10 steps to become an eCommerce expert

Starting an eCommerce business is overwhelming. There are so many tools to learn.

And if you’re not excellent from the start, you can lose a lot of money on paid ads and inventory.

So I’ve been thinking. In what order would I recommend people learn different areas when building their first eCommerce business?

This is how I would prioritize and learn everything I know if I were a beginner.

Step 1: Set up a Shopify store

I would go with a free theme like Dawn. Dawn is flexible, so you can build most of what you imagine in the customizer without too many struggles.

Don’t worry about buying a paid theme. I’ll explain in later steps.

Step 2: Learn and set up the basic email flows.

Email flows are automatic emails sent at specific triggers, e.g., when someone joins your email list. This is powerful as flows then become a salesperson that doesn't require a salary.

Karly McFarland wrote an excellent book for beginners called "Email is not dead”. I bought it for my girlfriend when she started out with email marketing.

Step 3: Set up an email popup.

This feeds your email flows by capturing emails from whatever traffic you might already have. Your flows can’t send emails if you don’t have any subscribers.

Test offering 10% off, host a competition or create an educational lead magnet about your product.

Step 4: Learn the foundations of designing a top-selling online store.

This ensures you’re not burning money on paid ads in later steps— and improves your site, which makes you sell more.

I'll shamelessly plug my own CRO Handbook. In it, you learn 81 guidelines for optimizing your store to sell the most.

See a demo of the CRO handbook here and buy it here when you’re ready. It's currently only $99. But I’ll increase the price as I add more content.

Step 5: Learn copywriting.

This will make it more likely that you'll succeed in the next steps without losing too much money initially.

It will also make your other sales machines - your website and email flows - better.

Step 6: Learn and start Google and Microsoft ads.

You’re more likely to sell to someone searching for “Nike SB Force 58” on Google or Microsoft than trying to create the demand out of thin air via Meta ads.

So you're more likely to be able to do it profitably from the start.

You'll also get leads from the traffic, which feed your email flows.

"Learn google ads" and "Learn Microsoft ads" gives you plenty of options on YouTube.

I really like the videos by Benjamin from Loves Data.

Step 7: Learn and start Meta ads.

You need to "buy traffic" to really grow.

The traffic also feeds your email popup, which feeds your flows.

Don't skip step 4 even though you want to. It's so easy to burn money on Meta ads when you're new. A well-designed store makes this less likely.

Also, don't skip educating yourself on Meta ads first. It can be very expensive.

Everybody says good things about Andrew Foxwell and Foxwel Digital’s courses.

Step 8: Learn how to A/B test and start iterating on your store. Try to make it even better.

Your site is the final destination for all your traffic. So improving your site makes everything better. You sell more from your emails, your Google and Microsoft ads, and your Meta ads.

Again, I'll shamelessly plug my own CRO Handbook. It currently includes what to test, and I'm working on a tutorial on how to A/B test.

When it's done, I'll put it in the CRO Handbook for previous buyers, too.

See a demo of the CRO handbook here and buy it here when you’re ready. It's currently only $99. But I’ll increase the price as I add more content.

Step 9: Learn more about the financial side of the business.

Unit economics and having your financials under control becomes (even more) important when you grow.

I honestly don't have any good resources here— except for five years of Economics at your local university.

Step 10: Start sending email campaigns when it’s worth your time.

Email campaigns are where you're going to make a lot of PROFITS. So it's important to become good at it as soon as possible.

But you need a lot of subscribers to make it worth your time. So focus on the other steps and grow your email list first.