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Winning the Games doesn’t help your business.   What, then, is the benefit of having Games athletes under your roof?   I’ve been around Games and Regional-level athletes often. In my former role as Media Director for several different Regionals, I’ve been lucky enough to meet many of the CrossFit-famous. Most are nice; some went out of their way to greet fans even while preparing for an event. Many understand that their “fame” is specific only to our niche.   The best athletes can provide inspiration and leadership in the gym. Of course. The best athletes participate with other members, and give them a sense of “Look what she can do! Maybe I can do more.” The best athletes lift the ceiling for everyone else. But let’s be clear about what top CrossFit competitors DON’T do:   They don’t pull in new members They don’t always make the best coaches They don’t make your gym “famous” They don’t increase your bottom line–unless, of course, they’re paying more for training than anyone else. I’ll get to that in a moment.   In a very few cases, hosting a Games or Regional-level competitor can even be a detriment. If the athlete is following outside programming (which is understandable), then they’re not interacting with your clients much anyway. And if they’re doing “their own thing”, they’re a distraction to everyone else. In a few extreme examples, the “big dog effect” can separate the pack, causing cliques and making a mess of your policies, space and equipment.   I wish I didn’t hear this often, but I do:   She comes in and stays most of the day. She stays in the corner and doesn’t really talk to anyone else. She’s doing other programming. She usually leaves a mess. She’s not really part of our community. She only talks to certain people. And now those people just follow what she’s doing! And she doesn’t ...

If you’re a frequent reader of this blog, or you receive my love letters, you might think we don’t teach social media marketing at all. That’s understandable.   We have a HUGE Facebook Marketing course in the Growth Stage of our mentoring program. It’s the most comprehensive online course in the world that’s specific to the fitness industry. But I don’t talk about it much outside our group. Below, I’ll explain WHY.   I spent the last 15 months traveling with a group of very high-level SaaS founders (if you don’t know what SaaS means, it’s “Software as a Service.”) These guys are all extremely successful. They KNOW Facebook and social media marketing.   I also enrolled in every FB marketing course I could find, and spent THOUSANDS on ads to test the systems. I went to lunch with experts; I invited some onto my podcast; and took 1:1 lessons from others.   I compiled all of these lessons into the Facebook Marketing Course. We listed the course for $599…and then, after one day of open enrollment, I decided to stop selling it.   Why? Because it’s NOT what gym owners NEED. At least, not until they can handle the growth. And I’m willing to bet $2500 on it for EVERY gym we work with.   Many gym owners (and some “consultants”) think funnel marketing and Facebook ads are the answer. And a tiny percentage of the time, they’re right. But jumping straight to social media advertising is like starting a CrossFitter on bar muscle-ups before they’ve learned the air squat: it’s frustrating, and it won’t take them from their current state to fitness in the fastest way possible. It might even break them.   Here’s one lesson from the Facebook Marketing Course we include in our Growth Stage:   There’s a lot of discussion in the module, but I’ll sum up this way: “Hot leads” are close to purchasing ...