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Tanner Gerstburger | Episode 946
Ever since Tanner Gerstberger was young, he has had a yearning to create. Like many teenagers, Tanner found his first love in high school. Only Tanner’s was the pottery wheel. Tanner took as many classes as he could and increased his skills to the point where Tanner was showcasing his art in local shows and competitions.Taking the plunge to being a full-time, economically challenged artist is a tough step to make. Tanner’s plan was to pursue a degree in Construction Management at Colorado State University so that one day he would be able to save up enough money to do pottery full time. Dr. T was a nickname given to him by his friends in college. Eventually, word spread of Tanner’s new nickname and his family decided to surprise him with a stunning, orange, neon sign as a gift, adding further sentiment to the name. Now the sign has become a symbol of Tanner’s art and he realized the name Dr. T was here to stay.
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Do you use other forms of advertising besides social media?
The only advertisement that I have done to date has been flyers around CSU’s campus telling them about my classes and then the only other thing that I have done is a Yelp paid advertisement just to get increased views to my website page.
How did that Yelp advertisement come about? I have never heard about advertising on Yelp.
A Yelp associate called me and noticed my website and my business and he really thought that I could sky-rocket it. He said, Just try it out. I will give you some free credit to use and see how it does and if you don’t like the results then you can cancel at anytime free of charge. And I tried it out and it was working and I kept going with it.
Do you have any kind of business mentor?
Yes, a good friend of mine in Fort Collins, his dad found out about me doing pottery and he really loved my stuff and was wanting to know if I ever needed anything and so I booked a meeting with him and we talked and he is a former three time business owner so he had a lot of knowledge and experience, especially in the marketing aspect where I had no experience. So he has given me a lot of great tips over the last few months in building out my business.
Do you like the idea of sustainable growth?
Yes, I very much do. When I was in construction management I learned about sustainability a lot in the fact that the construction industry is one of the least sustainable industries in this world and so it really changed my mind in the fact that whatever I do in life I want to try and make it as sustainable as possible to help the future generations build off of what we currently have.
Does what you have been doing pay all the bills currently?
Yes, it currently does although I will have to stop teaching classes as it breaks the lease agreement so I am currently looking for a new place so I can resume classes in the Fort Collins area.
Who is your favorite potter? pottery crush.
I’d say it has to be Ted Secombe. I really love what he is able to do with his glazes and it’s just magic on a pot. It’s breathtaking how much depth he is able to get out of his pottery. It’s amazing.
Book
The Complete Guide to Mid-Range Glazes by John Britt
Contact
Instagram: @dr.t_pottery