I’ve gotta be honest: It doesn't feel great posting about anything light right now, considering the state of the world. I’ve gone back and forth on this and ultimately decided on: Say something and help how I can.

I’ve donated to several organizations to help Minnesota and I ask that if you can, find one that calls to you and donate as well. I picked the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee and some of the GoFundMe-of-the-Day's, but there is a vetted list on Stand with Minnesota with so many options to help.

You should also call, email, and write letters to your political representatives. 5calls.org has scripts and can directly connect you to your reps.

Part of being helpful is providing distractions, I think. We all still have to survive during Interesting Times. It’s not a great idea to spend all of your time with your nose in the news. So in an effort to be helpful, the rest of the newsletter continues with the regular content. (I also couldn’t come up with a transition that didn’t feel slimy.)

Protect each other.

How to pick a shop host

It feels impossible to pick an ecommerce platform. There are so many to choose from.

A lot of it will boil down to your personal preferences, but you can help narrow your selection down by looking at the technical skill needed to manage each type of platform.

Platforms like Etsy will always be easiest because it requires relatively little setup to begin. Etsy is a marketplace and you are constrained by the marketplace’s functionality and branding.

Easy-ish Level Platforms

Shopify, Squarespace, Wix, and multitudes of other platforms are a technical step above Etsy. These services allow you to set up an ecommerce site independent of every other site on the platform. You’re all hosted by Shopify (or Squarespace or Wix), but you maintain individual branding. Your customers have a relationship with you and not your platform because it looks like a stand-alone website. And it is!

You’re restricted to the functionality provided via plugins, extensions, or apps, but that still allows magnitudes more customization than Etsy. Anything involving payments or shipping can be handled through those plugins, guided by the platform.

Medium-ish Level Platforms

If you want even more independence, you can always buy hosting anywhere and install a platform like Wordpress. Wordpress started out as a blogging platform and has since grown into one of the most popular content management platforms ever.

It can be relatively painless to install, but it doesn’t do ecommerce functionality right out of the box. You need to install plugins on top of it like Woocommerce to build your shop. It can be done, but it requires more time, setup, and technical skill.

Because Wordpress is so popular, many hosts even offer one-click installs. However, it can’t be a shop right out of the box. You have to install extra plugins (like Woocommerce) to add that functionality in. There are plugins that customize to your site, but you have to be careful to pick plugins that are written well and don’t expose your site to bad actors.

Hard Level Platforms

The ultimate in independence is coding your own site. I don’t recommend doing this for a shop experience unless you 1) are running your shop entirely through email inquiries or 2) are a professional.

I will happily code up a small portfolio or gallery website with no platform, but writing software to handle payment and shipment processing is a little beyond my skill and risk tolerance. (However, if you can do this, I’m very impressed and please keep going!)

There are many options for hosting your ecommerce site when you’re ready to grow past Etsy. You can make smart decisions based on your needs, skills, and personal risk tolerance.

Thank you again for reading.

I’d like to introduce you to my second coworker, Thor:

Stay tuned for a third furry coworker.

I hope you have a safe and warm day,
Ed