From 2009 until 2012, I kept a blog called “DontBuyAds.com.” Over almost 400 blog posts, I detailed the sharp learning curve of gym ownership, starting from my lowest point and rising to my “Perfect Day.” When I joined 321GoProject as lead business mentor, I updated many of those posts and wrote hundreds more (I’ve reached nearly 800 now, including a ton of free business lessons, marketing packages, and downloads.) The hardest lessons–and best stories–were encapsulated in “Two-Brain Business: Grow Your Gym.” What started as a simple blog to help others avoid my business mistakes eventually became the best-selling fitness business book of all time. When I started the first blog post (“Don’t Be Vanilla,”) I was broke. I’d just signed up for a free mentoring session through a local business portal. The second session would cost me $550, but I justified the cost by promising myself, “I’ll share everything I learn with other gym owners, because they’re probably going through the same stuff I am.” The first published edition of “Two-Brain Business” was handed out FREE at a seminar I gave with Ben Bergeron and Forrest Walden (who owns IronTribe) in FL. There were 30 attendees, and I went home with 15 copies of the book. But since then, I’ve sold thousands of copies, signed dozens, and even snapped a picture of it on the bookshelf at CrossFit HQ. You can have it FREE in my favorite format: audio. Eight hours, read by me, with updated information. Frankly, some things that worked in 2012 no longer do (and I outline what DOES work now in Two-Brain Business 2.0 and Help First: Profit Without Selling.) The obsolete advice was cut out of the audiobook version, but the print edition contains hundreds of tips and several forms that I can’t deliver orally (obviously.) It’s still the most popular book I’ve ever written (though I’d say Help First is really my favorite, it’s not yet …
We’re big fans of Jason Brown’s BoxProgramming.com. We’ve featured Jason on this site before. Here’s The Conjugate System For A CrossFit Gym. And here’s The Conjugate System for a Competitive CrossFit Athlete. NOW here’s some sample programming for FREE for the first time: Sample Conjugate Programming for All Levels CrossFit Class Sample Competitive CrossFitter Conjugate Programming …and a bonus “teaser” video (Jason will be the featured coach in January’s Up-Coach Program! This month’s topic: accommodating resistance – the science, setup and implementation of bands and chains!)
The IgniteGym program is used on five continents. And it can add a whole new world of clients, programming and revenue to your gym. Originally developed to help those with autism and brain injury, BrainWODs are now being developed and used for regular CrossFit classes, kids’ classes and Masters-aged classes. When Catalyst created the Ignite program, we immediately became the only box in the world to receive funding from insurance companies. Government agencies pay for kids to attend. Some schools even put kids in taxis and send them to the gym! Other gyms are using the program for: Seniors classes PTSD rehab clients Athletes with concussion Chess teams In October 2013, Greg Glassman said the next frontier for CrossFit is “education,” and IgniteGym is now selling Tutoring packages to kids in our box. It’s a huge new world (and we’ll talk a lot about the possibilities in our upcoming “Ideas” episode on TwoBrainRadio.) CrossFit Illumine used BrainWODs to attract a new demographic (their “Legends” class.) Bare Hands CrossFit used BrainWODs to bring a member back to the gym as a PT client. And dozens of gyms are using BrainWODs in their Kids’ program. Who ELSE is looking for brain training? Entrepreneurs. Seniors. Homeschoolers. College students. Weight loss and athletic performance might not register high on their priorities, but these folks rely heavily on their brainpower. What’s the best way to improve it? IgniteGym. Here are 50 BrainWODs built specifically for YOU to try. All free. Download below: 50 BrainWODs A bit more on BrainWODs: 11 Ways To Boost Your Gym’s BrainPower. (You can take courses, like the IgniteGym 101 Course, online.)
Our Varsity and Junior Varsity program went from 6 members to 54 members—and a waiting list—in less than two months. That’s remarkable growth. But with Kids’ programs, recruiting new members isn’t the hard part: it’s keeping them. Athletic kids typically schedule their year around sports seasons: they’re in the gym for three months, and then gone for five, and then back for a week or two. Less athletic kids struggle with intrinsic motivation (they’d rather play NFL ’16 on the Xbox than actually throw a ball or run anywhere.) And if a kid says, “Can I skip the gym today?”, most parents will soon question the wisdom of paying for a program. How have we overcome these challenges in such a dramatic fashion? We demonstrate the value of the program first. We set up a progression system—much like a belt system in martial arts—to show advancement. We allow kids to “graduate” to higher-level classes ahead of their age, if they meet performance requirements. We show improvement to coaches and parents through a “report card” system. We have kids track mood, food and fitness every day. We no longer train the youngest kids. We introduced Junior Varsity, Varsity and Varsity Sport. Here’s how the program works: Getting kids in: We offer free seminars several times every year: free nutrition seminars for parents, or free concussion seminars for parents and coaches. We collect names and email addresses from all attendees and then add them to our monthly email list. By far the single most effective “marketing” we’ve done is to publish a nutrition guide for kids. “How To Feed A Hockey Animal” has been downloaded hundreds of times, and the followup email to parents is opened over 80% of the time. Many kids have come to Varsity because of that download. You can have it (just remove all pics and rebrand with your own gym, please): How To Feed A Hockey Animal The …
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