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The Zero-Sum Error

May 8, 2019 Personal Development
In late 2005, I opened my first gym. I made my first business mistake before I trained my first client.   I was painting my new gym space with one of my new partners. He asked my goals for Year One while we rolled a bright chartreuse over the wallpaper in our tiny second-floor space.   “I’m going to put these other guys out of business,” I said.   I’d been coaching for nearly a decade at that point. The last 2.5 years had been spent training people 1:1 in a tiny, windowless studio gym. I needed the money–and that’s why I opened my own gym–but I also needed acknowledgment: I was positive I was the best trainer in town, and I wanted people to know it.   In 2005–barely 14 years ago!–the sum of fitness business knowledge was: “Be the best coach and you’ll be the most successful.” I was eager to believe it, because I was the best coach.   My partner, Norm–you’ll meet him at Summit!–asked me, “Why?”   I said, “Well, I’m going to take all of their clients.” Not because I was confident in my business skills, but because I thought I would have to take their clients to survive.   I made the classic mistake of believing the market for personal training was limited. I thought, “Only a few dozen people in town can afford personal training, and they’re already doing it somewhere else!”   This is called “zero-sum thinking”: the belief that the number of potential opportunities for your business has a limit, and that every opportunity comes at the cost of someone else.   Here’s how it almost killed me:   When I opened my doors on October 25, 2005, I really did take clients from elsewhere. I had 25 sign up the first week. True, I was honoring packages they’d purchased elsewhere and making very little new money, but they came ...
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TwoBrain Marketing Episode 8: Jenn Markwardt

May 6, 2019 Gym Marketing Podcast
 Two Brain Marketing Episode 8: Jenn Markwardt Today we are joined by Jenn Markwardt from CrossFit Sandpoint, in Sandpoint Idaho. Jenn started the incubator with over 100 clients already, but she and husband Kenny weren’t making enough money. They were doing all the work, and Jenn was working outside the business. Today, Jenn and Kenny both work at CrossFit Sandpoint full time. They’ve expanded, bought out two partners, and have dialed their systems enough to open a second location. Here’s how they did it, how they get new leads, and their sales process for new clients. Don’t Forget about the 2019 Two Brain Summit, June 8-9 in Chicago! This year we have some amazing topics and guests for both yourself and your coaches. Click hereto register and sign up now! Contact: http://www.crossfitsandpoint.com/ https://www.facebook.com/jenn.markwardt Timeline: 2:20 – Introduction to Jenn Markwardt 6:23 – Working a fulltime job while starting a gym 10:07 – What was the impetus for looking into Two Brain and starting the Incubator 12:02 – What to do when you want more out of your business? 15:07 – What is it that CrossFit Sandpoint Sells and how do you sell a new client 18:15 – The sales process and sales funnels at CrossFit Sandpoint 24:52 – The key to success in owning a gym: playing the long game   Greg:                                          00:02                       Welcome everyone to Two-Brain radio. It is our mission at Two-Brain to provide 1 million entrepreneurs the freedom to live the life that they choose. Join us every week as we discover the very best practices to achieve perfect day and move you closer to wealth. Announcer:                            00:26              ...
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Episode 166: Protecting Yourself from Lawsuits, with Rachel Brenke

May 2, 2019 Gym Operations Podcast
Greg: 00:02 – Welcome everyone to Two-Brain Radio. It is our mission at Two-Brain to provide 1 million entrepreneurs the freedom to live the life that they choose. Join us every week as we discover the very best practices to achieve Perfect Fay and move you closer to wealth. Chris: 00:26 – Debt is a tricky subject in our world. We’ve been taught by HQ to avoid debt, to accumulate cash and then when we’ve got enough money to spend it, but in the business world, the reality is that there’s good debt and there’s bad debt. Good debt creates an asset. There’s also something called opportunity cost. Meaning if you wait until you can afford something, you probably never will be able to afford it and you’ll be missing a ton of opportunity in the meantime. Let’s say for example that you were bursting at the seams and your clients couldn’t attend the 6-p.m. class anymore because there was a waiting list, so they started canceling their memberships. You’re missing an opportunity cost here. The opportunity to keep your current clients. Because if they’re paying for a membership and they can’t attend, they’re not going to keep that membership for long. So you’re looking to expand and so you’re going to have to take on some debt, or you’re going to wait until you have the $10,000 or whatever that amount is to buy the new equipment. Chris: 01:23 – You can keep turning new clients away while you wait and try and accumulate this money or you can leverage the capital through guys like Rigquipment. Rigquipment is a partner that we chose at Two-Brain Business because their commitment to CrossFit and their commitment to helping first has been proven over several years. I got to admit, I shy away a lot from money people. It’s intimidating to work with people who understand money and finance better than I ...
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How To Be A Bad Entrepreneur

May 1, 2019 Vision
“I know I can be a millionaire…I just need one good idea.”   New entrepreneurs often think they’re inventors. They have an idea for a new app, or a new service, or a new spin on something old. They want to “try it their way” first. Or “tweak” a working model to “make it their own”. This is a deadly trap. I know, because I was in it.   You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. And you’re delaying your progress by doing so.   CrossFit affiliation is a great example: affiliated gyms pay a licensing fee to use the brand, but receive no business guidance at all. On one hand, this is a massive opportunity to use a huge global brand any way they want. But on the other hand, it means that new affiliates are prone to making the same mistakes old affiliates did. It means the sometimes-fatal errors of 2012 are doomed to be repeated forever. And the errors of 2019 that haven’t been fatal yet? Someone will repeat them in 2024.   Great entrepreneurs aren’t inventors. They don’t try to navigate their way out of the desert themselves. Instead, they ask “Who has already solved this problem?” and then pay for the solution, saving themselves years and millions of dollars. When I learned this trick, I went from $45,000 per year–not including missed paychecks!–to a platform 100x the size.   The truth that most new entrepreneurs don’t know is this: inventors rarely make money. Inventors make mistakes. Eventually, inventors make a product. Then they make new mistakes introducing their product to a market that doesn’t want it. Then they have to make a new market for their product, which takes years. Then they have to make apologies to their family. Then they “make it work” by spending more hours at the drawing board. But they never make money.   Real entrepreneurs take the inventors’ work to ...
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If The Rx Fits, They Will Commit

April 30, 2019 Gym Marketing
“Will CrossFit help me lose weight?”   That’s the question you’re trying to answer.   Every potential client works their way through a series of questions to find you. They sound like this: “I need to lose weight. But do I need to do it now?” If the answer is YES, they move on to the next question. “What’s the easiest way to do it?” If they select “exercise” over “diet”–a big IF–they move on to the next question: “What’s the best exercise plan?” Now, “best” can mean many things: fastest, easiest, least boring, or something else. If they decide to join a gym over walking/jogging/buying an exercise bike, they start with a Google search. What are they searching for? It’s not “gym with best community in Fort Knox.” It’s not “the happiest gym in Sault Ste. Marie.” (to my chagrin.) It’s not “highest-certified coaches in Annapolis.” It’s probably “best gym for weight loss” or “cheapest gym in Boston” or “gym near me.” They probably won’t find your gym in those searches, will they? Now let’s say they somehow find your site. They’re greeted by a long list of options: CrossFit, personal training, nutrition programming, Sweat Class, Crossfit Lite, Barbell Club… …which one will help them lose weight? If they don’t try to figure it out themselves, they’ll probably leave. If they DO try to figure it out themselves, they might take your offer to try a free class. But if no one talks to them after class about their goals, they’re left to guess: “this hard thing that I just did–will it help me lose weight?”   Every time you make people guess, you filter them out. Because they don’t know what you know.   Here’s how to talk to the people you want to coach:   Start with media. Don’t explain why you’re the best gym. Tell them how to lose weight. Tell them how to cure low ...
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How Your Haters Make You Money

April 29, 2019 Uncategorized
A little over a year ago, a “guru” in the fitness business told his audience that my ideas were bad. His ranty blog post added 600 new people to my email list. It was poorly-written, and went on and on without saying much. But the specifics won’t help you with your business, so I’ll get right to the punch line: his audience became curious, searched us out, and started reading our stuff. Slowly, they started to pay attention. Then many started to pay for our mentorship. He didn’t just shoot himself in the foot; he nearly cut off his own leg. Of course, my immediate temptation to the rant was to write a rebuttal, or respond in kind. I’m lucky to have great mentors who keep me focused on serving my clients instead of slinging mud. Here’s what they told me: “As soon as you plant a flag, people are going to start shooting.” Mentor: Dr. Mel Siff, author of Supertraining. Mel was saying that people find it hard to have their own ideas, but easy to shoot at yours. But no one takes shots at small ideas or cares about small people. The bullets prove you’re a big, valuable target. Talk more. “If they’re criticizing you, they’ve got nothing else to talk about.” Mentor: Dave Tate, founder of EliteFTS. Dave saw many equipment suppliers come and go before learning that lesson. He said that “three years from now, all of those critics will be gone. If you ignore them and focus on your clients, you won’t be. But if you chase after them, you’ll be gone too.” Dave’s admonition was to not share your spotlight with your critics. They need attention to survive; starve them to death. “It’s harder to race when you’re in first place.” Author: Chris Carmichael, coaching Lance Armstrong at the time. It’s easy to chase a leader. It’s hard to lead. When you’re in front ...
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