How to Find and Work With Shopify Experts

There’s no doubt that Shopify is an amazing and well-developed tool, but with so many features and functionalities, you can be forgiven for sometimes feeling lost. Thankfully, there are a number of Shopify experts that have mastered the art of running a Shopify business. Better yet, Shopify gives you direct access to these experts through their Experts Marketplace.

To help you wrap your head around the process of hiring and working with Shopify experts, here are some must-read tips to help you out:

Before You Start

Prior to hiring a Shopify expert, it’s a good idea to take a good look at your business and decide on exactly what it is you need assistance with. Here are a few things to consider before reaching out:

• Using a critical eye, identify the biggest problems that your store faces.
• Break the problems down into categories that specific experts can help with, whether it be shipping, conversions, product photos, or anything else.
• Familiarize yourself with the technical terms behind the problems you are facing, this will help you better communicate exactly what you are having trouble with.
• Clearly define a budget, timeline, and set of results you are wishing to achieve. This will not only help communication between yourself and Shopify experts but also help you get a clearer idea of how much the work is likely to cost.

Get Into the Right Mindset

There’s no doubt, business owners have to be jacks-of-all-trades. As helpful as this is, unfortunately, this can often warp our sense of expertise and not allow us to see our own knowledge gaps. With that in mind, it’s important to remember a hired expert is here to help. And the best way to get the most from their knowledge is to be completely open to their set of expertise and suggestions.

Choosing an Expert

Now that you’ve got your store and yourself ready for hiring, let’s take a look at Shopify’s Experts Marketplace.

The Marketplace allows you to get into contact with experts in two different ways, through its browse services or its “Create a job” portal. Here’s how each of them works:

• Shopify’s browse services work just as they sound, a simple search and Shopify’s expert database will present you with a whole string of professionals ready to help out.
• The Create a job portal works to match your needs with an expert that is best suited for the job. When creating a job, you can select from a list of services that you wish to be carried out and then add additional information to help demonstrate exactly what it is you need.

Contacting Experts

When you’ve found a suitable expert you’d like to work with, simply click on their profile to view their service and contact details. If you’re happy with what you’ve found, click the “contact” button located under the expert’s profile bio. From there, select one of the services they provide and enter any remaining details that apply to the job you want help with.

This information will then be sent to the Shopify expert via a Shopify message. In turn, they will get back to you with any questions they may have about your budget, timeline, etc. When they have all the information they need, they will send through a proposal for you to consider.

Shopify Proposals

Before accepting a proposal, ensure that the expert has included as much detail around the proposed work as possible. Be sure that specific outlines are included, as well as a timeline for any milestones if need be. Also, ensure there are clear details around any job changes or adjustments that you may want. This should be agreed upon before the work commences as revisions to a previously agreed-upon proposal can be hard to make.

At this stage, if you’re happy with the proposal, go ahead and accept it by clicking the “Accept proposal” button at the bottom of the proposal outline. Once this is done, your newly hired expert will then proceed with whatever work you have contracted them for.

If you are not happy with the proposal, you can contact the expert to make changes or to request them to enter additional details. Or, if you have a change of heart, you can decline a proposal as well.

Working With Shopify Experts

Once you’ve accepted an expert’s proposal, you can get in contact with them in or outside of the Experts Marketplace. But, it is recommended that all communications are conducted through the Expert Marketplace message portal. This is simply because the messages within Shopify are the only resource used to resolve any potential disputes between yourself and the expert if any were to arise.

Store Access

Depending on the type of work that is being conducted, some experts may need access to your store. If this is the case, the best way to grant them access is by creating a collaborator account. Collaborator accounts allow you to only open certain sections of your Shopify admin as the expert needs them. This way, you can be sure they aren’t accessing anything you’d rather they didn’t.

Marking the Job as Complete

Once the work is done and you are happy with the outcome, you can then mark the job as complete. The job will then appear as completed on the Jobs page within the Expert Marketplace.

Paying Experts

Once the job is marked as complete, the expert will send an invoice for you to pay. All invoices are in USD and are charged at either a fixed-job price or an hourly rate, depending on what was agreed upon in the job proposal.

Conclusion

Collaborating with a Shopify expert can really help to take the pressure off doing absolutely everything yourself. The best part, Shopify experts are extremely well versed in everything to do with Shopify, as they work with the platform every day.

And as long as you follow the above tips, you’re sure to have many successful experiences with the Shopify Expert Marketplace’s services.