My Background
My name is JayDee.
I have been a self-employed entrepreneur since I was 17. I’ve owned, operated, and started many successful businesses over the years – everything from a windsurf company, a muskie fishing tackle manufacturing corporation, a graphic design company, a technical writing company, a computer training business, and now an ecommerce owner. I love working with computers, enjoy helping others as a mentor and a teacher, and I have a passion for unique vintage items.
My family and I live in rural Minnesota. When we aren’t out adventuring and rescuing vintage treasures, we enjoy the outdoors, entertaining family and friends at home, and I love to pursue my photography hobby.
I am the owner of ThirdShiftVintage.com, a shop I started on the Etsy platform in 2011, and have now expanded to the Shopify platform. My Etsy shop is in the top 1% of all shops on Etsy, and since my Shopify website launched in May 2016, it is now in the top 9% of Shopify stores for traffic, and I’ve met my personal sales goal each month on Shopify. That makes me smile!
Ecommerce and Shopify
Before I started my vintage store, I had another successful ecommerce business on the Yahoo Store platform, and then started my vintage shop on Etsy – so I have had many years of experience in ecommerce. There are a lot of ecommerce platforms out there: Shopify, Big Cartel, BigCommerce, Volusion, just to name a few. There are even more websites that offer an ecommerce component like Squarespace and Weebly. It’s a big world with lots of possibilities and I wanted to make sure I invested my time in the one that offered the most potential for adding useful apps and for growth.
Here is why I chose Shopify:
- Having a website on Shopify allows you to have complete control over your website. You control the look and feel. You have control over your SEO (which controls how your shop appears in internet searches). There are no unexpected changes to the platform, and no constant live testing (like you find on Etsy).
- Shopify has 24/7 customer support, and they excel at that! Just pick up a phone, send them an email, or use live chat to get the help you need – any time of day, including holidays.
- Shopify has their customers’, the shop owners, best interest in mind at all times. Shopify has a forward-thinking attitude about ecommerce and they are passionate about helping store owners succeed.
- With a Shopify website, you have free access to Buyable Pins on Pinterest, Shops on Facebook, Product Tags on Instagram, and many other sales channels (such as Amazon, eBay, Houzz, and more) that you can connect with.
Partnering with Shopify
I am so excited about the Shopify platform, that in March 2017 I became a Shopify Partner so I could help other small business owners (specifically other Etsy shops), get started on Shopify.
Helping Etsy Sellers
I am thrilled to help other Etsy store owners who are serious about their businesses get started with their own websites – it’s like going “back to the drawing board” and expanding your business to another platform. I am helping these shop owners through a help group I created on Slack, called (wait for it…) TheDrawingBoard. I created this website to further expand these efforts. I came up with the idea of helping other store owners with a “do-it-yourself approach” – where store owners create their own websites with my guidance and mentoring. I am the only Shopify Partner using this DIY approach, and I am having a blast doing this work!
I want to help these Etsy shops, and other small businesses, be successful with their own websites. Therefore, in the help group I lead – I show people how to work SEO, marketing, social media, and so much more. I am not charging anyone a fee for my work or for my time. I’m doing all of this just because I want to help others. And I would love to have more Etsy store owners (at least the serious shops) and other small business owners join us!
While I am not recommending Etsy store owners quit Etsy, I AM recommending they get their own websites up and running so they don’t have “all their eggs in one basket”. The shops I have helped so far are finding it rewarding to have their own websites that THEY control. You could be one of them!
You can read more about me and how I am helping other small business owners at Helping Etsy Shops and Small Business Owners Get Started on Shopify.
I hope you’ll join us!