2.
When you think about it, in a world of over 7 billion people (over a million of whom build on Shopify), many of the obstacles we encounter are probably not unique. That can be comforting.
Our questions have probably been asked before and our obstacles have probably already been overcome.
Being resourceful means using all the tools at your disposal. Often, answers and solutions are just a Google search away. Resourceful people are everywhere, sharing their best practices on sites like LinkedIn. Keep an open mind in your quest to discover how to be resourceful in business.
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The world's most popular search engine is a good place to start your search for answers, but there are a few tricks that can help entrepreneurs in particular:
Add “ ” around your query to force Google to filter out only exact matches of that keyword phrase (e.g. “holiday gift guide 2019 wellness” to find outdated gift guides to promote your wellness products).
Add site: before a URL to search for a topic or question on a specific site. You can use this to quickly search forums like Reddit or Quora to find answers ( site:reddit.com influencer marketing ecommerce ).
Don't forget YouTube , especially if you're a visual learner. It's not just a place for music videos and entertainment. "How-to" and educational videos are some of the most popular on the platform.
Certain keywords can enrich your search results ,canadian consumer email lists such as case study to find real-world examples to learn from (e.g. Facebook ads case study beauty brand -facebook.com ) or vs. to compare two solutions you're unsure about (e.g. sms marketing vs email marketing ). If your search is returning irrelevant results, you can add a - sign before a specific keyword to exclude it from your search results.
Search the Shopify App Store for solutions. The Shopify App Store is home to over a thousand solutions built specifically for entrepreneurs working on Shopify. For small challenges, like how to make a good sizing chart, to bigger problems, like improving your conversion rate, there's likely a free or paid Shopify app to solve it.
google search facebook ads case study cosmetics brand
3. Look for inspiration in the competition
Not all comparisons are necessarily bad. They can also be useful.
Looking at your competitors or what others are doing in your market can inspire ideas for your own business, such as how to attract traffic, how to price your products, and how you can position your brand to stand out.
However, there's a limit to what you can get by visiting a competitor's website, so here are three ways to find out the ins and outs of other businesses for free.
1. Analyze your marketing strategy with Similar Web
There are hundreds of ways to market a business, and the best approaches will depend on your context. But one of the best places to start is by analyzing your competitors.
SimilarWeb is a free tool that allows you to enter an established competitor’s website and see how they are generating their traffic: what sources they rely on, what sites link to them, and other businesses in the same space. All of this information can be useful in making your own decisions about where to invest your effort.
web similar traffic analysis
2. Find out what ads they are running with Facebook Ad Library
Creating ads can be difficult if writing, marketing, and design aren't your core strengths.
Luckily, you can search for other businesses using Facebook Ad Library to see what ads they're currently running, for design and copywriting inspiration, or angles to help you differentiate yourself from your competition.