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To Whom Are You Speaking?

January 13, 2017 Gym Marketing
Yesterday’s post, “Are You Really Your Best Client?” was meant to spur questions like “Who IS my best client?”, “Am I really like them?”,  and “What do THEY want – and am I just doing stuff that would appeal to people like me?” My SEED clients are educated. They have high-paying jobs. They are experts in their field. They probably supervise others. If they’re looking for a coach, they have to trust the coach’s authority. What erodes that authority? Signals – overt or otherwise – that I’m less educated than they. Or less smart. Or lazy. It’s difficult to judge brainpower or intent online. We’ve all been misinterpreted, misread or misjudged. Facebook doesn’t allow for much inflection; it’s black-and-white. But spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and bad language stand out like red flags. This is SO important that I’ve asked a close friend to prepare a module on grammar for Two-Brain gym owners. We spend our days asking people to reconsider their basic squat and gait – movements they’ve practiced since birth. It requires humility to reconsider your use of language. I suggest you do it anyway. Here’s a starting point: You’re = You Are Your = It belongs to you They’re = They Are There = A Place We’re = We Are Were = Past tense of ‘Are’ Where = A Place Then = A point in time Than = A method of comparison Two = The number 2 Too = Also To = Indicates motion Of note: this blog post probably isn’t perfect. There are “grammar police” out there who delight in finding mistakes. I’m not one. Don’t allow the pursuit of perfection be the tripping-block of “good”. But someone has to say this stuff! A potential high-end client might not care about your grammar. She might overlook your misuse of “you’re” and “they’re.” Or she might not. Is it worth the gamble?
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Are You Really Your Best Client?

January 12, 2017 Selling Gym Memberships
When I opened my CrossFit gym, I built it around what I liked. I chose bars that were great for powerlifting. I put in two GHRs and a reverse hyperextension machine. I hung chains on all my cages and put a chalk bowl in the middle of the floor. I slid a Metallica disc in the machine and hit “repeat”. The first woman to walk in the door walked right back out again. I love my clients. But they’re not like me. At least, they’re not much like the 28-year-old me. Are your “ideal” clients just like YOU? Are your SEED clients your age? Do they have 3 hours every day to work out? Are they passionate about improving their snatch? Do they earn what you earn? One of the biggest turning points in my business came when I realized that my best clients weren’t much like me at all: They earned more They cared more about clean bathrooms They wanted 1:1 attention often They didn’t like Megadeth They don’t want to think about programming They care more about smiling than PRing their overhead squat three-rep max.   What did this mean? I stopped projecting my budget onto their wallet I took the skulls off my website I stopped using the F word on social media I replaced that blinking light bulb I posted more pictures of people smiling I cleaned the blood off the bars (true story) I stopped yelling at them for chalk spills I stopped believing people just had to “want it bad enough”. I cleaned up my grammar (top earners don’t confuse “you’re” with “your”)   When I realized that I wasn’t my ideal client, I started getting cooler clients with smaller egos and fewer problems. Go figure.   One of the best reasons to do the SEED Clients worksheets in our Incubator is to discover who your best clients REALLY are, and what THEY want. That ...
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Episode 58: Starting Nutrition Programs in 2017

January 10, 2017 Gym Marketing Podcast
 
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What Are We Selling?

January 6, 2017 Selling Gym Memberships
Two months ago, I was sitting in CrossFit Bolton with two primo gym owners and three HQ staff. While the cameras were off, my friend Tyson Oldroyd was asking us about nutrition programs in our gyms. He had just successfully coached a client to lose over 100lbs with mostly dietary changes. He said something like, “We’re in the results business.” It led me to ask, “Are we selling exercise here, or fitness? Can we really sell fitness WITHOUT a nutrition prescription?” Yesterday on 2BTV (our private weekly webinar for TwoBrain mentoring clients) my guest was Nicole Aucoin, who helps gyms build nutrition programs. Most of us are adding a nutrition layer on top of the exercise program we sell. But Nicole is also in the process of opening her OWN CrossFit gym. And with a blank slate, she’s making nutrition the base of the fitness pyramid…as we all should. Starting from a blank slate, and selling fitness, let’s consider these questions: If 80% of our clients (that was the statistic from my gym in 2016) are seeking some sort of aesthetic goal first and foremost, what’s the best way to get them there? What tools are available to us? How will we measure progress? What equipment will we need to deliver this service? How many clients can we help? What if some of them were in a group? What will our prices need to be to make a good living at this? Remember: blank slate. No sunk costs, like pre-existing equipment. How will this change your perspective on business in 2017? Are we selling fitness, or exercise? What OTHER pieces are we possibly missing? – and – What opportunities do those pieces create? (You can hear Nicole’s full interview on Monday’s podcast.) The “Opportunities” module and discussion in our Incubator helps gyms see the “big picture”, add revenue streams, and help their clients get more fit.
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How To Level Up

January 5, 2017 Member Retention
In 2007, I faced what many would call a “good problem”: my gym was full. I owned a Personal Training facility, and we simply couldn’t take any more clients. We had people training in stairwells. At peak times, with 5 trainers and 5 clients in 4 PT rooms, we had huge lunge-a-thons up and down the hallway. At that point, we started to consider group training. Because we HAD to. The same thing happened to Greg Glassman, remember? He started pairing people up because his book was full. Then he put them in small groups. When I moved from 1:1 to small-group training, my revenue per hour went up. The value of my time increased. So far, so good. If you want to level up your personal income, fill yourself with 1:1 clients first. Make a living. Then add 2:1 training, and then small groups. Jump to group training ONLY when your client base is secure. Here’s how I screwed it all up in 2008: I opened a second gym. Instead of starting with high-value use of my time, I sold Open Gym memberships to people who really needed coaching instead. I started working 16-hour days for a couple of bucks per hour. My landlord made more money. I didn’t. The value of my time decreased. In fact, it bottomed out: I probably could have made more at a call center. I just kept working MORE until I couldn’t. And here’s how I started to fix things again: When we ditched Open Gym and regained our footing as a coaching business, the value of my time went back up. But I was still working a 16-hour day. And it was full: coaching, cleaning, writing blog posts. I had to climb back out of the hole. I was trying to do everything, but I simply couldn’t fit everything in. So I replaced myself in the cheapest possible role (cleaner, back then.) ...
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How To Sublease Your Space

January 3, 2017 Gym Operations
You’ve taken a big leap: committed to rent and loans and time. You’ve dedicated yourself to attracting people to one little spot. You’ve painted the walls, assembled a desk, plugged into the Internet. You haven’t built a gym. You’ve built a platform. On this platform, you’ll build your living. Every square inch exists to buy your groceries. It might not be a blank slate—you put up that big rig, after all—but every little corner should be used to generate revenue. One way to leverage unused space is to sub-lease to a massage therapist, dietitian or other pro. Here’s what you offer: Physical location: heat, lights, cleanliness, parking, snow plowing (maybe that one’s just me) Business costs: lights, insurance (maybe), internet access, transaction setup (debit machines) booking and billing automation Business processes: cleaning is covered, staff can book appointments, Prescriptive Model includes multiple services Branding: access to a pool of trusting, high-earning clientele Space: furnished or unfurnished. The opportunity you’re presenting is FAR more than just space. It’s practically a turnkey business. All those business setup headaches that YOU’VE already figured out have been solved in advance for your tenant. That’s very valuable. Keep those in mind for the next step. Here’s what you charge: Start with the bare-bones math to determine the minimum value of the space. I’ll use an example from the Two-Brain Group this morning. Gym size: 4160sqft at $10.96 per square foot (includes NNN) Rental room size: 108 sq. ft. Rental rate to break even: $1183.68 per year ($98.64 per month) But the room is part of your business platform. You’re not renting it to break even. According to our 4/9 model, you need to cover your fixed costs (2/9, including all physical location and business costs listed above) AND protect your profit margin (3/9). The only thing you’re NOT providing is the labor. Your base rent is $98.64 plus 5/9 – that’s the opportunity cost to ...
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