Finding Specialized Help in the Shopify Experts Marketplace

As a small business owner, you're the expert on your business. But it can be challenging to also be an expert on everything that goes into setting up and growing your business. That's why the Shopify Experts Marketplace exists: to help connect you with highly-skilled professionals who can work with you to bring your business to the next level. In this article, learn how to use the Experts Marketplace to grow your business.

As a small business owner, there’s a lot for you to keep track of. And while you’re the expert on your business, it can be challenging to be an expert on everything that goes into setting up and growing your business.

That’s why the Shopify Experts Marketplace exists. It’s where you can find highly-skilled professionals who are ready to work with you to address the common challenges of owning a business and working with Shopify. 

In this article, we look at how to use the Experts Marketplace to find Shopify experts that can work with you to bring your business to the next level.

Who are Shopify experts?

Shopify experts are trusted professionals who provide services to business owners. They are not Shopify employees, but are experienced specialists uniquely equipped to help your business grow and prosper. They can be found in the Shopify Experts Marketplace, a platform designed to make it easy to discover and hire these experts.

As a business owner, you can use the Experts Marketplace to find help for jobs big and small. Even if you’re not on Shopify, you can find experts to help you get set up. With tons of experience and resources, experts can help you get your business moving in the right direction.

Experts can also help established businesses, by taking care of the tasks that there just aren’t enough hours in the day to tackle yourself. You can find a wide range of services fit for every budget.

Experts are available to help you with:

• Marketing and sales
• Store setup
• Development and troubleshooting
• Visual content and branding
• Content writing
• Expert guidance

These categories will help you narrow in on the experts most suited to the task at hand.

Types of expert help available in the Store setup category in the Shopify Experts Marketplace.

When you hire an expert through the Experts Marketplace, your payments and your communications with them are handled through Shopify, building in additional protections for you. It’s a system set up to make it as easy as possible for you to seek, hire, and work with commerce professionals.

How to find the right Shopify expert

Shopify experts are available to help you with any task, big or small, that comes up in the course of building and growing your store. Even if you’re not sure what it is you need, an expert can help point your business in the right direction.

No matter the kind of work you want to have done, there are a few preliminary steps to make sure you’re prepared for your conversations with experts:

• Identify your budget: How much are you planning to spend on this work? Explore the Experts Marketplace to see the starting price identified by experts for different types of work, to help narrow in on a realistic range.

Different starting prices listed by experts for 3D modelling services.

• Identify your timeline: When do you need this work completed by? This will help you choose an expert who can work within your timeframe. You might need to be flexible, so the earlier you engage an expert, the better.

• Identify your desired results: What are you hoping to achieve with this work? Since experts are specialists, knowing what you want to achieve will help them complete your work strategically, getting you closer to your goals.

Thinking about these details in advance will help you work with experts, and help them put together a more accurate quote for you. Check out our guide on how to hire an expert for more guidance on preparing for these conversations.

Once you have this information, you’re ready to start your search for the right person to partner with. Here’s how.

If you know what you need

Are you looking for help with specific tasks? Maybe you need a banner ad designed, or some guidance configuring your store settings? If you know what it is you’re looking for, you can use the Experts Marketplace to find experts who specialize in those areas. There are two main ways of doing so.

1. Browse experts

The Shopify Experts Marketplace is divided up into categories to help you quickly identify who specializes in the type of work you need done. 

The services available in the Visual content and branding category.

This means that you can easily browse through the available experts. When looking through a category, you can also use the filter options on the left of your screen to further narrow down on results.

The filtering options.

From here, you can look at the individual profiles of the experts. Each expert profile has an intro about the expert, a description of the work they specialize in, and merchant reviews that give you an idea of the experience others have had working with them. If the expert seems to be a good fit for what you need, you can reach out directly from their profile to request a quote from them.

Browsing through experts is a great way of getting a high-level overview of who’s available for hire, but it can be challenging to know who would be the best fit for your business and project. This is where the second method of finding experts—creating a job—can be most helpful.

2. Create a job

In the top right of the Experts Marketplace, you will see the option to create a job. Creating a job doesn’t mean that you’re committing to hiring an expert—instead, it connects you with potential experts so you can determine if they’re a fit for the work you need done.

When you click on Create a job, you will be brought to a page to select the type of work you need.

The services available when you create a job in the Experts Marketplace.

From here, you can narrow down to specify exactly what work you need done, so you’re matched with the most well-suited experts.

For example, if you choose Content writing, you’ll be given the opportunity to share exactly what type of content you need written:

The services in the Content writing category of the Experts Marketplace.

Depending on what you choose, you will be brought to a page that will ask you for additional details on the job to be done. This is where it’s most important to provide as much detail as you can—the more you’re able to share here, the more accurate of a quote you’ll be able to get from experts. Additionally, this will help get your project off on the right foot, as the expert will have more context on what you’re looking for, and why.

Once you’ve provided these details, you’ll move on to a screen that will ask you for some details about your business, to help find experts who are the right fit for you. You’ll be asked about the size of your business, your budget (low-, mid-, or high-priced), your preferred language of communication, and whether you’d like to work with experts located near your store.

Once you submit the job, your information is sent out to the best matched experts. If they’re available, they’ll respond to you by email, giving you the opportunity to exchange messages and decide who is the best fit for your needs. And remember, you’re under no obligation to go with anyone.

If you’re not sure where to start

There are a lot of factors that can impact the success of your store, and it’s not always clear what’s a priority. If you’re not seeing the results you want but aren’t sure where to start, experts can help.

1. Expert guidance

Since experts come with a deep understanding of Shopify and commerce, they are a powerful resource in helping craft your business strategy. The Expert guidance section of the Shopify Experts Marketplace is designed for just this purpose: so you can easily find and hire someone who specializes in the particular area in which you’d like guidance.

The Expert guidance services available in the Shopify Experts Marketplace.

For example, perhaps you'd like to look at ways to speed up your store's performance. A slow store can mean fewer conversions, and ultimately affect your bottom line. Hiring an expert who can identify factors slowing down your store can help improve your overall business performance.

Conferring with an expert in this way can be a massive source of direction, inspiration, and guidance. To hire a professional for expert guidance, follow the same steps as those in the ‘if you know what you need’ section above. You can post a job for expert guidance, or browse the Expert guidance category.

2. Browse collections

Sometimes, global trends make some categories of the Experts Marketplace more urgent, and that proved true in 2020 with COVID-19. As a result, we put together a collection on the marketplace homepage with services and experts well-positioned to respond to the changing commerce landscape. 

The COVID-19 collection on the Experts Marketplace homepage.

With Black Friday/Cyber Monday fast approaching, we’ve also introduced a collection of relevant services to help you prepare for the busy season ahead. Our BFCM selling season strategies will help you hire the expertise you need to help reach your audience, improve your store, and make your selling season a success.

These collections are a useful tool to identify the areas where your business might need a bit of extra help to respond to unique circumstances.

Finding expert help

Being a business owner is so rewarding—but it can be challenging, too. Thankfully, you don’t have to go it alone. Shopify experts are available around the world to help you grow, no matter what stage your business is at. Use this guide to effectively leverage the Experts Marketplace, find help when you need it, and enter conversations with experts with confidence.