Aeolidia: Shopify Experts

Are you a 10KSB grad? Email me about the summit in October! Hi Reader, We just returned from our favorite trade show, h+h americas, where we gave two well-received talks. In fact, there was an incident where one of our attendees had written six pages of notes from our talk and then lost them. He was distraught and asked if we could send the slides to him. Twenty minutes later, I found an Aeolidia-branded notepad propped gently against a garbage can. I picked it up and it was his notes! I saw...

Bring Aeolidia to your group or event—read on! Hi Reader, This week, Helen, our Ecommerce Strategist, and I are at one of our favorite events: h+h americas. This is a trade show and conference for craft brands that attracts the biggest names in the business: exhibitors include Bernina sewing machines, Wool & The Gang, and Liberty Fabrics. If your business is craft-related, I'd recommend looking into it. The event organizers have hired us to teach classes about Shopify and Klaviyo, and we will...

We're in Chicago next week speaking at h+h americas! Hi Reader, Whew, lots of heavy topics lately, from when and how to grow to these terrible tariffs! Let's lighten it up this week with a gentler topic: branding! I recently spoke with two branding experts who mentioned that people seem to be drawn to illustration and hand lettering again. My theory is that we've seen so much of those weird, awkward, and bland AI-generated graphics recently that we're recognizing the real value in thoughtful...

Hi Reader, I've just finished reading Predictable Success by Les McKeown. He discusses the seven different stages that businesses go through (learn a bit more about these here), and it rings so true for me. After "early struggle" comes "fun," then "whitewater," then "predictable success" (followed by the stages that kill a business). He says many businesses hit whitewater and then intentionally return to the fun stage. He believes staying in the fun stage is a valid way to run a business. So,...

Hi Reader, I hope you have been doing okay. Obviously, a lot is going on. Normally, I pop into your inbox with advice and solutions. Sometimes, it's more helpful to acknowledge that things don't have an immediate solution and spend a moment in solidarity. So... tariffs! YIKES. I don't have any answers, and since things are changing chaotically with lightning speed, it's hard to tell how much of a problem this will be, though it's clearly a problem now. Here are some highlights and stories I...

Hi Reader, I have more to say on the topic of what to do based on what your traffic is telling you. One of the wonderful shop owners we helped with a Shopify redesign replied to my newsletter to say, "Looks like we are in the low-traffic group, but it's great for the two of us! We are meeting all our business goals." Of course, that's great! "Low traffic" is a descriptor, not a judgment. I've used three traffic groups to determine what to focus on next, but I am not recommending growth for...

Hi Reader, I want to round off our series (email one | email two) about deciding what to prioritize for your online shop by considering exceptions to the general rules. Low Traffic For businesses that get less than 5000 visitors a month (or match some of the other indicators in my second email), I said your priority should be growing your traffic to build a customer base online. When would you want to have a different priority? Other priorities if you have low traffic: Build a website if you...

Hi Reader, Last week, I talked about what to do if you're seeing momentum with your ecommerce channel, and how to grow from there (you can read that here). If that left you wondering what "momentum" looks like, today I'm sharing some numbers to help you evaluate where you're at and what to do next. You can decide on your best next step based on whether your traffic is low, medium, or high. But what group do you fall into? Here is how I think of those buckets. Low Traffic If you fall into this...

Booking website projects for late April—reach out soon! Hi Reader, In my twenty years in ecommerce, I've often seen business owners do the right thing but at the wrong time for their business. Or they've gotten some momentum, but they're wasting it by not taking action. Because of that, I recently put together a talk about how to decide what to do at each stage of your business based on the amount of traffic you get. Did you join me live or get a chance to see it? If not, we uploaded it to...