Instead of interviewing a guest for my Christmas episode this year, I’m going to revisit one of my favorite Wear Wag Repeat episodes, Episode 25: Creating an Online Shop for My Blog! When that episode originally aired, the Wear Wag Repeat shop had just opened. A year and a half and a lot of growth later, I thought it would be fun to listen to my past advice and to see how it all still applies today.

Creating an Online Shop for My Dog Mom Blog

My mission at Wear Wag Repeat is to support other dog moms in living their best life alongside their dogs. That’s why everything in my shop is handmade or designed by dog moms. It’s also why I recorded this episode in case I can help you pursue your dream of working alongside your dog. Setting up an online shop for your blog can give you an additional revenue stream, get your products in the hands of your fans and also be great additional traffic for your site.

Why did I create an online store for my blog?

Eventually, my dream is to have a Wear Wag Repeat line at a big box store such as Target or PetCo. I felt that having my own store would allow me to have a proof of concept and show that my audience believes in me, my ideas and the Wear Wag Repeat brand. It’s also a wonderful way to add an additional revenue stream to my business so I’m not entirely dependant on one thing.

Hiring dog moms makers for my shop

Everything in my shop is made by dog moms in the USA with you in mind! My candles are hand poured by dog lovers in Colorado. Even the labels on the candles are designed by a dog mom in Texas. The collars are handmade by a fellow Pittsburgh dog mom. Graphics on all my shirts are created by dog moms around the country. And the bandanas I started with were hand sewn by your’s truly! I find a lot of my partners through Instagram and word of mouth referrals.

It was important for me to support other women who share a passion for their dogs and their business. Since everyone I work with has dogs, they know what kind of products and designs make sense for the dog mom lifestyle.

Technical Challenges of Setting up my Shopify Store

I chose to use Shopify because [at the time] it’s one of just 2 platforms that integrate with Instagram and allows you to tag products in your posts. The only problem is… it wouldn’t link up with my Instagram account! I spent about 2 weeks going back and forth with half a dozen different support people and they weren’t able to fix it. Eventually, I got it fixed, which I talked about in this episode. 

Other than that, Shopify is very easy to set up and integrate with other programs. My most important integration is with Printful, the company I use to create my print on demand items like t-shirts.

How I Promote My Online Shop

In terms of promoting the shop, this podcast episode is one example of a marketing tool I’m using. I also post in my Instagram stories a lot just telling people about what I’ve been working on and introducing them to the products and the story behind each item. 

I use Instagram to tag products in my posts whenever possible. This usually means that I’ve planned a special photoshoot in advance and have an idea of what products I want to share.

I also use my email list (I use ConvertKit) that I’ve been growing for the past year or so and send a few special emails each month about the shop.

PIN THIS!

CHECK OUT THE SHOP!

The Wear Wag Repeat Shop is OPEN! to check it out and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram @tmistick if you liked this episode or order anything from the shop.

SUBSCRIBE AND REVIEW

Subscribe to the Wear Wag Repeat Podcast through Apple Podcasts, Stitcher or Google Play so you don’t miss a single fun and inspiring episode!

If you love what you hear and want to support my efforts to shine a light on more creative dog moms, please leave a review for my show on iTunes*. For every review, I give Lucy an extra special treat… how could you deny her?! *If you’re on a computer, open the link then click View in iTunes to write a review.

You can also see all the episodes on the Podcast page of my site.

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