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One way Shopify store owners can increase sales and revenue is by deploying multiple online sales channels. This is an extremely effective way to reach new audiences and marketplaces with your Shopify products. That said, coordinating a large number of different sales channels can be difficult for busy business owners. For example, you'll need to manage inventory levels across all of your channels, as well as juggle different shipping options and timelines. This requires you to have a good understanding of how to add new sales channels and removing existing online sales channels. You also need to be aware of the potential risks associated with removing a sales channel. Here's a step-by-step guide to show you how. Table of Contents Chapter 1: How to Remove an Online Sales Channel From Your Shopify Step 1: Log into your Shopify admin. Step 2: Click on your store's Settings in the menu and then select the Sales Channels tab. Step 3: Click the trash can icon next to the online sales channel you want to remove. Step 4: Check the box that says you understand the risk of removing sale channels. Step 5: Type in a reason for removing the sales channel from your Shopify account. Step 6: Click remove. Chapter 2: How to Add an Online Sales Channel to your Shopify Admin Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Conclusion Chapter 1: How to Remove an Online Sales Channel On the Shopify App There are many reasons why you might want to remove a sales channel. Maybe you're no longer selling on that platform, or maybe you want to consolidate your sales to one or two channels instead of spreading yourself too thin. Whatever the reason, removing a sales channel from Shopify is a relatively simple process and can be completed in just a few steps. Step 1: Log into your Shopify admin. On desktop, go to the Shopify login screen to enter your username and password. Or, you can log in to the Shopify app on mobile to complete a similar process. Once you have logged in, you will be taken to your Shopify admin. Step 2: Tap Settings in the menu and then tap Sales Channels. Next, click Settings in your store's menu. Then, tap Sales Channels. This takes you to the part of your store where you can add or remove the online sales channels you want to use. Step 3: Click the trash can icon next to the online sales channel you want to remove. Once you're on the Sales Channels page, you'll see a list of all the sales channels you have for your store. To remove a sales channel, simply click on the trash can icon next to it. Step 4: Check the box that says you understand the risk of removing sale channels. After clicking on the trash can icon, a popup will appear asking if you're sure you want to delete the sales channel. Check the box that says you understand the potential disadvantages of removing online sales channels from your shop. Step 5: Type in a reason for removing the sales channel from your Shopify account. Next, you will be prompted to type in a written reason for why you are removing that channel from your Shopify store. You can go into as much or as little detail as you like. This is also optional, so you can skip this part if you like. Step 6: Click remove. Finally, click "Delete Channel" to confirm. Then, the channel you selected should be permanently removed from the list unless you add it back again. You may need to refresh the page to see your changes. If you change your mind and want to keep the channel, you can click the X next to the Delete Channel button instead. Chapter 2: How to Add an Online Sales Channel to your Shopify Admin In addition to learning how to remove an online sales channel, you also need to know how to add new ones. This helps you customize the shopping experience to your target market, whether you're running a retail business or a wholesale channel. Step 1: Log into your Shopify admin. On desktop, go to the Shopify login screen to enter your username and password. Or, you can log in to the Shopify app on mobile to complete a similar process. Step 2: Click on your store's Settings in the drop down menu and then select the Apps and Sales Channels. Next, tap Settings in your store's menu. Then, tap Sales Channels. This takes you to the part of your shop where you can add or remove the online sales channels you want to use. Step 3: Search for the channel you want to use. Type the name of the channel you want to add to your Shopify. Scroll through the provided list to find a match. If you can't find the channel you're looking for, try broadening your search terms. If you still can't find the channel you're looking for, you can try contacting the Shopify support team for help. Step 4: Click Add Channel Finally, click Add Channel to complete the process. You will now see the new channel in the left sidebar, where it will stay until you manually remove it. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About Adding & Removing Shopify Sales Channels What are the risks of removing a Shopify sales channel? There are a few risks associated with removing a Shopify sales channel that may outweigh the benefits for some businesses. The biggest risk is that you could lose sales if that channel is a significant portion of your business. Another risk is that you could anger or upset customers who frequently use that channel. It's important to weigh the risks and benefits of removing a Shopify sales channel before taking any action. Customer support can help you better understand the potential impact before you make the final decision to add or delete a channel. Why is having more than one sales channel important? Having more than one channel is an excellent marketing strategy because it allows you to reach a much wider audience to sell more business and wholesale products. It also gives you the ability to test different marketing strategies to determine which is the most effective and can help you build brand awareness and credibility. For most businesses, diversifying your sales profile is a key component of success. Selling on only one or two channels is unlikely to generate enough business if you're not already a large organization. Which sales channels should I put on my website? More is not always better when it comes to adding channels to your site. Adding too many channels can make it difficult to manage your inventory and fulfill orders in a timely manner. You want to have multiple, but there shouldn't be too many and you need to make sure they're the right ones for your products, audience, and business. It's important to consider which will work best for your business and your customers before adding them to your website. You can see which sales channels other businesses similar to yours use to decide which online sales channels to use on your own website. Select sales channels that your target audience uses the most often or that will bring a lot of value to your online store. You should also select sales channels that give you the opportunity to feature your product listings in the most attractive, effective way to drive the most sales. The most important thing is to make sure that you are using channels that are bringing in revenue and profit for your business. Will I have to change my store settings before I can add a sales channel? Some stores have certain eligibility requirements that make it necessary for you to adjust your shop's settings before adding a new channel. You can find instructions on how to do this in the help section of your store's admin panel. Shopify customer support is also a good resource to check. If you're not sure if your store needs any changes, you can always reach out to the support team to ask questions and get guidance on how you can make the appropriate changes to your settings. Can I add and remove sales channels on a Shopify hosted domain? Yes. You can add and remove an online sales channel on a Shopify domain at any time. You can also add an offline channel, such as point of sale, at any time. If you remove one, any associated products and pages will also be removed from your online store. Do I need a password protected storefront? Having a secure shopping experience is a critical part of managing a successful online business. If you plan to sell products online, you will need password protection to ensure the safety of your customers' information and your proprietary data and intellectual property. If you don't already have a password protected shop, this can be done before or after you learn how to remove sales channel. Shopify checkout options allow you to customize your storefront security at any time to add or update your password for a safer, more engaging user experience. Does this work for the Handshake wholesale marketplace? Yes. You can add and remove an online sales channel for your wholesale store by clicking on the Add Sales Channel screen. Then, click apps that you want to include on your shop tab, like your store's Facebook, your Amazon listings, or even a feed of your Instagram posts. Conclusion Shopify is an incredibly robust, diverse, and dynamic application designed to help businesses successfully sell retail products, wholesale products, etc. Learning how to add and remove an online sales channel from your Shopify is just one skill to have in your marketing toolbelt that can help you tailor your customer's experience. 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As an entrepreneur, you know the importance of high-quality content. It's what helps you attract new customers and grow your business. But sometimes, creating great content can be a challenge, especially if you don't have the time or skills to do it yourself. That's where the best ghostwriting companies come in. These companies provide affordable, high-quality writing services that can help supercharge your content marketing efforts. In this blog post, we will discuss the best ghostwriting companies out there and how they can help you create amazing content for your business. 10 Great Ghostwriting Services for Fast Tracking Your Business 1. Book Writing Inc Book writing can be a lot of work. It requires extensive research, planning, and writing. If you don't have the time or skills to do it yourself, consider hiring a ghostwriting company like Book Writing Inc. Book Writing Inc is a leading provider of high-quality book writing services. They have a team of experienced ghostwriters, editors, publishers, and designers, so you can be confident that your book will be in good hands. Users state that the customer service experience is pleasant and that you will get quick responses from their team. People appreciate the step-by-step process that this service offers and that they provide a free consultation to help you get started. 2. Content Development Pros At Content Development Pros, ghostwriters write press releases that capture your business' story and help you get noticed. At Content Development Pros, they not only develop content, but also distribute it through various channels. Press releases are very affordable through this agency and can cost as little as $49 per project. Entrepreneurs appreciate their quick turnaround time of 2 to 3 days which helps to meet tight deadlines. The quality of their content writing is also highly rated with users stating that the writers are able to capture the "voice" of the business owner. However, some clients report that the customer service team can be difficult to work with, which can slow down the overall process. Still, most users say that Content Development Pros is a great service for getting quality content written quickly and affordably. 3. The Writing Summit If you're looking to self publish a book in 2 to 3 weeks, The Writing Summit may be the right option for you. This ghostwriting service makes outsourcing book writing simple and straightforward. At the Writing Summit, they have a team of in-house writers who are experienced in different genres and topics including creative writing, medical writing, memoir writing, and various non-fiction genres. The company also offers blog, article, website, and translation ghostwriting services as well to help you with all your content needs. One thing to keep in mind is that the Writing Summit does not offer distribution services, so you will need to handle that yourself. But if you're just looking for someone to help you write your book quickly and affordably, this is a great option. 4. Constant Content Sometimes, as a business owner, you need content fast. Instead of trying to hire ghostwriting agencies and paying tons of money for record-breaking turnarounds, why not purchase pre-written content? Constant Content is a content marketplace where you can buy and sell pre-written articles, newsletters, product descriptions, tutorials, and more. They have a team of professional writers who create high-quality content on a variety of topics. They take plagiarism seriously at the Content Marketplace, which is why every piece of content goes through Copyscape verification. A full rights article ensures that your website is the only one with access to it, which in turn bolsters your SEO. 5. HireWriters If you're looking to outsource content writing on a budget, HireWriters may be the right option for you. With this service, you can hire professional writers to create articles, blog posts, eBooks, and more starting at just $1.50 per 100 words. The quality of content is hit or miss and definitely depends on which tier you select. A "skilled" ghostwriter is more affordable while an "expert" ghostwriter will cost almost twice as much money. But time is money, so if this saves you from having to write and edit the content yourself, it may be worth it. This platform is best for owners who are just breaking into the ghostwriting industry and don't need editing services. If your main goal is to get as much content creation done a possible to start ranking a website with blog entries, this site may work for you. 6. Copywriter Today Do you want ghostwriting services from an agency that will provide an all-inclusive monthly subscription? Copywriter Today provides an array of content writing services that include editing and proofreading, all for a flat monthly price. This ghostwriting agency can help you to generate press releases, email copy, brochure content, research papers, lead magnet copywriting, and blog posts. It can truly be a one-stop shop for business owners who want the entire process taken care of when it comes to producing web content. To start, you'll hop on a consultation call with an agent and discuss your content needs. Together you'll determine a monthly word count and price so you can get started. The company will also provide you with an 800-word sample article so you can familiarize yourself with the process. This ghostwriting company provides you with a straightforward dashboard where you can see and manage your writing projects in real-time, which helps to keep business owners in the loop. 7. Hot Ghost Writer If you're interested in the self publishing business and want support from writers who work in several different literary genres, try out Hot Ghost Writer. They have an experienced team of ghostwriters that can support you in fiction biography, adventure, anthology, non-fiction, western, and romance novels. One helpful feature of this company is that they can also provide narration services if you want to release an audiobook as well. Your book will be ready between 4 to 6 weeks depending on your package and will be delivered in one or several formats that are publish-ready. You'll also be able to view real-time updates in the project management platform so you can keep track of the pacing and direction of the content creation. 8. Write Articles For Me If you're a busy entrepreneur looking for the best ghostwriters for writing books at a reasonable price, you may want to try Write Articles For Me. This company writes and formats non fiction kindle books, offers book rewriting services, will help you with editing, and can even help you create book covers. There is a flat fee of $2.50 per 100 words, so there are no surprises or additional fees as there are with many other ghostwriting agencies. Another cool feature of this site is that there are pre-written books you can publish and sell as your own. This is great for those who don't have an idea for an ebook but want to start selling and focus on the marketing strategy over the writing process. The first 10,000 words you commission will take 14 days to complete, and each additional 10,000 words will take another 10 days to complete. Although this service is slower than others on the list, plagiarism-free high-quality writing makes up for the wait. 9. Upwork Although Upwork doesn't exclusively offer ghostwriting services, it is a great place to hire ghostwriters and agencies alike if you want a wide pool of applicants. Upwork allows you to handpick elite others and hire ghostwriters directly, making this platform best for those who want to be more involved in the hiring and writing process. You'll have an array of choices, including native English speakers as well as international staff that can work at competitive rates. A downside to using Upwork is that the quality of applicants can vary greatly, so it may take some time to find the right person for your project. So be patient, and be sure to read Upwork reviews and check out portfolios of freelance ghostwriters before you make your final decision. 10. Nexus Ghostwriting This agency is a great option for entrepreneurs who are seeking creative content writers that can get a book written in record time while following creative specs. They have helped to craft New York Times bestsellers and have a team of award-winning writers. You'll need to contact the agency directly to get a quote for your project, but they offer quick turnaround times and can have your book ready in as little as 4 weeks. Nexus Ghostwriting takes a book idea and creates a full outline, draft, and final manuscript that's ready to be published. You can also work with the agency to take advantage of their publishing services. Nexus ghostwriting provides both national and international exposure, which helps with your marketing efforts. You can expect at least 2 months for the process if you go with this agency, but the results will be worth the wait and completely catered to your preferences and edits. How to Choose the Right Ghostwriting Agency for You Choosing a ghostwriting service can be expensive and take a lot of time if you don't know what you're looking for. Here are a few things to keep in mind when narrowing down your options: 1. What Is the Turnaround Time? If you need a book ASAP, this should be at the top of your list of priorities. If you want consistent articles delivered for your blog over time, you can be more lenient with the turnaround time. Get clear on your timeline before you start looking at agencies. 2. What Is Your Budget? Be upfront about your budget when you're talking to different agencies. Some may be out of your price range, and that's okay! The important thing is that you don't waste anyone's time by continuing the conversation if they're not a good fit for what you can afford. 3. What Is Your Content About? If you have a very niche topic, it may be difficult to find an agency that has experience with that particular subject matter. In this case, it's okay to be more flexible on other factors like budget and turnaround time. 4. How Much Guidance Do You Want to Provide? Some entrepreneurs want to be very involved in the writing process, while others would prefer to hand over the reins and let the ghostwriting service do their thing. Be sure to communicate your level of involvement upfront so that both you and the agency are on the same page. Final Thoughts: Finding the Perfect Ghostwriting Company There's no shortage of ghostwriting companies out there, but not all of them are created equal. Be sure to do your research and ask around before you make your final decision. The most important thing is that you find a company that you're comfortable with and that can produce high-quality content that meets your needs. When you find right fit, you'll be well on your way to taking your business to the next level.

For software designers, there's multiple computers that are considered ideal for the process. Which particular computer are the 10 best computers for UX Design? The answer to that question weighs heavily on the designer and what they're comfortable using. Of course, you have those who swear by Windows. On the other side of the coin, you have Apple enthusiasts - and everything in between. While many designers search out the best computers manufactured by certain tech companies, the most seasoned typically prefer to craft their own piece-by-piece. In this article, we'll cover the most pertinent questions pertaining to UX design. By the conclusion of this article, you'll know the most important components needed to put together a PC optimized for constructing UX designs. We'll answer all the most critical questions regarding the subject. And in conclusion, just for the designers who prefer to purchase their design tools already put together, we'll highlight the best models on the market for this form of design. Components for Building for UX Designers - Piece by Piece First, you need to start with the most basic - the actual computer itself. Do you need a laptop or a desktop? Desktop vs. Laptops for UX Designers One of the first questions you need to answer is whether you need a laptop or a desktop. In many cases, it's the industry standard for the organization you're working with to provide you with a laptop. Let's rewind for a moment. Before you make any decision, you should go into the process looking for quality. Anything you purchase should be vetted for quality. Don't skimp out and buy from the clearance shelf - you'll only regret it in the long run. When it comes to choosing a laptop vs. desktop, there's no denying the fact that a desktop always outmatches a laptop in terms of capability. Pound-for-pound, it's nearly impossible for a laptop to keep up with a desktop in terms of performance. People make a big deal about having a laptop for mobility. However, most users end up placing their laptops on a desk anyway, where they sit indefinitely. If you can manage, it's better to go with a desktop, especially if you're a newcomer. It's important to have all the specs you need instead of wanting more by opting for a laptop. In the end, you can just do so much more with a desktop PC. Battery life also comes into play. Remember, being mobile has no advantages if you don't have a source to replenish your battery life. What Type of Processor Do UX Designers Need? Your processor plays a huge role in how fast your computer operates, and when you've got applications and multiple windows open for design apps and more, you're going to want something substantial. A quad-core should do the trick, but it never hurts to go with someone bigger. When you go with a quad-core, multi-tasking becomes much easier - and trust us, you'll be doing quite a bit of juggling. If there's one piece of advice you take, it should be to never purchase weak processors for UX design - or any type of design, for that matter. It's last important to keep in mind the graphics processing unit. You'll want something that yields accurate color and a high-quality picture. You don't need a graphics processing unit that gaming laptops would have - but you definitely want something above average. If you want to go top-of-the-line, a dedicated NVIDIA GEForce Graphics processing unit is the way to go. You'll want to get a large monitor with a big enough screen resolution so you don't waste all that power. How Much RAM (Random Access Memory) Do UX Designers Need? You can never have too much RAM (random access memory). The average amount of random access memory included in most computers is typically between 4 and 8 gigs. 4 is sufficient for typing and simple document processing, and surfing the web without any videos or downloading. 8 gigs allow you to stream videos and movies and run an additional program or two. If you're doing any type of designing or coding, you should go with at least 16 gigs - and that's at the low end. If you work from your computer - even as a hobby, let's say you build websites or create blogs. How many windows and tabs do you have open at any given moment? Two or three windows? And about 10-15 tabs for each browser? If you work remotely, you're definitely multi-tasking. You've got your team chat platform up, whether it's Slack, Teams, Skype, or any other option. A couple of design windows consisting of a heavy-weight program like 'Adobe Creative Suite. Maybe a few document windows. You need your PC to run efficiently with all these things running at once. Hard Drive Space for UX Designers If you were thinking 60 or 90 gigs, think again. We're not even dealing in gigs here. We're talking about at least 1TB or better. Most likely you're dealing with extremely large files. If you play games or have apps, that's another story. Even if you don't have any currently, it's best to plan ahead. UX Designers Screen Size Options When you design anything on a desktop, believe it or not, a good screen can improve your work a lot more than you think. Laptop screens can only get so big. If it's been a while since you've experienced operating a PC on a large screen, you've probably forgotten the convenience. Do yourself a favor - hook up your laptop to a flatscreen TV or monitor via HDMI and tell us what you think, then. When you have the additional screen space, performing multiple actions at once becomes much easier. Before you pull the trigger, make sure that your computer is able to power a 4K display. Choosing something that has a high percentage of sRGB coverage is your best bet. Graphics Card for a UX Designer Do you know why you never see a hardcore gamer playing on a laptop? Because a dedicated graphics card is better suited for a desktop. If you absolutely have to go with a laptop, go with a 16-inch or better. If you're staring at a screen all day, you want high-quality graphics - well, just because - and, you want to be able to actually SEE what you're doing to produce the best product possible. PC vs. Mac for a UX Designer This battle belongs with the greats - McDonalds vs. Burger King, Ali vs. Frazier, Pepsi vs. Coke - you get the picture. Overall, a PC is substantially lower than a Mac, with a lot more room for customization. However, we strongly suggest going with a Mac unless you play video games on your computer. If you're really hard-pressed and must have access to Windows, there are workarounds if you use a Mac. Can a UX Designer Use a Tablet? Many novice designers inquire about whether they can use a tablet. While a tablet is nice for lightweight tasks, it's not very useful for any type of major design. The lack of full-service applications, a real graphics card, bad lighting, and the small screen just doesn't lend to UX design very well. In addition, the short battery life of a tablet is also a pain, and the screen resolution just isn't there. Why the Apple Macbook Is Such a Great Option for a UX Designer We discussed the Apple Macbook a bit earlier, but let's get into why it's such a great option for UX design. First, the attached hardware and software are just conducive to incredible UX design. Let's be honest - an Apple Macbook delivers nothing but power, without fail, for an extended period. They're as fast as lightning, and they keep ticking. So, which Mac should you get? Most people assume that the latest is always the most efficient. However, in this case, this might not be your best option. Opting for a 2015 version because of the retina display is an excellent option for this type of design. Remember, one of the most important elements is color accuracy, and the 2015 model really delivers on this front. Another advantage of the Macbook is the battery life. You'd be hard-pressed to find anything that operates Windows besting a Macbook in battery life and total running time. What If I REALLY Want to Use Windows? If you absolutely must use a Windows PC, there are a few things you need to remember. It's important to note that when you're using Windows, it's not a good idea to opt for a throwback as in the case of the 2015 Mac. With Windows, you always want the latest. If you can't afford the latest, at least get something respectable made within the last couple of years. The Bottom Line On the Big Two if you can afford it, opt for a Macbook. However, it's important to keep in mind the lack of memory upgrades and storage options. However, this won't be a problem if you build it right. If you enjoy being able to customize your setup and prefer to build on it as time passes, go with a Windows. However, you'll be trading customization for overall life and battery power. Pre-Built Models for a UX Designer In the first portion of the article, we gave you all the specs and recommendations based on someone who was building their own machine for UX design. If you have the knowledge, this is definitely the way to go - you'll always know what you've got in the machine, financially and literally - giving you the ability to run it the way you see fit. Obviously, not everyone is into building their own machine. Luckily, there are plenty of efficient computers on the market for UX design that more than accommodate your needs. We tested out a good portion of these and studied reviews of dozens of models - and we came up with a list of the best laptops for UX designers. The 10 best computers for UX Design 1. Apple MacBook Pro M1 Pro 14" - Best Overall for UX Designer This powerhouse has no problem making it through an eight-hour or more workday and definitely delivers what you need regarding speed and storage. The Macbook Pro is definitely one of the best laptops for UX designers. Any visual designer would agree - the unmatched speed and performance can't be beat, and the longevity is unreal. 2. Lenovo Legion 5 - Best Windows Laptop/Gaming Laptop for a UX Designer The Legion 5 is a versatile laptop. This one has a significant amount of processing power, graphics chops, and RAM. It actually doubles as a gaming laptop, so if you're into that kind of thing, the Legion 5 is right up your alley. Lenovo is known for making stout laptops, and this one doesn't disappoint. 3. Acer ConceptD 3 - Best Two-In-One for a UX Designer This is a high-end model with lots of bells, whistles and plenty of performance specs. It doubles as a touchpad and comes with pencil capability. 4. MSI GF63 This is an excellent model with a huge screen, making it ideal for UX designers. 5. Samsung Galaxy Book Odyssey This is Samsung's version of the Macbook. We must say - we were pleasantly surprised with this model, as it's more than efficient. 6. HP i5 Touch Excellent graphics and a handy touchscreen make this one a favorite for UX design. 7. Apple Pavillion The Apple Pavillion uses GeForce GPU and has a huge amount of SSD storage, meaning you can put all your favorite programs on here with no problem. 8. Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 This is similar to the other Lenovo on our list, only more cost-efficient and a little less powerful. 9. Microsoft Surface Book 3 13.5" This is another touch with Pen support, giving you another 2-in-1 option that works great for design. 10. Asus ZenBook 14" - Best Budget Laptops for UX Designers If you're on a budget but still want something efficient, this Asus model gives you enough to get the job done. How to Find the Most Cost-Efficient Models for UX Designers If you're on a budget, you don't need to break the bank on building a computer or buying the most expensive model. It's possible to stay within the limits of your budget and still obtain a computer suitable enough to get the job done. While it's tempting to purchase the laptop or desktop with the biggest and best screen, this isn't always the best way to save money. If you have your eyes on a certain model and the price point is more than you'd like to spend, the chances are high that there's a cheaper model if you opt for smaller screen size. Laptop manufacturers usually create three or four different models, each with different screen sizes. Instead of going with the biggest size, take it down a step or two, and you'll probably save a few hundred dollars. Most UX designers will jump on a computer with an i7 processor - and why wouldn't they? It is the most appropriate for the job, but it's not the most cost-efficient. You can still make things work with an i5 and even an i3 if you have to. These will lower the price of your computer significantly, netting you a large amount of savings in the end. If you're pinching pennies, opt for a laptop with less internal storage. It might not be the most favorable situation, but you can definitely make it work to accommodate your budget. There's no shortage of options regarding storage space for laptops. If you look for a model with HDD instead of SSD, you'll save yourself quite a bit in the end. However, try to avoid purchasing a laptop with eMMC storage, as these are only efficient for small files, and you'll definitely go beyond the capacity of what they deliver. If you really need to save a few dollars, go with a laptop that yields 8GB of RAM instead of 16 or better. You can still operate at an appropriate level of speed with 8 gigs of RAM. However, you should know that dipping below the 8 gig mark seriously disqualifies your ability to operate more than one program or work on more than one project at once. Choosing the Best Option for UX Designers So what's the best option for UX designers? Well, that depends on a few important points. Do you have the ability to build your own computer? If you have the know-how and the funds, crafting your own unique model is the way to go. Another advantage to this is making upgrades is much easier, as you'll know your way around the computer and know with 100% certainty what's been installed hardware and software-wise. However, if you're not confident in your ability to build a computer from the ground up, it's probably best to purchase a good old-fashioned retail model. If it's your first computer for UX design, go with something a little more economical until you get your feet wet. As we said earlier, you don't have to break the bank to accomplish UX design in a professional manner. UX Designers FAQs What's the better option - a Mac or Windows operating system for UX designers? This is a question that always causes controversy or argument - mostly because of the die-hard fans of either operating system. Normally, you're either all-the-way Apple or all-the-way Windows. In our opinion, because of the importance of everything running fluidly without any crashes or restarts, a Macbook is just much more efficient and possesses more powerful equipment to operate in the way you need it to. That said, this doesn't disqualify Windows computers for UX designers completely. You can still find plenty of models that operate on a Windows operating system that will deliver the performance you require. Can UX designers use tablets? While theoretically, you could, especially if the tablet you had was able to handle the installation of a program or app that allowed you to complete your design. Unfortunately, technically, the performance just isn't there when it comes to a tablet. There's no substantial processing power, no graphics power to speak of, a lack of RAM, and the screen just isn't large and sharp enough to give you the view you need to visualize your work. As a general rule, you want a screen that's at least 13 or 14-inches, and even that's cutting it close. Ideally, you want a screen that's upwards of 20" - 27 or 28" to be exact. Should UX designers use laptops or desktops? This is another commonly asked question. While both are used to complete this scope of work, we feel as if a desktop is a more appropriate option in this case. The power that a desktop is capable of delivering can't be matched by that of a laptop, and that's important in a situation where performance is key. Sources: Laptopified | Uxmag | Techbii

Conversion rate is one of the most important concepts in determining the success of a website and the success of an ecommerce solution. Hubspot's dashboard is the industry accepted standard of CRM tracking, and its conversion rate tools are of course similarly industry standard. Ultimately, in covering how a companies convert deals and moves from deals created to deals closed won, the conversion rate tracking in the Hubspot interface is an important sales tool to make sure that deals are brought to fruition by a company's sales force. Revenue and the steps a company must take to obtain it are built by the Hubspot team as much as by the sales force. Conversion Rates A conversion rate is the percentage of customers who complete a desired action. In web relationships this is either continuing to stay on a website to read content, or purchasing either electronic or tangible merchandise through an ecommerce link. If your conversion rate is high, it's a measure of how well-designed your website is, and how compelling the content you create is. Ecommerce data shows customer engagement in the products that your website offers, whether those products are tangibles or experiences. Your company is probably looking to keep customers on your website as long as possible. Ultimately customers typically spend only seconds viewing a webpage Even with the most compelling content, people's attention spans are short, and improving the length of their engagement is likely to only have moderate effect. In that brief engagement time, your website needs to bring them a compelling reason to stay around and continue to engage. So your web design has to quickly engage a customer's interest. Hubspot is a tool to introduce, track, and manage a company's customer relationships (CRM). On a month to month basis, the wise Hubspot manager will use the dashboard to obtain and calculate the information essential to the company's continued functioning. It's all about web traffic Websites like Amazon and YouTube generate millions of clicks every second. Those clicks create a plethora of data that are used to determine the future of the entire company. Insight generated from that data will be used in subsequent business deals, either with the customer themselves or with other companies for whom your data represents a valuable resource. Happy Bookday To You Let's say you have just launched a brand-new ebook and your definition of a conversion is a sale of one file. With this information in mind, you open your ecommerce site and begin to sell your book. Your ecommerce site sees 4,000 clicks in the first hour. In that hour, it generates 32 sales of the book. That is raw data, and sales are certainly always appreciated. When analyzing this data, however, it's important to understand the goals that it supports. For some websites, 4,000 clicks in an hour is a good rate. For a site like YouTube or Amazon, it might not even be a ripple in the ocean of data they sift on a daily basis. When analyzing your data, you have to be ready to apply the context of the site you're analyzing for. Web Traffic As long as you know your incoming web traffic, and the number of clickthroughs, you can calculate conversion rates fairly trivially. A good conversion rate varies business by business, depending on the area of interest of the business. Book publishing, for example, has historically low conversion rates, as publishers are asking customers to sign on for a long relationship. Paid traffic vs. Organic traffic Another question is paid traffic vs. organic traffic. Organic traffic is traffic that comes by through the internet while paid traffic is sent to your company by a paid campaign. The latter is often more likely to convert than the former. Paid advertising is, however, more difficult now than it once was. Customers who were once open to anything coming into their computer off of the internet have turned on ad blockers because they've gotten tired of interstitials and pop-ups Even something as simple as ecommerce, which a look at internet sources can reveal an average conversion rate in the range of 3%. However, depending on service and on source, a good conversion rate may be .1% or it may be 15%. It's difficult sometimes to determine what data you should be looking at when there are so many variations on the same info. To calculate conversion rate, the sales force manager will need to divide number of conversions, or leads generated, by the number of visitors, or web traffic, and then multiply that by 100 to calculate the percentage. Leads Generated ÷ Visitors x 100 = conversion rate Using the example given above, the clickthrough rate is 0.8%. This data may indicate a successful first hour, depending on your plans, or it may generate significant cause for concern for your company. Either way, this information will determine your future relationship with the book you've just launched. Hopefully this has just illustrated that it's not just important to get 50 more clicks from a webpage. An active webpage might get 50 clicks in a fraction of a second. What matters is getting more of your desired action for every X people who visite the page. And from a user POV, what's important at this point is what you do with the data you've just created. Conversion Rate Optimization Of Your Homepage The homepage is the most important part of customer creation and retention and for many businesses, it's one of their most overlooked opportunities. An overly complicated homepage can turn away customers before they've ever seen what you have for sale, but an overly simple homepage may leave viewers baffled as to how they could become customers. What About Your Homepage The homepage is also the easiest way to see what conversion looks like. A conversion for a homepage is simply a viewer who chooses to click through a link to see what's going on in the rest of the website. That information can be useful to quickly improve your homepage. Your conversion rate goal is going to be based on your industry. A rate of 0.08%, the example above, is probably not going to be acceptable in the travel industry, while it might be quite good in the publishing industry. Creating impressions and building relationships is complicated in any industry. Hubspot's Conversion Rate Tools The real product of the Internet is data. Over the last 30 years, the Internet has created countless terabytes of data on human behavior through click data about people's habits: Who they follow on social media, how to change their minds about virtually any topic, how they choose to spend their time. A customer's time is important. Ultimately, that's why conversion rate optimization benefits both your company and them. The less time a customer has to spend on your website to get what they want, the more likely they are to take what they want from you and not give their business to a competitor. Consider Cart Abandonment An abandoned cart is one of the biggest indicators that your website has a pain point that's causing customers to abandon an order that's almost completed. How many times has a customer left their cart, either deleting items out of the cart or canceling the order? This is an important entry point to understanding where customers are meeting barriers. When you enter a relationship with the customer, they are letting you know what kind of deals they're interested in. An abandoned cart is revenue left on the table. It's a deal that the customer wanted to complete but for some reason, they decided to abandon the deal. Hubspot can help you turn those abandoned carts into completed deals. Relationship Building Using Hubspot Data Building that relationship needs to happen in seconds because the average customer spends just 54 seconds on a website. Over less than a minute, the relationship has to be built and matured, and the customer decides on the next step they're going to take. Either they're going to stay on your website, or they're going to click away to something else. Hubspot's funnel reports can be customized down to a single object to analyze items as minutely as a single object or single deal, based on lifecycle stages. The next step and cumulative conversion rate tools are a simple visualization of how many contacts take a step into the funnel, creating leads and opportunities for the sales team to follow. Report Building Data can be broken down into human-comprehensible reports using Hubspot tools. The funnel report is one of the most useful in Hubspot, with the contacts, deals, and events funnels helping the company see where it's doing well and where it can do better. As the customer gets further down the funnel, one would normally assume that they'd be closer to completing the sale. But often, the deal can be abandoned very late in the process for relatively petty reasons, and while customers will get started with very little hesitation, they like to feel that they have control as the deal continues toward close. A/B Testing Is A Key In testing a website, there's little better to see how you can seal the deal more effectively than an A/B test. By testing different variations on a webpage for different customers, a company can quickly and effectively sort out the effects on conversion rates for different homepage variations. In as little as an hour, trend differences can be tested. Why A/B Test? For A/B testing, conversion rates between minor variations can be easily tested, giving a company direct data that will help them create deals and ad copy that will add value to their websites. Once the A/B testing period is complete, which could be a month, a day, or as little as an hour, select the better performing variant of the feature to be the only feature going forward. A/B testing a quick, easy step, and it's an industry standard marketing tool to choose the best text to use on the web. Performing an A/B Test A/B testing, which is also called split testing, is randomized experiment type where two or more text or image variations are weighed against each other to compare how they perform. Once the test is ready for deployment, it can be put out to customers to see how the variations act in terms of each one's conversion rates. The two or more conversion rates can then be directly compared and the better-performing version can take over for the lesser performing ones. In Hubspot, the most common A/B test variation is the two-version A/B test, which is also easiest to create, and has the advantage that it minimizes variables. Two test pages, two data points. Solving visitor pain points Many companies will tell you that the customers doing you the biggest favor are customers who complain. While complaints can be painful for employees tasked with managing them, and customers sometimes do need to be encouraged to treat those employees with more kindness, they're important to improve your conversion rate. To improve your visitor experience, Hubspot can help you run an A/B test on an element of your user interface that customers are telling you that they're dissatisfied with. This can be as little as a single word on a homepage, or as much as a confusing link to your ecommerce. Offers One of the most common reasons to perform an A/B test is to see what kind of special offer works better to entice a customer to buy. A special 10% discount for new customers, for example, may be a good deal for the customer and the company when a site is starting out and needs to attract new traffic. Free shipping may be the way to go for an established ecommerce venture. Headlines On the internet, headlines aren't just for newspapers anymore. The headline of a blog post or other article on the internet can make or break a website by creating impressions that may be hard to shake. A/B testing on Hubspot can incorporate variations as small as one word in a headline. Once those headline variations are set, the company can move into a testing program that can give a great deal of data for future improvements in web design, directly improving revenue. Trigger Timing In many cases, the A/B test can be on as little as what the optimal trigger timing is for an interstitial. In the case of many newspapers online, it can be beneficial to let a customer get a little bit into reading an article on the website before activating the paywall interstitial. Trigger timing affects conversion rates. Too soon and the customer may not have read enough. Too late and the customer may have read the entire article Step 1: Research Before you begin to build an A/B test plan, you will need to conduct research to see how the website is currently performing. Running tests on the website's configuration before you begin will let you know what your conversion rates currently are, which will let you calculate where you want your conversion rates to be and create the text to try to bring those rates up. The research that determines the A/B test's form can be done in as little as a handful of steps. Hubspot has automatic table generation tools that can break down as few variables as the user needs. These tools can be accessed via the Hubspot dashboard and are live at any time. Once the research is started, if the company decides that an A/B test should be done, it's time to move on to the following steps. Step 2: Define the Experiment An A/B test is a form of experiment. So in this step, defining it by keeping in mind the particular data that the experiment will be looking at is the goal. If the data are poorly defined, the experiment also will be, and may well fail. The whole point of A/B testing is to make a decision, and good decisions can't be made with bad information. Step 3: Create the text variations for your website. With two versions of your copy, which could be differentiated by only the add or subtraction of as little as a few words, you have created your A/B test variations that can then be fed into the system. A/B text or an A/B image are both in the same area of design. A minor variation that can be tested to see which has the greater effect on customer engagement. Step 4: A/B Test goes live With the live date of the A/B test, the two different copy texts become available to customers and will be available to serve. In most cases, the A/B test will be served to customers based on their IP address so that each individual customer won't be aware that a test is going on. Nor should they. The success of an A/B test is linked to its being invisible to the customer. Hubspot tools will help make this step of the test a success. By gating test results by IP address or by country, the table will be filled out. Step 5: Analyze the test results An A/B test seldom needs a month or even a day to get actionable information. On a well-designed website, actionable information can be gathered from an A/B test in as little as six hours. When one of the options shows a clear add of value against the other, select that option to be the main option going forward. A/B testing is a continuous process, so it's always good to run different texts to customers. Step 6: Deploy changes This is also part of Step 5, but deployment of changes doesn't need to be a one-and-done process. A website with a good process should be constantly testing its text to improve its conversion rates. Helping you with this is one of the biggest things you can accomplish with Hubspot. Go to hubspot.com and follow HubSpot on social media to see more information about this and other features to enhance your business. Sources: Hubspot 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 | Adoric | VWO

Why Upload Photos to TikTok? TikTok is best known as a video-sharing site, so some may wonder why uploading photos is a good idea. While photos don't take the place of TikTok videos, they can add much to your channel. A slideshow video with images and text can enable you to convey a message that would be difficult to convey as effectively using only video. For instance, perhaps you want to line up all your products and show each one with a short explanation; a photo slideshow with a fast transition speed would be ideal for such a purpose. Alternatively, you may want to add photos to your video clips to make a point or explain something more clearly. With TikTok Photo Slideshow, you can use both images and videos to create attention-grabbing content. Table of Contents: Why is Speeding up TikTok Photos a Good Idea? How to Upload Photos to TikTok How to Use TikTok Photo Slideshow to Speed up Photos Using a Third-Party App to Speed up TikTok Photo Slideshows Why is Speeding up TikTok Videos a Good Idea? Up until recently, users could only post videos that were up to three minutes long. Recently, however, the platform has changed the rules to allow users to post videos up to ten minutes in length. In times past, it was clear that making a TikTok photo slideshow faster was a good idea. Fitting everything that needs to be said in three minutes is not easy; speeding up a TikTok slideshow video was the only way to create winning content that did not exceed TikTok's time limits However, while companies and individuals can now upload longer videos than before, there are still good reasons to keep your TikTok slideshow videos short. Recent statistics show that the average attention span is 50% shorter than it was a decade ago. Grabbing your audience's attention and keeping it isn't easy; thus, shorter content is often in order if you want people to remember what you have to say and share it with others. How to Upload Photos to TikTok If you want to make TikTok photo slideshow videos, you'll need to create a TikTok account. Once you have done so, open the TikTok app on your computer or phone. On the bottom of the screen, you'll see various buttons. Click the + button in the center. Next, you'll be prompted to decide if you want to upload videos or photos. Select photo upload and choose the photos from your computer that you want to upload. Alternatively, you can choose the photo template option to upload your TikTok pictures. There are multiple TikTok templates to pick from and they can offer an attractive background for your images if you need one. Once you've selected all the photos you want to use, it's time to add any desired special effects. With TikTok, you can add music, text, emojis, and more. There are also some neat transition features for photo slideshows to help you emphasize a certain point and/or keep your audience engaged. How to Use TikTok Photo Slideshow to Speed up Photos Once you choose your photos, pick the music, and add any desired special effects, it's time to turn your photos slideshow into a fast video. To do this, you'll need to select the speed button on the editing page. It's on the top right-hand side. Once you select the speed icon, you'll be given various speed options to pick from. Experiment with various ones to see which one gets the best results. You may need to cut some photos if the transition time is too fast for your audience; alternatively, you may want to add photos once you realize how much time you have left. If you have a combined TikTok slideshow that uses both photos and videos, speeding up the file will speed up all the content, including video and audio content. Bear this in mind when you select music for your TikTok video or save the music selection until after the TikTok video has been sped up. If you intend to record commentary, do so after the slideshow's speed has been adjusted. Using a Third-Party App to Speed up TikTok Photo Slideshows TikTok's video editing tools have much to offer, but you don't have to limit yourself to using these alone. There are plenty of third-party apps that enable you to make TikTok photos slideshows faster. If you use Windows, then Windows Movie Maker will likely be the tool of choice for you. It's free with Windows and has multiple photo and video editing tools to enable you to create photo slideshows to upload on TikTok and other social media platforms. To get started, simply open the program, and click on the Create New Project button on the right. Once you start, you'll see basic tool options listed at the bottom of the screen. You can select multiple photos and videos to add to your new slideshow. To adjust the TikTok photo slideshow speed, click on the settings button in the middle. A screen will pop up with multiple options. Select duration to change the video speed, making it either faster or slower. One good thing about using Windows Movie Maker is that, unlike TikTok, you can adjust the speed for a single image or video clip rather than having to make everything the same speed. Thus, some parts of your video may move slowly while others move quickly. Once you have your speed set, it's time to add music. Select the audio button on the top right-hand side of the setting bar and upload the audio of your choice from your computer. While Windows Movie Maker is a good example of a third-party tool that can be used to make TikTok photo slideshows faster, it's certainly not the only effective third-party tool. Other good options include Quicktime (for an ios device), Soapbox, Screenflow, and Camtasia. If you regularly upload content on TikTok and other social media sites, it's a good idea to work not just with TikTok's photo slideshow program but also third-party programs. You can even upload a video you created on a video editing program to TikTok to not only adjust playback speed but also take advantage of the many great photo and video editing features found on the TikTok app. If you are looking for a platform that enables you to reach tens of millions of young people, then TikTok is likely to be the social media channel of choice for your business. At the same time, it's also a great place to kick back, relax, and record fast motion videos for fun. As TikTok does not allow unlimited video duration, it's important to make your video short and to the point. Currently, videos of up to ten minutes in length are permitted, but it's still not ideal to make your videos as long as possible. Short videos grab attention better than long ones, generating more likes, shares, and likely offering a higher return on investment to boot. Thankfully, creating fast slideshow videos on TikTok isn't difficult or complicated. With a few clicks, you can upload multiple photos and video clips, add in the desired effects, and then make the TikTok video faster to ensure it's clear yet attention-grabbing. Alternatively, you can use a software program to speed up your photo slideshow and then upload the finished product on TikTok. Programs such as Windows Movie Maker offer features that TikTok doesn't currently provide. Alternatively, those who are used to working with a software program may want to stick with it rather than learn how to use a new video editing program. Bear in mind that, in the end, what matters most is not the speed of your slideshow or how it is edited. What matters is how many people view it, like it, and share it with others. While paying attention to speed is important on a platform that limits video duration, it's not the only factor to consider when creating a winning video. Make sure your images are clear, attractive, and attention-grabbing and choose music and side effects with care to create a video that you can be proud of now and in the future.

When you own a Shopify store - or any digital retail space - returns are just one of the costs of doing business. This doesn't necessarily mean your product is no good - in fact, some of the most popular items in retail sales experience some of the highest return rates. The consumer might have a case of buyer's remorse, or maybe their spouse found out and put a stop to the order. Regardless of the specifics, many times there's little that can be done to reverse a cancelation, so it's best to prepare for them by working including them in your over/under during each quarter, Luckily, Shopify return apps exist as a means to optimize your return process, making it much simpler and straightforward for you and your customers. Most of these apps automate the process, making it nearly hands-off for a store owner. However, a large number of these applications exist, making it difficult to choose the best one for your business. We've broken down what we feel to be the best return apps for Shopify. How Does a Shopify Return Management App Benefit My Store? These helpful mobile application that makes it easier for online store owners to provide a streamlined return or refund process for customers. How exactly do these applications make the process more efficient? It depends on the app specifically. Certain apps allow barcode scanning and printing so your customers can scan them back into your inventory before mailing them back off. Other tools might have AI take care of invoicing or credit card processing so you're not interrupted with any headaches. If you're the owner of an e-commerce store, you understand how keeping happy customers can effect your overall success. When you have the luxury of offering a quality return or refund process, this can be a great selling point for present and future customers. The Best Shopify Return Apps 1. Return Prime: Order Return Return Prime is a great app to help take care of any rescinded orders on your e-commerce store. Return Prime allows you to connect all of your digital stores and handle refunds and returns from a central dashboard. In addition, the live chat option gives you the opportunity to help customers follow the correct path to resolve their issue. Highlights Automate all your returns with prior regulations. The app recognizes any special implementations you have in place regarding your refund policy Easily perform quality control by retrieving product photos from customers to ensure they meet quality standards for reselling. ACH transfer, gift cards, and credit card processing abilities. Set up no questions asked return policy Pros Lots of room for customization Top-tier customer support Cons: Confusion about pricing Pricing: Users of Return Prime have three options for pricing: Start and Scale start free. Grow starts at $19.99 per month and you get 60 requests per month. 2. ClicksIt Return Center (Sorted) Clicksit is a great returns application, brought to you by the shipping software Sorted. If you're looking for a robust free option, ClicksIt Return is one of the best. Users only pay if they leverage premium features. Highlights Available for customers in multiple countries USPS printing label options for return labels Plenty of customization options like fully-charged returns and shared return costs Give the gift of convenience to customers across the globe Pros No cap on the number of returns, even on the free version Customizable template for return policies to create your own Cons: Reports of bugs causing problems while using the app. Pricing: Completely free with premium features you must pay for. 3. Returns and Exchange Portal This application is marketed under the ReturnGO umbrella. Returns and Exchange Portal aims to bring a positive experience to the refunding process. Use your company's branding with customization tools to personalize the experience and help your shoppers remember your brand. Allow your customers to print return labels directly from your online portal of this returns app. Highlights If customers don't receive their orders within a designated period, they have an option for easy cancellation. Returned items can be returned to inventory or donated. It's up to the customer. Prepaid return shipping labels are easily printable, making shipping easy for your shoppers 24/7 support to help with returns or store configuration. Pros Top-tier staff Easy on your budget Cons: Not the best for larger businesses Pricing: $9.97/month 4. Returnly Returnly helps owners manage refunds with little effort. This self-serve portal for your customers allows them to finalize returns through a simple and straightforward process. Easily track the return product, issue refunds, and communicate with customers regarding the status of their claim. Highlights Lots of helpful integrations with logistics organizations and other Shopify apps. Provides tips on the performance of your refund system Refunds can be transferred and stored as Returnly credits. Returnly has multiple l locations ougio[io Pros Every page is updated regarding inventory, making real-time changes to alert you of low stocks Real-time alerts for every step of the return process Cons The basic plan is, well, basic. The customer service team is hard to contact Pricing: 14-day free trial, then customers have options for Basic for $29/month, Shopify for $59/month, and Advanced for $149/month. 5. Rich Returns Rich Returns is an app that's known for specializing in RMA returns and exchanges for various digital retailers. One of the most noteworthy features of Rich Returns is the fact that it's available in multiple languages, making the return process easy for shoppers in several countries. Highlights Rich Returns works with over 50 carriers, including majors like UPS, FedEx, USPS, DHL, and more. Returns can be auto-approved, or you can manually accept them right from the dashboard of the app. White-label return tracking report available for customers. This is a great selling point and assurance for making a purchase. Users of other apps can migrate to Rich Returns without losing any information or running into any roadblocks. Pros: One of the most affordable options Multiple hubs make returning easy from any location Cons: Owners can't directly contact or connect with carriers, which can be frustrating. Pricing: Four pricing plans: Standard for $9 per month, Pro for $29, Premium for $99, and Plus for $199. 6. Automated RMAs and Returns Automated RMAs and Returns is a great application if you're looking for something to handle your store almost completely on auto-pilot. This app handles all the most basic - but pertinent - features you need from a returns app. Highlights Saves you a significant amount of time during the returns process Exceptional for busy store owners who don't have a lot of help Allows clients to handle every part of the return process without contacting you Customers can print pre-paid labels at their convenience. Owners can monitor profit gains and losses during the returns process and update clients from one convenient dashboard Pros Great for a one-man operation Clients who prefer to expedite the process can handle things on their own Pre-paid labels available for customer convenience Cons Not the most advanced if you're looking for upgraded features Pricing: Starts at $19 per month. 7. Sorted Returns Center This app provides automated returns for Shopify owners. Use a central dashboard to handle returns on automatic. Create your own guidelines with data tracking for important specs. Offer customers a branded self-serve portal to begin the process and keep track throughout the duration of their experience. Highlights Send branded emails and direct messages to customers with updates on the process. Customers can choose an exchange or a return with a refund Automatic generation of labels for return packages. Pros: Aftership returns center sorts through everything and streamlines the process Top-tier integration with other applications Cons: Expensive at top tiers Pricing: Free, $20 per month, $50 per month, and $500 per month. 8. ClickPost Returns Plus Clickpost Returns Plus is an excellent option for handling customer returns and requests for exchanges. Shopify owners can make short work of exchanges and returns and give customers one of the best post-sale treatments in the industry. You'll also have the advantage of receiving automatic tracking information via the notification system, giving you real-time updates Highlights A branded portal gives customers a way to track their rescinded orders in real time. This also increases brand loyalty. Online retailers can post rules for refunds and returns like designated windows, restrictions on certain items, free returns, and more. Merge all your RMA and exchange instances through one comprehensive dashboard. Separate refund requests by dates, locations, and other specs. Notify customers automatically using WhatsApp and text. Track and notify regarding customers' refunds. Pros: This app collects customer comments and delivers a detailed performance report based on returned items, customer complaints, and performance. Great customer service and easy onboarding Pricing: With the free plan, you'll have access to 20 returns. The basic plan for $50 a month includes 120 returns, and finally, the Pro gives you 500 returns for $200 monthly. 9. AfterShip Returns Center Definitely, one of the best Shopify returns apps, Aftership handles rich returns and optimizes the returns process so you can handle other parts of your business. Generate brand awareness and engage your customers with portals decked out in your brand swag. Give customers the power of choice by allowing them to save for store credit or cash. Set rules to eliminate unnecessary loss and fraud during the returns process 13 carrier options for customers and an aftership returns center for handling large volumes of complaints Pros Weekly reports informing you how well the application is operating Fastest refund processor Cons Manual mode can be confusing if you decide to turn off automatic mode. 10. Return Rabbit Return Rabbit is one of the best returns management apps for handling return requests and helping to automate returns. Prepaid shipping labels are available through the branded returns portal, making it a self-service Shopify store. You'll also reap the rewards of actionable insights regarding trends and numbers on returned products. Highlights QR Codes and labels to complete returns Rules for returns are customizable to automate the process Tailor-made options for your shoppers that help convert returns into exchanges Pros Simple and effective dashboard Some of the best customer service on the market Cons New app so it's still too early to say Pricing: Standard is $200 per month, Growth is $400, and Market Leader is $515. Choosing the Best Returns Management Apps for Shopify 1- Cost When you own a business, you have a certain number you need to hit when it comes to revenue, and understanding your outgoing expenses is important. That said, the cost of any returns management apps should be seriously considered as to whether the application you've selected is giving you your money's worth. Take stock of the features on any returns management apps, and you should be able to get an accurate gauge of whether you're overpaying. 2 - Tracking When returns management apps allow you to track packages with additional options like your logo, colors, slogan, social media graphics, feed, and more - your customer engagement increases exponentially. Brand loyalty also increases, and your chances for additional sales or upselling also rises. 3 - Refunding The best returns management apps normally contain multiple options for refunding your customers. These methods include ACH transfers, COD, gift cards, store credit, and other currency or repayment options. When shoppers are happy and feel as if they have options during the returns process, it makes them want to continue to do business with your brand. 4 - Customer Service It's important that there's a voice when customers want to reach out with concerns/questions or challenges with the returns and exchanges process. This saves your organization from obtaining too many complaints. 5 - Performance Analysis Optimizing your current customer service and return process is the only way of experiencing better returns. Obtain a returns app that delivers routine analysis that gives you all the pertinent information regarding returns in general and your response to these returns. 6 - Multi-Language Capability When your store goes global, it's critical that you begin offering ways of communicating with customers who speak different languages across the world. One of the best ways to make foreign-language customers feel at home is by offering services in their native tongue. 7 - Multi-language Support If your online store has customers from all over the world it's important for you to look for a returns management and exchange app that speaks the language your customers understand. Try to select a Shopify app that provides multilingual support to reach out to customers and provide a holistic shopping and return experience to them. The Bottom Line On the Best Shopify Returns Apps The best Shopify returns app can bring a lot to the table for store owners - they can even increase profits and retarget customers. Choosing the most appropriate application that optimizes your return process is important, so you may need to do a little homework and make some important decisions. How do you envision your returns process going? After a customer returns an item, will you provide cash or store credit? Will you print return labels, or will shipping labels be the customers' job? All of these questions must be answered before you select any returns app - otherwise, you're just wasting your time. Try a few different options and get a feel for what works best based on the customer journey and the size of your organization. After some trial and error, you'll discover the best Shopify returns apps for your business specifically. Sources: Shopify 1, 2 | The Digital Merchant | Bugreporting

What is Facebook Ads Manager? Facebook ads may cost money, but it has a high ROI potential. In fact, estimates show that Facebook alone influences more than half of all user purchases. Facebook offers multiple advertisement options for those who want to promote a product, service, or business. You can select target demographics based on age, gender, geographic location, and more. You can choose to display ads about social actions a person has taken to their Facebook friends. You can also decide if ads will be shown on desktops, mobile devices, or both. All advertising options are controlled via the Facebook Ads Manager homepage. This page is essentially the "control room" for your Facebook ad campaign. You use it to post, edit, or remove ads. Furthermore, it offers in-depth statistics to help you monitor the progress of your campaign. Table of Contents: Is it a Good Idea to Have More than One Facebook Ads Manager? How to Add a Facebook Ads Manager to an Ad Account Adding a Facebook Ad Account Admin, Ad Account Manager, or Ad Account Analyst? Can I Remove a Facebook Ads Manager from a Facebook Page? Is it a Good Idea to Have More than One Facebook Ads Manager? Having more than one Facebook ads manager isn't obligatory, but there are several reasons why it could be a good idea. First, not all business owners are good at social media ad creation and management. When setting up a new business, it can be smart to grant access to a qualified freelancer or agency that can set up Facebook campaigns and keep tabs on their progress. Furthermore, as a business grows, a number of people may need admin access to the Facebook ads manager page. Perhaps a team of people is responsible for running a number of targeted campaigns designed to appeal to varying target audiences. Maybe your business wants to reach people in more than one language. Working with one or more social media managers can help you create a winning ad campaign faster and more easily than would have otherwise been possible. It can also help you develop innovative marketing ideas that can be used not just on Facebook but also on other online and offline platforms. How to Add a Facebook Ads Manager to an Ad Account 1 - First, login to your Facebook business page (business.facebook.com) 2 - Click on Ads Manager only left side Once you click on the Facebook Ads Manager tool, you'll be taken to your Facebook campaign management page. On the left sidebar of this page, you'll see various icons. 3- Click on GEAR ICON the first one from the top below the horizontal line. This is the setting icon. Once you click on settings, you'll be taken to the ad account setup page. On the right-hand side, you'll see a large blue button allowing you to add one or more Facebook ad managers. 4 - After clicking on the "Add People" button, you'll see a dropdown menu asking which type of people are being added to the account. You can choose if you will be adding the individual in question as an Ad Account Admin, Ad Account Manager, or Ad Account Analyst. Bear in mind that only a friend can be added in any of the above capacities. If the person you want to add isn't a Facebook friend, he or she will need to ask to be friended, and you'll need to accept the person's request. If the person does not have a Facebook account, he or she will need to create a Facebook page so you can give access to your ad management page. Adding a Facebook Ad Account Admin, Ad Account Manager, or Ad Account Analyst? As was touched on above, there are several setting a business owner can pick from when adding someone to a Facebook ads account. Facebook Ad Account Admin A Facebook ads admin has the same level of access as you. This person can put up ads, take down ads, edit ads, view statistics, and even remove an ad account advertiser or analyst from the account. Furthermore, a Facebook ad account admin can also add other admins or even remove current admins. You should never add another ad account admin unless you completely trust the person you are granting access to your Facebook account. Facebook Ad Account Manager Facebook ad account manager (also known as ad account advertiser) offers the ideal level of access for anyone who is helping you manage a Facebook advertising campaign. Facebook ad account managers, like admins, can view, edit, put up, and take down ads. They can also view the statistics to monitor your advertising campaign and make data-driven decisions. However, an ad account manager cannot add or remove admins. You still retain full control over your account and can remove the manager should the need arise. Facebook Ad Account Analyst An ad account analyst can help you not only collect data but also understand the data so you can tweak your advertising campaign to better meet the needs of your target audience. It's wise to have an ad account analyst check your account periodically to ensure you're reaching the right people in the right manner. An analyst can also help you conduct A/B testing to see which ads are the most appealing to the people you want to reach. An account analyst has far less authority than an ad account manager. The analyst can view ads, ad reports, and statistics, but is unable to make changes to your ad campaign. Can I Remove a Facebook Ads Manager from a Facebook Page? Removing a Facebook ads manager or analyst isn't difficult. Go to the settings page of your campaign (as you did earlier to add a person to your account) and then click on the add/remove person button. Once you do so, you'll be allowed to select the manager or analyst you want to remove. This button can also be used to change the permissions and access level of an existing manager or analyst has to your account. If, for instance, you want to allow an analyst to have managerial access to your account, you simply have to click on the person's name and give the individual a manager account. Conversely, you can also limit a manager's access by changing the person's level from manager to analyst. You can even remove other admins from your account or limit their level of access by following the steps outlined above. However, bear in mind that a fellow admin can do the same to you. In such instances, it can be difficult if not impossible for you to regain your admin level unless the existing admin gives you access to your account again. Adding a person to your Facebook ads account is not a decision that should be made lightly. Anything you post on social media will never totally disappear even if you delete it. The wrong wording or image in an advertisement can haunt your business and hurt it for years to come. At the same time, working with a Facebook manager and analyst offers great benefits to any business owner. Qualified, experienced social media marketers can help you identify target audiences, tailor ads to meet the needs of consumers, engender brand loyalty and keep customers coming back to your business, and even kickstart an organic social media campaign by creating ads that people will want to like and share with others. Thankfully, it's not hard to add or remove Facebook ad managers or analysts. This freedom enables you to partner with those you need to work with at any given time while retaining full access to your account, so you can manage it as you see fit long-term. Sources: What are Facebook Ads? | Meta Business Help Center Facebook Ads Management: 4 Tips for Managing Facebook Ads (webfx.com) HOW TO ADD A USER TO FACEBOOK ADS MANAGER - FIS (fiswebdesign.com) How Do I Give Someone Access to my Facebook Ads Manager Account | (alpinesbsolutions.com) How to Get or Grant Access to a Facebook Ads Account (disruptiveadvertising.com)

When you're an online merchant with a digital storefront, one of the most important tasks is optimizing your products in taxonomy to create a seamless customer experience. Nail this process down, and it becomes much easier for consumers to find exactly what they're looking for - especially if your store has a large inventory. Producing a product page requires little tech know-how or website design skills. However, arranging your inventory pages in a way that's less confusing for your visitors takes a little more finesse. Creating specific product types that fit into categories is one of the most common ways to create an enjoyable, straightforward shopping experience. It's also important to ensure your store's search function is dialed in, so customers are landing on the right pages and being shown the right products. If you own a Shopify store, all of this is accomplished by creating Shopify Product types. We've compiled all the necessary info into an easy-to-follow guide that even the greenest e-commerce store owner can understand. What is a Shopify Product Type? To put it simply, a Shopify product type is a designation or label for products that make it much easier to organize them in your digital store. Things like tools, electronics, jewelry, and beauty supplies are all great examples of product types. Product types play a significant role in the journey of an online shopper, extending far beyond providing a designation of the type of products a customer is looking for. These categories are also used for certain apps that recommend similar items that might interest a consumer as they navigate towards checkout. Items labeled with similar keywords can trigger complimentary or add-on products that a consumer might find useful, or make the initial product easier to use. Using tags, Shopify store owners can go from here to create collections (groups of similar items as mentioned above). An automated collection leverages product tags to offer items at the right time. Shopify Stores and Shopify Product Types Taxonomy is the term used to describe the way online store owners group and itemize their inventory. A taxonomy, or a type, of product is identified in multiple ways, including by product type, vendor, or tag. Many Shopify store owners - especially newcomers, run into confusion regarding these labels. It's important to find some form of clarity when it comes to these designations, as they're such an integral part of any successful Shopify store. Grouping by Vendors Whoever is responsible for sourcing your products is known as your vendor. By using the vendor classification to itemize your inventory, it makes re-ordering product much simpler. Do you have a high demand for a specific item or segment of products in your store? Have you had difficulties ordering and the right amount and types of these products? For example, the right sizes of a certain type of shoe. When you're managing your inventory, filtering through all of these labels, streamlining the process is much easier as a fair amount of manual work is eliminated. Types of Products The type of product is an important designation for any item in your inventory. Grouping items using this tag isn't much different than using the vendor tag, as many products will only fall under one specific type. Qualities of different product types and other characteristics may further break these down. Certain apps can take this even further, deploying other shopping, marketing, and other strategies to help you leverage different creatives and other strategies. Using Tags Tags could be the most useful/important label, especially considering how heavily your store's search function weighs on the optimization of your tags. Owners may choose to customize tags on their own, or allow the theme to designate groups of tags. Using Product Type In Shopify Many store owners are easily confused regarding the process of adding product types in their stores. However, it's actually a simple job - broken down step-by-step in the list below. 1- Navigate to your Products After choosing "Products," you'll want to click "Add a Product." This leads you to a section allowing you to add a title, description, pictures, etc. 2 - Organize Types of Products You have full control over the organization of your inventory by leveraging the right-hand side panel. 3 - Product Status Drop the menu down on the Product Status area and you'll be able to select the type of organization you'd like. If necessary, you can type the name of a new product type and save it for automatic use later. Save all your progress, and you're done. Using Product Types - The Right Way Now that everything is grouped the way you want it, it's important to learn how to efficiently use all these grouped inventory products to make your store run like a well-oiled machine. The next step entails setting up different circumstances, allowing you to leverage the power of these product types in the most efficient way. Automated Collections When you have a collection that consists of certain item types, you'll need to choose what type product type is equal to. Actually, you're choosing a "condition" that the product type equals. By using the condition correctly, the different product types are populated. Regardless of what you choose, it's critical that any condition you select for a product needs to match the section it's equal to before any purchase is made. Using this example, only compatible items or complimentary items are able to be grouped with items under certain conditions. Using Tags If you'd like to use the condition you've create, then the condition you chose for the product tag to be equal to would be the section or category that contains the other products you selected. It sounds. tedious, but store owners may upload tags in bulk, eliminating a significant amount of time. Already-created tags may be used or you can opt to create your own variations. Difference Between Product Types and Collections Many store owners get confused regarding the differences between product types and collections. The primary difference is that collections are used to assist your shoppers to find t the products they want as fast as possible. Collections are to help your customers find similar, variants, or additional products and encourage upsells. Are both of these required? Neither of these are required as a Shopify store owner, but they certainly don't hurt your cause. Product types are simpler, but assist your shoppers much more than you originally thought. Using collections is a bit more intricate, and requires more planning prior to deploying this strategy. It's important to be aware of a "map" to use to segment your collections, and use them in a way that makes sense to your customers and the shopping process as a whole. It's worth noting - and you should be warned, that half-heartedly using collections or not devising the right strategy can hurt your store. It's easy to have a huge mess on your hands much faster than you could imagine - and it's not fun to work backwards to clean things issues up on Shopify. Optimizing Your Store Using Product Categories There's so many ways for shop owners to enhance the way they sell products on Shopify. It seems like a substantial amount of action is going on at once, and while leveraging a custom product type or product tags, the name of the game is optimizing the way customers find products and interact with your store. Your main function should always be to keep your products organized, give your customers a better understanding of your product list or inventory, and keep a clean page. Stick to this strategy, and there's no reason you can't have several Shopify stores turning tremendous profits. FAQ What is a product variant? A product variant is a taxonomy used in Shopify to label an alternative form of a product within your inventory. Variants can be extremely useful, especially in your customer's experience and giving them the opportunity for additional or multiple options. Optimizing your store and including product variants gives your customers access to the same product but in different varieties - a green drill, a red rill, a black drill - you get the idea. Creating products variants is as easy as altering the metadata for the chosen products's SKU. Product variants can also be extremely powerful when it comes to standing out from the competition or distancing your brand from competing brands. These can become really powerful if you have items in your store that the competition doesn't have variations of. Product variants can also be used to drive sales in general or push upsales. Where can I find "product type" in Shopify? Product types show up all throughout your Shopify store. This happens whether you have digital or physical goods. These could be considered certain product types. This can be broken down even further by categorizing more specifically. Physical products: Books, jewelry, clothes, beauty/cosmetics, tools, electronics, pet toys, etc. Digital products: E-Books, Video Tutorials, Masterclasses, Guides, music downloads (singles or whole albums), movies, etc. Digital products can be categorized into product types "subscription" and "service." Services may include mentoring, teaching, consulting, coaching, or any other direct transfer of information. Subscription categories might include food subscriptions, cologne or perfume subscriptions, the shoes-of-the-month-club - the possibilities are endless. What's a good example of a product type in Shopify? Referencing the the hierarchy types of products are a great example of product types. For example, a dog supply store hierarchy might include: Dog food Dog toys Dog clothes Dog beds Dog leashes Dog training products This type of hierarchy can exist in nearly every type of store imaginable. How will you use product types in Shopify? Sources: https://egnition.io/a/articles/shopify-product-type-vs-collections-what-s-the-difference https://blog.avada.io/shopify/docs/add-product-type.html https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/details/product-type

Are you ready to make money online, even as a total beginner? Get ready to explore some options that can help you make money fast and in the long term. From being an online tutor to gigging with Uber to writing masterpieces with freelance writing, you can make it happen. People shop online, and many platforms pay good money to appear in search engine results to ensure people use their services and contractors. That's where you come in: it's not exactly free money, but by putting in the hours and taking advantage of your existing expertise, you can make money online starting today. While this isn't professional financial advice, it is written based on years of experience of making money online starting with just an internet connection and a laptop. You'll have to test websites to see which one works best for you to make money. Most of these gigs pay via PayPal or direct deposit, but some gigs like Uber provide you with your own debit card and instant cash when you complete a job -- that's great if you need to make money online or with apps fast. Table of Contents Become a Freelance Writer Do Online Surveys Start a Dropshipping Business Become an Affiliate Marketer Stream Your Games and Monetize Design Websites Sell Online Courses Open an Online Store Take On Virtual Assistant (VA) Work Become a Mechanical Turk Earn Advertising Revenue Get Gigging With Instacart, Shipt, Uber, Lyft Transform Your Day Job Additional Ways to Start Making Money Online for Beginners Become a Freelance Writer Freelance writing is one of the most popular ways to make money online. To get started, post a few blogs on a free WordPress blog, Medium.com (which you can also monetize if accepted into their program), or LinkedIn. Make sure your blog posts are on the niches you'd like to cover. To ensure you can earn money online as a freelance writer, do some market research regarding rates in different niches that match your capabilities. If you're a travel writer and also have a medical background, for example, you'll find that medical writers generally earn more money. After you've published a few pieces, you will need a portfolio. As you publish, add your bylined work to your portfolio. This will help you get more work. If you can write a good blog post about an area of your expertise, you can unlock many opportunities. For beginners interested in making money online with their writing skills, we recommend FreelanceWritingGigs.com and ProBlogger. Once you get some experience there and continue to publish bylined work, it's time to explore other platforms like UpWork and WriterAccess. You can also pitch marketing agencies directly -- they're always on the look out for reliable writers. Do Online Surveys Online surveys are a fast way to make money online. Most beginner level surveys don't pay much when you do them, but focus groups often seek professionals in specific business areas. If you're already fully self-employed or have a day job, your opinions and experience could be especially valuable to an online survey company -- it's just a matter of finding one in your niche. Taking online surveys usually earns a few dollars to start and involve clicking through the survey. However, this can lead to more complex focus group opportunities that include video chats, which tend to pay much more for your time. Find these businesses by connecting with market research companies on LinkedIn to make more money than you'll get on standard survey sites. Start a Dropshipping Business Dropshipping is a tried and true online business idea. You create a website, list products from a third party such as Alibaba, and customers buy the items via your site. The dropshipper then ships the product, and you get a percentage of the sale. A dropshipping business allows you to sell products without actually holding any stock. We suggest sticking to a niche you're familiar with, such as costumes or sports supplies. You can leverage your expertise through blogging and social media posts to encourage sales. Another variation of dropshipping is called drop servicing, which utilizes service-based businesses instead of physical products. Become an Affiliate Marketer Affiliate marketing isn't the best way to make money online fast, but over time, it can produce incredible active and passive income. As with freelance blogging and dropshipping, it can help you immensely to learn search engine optimization (SEO) to increase your success. Affiliate marketing is similar to dropshipping in that you are supporting the purchase of someone else's product or service. If you're willing to niche down, there's a lot of opportunity here. When you're looking at making money online to begin with, start with a known affiliate program such as Amazon. Amazon and most affiliate programs will provide a special affiliate link that you can use when writing about or posting on social about an Amazon product. When someone clicks through and buys that product (or another item), you get a little monetary reward. If you list affiliate links regularly for your readership, it's a recommended way to earn extra cash over time. Stream Your Games and Monetize Are you someone who likes to play video games? Make money playing games! Maybe you want your own online talk show. If so, consider monetizing your content by streaming video games online. While Meta is trying to get into the game streaming business, Twitch is the main online platform for streaming games. Users can subscribe to your channel (Amazon provides free opportunities for this from Prime members) and they can also provide "bits," which are pieces of Twitch currency that you can convert back to real money. You can earn cash by streaming regularly and building your fan base. Design Websites Are you handy with a content management system (CMS) such as WordPress? If so, consider designing websites for clients. You should have your own website as a portfolio example. From there, engage friends, family, and local small businesses as clients -- then scale. Website design is one of the more popular online business opportunities, as there are plenty of online course selections from which to learn about it. As with freelance writing, you can also secure work via agencies. Sell Online Courses Are you a subject matter expert (SME)? Many SMEs make money online by creating, advertising, and selling online courses. The structure generally works like this: Provide a free 101 course Advertise the course on an online platform or social media site like Facebook Collect email addresses as people sign up for the free course At the end of the course, provide a call to action: get the paid course to learn more -- or hire you as an expert for consulting You can also create a paid membership community on Facebook, which allows your community members paid access to your expertise. Open an Online Store You can create your own online store. Platforms like Etsy are especially useful if you're a crafter, but you can sell digital products on Etsy as well. Earn extra money by letting your store work for you, even when you're asleep. Etsy also provides you with done-for-you shipping options, so you can print your labels and mail your products instantly. The back-end tracking is especially useful for sellers, and it'll take just a few minutes to complete fulfillment. Plus, you have your own business, you name your own price, and you can make a few hundred dollars or more in your first month! Take On Virtual Assistant (VA) Work Are you great at being organized and managing projects? Do you like tying up the details of projects for other people? If so, you could be someone's lifesaver as a virtual assistant. Virtual assistants manage social media accounts and make online income for completing virtual tasks for people who are too busy. Most who would hire virtual assistants don't need someone full-time, but may need you to work for them for several hours per work. You can find clients on LinkedIn or on online platforms specifically dedicated to help virtual assistants make money online working. Become a Mechanical Turk With Amazon Many companies have lots of tasks to manage, but need help organizing those tasks. That's where Amazon comes in with their Mechanical Turk service. Instead of hiring what Amazon calls a "large temporary workforce," Mechanical Turk lets companies pay for manageable tasks via this platform. Best part about it? This is an ideal way to make money online for beginners. Earn Advertising Revenue Did you know that you can make money online with advertising revenue? Sites like YouTube allow you to opt-in to start making money online with ads. They place relevant ads in your content, and you earn revenue. There are several types of online ads available to content creators looking to make money online. Some pay you per impression (when it displays), but most give you a click through payment, and/or more payment when a customer buys. In this fashion, you can make money online via your YouTube channel with your YouTube videos. Get Gigging With Instacart, Shipt, Uber, Lyft Surely you have heard of services like Instacart, Shipt, Uber, and Lyft. You can make money with food delivery, driving people around, and delivering packages with these online platforms connected to apps. Once you're approved with these apps, it's a really fast way to make money. Some even offer a sign up bonus. Gigging with these types of apps are online jobs that help you earn a full time income fast, and many small business owners start their other online businesses while they are gigging with these platforms to get started. Transform Your Day Job What are you already good at? If you're in a day job already, you can make money online or create an online business using the skills you already have. You can save money (by not having to take tons of courses to become an expert). Additional Ways to Start Making Money Online For Beginners In addition to the above opportunities to help you make money online using online platforms and your own talent, there are many small businesses looking for your help when it comes to attracting users to online shopping and more. Always check social media platforms for more opportunities Consider additional online sites and online jobs such as digital marketing, a data entry job, becoming an expert on search engines, selling stock photos online, selling items on Craigslist or Facebook marketplace, online tutoring, and making your own successful mobile app. Some opportunities, like the ability to sell stock photos, won't make you money overnight. Other opportunities such as driving for Uber will net you easy money as soon as you're approved. There are slow and fast ways to make money online, and most affiliate programs pay out quarterly or monthly for those using an affiliate link. You may need to combine more than one way to make money to produce a full time income, or to support yourself while you are building your own small business. Earn rewards online and keep track of all your expenses when it comes to your independent contractor work. You can make money shopping and earn cash directly with apps like Honey. One of the best ways to make money online is to come up with something no one has done yet. What's a product or service people need to solve a problem? What are their online shopping habits like? When do they shop, and when are they most likely to see online advertising? The ability to answer these questions can help you make money online. Don't let your unused internet connection go to waste -- get online and start making money online today! Sources: MTurk | Nerdwallet

Gift cards are some of the easiest products for retailers to sell, especially during the busy holiday season. No matter what product you offer, selling gift cards is an easy way to boost sales, traffic, and revenue for an e-commerce business. That said, many POS platforms make offering gift cards a tricky and arduous process for business owners and customers alike. Enter Shopify gift cards. These prepaid cards work on any online store that uses Shopify as a checkout solution, which means there are over 1.75 million options of where gift cards can be purchased from. (Backlinko) If you're an online retailer, then you've definitely heard of Shopify—but how do you add a Shopify gift card option in your sale process? This can be confusing, especially if you're new to Shopify as a whole. Luckily, we've got you covered with a complete guide to how do Shopify gift cards work so you can get started before the holiday season is in full swing. Read on for everything you need to know about Shopify gift cards. Table of Contents: What is a Shopify gift card? How to add a Shopify gift cards page Why should I offer Shopify gift cards? FAQs and helpful tips What is a Shopify gift card? Shopify gift cards work the same as other gift cards for online or retail stores—customers can gift a certain amount of money on a card, then the recipient can use it to cover part of or an entire purchase. Shopify gift cards come with a unique code that is then entered during the Shopify checkout process. Certain retailers can set a card expiration date after a certain length of time, while others can opt to not have an expiration date. Retailers have a few different options when it comes to how they choose to offer Shopify gift cards on their store. (Shopify) They can be sold in any of the following methods: Sold in an online store like other products Issued for free to customers as rewards, incentives, or part of a loyalty program Shared via social media links to gift cards and products How to add a Shopify gift cards page Now that you know what a Shopify gift card is and how it works, here's how to go about adding the Shopify gift card feature to your online store. Note: all levels of Shopify subscription plans are eligible to use gift card functionalities on a Shopify store. Step 1: Activate the gift card feature Activating the gift card feature allows you to sell or offer gift cards. You will not be able to sell gift cards on your store without enabling this feature. To do so: (Shopify) On the Shopify admin dashboard, toggle to Products then Gift cards. Enable Add gift card product. Your first gift card should be automatically generated upon enabling this feature, but its status is automatically set to draft to let you edit it before it goes live on your website. Step 2: Add a new gift card product and new gift card denominations The gift card product is what is sold in your store and what the customer will purchase when they wish to buy a gift card. There are two ways to add gift card products: new denominations or updating existing ones. Here's how to add a new one. (Shopify) On the Shopify admin dashboard, toggle to Products then Gift cards. Click Gift card products. Click Add a gift card product. The following information will need to be added when enabling a gift card: Title: What the gift card product will be called, i.e. Holiday gift card. Description: How this product will be described on your storefront. This should explain how they can be redeemed in your store. Media: An image or a video of the gift card. Denominations: The amounts your gift cards will be available in. According to Shopify, there are several denominations that will default automatically. The denominations will be saved as different variants of the original gift card product. Search engine preview: How your gift card will appear on the search engine results page. Consider making this as SEO-optimized as possible. Sales apps and channels: Which of your sales channels gift cards are sold on your store, and whether it's available to be purchased. This is where you'll publish the gift card so users can purchase, it or schedule it to go live at a certain date or time. Organization: Where Shopify gift cards live on your site. It's recommended to add them to an existing collection so customers can easily find and purchase them. Click Live to see the gift card on your webpage, ready to purchase. To sell your gift card and make sure it's tracked on one or more of your active sales channels (as the default is to not have it published on these channels), click Make products available so it's displayed. Step 3: Update existing gift cards If you want to change the name, description, picture, or any other aspect of a Shopify gift card, you can easily update information (or remove it altogether). (Shopify) On the Shopify dashboard, toggle to Products then Gift cards. Click Gift card products. Click on the name of the gift card you wish to edit (i.e., Birthday gift card) and update the categories you wish to edit. Why should I offer Shopify gift cards? It's a smart idea to offer Shopify gift cards as a business owner for a number of reasons, the biggest and most obvious being sales. Gift card sales can help boost revenue and drive more interest and traffic to your site. Since Shopify gift cards are paid for upfront and can be used on any Shopify store, these boost sales, cash flow, and offer loyal customers a convenient way to shop online. Gift card purchases also drive brand awareness and vastly expand your customer base. Since these are often given as gifts for holidays, birthdays, and other big events by existing customers, you can find new customers for very little lift on your end. Another big win for offering gift cards from Shopify is how easy they are to work. If you want to give away a free gift card as part of a giveaway on social media platforms, offer them for a limited time for holidays, or just easily manage gift cards, Shopify makes their gift card experience easy. From the customer perspective, a huge draw for gift cards is their convenience. We've all been in a situation where we needed a last-minute gift for family members, friends, or coworkers and it's too late to get a physical gift. Gift cards are a wonderful solution for gift-giving conundrums, and ensure the recipient can purchase something they really like. FAQs and helpful tips You're bound to still have a few questions after the initial setup of gift cards on your Shopify store. Here are a few FAQs and helpful tips for getting you comfortable with this new addition to your sales offerings. How to redeem gift cards Customers can redeem their gift card code on any channel that utilizes Shopify checkout. This includes your online shop, a Shopify POS, Facebook Shop or Messenger, or the Buy button. (Shopify) Then, the unique gift card code is emailed to them with the address they used to make the sale. The gift card can then be used by entering the gift card code in the corresponding field during the process of checking out. Gift cards can be used on multiple orders or just one. If the balance of the gift card covers the purchase in full, then customers can hit Complete order as they would with other payment methods. If the gift card balance does not cover the amount fully, the customer is then prompted to choose a secondary payment option in order to finish the sale. How do I issue free gift cards? If you're using a Shopify gift card as an incentive or reward for your customer base, then you'll need to be able to create gift card codes without a customer prompting it. Here's how. (Shopify) On the Shopify admin dashboard, toggle to Products then Gift cards. Click Issue gift card. Enter the value of the card. You can choose the value of the card. Toggle to Find or create a customer and enter the email address of the customer to get the gift card code. Set an expiration date and add a note if you'd like to do so. Click Save to issue the gift card. How to customers check their gift card balance? Customers are able to check the balance remaining on their gift card by clicking the link emailed to them when the gift card was issued. This shows the remaining balance, expiration date, and code. How do I add gift card product amounts? On Shopify, customers are not able to customize the balance of their gift cards when shopping online. It's up to you as the business owner to set up the amounts gift cards can be purchased—though you are able to issue a custom amount to a customer after they've paid. (Shopify) What rules apply to gift cards? Certain regions have gift card rules and regulations, like if they have to expire and the minimum tax amount. Consult a legal or tax expert in your area for more information. (Shopify) The ability to purchase a Shopify gift card for your store is a fantastic idea for boosting sales, increasing traffic, and winning over more loyal customers. Now that you know how they work and how to manage them, there's nothing stopping you from adding this functionality. Sources: Backlinko | Shopify (1, 2, 3)

Most people who want to write a novel do so on a computer. However, writing a novel on a tablet may be a good choice. They are smaller and lighter than laptops, so they are easier to carry around. This means that you could easily work on your novel at a coffee shop or even a park. Also, tablets have numerous apps that can help you write your novel. These apps may include spelling and grammar checking features and more. The vast selection of tablets on the market means that there are many great writing tablet options. To see which of these tablets is best for writing a novel, we've looked into important features like battery life, on screen keyboards, screen size, external keyboard options and more. Read on to learn more about the best writing tablet options for novelists. Table of Contents Microsoft Surface Pro 8 iPad Pro iPad mini 6 Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra Microsoft Surface Go 2 Amazon Fire 7 Lenova Yoga Tab 13 iPad iPad Air Our Pick: The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra Microsoft Surface Pro 8 The Microsoft Surface Pro 8 is the leading writing tablet from Microsoft. It has a large screen size to make working on multiple pages at once easy. It also comes with a choice of two powerful Intel processors. Finally, this is the best writing tablet that comes standard with Windows 11. It is important to get a tablet with a larger screen size if you are going to be working on a novel. The Surface Pro 8 has a 13-inch screen, which is one of the largest displays of the devices on this list. This display has a resolution of 2880 x 1920, which is very high. This means every individual letter that you've written will be sharp, even if the display is showing hundreds of words at once. The Surface Pro 8 has a choice of two Intel processors. The standard processor is an Intel i5 chip, while the more powerful processor is an Intel i7. The i5 is powerful enough to handle any app you may use when writing a novel, but you may want to opt for the i7 if you plan to play games or edit high-resolution videos. While the Surface Pro 8 is one of the better writing tablets on the market, it does have a few drawbacks. Neither the keyboard nor the stylus come standard. Both are expensive optional extras. Also, the battery life is not as impressive as Microsoft would have you believe. iPad Pro The iPad Pro has been one of the leading tablets for creatives since the first version was released several years ago, and the latest version is no different. This version is quite expensive, but it is one of the best writing tablets out there. It has an extremely high-resolution display to enhance readability. Its lightning-fast chip allows you to work on extremely long documents (like novels) without any noticeable lag. It also has longer battery life than premium Android tablets. Perhaps the most striking thing about the iPad Pro is its exceptionally bright and crisp display. At 12.9 inches, it's not the largest display of any of the devices on this list. However, its 2732 x 2048 pixel resolution sets it apart. This will enable you to appreciate the beauty of any font you choose, no matter how stylized it may be. The iPad Pro features Apple's new M1 processor. This processor is designed to handle extremely taxing apps like those used for professional video editing and graphic design. This means the chip has no problem handling word processing apps with absolutely no noticeable lag. You would expect a tablet with such a large and high-resolution display to have a short battery life. However, this is not the case with the iPad Pro. It has a noticeably longer battery life than other high-end tablets. This means that you can work on your novel for many hours at a time without having to stop to connect a charger. As good as the iPad Pro is, there are a few negatives. It is quite pricey, with an MSRP of over $1000. This price does not include the keyboard or stylus, as these accessories are optional extras. Finally, the display only looks better than those on competing tablets when viewing the highest resolution content. iPad mini 6 If you love iOs tablets but cannot afford the iPad Pro, the iPad mini 6 is a great writing tablet. It is very light and compact, so it is easy to take it anywhere you want to work. The display is very crisp and bright, though it is a little on the small side. The mini 6 also has a fast processor. The iPad mini 6 is one of the lightest and most compact tablets on this list. While this means that it does not have a large screen size, this tablet weighs only 0.7 lbs. It is less than eight inches long and only a bit over five inches wide. The iPad mini 6 has an 8-inch display. It is a high-resolution Liquid Retina screen that is more than crisp enough for writing. However, it can only show about one printed page worth of text at a time. This makes revises large chunks of text more time-consuming. While you might expect a smaller and more affordable tablet to have a low-power processor, this is certainly not the case with the mini 6. It has an A15 Bionic chip, which makes this little slate faster than every other iPad except the premium iPad Pro. It is also significantly faster than most small Android tablets. While the iPad mini 6 is one of the best small writing tablets, it could be better. It is more expensive than most tablets in its class. It also does not have a headphone jack, so you have to use wireless headphones if you like to listen to music while you write. Finally, Apple's excellent Magic Keyboard is not available for the mini 6. However, there are aftermarket keyboards available. Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 If you're looking for a great Android writing tablet but the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra is a bit too pricey, the A7 is a good choice. It is much more affordable, as the MSRP is less than $300. However, it still has more than enough performance to suit any novelist. Its 10-inch screen is large and crisp enough for reading and writing. It has very good battery life, which makes it one of the best writing tablets for long sessions. The A7 also supports quick and convenient USB-C charging. As novelists spend hours on end staring at their device's screen, writing tablets have to have top-notch displays. At 10 inches, the A7's display is large enough to display large blocks of text at once. Its 2000 x 1200 pixel resolution isn't the best, but it is good enough to display all major writing apps. However, the display is a little dim. This shouldn't be too much of an issue for novelists, as most who write on a tablet will dim the screen anyway. The A7 has extremely long battery life. It has longer battery life than competing iOs and Android tablet options, which means that it can withstand multiple long writing sessions before needing a charge. When it does need to be charged, it can juice up using a convenient USB-C cable. This means that you do not need access to a wall outlet to charge up the A7. You can easily charge it off a laptop computer or a similar device with a USB-C port. Though the A7 is perhaps the best writing tablet for novelists on a budget, there are some concerns. While its Qualcomm processor is powerful enough for writing, you will encounter noticeable lag when running any resource-intensive application. Similarly, the relatively dim screen is not a problem for writing but does hurt the gaming and video streaming experiences. Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra is a great writing tablet. It has a large, high resolution screen that makes reading text easy. It also has numerous relevant apps that writers will find useful, as it uses the Android operating system. The S8 Ultra even has an optional keyboard that is great for long writing sessions. Perhaps the only drawback is the price, as this writing tablet retails for over $1,000. One of the most important features that makes the S8 Ultra an excellent writing tablet is its 14.6-inch display. This is the largest screen size of any tablet on our list. This allows writers to look over larger chunks of their work at once, which makes revising novels easier. This display also uses high-resolution OLED technology. This makes text easy to read, even if you are using a small font size. This leading writing tablet even has a lightning-fast Snapdragon processor. You might not think that writing apps require fast processers, and this is true for short documents. However, writing apps can lag or crash when working on a novel on a tablet with a slow processor. Novelists will certainly not have to deal with this while using the S8 Ultra. Another important feature that any great writing tablet needs to have is a stylus. This allows writers to handwrite their work instead of typing it up. Many novelists prefer to handwrite their first drafts. The S8 Ultra comes with the S-Pen stylus. The S-Pen already had a reputation for being one of the best tablet stylus pen options, and it has only gotten better. The S8 Ultra's S-Pen technology has even lower latency than before, which means there is almost no noticeable lag when writing with this stylus pen. Finally, the S8 Ultra has excellent battery life. This is because it has a large 11,200mAH battery. This means that the tablet will stay powered through long writing sessions. Microsoft Surface Go 2 The Microsoft Surface Go was criticized by most tech reviewers. However, the Go 2 is a much better tablet. While the original's thick bezels resulted in a relatively small screen, the Go 2's thinner bezels allow a significantly larger screen. The original also had a pathetically short battery life, but, the Go 2's battery lasts far longer. The Go 2 also boasts far better performance than the original tablet. This makes the Go 2 one of the best tablets for writers. The Go 2 boasts an excellent 10.5-inch screen. The display is large enough and crisp enough for novelists to review hundreds of words at once. Its 1920 x 1280 pixel display might not be quite as good as the iPad's, but it is more than adequate for writing a novel. It also works well for gaming or streaming video when you are taking a break from writing. As previously mentioned, battery life is essential for a writing tablet. The original Go had a battery life of about six hours during real-world use. The Go 2's battery can last twice that long, making it a much better writing tablet than the original. The best tablets for writers have to have powerful processors, as working on extremely long documents causes less powerful tablets to lag. The original Go tablet suffered from this type of latency. However, the Go 2 has a cutting-edge Intel m3 processor that can handle resource-intensive apps without lagging. The Go 2 still doesn't have the best performance, but it is more than powerful enough for writing a novel. The biggest drawback, however, is the included Type Cover. This is a cover with an integrated keyboard. It could come in handy for writers, but the keyboard often fails to register inputs. Amazon Fire 7 If you are on an extremely tight budget but still want to get a good writing tablet, the Amazon Fire 7 is your only real option. The main benefit of the Fire 7 is its extremely low price, though the price is subsidized by ads. It has incredible performance for its price, as it is as fast as some tablets that cost $200 more. It also has hands-free Alexa functionality, which the previous Fire tablets did not have. Most writers are on a tight budget. The single biggest factor that makes the Fire 7 one of the best tablets for writers is its extremely low price. Its MSRP is $59.99, though Amazon often puts it on sale for less than $50. This is at least $100 less than tablets for comparable performance. The Fire 7 has a 1.3 GHz quad-core processor. This processor is powerful enough to handle large documents and the most popular writing apps. It is noticeably faster than the processors included in the previous Fire tablets. The previous Fire tablets required users to activate Amazon Alexa by tapping the screen. As Alexa is supposed to be hands-free, tapping essentially defeated the purpose of the technology. The Fire 7 features voice-activated Alexa. As you might expect from such an affordable tablet, there are several trade-offs for the low price. The most noticeable of these trade-offs is certainly the stream of Amazon ads. The tablet's lockscreen is covered without adds unless you pay about $15 extra. The display also has a relatively low 1024 x 600 resolution. Even text doesn't look great on the Fire 7's low-rent screen. Finally, the Fire 7 runs on a modified version of Android and cannot use the majority of the apps in the Google Play Store. Lenovo Yoga Tab 13 The Lenovo Yoga Tab 13 might be the most underrated device on our list of the best tablets for writers. It has a large screen size at 13 inches. It also has a long battery life for extended writing sessions. It even has a built-in kickstand, which comes in handy when you are using a wireless keyboard. One of the Yoga Tab 13's biggest draws is its large and crisp 13-inch display. Its 2160 x 1350 pixel display isn't the highest resolution screen on the market, but it is vivid and sharp. The screen and the Yoga Tab 13's excellent speakers make streaming videos the thing to do when you are taking a break from your novel. You might expect a tablet with a large and bright screen to have a relatively short battery life, but this is not the case with the Yoga Tab 13. It has a longer battery life than most of the other tablets on the market with similar screens. This makes this laptop great for both writing sessions and gaming sessions. Perhaps the Yoga Tab 13's most unique feature is its built-in kickstand. Most tablets require a cover with a stand. However, the built-in kickstand really comes in handy when you are typing with a wireless keyboard. It'll hold the display steady so that you can easily read what you've written. While the Yoga Tab 13 is good choice for a novelist, there are some negatives. The built-in kickstand makes it difficult to find a cover that fits. The tablet does not have a rear camera, though this might not matter too much for a novelist. Also, the Yoga Tab 13 does not have 5G Internet capability. iPad The Apple iPad has been one of the leading tablets on the market since it was introduced, and this still holds true many years later. It has an excellent display and a quick processor. It also has a great keyboard that is included as a standard accessory. The iPad has always had one of the best displays on the market. The current model has a 10.9-inch screen with a 2360 x 1640 resolution. It is still one of the leading displays in this price range. The new iPad features an A14 Bionic processor. This is an upgraded version of the chip that was in last year's iPad. Last year's chip was fast, and the new A14 Bionic chip is even faster. Perhaps the most important benefit the iPad offers for writers is its Magic Keyboard. This keyboard is among the best on the market today. It is responsive and comfortable. One of the only drawbacks to the 10th generation iPad is its price. It has an MSRP of $449. This is $120 more than last year's model. There are several laptops on the market that offer similar performance for significantly less money. The new iPad also features the problematic Apple Pencil stylus. This stylus feels good when writing, but it's a pain to charge. The iPad also does not have a storage slot for the stylus. iPad Air The iPad Air slots in above the iPad but below the top-of-the line iPad Pro. The new version is significantly more powerful than the previous iPad Air. It also has a beautiful display and long battery life. One of the most impressive aspects of the iPad Air is the power of its processor. It has a fast M1 processor that can handle any writing app and a whole lot more. It is even powerful enough for heavy-duty gaming. In fact, the M1 chip makes the new iPad Air nearly as powerful as the iPad Pro. The iPad Air has a 10.9-inch screen. The 2360 x 1640 pixel display is sharp and accurately displays different colors. This display can display text beautifully, no matter what color or font style you use. Despite the bright, high-resolution display, the iPad Air has a very long battery life. There isn't much to fault about the iPad Air. Its optional keyboard is quite expensive. However, it is comfortable and responsive. The keyboard is probably worth it for novelists. Our Pick: The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra There are many great tablets on our list, and any of these devices would be a good writing tablet. However, we've chosen the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra as the very best. It's not cheap, but it's certainly worth the investment for any serious novelist. One of the deciding factors was this tablet's stylus. The S-Pen provides a feel very similar to that of writing with a quality pen. This means that novelists who are used to writing by hand can use the S8 Ultra without being thrown off. The large display, which can show several printed pages worth of text at once, also lead us to choose the S8 Ultra. Finally, the long battery life makes this tablet perfect for writing novels. If you use some of the other tablets on this list, you might find yourself having to stop in the middle of the session to connect a charger. This can disrupt your rhythm. However, you won't have this problem with the S8 Ultra.

Mailchimp is a fantastic way to get information to your email list subscribers. However, people have complained because there is no obvious way to attach a PDF in Mailchimp! Fortunately, there is a trusted workaround: you can upload your PDF to Mailchimp and it makes a unique URL to pages hosting your file. This also prevents security software, like that enabled in Gmail, from tossing your important message into spam -- especially if your new subscriber just paid for this valuable information from your business. Your contacts won't need to log into Mailchimp or any other website to access the file -- it's one click, then a "Save" confirmation, making it easy and convenient for them. What is Mailchimp? Mailchimp is a longstanding mailing list management system used for email marketing. In Mailchimp, you can create an email and send it to your subscribers. Mailchimp will help you use email marketing legally and effectively, and you can create multiple types of emails in Mailchimp. From a brilliant design to something simple or minimalist, Mailchimp can help you more effectively communicate with your customers. You can use Mailchimp to provide updates, information, links to your blog post, advertise deals and announcements, and more. This includes sending images and other files such as PDFs files to your mailing list. Why Would You Send a PDF with Mailchimp? Many marketers and small business owners use PDFs as part of their offers for signing up to their Mailchimp email lists. When the person signs up, it can trigger an automatic email campaign to welcome them to the list. The deal is usually like so: the user/subscriber provides their email address in exchange for something, such as a discount code -- or in some cases, an informative document like a PDF. What type of PDF you send depends entirely upon your business. You might add an attachment like a PDF that provides a list of resources to your subscriber. Or, maybe it's a whitepaper or an e-book. Either way, most people give away a PDF as a freebie for email list subscription -- it's a pretty good strategy for building your email marketing list, and it works well as a Mailchimp campaign. Please note that this also works with PDF files and other file types, such as key archive files, numbers presentation files, EPS document files, WMV spreadsheet files, CSV files, ICS image files, and epub audio files. It also works with general image files like jpeg files. Once you get to file sharing with Mailchimp, you'll be a fan no matter what file type you are hoping to send. Drawbacks of Emails With Attachments Mailchimp understands the drawbacks of sending emails directly with attachments, which is why they encourage you to send in another way. In Mailchimp, you can't attach a PDF file directly, but you can upload the PDF file and provide a download link to your email subscriber. Why is this better? Though people complain about the inability to upload a file and have it sent directly as an attachment in Mailchimp, there's a method behind the no-attachment rule: business emails, particularly sales emails, often get tossed into the spam filter! If you have a gmail account in particular, you know all about how this works. You've probably missed some very important messages and good sales because you couldn't click open on an email that you couldn't even see as it got automatically sent to spam. Avoiding attachments helps you continue to be noticed -- not tossed into the gmail spam bin. For this reason, Mailchimp asks that you insert a link into their email instead of using an attachment directly. Mailchimp PDF Attachments If you're worried about not being able to send a PDF attachment through email with Mailchimp, don't worry: there's a tried and true workaround, and it'll help your email land in the inbox, not in spam. What you can do is host your PDF on Mailchimp's server and then link to the PDF in your email campaign. If you've clicked buttons in email before, such as "shop now" or "download our free whitepaper," you've probably been taken to a download page where you confirm you want the file and then you access it. Alternatively, you can link to your file if it's stored elsewhere. For example, you could use your Google drive or your own website and then link directly to the file or files you need to share. That said, no matter what you choose, this will work with Mailchimp's content studio and campaign builder. Mailchimp lets you store files on their server: you get to store archive files, audio files, video files, spreadsheet files, presentation files, image files, document files, and text files (txt). However, the file size limit is 10 MB, so if your file is larger than that, you'll have to break it into multiple documents or host it somewhere other than Mailchimp. Share Your Files with Contacts in Mailchimp Here's how you share your PDF and other file types with subscribers: Go to the content section and choose edit design in the campaign builder Select design, then drag a new content box (or select an existing one) to your layout Create the text you need for your offer, such as "Download our whitepaper" Choose the link icon Edit or insert link From the dropdown menu, choose "web address" if you're linking to a file off of Mailchimp's server; if you're selecting a file hosted on Mailchimp, choose "File" instead Choose the upload button and upload your PDF file Select "open" to complete the upload of the file (if you are having Mailchimp host it); if not, add the URL of the file you have hosted elsewhere Choose "insert" on the "insert or edit link" menu Click the box that says "open in a new window" In the "title attribute" field, place your call to action for the file Once you are done, continue building your campaign and then send it to your subscribers after completing a test email. Remember: if you've hosted somewhere other than Mailchimp, you must depend on that server's reliability to keep the file hosted. How to Send a PDF to New Subscribers in Mailchimp If you're automating with your email campaign, congratulations! You're on your way to some passive income. If you're welcoming a new subscriber with a freebie or PDF, or if you have asked for their email address so they can be one of your contacts in exchange for your file, you need to give them access to it right away: and that's easy, because Mailchimp will host it for you. Here's how it works: Head to the Current audience, then go to manage audience then signup forms. Choose the form builder, and then on the forms and response emails drop down meu, choose "final welcome email." Create the text you want them to click on, such as "Download your document now." Then int he insert or edit link area, select file > upload file > insert. Save and close when you're ready with it, test, and then ensure it's your signup form. Create Your PDF Before you can even upload your PDF, you have to make one. This technology has become way less difficult, and you're going to love Mailchimp for the ability to have them host a PDF for you. If you find an error in your PDF file after uploading, remember to replace the file, whether it's hosted with Mailchimp or elsewhere. You can create a PDF from a Word file, or from a Google Doc (docx). Here are the steps, as outlined by the expert in this video from his YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kjjf_L7B9hQ&ab_channel=GaryEckstein Save your Microsoft Word or Google Doc as a PDF. To do this, go to file > save as or file > download and select the PDF option. Create an Email Campaign in Mailchimp Design a Mailchimp Email Put a Button on Your Email Campaign in Mailchimp Upload Files - Your PDF (Click upload) Connect the Button to the file in Mailchimp campaign As you continue to design your campaign, you'll have to make sure to pay attention to where your button is located. You'll be dealing with the file hosting, css class, a new tab, file guidelines, drop down menu options, an image file, click edit design, worrying about how to create a campaign, and other advanced options. Overall, make sure your readers can see the link and ensure they're inspired to click it! Visibility is key: your "download" button is a call to action, and it keeps them involved. Don't forget to use your Mailchimp metrics to ensure you know who clicked on your link and why. You can always segment those link clickers and create another Mailchimp campaign based around their interests. File hosting isn't as bad as it sounds -- it takes about eight clicks to make it happen once you have completed creating your file. Ensure your contacts can access your content today with PDF file sharing in Mailchimp. Cited Sources https://organicweb.com.au/marketing/mailchimp-attachments/ https://mailchimp.com/help/upload-add-and-edit-images-in-campaigns/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kjjf_L7B9hQ&ab_channel=GaryEckstein https://mailchimp.com/help/send-a-file-to-new-subscribers/#:~:text=Since%20we%20don%27t%20allow,a%20file%20to%20new%20subscribers.