Toronto WooCommerce Meetup: February 2016 Recap

February 27, 2016 marked the inaugural Toronto WooCommerce meetup. ((What is now Toronto’s go-to resource for all-the-things WooCommerce.)) A meetup where shop owners, developers and budding online entrepreneurs can come together to learn and share stories.

I was eager to get the first meetup started.  I wasn’t sure what topics people would want to discuss. Consequently, my objective was to identify what people were interested in. With this, I would craft an agenda for the coming year.  Giving me ample time to prepare material, and find the right guests.

These are not definitive and will change, however we will follow a progression.  Without adieu:

1 – Starting with Woo: What platform should I use?

We’ll compare shopping cart platforms (primarily Shopify) and the pros and cons of each one. Then, we’ll get started with Woo to start selling online. You’ll be introduced to setting up a theme and installing plugins as well as the best resources for WooCommerce help.

Focus: beginner.

2 – Charging taxes: What are the rules?  

Which countries do you charge tax? Who do you remit it to?  How do I configure the tax rules in WooCommerce? ((This will require the help of an accountant. If you know the answers to these, please holla at me.))

Focus: intermediate.  

4 – Using WooCommerce for invoicing.

Running a services business?  Would you like an integrated invoicing system to your website? Learn how to use WooCommerce for invoicing your customers.

Focus: beginner/intermediate.

5 – Configuring multi-language for WooCommerce.

Find out which plugins to use, and what to look out for.  This is geared for those who sell in more than one language.

Focus: intermediate.

6 – WooCommerce plugins 101.

Get started with building your own WooCommerce plugin.  Do’s & don’ts and best practises.

Focus: advanced.

7 – WooCommerce theme development 101.

Get started with building your own WooCommerce theme.  Do’s & don’ts and best practises.

Focus: advanced.

8 – eCommerce marketing.  

How to setup a sales funnel and drive traffic to your website. Learn techniques to keep your visitors engaged and turn them into customers.  We’ll also discuss how to setup Google Analytics on WooCommerce.

Focus: intermediate.

9 – Using Amazon with WooCommerce.

During this session we’ll discuss Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA). All the ins and outs of drop shipping, products, reviews and more. Then, we’ll show you how to integrate your Amazon products into your WooCommerce store for greater effect. A special guest from Ordoro will speak.

Focus: intermediate.

10 – Scaling WooCommerce.  

What happens when you have 1000’s of customers or orders? How do you scale up your website so it’s stable and fast?  We’ll be having a special guest speaker Patrick Garman discuss from his experience with ColourPop.com.

Focus: advanced

11 – Selling themes and plugins.  

Want to develop plugins and themes and make some money in the WooCommerce marketplace?  We’ll have special guest Adam Pickering from Astoundify, who is one of Envato’s top selling authors.  He’ll discuss best practises and some of the challenges he’s had making world class themes for sale.

Focus: intermediate

If you’d like to see any topics up here, post them in the comments below. We’re looking forward to a great meetup with excellent content. Thank you!