Cory is serving and teaching what many would call the most challenging group of customers...artists. In this interview Cory talks about how he got started and finding out to best serve his audience. What happens when the market you want to serve and teach seems like a group that “can’t afford” you? In this podcast episode Cory Huff of The Abundant Artist shares his journey. Since he narrowed down his target market, he was able to craft training courses that helped artists, rather than focus on a wider market, and this has led to his success. Cory worked at an Internet marketing company and that helped give him the knowledge and experience of how to properly market online. He stumbled into working with artists as he blogged and answered questions that they submitted when they signed up for his email list.
Download The Bonus Audio: “Cory Huff’s Advice On How To Take Your Course To The Next Level”
Gory gave a great piece of advice: Ask your email subscribers what they are struggling with and you’ll get insights into how to better serve them and possibly create online courses based on their needs. Another reason for his success is that he interviews other artists on his podcast. This helps him connect with successful artists, pick their brain and get insights into how to better help and serve the artist community. Cory talks about how the stigma of how all artists are “staring artists”, but it’s actually not the case. While some are just getting started and are struggling, there are many artists that are very successful. This is much like any entrepreneur in that some struggle while others thrive. The key for any artist is to learn the business, marketing and sales side of their industry. He even talks about a customer of his that is deaf and took his course. She learned that she didn’t have to rely on transitional forms of selling but could market and promote online. She figured out that online marketing works for his life, selling ebooks which led to art sales and having success. This has led to her successfully growing her business. Selling art is an entrepreneurial endeavor just like starting a business While it took some time, Cory learned that having courses that are 10-15 minutes and have an assignment at the end that the student can take action. Having short segments keep the students engaged and give them a sense of accomplishment when they go through several at one sitting. And giving them homework allows the student to actually practice what they have learned. It’s easy to want a fast result and think that watching video based training alone will result in mastering the material. But, it’s key to give your students something to practice. This is why teachers for centuries have given homework to their students. It’s not just to give us busy work (although sometimes it feels like that’s what they’re doing) but to help reinforce the course content.
Here are a few of the questions that Cory Huff answered:
- What is your background?
- What is your view of Internet Marketing as an industry?
- How did you get started working with artists?
- Why is it hard for artists to sell online?
- How do you teach artists to dispel the starving artist myth?
- What are some struggles you see with taking the class vs engaging in the material and truly learning from it
- What system are you using to sell and distribute your courses?
- What are some marketing strategies that you've had to find other artists that's worked well?
- Where can people find you and connect with you?
- Bonus Audio - What are your strategies for ultimate success with your sales and effectiveness of your courses?
A synopsis of some of the topics Cory covered:
- Worked at internet marketing company
- Stumbled into working with artists by blogging
- He interviewed other successful people in the industry and posted them on his blog
- Artists that love art but don’t have a business background or they aren’t extroverted
- He helped Angela Lion. She is deaf and took his course. She figured out that online marketing works for his life, selling ebooks which led to art sales and having success
- Selling art is an entrepreneurial endeavor just like starting a business
- Has 10-15 minutes of instruction with action at the end to help them solidify the content
Action Steps: Leave your feedback in the comments on what action steps you will be taking…and then go do it!
- If you are starting out, what are some ways that you can start to build a following? You may want to look into blogging, podcasting, creating videos or some other way to create content and build an audience.
- Put something in your email confirmation, auto responder or send out a quick email asking your audience what they are struggling with.
- How can you incorporate homework, practice material into your courses? (hint, after reading this…go take action and implement it into your courses!)