WEBVTT 00:00.080 --> 00:00.560 Okay. 00:00.560 --> 00:01.340 Welcome back. 00:01.340 --> 00:05.630 Welcome back to essential number three understanding your Shopify store. 00:05.630 --> 00:10.490 Now the purpose of this lecture is to give you a high level understanding of Shopify. 00:10.490 --> 00:15.140 I want you to start becoming more and more comfortable with this software, particularly if you've never 00:15.140 --> 00:16.820 done anything like this before. 00:16.820 --> 00:20.420 As I said in the previous lecture, this is in fact very easy to use. 00:20.420 --> 00:23.960 It's all point and click and you don't need any technical skills. 00:23.960 --> 00:28.280 And so what I hope is that by the end of this lecture, you'll be saying to yourself, ah, yes, I'm 00:28.280 --> 00:29.420 starting to get this now. 00:29.420 --> 00:33.740 I really think I can build out a fantastic business using Shopify. 00:33.770 --> 00:38.840 Now, just before we actually get started, I just want to draw your attention to this, where you see 00:38.840 --> 00:43.610 this message, your trial just started and up the top here talking about selecting a plan. 00:43.610 --> 00:48.920 I want to make it clear right now, at this point in time, you do not need to select a plan. 00:48.920 --> 00:53.840 I want you to get the full benefit of this free trial, as I have so much knowledge I want to share 00:53.840 --> 00:54.410 with you. 00:54.410 --> 00:57.050 And so on that note, let's get going. 00:57.050 --> 01:00.380 And so the first thing I want to show you is something pretty cool. 01:00.380 --> 01:03.260 I'd like you to come over to here where it says online store. 01:03.260 --> 01:08.000 And when you hover over it, you're going to see this little I, I'd like you to click on that little 01:08.000 --> 01:13.970 I and then, believe it or not, what you're now looking at is your very own Shopify store. 01:13.970 --> 01:15.620 At least the beginnings of it. 01:15.620 --> 01:19.550 Of course, we've got a long way to go, and I'm going to be showing you everything you need to know, 01:19.550 --> 01:26.030 but Shopify has already given us a massive head start, completely for free and with no technical knowledge 01:26.030 --> 01:26.750 required. 01:26.750 --> 01:32.600 And I have to say, having been in e-commerce for over 20 years, this really is some of the best software 01:32.600 --> 01:33.380 I've seen. 01:33.920 --> 01:35.330 So let's take a closer look. 01:35.330 --> 01:38.720 So first of all, you have a logo where it says my store. 01:38.750 --> 01:43.820 Then we have a menu, we have home, we have catalog where you're going to be showing all of your fantastic 01:43.820 --> 01:47.510 products, and then a contact page so that people can get in contact with us. 01:47.510 --> 01:52.790 And then over here on the right hand side, we have the ability to search our store, and then finally 01:52.790 --> 01:55.310 a cart and also a checkout. 01:55.310 --> 01:59.810 In other words, absolutely everything you need to build a dropshipping business. 01:59.810 --> 02:03.770 Then scrolling down a bit, we have this image and also this title. 02:03.770 --> 02:08.750 Browse our latest products with a button to shop all so to go directly to our products. 02:08.750 --> 02:13.340 Of course, we could replace this with a fantastic image that really entices somebody to come into our 02:13.340 --> 02:14.060 store. 02:14.090 --> 02:19.220 Going down a little bit further, we have a featured products section, so showing off some of the best 02:19.220 --> 02:20.570 products in our store. 02:20.570 --> 02:23.450 And then at the bottom we even have a subscribe to our emails. 02:23.450 --> 02:26.600 If we had a newsletter that we wanted to send to our future clients. 02:26.600 --> 02:29.060 Now all of this is just the beginning. 02:29.060 --> 02:35.240 We can change everything here, and we can also add in a whole lot of extra and very exciting functionality. 02:35.240 --> 02:38.270 All of which of course, are going to be showing you on the course. 02:38.270 --> 02:43.610 But for the moment, let's scroll back up to the top and then go back to the page where we started. 02:43.610 --> 02:46.640 And it's at this stage that I want to make something really clear. 02:46.640 --> 02:52.880 The page you're looking at here is what I refer to as the admin system, or perhaps the back end. 02:52.880 --> 02:57.950 So throughout the course, if I'm talking about the admin system or the back end, I'm referring to 02:57.950 --> 03:02.330 this page and it's here where we're actually going to build our store. 03:02.330 --> 03:07.460 And then the store itself, the part that your customers are going to see is of course, where we were 03:07.460 --> 03:08.360 just now. 03:08.360 --> 03:13.250 And it's here, much like any site where you might buy something on the internet, where your customers 03:13.250 --> 03:16.250 are going to come browse your products and buy them. 03:16.250 --> 03:20.990 And to make sure that happens, we'll be making your store look absolutely fantastic. 03:21.410 --> 03:23.570 So this is your store. 03:23.570 --> 03:24.890 And then back over here. 03:24.890 --> 03:27.740 This is the back end or the admin system. 03:27.740 --> 03:30.440 This is where we're actually going to be building the site. 03:30.440 --> 03:36.200 It's here where we're going to be adding products, adding extra pages, making our site look incredible 03:36.200 --> 03:42.200 with fantastic images, taking and processing orders, and making sure that you have a continuous stream 03:42.200 --> 03:46.370 of highly targeted traffic to your store to buy your products. 03:46.370 --> 03:48.110 And of course, much, much more. 03:48.110 --> 03:50.600 And all of that is going to be coming up on the course. 03:50.600 --> 03:53.750 But if you're still a little bit unclear, please don't worry. 03:53.750 --> 03:57.710 It will become clearer and clearer as we go through the lectures. 03:57.710 --> 04:03.200 Now, at this point, I want to make an important point, and that is that you do not need to understand 04:03.200 --> 04:07.820 absolutely everything about Shopify in order to build a fantastic business. 04:07.820 --> 04:13.760 In fact, like most software, which is incredibly powerful, you only need a small part in order to 04:13.760 --> 04:15.470 achieve what you're looking for. 04:15.470 --> 04:18.920 And I think an interesting analogy is a spreadsheet. 04:18.920 --> 04:25.310 Spreadsheets these days are incredibly powerful, but for the most part, we really only use them to 04:25.310 --> 04:27.080 add up a couple of numbers. 04:27.080 --> 04:30.350 And to a certain extent, Shopify is a bit like that. 04:30.350 --> 04:37.010 We only need certain parts of this software to build our business, and that's one of the huge advantages 04:37.010 --> 04:38.000 you have on this course. 04:38.000 --> 04:43.790 Because you've got me, I'm going to be showing you at the appropriate time the parts of Shopify that 04:43.790 --> 04:46.340 you need in order to create your store. 04:46.340 --> 04:50.510 So as we go through the lectures, sometimes you might think to yourself, well, why hasn't Tim shown 04:50.510 --> 04:51.110 us that? 04:51.110 --> 04:54.830 And if that is the case, then it will be for one of two reasons. 04:54.830 --> 04:57.590 The first reason will be that you don't actually need it. 04:57.590 --> 04:59.720 So therefore I don't need to teach it to you. 05:00.050 --> 05:05.270 Or the second reason will be that it is actually coming up in the course in a future lecture. 05:05.270 --> 05:10.490 But rest assured, as I've said before, I'm going to be showing you everything that you need to know. 05:10.700 --> 05:16.340 And on that note, what I'd like to do now is to give you a high level overview of the admin system 05:16.340 --> 05:19.640 itself, so that you can start to become more familiar with it. 05:19.640 --> 05:23.480 And to kick things off, by default, we are on the home page. 05:23.480 --> 05:29.060 Now, the home page is effectively a summary or a snapshot of your business at any point in time. 05:29.060 --> 05:33.410 And so it's going to automatically update as you sell more and more products. 05:33.410 --> 05:36.470 But right now it's showing you the setup guide. 05:36.470 --> 05:42.020 But just to say please don't worry about this because I'll be guiding you through all the necessary 05:42.020 --> 05:42.710 steps. 05:42.710 --> 05:50.270 Then going back to the menu, the next three items are the three essential parts of any business, literally 05:50.270 --> 05:51.980 any business in the world. 05:51.980 --> 05:56.060 And those are the orders, the products and the customers. 05:56.060 --> 05:59.660 Every single business must have products that they're selling. 05:59.660 --> 06:02.540 When they sell those products, it creates an order. 06:02.540 --> 06:06.620 And having created an order, that person then becomes a customer. 06:06.620 --> 06:11.510 And so under the product section, we're going to be adding fantastic products to your store. 06:11.510 --> 06:16.730 When people buy them, we'll be able to go over to the orders section in order to manage and fulfill 06:16.730 --> 06:17.480 those orders. 06:17.480 --> 06:22.850 And then over time, you're going to be building up an increasing list of highly loyal customers, people 06:22.850 --> 06:26.840 who want to come back to your store to buy your products time and time again. 06:26.840 --> 06:29.270 Next up on the menu, we have content. 06:29.300 --> 06:33.200 Now, content is where you're going to be storing all of the files for your site. 06:33.200 --> 06:37.970 So let's say fantastic images for your homepage or perhaps images for your products. 06:37.970 --> 06:41.540 All those kinds of files are going to be found under the content section. 06:41.540 --> 06:43.880 Underneath that we have analytics. 06:43.880 --> 06:49.100 So it's here that we're going to be able to see everything about our store, who's visiting our store, 06:49.100 --> 06:50.480 where they're coming from. 06:50.480 --> 06:51.680 What are they buying. 06:51.680 --> 06:53.180 Are they repeat customers. 06:53.180 --> 06:54.590 How much are they spending. 06:54.590 --> 06:55.760 When are they spending. 06:55.760 --> 06:57.530 What are our best selling products? 06:57.530 --> 07:02.420 All those questions and many, many more will all be answered in the analytics section. 07:02.420 --> 07:05.480 Moving on down a bit further, we have marketing now. 07:05.480 --> 07:12.050 Marketing is the lifeblood of any business because of course marketing is all about driving customers 07:12.050 --> 07:13.130 to your store. 07:13.130 --> 07:19.790 And it's why I've dedicated a massive section of this course to teach you how to drive highly targeted 07:19.790 --> 07:23.000 traffic to your store to come and buy your products. 07:23.000 --> 07:26.780 But more importantly than that, I've actually structured the whole section. 07:26.780 --> 07:30.920 As you will see, to start with completely free traffic techniques. 07:30.920 --> 07:37.010 You won't need any money to start driving those initial customers to your store to get your first sales. 07:37.010 --> 07:42.560 And then when you get those first sales, I'm going to show you how you can reinvest that money into 07:42.560 --> 07:49.340 more powerful traffic techniques to further drive more customers and therefore more and more sales. 07:49.340 --> 07:54.380 And then we have discounts, and it's in this section where we can create things like coupon codes or 07:54.380 --> 07:57.500 special offers to help further drive your business. 07:57.500 --> 08:01.820 And so to the next section which you can see is entitled sales channels. 08:01.820 --> 08:03.920 So what is a sales channel? 08:03.920 --> 08:08.960 So a sales channel is simply a point of contact where you will sell your products. 08:08.960 --> 08:11.390 So it could be a shop in the real world. 08:11.390 --> 08:16.520 It could be on a social media account like Facebook or Instagram, or it could be as you're going to 08:16.520 --> 08:20.810 be learning on this course, your very own store, your online store. 08:20.810 --> 08:26.510 And while you might see other sales channels listed here, the online store is the only thing that you 08:26.510 --> 08:28.700 need in order to build your business. 08:28.700 --> 08:33.170 And it's therefore this sales channel that we're going to be focusing on throughout the course. 08:33.560 --> 08:36.050 And then the next section is apps. 08:36.050 --> 08:41.480 Now, I think everybody listening to this course is now familiar with the concept of an app, because 08:41.480 --> 08:45.770 on your phone you would download apps in order to increase its functionality. 08:45.770 --> 08:47.870 And Shopify is no different. 08:47.870 --> 08:54.830 Shopify, in fact, has its very own app store, where we can download all kinds of apps to increase 08:54.830 --> 09:00.500 the power and functionality of your store and of course, amongst the thousands of apps that are available, 09:00.500 --> 09:03.860 I'm going to be showing you exactly the ones that you'll be needing. 09:03.860 --> 09:07.790 And then finally, right down the bottom here, you see the settings. 09:07.790 --> 09:12.830 We're going to be visiting this section quite a lot, but just know that at this stage, it's here where 09:12.830 --> 09:16.280 we can control some of the finer points of your business. 09:16.280 --> 09:20.240 And so that concludes the high level overview of Shopify. 09:20.240 --> 09:24.620 And of course, as we go through the lectures, we're going to be getting into more and more detail. 09:24.620 --> 09:29.870 But the overall purpose of this lecture, as I said in the beginning, is to start getting you more 09:29.870 --> 09:35.420 and more comfortable with Shopify so that you really start to appreciate how powerful and simple this 09:35.420 --> 09:36.410 is to use. 09:36.410 --> 09:42.650 Because if you take a step back and think about it with no expense to yourself and no technical skills, 09:42.650 --> 09:49.190 you already have the beginnings of a fantastic store, and you also have an incredibly powerful admin 09:49.190 --> 09:51.890 system to build an amazing business. 09:51.890 --> 09:56.210 And that in combination with everything else that I'm going to be teaching you, you have everything 09:56.210 --> 09:57.800 that you need to succeed. 09:58.010 --> 09:59.660 So really super congratulates. 10:00.160 --> 10:02.200 For listening to these first few lectures. 10:02.200 --> 10:07.000 I hope you're following along with me, because if you are, you will have already made those first 10:07.000 --> 10:09.250 really important first steps. 10:09.700 --> 10:12.580 So now it's time to start getting into the detail. 10:12.580 --> 10:18.400 I really can't wait to teach you everything that I've learned in my 20 plus years of e-commerce, so 10:18.400 --> 10:20.650 I'll see you in the next lecture.