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I was watching some videos of fun facts, and came across a video about Bob Ross and went down a Bob Ross rabbit hole.

Apparently not much is known, as Bob himself was fairly private, and now his estate keeps things pretty close to the vest, too.

But we know the basics of the story, and for our purposes, there are 3 lessons I pulled out of Bob Ross's story that we can dig into. 

So let's review the story and fill in some details I didn’t know growing up…. 

Bob had a background in the military and apparently took up painting as a way to distance himself from the drill sergeant persona he was forced to project in the military. 

In a quest to further his painting skills he ended up seeking out a mentor, and got good enough to start a small teaching business. He conducted live classes where he would show how to paint in his style, and talked people through the process.

Then he met someone who helped him pitch the concept as a TV show PBS, which said yes and launched the Joy of Painting.

It was very closely modeled on an already successful PBS show from the 70s hosted by his mentor.

So there was a somewhat proven format to base the show on.

His quirky, lovable show started to get traction and found an audience, as we all know.

But Bob didn't launch the show to make money directly off the show.

Behind the scenes, Bob was just looking for ways to promote his teaching business, where he traveled and taught classes and lessons. For anyone in coaching, this is probably starting to sound really familiar.

So the PBS show gave him an audience, which raised demand for his teaching business and built a brand he could leverage in other ways.

He started putting out books and sold a few paintings, but at first the show mainly served as an infomercial for his teaching business.

Eventually he launched a line of branded art supplies, which drove millions in revenue and still drives revenue to his estate. I’ve come across estimates online that say he sold somewhere north of $15 million in merchandise, and died with an estate worth 1.3 million.

So to sum things up: His show was the media vehicle that built his audience, and he monetized through other things sold on the backend.