Lessons
Lesson Info
Course Introduction
Hello and welcome to how to sell online. I'm Megan Almond. I am so excited that you're joining me for this class to help get your e commerce website up and running or maybe improve the one you currently have. Yeah, So let's jump in and talk about why you should be selling online if you aren't already and what's holding you back? So you're here most likely because the global pandemic accelerated the move to online shopping by anywhere from, let's say 3-5 years. Most experts agree that the timetable for converting people from in person shoppers to online shoppers drastically accelerated because of the global pandemic. And what we learned during the global pandemic is that customers want to support small businesses, They want to support businesses like yours and mine, but only if it's easy and convenient. The reason that people turned to certain big online conglomerates during the pandemic is because they made it easy and so you're here because guess what? It's possible to make it easy fo...
r your customers to shop your website as well, selling online isn't about jumping on the technology bandwagon. We are not here to learn the latest and greatest tricks or to be able to say, hey, like I'm up on the new technology. That is not what this is about, what it's about. And what the pandemic made us realize is that this is just about making life easier for your customers when you sell online, regardless of the kind of business you have. It just gives customers another way to support you to give you their money to connect with your products. This just gives customers another way to do that. It's really just about making life easier for your customers. So who is this class for? Well, this class is for any type of business that maybe hasn't been selling online yet or has been selling online and struggling and needs to get up to speed on e commerce quickly. So you could be a local business, you could be a bricks and mortar store, even a service provider who's selling products, any kind of local business who hasn't made the shift effectively to online selling this classes for you. This class is also for you if you have products that you make and sell yourself, maybe you're an artist or a maker or you're selling other people's products and you've been selling in person or through other platforms, like maybe you've been selling through other platforms like etc. Or amazon or facebook marketplace and you're ready to carve out your own site online. This classes for you as well. Really, it's for any small business owner who realizes that by not selling online or not selling online effectively, you are missing out. So why are you here? You might be here for a couple of different reasons. The first one is that the pandemic forced you online? So maybe when everything went down, you were like, oh, okay, if I'm gonna make it through this, I need to get online. But you're slapdash solution isn't working for you anymore. So you did what you had to do to make it through and now that we're climbing out of this, you're realizing I could be doing this a whole lot better. Maybe you still aren't selling online. Maybe everything that was happening trying to get set up online was just one step too far. And no shame if that's you, it was a tough time for all of us. So maybe you still didn't get it together and you still aren't selling online. And your business was hit hard by the pandemic, you lost revenue. Maybe you've got excess inventory sitting around. I know this happened to several artists and makers I worked with where they geared up on inventory for a really big robust summer craft show season that then could not happen right. You're, you're missing your income, You need to get rid of this excess inventory. Something has to change. You might also be here because selling online stresses you out. Maybe, you know, you need to make these shifts, but you feel overwhelmed by technology, you're uncomfortable, You don't feel like you're a digital native, Maybe you don't want to manage another sales channel. If you're a bricks and mortar store, you're like, I can't I can't just do another thing or you're an artist who's selling wholesale, selling it shows you're like, I can't one more thing, I can't do it or maybe you're just unsure which platforms or solutions are the best fit for you. So if any of these sound like you, you are absolutely in the right place, we're going to talk about how to get started selling online, even if you aren't there yet and how to improve your online presence, if you're kind of slapdash solutions aren't working for you, the reality is it's never been easier to set up an effective online store and trust me, I should know. So I am an artist and a metal Smith and a teacher who's been online since the early 2000s. I actually hand coded my first website, just learning from a book when I was in college. I've been online a long time and I've been selling online for a long time. I actually started selling on Etsy in 2000 and seven, so early 2007, etc. Was founded in 2005. So not quite the first wave, but pretty early on. And then I moved to my own e commerce website in 2011. In that time I have sold physical products, I've sold print on demand, so where I've designed things and other companies manufacture them, I've sold digital downloads and I've sold classes. If there's something you can sell online, chances are I've sold it or I've tried to sell it and I also coach artists and makers in their own e commerce strategies through my online mentorship program artists and profit makers. So I spend a lot of time helping other people with their businesses and how to grow their businesses online, spend a lot of time looking at my members websites, talking with them, critiquing them, figuring out what works. So I know really what is effective and what isn't. And on top of that I love supporting small businesses online. I spent a lot of time during the pandemic on my couch ordering ceramics. So not only do I have this expertise as a seller and a coach, but also as a consumer. I know what makes a website easy to navigate and easy to shop through and really likely to get my money quickly and one that's frustrating and that's gonna make me walk away. So here's the good news for you. You don't have to be a digital native to succeed online. Maybe you were listening to that and you were like Megan, I don't know how to hand code of website. I haven't been on Etsy since 2007, it's, you know, it's 2021 I am like, just getting started with this, don't worry, you are not behind, you can be successful because like I said, it has never been easier. I had to do those things in the past because it was hard to build a website and it was very hard to build an e commerce website. I started on Etsy because it was the easiest way to sell online. Now there are amazing platforms that let you get online and up to speed quickly. Today's tools really do make it easier than ever to sell online and spoiler, you have everything you need in your pocket. You can literally get your online store up and running and start selling products today using just your smartphone. You can use to take photos for your product pages, you can use it to create video to help sell your products and you can even build your website right from your phone. So you really do have everything that you need to get started selling online and that's what I want you to do, right? I want you to get started and if you're already started, I want you to refine your website. So in this class we are going to cover what makes a good e commerce website because I promise you, I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly and I want you guys you guys to have the best e commerce website. So we're gonna talk about what makes a good website. We're gonna talk about choosing the right platform. The beauty of the current world that we're in is that you don't have to build a website from scratch. There are amazing platforms that let you build an e commerce website that is powerful, that is secure and that is ready to start selling. But I know that it can be overwhelming to figure out the best one. So we're going to talk about choosing the right platform. We'll also talk about building the parts of your online store. So what are all those elements that you need to start effectively selling online? We'll cover how to handle shipping and fulfillment because I know that shipping can be one of the big barriers to actually getting started selling online. It's not the fear of like how do I get set up, it's the fear of success. What do I do when someone buys something? So we'll talk about how to make that process as easy as possible. And finally we'll talk about refining your online store for more sales. So it's not enough to build a website. It's essential that you look at the website from your customer's point of view so that you can make sure that you are really easily serving them and making it as easy as possible for them to buy. So I'm so excited for you to be joining me in this class. Let's head to the next lesson.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase