We recently connected with Ian Roberts and have shared our conversation below.

Ian, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

I think taking the decision to work as an artist is a risk. When I was at art college, I remember the guidance counsellor at the college said to me, point blank, “You can’t earn a living as an artist.” The guidance counsellor of the art college. As it happened my father was a painter. A number of his friends were painters and they all earned a living doing it. So I knew it was possible. But you do have to trust that that small voice inside you that is steering you in that direction. I mean it may not turn out how you thought. I’m teaching online courses now which 4 years ago I would never have imagined. I have been blessed with opportunities that have made the risks worth it. And I know I would not be happy in almost any workplace where I worked for someone else. So in a sense I was forced to take that risk I think.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

As I mentioned my father was a painter. I went on painting trips with him from the age of 11. I was at art college at 19 then went and spent several years meditating. Which as it happened was a great foundation to being an artist. I did 4 years at the Ontario College of Art in Toronto and have pretty much been painting full time since. I had a friend in Provence, France with a beautiful facility and he invited me to come and paint there. I thought what a wonderful place to hold a painting workshop. I advertised, filled it up, and then kept doing that for over 25 years. That really was my bread and butter for all those years. Supplemented by painting sales, but two 10 day workshops kept me alive. Somewhere in there I wrote a book Mastering Composition, which subsequently has sold over 50,000 copies. So I knew there was interest there. Then 4 years ago I decided to stop teaching in Provence and teach online. I started a YouTube channel that hardly anyone watched for over 6 months. But it slowly gained traction and I launched my first Mastering Composition course online. Now 4 years later I have over 180,000 YouTube subscribers and over 1600 people have taken my course. One of the reasons it has been successful is if you are going to paint, composition is the foundation of every painting. And so it becomes a foundational way to dramatically improve your painting.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

My wife referred to me as analog man because when I decided to start doing on line courses and needed to create some kind of social media presence I didn’t even have a phone. I hated the idea of having to post to facebook, instagram, twitter over and over. So I decided on one avenue, the one where I felt most comfortable. I would make videos on YouTube. I decided to make a video a week, coming out at the same time each week. I had a mailing list of around 1000 people who had either come on workshops or expressed interest over the years. So I sent an email to them all with the youtube video embedded. I’d get a 1000 or so people watching each video but the numbers did not grow for 6 months. And then it did. A couple of people with their own following recommended it and the numbers jump to 2000 in a month. Then someone else a couple of months later and it jumped to 5000. I really have no idea exactly how the numbers grew. It was all very organic. For two years I posted a video every week. I had months where 25,000 new subscribers would sign up. Again I have no idea of how or why. I have never had any luck figuring out the algorithm for YouTube. Then I was so tired of doing it weekly I decided to do just one video a month. And thought that will probably be the end of any growth. But it has continued to grow pretty well even at once a month. The truth is it is not the number of subscribers. It is the number of regular viewers that gives you a sense of who is following your channel. I get around 35,ooo people watching each monthly video now. That is a good group of people to offer a course to. And so far it has been bringing a lot of students each year.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I think the most useful course I took was Seth Godin’s Modern Marketing on Udemy. It was a very well spent $200. The main thrust of it – give stuff away (my YouTube videos) so that people come to trust you so when you do offer them something for sale they know they will get useful content from someone they have gotten to know and trust. Also I would not put a ton of money into equipment (this is for video). I still only use my iPhone. It is that 80/20 thing. Make great content. That is the 80. Whether it is filmed on an expensive camera is part of the less important 20. I don’t mean don’t do it. Just recognize where the focus should be. Content. The only thing you do need is good sound. That is important.

Contact Info:

• Website: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ianrobertsartist/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD9oGgSJ6CSDDMMfuEc-3mg
• Other: To purchase Creative Authenticity click this link: https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Authenticity-Principles-Clarify-Artistic/dp/0972872329/ref=sr_1_1?crid=HPLE8Z4ZEAJW&dchild=1&keywords=creative+authenticity+by+ian+roberts&qid=1618596895&sprefix=cretive+authe%2Caps%2C515&sr=8-1 To purchase Mastering Composition click this link: https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Composition-Techniques-Principles-Dramatically/dp/1581809247/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2WHRXAV5X776L&dchild=1&keywords=mastering+composition+ian+roberts&qid=1618596701&sprefix=mastering+compo%2Caps%2C210&sr=8-1

Image Credits
I took all the photos, except the one of me which was taken by my wife. So no copy right issues.