This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
Today's listener poses a challenge. Is it possible to set up a Shopify store in just an hour? Now, Shopify used to be one option among many in terms of e-commerce, in terms of setting up an online store to sell something. And it still is, technically, in that there are lots of other Shopify competitors and clones out there. But Shopify definitely pulled ahead at some point and kind of set its sights on taking on Amazon, or at least as a platform for small businesses and side hustlers. So they've really done a wonderful job. I'm pretty
sure at some point over the years they've been a sponsor, but they're not a sponsor at the moment and I always say whatever I want. So I can just say that I'm a fan of Shopify. But our listener is wondering, well, it's great that they have come so far and now they're serving millions of customers. But there's also a lot of complexity to it now. They provide a lot of different features and options. There are all these different
apps that you can add to the Shopify app. Like Shopify is an app, but then now there's like an app store for the app of Shopify. Lots of different stuff you can do, but it can be time consuming. It can seem perhaps even overwhelming sometimes. So if you wanted to take on this challenge of saying, "Okay, I want to set up my complete storefront in just an hour. What would I put in? What would I leave out? How would you prioritize?" So
I like the question. I like the challenge. We're going to delve into it right after this quick message from our sponsor, which is not Shopify, I don't think. But whoever it is, I appreciate them and I appreciate you, our listeners. Stay tuned.
Hey, this is Vanessa calling from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I've wanted to start a Shopify storefront for a long time, but I keep procrastinating. Part of the problem is that I honestly have very little free time. Whenever I look at the interface, it looks awesome and overwhelming. I know they make it fairly simple, but it also looks like there's a lot of work to be done. So I decided to ask, if you had one hour to set up a Shopify store, what would
you do? What features are most important? What would you focus your efforts on? And just as importantly, what would you not worry about? All right. Well, long time listeners know I love a challenge. The whole reason I went
to every country in the world was because I was like, "Oh, that's a challenge." I just didn't realize it would take 11 years. So I do try to be a little bit more selective in choosing which challenges to take on these days. But nevertheless, challenge is a core value for me. And I got a pretty simple answer here. I would spend my hour on a product, a clear checkout process, and maybe a brief, frequently asked questions section. So I would
spend my time on what is the product? What is the offer? How are we describing this product? How do people, in fact, check out? How do they exchange their credit card information to hopefully eventually receive the product? Everything would be about that, the product,
the checkout process. Quick, brief, frequently asked questions, which is essentially marketing. Like a good frequently asked question section is part of your messaging, part of your branding, part of your pitch, in effect. If I had an extra hour, let's say, now I know our caller didn't ask about that. Again, first hour all about product. I wouldn't worry about all the
extra apps and features and cool stuff that Shopify can do. But if I had an extra hour, I would spend that time on SEO, search engine optimization. How can I, in fact, configure this site to hopefully receive some visitors from Google and other search engines such as they are? That's where I would put my time. I wouldn't worry about all the other stuff.
And I'm going to conclude this answer now because our caller doesn't have much time. So get to work. I know everybody's busy out there. I hope you do spend a brief amount of time every day working on something that's important to you. That's always been my mission with Side Hustle School to give you some encouragement and practical advice that you can apply, if not right away, hopefully in short order. So good luck. I'm cheering you on. That's all
for today. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School. From the Onward Project.
