I am just starting put the pieces together to start a bootcamp in my area so all of these points are greatly appreciated. I definitely will be adding them as a focus as I bring everything together.

Thanks again for all that you do in the fitness industry

Kim

Thanks

Over time I’m sure there will be some inherent credibility with the title ‘fitness professional’, ‘personal trainer’ or ‘fitness coach’ – whatever becomes the accepted term.

That will likely come with some form of standard minimum education requirement – but we’ll see.

I don’t think that point is coming soon though so I would strongly suggest that each fitness pro take it upon themselves to work hard at carving out their own desired identity or brand and use the shortcomings of the fitness industry masses to even better separate themselves.

And as a side note – I don’t think that fitness pros writing e-books are a problem. Of the people I mentioned in the beginning of the post – all of them have their own product or membership site.

The problem is when people that haven’t proven they can deliver results time and time again write e-books and tout themselves as experts.

Very much like the guys that write Get Rich Quick books and have never ‘gotten rich.’

My first criteria for writing an e-book would be: If the demand for your services has exceeded the time in which you can personally provide that service then you should consider creating an additional offering (e-book, DVD, additional staff delivering service) to allow you to share your knowledge / skill / program with the people you can’t personally serve.

Not everyone can personally work with the Cosgroves that want to – either due to their limited time or proximity to their location.

So the solution is to offer a staff delivering their programs locally and products for those people that aren’t local.

Make sense?

I’m psyched to dive into my goals and project ideas next Friday with you!!!

How do you think will do on the topic of credibility over a broad spectrum?

Especially now that just about every PT has some type of ebook or at least one in the works.

You have really challenged me to take a look at a model like CrossFit and TRX and find out how they built a national brand and cult like following/community… This is my short term goal for my Fit Moms For Life DVDs program… Have support groups all over the country!

Thanks,
Dustin

Actually, 15 or 20 years from now most of the problems we face in the industry may very well be gone.

We’ll have new ones by then.

In fact, I suspect there will be a disappearance of extremes in the industry as it evolves.

Stephen Jay Gould, a Harvard paleontologist (and really smart guy), suggests that the disappearance of extremes happens with the evolution of any species.

While his application of this typically refers to the evolution of animal species – it happens in sports, business and with various professions as well.

Think about it…

Today pretty much all commercial pilots follow the same flight checklists to fly planes. This wasn’t the case 50 years ago.

Virtually all medical professionals follow the same procedures to treat various ailments.

In major league baseball (argue if you want but it’s true), the difference between the best player and the worst player is smaller now than ever before. (As a baseball junkie I can explain in more detail via email.)

Over time best practices are adopted industry / field wide.

Would anyone dare go into retail and not study what Wal-Mart and Target have done?

Would anyone go into fast food and not study what McDonalds has done?

The main reason that many of the problems the fitness industry faces exist is simple – we’re a young industry.

A guy that’s still living opened the first commercial heath club (Jack LaLanne.)

I don’t know if any retired personal trainers.

So sorry for the the scattered comment but I guess what I’m getting at are these 2 things:

1. The industry will evolve and self-correct.

2. If you take advantage of the opportunities I mentioned now and beat the rest of the industry to it – you’ll be a huge success.

OK – no more comments with references to McDonalds, paleontology and baseball all together;)