David Smith MBE

A story worth sharing

David Adrian Smith is one of the world’s most respected ornamental glass artists. For years, he taught in-person workshops from his home, passing on skills that were hard to find anywhere else. But running workshops this way was intensive, intrusive and hard to scale.

When David joined one of Vu’s digital marketing workshops, a lightbulb moment hit during a budgeting session — instead of trading time for money, what if he could share his knowledge more widely through online video?

“I had no idea how to market what I do apart from Instagram and the usual sites. I built up followers and thought I had this sorted – but I was shown this is just 1% of what I needed.” Dave reflected.

What We Did

• Set him up on the Teachable platform
• Uploaded & structured the courses (with testimonial section at the end)
• Integrated payments and tax with his accountant
• Wrote the landing page and ongoing email campaign in David’s distinctive tone
• Planned a drip campaign that would move his loyal Insta audience into a mailing list
• Created a buzz around an earlybird offer via email for release day

From craft to course

Working closely with David, we shaped the strategy for his first-ever online course: A global-access digital version of his in-person gilding workshops.

The result? Five-figure sales in the first 30 minutes. Hundreds of learners around the world. And hundreds of thousands in revenue since launch.

And the feedback from learners that might not have been able to attend an in-person workshop because of travel or budget constraints?

“Taking this course is the best thing I’ve done in ages! I’ve gathered snippets of info for years, but this has been invaluable… It will reinvigorate my creativity and take my work in a much more confident direction.”

— Google review from a course learner

The Solution

By helping David digitise and communicate his course in a way that stayed true to his craft, we opened up a whole new income stream — one that’s more sustainable, scalable, and rooted in story.

Since launch, we’ve continued to support him by shaping a blog that turns his decades of experience into inspiring, human-centred stories — documenting the history, techniques and passions behind the craft.

We’ve also helped him create limited product launches, offering rare pieces from his personal collection to serious enthusiasts and collectors.

These weren’t just sales. They were invitations to own a piece of history.

And most importantly, we helped shape a digital space that doesn’t just serve customers – it builds community.

Through carefully written content, authentic tone, and a focus on storytelling over selling, David’s platform has become a place for others to learn, connect and stay inspired.