I haven’t sold supplements at Catalyst in over a decade.
Early in my fitness career, I thought selling supplements was the way to make money. So I spent most of my “research time” online, sifting through PubMed, trying to find the best supplements. I thought that was what would help my clients most.
I didn’t learn the best supplements to sell. In fact, what I learned turned me off selling supplements forever.
One of the greatest scams in supplements is “the combo deal”: Protein XXX contains creatine; Super Phosphate ZXR contains the trademarked ZipAminos; PumpUpTheVolume YXT contains protein, nitrous oxide, CO2, gold dust, and pixie wing particles (TM.)
The “combo deal” in supplements is a scam because it always means lower quality of every kind. Put two low-quality supplements together, and sellers can offer a lower price. The public thinks they’re getting a better deal, and margins are higher for the seller. But the quality of a combo is always less.
I also learned this lesson while selling treadmills: if you want to hide a weak motor, just have a cool-looking dashboard.
Greg Glassman doesn’t sell equipment; he recommends Rogue.
I can build websites myself. I could hire a site designer, and a SEO expert, and a conversions expert, and sell their services through the TwoBrain platform. I’m in mentoring programs with some of the top conversions experts in the world. I could hire VAs to set up lead generators and click magnets and Facebook funnels and landing pages.
But I don’t.
I don’t because I don’t want to sell “the combo deal”.
I don’t want to make a mediocre website with not-too-bad SEO and pretty good landing pages, and combo that with low-cost consulting. No thanks.
I don’t want to sell a “video course”, or combine a website with mentorship. Because I’d prefer to be excellent at one thing instead of pretty good at two.
We have partners for website development. That’s all they do.
We have partners for marketing and SEO. That’s all they do.
We have partners for nutrition programs and box programming and VAs. That’s all they do. See the pattern? Excellence, at this level, requires specialization.
If a member at Catalyst wants more–a specialty program, or 1:1 attention–those things are available from specialists. They’re not rolled into a membership, because not everyone wants them. My CrossFitters don’t need to subsidize my weightlifting club by making it a “combo deal”.
Specialty programs are run by specialist coaches.
So Catalyst will continue to coach the squat, and TwoBrain will continue to make gyms profitable, without trying to be a “one-stop shop”. But then, I don’t eat dinner at the gas station either.
Here’s my question to you: if you stripped away all the “combo” stuff, what are you REALLY offering? What’s your primary service?
Who are your potential specialist partners?
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