Ecommerce Inspiration

Reading List: 30 Books That Will Help Increase Sales

These books are perfect for entrepreneurs. They cover a broad spectrum of topics and will provide you with…

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These books are perfect for entrepreneurs. They cover a broad spectrum of topics and will provide you with an encyclopaedic amount of knowledge that will help you build your business and sell more.

This is my personal reading list for 2013 and I plan on reading each one by the end of the year. These books cover subjects like marketing, SEO, social media, branding, analytics, content strategy, design, web usability, behavioral economics, and even psychology.

You'll notice that I've included a link to buy each book. All of the money earned from Amazon's affiliate program will go to Acumen Fund, a non-profit venture that supports entrepreneurs in developing countries.

What are you reading this year? Let me know in the comments!

30 Books for Entrepreneurs

Predictably Irrational

Dan Ariely

Dan Ariely refutes the common assumption that we behave in fundamentally rational ways. From drinking coffee to losing weight, from buying a car to choosing a romantic partner, we consistently overpay, underestimate, and procrastinate. Yet these misguided behaviors are neither random nor senseless. They're systematic and predictable—making us predictably irrational.

Behavioral Economics For Dummies

Morris Altman

The field of behavioral economics sheds light on the many subtle and not-so-subtle factors that contribute to our financial and purchasing choices. In this book readers will learn how social and psychological factors, such as instinctual behavior patterns, social pressure, and mental framing, can dramatically affect our day-to-day decision-making and financial choices.

All Marketers Are Liars

Seth Godin

Telling an authentic story about your company, your products, and your purpose is the secret to great marketing whether you’re selling wine glasses or sports carts. Seth Godin teaches by example, showing why every business needs to start telling stories.

Content Rules

Ann Handley and C.C. Chapman

Content or entertainment marketing is the idea of offering potential customers real and valuable articles, video, or similar in order to build brand loyalty. Although service businesses typically favor this approach, content marketing is still very important for ecommerce entrepreneurs.

Optimize: How to Attract & Engage More Customers

Lee Odden

Online retailers need to boost visibility and relevance if they are to engage customers and increase sales. Odden describes how to achieve just this sort of goal with integrated marketing including SEO, social media, and content marketing.

The New Rules of Marketing & PR

David Meerman Scott

The Internet has changed marketing and opened new opportunities to connect with potential customers. This forward-thinking book can launch a business’ integrated digital marketing and PR strategy.

Managing Content Marketing

Robert Rose & Joe Pulizzi

Rose and Pulizzi describe specifically how marketers can use all forms of content (blog, Facebook, guest posting, and more) to build a stronger brand and reach out to customers.

Return on Influence

Mark Schaefer

Schaefer guides readers to setting goals and measuring success, demonstrating that influence has the power to drive your business.

Marketing White Belt

Christopher Penn

Penn is one of the premiere email and digital media marketers anywhere. In this book he lays a foundation for online promotion.

The Power of Habit

Charles Duhigg

Duhigg shows how simple habits and patterns can have a significant impact on performance and marketing success. He uses case studies like how marketers turned Febreze from a flop to a billion dollar company.

Likeonomics

Rohit Bhargava

The Internet age impacts how we connect with others and how we build trust over the web. Bhargava sees personal relationships behind every major Internet undertaking.

Brainfluence

Roger Dooley

Dooley explains how marketers can use neuroscience and behavioral science to augment marketing campaigns and, ultimately, improve sales. Fortunately, you won’t need to be a neuroscientist to read this book. Dooley presents 100 short and easily understood ideas.

Word of Mouth Marketing

Andy Sernovitz

If Sernovitz is to be believed, your company can get its very best customers with word-of-mouth marketing. Give folks something to talk about.

Unlimited Power

Anthony Robbins

This book is a classic. It will teach you how to master your personal and professional life. Tony Robbins reveals the science of personal achievement and teaches you the 7 lies of success, how to find out what you really want, and the 5 keys to wealth and happiness.

Marketing in the Age of Google

Vanessa Fox

Google, Bing, Yahoo, Ask, and Blekko are among the top search engines and are some of the the keys to accessing new customers. Fox describes how search and search behavior impacts your business.

Online Marketing Inside Out

Brandon Eley & Shayne Tilley

Aimed at helping you bring your marketing to the online community. This book walks through each modern marketing channel, describing how to use and succeed.

Ogilvy on Advertising

David Ogilvy

Although this book is decades old, it still offers significant insights into the world of promotional advertising. It will give the reader a foundation from which modern advertising may be easier to understand and employ.

Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind

Al Ries & Jack Trout

Brand building, product marketing, and even retail marketing may all boil down to how your business is positioned. This classic book deals with the challenges of marketing “to a skeptical, over-communicated public.”

Likeable Social Media

Dave Kerpen

This book seeks to deliver on the promise that a recommendation from someone a shopper knows and trusts (like a social friend) can do more to promote a product or a retailer than thousands spent on advertising.

Neuromarketing: Understanding the Buy Buttons in your Customer's Brain

Patrick Renvoise & Christophe Morin

Renvoisé and Morin deal with the science of making a sale. They go into deep analysis of how the human brain responds to advertising and marketing, and gives merchants a better understanding of how to influence customers.

Your Customer Creation Equation

Brian Massey

This book is a guide to improving your site’s conversion rates. It is one thing to get site visitors, it is quite different to get those visitors to make a purchase.

Conversion: The Last Great Retail Metric

Mark Ryski

Site analytics can tell an ecommerce marketer a lot about how visitors are interacting with a site, with products, or with offers, but it is the sales metric — the conversion metric — that matters most.

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

Robert B. Cialdini

This book describes the psychology of selling. Why is it that people say yes? Cialdini uses data from several years of study to give you the answer.

Power Stories

Valerie Khoo

This book explains why storytelling is the ultimate tool for business success, and reveals the 8 stories that every online business owner should tell.

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

Malcolm Gladwell

Although Blink is not specifically a business or success book, it describes why some things just seem right. It encourages the reader to begin to trust his own instincts. The book can have a profound impact on how an entrepreneur thinks and acts.

Purple Cow

Seth Godin

It's important to stand out. In Purple Cow, Godin describes how being a remarkable business — which admittedly doesn’t sound easy — is the key to standing out in today’s marketplace.

Extreme Productivity: Boost Your Results, Reduce Your Hours

Robert Pozen

This guy is the king of productivity. Entrepreneurs often face the challenge of building a small business while still working a job. Pozen once held two jobs — lecturer at Harvard Business School and president of Fidelity Management — while writing professional. Here he asks the reader to set career goals, objectives, and targets, prioritizing each.

Wait: The Art & Science of Delay

Frank Partnov

Is your business moving at a pace similar to the messages streaming through a Twitter account or does it move more like a glacier? Partnoy describes the decision making process in the context of the pace of your business.

The Design of Everyday Things

Donald A. Norman

First, businesses discovered quality as a key competitive edge, next came service. Now, Donald A. Norman reveals how smart design is the new competitive frontier. This book is a powerful primer on how--and why--some products satisfy customers while others only frustrate them.

Don't Make Me Think

Steve Krug

This is a common sense approach to web usability and is an essential read for anyone who designs, writes, programs, owns or manages online stores.

33 Gorgeous Boutique Online Stores to do Your Holiday Shopping

Last week, Inspired Magazine featured some of their favorite Shopify stores. The popular design and lifestyle website curated…

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Last week, Inspired Magazine featured some of their favorite Shopify stores. The popular design and lifestyle website curated their list from over 35,000 online stores powered by Shopify.

To provide some shopping inspiration for those who prefer to shop at well-designed online boutiques (as opposed to big box shops like Amazon) - also check out our iPad shopping marketplace (free download) which features over 5 million products from all of our beautiful online stores.

3X1

Pebble

Hard Graft

Taylor Stitch

Best Made Co

United Pixel Union

LITTER

DODOcase

Bellroy

Luhse Tea

Studio Neat

Rodeo Arcade

L'Estrange

Flint and Tinder

FrenchCuffed

Artiitii

Jason Miller Studio

Kineda

DONUTS

Christopher Jenner

Rowdy Gentleman

Woolerman

Owen & Fred

Puxxle

Mash Storeroom

Design Life Shop

Haute & Rebellious

Labour And Wait

Foxx Foe

Erie Drive

Twig Case

Oh My Love

BillyKirk

See the original article on Inspired Magazine: 33 Gogeous Boutique Shopify Stores to Buy Your Holiday Presents, by Catalin Zorzini.

39 Awesome Moustache Products & Accessories For Movember

Today marks the first day of Movember (the month formerly known as November), an annual event where men around…

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Today marks the first day of Movember (the month formerly known as November), an annual event where men around the world grow moustaches to raise awareness of prostate cancer and other men's health issues. Movember has been quickly gaining popularity since 2004 and is now listed as one of the top 100 NGOs in the world. This movement is the real deal.

Win a Free Moustache Giftbox

Every week in November we will be giving away a free Shopify Moustache Giftbox. You can enter by following these three easy steps:

Hop over to Facebook and 'Like' Shopify (you need to like us so you can tag us in a picture).
Take a picture of your awesome moustache. Of course, women can participate - with fake moustaches!
Upload it to your Facebook page and tag 'Shopify' in your photo.

We'll choose one winner each week of Movember and send you a Shopify Moustache Giftbox. The prize will be a bunch of the moustache products and accessories showcased below. In addition to the giftbox, we will also make a $100 donation to a Movember.com campaign of your choice. All photos must be tagged by November 30th at midnight EST.

39 Awesome Moustache Products & Accessories

There are a lot of great moustache products and accessories for sale on Shopify stores. We've put together an emporium to showcase some of the best. Here are 39 of our favorites:

Tsaiclip

Moustache Tie Clip - $35

Wheeling Problems

Keep Calm And Grow On Tee - $20

Bread and Badger

Moustache Pint Glass - $10

Bernard Forever

Moustache Never Dies Tattoo - 5 Euro

Fuzzy Ink

Moustache Handlebar Hold Up Print - $20

The Bald Badger

Dovo Moustache Scissors - $58

Source

Moustache Baby Pacifier - 8.50 GBP

Consumer Merch

Moustache Party Neon Crop Top - $5

Her Vintage Store

Moustache Question Tee - $22

Off The Wagon

Moustache Lollipops - $2.99

Fifth Element

Burlesque Moustache Sticker Pack

Victory Barber & Brand

Victory Damned Fine Moustache Wax - $10

Radieuse & Co.

Petite Moustache Ring - 6 Euro

Karma Stache

Vinyl Moustache Car Decals - $28.99

Row Boat Press

That Moustache Card - $3

Consumer Merch

Me And The Captain Moustache Tee - $5

More T Vicar

Moustaches: For Men Who Should Mo' Better - 19.99 GBP

Fancy Dress Party Ideas

Self-Adhesive Handlebar Moustache - 3.49 GBP

Maxton Men

Moustache Corkscrew & Bottle Opener - $9

Maxton Men

Kent Beard and Moustache Comb - $7

Sparkle & Spin

American Outfitters Moustache Brooch - 4.50 GBP

Octane

Black Moustache Necklace - $9.50

Limedrop

Cherrywood Moustache Necklace - $49.50 AUD

Foggiare

Moustache Necklace - $14

Bmore Handsome

Moustache Wax - $5.50

Filthy Farmgirl

Filthy Mustache Soap - $8

Found Home Store & Interiors

Moustache Shot Glasses - 25 GBP

Frankie Phoenix

Moustache Midi Ring - $6

Brightside Jewellery

Moustache Two Finger Ring - $7.50

Amourx

Mini Moustache Stud Earrings - $10

Flat Spot

Moustache Zipped Hooded Sweatshirt - 74 GBP

Millie 'n' Mae

Moustache, Glasses and Hat Necklace - 5.99 GBP

DENY Designs

Moustache Mania Duvet Cover - $169+

Source

Moustache Cushion - 17.50 GBP

Cheap Cookie Cutters

Moustache Cookie Cutters - $8.99

Proud Runner

Pink Moustache Socks - $9

Angie Hearts Jared

10 Red Moustache Straws - $7.50

Movember Glasses

The PornStache - $20

MacStickrs

Mr Whiskers - $6.99

16 Productivity Apps Used By Shopify

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: being productive isn't about working harder, it's about working…

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I've said it before, and I'll say it again: being productive isn't about working harder, it's about working smarter. Most of us at Shopify use an arsenal of apps to help us supercharge our productivity.

These 16 productivity apps are some of our favorites. They help us work smarter, faster, and more efficiently. Let us know what productivity apps you use in the comments.

Soulver

Soulver is faster than a spreadsheet and easier to use than a calculator. Simply type your problem as you'd write it on paper, and you'll see the answer instantly with no formulas to deal with. If you make a mistake, simply hit the delete button - you don't have to start over again. My favorite function is solving percentages. Simply type "35% off 300K" and Soulver instantly displays the answer: 195,000.

TextExpander

TextExpander saves us a lot of keystrokes here at Shopify. With this productivity app, you can program custom keyboard shortcuts into frequently used text and pictures. For example, when I type the abbreviation ";home" TextExpander automatically replaces that code with my address. This can be really helpful when responding to customer service emails.

iA Writer

iA Writer is a noise free writing program that gives you a clean typing sheet that's distraction-free. I really like iA Writer's "focus mode" where the surrounding text fades into the background, reducing the temptation to stop writing and start editing. I use this productivity app all the time when I'm writing articles for the Shopify blog.

Trello

Trello is all about team projects. At Shopify, we use Trello for projects that involve team members from various offices. Picture a giant white board that everyone has access to. You can collaborate in real-time, assign tasks, gather opinions and more.

Clear

Clear is a to-do list app that's simple and intuitive. Items are easy to add, they're sorted by priority from top to bottom, and color-coded according to urgency, and a quick swipe to the right crosses an item off.

Boomerang for Gmail

This handy productivity app from Baydin Inc lets you "boomerang" emails based on different criteria. Example: I can tell Boomerang "If nobody responds to this email within two days, bring it back to the top of my inbox." I can also write an email now, and schedule it to be sent automatically whenever I want.

iDoneThis

Every day I reply to an evening email reminder with what I did all day. The next day, I get a digest that lists what myself and everyone else on my team accomplished. iDoneThis is simple, uncluttered, and keeps everyone in the loop.

Divvy

This window management tool is essential for anyone who keeps multiple windows open at the same time. This app lets you "divvy up" your screen into exact portions with the click of a button. If you waste time shuffling around and resizing windows - Divvy is going to be a huge time saver.

Evernote

This is an app that most people already have, but no productivity app list would be complete without it. Evernote lets you collect things, make notes, lists, and anything else you may need to store. It syncs between your computer, smartphone, and tablet so your files are available everywhere you are.

Dropbox

We use Dropbox to sync and share documents, photos, and videos among all our staff members. It has a free service that lets you create a shared folder on multiple computers / devices which automatically synchronises.

Campfire

Campfire is a web-based group chat tool that we use for internal communications all day, every day. Every department at Shopify has its own chat room, and most employees keep their Campfire window open at all times. Since it's web-based, it's really easy to setup and run with nothing to download, install, or update.

Buffer

This is a social media app that you hook up to your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and App.net accounts. You can then add articles, pictures, and whatever else you want and make a schedule for Buffer to automatically publish them.

The Hit List

The Hit List is an awesome project manager app that I use to keep my to-do list and prioritize my life. In addition to its basic scheduling function, it has a timer, smart folders, iCal syncing, and so much more.

TeuxDeux

This simple to-do app is bare-bones, and that's the point. It's a really well designed weekly priority list that is exactly what it should be and doesn't complicate things with a bunch of bells and whistles. Type your to-do, edit, check off, done.

Alfred

Alfred takes your Mac OS X search bar and puts it on steroids. Alfred is a high powered search bar and application launcher that lets you launch any application with a quick shortcut. It'll learn which apps you use most often, and prioritize them. The paid "Powerpack" option will give you tons of extra navigation functions, like global hotkeys, clipboard history, and access to hundreds of useful extensions.

Coffee

This caffeinated beverage isn't an app per se, but it's no doubt an integral part of our productivity.

What kind of productivity apps do you use? Let us know in the comments.

Win Design Advice From Jeffrey Zeldman

We're excited to offer all Shopify store owners an opportunity to win a design review by a web…

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We're excited to offer all Shopify store owners an opportunity to win a design review by a web design legend.

Jeffrey Zeldman is one of the world's leading minds when it comes to design and user experience. Besides being a writer, publisher, and podcaster, he is also a Shopify merchant (A Book Apart), build-a-business mentor, and Shopify theme maker.

Entering this contest is quick, easy, and free.

Here's How to Win

To enter the contest, head over to our Zeldman Contest page on Facebook and follow these three easy steps:

Fill out the entry form and upload a screenshot of your Shopify store
Share!
Get as many votes as possible by October 22nd, 2012

You can vote for your favorite entries once per day (per Facebook account), so get the word out to your family, friends, and fans.

On October 22nd, we'll take the 3 entries with the most votes and pass them along to Zeldman who will review the sites and give his feedback and suggestions.

If you need help taking a screenshot of your site, here's instructions for Windows or Mac.

Introducing Shopify Stories

Yesterday, we introduced Shopify Stories. They're a new series of videos that tell tales of interesting Shopify store…

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Yesterday, we introduced Shopify Stories. They're a new series of videos that tell tales of interesting Shopify store owners - why they decided to sell online, how they started their business, and how it's changed their lives.

There are so many amazing small businesses owners who have chosen Shopify as their ecommerce platform. But these stories aren’t about Shopify, they’re about celebrating our merchants and their success.

Meet Corrine Anestopoulos. She founded Biko - a 'modern nostalgic' jewellery brand. She scours vintage shops, and the countries she travels for perfect metals, charms, chains, and natural stones to create beautiful pieces of jewellery. Each handcrafted piece tells a story. Corrine began Biko six years ago but only recently began selling online. Here is her story:

Take a look at our new Shopify Stories page for more videos.

Over the next little while we're going to post more of these stories. Do you have an interesting story? Let us know in the comments or on Facebook and you may be our next Shopify Story.

14 Apple iPhone 5 Cases Selling on Shopify Stores

Last weekend, Apple sold over 5 million iPhone 5's according to a press release they issued. Currently the…

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Last weekend, Apple sold over 5 million iPhone 5's according to a press release they issued. Currently the iPhone 5 is available in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, and Australia. On Friday it's expected that Apple will release the iPhone 5 to 22 more countries.

Whenever Apple releases a new product, companies race to develop compatible accessories. It's amazing how fast businesses design, fabricate, and launch these products - often sold via online stores. Although the iPhone 5 only came out last week, already there are plenty of Shopify stores selling awesome accessories.

Here are 14 brand new iPhone 5 cases, all sold through Shopify stores:

12 Must Watch TED Talks for Entrepreneurs

We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world. TED is…

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We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world.

TED is a circuit of highly popular conferences that present "Ideas Worth Spreading" - which have quickly grown to become some of the most well known conferences around the world. TED has attracted presenters such as Bill Clinton, Jane Goodall, Larry Page, and a large handful of Nobel Prize Winners.

Many of the presentations, known as TED Talks, present ideas that are particularly valuable to entrepreneurs. I put together a collection of TED Talks that all entrepreneurs, including ecommerce store owners, should find interesting and worthwhile. Since a lot of the presenters below have written books, I have included a link to purchase. All of the money earned from Amazon's affiliate program will go to Acumen Fund, a non-profit venture that supports entrepreneurs in developing countries.

Let us know which TED Talk you think should have made the list in the comments.

Rory Sutherland: Life Lessons from an Ad Man

Entrepreneurs can learn a lot by studying behavioral economics. Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman of Ogilvy & Mather (one of the biggest marketing/advertising agencies in the world), makes the assertion that a change in perceived value can be just as satisfying as what we consider “real” value. The idea that intangible value can strongly influence opinion (and purchase decision) is evidenced in Sutherland's humorous and deeply insightful presentation that every entrepreneur - certainly every marketer - should watch.

If you like this TED talk, also see "Sweat The Small Stuff," an equally entertaining argument to put more focus on small details instead of big expensive problems. I also recommend his book "Rory Sutherland: The Wiki Man."

Simon Sinek: How Great Leaders Inspire Action

People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it. Simon Sinek is an author, motivational speaker, and strategic communications professor at Columbia University. Sinek has a simple but powerful model for inspirational leadership that starts with his famous "golden circle of motivation" and the question "Why?"

If you like Simon Sinek's TED talk, you should also check out his popular blog Re:Focus which is regularly updated with fascinating articles that will help entrepreneurs build businesses. Also check out his book "Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action."

Dan Ariely: Are we in Control of our own Decisions?

The decisions we make are not only inevitable, but they're also extremely predictable. Dan Ariely is a behavioural economist, professor, and author. He uses his own shocking research findings to show how we're not as rational as we think when we make decisions.

If you like Ariely's TED talk, also check out his podcast "Arming The Donkeys" and his books:

Seth Godin: How to get your Ideas to Spread

Be remarkable. Safe is risky. Being very good is one of the worst things you can do. Everyone has heard the expression "The best thing since sliced bread" but did you know that for 15 years after sliced bread was invented it wasn't popular? The success of sliced bread, like the success of anything, was less about the product and more about whether or not you could get your idea to spread or not.

Marketing guru and author Seth Godin spells out why, when it comes to getting our attention, bad or bizarre ideas are more successful than boring ones. Godin has published almost a dozen best-selling books, some of the most popular being: "Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable," "All Marketers Are Liars," "Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?" and "Poke The Box."

Malcolm Gladwell: Choice, Happiness, and Spaghetti Sauce

The food industry used to determine what people want to eat by asking them - as you may have seen in the focus groups portrayed on Mad Men. Fact is, people don't know what they want. Ask people what kind of coffee they like and they'll say a "dark, rich, hearty roast" - in fact, most people actually want milky weak coffee.

Malcolm Gladwell, author, journalist, thinker, gets inside the food industry's pursuit of the perfect spaghetti sauce, and makes a larger argument about the nature of choice and happiness.

If you like Malcolm Gladwell's TED talk, entrepreneurs should also check out his books "The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference," and "Outliers: The Story of Success."

Tim Harford: Trial, Error, and the God Complex

Unilever (they own 400 brands, including: Dove, Lipton, Becel, and more) hired some of the most brilliant engineers in the world to design the perfect nozzle to squirt out laundry detergent. No one could get it right. So they used trial and error instead. They created ten random variations of a nozzle, and kept the one that worked best. Then they created ten variations on that one, and kept the one that worked best, and so on. After 45 generations Unilever developed a perfect laundry detergent nozzle with absolutely no idea why it works.

In this TED talk, economics writer Tim Harford studies complex systems and finds a surprising link among the successful ones: they were built through trial and error. He asks entrepreneurs to embrace our randomness and start making better mistakes. Check out Tim Harford's books "Adapt: Why Success Always Starts with Failure" and "The Undercover Economist."

Steven Johnson: Where Good Ideas Come From

Entrepreneurs often credit their ideas to individual "Eureka!" moments. Steven Johnson doesn't think it's that simple and shows us how history tells a different story.

Steven Johnson is a best-selling author of seven books all on the intersection of science and technology woven together by personal experience. Johnson's book, "Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation" digs deep on the topic introduced in his TED Talk above. Also check out his most recent book which is only available for pre-order "Future Perfect: The Case for Progress in a Networked Age."

Cameron Herold: Let's Raise Kids to be Entrepreneurs

Cameron Herold thinks weekly allowances teach kids the wrong habits - by nature, they teach kids to expect a regular paycheque, something to which entrepreneurs usually don't get. Herold's two kids don't get an allowance. He's taught them to walk around the yard looking for stuff that needs to get done, then they negotiate a price. In his TED Talk above, Herold makes the case for a new type of parenting and education that helps would-be entrepreneurs flourish.

Cameron Herold is an entrepreneur through and through. He's been building businesses since he was born - moved on to create 1-800-GOT-JUNK, now he coaches CEOs all around the world. His book "Double Double: How to Double Your Revenue and Profit in 3 Years or Less" came out last year, and is a step-by-step guide to grow your business.

Dan Cobley: What Physics Taught Me About Marketing

Physics and marketing don't seem to have much in common, but Dan Cobley (one of Google's marketing directors) is passionate about both. Using Newton's second law of motion, Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, the scientific method, and the second law of thermodynamics, Cobley explains the fundamental theories of branding.

Jason Fried: Why Work Doesn't Happen at Work

The office isn't a good place to work, meetings are toxic, and ASAP is poison. In Jason Fried's TED Talk, he lays out the problems with "work" and offers three suggestions to fix a broken office.

Jason Fried is the co-founder and president of 37signals, a company that builds web-based productivity tools. Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson wrote the book REWORK, which is about new ways to conceptualize working and creating.

Daniel Pink: The Puzzle of Motivation

Traditional rewards aren't always as effective as we think. Sometimes using money as motivation does more harm than good - and people perform far worse when motivated with cash.

Daniel Pink is a best-selling author, journalist, and the former chief speechwriter for US Vice President Al Gore. If you enjoy Pink's TED Talk, check out two of my favorite books by Daniel Pink, "Drive: The Surprising Truth Abou What Motivates Us" and "The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need."

Richard St. John: 8 Secrets of Success

Why do people succeed? Is it because they are smart? Or are they just lucky? The answer is neither. Success Analyst, speaker, and author Richard St. John asked over 500 extraordinarily successful people what helped them succeed. He analyzed their answers and discovered eight traits successful people have in common. His book "The 8 Traits Successful People Have in Common: 8 to Be Great" goes into further detail on each of the traits that are briefly outlined in his TED Talk above.

The Ecommerce Graveyard: How 37 Popular Sites Used to Look

Online shopping began its steady growth in 1994 after new security measures allowed for safe ecommerce transactions to…

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Online shopping began its steady growth in 1994 after new security measures allowed for safe ecommerce transactions to occur online. Surprisingly, Pizza Hut was one of the first major companies to adopt ecommerce by offering online ordering through their website.

As online shopping grew in popularity, brick-and-mortar stores began to offer their products online, and entire companies were created to facilitate web sales. In 1995 Jeff Bezos launched Amazon.com which is now the world's largest online retailer - they brought in $48 billion in 2011 alone. Online auction site eBay also opened shop in 1995. Expedia was founded in 1996 as a small division of Microsoft, and Zappos.com opened it's digital doors in 1999.

With today's high-res photos and speedy shopping carts, it's easy to forget how primitive most ecommerce stores used to be. Check out how these big brand-names sites looked before they became popular. Although they seem simplistic, unintuitive, and kind of ugly, at the time they were cutting-edge, and they paved the way for what ecommerce is today.

Dell - 1996

Pizza Hut - 1997

Expedia - 1997

Zappos - 2000

Netflix - 2002

Apple - 1997

American Apparel - 2001

GAP - 1996

Wal-Mart - 2001

Toys-R-Us - 2000

Diapers.com - 2001

Barnes & Noble - 1999

Best Buy - 1997

Zazzle - 2004

Amazon - 2006

Staples - 1997

J Crew - 1996

Buy.com - 1999

Sony - 1996

Macy's - 1999

Nike - 1998

Target - 1997

Wine.com - 1997

American Eagle Outfitters - 1999

CD Baby - 1998

LL Bean - 1999

eBags - 1999

Ancestry - 1998

Coach - 2000

Overstock - 1999

Threadless - 2002

1-800 Flowers.com - 1999

Ashley Madison - 2002

CD Now - 1999

The Hudsons Bay Company - 2001

Art.com - 2000

Shopify - 2008

All screenshots from Internet Archive's Wayback Machine.

22 Awesome Shopify Ecommerce Stores Made in New Zealand

Last year, 63% of New Zealanders purchased something online which amounted to $2.68 billion in sales. New Zealand…

Last year, 63% of New Zealanders purchased something online which amounted to $2.68 billion in sales.

New Zealand has a thriving ecommerce industry - and thousands of New Zealanders are running successful online stores with Shopify.

This year we're running our third Build-A-Business competition and it's open to all entrepreneurs in New Zealand to participate. All you have to do is open an online store with Shopify and start selling. Tim Ferriss, Eric Ries, Daymond John & Tina Roth Eisenberg will mentor you throughout the competition, and you'll have a chance to win one of four prize packs that include a $50K investment, a VIP trip for two to NYC to meet the mentors, $20K in Google AdWords credits, and a feature article in Fast Company.

To celebrate New Zealand's many ecommerce entrepreneurs, we've rounded up 22 beautiful and successful online stores powered by Shopify: