Run a Profitable Gym

If we're all going to be excellent--as athletes, as coaches or as business owners--don't we need a common definition as a target?

Episode 95 – Rachel BalkovecRachel Balkovec is the first female strength and conditioning coach for any major sport within the United States. Rachel is currently with the Houston Astros, and I spoke to her on the eve of Game 6 of the World Series.Rachel took the prescribed route for education in strength and conditioning. She got her first degree, then the CSCS, and then pursued her first internship. Then she did her second. Eventually, her third...She's been through Athletes Performance (now EXOS.) She got into the graduate program at LSU, then did an internship for the St Louis Cardinals--twice. She worked weekends for years, waitressing and helping retirees go to the bathroom.She referred to Angela Duckworth's book "Grit" right at the start of this podcast. Grit COULD be the title of this episode.After so many experiences with athletic training Rachel assumed she was a shoe in to obtain additional internships while she was pursuing another degree. It was at this moment that she realized how hard it would be to make it as a woman in Major League Baseball. After countless attempts to contact teams and submit her resume, she heard nothing. It wasn’t until Rachel changer her name to Rae, that she finally got a call back.It wasn’t until another internship with the Cardinals that she secured a strength and conditioning coaching position where she now overseas eight minor league teams and roughly 200 players. Now that the Astros have won the World Series, it is all about what they can continue to do to elevate their game and continue their success. It is one thing to get to get to the top but a whole different thing to stay there, according to Rachel. One of Rachel’s major jobs is to support the minor league teams in foreign countries. Many of the players in Major League baseball come from Latin America and they are signed to teams as young as 16 years of age. 

The marketing crisis for gyms has "almost" been solved - at least for now. What's the NEXT hurdle we'll face?

Episode 94 – Out of the Cave, with Dave Picardy and Chandler WalkerDave Picardy and Chandler Walker own Out of the Cave Media. Between the two of them, they have spent years working with gym owners and now they are pursuing a different passion which they call relationship marketing. In this episode we talk about relationships with your clients and how you can leverage these relationships to give them the best experience possible all while also growing your business.Chandler originally started a blog about fitness before even considering starting a gym. After realizing that relationships are the real key to growing your business, Chandler began helping others which brought on the onset of Out of the Cave Media.  Dave on the other hand began his onset into the fitness industry as a personal training. Things were good except for the amount of hours he had to put into his business to make a living.  Soon after Dave learned about CrossFit he became certified and began his CrossFit journey. Dave’s passion for helping others and connecting people together led him to connect with Chandler and help gyms focus on their relationships with their clients. Out of the Cave gives both Dave and Chandler a great platform to enact something they like to call relationship marketing.Relationship marketing is really about building a culture of caring between the business, the coach, and the client. What this really comes down to be own you show yourself to the consumer and to the staff. It is important that this relationship is always mapped out and when they interact with you they feel comfortable.  Having the customer feel as though they are attached to you is important.  Successful gyms always have a story and people love to be around this type of business. Ultimately where everyone struggles is telling a story and getting all of the coaches and employees to be a part of that story. This is where Out of the Cave Media steps in to help tell this story.One of the important aspects of telling your story is getting your team involved. It is important that they also use social media and help tell the story. Despite this, you do not want to force it upon your team. It is important to motivate your team and get them onboard to contribute to the overall plan. If someone really likes making video but hates doing blogging then you should plan accordingly to achieve the best results.Another important aspect is to showcase your local affiliate culture. Although the CrossFit HQ content is nice and well-polished, putting a face with the name and showcasing who you are to potential clients is really important. Telling your story in a unique and identifiable story allows people to recognize you in the community and relate in a much easier way.Another way to leverage relationships without producing any content is putting yourself in situations where you can talk about your business. The more relationships you build and the more relationships you have the more people are going to care about you and what you have to do. This is more about becoming a leader within your community rather than schmoozing people and luring them into your gym. You want to establish relationships around town and see how you can help them first.  When you truly care about someone they will notice and turn to you for help when they need it.  This episode is full of wisdom. Be sure to be ready to take notes and see how you too can implement these strategies into your own business!Timeline:0:58 – Dave and Chandler of Out of the Cave Media Introduction1:39 – What brought Dave and Chandler to this stage of their gym owner career.8:30 – What exactly is relationship marketing?9:32 – Why is it important that the client is part of the business' story?12:38 – The beginning steps to telling your business’ story.14:30 – What expectations should the staff have for producing content?18:18 – Perfecting content. I

Greg Glassman isn't your average genius.Greg shares the mannerisms of the virtuoso: He moves while he talks, fidgeting with coasters on the table. He leans in, then back, tipping his chair from one side to the next. His answers are so quick, most of the time, that you'd think they were rehearsed. But they're not.And Greg isn't just a big thinker. He's also a big doer: He acts. He travels extensively. He has frequent speaking engagements. Old-time CrossFit fans will remember his monthly manifesto, emailed as a PDF to be printed with "CrossFit Journal" on the top. In 2001, he put the workouts from his private training gym online for free, and hasn't missed a day since.Greg has spawned a worldwide health initiative. He's also given over 25,000 people the opportunity to be entrepreneurs and change lives. This is my passion. But that's not his true genius.Last week on this podcast, I introduced some of Greg's Media team—Tyson Oldroyd, Mike Warkentin and Matt Bischel. They're part of "CrossFit HQ" — an army of professionals dedicated to helping Greg's affiliates. They're all loyal to the point of fanaticism; many have been with the company a decade already. Very few people quit CrossFit HQ: They love the opportunity to serve in a meaningful way. And they love Greg.I flew across the country to sit with Greg at his kitchen table for 90 minutes. It took days of travel and three years of conversation to reach this point. My questions weren't pre-approved or censored afterward. Greg greeted me at his front door with a hug; when we parted a few hours later, he said "Love ya, man. Keep doing what you're doing."THAT is Greg's true genius: the ability to spread his care; to inspire everyone around him to beat their plowshares into swords and follow him."CrossFit is not an exercise program. It's a fitness program." What did Greg mean by that? Listen in...  

Brian Willis of the Excellence in Training Academy caught Chris for a one-hour interview. This is restricted content for Brian's private member site, but he allowed us to share it here. If you're involved with law enforcement trainers and would like to join the Excellence in Training Academy community they can use the code eitmonthfree at www.excellenceintrainingacademy.com and get the first month’s membership free.

If you visit the CrossFit Facebook page, you'll see this:...not "Education Company". Not even "Fitness". "MEDIA/NEWS".Since the first days of the PDF-emailed Journal, I've learned from--and copied--CrossFit HQ's media team. More than any other organization on the planet, CrossFit educates its fans and consumers to create frenzied evangelists. They publish every day. They produce world-class video, employ full-time writers and editors, and pay above the grade for quality photos.What can we learn from CrossFit HQ's Media Team?Just about everything.There are 200 people in HQ Media. It's a multimillion-dollar operation to produce the best exercise demos, Journal articles, full-length movies, daily blog content, social media--and now, podcasts. They're among the best in the world, and they do it to help CrossFit affiliates grow.Many of us don't realize it, but HQ's media can serve as a template for our own. Content marketing bridges the gap between our service (fitness) and a client's needs (lose weight, get more energy, etc.) We can copy their methods, share their videos, and use their testimonials in OUR gyms.For this episode, I traveled to Santa Cruz, CA and visited CrossFit HQ for three days. I was interviewed for their new podcast, and then turned the tables: I asked Mike Warkentin (managing editor of the CrossFit Journal), Tyson Oldroyd (head producer) and Matt Bischel (head of social media) to answer questions about production, promotion and best practices.This interview runs over an hour, and it's FULL of useful stuff that I haven't seen or heard anywhere else. For the first time, HQ allowed me to peek under the skirt, and ask "Why?" and "How?" - and even though I've worked closely with HQ Media for years, many of the answers still surprised me.Don't listen to this podcast while driving. Wait until you have a pen and paper ready, because you're going to want to take notes!

During our Senior Mentoring Team Meeting at the TwoBrain Workshop last weekend, I asked, “What’s the biggest opportunity in front of the CrossFit community that no one is seeing yet?” Two years ago, that was adding nutrition programs. We introduced the world to a simple solution in HSN, and other services have cropped up since. That’s been huge for many. Before that, the opportunity was the Intramural Open; before that, it was Bright Spots. We agreed the biggest opportunity for some affiliates is to help other local business owners. This might sound like a left-field idea, but here’s why we love it: CrossFit has created over 15,000 new entrepreneurs. Though it’s very, very easy to start a new CrossFit gym, it’s very hard to keep one open. So we all jump in with both feet, and then SCRAMBLE to get profitable as quickly as possible. Then we hammer as hard as we can to add staff, and then to level up our businesses to true entrepreneurship instead of just owning a job. Heavy loads, long distances, for time. Most CrossFit gyms have to be successful before the end of their first lease. Most new businesses are now stared as “side hustles”–driving an Uber, doing task-based one-off “jobs”, or selling expertise as a VA. We have everything on the line. We’re just desperate enough to try stuff–and fail–fast. And though the network between affiliates is informal, we DO talk. In the middle of all the Kill Cliff/FitAid questions on Facebook, there IS some progression in our thinking. Granted, we started behind most entrepreneurs (we used to think “profit” was bad) but we’ve pulled ahead. And common knowledge in CrossFit is uncommon knowledge elsewhere. So when a CrossFit athlete who owns a machine shop asked for my advice this week, I said, “Oh, that’s simple.” because I solved that problem in my box seven years ago. When a cafe owner asked if she needed a website, I said, “Just a two-pager. But you could REALLY use a subscription model.” And then I told her how to make a great living in the food industry without crazy overhead. And she baked muffins for my kids. I got the idea from other gyms. When a local screen printer asked how to “get his name out there”, I suggested he focus on his current clients a bit more instead of worrying about attracting new clients. This is why I opened the Workshop in Sault Ste. Marie: because entrepreneurship can save my sinking city. But I believe it can save the world. And you, my friend, can do a lot to help YOUR city. Bonus: entrepreneurs make IDEAL clients for CrossFit gyms. You’ll hear more about the implementation of this idea in the next few weeks and months. But here’s a special bonus: while I still had three of the mentors at the Workshop, I dropped a microphone in our midst and put them all on a Hot Seat. I fired questions at them: “How would you get more clients for a hairdresser?” “If you owned a gym and had to make $5000 in ten days, how would you do it?” I gave them each a beer, hit “RECORD”, and let it flow. I’ll publish that episode on our podcast today. We’re calling it the Mentor Hot Seat, and I’ll do one every time I gather with this crew of growing TwoBrian Mentors. Enjoy. I sure did.

Last week, I published one of the longest blog posts I ever have. But I actually cut over half of it before hitting 'publish', because I didn't want it to be a rant.You've heard me talk about recruiting quality clients (instead of trying to attract a large quantity of clients) before. In this episode, I'll talk about identifying your BEST clients, and how to move them closer to "conversion"--signing up for your service.This episode won't be another tome on Facebook marketing, because I don't think "funnels" are the best way to build the best business in the service industry. Funnels are great for selling online courses, books and monthly makeup subscriptions; they're NOT great for finding great clients or saving you time.In this episode:The three Audiences"Warm" leads and "cold" leadsThe difference between "sales" and "marketing"Why the best clients don't come from funnelsHow to identify your best clientsWhere your NEXT best clients are hidingHow to write a "love letter"