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Debbie Friis-Pettitt's Method to Teach 5,000 Learners How To Paint

Apr 10, 2024

Debbie Friis-Pettitt has developed a wildly successful online course company in a niche that includes watercolor and a small palette.

Based in Prescott, Arizona, Friis-Pettitt began her career as a designer of commercial graphic designs. She was also an artist working in pencil, and also produced work. After appearing in numerous exhibits and exhibitions, she was inspired to explore an entirely new medium, watercolor.

But there was a problem: she was intimidated by the hue. It's true that she was unable to endure for more than six months. "I was armed with a palette comprising 30 or more colors, and I was unsure of the best way to decide which color I needed to choose," explains Friis-Pettitt. "I didn't know how chemically-based the properties of color were, that's the reason why every attempt I made to paint myself it was an utter mess ."

At the end of the day she discovered an artist on the internet who taught the theory of color. "I began my work with a tiny palettes using only three shades. This helped me learn how to achieve the right balance, value and harmony as well as blend my own color," she says.

The following years, she has said her art has been taken off. "My passion for painting with my palette exploded, and I began getting more and more customers saying that they'd set some of their color choices away" adds Friis-Pettitt.

Then, she started to become famous for her paintings with a limited palette and frequently won awards at art exhibits. People began asking to lead workshops in watercolor limited palette painting. They were intrigued and she began teaching live workshops in the summertime beginning in the year 2018. After experiencing the results of covid for the initial time, she made the switch to online instruction with the help of . "The tiny palette impacted the watercolor of a lot of students, including myself," she says. "From that point I went up a notch and discarded my opaque color palette and introduced the staining in transparent colour, which the majority of artists recommend students to avoid using it ."

Since launching her online business--Watercolors That Glow!--Friis-Pettitt has taught over 5,000 learners---continually pushing the edges of what she's "supposed" to do, and instead finding her own way via her unique niche instead. It's how she left her mark in an incredibly competitive industry

Skip ahead:

She enrolled for

In order to attract greater amounts of people to sign up her classes, she decided she would like to offer classes on the internet. "People love online courses," she says. "In the past, I've eliminated all classes in person since it's costly for students to travel ."

An artist introduced her . "I realized that I'm capable of figuring out the solution. It's possible,'" she states.

and Teachable and Teachable Teachable is her two preferred alternatives for online learning but she decided to go with Teachable because she felt it was easier to use. "It was very easy to design courses" she writes. "There there were a few issues when learning and there were a few bumps in the road, but overall I am impressed by how structures are constructed ."

" is getting more and better" she continues. "There's no thing I can do to make it easier for me to switch to another one. They respond to all my queries immediately. ."

The librarian was created by the classes

With an online structure that she had set up to her preferences she was able create material to help the students.

The initial video she recorded included tutorials. She afterward, she compiled a library of video clips which customers could purchase at a cost.

There are 60 tutorials to choose from, you can choose the option of a subscription that permits users to pay a monthly or annual price for access to all of the library. "In my early days I didn't feel enough that I could offer a choice to subscribe," she says. "It took until after I'd completed more than fifty courses before I began giving the option to subscribe ."

After launching her membership a few months ago, she has now 200 members. Plans are to expand the membership with more courses so that both learners and subscribers an a on a la carte basis can always be able to access new information.

Though she is delighted with her subscriber involvement, her goal isn't to hold her customers for as long as they can. "I would like to see people capable of learning quickly and easily, and later, proceed to create their own work," she says.

The majority of her lectures are recorded so that students can benefit from the location they prefer at any point in time her live-streamed lecture can be found on livestreamed courses which she provides at least once every six weeks.

Her money was put into the top equipment

When she started filming video clips, she recorded the video clips using her iPhone. In order to establish an organization that could be sustainable over the long run and last for a long time, she needed the right equipment. But, changing to new the latest technology can be a challenge for anybody. And she claims it took her two years to reach the point at which she was able to set the appropriate parameters for her filming and recording setup.

Since the iPhone video recording speed has been increasing, she's gotten into the latest technology to make editing and recording simple. The camera she uses is named Packshot. It's the Packshot which is perfect to capture close-up shots. Then she uses an editing software named Camtasia that allows users to quickly switch between various images. "I was certain that I had paid lots of money for the equipment, but the investment is worthwhile. Then, I'm able to have an ideal setup" she says.

She shows this setup, which consists of a frame, in which the camera is positioned towards the top of the frame and pointing down towards the area she paints. "This lets me film as I paint with a remote control that lets me move the camera closer. After that, I'm able to use the Camtasia software to edit my video," she says.

"Now I'm in a position to film intermediate videos in just a few days. The bar that I set before me was crucial to achieving the high-quality video I'm capable of producing," continues Friis-Pettitt.

The prices of her products were kept at a low level.

Like numerous other creators, she had to deal with the challenge of determining how to price her program.

Though numerous have advised her to increase the price however, she has remained steadfast on charging an affordable amount. Her aim is to reach the highest number of clients.

Livestreaming courses cost $65 USD, the a at-a-cost courses are priced at 35 dollars for each class and memberships begin at $14 USD per month, or $144 when purchased annually. Additionally, she offers bundles which include a selection of instructional videos made up. The bundles are priced from $48 to $84 USD.

In order to collect payments, she makes use of Payments.

"I am able to attract an increased number of visitors who visit my website due to my low-cost classes. I believe that having my costs low has made me more competitive.
Pricing is about making sure your pricing is reasonable enough in order to make sure that the buyers are ready to try their options," continues Friis-Pettitt.

Not only does she keep the price of her courses low, she offers an excellent value for the cost she is able to. "I don't cut corners; I offer everyone the chance to take a look at a book, and I discuss much more than the majority of performers," she says. "That's why people keep coming returning to me time and over. ."

In order to find the ideal cost, she recommends that artists demonstrate their worthiness. For artists who are aspiring to be successful, she suggests that they be recognised by the community they live in. "It's important that you've gone to art exhibits and won several awards to your name because they are much more inclined to trust that they are able to trust what you're saying" she says.

"You need to also be able to demonstrate an area of specialization," she continues. "There are thousands of artists teaching on the same subject which is why you have to make yourself stand out ."

The classes she offered were advertised via word-of-mouth

Her classes are popular with students from all ages She says the majority people are older than 60.

Her livestream and la carte classes are popular with serious artists who want to develop their painting skills and possibly even sell their artwork, while her classes are popular for those who enjoy amateurs. The target market she targets is almost exclusively female.

Her courses are promoted through word-of-mouth marketing. she thinks that this can be done by anyone with a great product or service, and who is very friendly and teaches the class in a different method. "For example, my students share their experiences in other Facebook groups whenever people ask about classes on subjects which have a limited selection of classes available," she says.

One of the things that makes her courses apart and allows her to spread the message of her courses through word of mouth-- is that she makes clear each of her errors.

"They have the ability to perceive every detail," she says. "They know that I must restart my work. They see me make the most serious errors. They watch my thought processes. There aren't many watercolor artists with this skill, and that's what makes that, it's possible to maintain students, and then they head out to spread the knowledge through various websites. ."

Alongside word-of-mouth, her primary method of gaining traffic is through the free tutorials she gives away. These tutorials are completely free and allow people to see the things she offers and the way she imparts her knowledge. These tutorials also serve as a way to get people into her courses that cost money to attend. Her courses are then promoted.

the courses can be found on her Facebook page (which is home to nearly 9,000 people) and Instagram as well as her Instagram page as well as Pinterest. "Pinterest is an excellent source for instructional videos that I use to teach. There are a lot of my students' requests via Pinterest," she shares.

In addition to being a Facebook page a platform for discussions about the most current tutorials she's developed, but it's also a fantastic method to stay connected to her followers. She says that she has specific rules for joining as well as a specific Facebook group that is for her website as well as painting with the use of the use of a smaller palette. Members learn from each other in this group prior to visiting her site to purchase her classes. "Even while I'm not an avid user of Facebook it's a site where seems to have people relaxed," she says.

Marketing for Friis-Pettitt is one of the biggest challenges in managing her business. "I must improve my marketing skills," she laughs. "Surprisingly I've never done any kind of marketing. This is strange considering I'm fairly efficient on my site. My strategy for marketing is the opposite direction from ."

The private conversations of her remain private.

Friis-Pettitt's one-woman show. With no staff her goal is to keep her system streamlined, automated, and as easy as is possible.

She integrates Zapier as well as Flow Desk into her site to make it more efficient. "There's just a tiny amount of my current projects," she explains. "It's predominantly creating videos and ensuring I'm active in platforms like Facebook as well as Twitter." ."

"I am trying to locate someone to work with, who might be able to help me, however I've not found that person as of yet," continues Friis-Pettitt.

If she were to form one of her teams in the near future and recruit a team she wouldn't be able to maintain the close connection she's having with her students. "I reply to my own messages, reply to those who post on social networks, as well as assist my Facebook group. I promptly respond to each user in my community," she says.

"One thing people appreciate about me is that I'm very sociable and open to spending time with others. It's not like I'm a robot or have personal assistants to manage the things I need to," she adds.

Her focus was on the specifics on her own

In response to a question about what was her most memorable achievement during her time as an artist online, she talked about the importance of identifying what interests her. "I've identified a niche that allows me to stand out from thousands of other artists who work with watercolors," she says. "People do not know about these artists, so you need to consider the motives behind why they're watching you against the 300 others they've just discovered on the internet. ."

"You have to find the what attracts people's attention," she continues. "For myself, the selection which I've chosen from is vast. It is important to create something distinctive. If you don't do this, you'll end up in the crowd with all the others ."

In addition, she states that her choice to make an important change in her approach to teaching. "There's no problem with Skillshare or Udemy however, these two platforms have the ability to control courses but and not the writers of the course content. My personal opinion is that the most I was able to do immediately was to get started immediately to determine the topics I wanted to offer," shares Friis-Pettitt.

She was consistent even during the most difficult times.

In the Friis-Pettitt's study the majority of new course creators assume that managing an online enterprise will be simple.

"It isn't an easy task This is among the most difficult things that I've ever done over the course of my entire existence. It's a relief to have discovered an online platform that can assist me with organizing and organizing my classes my preferred way," she reveals.

What kept her going in the hard time was the enthusiasm she feels for teaching as well as her love for the arts. "Sometimes I'm forced to take my head in the pillow and cry" she continues. "Then I rise and dust myself off and tell myself that I've made it up to where I am which means I'm now at a point where I can continue ."

"It isn't something that happens at a rapid pace, I had to wait for 2 years before I reached this level," says Friis-Pettitt. "But it's crucial to never stop. If you feel you've created the top product, and a excellent method of teaching then it's going happen. It's not going to be done in a rush. It will take time ."

The 2024 outlook it is based upon trends in the world of online creators Friis Pettitt believes there are a lot of creators could go under and now, more than any time, the ability to determine a certain field that is highly specialized is essential. "The marketplace is already overcrowded," she says. "Unless you're able to step above and beyond what is normal, and you have the ability to stand out and be noticed, you're unlikely likely to get noticed. ."

There are several goals for her to accomplish this year. One of them is growing the number of subscribers she has She plans on putting some more instructional videos over the coming months and then promoting them throughout the year. The goal is to double the number of subscriber base. "One of the reasons why I've not promoted my membership in the past is because I'm not certain that there are enough tutorials to be found on the site. I'm hoping by time the end of this year I'll be able to provide enough information that it can be a real ."

Additionally, she plans to develop a masterclass for three months the course, which will offer an intimate encounter with the class in the process of creating a work. At the end of the course, students will possess a thorough comprehension of watercolors, and how to draw using only some colors on the palette. "I'm anticipating having two masterclasses over the next year ,""" she tells us enthusiastically.

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