Thankfully because of the internet, we have ample opportunity these days to create a living entirely online. There are ways of selling your skills through various services, earning income on your own blog, and even amazing platforms that allow you to sell your products without ever having to purchase physical store space. Even if you want to sell directly on your own website, these platforms do a lot of the initial heavy lifting for you which makes traveling way easier not having to worry about all of it. Plus they will expose your brand to thousands of potential customers scrolling through their platform already that may not have otherwise found you! Leave it to them to give you all the tools you’ll need, and focus on creating and selling your actual products.
These are the two best platforms for creating a successful online store and selling your brand products!
Shopify allows you to fully design a virtual storefront and customize it specifically for your brand and give your shop personality (which definitely helps customers connect and make sales). It offers help with branding if you’re still figuring in the beginning stages, and they work really well with you on promoting your products to get your store set up exactly how you want it. There’s so much that goes into starting a business such as your website, configuring a way to actually charge credit cards, product inventory, choosing to sell on Amazon, etc. Shopify takes care of ALL this for you so you can focus more time traveling and enjoying your new lifestyle! You get to make the decisions and Shopify works with you to get it all done. I highly recommend looking into them to get started for your remote income!
Personally, I think Shopify is by far the most user- friendly platform for selling any kind of products and will most likely have the biggest impact on your brand. It’s very business- oriented and wants you to succeed. SO many of my van life friends have started their business through Shopify and have said nothing but wonderful things about what it’s done for them. If you want to learn more, check them out here. You can also get a 14 day free trial to test it out and see how you like it!
You’ve most likely heard of Etsy or bought something unique there that you couldn’t find anywhere else. Etsy is the go- to site for anyone looking to sell customizable products. If you’re selling your calligraphy and want to customize it for each client, Etsy may be your best option. Although Shopify is definitely suitable for creatives, Etsy has developed a really creative concept so most people looking to buy something interesting or different, just simply go to Etsy. They know they’ll find it there.
In my opinion, Etsy is a little more niche and should be focused on more with niche products. It’s a great option for new customers to find you and will get your products selling. So many people scroll through this site everyday that some of them are bound to find your products which allows a whole new clientele to come across your brand. It also helps in making your store appear more official. People associate Etsy as an official site for product selling, so they know that customer service and product quality will be wonderful! You can even set up a separate website for yourself and when a person wants to purchase, direct them to Etsy so you won’t have to worry about organizing credit card sales, etc.
Final Notes
The end goal may be to have your own business on your website and not have to use a platform at all. However, getting started and creating a brand along with finding people to buy your products can be really challenging for a beginner. These platforms offer a solution to the new business owner and help with quite a few of the tasks that you’d be left with to do on your own. I definitely think that starting with one of these can grow your business as much faster rate than doing it by yourself. Don’t sacrifice every minute of your time on the road with working; that’s not what’s it about! You want to be able to balance your time so you can have a successful business and also plenty of time to enjoy the new places you go!
