Every fitness & health coach should ask a tax strategist questions so they can plan sooner rather than later for expansion and growth. You want to save that money you’re making!

Ever wish you could ask:

1. Can I deduct my fitness clothing/shoes I wear to train clients or make videos?
2. Can I deduct my hair and nail appointments if it’s prior to a work event or a video shoot for social media or a product?
3. How much of my house can I deduct if it’s my home office and I also shoot videos in dedicated spaces?
4. I’ve just recently started personal training as a solo entrepreneur. I take cash, check, Venmo and PayPal payments, what do I need to do so I have records for taxes?
5. I’ve heard its bad to show a loss in your business for consecutive years, outside of the pandemic, is that true and what can happen?
6. What do I need to know so I can keep more of the money I make?
7. Do you recommend using QuickBooks?
8. Do you recommend a bookkeeper? And How much does that cost, if so?
9. If I run a digital business and can live anywhere, are there places that are more and less advantageous to live from a tax perspective?
10. I remember there being some kind of tax strategy about hiring your minor kids to work for you, can you explain that?
11. What are the biggest mistakes health & fitness coaches make when it comes to tax strategy?

You’re in luck because during May and June Fitness Marketing Mastery and Flipping 50’s Build Your Business Mastermind Masterclass is hosting two lawyers and a tax strategist so you CAN ask your fitness and health coach questions.

Plus, if you’re stumped for what to ask, I’ve got you covered. I will asking.

Ask a tax strategist for yourself. 

What do you wish you could ask a lawyer about your fitness business?

It’s your lucky day because I’m going to share some questions with you.

16 Questions to ask a lawyer about your fitness business

1. Should you be an LLC or an S-Corp?
2. How do you protect yourself on your website?
3. What do you do if someone else has the business name you’re using?
4. What is the value of getting a Trademark?
5. When should you consider a Trademark?
6. How much does it cost to get a Trademark?
7. Do non-competes hold up in a court and if so, what should be in one?
8. What could happen if you used the same legal documents a fellow fitness professional has on his or her site? (and didn’t have a lawyer look at them for you)
9. Do you have advice about selling supplements in my business?
10. What are the must-have forms to have on a website to be legally compliant if you have an e-commerce store there?
11. What types of paperwork do I need in place for hiring contractors?
12. What types of paperwork do I need in place for hiring employees?
13. Is there an advantage to me for hiring employees vs contractors?
14. What exactly is copyright and what if someone uses exact copy from my website blogs and articles?
15. Is fear of being sued the biggest reason to hire a lawyer for my fitness business?
16. What are other ways having a good relationship with a lawyer familiar with my business could be important to me?

There you have it questions to ask a lawyer about your fitness business and answers you should have. You may not be able to be able to budget everything you want to do now, but informed decisions will set you up so that when you are ready you'll know what's next. 

You're Invited!

Join the Build Your Business Mastermind Masterclass in May and June for a sneak peak at the mastermind with two sessions: legal ease and tax strategy. 

How do you use research as your fitness marketing secret weapon?

Create an engaging opening:

High impact during menopause? Are you thinking that might get you hurt? With the wrong start and progression, it might. If you’re extremely fragile, or have co-existing conditions, it’s also not advised. But for other women transitioning through menopause, you need to look closely at what you’re doing, and what you believe.

Often a statistic, a contrarian statement, or a question are engaging. Ask, would it go on a magazine cover?

Results of the study are published and expanded on at flippingfifty.com/high-impact-exercise

Research is definitely your fitness marketing secret weapon. You can use it to:

• Bring in new prospects
• Create new revenue streams/programs that will fill before you spend time on them
• Establish credibility
• Get media exposure

Share some, but not all, content from the study as a tease

Results from a 2021 study featuring postmenopausal women with osteopenia – intended to be 18 mos. which was cut short due to COVID (6 mos. Short). Researchers suspected that for Bone Mineral Density [BMD] results the last 6 months when training would have been most intense, would have reflected even greater changes.

• The Exercise Group performed High Impact activity include jumps and a variety of high impact moves included in an aerobic fitness manner that imposed interval training, and separately performed progressive intense resistance training [RT] to muscular fatigue.
• The Control Group: performed Low impact walking/marching and stretching and isometric conditioning exercises.

Flipping 50 Fitness Specialist

Quotes are Golden for social media

Researcher’s reminder:

“The most prominent bone decline might occur during the 3-year phase of transmenopause…one year before and two years after the final menstrual period”

Hip Bone Mineral Density increases didn’t have as much opportunity for change because the most intense training was cut (COVID).

*Strength & Power results & differences were also believed less than expected because of abbreviated study (COVID).

Share Insights and Opinions: Yours

The unintended early termination of the study due to COVID was unfortunate, but still offers positive effects of high intensity exercise, as suggested in other emerging research studies.

Your menopause and post menopause clients are not delicate and even with osteopenia can, and potentially should do high impact exercise.

For your own high impact exercise… build your business model with a plan that’s proven to work. Find research about your ideal customer, share it as your fitness marketing secret weapon.

When they want it, you want to help them, but they say they can’t afford your personal training program, what then?

• If money weren’t an issue…
• Here’s the program components
• Which part of that means less to you that you’d like to cut out?

When someone can’t afford your personal training program you have options. You could provide a “scholarship” for all or part of services. You can do a “trade” with a client based on thinks you truly need done and skills they possess. That’s in addition to the aforementioned solutions. 

The key to making this work is practice. 

This has to feel natural. If you've never said it before, and you're not used to having a fluid  conversation related to the best program option for a customer you can't expect it to feel anything but awkward when you do it first. 

Other good questions to ask:

• What could you afford? 
• What did you have in mind today when you came in?
• What would make this a no-brainer for you? 

Are you (as the trainer) open to a payment plan? You may decide no,  or want to collect the money up front before training. Often that's not possible because you want someone to start now, not in two months when they're paid.

I've found that unless you use a collections agency, paying over time really is not usually a good plan... unless: 

you work with professionals (lawyers, doctors, realtors).

If you have a large ticket item, (more than $5000) then yes, you should at least divide payments in to two. 

Know Your Customers

Decide your target market before you start. When you know who you're dealing with you know how you can support them best and what price positioning you want and need to do. 

Your model may be many people for a lower price, or fewer people for a higher ticket item. 

Are you stuck when it comes to what to do next in your fitness & health coaching business plan (or rebuild)?

I’m going to share 5 MUSTs for your health & fitness coaching business plan in this episode.

(Legal & Tax strategy masterclass bundle)

Use this as a checklist. You won’t do them all at once. You probably have some done. You’ll work on others. Getting these things done is your job. It won’t pay you until you have them done. So don’t do this a little bit at a time, spend a full day, or every evening doing them until they’re done.

If you’re a trainer or health coach, nutrition or yoga instructor who works for a gym or studio, stay with me. You still need these pieces. And if you work for a small business owner – or a medium-sized one, he or she may need to hear from you how to support you. You’re a profit center for the business. If there’s a way that helps you and them both, they’ll consider it when it’s presented right.

5 Musts for Your Fitness & Health Coaching Business Plan

• A website with a clear message
• A lead-generator that gets you email addresses
• An email sequence for onboarding customers
• A sales email that makes phones ring, checkouts happen, and closes sales
• Customer testimonials that actually sell products & services

The answer to what to do to next to build your fitness business should be more clear. You’ve got to have a website to place the lead-generator and the email capture on. To have the email capture form and the email sequence for after they get it, and sales emails when you’re ready to make an offer, you’ve got to have an email provider.  So virtually nothing happens online without:

• A website
• An email provider

Reach More People, Easier Than Ever

It has to be as easy for them to communicate and pay you as if they walked in, shook your hand and gave you cash. And it can be. In fact, it can be better. You just eliminated the commute. It’s antiquated to think in person training or coaching or exercise is better. It’s an option. But done, baby is better than perfect.

I’d rather order groceries online and have them delivered. Fast, easy, time savings of more than an hour. I’d rather bank online than in person. Click click. Deposited and transferred.

Convenience is Winning

And I’d rather pay for fitness services monthly via my bank account and meet with my coach online. In 2020, I saved 40% of my expenses by not flying, staying in hotels, attending conferences, and having to board my dog. That works. So don’t you think that in person is better.

But Your Clients are Different, Right?

I hear you… saying, “but my business is different.” “You don’t understand, my customers are different.” Than what? Anyone in the world. Reality is, you’re throwing up obstacles because you don’t want to change. Check your imposter syndrome. Sometimes we’re as scared by success as we are by failure.

How do you know what freebie to create that your ideal customers will find irresistible?

Get to know your customer better than anyone else knows them.

KNOW THEM BEST

Know what they read, what they watch, what they think when they stare at a menu and what they think when they’re trying on swimsuits.

Know what they’ve tried, what doctors have said to them, what their friends are doing and what they think about personal trainers and health coaches. Know what they tell their spouse about what they want and what they don’t share with their spouse.

Think about what they want and the transformation they want. Think about why they want it. And why that’s important.

Avoid this Mistake

What won’t help you know what freebie to create?

Don’t think about what they need.

Because although they probably do need some corrective exercise and they do need better shoes or a tracking device for their health measures, if what they want is weight loss, you don’t want to stray far from that.

At this “dating” stage of the game you have to give them exactly what they want. The purpose of your freebie is to connect so that you can continue sharing more about what they need.

Push Pause

But most of the time if you start trying to create something, just anything, or make it something that you know they need, it won’t work.

You know what freebie to create easiest if you interview at least 2 dozen of your ideal customers.

That will tell you the areas they’re struggling with most, what they’ve tried, and what worked and didn’t.

So, start interviewing. Stop guessing. Even if you think you are your ideal customer, you’re not. You, my dear are too close to it. It’s been too long since you were clueless.

My Best Freebies

What I realized is that my health coach and training clients were burnt out from social media time and not getting enough traction. I created a Style Guide for Health & Fitness Professionals so they could delegate some or all of that.

Then I created a 5-minute blog post step-by-step guide. I was constantly telling my audience to create content but they were so short on time that too was something not getting done. With content being the #1 thing that brings people to your website, getting these done is a must if you ever want traction. But take it from someone who knows blogs can take hours… hours to research, draft, correct, collect images or insert video into… you don’t need that cornerstone content ALL the time. Hence, my 5-Minute Blog freebie.

I constantly rank in the top 10 for key words I aim for. And when we learn I rank 11-20 for 30 more words, we go to work making small tweaks so that I’m in the top 10. That’s how I get found first when someone types in a question to Google.

And that can work for you too.

Interview, Don’t Guess

Establish 5 or 6 questions (I’ve hinted at them here and I’ll add them to the show notes) that you ask every one of your interviewees.

Your GOLDEN interview questions:

1. What’s your biggest challenge or struggle when it comes to exercise?
2. How long has that been a problem?
3. What have you tried?
4. What happened?
5. If you could wave a magic wand and look ahead 3 months, what would you like to see?
6. Anything else you’d like to add?

There are additional details.

Once you’ve collected all the responses in a spreadsheet, look for the common denominators. Did everyone say weight loss? Or belly fat? Or muscle tone, or something else?

Now You Know What Freebie to Create … almost

That’s when you start crafting a freebie. What would give someone a quick win, and what is also of course related to the core product or service you offer?

Before you actually create it, think about the content. Create a rough draft of the content that should be there. Narrow it down. Make it the absolute best content in the shortest possible time for your ideal customer to consume. If you overwhelm… which is so likely to happen… you’ll confuse. A confused mind does nothing.

So, make it a simple 3 tips, 3 exercises, 3 products you love, 3 recipes, or a breakdown of a good warm up or a perfect workout.

Now it’s time to decide, what’s the best way to deliver the content?

Is it a one-page cheatsheet or checklist? Is it a pdf? A video? A webinar?

Now it’s time to create it. And believe me, you won’t think this right away, but something they consume in 5-10 minutes is far more likely to work. They’ll be able to consume it quickly. They’ll be able to start implementing it right away. That means you still have their attention.

A couple freebie ideas:

A grocery list and a video so they can make a recipe with you that solves a problem for them.

A pdf with images and instructions for stretches to decrease posture issues from sitting at a desk all day.

A sleep tips & resources guide for a better night sleep.

IDEAS

Got your wheels turning? Now it’s up to you.

• What’s a freebie your audience wants and would help them have a quick win?
• Is it tied to services you provide so you can offer a logical next step… would be to work with you?
• Can they consume it in a few minutes, or consume it regularly over and over again?

Good to go! I can’t wait to hear what you create!

Head over to Canva, one of my favorite graphics editors, or to Fiverr.com (and if you reach out I am happy to share with you my favorite gig for creating ebooks/pdfs and covers for them)/

Resources:

Fiverr.com

Canva

Your fitness & health coaching website pages are the hub where people first meet you. Over 9 years ago it was true that whether you had a brick-and-mortar business, an online business, you delivered to your clients (as I did in the 90s and early 2000s), people will first find you or next go to your website before they’ll pay you.

Your online presence matters. Today post-pandemic, that’s more important than ever. You can’t set it and forget it. Who hasn’t done that? Listen, I get it. I’ve got three websites, for my presence as a speaker, a fitness professionals business coach/consultant, and for my consumers, at Flipping 50 where I also offer the Flipping 50 Fitness Specialist certificate course.

And Sundays, are as good a day as any to review those sites. Maybe it’s not Sunday for you, so pick a day. Then review your site. 

4 Fitness & Health Coaching Website Pages You Need

There are 4 fitness & health coaching website pages that you absolutely need. They’ll make your fitness and health sales easier. You may at some point have multiples of each. But more isn’t better. When you have one thing you want your customer to do it’s easy to tell them that. Once you have more, you may overwhelm and confuse them with choices. A confused mind can’t make a decision. That decision they won’t make is to purchase.

Show and Tell

Not all of these pages need to be visible to the public from your navigation tab. There are reasons why you wouldn’t in some cases show all those pages. You’ll share some of these pages in posts and in emails but not just let people randomly visit them. You use these pages, to capture email addresses. You use those emails to share more information when it’s appropriate.

But here they are. I’ll dive into each one in detail.

• Home page
  1. Clean, clear, call to action (one, not 7)
• Lead page
  1. One action to take, why they should take it, how it will help solve a problem
  2. Opt in form
  3. Either a stunning image or a video (video always wins)
• Sales page
  1. Complete with 12 parts that will make it convert better including:
  2. Headline
  3. Bullets
  4. S.
• Blog page

            Content

Start Now

Make sense? If you’re overwhelmed, start where you are. Remember that functional is better than attractive and fancy. It’s so easy to invest in a “pretty” website that doesn’t function and confuses.

Your son or daughter can build you a basic website. Beyond that, start making money. When you have more to invest you can spend more. What you don’t see above is this… do you have a way to collect money? And do you make it easy for a customer who wants to work with you or apply to work with you to spend money? Now, when they’re looking at 11pm at night in their time zone?

Make it easy to buy

That moment of impulse is one you do not want to let go by.

If you don’t have a “shopping cart.” Have a simple way to book a session where you’ll collect the fee in person. Have a Venmo account you give them. Have a PayPal account. Have a way to let them do a transaction when they want to do it.

Fitness Business Support | Legal & Taxes Masterclass Bundle

https://www.flippingfifty.com/taxmc

You have to get emails delivered before they can be opened.

They have to be opened before they can be read.

And they have to be read before they’ll click to anything you’re selling or asking them to do next.

So, I’m going to break down how to get better results at each step.

You have to fight to keep your delivery rate high. So many marketers, scammers, and bulk email senders are making it harder and harder. But, never forget that email is still the number one way you’re going to nurture and then sell your customers.

So what do you do in order to get emails delivered?

Get your emails delivered:

• Segment your list
  • Tag for opens in x days, never opened, never clicked
  • Based on interest and why they opted in
• Start sending your emails (a single email blast) in batches
• Send them only content they want and nothing they don’t (tag the right people, don’t tag the wrong people)
• Clean up your list regularly – those people who haven’t opened an email in 90 days or more, may not even be getting them. No harm? Yes harm. Your deliverability is getting hurt. So, you want to send a couple “Is this goodbye?” emails, then remove them from your list. You can do something else to try again but this way you also don’t pay for them.

Get your emails opened:

Create better subject lines – May’s Newsletter, or Mondays Motivational Newsletter … are not it. Think front of the New York Times, cover of Cosmopolitan, for inspiration. Questions work well. Peak curiosity. Shock them. Use a statistic that involves them.

Spend 80% of your time on the subject line and 20 on the content.

Get your email click rate higher:

• Deliver on the juicy subject lines you create
• Make sure the content inside is for the individual opening the email (for men if it’s going to a 25-year old male unless it’s for a Mother’s Day gift; for a woman with osteoporosis and not about a 5am bootcamp)
• Review the Storytelling episode … if you get them to read it because it’s interesting content you’re going to get them to click on something relevant
• Insert the link (one link you want them to click NOT 5 links) up to 5 times
• Tell them what you want them to do. Click Here works well.

Email or CRM (Customer Relationship Managers):

• Aweber
• Constant Contact
• Mailchimp
• Ontraport
• Infusionsoft

Terms: 

• Automated emails
• Email Broadcasts

Storytelling for fitness and health coaches gives you a way to bridge a relationship with customers you otherwise won’t have.

You are Too Good to Be True

Say you’re fit, athletic and always have been. Say you’re happily married, and have the grown kids, a big house and your husband’s the big breadwinner, so you enjoy big vacations and no stress.

Or you’re thin, have your hair done religiously, live alone, have no one but yourself to schedule around. You always put make up on before you leave the house and you work out daily even if it means doing it at 5am before work. You never eat anything “bad” and there’s no junk food in your pantry.

Can people who need you really relate to you?

Not unless you tell a story. You’re too good to be true. They think they’re too different than you. Storytelling for fitness and health coaches is a big asset. And it’s free, fun, and everyone has stories.

Flipping 50 Fitness Specialist… offer BONUS

I recently gave a master class about the connection between libido and exercise. It goes far beyond looking good and feeling good. If you’re interested in the connection between type, timing, of exercise and hormones for libido, the Flipping 50 Fitness Specialist is just for you and the clients you want.

Headlines Matter

The subject was: Here’s how my stepdad said “the date is over”

Inside I told readers how my dad would flash the landing lights at about midnight, and definitely more feverishly if it was after midnight. So, my date and I sitting on the couch would get the message it was time for him to go.

Then I launched into the details of libido then and now. Emails like that, not only get opened (remember that’s because of the subject line), but they get responses. People write in things like, that took me back to high school.

That’s exactly what you want.

Storytelling for Fitness and Health Coaches connects you

Your story is not about you. It’s telling a story that allows your reader or listener to put themselves in the story.

Stories connect you to an audience like facts and research – that are also important – can’t. But guess what? They remember the stories. They remember you told them.

Because as the saying goes, people don’t remember what you said, they remember how you made them feel.

How to tell your story:

Start by collecting your stories. Just think about ones you always tell at family gatherings. These might be the ones you have to live down and have since you were 12!

Just do a dump and spend 10 minutes writing the details out of stories that come to mind. Even pieces of stories. Don’t filter them. You’ll figure out later what you’re going to do with them.

Categorize each story by the emotions you felt when it was happening.

Think about emotions your ideal customer goes through. What are they feeling before they start to work with you? What are they feeling as they start to work with you? After they work with you what do they feel?

You want a lot of stories. And you want to follow them all the way from beginning to end so you can:

• Identify with a client where they’re at now
• Relay how you coped or overcame
• Reveal how it is now or after it was over

The Moment You Know

At the end of 2012, I knew I wanted to leave my job and start something bigger. I’d already started to pull away from traditional, safety, and security. It had been a big deal for me to quit my position as a Senior Lecturer in Kinesiology at Iowa State. I loved it. But I no longer had the hours to do that and manage personal training department at a multisite gym. I wanted to have a bigger impact, faster and the path to do that wasn’t clear, but I trusted it.

Then 4 years later after creating systems and seeing what worked (and didn’t) I wanted to share it with more fitness professionals. I quit.

Show Them: I've Been There

While building courses and an online presence…

I have felt completely lost, been easily distracted, not known which thing to do first, second… and which things I needed to stop doing.

And I figured it out. I learned how to ask for help. I joined courses, master classes and masterminds… not one.. many of each over the next 7 years. I now know which ones I could have skipped and which gave me exactly what I needed.

Invest in Yourself

I've spent over $200,000 in masterminds, training, and courses in the last 7 years. Much of it before I had the actual $25,000 to reinvest on masterminds. You have to do a small amount of investing in yourself and put yourself on the hook. 

I was comfortable before I quit. Very comfortable. That’s what made it hard to quit. But I believed there was more… more influence on changing the fitness industry, on changing lives of fitness professionals who care, and helping more of the population improve their quality of life.

Fast Forward (But It's Not an Overnight Success)

But today? I’m making 12x the monthly revenue I was at that very comfortable place. I can live anywhere in the world I want to, I have amazing colleagues and a network of people I’ve connected with from all over the world. I’ve lived in Boulder and Scottsdale … and am choosing right now where I want to go next.

And so can you. It’s why I started the BYB Mastermind Masterclass series for Flipping 50 Fitness Specialists and others who want to grow their business, originally, and why I brought it back in 2021 to help coaches build and rebuild their business.

Flippingfifty.com/taxmc

Flipping 50 Fitness Specialist

Know you should charge more and raise your coaching rates but afraid you’ll lose clients if you do?

Here’s what happened when I raised rates. (Listen to the podcast)

In the first week I attracted 2 lawyers, a realtor, an entrepreneur, and a financial planner who purchased without ever talking to me. I lost clients who were overly concerned about every minute, and got ones who focused on the transformation, the ones who do the work and own up when they don’t.

How to Raise Health Coaching & Fitness Training Rates

• Announce rates will be going up in advance (30, 60, or 90 days)
• Send the message again with more frequency as you get to the last week, last few days
• Include the message on your sales page, and at checkout, in blogs and social posts
• Reach out to prior clients and let them know you’ll renew them now at the current rate if they’d like to take advantage of that
• For VIP clients you can grandfather them in at the rate they’ve got now by using a coupon code or creating a separate new coaching product and hiding their special rate.

Rate raising becomes a big launch opportunity when you approach it like this and treat your current customers like VIPs you’re letting in on a secret.

Keep Promoting

Just don’t neglect to continue promoting your services after you raise your rates. It’s important that you address any imposter syndrome. It’s natural to feel uneasy raising health coaching rates. But you’ll be surprised how it gives you more confidence to do it and you’ll upgrade your service as a result.

Go High Enough

Make it worthwhile for you to go to this effort to raise your rates. Meaning, if you don’t double them, at the least make it noticeable. I raised coaching rates by $200, then $300, and then by $500. That was the equivalent of between 20% to 25%. When you add the increased revenue with grade A clients there’s a lot to love.

You can do something similar when you discontinue a product. You’re using urgency to your advantage but it this case it’s not a short term same, it’s real.

REGISTER HERE: Flippingfifty.com/taxmc

Your fitness business needs a minimum of 5 legal documents and probably more. But here’s a start.

What not to do:

Just go online, Google terms of service, copy and paste and use it on your site. You are not protected. You have no idea if your services and products are all included.

Here are the 5. Think of this as your checklist for what you have and what you need on your website. Don’t panic; but do start putting your next legal step on your radar.

• Terms of Service
• Refund Policy
• Affiliate Disclaimer
• Privacy Policy
• Disclaimer

Terms of Service

In this document you include everything about delivery, what they have and don’t have after purchase, access, and the refund policy is also often here. Each product or service you have may have a unique clause. My membership for instance, is an automatically renewing subscription until we’re given notice for cancellation. We specify when then cancellation must come or we can withhold a portion of the refund if we choose to on a late cancellation. 

Refund Policy

People will pursue refunds even if you’ve clearly stated your refund policy. It will still take time and time is money. It’s also stress and takes you away from what you should be focused on. But at the least if PayPal or a credit card chargeback do occur, you have recourse. You can show the service or product terms agreed to, that you did your part, and 4 out of 5 times I’ve “won.”

Though it’s never a sweet victory. The customer is still angry. Often, I was too in the beginning. I’ve softened. Usually, a customer is confused, stressed about something else in their life, upset they didn’t keep track of their purchases and it was never about you.

Affiliate Disclaimer

Sharing any equipment or products you love? Maybe from your Amazon store? You have to tell them in plain site that you’ll make money if they use your link. I have a resources page. I highly recommend to our Flipping 50 Fitness Specialists that affiliates be a part of their business!

There are products and services that make your customers more successful. If you’re recommending them, why shouldn’t you get some credit? You should. But you do have to have a disclosure statement on the web page, or in an email when you share.

Privacy Policy

Everyone wants to know you don’t share their information with anyone. You don’t store their credit card information on you website. As an extension of this you may also want to tell them if you’re using cookies on your site.

Disclaimer

If you are posting images of exercise, or videos, or even discussing how to create a workout, a disclaimer is important. And yes, you should be doing all of those things. But you should do so under the umbrella disclaimer that “Not all exercise is appropriate for every body. The advice on this site is in no way a substituted for medical advice. Before starting this or any exercise program seek the advice of a medical professional.”

Legal documents shouldn’t be an afterthought. Have them updated regularly. As you add, delete, or change your services, so too should your legal documents change.

Other Items You Want Legal Advice on:

• Guarantee
• Testimonials
• Images of students
• Claims avoidance

Lost in Legal Document Mumbo Jumbo?

In May and June as a part of my Mastermind Masterclass series I’m hosting not one but two lawyers who specialize in these details (as well as Trademark and copyright types of questions).

For a special early bird rate, I’m opening these two masterclasses to the public, and if you want in, just respond to this email. I’ll shoot you the rate (we don’t even have the order form filled out yet – but you’ll get first dibs on asking your questions if you’re in early).

And I’m also hosting a tax strategist. You can get the two masterclasses together for one low price, and one major relief for a business that’s truly in good shape.

GET TAX & LEGALLY STRONG:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/taxmc

(for the tax & legal masterclass bundle: early bird through May 4)

Do you really need to be list building when you think you need to be training clients, and writing workouts? Do you really need to be learning how to write better copy on the sales pages you have (or need to create) so that you can sell the products and packages you have now?

Do you know if you need list building, or more products or to raise your rates? Many fitness professionals love training. They love people basically. They feel good doing training. They love sharing what they know about fitness to help clients. But they also want to have a home, a family, a life and time outside of the work they love.

Busy Isn’t Productive

You can’t see the picture when you’re in the frame. -Mary Morrissey

You’re doing lots of things. You’re busy. You can easily fool yourself that you’re doing meaningful things but look up at the end of the week or month or 6 months and know the truth. You haven’t made any more money. You may have gained clients, but you also lost them. You’re in the same exact spot with no time to take off, no two weeks of vacation, certainly not paid, and you don’t really jump out of bed loving what you’re doing.

Where do you need to focus?

• List building so you’re able to reach more people with your offers?
• Nurturing your email list
• Nurturing your current members or students
• Converting more sales
• Increasing the dollar amount of sales (increasing profit margin)
• Increasing the number of people in a group (increasing profit margin)

Almost all fitness professionals can improve in each area at least a little. We all want to be doing what we do better and more effectively, right? But there’s one thing that will make the biggest difference for you right now. Do you know what it is?

List Building Isn’t Sexy

List building for many is not very sexy. But it is the real estate you own.

List Building or Dumping Members?

Unfortunately, too many fitness businesses think of it as a place to dump their members when they join. So, they can email them spammy emails about more ways to spend money with programs.

That’s not a model that works very well.

If you’re not giving your email subscribers something to look forward to in your emails, a recipe, a gift, a workout, a research study, a statistic, why do they need you? The Harvard Wellness newsletter or the Google can give them more support and fewer sales pitches.

Episodes you also might like:

Show up When You're Not Selling Fitness Services

Always Let Them Know You Sell (without selling!)

If you could increase every fitness sale by 15% or 20% would that make a difference in your bottom line? Of course, it would.

Have you ever gone for a massage or booked online and had the option of adding a scalp massage, or an eye treatment? The massage itself was $85 or $100 and the add-on was $10 or $20, right? That was my recent experience for a birthday massage anyway.

• Private coaching calls
• Meal planning – custom or pre-finished programs
• Custom stretching/yoga videos they’ll do between sessions
• Group coaching programs
• Provide a membership option with online access to the above

There you have it, 5 more ways (I’ve shared others) to increase every fitness sale. If it works with chocolate cake, it will work with health and wellness right now.

But only if you ask.

The biggest key for you, is doing this “upselling” so that you’re not exchanging more of your time. You make it easier for your customer to succeed at the core service they purchased by offering something they need to do that. But you create it once and sell it many times so they use it on their own, or with prompts from you during their sessions.

If you’ve never created this type of passive income that gets your customers much more actively engaged in your business, and have no idea where to start to create something of value, join me for a masterclass about building your business. It’s the start of how to learn more about serving women in midlife.

More episodes you might like: 

The Fitness Marketing Goldmine Waiting for You

3 Things to Increase Your Fitness Business Now

Shareable fitness content gets you more likes, comments, and um, shares. But more than that it gets you more exposure. When the right people (your ideal customer) shares, saves, comments, or likes (in descending order of importance), you get more love from your platform.

First things first.

Are you on the right platform? If you have no audience, no followers and more of your tribe are on Facebook than Instagram and you’re killing yourself on Instagram, you’re wasting your time. There’s only so much time. You don’t have time to waste right? So the post creation, posting, responding to your comments and asking questions to engage… you likely have other things to do today.

Make sure the time you spend (and yes, you need to be there) on social is giving back to you.

Now, let’s talk shareable fitness content. I’d be willing to bet that you have some posts that you thought were juicy, thought-provoking, and deserved more love but got the cold shoulder. Am I right?

If that’s true don’t be afraid to go back to it and repurpose it into one of these ideas.

What’s shareable?

• Graphics – infographics that illustrate a point
• Images – say a series of exercises or yoga poses
• Quotes  - someone famous, or even you, as long as it resonates with your audience in a way that makes them say, “Amen!”

Why they’ll share?

• It’s news. Share a study, a research finding, a statistic.
• It’s shocking.
• You made them laugh: it’s funny.
• It’s heartwarming.
• It makes them look smart.
• Yes, it’s practical – you gave them today’s core workout or a series of stretches to use while sitting at the desk, or a recipe – right there, no clicking to a blog.

Make it specific: not “everybody” friendly.

Here’s why… if you want to grow a niche and a strong following, you are talking to one demographic. A large gym? Having multiple accounts would be smart. Time consuming? Yes, but guess what? The time you’re spending talking to no one specifically now is a huge waste of time getting you nowhere. Give your accounts to the trainers or people who work with a specific demographic. Middle and older women, young moms, and young men are a best start.

Resources I use:

• Canva - graphics, infographics, photo editing
• Piktochart – also an infographic, handout editor 

Never steal.

If you look at someone’s post, you love it and you share it, take note. What about it did you love? And realize you’ve just been marketed to in the best way. Someone gave you something you find useful and want to use again.

Do that for your tribe.

Need a fitness marketing goldmine to kickstart better results? You already have it. Frequently asked customer questions are an amazing (and easy) source of content to create.

You’ve probably answered the same questions dozens of times if you’ve been in business serving the same demographic for very long at all.

What you’re looking for is not the generic:

• How does this work
• How much does it cost
• How many sessions in a package

But you’re looking for the questions that your best paying customers have or had before they became customers.

Things like this are a fitness marketing goldmine:

• How do I choose weights?
• What if I can’t do squats?
• What’s the best way to do core?
• What are the best arm exercises?
• What is the best way to tone inner thighs?

Other fitness marketing goldmine sources are those Q and A sessions you offer (you are offering them right?)

Nervous About Q and A Sessions?

If you’re nervous about doing that, or afraid of getting a question you can’t answer, you’re not alone. Let’s deal with that before I go on. No one ever has all the answers in the universe. Right? So, I want you to know that at any moment you might have to say, “I don’t know the best answer to that right now, but I’ll find out. Thank you for asking.”

Authentic.

Second, I want you to know that you’re controlling the questions you answer. Do that in two ways.

Have a list of questions you’ve already rounded up. Come prepared. That will get the ball rolling and you’ll be comfortable because you have been able to prep.

Then, you won’t necessarily be able to answer every question on every Q and A session. So, if you have someone doing it with you who can screen the questions great. But most of the time you’re doing these solo when you start and you are taking the questions. Have two screens, the one you’re live on and the one you can see comments coming in on. There’s often a delay and you don’t see the Qs in real time on Facebook.

Then also go back and look at that or have a team member do so a couple days after. As others watch the recording, there will be new questions. Don’t let the questions asked that you answered in the video bug you! Take those added questions as a sign, they are hot topics.

Repurpose that Fitness Marketing Goldmine

You can take that very video you did and splice it into several posts. You’ve got content to rotate into your social media that can support your marketing for weeks.

But it’s not just creative content that you’ve tried to copy from someone else. It’s literally the best possible kind of content coming right from your ideal customers.

Know the Right Questions

Don’t settle for less. Don’t be tempted to come up with questions they should ask. Even if stating their questions out loud makes you cringe a little. Here’s what I mean.

Prospects often think that they know more than they do. They still have old ideas about exercise. They might say, “I’m tired all the time and can’t lose weight. Which should I do, xxx or yyy first?” And I’m thinking, neither of those is a good option for you based on what you’ve just said. So, the question you ask might make you feel like you want to correct it even before you ask it. That’s okay. Ask the question the way the individual asked it. Then answer respectfully. That could be the moment of truth bomb that makes someone realize they don’t know what they don’t know.

Summary:

Did you do a Q and A?

What were the most FAQs?

Break them into single questions and answer in posts.

Increase your fitness business now so that when more and more people are vaccinated, gain confidence, they have it in you. Push that re-entry up by weeks or months by being there, being transparent, and having conversations.

Host Educational Zoom Classes

•             Active classes
•             Cooking classes
•             Q and A about the pandemic/safety/risk/rewards
•             Q and A about topic specific (make them want you)

Host Lives on Facebook and Instagram

Quick Tips for Energy or Specific Problem Solving                

            Instead of “drink more water” make it HOW to do it, how to make it easier, tips and suggestions from trainers

            Instead of “prioritize sleep” make it about HOW to do it, sleep hygiene tips that work, a a guided relaxation session

Publish more content-rich articles that you share in email and social media than “posting to post” empty memes that go nowhere (especially not back to your website).  

What Must Happen to Increase Your Fitness Business Now?

• Make them laugh
  • My son, “Covid can’t get you sitting down.”
• Make them say, “I didn’t know that.”
  • Most of our clients and customers think they know more than they do. They know what they were taught, but they haven’t stayed on top of science. And they capture bits and pieces of the media-interpretted studies. Be the liason for them.
• Make them say, “I’ve been doing that wrong”
  • Without being teachy or preachy, you can lead them to you. Point out it’s not their fault if you’re pointing out mistakes. Let them know even you may have taught or believed that once, too.
• Make them feel like you’re on their side fighting a common enemy (no lectures or sermons).
  • Be there for them. Invite their questions. Let them know you’re the fitness advocate they come to when they’re tempted to try something new.

Do you need to upgrade your audio and video to do social media and zoom meetings?

Is it lights, camera, audio and action or are you stalling?

Your images, and video quality do matter.

The right lighting makes all the difference. Here's a random collection of tips that you still have to do when you upgrade your audio and video. Start now and make whatever you're using better!

Tips to  upgrade audio and video presence online

• Always front lit not back lit
• Straight on, warm light, no shadows – 2 from the sides
• But if you have a video where the video matters less than the audio and audio is fine, it’s a go!
• They have to hear you.
• A microphone – your earbuds might work (make sure they’re plugged in and the source)
• A room with carpet, rugs, books, furniture improves acoustics dramatically over a tile or hardwood floor in a room without “soft” furniture.
• You in light clothing against a dark background or vice versa
• Making full workout videos, you want a microphone (wireless pack) plugged into your recording device
• For zoom and webinars on other platforms a webcam (not on your computer) makes a big difference. The image is sharper not grainy and dark. I have a logi tech BRIO that’s relatively new. I got tired of terrible images. The importance of connecting now while we’re online is more important than ever.
• Get lighting that also boosts your video quality. A pair of Elgato key lights have been a great investment for me. One might be enough.
• Don’t let a story you tell yourself about a need to upgrade your audio and video be an excuse though! If you’re truthfully stalling because you don’t want to do it anyway, this is another story.

Below are a few of the worst mistakes you can make:

• Not doing anything! (your phone has an amazing camera in it and major fitness brands have shot video – including programs on their phone)
• Shooting video outdoors with traffic going by
• Shooting outdoors in windy (at all) conditions
• Shooting yourself against a bright window (you’ll be in silhouette)

Tips to enhance video:

• Make your background brand-specific
• Plan your clothing – brand specific and so that you stand out.

Most of all... know the "look" you're going for and do it. Whether you're on a plane taking a selfie with a "fan" - the first time this happened to me three years ago I was so surprised... and humbled. Here's why...

I'd been in a super big hurry, worked til the last minute, left for the airport essentially in a baseball cap and old sweats (not really but you get the idea, no shower no makeup). Of course that's when it happens! Kind of a fail for my brand though it was very authentic!

If you always use a filter... do. If you never do, don't. But don't be sometimes using and sometimes not. 

If you always do close ups, do. If it's always food or people or ...  you decide. Call the shots. The content you use the message you share should be so strong they'll tolerate a poor audio occasionally. But make it the absolute exception. Sometimes that killer content you'll have to kill to stay on the quality brand you want. 

Resources:

Logi tech Brio

Elgato key light

Zencastr.com

Libsyn.com

How do you show up when you’re not selling fitness services?

(this is list-building)

But it’s not salesy, spammy, sleazy promotion. If you wouldn’t say it in a conversation with a stranger, don’t say it.

Honestly, this is likely the biggest downfall of every fitness professional and fitness center. It’s almost balls-to-the-walls during a promotion and then it’s… crickets.

What's Between?

So how do you show up between selling fitness services? Keep sharing! Keep sharing that content that they love.

• Recipes
• Workouts
• Research
• Stretches
• Solutions to problems
• Videos
• Your collaborator’s content
• Affiliate opportunities

Selling your fitness services is something you’re always going to do, make no mistake. But how you do it changes dramatically. In a recent episode (episode 9 of this April 2021 streak) I shared how you do that. I recommend you go back and listen to it.

Imagine this from your customer’s viewpoint. You got them involved in your email list by offering something for free.

Brick and Mortar?

If you’re a fitness center or studio and you’re not doing this, you’re only automatically adding new members to your list and emailing them when programs open, you’re missing the boat. You could be growing that list and your relationships with prospects long before they buy from you. It will shorten your time to selling if you do a good job because they’ll already be experiencing tremendous value from you.

The only way to do that is to segment lists. You have lists that are for your women in midlife, for your older adults over 65, your young moms… because you have to have a very different conversation with them all.

The Whole List

This past year there – to give you an example – there would have been many times you may have wanted to email all your people. Updates about COVID, open/closed status, safety, immunity and exercise... applies to everyone. And that’s easy to do by simply choosing all your tags.

But the biggest mistake when it comes to email marketing (that is any time you’re sending an email) is sending everybody everything. Look, if it comes from my brother or niece, I’m going to open it no matter what. But if a business is sending me something I don’t want or need, my first stop is “unsubscribe.” Then you’ve lost your opportunity to sell to them.

Always There Always Giving

We have to show up when we’re not selling fitness services by having the right conversation with our prospective customers. You’ll know you’re doing a good job at this because your open rates will increase. Your unsubscribes will decrease (but unsubscribes are not bad when you’re cleaning a list of non-buyers or people who would never buy what you’re promoting.

Should you collaborate more than you are? Earlier in this daily tips streak (episode 2 – it’s that important) I talked about the power of collaboration. Are you collaborating?

I collaborate with people who serve the same people I do. I collaborate with people who compliment what I do. My collaborators are OBGYNs, essential oil experts, protein researchers, fitness association founders, sleep experts.

Who should you collaborate with next?

If you’re resistant to this:

• Fear of giving away your business to a competitor
• Fear of being found out as an imposter

For me collaboration doesn’t come naturally. The reason isn’t because I think I know it all. I’m sure I’ve confirmed I don’t! But it’s the personality quality in me that’s like, get it done. I want to think about it in the morning and implement it in the afternoon. I want to be responsible for the outcome and results. I’m a big believer that you have to do it the first time before you can improve it. It will never be great… if it isn’t first good, even mediocre and done is better than perfect.

Getting It Right Means Starting

Because it’s only when you’re giving it to your people, your tribe, that you’re getting feedback about what works. I recently added a colleague to one of my programs and asked her to go through it. Right away she gave me feedback and I implemented a change immediately. Now, thanks to her I’m contemplating an even bigger change.

While you may not think about this as your response to who you collaborate with, it is!

Of course there are other ways.

Collaboration – whether now or in the future – is going to require nurturing relationships.

How Do You Nurture Relationships?

• Are you doing anything to nurture the relationships of people you do want to collaborate with?
• Do you like and share and comment on their posts? Do you share that you use their products? Why you like them?

So, who would it be natural for you to collaborate with for both you to benefit?

Start a list, and then nurture it. If you belong to a mastermind, it’s been one of the best things I’ve ever done to join multiple masterminds. And you hear guests on my podcast, know I have contributors to my books, and I create content for their membership sites as well as ask them to do the same. I also affiliate for them and them for me.

Resources:

Facebook.com/groups/fitnessmarketinginsiders

Q and A masterclass about the Flipping 50 Fitness Specialist

Prior episodes you may like:

Collaboration

Even when you’re not selling things, you want to let them know you sell things.

You’re a business, after all.

Look, if you’re watching what some social media influencer does on social media and mimicking them, you may lose.

An “influencer” doesn’t have the same business model as you. You have products, services, packages.

No, you don’t want to sell on social media. But you sell the idea that you sell.

How Can You Let Them Know You Sell Things? (when you’re not selling)

• Share testimonials regularly.
• Share stories about clients – it can be about the problem

            I was just talking about a Quit Sugar challenge a friend of mine is doing and to introduce the problem to my audience -and help them feel like they are not alone – I told a story about a client I worked with for a long time who was a grandmother.

She’d buy bags of candy for dozens of grandchildren for the Christmas stockings and Easter Egg hunt and May Day. And she bought extra. She stashed them in her desk and work and she’d polish off an entire bag of chocolate eggs in a day. Now if you got lost in that example, come back to why I told the story. I did two things by doing that. Yes, I comforted someone addicted to sugar reading it.

There's More

But with that story I also told my entire email list – again- that I coach private clients.

• Use the phrase “in my program...”
• Tell client success stories. In my TEDx talk I told my own story, but then I brought studies and statistics to life sharing about two clients

Especially if you’ve got big gaps between program launches – twice a year, for instance, it’s important that you’re growing your following and email list so that you have more people to sell to when launch times happen.

Send to the Right People

If you have programs starting all the time, be sure you have segmented your list. Otherwise you’re sending them content that has nothing to do with them, and it’s a promotion, and they’re wondering too often why they want to have this piece of useless information cluttering up the inbox.

Alienating your ideal customers? It’s easier than you might think to fall into this trap.

You want to teach them and give them the clear instructions of what they should do! You mean well! But it comes across as teaching and preaching.

Instead of alienating your ideal customers you of course want to be nurturing them. Here’s how.

Raise them up. Lift them up. You crave it and I crave it. So does your audience.

I teach a concept in our mastermind I’ll share with you right now.

Raise & Praise vs Teach & Preach™

It’s human nature to avoid messages that feel like lectures, sermons, or our parents enforcing rules. We run towards positivity and encouragement.

It can be a challenge to know which you tend to use. You may not even realize you do it.

It’s important to consider whether your content is answering a burning question for your audience and solving a problem for them. If it’s not, why will it have relevance?

People find us for quick wins. Providing a lesson or teaching won’t do that for them or do any favors for your business either.

Go back to basics.

• Who do you serve?
• What do they want?
• How do you help them get it?

Read 5 of your recent posts. Answer these questions:

Does the post start with a question or a statement?

Does the post tell someone to do something or discuss a problem they have?

Does the post jump to an answer or explore why there is a certain belief or behaviors they default to?

Does copy in the post text copy or compliment the image?

Does the image peak curiosity or tell the whole story (so there’s no reason to stop scrolling)?

Your answers when you look at them all combined will reveal your default and why you might not be getting as much traction with posts. There may not be anything wrong with your message. It could be your delivery.

How to avoid alienating your ideal customers? Raise them up. Avoid preaching. At some point if you’re working with a client you need to take on that persona of an expert who gives advice. But while you’re romancing a prospect you want to raise them up by coaching them with questions.

 Resources:

Facebook.com/groups/fitnessmarketinginsiders

Next Q and A masterclass about the Flipping 50 Fitness Specialist

Let them see you, the real you.

If you’re hiding behind perfect images, perfectly showered and made-up you, and it takes effort, and you have to be “camera-ready” all the time, you may struggle to grow.

Are there accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers with that type of post? There are some I suppose, but if you look for the icons who don’t actually have celebrity and an identity already, there aren’t nearly as many.

There’s a lot to be said.

A few recent posts that have gotten greater attention for me:

(It’s important to note that I don’t automatically share the same posts, and I don’t even share the same images and posts to Facebook as I do to Instagram. I keep it different and unique to the platform about 95% of the time. Those who follow me on Instagram get the photo-centric content IG is known for. And they’re treated to different content than someone on Fb sees.)

• On IG, I talked about my midlife crisis and shared pictures from high school of me, and me with a friend (who joined me on a podcast) and it definitely struck a cord.

With all the women who likely have the same tinted images in their photo albums, that wore the same scratchy cheerleading outfit, and remembered when French braids were all the rage.

• On FB I just finished a month-long daily core challenge. I took a couple of those videos and posted to YT or IG but that’s it. The action happened on FB and that’s where I kept it. The engagement numbers went way up, organically.

• And also on Fb, I hopped in with some fresh video to promote an upcoming course. But I was fresh from a facial, where they rub your scalp and you end up with greasy-looking hair as if you hadn’t yet showered. Did it anyway. For one, I was on a tight deadline and had a very busy work-day so it had to get done. I promised it to my ad team. When someone is counting on me for content I’m going to deliver.

Let Them See You: Authentic You

I point out these things to make sure that you know that in none of these, except maybe the high school senior picture was I “picture perfect” or at least retro perfect. The best I’ll do most times is change from pajamas to a workout top, and sometimes not even that. My point is that perfect isn’t my point.. or yours.

I don’t workout in make-up. Do you? Personally, I laugh at women who do. If I happen to have make-up on and I’m going to the gym, I wash my face before I start. And I put my message before my insecurities. Trust me, I’ll be on and you’re looking at your reflection but I don’t let my mind go to something like, oh, honey you could use a little mascara or lip color. Whatever I’m going to say is much more important to me than that.

Who Are You?

That may or may not be the “you” that you need to show. But what is? If you can find the setting, the clothing, the face… that’s ‘real’ and be that most often, they’ll hear your message more authentically. Let them see you.

Other Episodes you might like: 

My formula for social media has been shared at International Council on Active Aging, SCW, and in my private mastermind and consulting client meetings. I mentioned this yesterday.

The quick 411 is this. You need content, called cornerstone content on your website. And every time you’re creating a blog, a podcast, a book or a video, you have half a dozen new pieces of content.

Here it is by the numbers.

I create a podcast a week – and sometimes two during this year when podcasts are just so much easier to listen to than blogs are to read. This month of course is special, it’s a streak of 30 days to provide ideas and inspiration to take action on.

So, for illustration purposes for my Flipping 50 audience say I have two podcast posts, and an exercise video weekly.

1. Three pieces of content.
2. Each is worth about 6 different social media posts.
3. Placed on 5 different platforms (FB, YT, Insta, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn) and in some cases more than one there (Insta stories and timeline and or IGTV).

You don’t want to sit around and plan social from scratch. Use the content you have to inspire posts by using slices of it.

Resource for your bios:

Link.tre

Resources mentioned:

Flipping 50 Fitness Specialist

Learn More About the Mastermind

Leave a rating in iTunes and a question or comment there or below in the show notes at fitnessmarketingmastery.com/podcast

Steps for Success in your next social media post plan: 

1) create cornerstone content or go to that existing content that gets you the most traffic (Google analytics tells you)

2) pull the juicy quotes and statistics from it

3) create graphics or find images - and they need not be specific. For instance, an engaging nature picture or image of you could intrigue your viewer to read your text. Tie it in, but you don't have to match it!

Social media content is a burden for many fitness pros and companies. It’s either tossed to a staff person who really has no idea how to get growth and engagement, or it’s your baby and you have limited time.

It does take planning, and you know I’m a fan of creating your pillar content first. You need blogs, articles, videos (and the transcripts), or podcasts on your site. It’s from that I teach a 365 formula for social media. You chop that content into little pieces and use it like little soldiers to bring people back to your website.

You don’t want a relationship with them solely on social. Always bring them back for the real goods.

More on that tomorrow. Today though, I want to illustrate how this helps you create those pillars you’ll always talk about on social media.

Simple Social Media Content Generation

You probably already have four or five pillars you always talk about. But every week as you or your VA are planning content, you’re going to be looking for ways to make it come alive. You need ways to generate simple social media content fast, but it’s got to be good! Don’t waste that real estate or risk someone seeing it and not being interested enough to stop the scroll, like, comment, save, or share.

Look at your insights. They’ll tell you whether you’re reaching an emotional level or not.

But say you’re sharing health tips like catching up on checkups, especially in this year when a lot of women let them go.

Instead of just a generic tip, why not use:

• A story – is there a friend or acquaintance, client that had this happen to her – found a lump or mass but not as soon as she might have, had she been on top of her health records
• A statistic – about early diagnosis for breast or colon cancer or even routine blood tests and low iron when someone is wondering about a lack of energy
• Or even how that feels when you realize you’re driving to an ultrasound to check for a mass. And you think that you should have been more consistent with Pap smears or other checkups. Most of us have been there is some way. A lab test comes back and they want to redo it. Even those moments make you wish and plant a little seed of fear.

That’s using a relatable story that will hit home a lot more than just a question about what health checkups you’re due for.

Keep doing this and keep watching your insights. They’ll improve if you’re focused on talking to ONE person.

Doubt that fitness marketing works, or at least what you’re doing does?

I’ve grown organically from you YouTube channel (and grown that organically). But I am not always sure and neither are you that it’s still working without asking. So here’s how.

In a birthday post recently… I shared some funny, odd, things about my background, not all related to fitness or being a coach or research-driven wellness pro.

At the end I asked people to tell me how we met.

They did, and many of them said ... youtube. Trust me there was a lot of blind faith posting when there were hardly any views on posts. When I recorded with a really bad microphone in a really bad basement bedroom where internet was an issue. But over time, my consistency and on target message got through.

And it can for you too.

Proof Fitness Marketing Works… and changes lives

A woman also told me in March that her husband had passed March 5th. Before he died he made her promise to keep working with me because he knew how much it meant to her.

She had first “met” me there. Then did a course, then joined my membership. And 4 years later she’s still a member and such a helping hand to other members. It’s amazing the reach you have and the impact of a free video, if it truly helps people.

Other episodes in this series you might like:

The Podcast Show Notes page 

Resources mentioned:

Flipping 50 Fitness Specialist

Learn More About the Mastermind

Working with women in menopause? Not getting results? Or maybe it's you! You and I are not immune to hormone change! Visit my home page, watch the video and if that resonates, I'll send you exactly how to start working with women who are definitely actively seeking hormone balancing fitness specialists!

If you don’t take a stand what will make your message memorable? Demand attention by having a real opinion. Are you worth listening to? In today’s social media climate, no one is going to listen to the same old same old.

While you want to be likeable you might be trying so hard that you’re not sharing anything memorable.

Slow down to make your point and really have one.

In another post I’ll give some examples how you can make simple guidelines and fitness principal reminders come alive. In this post I just want to share opinions that are getting a lot of engagement.

The trick is, to make sure you get engagement that is from the people you want to attract and repelling to those you don’t want to attract.

For example, right now or in the past year have you shared anything about vaccines or masks? And your personal view on them? That’s an example of how to take a stand.

3 Examples of how to take a stand:

• One young woman I know has a nutrition consulting company, she regularly posts in stories and everywhere her very strong opinion that she won’t be getting a vaccine, she doesn’t believe in masks, and makes jokes about wearing mesh masks for instance while flying. That’s probably endearing her to someone and alienating others, or maybe not, some may appreciate her taking a stand.
• A young man just breaking into social media trying to establish a presence as a body builder who also is anti-masks (not intentionally the theme here), if his goal is to be an influencer and as a part of it might like to be picked by companies to collaborate that could backfire. He’d want to think about whether those companies - protein or supplements, would be able to choose him if he had content that went against a company policy. It may have eliminated him from opportunities.

And finally...

• I took a stand in my TEDx talk pointing out we’ve been pushing the same guidelines and position statements toward every population in a general way for a long time in the fitness industry and few programs or even personal training sessions are actually created using research featuring specific clients.

What would you die on a hill for? What are you "for?" What are you "against?"

Six years ago, I started writing my third book. I got the idea (first collaboration, because this was not my idea, I have David Newman to thank for that of Do It Marketing) to ask an expert to contribute a short piece to the end of each chapter. I had my chapters written and wanted to include them because their expertise was deeper than mine.

So, for sleep, for instance I asked The Sleep Doctor, Dr. Michael Breus to contribute. Well during our interview he said, you’d be perfect for a health summit group I belong to. He introduced me. I attended. At the same conference I applied to join the mastermind and I’ve been a member ever since. 

Power of Collaboration

I have belonged to several masterminds – at one time. And I have run masterminds and began one again in 2021 because trainers and health coaches are struggling. Struggling to find voice, build a brand, and stand out in this noisy online world.

I have over the last year increased revenues by 37% and in the last quarter by 54% and none of that happens alone. Now, you don’t know where I was last year. But let me say it this way. I was very comfortable 8 years ago when I quit my job. Very comfortable. And in December I made 12 times my average monthly paycheck from 2013 employed by someone else. 

It Takes a Village

You can’t do that kind of thing alone. My goals for 2021 are bigger. And it’s largely going to be due to partnerships, helping others grow their reach and ability to change lives and asking them to help me.

One of the hardest things I’ve had to learn is to ask for help. Be willing not just to give but to ask for help. Asking, what do you see that I might be missing? Or telling someone you are struggling is hard. I’ve been there.

Can You Ask for Help?

I was at a low place one year in particular. It was time to renew my mastermind or give notice I was leaving. I knew by then the power of the group. But I was financially still struggling, still building from zero and we’d just suffered a huge tragedy in our family. My niece’s husband had been killed by a drunk and high driver riding his bike. He left 3 boys ages 3, 6 and 9 and his high school sweetheart. It was very fresh and I was between a rock and hard place. I couldn’t take financial or emotional hardship.

In the end, I already told you I’ve been a member for 5 years, so you know I renewed. And it was the smarted thing I’ve done. Business growth brings inevitable personal growth. The right mastermind ends up being your closest friends. I’ve had interventions from my mastermind mentors and friends and given some myself.

Give and Take

While doing something for someone else probably comes easier, I encourage you to ask someone for help today. Where aren’t you making progress that you need help?

Ask.

Think you need to do more?

So, 27 certifications later, you could be tired, out of cash, and still not have anyone really paying you for all of those “credentials.”

Have you gotten stuck in the certification, workshop hamster wheel? You just keep going around in circles. You’re taking training after training but then you don’t actually have the business model before you do? You don’t get that kind of training in most certifications. You get possibilities.

All the Things?

Here’s the thing: most successful 6 and higher figure fitness professionals do a few things really, really well. They don’t do all the things. You can’t make a business out of barre and yoga and boxing, and Pilates, and nutrition coaching.

Why Do More Doesn’t Work

You probably won’t make that 6 figures by serving everyone or even women of all ages. Sometime soon you won’t even be able to serve just women in menopause. You’ll need to serve women in menopause with arthritis or osteoporosis or who are endurance athletes.

Find the few things you do and the best way to find them is find your people. Decide who you serve. It’s not what you do it’s who you serve and what they tell you they struggle with. Even in a small rural area, you want to pick a niche. The world is now your platform. We’ve seen it in the last year if you didn’t believe it before that.

Narrow Your Niche

Some people would say, I don’t have that luxury of narrowing my niche because I’m in a small town. Not any more. And I don’t think ever. You can train everyone… but you’ll really just train your friends if you’re doing that, and the people they tell about you.

But if you want to be an expert, to create a system or method, and make it serve many more so you have a bigger influence, you choose your people. Narrow it down and serve then so well they don’t want anyone else.