Bonnie Christine: Launching a 7-Figure Online Course

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Bonnie Christine always knew she would own a business one day – she just wasn’t sure what kind of business she wanted to run. Not until she started working in her mom’s quilt shop.

Bonnie is an internationally renowned Surface Pattern Designer, entrepreneur,

and award-winning online educator. She’s been creating delicate and ethereal artwork for

brands around the world since 2009.

In this interview, she shares the behind-the-scenes of her business journey: from $12,000 in revenue and working multiple jobs to making $350,000 on her first launch. There are so many great takeaways from this episode on money mindset, hiring, and so much more!

Press play for the full interview or keep reading below!

Falling in Love with Fabric

Born and raised in Franklin, North Carolina, Bonnie grew up in an entrepreneurial family. After finishing business school, she settled back in her hometown and worked in her mom’s fabric store.

Bonnie had always been artistic and being surrounded by all the different quilts and fabrics led her to an epiphany: “Someone is doing this for their job.” 

She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she wanted to become a fabric designer. The only problem was, she knew nothing about the industry. 

Learning the Hard Way

“I didn’t know the first thing about becoming a fabric designer,” Bonnie says. This was back in 2009 when there were no online courses. 

So Bonnie taught herself and committed to doing one thing every day that moved her closer to her goal. Sometimes that was a full eight-hour day, other days it was 15 minutes. Within a year and a half, she’d signed her first licensing contract as a fabric designer.

From Fabric to Surface Design

While her fabric business was just getting off the ground, Bonnie started a blog to chronicle her journey because “That’s what everybody did in 2009!”.

The blog’s readership grew quickly, and that became her first foothold in the industry. She also started selling handmade aprons and tea towels on Etsy. 

Through all of this, Bonnie realized that fabric pattern was part of the larger surface design industry – and that she could also apply her skills to design artwork, dishes, and wallpaper. Not only that, but she could license her work and do it from anywhere in the world.

Scrappy Beginnings

When Bonnie started her business, she and her husband were living in California and sharing one car to save money. “We had no money. Together we made about $26,000 a year.”

So Bonnie dropped her husband at work, then drove home and worked on her blog and design business. She also picked up odd jobs, doing everything from assistant work to teaching children’s yoga at the YCMA.

That first year in business, she made about $12,000 and continued to grow steadily from there – until 2012, when one piece of advice changed everything.

Creating Recurring Revenue

By 2012, Bonnie’s blog readership had grown significantly but her revenue didn’t reflect that. A businessman gave her the advice to turn a small percentage of her readers into recurring paid customers.

That was Bonnie’s first introduction to recurring income, and she started dreaming about what it would look like to stop trading time for money. Three weeks later, she launched her first membership.

The membership was $5 a month and 200 people signed up on the opening weekend. Just like that, Bonnie created $1,000 of recurring monthly income.

Breaking into Education

After several years learning the ins and outs of surface design, Bonnie was eager to share her knowledge with others. “I wanted to blow apart the industry and share those secrets.” 

After speaking at the Creative Live Conference, Bonnie knew she wanted to help other creative women turn their passion into a living. Her business was making around $250-500k and she’d recently retired her husband to be a stay-at-home dad.

It was time for the next step in her journey: launching an online course.

A 6-Figure Course Launch

“The way I think about pricing a course is not by comparing it to other courses,” Bonnie says. “It’s about the transformation you offer.” She priced her 8-week program at $997, with a goal to enroll 100 students. She ended up with 352.

A big part of her success came from email marketing. Bonnie started intentionally growing her email list before creating the course, so she had about 8,000 subscribers on her list for that first launch.

“My number one focus in business has been to double my email list every year, and subsequently everything doubles along with it.”

Giving Back

Early on in her business, Bonnie committed to donating 10% of her gross monthly revenue. She wanted to cement the habit, because: “If I won’t give $10 off of $100, I won’t give $100,000 off a million. The more money we make, the more impact we can have.”

That first launch brought in a life-changing amount of money for Bonnie’s family. But whether she made $12,000 a year or $500,000, her values stayed the same. 

This is why I ask my Blueprint Model students to define their idea of success – because it’s different for everyone. And as Bonnie says, “Money magnifies who you already are.” 

Growing Pains

One of the biggest challenges for Bonnie has been the transition from solopreneur to leading a team. “In 2020, I realized my business had grown more than I had grown.”

She used to wear the solopreneur badge with honor, but there came a point when she realized it was holding her back. Hiring help allowed her to increase her impact and serve more people.

Now Bonnie stays firmly inside her zone of genius – doing only the things she loves and she’s great at doing. “If you love it but you’re not great at it, you need to outsource because that’s productive procrastination.”

Calculate Your Freedom Figure

Nervous about making your first hire? Bonnie shared a super helpful formula to help you identify exactly how much you can afford to outsource:

The amount of money you make in a year / the number of hours you work in a year = your Freedom Number

So if you make $100,000 working 40-hour weeks, your Freedom Number works out to $48/hour. If you can pay someone less than $48/hour to complete a task, that’s something you should outsource. 

Shifting Your Mindset Around Hiring

Outsourcing frees up your time to focus on higher-level, income-generating ideas. “It will change your business forever.”

But hiring is easier said than done. It can be intimidating to take on that responsibility, whether you’re onboarding a VA or a housekeeper. 

That’s why Bonnie recommends flipping the script: “Every time I consider a fear-based mindset or decision, I just flip it and look at what the exact opposite, abundant decision would be. And that’s the path I take.”

Why Not You?

It’s safe to say that Bonnie has achieved her goal of shaking up the surface design industry. Over a decade later, she’s not only built a business around her passion but also helped hundreds of women do the same – and she loves being an example of what’s possible.

“If someone in the world is doing what you want to do, why can’t you? There’s nothing we can’t do if we’re willing to put in the time to make it happen. It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it.”

More from this Episode

To hear the full story and more about Bonnie Christine, press play on the player above for the full interview or click here to download the transcript.

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

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Bonnie Christine

Bonnie Christine is an internationally renowned Surface Pattern Designer, entrepreneur, and award-winning online educator. She’s been creating delicate and ethereal artwork for brands and products around the world since 2009. She’s a mama, artist and fabric designer living nestled back in the hills of the Great Smoky Mountains. Her goal is to help creatives earn a living doing what they love. Her journey of being a self-taught designer and learning ‘the hard way’ is exactly what drives her passion for teaching others how to become a successful creative entrepreneur.

CONNECT WITH BONNIE:

Website | Instagram | Podcast

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