What would be some good ways going about making an E-Commerce website?

[El1mination]

Forget 7 and 8 figure businesses, there's 9 figure ecom stores using Shopify and definitely multiple billion dollar companies using it.

Brands are switching from Magento or their expensive custom built stores to Shopify.

But you wanna use webflow coz Shopify is $40 a month (after a 90 day free trial where you can test the market) and webflow is free.

F*ck me.

If you want to glaze shopify that hard then go ahead but don't knock me for choosing webflow. Not everyone has 40 dollars a month to spend on a website, especially when there is a free tool that works just as well.

 

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[Trismigistus]

Deleted. Bad post.

 

[MitchC]

Yeah, youll eat those words. You dont know who I am or what I'm building. Cool post tho bro.

You’re right all I had to go on was your post and I replied based on that, you made it sound like there was an easier way to build what you were building and you were learning to code for the sake of it because it was harder

Nothing I said in my reply to you was wrong

 

[MitchC]

If you want to glaze shopify that hard then go ahead but don't knock me for choosing webflow. Not everyone has 40 dollars a month to spend on a website, especially when there is a free tool that works just as well.

You came here for advice and then ignored everyone’s advice

I’m telling you right now you will not get anywhere close to Shopify with anything else without a huge amount of work, tbh even with a huge amount of work you won’t

$40 a month is not even 1 sale

I’m trying to save you a shitload of wasted time because believe me I have been there

 

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[MitchC]

lol tell this to MJ when he coded his site.

Notice Mj didn’t build an entire forum software from scratch? He used an existing one

 

[El1mination]

You came here for advice and then ignored everyone’s advice

I’m telling you right now you will not get anywhere close to Shopify with anything else without a huge amount of work, tbh even with a huge amount of work you won’t

$40 a month is not even 1 sale

I’m trying to save you a shitload of wasted time because believe me I have been there

I listened to everyone advice and even read yours, and rejected it as you gave no reason to why you chose shopify and just sh*t on everything else besides it. Are you going to give me a reason why you likes shopify so much and hate everything else or are you going to continue being an a$$?

 

[MitchC]

I listened to everyone advice and even read yours, and rejected it as you gave no reason to why you chose shopify and just sh*t on everything else besides it. Are you going to give me a reason why you likes shopify so much and hate everything else or are you going to continue being an a$$?

That’s fair my point was those big brands are using it for a reason and everyone in the thread said to so just shortcut the entire process and copy them

1. Faster and easier to get set up and make changes
2. Familiar UI which is designed to work and convert better, if you increase conversion rate a little you instantly offset the cost with extra sales you make. $40 a day is a tiny ad budget. When you spend 4-5 figures a day on ads you want to be sending it to something optimised, you don’t care what it costs.
3. Analytics. Most important thing in any business is data, Shopify has it all built in and easy to use.
4. Apps. App for everything.

Any of these is enough reason alone but the list is much longer than that.

You are a beginner by the sounds too, the amount of Shopify specific ecommerce content would be worth it alone too.

 

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[El1mination]

That’s fair my point was those big brands are using it for a reason and everyone in the thread said to so just shortcut the entire process and copy them

1. Faster and easier to get set up and make changes
2. Familiar UI which is designed to work and convert better, if you increase conversion rate a little you instantly offset the cost with extra sales you make. $40 a day is a tiny ad budget. When you spend 4-5 figures a day on ads you want to be sending it to something optimised, you don’t care what it costs.
3. Analytics. Most important thing in any business is data, Shopify has it all built in and easy to use.
4. Apps. App for everything.

Any of these is enough reason alone but the list is much longer than that.

You are a beginner by the sounds too, the amount of Shopify specific ecommerce content would be worth it alone too.

Alright this message is much better, I understand all of your points and from the looks of it Shopify seems better, but 40 dollars is too much for a beginner like me. I don't know what I am going to sell, and I don't know if I am close to finding out so it doesn't make sense for me to immediately start using shopify, maybe a year from now in the future when I'm getting some sales on whatever I decide to sell, I can switch from Webflow to shopify and continue making money. That seems more logical, start with webflow and switch the shopify

 

[biophase]

I don't know what I am going to sell, and I don't know if I am close to finding out so it doesn't make sense for me to immediately start using shopify,

Then why do you even need a website at this point? What are you going to do in webflow?

 

[MitchC]

Alright this message is much better, I understand all of your points and from the looks of it Shopify seems better, but 40 dollars is too much for a beginner like me. I don't know what I am going to sell, and I don't know if I am close to finding out so it doesn't make sense for me to immediately start using shopify, maybe a year from now in the future when I'm getting some sales on whatever I decide to sell, I can switch from Webflow to shopify and continue making money. That seems more logical, start with webflow and switch the shopify

If $40 a month is too much ecommerce isn’t the right business, it takes a lot of cash

Woocommerce might be a good alternative to Shopify if you insist on not paying $40 a month but I think hosting anything is gunna be $40+ a month anyway

@xShepherdx built a nice store with woocommerce, took a hell of a lot longer though

 

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[El1mination]

Then why do you even need a website at this point? What are you going to do in webflow?

Because I can make a rough draft for when I am going to start selling things

 

[El1mination]

If $40 a month is too much ecommerce isn’t the right business, it takes a lot of cash

Woocommerce might be a good alternative to Shopify if you insist on not paying $40 a month but I think hosting anything is gunna be $40+ a month anyway

@xShepherdx built a nice store with woocommerce, took a hell of a lot longer though

I'm ok with paying 40 dollars a month it's just that I don't have anything to sell right now. I think that I just came to the realization that I should probably figure out what I should sell before I start a website. But on another note, why do you dislike webflow so much? Whats so bad about it?

 

[StrikingViper69]

Because I can make a rough draft for when I am going to start selling things

A draft of what?

Your logic is back to front.

Start with the problem you want to solve, and work around that. The problem dictates the solution(s).

“AI” or “e-commerce” are not problems. “I want my video conference to be automatically transcribed and summarised” is a problem. “I want a better kitchen knife” is a problem.

Worrying about whether or not to use shopify when you have no idea what you are going to sell is no better than printing business cards that say “CEO” after paying $20 to register an LLC.

 

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[Andy Black]

I don't know what I am going to sell, and I don't know if I am close to finding out

These might help:

https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/you-dont-need-a-website-you-need-sales.68575

https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/stop-building-stuff.69842/

 

[Andy Black]

I suspect this might help too:

MINDSET - Start Faster. Stop "Learning".

If you're just getting started, haven't made a sale, or feel you're spinning your wheels then this 8 minute video should help. It's pulled out of a longer call (also linked below). Curious what your main takeaways are, and what you'll do different going forward. View...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

 

[Trismigistus]

Deleted. Bad post.

 

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[Trismigistus]

Deleted. Bad post.

 

[The One]

Have you read either millionaire FASTLANE or unscripted ?

If not, please do.

Cuz, clearly you are lacking a lot of information.

Edit - just in case you think people are against you, they aren’t - they support you. they are against your idea that you are proposing.

 

[Sirrom]

If you want to glaze shopify that hard then go ahead but don't knock me for choosing webflow. Not everyone has 40 dollars a month to spend on a website, especially when there is a free tool that works just as well.

So now you are going to spend hours learning webflow to save 40 dollars...

Mate... Just take his advice. You don't know it all.

 

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[Trismigistus]

Deleted. Bad post.

 

[Devilery]

If you want to glaze shopify that hard then go ahead but don't knock me for choosing webflow. Not everyone has 40 dollars a month to spend on a website, especially when there is a free tool that works just as well.

It's $1 per month for the first 3 months, if you cannot profit at least $40 after 3 months, you're doomed to fail anyway. Besides that, running ads is expensive.

During this free trial, you can also take any and all of the premium templates and customize them as you want (your draft thing). Once it runs out, cancel it, and start a new trial if that's what you need.

 

[xShepherdx]

Just quickly read through this thread and it seems like the scenario is this:

"I want to build my own eCommerce site because I want full control of my site along with X, Y, and Z functionality desipite never having sold a product through any website and therefore validating X, Y, and Z will actually bring in sales and are worth developing."

99% chance what you want already exists as a Woocommerce/Shopify plugin. If it doesn't there's probably a reason.

If you have no sales (or even a product idea??) there's absolutely no reason to worry about this stuff.

Find a product to sell, set up a simple site using Woocommerce/Shopify, and START SELLING.

If it works, you can build your own site later if you really want to.

If $40 a month is too much ecommerce isn’t the right business, it takes a lot of cash

Woocommerce might be a good alternative to Shopify if you insist on not paying $40 a month but I think hosting anything is gunna be $40+ a month anyway

@xShepherdx built a nice store with woocommerce, took a hell of a lot longer though

It kills me that people think $40/month is too much for software that can literally make them millions.

Yet many of those same people consider things like Netflix, Xbox Live, and Spotify "essential" and will spend more than $40 this month on keeping themselves entertained (distracted).

Woocommerce, Shopify, etc. are all great and have their pros/cons.

I'm personally a fan of Shopify because I don't want to deal with hosting or trying to piece together all the plugins needed to essentially make what ends up being a Shopify clone.

But again, all this discussion over such a small monthly fee in exchange for software that can make you MILLIONS is crazy to me.

Even if the business is a total loss, just consider the $40/month an education expense and move on with your lives.

I'm ok with paying 40 dollars a month it's just that I don't have anything to sell right now. I think that I just came to the realization that I should probably figure out what I should sell before I start a website.

This is the key. "Starting a website" takes 5 minutes and a credit card. Don't make this tiny step the thing that prevents you from finding and selling a product.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Doesnt MJ specifically warn about this strategy as a no go? If I rememeber correctly he even calls out the bs quick theme process. Why suggest this?

No I didn't.

If you want an eCommerce website, deploy one of the 1,000 available options and get to work driving sales.

Let me give you a metaphor...

If you want to start a limousine service, would you build the limo yourself?

The limo is fundamental to the business, but NOT THE BUSINESS.

If you want to start a publishing company because you love to write, you gonna build a printing press?

Stop solving problems that already have solutions.

Yes, coding is a great asset -- but using it to code for solutions that have already been solved a gazillion times is a waste of time.

 

[Trismigistus]

Deleted. Bad post.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Im really trying to understand what you are saying. In the specific case of an e commerce site, as a conclusion from what you said above, would you say that no one need ever code for an ecommerce site ever again to sell a product due to the available tech around?

What's so hard to understand?

Why are you solving a problem that has been solved a gazillion times, and the solution is readily accessible?

To give you another metaphor, if you invented the cure to cancer, are you going to build your own National Media Company to rival NBC, CBS, and CNN so you can control your advertising?

Your product is what matters, not the tools you use to sell it.

 

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[Trismigistus]

Deleted. Bad post.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

I just thought coding your own solution was still a viable path.

Yes, when there are no ready-made solutions available.

Again, why reinvent solutions when the solution already exists, and cheaply and abundantly?

For example, GoalSumo.com is custom coded to my specifications because there are no solutions like it, or the existing solutions need improving in some fashion.

That software leverages Stripe -- should I have created my own Payment Processing Network instead of using the readily available solution? That software leverages Tolt.io for affiliate management and processing... should we have taken months and custom coded our own solution for that function?

These are problems we had (Hey, how do we charge $? Hey, how do we manage affiliates?) with ready made solutions. Yes, they cost money. We can pay them $X/mo, or we can spend X months/years coding it ourselves.

If creating a goal/productivity system was as simple as downloading WordPress or paying $29/mo for Shopify, we wouldn't have bothered.

People pay for solutions and the solution of needing to sell products via eCom has been solved pretty cheaply.

Your product sold on Shopify, WooCommerce, or wherever, should be the solution -- which is sold via eCommerce.

My product is the software itself -- software that isn't easily found, or if it is found, it is bloated with complexity.

You are comparing two entirely different things.

 

[Trismigistus]

Deleted. Bad post.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Seems as though I took the principle of control

The bulk of your control should reside in your end product to the consumer. For you, that's your specific widget/product sold via an eCom application.

It's virtually impossible to be completely vertical in control of your entire operation -- for example, Stripe could cancel my payment processing here at the forum, causing some duress. But they can't cancel my forum-- the end product. Same over at GoalSumo.com -- Stripe can cancel us, but we still control the product itself.

 

[El1mination]

Have you read either millionaire FASTLANE or unscripted ?

If not, please do.

Cuz, clearly you are lacking a lot of information.

Edit - just in case you think people are against you, they aren’t - they support you. they are against your idea that you are proposing.

I read millionaires fastlane and took notes for each chapter, I just wanted to get started so I was decided which platform to choose to create my website. I understand that the fundamental goal is to solve problems for millions of peolpe and charge high prices for high value. I am just not sure what I am going to create value solving.