Saturday, November 13, 9 AM to 5 PM and
Sunday November 14, 9 AM to 3 PM
Online
Sponsored by Watertown SBDC, Free to Attendees
Overwhelmed with the thought of making an online store for your business in time for the holidays?
Not a super technical person in this new much more online world?
Wish you could build your store but have a pro nearby when you got stuck on something?
Get your online store done in a weekend with this upcoming event sponsored by the Watertown SBDC.
This weekend intensive will be held online, meaning even though it’s an intense weekend, we can all still wear soft pants and otherwise make it as cozy as possible.
During this weekend, participants will build their store. We’ll be focused on Squarespace, Square, Etsy, Shopify, and WordPress mainly. (Not sure what that means? Don’t worry, we’ll help you figure out what works for you!)
You must be working with an SBDC counselor to participate so if you haven’t gotten to work with any of the Watertown SBDC counselors yet, book a consult online with them first! This workshop is free with limited space and priority will be given to participants who can attend the entire weekend event.
Common Questions
I have no website. Is that ok? Yes!
What if I already have a website?
In the form below, we’ll ask you what platform you are using and think ahead of the best way to help you build an online store with what you have. That said, the workshop is geared toward people who don’t have a website so don’t worry, we won’t assume you know things!
Should I do anything ahead of time?
If you want to do some prework ahead of time, we’ll provide some ideas in the registration welcome email. Prework is not required but the last time we ran this, those who did pre-work were able to get more products into their online stores, since a lot of the work is things like gathering photos and writing product descriptions, AKA non-technical, organizational tasks that can be done ahead. But you can just show up and start from scratch!
Why do I have to meet with a Watertown SBDC counselor?
Besides the fact they are kind enough to sponsor this event, your counselor will help you figure out what you want out of your online store; help you get organized if you want to plan ahead; and help you figure out if you are a good candidate for the workshop.
Can I really launch by the end of the weekend?
Yes, in our last bootcamp five people launched before the workshop ended and the last person launched within the week. The point of this being LONG is that we get it DONE.
A group class online for an entire weekend sounds awful. Do I have to go the whole time?
(From the instructor) So I’ve been building online shopping carts for 15 years and trust me, I wouldn’t make anyone sit in a long workshop unless I felt like it was going to be a good, productive use of their time. A majority of time, you’ll be working on your own computer in your own solo Zoom breakout room and I’ll be around to answer questions and get you unstuck. But because you’ll be solo working in sprints, you won’t have to hear EVERYONE else’s questions too, just yours. In other words, it’s the best parts of group work with the best parts of solo work. The most skeptical person in the last cohort sent me an email after worded like this “So I went because my SBDC counselor kind of guilted me into it but you made it FUN, I would have never done this otherwise.”