Fitness Marketing law of hype means a new concept or situation that was successful in the press often times turns out to be a marketing failure. All this fuss is made, the product is viewed as a huge success and then ends up failing (Kind of like the XYZ boot camp franchise). The law of hype primarily refers to new innovative products that claim to make other products obsolete. I never forget the day that one of the XYZ boot camp co owner said in his mastermind. He said “Open up and XYZ boot camp or worry about it when one opens next to you”.
To date I can name over 40 XYZ boot camp locations that didn’t make it (these are the ones I know of) and many more that will not continue past their contracted agreement.
I recently watched a so called “fitness guru” video that claimed that by raising your energy you will make another 300K in your boot camp.
Do You Believe that This ONE THING ALONE is going to Make You An Extra $300K per year? I don’t and want your opinion……
Watch closely at about 2:20 in this video for this ridiculous and illegal claim.
While I agree that ENERGY is essential for running ANY business BUT 300K increase/year? That’s hype and an illegal claim.
By the way if you make $388k/year you’re in the top 1% of the US population.
I think these guys really think personal trainers are STUPID. Sir PLEASE I beg you not to INSULT our intelligence and make unsubstantial claims. NOT ONE OF YOUR XYZ BOOT CAMPS MAKE $300K/year.
People love to read stories about breakthrough products and the press love to jump on the innovative bandwagon because people get excited and stories sell. All this, leading to the hype.
Once again, I’m going to mention Coca-Cola’s New Coke. This new category launched in 1985, received so much hype ($1 billion of free publicity) plus hundreds of millions of dollars launching it, and what happened? 60 days after being released Coca-Cola had to revert back to their original classic coke because the new coke bombed. All that hype and the product flopped. Classic coke outsells new coke 15-1.
Here’s a funny example. Did any of you learn of all the hype about the personal helicopter in the 1940’s that was supposed to make roads, highways and cars obsolete? This item was so overhyped and really if one were to logically think about it, do you think the average consumer could afford a helicopter. Ok, well Donald Trump got his but he had to give it back to the bank. Besides, think of all the traffic we experience today; could you imagine that in the sky?
When you as a fitness entrepreneur come out with a new concept make sure you have studied the market and the competition and think about the unpredictable. No one can honestly predict the future but you can utilize past revolutions to help you create your new concept. Read the local and well-known newspapers. People think the front page news is where all the action is; that’s where all the hype is. If you really want clues to the future take a look at the innocent stories in the back of the newspaper.
Keep in mind that hype is hype and that most new concepts don’t just appear with loud marching bands on the 5:00 news. Real breakthrough products typically arrive unannounced and sneak up on you. In the fitness business you want to spend your time convincing the prospect that your product or service can change their lives. It’s their perception of your product that sells. You can get the media to hype it up as much as you want, but if it’s not conducive to the prospect’s needs then all the hype in the world won’t do a thing.
I agree with you 100%. I used to follow a blog where they said anyone can be on pace for 6 figures in like 30 days if they follow one little thing. I actually bought into it all when I first started and was a part of XYZ for about 6 months then got out because it actually made me look worse!
Honestly, what I notice is the ones that are that have the most hype don’t do as well compared to the ones that just shut up and get it done.
Sako, c’mon man, 6 figures in 30 days is nothing. I made $15 MILLION dollars last NIGHT by changing the color of my shirt in my welcome video! You believe me, right guys?
“It’s their perception of your product that sells. You can get the media to hype it up as much as you want, but if it’s not conducive to the prospect’s needs then all the hype in the world won’t do a thing” – Totally agree with this statement Sam. Very well put. Still loving the output on these laws, not getting old and all relevant. Keep em coming
Great post my friend. The secret to making a lot of money easily, it’s still a secret!! I love the pictures of texts that say “I just sent an email and made $87k”. A guru will be in trouble when they’re main marketing strategy is founded primarily on Sensationalism. Eventually people will lose confidence in you. Look it up in the dictionary: The over hype events and topics to increase viewership. Tactics used are annoyingly insensitive, appealing to emotions, being controversial and INTENTIONALLY omitting facts and info, being self centered, loud and acting to obtain attention. Trivial info and events are exaggerated as important or significant and often includes stories about actions of individuals. Furthermore the content doesn’t help in a positive manner and instead is broadcast to attract viewers.
Nothing good about it!! Got to keep it real…
Why does XYZ bootcamp have about 10 million methods of the same “ninja” marketing scheme? probably because when they notice none of them work they have to keep coming up with new ones and say they are “much better and 10x more effective”. With how powerful their marketing methods are, shouldn’t their people be on pace to 10 figures by now since each new 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.2, 4.0 and so on method only makes the last one (which is supposed to be powerful) not as effective? Gosh, if method 1.0 got you to six figures and wasn’t “that good” (6 figures aren’t that good I guess), then 4.0 gets you like 10 figures in 2 days.
I was one of those XYZ owners and my business SUFFERED while using their methods. I LOST clients because of their shady tactics. But now I’m doing NONE of their methods and actually seeing improvement.
Bottom line? If you hype something up tremendously and it doesn’t live up to its hype, you better believe people will badmouth you for life for selling them a dream and your trust because they will lose both, but once that trust is lost your reputation will start deteriorating.
Here’s hype: telling people that using stupid marketing tactics that are outdated will generate revenue if they simply just man up and do them. Remember how one of the gurus said to just get out of your comfort zone and you’ll make money? That’s hype. Wasting your time on dead end campaigns is hype.
That’s like if I say, “dare to DREAM! just knock on people’s doors day and night and in 60 days you will have visited 6000 homes and if you convert just 0.1% at $197 a month, you are already on pace to 6 figures and it cost you nothing but getting out of your comfort zone and just talking to people!!” That’s the kind of hype bullshit people get sick of after they actually employ stupid hype tactics and generate nothing but frustration. Lead boxes anyone?
Fuck hype. And any guru that uses it to scare/motivate people to buy their product can go to hell. The “gurus” who do that have lost my trust and respect FOR LIFE until they get their fucking act together and apologize for fucking with people’s futures and families.
Wow a lot of excellent points are discussed in the post and the comment section, we all know the cream rises to the top!
Glad there’s an open discussion regarding these “hype” methods…
You don’t need hype when you get shit done and deliver great results and a unique experience.
It’s crazy people make outrageous claims like that when you can check on them.
Make things happen and provide social proof….just saying…..
Well said Sam. As you know I was a part of XYZ Bootcamp for 3 months and quickly caught on that I wasn’t benefitting from it ( I already had been running my camps for 6 months at the time. I spoke directly to the CEO on the phone and here is what he had to say to me ( not a word for word quote but close).
” XYZ Bootcamp is going to be the Starbucks of bootcamps. Do u want coffee from “bob’s coffee shop” or Starbucks? If u leave now there is a good chance someone will take your territory and u will have to compete with the largest Bootcamp franchise in the world.”
He then proceeded to tell me I will most likely be put out of business by XYZ Bootcamp and will probably ask to comeback and be denied.
got to be honest Mike starbucks coffee sucks! and i thought if bobs coffee shop delivers a great coffee and service and has a strong customer base, and has a great lifestyle, then surely he is doing something right. Does he really need a guru?
I’ve went to a business conference in California a few years ago with Bedros and wasn’t this guy at some point working/associated with your group of business professionals?
Your right this is total BS. Appreciate you keeping it real.
David Wood
XYZ Bootcamp…I love it!
Thank you Sam for having the balls to speak up about this! Over the years I have seen a lot come and go and I’m still standing and WINNING!
David, i thought the same thing!
Ben, you need to go blonde…..- that will add at LEAST another 7 mill to your bottom line!
Sam- thanks for posting this…its craziness the kind of claims that are out there on the internet these days.
Wow, great stuff and sooo true.
Funny, most people left on their own. I on the other hand was kicked out! I was devastated and was so disappointed. Best thing that ever happened to me. It change my entire way of thing and looking at clients. I made so much progress compared to the 5 months that I was in. The lesson I learned was not to listen to Scammers like those guys any more.
Sam, typically I avoid commenting on stuff like this but I just wanted to say ‘Thank You’ for for calling ‘bullshit’ when appropriate. Keep calling ’em like you see ’em.
AWESOME POST! I was watching Biggest Loser finale the other night (Don’t Hate… it IS inspiring) and my buddy Antone said this (parapharased) “Shut Up and Let the Score Board do your talking. I don’t wanna hear about what you can do, or what you’re gonna do. Just show me what you do.” I love this concept. Anyone can talk ad nauseum about great ideas, implentation strategies, “tactics” and make hyped up promises that take advantage of people in need, or in greed.
It’s all TOO MUCH TALK. Shut Up and stop talking to me about all the things you’re gonna do… someday…. maybe. Show me your scoreboard. Then maybe I’ll listen.
Sam – I love you, Man. I Miss you and my peeps – LeeAnne, Jeff, Dan, Chris McC. You’re all winners, and NOT just on the scoreboard. I appreciate people who simply do the right thing, for the right reasons, whether anyone ever notices or not.
Hey Mike,
XYZ will put you out of business. . .if you stay with them and follow their client REPELLING tactics.
Starbucks of bootcamps? Please. Why the hell are so many of their owners failing then? And as far as wanting coffee from Bob’s, why the hell not? So many hole in the wall places provide much better service than franchises. AND so many of them compete with franchises and never go out of business. When your customers love you, they don’t care about whether a franchise opens up next door or not.
I guarantee that if an FBBC location opened up next to me, nothing would happen. The owner and I would probably become good friends after they find out their tactics don’t work for getting clients.
And please do not provide examples of successful XYZ owners because they would have been successful WITHOUT XYZ. It wasn’t XYZ that made them successful business owners, I promise you that. For every 1 XYZ success story you have about 10-15 failures.
You won’t become the Starbucks of bootcamps because
1. Telemarketing is dead (for the most part)
2. Pyramid schemes are dead
3. Lead Boxes are dead
4. Limited, territory based SEO generates shit leads
5. Devaluing your service out of desperation leads to damaged relationships and lost sales
6. Creating a culture of referrals is effective; being an annoying person is not (“give me 5 names and numbers of your friends and family”)
7. The “A.P.E.” principle can make you look fake and quite corny (some clients are turned off by constant pointing and yelling believe it or not, especially when it’s not congruent with your own personality)
8. Telling people to keep employing the same ineffective methods just differently leads to more frustration, time wasted, and NO money made (the CEO says: “it’s ALL in how you SAY IT, BRO!! just be confident and push their hot buttons and you’ll get their credit card/place your lead box/get a human billboard no problem!!!”
9. Having 1 coach to manage 200+ people is retarded (even if they added the other guy, how long did it take?) Plus, 2 coaches for 200+ people still means each coach is having to service more than 100 if they split the workload.
10. Having a CEO who makes up a bunch of ineffective marketing methods based on NO prior testing only makes the company look like a novice business that has no formal way of servicing its customers, but just makes things up on the fly.
Just those 10 reasons alone will mean XYZ can’t reach Starbucks status, as these are serious bugs that need to be fixed before any franchise can expand. The opposite is happening with XYZ; their member based has decreased. Is Starbucks focusing on pyramid schemes, telemarketing, untested/ineffective or otherwise completely outdated forms of marketing, and routinely lying to its store owners? Nope. Common sense says that it wouldn’t have reached this success had it done so.
Besides, even if XYZ does miraculously become the Starbucks of bootcamps, guess what? Other business will still continue to thrive because 1. customers care about service not about names (even in coffee), 2. a franchise can be taken not as seriously after a while. Look at McDonald’s. It’s just seen as a restaurant you go for for convenience and speed, not necessarily quality. Some of the best performing businesses are smaller, non-franchised, and just have a very loyal following. Sure, numbers wise Starbucks does well but that’s because they have thousands of locations. But does that mean each owner is going to necessarily be more profitable than a smaller coffee shop? Not really. A small coffee shop can make as much revenue as a Starbucks. Sure, the company that runs that coffee shop might have smaller profits OVERALL but the individual owner might make as much as a Starbucks owner. There is nothing stopping him. Even products that are duplicated still do not outdo great service, which is why many hole in the wall places thrive despite never advertising.
I thought this video was a SPOOF to start with, and then I realised it was for REAL… holy C**P… Anyway great article Sam and I am really glad I’ve been turned on to your stuff by the legendary Paul Mort!
Thanks
Tim Goodwin
Hey Tim,
Thank you very much for reading my blog. Paul Mort is the man love that guy.
Please let me know if I can do anything for you my friend. And as always if you have anything that is beneficial and want to share with the fitness industry let me know.
Sam, you’re dead wrong – there was an XYZ doing over 300k a year pace. But then my new signs arrived :-)
KAISER, that’s the funniest S*** I heard all week. You had me on the floor brotha. Thanks for the laughs
F***g awesome post Sam!
Seriously!
There is nothing better than working for yourself, being your own boss, enjoying life, not just being a puppet and not putting up with any bullshit. You’re the man!
70 (not training at the same time) clients who love you because you’ve created a fitness family will generate 126K a year at a modest $150/mo). Renting out of gyms and gymnastics centers, or being given a Country Club venue just because they heard you’re a great trainer can keep your expenses down to minimal, leaving you with more money in your pocket than many who enjoy their stand alone facility.