b'GETTING STARTED190 countries and 135 million activebook page to like, and I would neverWhen it came to setting up an online buyers.Theres135milliondifferentreceive a like from that person. But ifpresencetosellherproducts,she peoplethatboughtsomethingonyou give them a website, people taketurned to Squarespacea website eBay in the last 12 months. Thats athatmoreseriously,hesays.Thatbuilding and hosting company with compelling thing for Canadian smallwas one of the things I learned earlye-commerce capabilities.businesses, Bigler says.onworkingwithcorporateclients.I ampartofacoupleofChambersNixon,whoisfromDeneThaFirst BUILD A WEBSITE ofCommerce,andIgettomeetaNation in Alberta, came to the deci-Shopify is another key player in thislotofpeoplethathavebigbudgetssion after promoting her art through spaceaCanadianmultinationaland theyre looking for suppliers thatFacebook and developing a substan-e-commerce platform used by manyseem legitimate.tial following. As her popularity grew, smallbusinessesandindependentsherealizedsheneededamore sellers. Unlike eBay, which is an onlineOne aspect of Shopify that Hunter findssubstantialavenueforshowcasing marketplace where you can list yourincredibly useful is the card reader heand selling her work. I needed some-products, Shopify is a tool for creatinghas for taking credit and debit cards atthing that was not just me messaging your own e-commerce website. For ashows. I used to do a lot of pow wowsback and forth to people. I needed monthly fee, the company helps usersandfestivals,and[thecardreader]a site people could purchase from, set up an online store, ship productswasthedifferencebetweenasaleNixon says.andprocesspayments.Thereareand no sale. Before those things really threedifferentplans,frombasictotook off or were available, it was cashSquarespace,addsNixon,mether more advanced, with each offering aornothing,hesays.OnceShopifybasicrequirements.Squarespace different package of services.really took off and became a platformcheckedalotoftheboxes,she forpeopletosell,theydevelopedexplains.Theusabilityofit[was For Ojibwe artist Patrick Hunter fromtheir own card reader, so my staff useideal]forsomebodywhoislimited RedLake,Ontario,havinghisownthat now. in building websites. It was just what website was paramount when it cameI needed at the time, and its grown todecidinghowhewantedtosellWhileawebsiteisimportant,Hunterwith me as well. So, I havent switched his products online. Shopify was thesays social media platforms like Insta- away from it.e-commerce provider he turned to ingram and Facebook continue to play order to realize his goal.acomplementaryroleinbuildinganSquarespace uses Stripe, a third-party audienceforhisworkanddrivingplatform,forpayments,allowing It feels a little bit more elevated than,people to his page. I [started using]Nixontosellherproductsacross say,Etsy,thatkindofthing.ItjustInstagram in 2011, so in the last 12 yearsCanada.Ithasasimple,scalable seemsmoreserious,saysHunter,Ive garnered an audience, increasinglymonthly payment set-up that starts at owner and founder of Patrick Huntergettingmoreandmorepeopleon$23 for businesses and is user-friendly. Art & Design. People you meet at athere, he says. Being a public personYou need minimal money to start out conference are going to ask for youron those platformsto the degree thatine-commerce,Nixonpointsout. website first, before they ask, WhereI amis great for driving sales. Being able to build an online store can I find your work? If you say Insta- with drag-and-drop capabilities was gram, I dont think their first thoughtHunteraddsthathewouldnthavea big thing. Low user fees in terms of istogocheckthatout.Itsmorereached the level of success hes foundthe percentage from payments, too. the website. today without social media. And it has tools and analytics that I found to be very useful. HuntersellsoriginalpaintingsandI would not be where I am had there not digitalartworkthroughhissite,asbeen the advent of social media. WhatTraceyGrienke,aTreaty4member well as reproductions of his artwork associal media and digital platforms didofthePeepeekisisReservein prints, coffee mugs, apparel, greetingaway with was the gallery experience,Saskatchewan, chose Shopify for her cards,puzzles,colouringbookswhereartistshadtofirstgarneranonlineclothingbusiness,LetThem andplanners.HealsohasalineofaudiencesomehowandthenmeeklyPlay. While she agrees that having a candles.Havingawebsitedomain,go to a gallery and ask them to supportwebsitethroughtheplatformgives he says, makes his business look likeyou,hesays.Inmycase,nooneherbrandlegitimacy,sheempha-areliable,respectableoperation.would take me on as an artist that theysizes that there is still a lot of effort The perception of legitimacy is para- would represent. So, I just did it myself.required to drive people to the site. mount, Hunter notes. If you want toAnd its worked out for the most part.You have to spend so much money get serious about a job or a piece ofNow the galleries carry my artwork inonadvertisingtogetyourGoogle work that youre doing, it has to looktheir gift shops. rankings up to get people to your site, that way. Grienke says.EASE OF USEHuntercametothisrealizationafterShelli Nixon is the owner and founder ofSocial media platforms like Facebook interacting with many potential clientsHappi-Nest Home, an art studio whereandInstagram,ontheotherhand, overtime.WhenIdidnthaveashecreatesuniquedecorativewood- havebeenmorebeneficialtoher website, I would say, Heres my Face- work,pyrographyandwatercolours.businesstodate,Grienkesays.If 30A CCAB PUBLICATION2023'