🍩 Why did the doughnut maker retire?

Because he was fed up with the hole business. 🕳️

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Issue 4: Shopify Alternatives & Posting the Right Graphics

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Having a strong email marketing strategy can mean some serious dough for your business. Good strategy includes lead generation, consistent campaigns and engaging content. It can also mean some serious time. What happens when you only have so much time and can't run all your marketing - Is email marketing really necessary? Maybe not. It would be better to do one thing really well than two things halfway. For instance, focusing on SEO and social media (posting and ads) may be enough until you can afford to hire someone to do your marketing. But once you start making consistent sales, you don't want to lose the customers you worked so hard to get - That is when email marketing can really light a fire for your business!

Let's get into this week's issue.

📰 Knitting Together the Parallel Economy

Did you know Gab has assembled their own Parallel Economy Shopping Catalog? Check it out here!

✎ Expect two to three segments per email, plus a business shout-out (reply with your business!)

True or False - The segment where I destroy some of the marketing advice every business owner has heard (and thought was true).
Newest Freedom Tool - A quick recap of the newest Parallel Economy tool on the internet, what it does, and whether or not it can serve your business.
Social Media Tip - Real steps I take when I promote my clients' businesses.
What I Learned this Week - Whether painful or pleasurable, let's see what I've experimented with this time and how it turned out.
Website Work - If you haven't done this to your website yet, you should.
Article Spotlight - Article I found that gives you insight into growing your sales.
Email Marketing Mastery - Guidance to add more power to your emails.
Take-away - Actionable steps to try this week to further your business.
Gab Guidance - I wonder what this section is about...
Ask me Anything - Answers to your burning questions.
Productivity Trick - Lose the fluff so you can work less and earn more.
Top Thread - Favorite social post with worthwhile content.

🐸 Don't forget to subscribe to the Freedom Business Marketing Gab Feed!

Last week I posed the question...

[Click to view post on Gab]

As you can see, I received a large number of answers. To save you some time, I have provided the best ones below...

WooCommerce was in the overwhelming majority. 💪 Essentially, it is a plug-in you add to your wordpress.org website, customize, and because it's open source, the plug-in is free. You can also add in other plug-ins to further empower your store. Here is an example of this type of store I set up for a client: BruceDorluin.com. This requires you to buy a domain and hosting, install wordpress then install woo as well as your theme and develop the website yourself. 🙋 However, I'm here if you need help with this.
BigCommerce was also mentioned a number of times. 💬 This is a standalone platform - Meaning you setup your website on BigCommerce, as well as your store and any other functionalities. Everything is in one place.
Various Marketplaces would also be useful for additional marketing. For instance, you could add your products to Gab Marketplace, Mammoth Nation, and MyStore.

_The Bottom Line_

The reason I was seeking out an alternative was not because Shopify is a terrible platform - On the contrary, I've cruised many a shopify website, and they can be very powerful. ⚡ Shopify had reached out to a client providing him two days to reword his product descriptions and change all his product labels (about 65 products) because they made claims that they could lower blood pressure, help manage diabetes etc. You can view his store here: NaturesUncut.com

On top of that, Shopify decided to withhold the funds he'd made in sales until they completed their review! 🤯 The audacity

After a heated debate, Shopify "completed their review" and decided the owner could go on as he had before and released his funds. The culprit was actually the payment gateway he was using. They had specific rules about health claims.

⭐ Need Marketing Services? Read below & hit reply! ⭐

Jurina Enterprises, Inc | Email | Website

I've always had a passion for web design as well as advertising. Over the last year, I opened up my business to take on clients for social media, email marketing and website design. Many clients that I represent are Christian small business owners who aren't sure who to trust. Now I support these businesses while working from home and taking care of my family. Feel free to reach out for personalized business services.

🥾 Old School Survival Network

Homeschool magazine including homesteading lessons, self-reliance tips and much more. Visit their Website or on Gab.

📝 Last week I gave you ideas on how to DIY your posts. The biggest struggle I believe many business owners have is selecting or developing their own graphics. So below are some useful tips for leveraging your images.

A couple of notes...

If Using Canva 🟦 - Which I highly recommend - they have a free and paid version. You may be able to skate by on the free version for awhile. To develop graphics, you can search templates for whatever theme you're looking for. For example, if you sell candles, you could search for "light" or "sale".

Once you see something intriguing, click on it. Canva will offer additional templates similar to the one you chose. ⭐ Once you select one, you can make modifications to the color scheme, add your logo, change the text and font as well as add or remove graphics within that graphic.

Here is an example of before and after a template is modified:

A few final tips:

Pay attention to the size. Most social posts can be in the "Instagram Post" or "Facebook Post" size.
Avoid being wordy. Your graphic's text should be very concise.
Try to use the same fonts in every post you make.

⭐ Next Newsletter is Saturday at 9am - Hit reply to send me your marketing questions! ⭐