Supporters
Spots could not be doing this without the generous support of several community partners who share our dream of supporting young, budding entrepreneurs. At present, this includes
We are a professional networking group of women entrepreneurs, business owners & professionals at all stages of their entrepreneurial journey.
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Platinum Converting strives to be the leading provider of high quality finishing and converting services for the Graphic Arts Industry.
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Comprehensive Consulting & IT Solutions in Chicago and the Southwest Suburbs.
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Our Mission is to foster a community of young creatives in order to help fuel their gifts and talents in addition to helping create a sustainable climate for working artists.
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Our mission is to provide women with small businesses opportunities to showcase what they have to offer, by providing an event planning service focusing on promoting their business while also helping local efforts.
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I am your mortgage Jeanne & can make your home financing wishes come true!
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Add Your Own Logo
Add a Custom Banner
Add & Sell Unlimited Products
Your Business Details
Customize Your Account
Storefront Overview
Sales Tracker
What You Get
Everything you need to build a strong online presence.
- Your Very Own Storefront
- Add Your Own Logo & Details
- Customizable Storefront Banner
- Sell Unlimited Products
- Instant 100% Payouts on Sales
- Shared Audiences & Incentives
- Back-In-Stock Notifications
- Abandoned Cart Recovery
- Storefront & Product SEO
- On-Demand & Customized Orders
- Local Pickup, Delivery & Shipping
- Vendor & Product Reviews
- Safe & Secure Checkout
- Complete Vendor Dashboard
- Sales & Tax Reporting
- Customer-to-Vendor Inbox
- 24/7 Real-Time Monitoring
- Vendor Community FB Group
- Monthly Vendor Workshops
- An Amazing Support Team
Use Spots Junior as your website, or use it to create an additional revenue stream for your business.
Testimonials
A whole lotta love...
Diane
The Creative Type
★★★★★ 5/5
“Since opening my shop with SOTF, I am continually impressed with the level of support I am receiving! From assistance with opening my shop to the ongoing social media support, I know I’ve got a partnership!”
Patty
Studio Patty D
★★★★★ 5/5
“I was so excited to join Spots when I first heard of their idea and loved that Kiel and Ana wanted to support our community in this way. I’ve been very pleased with the results given the newness of my Studio Patty D brand.”
Francis
Classy Crafty Wife
★★★★★ 5/5
“I am excited to be part of this amazing team! The system is so easy to use and shop all in one spot. Thank you for the opportunity to help me grow as a small business!”
Cynthia
Pound Cake Lady
★★★★★ 5/5
“Spots is growing so much and they are giving people like me more exposure. The owners of Spots have never let me down on supporting me and teaching me how to use the site to help grow my business.”
Victoria
Victorious Editing Services
★★★★★ 5/5
“This is a fantastic portal that makes it convenient to shop locally yet safely from your own home. More and more vendors are joining all the time. It really is a brilliant idea.”
How It Works
We give you the tools for success.
1. Join & Get Set Up
Once you join, you will receive an email to get logged into your Vendor Dashboard. Once logged in, be sure to go through the First Steps Checklist! It will help get you set up & connected to Stripe.
2. Create a Shipping Method
Our team will set you up with a default Free Shipping method shortly after you join. Don’t worry… you can edit it and/or create a completely new one at any time. You can easily charge shipping based on product cost, weight, or quantity. The choice is yours!
3. Brand Your Storefront
Upload your own logo, storefront banner, company details, contact information & more. We give you the tools to launch your very own storefront in our community marketplace… so have fun!
4. Add Products & Share
Add as many physical/downloadable/professional service products as you’d like. You can create special “ON SALE” items, quantity discounts, cross-sell bundles and more. Once you are ready, share your storefront with your customers & promote it to new ones!
5. Track & Fulfill Orders
Create your shipping rates & track/fulfill orders from your dashboard. All vendors must specify their own shipping rates, and are responsible for taxes. This really is your personal online shop!
6. Support Customers & Earn Money
When a customer places an order, their payment gets processed and is automatically transferred to your connected Stripe account. Customers can even place a single order from multiple Vendors! If they have a question, it is up to you to give them the best support possible.
Spots does NOT take commission on your customer sales. That's right! All of the income goes directly to your Stripe Account... paid instantly.
Note: Stripe charges an industry-standard fee of 2.9% + 30¢ to process sales transactions. We do NOT pad this processing fee.
Vetted Professionals
Want to take your business to the next level? Let us connect you with pros that can help.
Business Consultants
Get the strategy you need, designed specifically for your business goals.
Branding & Design
A quality logo & branding is the foundation of your business! Make yours great.
Content Creation
Make customers excited to buy your products by creating high quality product descriptions.
Product Photography
A picture is worth 1,000 words. Display your products in the best light possible.
SEO & Marketing
Optimize your content to be found on search engines & deploy targeted advertising.
Tax & Accounting
Connect with a CPA to keep track of your books while you focus on your business.
Expand Your Network
WESOS is a thriving group of women entrepreneurs who are committed to cultivating authentic relationships while providing ongoing mutual support and resources for growing businesses.
Partnership benefits coming soon!
FAQ
You've got questions... we've got answers.
What Spots IS:
Spots is a virtual marketplace & entrepreneur community created for vendors to launch an online storefront, in an effort to share products, discover new customers, make more sales, and engage in incentives and interactive workshops. The Vendors that see the most success are the ones actively participating in the community, sharing their storefront, products, and growing engagement with customers and other Spots Vendors.
What Spots IS NOT:
Spots it NOT a “done-for-you” marketing service. Your success is a direct reflection of your own efforts in promoting and growing your own business.
I already have a website. Do I still need to join Spots Junior?
Yep! Think about the customer experience, expanding your exposure… and CREATING AN ADDITIONAL REVENUE STREAM. Let’s use downtown Geneva for example:
Say you need to buy a few things for your Mom’s birthday, and you know she LOVES shopping on 3rd Street. Imagine hopping on one website and buying her a scarf from one store, a purse from another store, and a coupon to use at her favorite restaurant… all in one transaction!
That sounds much better than searching online for different shops, or clicking through a crazy long directory (one-by-one of course) and making multiple purchases. Phew! We seriously got tired even just thinking about that.
Need another reason to join our community? On top of all of the huge value that we bring you, we also help YOU promote YOUR business. Spots creates social media content, as well as paid advertising, newsletters to customers & more. Being a part of our platform will also allow NEW customers to discover your business… and who doesn’t love that?
I am thinking about hiring someone/making my website myself. Why should I sign up for Spots instead?
You enjoy the benefits of getting set up quickly, having your own storefront, being on a secure & reliable platform, and having the opportunity to be found in our surrounding community ONLY online marketplace & so much more. Best of all, you won’t need to worry about:
- Hosting, maintenance, various fees associated with an online store
- Putting in all of the time & effort to create it yourself (and hopefully it is good…)
- Using an online website builder that might not work the way you need it to
- The list really can go on and on…
As a Vendor, what types of products can I sell?
You can sell everything from physical products, digital downloads & professional services! And of course, if you are selling a professional service, it is up to you to contact the customer after the sale is made & perform the service.
Do I get my own custom storefront?
You do! Your can even add your logo, business details, contact information & more. Best of all, you can send people directly to your storefront, via your own URL.
PS: You can even forward your domain to your storefront & add a link to it from your website, social media, email & store promotions, etc.
What are the benefits of being a Vendor?
There are so many, but a few benefits would be:
- We Support Your Promotion Efforts!
Seriously, this is a thing! We work alongside you to help grow, support & share your business. We are all in this together… so let’s do this!
- Discover New Customers
We give our community the power to shop all of their favorite local businesses from the comfort of their home, all in one spot.
- Quickly Add Unlimited Products
Launch & expand your business online—no matter what business you’re in. We give you the ability to easily add as many products as you’d like.
- Save More Time… Make More Money
Create your storefront, add your products, fulfill your orders & get paid straight to your Stripe account. Sell products to anyone, anywhere. It’s really that easy.
How many products can I sell?
As many as you’d like.
How do you help me promote?
We support the promotion efforts of our Vendors & their products through Facebook Pages, Facebook Groups, Instagram, Google My Business, Marketing Campaigns and more!
What is the cost to join Spots Junior?
We provide HUGE value, and only ask for $9.99 a month, which is way cheaper than:
- Hosting, maintenance, various fees associated with an online store
- Putting in all of the time & effort to create it yourself (and hopefully it is good…)
- Using an online website builder that might not work the way you need it to
- The list really can go on and on…
- Did you notice that we used this crazy list twice? We did, because it’s true!
I need help. How do you support your Vendors?
We use a ticketing system for our Vendor & Customer support. If you need support, please click here to create a ticket. In addition, we also have a Vendor Knowledge Base, which can help answer questions you might have regarding how to set up & admin your storefront.
What are the responsibilities as a Vendor?
This really IS your website & this really IS your online shop. Because of this, you are required to provide customer service to all customers that contact you and/or purchase goods through your storefront. We also require our Vendors to provide great shipping of their products, and to report/pay all taxes required from product sales.
How do Vendors get paid?
You get paid for your sales INSTANTLY. How? Stripe! All Spots Vendors are required to connect an existing or new Stripe account. Why Stripe? Because Stripe is free, reliable & extremely secure. Plus, it is extremely easy to set up and connect. Don’t have a Stripe account? No worries. All you need to do is a click a button in your Spots Dashboard, and fill out a simple form. There is an industry standard processing fee of 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction. The ACH transfer from Stripe to your connected bank account is 0.8% capped at $5.00.
Vendors can fulfill customer orders & view sales reports in their Spots Dashboard. All financials/refunds/etc. are administrated via the Vendor’s personal Stripe Account. Be sure to download the FREE Stripe app! Why? Because it will notify you instantly of customer orders & more!
Can customers purchase from multiple vendors in one transaction?
You know it! Each portion of funds (product sale amount + shipping cost + calculated taxes) gets automatically divided between all vendors, based on their specific product transaction, and deposited directly into their Stripe account.
How does Spots Junior make money?
Vendor Memberships. We do not make commission off of sales that happen in our marketplace. Why? Because we think that’s crazy! YOU sell the products. YOU support your awesome customers. YOU fulfill & ship your orders. WE simply provide the service that allows everything to happen.
This sounds AWEOME! I’m totally in. Where do I go to add my Spot?
Let’s do this! Click Here to Open Your Storefront!
Love the program & want to help it thrive? Get involved!
Help young creators thrive!
Spots Junior is an initiative of Spots Initiatives. Spots Initiatives is a national network of online storefronts created in an effort to support small businesses in our local communities. Create a powerful economic engine for your community and launch your own local online marketplace today! Learn More
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This website is an initiative of Spots Initiatives. Spots Initiatives is a network of online storefronts created in an effort to support small businesses in our communities.