I never thought I would start a brand new business - let alone an international ecommerce business. But life often takes you into unexpected places. To live your dreams you have to be brave enough to take a leap of faith.
I did and I am so very glad. I have learned so much on this journey from how to create a website (thank you Shopify helpline), market my website via Social Media postings, SEO and countless other skills.
One of the biggest and best surprises is how international our client base is. We've only been open a year and Envision Worship PowerPoints are now apart of churches services in 14 countries (Denmark, England, Ireland, Russia, Kenya, South Africa, Australia, Indonesia, Chile, Mexico, China, Canada and the USA). Truly amazing.
I started creating church PowerPoint templates for my local church. The designs were vivid and tied to the lyrics of the songs. The PowerPoints added depth to the worship experience and quickly became an intricate part of the worship experience. The church developed a reputation for amazing and professional PowerPoints. I wanted to help other churches create services that would resonate with today's media savvy congregation and deepen the worship experience so I started Envision Worship.
I design all the PowerPoint templates using high quality stock photography and Microsoft PowerPoint software. I love the design process of finding the right image to communicate the message of the song. It is also a great joy to connect with people from churches around the globe. Starting Envision Worship was a leap of faith but one of the best things I have ever done.
How did you earn your first sales? Which channels are now generating the most traffic and sales for you?
I earned my first sales through Google Ads. I have a very limit advertising budget so I have gotten creative! I focus my energies on Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and marketing through Social Media postings on Pinterest, LinkedIn and Facebook. I also attend church conventions and meet with churches one on one.
Tell us about the back-end of your business. What tools and apps do you use to run your store? How do you handle shipping and fulfillment?
I bought my theme from Clean Themes UK. The website design is wonderful and they are great to work with.
I use the SEO Meta Manger App - it's great, easy to use and has significantly helped me look professional in Google/Bing searches. I used the Fliptabify app to create my Facebook store. And the Chimpified app for my newsletters. One of my favorite apps is Fetch. They deliver my digital product effectively and efficiently each time. I also have to do a shout out to the Shopify Helpline - they have been a wonderful source of information and guidance through out the website development process.
What are your top recommendations for new ecommerce entrepreneurs?
The best advice I can give you is to learn about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) right away. If you've never done anything like this before it feels a little daunting. But the information is all there - you just have to take the time to read it.
How you write descriptions of your products and what meta-tags you use profoundly affect your placement in a Google search. The time you invest in learning SEO skills will help your business succeed.