It’s like an awesomely easy to use, website/store builder/CRM/Marketing Automation machine.

I don’t know about you, but Shopify‘s sponsored ads have been swarming my Facebook news feed like moths to a light. Or flies to honey. Or my two-year old to anything with sugar.

Granted, the last thing I need right now is another thing to do, but after weeks of pestering me with their targeted ads (I’m always curious what demographic criteria advertisers use to find me), I added it to my to-check-out list.

I spent some time reading about their platform, options, and features.

A business owner can:

• Create a website with pre-made templates
• Add and track inventory
• Use Shopify for their Point of Sale
• Host a blog
• Place a “purchase” button on external sites
• …And some other super useful stuff

While I wasn’t extremely eager to learn a new program right away, I had been thinking about a better way to market my artwork that I’ve been creating minimally, on the side, for years.

I applied to become a Shopify partner, which gives me the opportunity to create a “Development Store” – Essentially a completely designed and ready-to-launch store, with inventory, SKU’s, a blog, and content – for free, before converting to a paid, functional store.

Once I received confirmation of my partnership, I sat down to check it out. I pulled some photos off of my artwork Facebook page and within an hour, had created a nice looking, well designed and SEO OPTIMIZED online store.

Granted, I have a lot of experience with website design and administration, so the learning curve was smaller than the average business owner, but I was astonished at how simple but powerful Spotify’s platform is.

I chose a free “Theme” for my development store, though there are hundreds of Themes available.  Customization was a breeze, but some design skills/software were still needed.

Once the store is customized, Shopify gives you the option of importing your inventory and customer lists.  It allows business owners (or their marketing agency) to track referrals, abandoned carts, visitor and sales demographics, and data, order history and more.

It’s like an awesomely easy to use, website/store builder/CRM/Marketing Automation machine.

Some of the cool things I found today inside Shopify:

• It’s ridiculously easy to list sale pricing.
• SEO Optimization is even easier.
• You can sell gift cards through your Shopify store with the click of a button.
• Shopify integrates with your MailChimp and Quickbooks account.
• You can sell your products through Pinterest, Facebook Messenger, Twitter, the Shopify Mobile POS App and more…
• And these reports!  I love reports.

All in all, I love it.  I think it’s a fantastic tool for anyone selling a product or service, and I’ve decided to take the plunge and become an official Shopify Affiliate.

The monthly pricing to maintain a functional Shopify store is phenominal – From $29 to $299 per month.  I believe the exceptional value offered by Shopify will create greater returns than any other combination of sales/CRM/and reporting platforms.

Comment below to ask me about some of Shopify’s features, and if you’re a small business owner interested in marketing your products through Shopify please contact me! I’d love the opportunity to build this platform into a fantastic money-making marketing plan (and try out some of the import features)!