We are mentors. We trade in experience, not opinion.
It’s tempting for all of us—especially me—to say, “Here’s what I think is going to happen!”
The truth is that guessing doesn’t help anyone.
Finding Experts
When we first recommended that gym owners shift to online coaching, we were prepared: We already had a great online program and a great Specialty Mentor in Josh Grenell.
Our program taught a combination of in-person and online training (called the Flex model), and while we could make pretty solid inferences about moving gyms fully online, we soon realized that we needed more experience. And we quickly found that the expertise we needed didn’t exist in the CrossFit world.
So we brought in some help.
First, I turned to the big software platforms for online coaching. I asked their founders and CEOs, “Who are the trainers on your platform who make the most money?” and “Who are the trainers on your platform who keep clients around the longest?”
Then we turned to some of the world’s top online coaches, like Jonathan Goodman, for advice. And as the Two-Brain Family implemented what these experienced coaches taught us, we bought up the stuff that was proven to work.
When a Two-Brain gym owner said, “Here’s an email that got me three new online clients!” we purchased the rights to the email and put it into our course for all our clients to use. This is the secret to the power of our mentorship practice: the constant upgrading of our materials through proven experience.
But still, it wasn’t enough.
Looking Outside the Industry
The problem with the online coaching business is that there’s no central agency collecting and comparing best practices. A hundred experts are selling their ideas and no overarching team of mentors is saying, “That one is best for this coach right now.”
We’ve spent years (and over $1.2 million) building that structure for the microgym industry. But no one has done it for online coaches.
Luckily, I’ve been through this before. And my struggle back then can help others now.
In 2008, I looked for a business coach who could turn my gym around. I found two: One guy had been in the CrossFit journal and the other one was a martial-arts guy.
Both of them seemed like—well, let’s just say our values didn’t align. I thought, “If this is how I have to behave to make a living in the fitness industry, then I’m out.” But before I quit, I decided to look outside the fitness industry for help.
My first mentor had a ton of experience in turning organizations around. But he knew nothing about gyms. So I took his lessons, translated them into something useful for me, and published everything on DontBuyAds.com.
I still follow the same principle: Whenever I spot a new problem for myself or my clients, I ask, “Who is the best in the world at solving this problem?” Then I buy their mentorship and apply it to gyms.
So when I asked, “Who keeps people engaged online better than anyone else?” I knew I’d have to look outside the industry. When I asked, “Who is great at signing people up through video interviews?” I knew the answer wouldn’t be sitting in a gym somewhere.
When we find a gap in our understanding, we look for help and bring it back to Two-Brain.
Learn and Evolve
The fitness industry is changing. The mentors at Two-Brain are among the best gym owners and coaches in the world. And thanks to the power of the Two-Brain family, we can fill gaps where expertise doesn’t exist in the industry.
This month, we’ve spent $22,500 on experts for leadership (The John Maxwell Company), and I’m about to spend another $10,000 to help Two-Brain gyms with their online delivery.
Cindy Ashton helps celebrities and billionaire CEOs deliver amazing presentations through a screen. She’s been featured on every major network and in Forbes, Inc. Magazine and more. She doesn’t own a gym. But she’s the best in the world at the skill gym owners need right now. So we’re looking to her for expertise.
Our outside help this month:
– Online coaching—Brad Overstreet and Mike Watson.
– Mindset coaching—Colm O’Reilly.
– Online performance and delivery—Cindy Ashton.
– Leadership—The John Maxwell Company.
– Our brand new course on TwoBrainCoaching.com: How to Coach Online.
– Our incredible new course on taking your gym business online.
Total investment? Over $70,000.
Add in all the Facebook ad testing we’re doing for gyms, as well as the price of building swipe files and buying samples and emails that work, and we’ve purchased close to $100,000 of expertise for Two-Brain gyms in the last 30 days.
It’s been a crazy month. What will gym owners need next? I’m not sure, but if we don’t have it, we’ll buy it.
