Do you know you can generate passive income from Shopify even if you are not selling on Shopify?

Making money on Shopify doesn't even require you to sell anything at all sometimes.

Whether you're a Shopify merchant, a freelancer, or just someone with a strong interest in e-commerce, you've probably heard of the Shopify partners program. 

The Shopify Partners Program can help you earn passive income for each successful recommendation of the Shopify platform made through your account. The more vendors you can bring onto Shopify's platform, the more money you'll make. But that's not the only way to make extra income from the platform!

Shopify Partners Ecosystem

The Shopify Partners Program is Shopify's unique approach to supporting merchants selling on the platform. It is a community of expert marketers, developers, designers, and affiliates who work together to help Shopify's 1,700,000+ merchants succeed.

These experts provide various services and products to stores selling on the platform, which may include store design, marketing advice, apps and themes, and fulfillment. This innovative strategy provides the needed support to aid merchants' success while also fostering a community of continuous learning aimed at ensuring everyone's success.

Main Categories of Shopify Partners

1. Shopify Designers

Designers in Shopify's Partner Program assist store owners with design needs ranging from graphics to branding. They can offer expert advice, help you choose the most appealing colors for your store, or develop unforgettable ads. This team of partners is known to collaborate with developers frequently.

2. Shopify Developers

This category of Shopify experts specializes in Shopify store development. They understand the inner workings of the Shopify platform and develop fantastic apps that help Shopify businesses engage with customers and increase sales. A Shopify developer can design an app like print on demand or alter the functionality of your store to boost performance if your store is missing something.

3. Shopify Marketing

This category of Shopify Partners assists merchants in attracting the correct prospects and moving them through their marketing funnel to convert more customers, whether they are optimizing marketing channels, defining their target, or just planning campaigns.

4. Affiliate Marketing

Word-of-mouth referrals remain one of the leading sources of sales even in e-commerce, accounting for 13% of consumer sales. This should justify why Shopify can't ignore influencers in the partner program. So, whether you are a content creator, influencer, or someone with the capacity to refer your contacts to join the Shopify Platform, you can join the partner's program as an Affiliate Marketer.

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These categories of Shopify Partners also have various levels of partnerships that agencies and individuals can apply for with Shopify.

Shopify Partnership Levels

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1. Shopify Fulfillment Partners

The Shopify Fulfillment partners are part of the Shopify Fulfillment Network that takes responsibility for delivering orders to customers. In this case, fulfillment partners can choose to be part of the Shopify Fulfillment Network or separate from it.

2. Shopify Partners

This is a collaborative community of partners, and it will get access to several test stores to learn with, new features to explore, and marketing resources, amongst others. You will earn a monthly commission for every theme you design, app. launched, or client referred through this program. However, this is more like an entry-level position for assisting Shopify merchants.

3. Shopify Plus Partners

Shopify Plus Partners are mainly designers, marketers, and developers who provide Shopify merchants with exceptional service and support. This level of partnership often includes agencies, system integrators, and enterprise consultants. Although lone developers or designers who meet the advanced requirements of Shopify Plus merchants in terms of product quality, service, performance, privacy, and support are eligible for the program.

Shopify Partners Benefits

Just as you would need plumbers, electricians, and other laborers to build physical or brick-and-mortar stores, Shopify needs designers, developers, and marketers to create or enhance online stores for their merchants.

The partner program also gives you access to a large number of training courses and resources that will help you scale your business. Referrals to Shopify paid plans and the sale of services like apps, themes, and site design services are the most common sources of revenue.

The Shopify Partners Program also follows the principle of ease of use, making the once complex process of e-commerce easy.

You can also see the help buttons at the bottom of each page of your dashboard as shown below.

These are links to articles in the section you're now in, and they are all written in easy-to-understand English, and most buttons are self-explanatory.

Shopify’s inevitable global expansion offers Shopify Partners a lot of benefits which includes:

• Multiple revenues streams

• Solid Shopify referral commission

• Affiliate tools for insights

• Extensive training courses

• Certification exams

• Easy to use interface

• Priority support system

How to become a Shopify Partner

Head to the Shopify Partner’s page and signup with your email address

You will receive a verification link in your email after signing up. After confirming your email, you'll be sent to a website that will ask you what you want to do next. Select the "Shopify Partners" option, then "Create an Account."

As a side note, you may be asked to provide some credentials before they accept you into the programs. So, I recommend that you browse through the free Shopify Partner Academy courses and select the ones that interest you and align with your partner category.

Shopify Partner’s Pros and Cons

The Pros

• Access to business development courses and certified training through Shopify Academy.

• Access to resources that explain everything partners need to know.

• Access to marketing materials to help promote Shopify to your customers and increase your commissions

• Shopify partner perks to help your business grow

• Access to apps and themes

• Pricing and earnings structure that is strong

• Access to a variety of tools

• It offers an excellent user experience and self-explanatory features

• Round the clock customer support

The Cons

• Learning the liquid programming language for templates might be challenging

• Some of the tools they offer require upgrades

The Shopify Partner ecosystem was created with great care, which explains why the program has no more benefits than drawbacks.

A Future of Opportunities

Whether you're a freelancer, an established development agency, or you just sell on Shopify, becoming a Shopify Partner is a great opportunity to expand your business while earning extra money.

And the best part is that the Shopify Partners program gives room to people with a wide range of expertise, from tech-savvy developers to social influencers.

Take a look at Shopify's partner page and spend some time going over their guides, and look for meetups in your area. They host several virtual events, and these events are a terrific way to meet new people and learn more about the partner program.