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The Way Cassandra Smith Became a Multi-Millionaire after a successful career as a teacher crafts on the web.

May 1, 2024

Cassandra Smith, the visionary behind Blanks Galore Academy, has taught students the art of mastering various crafts while also launching profitable businesses. Her method is classes in person as well as online classes. "When I discovered that, my life took entirely a different direction from the one I was," Smith says. Smith.

The path began by sublimation, an art where designs are transferred to many different items like clothes cups, tumblers, and even mugs. Starting in the year 2017, with a an idea to design personalized hoodies for her sons basketball teams, the mother fell into the realm of craft without any prior experience.

However, she was made to study this technique on her own. When she approached sublimation company managers to teach them, they considered her as their competition--and refused to aid. "I promised myself that when I was able to master the art I would share my knowledge with others too," she says. "Gatekeeping is not something I'd undertake."

She went on to learn by herself and began to make customized sublimation orders for those in the full-time job. As demand rose and she earned her first $2000 in 1 week, she made the decision to leave the 9-5 position that she held. "When I took the choice to walk away, I had no idea that my business would begin to slow, and it did until it reached the point of coming to a stopping," Smith laments.

In the midst of hard economic times she set out to ensure that her business was successful. The first business she started was selling "blanks," which means empty t-shirts, tumblers coffee cups and other products to crafters along with personalized orders. As the pandemic swept through her, she got a plethora of requests for her blank and custom-designed masks.

"I was in a state of transition between being kicked out and earning nothing and months later earning $86,000,"in just one month," she describes. "I'd not had this amount of money prior to that ."

The sales of blanks are booming and her sales of blanks booming, she set up the Facebook group specifically for those who want to become craftspeople. There are now more than 106,000 members. The group's leader attended live classes in order to demonstrate how people can design sublimation onto the blanks she offered. The number of people who came to live sessions increased and they started asking for online classes. She signed up the first pay class, which was later followed by different programs to determine what stayed. The year she joined into, she only earned $1 million from the online courses. by 2021, she had made $2 million and, since that time, the organization continues to "hitting millions of dollars " since she created her now popular membership program.

This is how Smith started his journey, starting with no making or making online course experience, to becoming a millionaire

Skip ahead:

She tried different kinds of online software

Smith was not the first to come up with her best-selling membership program right from the beginning. She actually created twenty online membership programs before she found what really worked.

Before joining the club, she would create a new program every when her customers requested her to instruct an aspect of the subject. But she was ready to make a change instead of creating new courses often She wanted to create the perfect membership that ensured students were aware of everything they had to know about.

In 2023, she started her Crafters Mastermind 2.0 program. Its Crafters Mastermind 2.0 currently has 1200 members. "When I first launched the program immediately, I had 1000 members join,"" she explains. "For all of the year, we had an average of 1000 people registered on our site. They paid their monthly membership fee, and were learning about the latest methods of making crafts. ."

On top of her membership, she offers branded sublimation papers and ink blanks, as well as a live class within Atlanta, Georgia where she gives hands-on training on weekends. "We have students from all over the globe who travel to Atlanta to attend the classes we offer," says Smith.

She has always been a valuable asset.

In her membership it comprises pre-recorded and live content. In addition, she runs the Facebook page with private groups. There is also a forum where she will go on live every week to discuss the course material. "Some learners don't learn just through logging into Facebook and watching videos in YouTube," Smith explains. "They want to attend live classes, and also have an opportunity to answer questions. They are interested in the subject. ."

In the member area In the members area, she's constantly providing new courses. As the world of craft changes constantly and evolving, adding educational information to the dashboard will keep users interested. "As As long as you offer the people something they value, they'll be with you," she says.

At the time she began her program, her goal was to earn at minimum $300,000.00 per month. To do so, she charges $159 USD per month. "Now I don't really want to bring many more individuals into the program. The goal of my program is to ensure that I've given everything I can to those who are in the program. I'd like them to feel that, because they've enrolled into my training program, they've grown successful in their businesses ."

The notion of giving customers value rather than selling has been pivotal to her work.

"Give value, and you will be convinced," she reiterates.

She relied on the strength of community

The development of a community was the biggest key to her success. "If I hadn't established that Facebook group, I would have not met my fellow classmates," shares Smith.

She says now that her supporters are enough that they will spend money on almost all the programs she's designed. "Once the people realize that you've added value to their lives and value, they'll support the cause in all ways ."

"My community has transformed my life dramatically," she continues. "I would not be where I am today without them ."

She created strategically Instagram reels to promote her training courses.

Smith's clientele is composed of people who have just started crafting. They're mostly African American women between the aged 35-44 situated in Illinois, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and New York. There are many single mothers and are trying to find a hobby that they can do at home while taking care of after their kids. Others are simply looking for something different to enjoy.

For reaching her fans, she rely heavily on her main Facebook page. This is where she posts ads. In addition, she utilizes YouTube, TikTok, email marketing and Instagram. It's her favourite platform to exhibit on. In this blog, she writes reels that showcase the diverse art forms she creates.

If you're looking to use Instagram reels to promote your business, here are some suggestions. You can follow these suggestions to make reels that are only 7-7 seconds in length using the latest audio that has under 5,000 views. It is also suggested to use trendsing hooks to get people to take a moment to take a moment to listen.

Another tip she offers is to stay stable. "It could be demotivating initially," she says. "Even even if you follow my earlier advice but you won't see progress in a matter of minutes. It's possible that you won't even notice it over the course of a week, or for a whole month ."

"Stay in school and learning. The method that was successful in 2020 isn't working now. Social media's landscape is changing constantly and requires you to come out with different ways of remaining pertinent. ."

Her strategy was customized to her email newsletter

Aside from bringing participants to her courses by using her social media accounts, she offers an opportunity to get people into her membership program.

The free offering is an ebook on sublimation, which provides users with a variety of material and provides them with the best places to purchase materials, how to bill for items that are custom and convert printers as well as the types of goods you could produce using sublimation. It's not only offering an added value to the readers she serves, it also helps get an increase in the amount of individuals on her list of email subscribers.

Within the last few years, she's changed the way she organizes her lists of emails. Although she had previously used it for marketing her services but her engagement with emails slowed down, and she had to find a new approach. Now, she employs it in a more personal manner, sharing her experience and life as a business owner, and also revealing her expertise in her Blanks Galore Academy. "I prefer to share my day-to-day life via email in order to let people feel like they are part of the group," she shares.

She chose over other elearning platforms

In the time that Smith was researching LMS as she started researching she had been considering the possibility of utilizing platforms like Kajabi as well as Teachable. Smith was of the view that Teachable was easier to use. "I was able to create my course in just 15 minutes," she says.

Plus, one reason she's most pleased with Payments is that it has integrated payment providers and she says that managing the backend was much easier after she made the switch to Payments. "I enjoy it because it's straightforward," she shares. "I am also amazed by how fast cash can be immediately deposited into my bank accounts ."

"All I have to do is get people to join and then do the remaining," she continues. "This platform has really helped me make my life easier ."

To run her business She integrates Shopify, Afterpay, Active Campaign as well as Clickfunnels and Zapier. Zapier. "I wish I found many of these prior to that," shares Smith.

She recruited a team

It was initially only Smith running her business, however, Smith quickly got overwhelmed. She eventually hired an admin team of six to manage the online courses aspect of her enterprise. They are responsible for ensuring that they stay active in Facebook groups and answer customer email. Furthermore, she oversees employees in the warehouse to manage the shipping process, orders and packing.

The hiring of a team allows her to think greater possibilities. With the money she's making by offering online courses, her goal is to utilize the money for warehouse, inventory and staffing, as well as eventually to franchise her online academy in other states, with the hope of teaching as many as possible how to make customizations. "If there are more academies scattered throughout the nation and there are greater numbers of people who could come and learn about details of what we do," she states.

She was adamant about herself

Prior to her business, Smith didn't have an experience in design or art. She taught herself everything by adjusting, pivoting and growing as she went forward.

"You don't need to be perfect to begin, but you should start by being excellent," explains Smith. "A typically, once we've started, we want that the product is perfect prior to launch or even marketing the idea. It's best to start small by adjusting the idea in the process. That's how I got to twenty different programs, until I came across the only membership that actually was effective. ."

But starting anything requires self-belief--something that Smith never ran out of, even when times were hard. "I had a plan which everyone else was skeptical of other than me," she says. "People may ask why do you make T-shirts? It's not like anyone is buying T-shirts. But, I did my best and went with it ."

"It is evident that the more that I talk about what I'm doing and am learning about sharing it and educating people about my business, more people find me, and buying what I'm selling," she adds.

Smith's rise from being a craftsperson to a multi-millionaire teacher demonstrates the importance of persistence in the development of communities and the ability to adapt. Through experimentation with online programs and continuously delivering the best to both her community and their students, she transformed her company into a thriving business. The story of her journey can be an inspiration to hopeful entrepreneurs within the online course industry and demonstrates the possibility of success with the right mindset and the right equipment.

If you're impressed by Smith's expertise and planning to create your own online class, there's nothing you can lose. Sign up for for no cost.

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