Yeah! Uh huh, you know what it is. Everything Sam does, he does it BIG!
I guess that is why Chris McCombs referred to him as The Godfather. 7figga’s Fitness Workshop weekend was top notch. By the way, I now refer to him as now 7figga because he’s gangsta on the way he hosts a fitness workshop. I have never been to a “workshop” like that before…
I learned more useful info last weekend on fitness business building and personal growth than in a semester of college; along with all the partying in between.
Below are the top 8 things that I took away, and I have or will put into action asap. Info is great, but action is key. I can dream about success and hang around successful people, but at the end of the day be broke…
Action makes the dream come true…
Before I give the top 8 Action Steps for 7figga’s weekend, I would like to personally thank not only the presenters for the amazing information, but the attendees as well. And a big thanks to Sam for bringing all these people together. He provided 100 times more value than what I could have ever imagined and expected.
- Send your clients cards and send them often (great for client retention)
- use connectthroughcards.como Send welcome cards (with motivational quotes and pictures)
- Send IM Goals statement (within 2 weeks of joining program)o Milestone cards (when a clients hits a goal)
- Holiday Cards
- Birthday Cards
- Just because cards
- Event cards
- Buy and launch the 21 Day Belly Fat Blast Program (Sam uses an affiliate link)
- This program is an awesome way to funnel in clients
- Look out for Warning Signs your client might leave
- Attendance is dropping
- Motivation is lacking
- Less interaction
- Even if they do drop off SEND THEM A CARD
- Reactivating old clients
- Send a confession letter that you have made mistakes but your program is better and much improved
During this presentation I learned how to use the “F” word as a verb, noun, adjective, conjunction and every other way under the sun. I had no idea how many ways it could be used, so thanks Rocco!
But sprinkled in between the F bombs were some serious words of wisdom on fitness branding.
- Keep your brand simple! (The hardest thing you can get to is simple)
- A brand is a promise
- You live and breath your brand everyday (if not, then you’re misrepresenting the brand)
- Nothing can kill a brand faster than not delivering on your promise
Ask your self these questions to figure out your brand:
- What is my promise?
- Who am I?
- What am I about?
- What do I stand for?
Then, when you have your brand, ask yourself this:
- What is it?
- How is it different?
- How and why is it relevant?
- How does it make a worthwhile contribution? (the biggest brands in the world make a worthwhile contribution)
- Who is your audience?
- Why will your audience buy it?
- How will you deliver it?
- What experience do you want to provide?
So basically keep your brand simple, make it stand out – a brand is what you stand for in people’s minds.
Before I get into this, you have to google John Spencer Elliis and read his bio. If you see all the things this guy has done in his life you would think he was like 100 years old. As it turns out he look like he’s still in his 30’s.
Do these things first:
- Ask yourself “where do I dominate?”
- What segment of the industry do you own?
- Where is there a void?
Then, establish yourself as an expert and BACK IT UP.
- Have an expansive vocabulary (I use a program called The Verbal Advantage)
- Speak appropriately
- Know when to be quiet
- Have no regrets for what you say
- Take an improv comedy class (Funny is Money was recommended)
Put a special media area on your website with:
- PDF Media Kit +Video Reel
- Media Photos
- Head Shots
- Bio specific to the media
- Video of an interview
- Video of you training
Use these PR websites:
Ask 4 questions Everyday to the person you are outsourcing work to or your assistant.
1. What did you do today?
2. What feedback do you have?
3. What suggestions do you have to make the process better?
4. What do you have planned for the next day?
When Chris spoke it was a point in the day where my focus was fading and not only did Big Chris come out with some great info but some much needed comic relief and entertainment.
Use this list from top to bottom of what is pulling the most clients nowadays
1. Referrals
2. Daily Deal Sights
3. Google
4. Running contests, challenges, promotions (like the 21 day Belly Fat Blast)
5. Dream jeans transformation
6. Public Speaking
7. Getting Local Leads (trade Show, boxes, referred referral)
Keep using these SEO Tactics that are still working:
- Links
- Title tags
- Content
- Social Activity
The more likes and shares, the better. The ranking in order of importance for SEO is:
- Shares
- Comments
- Likes
By the way, when Pat speaks he just commands respect.
The foundation of your fitness business success is in:
- The relationships you build
- OVER-delivering to your clients
- Continuity
- Create Multiple streams of income
- Group training
- 1 on 1 training
- Info products
- Coaching
The 4 pillars of success were:
1. Implement your lead acquisition
2. Create an irresistible front end offer
3. Move the client from short term to long term
4. Build a high leverage back end
- Plastic gift cards
- POS Referral
- Referral bootcamps
- Bring a friend days
- Facebook Ads
- Facebook Fan pages
- Charity fund raisers
- Lead Boxes
- Public speaking
- Press releases
- Networking
- Business of the month
- School of the month
- Joint Ventures
- Yard signs
- Referral contests
When creating ads, cater to people’s wants by following the Life Force 8 (LF8). These are 8 primary wants that are biologically ingrained in us:
1. Survival, enjoyment of life and life extension
2. Enjoyment of food and beverage
3. Freedom from fear, pain and danger
4. Comfortable living conditions
5. To be superior, winning! (like Charlie Sheen), Keeping up with the Jones
6. Sexual companionship
7. Care and protection of loved ones
8. Social Approval
Use the 6 weapons of influence in marketing which can also be found in Robert Cialdini’s Book, Influence, which every Entrepreneur should read. It goes in depth into each of these topics:
- Comparison
- Liking
- Authority
- Reciprocation
- Commitment/consistency
- Scarcity
Then when you are selling, use Examples over Statistics. Examples outperform stats because they invoke emotion.
This might be the most important action step because if you don’t like what you do then what’s the point?First things first, Stop doing any work that is not on your “what am I best at list”
- What are you best at?
- What am I passionate about?
- What would deliver the very best return on that skill and passion?
There was so much more info that I took away but I had to pick and choose the best things for me to put into action that would have the most impact on my life. There were other presenters that killed it, like, Greg Justice, Erik Rokeach, Scott Boulch, Curtis Mock etc. Armando Cruz. My brain, like a sponge was soaked full of fitness nutrients. Another one of my favorites was Neil Venketramen talking about Google rankings and at that point I couldn’t take anymore notes, I just started taking pictures of the slides.
If I had to write a blog post on the whole weekend it would be about 10 more pages and I got things to do and thanks to Dax Moy, I am going to focus on what I am good at… writing blog post is not one of them :).
Before I close, I have to add that Sam has been a HUGE influence on my success as a fitness entrepreneur. I have been following Sam for years now and coaching with him this past year. I opened up a training studio a little over 2 years ago, I started out in a 700-foot space (with only 200 feet open for training, the rest was filled with treadmills and equipment) in a tiny town. And in 2 years, we’ve expanded 4 times. I now have 2 locations, one is 1400 square feet, the other 3600 square feet. We still have a week left of this month and have already done over $78,000 in sales for the month of January. I attribute my success to following in the footsteps of Sam and highly recommend his coaching program. You will get 100x more value in return for what you pay, that I can guarantee.
In closing, I wish all the fitness professionals and entrepreneurs out there MASSIVE success in 2012 and I hope you find something in this list that you can take into action.
beaufortpersonaltraining.com
Ph:800-718-7FIT
Cell:203-241-8736
Ian, That was an AWESOME post! So well organized and to the point…you took some goooood notes.
Damn, that was heavy duty shit right there
Gots to take action on these!
Great job Ian. I like your studio BTW. Just quick question, when you guys talking for 6 figure month you’re talking about money make it for that month, or just contract signed and you’re combining the total you would eventually make from them? Just setting mine mindset in right direction:)
Hey Zack, yes, we did over 105K in cash brought in for the month. The did not include sales that month that we will make money on in the future.
Ian
Truly amazing Ian and you’ve set the bar at a very high level. Your post just reminded me of what an epic weekend it was. A better line-up has NEVER been assembled at a fitness industry event.