How To Make More Money

My friend, you and I are in the problem-solving business.

Solving a problem has two parts:

1. Knowledge
2. Action.

As I review mid-year data for Two-Brain gyms and those who signed for a free call, certain correlations pop out. This essay is about one of those small things that make a huge difference.

First, selling “knowledge.”

Universities are in trouble. Most will never go broke, because their revenues come from endowments instead of enrollments. Newspapers ARE going broke. The internet is replacing both. Information has never been cheaper. Heck, you can go on CrossFit.com and get a free workout and thousands of videos for free every day. You can read about Paleo and the Zone. And there are thousands of other websites doing the same thing on a smaller scale.

So why aren’t people losing weight and getting strong?

I sell about 100 copies of Two-Brain Business, Help First and Two-Brain Business 2.0 every month. And every few months, someone emails me to say, “I did this one thing in Chapter 12 of your book, and made $5000 from it.” The knowledge in that book is everything that you need to fix and run a gym. Seriously. At the same time, there are over 1,000 free blog posts out there with my name on them. And others are doing the same on a smaller scale.

So why aren’t gym owners living the same lifestyle I am?

Because knowledge is cheap.

You can sell your knowledge all day long: tell people what to do, where to stand, how to tuck their thumbs under their forefingers. But others can do that, too. For less. Sorry.

If you’re selling only knowledge, you’re one-dimensional. You’re only solving a fraction of the problem. And you’ll always be fighting the lower-priced option, high turnover and boredom. You can’t command a high price because you’re not solving the whole problem. Take it from the guy who makes a few hundred bucks in royalties every month!

The second part of a problem is action.

The reason most people aren’t athletic and healthy? Again, it’s not for lack of knowledge. It’s lack of action.

Creating action is a lot tougher. Doing things is a lot harder than thinking about them. But if you can create action in your clients, you’re worth a lot more to them.

Last week I wrote about the difference between consultants and mentors. Here’s how it applies to YOUR job as a coach and gym owner:

Consultants sell knowledge. “Here’s the answer. Best of luck.” In other words, stand over here, do these stretches, follow this diet.

Mentors sell action. They use accountability tools. They look you in the eye and ask, “Are you getting better?” They measure. They don’t just read from the answer sheet: they want to see your work. They share responsibility for your success.

What’s the small thing that can make a huge difference? What did I see in the data that you can use TODAY to make more money, and shift from selling knowledge to selling action?
The best gyms start with conversations instead of a “free trial class.”

This is not news to gym owners in the TwoBrain family. They’ve all seen the results.

Here’s an example: I posted an article called “Two Clicks To Book” last month. Gym owners who took action saw immediate results: new clients coming in to chat. Those who didn’t take action didn’t see the results (of course).

Coaches who ask “why?”, take measurements, schedule 1:1 goal review sessions and sell accountability make more than gyms who sell classes. This isn’t just a correlation.

Owners who ask their staff for their “perfect day,” write job descriptions and contracts and hold evaluations keep their staff around longer. Their staff makes more money. They’re not beholden to a group of after-hours volunteers. This isn’t a correlation, either.

And entrepreneurs who have calls with a mentor every month take action. They reach new heights. They’re more profitable. This is causation, not correlation.

At every level, the winner is the person who takes ACTION. And the other person–the one who gets them there, who inspires action through word and deed–is rewarded.

Two weeks ago, I compared the metrics of active Two-Brain gyms against the other members of our private Facebook group. Some had found their way to the group through a historical connection, and I wasn’t holding them accountable for action. They were getting the knowledge, but not the 1:1 conversations.

The active Two-Brain mentoring gyms were seeing an average of 25-50X ROI on their initial mentoring investment. In other words, if a gym paid $1000 to sign up, their average return was $25,000 in new revenue. Some were as high as $50,000. And twobrainbusiness.com has only been active for six months!

The inactive gyms in the group were…well, who knows? So I set them free. In some cases, I even referred them to consulting companies outside the TwoBrain group. I want them to succeed, after all.

For the last four years, I’ve offered a free consultation to anyone who wanted one. I’m getting close to 1000 of these now. But I’ve just added one tiny requirement: you have to fill out the Gym CheckUp before you can book your call.

There’s no sales pitch on these calls, and the advice should net you thousands–but only if you take ACTION. And so I’m filtering for action: if you’re unwilling to do the CheckUp, you’re not going to get great value from this time. And frankly, with a three-week waiting list, I’d rather people wait until you’re ready to act.

Coaches who say, “Follow the Paleo Diet. Ask questions if you have any” are selling knowledge. Coaches who say, “Your next appointment to review your nutrition habits is one month from today” are selling action. And they’re rewarded for it.

Gyms who say, “Try a free class!” are selling knowledge. They require the potential client to take action all on their own. Gyms who say, “Come and talk to us, and we’ll see if we can make a recommendation” are selling action. And they make more money.

In the service industry, we’re in the business of solving problems. The solutions to the knowledge problem are in my books and dozens of others. The solution to the action problem isn’t in any book, website or video. If you can inspire action, you’re going to be successful, because TRUE help isn’t giving advice: it’s taking responsibility.

Want to make more money? Do the real work. Help people take action.

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One more thing!

Did you know gym owners can earn $100,000 a year with no more than 150 clients? We wrote a guide showing you exactly how.