In Episode 72, we continue our series,  Starting and Growing Your Online Course. In today’s show we are looking at the benefits of adding courses to your online store with Chris Badgett, instructor and creator of LifterLMS plugin for WordPress.

Online course are a perfect opportunity for online sellers not only to educate their customers, but to grow better relationships. And depending on what you sell, whether it’s a physical or virtual product, there are solid strategies to increase your sales and customer base through education and online courses.

We chatted about:

* How shop owners can make sure they have the resources to start their online courses

* If you should put your courses in your online store or on a separate site

* The challenges store owners face when starting online courses and how to overcome them

* An example of an existing site that has been incredibly successful with online courses

* How a store owner my be surprised that there is an audience for their online course,  no matter the product or service

The other shows in this series:

Online Courses: The Past, the Present and the Future with Brian Clark

Tips for Starting Your First Online Course with Carrie Dils

How To Successfully Market Your Online Course with Troy Dean

Thanks to Our Podcast Sponsor: Bluehost

Transcript

You can also download a pdf of the full transcript here: WordPress eCommerce Show Episode 72 May 1 2017

Hey, everyone, Bob Dunn here, known as BobWP on the web. Thanks for tuning in to the third show of our series, “What You Need to Know About Starting and Growing Your Online Course”.

In the past two shows, we’ve talked about the space of online courses, we’ve talked about how to start your online course, and today we venture into how to bring your course into your online store, which is another whole way of using online courses, and who better than somebody that has actually done this, experienced it, and worked with online stores: Chris Badgett creator of the WordPress plugin LifterLMS. Welcome to the show, Chris.

Chris Badgett: Thanks for having me, Bob. It’s great to be here.

Meet Chris Badgett, instructor, creator of the LifterLMS plugin

Bob: So, Chris, before we get into the nitty gritty here, tell us a little bit about yourself and your plugin, and maybe just a short story of why you actually created that plugin.

Chris: Awesome. Well, I’m an online course creator myself. I started in the organic gardening niche, in the permaculture niche within organic gardening. I started creating courses and traveling around the world with my wife. It was a project where we would film these permaculture workshops, even in remote places like in the jungles of Costa Rica, and then I would bring these courses online for these very low-tech niches, and it was a win-win for everybody.

That’s how I got started with it. On the side I was running a WordPress agency and building sites, so it was only natural for me to explore WordPress LMS online course and membership site solutions. Over time, I merged my agency with another company. We were deciding what type of product we wanted to roll out and focus the next decade of our lives on,

In Episode 71, we venture into another aspect of eCommerce: how it can benefit nonprofits with their fundraising efforts. And to help us understand how critical it is to have the most effective strategies in place, we are talking with John Haydon, long-time fundraising expert, coach and speaker. Running a nonprofit it a lot of work. John helps nonprofits who are looking to raise more money, improve marketing, and increase engagement. So if you are running or involved with a nonprofit in any capacity, in today’s show John shares some great tips in all three areas.

We chatted about:

* John’s top three strategies for fundraising

* The number one mistake that nonprofits make when they begin their fundraising efforts

* What a nonprofit should consider before starting to sell products as part of their fundraising plan

* How much of a viable solution is crowdfunding for a startup nonprofit

* What is on the horizon in tech that will play a critical role in helping nonprofits fundraise

Thanks to Our Podcast Sponsor: Bluehost

Transcript

You can also download a pdf of the full transcript here: WordPress eCommerce Show Episode 71 April 26 2017

Bob Dunn: Hey everyone. Welcome back to the WP Commerce Show. Bob Dunn here, also known as BobWP on the web. Today on the show we are talking non-profits, eCommerce, and fundraising. And I can think of no one better to bring on than my longtime friend, fundraising expert, speaker and coach John Haydon. It’s great to have you on the show today, John.

John Haydon: Thank you, Bob, I’m so glad to be here. Thanks for inviting me.

Bob: You know, you and I have been trying to get this podcast together for a bit, and between our two schedules it’s been a little crazy, and life gets in the way. Finally I got you here so I’m a happy camper.

John: Awesome. That’s great. Yeah, I feel like we’re- in a way we’re brothers. You’re in Washington and I’m in Boston. So we’re on the West and the East coast.

Bob: Yeah, exactly, and we’ve known each other for, it seems like, many many years. I won’t say many, many many years.

John: Lots of conferences.

Meet John Haydon, speaker, coach and fundraising expert

Bob: So John, can you tell us a little bit more about who you are, and the work you do in fundraising?

John: Uh, sure, yeah. I work with nonprofits. I help them with anything online. Online marketing, online fundraising, online communication. I work with organizations with their goals, whatever they are. Some organizations want to reach more people to provide impact. Other organizations they say, “We want to increase our volunteers.” Other organizations want to raise more money. Other organizations want to engage. So, each one has a different goal.

My job and my passion is to help nonprofits make a bigger impact, but use these communication channels- these new communication channels in ways that are smarter and more efficient, based on the somewhat limited resources that they have. The other thing I notice about nonprofits is that they don’t tend to be natural marketers. So, with my background, my career is mostly for profit side sales and marketing, I’m bringing all that experience plus now having done this for about nine years on my own, working with hundreds of nonprofits, I feel like I can offer a unique perspective and insight that a lot of organizations kind of miss.

So that’s what I do. I do speaking training, strategy development, consulting, all that stuff, and love it.

Bob: Very cool. I know that Judy and I,

In Episode 70, we continue our series,  Starting and Growing Your Online Course. In this show, we go through some of the process when you are starting your first online course. To help us guide the way, we asked Carrie Dils to share her own experiences and insights. Carrie is an instructor at Lynda.com, as well as a serial entrepreneur and host of the podcast Office Hours FM. In this episode, she talks about the challenges of starting an online course and answers to some of the questions you will likely be asking yourself.

We chatted about:

* How much teaching experience you need to get started

* The answer to the question “Will anyone really want to take my course?”

* Some of the first steps you should take when thinking about starting your online course

* How much time will you spend editing your course?

* What should you charge for your course?

* A few additional challenges that a course creator might expect

* Why Carrie chose to start her online courses on Lynda.com

* What would Carrie teach if she could create her dream course?

The other shows in this series:

Online Courses: The Past, the Present and the Future with Brian Clark

How To Successfully Market Your Online Course with Troy Dean

How Courses Can Help Grow Your Online Store with Chris Badgett

Thanks to Our Podcast Sponsor: Bluehost

Transcript

You can also download a pdf of the full transcript here: WordPress eCommerce Show Episode 70 April 24 2017

Meet Carrie Dils, Instructor, Podcaster

Bob Dunn: Hey everyone, Bob Dunn here, BobWP on the web. Thanks for tuning in to our second show of our series, What You Need To Know About Starting And Growing Your Online Course. On our first show we talked with Brian Clark about the history of online courses, what’s happening now, and what the future might hold. Today we’re moving into the nuts and bolts of starting your online course, and, to help us wrap our brain around this, I’ve asked my good friend and instructor, podcaster, entrepreneur, Carrie Dils, to join us. Hey Carrie, it’s great to have you on the show.

Carrie Dils: Hey Bob, thanks so much for having me.

Bob: I know you are actually traveling and working on your online courses right now, so I kinda caught you at the end of that, where you probably would rather be continuing to sleep today, and just not talk to Bob at all.

Carrie: Well, I might just say, nobody should do online courses. No, I’m just kidding.

Bob: Yeah, maybe I caught you at the wrong time, I’m thinking.

Carrie: Oh, no, it’s all good. Excited to be here

Can I create online courses if I don’t have a teaching background?

Bob: So, Carrie, let’s start out with this. When someone comes to you and they have a strong desire to start an online course, they’re just burning to do it, but they wonder if they’re even qualified, and they may ask you these two questions. First they’re gonna say, “Hey, you know, I don’t have a teaching background, and do you think people really give a hoot about me and what I wanna teach them?”

Carrie: So, I’d answer with another question, and that first question would be,

In Episode 69 we are venturing into the tech side of online stores. As a shop owner, or even someone who is monetizing their WordPress site, you may have heard people throw around the term API. For many, it’s just another acronym they don’t understand. Others hear it lot, kind of get it, but still are not really clear on what the heck all these developers are talking about—especially when they are talking to you about your project.

The API is good to understand if you are running an online store. And to put it more in layman’s terms, we brought in Cody Landefeld, co-founder of the agency Mode Effect, to help us break it down. Cody has been explaining this to his non-tech clients for quite some time, and is bringing his expertise to today’s show.

We chatted about:

* What the heck is the API and why should store owners care

* How it plays such an important role in WooCommerce

* Why it’s important for a developer or agency to clarify what an API is and its role with their clients

* Some of the great applications and integrations in the WooCommerce space

* How ongoing maintenance is a big factor with the API

Thanks to Our Podcast Sponsor: Bluehost

Transcript

You can also download a pdf of the full transcript here: WordPress eCommerce Show Episode 69 April 19 2017

Bob Dunn: Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the WP eCommerce Show. Bob Dunn here, also known as BobWP on the web. On our show today, we are going to dive into some serious geekiness: take something that is so important to the WordPress world and make it understandable to the average user or store owner.

That something is API. It’s actually an acronym for Application Program Interface. If you have worked with a developer, especially with an online store, you might have heard this term, and maybe your eyes just glazed over. To really understand the importance of the API, I have asked my good friend Cody Landefeld from Mode Effect here to help us all get a grip on the API. He can explain it in layman’s term, which is perfect. Hey, Cody. Welcome to the show.

Cody Landefeld: Hey, Bob. Thanks for having me in.

Bob: Well, Cody. Here’s the deal. I know that your agency has worked with numerous clients. From talking with you, I also understand that you’ve been put in numerous situations where you needed to explain what an API is and the importance of it to your clients. Before I get into this, I’d like to tell us a bit about yourself and your company, Mode Effect.

Meet Cody Landefeld, Co-founder of Mode Effect

Cody: I always enjoy talking about myself and love the sound of my voice. Perfect opportunity. Yeah. My name is Cody Landefeld. With my wife, Raquel, we founded a company called Mode Effect about seven years ago. Primarily we work with companies to establish some type of a web presence or application type of setup using WordPress. In most cases, we’re using WooCommerce to create all types of different purchasing types and get a rare privilege to have a great roster of clients. Really enjoy helping people accomplish their goals online.

Bob: Very cool. The API. This is something that even I sometimes think I understand it, and then when it really gets into conversations, it’s like I start zoning out. Thinking, “Whoa. They’ve lost me here.” In a nutshell and in terms that the casual WordPress user or store owner can understand, what the heck is an API? Why should I, someone who uses WordPress, really care about it?

What is API and why should I care?

In Episode 68, we begin our series on Starting and Growing Your Online Course. To kick it off we brought in one of the internet veterans when it comes to online courses, Brian Clark, founder of Copyblogger. Brian has been in the space of online courses and digital content long before they started taking off on the web. So today he brings to our show his past experience and how he evolved into the space with Copyblogger, as well as what he foresees in the future with online courses.

If you are thinking of diving into this space, or already are doing online courses, this is a must-listen-to-show.

We chatted about:

* How Copyblogger has evolved and its beginning in the online course space

* When online courses started gaining momentum and the key to their growth

* Brian’s top tips for someone considering starting their first online course

* What Brian thinks when it comes to running your courses on your own site vs. an educational platform, eg. Lynda.com

* Why you may not see some topics covered in online courses

* The lack of online courses on specific topics and should you pay attention to those

* What Brian sees in the future of online courses

The other shows in this series:

Tips for Starting Your First Online Course with Carrie Dils

How To Successfully Market Your Online Course with Troy Dean

How Courses Can Help Grow Your Online Store with Chris Badgett

Thanks to Our Podcast Sponsor: Bluehost

Transcript

You can also download a pdf of the full transcript here: WordPress eCommerce Show Episode 68 April 17 2017

Bob Dunn: Hey everyone. Bob Dunn here, known as BobWP on the web. Thanks for tuning in to our next series called What You Need to Know About Starting and Growing Your Online Course. I thought what better way to start out than looking at the big picture of all courses, now and the future? So, to give us his insights, I’ve invited Brian Clark, founder of Copyblogger, to lead the way. Welcome to the show, Brian.

Brian Clark: Thanks, Bob. Glad to be here.

Bob: It’s really my pleasure to have you on the show. I’m pretty excited about this, especially kicking off this four-part series. So Brian, I am guessing a lot of my listeners know who you are, or of you, but I figured there may be some scattered individuals who are not into the digital content field, or have spent their last several years on remote islands, or perhaps visiting other planets. So, for the sake of those wandering people, could you tell us a bit about yourself and how Copyblogger has brought online courses into vogue?

Meet Brian Clark, Founder of Copyblogger

Brian: You’re much too kind, first of all. I’m sure there are a lot of people who are unfamiliar. Brief history: A long, long time ago, I used to be an attorney. I did not enjoy that. This was in the ’90s. I moved and taught myself online publishing back in the days when there wasn’t a BobWP to help. There wasn’t even a WP. It was static HTML and all of that. Anyway, those were the days. But yeah, I figured out, basically I was interested in becoming a writer and building online audiences, and I got good at that without really knowing how to make money. Then I figured that part out, and then I realized that I had found a different way of approaching marketing. Fast forward many years later, and we call that content marketing.

In Episode 67, we look at the transition that many online store owners face when moving their site from an eCommerce platform to a self-hosted site with a WordPress plugin or vice versa. There can be many reasons behind a decision like this, and, of course, challenges as well. To help better prepare you for that move, we invited Patrick Garman from Mindsize to share with us his own experiences and what he has learned from helping many clients through this transition.

We chatted about:

* Clarifying what it means to use a platform or plugin for your online store

* Some of the reasons online store owners make this transition

* The challenges of moving from an eCommerce platform to a WordPress plugin, using WooCommerce and Shopify as examples

* The challenges of moving from an WordPress eCommerce plugin to a platform, using the same examples

* Why developers on both sides are adamant about their own choice, but are they becoming more open-minded for their clients’ sake?

* Patrick’s largest challenge when working with a client on this kind of a transition

* What Patrick has experienced with the recent update of WooCommerce 3.0 and his tips on hitting that update button

Thanks to Our Podcast Sponsor: Bluehost

Transcript

You can also download a pdf of the full transcript here: WordPress eCommerce Show Episode 67 April 12 2017

Bob Dunn: Hey everyone. Welcome back to the WP eCommerce show. Bob Dunn here, also known as Bob WP on the web. On the show today, we are tackling a topic that I know many shop owners have experienced or maybe even fear. Depending on what kind of transition you’re going through, it can be a wonderful or horrifying experience. It is the time you decide to move your online store from running on a WordPress plugin to a self hosted e-commerce platform or maybe it’s the other way around. To help us understand more about how this plays out and what’s involved, I have Patrick Garman, managing partner at Mindsize, who has worked with several clients to make this transition.

Hey, Patrick. Welcome to the show.

Patrick Garman: Thanks, Bob.

Bob: Well, Patrick. I know we have a bit to cover here. But before we dive into that, can you tell our listeners a little more about yourself and what you do?

Meet Patrick Garman, Managing Partner at Mindsize

Patrick: Sure. Just a brief history.  I’ve been working with WooCommerce since one of the early 1.x versions. My wife wanted to sell cookies online. I went through a couple of different plugins. Built a couple of extensions, ended up working at Woo Themes for a while. I went over to work at WebDevStudios for a while. Since then, I’ve been working with both WooCommerce and Shopify. I’ve worked on some of the largest stores on both platforms. It’s been a fun experience.

Bob: Cool. What is Mindsize? Tell us a little bit about that.

Patrick: Mindsize is an agency. Myself, Zach Stepek and Scott Drichel, we’re all e-commerce-focused. Zach works more on the front end. I’m more on the back end and Scott actually has a Master’s degree in, in think, in information science or data science. I asked him once, if I could just call him a data scientist and I can’t, because he is an information scientist.

Together we work on all the aspects of a store: the back end, the front end and helping run the analytics. It’s about making the data work for us, rather than the data holding the store back.

Bob: Cool. We’re going to get into these questions here,

In Episode 66, we are finishing up our series on Affiliate Marketing and Affiliate Programs. We wanted to end with a look at tips for and challenges of running a large-scale program. I couldn’t find a better guest than Alfred Najem, Director of Affiliate Marketing at Bluehost, which is also our ongoing sponsor. Bluehost paid out more than $5 million in affiliate commissions last year and has run a successful and growing program since 2003. If you are thinking of starting an affiliate program for your company, or even looking to improve, give today’s show a listen.

We chatted about:

* The affiliate program at Bluehost and what makes it so successful

* Several key factors a large company should consider when starting  an affiliate program

* One of the largest challenges many affiliate programs find when they are starting out

* Some tips on what can make an affiliate program successful for the affiliate marketer

* A few examples of what has made Bluehost affiliate marketers so successful

Thanks to Our Podcast Sponsor: Bluehost

Transcript

You can also download a pdf of the full transcript here: 

Bob Dunn: Hey everyone, Bob Dunn here, known as BobWP on the web. Thanks for tuning in for our fourth and final show in our four-part series on affiliate marketing and affiliate programs. Today we move back into running your own affiliate program. This time we will be diving into managing a large affiliate program. I could think of no one better to bring in than Alfred Najem, Director of Affiliate Marketing at Bluehost, who of course is our sponsor as well. Hey Alfred, welcome to the show.

Alfred Najem: Hi Bob, thanks for having me.

Bob: Alfred, I want you to share a bit more about the actual affiliate program at Bluehost, but before you do that, can you just tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do as Director of Affiliate Marketing at Bluehost?

Meet Alfred Najem, Director of Affiliate Marketing for Bluehost

Alfred: Yeah, absolutely, Bob. As Director, I manage the department and all of its aspects: cultivation, recruiting of affiliates, support, projections, running multiple campaigns, beating seasonality. Really, it’s pretty much everything in the affiliate department. We have a team of about ten people and we focus on different aspects.

Bob: In other words, you don’t have a lot of downtime.

Alfred: Not at all.

Can you tell us a bit about Bluehost’s affiliate program?

Alfred: Absolutely, Bob. We’ve had an affiliate program since 2003 here at Bluehost and the affiliate program is a large part of our overall marketing strategy. We put a lot of focus on the affiliate channel. We’ve built an in-house tracking system, we offer landing pages, promotional pricing. We’ve put together everything that an affiliate marketer needs in order to be successful in the affiliate marketing industry. One of the most important pieces is we don’t have a cap on the amount of commissions an affiliate can earn. Obviously, when an affiliate is investing time, and efforts, and money in something, for me, there shouldn’t be any cap and that’s how we do it. We have a great team, probably one of the largest affiliate teams in the hosting industry. We are all experienced in affiliate marketing and love to work with affiliates. We love to optimize performance to work on all of the campaigns directly with the affiliates to drive the best results possible.

Bob: Yeah,

In Episode 65, we are diving into the world of apps. And to take us on this journey, we are bringing in Brian Messenlehner, co-founder WebDevStudios and AppPresser to give us some tips on helping you decide if your online store is app ready. We all know how critical it is for any retail site to be mobile-friendly, and that app will not only get you to that point, but will take it even further with customer engagement.

We chatted about:

* Two key factors to determine if your online store is ready for an app

* What you should consider when you hear people saying Another app? I don’t need another app on my phone.

* The features you should look for when deciding on creating that app

* The benefits of using a product like AppPresser vs. having a developer customize it from the ground up

* The top feature of using AppPresser

* Some of the bigger app failures Brian as witnessed himself online

Thanks to Our Podcast Sponsor: Bluehost

Transcript

You can also download a pdf of the full transcript here: WordPress eCommerce Show Episode 65 April 4 2107

Bob Dunn: Hey everyone welcome back to the WP commerce show,. Bob Dunn here, also known as Bob WP on the web. Today we are talking about mobile apps, more specifically mobile apps for online stores. I’m sure you have a few on your phone and often debate about adding yet another one. But today what we want to talk about is if your online store doesn’t have an app, is it time? And how can you know if it is? Well, to help us answer this ongoing question, we are bringing in Brian Messenlehner, who is co-founder of WebDevStudios, co-founder of AppPresser, and author of the book Building Web Apps with WordPress. Hey, Brian, welcome to the show.

Brian Messenlehner: Hey, Bob. Thanks for having me, and hey, everybody.

Bob: So, Brian, I talked a bit about who you are, a very little bit. Can you tell us more of what you do, especially in the world of mobile apps?

Meet Brian Messenlehner, Co-founder of WebDev Studios and AppPresser

Brian: Sure. So, like you mentioned I’m the co-founder of a company called AppPresser. At AppPresser, we have a series of WordPress plugins that allow you to build a mobile app with WordPress. Some people may be thinking,  “How does that work?”. Well, we are leveraging a platform for building mobile apps called PhoneGap. And if you think of WordPress as open source for building websites, PhoneGap is open source for building mobile apps. The idea behind PhoneGap is you build it once and it works across all of the mobile platforms, which is iOS and Android. All AppPresser is, is just a bridge between WordPress and PhoneGap.

Does every online retailer need a mobile app?

Bob: Very cool. And I know that a lot of people are struggling with whether they should even do an app for their online store. Let’s start out with a couple of key factors that a shop owner should watch for that tells them, “Hey it’s time for you to get that app for your online store.” I’m not sure if it’s the number of products, the sales, just when and where does this come in?

Brian: If you’re selling anything online, then you should probably have an app where you could sell those products as well. I wouldn’t say there’s necessarily any right time to introduce an app, but if you’re selling products through your website,

In Episode 64, we continue with our series on  Affiliate Marketing and Affiliate Programs, sponsored by Bluehost. In the third show we are diving back into affiliate marketing. If you are considering taking the plunge, or if you are looking to grow your existing efforts, you’ll want to listen to these tips and insights from Shawn Collins. He has been an affiliate marketer for 20 years and is also co-founder of the largest affiliate marketing conference in the world, Affiliate Summit. Shawn brings a ton of knowledge to today’s show.

We chatted about:

* Shawn’s top two tips for people who are just starting with affiliate marketing or simply trying to monetize their site

* Perceptions around affiliate marketing

* The know-trust-use factor for the products you are an affiliate for

* Why niche affiliate sites work and where people should start when searching for the niche that will work for them and their audience

* Shawn’s top three tips that were not covered in our questions

Thanks to Our Podcast Sponsor: Bluehost

Transcript

You can also download a pdf of the full transcript here: WordPress eCommerce Show Episode 64 April 3 2017

Bob Dunn: Hey, everyone. Bob Dunn here, known as BobWP on the web. Thanks for tuning in for our third show in our four-part series of affiliate marketing and affiliate programs. On today’s show, we are flipping back to affiliate marketing with our guest, Shawn Collins, long-time affiliate marketer and founder of the Affiliate Summit.

Hey, Shawn. Welcome to the show.

Shawn Collins: Now I gave the quick intro, Shawn.: Affiliate Summit. Affiliate marketer. But in a nutshell, can you tell us more about your experience in affiliate marketing and also for those who don’t know, what is the Affiliate Summit?

Meet Shawn Collins, affiliate marketer and co-founder of Affiliate Summit

Shawn Collins: Yeah, sure thing. This year marks the 20th year I’ve been an affiliate consistently. I spent about 10 years as an affiliate manager. Since 2003, we started up Affiliate Summit, myself and my partner, Missy Ward. At this point, it’s the biggest trade show and conference in the world for affiliate marketing. We’ve broadened the tent so it really includes all of marketing. Affiliates are doing everything social and search, content marketing, email, across the board, so the topics cover all of the general marketing and ways to monetize it.

In addition to the conference, we have a magazine called Feed Front that’s free in the U.S. You can get it at FeedFront.com. It comes out four times a year. It’s all people who are practitioners of all these different types of marketing that write all the content.

Bob Dunn: Cool. You know, I just have to say, I went to my first Affiliate Summit,  at the beginning of the year and what amazed me is I’ve been in the WordPress arena. That’s where my affiliates are, but going to it, it was like, “My God,

Last weekend I got my first  taste of the well-organized, learning-packed experience that is WordCamp Miami. Being in the opposite corner of the US, I hadn’t made that trip yet. But thanks to our gracious sponsor Bluehost, not only did they send me to WordCamp Miami, but also made it possible for me to record a live podcast there.

Close to the end of day two, I was joined by Devin Sears from Bluehost, who was my podcast co-host. We then wrangled up a couple of the speakers whose sessions were focused on eCommerce and put a few hard questions to them.

We had the pleasure of talking to Christie Chirinos and Patrick Rauland.

Christie is a Partner in—and Business Manager at— Caldera Labs, a WordPress plugin company. Caldera is the company led by Josh Pollock, who is behind Caldera Forms, a leading drag-and-drop form builder for WordPress, and who also offers a handful of other free and premium plugins. She has been selling online since 2007 and has worked with  eCommerce sites, monetized blogs, technology strategy for nonprofit organizations, and now, digital downloads.

Patrick is a web enthusiast who loves sharing all sorts of content online. He writes tutorials on eCommerce, tutorials how to paint toy soldiers (yes, for real), and has taught a number of online courses at Lynda.com. He has even written a book. He’s was the Product Manager for WooCommerce but now spends him time teaching and consulting about eCommerce.

Today’s chat is perfect for the person who is considering—or has started— selling online and wants to wrap their brain around how to best prepare themselves for the adventure. You’ll find some great tips, insights and even a few good laughs. So listen in.

We chatted about:

* The basics to get started with your online store

* What kind of maintenance you should prepare yourself for

* How to earn the trust of your customers

* Whether you should use an eCommerce platform or a plugin on your WordPress site

* A lot of great eCommerce tips on all aspects of selling online

Thanks to Our Podcast Sponsor: Bluehost

Do check out the gallery of photos from the podcast before you leave.