The short version for official: pick one source, finish one thing, and show it to a person. Below are the 70 free entries I would use to do exactly that, in the order I would use them.
70 free entries on this topic · see all of them · search within the topic
The ones I hand people first. Pick one, finish it, then come back.
Four approaches from Etsy for choosing which listings to put ad budget behind.
Reddit's help articles explaining what Reddit Pro is and who it is for.
Shopify's guide to measuring how marketing campaigns perform.
Short pieces worth the twenty minutes before you commit to anything bigger.
Etsy's checklist for preparing listings before promoting them with Etsy Ads.
A checklist from Etsy covering the shop and listing details that affect search visibility.
Shopify's guide to planning content that brings shoppers to a store.
Shopify's walkthrough for putting together a store marketing plan.
Etsy's official fees and payments policy, listing the fees charged for listing, transactions and payment processing. Check the page for current figures.
Etsy's official help center, with seller articles on shop management, listings, finances, marketing and policies.
Etsy's free library of seller guides, the Etsy Success podcast and stories from other sellers, organized by topic.
Etsy's guide to launching an Etsy Ads campaign, from setting a budget to what to expect in the first 30 days. Free to read; ads themselves cost money.
How to invite up to five team members to help run an Etsy shop with their own logins, without sharing a password or financial details.
Etsy's explanation of how its search ranks listings for shoppers.
Meta's help article explaining how Business Suite and business portfolios are set up and what they manage.
How to use Marketplace Insights, Etsy's search-data tool in Shop Manager, to see what buyers are searching for and how competitive each term is.
Self-paced, no cost, and finishable alongside a job.
A free Shopify Academy course introducing the platform.
A free Shopify Academy learning path on marketing basics for a store.
Four short free Meta courses (about 15 to 18 minutes each) on getting a business online, content that stands out, turning posts into ads and going live. Meta's separate certification exam may carry a fee; check Meta's page before paying.
A free Shopify Academy learning path on selling Shopify.
Shopify's free courses, learning paths and skills credentials. It moved from academy.shopify.com to this address.
TikTok's learning content for marketers on creative, ads, measurement and policy.
TikTok's certification for media buyers. TikTok's page does not state a price.
Things that do part of the work for you, free to use.
Shopify's free business name generator; no sign-up required.
Instagram's tool where brands find creators for paid partnerships, and creators can be discovered by brands.
Shopify's free tool for creating an invoice.
Shopify's free AI logo maker.
Meta's free tool for managing Facebook and Instagram business accounts in one place: messages, scheduled posts, ads and insights.
Shopify's free privacy policy template generator. It gives a starting-point template, not legal advice.
Shopify's free calculator for working out profit margin and pricing.
Reddit's help section for Reddit Pro, which Reddit describes as a free suite of organic business tools for finding and joining relevant communities.
Shopify's free refund policy template generator. It gives a starting-point template, not legal advice.
Shopify's collection of free online tools for small businesses, from calculators to generators.
TikTok's library of top-performing ads to browse for creative ideas. It may ask you to log in.
TikTok's trends tool showing trending hashtags, songs and creators. It may ask you to log in.
Boards, communities and organizations that post or point to real openings.
Etsy's official community forums, where sellers ask questions and share advice.
Etsy's calendar of seller events, including online sessions and workshops.
Etsy's own podcast for sellers, with episodes on running and growing a shop.
Shopify's official merchant forum.
Comparing two of these? Put them side by side.
