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Who Do You Want to Hire?

August 22, 2017 Hiring Staff
By Jeff Burlingame, Two-Brain Business Mentor  When you’re looking to recruit employees for your gym, it’s hard to know which ones will be your best employees and which ones will just be good. That’s why I’ve broken potential employees down into 3 categories: good, better, and best. A good potential employee may be someone who is a member and has been involved in your community for awhile. They’re open to going through something like the Advanced Theory Course that we include with our incubator to train coaches so that you don’t have to. The problem with the good category of potential employees is that they don’t have a lot of time and likely have another job. They’re committed, but not as much as you’d like, and they often miss meetings due to their other commitments. They may be able to cover some hours for you but they’re not going to go above and beyond to get involved in your community. They may be new to town and have their L1 and may have other experience and certifications but if they can’t commit to more hours, they’ll become a liability later down the line. Ideally, you want to hire slowly and fire fast so don’t rush to hire someone in this category if you don’t have to. Better potential employees may be members who get involved through ATC (Advanced Theory Course) or other training with you and now can commit to 5-10 hours per week. These people are consistent, they never complain, and they show up to most of your events and get involved in your community. They likely come to most, but not all, of your employee meetings once a month. Interns and those fresh out of school fall into this category so long term they’re looking for what the next step is for them and that may be elsewhere. The best category of potential employees are young, hungry, consistent, ...
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Episode 84: Q+A With Coop

August 21, 2017 Gym Marketing Podcast
 
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The Second Sin of Social Media (Even Bigger!)

August 18, 2017 Gym Marketing
Yesterday, I wrote you a letter about the “First Sin of Social Media” (failure to repeat yourself.) But the Second Sin of Social might be even BIGGER. The Second Sin is putting the “Media” before the “Social”. My friend Sherman Merricks recently sold out his Revive program–an eight-week all-inclusive program, priced around $400–with 50 clients pre-registered…without using any social media ads. Sherman puts the SOCIAL in social media. He might as well be the Mayor of Gainesville: he talks to EVERYONE. In his gym, outside his gym…he has a huge personality and works on it all the time. On a recent podcast episode, I asked Sherman what he spent on Facebook ads. He said “nothing.” But he does spend a LOT of time talking to people. He gets out from behind the screen and shakes hands. Does he host Facebook Live videos? Absolutely. And who comments on them? Mostly the people he already knows. Social media is a funnel that pulls everyone in. It’s very easy to get “funnel vision” and forget that relationships are REALLY started and maintained outside the phone, through handshakes, hugs and eye contact. At Catalyst, most of our “sales” come from Goal Reviews and No-Sweat Intros: in-person meetings where we ask, “What do YOU want?” instead of trying to push an idea through media. Does that means Facebook and Instagram and Twitter are useless? Of course not. They amplify your message. They show your personality. But they don’t replace either.
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The First Sin of Social Media

August 17, 2017 Gym Marketing
I write over 2000 words every day. Two-Brain Business publishes an article, a video or a podcast every single day (and usually at least two of these.) We’re very active on Facebook, pretty good on Instagram and just okay on Twitter. But I’m STILL guilty of the First Sin of Social: I assume everyone sees everything I do. When I’m choosing a topic for the day, I sometimes catch myself thinking: “Nah, I wrote about that in 2009.” …because if you’re reading this, you’ve already read all 400 articles on DontBuyAds.com, plus my three books, plus the 350 articles on TwoBrainBusiness, and the 500 posts I’ve made on other sites…right? Of course you haven’t! The first Sin of Social is assuming everyone reads or watches everything you do! Gary Vaynerchuk’s really big idea is to repurpose content. For example, shoot videos of your seminars. Then take your videos and have them transcribed. Publish the transcription as a series of blog posts. Then take the big ideas and quote them on social media. I teach this to our mentoring team at TwoBrain. I teach it to business owners in our Authority Ladder program (a $40,000-per-year-partnership.) I’ve even mentioned it to the HQ media department once or twice: when you have powerful ideas, repeat them. The first Sin of Social Media is the failure to say important things more than once. Repeat the BIG stuff. We don’t want to miss it. What’s the MOST important thing you’ve ever shared with your audience? Reply to this email and tell me! (then share it AGAIN.)
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The Path to Personal Training

August 16, 2017 Hiring Staff
By Jeff Burlingame, Two-Brain Business Mentor  If you are trying to grow your PT program, you first need to create a clear path for clients to get started. Think about the following questions  Do you offer a 1-on-1 Intro? Do you sell Personal Training and/or a 1-on-1 On Ramp option? Do you have a 1-on-1 or group On Ramp? Do your coaches sell Personal Training during/after On Ramp? Do you offer 30 minute “Skill Sessions”? How many coaches do you have offering PT? Do you create content to help grow interest? If you answered no to any of these questions, you may want to re-evaluate your process.  Take a step back and walk through your intro and On Ramp process as if you were a new prospect. The only way to maximize results for your members and your gym is by leading them.  Create a clear path. If you need more help, we are here for you. BOOK A FREE CALL   Jeff Burlingame Two-Brain Business Mentor Owner – Friction CrossFit
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Planning Your Year

August 15, 2017 Gym Operations
Entrepreneurs in the TwoBrain Family spend December planning for the next year. First, we review “Perfect Day”. Then we choose their goals for the year that will lead to Perfect Day: income goals, time goals, lifestyle goals, and–maybe most important–service goals. We work on the owner first, and then the business, because the business should be a path to the owner’s perfect day. In other words, the business serves the owner…not the other way around. When planning the business’ year, I often use the “rocks in a glass” analogy. [You know the one: you put the big items–or “rocks”–in a glass. Then you fill the holes between the rocks with pebbles. Then you fill the holes between the pebbles with sand. Then you fill the tiny air pockets with water.] In the business, the “rocks” are service landmarks. They usually occur every quarter or so, but some businesses divide their year into 3, 5 or 6 sections. For the sake of example, we’ll stick with four. My service landmarks at Catalyst are the Intramural Open (beginning of March), the Catalyst Games (beginning of September), and The Gift (Christmas). Obviously, I need a fourth landmark, preferably in early summer. We have an incredible cycling community here; great swimming; and many people want to get out running after a long winter, so I’m going to tentatively create an early-June event we’ll call the Catalyst Duathlon. This is a placeholder; I might change the event later. But an endurance event is also a nice balance to the Gift in December, which is a combination of a weightlifting meet with a big charitable “give”. My calendar, divided into quarters, becomes: Intramural Open – March 1 Duathlon – June 1 Games – September 1 Gift – December 25 (all are approximate dates). Next, I’ll add the “pebbles” – the specialty programs to help my clients best prepare for each of the “rocks”. What can I ...
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