How to Launch Your Shopify Store for a 6 Figure Business

Last Updated 3 years by Emily Standley-Allard

Launch a Shopify Store in 6 Steps

The ecommerce platform Shopify makes is dead-simple to setup and start selling ANYTHING online. With more businesses pivoting from brick and mortar shops to online retail there’s no better time than now to get started building your online business.

***It’s estimated that by the year 2040, 95% of purchases will be through eCommerce. (Nasdaq)

Shopify is a powerful platform that helps over 1.2 million people sell things online.

This post contains affiliate links. We will make a commission if you choose to make a purchase and we thank you. Please read my disclaimer to learn more. 

So if you’ve ever wanted to sell homemade crafts, used items you find at garage sales, flea markets, tag sales, digital downloads, jewelry, apparel, beauty products, pet supplies, business supplies, sports gear etc…; by shipping them yourself or via drop shipping the items, Shopify makes it unbelievably easy.

They even have a FREE 14 day trial, to see if it works for your business idea. It doesn’t get better than that!

Read about my friend Benny Hsu who profited 100K in just 5 months selling tees shirts on Shopify!

And he’s far from the only one! There are thousands of successful online business ideas for small business merchants!

The latest figures show that 91 percent of internet users visit online stores, 84 percent carry out online searches for a product or service to purchase, and 77 percent follow through with their purchases.

Revenues from ecommerce retail are projected to hit $4.2 trillion in 2020 (6.54 Trillion in 2022) – more than triple the $1.3 trillion registered in 2014 (Statista, 2019).

Read on how to launch your Shopify store for a 6 figure business today!

6 Steps To Launch Your Shopify Store for a 6 Figure Business

First things first: you need a store before you can make a sale.

Stage 1: Decide what to sell

It’s no good whatsoever to build your Shopify store if you don’t know what you’re going to sell on it. You have near limitless potential with what you can sell (almost anything you sell in a physical store could be sold online). To help you decide what to sell ask yourself now:

• What are my interests?
• What do I have skills in?
• Where are there opportunities?
• Bear these 3 things in mind and you’ll have the item(s) you want to sell. After this it’s a matter of establishing what product lines you should stock. This guide has a list of the different non-tangible items you can sell. 

7 Ways to Find Niche Products and What to Sell Online

Included on that list are:

• Services 
• Memberships
• Consultations
• Digital Downloads
• Event Support
• Experiences
• Fitness Classes and Lessons
• Rentals
• Event Tickets
• Digital Gift Cards

Think about how you can balance long-term gains with profitability.

If you want more advice on how to find winning products to sell in your online store then watch the brilliant video below…

Stage 2. Sign up for a Shopify account

Head over to Shopify and sign yourself up for an account with them. You’ll be asked to add in your email address, a password, and your store name, before you’re given the option of creating a bricks and mortar, or an online store. Select the online store.

You’ll then need to add some further details in:

• Your name
• Address
• Phone number
  It’s important that you enter the correct details, as the information you input at this stage will be used to work out the tax rate and currency applicable to your online store.
  Shopify will then ask you to tell them “a little about yourself.” This covers:
• Any products or services you are selling already
• The expected annual revenue of your business
• If you are setting the store up for yourself, or for a client
• One of the benefits of setting your online store up with them is that you get a free 14-day trial period where you can decide on how expansive a store you need – your options are the Basic Shopify, Shopify, or Advanced Shopify account.

50 Best Shopify Stores to Inspire You

Stage 3. Set up your product pages

Here’s the FUN part! Shopify makes it so simple for you to add your product(s) to your store, as once you’ve set up your account you are promoted to start adding product pages to your store.

But not only that, the option to add in a product is well mapped out, with clear and easy to digest instructions. Once you’ve added in the details of your products, save and move on to the next stage.

Not only that! If you don’t have actual products to sell using your own inventory Shopify has an amazing partnership with Oberlo which is a drop shipping company partnered with Shopify where you can pick the products you want to ship to your customers without having to worry about shipping, packaging or holding inventory!

How To Start Selling On Amazon With Shopify

Stage 4: Make your online store look the part

One of the best features of Shopify is the sheer number of options for the theme of your online store. To give your store the theme you want, simply head over to your main dashboard and locate the button marked:

Customize The Look of Your Site.

Once you’ve gone this far, you’ll be asked by Shopify a whole host of other details in order to make your store looks the part and, most importantly, to visit the Theme Store.

This is where you’ll be able to access a library of options for your theme.

Select your theme carefully, as first impressions count for everything.

If your store visitors see one that’s not befitting of the brand you want to convey, then they’ll leave before you can make a sale.

Stage 5: Get your domain sorted

Pay another visit to your dashboard and here you’ll find an option titled: Add a Domain.

You will have the option to either transfer a domain (this is where you have an existing online store setup that you are transferring over to the Shopify platform), or registering a completely new domain.

If you use Bluehost they allow you to pick your domain for free.

They’re also running a low price special for their birthday for 60 days if you click my link here.

Once you’ve done this you’ll need to buy the domain name.

Shopify guides you from start to finish with everything. A shopify basic site is just $29 per month.

Once you’ve done this your online store will be visible on the web. This leaves just one more stage for you to complete…

Stage 6: Set up your payment gateway

This stage sees you back on your main dashboard.

Find the tab titled: Payments and then select it.

You’ll have a list of available options for your online store, including:

Shopify
Stripe
Authorizer.net
PayPal
Worldpay
Sage Pay
And a whole host more…

Do your research and decide which one will work for you, as each has its nuances, and pros and cons.

Once you’ve decided which payment gateway to go for, select it and then follow the step-by-step guidance from Shopify.

Stage 6: Launch your online store

Hit the Launch Website button on your dashboard and there you are, you’ve started your very own online store with Shopify!

Don’t forget to take down the password protect page — it’s a rookie error, but it does still happen.

How to make your first sale

You’ve got your store up and now it’s over to you to make a sale. Luckily, there are plenty of things to help you make those very crucial first sales.

Create SEO-friendly content

Your online store will be loaded with content: product descriptions, homepage copy, FAQs, blog etc..

What will help you make your first sale is to ensure that every piece of content is written with SEO in mind.

This is because a well-optimized online store has a better chance of ranking well on Google – the higher you rank on Google, the greater the chance of your online store being found by customers who will then buy from your business.

This post gives you even more info on how you can create SEO friendly content to drive the most traffic to your website…

SEO Strategy Guide for Beginners

There are loads of free Shopify apps to help you manage your store SEO, so get optimizing and tweaking your listings.

Get involved in marketing

Whether it’s influencer, content, social media, digital, or even direct, you HAVE to market your online store – you need to tell your potential customers that you exist and explain why your brand offers the product(s) that they need.

Join Shopify Compass that contains everything you will need to know to help you launch and grow your business to be successful with your new online store.

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SEO Strategy Guide For Beginners

One of the great benefits of starting an online store on Shopify is that they offer access to a library of resources and tutorials to set you up for success.

As you would expect, within these resources is a detailed area on how you can make your first sale from your Shopify store. It covers a range of things you can do with or without access to a large source of capital. Read it, digest it, and then put its teachings into practice.

And if you have questions on what else you can do to make your first sale, then head over to Shopify Compass for free online courses. 

Here you can get access to live workshops, courses and tons of resources to get the word out about your online store.

I didn’t use the excuse “I don’t know how to start”

In the words of Ben Hsu – “This is one of the worst excuses. Starting is the easiest part I think, but so many people use this excuse.

I could have easily thought to myself “I don’t know how to start”. It can feel overwhelming knowing nothing, but wanting to know it all.

I get so many emails from people who say “I don’t know how to get started.” That’s a way to basically say, “I want to ______, but I’m too lazy and afraid to figure out how.”

I’ll tell you how I know they are lazy. There’s this website called GOOGLE. Very helpful to learn anything.

When I began, I never thought that. Instead, I thought “What do I need to figure out FIRST to get started.” Just like when I learned about outsourcing was a way to get my app made, I learned enough to get started”.

Resource – Getbusylivingblog.com 

Between social media marketing tools, Shopify tools and apps, word of mouth and digital marketing this should all but guarantee you your first sale. And as the people in your support network put the name of your store out there to their support network, you’ll be in a great position to make more and more sales.

There you have it, not only have you started an online store, you’ve now made your first sale.

Ecommerce is a wonderfully easy business to get into and an EXTREMELY profitable one if you do things right. You’ve had the best grounding, now turn your online store into the store of your DREAMS!!!

Sign up today for a 14 day FREE TRIAL to play with their platform. I think you’ll love it!

For these and more cutting edge social marketing tips, how to make a passive living online subscribe today!

How to Create Your Epic Online Business

About socialbuzzhive

Emily Standley-Allard is a nationally published author, content creator, social media and SEO professional. She is a digital content strategist who has helped companies and individuals improve their online presence since 2014.