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Tim Ferris 4 Hour Lifestyle

How Shopify Helps College Students Learn About Opening A Business

I recently opened a shop on shopify for my handcrafted jewelry. While learning the interface I discovered a lot of useful information that I can apply to my classes. One of the projects that we have done in the past involves finding a client with a product to sell and then creating an online brand presence for that client. Last time we did it the student used Wix, but I think Shopify is a great resource because it is all about eCommerce.

It turns out I am not the only Professor that thought this is a good idea. I read this blog post on shopify:

"Matt Hill is a CEGEP business professor at John Abbott College in Montreal, Canada, and he's using Shopify in a very unique way. He and many others would argue that you learn the most about running a business by actually doing it. Textbooks and case studies can teach you great lessons about startups, marketing, and accounting, but nothing can prepare you for the real world like taking a chance and turning your great idea into reality." Read the entire article by clicking this link.

It is good to know that other professors think the way I do. I recommend that anyone opening a online eCommerce site visit Shopify and look at some of the case studies and resources that are available.

Thinking of Opening an Online Store?

I wanted to share a resource I can upon when setting up my shopify store: www.lindseybaker.com. It's my new baby and I felt pretty lost, luckily I stuck at it and was able to come up with something I consider a pretty cool work in progress.

I found some great online mentors such as Tim Ferriss (The 4-hour Workweek) and Seth Godin (Linchpin), whose books I bought and will comment on after I read them. I also found some tutorial sites that I tried out for myself and love.

Therefore, I wanted to start by recommending this one. The site is eshopwiz.com authored by a young man named Vinay. First I want to say that is is not a paid endorsement, there is nothing to buy (unless you d ecide to open you our Shopify store or other ecommerce enterprise) and the information can be applied to any online store. I am blogging this to build my audience and to thank him for his generosity.

The reason I like it is because it takes you through all the steps of setting up an online ecommerce presence starting with how to research how popular what you want to sell will be; finding and using the right keywords to be SEO friendly and building an audience to make those sales! So check it out and let me know what you think by posting a comment below.

 

Did Twitter's Touchpoint Video Hit the Mark?

When tweeting about a free jewelry giveaway that I am running for Valentine's Day on Etsy I noticed that Twitter was featuring a video on their homepage about the new features coming soon!

Since we have been discussing "brand touchpoints" in my Corporate Communications class, I decided to post the video for my students to comment on. Let's see what they and you think about how effectively this video connects with the target audience.

Questions: What message was communicated and was it communicted clearly and convincingly? What did we learn here that we didn't know before about Twitter? How would you rate the video on a scale of one to ten?

Setting Your Standards as a Freelancer: A Few Suggestions

I came across this article and I thin k it is worth reading, I hope you enjoy it.

"Having standards is important when you’re trying to find and work with clients on your own.

It's surprisingly tempting not to stick to your standards: a quick project that you wouldn’t normally take can look pretty appealing if you’re having a slow month. But sticking to your guns can be important in more ways than one. If you take that problematic job, not only are you doing something that you don’t want to do, but you’re also likely to hand in work that you know isn’t as good as you could do. Even worse, that sub-standard job can take up the time you need to find higher paying clients, sticking you in a position where you can’t afford to move forward."

Here is the link to the original article:

Setting Your Standards as a Freelancer: A Few Suggestions.