What's up welcome too we missed version of sawdust school or call yet, of interaction and what you can see here throughout the years. A lot of questions from our listeners as well as updates on their projects. Perhaps some other features as well. What we ve got a classroom feature. That's all you got a couple days, but where do you long time listener? If you were wondering about the stories when we got those two so twice a week now we're going to do a case study a detailed story of somebody out. There has a day job yet finds a way to start an income generating project. They always deconstruct that process and look at how they got there

yeah how they may happen, what challenges they encountered along the way and then ultimately, what is the final outcome? Not just what happened, but how did it affect their life? So if you knew, I hope you enjoy these stories because really try to feature you just regular people out there, like you and me who found a way to be successful, often by doing something quite different, and there are many examples of this in the archives. But let's move forward so in today, story and artists goes from a small Manitoba village to generating six figures running. Occasional websites while living in China. I tell you my friends. Anything is possible where a jump into the story dive into all the details right after the shot out to our sponsor

Mitch, Valor New early on he was going to stray from the beaten path. After all, when you grow up in a tiny village, Manitoba Canada, that beaten path, does it lead to many places now teaches people how to draw through all my courses under the monaker, the pencil king, of course, stories of rural t always begin with once upon a time. We finished art school away back in two thousand to Mitch didn't go to his own graduation. Instead, he hopped on a plane to China. You taught English to support himself, but he quickly figured out that, instead of giving private lessons, he could teach kids in groups.

A discount to them, but more overall money for him, cutting his work week down to just eight hours. I gave him plenty of time to pursue his other interests. Tai, chi and 3d art. Improving his art skills in the off time meant that much sunlight at a job as an artist for a chinese studio. One that's applied art for big video game companies such as EA and Activision. Then, during a holiday trip back to Canada, Mitch asked himself a facebook question. How can I make money? In my sleep. Back in China, which had about his day job with his burgeoning site hustle, he would wake up at five. Thirty, eight, I'm every week day, working until eight thirty when he had to leave for that job, even though he was a paid artist. He was

Ferris putting his work out their under his name to him. There are so many other talented artists all over the internet. Fortunately, he had conditioned himself to create regularly whenever he had more time with his english teaching schedule so to keep himself accountable in the face of impostor syndrome which, by the wayside network, to talk about imposture syndrome very soon on the programme statement should keep it

if a cannibal, he sent a goal to make new art everyday, ensure video lessons with anyone who wanted to watch. It is new website. Drawing coach dot com is set up, was bare bones. He balanced tripod between his desk in a window and sat below it reaching up to draw any additional start up. Costs were simple materials purchasing runs to the arts, supply store for less than fifty dollars. Now, interestingly, Mitch didn't charge for these lessons. They are the content and was going to bring in advertising money, and this made Google measures first customer technically because their ads for the first ones he tried putting on his website. It also meant that s YO r search engine, optimization with MRS Second daily hustler after working on new content. Of course, he was learning as much as he could about this. So we can understand how to make his sight rank on search engines. Then he started writing his own articles, because it's easier for Google's robots to re text and watch videos. Earnings were small at first

drawing coach made about thirty dollars a month in those early days, but after ranking for keywords and pumping out content consistently, the numbers increased. Mitch spent about five years, often on growing, drawing coach, putting out this quality content and lessons before quitting his job at that point was making enough money to sustain digital, nomad lifestyle in South EAST Asia, plus He had an idea for his next site: pencil kings, dot, com, pencil kings, not come! You hurt your first, where drawing coach was a website

With basic lessons that relied on advertising revenue, pencil kings was an entirely different model for this new site Mitch. Teamed up with other artists to offer courses, recovery topics like anatomy, Photoshop, caricature art and more recite charges, a flat monthly fee for access to all its course. They might think that sounds great, but where would the pencil kings customers come from? Well, I'm glad you ask. We cut Mitch had a great referral network already set out to build those subscribers. It was a simple fuddle. It would convert some of the traffic from drawing coach into customers for his new site while some of the links and adds on that first sites to appoint other companies. A few well placed ads for pencil kings sent thousands of new visitors each month. This established a new site as a sort of logical next step in a young artists journey which also use some of those same tactics. He's already learned, focusing on s yo after growing pencil kings,

a third project. This one was called evolve. Artist replicating his success, converting students from drawing coach to pencil kings. He uses evolve artist as a way to teach the business and fundamentals of art for this when he parted with another, well known artists to create a lessons, freeing up time for him to focus on strategy instead of focusing on just one side at a time which keeps all three running for one simple reason: they all generate income altogether. The sites bring in more than six figures an annual profit and vomits believes in investing back in the business. He takes enough to support himself and save for retirement plus he gets to work with fellow artist everyday. The pencil kings rain up here is secure and Mitch is living the dream. Congratulations merged. Thank you. So much putting us share your story interest

well done all the way around. I always left following the progression of someone's thinking and work, beginning desire to see more of the world and then learning how to hack the whole language lesson thing by teaching groups of people instead of just individual lessons, and then everything that can offer that now we always ask everybody what has been the best part of this experience thus far and additionally, how is having us how to submit offended you? I really like the answer. We got back from Mitch. Listen to this, he said. Well, it might sound weird, but as an artist chronometers about proving yourself proving that you can do it and with entrepreneurs ship, it can be similar. There's this element of proving not just to other people but also to yourself and the best part for me has been the self discovery and growth the tap and over the years, as well as the people. I've been fortunate to meet. You also talked about how, because he's Gagne skills of how to generate traffic and make sales, even though he works in the art market. He blames you can apply those skills and other markets we had two and that competence allows him to take more risks

That's my you today that I should come through much of his encouragement for you, but I hope you enjoy it. Inspiration is good, but inspiration. What action is better today show notes, are at Titusville School School com, one slashed, ten, ninety nine one, zero, nine nine tomorrow in true spinal tat, passion. We will turn episode clock to eleven hundred, and I also believe the best is yet to come. Thank you so much. My name is crystal about. This is cider school. From probably onward project.