THE INSPIRATION PLACE PODCAST
Miriam Schulman:
Hey, passion maker. This is Miriam Schulman, Chief Inspiration Officer and Host of The Inspiration Place podcast, where I inspire you to profit from your art. You’re listening to episode number 136. Shout out to my new listeners in Russia, Singapore, South Africa, and Panama. I am so grateful that you’re here. Today, we’re talking all about creating online art classes and to help me out, I have one of my Artist Incubator client who launched her first online art class this year. So in this episode, you’ll discover how to pivot your art business during a pandemic, how to build confidence as an artist and a business woman, and also some key pointers for you in case you’re thinking about launching your first online art class. Today’s guest creates a form of expressionists abstraction inspired by the mystery of life and her need to describe it in paint form. Her rich textured paintings portray a sense of unseen ethereal energy. Born in Belfast, she gains inspiration from the rugged coastline and wild landscapes of her native home. Her art is featured in galleries and collected around the world.
This year, our guest realized her dream of creating a signature program, abstract art academy. And that’s what we’re talking about today. Please welcome to The Inspiration Place Ciara Gilmore.
Ciara Gilmore:
Hi there.
Miriam Schulman:
Hey Ciara. Welcome to the show.
Ciara Gilmore:
Thank you so much for having me. It’s great to be here.
Miriam Schulman:
I’m so excited to have you on, I’m so proud of your success. Before we get into the meat and potatoes of what we’re talking about, this has been a long time dream for you to create this course. Yeah, how long ago did you start thinking about it?
Ciara Gilmore:
Two years ago, when I first started dabbling in abstract art, I actually, I wasn’t very good at that stage-
Miriam Schulman:
We all start not knowing.
Ciara Gilmore:
Exactly. So I was a real beginner and I went through this process and a mission almost of discovering everything I could possibly discover about how to create really good abstract art. And I took so many different courses and just kept absorbing and absorbing information and practicing. At the end of, I would say it was probably only about a year, really, I started getting requests from galleries and I was getting commission requests and suddenly my art was getting legs and it was just taking off. But it was really that process that I went through and the things that I learned that I realized without those things, without the lesson that I had learned really quickly, I wouldn’t have been in that position. And I had this real strong urge to share that with other people.
And I’ve always loved teaching. I taught as an occupational therapist before, and I’ve taught fiber art classes and different types of art classes before. So it was in my heart to really share this. So I’ve been thinking and thinking about it and it was all planned in my head. I just didn’t know how to actually get it sorted and get it out there. It’s happened, it’s out there, it’s launched. I can’t believe that I’ve actually achieved it. And I’m absolutely delighted.
Miriam Schulman:
It’s amazing, how many people think about things and dream about things, but don’t actually do it. So to be one of those people who actually see something in your mind and make it real through your inspired actions, I always commend people when they go through that process because you had to really step into places where you weren’t comfortable and become the beginner again. So just like you were the beginner at once with your art, you had to become the beginner about creating an art class.
Ciara Gilmore:
Yeah. I mean, I had absolutely zero experience of how to go about doing this. And what I did was I made sure same as with the abstract art, I went on another mission, how to create an online course. And so what I did was I sought out those people who could help me because you can’t become wiser and more knowledgeable if you just are relying on yourself, you need to learn from other people and experts. So I find the best people. And I surrounded myself with these people I learned from them and that really helped me to allow my dream to come to fruition. It just magically appeared, but it was through seeking out these, the right people, and learning from them. I had to really step out of my comfort zone doing this because there was a lot of things that I really didn’t even know I had to learn.
But I decided that just by taking one step at a time each day, just do one or two things towards this dream that eventually they would all come together and it would happen. Whenever I thought about the bigger picture, it was a bit overwhelming, so I took your advice because I remember one of the things that you taught me, it’s my motto to this very day and it’s basically, done is better than perfect. That’s what I do. And also I have another mantra inside my head, you can do it, you can do it when things are stressful and I’m not sure what I’m doing, I just keep saying over and over again in my head, you can do it, you can do it, just get it done. Done is better than perfect, it works, it really does.
Miriam Schulman:
I love that. Let’s spoil the ending for people though, because I want them to pay attention to what you’re talking about. And one of the ways to do that is by sharing the results. This is her first online art class. How many students did you enroll?
Ciara Gilmore:
24.
Miriam Schulman:
24 students. How many pounds?
Ciara Gilmore:
Over £16,000, I think 16,361 perhaps.
Miriam Schulman:
Yeah, £16,391, which is I think $20,000 or something.
Ciara Gilmore:
Yeah. I mean, I just couldn’t believe it.
Miriam Schulman:
Amazing.
Ciara Gilmore:
My goal was to have 10 people in the first cohort, 10 students.
Miriam Schulman:
Wow, you more than doubled it. You blew your own mind.
Ciara Gilmore:
Absolutely. I did blow my own mind.
Miriam Schulman:
That’s amazing.
Ciara Gilmore:
It was such a baptismal fire, the whole process. Once I joined the Artist Incubator, it was great because I had access to you Miriam. And Miriam is an amazing course creator. So I basically picked your brain for quite a bit of the time while I was creating this course. I mean, you were there to help me with my sales pitch, my email sequencing, even the tech, because technically as artists, we’re very afraid of that. And of [crosstalk 00:08:19].
Miriam Schulman:
Yeah. Did you use Anna for that also?
Ciara Gilmore:
Yes. It’s great to have her there as this fountain of knowledge so that you can just pick her brains for whatever it is that you need. I think she helped me with my emailing. I was deciding on which platform to use. So it’s great to have that as well.
Miriam Schulman:
Ciara is part of the Artist Incubator Mastermind. One of the benefits that I give from my mastermind members is twice a month, they get to meet with Anna who is my, we have a cute name for her, the studio manager, but the real thing that she does, she’s really the operations’ manager for the business. So she knows how to run everything technical inside my business because she does it for me, almost everything that happens she does for me. So twice a month, she is available to answer questions for all the Artist Incubator members who have questions about anything that we do that’s technical inside the business.
Ciara Gilmore:
Yeah. She just knows instinctively as well and if she doesn’t know, she’ll find out, she’s brilliant.
Miriam Schulman:
I like to help my students more with big picture strategy. Another benefit of the mastermind is she has unlimited email support with me. So she would send me a link to her sales page and I would record a video and send it back to her explaining what I think she should change. Do you remember anything that I told you to change?
Ciara Gilmore:
Loads. But it was great.
Miriam Schulman:
Loads. Well, was there anything that surprised you, that was like, well, I learned from this expert, I was supposed to do it this way, and I was like, well actually-
Ciara Gilmore:
Where I put the bio in the sales page was in the wrong place, too many buttons in the wrong area called action buttons.
Miriam Schulman:
I remember one specific example and I’ve seen a lot of people do this where they send the email out and it’s the pre-sales email. And it’s all about how excited the course creator is, about the course. I’m so excited, I’m doing this and I’ve been working hard and I’ve been thinking about this. And what I told you, Ciara, is nobody cares about how excited we are. It’s all-
Ciara Gilmore:
I remember that night, yeah.
Miriam Schulman:
Of course, we’re excited, but nobody cares about that. The whole point is to get them excited and what’s in it for them and why should they pay attention to it? What did you end up putting in there instead for that email in the beginning?
Ciara Gilmore:
It was basically, I mean the people who are on the course now, they would have had difficulty with blending their art and composition and struggling with things in particular. So it was helpful for me to put myself in their position and to feel how they would feel and what they would want to know from me as a teacher.
Miriam Schulman:
When your core solves a problem and all classes solve a problem, we think, oh, what problem with this art, so will they have a problem with painting? And their pain problem is, they can’t blend, they’re making mud. If you can say to them, “Hey, I see you. I hear you. I understand your problem.” If you can say that to them first, then they’ll listen to you because you can’t sell somebody an aspirin, unless you tell them, I see you have a headache. You need to recognize what the problem is before you offer a solution. If it’s the wrong problem, then they’re not going to want your solution too. And their problem is not whether or not you’re excited.
Ciara Gilmore:
Yeah. They don’t care about my excitement.
Miriam Schulman:
No, they don’t.
Ciara Gilmore:
They want to be able to make better art and they want to feel more confident.
Miriam Schulman:
Well, they don’t care how hard you worked on the class.
Ciara Gilmore:
No.
Miriam Schulman:
They don’t care how excited you are.
Ciara Gilmore:
They just want to know what I can offer for them to help them get to a better place.
Miriam Schulman:
Exactly.
Ciara Gilmore:
Yeah. So it’s good to be able to bounce off the ideas because I’m so new to this. So I’m just really, again at the beginner stage. So I feel I’m getting more confident and the next time I launch and the next time I do my email sequence, it’s much easier when you’ve had this feedback from somebody who’s been creating courses for years.
Miriam Schulman:
One thing that I know that was hard for you and hard for everybody is really having that confidence that you can do this, and you can ask a lot of money for it.
Ciara Gilmore:
When you become an artist, you’ve assumed this title upon your head, artist, and it’s sprinkled with all this historical assumptions. So when you hear the word, artist, you assume, struggling artist, poor artist, an artist who is just not a business person. So when you take on this leap to follow your dream, become an artist, you take on all these beliefs that are limiting beliefs.
Miriam Schulman:
Which are optional.
Ciara Gilmore:
Yes. This is the thing, when you recognize that they are limiting beliefs, that they’re not true and you decide, well, hold on a minute, I am not going to tick on all this rubbish from the past. An artist has just as much merit as any other profession to do really well and start to value myself and value my art. And as soon as I realized that, I started to work more on myself, to help me realize that. Because sometimes it filters in and you can’t help it. So in order to help with my confidence in purchasing expensive art and charging £997 for an eight week course, I feel really confident about that. In fact, I think it’s amazing value for money because of the amount of content and the value you get from me. But it took me a while to build that confidence up.
And I wasn’t in that same position a year ago, so I had to work on myself, I had to work on my mindset. I have whiteboards all over the house, I’ve vision boards, I have affirmations everywhere. It’s important that the thoughts that you think are positive and nurturing towards yourself and that they’re not, you can’t do this, you’re not good enough, you’re not worthy. Because your thinking can be affected on a day-to-day basis by things that go on. It’s important I feel as an artist to really prioritize that. And so every day I write in my gratitude journal and I’m saying my affirmations and I am building my confidence on a day-to-day basis. And think that that has really helped me with my whole journey and course creation and building a really good business for my art.
Miriam Schulman:
I’m really glad you shared that. So you do a daily gratitude journaling practice?
Ciara Gilmore:
Yes, I do.
Miriam Schulman:
And you do that every morning?
Ciara Gilmore:
Yes, and throughout the day as well.
Miriam Schulman:
Wow. Throughout the day, do you do it when you’re feeling that you just need to lift your vibration or?
Ciara Gilmore:
I do it in the studio. So before I start my art, I almost bless [inaudible 00:15:18], not bless it, but just be so grateful for being in this room with my paints and my canvas and the quiet and the opportunity to paint. And I just think I am so lucky. And I just get overwhelmed with gratitude for this opportunity of being able to follow my dream. Then that’s when I create my best art. When I don’t do that, I struggle and I get grumpy and then I realize, hold on a minute, I haven’t been grateful for being here in this moment. I haven’t done that. And it just lifts your vibration automatically. Gratitude is the most powerful tool to help your whole life really, but especially in art. I mean, every artist who is painting has such a wonderful gift just to have the paints at their hands and their canvas, and just be able to express themselves in whatever way they want. We’re very lucky to be creatives like that, recognizing that is a wonderful thing to do as well.
Miriam Schulman:
That’s beautiful. Ciara, thank you so much. I think that’s going to help a lot of people today, what you just shared. I know there’s a lot of people struggling right now because things that we used to do to raise our vibrations may not be available, going out to lunch with friends and other things.
Ciara Gilmore:
The normal things.
Miriam Schulman:
By the way, I wanted to make sure that you knew I am taking applications for the Artist Incubator Mastermind. There are very few spots available, but I also have available a self-study version of the program so that you can learn the same curriculum as my mastermind members. How do you learn more? Apply for the mastermind and if I think you’re a better fit for self study, I’ll send the information your way. If you’ve been listening to this podcast and you’re ready to dive deeper with me, either through coaching, curriculum or a combination, I would love to work with you. The incubator program is for professional and emerging artists who are serious about taking their art business to the next level. So if you’re ready to invest in your art career and join this dynamic community, go to schulmanart.com/biz as in biz to apply now. I know that in December you shared with me that you normally have income from the galleries and this year not or not as much.
Ciara Gilmore:
Yeah. Well, we’ve in Northern Ireland, we’ve had two major lockdowns, so lockdown last March, then we had another mini lockdown in September and then everything was shut up in December. There was literally no time in December for anybody to do any shopping. And then we were in a full lockdown from Boxing Day and still are locked down. So the galleries, they have an online aspect, but they’re really ought to walk in and see the art in person type of place. So it was really important for me to work on my online presence and make sure that my website was up to date and my online shop was ticking along. And I remember just before Christmas, again, with the Artist Incubator, I got amazing advice about my email list and how to use my followers and my subscribers to sell my art through my website.
Miriam Schulman:
Back in November, I taught everyone in the Artist Incubator my Black Friday sequence. And says, you don’t have to only use this during Thanksgiving, you can use this any time and to prove that this was true, Ciara used this outside of the US. So your customers are not American, I assume. Right?
Ciara Gilmore:
No, in Ireland.
Miriam Schulman:
So this was an email sequence to sell originals.
Ciara Gilmore:
Yeah.
Miriam Schulman:
And how’d that go?
Ciara Gilmore:
Oh, it went brilliantly. Yeah. I sold a couple of thousand pounds worth of art.
Miriam Schulman:
Of art, original art. Yeah. Which you can do this again. You don’t have to wait until November.
Ciara Gilmore:
Yeah. Brilliant idea. It’s great because I just would never felt to do it that way. Your email list is so important, they are the people who want to listen and hear from you. Yeah. I reached out to them with your guidance and that worked, happy days.
Miriam Schulman:
Yeah. I know that there’s a lot of artists listening who think only if, if only I had a bigger Instagram following or you see artists who might be talking about their collections and their sales on Instagram. And because that’s what you see, you think that’s how it’s done. But really what they post on Instagram is the artists who release collections and who have a lot of success selling their collections. Most of the sales are through their email list. And I’ve spoken to many artists who have big followings on Instagram and has that appearance of it’s happening on Instagram, like Emily Jeffords and Amir Raheem and others. And when you talk to them, it’s really, yes, there is some benefit of posting on Instagram, but most of the sales are happening through the emails and that’s what people don’t see and don’t realize.
Ciara Gilmore:
That’s right. And that was one of the, again, another key learning point for me. So I only had an email list of, I think about a hundred when I first started, and now it’s almost at a thousand.
Miriam Schulman:
Wow.
Ciara Gilmore:
Yeah. So that’s through using my lead magnet switches, which are freebies, which I offer on my website, a guide on six secrets to developing your signature style. And I also have my art supply lists and both of those have helped me increase my email list over the last three or four months. So that’s been amazing. The artist who would have been interested in signing up for my course want to know what supplies I use and what equipment I use. And that worked really well for attracting the right type of customer for my art course.
Miriam Schulman:
Yeah. It’s super important to, number one, not overthink what that free thing needs to be. And number two, it has to be in alignment with what it is that you’re selling. So it can’t be enter for a free iPad. You can build a huge email list, but none of those people are interested, they’re signing up for your list for the free iPad. So when you make it something that’s super aligned with what it is you’re ultimately selling and just keep it simple, don’t overthink it. Don’t overdo it. Yeah. I love that. I think this is going to help a lot of people, Ciara, we covered some really good ideas for how to keep a positive mindset. How you use your gratitude practice using a simple freebie, making sure you’re making, everything that you’re promoting, making it about them not about us. Can be confusing, especially since I talk about how you need to show up and be authentic in your brand. Did that ever give you any kind of confusion? Because I talk about that and yet at the same time when you go to sell, it’s really all about them.
Ciara Gilmore:
Yeah. It is confusing because I think my default is you’re talking about your own message.
Miriam Schulman:
You talk about yourself in a way that lets people get to know you because that’s how you connect, but it’s no different than having a friend. So if I was getting to know somebody, we might talk about things that we’re commonly interested in and that forms bonds. So you talk about things that about yourself to make yourself a real person. You don’t act like you’re this institution, but just like in friendship, you wouldn’t go out to lunch with a friend who only talked about themselves. So it’s about taking interest in them as well. So there’s a time and a place for talking about yourself and there’s a time and a place we’re saying this is about you. So when you talk about yourself, it’s about talking about it in a way that lets them in to your world.
Ciara Gilmore:
It just has to be balanced and yeah.
Miriam Schulman:
All right. So this is a beautiful place to wrap up. Why don’t you share with our listeners about your abstract art evolution, what is the promise of that course?
Ciara Gilmore:
So the course is eight weeks long and I tell you and show you everything that I learnt and discovered to help me get from being pretty, not rubbishy, but I was really beginner and amateur, up to a professional level within 18 months. I learned so many different things and I decided to put them all together in this course. But what I really wanted to do in the course was make sure that what I was sharing was easy to understand, easy to implement and quick to implement so that you get results really quickly. So if you do one module and you implement that, you’re going to see results right then. Then it will build and build and build until you have got all these critical aspects of improving your abstract art and that you’re able to integrate them into your practice, that you will see a definite improvement in your art practice. And get you ready to, if you want, sell your art and run your art business, get into galleries, whatever it is, being confident enough to do that and feeling really confident in the quality of your art.
Miriam Schulman:
That’s beautiful. All right. And if they go to your website, will they be able to find information about either the free supply list or the next time the course opens?
Ciara Gilmore:
Abstract, our evolution is the students are in at the minute and the doors open for the second group of students at the end of April. And if you want to get on the waiting list for that, if you just go to my website, ciaragilmore.com and just go to the top, which says art courses, just pop your name in there. You’ll get on the waiting list. And also there is on that same page, you can sign up to get my free art supply list and my free guide for unlocking your signature art style.
Miriam Schulman:
All right, fantastic. So this is airing in April. So if you’re listening to this while it goes live, that will be right around the corner. And if you’re listening to this more in the future, just go on the wait list for the next time. So we’ve included links to all those places in the show notes at schulmanart.com/136. And don’t forget if you liked this episode, check out the Artist Incubator. Ciara’s in there for all this year. So you’ll get to join her-
Ciara Gilmore:
It’s brilliant, I love it.
Miriam Schulman:
All the other smart, inspiring students. And you’ll have my eyes on your art business so I can help make your dreams real and thrive. So if you want to apply, go to schulmanart.com/biz that’s biz, as in B-I-Z, by the way, there’s no rejection either. If you are a good fit, I’ll recommend we get on the phone and chat some more. If I think you’re a better fit for self study, I recommend that. So no such thing as being rejected, just making sure that you only sign up for programs that are a good fit for you. I have your interest at heart. All right. So Ciara, do you have any last words for my listeners before we call this podcast complete?
Ciara Gilmore:
I think that as an artist, you are better than you think you are. Don’t compare yourself to other artists, be inspired by them, but don’t compare yourself. You are truly worthy to be the best possible artist that you can be and build a business wherever you want. Just have that self belief in yourself. Keep painting, practice and it will come, but you are worth it. You are worthy of this because I think that deep down we are so self-critical, we’re always so negative about ourselves. Just tick that inner critic voice, throw it out window and just tell yourself that you are good enough and that you are worth this. And just keep going, take one step at a time and be kind to yourself.
Miriam Schulman:
All right. That’s beautiful place to end. Thank you so much for joining me and sharing your wisdom with everybody. I do this all the time, but it’s not easy to do it for the first time. Am I right?
Ciara Gilmore:
Yeah, I know. It’s my first podcast.
Miriam Schulman:
You’re a little nervous?
Ciara Gilmore:
Yeah.
Miriam Schulman:
Well, I really appreciate you coming on here. All right. So if you enjoy today’s show, share it on Instagram. And if you leave a review, I will give you a shout out over on my IG stories. We actually made this really easy for you. If you go to schulmanart.com/review-podcast, just pop your Instagram handle at the end and that’s how you’ll get a shout out. All right. My passion maker. Thank you so much for being with me here today. I’ll see you the same time, same place next week. Stay inspired.
Thank you for listening to The Inspiration Place podcast. Connect with us on Facebook at facebook.com/schulmanart on Instagram @schulmanart. And of course, on schulmanart.com.
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