Personal Training Business Tips

Your Sales Format System

Your Sales Format System

Published by on July 9, 2013 | Leave a response

Being a successful and profitable fitness professional will take more than being educated and certified. Whether you like it or not you will need to be proficient at selling your services. If this makes you cringe it may be because you associate sales with the practices of the bad sales people you’ve been exposed to.

Selling your services is never about desperation; it’s never about manipulating someone or forcing them to buy. Your job is to simply facilitate the right questions and information for the prospect to decide that your services are the answer.

Like everything else in your business your sales processes need to form a system that you can follow and repeat each time allowing you to become more and more proficient. Here are some of the highlights of our sales system to give you examples of how you might create your own.

Greeting the prospect – Upon meeting and welcoming the prospect our first initiative is to tie their emotions to why they are there. Their emotions were involved when they first made the decision to seek out a fitness professional but as time has elapsed they may have become desensitized to the feels that sparked the idea of change. We would ask questions like, “when was the last time you were happy with your body?”

Touring the prospect – In our case we have a studio of a few thousand square feet, we tour the prospect stopping periodically at certain areas to talk about the features and benefits of the studio. Each point we stop at has a purpose in the information that is delivered. This information could range from the education and credibility of our team, to our various service models ensure we can meet any budget, to specific features that are unique to us and design to improve your overall health. Not only is the information at each point of the tour valuable to the prospect but the practice of moving and stopping allows the person to be more comfortable in our environment. Their level of comfort is paramount in their decision to purchase.

Defined presentation of services – Now everyone has a different opinion but I prefer to have a defined presentation of prepared materials to show my prospects. We have nice full color slides printed in a nice leather binder. These slides allow us to walk the prospect through exactly what it is we do. Some would argue that by writing this out on plain paper for each person you provide a deeper personal connection. I think that’s a valid argument and for someone new to selling fitness services you may want to try both and see which works best for you.

At the conclusion of our service presentation something very important happens, we don’t immediately offer any package or pricing information, but rather simply ask the prospect if they have any questions about what was presented. This may seem small and insignificant but I would argue it’s one of the most important steps in the system.

Remember as a consumer we always have our guard up, we are always sceptical of each new thing and particularly of anyone who’s asking us for the money we’ve worked so hard for. To really become effective at selling your services you must always keep this in mind. Be the facilitator asking the right questions and offering the right information to help your prospect decide that your services are right for them.

When you do present pricing and package options it’s also important that you only present a couple of options to them that are the most relevant to their situation. Having a whole list of available programs will only frustrate and discourage them from making a decision. You are the expert; don’t make them feel like they need to be in making this decision.

closeclients

 

In a nutshell that’s the big take away. Don’t sell anyone, be the assistant buyer. Ask emotional questions and facilitate the information that helps them realize you are the answer. Most importantly try to systemize the process so it’s basically the same each time so you become more proficient.

If you’re looking for a good product to follow along and learn from (and also a little different but very complimentary to the above) I highly
recommend you grabs Close Clients from my good friend Bedros Keuilian.

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One Strategy to Fast Track Your Business Right Now

Published by on June 27, 2013 | Leave a response

If there is one thing that’s true it’s that personal trainers generally find it difficult to continually attract and find new clients. It doesn’t have to be this way and in this column I hope to recondition your whole paradigm when it comes to attracting clients.

First you need to think about what you “can give” before you ever consider how much you “will make.” By this I don’t mean the free test drive session or consultation that should be a standard part of your service. What I’m really referring to is mountains of unconditional value. Test drive programs that last a week or more, gift cards, deep discount opportunities, e-courses and resources that are instantly accessible and provide mountains of real benefit to prospective clients. A wise man once told me, “Give your best stuff away.”

Once you realize both the importance of these types of offers and how to structure pricing to be able to offer them stress and worry free you will have created an entirely new platform to market from.

Any which way you look at it most marketing is expensive, hard to measure, and can be very frustrating. Pay per click and email marketing is slightly better thanks to the myriad of data it provides, but then I’m not suggesting you don’t use these mediums but rather to enhance your overall marketing engine.

Highly underutilized and generally misunderstood is the strategic alliance. Building mutually beneficial relationships with other local businesses is one of the highest priority items I stress to my coaching clients. Having other businesses actively speak about and refer to you is both an incredibly fast and cost effective way to ensure you are your community’s top expert.

Here’s a little idea I recently thought of that I know can take your business over the top. In fact if you hurry it can become the ultimate Christmas promotion ensuring your January is over the top.

Consider what other local services your clients may use on a regular basis. Some of the top candidates that come to my mind would be aestheticians, hair stylist, massage therapists, tanning salons and health stores. These days, especially small business, knows just how expensive it is to attract customers and more importantly how expensive it is to keep them. Big business has been both a curse and a gift to small entrepreneurs like you, me and the complimentary services listed above. You see big box stores cut corners and costs and ultimately service relying on sales and volume to guarantee bottom line profits. The curse is that from a cost and supply standpoint you can most assuredly never keep up, but the gift is that now more than ever many people are beginning to acknowledge the value of real service. Real service earns long term loyalty, these are the kinds of customers we want.

Here’s a way you can help your strategic partners increase customer appreciation and loyalty and automatically they can send you a steady stream of qualified leads. Visit you local printer and ask them to craft you a simple folding thank you card. On one edge you will need a removable perforated information slip with blanks for name, email address and a privacy statement such as: I have agreed to share my contact info with (your business name) fitness to register my gift.

Within the thank you card (or Christmas Card) you will have text that reads something like the following.

“Thank you for being a great customer, I truly appreciate your continued business. As a small gift of appreciation I have teamed up with (your business name) fitness to provide you a _________  program as my gift to you. Thanks again for being my customer”

Make sure you are offering them a great program, I recommend something no shorter than 10-14 days with extra value added benefits and a minimum of $97 value. Have your printer make these cards with the perforated info slips into a booklet of 25.

Now talk to any or all of the service providers I mentioned above. Explain that you would like to provide them these booklets to give this gift to their customers. Explain why it will help them improve customer loyalty and even better pay them to do it. I suggest for every completed book of 25 people you pay them a small bonus or provide a gift of service.

Now here’s the super secret to taking this right over the top. The first thing you do is send these 25 people, and the person that gave you the leads the following email:

“Hey, you recently received a gift from _____________. Isn’t he/she and amazing (business/service)? I love sending all my clients to him/her because he/she does such an amazing job. I’m excited to provide this gift to you. Here’s how you can get started…”

Just imagine the instant relationship and credibility you will have with these people, and imagine how happy the other business person will be to receive that email knowing the value of the third party social endorsement you just provided.

I’m willing to bet a new trainer could fast track their new business for weeks and months with just this one low cost strategy.

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3 Easy Techniques To Be More Productive So You Can Make More Money

Published by on June 25, 2013 | Leave a response

Screen Shot 2013-06-21 at 8.33.54 PMI have a guest post today from my friend and colleague Lori Kennedy. You may

remember Lori Kennedy – she is the Registered Holistic Nutritionist from Toronto.

 

We co-hosted the Wellness Business Summit this past March.

She has a few techniques on how you can be more productive so you can make more

money. As a mom of 2 young kids and the CEO of WOW! Weight Loss she has had to

work hard to be more productive and wanted to share some techniques with you.

 

By the way… even though she is a mom and a holistic health practitioner she still

enjoys making money and knows a thing or two about how to achieve BIG goals so

make sure you read what she has to say.

 

Take it away Lori…

Hi all,

Thanks for having me back on Profitable Personal Trainer Cabel!

 

Let me ask you a question: How frustrating is it that you have all of these ideas on

how to grow your business but can’t ever seem to find time implement them?

 

Even when you do you find time to work on your business you feel like you are

never being productive enough and are always being distracted by one thing or

another.

 

Let’s face it, no matter who you are or how much money you may have, we all suffer

from the shiny object syndrome.

 

Maybe your shiny object is continuously taking courses so you can learn more about

a subject you probably already know a lot about or watching videos on how to

improve your social media funnel to get you more leads in 7 days or less or focusing

on getting more LIKES, more followers and more pins which typically does not equal

to more leads or money in your bank account.

 

My shiny object syndrome is rooted in reading too many tech marketing blogs

without really understanding the technology or even implementing it. I just like

reading about new tech platforms.

 

It’s like AA… Hi, my name is Lori Kennedy and I have shiny object syndrome that

prevents me from being productive.

 

I’ve implemented these 3 simple productivity techniques out of necessity. They have

become core principles around which I structure my day. Take my advice… choose 1

technique that resonates with you and implement it.

 

Work at it and stick by it come hell or high water. Then choose another and do the

same until you’ve cured yourself of the syndrome or at least have it lay dormant

most of the time.

 

Productivity Technique # 1 – Stop FINDING Time and Start Scheduling Time.

You will never find time… time will always escape you. Pick a platform that you

know you will use as a daily schedule.

I use Google calendar because I can share my calendar with my team. Use your

phone or even a paper calendar if that floats your boat.

 

Pick 2 – 60 minute time slots per week to work on customer service. Customer

service is the #1 thing that will drive your business forward.

What do you do during those 2 – 90 minute periods? CARE about your customers.

Write personal emails, Facebook notes, phone calls, hand written love letters or plan

customer service events.

 

Productivity Technique # 2 – Chunk Your Time.

Multi tasking robs you of time and creative flow. Stop doing three things at once.

Chunk or group like tasks together and schedule them for the same day.

For example, Fridays between 9am – 2pm are my filming days. I schedule my Skype

interviews, YouTube videos or webinars for Fridays.

I rarely make exceptions to this schedule except for webinars, which I also do

Wednesday evenings at 9pm EDT.

Think of the tasks you do on a daily basis and group them together. Answering

emails, posting on Facebook, doing research, writing fitness programs or filming

videos.

Set specific times to do each one of those activities. Take this one step further and

make sure that the chunks of activities are similar to each other so that you can flow

from one to the other.

An example of this is filming videos and having meetings in the same day instead

of having 1 meeting on Tuesday and another on Thursday and then filming Friday.

Both tasks require you to be on, up beat and more extroverted then you would be

when answering emails and posting on Facebook. So schedule them in the same day.

Chunk like tasks together and schedule them back-to-back to create a good flow.

 

Productivity Technique # 3 – Schedule CEO Time

Whether you own your own business or you are working for someone else you

MUST schedule CEO time and guard that time like a mama lion guards her cubs.

CEO time is when you focus on business development, networking with others

and reaching out to make new affiliate connections, nurture current business

relationships and work on product/program development.

This high level work that can and should only be done by you.

Go back to technique #1 and schedule CEO time. I have 2 – 90 minute blocks each

week where I work on business development and business outreach. Everyone on

my team knows when these two blocks are and they do not bother me.

You are the only one who can grow your business and if you don’t consistently focus

on business development you will always feel like you are running on a treadmill.

 

It’s time to pull out your schedule of choice and map out the next 30 days using

the techniques I just gave you. Let your team know when you are off limits to them.

 

Stick to your schedule no matter what… I meant it, no matter what. A schedule only

works if you follow it.

 

Leave a comment below and let Cabel and I know how we can better help you be

more productive. We’d love to help you out!

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Wellness DFY Marketing

Wellness DFY Marketing

Published by on May 21, 2013 | Leave a response

home-marketingThe wellness business is much like the fitness or personal training business; the clients have the same behaviors and concerns. Usually you’re not their first attempt to overcome their present challenge and a healthy level of skepticism has them reluctant to commit to anything long-term.

As a result many wellness professionals (like personal trainers) find themselves selling short-term programs, small packages of sessions, and are frustrated because they’re business barely generates enough revenue to be considered a part-time “hobby.”

Don’t you think that our noble purpose is to help people? Yet traditional weight loss programs are far more profitable than those of the typical wellness professional or personal trainer and attracting thousand more people than we are, does that seem wrong to you?

Truly the missing component has more to do with us than a problem with traditional weight loss. As caring and compassionate professionals we’re good at helping people; that is until money is involved. We somehow think by not asking people to commit to long-term care, or leaving it up to them to self-direct the time we have to modify their behaviors that we are providing them the best service. Can you think of one instance where the people that communicated with you the most, on a regular basis, for an extended period of time didn’t get the best results? Of course not, so why would we ever think it was ok to reinforce the idea to our clients that a long-term commitment isn’t required? They clearly don’t know or they wouldn’t have sought us out.

This is what traditional weight loss is good at. They have taken a system or set way of doing things (hey we have that) and they’ve packages in a way that helps the customer long-term, and it just so happens that’s more profitable too. So if you can maintain your noble purpose, help people and live a good life too any reason not to?

That’s what I thought…

So here’s a little wellness promotion to get you started. The goal is to show you how we can engineer a method to use normal consumer behavior in a predictable format to drive people to take action on goals that they’ve been putting off for far too long.

As people we work off inspiration, without inspiration we will forever remain inside our comfort zone, we can help a lot more people if we can predictably inspire them to take the first step to help themselves.

It follows a consistent email promotion sequence to grab the attention of the impulse buyer, the analytical consumer and the procrastinator.

The final sold out email should be a valuable component of most if not all of your campaigns, if things fall short of plan and it’s not any where near full (doesn’t happen often but can) then don’t send the sold out email otherwise we may as well end on a note of conditioning the consumer to more promptly respond to the next promotion.

I’ve written the emails in a way that I hope most people can use them as is, just a simple cut and paste. It can always help to add more personal relevant details so don’t be afraid to edit those areas as well.

How to Run This:

Send out the emails on the days indicated one week before the official start date. Be majorly enthusiastic.

As you will read in the emails, there doesn’t have to be any big crazy difference, in fact the difference from what you’re doing now is likely that you have an ongoing commitment to these people in a set pattern of frequency for the next four weeks. With all that predictable and regular accountability just imagine how great the results can be…now imagine if they committed to you for 6-12 months?

About 2 ½ weeks into this program you should be talking to all of your clients about continuing with the same services on a monthly basis at the regular price. I suspect like personal trainers many wellness professionals are about a $1/min for service, or $60-70/hour on average. (If your more than be more, it’s good to be expensive.)

Assuming that you see your clients for 30-minute appointments we’re talking about 1.5 hours/week X 4 or 6 hours a month or approximately $420 month. I recommend offering them a deal to continue if they commit before the end of the program, like 25% off the first month and 10% off each extra month as a VIP discount. If you’re not comfortable with this then repeat this chant 10 times: “I will raise my prices because I am totally worth it.” Seriously though that’s the answer. If they say, “I’ll think about it.” Be sure to follow up, I’ll think about it is typical consumer fear that it might not work, you and I know better.

I know many of you will read this, get set to run it, and then start to lose your nerve and find all kinds of “reasons” why it won’t work, seriously just do it, hit send and say a prayer. I did the same thing, and this is why we need coaches and mentors too, but that’s another story.

Your awesome, you can do this and if you need more or need someone to push you in the pool come back to www.ProfitablePersonalTrainer.com or www.facebook.com/ProfitablePersonalTrainer as that’s what I’m here for. J

Always here to help,

Cabel “The Mechanic” The Profitable Personal Trainer

Email 1: Monday AM week prior to start.

Subject: Secret BETA Project (Are you in?)

I’m writing you today to let you in on a little secret. As people we’re all the same we all want the best results in the shortest time and we’re always looking for an easier way still.

As a wellness professional I’m always learning, and just like you I always want to figure out how I can help you get “there” faster and easier.

Recently I stumbled across something that will do just that. In fact I began applying it with a few of my clients immediately, the improvements were noticeable almost instantly.

(If you can include names and results of recent clients here could be even more powerful.)

I’m so excited about this I want to give it a real unbiased test (you know very scientific and all) so I need your help!

In fact I need the help of a small group of people to help me fully test this idea. Are you in?

All you have to do is be excited about losing between 5 and 15 lbs in the next 28 days, willing to follow my specific instructions and really put this new little secret to the test, I’m calling it my Secret BETA Project.

Can I count on you?

I mean really what do you have to lose? Maybe a dress size?

Wouldn’t it be great to fit into those “skinny jeans” hiding in the back of the closet?

Here’s the deal.

Since this isn’t 100% tested and proven (that’s what you’re gonna help me do) that’s why I need people not within my current training program. Additionally to make it a win-win you won’t pay my regular price, instead it’s only going to cost you a measly $97 bucks! Just like everything I do it’s guaranteed, so if it doesn’t work or your not happy with the result I’ll 100% refund your money.

Now because this is a BETA project I’m going to keep the group small so you can have my maximum attention. I’m looking for only 9 committed individuals that are serious about losing 5-15lbs in the next 28 days.

  • We’ll be meeting 3 days a week for the next 4 weeks. ***NOTE: Your services may not function like this please revise****
  • You may be required to complete additional workouts on your own that I’ll provide.
  • You must be super committed.
  • You must not have any specific travel plans that could cause you to miss sessions or make eating consistently really difficult.
  • You must not be a current client.
  • And to be fair to everyone so I can help as many people as possible you must not have taken advantage of any sale promotion in the last 60 days. (Sorry.)

If this sounds like you then hit reply right away because my Secret BETA Project is going to start next Monday and I suspect these spots are going to fill pretty quickly!

Always here to help,

(your name)

Email 2: Send Wed morning.

Subject: BETA Project Nearly Full! (wow!)

Wow! Ok I didn’t quite expect that kind of response.

Within a few hours a had a whole bunch of replies for the Secret BETA Project idea it seems a lot of people are really curious…and willing to be human guinea pigs!

But seriously, it seems a lot of people love the idea of testing out this new belly-busting secret to lose between 5 and 15lbs in the next 28 days.

I did get a couple of questions though…

Many people are wondering if they have to have tried a special diet or used any of my nutritional programs before. The answer, no, it’s good for anyone, regardless of what you’ve previously tried.

Others have been asking what exactly the secret is. Honestly, I’m sorry I can’t tell you; it would actually ruin the test. It’s 100% safe no crazy gimmick, not a supplement or anything like that. In fact it’s so simple you may not even realize it’s different at first so you just have to trust me.

In 28 days I promise you will both see and feel the difference.

So here’s the skinny, at this point 6 of the 9 available spots for the Secret BETA Project are full.

If you missed the last email definitely hit reply right now or call (your number) and let’s get you registered before the last couple spots are gone.

If you did miss the last email here’s the details again:

  • Starts next Monday (insert the date)
  • Runs for 28 days, 3 appointments a week.
  • You may be required to do a few additional things at home, which I’ll detail.
  • You must not be a current client. I need this to be independent of my current methods to really judge its effect.
  • You won’t pay anywhere near full price, it’s a fraction of the normal cost at $97 and still covered by my full money back guarantee for the whole program. (What on earth do you have to lose?)
  • You must be excited about the idea of losing 5-15lbs in 28 days.
  • You must not have any specific plans that will cause you to miss appointments or make it difficult to eat consistently. (I understand things can change so just no 2 week vacations please.)
  • If you were part of a recent promotion (in the last 60 days) sorry you’re not eligible, I want to help as many people as possible.

So with just 3 spots remaining hit reply or call (your number) and I’ll get you setup right away.

Always here to help,

(Your name)

P.S. (Add a comment about timing, as I write this we’re heading into EASTER so my PS might be “The Secret BETA project is the perfect solution for eliminating the guilt of an indulgent Easter, keep the family memories and forget the weight concerns! (oh and it’s guaranteed, are you crazy? What are you waiting for? Just kidding, hit reply if you’re ready for change.”)

Email 3: Send Thursday afternoon.

Subject: Last chance (Urgent, attn. required)

There’s just 1 spot left in my Secret BETA Project for some dedicated and determined person to lose 5-15lbs in the next 28 days. Is that you?

I need just one more person to add to my special test group for this new strategy that I’ve already seen melt fat like crazy in some of my current clients.

Here’s the details of the program from the last email one more time:

  • Starts next Monday (insert the date)
  • Runs for 28 days, 3 appointments a week.
  • You may be required to do a few additional things at home, which I’ll detail.
  • You must not be a current client. I need this to be independent of my current training methods to really judge its effect.
  • You won’t pay anywhere near full price, it’s a fraction of the normal cost at $97 and still covered by my full money back guarantee for the whole program. (What on earth do you have to lose?)
  • You must be excited about the idea of losing 5-15lbs in 28 days.
  • You must not have any specific plans that will cause you to miss appointments or make it difficult to eat consistently. (I understand things can change so just no 2 week vacations please.)
  • If you were part of a recent promotion (in the last 60 days) sorry you’re not eligible, I want to help as many people as possible.

With just one spot remaining this is totally first come first serve, so hit reply immediately, I’ll be looking at the time the email came in to see who gets the spot or you can call me directly at (your number.)

For everyone else already registered I’m pumped to see you on Monday!

Always here to help,

(your name)

Email 4: Send latish Friday evening

Subject: Secret BETA Project Sold Out!

It’s official the Secret BETA Project is totally sold out! Thank you to everyone who has jumped on board, I look forward to seeing you all next week and we’re gonna kick butt!

If you missed out on the Secret BETA Project I am so sorry (I had a few additional emails after that were sent after the final spot was filled) but don’t worry I’ll be in touch.

I always want to help everyone if I can and though this program is completely full I might be able to squeeze a few more people into my other programs. I’ll be in touch with something special for you or if you thinking now you’d really like to get started just hit reply and I can fill you in on the details.

Thanks everyone, you’re awesome!

(your name)

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You Need to Attend Events!

Published by on May 7, 2013 | Leave a response

owlAs I write this I’m 40,000 feet in the air on my way home from Fitness Business Summit 2013. I’ve been to this event every year since it’s inception in 2007 and this was the third time I’ve be honored by being asked to present.

Every year the event get’s big and the force multiplier of its effect is spectacular.

I always get excited about this event. The day I arrive I’m feeling good, unwinding from the day to day of running the business. I’m looking forward to seeing friends and colleagues and thrilled to think about all the great content that will be shared and especially the few light bulb tidbits I’ll walk away with.

And every year I’m shocked at what happens.

Every day it builds, by Sunday it’s bursting at the seams.

The positive energy of hundreds of people that have completely transformed; this may sound ridiculous but it’s absolutely true and I guarantee it will happen to you if you attend quality events.

You see you think this event is about business, and tools, tips, and tricks to build a bigger/better one, but it’s so much more than that.

The event draws together the energy of hundreds of people with a spark of a very special emotion, desire.

As the event winds on that spark of desire ignites into a raging bonfire and hour-by-hour you can feel it. The aura of optimism, of will, the raging fire of desire, dreams, ideas, passion and support is overwhelming.

You can’t help but leave and be more enthusiastic, more productive and indestructible in the face of adversity for a time.

It amazes me how many personal trainers I meet that don’t make an active effort to attend live continuing education events or any kind of life personal development workshop. I realized this year that with all the success I’ve had even I have not effectively taken advantage of what live events can do for my business. I highly recommend you attend something at least every 90 days.

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Continual Forward Momentum

Continual Forward Momentum

Published by on April 30, 2013 | Leave a response

Batch Processing and a Distraction Eliminated

I’m on my way home from Fitness Business Summit. As usual I am completely energized and ready to conquer the world…again.

It’s easy to feel completely revved up only to be left completely burnt out before the end of the week.

That’s why it’s critical to understand how-to manage your time.

There are three rules to time management, the more I learn the less negotiable I think these are (let’s face it there are a lot of different opinions on time management.)

  1. Create the “to-do” list the night before.

There’s a big difference between planning your list the night before and first thing in the morning so make sure you understand.

If you haven’t already read Psycho Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz you should (or get the audiobook). Dr. Maltz talks a lot about the “theatre of the mind” and that is exactly why you must set your list the night before.

burnoutBy creating your to-do list the night before your subconscious mind works all night without you rapidly looking for solutions the next morning. You’ll begin the day immediately productive and avoid early emotional burnout. You likely have never considered but it takes a massive amount of emotional resources to create your to-do list in the morning. You’re forcing your brain to be creative, problem solve and organize a series of tasks all in rapid succession; this is a difficult and demanding series of tasks.

  1. Complete the hardest thing first.

Doing anything else only fosters a behavior of avoidance. When you set a habit that says it’s ok to avoid certain things you will avoid more things until only the difficult tasks remain. When this happens you’re at a roadblock, you’ll be wasting hours on facebook, Harlem Shake videos and other things that are sapping your ability to succeed quickly.

What’s more if you’ve created your list the night before your subconscious mind will have worked all night to ensure that the “hard” task is not as hard as it otherwise would have been.

  1. Batch process.

It takes time to focus on any task. A good example is creative work, if you’re like me it doesn’t come naturally. It would be a terrible waste to move on to something completely different after writing this blog post, I’ve stimulated the creative centres in my brain in an effort to have words flow to a page. I’ll write several more blog posts or articles of content before moving on to something else. Don’t believe me? Measure. Write a 500 word article and move on to a different task. Later today or tomorrow write another article and record the time. After doing this several times pick a day, block off a few hours and write the same number of articles, you’ll find by writing them all at once it will take far less time.

Last but not least there’s what I call a conditional 4th rule, don’t beat yourself up if you don’t make it through your list.

Now you have to be a little honest with yourself. If you’re not engaged in productivity at least a few hours a day then you may have to consider how serious you are about your goals. However if you are managing a few dedicated hours each day (and this can be different every day) and the list doesn’t get completed, don’t worry about it, make tomorrows list and rinse and repeat.

The point is the only thing that makes really successful people really successful is their ability to continue with forward momentum. If you only managed to complete one substantial task in a week you’d be far ahead of the majority of the world.

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400 Square Feet, 20 Clients, $48, 000 Case Study

Published by on April 25, 2013 | Leave a response

400 Square Feet, 20 Clients, $48,000 (Case Study)

I have a really inspiring story to share with you today. This story is personal for me
because I know how hard it can be to achieve success, especially when you have
very limited resources.

It was Lori who introduced me to Misty who has since become one my top coaching
clients.

Misty is a WOW! Practitioner.

She owns TM Training and Nutrition and a Fit Body Bootcamp, which she is in the
process of opening.

She is also 6 feet tall. Think of how I feel when standing beside her 🙂

Lori introduced me to Misty because she knew I could help her. After all, I am ‘The
Mechanic’. I fix broken fitness businesses.

She was struggling with her personal training studio. I started working with Misty in
June 2012 and was making generating $6,000 a month in revenue. As of March she
has tripled her revenue to $18,000 in fitness sales.

The story I want to share isn’t about how Misty is kicking ass with her personal
training studio. It isn’t about how she started her Bootcamp and quickly filled all the
spots.

The story I am honored to share is about how anything is possible, even when you
have to run your nutrition business out of your living room.

Take a couple of minutes and watch this video.

Lori Kennedy, CEO of WOW! Weight Loss Inc. interviews Misty about her additional
revenue stream that has allowed her to bring in an EXTRA $48,000 per year in
profit.

You don’t want to miss the part where Misty shares her #1 tip for generating loads
of new leads.

After you are done watching, send me an email and let me know how you plan to
make extra money this year.

watch


Click HERE to find out more information about the upcoming WOW! Certification
and how you can bring in $48,000 in profit from a turn-key nutrition program.

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How To Hire A Nutritionist For Your Fitness Business

Published by on April 24, 2013 | Leave a response

How To Hire A Nutritionist For Your Fitness Business

By Lori Kennedy

Today I have a really great article for you written by my friend and colleague, Lori Kennedy RHN, CEO of WOW! Weight Loss Inc.

If you made it to the Fitness Business Summit this year you got to listen to her talk about how us fitness people need to step it up a notch and start offering turn-key nutrition programs in our businesses. She talked about the trend of turning your fitness business into a one-stop health shop.

I was actually just in Toronto, Ontario, Canada with Lori where we co-hosted the Wellness Business Summit. Together we taught over 170 alternative wellness practitioners the fine art of marketing and business.

If you ever thought of hiring a nutritionist or implementing a nutrition program you MUST read this. Lori gives away her best do’s and don’ts when it comes to hiring a credentialed nutrition professional.

Take it away Lori…

Hi everyone! Thanks Cabel.

Here’s a secret about Cabel. If you didn’t already know his nickname is, ‘The Mechanic’.

He is the fixer.

He puts the pieces together. He rocked the Wellness Business Summit!

As Cabel mentioned I gave a presentation at the Fitness Business Summit. After FBS I got a lot of questions asking about what to look for when hiring a Nutritionist.

Here’s an insider secret that I shared at FBS… Students in nutrition or Dietetics programs work for free!

Yup. Free.

They all need to complete a certain number of internship or practicum hours. My advice is to contact the nutrition schools and universities in your area with your offer to take interns. They will be grateful and refer loads of people to you. Create a job description and give the interns some direction. Remember they are students so don’t throw them into the deep end right away.

There’s a lot to know when it comes to hiring nutrition professionals. Here are my top do’s and don’ts.

Let’s start with the don’ts.

1. Don’t expect them to feel comfortable or confident selling nutrition services. Most nutritionists have a ‘save the world Norma Rae’ mentality. They have never had to sell anything before so it’s scary and overwhelming for them.

2. Don’t expect them to have any experience in marketing. Business and marketing is not a subject focused on at length in any nutrition program or certification.

3. Don’t expect them to come with a done-for-you turn-key nutrition program. It takes a long time to build up client materials. Most nutrition professionals are taught to create personalized plans on an individual basis.

4. Don’t underestimate the nutritionist’s capacity to work their asses off for you and your business. The ‘Norma Rae save the world’ mentality traits are amazing when it comes to providing superior customer service and support.

5. Don’t devalue the time you will spend training the nutritionist. Even though it takes time to build up the nutrition program, you will benefit in the long run. Adding nutrition services will bring non-fitness related leads into your business. It will separate you from the rest of the plain old fitness facilities in your community.

While I didn’t start off painting my fellow colleagues in the best light, it’s the truth. I experienced this myself when I was first starting out. I learned the hard way and experienced big failures when I first started out.

Now let’s move onto the positives. There are so many do’s to think about when hiring a nutrition professional. Nutrition is a value added service. Your clients are most likely already spending money on the food side of fat loss somewhere else… why not have them spend their fat loss dollars in your facility?

1. Do spend the time to train them like you would a personal trainer. Run them through your sales processes. Provide them with the same expectations you would a personal trainer.

2. Do look for a nutrition professional that has graduated from a 1 year program instead of just taking a 2 day course.

3. Do evaluate them based on their look and personality. Unfortunately the phrase don’t judge a book by its cover doesn’t apply. It will be hard for your clients to take a nutritionist seriously when they don’t look the part. Hire someone who is bubbly, outgoing and isn’t afraid to talk to strangers.

4. Do have them come in for a trial run. When I hire a nutritionist to fulfill WOW! contracts I always have them come in to do a free seminar for clients. I am able to better gauge their ability to build rapport, their knowledge and confidence level.

5. Do make sure you offer a short-term and long-term weight loss program. Your clients are looking for weight loss advice and a structured program. They are not aware of or really ??? care about their health issues. Market weight loss over health.

Cabel here again. Thank you Lori for sharing!

If you want more information on how you can create your own turn-key weight loss program for your fitness business CLICK HERE.

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A Distraction Eliminated

A Distraction Eliminated

Published by on April 23, 2013 | Leave a response

funny_road_signDo you use Facebook to grow your business?

 

Facebook, in my opinion, is one of the most robust marketing channels to quickly grow your business, and to automatically access a massive audience.

 

If you don’t have a fanpage for your business start one.

 

Once you start a fanpage it’s important you complete all areas. If you really want to set it up right I would really urge you to have a look at the Facebook Funnel by my good friend Josh Carter. (Josh is a highly trusted facebook expert in our industry and beyond.)

 

Once you have all areas complete it’s time to start your content stream. It’s critical you create a continual flow of interaction on your fanpage. It’s a real living, breathing community for your business.

 

Each day I’d commit to the following:

  • At least one positive status update or point of interest to your community.
  • At least one tip or piece of value for your audience.
  • At least one positive comment or recent success about a client or someone you know relating to your business.

 

When you’re making posts on your fanpage it’s been proven time and time again that posting an image with your update provides a much greater amount of interaction.

 

The more interaction you can stimulate the more people who will visit your page and the greater potential you’ll have to use it as an automatic lead attraction source.

 

Now every few weeks I’d suggest you also post an optin, if you don’t know what an optin is this is something of value you’re offering your audience for free in exchange for their email address. Free reports, videos and ebooks are very common.

 

In addition to optins every few weeks you might also post short term offers in an effort to stimulate immediate contac with new prospects and of course sales. (Afterall there should be a purpose to our facebook time.)

 

Ok now here’s something really cool I finally learned (thank you Shawna Kaminski and maybe many of you already know this.)

 

Batch process your facebook. Seriously facebook is all about interruption, and they are so good at it. I know I need to do all this stuff I’ve mentioned on facebook but I’ve went through periods where I’ve been really consistent and not so consistent because I know I’m going to be distracted while I’m there and it saps my productivity.

 

You can now cue facebook posts in advance, at the bottom of your status box is a little (easily missed) link that will allow you to choose the year, month, day, hour, and minute you’d like your post to appear.

 

Eliminate one of the ultimate distractions by chunking this task and preparing days in advance so you don’t need to spend much time on facebook.

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Weird Density Workout (Clients Love This)

Published by on March 26, 2013 | Leave a response

I’d like to introduce you to a good friend of mine who has brought something totally unique to the workout world, today he’s got something really cool to share with you, take it away Mikey…

Mike_W-BioMike Whitfield, CTT

Author, Workout Finishers

I had a problem and I had to do something about it. You see, I trained at a small family gym in Dallas, GA. In January, it was really crowded as I’m sure you’ve seen this yourself.

Typically with my clients, I would take them through a simple bodyweight exercise warm-up of easier exercises. We would do bodyweight squats, pushups, planks and more.

Then it was time to do some metabolic resistance training. There was this small space in our gym where people would typically do their stretching and even get out the mats for some core work.

I liked to keep my clients moving and I didn’t want them having to walk all over the gym to work the supersets and circuits that Metabolic Resistance Training (MRT) includes.

So, I would bring the dumbbells, bench and anything else needed to this small area. I call it the “open area” because it was indeed the only open area in the gym. Most of the time, this space wasn’t utilized. Unfortunately, the “ab machines” were more popular than this space. But being a trainer, I’m sure you already know how that goes… they just don’t work.

Anyway, after our MRT, it was time to assign them intervals. I would prescribe my clients a specific interval program to follow immediately after their workout or they can perform the intervals on their “off day” as long as it didn’t interfere with their recovery between their main workouts.

But like I said above, in January, the gym was pure chaos. My clients couldn’t even perform their interval training because all the machines were taken up. We had a variety of treadmills, ellipticals, bikes and even stair-climbers, but every single one of them were being used.

My clients were frustrated, and I certainly understood that. So, I started to use Workout Finishers instead. This would be a circuit or superset of intense exercise with short rest periods (if any rest).

Here’s the thing – my clients enjoyed the finishers more than the interval training, PLUS they were getting BETTER results. But what I found that intrigued me even more was that they stayed more consistent with their workouts because they found the finishers more challenging and fun.

They admitted they liked the change and the fact that they can do their “intervals” in just a fraction of the time that it used to take.

Doing this for one-on-one clients was great because I could use specific reps and rest periods based on their individual fitness level. But using finishers with my clients and campers became a challenge.

That’s when I started to use “density” circuits and supersets. This is when you complete as many reps or as many rounds in a certain timeframe. There are a variety of ways to use density finishers, but one of my favorites is using a short rep scheme with 2-3 exercises.

It’s certainly different, but that’s what our clients come to us for, right? We have to be different than our competition and really bring it.

Plus, the density approach allows your campers, small groups and semi-private training clients to work at their unique fitness level. Density finishers allow you to rest when needed. You simply jump in and out as needed as the timer continues to tick.

Here is the most popular finisher using this density approach that I did at the Turbulence Training Summit in 2012. It’s called the “3’s Company” Finisher. I know… my names are hilarious. Check it out:

 [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_sxcl9W7Qc[/youtube]

Here is the actual finisher broken down:

Do as many rounds of this circuit as possible in 3 minutes, resting only when needed.

Burpee/Spiderman Pushup (3)

Lunge Jump (3/side)

X-Body Mountain Climber  (3/side)

The density approach lets you put in a lot of volume in a little bit of time. That means your clients will be challenged and get better results in less time. That’s a win/win for you and them.

Just be sure to tell your clients to rest when their form is getting sloppy. The idea is to put in quality work in the amount of time given.MW-WF2.0-Spiral-Flat

That’s what separates you from the trainers and coaches down the street. Even though it’s 2013, I’m sure you still see other trainers prescribing boring cardio for their clients, but you definitely know better.

Let your clients have fun AND get results,

Mike Whitfield, CTT

Creator, Workout Finishers

Get 51 brand NEW Workout Finishers here

 

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