Cassandra Smith, the visionary behind Blanks Galore Academy, teaches individuals the artwork of mastering a number of crafts and launching profitable companies. She does so by means of in-person and on-line programs. “When I discovered Thinkific, my life did a whole 360 from the place I began,” shares Smith.
Her journey started with sublimation, a way the place designs are transferred onto varied gadgets akin to clothes, tumblers, and mugs. Beginning out in 2017 with a need to create {custom} hoodies for her kids’s basketball crew, she stumbled into the world of crafting with none prior expertise.
Nonetheless, she needed to be taught this system on her personal; when she requested sublimation enterprise house owners to show her, they noticed her as their competitors—and refused to assist. “I vowed that after I discovered, I’d educate others, too,” she says. “Gatekeeping is rarely one thing that I’d do.”
She discovered by herself and started making {custom} sublimation orders for individuals on the facet of her full-time job. When demand soared and she or he made her first $1,000 in a single week, she give up her 9-5. “After I give up, I didn’t know that my enterprise was going to decelerate—and it slowed all the best way down,” Smith laments.
Falling on powerful monetary instances, she remained decided to make her crafting enterprise profitable. She started promoting ‘blanks,’ which means clean t-shirts, tumblers, mugs, and different gadgets to crafters alongside her {custom} orders. When the pandemic hit, she acquired 1000’s of orders for her clean and custom-designed masks.
“I went from getting evicted and making zero {dollars} to months later making $86,000,”in a single month she shares. “I’d by no means seen that sort of cash earlier than.”
Together with her clean gross sales booming, she created a Fb group for aspiring crafters, which now boasts over 106,000 members. There, she went reside within the group to show individuals sublimate on the blanks she bought. Folks more and more started exhibiting up for her reside lessons, and shortly they have been asking her for on-line lessons. She signed up with Thinkific and provided her first paid program—adopted by a number of extra applications to see what caught. That yr, she made slightly below $1M in on-line course income. In 2021, she made $2M, and since then she’s been “hitting tens of millions on Thinkific” after creating her now signature membership program.
Right here’s how Smith went from having no crafting or on-line course creation expertise to turning into a multi-millionaire:
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Smith didn’t create her best-selling membership program proper off the bat. The truth is, she created 20 on-line applications earlier than she discovered what actually caught.
Earlier than her membership, she would create a brand new program each time her viewers requested her to show one thing particular. However she was prepared for a change; as a substitute of making new programs the entire time, she needed to make one nice membership the place individuals have been taught all the things they wanted to know.
In 2023, she created the Crafters Mastermind 2.0 program, which now has 1,200 members. “After I launched it, I immediately had 1,000 individuals be part of,” she shares. “For a yr straight, we had a minimal of 1,000 individuals in there, paying that membership payment each single month and studying new crafts.”
Now, on high of her Thinkific membership she sells branded sublimation paper and ink, blanks, in addition to runs an in-person college in Atlanta, Georgia the place she teaches hands-on lessons each weekend. “Now we have college students from everywhere in the world fly down right here simply to attend our lessons,” says Smith.
In her membership, she gives a mixture of pre-recorded and reside content material. She additionally hosts a personal neighborhood by way of Fb—and that is the place she goes reside each week to show the course materials. “Some individuals don’t be taught simply by logging in and watching movies,” Smith explains. “They wish to see a reside class and ask questions. This helps maintain individuals engaged.”
Throughout the membership, she’s regularly including new lessons; for the reason that crafting trade is all the time altering, including new instructional content material to the dashboard retains individuals . “So long as you give individuals worth, they’ll keep inside your membership,” she says.
When she first began this program, her objective was to make no less than $300,000 per thirty days. To take action, she expenses $159 USD per thirty days. “Now, I don’t actually care to attempt to get extra individuals inside this system. My objective is to guarantee that I’m offering as a lot worth as I can to the individuals which might be at present in there. I need individuals to say that as a result of they joined my program, they’re now profitable of their companies.”
The perspective of giving worth versus simply making an attempt to make a sale has been pivotal in her enterprise.
“Give worth and the sale will come,” she reiterates.
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She leaned on the facility of neighborhood
Creating neighborhood has been the largest key to her success. “If I’d have by no means began that Fb group, I’d have by no means discovered my individuals,” shares Smith.
Now, she says that her neighborhood is so sturdy that they might purchase nearly any program she created. “As soon as individuals see that you just give worth, they’re keen to assist you in something.”
“My neighborhood has modified my life dramatically,” she continues. “I wouldn’t be right here with out them.”
Smith’s viewers is made up of newbie crafters. They’re largely African American girls between the ages of 35 and 44 positioned in Illinois, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and New York. A lot of them are single dad and mom and are looking for one thing that they will do from dwelling whereas they appear after their children. The remaining are merely on the lookout for a brand new interest.
To achieve her viewers, she leans closely on her predominant Fb group, which she runs adverts to. She additionally makes use of YouTube, TikTok, electronic mail advertising, and Instagram—which is her favorite platform to point out up on. Right here, she shares reels that display the totally different crafts that she makes.
For these additionally wanting to make use of Instagram reels to market themselves, she has some ideas: she recommends that people create reels which might be solely 5-7 seconds lengthy utilizing trending audio that has lower than 5,000 usages. She additionally means that they use trending hooks to get individuals to cease of their tracks and hear.
Her different recommendation is to remain constant. “It may be discouraging at first,” she says. “Even if you happen to take my earlier recommendation, you’re not going to see progress in a single day. You won’t even see it in per week or month.”
“Keep studying and evolving. What was working in 2020 isn’t working now. Social media is continually altering, and it’s a must to come out with new issues to remain related.”
Other than bringing individuals to her course by way of social media, she gives a lead magnet to assist get individuals into her membership program.
The free providing is a sublimation e-book, which primarily offers individuals a provide listing and lets them know the place to get materials and worth their {custom} gadgets, convert their printers, and what sort of gadgets you may make with sublimation. This e-book not solely helps to present her viewers worth, it additionally helps get extra individuals on her electronic mail listing.
Over the previous couple of years, she’s modified the best way she makes use of her electronic mail listing. Whereas she used to make use of it solely to speak about what she was promoting, her electronic mail engagement slowed down and she or he was pressured to discover a totally different technique. Now, she makes use of it in a extra private approach, being clear about her story and her private life as a enterprise proprietor along with sharing what she gives at Blanks Galore Academy. “I like to point out my life on electronic mail so that individuals can really feel a part of the household,” she shares.
When Smith was first researching LMS’, she thought-about platforms like Kajabi and Teachable. Nonetheless, she felt that Thinkific was extra user-friendly. “I used to be in a position to arrange my course inside minutes,” she says.
Plus, one of many issues she loves most about Thinkific is that it has an built-in cost supplier; she says working the backend turned a lot less complicated as soon as she converted to utilizing Thinkific Funds. “I really like Thinkific as a result of it’s so streamlined,” she shares. “I additionally love that the funds are immediately deposited into my financial institution accounts.”
“All I’ve to do is deliver individuals to Thinkific and Thinkific does the remainder,” she continues. “This platform general has made my life so much simpler.”
To run her enterprise, she integrates Shopify, Afterpay, Lively Marketing campaign, and Clickfunnels—which she integrates into Thinkific with Zapier. “I want I discovered Thinkific so much earlier,” shares Smith.
At first, it was simply Smith working her enterprise—however she turned overwhelmed shortly. She ultimately employed an admin crew of six for the web course facet of her enterprise. Their duties are to remain energetic in Fb teams and reply buyer emails. She additionally has a warehouse crew to handle orders, transport, and packing.
Hiring a crew has allowed her to dream greater. With the cash she’s making from on-line programs, her objective is to speculate it into her inventory, warehouse, hiring, and ultimately franchise her in-person academy in different states with the hope of instructing as many individuals as attainable make customizations. “If we’ve extra academies unfold out, then extra individuals are in a position to stroll in and be taught precisely what it’s that we do,” she states.
Previous to her enterprise, Smith didn’t have an artwork or design background. She discovered all the things herself—shifting, pivoting, and rising alongside the best way.
“You don’t must be nice to begin, however it’s a must to begin to be nice,” explains Smith. “Numerous instances once we begin issues, we wish it to be excellent earlier than we launch or put it up for sale. I’d say simply begin and ideal it as you go. That’s how I got here up with 20 applications earlier than I discovered the one membership that basically labored.”
However beginning something requires self-belief—one thing that Smith by no means ran out of, even when instances have been onerous. “I began with a dream that no one else believed however me,” she says. “Folks would say, why do you wish to make t-shirts? No person’s shopping for t-shirts. However I simply took it and ran with it.”
“Evidently the extra that I share what I do and be taught, the extra individuals maintain discovering me and shopping for what I’m promoting,” she provides.
Smith’s journey from crafting novice to multi-millionaire educator highlights the significance of willpower, community-building, and adaptableness. Via experimentation with on-line applications and constantly offering worth to her neighborhood, she remodeled her enterprise right into a thriving empire. Her story serves as an inspiration to aspiring entrepreneurs within the on-line course trade, showcasing the potential for fulfillment with the proper mindset and instruments.
In case you’re impressed by Smith’s journey and in addition wish to start a web based course enterprise, you don’t have anything to lose. Join Thinkific without spending a dime.