Broke Musician’s Home Recording Studio Tutorials Idea → $100K/Month

Hello Rebels

🏖️ Fun one-liner:

Why did the entrepreneur carry a paintbrush? Because they see every challenge as a canvas for innovation!

Onto Today’s story….

Graham Cochrane lost his job and lived on food stamps, a government assistance program, for 18 months.

But how did he start an online course business called RecordingRevolution.com

that teaches musicians how to record and produce their music to a professional level and generate $100k/Month?

What's even more impressive is that he achieves this with virtually no ad spend and by working only 5 hours a week.

Here is how he did it...

Graham had just moved to Florida with his wife to help a friend start a church.

His background was in music.

He grew up singing, playing guitar, and writing/performing songs.

He also went to college for audio recording and had created a side income as a freelance audio engineer, producing albums for bands and artists.

Once in Florida, he found a job at a financial startup, bought their first house, and had their first baby.

But then, 5 months in, he lost his job because the company he was working for ran out of money.

When Graham lost his job, he did his best to pick up work freelancing again,

but he didn't have much of a network since moving to Florida.

So he decided to start blogging about what projects he was working on in the studio,

hoping to drive some traffic and potential client leads.

What ended up happening instead was that he developed an audience around his blog and,

YouTube channel who wanted to know more about how to record and mix music themselves rather than hire him.

They loved his content,

and with each video and article that he released, he built up more and more credibility in their eyes,

because they could put his material into action and see results.

The problem was, it didn't make any money.

During this time, they had to go on Food Stamps provided by government assistance for an 18-month stretch, because they were basically broke.

Graham needed to find a way to monetize his content.

He considered ads but thought a more direct method would be to create a longer,

more in-depth video training as compared to his YouTube videos and see if he could sell it to his audience.

He called his first product "Pro Tools Boot Camp", a 3+ hour training on the industry-leading audio software, Pro Tools.

He screen-recorded the videos, zipped them up in a folder, uploaded it to his $5/month GoDaddy server.

He built a free sales page with a simple PayPal "Buy Now" button that linked to the zipped file.

While attending his grandfather's funeral on the other side of the country,

Graham checked his email in the evening and saw a "You have payment" email from PayPal.

It was his first sale of $45!.

This was a turning point for him, as he realized someone was willing to pay for his video training.

Graham says, "I didn't have a formal "launch" - I just figured it out as I went."

He started with a free WordPress theme and the economy hosting with GoDaddy for $5/mo, without even a logo.

Then he committed to blogging twice a week and posting one video to YouTube each week as well.

He was smart enough to focus on capturing email addresses and building a list from the start,

which gave him and still gives him a curated group of warm leads to sell to.

Between hosting, a custom URL, and some basic screen capture software,

the total cost to start his business and launch his first product was a mere $50.

Granted, his first launch was pretty modest, amounting to just a few hundred dollars.

But it was a start and validated that he was on to something.

He says his business growth strategy is stupidly simple:

content marketing, content marketing, and more content marketing.

He focuses on releasing new free content, including articles and videos,

every week that centers around his niche and market.

This content acted as a powerful SEO tool,

helping Graham rank higher in Google and YouTube searches, facilitating discoverability and attracting new audience members.

For instance, Graham created in-depth tutorials on recording techniques like double-tracking guitars and parallel compression,

which resonated well with his audience.

Graham may not be an SEO wizard, but he understands the importance of "keywords" or buzz words common in his niche,

and he tries to create videos around those words or phrases.

He uses YouTube analytics tools to discover which keywords people use to find his videos and creates more content based on those words.

At the end and sometimes the beginning of each video and post,he offers his audience something more valuable in exchange for their email address,

such as a PDF cheat sheet, checklist, or guide.

One of Graham's most effective lead magnets was a comprehensive PDF guide on setting up a home studio on a budget,

which he offered in exchange for an email sign-up.

Once they join his list,they are put into an email funnel that offers even more free valuable training and promotes his products,

creating automated passive income each day.

Graham learned the importance of consistently creating valuable content aligned with his audience's interests.

As he explains, 'Providing actionable, results-driven tutorials was key to building trust and credibility with my audience.”

This type of business is incredibly profitable due to its virtually zero costs.

The major expenses, beyond web hosting, email marketing, and digital product delivery backend, are a few contractors that work for the business.

The YouTube channel has over 500,000 subscribers.

The email list is just over 250,000 strong, and the customer base exceeds 20,000.

The work hours have significantly decreased.

Previously, he used to work for 32 hours a week with Fridays off.

Now, it only takes 5 hours a week to manage the business.

This reduction in hours has been largely due to eliminating unnecessary tasks,

the automated nature of selling digital products, and employing a few part-time hires.

He thanks Tim Ferriss's book, "The 4-Hour Workweek," for this.

Now he makes $100k/Month.

Graham says…

"Be generous. Be generous by giving away free content every week.

Be generous by overdelivering to your clients and customers.

And even be generous with your competitors.

Show them respect and honor them in your space.

And then watch what happens."

10 reasons why he succeeded

1. Personal obsession

• Graham's background was in music - he grew up singing, playing guitar, and writing/performing songs.

• He went to college for audio recording and had created a side income as a freelance audio engineer.

• He was able to turn his passion for music and audio into a successful online course business.

2. Embracing content marketing

• Graham's business growth strategy was "stupidly simple: content marketing, content marketing, and more content marketing."

• He focused on releasing new free content, including articles and videos, every week that solved the problems for his audience.

• This free content acted as a powerful SEO tool, helping him rank higher in Google and YouTube searches.

3. No paid advertising

• Graham achieved his success "with virtually no ad spend."

• His content marketing, including keyword-focused videos, improved his Google and YouTube search rankings.

• Organic search traffic, not paid ads, was the main source of new audience and customers.

4. Extremely lean startup budget

• With hosting, a custom URL, and screen capture software, Graham's business launched for just $50.

• He used a free WordPress theme and $5/month GoDaddy hosting, no logo.

• This lean method let him validate his business idea with minimal investment.

5. Earning from online courses rather than freelancing

• Graham started as a freelance audio engineer, producing albums.

• He then scaled his income by creating online courses.

• His first product was a 3+ hour training on industry-leading audio software, sold to his audience.

6. Prioritized building an email list

• Graham smartly focused on collecting email addresses and building a list.

• He provided lead magnets like a home studio setup guide for email sign-ups.

• Subscribers received more free training and product promotions, generating automated passive income.

7. Launching a successful digital product affordably and simply

• Graham launched his first product by recording videos, compressing them, and uploading to a cheap server.

• He used a free sales page with a basic PayPal button linked to the file.

• His first $45 sale proved people would pay for his training videos.

8. Built his biz to work less

• Previously, Graham used to work 32 hours a week with Fridays off.

• He cut his work hours to just 5 per week by eliminating unneeded tasks, automating sales, and hiring part-time help.

• He was inspired by Tim Ferriss's book, "The 4-Hour Workweek."

9. Showing resilience and tenacity amidst major financial difficulties

• Graham and his family relied on Food Stamps for 18 months due to financial hardships.

• Despite these challenges, he continued to build his online audience and create content.

• His perseverance eventually led to the monetization of his efforts through his online course business.

10. Embracing a "figure it out as you go" mentality

• As Graham says, "I didn't have a formal 'launch' - I just figured it out as I went."

• Instead of waiting for ideal launch conditions, he acted with available resources.

• His flexible approach helped him validated his business idea, and brought him success.

🍧

Hope you liked the story and the strategies which made them successful.

Keep Zoooming!

Yours “Making you Win” Vijay Peduru