid and social ads, and Amazon pros and cons for traffic and revenue.
Choose a domain that strengthens your brand or signals your niche to Google, then don't overspend—consider .co or .io and be ready to switch later.
Compare self fulfillment and third party warehousing to optimize warehousing, shipping rates, and complex orders, while balancing control, scale, and cost considerations.
Explore how Shopify functions as a catalog management software, CMS, and website platform, unifying catalog data, pricing, and SKUs with the front-end and an App Store.
Define your brand, product, and customer base with intentional planning to create a value exchange and avoid failure. Explore warehousing, drop shipping, and multiple URLs to scale your Shopify store.
Looking to get an LLC easily?
I use IncFile or SwyftFilings for my legal documents.
https://www.incfile.com/
https://www.swyftfilings.com/
RESELLERS/RETAILERS KEEP IN MIND!
If you are buying from AliBaba, AliExpress or any other wholesale marketplace, you should apply for a "Resale Certificate" in your state/country. A resale certificate is a document that indicates that the purchaser intends to resell the goods, so you will NOT HAVE TO PAY SALES TAX!
Find more info here: https://www.salestaxinstitute.com/sales_tax_faqs/resale_certificate
Here are some of my favorite Shopify themes (UPDATED FEBRUARY 2023):
BEST FOR THE NEWBIE: https://themes.shopify.com/themes/dawn/styles/default
BEST FOR A ONE-PRODUCT BRAND: https://themes.shopify.com/themes/refresh/styles/default
BEST FOR A BIG CATALOG: https://themes.shopify.com/themes/warehouse/styles/metal
BEST FOR RICH MEDIA/ART: https://themes.shopify.com/themes/baseline/styles/bold
BEST FOR THE CODE-WIZARD: https://themes.shopify.com/themes/impact/styles/sound
Software Recommendations:
Need help writing product descriptions? I use ChatGPT regularly. Just ask it questions like "Write a product description about why someone should buy a premium umbrella", and you'll have plenty to work with.
For those who are not the best writers, or have English a second language, I recommend using Grammarly to clean up your sentences.
Purchase barcodes from GS1 and only GS1. If you are making your product and planning to scale, YOU NEED BARCODES!
Need an HS Code? Use the Census Bureau's free tool.
All the recommended apps in this video:
Quickbooks
Shopify Email (Beginner Sites)
Klaviyo (Advanced Sites)
Shipstation (for people shipping their own products)
Shopify Collabs (Formerly Dovetale)
ZenDesk (For larger customer loads)
And remember: If you are doing it manually, you are doing it wrong!
You will not need to pay sales tax in OTHER US STATES if you are a small business. Generally, most states require at least $100,000 in sales every 12 months to pass the sales tax threshold.
You WILL need to collect sales tax where you do business, which is probably your house or office.
You WILL need to collect sales tax in the state of your shipping warehouse
All sales tax collection is automated through Shopify if you have your location and Nexuses set up properly
Attached is a complete list of sales tax thresholds by state
Ready to get going on your Shopify setup?
Shopify offers a very thorough go-live checklist. Use it!
By now, you may be getting overwhelmed.
That's OK. Starting something new is hard.
So instead, focus on the excitement and the vision. Focus on what motivates you to work for yourself. The free time, the control, the money. Whatever it may be.
If this was easy, everyone would do it. But it's hard. And that's a good thing, because difficult tasks thin the herd. If you persevere, you get the prize.
Homework:
Create a Shopify account
Pick a theme
Edit your default settings
Create your first product (even if you're just testing it out)
Create a collection
Install a few apps
Take a break
Extra Credit:
Shopify's 2023 Trends Report is a great read on the eCommerce industry.
Scale a Shopify store by leveraging email marketing, paid ads, and social media, while reinvesting profits and deciding when to pay yourself, illustrated by a real-world client case.
Learn how organic search traffic is free, scalable, and repeatable, and how ranking first for keywords like athletic wear or car parts drives clicks and business value.
Master seo fundamentals for ecommerce by exploring how search engines rank domains via inbound links, relevance, and site quality, then implement sitemaps, clean navigation, and fast loading pages.
Master keyword research for ecommerce by identifying informational, navigational, commercial, and transactional keywords, prioritizing long-tail phrases, and using Google Trends and Answer the Public to boost SEO.
Looking for inspiration for your blog post?
I use ChatGPT regularly to create content. However, don't just copy and paste. Use what the bot gives you as a template, and make the content a little more human-like, because the AI is smart but still makes mistakes.
Simply ask is a question like "Write 1000 words about why an umbrella is important in the summertime", and let it go to work.
Create an ecosystem!
Blog posts for informational searches!
Collection pages for commercial searches!
Product pages for transactional searches!
Off-Page SEO is for the more advanced eCommerce pro. You are going to be an advanced eCommerce pro, just maybe not yet.
Get yourself a free trial of Moz and just learn a thing or two while you're in there. I'd recommend exporting a bunch of reports before your trial ends!
Here are a few common tools for SEO Competitor research (In no particular order):
Moz
SEMRush
SpyFu
Looking for a deeper dive into sitemaps?
Check out this article from SEMRush for an in-depth walkthrough.
https://www.semrush.com/blog/submit-sitemap-to-google/
Want more information on why broken links are harmful?
Links pass link signals. Google uses links for things like PageRank and anchor text. So when they find links, they can give you a rankings boost. When a page 404s when those links break, when they go to a page that doesn't work, those link signals don't have a chance to pass anymore, and that can hurt your SEO. Usually these are caused by one of two reasons.
One, the link itself is just bad. It points to a page that doesn't exist on your website or something like that. There's a weird parameter in it. Someone typed it in wrong. But oftentimes pages break on your own site. You remove a page and you don't redirect it to another page. A combination of these factors means that on any given site you can find tens, hundreds, thousands, even millions of links sometimes because this is a very common scenario.
So that's why we fix broken links, to regain that link juice and get that ranking benefit that Google is looking for. So it's supposed to work and oftentimes it does work and a lot of times it's great. But there are times when it doesn't work.
Where do I fix broken URLs?
Online Store > Navigation > View URL Redirects
Links mentioned in the video:
Google Search Console - Submit sitemaps to Google
Easy Redirects - Shopify App to help you find any existing 404 errors on your site
Homework from the SEO Section:
Create a Google Search Console account and link your sitemap
Sign up for a Moz Free Trial and audit your website
Identify 25 target keywords for your product
Write a blog post (Bonus point for using ChatGPT)
Cast entrepreneurship as a fishing trip: embrace the casting of lines, understand it's a numbers game, and see your Shopify store as chasing the £10 bass through trial and effort.
Discover how paid advertising drives immediate traffic for new stores by bidding and quality scores. Learn to optimize keywords, targeting, and metrics like cost per click (cpc), roi, and conversions.
Explore how three main levers—clicks, conversion rate, and average order value—shape ecommerce revenue, and use margins and ROI calculators to optimize cost per click, cost per acquisition, and profitability.
Build and optimize Google Ads campaigns for ecommerce by setting sales goals, budgets, and keywords, crafting compelling ads with hooks, and managing conversions with analytics.
Overcome negativity and risk to build an ecommerce venture. A student turns student loan money into a thriving hats business on eBay, learning persistence and supplier networks.
Looking for more help designing ads yourself? Here are a few options:
Canva makes it easy to create professional designs and to share or print them.
Fiverr is a place to find cheap labor around the world for design and more
Facebook has a 15-minute guide on creating new ads if you need a step-by-step
Links mentioned in this video:
Facebook Ad Library
Facebook Campaign Ideas Generator
YouTube offers a TON of options. As I've said before, YouTube can be a career by itself!
If you need more comprehensive YouTube Ads education from here, HubSpot offers a great guide if you decide YouTube ads are the right fit for your brand.
Evaluate whether social media ads fit your brand by testing hooks and audiences, using data to decide if paid ads are worth the cost, then email marketing next.
Learn how to collect and optimize email addresses in Shopify using opt-in consent, Klaviyo forms, and audience segmentation to improve open rates.
Create and optimize Shopify email campaigns in Klaviyo, craft compelling subject lines, track results with campaign parameters in Google Analytics, and schedule smart sends by recipient time zones.
Set ambitious goals for your Shopify store by imagining tenfold growth, aiming for five thousand dollars per day, and recognizing the vast audience accessible to reach new customers.
Explore affiliate marketing for e-commerce brands, building long term affiliate relationships with banners and product sends, and offering generous incentives. Optimize conversions from home page to purchase.
Commit to finishing current projects before pursuing new ideas, then apply affiliate marketing and email marketing to build a completed brand you can be proud of.
Identify who benefits from marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, and Walmart. Choose between a Shopify store and marketplaces, and weigh dropshipping, China-sourced goods, and fulfillment options such as FBA and self-ship.
Analyze a top Amazon listing to extract SEO tactics, headline optimization, ASIN use, and fulfillment details. Note how price, stock, reviews, and trademark influence conversions.
Set up Amazon sponsored products campaigns and optimize bids, keywords, and negative keywords to maximize ROI on product pages; compare sponsored products, brands, and display options.
Evaluate Amazon selling risks and rewards, noting return costs, Prime shipping incentives, and thin margins; secure margins (50–70%), account for fulfillment fees, and use analytics to measure traffic and purchases.
Illustrates the dangers of spending on advertising without profit, urging advertisers to track ROI, turn around unprofitable campaigns quickly, and focus on profitability while building the brand.
Use Shopify analytics and Google Analytics to monitor revenue, clicks, conversion rate, and average order value, and leverage ads, affiliates, and social media for driving traffic.
Shopify native analytics provides the best view of total sales, sessions, average order value, and conversion rate. Learn to use custom reports to analyze returns, taxes, and marketing ROI.
Learn to use Google Analytics to track ROI across source and medium, analyze revenue by channel, device, and demographics, and set up real-time insights to optimize Shopify campaigns.
Learn how to create your own Shopify business in order to:
Earn side money
Quit your 9-5
Build an empire
This is "How To Create An Online Store: Fundamentals of eCommerce" - last update JUNE 2024!, the best-selling course that teaches you how to build a Shopify brand from 0! You don't need any prior knowledge of Shopify or any technical skills - if you have an idea, you're in the right place.
The internet opened a lot of doors, but mostly it opened the door for people to work for themselves. No bosses, no schedules.
There are hundreds of YouTube videos, online courses, conferences, etc teaching you about eCommerce. Why is this course different?
Here, I'm not telling you what to do. I'm telling you why to make decisions for your business. Why to run Google Ads, Why to open an Amazon store (or why not). While you might need someone to tell you how to setup a Google Ads campaign; You also need to know why you should (or shouldn't).
At the end of this course you will understand how eCommerce stores come to be, and how to make one for yourself. As a result, you could earn side money, quit your day job, or begin the journey of building your own empire. The next step is up to you: How bad do you want it?