Personal Training Business - Fitness Business

National Transformation Contest

May 17, 2012 By admin Leave a Comment

What Can A National Transformation Contest Do For Your Fitness Business?

PFT FCG Contest 568 National Transformation Contest

The Campaign

Earlier this year, some of our clients and FR franchisees participated in our first ever National Transformation Contest. Hundreds of fitness professionals were given the opportunity to host a local contest, which not only led to a lot of leaner, healthier bodies throughout the country, but also gave fitness business owners the chance to generate new business, increase membership sales, build relationships and good will in their communities, and reinforce a results-driven culture within their facilities.

25 Minutes For Fitness Pros To Get Things Done

May 14, 2012 By admin 1 Comment

Efficiency For Fitness Pros. A Post By Pat Rigsby

timer 25 Minutes For Fitness Pros To Get Things Done

Like you, I have a lot of responsibilities. A number of business obligations including lots of phone calls, managing projects, writing, travel and any number of other things that go into building several businesses simultaneously. So below I’ve shared 4 steps I use and a few other random tips for fitness pros that I think can also help you get more done. Here you go:

Step One: Evaluate - Each night before I go to bed, I evaluate the day that is coming to a close before planning the next day. I wait as late as possible so my mind is clear when I go to bed. I look over the task list I created the evening before and see what I got done.

Did I miss or fail to complete anything important?

Do I need to follow up on anything?

Does anything need to carry over to the next day?

Is there anything that can be eliminated or delegated?

(This takes about 2-3 minutes total.)

Step Two: Plan - As soon as I’ve reviewed the previous day, I start planning the next day. I check out my Google Calendar and add any commitments listed there to my task list. Then I look at anything from the previous day that needs to be carried over and any task or activity that I know I need to get done the next day.

Once everything is listed, I’ll review my goals ( I keep a list of goals and I’d recommend you do too) briefly and then ‘star’ the top three tasks that aren’t just scheduled calls or appointments that I’m committed to. These might be something like writing sales copy or a blog post, creating a module for a program or contacting someone about a project idea.

With the 3 starred items I will block off time on my calendar to get those tasks completed.

(This takes about 2-3 minutes total.)

Step Three: Review - Each morning take 1-2 minutes to review the day ahead. This helps me prepare for the day ahead and get in the right frame of mind. For example:

If I know that I will be writing copy, I’ll make sure I have my notes on my desktop to review or any other sales letters I want to review available. Basically, when the time comes to be able to jump right into the task and not spend 15 minutes getting focused.

(Like I said – 1 or 2 minutes maximum for this.)

Step Four: Execute 25 On / 5 Off - My workday is blocked of in 30 minute increments. Most calls are scheduled for 30 minutes and if there is a chance one will take longer, it’s scheduled for an hour.

Ideally, calls will be done in 25 minutes so I have 5 minutes to catch up or prep for the next block of time.

For writing, work on projects, etc. – same thing. They get 30 minute blocks of time.

But 30 minutes is actually 25 minutes of uninterrupted work and 5 minutes of either getting out of my chair & stretching / moving or some quick stuff like responding to an email or two. No heavy mental lifting. I’ll set the timer for 25 minutes and when the buzzer goes off, set it for another 5.

It’s incredible how much you can get done in 25 minutes if you have no interruptions. I can often write an entire blog post or 2 newsletters in that time frame. But that’s the key – no interruptions.

No checking email.
No checking Facebook or Twitter.
No unscheduled phone calls.
No surfing the internet.
No interrupting yourself to go get a drink, use the bathroom or anything else that will pull your focus away from the task at hand.

Over time you’re going to get a great idea of exactly how much you can get done in this amount of time. Once you have a rough idea of this, that’s when things get easy.

Then you can break up the stuff you need to get done into 25 minute blocks and big projects no longer seem overwhelming.

For me, it’s almost a contest – a race against time to see how much I can get done in 25 minutes.

Maybe for you making 10 Business of the Week calls takes 1 Block but writing a client email newsletter takes 3 Blocks. Just break it down and schedule it.

This approach has been great for me and I think it will be great for fitness pros too.

With that in mind, here are a couple of other tips to get more done:

The first hire any fitness professional should make is a personal assistant. You should try to delegate the $10 tasks that are taking up some of your time and spend your time on the high return stuff. Besides – hiring an assistant is easier than hiring someone to train or coach. You can use your network or Craigslist and find a number of solid prospects for an Admin. Asst. position and free up a lot of your time to do the higher return stuff.

Schedule everything. As far as I’m concerned, if it’s not scheduled – it’s not important. Block off time to spend with your family. Time to read or study. Time for your own training. If you schedule time for clients, then you should be scheduling time for you too.

Hold yourself accountable. Our Franchisees and Mastermind members do a Friday Check-In to the group to share what they got done during the past week and believe me, no one wants to be the slacker. You can list things out on Sunday of each week and review them the following Sunday, find an accountability partner or if you can join one of our programs or franchises and work with us for your accountability?

Set specific goals and be accountable. This is big for me. I want a target to shoot for at all times.

Alright – there you go: my simple solution for Fitness Pros to get more done.

Filed Under: fitness business, Fitness Entrepreneur, Personal Training Career Tagged With: Entrepreneur, Fitness Business, fitness pro, Fitness Professionals, fitness pros, Mindset, pat rigsby, Success

Fitness Business Owner of the Month – April 2012

May 7, 2012 By admin Leave a Comment

A fitness business owner success story by Pat Rigsby

images Fitness Business Owner of the Month April 2012

Each month here at FBI we recognize a Fitness Business Owner of the Month. We hope to not only recognize fitness entrepreneurs for their successes but also to inspire other fitness pros to move forward in their business endeavors.

The winner will not only get a public ‘pat on the back’ in the form of a post like this, but they’ll also receive a 1 hour coaching call, free admission to the live event of their choice and a product of their choice from what we offer here at FBI.
[Read more...]

Filed Under: Fitness Business Owner of the Month, Fitness Business Success, Personal Trainer Business, Personal Training Success Tagged With: Business Owner, Fitness Business, Fitness Business Marketing, fitness business success, personal training business, Success

Referrals Made Easy

May 2, 2012 By admin Leave a Comment

A Post On Getting Referrals By Pat Rigsby

As fitness business owner we all want more referrals. They’re the easiest prospects to sell, they are more likely to refer others and they’ll stay longer and pay more while they’re clients.

Unfortunately, referrals aren’t as easy to come by as they used to be. In years gone by all you had to do was offer up a prize or reward and your current clients would line up to send you new clients for a chance to win what you were offering or a crisp $50 bill.

It’s not quite that easy any more.

You can still be a referral driven business, but you need to set the stage to make that happen. Here’s a primer to get you started.

Your Fitness Marketing Plan For Maximizing Value

April 17, 2012 By admin 2 Comments

A post on developing your fitness marketing plan by Pat Rigsby

What if you could automatically make each prospect you get three to four times as valuable? That’s a fitness marketing plan you’d put into action immediately, right?

Well – to make each prospect you get as valuable as possible, you need a plan because it doesn’t happen by accident…so I’ve shared a blueprint you can follow. Your own fitness marketing plan.

Basically, you have a funnel your prospects go through already, whether you realize it or not. Most of your prospects go through the same type of process, whether it’s really efficient or not very efficient at all.

So what we want to do is to make your marketing plan a drop dead simple, step-by-step funnel that every prospect goes through where you have the highest possibility of maximizing the value of their relationship to your business.

Personal Training Sales: The Value Capture Solution

April 15, 2012 By admin 2 Comments

A Post on Personal Training Sales By Pat Rigsby

dreamstime xs 20291426 300x199 Personal Training Sales: The Value Capture Solution

For the typical entrepreneurial personal trainer sales is a hot topic.

They want to know how to sell more.

How to close more deals.

But in my mind, this view is a small part of a much bigger picture.

The Client Value Capture picture.

So I wanted to explain my take on Client Value Capture and how it can explode your personal training sales.

Fitness Business Owner Of The Month – March 2012

March 29, 2012 By AlexFortey Leave a Comment

A fitness business owner success story by Pat Rigsby

Our March Fitness Business Owner of the Month is Jeff McDaniel, Owner of Bootcamp: Bulletproof in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Big Ideas For Growing A Training Business

March 27, 2012 By admin 7 Comments

A post on Growing A Training Business by Pat Rigsby

Oven the past few weeks we’ve had a couple groups of Mastermind Members in town, held a live event and hosted a Fitness Revolution franchise training. Every chance I have the opportunity to spend time around elite fitness professionals like I recently have, I get a flood of ideas and thoughts about growing a training business.

With that in mind I thought I’d share some of them with you.

Know What You Need & Get It – Every successful training business needs to have certain processes and systems in place. First you need to know what those processes and systems are – then you need to get them in place in your business. If you don’t know what you need – talk to someone like me to fill in the blanks or model someone who is where you want to be. Once you know – create the systems yourself or lean on products, coaching or a total solution like Fitness Revolution if you don’t want to create them or you want to fast track the process.

Burying your head or procrastinating on this will prevent you from ever having a great fitness business.

Are Fitness Bootcamps Dying?

March 22, 2012 By AlexFortey 8 Comments

A post on Fitness Bootcamps by Pat Rigsby

Over the past few months we’ve had a number of our Mastermind Members discuss the possibility of changing the way that they present their programs to the public from Fitness Bootcamps to some other term that hasn’t been as commoditized and watered down.

We’ve been predicting that the typical camp would start trending downward for a while and we’ve started to see it. Gone are the days of just saying you run a bootcamp, sending out a press release and having success. Health clubs are all offering camps at a bargain basement rate or giving them away with memberships just like typical group ex classes.

About 80% of the fitness pros I’ve spoken with have at least tried running fitness bootcamps – even those who initially were appalled by the concept.

For the longest time we’ve taught our members, clients and franchisees to combat tis onslaught of fitness bootcamps by treating what they do like group personal training. Do assessments. Deliver high quality programming – not just workouts. Focus on the experience and forming strong relationships.

This approach has allowed most of them to stand out from the competition – but now many of them are considering taking this separation from the fitness bootcamps pack even farther and dropping the bootcamp name all together.

They feel like the word “bootcamp” in a fitness setting has come to stand for an inferior quality service that isn’t up to the standards that they deliver.

So what I want to know from you is this:

Do you think the phrase ‘fitness bootcamps’ has come to stand for an inferior service?

Do you think the fitness bootcamps trend has crested and is on the way down? (For those of you who don’t think this will ever happen, I have one word for you: Taebo.)

Do you think changing the way that your program is presented…the name, the language you use to describe it, etc…is a good idea?

I really want to know your thoughts on fitness bootcamps. Please share them below.

Dedicated to Your Success,

Pat

Filed Under: Bootcamps, fitness business Tagged With: Boot Camps, Business Owner, Fitness Bootcamps, Fitness Business, fitness business success

The Interval Fitness Marketing System

March 19, 2012 By AlexFortey Leave a Comment

A post of creating a fitness marketing system by Pat Rigsby

dreamstime xs 19630985 The Interval Fitness Marketing System

Getting fitness professionals to actually employ a fitness marketing system is a chore. It’s not something that they’re normally inclined to do or that they enjoy

I get it.

So how can a fitness pro be motivated to market it a way that will be effective?

Enter The Interval Fitness Marketing System.

This approach will be something that we’re going to deliver in a Done For You format for Fitness Revolution franchisees – but it’s something that you could employ on your own successfully as well.

First, let me give you a little back story though.

In my experience, the thing that prevents fitness pros from adhering to their own fitness marketing system is consistency.

They don’t want to do the things necessary to get big results day after day, week after week, month after month.

It’s really a lot like training clients, right?

Outside of the best clients, if they don’t have a deadline or a goal – keeping them focused and consistent can often be a challenge.

One of the ways that we’ve seen many fitness pros overcome this challenge is to hold short term events to get clients focused. Transformation Contests, 21 Day Challenges, etc.

These work well for a variety of reasons – in large part to the fact that there is a deadline. A light at the end of the tunnel for the participant to focus on. Because of this they can focus all their efforts on succeeding in the challenge. They’re temporarily motivated to follow the plan more closely than they would at any other time.

Right?

So why not follow this same approach with marketing?

That’s the basis of the Interval Fitness Marketing System.

You basically go into a full marketing sprint several times per year and then you market at a much lower intensity the rest of the year.

You aggressively run 4-6 compressed, intensive promotions each year – and you hit them incredibly hard. The rest of the time, you downshift into doing simple stuff.

Here’s how this could potentially lay out:

You pick 6 big events for the year. Maybe something like this:

2 Transformation Contests

2 Short 21 or 28 Day Promotions

1 Referral Contest

1 Reactivation Campaign

In January you run the first Transformation Contest. You hit it hard.

• You hit current clients with email, face to face, internal signage, personal calls and even direct mail.

• You do an email / direct mail campaign to unconverted leads and former clients.

• You run a Facebook ad campaign, leverage social media and press release the Contest.

• You reach out to joint venture partners and send a promotion out through their lists.

• You set up a strong referral program for your current clients.

In March you run a Referral Contest.

• You lean on all your JV partners for donated or discounted prizes.

• You distribute gift cards, done for you emails and other tools to make referring easy.

• You come up with a reward system for anyone who refers a lead and every referrer is entered in the contest to win some big prizes.

In May you hold a 21 or 28 Day Swimsuit Ready Challenge.

• Again you hit current clients with email, face to face, internal signage, personal calls and even direct mail.

• You do an email and call unconverted leads and former clients.

• You run a Facebook ad campaign, leverage social media and press release the Challenge. Maybe you even get some local celebrities to participate.

• You reach out to joint venture partners and send a promotion out through their lists.

• You set up a strong referral program for your current clients where they can participate free if they refer a friend.

In September run a Team Transformation Contest.

• Each team must have at least 2 non-clients.

• You get current clients to form teams through the same marketing channels you used in January.

• You invite unconverted leads and former clients to be part of teams.

• You again a Facebook ad campaign, leverage social media and press release the Contest.

• You reach out to joint venture partners and see if they want to field a team.

• You come up with great prizes for the winning team.

In October you run a Reactivation Campaign and do a 3 Letter Sequence to former clients.

You mix in 3 emails and a personal call.

Then in early November you run 21 Day Finish Strong Challenge where you market the exact same way you did in May, but this time using the Holidays as the end of the contest.

In between and during – you’d just do some simple stuff like run a Bring a Friend Charity Workout each month, do some networking and maybe some email fitness marketing and social media.

That’s the Interval Fitness Marketing System.

4-6 full out sprints throughout the year and then you just do the simpler stuff the rest of the time.

What I love about this is it gives you something to focus on for a short period of time – but each of the bigger events will produce a bunch of leads you can continue to market to the rest of they year in your newsletter and for future events.

So if you’ve had trouble staying consistent with your marketing – give the Interval Fitness Marketing System a try. I think it might be exactly what you need to get your marketing in gear.

Let me know what you think below…

Dedicated to Your Success,

Pat

Filed Under: Fitness Business Marketing, Personal Trainer Marketing Tagged With: Fitness Business, Fitness Marketing, Prospects