Stores

Stores

E-commerce also known as electronic commerce or internet commerce, refers to the buying and selling of goods or services using the internet.

You can start your store on Shopify, WordPress plus Woocommerce, Big Commerce, Etsy or more, depending on the size of your store, your customer base and your goals. 

STAY TUNED – New, gorgeous stores are coming soon!

Chicago Blues Emporium

Chicago Blues Emporium was built on Shopify because of the simple integration with Facebook/Meta. 

All proceeds of this store go to fund musicians health and inner city music education programs. 

Visit Chicago Blues Emporium .

Layla Simic Art

Layla Simic Art was built on Etsy.

CBD, HEMP, CANNABIS

The following are a series of sample pages I created during the lockdown in an attempt to break into a new industry

Accesories

This was built on WordPress. In real life, I would add WooCommerce to it.

To see more

CannaSkin

Cannablis Edibles

Hemp Clothing Store

BohoGanja

These designs can be adapted into standard clothing, food, and skin care stores.

Online Press Kit

Online Press Kit

A press kit is an information package provided for members of the media to promote events, artists, organizations, products or people. A press kit is also known as a media kit. If you need a press kit to be added to your website, we create the entire experience from your bio to matching the page to your brand.

Chicago Slim

Chicago Slim, aka Dr. Daniel Ivankovich,  is is an internationally renowned orthopedic trauma and spine surgeon. a bluesman, DJ, and a record producer.

​Slim’s career began as disciple to many of his musical heroes on Chicago’s South Side. He studied with Chicago legends, Reggie Boyd Sr., Homesick James, Eddie Taylor Sr., Magic Slim and Junior Wells. His musical career also included a stint as a guitarist for the legendary bluesman, Otis Rush. He’s also shared the bill with Albert Collins, James Cotton, Buddy Guy & Junior Wells, Albert King, Marshall Tucker Band, Robin Trower, Rare Earth and Johnny Winter among others.

​At the Checkerboard Lounge on 43rd Street, he befriended and made a lifelong connection with players that he would eventually tap for the Chicago Blues All-Stars: “Killer” Ray Allison, Johnny Cotton and Johnny B. Gayden. CBAS has been a regular headliner for sold out shows at internationally renowned venues, Buddy Guy’s Legends, House of Blues, Kingston Mines and many others in Chicago. They have also been featured in a documentary on PBS in Chicago.

Read full Bio

Musician Heal Thyself

The mission of Musician Heal Thyself mission is to provide outreach, education and empowerment to musicians of all genres who strive to improve their quality of life via promotion of healthy lifestyles.

Musician Heal Thyself is a part of Chicago Blues Society, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization focused on keeping this vital American musical genre alive and thriving. We help musicians of any genre gain access to better healthcare. We also seek to serve Chicago’s youth by creating musical opportunities to be exposed to the Blues and related genres through music education and the performing arts.

We aspire to expand our footprint in Chicago and beyond through our website and social media by reawakening interest in Blues music. We also look forward to opening a learning and performance center in Chicago’s Uptown for musicians of all ages.

Musician Heal Thyself is a program begun by Dr. Daniel Ivankovich, a spinal and trauma surgeon, humanitarian, and blues musician, professionally known as Chicago Slim. He is best known for his advocacy of the underserved in Chicago’s inner city as leader of the Bone Squad, a group of medical professionals who treat the city’s uninsured and underinsured.

 

Read in full

To read more samples

John Widomakr

I created the entire page, but not the website.

Lana Blac

I wrote the bio and created the website but not the OPK page
 

Chicago Blues All-Stars

Chicago Slim’s band. Similar design to Chicago Slim in order to keep everything on brand but a different color way.
 

Email Marketing

Email Marketing

Email marketing is up to 40 times more effective than social media, according to a study done by McKinsey & Company. The same study also shows that the buying process happens 3 times faster than in social media.

As a small business owner, you will want to focus on building your email list. Whether you have a digital business or an on the ground location, you will want to collect your customers emails – and the emails of everyone in your network, if you are B2B. Often this can be done by offering a promise of keeping your clients/customers up to date with special offers, discounts, and events, or by giving them specialized information that will solve their problem.

The type of email campaign you launch will depend on your goals and where in the customer journey you find your prospect. 

For example Drip marketing can help you boost sales by turning visitors into buyers, increasing repeat purchases, and re-engaging a dormant audience. By communicating your company’s value, you build a relationship with your audience and demonstrate that you’re a great resource for their needs.

I use MailChimp. Here they explain the process but any reputable email service  will have this feature.

Email marketing has a return on investment (ROI) of $36 for every $1 spent. Email marketing makes money. For every $1 you spend on email marketing, you can expect an average return of $36. That's a higher return than you can expect from any other form of marketing — digital or otherwise.

Advertise Specials

Once your list is in place, use an email service to stay in front of your customers with special offers. 

Pro Tip – Constant Contact has just told me not to use exclamation marks in the title line or subtitle. They say you have a higher chance of being relegated to the spam folder that way.

Gift Cards

If you are like me and have trouble thinking up gifts for your loved ones-there is nothing like a gift card. As a business owner you can make them available to your list. Yes, you can make them digital for the sake of convenience!

Events

Publicize events to your list. This mailing had an open rate of 31% and doubled ticket sales.

Publicize events over time

You don’t want to spam your list, so once a week  is a good timetable to adhere to. Aim to send your email at 9:00 AM Thursday morning. I begin with announcing an event and then following up with special features. 

Direct Mail

Surprisingly effective

Don't forget about Direct Mail

While your digital campaign may end up in the spam folder, direct mail can enhance your rate of success. I recently suggested to a new business owner that they mail or hand out post cards to neighboring businesses in their district and invite them to their Grand Opening. 

Here’s a short primer that will give you some pointers.

Radio Station

I created a radio station for a DJ who will be featuring his own playlists, radio show and podcasts.

Click on the image to visit the site

Record Label

I created a site for Azure Music, a Chicago based record label that will be featuring blues, rock, R&B, funk, and hip-hop artists. In the years to come, the site can be scaled to accommodate a growing roster of artistic talent. I used primal colors, like red, black, white and blue to highlight the artists and the music. The site is responsive, SEO optimized and links to the recording artists’ store as well as to Amazon, where their CDs are sold.

Please click on the image to reach the live site.

Music Magazine

A Digital Music Magazine

I created Blues Today, a digital music magazine with reviews, news, video and soundstage performances. Blues Today was created to promote Chicago based musicians with roots in the blues but will feature rock, R&B, funk, soul, hip-hop and more. I not only created multiple pages to showcase the musicians and bands, but wrote the content, did interviews and reviews. As usual, I created the on-page search engine optimization.

Please click on the image to visit Blues Today

Non-Profit Blues Site

Chicago Blues Society

A non-for -profit site that raises money for music education in inner city schools and for the healthcare of all Chicago based musicians.

The founder of the non-profit also wanted to feature iconic Chicago Blues musicians in addition to the foundation’s pages. I created a historical timeline, a favorites playlist, local blues clubs recommendations, as well as a biography section featuring local Blues legends and a recommended documentaries page.

The website has a blog and a store and will be growing and evolving in the years to come. 

The owner specified black and white photogrphy and the Chicago flag colors, which I worked in as bands of blue on the htitle headings on each page.

Please click on the image to see the live site. 

Blues Band

Chicago Blues All-Stars

Chicago Blues All-Stars is an American blues band based in Chicago that incorporates elements of funk, soul, R&B and hip hop. Chicago Blues All-Stars is made up of musicians that have been together as friends and musicians for four decades. The band includes numerous inductees in the Chicago Blues Hall of Fame and has been a headliner for shows such as Buddy Guy’s Legends featured on PBS and at music venues Kingston Mines and House Of Blues. Chicago Blues All-Stars has received radio play on over 200 stations in 22 countries. 

The challenge was to make something fresh, beautiful and functional to showcase the band’s members, music and music videos as they rev up to start playing live again. Click on the image to be directed to the site. 

Heavy Metal Musician

Heavy Metal Musician

A stunning star deserves an equally stunning website. Heavy Metal singer Lana Blac asked for an all black website, because of course, black is her color. The challenge was to offset Lana’s amazing videos and images and entice her audiences to sign up to her mailing list. The full website is coming soon but, in the meantime, watch Lana’s video My Victim, My Love and subscribe! Click on the image below to be directed to Lana’s website.

Blues Musician

Blues Musician

A newly completed website for Chicago Slim. Chicago Slim, aka Dr. Daniel Ivankovich,  is a Bluesman/DJ/Producer with a magnetic personality and imposing persona. With a 7-foot shadow that looms large on the Chicago skyline, this music veteran is destined to become a legend, if he isn’t one already. 

Slim wanted a website for himself as a musician, as well as a website for his band, Chicago Blues All-Stars. The challenge was to create a site that is unique, reflects Slim’s personality and showcases his music and guitar collection. I used red, an unusual choice for backgrounds, punctuated by bronze and grey to set off images and make them pop. All content was SEO optimized. 

Click on the image to visit Chicago Slim’s site.