Fit Business Insider

The other day I made a post about what was working for some of the top fitness business owners in the industry based on some of the things they shared at Bootcamp Bootcamp.

I decided to take it a step further and have some of our Elite Mastermind members offer up 3 things that are currently having a big impact on their businesses.  Here you go:

B.J. & Kori Bliffert

1. Implementing a scripted new member orientation before our two-week tryout, rather than winging it.  Every member gets the same message at every orientation: they learn all the rules, what’s expected of them and the cost of the camp should they be invited.

2. Systematized and scripted closing process.  Again, no more winging it, same close every time = a predictable outcome.

3. 1-1 Scripted goal setting meetings after closing the new member.  Though we’re still working on this one to get more Prograde sales, it has created personal relationships and a stronger sense of "we want you to succeed as much as you do" attitude with our members.

BJ & Kori Bliffert own Full Throttle Fitness Systems, a warehouse gym in Frisco, TX specializing in Fitness Boot Camps, Kettlebell Training and Small Group Team Training.

Wil Fleming

1. Incentivizing referrals. By simply adding the gift of a free t-shirt we have successfully turned every one new client into at least 4-5 new leads. No longer do we have to hit the pavement for new athletes we just had to hand out shirts! The only caveat to this is to make sure you ask for all the info you need to capitalize on the referral. For athletes – that needs to include parents’ names, home phone, and sports played. This is significantly different than what is needed for adults.

2. Focus on high return activities. When doing assessments, consults or conducting sessions is what pays the bills – why spend time on activities like updating your Facebook with your "killer" workout of the day? Does it really bring in clients? 

3. Be involved and be seen. As a coach of athletes it is of the highest importance to be out in the community at athletic events supporting Athletic Revolution athletes. Be seen and interact with parents everywhere you go. Offer to do fundraisers for the local youth teams and high schools. Oh, and don’t be a dope and forget to collect contact info anyplace you can!  

Wil Fleming is the owner and director of performance at Athletic Revolution Bloomington / Force Fitness and Performance in Bloomington, IN. Wil is a member and contributor to the IYCA. He has trained over 25 division I athletes in the last calendar year alone and his Athletic Revolution works with nearly 200 athletes on a weekly basis.

Read the rest…

In golf, they talk about fixing one aspect of your game and shaving a handful of strokes off of your score all at once.  If you get better at putting, all of the sudden those 90’s that you’re shooting become 85’s.  If you get better at pitching and chipping those 85’s become 80’s.

I think that same approach will work for improving your business numbers too.  I’m going to use bootcamps as my example, but this approach works for any fitness business. Here are some areas for improvement and some simple steps to make that happen.

Read the rest…

I want to tell you a little about my friends and Bootcamp Blueprint members Nancy & Dean Carlson. I think you’ll find their story inspiring and educational…

In May of 2008 Nancy & Dean Carlson opened Get Fit NH Bootcamp with one paying member and 7 friends that thought they were a little crazy but were willing to try it out.

They started outside in their backyard, but knew they needed an indoor facility as winter in New Hampshire isn’t outdoor camp friendly.

After looking at a variety of options Nancy & Dean ultimately decided to open their first facility on their own property – which they opened in October 2008.

Read the rest…

Fall of 2008 Tyler English decided he wanted to leave his job as a trainer in a gym and go out on his own.

He’d kicked around the idea of launching an infoproduct but hadn’t gotten any traction – and about that time we launched the Bootcamp Blueprint.

Even though he still was employed at the health club, he took the plunge and made the 12 month commitment and joined the program.

On December 23^rd he felt like he had learned enough to go out on his own and left his job at the gym.

On January 12^th, 2009 Tyler opened up his first 2 camps with 15 paid campers and about that many free trials using a Karate Studio and a Dance Studio.

In almost no time he was at capacity with over 60 campers and decided to open his own facility.

Read the rest…

1. Get on the phone and reactivate former clients & campers.

2. Do at least 2 public speaking engagements per month.

3. Start networking on a weekly basis.  Check this post out to become a Power Networker.

4. Ask for referrals at the point of sale.  See this post for a form you can use.

5. Start using EFT and selling 3, 6 and 12 month programs instead of only 1 month camps.

6. Face-to-Face relationship building.  Prospects are everywhere.  Talk to them.  Perfect your 15 elevator speech and commit to meeting at least 1 new person a day.

7. FREE Trials.  Every camp should be offering 1-2 week free trials.

Read the rest…

Two fitness businesses, $19,422.37 a month and a wife that was able to retire at the age of 30.

Life is good but it hasn’t always been this way.

I’ve had to shed many tears, bump my head on several obstacles and even entertain the thought of quitting. I think I even fought bouts of depression as I struggled trying to force my fitness business to work.

I definitely don’t want you to have to endure some of the same emotions and turmoil that I did, so I’m going to give you 3 powerful boot camp marketing tips that have helped me reach the point of success. Believe me, success isn’t about the money, although it doesn’t hurt, but about the peace of mind that I have the opportunity to share with those that I love the most.

You deserve the same thing if you don’t have that already and here are the 3 tips that will help you get there:

Read the rest…

WOW! We’re here at Fast Track to Fitness Millions LIVE and on Thursday we held a bonus day just for our Boot Camp Blueprint members.

There was some seriously powerful tactics being shared. Watch these two videos to see for yourself.

The first one shows the simple way one member has easily built his boot camp business to 110 campers in just months!

The second video reveals Boot Camp Transformation contest secrets.

Read the rest…

Just the other day I talked to my good friend and Fast Track Mastermind Member Billy Corbett about the hidden goldmine in his business.

Hidden goldmine?

Yes. Billy’s business, like most every business, has a hidden goldmine waiting to be uncovered.

For Billy, the biggest part of this hidden goldmine is his list of former clients.

See, Billy has been training for a while and while his retention is incredible (actually, ‘legendary’ might be more accurate) – but he still has some clients drop of when they get busy, their financial situation changes or they just kind of drift off over time.

Well, this group of people is the ideal audience to reach out to and invite back into your business.

Why? A few reasons:

• Billy already has a great relationship with these people. He’s always overdelivered to his clients.
• They already are comfortable with him and his business.
• They’ve already established themselves as ‘buyers’ – people who will invest in their health and fitness.

So Billy and I discussed how he could reach out to them and make them an offer that would be enticing enough to bring a significant percentage of them back into his business.

Read the rest…

It spread like wildfire!
Brought to you by: http://www.howtoprofitwithbootcamps.com

Question: What are?

- Working with the media for free exposure

- Training groups to make more while working less

Answer: Two things I always write about.

I’m just getting back from a short vacation in Key West so I’m going to give you my thoughts on this and you can put this info to use right away.

1) One of my most successful http://www.howtoprofitwithbootcamps.com customers recently made a BRILLIANT move landing in her local news.

So how did Laurel Blackburn land such a great media hit?

Simple. She knows her local media. Laurel knew from some quick research that the reporter who covered the story was young and hip and it was something that would be right up her alley.

So how EXACTLY did she get the reporter (who by the way brought a reporter buddy of hers who also wrote about it!) to cover her camp?

It was extremely difficult. HA! She emailed her and asked her if she’d like to attend the camp for a day and write about her experience.

That was tough, huh?

Way to go, Laurel! I’ve written it before – KNOW YOUR LOCAL MEDIA!

2) Want it even easier?

How about some media via word-of-mouth?

That’s what http://www.howtoprofitwithbootcamps.com customer of MVP Fitness owner Lyle Johnson got in his hometown of St. Louis. Check out this FRONT PAGE story on his Boot Camp! http://tinyurl.com/zfx42

I particularly like this part:

“He started boot camp last year with three people. Today, 70 people meet three times a week for five weeks. He has two sessions at Hazelwood Central and two at New Town in St. Charles.”

~~~~
NOTE: I’d be insane not to mention Lyle only had three camp members BEFORE he became our customer! http://www.howtoprofitwithbootcamps.com
~~~~

WOW! 70 members of his Boot Camp. How could you NOT be impressed?

How did Lyle land this incredible media hit?

I’ll let him tell you:

“It was by word of mouth. Another person who walks around the track during our boot camp sessions called the newspaper and told them about MVP.

The newspaper called me to set up the interview. They came out the next week and interview some of the enlistees and took pictures.

I’m still getting calls and enrolling new members in everyday!”

Thanks, Lyle! Perfect example of what happens when you are able to hold your camp in a primetime outdoor location.

It just goes to show you, Fitness Boot Camps are like media MAGNETS! People love them and so do the media. There’s plenty of visuals for pictures in a newspaper or magazine. And there’s also plenty of people to interview for TV, radio or print.

Oh, and just how well has his camp and all the media been doing for his bottom-line?

Well, according to Lyle:

“Antoher note, you can not find an exercise mat anywhere in town. The local sporting goods store, K-Mart, Target and even Wal-mart are sold out!”

Yeah, you read that right. You can’t find an exercise mat anywhere because Lyle’s Boot Campers have bought them all!!!

3) It’s that time of year…for some of us anyway.

A lot of editors and reporters and producers are gearing up for the holidays already. So if you have great ideas to help them out with stories about:

- Stress relief

- Gift giving (The media would love your expert opinion on what health and fitness items are worth the money)

- Of course the usual holiday weight-gain stuff

NOW is the time to start to pitch them your ideas. Remember, the more UNIQUE you are the better.

Happy Promoting!

Jim Labadie
http://www.howtoprofitwithbootcamps.com

PS- You can see Laurel and Lyle’s testimonials here:

http://www.howtoprofitwithbootcamps.com

PPS- Isn’t it time you started earning more, working less and having a ton more fun doing what you love?

http://www.howtoprofitwithbootcamps.com