Splendid Digital Solutions

Digital Splendid OPC Pvt. Ltd.

You are here: Home / Blog

Blog

Applications for Mercury Raise Seed VIII are now open

Blog, Cloud Computing/Startup Resource, Mercury, News, Partner News

Source: Mercury newsletter dated 9 August 2022

Applications are now open for Mercury Raise Seed VIII.

Mercury Raise Seed gives you the momentum to move forward with your seed or pre-seed round by connecting you with Silicon Valley’s top early-stage investors. All you need to apply is your pitch deck or memo, along with some basic info about your company.

Applications for Mercury Raise Seed are due August 24.

Here’s some of what you can expect if selected as a Mercury Raise Seed finalist:

  • Access to 500+ top investors
  • Opt-in pitch feedback sessions
  • Connections to a growing community of entrepreneurs

If you’re currently fundraising, we’d also like to invite you to an event we’re hosting on Tuesday August 23 at 11:00am PT/2:00pm ET about Building your investor network in a downturn. Learn how to find investors, build relationships with them, and decide which investors are the right fit for you. You can RSVP here. 

We’re excited for the next round of Raise Seed.

Thanks,

The Mercury Team

Setting up your branded store for free with WooCommerce and CJdropshipping

Brands, CJDropshipping, Web Development & Internet Marketing, WooCommerce, WordPress

WooCommerce is the most popular plugin that helps you start your own e-store on WordPress. While there are paid addons with WooCommerce, core WooCommerce is free and suffice for many use cases including setting up your branded store with CJdropshipping, which is the focus of this post.

With CJdropshipping, listing products to your store is free. It is only during the time of sale that CJdropshipping will charge a deduction. This is unlike Spocket, another popular dropshipping service provider, that has a subscription fee on listing while limiting the number of products in plans.

Plugins used

First of all, install and activate WooCommerce plugin (Start with WooCommerce in 5 Steps).

For integrating with Stripe payment system, I have chosen Payment Plugins for Stripe Woocommerce.

Although there is a CJdropshipping plugin, I have avoided it as it seems to be not updated frequently and having issues. Instead, chosen the option to connect through the Authorization option.

1. Once WooCommerce activated, fill the business and other details in Settings.

2. Similarly activate and fill details in Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce.

3. Opening a CJDropshipping account and connecting with WooCommerce store.

4. Adding or listing a product from CJDropshipping to your WooCommerce store.

Relevant forum threads while troubleshooting

How to connect Add to Cart button with the following page

CJDropshipping payment problem

Watch the complete demo

Introducing Dropbox for Startups

Blog, Brands, Cloud Computing/Startup Resource, Dropbox, News, Offers, Partner News, Web Development & Internet Marketing

Source: Dropbox newsletter dated 29 July 2022

Dropbox is announcing Dropbox for Startups, a program designed to empower founders with the tools they need to accomplish more with less.

Recent years have caused a dramatic shift in the way we live. As more and more people depart from traditional jobs to pursue their passions full-time, the startup landscape has become increasingly competitive.

From developing a standout product, to financial constraints and securing funding, the obstacles startups face can seem endless. Founders entering the exciting and challenging world of fundraising need access to tools that save time, money, and help them navigate the fundraising process from end to end. That’s why Dropbox is announcing Dropbox for Startups, a program designed to empower founders with the tools they need to accomplish more with less.

Eligible startups can now enjoy access to discounts across the suite of Dropbox products: Dropbox, DocSend, and HelloSign. Founders can choose any or all three to set themselves up for fundraising success, all the way from sending their first pitch deck to signed investor agreements.

Founders associated with any investor, accelerator, or startup community that participates in the DocSend Partner Program will now be eligible for Dropbox for Startups. The DocSend Partner Program is a network of more than 700 VCs, accelerators, and banks that offer industry insights, DocSend discounts, and access to the DocSend Fundraising Network to their startups. Any U.S.-based startups that aren’t currently associated with anyone in the program can refer their VC or accelerator to join.

Few affiliate marketing programs in web hosting niche to join as publisher and how to approach AWS/Plesk given they do not have affiliate program

Affiliate Marketing, Blog, Cloud Computing/Startup Resource, Web Development & Internet Marketing, WordPress

There are many great web hosting service providers through which one can launch websites. Almost all of them operate affiliate programs, either in-house or managed by affiliate marketing marketplace such as Impact Radius, ShareASale, PartnerStack. Do a Google Search or visit the brands’ websites to know about their affiliate/partner/referral programs.

You can take a passive approach and add one or couple of banners with affiliate links on the header/footer/sidebar. Some of the affiliate programs are indeed lucrative such as by Nexcess (owned by Liquid Web) on Impact Radius. Here is an instance of my affiliate commission screenshot. Based on my experience as web professional, I would recommend applying for the following programs:

1. Nexcess affiliate program (managed by Impact Radius). Here is the screenshot of commission received for sales (Action Earnings) and creating content for them (Other Earnings).

2. Flywheel affiliate (referral) program (managed in-house). They occasionally pay for creating content for them (screenshot of commission received).

3. WP Engine affiliate program (managed by ShareASale) or WP Engine partner program.

4. Moosend affiliate program (managed by PartnerStack). Moosend (email marketing software) too often comes with incentive for creating content for them (screenshot of payment received).

5. As an aspiring entrepreneur, the idea of coming out with a business plan is imperative. Consider joining LivePlan affiliate program. As a LivePlan affiliate helping your audience create a nice business plan, you might be offered a free premium version (40$ per month) for your own use.

In case you are already using WordPress as part of your web development activities, I recommend applying for WP Engine Agency Partner Program. Here is my experience with this program: WordPress: Getting access to free perks and privileges with WP Engine Agency Partner Program.

In case you are short of time, make use of automated affiliate program like the one by Skimlinks.

How to approach AWS and Plesk that do not have an affiliate program

There are a number of blog posts on my website www.wpcosec.com explaining the usage of AWS Lightsail and Plesk to launch WordPress websites While AWS does not have an affiliate program, Plesk does have a partner program which actually is not free. I would strongly recommend exploring AWS and Plesk web admin panel as part of your web development endeavor. In my case with AWS and Plesk, I do not earn affiliate commission but benefit from AWS Lightsail, a tool to launch WordPress sites. I use AWS Lightsail with Plesk Hosting Stack on Ubuntu. Here is my experience: Plesk Hosting Stack on Ubuntu: 3 websites under one instance with plans starting 5$ per month on Amazon Lightsail and a demo of migration with free Migrate Guru plugin.

There is an opportunity to avail free credit from AWS. I have actually availed 1k and 5k credit from AWS and all my websites including this one hosted on AWS. Here is the process as per my experience: Cloud technologies for startups: Tips based on our experience as a startup from India. You too can consider applying for the credit.

Given the popularity of Plesk web admin interface, you can get free learning and badges by enrolling to Plesk University. You can use this as an opportunity to prove your expertise in WordPress and Plesk admin panel while generating leads from the website tools such as Hire Us page.

In other words, you can earn from two broad sources:

1. Ads (pay per click/pay per impression programs such as AdSense, affiliate programs) while acting as publisher.

2. Web developer/digital marketing agency providing one-on-one services to clients.

Often you will end up buying for your clients web hosting, domain names from your affiliate links! In order to avail affiliate commission as you sell domain names to your audience, I would recommend NameCheap affiliate program that offers 30 percent commission. NameCheap’s prices are competitive. Although NameCheap has affiliate programs on Impact Radius, ShareASale, and CJ, I would suggest opt through either Impact Radius or ShareAsale (screenshot of commission received).

Business plan with LivePlan and extra financial tools with premium

Blog, Brands, Financial Solutions, News, Palo Alto Software, Partner News

Standard

Recommended for anyone who needs a professional business plan.

  • Step-By-Step Instructions
  • Automatic Financial Statements
  • Full Financial Forecast
  • One-Page Pitch Builder
  • 500+ Sample Plans
Premium

For businesses that also need financial tools to help them operate and grow.

Includes everything in standard plus

  • Industry Benchmark Data
  • Forecast Scenarios
  • Performance Dashboards
  • Milestone Planner
  • LiveForecast
  • Syncs with Xero & QuickBooks

× How can I help you?