Chelsea grew up as an artist and even though her college degree and career took her to communications she still created intricate macrame designs. In her free time, all she could think about was her artwork. She started gifting her creations to friends and family until one day a friend offered to pay her for a particularly spectacular macrame plant hanger.
She hadn’t even thought about selling her work before. She did it because she loved it.
Once she sold her first piece, she thought maybe she could sell more. She had no idea where to start. She knew nothing about technology. With a background in communications and a small budget to start her new business she decided to take it all online.
Like so many who are starting a business for the first time she found WordPress and then needing a solution to actually sell her products WooCommerce.
Chelsea is a friend of mine and so when she shared her idea of taking her business to the next level I decided to share 6 ways she could use WooCommerce to leverage her talent and make her rich.
1. Utilize multiple payment gateways
You need to make your customers purchasing decision as easy as possible. One way you can get rid of roadblocks before they happen is offering multiple payment types at check out.
However, as 56 percent of people expect that you provide a variety of payment options, you want to make sure that your other payment options are as easy and quick as (or nearly as) PayPal.
Just like I explained to my friend, you have to make the experience on your website as seamless as possible. Making sure you can handle a multitude of payment options is one way towards that goal. You can also read my post on using Stripe with your WooCommerce store.
2. Create a viral sensation
I know you remember the “Ice Bucket Challenge” for ALS research. That one campaign raised more money for ALS than any single campaign in history. And it was all because it went viral. Think about what creativity you can use to take your brand viral.
Make sure to utilize all social platforms and medium to get the biggest impact you can. I follow a traveler on Instagram who does such incredible videos. He also happens to sell courses on traveling the world, but it is the videos that keep me interested. He has 200,000 followers and I can only assume a large percentage of those follow because of his short videos and continue to make a purchase from him.
Use whatever works for you and your business, but don’t be afraid to work outside of your comfort zone to have maximum reach.
3. Enable cart abandonment
The art of window-shopping isn’t lost on people shopping online. Research indicates a significant number of online shoppers often fill up their carts but abandon them at the last minute.
Don’t let this happen to you. It could be helpful to run through a list of the most common causes of cart abandonment to see if any apply to your site.
These could include:
- High shipping costs
- Forced account creation
- Site too difficult to navigate
- Not enough payment options
- Shipping costs and information not readily available
- Complex checkout process
If any of these sound like a familiar problem in your WooCommerce store then take immediate actions to remedy them.
There are two options you could use for tracking your customers who have abandoned their carts in your store.
The first is a plugin called AutomateWoo. For a $99 license, you can see metrics, send emails or texts, create personalized coupons and more.
The other option is used by our friends over at iThemes it isn’t a plugin, but a service. It is called Rejoiner and they claim to be able to convert at least 15% of abandoned carts into paying customers.
4. Establish an affiliate program
The bottom line: the best way to get repeat sales is to get more of the right customers, and the best way to get more of the right customers is to deliberately leverage the network of the customers you already have.” – Sujan Patel – SujanPatel.com
What I suggested to Chelsea with her artwork was a simple system of asking current clients to refer friends to her website, then anyone who made a purchase at her suggestion would receive 20% off of their next purchase.
You could have a more formal affiliate program through CJ Affiliate (formerly Commission Junction) for example. Through this service you could offer cash payouts for affiliates talking about your goods or services to their own communities.
A great WordPress solution is Affiliate WP. After a WordPress like set up (easy peasy) it fully integrates with your WooCommerce store and comes with these options:
- Unlimited affiliate accounts
- Affiliate tracking
- Coupon tracking
- Referral link generator
- Customizable emails
- Payout logs
Affiliate WP’s price ranges from $99 a year to $499/year depending on your needs and comes with a 30-day money back guarantee.
5. Spend money on Social Media
I met a guy at the ConvertKit Conference who spent $50 a week on Facebook ads and grew his list to 5,000 in a month. It was up to him to convert those potential clients at that point, but with growth like that, there is a lot that can be accomplished.
So, set a budget, large or small and create some ads on social media. Making sure you are paying extra attention to your “call to action” when you are creating your ads.
A simple Instagram ad made a real difference for Chelsea. Her art sales went up a whopping 20% after a full month of targeted ads on that platform alone.
6. Provide real value
I really shouldn’t have to make this its own point, but make sure that your product or service is overwhelming in providing real value. You want every single purchase from your site to have your customer feeling good about their decision to purchase from you. Take it a step further with your unhappy customers. Make returns and exchanges easy and no fuss.
Ultimately, all of these are real steps you can take to strengthen your WooCommerce store and help you make money online.
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