> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.higherfrequency.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Getting started for brands

> This guide takes you from a new account to your first live campaign.

This guide takes you from a new account to your first live campaign. It takes about 15 minutes. You need:

* a Shopify store you can sign in to as the owner or a staff member who can install apps
* a payment card to fund your first campaign

## Step 1: Create your account

There are two ways to sign up. Both end in the same place.

### Option A: Start with your Shopify store

Use this if you want your store linked as part of sign-up.

1. Go to the sign-in page and choose **Sign in with your store account**.
2. Type your store name. This is the part before `.myshopify.com` (for example, `my-store`). You don't need to type the `.myshopify.com` part.
3. Shopify asks you to approve the app. Approve it.
4. You come back to the Freeq Growth Network. Create your account with your email address, then finish the short registration form (see below).
5. Your store is linked to your new account automatically.

### Option B: Sign up with your email

1. Go to the sign-in page and choose to sign up.
2. Enter your email address and verify it. The Freeq Growth Network sends you a code or link to confirm the address is yours.
3. Finish the short registration form (see below).
4. Connect your store afterwards from the welcome screen (Step 2).

### The registration form

The form has three steps:

1. **Choose Role**: pick **I'm a brand**.
2. **Your Brand**: enter your brand name and your website (both required), plus an optional short description of what you sell.
3. **Business Details**: company size, industry and your Shopify store name. All three are optional, and you can choose **Skip**.

Choose **Complete Registration** to finish.

If you started with your Shopify store, or from a sign-up link made for brands, the **Choose Role** step is skipped because we already know you're a brand.

> [!NOTE]
>
> You can change your company size and industry later from **Edit Profile** in the account menu at the bottom of the left sidebar.

## Step 2: Follow the welcome checklist

The first time you sign in, you see a **Welcome to the Freeq Growth Network** screen with three steps:

1. **Connect Shopify**
2. **Enable theme embed**
3. **Create Campaign**

### Connect Shopify

If you signed up with your store (Option A), this step is already done.

Otherwise, follow the connect card on the welcome screen. You approve the app on Shopify and then come back. When it works, you see **Shopify store connected** with your store's address.

The full details are in [Connect your Shopify store](https://docs.higherfrequency.io/brands/connect-your-shopify-store.md).

### Enable theme embed

An *app embed* is a small, invisible piece of code that Shopify lets apps add to your store's theme. Ours records which creator sent each shopper, so we can credit the sale even when the shopper doesn't use a discount code.

1. On the welcome screen or in **Settings → Shopify → Connections**, choose **Enable in your theme**.
2. Shopify's theme editor opens with the app embeds panel showing.
3. Switch our attribution embed on, then choose **Save**.
4. Come back to the Freeq Growth Network. The card changes to **Attribution embed active**.

> [!WARNING]
>
> Leave the embed switched on. If you switch it off, sales that come without a discount code can't be credited to the creator who drove them.

The welcome checklist can't tell on its own that you finished this step, so it stays on step 2 until you create a campaign. The green **Attribution embed active** card is the real confirmation.

### Create your first campaign

Once your store is connected, the **Create your first campaign** button unlocks.

## Step 3: Create and fund your first campaign

1. Choose **Create your first campaign**.
2. Describe your campaign in plain words and choose **Send**, or choose **Enter details manually**.
3. On **Campaign Settings**, set the name, target audience, total budget, commission rate, Shopify product and start and end dates.
4. Choose **Create Campaign** and confirm.
5. In the **Fund your Campaign** window, choose **Pay with Stripe**. Stripe's secure checkout opens in a new tab. Pay by card.
6. When payment goes through, the campaign changes from **Draft** to **Active**.

For every setting explained, see [Campaigns](https://docs.higherfrequency.io/brands/campaigns.md).

> [!NOTE]
>
> Your browser must allow pop-ups from the Freeq Growth Network for the payment tab to open.

## Step 4: Bring in creators

An active campaign needs creators to share it.

1. Open the campaign and choose **Publishers**. Some screens say "publishers"; this means creators.
2. Select creators whose audience fits your campaign and invite them.
3. If your campaign is open to requests, approve or decline creators who ask to join.

See [Finding and managing creators](https://docs.higherfrequency.io/brands/finding-creators.md).

## Step 5 (optional): Add a discount offer

You can give shoppers a discount when they arrive through a creator's link. First create a *discount offer* in **Settings → Shopify → Discount Offers**. Then turn it on for each creator. See [Discount codes](https://docs.higherfrequency.io/brands/discount-codes.md).

## What happens next

* Shoppers click a creator's link and buy from your store.
* The Freeq Growth Network credits the sale to the creator who sent the shopper most recently. See [How credit is decided](https://docs.higherfrequency.io/how-it-works/attribution.md).
* The commission is taken from your campaign budget and held for a period, so returns can be handled first. See [Holding periods and disputes](https://docs.higherfrequency.io/how-it-works/holding-periods-and-disputes.md).
* The Freeq Growth Network's platform fee for the sale is taken from the budget at the same time. Your campaign page shows it separately from creator commissions. See [Fees](https://docs.higherfrequency.io/brands/budget-fees-and-refunds.md#fees).
* When the budget of a Shopify store's campaign runs out, the campaign ends on its own and you get an email. See [When the budget runs out](https://docs.higherfrequency.io/brands/budget-fees-and-refunds.md#when-the-budget-runs-out).
* Your results show on the campaign page and on **Performance** in the left sidebar.
* When the campaign is finished, you can withdraw any budget you didn't spend. See [Budget, fees and refunds](https://docs.higherfrequency.io/brands/budget-fees-and-refunds.md).


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