26 search results for “Kurt Elster”

The first client is always the hardest to get. For any new business, no matter how compelling your offer is, if no one has heard of you, they can’t hire you.

No one knows this better than Shopify Expert Kurt Elster. Before running a profitable ecommerce consultancy, Kurt was faced with the challenge of finding new clients and building a business from scratch. 

In this article, Kurt shares what he learned from growing his own design business as well as his advice for designers or developers looking to land their first client.

Continue reading

Does anyone like writing proposals? Probably not. But they don't have to be a pain to write, and they shouldn't be a pain for your clients to review. Kurt Elster — co-founder of Shopify consultancy Ethercycle — walks you through how to write an effective statement of work that will help you win more clients.

In this article you'll find:

• The basics of writing a statement of work for existing clients.
• They key points to include when writing a statement of work for a new client.
• A sample of a statement of work.

Continue reading

For freelancers, billing clients an hourly rate is often the assumption. And while you might think you're limited to billing a certain way, the reality is other professionals bill different ways, and you can to.

Today, we explore why one senior ecommerce consultant chose to start billing 100 percent upfront, and how you can do the same.

Continue reading

The Christmas holidays are a stressful time. Your in-laws fly in for a long visit, the weather is lousy, you spend more than you anticipated on gifts, and you can feel yourself coming down with a cold.

For 72 hours or more, your life turns into a bad sitcom.

Now imagine you’re a retailer. On top of the personal drama, you’re facing a single day that may make or break your entire fiscal year: Black Friday. That’s actually why it’s called Black Friday. It’s the day that a retailer’s books go from red (operating at a loss) to black (operating at a profit).

Retail storeowners are motivated by two things: earning money from their store and reducing their risk. With the holidays around the corner, a retailer wants to be prepared to make the most out of Black Friday with the highest degree of success – and the lowest degree of stress. So tackling a full-site redesign in October is probably out of the question. While it might work, it’s too risky.

Instead of gearing up for a huge project, let’s focus on 12 quick wins that you can implement to prep any store owner for Black Friday and the holidays. In this case, we’re going to define "quick win" as anything a Shopify Expert can achieve in a day for their client.

Continue reading

Ethercycle is an ecommerce consultancy and Shopify Plus Partner based in Chicago, Illinois. For Kurt Elster, Ethercycle's founder, the path to success wasn't without its pitfalls.

In this case study, Kurt shares how he embarked on his entrepreneurial journey, and what challenges he faced along the way. He also shares how Shopify played a role in Ethercycle's growth, and what business decision was critical to Ethercycle's success.

Continue reading

Continue reading

Branding isn’t just for your business: as an entrepreneur, building a personal brand for yourself is just as important. In our hyper-connected world, your brand is how you set yourself apart. It’s a way to start making connections, building relationships, and drawing in great clients.

In this article, you’ll learn:

• Why you need a personal brand.
• How to build your personal brand and make it work for you.
• How other entrepreneurs are using their personal brands to grow their businesses.

Continue reading

There's a lot to consider when it comes to building and launching a successful Shopify store. In this article, we look at four resources you can use to develop and grow your Shopify theme development knowledge.

Continue reading

What makes Shopify Pursuit different from any other growth or ecommerce conference? And how can you get the most out of going? To show you how to make the most of your experience at Pursuit, we spoke to several Shopify Partner businesses across the world, to see how they’ve gotten the most out of Shopify conferences in the past. They will share how to:

• Embrace the fast-paced learning happening in office hours
• Network the right way
• Immerse and mesh in the community

Continue reading

Curious about who will be talking, teaching, and inspiring at this year’s A Day with Shopify?

Today, we’re pleased to announce the speakers for A Day with Shopify 2017, our series of one-day conferences aimed at helping you become a more successful Shopify Partner.

In this article, you’ll learn:

• Which speakers and topics will be presented at each A Day with Shopify tour stop.
• About pre-event mixers, discounts, and how to register for office hours.
• How members of underrepresented groups in tech can get free tickets.

Continue reading