A 6-Part Training Series with Verizon & Maisha Walker
Launching an online store doesn’t have to feel overwhelming. With the right structure, clear guidance, and a focus on what actually drives sales, you can go from idea to fully functional shop without getting buried in tech or design decisions.
This multi-workshop series walks you through every essential step of building a high-converting online store: choosing a platform, organizing products, setting up policies and shipping, creating strong visuals, designing a homepage that sells, and layering on advanced features once your foundation is solid.
Whether you’re selling your first product or leveling up an existing shop, each session helps you make tangible progress toward launching (or improving) your store.
By the end, you’ll understand what to focus on, what to skip, and how to create a simple, trustworthy shopping experience your customers will love.
Led by: Maisha Walker — Founder & President of Message Medium, Princeton alumna, and Inc. magazine columnist. Maisha has spent nearly three decades building websites and digital marketing systems for brands like Mars Chocolate, Columbia University, Unilever, Yellow Tail Wines, NBA player Kyle Lowry, Golden Seeds angel investing network, and Save the Children. She brings deep experience and a hands-on, approachable teaching style that makes digital strategy clear, doable, and effective.
Sign up below and we’ll notify you when these events are open for registration on the Verizon Digital Ready Web site!
July 9: Building an Online Store
Your customers are online—your shop should be too. We’ll cut through the noise and focus on the essentials that get you to “open for business” quickly: the right platform, a clean structure, and a checkout that just works. Bring your product ideas and we’ll help you translate them into a store people can trust and buy from.
You’ll learn:
The 5 elements every high-converting store needs (most people miss #3)
How to structure your homepage to guide buyers to “Add to Cart”
What to skip so you can launch faster and easier
The easiest way to get your store online—even if you’re not tech-savvy
The simplest and most effective way to enable payments and shipping options
You’ll leave with a prioritized launch checklist and a plan to go live without getting lost in tech.
July 13: All About Product List, Categories, Collections & Variants
Confusion kills conversions. Your store’s ability to sell depends on how well you organize your products so that customers can easily find them and choose the options they want. We know that understanding how to build a product list and set up categories, collections, and variants is also confusing!
In this session, you’ll untangle products, options, and collections so shoppers find what they want in seconds - whether they’re on desktop or mobile. We’ll show you how to build your product list and organize your products so your store feels simple and smart.
You’ll learn when to use variants vs. separate SKUs, set up tags, and organize a collection structure that supports search and SEO.
August 3: Policies, Taxes & Shipping (Trust Signals that Convert)
Policies, taxes, and shipping aren’t just compliance—they’re conversion tools. Clear language and visible trust badges in your footer reduce friction, lower cart abandonment, and make your business look established.
We’ll look at ways to draft your policies, where to set up basic tax and shipping rules, and show how you can display fees and policies so there are no surprises and to boost credibility.
August 10: Visual Branding: Logos, Product Images & Hero Shots
Great visuals sell. This workshop helps you understand which visual elements are the most important so that your site can look professional even without a big studio budget!
We’ll look at logo variations, product photography, hero images for your Home page, and even leveraging AI to help you create images that sell even if you can’t hire a photographer.
September 8: Store Design That Converts: Theme, Home Page & Navigation
Design is about decisions.How do you know which decisions to make when choosing a basic design, layout, and navigation menu that will help your online store sell?
We’ll show you how to choose a great theme that will be easy to use, and how to build a homepage that spotlights your brand value, and how to create navigation that gets shoppers to products fast.
You’ll evaluate themes against features and flexibility, map homepage sections, and streamline menus to reduce bounce. If you follow along, you’ll leave with a plan for your site and a hotlist of great design themes to choose from!
September 17: Next-Level Features: Wishlists, Wholesale, Reviews & More
Once the basics are performing, add-on features can help your online store shine and help you grow your sales. We’ll evaluate tools like wishlists, wholesale pricing, customer reviews, A/B testing, and chatbots. Learn what to implement, when, and how to measure ROI so that add-ons don’t slow your store or overwhelm customers.
Sign up below and we’ll notify you we’ll put a reminder in our newsletter when these events are open for registration on the Verizon Digital Ready Web site!