You Have Reached The Hub Of All Things Fitness Business Success!

Chris Borda, owner of YES Fitness in Connecticut for 22 years and our 2020 Results University Business Owner of the Year shares his experience running his business for 22 years through 9/11, recessions and now Covid-19! 

For our last topic in this series of re-opening we are going to touch on marketing because if you haven't thought through your marketing strategy as you get back in your gym you should start to think about it now. As the fitness industry will have dramatically changed as we reopen our gyms. Many gyms won't be reopening, those of us who are, have to find a new normal and a new level of professionalism with sanitation and safety being a higher priority than ever, many gyms won't be able to live up to the standards. There will be opportunity to stand out!

In addition, people will be more motivated than ever to figure out how to be healthy and fit with strong immune systems wanting experts to help them to make exercise a priority.

Start to build your marketing "funnels" now. A funnel simply means you are putting the right message in front of the right people to start to build a relationship of knowing, liking and trusting you to eventually want to learn more from you and finally invest...

We're pretty excited about this piece of re-opening! The fitness industry is going to be changed forever after this and one of the things that will change is people wanting expertise and science to ensure that their fitness program is the best it can be to get them as healthy and fit as possible. The days of large group one size fits all bootcamp style workouts are long gone.

We've already had coaches emailing us asking about our programming templates which we have been using for years and have only shared with our Mastermind Coaching Members. It's our secret sauce! Our Mastery of Program Design Course is available as part of our Inner Circle!

As you do re-open we have three responsibilities:

1. Safety: This is our first priority with our programming always. Now with Covid-19 among us this has to take a step up and this will affect your programming. Limitations such as not having anyone share equipment, keeping them 6 feet apart at all times and allowing time for hourly cleaning...

Now that you have your 4 part re-opening protocols and procedures nailed down so you'll be ready when you get the green light it's time to think about how you will communicate all of this. Communication is as important as what you are doing. You can be taking every measure to create a perfectly sanitized, disinfected, Covid-19 free bubble but if nobody knows they still won't come.

Communicating frequently, transparently and honestly through this whole thing is key. If you haven't been communicating at all start today with just a quick Live Facebook video or atleast a post connecting with your clients. Have 1-3 teaching points to share and also be available for questions. Communicating with your clients keeps them connected to you. They like to hear from you! I've had clients say, "Hearing your voice makes me feel normal."

When you are ready (you have the green light from the government that it is safe to open and you've taken the time to get everything in place feeling confident...

Week 7 of quarantining and some states are in the beginning stages of re-opening! If you're in a state that is getting ready to re-open make sure you are ready before you open your doors! All of this hard work to maintain your business and keep everything going is only going to matter if you have a re-open strategy that sets you up to hit the ground running making your clients feel super safe. This is your opportunity to stand out as the obvious choice if you want to go to an in-person gym.

Part One(below) - Cleaning, social distancing and safety parameters.

Part Two - Communication to your members(tomorrow)

Part Three - Programming - We'll share our ideas on some programming shifts you need to make to keep everyone safe.(Friday)

Part Four - Marketing - As you re-open you want to have your marketing funnels in place to continue to attract new members. (Saturday)

Initially re-open discreetly to start getting your current raving fan clients in first who you have mutual trust with so...

Don't forget you who are through this. You are not a gym! You are a business who delivers health, fitness, strength and positivity to your clients. You change people's lives. You are an expert who people hire to help them figure out a plan. 

So many people need us right now. Doing a workout at home by yourself is one of the hardest things to get motivated to do. You're job is even more important without your gym! 

Join our Inner Circle for 14 days for FREE right now where you'll get access to our entire Fitness Business Mastery Course and our Leading Your Fitness Business Through The Here and Now.

Click here and join now. 

Whether your gym was shut down, like ours, or you're a trainer who works out of a gym that shut down and can no longer train your clients, we're all in this together!

This past week we have been working harder than we have in a long time to make the necessary pivots in our business to continue to support our clients(so important at this time!), protect our business and keep moving forward to actually grow through this adversity! If you've been getting caught up in the uncertainty, anxiety and have been paralyzed by everything going on we hope to help you navigate this situation to keep moving forward. We got you!

Our clients need us now more than ever! They are home with time to actually focus on their health and fitness and need it to stay sane through this. Please show up for them! They need you! We had a client call us yesterday crying that she lost her job and has been home alone and we are the only consistent thing in her life right now and how much she appreciates that we are...

I've been reading a lot of stuff on identity and identity formation. And by reading, I mean obsessed :)

Specifically Erikson's work on psychosocial development.

Erikson's belief is that throughout each person's lifetime, they experience different identity crises. Each of the conflicts arises at a certain point in life and must be successfully resolved for progression to the next stage.

A person's identity has to include a sense of continuity or progression, a sense of uniqueness, and a sense of affiliation or belonging.

Without getting too deep, I think there's a transition that takes place where you start to identify yourself professionally at least AS who you ARE and who you have become as opposed to what you do.

It's an important part of social development but it can be challenging.

From wiki:
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"Sometimes individuals face obstacles that may prevent the development of a strong identity. This sort of unresolved crisis leaves individuals struggling to "find themselves".

They often seem...

Get out of “if…then” thinking. Many people are guilty of this “If…Then” thinking when it comes to our bodies. We never stop and enjoy – Now.

In the book, Drive by Daniel Pink he talks about this in relation to management and leading a team in a company. This was interesting stuff which I immediately started to think how I could apply it in our business. He talks about using intrinsic motivators as the way to drive people to give their best long term instead of using “If….Then” motivators or extrinsic motivators.

And then I realized this is also a very powerful concept to use with my clients and the people I coach. In his book, he touches on using this with your health and weight loss as well and it made me think….

Many women are in the mindset of “If…Then.” Especially when it comes to the scale- “If” I weigh X “then” I’ll feel good. Feel Good...

By Adam Campbell

This article originally appeared in Fitness Marketing Monthly, a subscription-only print publication for personal trainers and gym owners.

Alwyn Cosgrove is among the most well-known experts in the fitness industry. Even if the name isn’t familiar, you’ve surely experienced his influence.

During the first decade of this century, he established himself as a pre-eminent fat-loss expert. In the second decade, he’s emerged as a thought leader and top business mentor for brick-and-mortar gym owners.

But when I first met him in 2000, he was a complete unknown.

Since then I’ve watched him rise from an obscure personal trainer at a gym in New York City to a highly sought-after authority who owns two thriving businesses with his wife Rachel: Results Fitness, a commercial gym in Santa Clarita, California, and Results Fitness University, a business mentorship program for gym owners.

Which made us wonder: What can we learn from his journey? Are there...