She Means Fitness Business

How much do you charge? How much are you?

My first question is, How did you interpret that question?

Because you could think I’m going to dive into how to set your fees… and I am.

You might have had this question come up with a client and wonder, how do I answer that question. I’m going to answer that too.

You also could be asked this about something you’ve never even considered, like …

How much would you charge for a presentation ? What are your speaking fees?
How much would you charge to create a series of videos for our membership? Or organization or to provide the movement breaks at our corporate event?

If you haven’t thought about your response to any of these questions, or you really wonder how to set your fee structure when you’re starting or want to raise your rates, then this is for you.

I’m going to cover each of these in a little series because the two most popular workshops I’ve hosted in my career:

Offer Creation lab
Coaching Hotties: The HOW-TO for menopause fitness coaches & trainers

And within minutes, when I conduct a Business Better audit with our new Menopause Fitness Specialists, a couple things become clear. Many of us do not know where our biggest profit comes from.

We are not creating products and setting fees in a way that puts us in a profitable position. So let’s change that. You no longer need to believe that because you’re in a service-oriented business, or that you love it, that you can’t also make a profit and have a life you love.

That stops now, don’t you think?

Stay tuned for the How Much Do You Charge series.

Collaboration Opportunities Impacting How Much Do You Charge

They may say, “How much would you charge for creating a series of beginner videos for our site that we have access to.” They give you a description of what it is that they want.

What's your answer to that?

Listen to How Much Do You Charge Episode 3 to know what to do on collaboration opportunities!

Licensing and Use
- You’re giving them the rights to use your materials on their site, giving you credit.
- There is no licensing necessarily. They don't have to come back in 2 years to renew their license. You're just allowing them to use it.
Exclusivity
- You might say, “Would you prefer exclusivity? I'm creating these programs and videos exclusively for you.”
- Mentioning “I won't be using the programs and videos on my site. These will be exclusive and no one else will use them. No one else will have the opportunity. No one else will see them except on your side.”
- That's going to be a much higher price. Considering the time to design, create, shoot, edit, is greater.
Limited Licensing Agreement
- Or you allow them a licensing fee to use for X period of time.
- They have to either renew it or have to discontinue use after the agreed period.

In any of these, when you're creating a brand, make sure that there's some kind of legal binding agreement, so it is written.

You should provide Clauses and Agreements that must be very clear on the details and both parties must sign. This now becomes a more expensive project. How much will it cost you to hire a lawyer for the documents? How much time will the process take? Or find a lawyer who can give you some templated formats, created and customized for you.

Value of Your Time and Effort in How Much Do You Charge

If you’re designing these programs, take the time to shoot and edit these videos. Consider the value of your time. If your time is worth $500 an hour, just an example, you also have to think, are there additional costs? If your team needs you to be doing something else entirely, you need to consider a contractor.

Consider the cost and time in doing the project yourself. Factor in the cost that would be incurred by you being away from your usual work. Or if you could create a product that would be making you passive income, then the cost of you doing this product or project may be extremely high.

So, there you have it. How much do you charge? From consumers, from collaborators, from corporations and businesses. I hope you now have an answer to those questions.

I look forward to hearing your response to this. If you've listened, if this was helpful, and or if you've been in an instance where this has come up for you, share with me. So we'll provide you with an opportunity to see a sample of how you respond.

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Part 1 - Key Factors That Determine How Much Do You Charge
Part 2 - Include Quality in How Much Do You Charge for a Potential Customer

Resources:

Join The Menopause Fitness Fix to know what you need before you workout again!
Join Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist to become a coach!
Get the Flipping 50 Business Scorecard to guide you as a coach.
Take the Quiz for support.

View Details

How much do you charge? How much are you?

My first question is, How did you interpret that question?

Because you could think I’m going to dive into how to set your fees… and I am.

You might have had this question come up with a client and wonder, how do I answer that question. I’m going to answer that too.

You also could be asked this about something you’ve never even considered, like …

How much would you charge for a presentation ? What are your speaking fees?
How much would you charge to create a series of videos for our membership? Or organization or to provide the movement breaks at our corporate event?

If you haven’t thought about your response to any of these questions, or you really wonder how to set your fee structure when you’re starting or want to raise your rates, then this is for you.

I’m going to cover each of these in a little series because the two most popular workshops I’ve hosted in my career:

Offer Creation lab
Coaching Hotties: The HOW-TO for menopause fitness coaches & trainers

And within minutes, when I conduct a Business Better audit with our new Menopause Fitness Specialists, a couple things become clear. Many of us do not know where our biggest profit comes from.

That stops now, don’t you think?

Stay tuned for the How Much Do You Charge series.

Include Quality in How Much Do You Charge for a Potential Customer

“I know I need you but can I afford you?”

To answer that, that is similar to answering a meeting planner (from the previous episode).

Have a Range Instead of “My rate is $95 an hour.” or “$95 per session for 15 sessions,” You could answer: “How serious are you?” “Did you have a budget in mind?” “How much is it worth to you?”
Elaborate and Mention Inclusions Make yours a comprehensive approach. That's really coaching. That's all encompassing and a different kind of a service. “I will give you guidance on what to do, on your own as well.” or “Health coaching to monitor your diet, your stress, your sleep." “The best place to get started would be a discovery call. That's a $50 session and if you decide to step forward and we are a good fit, we apply that credit to your next step.”
Give Opportunities Give them opportunities at a low level of $50. Versus, “You want to spend 90 minutes with me.” Instead of saying, “It's $3,000. There's a range that influences the fee, those include....” You could answer, “There are several things that influence how much a package or an in-depth one-time session.” The client has an opportunity to say, “I think I've got this on my own. You've given me what I need to do. I'm gonna try this on my own.” You can respond, “This is great but I want to give accountability. We can look at what that looks like.” “That’s a $500 investment. You're gonna do homework and I do too. You jump 90 minutes with me. Then I do a little more homework and send you the recommendation based on where I would start with right now, based on what you've said, and based on the criteria for increasing routine.”

What Do You Offer With How Much Do You Charge?

Here's the exciting part and I'm so glad you stayed with me.

I have experienced that for many business pros doing something for the very first time, they've never even thought, I didn't even know I could do that – that could be my job.

The reality is.. you can't teach fitness classes all day, every day. Many of us were teaching 2-4 classes a day. Maybe to cover for somebody who was sick.

There was not a lot of fusion in yoga. There were not a lot of barre kinds of classes. There was primarily high impact, maybe low impact, spinning classes, but they were all fairly high intensity. We didn't do what wise yoga instructors do now, which is actually walk around and supervise and be a better teacher, not just being there doing your own workout.

The reason many wanted to be fitness instructors is they would say, “I get paid for working out.” Which were most often leading to the poorest quality fitness instructors that we had. Right? It would not be about teaching, cueing and helping someone with form, instead of making sure they keep their own heart rate up or they're getting all the sets in the reps themselves.

Some would say, “I’m exhausted.” “I'm doing all the workout because if I don't, they won't do that.” That's ridiculous, right? Something about her instruction is not working. You don't have to work out, even on camera. But what you do is demonstrate and watch that client.

If you're a digital professional who knows how to create high quality, video, and audio. Demonstrate the technique and sequencing exercise in the way that it should be. Get all the cues in the technique. That is a combination of skill sets that the pandemic gave to you as a gift.

Other Episodes of How Much Do You Charge Series:

Part 1 - What Do You Consider in How Much Do You Charge (series)
Part 3 - Collaboration Opportunities Impacting How Much Do You Charge

Resources:

Join The Menopause Fitness Fix to know what you need before you workout again!
Join Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist to become a coach!
Get the Flipping 50 Business Scorecard to guide you as a coach.
Take the Quiz for support.

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How much do you charge? How much are you?

My first question is, How did you interpret that question?

Because you could think I’m going to dive into how to set your fees… and I am.

You might have had this question come up with a client and wonder, how do I answer that question. I’m going to answer that too.

You also could be asked this about something you’ve never even considered, like …

How much would you charge for a presentation ? What are your speaking fees?
How much would you charge to create a series of videos for our membership? Or organization or to provide the movement breaks at our corporate event?

If you haven’t thought about your response to any of these questions, or you really wonder how to set your fee structure when you’re starting or want to raise your rates, then this is for you.

I’m going to cover each of these in a little series because the two most popular workshops I’ve hosted in my career:

Offer Creation lab
Coaching Hotties: The HOW-TO for menopause fitness coaches & trainers

And within minutes, when I conduct a Business Better audit with our new Menopause Fitness Specialists, a couple things become clear. Many of us do not know where our biggest profit comes from.

That stops now, don’t you think?

Stay tuned for the How Much Do You Charge series.

Part 1: Public Speaking

Key Factors That Determine How Much Do You Charge:

In-Person vs. Virtual – Are you traveling to an event, or is it an online presentation?
Travel & Expenses – Will the client cover your travel, lodging, meals, or is that coming out of your fee?
Pre-Event Meetings & Prep Time – Will they need multiple calls, strategy sessions, or custom content before your presentation?
Marketing & Lead Generation Opportunities – Can you sell from the stage, collect emails, or gain exposure to your ideal clients?
Handouts & Resources – Are you providing physical or digital materials or exclusive content for attendees?
Length & Depth of Engagement – Is it a quick keynote, a full-day workshop, or consultation?
Licensing & Exclusivity – Are they purchasing the rights to use your content, or will you retain ownership and reuse it elsewhere?
Assets from the Event - Will they videotape and take photos of the event and will you get a copy or could you videotape the event? Will there be an opportunity to receive a testimonial for marketing use? Are make-up artists and hairstyling provided? If not, should you treat these as separate investments?

How to respond to “How much do you charge? For a Meeting Planner”

The Confident & Strategic Response

“Thanks for asking! My rates depend on a few key factors—about seven, actually. Are we talking in-person or virtual? Will you be covering travel and accommodations, or should I include that in my quote?”

The Expert Positioning Approach

“My fees are based on the scope of the event, level of preparation, and any additional elements like handouts, books, or extended Q&A time. To make sure we’re a great fit, let’s talk about what success looks like for you, and I’ll share the best options.”

The Negotiation-Friendly Response

"There are a few things that influence my rates—(you can mention the 8 key factors). If budget is a concern, we can explore options that create a win-win for both of us!"

Other Episodes of How Much Do You Charge Series:

Part 2 - Include Quality in How Much Do You Charge for a Potential Customer
Part 3 - Collaboration Opportunities Impacting How Much Do You Charge

Resources:

Join The Menopause Fitness Fix to know what you need before you workout again!
Join Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist to become a coach!
Get the Flipping 50 Business Scorecard to guide you as a coach.
Take the Quiz for support.

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If running your health business seems so hard and you’re busy plugging holes, fixing leaks only to realize you’ve got another hole in the roof, this is for you.

The single most important question to ask… and it’s not … how much do you want to make, or do you want to coach high ticket offers vs big groups of people who pay you less…

The single most important question to ask is:

Who are you?

That’s the question that you want to ask and nail the answer to. That alone will help you realize how to achieve flow and how to hire the right people to be around you. In order to identify why running your business seems so hard and get into a flow, we’re going to ask several questions today so you can …. Meet you.

Questions we cover in this podcast:

How do you assess your strengths and weaknesses objectively?
How do you know whether you need a compliment or a clone of you?
What’s the definition of that?
Do you know your strengths? How have you implemented them in the last week?
What could you do better? What triggers you?

When staff say, they’re working on or describe their role as taking care of “The stuff and the things”… triggers me. When my team members who are integrators who are hired to pay attention to detail can’t articulate exactly what they are doing, and use this nondescript way of describing how they spend their time and my money, that’s a trigger.

Key Questions to Reveal Why Running Your Health Business Seems So Hard

What do you need to communicate to others about working with you?
What do you need in order to be productive?
When you’re stressed you need….?
Are you detail oriented? Need lots of details to make a decision? Do you like to gather the details?
Do you need data to make decisions? Do you want to be the one to collect the data?

If Running Your Health Business Seems So Hard, Try These:

Tests like Kolbe, Color Code, Disk Personality, or the Ennigram can reveal how you make decisions but ultimately they point out why certain things irritate you, motivate you, drain you or inspire you. Most of us want more motivation and inspiration! You also will learn how you relate to others or why you need them on your team to relate to customers that you cannot.

You need them, but you also need to know that these people don’t communicate in the same way as you, and they could irritate you or vice versa.

You’ve got to know when you need someone to clone you, meaning you’re going to have them do a job that you do really well and love, but now need to hand off to someone or need more hands on deck, and when you need a compliment. That is, you need someone good at things you’re not, who loves doing things you hate or that drain you.

Other Episodes You Might Like:Grow Your Fitness Business in 2023 | Personal Trainers and Health Coaches: https://fitnessmarketingacademy.com/fitness-business-in-2023/ When and How to Ask for Help Growing Your Health Business: https://fitnessmarketingacademy.com/growing-your-health-business/ Hiring Interns for Your Health Business & Personal Growth: https://fitnessmarketingacademy.com/hiring-interns-for-your-health-business/

Resources: Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist: https://www.flippingfifty.com/specialist Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingacademy/scorecard Take the Quiz for Support: https://fitnessmarketingacademy.com/quiz/

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Ready to unlock higher revenue as a fitness professional? Discover smart monetization strategies to earn more and charge your worth. Let’s dive into the secrets to higher revenue as a fitness professional and make a greater impact!

My Guest:

Kelly Smith is a global yoga and meditation teacher, E-RYT 500/ YACEP, author, founder of Yoga For You. She hosts chart-topping podcasts Mindful in Minutes and Meditation Mama. Kelly promotes a personalized approach to yoga and meditation and helps students find their own personal practice, listen to their bodies, and find inner joy by accessing their most authentic selves. Best known for her guided meditation, yoga nidra, and restorative yoga practices, she has shared since 2016 through podcasts and books.

Questions We Answer in This Episode:

Why is working smarter, not harder, the key to success? How does this prevent burnout?
How can others expand beyond group or 1-on-1 sessions, diversifying services in unique ways?
How did you create multiple streams of passive income? What strategies can listeners use to do the same?
One of your students made $620 in an hour! How did your training help lead to that success?
What mindset shifts helped you gain confidence, from feeling shy about charging your worth?

Higher revenue as a fitness professional or a health coach is possible, even if you are heart-centered and love what you do.

Connect with Kelly Smith:https://www.yogaforyouonline.com/

On Social: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yogaforyouonline/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyuAzAFsNzcypnAa1XSlnog

Other Episodes You Might Like:

7 Revenue Streams for Menopause Fitness Coaches:https://fitnessmarketingacademy.com/revenue-streams-for-menopause-fitness-coaches/

How and When to Raise Your Rates | Health & Fitness Business:https://fitnessmarketingacademy.com/when-to-raise-your-rates/

3 Quick Ways to Boost Engagement for Health Coaches: https://fitnessmarketingacademy.com/boost-engagement-for-health-coaches/

Resources:

Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist: https://www.flippingfifty.com/specialist

Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingacademy/scorecard

Take the Quiz for Support: https://fitnessmarketingacademy.com/quiz/

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Whether you want to end this year strong or start or get a midyear kick in revenue, I’ve got 5 last-minute revenue streams for health coaches - and fitness trainers - that won’t take long to put together OR to deliver.

Are you a health coach looking for quick, effective revenue streams to boost your year-end earnings or kick off a strong start to the New Year? This episode is here to help! We’re diving into five profitable revenue streams for health coaches that can be launched quickly, even during the busiest seasons. From digital products to virtual workshops, discover ways to leverage your expertise and make the most of your time with solutions that not only benefit your clients but also maximize your bottom line.

In this solo episode, I’m sharing practical, last-minute ways for health coaches to create meaningful income streams, without extensive planning or resources. Perfect for when time is tight, these strategies can be implemented at any time of year – so whether it's December or March, these methods will bring you results.

Questions I Answer in this Episode:

Why year-end urgency can be good motivation
Attractive offers with low time investment
How to have an ideal customer say “yes”
How not to regret what you sold

5 Last-minute Revenue Streams for Health Coaches to End Your Year Strong (or Start)

Digital Product OffersCreate quick digital products like eBooks, guides, or resource lists tailored to your target audience. Tip: Promote on social media and consider a limited-time discount to drive urgency. Why it’s gold: You could repackage it for the holidays with a new cover or new marketing graphics alone.
Quick-Start Coaching Packages Offer a “fast-track” or “mini coaching” package (e.g., a 2-week or 1-month program) that gives clients a taste of your services. Tip: Position this as a “resolution rescue” package for the new year, or a “health boost” for clients feeling drained during or after the holiday season. Why it’s gold: you don’t really have to create anything except for marketing images and messages.
Specialized Virtual Workshops or Webinars Host a one-time workshop on topics like “Managing Holiday Stress” or “Detoxing After the Festivities.” These can be live or recorded, offering great value without needing an ongoing commitment. Tip: Make it seasonally relevant and highlight the tangible outcomes for attendees, such as gaining energy or improving mood.
Affiliate Programs with Complementary Brands Partner with brands or products that align with your services, like wellness supplements, fitness gear, or books. Tip: Look for products you genuinely recommend to build trust with your audience and secure repeat income.
Flash Sales on Existing Programs or Products Run a flash sale for your current online programs or digital products. Bundle popular items for additional value. Tip: Use limited-time offers or add bonuses like a free initial consult to increase appeal.

Key Take Aways to Creating Revenue Streams for Health Coaches to End (or Start) Your Year Strong

Revenue streams for health coaches can be created in ways that are both effective and efficient, allowing you to serve clients while securing additional income. With these five ideas, you’ll be ready to finish the year strong or start the next one with momentum!

Other Episodes You Might Like:

7 Revenue Streams for Menopause Fitness Coaches:https://fitnessmarketingacademy.com/revenue-streams-for-menopause-fitness-coaches/

3 Quick Ways to Boost Engagement for Health Coaches:https://fitnessmarketingacademy.com/boost-engagement-for-health-coaches/

5-Tip Health Coaches Marketing Formula for Quick Social Media Wins:https://fitnessmarketingacademy.com/health-coaches-marketing-formula/

Resources:

Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist: https://www.flippingfifty.com/specialist

Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Take the Quiz for Support: https://fitnessmarketingacademy.com/quiz/

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Create a website you can be proud of! A website is a must! It’s also an expense. How do you know if your pages convert? What 3 messages do you need to convey immediately on your site? It's here!

What does your website really need? How do you make it easy to read? And how do you turn visitors into fans—better yet, clients? We’re talking about what you can DIY, and where it pays to invest.

Learn how to create a website to be proud of, that’s not only eye-catching but also does the heavy lifting for your business.

Get your brand shine online and create a website to be proud of!

My Guest:

Gretchen Cawthon & Trina Fisher co-founded Left Right Labs, an award-winning branding and web agency that creates unforgettable online brands for Thought Leaders.

With 18 years of experience and over 100 brands launched, they have supported celebrities, coaches, best-selling authors, and more in creating genuine brand identities online. Their clients include industry leaders like JJ Virgin, Laila Ali, DesBio, and The New York Ad Council.

Questions We Answer in This Episode:

What are the most crucial web components for someone just getting started?
What makes a page easy to read?
What increases website conversions?
What are the biggest mistakes on a home page?
What tools are "nice to have" and what tools are worth the investment right away?

Connect with Gretchen & Trina:https://leftrightlabs.com/start-here/

On Social: Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/leftrightlabs Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/leftrightlabs YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@leftrightlabs LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/left-right-labs/

Other Episodes You Might Like: From Unknown to Online Success: Building Your Brand Presence: https://fitnessmarketingacademy.com/building-your-brand-presence/ 10 Questions for a Killer Social Media Strategy for Health Coaches:https://fitnessmarketingacademy.com/killer-social-media-strategy/ Social Media Marketing Strategy from a Boss Babe Herself:https://fitnessmarketingacademy.com/social-media-marketing-strategy/

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What do you know about GLP-1 for health and fitness professionals? Maybe you name it as drugs, pharmaceuticals, medications, whatever the term or the name is that you are using and feel comfortable with, let's call it GLP-1s and that includes the entire family.

It includes doses that are pre-packaged and those that are micro doses, those that are cycled on it, off it, on it, off it. And what it is that you as a fitness or health professional, operating as a coach or prescribing exercise and designing programs, for someone might see either as a threat or as an opportunity.

I'd love for you to really tune in today with an open mind on GLP-1 for health and fitness professionals. There were lots of potential threats and lots of factors that were thrown around and not necessarily facts, but based on fear, based on, you know, what we thought would happen in the worst possible case scenario. But have we, have we actually seen them?

My Guest:

Dr. Tami Meraglia MD is a leader in Functional Medicine specializing in Hormones, Weight Loss and non-surgical facial rejuvenation. She is the best selling author of The Hormone Secret, published by Simon and Schuster, has appeared on Good Morning America, Fox, ABC, NBC and many podcasts and summits as a health expert. She lectures nationally and internationally and is the Medical Director of BioThrive Life that offers personalized medical programs in person in Seattle and virtually across the USA

Questions We Answer in This Episode:

What do we know now about GLP-1 drugs that we didn’t recently?
What does this mean for health & fitness professionals?
How would you like to work with a fitness professional?
What’s the best way for health pros to vet a physician they may want to work with or refer to?
When it comes to GLP-1 for health and fitness professionals, initially, many thought of it as a threat. What do you say to that?

Connect with Dr. Tami:

https://www.biothrivelife.com/

On Social:

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/askdrtami/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/askdrtami/

Other Episodes You Might Like:

What You Do and Don’t Know About GLP-1:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/dont-know-about-GLP-1

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We all think about sales to make our business thrive, but can completely miss the value of bringing human connections that make those sales happen. In this episode we’re talking about the power of video testimonials - how to make the videos and how they can transform your business by attracting new clients from the power of relating vs a simple “close the deal” approach.

In this episode I pulled in the expert on video testimonials. How to make them, how to ask for testimonials and what to talk about.

My Guest:

Dan Lievens is a born entrepreneur and founder of 11 businesses in a variety of industries ranging from information technology, finance and health and wellness companies. He has played integral roles throughout his career driving business realignment with domestic and international growth.

Born to a Taiwanese mother and Dutch father, he spent his youth traveling the world as the son of a Diplomat for the Belgian Government. Raised all over southeast Asia, Dan was educated in British, French, Dutch and Chinese schools. His university education began in Singapore which eventually led him to America where he received his MBA from Penn State.

Dan is well-known for his rapid, nimble and strategic execution. With a broad understanding of technology, business and marketing. As an early pioneer, he built the first co-working facility in Philadelphia, where he assisted hundreds of early and mid-stage companies in analyzing business demands and providing solutions based on clear market drivers to help take their business to the next level.

Today his primary focus is rooted in advancing the cause for purpose driven businesses and organizations eager to elevate the World we share. He is the Founder and CEO of Share One, the household name for helping businesses capture and use video testimonials to drive growth.

Questions We Answer in This Episode:

What got you into video testimonials?
Why should someone invest (time and money) in collecting video testimonials?
What difference is the screenshots of Facebook comments and video testimonials?
How do you actually get your clients to give you a video? (and say the right words!)
The objections a health professional can sometimes have are go something like this: I feel awkward or my clients would never do that - what now?

If you want to see a couple suburb testimonials done by ShareOne, head to our show notes.

Connect with Dan:

https://www.share.one/trial

On Social:

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/danlievens/

Resources:

Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/specialist

Business Scorecard:

https://www.fitnessmarketingacademy/scorecard

Take the Quiz for Support:

https://fitnessmarketingacademy.com/quiz/

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Creating Shared Experiences with Clients to Deepen Relationships and Loyalty:

https://fitnessmarketingacademy.com/relationships-and-loyalty/

From Unknown to Online Success: Building Your Brand Presence:

https://fitnessmarketingacademy.com/building-your-brand-presence/

Social Media Marketing Strategy from a Boss Babe Herself:

https://fitnessmarketingacademy.com/social-media-marketing-strategy/

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Build your brand through the art of storytelling in fitness marketing. It doesn’t end in success stories or inspirational quotes; it’s about creating a brand identity to connect with your market and potential clients.

In this episode, we explore the in-depth power of storytelling in fitness marketing and provide actionable strategies that you can use to craft compelling stories that resonate with your audience so you can grow your fitness brand. know how to create a brand identity that connects and resonates with your audience.

My Guest:

Linda Melone is the founder of The Copy Worx, a seasoned B2B copywriter, former personal trainer, and email strategist with over 15 years of experience in the health, wellness, and fitness industries. With a proven track record, including a $70k contract from a single email sequence and a 44% lift in homepage conversions, Linda’s work speaks for itself. She loves helping fitness businesses not just survive but thrive in a competitive landscape by using copy that connects on a deeper level and drives real results.

Questions We Answer in This Episode:

How can fitness brands leverage storytelling to create a more compelling value proposition? [00:14:47]
What are the key elements of an engaging fitness narrative that resonate with both current and potential customers? [00:15:43]
What role does customer psychology play in crafting effective fitness stories, and how do you tap into it? [00:32:41]
How can fitness professionals incorporate storytelling into their email marketing to boost open rates and conversions? [00:15:59] [00:26:21]
What mistakes do fitness brands commonly make when trying to tell their story, and how can they avoid them? [00:11:39]

Connect with Linda:

https://thecopyworx.com/

On Social:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LindaMeloneWrites/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lindamelone17/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/linda-melone/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LindaMelone

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Storytelling for Fitness and Health Coaches: Get Emails Opened and Read:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/storytelling-for-fitness-and-health-coaches/

Branding for Fitness Professionals | Personal Trainers & Health Coaches:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/branding-you/

Resources:

Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist: https://www.flippnigfifty.com/specialist

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If you want to gain referrals from doctors working with your demographic whether for HRT or using a GLP-1 drug, learn how to show what you do. It’s not your certifications or your website. It’s the art of communicating what you do and how you do it by demonstrating or by testimonials that will win you referrals.

My Guest:

Emily Sadri is a Board Certified Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner, Certified Nurse Midwife, and the founder of Aurelia Health, a modern telemedicine practice for women over 35. Aurelia Health provides comprehensive hormone replacement therapy and weight loss support with long visits and un-rushed care.

Emily is passionate about making complex hormonal topics accessible and believes that great health starts with happy hormones and a balanced stress response.

Questions We Answer in this Episode:

How can you, within your scope of practice, support the female clients you’re working with in midlife? [00:08:58]
What is attractive about a health and fitness professional for a provider so that you can be that? [00:11:57]
What coaches do you refer to? [00:13:24]
What is Emily’s tip for success in working with this demographic? [00:13:50]

There you have it. This is a blue ocean waiting for you. Few coaches and trainers do this outreach to the medical community well. This is not an email campaign. This is getting to know one doctor at a time and letting them know you and what you do. You heard it here! To gain referrals you also may want to consider referring clients to others.

Connect with Emily and The Perimenopause Revolution Summit:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/revolution

On Social:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emilysadri_np/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emilysadri.np.ohio

Resources:

Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist: https://www.flippnigfifty.com/specialist

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Coaching Client Nutrition within Scope of Practice for Revenue & Impact:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/coaching-nutrition-clients/

Is There a Boundary Between Your Personal and Professional Self?

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/boundary-personal-professional-self/

Tools to Get Clients to Stick With Their Exercise:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/clients-stick-with-their-exercise/

Optimizing Hormones Early in Perimenopause:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/optimizing-hormones-early

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You can use words for a competitive edge no matter what level of experience you have. In this world of seconds-long attention span and how do you come up with the words that attract the right audience? Those that would love to learn and follow your guidance?

My Guest:

Sam Horn is the CEO of the Intrigue Agency. Her 3 TEDx talks and 10 books have been featured in New York Times and presented to Oracle, Intel, Accenture, and NASA. As the former Executive Director of the world-renowned Maui Writers Conference and one of LinkedIn Learning's most popular communication instructors, she helps people craft one-of-a-kind books, talks, and careers that scale their income and impact - for good.

Questions we answer in this episode:

How do you come up with content that matters? [00:08:09]
Why would people love to follow you (and they would!)? [00:16:59]
Where do “good ideas” come from? [00:13:07]

Notes from Sam Horn:

Where do you go that people want to go? [00:17:28]
Who do you meet that people would like to meet? [00:17:53] What is one piece of advice? [00:18:10]
What have you learned that people would like to learn? [00:18:20]

Do you use of words for a competitive edge right now? I encourage you to think about how much intrigue you yourself stir when you’re in conversation with someone. You are not boring! It is not uncommon though for us to give a quick answer because we aren’t used to the spotlight and it’s not even that we assume someone knows what we do, we just haven’t flexed this muscle of being the one talking and we aren’t going to be comfortable with it right away if that’s the case.

I’ve observed trainers from college coursework, to internships to first jobs to 40 year colleagues. There are varying degrees of confidence. But notice a long time coach? He or she doesn’t mutter, doesn’t care who else hears it, they want that message loud and clear.

Connect with Sam: https://samhorn.com/

On Social:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SamHornPOP/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samhornintrigue/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamHornIntrigue

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samhorn/

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Social Media Marketing Strategy from a Boss Babe Herself:https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/social-media-marketing-strategy/

Develop & Define Your Brand Voice | Fitness Marketing Made Easy:https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/define-your-brand-voice/

Resources:

Marketing to Women:https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

SOMEDAY is Not a Day in the Week, What Are You Putting Off?https://www.flippingfifty.com/someday-is-not-a-day-in-the-week/

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Content creation mistakes most health professionals make can keep you hidden from the people you can serve!

In this episode, Debra Atkinson and intern Hope Ogg discuss the critical aspects of content creation and the common mistakes that can hinder your success as a health & fitness professional. From understanding your audience to the importance of SEO, Debra provides actionable advice to help you refine your content strategy and boost engagement. Learn how to avoid the pitfalls and create content that resonates with your audience, ultimately driving your business forward. Take your content creation skills to the next level!

By focusing on these key elements, you'll not only avoid common mistakes but also create content that stands out, engages your audience, and effectively promotes your fitness business.

Ever wonder why your content isn't getting the traction you expected? Are you struggling to keep your audience engaged? Stay tuned as we explore the pitfalls that might be holding you back and share practical strategies to elevate your content game!

These content creation mistakes fitness professionals make and uncovering the common mistakes that health and fitness professionals make. Whether you're a seasoned pro or just starting out, this episode is packed with tips to help you create compelling content that engages your audience and drives your business forward.

Questions We Answer in This Episode:

If you were going to create your first ever social media post how would you decide what to post?
Do you know what the biggest mistake most health pros make with content creation is?
Let’s first define content
The 4 ways you use social media (research, social proof, marketing, sales)
What are the most common content creation mistakes fitness professionals make?
How can you identify and understand your target audience better?
What tools and resources can streamline the content creation process?
How can you use analytics to refine your content strategy?
Why is authenticity vital in connecting with your audience?

Other Episodes You Might Like:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/repurpose-schedule-track-content-creation/

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/fast-fixes-for-social-media/

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/define-your-brand-voice/

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/Killer-Social-Media-Strategy

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This was seriously from fear to there. I'll share how I built this online fitness business from the ground up.

Before you dive in: there were tears.

Oh, I had big dreams, and I had no fear of rolling up my sleeves. But I was a midwestern girl from an upper middle income family in a conservative small town in the middle of the midwest.

I had no parents engrossed in entrepreneurship or sales. They and I thought I had "made it" when I began teaching at the university. Stable, steady, benefits.

Wasn't that the goal?

Well for me there was always a desire for more and wondering what was on the other side. What was it like to have a more flexible work life and be in charge of the speed at which you did things?

How It started
Obstacles I encountered
How I built this online fitness business
What you'll find here so that you can too
How it's going
What it was like starting in 2013 vs today

One of the things few of us show on social media is the struggle. We get right to the good stuff and don't share our low points. They're the curated images that have been air-brushed or full makeup and a "thin" day.

When you consider how I built this online fitness business, you'll understand it was ugly and hard and one of the hardest things is no one talks about the mental struggle. Again, we just pretend it was always this way.

If I share the good, I think I owe it to you and to me to share the bad, don't you agree?

Please let me know how you liked, Fear to There | How I Built This Online Fitness Business

Website: https://fitnessmarketingmastery.com

On Social:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debraatkinson

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flipping50tv

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/flipping50tv

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Listen to me coaching our Flipping 50 intern on how to create a killer social media strategy. If you’re a health coach, I want you to follow along. If you have a platform or channel and your engagement isn’t great, you may be tempted to blow this off. Don’t!

Just a thought, but it’s those of us that stay coachable and curious and know just because we’re doing it or delegating it doesn’t mean we don’t have the opportunity to create the 2.0 or even 4.0 version.

Everyone loves Instagram. Those who may not actually love it, still find it hard to resist! For health pros it’s tempting to start with beautiful pictures, recipes, hashtags, posting frequency and miss the part that really makes it a strategy!

Questions We Answer in this Episode:

Who do you want to serve?
What do they want?
Why don’t they have it?
What’s their biggest problem
How long has it been bothering them?
How urgent is that problem?
What if they don’t solve this problem?
What have they tried?
What happened with other things they tried?
What do they fear?
What do they dream about/would be ideal?

When you Know That, You Want to Know This:

Talk about the problem 80% of the time

Position yourself as the solution 20% of the time

Make an offer on your posts less than 1% of the time

Make them the hero

Be vulnerable about your problem

Determine 3 or 4 pillars of content that you’ll share

For example: Specific “recipes” - food, exercise, sleep, at-home facials, essential oils
A personal share or story related to your audience’ problem that says, I’ve been there or reveals mistakes you’ve made, helps them get to know you.
Research ?
??

Knowing Why Makes Killer Social Media Strategy

What do you want them to do?

Are you selling services or products now or in the future?

Are you trying to do research first?

Are you going to target local or digital customers?

Do you want the platform to be for social proof or to grow an audience of paying customers?

Are you the brand? Or are you representing a brand?

This all is foundational before you start simply posting to post, trying to find recipes to share, walking and talking to post.

What accounts do you follow and like? Why do you like them?

What would you do differently?

Would your ideal customer like it or need something else?

Other Episodes You Might Like:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/repurpose-schedule-track-content-creation/

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/fast-fixes-for-social-media/

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/define-your-brand-voice/

Resources:

Health Coaches Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/Scorecard

Marketing to Women: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

Menopause Fitness Specialist: https://www.flippingfifty.com/specialist

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To grow a thriving business you need magnetic brand visibility. Everyone needs to know you and identify with you. Or at least, your ideal customers do. In fact, anyone else should be somewhat repelled.

This episode is worth the listen. Before you listen, bring to mind any pictures you may have posted on social media, any images on your website. Think about the favorite pictures you have of yourself, and think of those you dislike.

That will all make sense as you listen.

I think you’ll find this episode insightful and if you’re planning social media posts or a new photo shoot for your website, priceless.

Maybe you’ll consider joining us in a future pros retreat for upgrading your brand.

My Guest:

Julie Magnussen is a brand photographer helping women in business transform their visual brand through her signature Magnetic Brand Photoshoot method so they can embody their worth, showcase their authentic brand story, attract soulmate clients and expand their bottom line.

Questions We Answer in This Episode:

What does it mean to show up "authentically" online?
Where do you feel like people are missing-the-mark when it comes to sharing their personal brand online?
What role does branding play in the photos we share? Why is it important?
Why do you think people are hopping on the "faceless account" trend? Why are they posting and ghosting? Is this sustainable?
You like to guide people out of the "sea of sameness." Why does this matter? What is one thing we can do today to move out of that pool of forgettable brands?
Walk me through how we create a visual picture of our authenticity.

Connect with Julie:

https://www.jmbrandphotography.com/

On Social:

Instagram: @juliemagnussen

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Social Media Marketing: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/social-media-marketing-strategy/

Define and Develop Your Brand Voice: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/define-your-brand-voice/

Resources:

Crafted to Click may look familiar!! https://jmbrandphotography.myflodesk.com/craftedtoclick

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Building your brand presence is a series of things that make YOU not another trainer or coach but THE recognizable one that attracts your ideal client.

For many of the trainers and coaches I’ve seen just starting out, this is the missing piece in designing a life and business you love.

But there are 3 ways you might get stuck building your brand presence: .

It feels illusive, building your brand presence, you might think is as easy as consistently using bright pink in clothing and your logo.
You aren’t sure yet what you want that to be.
You’re spending so much time thinking about this you’re not taking real action to make offers and close deals.

Today’s guest is rebuilding her own. She’s pivoted at 50 as many women do to something more soul-satisfying and that had the prerequisite of gaining the life and professional experience you have now.

If this sounds familiar, and your midlife flipping your focus or really digging in, I think you’ll love this.

My Guest:

Jenna Capozzi brings over 30 years of C-level executive experience, having led innovative projects for global brands such as Samsung, Target, and BMW, and produced notable films and TV shows. Transitioning from Hollywood to empowering the next generation of leaders, she leverages her extensive background to guide individuals towards impactful leadership with Forte Femme. Jenna dedicates herself to mentoring individuals, emphasizing the importance of community support and personal growth. Her mission is to nurture leaders ready to make a significant difference, utilizing her vast achievements in entertainment and advertising, coupled with her passion for helping others achieve their goals with confidence and clarity. Committed to the idea that leadership and purpose are crucial for lasting change, Jenna aims to support emerging leaders in making a meaningful impact, by building an audience and assisting others on their journey.

Questions We Answer in This Episode:

Can you share the moment you realized something significant was missing in your life?
Was there ever a moment with a big name brand or client where you had to convince someone to see the vision you had?
How did your experiences in the high-pressure environment of marketing in Hollywood shape your approach to founding your own business?
What inspired you to specifically target this demographic?
What advice do you have for women who fear it's too late to chase their dreams or start anew?
You host retreats you describe as “work-cations.” Can you describe that kind of experience and your vision for those?
How do you incorporate your personal interests, like curating memorable travel experiences, into the retreats and programs within your business?

Connect with Jenna:

https://leadwithjenna.com/

https://retreatswithjenna.com

Social Media:

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/jennacapozzirutgersson

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/jennacapozzi_forte

Other Episodes You Might Like:

ABCs of Branding: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/abcs-of-branding-your-fitness-business-for-more-business/

Facebook Ads Strategy: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/facebook-ad-strategies/

Resources:

Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist: https://www.flippnigfifty.com/specialist

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Have you ever thought about hiring an intern or getting free labor? Through an intern from a community college or university? If you've never thought about it, but now you're wondering should I think about it or if you Yes, I've thought about it but wondered, are you in the right position? Are you ready to hire an intern? This is your episode tune in.

Ready to Grow Your Expertise as a Menopause Fitness Specialist? We’re open for enrollment. Learn more about it in this free webinar replay you can watch:

The Exercise Mistakes Keeping Women Fat, Sick and Aging Faster. Just click here.

This episode is all about interns! We reverse engineer from hiring interns, attracting them, writing a description and how you know if you really are ready and what ideal mindset you'll have before hiring your internship. So we do this twofold and we do this very informally. My intern for the summer of 2024 started yesterday as we recorded this podcast episode. And so I asked her, let's do this. Let's just be transparent. What did you want? How does it work when you're picking an internship? What about the description appealed to you? And then I talked about what I was looking for in an intern. What I wanted, what I was hoping, what I hope at the end of this happens and I hope most of all that it will help you.

Resources:

Health Coaching Scorecard: https://www.flippingfifty.com/scorecard

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.flippingfifty.com/copywriting-course

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Hiring Help Like a Pro: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/hiring-help/

10 Ways to Operate Like a Team without Hiring a Team: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/hiring-a-team/

Hiring Wrong? The First Person to Hire: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/important-position-fitness-business-youre-hiring-wrong/

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Hold your hat, here come 3 quick ways to boost engagement!

If it feels like you’re posting all the time but crickets all the time in response, this is for you.

These are quick and dirty ways to get more engagement, therefore grow your reach on social media and that potentially means grow your email list.

When you grow your email list, you have a better chance of launching more successful programs every time.

If you’re not already growing your list every single day, with a juicy lead magnet - you know - the opt in they’ll trade their best email for then grab my Ultimate Freebie Guide.

Yes, how meta is that? The freebie guide to freebie guides. But it’s easier now than ever with Chat gpt. If you know how to prompt and ask questions!

Let’s dive into this short but effective list of 3 ways to boost engagement now.

Use stories.

If you continue to post reels and carousel posts and live videos or image posts and you know the post is good and helpful and hits on a topic your audience cares about and is looking for a solution to (and if not see my ultimate freebie!), then stories could be all you need.

Post about a life experience related to health, wellness or fitness that you’re going through.

It could be mine- last week I had a tooth extracted. I chose a holistic dentist. So I talked about why and the difference. I talked about the trek to LA to have it done. I talked about the worry I did ahead of time and the outcome of the whole thing, from hours in the chair, the pain, what I was able to do after, how I prepared for healing and inactivity so I wouldn’t lose muscle.

Honor celebrated days, weeks and months or events

Make them personal. Last women’s history month, we’ve been blessed to see Caitlin Clark from the University of Iowa excel in basketball and change the game forever. She’s become a celebrated athlete, not just a women's basketball athlete, and all-time athlete. Because of that we’ve seen more female athletes and coaches highlighted that in the past take a backseat to men’s events.

Resources:

Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Menopause Fitness Framework: https://www.flippingfifty.com/specialist

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Affiliate Partnerships: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/promote-affiliate-partners/

Social Media Marketing Strategy: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/social-media-marketing-strategy/

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Diversify with 7 revenue streams for stability and growth in the fitness coaching industry, particularly for those focusing on midlife women.

1 Online Courses and Workshops

Description: Creating and selling online courses that address specific aspects of fitness and wellness for midlife women, such as bone health, hormone balance, and managing menopause symptoms through exercise and nutrition.
Actionable Tip: Use platforms like Teachable or Thinkific to host your courses; start with a pilot course to gauge interest.

One event or one series of events.

Biggest mistake here is underpricing.

If you start with a problem, and you believe someone will pay for the solution you have, underpricing is usually the biggest risk. It sets a precedent. You aren’t going to be excited about it.

Second biggest mistake is not having a goal for enrollment. What’s the minimum profitable number of registrations? If you don’t want to profit or set that as a goal, you won’t. You may have a hobby. Consider your time. Time delivering, time preparing, time commuting, what it removes you from doing that could earn more. The biggest cost to a low price offer though is the mental connection with you and your services. Cheap is not well-perceived as “worth it.”

2 Virtual Fitness Coaching

Description: Offering personalized coaching sessions via video calls, catering to clients who prefer the convenience of working out at home.
Actionable Tip: Leverage tools like Zoom or Skype for personal training sessions; consider group sessions for a more community-centric approach.

Private or Group

3 Wellness Retreats

Description: Organizing retreats focused on fitness, nutrition, and overall wellness for midlife women, offering a holistic health experience.
Actionable Tip: Partner with a retreat center and start small—a weekend getaway focused on a specific theme like "Reset and Renew."

Live or Virtual- where would you love to go? These are the most fun revenue streams for coaches because you’ve figured out a way to do what you love and get paid for it!

I’m hosting retreats in Colorado and in the Grand Canyon this year. I am taking the cohort on trails I love and know, getting to teach life-changing content to attendees while they’re there, bringing together a community of women interested in the same things. But you can also and I have done this virtually in a 3-day retreat. At $97 for the event and with over 40 in attendance. It was a blast! For a few hours on Saturday and Sunday each.

Workshop style - partner with someone

Grassroots - Register and pay either coach, enrolling coach takes 5-10% more which is a sales commission essentially, and then coaches settle up after. (Don’t make an attendee register two places)!

4 More Revenue Streams for Fitness Coaches

4 Membership Programs

Description: Creating a membership platform providing exclusive content, community support, and regular live Q&A sessions. Often includes discount rates for additional services, a regular content exclusive to the membership, access to you that no one else has or only VIP clients have, but members get at a fraction of the price of private coaching.
Actionable Tip: Utilize platforms like Patreon or MemberPress to build and manage your membership community, Memberium

5 Affiliate Marketing

Description:Earning commissions by recommending fitness and wellness products that align with the needs of midlife women.
Actionable Tip:Choose products you genuinely endorse; transparency builds trust with your audience.

Coach partnerships

Program partnerships

Equipment: desk bikes, weights, Power Plate, skin care, supplements

6 Corporate Wellness Programs

Description: Designing and implementing fitness and wellness programs for employees at corporations, focusing on midlife health.

Actionable Tip: Start by offering free lunchtime talks or workshops to introduce your services to local businesses.

Create proposals - learn the corporate context of programs

7 Writing and Publishing

Description: Writing books or guides on fitness and wellness for midlife women, either self-published or through traditional publishing.
Actionable Tip: Start with an eBook on a niche topic; use Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing for a straightforward self-publishing process.

Often the monetization of these items is not the sales of the book but the sales of the program you talk about in the book.

-Summary of the revenue streams for fitness Coaches

Resources:

Health & Fitness Business Self-assessment: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Menopause Fitness Framework: https://www.flippingfifty.com/specialist

Other Episodes You Might Like:

How to Attract Over 50 Clients: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/reach-over-50-clients/

How to Develop Relationships with Medical Professionals: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/relationships-with-medical-professionals/

Last week on She Means Fitness Business with Jay Croft we be talked about writing, creating copy and if you’re considering a book (and you probably should be) this will help you in every aspect of your business.

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“I wasn’t marketed to anymore.”

My guest today points out a glaring still-existing dilemma in our fitness industry. Even in this age where menopause and longevity being buzzwords of the year, images and marketing terms are centered around young, youthfulness, and anti-aging. Images of young, fit individuals in bra tops still prevail.

If you want to reach over 50 clients, you have to know what to say and what not to say. Jay Croft creates original content for trainers, gyms and studios. Everywhere you write, speak, or create video, you are a copywriter. I rounded up a professional writer to help you with content to reach over 50 clients.

Be sure you stay til the end for some help on how you can use AI to generate content to reach over 50 clients better, faster and create a relationship.

My Guest:

Jay Croft created Prime Fit Content to help gym owners reach more people over 50 after 30 years in mass media and corporate communications. A veteran writer, editor, and content creator, Jay creates premium, original material best used in email newsletters, social media, and blogs. He also consults with businesses about this vast, underserved segment and how best to communicate with them effectively.

Questions We Answer in This Episode:

What is your background and how & why you got into this?

What are some of the challenges trainers online or off have in communicating with the over-50 market?

What are a few key pieces of advice in improving your game on this?

Why isn't the fitness industry doing more to help people over 50?

What role can content and communications play?

What works and what doesn't?

Connect with Jay:

https://primefitcontent.com

On Social:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jaycroft

Threads: https://twitter.com/JayCroft

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/primefitcontent/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/croftjay/

Other Episodes You Might Like:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/podcasts

Resources:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

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Developing relationships with medical professionals was going to be easy once Exercise is Medicine™ was announced! Trainers and gyms thought it was going to be great. Imagine it raining clients told by their physicians to exercise and start working with a trainer.

No one came.

"Exercise is Medicine was established in 2007 by the American College of Sports Medicine to inform and educate physicians and other health care providers about exercise as well as bridge the widening gap between health care and health fitness."(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7444006)

It's Up To YOU.

You want an endorsement from a physician. They want to know their patients get a safe referral and their credibility is supported.

Make it clear what’s in it for them.
Make it easy for them.
Make the relationship with you public by inviting them to over.
Host events and invite them(let them see you in action)
Host events and feature them(live or your podcasts or virtual video show)
Offer to do a lunch & learn for their office (if local or possibly virtually)
Contact them with a professional letter/email
Follow up - emails and letters get lost
Call the office
Follow up - messages get lost
Offer to train them

Mistakes when Trying to Develop Relationships with Medical Professionals

No follow up
Confidentiality breach
Lack of specific CTA
Lack of specific way they win
Are you a specialist? In what? Does that serve a lot of their patients?

Because very few are doing this well right now, you have a huge opportunity. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. I’ve witnessed physicians actually become part-time fitness instructors. Chiropractors and physical therapists were gymnasts and fitness instructors before they were practicing. Learn more about physicians. Try taking an interest in them and begin creating a relationship the same way you’d create a friendship. The more you’re interested in them and how you can help them the more likely you are to get attention.

Other Episodes You Might Like:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/podcast

Resources:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

https://www.flippingfifty.com/wwwexercise

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If you’re hoping to create a retreat or simply to deepen relationships and loyalty among your clients and members, (as we all should), then you’ll love this. From hosting retreats for more than a decade I learn something new every time. My retreats look very different from the first I hosted over a decade ago. And I’ve learned the most from my attendees after the retreat.

Having quiet time to journal on a trail and cooking together were two things suggested and requested.

Among the most fun activities we did during a recent 4 ½ day retreat was charades. We also held a team best shot putting competition. Though I also included a midnight trail ride through the desert, it was the charades and putting that they all talked about on the last day.

My Guest: Joe Huff and his business partner Bridget Hilton are obsessed with experiences. As keynote speakers, co-authors of the book Experiential Billionaire and Treasure Maps card game, and self-proclaimed experiential guinea pigs, they are passionate about inspiring people to live intentional, regret-free lives by going after audacious goals. They’ve trained to be samurais, danced with the northern lights, tracked silverback gorillas in a hail storm, stood face-to-face with a hungry lion on safari, visited 50+ countries and all 50 states, absorbed life lessons from Maasai Mara tribesmen, built schools for kids in need, and explored the experiential riches life has to offer.

Questions we answer in this episode: * How can fitness & health coaches help clients find a way to experience the world in a way they wouldn’t have been able to do and in doing so build a new revenue stream? * What kind of retreat would you create if you were doing it – having had the experience as a personal trainer yourself? * What would you leave out of a retreat? * What kinds of activities would you include? * Getting clients is one thing. Keeping them another. Relationships and loyalty building will be the reason for success in 2023 and beyond.

Connect with Bridget and Joe:

Website: https://www.experientialbillionaire.com/

On Social:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/experiential-billionaire/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bridgethilton/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-huff-20bb026/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/experientialbillionaire/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bridgetlhilton/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joehuff/

Other Episodes You Might Like:

How to Host a Wellness Retreat, and Why https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/how-to-host-a-wellness-retreat/

How to Host a Successful Fitness Retreat https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/successful-fitness-retreat/

Resources:

Book: New book titled “Experiential Billionaire” released September 12th, 2023 available on Amazon! https://geni.us/deapB

Free Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/business-scorecard/ – Don’t forget to grab our free guide that complements this episode, providing you with additional insights and resources to get your first midlife coaching client.

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

Power Plate: https://www.flippingfifty.com/powerplate

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What’s the connection between longevity and exercise? Are you helping clients optimize longevity? Do you know it’s like a trending topic and NYT bestselling titles all have something to say about youth, younger, living longer stronger and better.

You’ve got more time with clients than doctors with patients, and more opportunity to positively impact.

You also have more opportunity than ever to leverage what it is you do for your own business longevity.

So this very short episode with Chris Burres, host of an upcoming longevity summit will offer some quick insight from the scientist himself.

My Guest: Published author, Host of the Uncovering the Secrets to Longevity Health Summit, patent holder with a surprising twist – he’s not just a visionary scientist but also a master of comedy improv. Chris Burres is the founder and chief scientist at MyVitalC, where he manufactures a Nobel Prize winning molecule responsible for the single longest longevity experimental result in history, a full 90% extension of life. He is the intersection where science meets laughter and his life’s mission is to help people live longer, healthier, happier, and pain-free lives one dose at a time.

Questions we answer in this episode: * How can health and fitness pros be a part of boosting longevity? * Biggest mistakes with exercise that could harm longevity? * Top recommended book for longevity for health professionals?

Connect with Chris:

Uncovering the Secrets to Longevity summit

https://www.flippingfifty.com/summit

On Social:

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/myvitalc

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/myvitalc

X: https://twitter.com/myvitalc

Other Episodes You Might Like:

4 Cs to Grow Your Health Coaching Business This Year https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/grow-your-health-coaching-business-this-year/

Successful Facebook Ad Strategies for Fitness & Health Coaches https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/facebook-ad-strategies/

Resources:

Boundless: Upgrade Your Brain, Optimize Your Body & Defy Aging – Ben Greenfield

Smarter, Not Harder – Dave Asprey

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

Power Plate: https://www.flippingfifty.com/powerplate

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Although the year is not quite complete and it’s true that sometimes the end of the year podcasts get the short sheet, I love compiling this episode for many reasons. First, it’s like conducting a poll on where you want and need the most help in your business…without conducting a poll.

Second, it’s a real eye opener to see whether hosting guesst or doing solo content where I’m sharing behind the scenes of building a business resonate most. This year, it’s been the business how-to sessions that mattered most to you.

A few stand-outs though that made it into this list of 10 top podcast of 2023 list:

You like hearing about other midlife women who are having success & overcoming obstacles

Doing it alone can be lonely and you like hearing how to get out of your own head and way.

We’ve definitely found a collective and collaborative group of entrepreneurs in the WELLPROS group https://www.flippingfifty.com/WELLPROS. Details in show notes if you don’t have someone to run offers, packages, pricing by and you need to know how to quickly gain customers and gather momentum.

In Letterman style countdown here it is. All the episode links will be included in the show notes so you can catch up on any you missed. If you have just one colleague or friend who would benefit from listening, thank you for sharing,

#10 Top Podcast of 2023 5 Inspired Reasons to Be a Menopause Fitness Specialist An episode full of a combination of both statistics and intangible reasons why there is still room for you to dig in and establish yourself as an expert among midlife women. There is a dramatic difference between an influencer and an expert. You get to decide which you are and why that’s the one you want.

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/be-a-menopause-fitness-specialist/

12/02/23

#9 5 New Clients in 7 Days: Here’s How She Did It

One of our WELLPROS grabbed opportunity before she felt ready and just jumped in. She found a way to make it happen sooner than she anticipated and enrolled clients while they were hands up telling her yes. In this episode we shared how it went.

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/5-new-clients-in-7-days/

3/11/23

#8 3 Questions Away from Better Productivity

When you’re spinning your wheels every day and you don’t know if what you’re doing is really helping your progress, or know absolutely it’s not, this episode will help. We all get to the point when we have a full day, everything and everyone is pulling on us and yet we get nothing done. Those days have to be minimized and eventually you’ll prevent them from ever happening again. Three questions you can use today will help.

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/better-productivity/

11/11/23

#7 Helping Clients Combine Intermittent Fasting and Exercise

Your clients are trying it, and they’re trying to avoid muscle and bone loss. Or possibly they don’t realize that they could lose muscle if they don’t fast correctly. This episode will help you be aware yourself or increase client’s awareness of the dual goals they can juggle if done right.

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/intermittent-fasting-and-exercise/

11/25/23

#6 Midlife Fitness Pro Swinging For the Fences

This is another midlife fitness & health entrepreneur success story that resonated! Christine Conti, winner of this year’s IDEA Instructor of the Year award joined me. She didn’t talk about award winning as much as what she personally overcame. How she came to fitness as a second career and why it’s meaningful for her personally. If you’re thinking it’s too late, you can’t because of any number of reasons… listening to this will help you see it differently.

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/midlife-fitness-pro/

10/28/23

#5 Top Podcast Episode of 2023 Stop Sloppy Introductions: Bio Makeovers for Health & Fitness Pros Heard of ChatGPT? Hard not to have by this point. But there are entrepreneurs using it so we all know it by the words embark, embrace, fitness journey. Those are code for AI. And images that are AI are also beginning to pop up everywhere. If you use them you may lose them – meaning customers. But if you know how to employ tricks you can retain your brand integrity and get back time both.

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/reduce-fitness-marketing-time/

2/1/23

Content That Creates Clients That Want Only You

You are the only one that can do certain things in the way only you do them. This episode taps into how you can do it. How interesting that AI use by marketers increased dramatically over the course of this last 12 months. It may be easier than ever to stand out, if you use what only you have.

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/content-that-creates-clients/

3/4/23

#1 Top Podcast Episode of 2023 What Is Exercise Endocrinology [For Personal Trainers and Health Coaches] Do you know the juggle between physiology of exercise and the physiology of menopause or of women vs men? This episode dives into that and the benefits of exercise on specifics. It’s not platitudes of “exercise offsets symptoms of menopause” so often used by media, physicians even, who don’t themselves have enough exercise training

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/exercise-endocrinology/

2/11/23

Other runner’s up among She Means Fitness Business podcast episodes in 2023 included:

What to know about working with osteoporosis clients, How to work with perimenopause clients, how to work with menopause and postmenopause clients.

You can find the show on iTunes, iHeartradio, Spotify, Amazon and 80 other podcast platforms so it’s everywhere you listen to podcasts. Every episode aims to give you an immediately actionable tip for your business and or support you the solo health entrepreneur by sharing my experience, mistakes, and wins.

We are taking a small pause in 2024 with this podcast. After 11 years, we’ve so much content and though there is always something new, we’re doubling down on the Flipping 50 podcast and know so many of you are listening there.

We’re turning much of our content into short CEU courses like these:

Essential Coaching Skills for Midlife Clients (available now)
Affiliate Marketing for Additional Revenue Streams (coming early 2024)
Marketing to Women with Copywriting that Converts (also first quarter)

Other Episodes You Might Like:

5 Fall Fitness & Health Professional Business Growth Strategies https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/health-professional-business-growth-strategies/

When and How to Ask for Help Growing Your Health Business https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/growing-your-health-business/

Email Marketing for Fitness Business Success

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/email-marketing-fitness-businesses/

Resources:

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

Power Plate: https://www.flippingfifty.com/powerplate

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Ask. If you want to get your first midlife coaching client (or your hundredth) you’ll have to ask. As you listen, this is a day in the week that ends in “y.” If you didn’t ask someone to become a client and you want clients, are your actions congruent with what it is you say you want?

I could give you a whole lot of platitudes here. I could share content that suggests you define a niche and create an avatar. And there are plenty of episodes here about that, but this isn’t one.

To get your first midlife coaching client isn’t hard given women tend to seek trainers and support at a higher rate than men, they know they have a problem and what to fix it. So the problem is you’re not making yourself visible.

This episode is for anyone who mentally wants to get clients and help people but who’s reason for not having clients has nothing to do with the fact there aren’t enough clients.

What I want you to imagine is we are standing on the playground and I push you just a little bit. Now, you either fall back, take a step back or you push back and stand your ground.

Which is it?

You need to have the confidence so that in a room full of people if you are training a client you don’t care if everyone hears you. Know exactly what you’re asking them and exactly why in this order or sequence you’re giving them steps.

How to Get Your First Midlife Coaching Client (and everyone after!) The reason you don’t have clients is you.

Let’s unpack what you can do in order to get you out of your own way,

Questions I answer in this episode:

Do you know exactly how you work with someone step-by-step and be able to describe it simply to them?
Did you ask everyone you know?
Have you created a free high-converting way to get prospects into your world (coffee, a walk with them, a free talk, masterclass, eguide, short challenge, video series catered to the problem you solve) ?
Have you identified your traffic source beyond who you know (your hair stylist, your dentist, doctor, your pastor, president or vp of women’s clubs)?
Do you take action every single day? Know exactly what you’ll say when you talk on the phone, on zoom or at coffee to take charge of the conversation.
Have you created a repeatable process for clients to get started? What happens after you speak to them and they say yes? What happens if they say no? There has to be a next step for anyone.

Other Episodes You Might Like:

5 Fall Fitness & Health Professional Business Growth Strategies https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/health-professional-business-growth-strategies/

When and How to Ask for Help Growing Your Health Business https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/growing-your-health-business/

Email Marketing for Fitness Business Success

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/email-marketing-fitness-businesses/

Resources:

Visit the fitnessmarketingmastery.com website for more expert advice and services related to health coaching business growth.

– Check out our recommended blogs and resources to further deepen your knowledge and skills in business growth and health coaching. Consider the WELLPROS hotseats coaching calls month-to-month subscription to be surrounded by other fit pros who want to grow. No one does this alone.

Menopause Fitness Specialist™ Program:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/menopause-fitness-specialist-program-2022/

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

WELLPROS mentorship group: https://www.flippingfifty.com/store/uncategorized/fit-pros-health-coaches-monthly-membership-founder/

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In a recent episode I shared how to help clients with a flat belly. If you haven’t heard it, and this one appeals to you, you’ll want to listen. (stay with me! I’ll link to it in show notes)

Where metabolism is concerned there are two considerations:

During Exercise
Outside of Exercise

One is what happens 30-60 minutes a handful of times a week. The other is about what happens the other 23 or 23 and a half hours of the day.

Which would you want to boost?

The consideration you have to make is that often a tough exercise session will make people compensate both with food and coach compensation. The total energy expenditure is lower in postmenopausal women who workout more than 2x a week with strength and cardio each.

You’re looking for the sweet spot of boosting muscle endurance and strength and stamina without decreasing energy or causing soreness that would make clients move less during the day.

Information published by the Mayo Clinic informs that it is the all-day activity or movement that a client does that correlates with their risk of obesity. That is, it’s not those who go to the gym most, it’s people who move the most during their days that have the least risk of obesity.

Strength Training is the only way to increase metabolism without accelerating aging.

-Dr. Joel Furman Tweet Coach a Better Metabolism in Menopause * Focus on reaching muscular fatigue in major muscle groups to gain muscle mass + Functional exercise defined really means the exercise matches the goal of the exerciser. You can choose battle rope exercises or renegade rows or kettlebell swings but those focus most on elevating the energy expenditure across muscle groups. * Major muscle groups first – even when she wants arm tone * Avoid crazy compound exercises that decrease the weight that can be lifted.

For instance, a squat to an overhead press. First, you’ve got the potential for momentum. Second, the weight you can press overhead is going to be far less than what you can squat with, so the biggest focus becomes core and neither lower body muscle or shoulders. So if function is the key goal, this may be successful. If metabolism is, it is going to fall short.

Coach rest and recovery – often a woman will do best when she is given something specific to do vs. told not to lift again for a couple days. Tell her how to use her time. Walk, swim, foam rolling, yoga, etc on a schedule will help her fill that itch to follow a plan and stay on track. And the food – coach the food part of this.
Coach with data (the most important component of what you do)

Coaching Menopause Metabolic Flexibility I’ve got 2 or 3 clients at any given moment who will need to be told exactly what parameters to train in, but most importantly what NOT to do. For Sunday low slow runs I give very specific time and heart rate goals. If I give a distance I also give a time.

X distance or x time, whichever comes first.

Heart rate no more than _______.

Often the same clients will introduce intermittent fasting and get some initial success. They’ll have finally bought into the idea of boosting muscle protein synthesis and avoiding muscle protein breakdown.

And then they’ll regress.

Inevitably, it’s been because I have let my foot off the accelerator. If I stopped reminding them of the steps: Fast… feast.. Then fitness activity.

They’ve lost weight but muscle too.

Upon review there’s been fast fitness then minimal feast. It’s only when I ask very specific questions that this surfaces. Even for longtime clients. So, never… ever ever underestimate the value of repetition.

Bottom Line for Coaching Metabolism in Menopause… * Know that metabolism is not just burning calories at a higher rate during exercise * Consider the aging effects of increasing metabolism collectively * Know that strength training is one of the only ways to increase metabolism without accelerating aging. * Measure the right thing. Loss of weight could be detrimental if it is muscle loss: you’ll be praised for a short time and cursed forever

Other Episodes You Might Like:

5 Ways to Help Clients with a Flat Belly in Midlife https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/flat-belly-in-midlife/

7 Tips to be a Personal Trainer Every Midlife Woman Wants to Work With https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/be-a-personal-trainer/

5 Menopause Exercise Programming Tips from Recent Exercise Studies

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/menopause-exercise-programming/

Resources:

Menopause Fitness Specialist™ Program:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/menopause-fitness-specialist-program-2022/

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

WellPros Mastermind & Mentorship Group: https://www.flippingfifty.com/WELLPROS

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Welcome to She Means Fitness Business, the go-to podcast for female health and fitness professionals looking to supercharge their business growth this year. In this episode, we’re diving deep into the 4 Cs, a proven framework to help you take your health coaching business to new heights. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to grow and scale your business , these strategies are tailored to help you thrive.

Get ready to transform your health coaching business and achieve your goals! Get ready for a little tough love as you coach yourself answering these questions.

Questions We Answer in This Episode: 1. What are the 4 Cs, and how can they benefit my health coaching business?

– We’ll break down the core concepts of the 4 Cs and explain how each one contributes to your business growth.

Commitment – to your own success and reaching the goals you’ve set
Conviction – that you can help and about the way you help and why YOU?
Consistent – in doing the actions you know have to be there? (new content, showing up, emailing your audience, measuring results)
Congruent – the actions you take today congruent with what you say you want? (did you ask anyone today?)

Coached? No one does it alone.

How can I effectively attract and convert more clients?

– Discover actionable tips and techniques to expand your client base and boost conversions.

What strategies can I implement to enhance client retention and loyalty?

– Learn how to create lasting relationships with your clients and keep them coming back for more.

How do I stay competitive in the ever-evolving health coaching industry?

– Explore strategies to stay ahead of the curve and remain a key player in the competitive health coaching market.

Other Episodes You Might Like:

5 Fall Fitness & Health Professional Business Growth Strategies https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/health-professional-business-growth-strategies/

When and How to Ask for Help Growing Your Health Business https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/growing-your-health-business/

Email Marketing for Fitness Business Success

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/email-marketing-fitness-businesses/

Resources:

Visit the fitnessmarketingmastery.com website for more expert advice and services related to health coaching business growth.

In this episode, I guide you through the 4 Cs and share their success stories and tips. This content originally I learned from a dear friend and much-admired business coach, Mark LeBlanc. He was so supportive and an excellent role model when I needed it most. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just starting your journey in health coaching, these strategies are designed to propel your business forward. Tune in and get ready to grow your health coaching business this year like never before!

Menopause Fitness Specialist™ Program:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/menopause-fitness-specialist-program-2022/

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

WELLPROS mentorship group: https://www.flippingfifty.com/store/uncategorized/fit-pros-health-coaches-monthly-membership-founder/

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If your health business email marketing is not up to date with current delivery parameters, in tune with your community and continually cleaned up, you need to brace yourself for 2024. In this episode I’m breaking down the most common misconceptions that result in mistakes.

No matter whether you’re starting or you’ve got a list, you are primed to do better. Email marketing is a puzzle for all industries but the secrets are simple.

Serve your customer.
Offer more value than promotions
earn the right to put a promotion in front of them.

Your success in any relationship is in understanding what someone else is thinking and feeling. If you’re not doing that as you write every single email, you are losing this race.

For a very small percent of your email list this is a sprint. For many many more it’s a marathon. But you have water stations and port-a-potties all along a marathon.

The fitness of your email marketing depends on the frequency and intensity of your email.

Sound familiar?

In this episode why these health business email marketing mistakes hurt:

Email too infrequently
Email with too little value
Subject lines don’t peak curiosity
Links are broken or not included
Email an “everybody” email to all ages and both genders
Not sending to unopens
Not studying your open and click rates monthly

If you aren’t tapping into emotion with every email, you’re missing out.

If you aren’t segmenting your email list, you’re suffering.

When you get curious about why your open rate is low or click rate is poor, you can solve problems quickly. Was it the day and time? Was it the subject line? Was it the lack of repetition inside the email or the congruency of the message with the reason the subscriber got on your list?

Resources:

Menopause Fitness Specialist™ Program:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/menopause-fitness-specialist-program-2022/

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

WELLPROS mentorship group: https://www.flippingfifty.com/store/uncategorized/fit-pros-health-coaches-monthly-membership-founder/

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Better Email Marketing: Love Letters To Your Customers

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/better-email-marketing/

Email Marketing for Fitness Business Success

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/email-marketing-fitness-businesses/

The Truth About Email Frequency and Content

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/email-frequency/

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Is it time to raise your rates? If you haven’t for a year or two and definitely since pre-pandemic I would absolutely recommend you look at this. I’m releasing this episode with a focus on end of year promotions and start of year implementation.

It’s the perfect time for a health professional to look at raising rates.

When you get started, you ask how much do I charge? There are a lot of things to consider in answering this question. A good rule of thumb though is always err on the high side. It’s much easier to reduce rates than raise your rates. So it all should be thoughtfully planned.

But it can also be constipating. There’s no other way to say it.

If you aren’t careful about your business plan you could be working for pennies per hour. If you couldn’t even hire someone to work for you with commensurate education and qualifications for the rate you’re paying yourself, pump the brakes!

If you’re in any way reluctant to track numbers, look at the profit and loss statements, still find you don’t like sales or struggle with accepting money, this is a much needed episode. You may have a little work to do on your worthiness and relationship with money. So, as you listen, just do this: stay aware of any negativity related to the money conversation here.

Questions I Answer in this Episode:

How much to raise your health business rates
When to raise your rates
How much notice to provide
How to deliver the message
How to justify raising rates in your health & fitness business
How Much and When to Raise Your Rates Make it worth it. The last thing you want to do is raise them so little that you feel you need to raise them again. I try to raise rates no more frequently than 2 years.
When to Raise Your Rates Make it worth it. The last thing you want to do is raise them so little that you feel you need to raise them again. I try to raise rates no more frequently than 2 years.
How Much Notice to Provide Before Raising Your Rates When you’re raising your rates significantly, you give longer notice. For instance, I raised private coaching from $2000 per package to $5000. That’s significant. When I originally raised from $1000 package to $2000, that was still significant. I gave my community adequate notice so that those who’d always thought, I want to do private coaching but would “some day,” had a reason to do it today.

When it’s packages, say you sell by frequency of classes or training sessions and discount as they go up, beware. You’re already discounting. Every day. So if you raise rates make this worthwhile. Do you want to increase each session by $2.00 or by $5.00? If someone is buying a package of 20 sessions the package would increase then by one hundred dollars. If you’re talking about a $1000 package, $100 is not that significant. Psychologically it’s not going to deter many from purchase. Consider at least $200. Now you’ve increased your hourly rate by $10, giving you a significant raise, and keep listening because #5 is going to help you do this painlessly for the customer.

How to Deliver the Message About Rate Increase Send an email dedicated to this message. Don’t bury it in something else like so many trainers and health coaches bury offers.

If you’re selling something specific or have a very specific message, do not water it down.

Consider including a short video message from you. You’re going to want to listen to question 5 in order to do this smoothly.

Keep it short. Write a script.

How to Justify Raising Your Health & Fitness Business Rates This is the gold that I hope you’re still listening to get. Don’t just raise your rates without making it a win win for the customer and you. How can you increase the value of what THEY get when you raise your rates?

I just got a letter from one of my lawyers. It read, “in accordance with our letter of engagement effective Jan 1, my rates will increase to ______.”

Same service, different rate.

It’s accepted with lawyers. It’s not accepted with health and fitness because there are too many choices. So you want to make it way too sweet to leave. What can you ADD?

To make this make so much sense for YOU, what you add ideally will NOT negatively impact your time demands. You could add access to another course or tool you’ve already created but that normally did not come with it.

You need to be sure that you’ve thought through current and well as new customers. Current customers will ask if they too get it. If they’ve been grandfathered in at an early adopter rate the answer may be no, but we’ll allow you to upgrade for (less than the product or service would usually sell for).

I’ve increased the coaching time I spend or additional coaches spend with our clients. There’s a long term strategy to this and it’s not increased profit right away but it is retaining clients longer because they get a strong start.

If you’re listening and you’d like to coach on our Flipping 50 team and are a Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist, reach out via support@flippingfifty.com It’s one of the 3 ways Specialists can earn right away.

There you have it. How to increase your health business rates so you can significantly increase your revenue and keep your stress and dropout rate to a minimum.

Other Episodes You Might Like:

When to Raise Your Rates, Fitness & Health Coaches – Part I

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/raise-your-rates/

How to Raise Your Rates, Fitness & Health Coaches – Part II

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/how-to-raise-your-rates/

How to Charge More, Raise Your Health Coaching Rates, and Not Pee Your Pants Doing It

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/raise-your-health-coaching-rates/

Resources:

Menopause Fitness Specialist™ Program:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/menopause-fitness-specialist-program-2022/

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

WELLPROS mentorship group: https://www.flippingfifty.com/store/uncategorized/fit-pros-health-coaches-monthly-membership-founder/

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If you’re not already health coaching along with the fitness, I suggest you start. The two major areas to focus on for fitness in midlife:

Exercise
Every hour outside of Exercise

In the exercise itself:

Type of exercise and time it’s done
Length of the exercise
Intensity of the exercise
Sequence of exercises
Frequency of exercise
Rest between exercise
Purpose of every exercise and every session

…. Each of these has to be related to endocrine status, musculoskeletal status and conditions or injury history.

Outside of exercise:

Nutrition contributing to the preparation
Nutrition contributing to recovery
Hydration (for the same)
Course correcting to optimize effects of exercise on system (a body under stress can’t exercise hard and get results and eventually more intense exercise will be a part of muscle and bone success)
Sleep
Stress

So there’s a little to unpack during this episode. In fact, that would be an overwhelming amount of information for an episode. That in fact is more like a course (like the Flipping 50 Menopause Specialist Course). We’re going to focus here on the one biggest thing women want in midlife and find elusive: a flat belly. It’s so tied to metabolism, so we’ll focus on this little slice of information so you can start using it with clients tomorrow!

The #1 Key to Helping Clients Get a Flat Belly in Midlife It’s all related to controlling BLOOD SUGAR LEVELS

a. Overall reduction

b. Reduction of spikes

5 Go-To Flat Belly Strategies to Drip Out for Clients

REDUCE OVERALL STRESS. That includes…

Monitor Exercise Effects on Your Client.

Exercise – walking + strength training are best. The exercise that causes more cortisol is that “moderate level” where after about 45 minutes blood sugar levels tend to increase and stay there.. causing your body to store fat. You can’t both store and burn fat.

But women can make a mess of walking and strength training unintentionally too. More is better mentality will kill the positive results they could be getting.

Walking after meals is MOST beneficial
Brisk walking trumps slow walking
Strength training that increases lean muscle tissue makes every other movement or exercise you do daily support blood sugar control: muscle is a sponge for blood sugar
Change the order of the foods they’re eating.

Changing the sequence you eat foods putting protein and vegetables first and carbs last can change the impact of glucose spikes by 75%

Start with Apple Cider vinegar before a meal 1-2 T diluted in a glass of water is proven to significantly reduce blood sugar spikes that occur after meals.

2 More Ways to Help Clients Get a Flat Belly in Midlife 4. Increase movement throughout the day. Even a few minutes of standing pacing, sitting on a desk bike, a few times during the morning and the afternoon reduced post meal blood sugar spikes 17% even when the activity didn’t occur after meals 5. If you know you’re going to eat something that will spike your blood sugar (I like my morning caffeine and unfortunately it spikes my blood sugar – rather than give it up, I’ve decided it stays but afterwards I go for a 30 minute walk every day shortly after when otherwise blood sugar would spike. Go me… and go my matcha! This should be the same for stress…. In an argument, take a walk and blow off steam. Many of us do this naturally and don’t even know it. Moving moves emotions through us but joyful and grief and anger. And it helps keep the blood sugar levels stable.

For coaching, these could be dripped out teachable parts of a mini course, a bonus course to live beside your fitness course, or an upsell to a mini course.

When female clients come to you for core exercise, it’s often not the right tool for the job. Use that to attract and this to give them what they need.

Other Episodes You Might Like:

7 Tips to be a Personal Trainer Every Midlife Woman Wants to Work With https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/be-a-personal-trainer/

5 Menopause Exercise Programming Tips from Recent Exercise Studies

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/menopause-exercise-programming/

Training Midlife Clients | Zone 2 Training For Menopause: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/zone-2-training-for-menopause/

Resources:

Menopause Fitness Specialist™ Program:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/menopause-fitness-specialist-program-2022/

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

WellPros Mastermind & Mentorship Group: https://www.flippingfifty.com/WELLPROS

Theia Glucose Monitor: https://www.flippingfifty.com/myglucose

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If you’re not already health coaching along with the fitness, I suggest you start. The two major areas to focus on for fitness in midlife:

Exercise
Every hour outside of Exercise

In the exercise itself:

Type of exercise and time it’s done
Length of the exercise
Intensity of the exercise
Sequence of exercises
Frequency of exercise
Rest between exercise
Purpose of every exercise and every session

…. Each of these has to be related to endocrine status, musculoskeletal status and conditions or injury history.

Outside of exercise:

Nutrition contributing to the preparation
Nutrition contributing to recovery
Hydration (for the same)
Course correcting to optimize effects of exercise on system (a body under stress can’t exercise hard and get results and eventually more intense exercise will be a part of muscle and bone success)
Sleep
Stress

So there's a little to unpack during this episode. In fact, that would be an overwhelming amount of information for an episode. That in fact is more like a course (like the Flipping 50 Menopause Specialist Course). We’re going to focus here on the one biggest thing women want in midlife and find elusive: a flat belly. It’s so tied to metabolism, so we’ll focus on this little slice of information so you can start using it with clients tomorrow!

The #1 Key to Helping Clients Get a Flat Belly in Midlife

It’s all related to controlling BLOOD SUGAR LEVELS

a. Overall reduction

b. Reduction of spikes

5 Go-To Flat Belly Strategies to Drip Out for Clients

REDUCE OVERALL STRESS. That includes…

Monitor Exercise Effects on Your Client.

But women can make a mess of walking and strength training unintentionally too. More is better mentality will kill the positive results they could be getting.

Walking after meals is MOST beneficial
Brisk walking trumps slow walking
Strength training that increases lean muscle tissue makes every other movement or exercise you do daily support blood sugar control: muscle is a sponge for blood sugar
Change the order of the foods they’re eating.

Changing the sequence you eat foods putting protein and vegetables first and carbs last can change the impact of glucose spikes by 75%

Start with Apple Cider vinegar before a meal 1-2 T diluted in a glass of water is proven to significantly reduce blood sugar spikes that occur after meals.

2 More Ways to Help Clients Get a Flat Belly in Midlife

Increase movement throughout the day. Even a few minutes of standing pacing, sitting on a desk bike, a few times during the morning and the afternoon reduced post meal blood sugar spikes 17% even when the activity didn’t occur after meals
If you know you’re going to eat something that will spike your blood sugar (I like my morning caffeine and unfortunately it spikes my blood sugar – rather than give it up, I’ve decided it stays but afterwards I go for a 30 minute walk every day shortly after when otherwise blood sugar would spike. Go me… and go my matcha! This should be the same for stress…. In an argument, take a walk and blow off steam. Many of us do this naturally and don’t even know it. Moving moves emotions through us but joyful and grief and anger. And it helps keep the blood sugar levels stable.

For coaching, these could be dripped out teachable parts of a mini course, a bonus course to live beside your fitness course, or an upsell to a mini course.

When female clients come to you for core exercise, it’s often not the right tool for the job. Use that to attract and this to give them what they need.

Resources:

Your Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/business-scorecard/

Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist™ Course:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/menopause-fitness-specialist-program-2022/

WellPros Mastermind & Mentorship Group: https://www.flippingfifty.com/WELLPROS

Theia Glucose Monitor: https://www.flippingfifty.com/myglucose

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Training Midlife Clients | Zone 2 Training For Menopause: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/zone-2-training-for-menopause/

7 Tips to be a Personal Trainer Every Midlife Woman Wants to Work With https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/be-a-personal-trainer/

5 Menopause Exercise Programming Tips from Recent Exercise Studies

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/menopause-exercise-programming/

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This list of why serving midlife women, the why to be a Menopause Fitness Specialist encompasses it all.

#1 Reason to be a Menopause Fitness Specialist

Legacy. How do you think most women drawn to doing this are midlife or approaching it themselves? Or they're slightly younger and they're working with older women, but a little bit wiser maybe beyond their years and want to really leave a legacy. Really.

I mean, women in menopause, in early stages, specifically Perimenopause, are also many of them in the workforce. And they're struggling to get support in the workforce. They're struggling with problems with hot flashes with night sweats, leaving them Sleepless in menopause, in the workplace. So they're not functioning as well. So when you can leap in know, how do I pivot? In order to help decrease the signs and symptoms of menopause. You're helping so many things, you're helping the workforce you're keeping absenteeism down, you're increasing and enhancing productivity, and just overall increasing the life and happiness of a single woman and every woman in her ripple effect. Her immediate family and others who either suffer when when she does.

#2 Reason to be a Menopause Fitness Specialist

This is a very lucrative market. One of the reasons why we're seeing a surge of title menopause expert menopause and coach, menopause lifestyle coach. Without the education certification qualification, experience, history proven track record. We're seeing a title acquired in minutes but the knowledge the experience level, the credibility and the ability to create consistent, predictable results reliably, is not yet there. And this is where we can give you the formula that has been proven. First of all, based on science of 30 year history and then based on these last 10 years of being proven. And if it wasn't proven, or thrown out, we've dialed it in. It's done for you. And we can stand on our trademark copyrighted property and say, here's what works.

#3 Reason to be a Menopause Fitness Specialist

Community. You get a community of coaches, and right now an opportunity to congregate with this community and get support with your marketing and your PR, your ways of attracting new clients and of being sure that you're way ahead of them. Asking what's next? What now, when that first program or that first challenge is done these are such important pieces of what you're going to do.

#4 Reason to be a Menopause Fitness Specialist

Freedom. About 52 million women are in menopause right now. There are women who you're able to work with and set your own time. You get to change and set your own schedule when you're the boss, which is what we want as much and maybe some would say more than the money is that we want freedom and flexibility.

It takes a community who can say do you realize what you're doing? Do you realize that you're doing this yourself? Why don't you change that class? Have it at an earlier time, have it in the morning habit at lunch? Don't have it in the evening. You may not attract the same people; they may not be able to go with you. Okay, attract other people who can have the availability that you also have. These things are, are really key. And one advantage of being a flipping 50 Menopause fitness specialist is that you can realize that you too were thinking a little bit crazy and that limiting beliefs are really a piece of what stopped us knowing we can see it so well in somebody else. But when you're in the frame, you can't necessarily see yourself what mistakes you might be making. So this community is really, really key and critical.

#5 Reason to be a Menopause Fitness Specialist

Last but not least, this market is not going away. So women are going to continually go through menopause. If we can capture them when they're 30 and they're 40 If you get that thriving program going there's no reason why you can't rinse and repeat, keep growing, it's scaling it and expanding to the women you're working with now will be 10 and 15 years old or soon, there will be something else that they need in addition to what you've already given them. For those women who have daughters, younger friends, you're going to be able to attract and expand to them. How can you reach midlife already in better shape. You've got an expansive service but you're not all over the board. You can create a program, drill down deeper that program and offer it in so many different ways. Then expand from that program. Once it's up and running, it's already working.

And there you have it. For my Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialists, what would you add?

And what about you? Have you got a community? A market begging for clued-in competent and confident professionals? Do you have a future that looks extremely bright where you can develop a niche and serve it exclusively instead of jumping all over trying to be a jack (or jill) of all trades?

Resources:

Your Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/business-scorecard/

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course/

Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist™ Course:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/menopause-fitness-specialist-program-2022/

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Training Midlife Clients | Zone 2 Training For Menopause

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/zone-2-training-for-menopause/

3 Ways to Coach Menopause Clients Out of Mistakes

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/coach-menopause-clients/

The #1 Way to Reach More New Fitness Customers

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/1-way-reach-new-fitness-customers/

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In this moment of goal setting for next year or your next quarter or half year there is always - at least I hope it’s true for you, someone or something that makes you realize you have been thinking SMALL… and when you start thinking big, you start doing big things.

Whatever your goals are this coming year.. Try 10xing them. What would it be like if you.. Partnered with someone every quarter this next year and earned by promoting them, they by promoting you, or you offered something magical together.

What would it be like if you bought the house next door and created a place for a retreat center? A magical backyard oasis?

If you're an entrepreneur and you want to host a wellness retreat, or you're toying with the idea, and you're just wondering how and what there's a lot to unpack. This is you and I’m unpacking! I promise it’s way more fun than that end-of-vacation kind of unpacking!!

Start with Why Host a Wellness Retreat

What is the reason you’re even asking how to host a wellness retreat (and there are many reasons why you would), but you don't want to begin planning that super fun, ambitious retreat, before you explore, what is my purpose?

Some purposes could be:

Make a profit. I'm going to host a retreat, make a profit, and ideally make this profit doing something that you would enjoy doing: spending a week or a weekend depending on how long this retreat is, with people you enjoy doing activities that you enjoy. That would be number one, you immediately want the profit from the retreat.
You might host a retreat as a live event model. That you definitely have to cover your expenses. Let's be clear on that. But in order to sell your attendees into something greater, and that might be a combination of sell them into a training program that occurred prior to the retreat. So they're buying the training program, the retreat is the reward. And you package it all together, but make it appear as if this is the test of the training they want. The conditioning, the strength, the endurance, the whatever it's going to take for them to have a good time at the retreat, even if there wasn't a retreat, but now you're allowing them to have this real goal: this real starting line if you will, at the beginning of the weekend. That's one way.
Another purpose is in bringing them together and selling them on what they don't know that maybe you're hosting simply an activity kind of retreat. You're taking them hiking, doing yoga, Pilates, core, stand up paddleboarding, horseback riding or kayaking, and otherwise just keeping them very active. But you're doing this with the opportunity to plant seeds about what it is you do on a deeper level. You’re making them hungry for more information, more guidance, helping them realize they don’t know what they don’t know… and want to. You're creating desire for a next step. You're planting that seed at the entire time of your retreat, and then planning to sell them into that and that is how you make a profit. You'll be concerned or thinking about your conversion rates.

That is, you know that if you have 15 people attending 40% of them will take a next step and that those 40% might positively influence each other and make others have FOMO.

Once you know WHY you’re hosting the retreat you can plan much more effectively. When will you drop seeds about what’s next? Even in your welcome kick off party there may be a very small hint about previous attendees and what they went on to do. That’s very subtle.

Based on feedback from nearly 15 years of hosting retreats of various types:

Private for small groups
Fitness Professionals retreats
Flipping 50 fitness retreats

I’ve learned a few things:

You won’t please ALL the people all the time
People don’t always read the fine print
People who’ve never been in a program or met you might attend
Some want “white space” time to for instance journal
They don’t like to be rushed
Many don’t read the fine print
Some don’t follow the training plan and aren’t prepared to keep up
If your brand has a style of eating/nutrition it doesn’t mean attendees will comply
The right people always show up

Determine how long you want the retreat to be:

Half day
Full day
Weekend
3 day

Do you want to host live or virtual?

You might feel more comfortable doing one or the other.

Pros to virtual - low expenses.

Pros to live - the energy and no tech to go wrong!

Let me know if you’re hosting a wellness retreat in 2024 or want to!

Other Episodes You Might Like:

How to Host a Successful Fitness Retreat

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/successful-fitness-retreat/

10 Ways to Fill Your Fitness Programs Right Now

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/10-ways-to-fill-your-fitness-programs-right-now/

7 Ideas to Get Booked as a Speaker or Presenter to Build Business

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/get-booked-as-a-speaker/

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No doubt you too are trying to help clients combine intermittent fasting and exercise. I’m sure it’s come up. You may be attempting to do it. You may know their doctor is suggesting it.

But here’s the incongruence for midlife women.

Low Energy Availability (LEA) and exercising while fasting are one and the same. If you’ve been involved in fitness or nutrition for a minute, you know of the Female Athlete Triad. Generally, young active women essentially become menopausal when they should be having regular cycles because of energy insufficiency.

LEA is right back to that and yet more detrimental for women over 40 trying to maintain muscle, also push performance, who can’t afford to lose bone density but will, and have already depleted adrenals and hormone chaos occurring.

In this episode, I respond to a question from one of our Food Flip programs. If you’re helping clients, or yourself through the conflicting information on intermittent fasting and exercise, this may help.

Right now, if you aren’t yet, consider the Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist and kickstart your year with more knowledge about hormones, their function relative to exercise and understand when a client asks, what they should do, exactly how to help.

Intermittent Fasting and Exercise for Midlife Women

Polly, “Debra I have been wanting to incorporate fasting into my health regime. However with your current recommendations of working out in a fed state I have found it is very difficult to get enough protein and to maintain the fasted state. I read the book Feast Fast Repeat and it goes against a lot of the information you recommend. It’s difficult for me to fast for 18 to 20 hours and feel good. Just wondering what your thoughts are on fasting?”

Start earlier. It’s pretty simple! You don’t have “dinner” at dinner time.. You have a last high protein meal at 3 or 4pm.

Fasting has a purpose. Getting off a plateau. You can kickstart with an 18 or 20 hour fast but there is NO reason if you’re an active person to do this regularly. Rotate.., 12, 14, 15, 18 …. And the amount of carbs you do.

If this was your first book? Keep reading.

Your week should NOT ever look the same every day or you lose metabolic flexibility. If your goal is to stay active and gain muscle and bone density … tell me in a 20 hour fast how you manage to get micronutrients in.

What we all have to do is prioritize.

Are you inflamed? Need to reduce that and kick up the autophagy? Fasting for a short time may be your priority

But high intensity exercise and fasting long are NOT going to coincide together well. That leaves you energy deficient. That puts you in stress. That causes a loss of muscle.

Resources:

WellPros Mentorship Group https://www.flippingfifty.com/store/uncategorized/fit-pros-health-coaches-monthly-membership-founder/

Your Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/business-scorecard/

Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist™ Course:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/menopause-fitness-specialist-program-2022/

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Training Midlife Clients | Zone 2 Training For Menopause: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/zone-2-training-for-menopause/

7 Tips to be a Personal Trainer Every Midlife Woman Wants to Work With https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/be-a-personal-trainer/

5 Menopause Exercise Programming Tips from Recent Exercise Studies

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/menopause-exercise-programming/

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The difference between social media success and a lot of time on social media without success is having a social media marketing strategy.

How often do you post?
How many hashtags do you use?
How do you know which hashtags to use?
Where do you put hashtags?
Which metrics/insights are most important to you?

If you have a strategy, you know the answers to these!

My guest today provides insight at the perfect time. Start the New Year with information that is going to help you knock it out of the park in the coming year.

Make a change for 3 months, assess your insight data and pivot or double down.

You have the opportunity to watch over her shoulder (as you should be with ANY social media expert -recent podcast with Sue B Zimmerman here for you) and watching with a critical eye not just what they’re saying but what they’re doing is GOLD for you!

How often do they post? How often do they make a CTA? How often do they post a story? If you realize… they aren’t after being an “INFLUENCER” as much as getting clients, too, it changes everything!

Listen to the end to hear the rapid fire questions I ask!

Interested in the WELLPROS mastermind & mentorship to kickstart your business? It’s how to get more support from a community of coaches just like you and a coach who’s gone from 0 to 6-figure months.

My Guest:

Imagine your immigrant parents uprooting you in highschool at 16 and moving to a brand new highschool. My guest, Yesenia Lara Garcia grew up in Phoenix and Flaggstaff Arizona and attended NAU studying Strategic Communications and PR. She’s been an associate producer at Fox 10 News while simultaneously juggling roles of mother, wife, and began exploring content creation and became a notable influencer.

Her passion, very possibly your nemesis, is social media. She started her current business, Social Outfit Marketing to empower businesses and influencers to stand out on social media with custom strategies, creative content and engaging copy.

And… she is the most positive person…. With a face that belongs in FRONT of the camera… you’re going to love this!

Be sure you stay til the end of this social media strategy interview where I ask some rapid fire questions you may not know to ask.

Questions We Answer in This Episode:

Let’s do a couple things before we even begin - define influencer and business for me- is there a difference for you and if how do you distinguish the strategies for each? What inspires you? Like any entrepreneur, do you ever have a hard time doing the work/get stuck in terms of creative ways to say the same thing over and over again?
How did you start your business and why?
What did you most want from it?
How do you measure success for your clients? What are you using for metrics?
How do you decide to pivot or test a new strategy?
Let’s talk about trending post types and trending audio, can using trending audio backfire if it’s not music that your demographic likes?
How do you come up with creative ideas?
Is Instagram your primary platform or do you create content for across platform use? Does a REEL on Instagram double as a TikTock or YouTube short for instance?
What mistakes do you see most often that we might be able to let listeners know how to flip?
Is it posting frequency(too much/too little), use of hashtags (too many too few), key words, use of CTA (too much/too little)

Rapid Fire Questions about Social Media Strategy:

How many hashtags are best right now?

Where do hashtags below - post or comments?

How often do you want to look at insights on platforms?

How important are stories?

Connect with Yesenia:

Website: https://www.socialoutfitmarketing.com

work with me: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/socialoutfitmarketing

On Social:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/socialoutfitmarketing/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yesenialg_/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@socialoutfitmarketing

Other Episodes You Might Like:

NITTY GRITTY INSTAGRAM TIP Episode with The INSTAGRAM EXPERT

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/instagram-tip/

5-Tip Health Coaches Marketing Formula for Quick Social Media Wins

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/health-coaches-marketing-formula/

7 Fitness Professionals Social Media Marketing Mistakes (and the fix!) https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/fitness-professionals-social-media/

Manychat.com: https://manychat.com/

Menopause Fitness Specialist™ Program:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/menopause-fitness-specialist-program-2022/

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

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When you need clients, you need them now. How does 5 new clients in 7 days sound?

What would 5 NEW CLIENTS in the next 7 days do for your business?

And what if you charged each of them 30% MORE than you had planned? Yes, you raised your rates AND asked for the sale.

What if getting to those 5 sales, you connected with 12 leads that are interested but may need something lower priced or want to be on a waiting list (because your Beta Group is FILLED?)

What if you also shared with your possible 141 commenters on a post and all followers that you’re “sorry, but closed for this session” but have a waitlist for the next program, and share how to get on a notifications list. And you nurtured that list with a few quick wins between now and having something ready?

Would that be okay?

Well, let me tell you about how our WellPro member did it.

After Thursday's hotseat session last week she went into action. By Friday she'd booked 3 consultations and sold 1, and had a maybe for the other.

But let me tell you the details so you don't miss a thing!!

"Z" was going to wait, until she was ready and had created a course, probably, she said, in January.

No, I suggested that these warm leads who responded to a post that they needed the support of a Menopause Specialist that she was taking couldn't "wait" to cool off. She needed to reach out now.

"Z" was set to charge $497 for a small beta group.

I said add $200 to that. It's going to be a small group, they're going to get a LOT of individual attention. They need to pay for that much time with you.

She reached out to these social-only acquaintances and DM'd them asking if they'd like to meet. She booked 3 sessions in a day. She sold 1, got a maybe and a no, not right now.
Over the next 6 days, she booked more consults, and filled all 5 slots, making $3400+ for a course she hasn't built yet.

**She was limited by the platform she's testing for this size group. She'll have the opportunity to show proof of concept, have testimonials to use for the actual launch, AND... know that the price point is very reasonable since she'll be able to show transformation.

"Z" is lit up excited. She doesn’t just have 5 new clients in 7 days. She has momentum! How do you think that will boost her November and December sales?

How Can You Too Get 5 New Clients in 7 Days (or BETTER!)

I’ve been talking all month about the WELLPROs mastermind. In case you missed it, it’s not too late.

In fact, it’s not too late to get in at the founder’s rate but it will be!!!

Here’s how it works:

Regularly the mastermind & mentorship is $79/month.

The founder’s rate is $49/month

There is NO contract. It’s month-to-month.

I provide value, you stay, you pay monthly via subscription.

If you find it doesn’t serve you, give you clarity on pricing, asking, presenting offers, or planning your next promotion… then you simply give us 3 business days' notice to cancel.

You have access to the library for as long as you’re a member. So not only do you get opportunity to add a hot seat question (whether you’re in bed fast asleep in Australia at 12 noon AZ on Thursdays or live), you get to catch up or review any sessions you’ve missed.

PLUS, you have a CEU course every six months as an added perk.

This is a collaboration of others AND coaching from a 0-to-6-figures a month coach. You hear what’s working for others and ideas and get a team of women rooting for you. Priceless.

You get the opportunity to declare out loud what you’ll do and to report the following week what worked and didn’t.

You can see, if you take instant action, you will get to “yes.”

Other success stories are coming. Some are Black Friday weekend based, others, about testing and research via social media. They’re coming … just stay tuned. Better yet, what if you had a big win.. What would that look like?

Are You Connected?

Fitness Marketing Mastery Website: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fitnessmarketingbiz

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/flipping50tv

Resources:

Your Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/business-scorecard/

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course/

Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist™ Course:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/menopause-fitness-specialist-program-2022/

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Pandemic Fitness Business Success Story: Family Business| Episode #281: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/fitness-business-success-story/

Fitness Marketing Secrets to Recession-Proof with Bedros Keuilian: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/fitness-marketing-secrets/

6-Figure Months From 6 Mindset Shifts: Fitness Coaching Business: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/6-figure-months/

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This episode may be a little tough love. The way to start making money as a health professional is to stop making excuses.

It’s the same thing I’d say to a woman who wants to start getting stronger or more toned or lose weight. She’s got to stop making excuses for what she can’t do.

Look, we’re all busy. Busy isn’t the problem. Busy doing the wrong things is the problem.

You have to admit, that it is much safer to say you aren’t ready, you need a certification, you need more time… but the truth is all of us who’ve done big things have done it not in spite of things that could have gotten in the way but because they did.

Start Making Money as a Health Professional

The #1 way to scale a business – which means to make money without making more time – is a digital course. Since 2010 digital courses have been the #1 growth formula for those with a proven system and formula for getting results. Anyone from needlepoint to choreography, to cooking to growing tomatoes can create a digital course.

So fitness, which lends itself to pictures and video and voice overs so very easily is an easy way to ….

But that’s not what I’m talking to you about here.

In order to scale, most of us can’t afford to do low ticket offers first.

You have to have the influx of revenue and time in order to invest in systems, staff, platforms and ads in order to make small and evergreen work.

Think about your monthly bills. They’re going to keep coming in while you aren’t making anything, don’t have an email list and aren’t ready to promote what you’ll be building yet.

You have to decide before you’re making money as a health professional that you’re going to make this work.

We may not know how to make it happen, but….

We’ve got to make it welcome.

And in creating space and time you allow yourself the ability to expand.

It’s not pretending. You are able to become the vision you want.

In fact, what would you love?

It’s easy and risky to start comparing yourself to other people or start on a path of acquiring… certifications, degrees… and not actually find yourself loving either the journey or the outcome.

Ask, what would you love?

Confusion can be a convenient cover up for avoidance.

You could be avoiding success. What could be afraid of?

You also may be letting other things get in your way like being too busy at work.

When in reality that is a very comfortable out.

When there is a tragedy or a dire need any one of us will make it happen. When it is a convenient choice and you’re fine and you’ll eat and go shopping no matter what the …

Making Money as a Health Professional

Decide.

Create a model that brings in revenue fast.

Then create that long game revenue stream.

Test the plane while you’re flying it.

Add other parts customers will need.

What will they need next?

The first steps though are to dream about the lifestyle you want. Then when you can see and feel it, start getting into action creating the WHO you have to be to get it.

Resources:

Your Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/business-scorecard/

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course/

Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist™ Course:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/menopause-fitness-specialist-program-2022/

Other Episodes You Might Like:

10 Ways to Fill Your Fitness Programs Right Now

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/10-ways-to-fill-your-fitness-programs-right-now/

Planning Content to Fill Your Fitness Programs

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/fill-your-fitness-programs/

Tools to Get Clients to Stick With Their Exercise

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/clients-stick-with-their-exercise/

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Let’s be super clear. Better productivity is about getting more done in less time. THAT last little detail is very important!

Ever finish a busy day feeling like you’ve not really gotten anything knocked off your list that was important? You’re 3 questions away from better productivity! There are plenty of reasons why this happens.

I could lose 2 hours easily on Canva creating a single elaborate post for Instagram. I love to play with graphics and words and I’m good at it. That doesn’t mean I should be doing it before other things.

There are certain things we love to do and we’re drawn to them for one reason or another so we could be distracted by something unimportant all day and not really ever get to the things that matter.

In this time we’re in we all have so many things we want to do and that can fill our time. You have to remember that while you’ll have times when you do need to roll your sleeves up and do the work, you have to find the white space too. That is the time when you’ll be most creative and inspired and without that, girl, your light will go out. Don’t let that happen.

3 Questions to Better Productivity:

· Does it generate revenue immediately?

· Does it generate leads immediately?

· Does it just matter today or will it matter next year?

There’s more though.

What’s the MVP of anything you’re doing. That is, the Minimum Viable Product. And is that enough? If this is an evergreen product you’re going to use for years and you are sharing with your partners, then your MVP is going to be far higher and require more time and energy.

But if this is a quick lift to something that is a one-off… then a lower MVP, say for a handout or a cheat sheet at a masterclass or a surprise asset in a zoom for coaching clients, might be enough.

Here’s an example of my Wednesday in real time.

Tasks I had to do:

· Post on Instagram

· Complete promotional content for 3 products for our affiliates

· Review our Team SOPs for the month

· Review our new podcast manager’s posts

· Work on next month’s Gift Guide

· Create the Recipes & Challenge for our Membership

· Reorganize some content within our membership

The real question may not be where on a to-do list these things go but whether you should be doing them. If you or someone on your team are doing a lot of tasks that don’t lead directly to revenue or lead generation (aka, growing your email list), then how are you measuring successful completion of job responsibilities? Every position should have a list of success or KPIs, that the hired agrees they will be able to complete and they will report weekly to you.

This makes it easy to have them begin determining their own questions for better productivity. If it’s not going to help them achieve the measures of success for their role, then they should think twice about doing it. If it doesn’t generate revenue or leads but increases expenses, they should think about that. The numbers don’t lie. So, in your weekly goal of spending more productive but potentially less overall time, you have to be deferring to numbers. Know the revenue from a promotion, leads generated per lead magnet or freebie, and your email list growth.

So, let’s come back to this list of questions you can use to determine whether something that needs to be done should be done by you.

3 More Questions to Ask that Will Lead to Better Productivity:

· What is your time worth?

· How much would you have to pay someone else to do this job?

· Could someone else do this better than you for less than you?

*I have to admit this so in case you too do this, while I was making the notes here, and including the list of things to do, I wanted to continue to add to it. Stop yourself from doing that. You know just because there are 24 lines on a yellow legal pad, you don’t have to fill that entire page that says Monday. And there’s an infinite number of slots on a spreadsheet if that’s what you’re using. Don’t do that. Consider that you are an employee. What would they say if you gave them all that for a day? Goodbye comes to mind!

Questions about pricing, offers, how long a funnel to promote a program? These are all answered in real time in hotseat format with the WELLPROS mastermind & mentorship. Last week after the first session, a member reported she had two new sales and 6 consult appointments booked within 2 days of the meeting.

Right now, you can still join for the Founder’s Rate of $49/month (regularly $79) – extended one last week. It’s month-to-month, no obligation. If you’re getting the answers, putting them into action and getting results you’ll want to stay and rinse and repeat.

Resources:

WELLPROS mentorship group: https://www.flippingfifty.com/store/uncategorized/fit-pros-health-coaches-monthly-membership-founder/

Your Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/business-scorecard/

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course/

Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist™ Course:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/menopause-fitness-specialist-program-2022/

Your Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/business-scorecard/

Other Episodes You Might Like:

How to Stop Being So Busy So You Can Be Productive

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/busy-be-productive/

The Productive Fitness Professional: How I Get More Done in Less Time

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/productive-fitness-professional/

Get More Things Done – Right – with a Quality Hire https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/get-more-things-done/

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If you’re a wellness professional or aspiring to be one, then you can take inspiration from other wellness professionals creative application of their skillset, their passions, and problem solving.

In the WellPro Mastermind (details below) we use the L.I.F.T. method to leverage your uniqueness so we can solve that problem of how you stand out when there are so many newly certified or at least calling themselves, coaches trying to do the same as you.

This is one of our community members, so say a virtual warm welcome to her, and you may potentially see her inside our mastermind on one of the three hotseats we host each month. If you’re a member, know we give you 12 opportunities to get answers to immediate questions like how to craft an offer, where to price your product, how to fill seats on a webinar or how to make a call to action, and where and when to (and not to do it)!

You can learn more here: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/wellpro Be among our first members and get the founder’s rate. Enjoy the kickoff calls and the full library no matter when you join for as long as you’re a member.

My Guest:

In Jill Beck’s eyes, Health and wellness for people over 40 is in dire need of transformation. Let’s be honest, the industry has struggled to address the lack of fitness and wellness options for anyone who’s NOT a fit 25-40 year old (white) guy.

Once Jill left Wall Street 20+ years ago, she started to get serious about her health and fitness. Over that journey, she saw firsthand how few resources and options existed for people over 40. Now she’s on a mission to ensure that no one else has to go through that experience by themselves!

Combining her experience with tech & finance with her passion for wellness, fitness and overall health, Go Long is currently her third business venture and the one she’s most excited about.

The major throughline in all her businesses has been wanting to help people become their best selves, however they define that.

Questions We Answer in this Episode:

You’ve got a novel concept, how was this born?
What criteria have you used to determine there’s a demand, and there’s clients willing to pay for it?
What kind of professionals do you refer to?
You will constantly need new clients, where are they coming from?
How can a pro listening connect with you to tell you more about what they do and how they might be a resource for you?

Connect with Jill:

Website: https://golong.me

On Social:

BLOG: https://golong.substack.com

INSTAGRAM: https://instagram.com/justgolong

THREADS: https://threads.net/justgolong

CALENDLY: https://calendly.com/jill-c-beck/30min

Resources:

Menopause Fitness Specialist™ Program:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/menopause-fitness-specialist-program-2022/

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Starting a New Business as a Personal Trainer | Entrepreneur Interview https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/starting-a-new-business/

Grow Your Fitness Business in 2023 | Personal Trainers and Health Coaches

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/fitness-business-in-2023/

Small Work Wins for Your Health & Fitness Business

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/small-work-wins/

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I’m going to hand you the health professionals launch checklist right inside this episode. As we round the corner on the 4th quarter and enter the holiday season this is one thing on every health and fitness professional’s mind.

Having a great next year begins the last quarter of this year. You have to put things in place. And whether it’s your spring break bootcamp or your summer shape up or fall back on track program, if you don’t have the right steps in place before you open the cart, during the cart, and after the cart, you’re not going to be as successful as you could.

First, before we dive in, I’ll ask this: do you have a goal? Do you know how many items of X you want to sell? Then do you know how you’re going to put the offer in front of the right people at the right time?

You have to be always growing an email list and nurturing it. Not just wishing you had when you go to launch. Sales is a lot of things. It’s relationships. But it’s also numbers. You want to always be bringing people in at the top of your funnel and moving them to the middle and finally be moving them either to a sale from the bottom of the funnel or moving them off of your list.

The Launch Checklist for Health Professionals

Track Numbers
Before anything, set yourself up to track G-analytics and any special codes
Runway length based on price:
2-4 weeks
4–8 weeks
Serve Top of Funnel
Create or locate your cornerstone content*
Create once, use many times
Proceed to Mid Funnel
Asking for an opt in
Bottom of Funnel
Email list campaigns
Start with feel-think-do related content
Discuss the problem
Explain why
Then provide the next step
Target a segmented list
They got on your list because of exactly this problem you’re solving
Post Launch Breakdown
Create a list of what to test next
Landing pages - copy, images Offer

You’re a business not a newspaper or a magazine. Make an offer on a regular basis and when people unsubscribe because you did, they weren’t going to buy. Celebrate that you weeded them out.

That’s it. Step by step. You can use this list to start NOW. No matter what time of year you’re listening.

And if you’re not already in our WELLPROs mastermind and mentorship then consider joining us if you’re lost with pricing, offers, how to position yourself or knowing what’s worth your time and what’s not.

Resources:

Starting a New Business as a Personal Trainer | Entrepreneur Interview

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/starting-a-new-business/

Grow Your Fitness Business in 2023 | Personal Trainers and Health Coaches

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/fitness-business-in-2023/

Small Work Wins for Your Health & Fitness Business

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/small-work-wins/

Other Episodes You Might Like:

10 Ways to Fill Your Fitness Programs Right Now

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/10-ways-to-fill-your-fitness-programs-right-now/

Planning Content to Fill Your Fitness Programs

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/fill-your-fitness-programs/

Filling Your Personal Training Programs with Juicy Titles That Sell

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/filling-personal-training-programs-juicy-titles-sell/

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Who doesn’t want a million dollar wellness business? Yet, here’s the truth: few health and wellness professionals allow themselves to dream that big or are willing to do what it takes.

There is also a little magic in deciding what kind of lifestyle you want to create. A million dollar wellness business with what percent profit? How do you want your day-to-day life to be? If you’re willing to do anything or whatever it takes to grow your business, you may be sorry that you have the business you’ve grown with hours you can’t sustain.

So let’s imagine your ideal business with what you have in the bank, where you live, where you travel but most importantly, what your every day and every week are like. This matters!

More on that in an upcoming episode as we start dreaming into reality your idea 2024.

Get the Health & Fitness Professional’s Business Scorecard

My Guest:

Danielle Dorsey studied Kinesiology in JMU and her Master’s Degree in Recreation Administration from the University of Tennessee. Danielle is the Founder of Dance Corps, and she is a Brand Partner for Savvi Lifestyle Co. She has helped thousands of people in the fitness and wellness space over the past 19 years in the industry, and she has presented at numerous intercollegiate and MANIA conferences. She has certifications from NASM as personal trainer and Nutrition Coach and from AFAA for primary group exercise.

Questions We Answer in This Episode:

What is Dance Corps?
What is your business mission? Who do you serve?
WHY are you doing this?
What were your biggest struggles and how did you overcome them?
What is your vision for your business?
And then how is it you came to plan and offer this event?
How are group fitness instructors going to benefit from attending this online event?
Why did you choose injury prevention/navigating overuse injuries for instructors?
How will this event positively impact the careers of instructors who listen to the interviews?
How can people register to attend?

Connect with Danielle on the summit:

Website: https://fitnessfirst.pro

On Social:

Facebook: https://www.Facebook.com/DCdancecorps

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dc_dancecorps

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-dorsey-ms-nasm-cnc-411b9862

Other Episodes You Might Like:

How to Be a Profitable Health Expert | You Need This

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/profitable-health-expert/

How to Be Healthy Enough, Profitable and Successful Enough

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/successful-enough/

Coaching Client Nutrition within Scope of Practice for Revenue & Impact

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/coaching-nutrition-clients/

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FaceBook Ad Strategies may be something you’re burying your head in the sand about, something you’re trying to do yourself or something you just have to farm out due to time restrictions, but regardless, you need to know!

My Facebook ad strategies have swung from me doing to me hiring poorly to me hiring wisely and that brings me to today’s episode. Full disclosure, I don’t share anything I don’t know like and trust with any community members. That’s whether we’re talking skincare, whole body vibration, or Facebook ad strategies. Today’s guest is my ads strategist or media buyer as you will hear her describe herself.

We will cover how to grow traffic, increase leads (and therefore email list), and how to advertise to a paid service.

My Guest:

As a seasoned professional with over a decade of experience in growth and performance marketing, online sales, and digital advertising, Carrie has managed $25+ million in ad spend. Her expertise includes META Campaigns, specializing in Direct Response, eCommerce, Events, App Downloads, and Lead Generation. She excels in full-funnel conversion optimization, attribution tracking, and troubleshooting for the health and fitness industry, serving coaches, activewear brands, naturopaths, and doctors.

Questions We Answer in this Episode:

What's is the best strategy to improve performance if new to META ads.
How would that differ for someone more experienced?
(And let’s clarify, when we use the term new to META ads vs experienced - are we referring to the first time someone advertises or newer in business trying to build an audience and leads?)
What are Media Buyer Qualification Questions & Red Flags?
High-Performing Ads, Copy, Images to Resonate w/ Audience
What does a new-to-FB ads entrepreneur want to watch out for when hiring someone else to manage ads?
Let’s define KPIs and what choices for goals and KPIs a listener would want to consider.
Goals & Defining KPIs. While always revenue, knowing if they need to build their audience first (website traffic, email, ect. before sales)
Is there a difference in the cost of an ad to leads to a free or content-rich post in which you might have a native ad/opt-in embedded vs an ad direct to a sales page?
Knowing we’re health & fitness professionals talk a little about claims, even simple things like use of the word “you” in ads that might get an ad rejected?

Connect Carrie’s Website:

hello@carriegottschalk.com

Carrie on Social:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/cgottschalk/

https://www.instagram.com/carriegottschalk/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/cgottschalk/

Guest Headshot: https://www.flippingfifty.com/wp-content/uploads/elementor/forms/64f88c5eb2824.jpg

Resources:

Your Business Scorecard: For Fitness & Health Coaches: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/business-scorecard/

Copywriting for Marketing to Women Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course/

Menopause Fitness Specialist™ Program:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/menopause-fitness-specialist-program-2022/

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Fast Fixes for Social Media: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/fast-fixes-for-social-media/

5 Tips for Health Coaches: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/health-coaches-marketing-formula/

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Midlife fitness pro (or health coach)? If you’re just getting started, just shifting gears, or you’ve been in it for years but feeling like you haven’t optimized your skills, talent and personal brand, then this is for you.

I’m joined in this episode with IDEA World 2023 Fitness Professional of the Year, Christine Conti. Learn how she decided she was going for this prestigious award and made it happen. Hear how she’d take action if she was starting all over again.

My Guest:

Christine Conti believes in the “YES. YOU CAN” mindset. Christine is an international fitness educator chronic disease wellness specialist, and the recipient of the IDEA World 2023 Fitness Professional of the Year. She is the CEO of CONTI: a woman-owned enterprise that offers keynote speaking, chronic disease wellness, mindset coaching and continuing education for fitness professionals, schools and private companies. Christine is also a best-selling author, podcast host, co-founder of REINVENTING THE WOMAN INTERNATIONAL, a 3x IRONMAN and a guide for Special Olympic athletes. After receiving a life-changing diagnosis at age thirty, this former investment banker and English teacher is determined to show the world that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!

Questions We Answer in This Episode:

What was your journey to becoming IDEA World 2023 Fitness Professional of the Year?
At what point did you decide, I want it, I’m going for it, and I’ll have it?
How will you use it as a platform for what’s most important to you?
Advice to fitness pros who feel like they’re just one of hundreds of thousands and finding it hard to be seen and heard? What would you do if you were starting over right now?

Connect with Christine:

Website: https://www.contifit.com/

Book: https://www.contifit.com/shop

Podcast: https://www.twofitcrazies.com/

Reinventing the Woman International Group: https://www.RTWtribe.com

On Social:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ContiFit/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christine-conti-b0668710b/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christine_m_conti/

Resources:

Your Business Scorecard: For Fitness & Health Coaches: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/business-scorecard/

Menopause Fitness Specialist™ Program + WELLPRO Trial:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/menopause-fitness-specialist-program-2022/ (October only!)

Save 20% off with code: Flipping50 https://www.flippingfifty.com/powerplate

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Branding for Fitness Professionals | Personal Trainers & Health Coaches: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/branding-you/

Fitness Coaches: Identify and Stop Overworking and Under Earning: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/overworking-and-under-earning/

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Say, you’ve got it good. You’re liking your life right now. Do you need to learn the art of letting go of good to get to great? Though it might sound too much like a Jim Collin’s book, it’s literally what today’s guest has done. More than once in her life. And she’d done it in midlife.

If you want to reach a new level of influence, power, or success, that you might define as revenue or freedom of time, you may have to stop doing something. Either stop completely, or delegate it to someone else.

Listen closely to this episode where one successful book may or may not lead to another. One successful podcast may have to go away to birth a better one.

For you… I wish whatever you’re dreaming about … or better.

My Guest:

Gin Stephens is the author of the NY Times and USA Today bestseller Fast. Feast. Repeat., and Delay, Don’t Deny: Living an Intermittent Fasting Lifestyle, an Amazon #1 best seller in the weight loss category, as well as Clean(ish): Eat (Mostly) Clean, Live (Mainly) Clean, and Unlock Your Body's Natural Ability to Self-Clean (2022), another Amazon #1 bestseller in several categories. Gin has lived the intermittent fasting lifestyle since 2014, losing over 80 pounds. She is the host of 2 top-ranked podcasts: Intermittent Fasting Stories and the Fast. Feast. Repeat. Intermittent Fasting for Life podcast (w/Sheri Bullock). You can join her private community by going to ginstephens.com/community.

Questions We Answer in this Episode:

You mentioned starting this new podcast and how it's already out-performed your first and made the comment about having to let go of things. The universe is speaking to me apparently. It falls in alignment with 10x is easier than 2x philosophy where to grow really big and explode you may have to let things that are doing "pretty well" go. What was your reason for starting this new adventure?
Are you letting go of something in order to support it?
And how does/did that feel?
Have you done this before in your life and business?
Any advice to listeners who are or who want to be coaches and trainers and aren't right now? What if they just feel pulled to become trainers but have no formal training just such a strong interest, what would you say might tell them this is a fleeting thing vs a real life-loving game-changing pursuit?

Connect with Gin:

https://www.ginstephens.com/

On Social:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ginstephens

Other Episodes You Might Like:

How to Pivot Your Fitness Brand Right Now with Natalie Jill

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/your-fitness-brand/

Top 10 BEST Health Coaching Business Podcasts of 2022

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/best-health-coaching-business-podcasts/

Resources:

Menopause Fitness Specialist™ Program:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/menopause-fitness-specialist-program-2022/

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

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These 5 menopause programming tips come directly from a presentation given to Medfit Foundation during Menopause Awareness month. We need to be distinct, set ourselves apart and be not just cutting edge with variety for variety’s sake. In some cases, old and traditional wins. As I continue to update you with content here that I think you’ll love and I sprinkle rich ideas throughout that help you market or program with these tips (or both) you’ll gain ideals to get your own creative juices flowing!

Anything I can do you can do better… in your style, your brand and with a knowing of why your clients love YOU. So take the idea and see where it takes you. It’s you and I brainstorming together.

Each one of these 5 menopause exercise programming tips can be used:

To market with live social media minutes
As pitch sheets for your local media
To develop new programs (or tweak existing ones)

#1 Menopause Exercise Programming Tips: ESTROGEN LOSS DIRECTLY CORRELATES TO MUSCLE PROTEIN SYNTHESIS LOSS Because insufficient estrogen levels lead to loss of muscle protein synthesis, during menopause transition when this is the most significant, there needs to be an increased external stimulus (lifting weights) and protein compared to before menopause transition.

Solution: Lifting heavier and or with more volume (not frequency) than PRE menopause and consuming a regular dose of high quality protein throughout the day: both proven to boost muscle protein synthesis.

Programming: Consider your titles closely. Do they sound like “anyone’s” program? Or do they shout right to menopausal women, this is for you! Educate and market using this message. Get in front of doctors and support body composition testing. Menopause Month and day are ripe times to promote this. And when they know, they know they need you.

Science: Gerontology, 2021

#2 Menopause Exercise Programming Tips: The Greatest Loss of Lean Muscle Tissue Occurs... ... during the phase from Early Perimenopause to Late Perimenopause (27%) percent. This is the greatest opportunity to PREVENT losses that follow in greater significants too.

Though early and late postmenopause phases also reflect signficantly high muscle loss, they could be mitigated by positively influencing what occurs for most women between 40 and 50. (Understand every woman's menopause journey is unique)

If you didn't, start. If you're in perimenopause (know it or not in your 40s) begin this muscle protein synthesis boosting NOW.

Programming: Get in front of audiences of women in their late 30s, early 40s and late 40s and early 50s and give them a specific reason why based on what is happening to their physiology they need to start right now!

Science: Iran Journal of Public Health, 2021

#3 Menopause Exercise Programming Tips: Greater Volume During a Session vs Greater Volume in Frequency ...Provides Greater muscle mass, strength, and endurance. THIS is really an important concept to consider. When volume is identical comparing 3x a week with 2 sets of strength vs 2x a week with 3 sets of strength, the latter was far more beneficial.

There's more. If you combine this study with others demonstrating adrenal insufficiency, recovery rate, and the number one obstacle for exercise (time), there is a huge advantage to less frequent, yet additional sets creating a volume of stimulus with a more positive effect.

Programming: Be different. Start with low frequency and increase volume by other means than longer sessions and more times per week.

Science: Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 2022

#4 Menopause Exercise Programming Tips: Still Ovulating? A Time to Lift Heavy, a Time to Do Agility Moves Plan your exercise with your cycle or you miss an opportunity to make fitness gains and decrease risk injury.

During week 2 or ovulation, That is about 10-14 days after your cycle starts, is the BEST time to lift heavy. Yet, it is the worst time to do agility and rapid directional changes of movement.

The effects of estrogen mean muscle benefits significantly from heavy and power work, and is supported by rigid tendons. However the combination of rigid tendons and lax ligaments also created with high estrogen mean injury risk is greater during this time.

Very often, women begin reporting greater injury or repeat injuries during perimenopause and there's no proof but I do suspect that not honoring this cycle is a contributing factor. Then once you've got a weak link you are not aware of, the repeated stress without cycling workout stimulus is worsened.

Menopause? of course estrogen is over all, down. But cycling or periodization is still a consideration in order to optimize benefits and decrease risk of injury.

Programming: Create a program or course for teaching women how to train based not on your program starting but on their period starting.

Science: Frontiers in Physiology, 2019

#5 Menopause Exercise Programming Tips: 3 Solutions for Overcoming Sarcopenia or Anabolic Resistance Muscle protein synthesis is a chief mechanism for maintaining and gaining lean muscle. Estrogen's positive influence on muscle is removed or reduced during menopause. What's left?

Resistance Training
High quality protein at regular intervals throughout the day (high quality includes sources with adequate leucine and EAA important to muscle gain)
Supplementation - if dietary protein goals aren't achieved (could include protein powder, EAAs, Creatine, and or BCAAs)

The greatest of these is Resistance Training. The stimulus is a must.

Programming: Consider bundling a package of Resistance Training sessions with progression + easy recipes + protein supplements you sell or affiliate for

Science: Nutrition Metabolism, 2016

Other Episodes You Might Like:

10 Things to Know About Coaching Menopause Fitness Clients:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/menopause-fitness-clients/

3 Ways to Coach Menopause Clients Out of Mistakes:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/coach-menopause-clients/

Training Midlife Clients | Zone 2 Training For Menopause:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/zone-2-training-for-menopause/

Resources:

Your Business Scorecard: For Fitness & Health Coaches: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/business-scorecard/

Menopause Fitness Specialist™ Program + WELLPRO Trial:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/menopause-fitness-specialist-program-2022/ (October only!)

Save 20% off with code: Flipping50 https://www.flippingfifty.com/powerplate

What, When & Why to Exercise for Women 40+ Recordings: https://www.flippingfifty.com/womensexercise

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If it’s time for you to start or start over, this episode is gold. Some of these were conducted during the pandemic. Others not so much. These 5 big health & fitness experts share their tips for starting over right now in these times.

Let me give you the TV Guide version of these episodes so you can choose which to listen to first and … the 411 in terms of the resounding theme each of them shared!

Bedros Keullian

Bedros Keuilian is an American Entrepreneur and a believer in the American Dream. He and his family are immigrants who escaped communism and came to the United States to find freedom, opportunity and a better life.

Fitness Marketing Secrets to Recession-Proof with Bedros Keuilian:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/fitness-marketing-secrets/

JJ Virgin

Triple-board certified nutrition expert and Fitness Hall of Famer JJ Virgin is a passionate advocate of eating and exercising smarter. JJ helps people stay fired up and healthy as they age, so they feel the best they ever have at age 40+.

Fitness Trainer Opportunities Right Now | Start Over Start Strong: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/opportunities/

Sara Kooperman

Sara Kooperman, JD, CEO of SCW Fitness Education, WATERinMOTION® and S.E.A.T. Fitness, is a visionary leader in the fitness industry.

What Would You Do If You Were Starting Over? Female Fitness Leader Responds: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/starting-over-female-fitness-leader/

Still listening? You’ve picked up on the a theme by now. Communication is key for each of these trailblazers to start or start over.. Be it communication with your audience (growing your list) or it’s communicating with collaborators and people you can work with for the good of both your audiences.

Natalie Jill

How to Pivot Your Fitness Brand Right Now with Natalie Jill: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/your-fitness-brand/

Steph Gaudreau

Steph Gaudreau is a strength nutrition strategist and lifting coach who helps women fuel themselves smarter. Get stronger, increase their energy, and perform better in the gym. She’s the author of The Core 4: Embrace Your Body, Own Your Power and the host of the Listen to Your Body Podcast.

Women’s Fitness Nutrition Influencer Tips for Marketing: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/influencer-tips-for-marketing/

Other episodes you might like:

Fitness Marketing Secrets to Recession-Proof with Bedros Keuilian:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/fitness-marketing-secrets/

Fitness Trainer Opportunities Right Now | Start Over Start Strong: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/opportunities/

What Would You Do If You Were Starting Over? Female Fitness Leader Responds: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/starting-over-female-fitness-leader/

How to Pivot Your Fitness Brand Right Now with Natalie Jill: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/your-fitness-brand/

Women’s Fitness Nutrition Influencer Tips for Marketing: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/influencer-tips-for-marketing/

Resources:

Your Business Scorecard: For Fitness & Health Coaches: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/business-scorecard/

Menopause Fitness Specialist™ Program:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/menopause-fitness-specialist-program-2022/

Copywriting for Marketing to Women Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course/

Send an Email to support@flippingfifty.com if you want to learn more about the founding member’s rate for the Health & Well Pros mastermind.

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No matter how passionate you are about fitness, health coaching or nutrition, growing your health business is still growing a business. It can be scary. It can feel risky.

And the truth is, if it doesn’t, there’s probably a higher change that you’ll become one of the statistics or remain a hobby or side hustle. And if you want a side hustle, that’s great. But if you really want to be running a successful and thriving business and to leave the 9-to-5 then you have to have something on the line.

Even doctors and very intelligent people need your support. And even they ask for help. Did you know that doctors, lawyers and financial planners are MORE likely to ask for help. A doctor at a recent health business conference I attended stood up and thanked me - and the Flipping 50 podcast for If You are “Busy,” But Not Growing Your Health Business

For instance, if you are a serial entrepreneur or tend to get passionate and then switch gears…

These two are directly linked.

The number one reason your growth is slow is that you change what you’re doing instead of doubling down on what’s already working or even what’s not and committing to making it work.

After I had left my 6 ½ year position at a fitness center where we’d grown by 100k every year for 6 straight years, the manager asked me to support the new training director in growing the program. She shared some of the things they’d been trying. One of the trainers has spent hours developing this program of videos and workout plans and then it fell flat. No one bought it.

I asked what was tested next.

Crickets.

So, I offered some ideas for what to do next:

test the title

test copy

test images used to promote it.

She said, it’s too late. He left because he couldn’t make money and he was so disappointed.

Don’t let that be you.

Either as that trainer/coach or as the Personal Training director/owner mentoring others. Ask for help if you’re out of your wheelhouse.

It’s okay to be incredibly brilliant and knowledgeable about fitness, healthy, protocols, yet having never created an offer, launched a program, written copy or selected images or knowing where to place them on the page for the eye to flow properly… ask. Ask before you guess or spend your time, money and energy.

You will lose momentum, you will lose good people, and you will rob the audience you serve of the gift your service can be to them if you don’t ask for support.

How to Ask for Help Growing Your Health Business

Do it early. When you don’t know business, know that the sooner you start right, the better.

When you don’t know what to ask, ask this:

How can I help you?

Ask always. There’s never a time not to ask. Simultaneously, there’s never a time you can’t ask someone else how you can help them. If you want the short Cliff Notes on this episode, that would be it.

Be open and honest about your numbers. To do that, know them. Beyond knowing you’re not making enough, know how much is enough. Know how many of a product or service you must sell to make it justifiable. Know the value of your own time. Know that few of us can afford to start with a low-ticket offer. Because if you must sell 5000 of them to make it count, you must have an audience of about 100,000.

Your Business Scorecard: For Fitness & Health Coaches: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/business-scorecard/

Copywriting for Marketing to Women Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course/

Menopause Fitness Specialist™ Program:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/menopause-fitness-specialist-program-2022/

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Small Work Wins for Your Health & Fitness Business

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/small-work-wins/

Grow Your Fitness Business in 2023 | Personal Trainers and Health Coaches

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/fitness-business-in-2023/

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How do you see yourself? Educator, healer, entrepreneur?

My guest founded an education company, a product development company, and while she runs them as CEO, she continues to educate on benefits and use of products. But she started without the vision of where she is today. She knew she had something and she just kept going. She did it backwards, she did it when others said you can’t do that.

So, if you’re wondering if you can, if you should, or you are swimming upstream surrounded by people who are used to doing it the way it’s always been done and you are getting looks like, are you crazy? You might just be in the exact right place.

Some of the most successful, the artists, the inventors weren’t popular at first. They were ridiculed. Don’t be too quick to give in or to simply do it status quo. Need a little dose of inspiration? This might be it!

My Guest:

Dr Emily Splichal, Functional Podiatrist and Human Movement Specialist, is the Founder of EBFA Global, Creator of the Barefoot Training Specialist® Certification, Author of Barefoot Strong and CEO/Founder of Naboso Technology. With over 20 years in the fitness industry, Dr Splichal has dedicated her medical career towards studying postural alignment and human movement as it relates to barefoot science, foot to core integration and sensory integration.

Questions We Answer in this Episode:

Was the business model you have now what you imagined when you started?

Is the biggest part of your business direct to consumer or business to business?

What were the biggest surprises about your business?

You mention a team, and having one is something listeners will need, will need, and that can be a very unique skill set. How has it been hiring a team and delegating?

Connect with Dr. Emily:

https://www.dremilysplichal.com

On Social:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nabosotechnology

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/naboso_technology/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NabosoTechnology

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefunctionalfootdoc/

Resources:

Barefoot Strong Book - On Amazon

Use Code DEBRA for $50 off for functional feet

https://www.flippingfifty.com/dremily

Your Business Scorecard: For Fitness & Health Coaches: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/business-scorecard/

Copywriting for Marketing to Women Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course/

Menopause Fitness Specialist™ Program:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/menopause-fitness-specialist-program-2022/

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Dr. Emily’s Episode on Flippingfifty.com

https://www.flippingfifty.com/functional-feet/

20 Simple Ways to Market Your Health & Fitness Coaching Business:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/market-your-health-and-fitness-coaching/

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October is Menopause Awareness Month and October 20 is Osteoporosis Day, so it’s only fitting we discuss the truths about working with osteoporosis fitness clients. Questions are abundant both among women diagnosed and trainers and coaches working with them. Information once on the internet lives on the internet and it’s up to you to filter through it.

Here’s a little vetted information to help. Several references are included, but I encourage you to take your own primary research further. If you’re working with someone with osteoporosis or osteopenia or you want to be a part of preventing it, you owe it to them and yourself to do your homework.

Prior to dogma about weight management and lack of consistent information about prevention of bone loss are big contributors to a woman’s risk of osteoporosis
After diagnosis fear is the biggest obstacle many women face due to decades-long information that women with osteoporosis are delicate and should do less
At this time 50% of women diagnosed with osteoporosis suffer a fracture
During menopause transition bone loss can accelerate to 4% a year for up to 10 years according to previous studies reported by John Hopkins
Misinformed from perpetuating outdated information from both doctors and trainers (since 2015 evidence of not only increased safety and viability of high impact and high intensity exercise for osteoporotic postmenopausal women is much more promising than prior goals of stopping or slowing losses)
41% of women over 40 had either osteopenia (>31%) or osteoporosis (>14%) in a 2010 study. Said differently, 31% of women over 40 had osteopenia and more than 30% of women over 60 had osteoporosis. The further from menopause (>10 years the increase in prevalence of osteoporosis = 40% compared to just 5 years post menopause at 9%)
It’s not only about calcium, it’s about whether it’s absorbed. Yes, to Vitamin D and magnesium but if gut issues persist and a woman is tolerating them or describing as “normal for me” there’s a potential gap
Intense weight training and high impact exercise have been safely employed in a number of studies since 2015 with positive results, no negative effects and a high adherence rate
Yoga too has been proven to improve bone density with a daily practice of 12 poses each held for a minute
Whole body vibration increased BMD by 2% with 5 minutes 3x a week in postmenopausal women. In physically restricted individuals it’s an alternative to other exercise. In able-bodied, in combination with resistance training WBV increases results of both muscle and bone regeneration.

“Whole-body vibration therapy is an intentional biomechanical stimulation of the body using various frequencies of vibrations with the motive of health improvement. Ever since its discovery, this therapy has been extensively used in physiotherapeutic measures and the sports industry. For its property of increasing bone mass and density, space agencies use this therapy on astronauts who return to Earth after long-term space missions to regain lost bone and muscle mass. The potential of this therapy to restore bone mass encouraged researchers to look for its scope in the treatment of age-related bone degenerative diseases such as osteoporosis and sarcopenia, as well as in the correction of posture control and gait in geriatrics and post-menopausal women.”

First used by NASA with astronauts as a way to overcome the muscle and bone losses experienced by astronauts in space.

affects bone metabolism, muscle function, muscle training, and the endocrine system
Vibration therapy provides anabolic mechanical signals to the bone and musculotendinous systems
It improves blood circulation to the bones, ensuring an improved nutrition supply.
Human adipose-derived stem cell differentiation into osteoblasts is facilitated by vibration therapy
inhibiting excessive osteoclast formation
improves bone health by amplifying gap junctional communication in osteocytes
activate the tonic vibration reflex and induce non-voluntary muscular contraction
activation of previously inactive muscle fibers
enhances the endocrine system's functioning: Growth hormone increases by 500% (though it sounds inflated: true)

References:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3139257/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36793830/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27331044/

https://www.hopkinsarthritis.org/arthritis-info/osteoporosis-info/

Other Episodes You Might Like:

10 Things to Know About Coaching Menopause Fitness Clients:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/menopause-fitness-clients/

Training Midlife Clients | Zone 2 Training For Menopause:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/zone-2-training-for-menopause/

Resources:

Your Business Scorecard: For Fitness & Health Coaches: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/business-scorecard/

Menopause Fitness Specialist™ Program:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/menopause-fitness-specialist-program-2022/

Save 20% off with code: Flipping50 https://www.flippingfifty.com/powerplate

Send an Email to support@flippingfifty.com if you want to learn more about the founding member’s rate for the Health & Well Pros mastermind.

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If you’re already coaching client nutrition, how’s it going? Are your clients compliant? Seeing results? Are you digging in beyond weight and even muscle and body fat for results? Are you lab testing? Do you know how to suggest and to read a lab and adjust coaching based on that?

If any of those questions gave you reason to pause, this is an episode you want to tune into. Juggling the scope of practice with the leverage you have due to the sheer fact you spend more time with a client than their physician does, is a reality. We talk today about that elephant in the room. What’s in scope, what’s out, how genetics matter and labs reflect lifestyle.

What if your training in other areas of fitness, wellness and sports as a Menopause Fitness Specialist or other niche, is missing a crucial component preventing the breakthroughs you are looking for with your clients?

My Guest:

Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo, the founder of the Institute of Nutritional Endocrinology, is passionately committed to transforming our current broken disease-focused system into a true health care system where every practitioner is skilled at finding the root cause of health challenges and uses the wisdom of nature combined with modern scientific research to restore balance.

Dr. Ritamarie, a licensed Doctor of Chiropractic with Certifications in Acupuncture, Nutrition, Herbal Medicine, and HeartMath®, specializes in insulin, thyroid, and adrenal, and digestive imbalances.

She’s also a master at using palate-pleasing, whole fresh food as medicine, and is a best-selling author, speaker, and internationally recognized nutrition and functional health authority with over 30 years of clinical experience.

Her podcast, Reinvent Healthcare, provides health and wellness practitioners around the globe to be part of the movement to provide root-cause care to people in need.

Questions We Answer in this Episode:

Let’s first define nutrition endocrinology and how you got started
How are fitness & health pros shortchanged in certifications about how to coach people about diet?
The one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work, but scope-of-practice makes fitness pros and health coaches nervous. How can health & fitness pros bridge the gap within their scope of practice when working with clients?
Lab testing and interpretation combined with genetics is something listeners likely have a broad range in experience doing, to just beginning to understand they can actually be front lines in identifying their own and clients source of obstacles/success. For those not yet proficient or confident in their ability to support a client in this way, can you give them insight into how it can be a game-changer for their business and ability to support clients?
This is my favorite topic for fitness & health pros, we’ve just done an entire new series on working with women in perimenopause, postmenopause and the menopause transition for coaches, I’d love to hear you discuss how hormones play a role in not only optimal fitness but nutrition programs for clients?
You’ve been educating fitness & health practitioners for (how long?) You’ve seen not only a huge impact on your consumers, but likely on the businesses of the professionals you serve. Do you have any examples of how life-changing having these skills is for health & fitness pros?

Questions on coaching client nutrition? Messages from your business, liability insurance provider, or certification agency may give you reason to pause. What do you want to ask?

Connect with Dr. Ritamarie about her event:

http://fitnessmarketingmastery.com/shine2023

On Social:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drritamarie/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrRitamarieLoscalzo

Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drritamarie/

YouTube: https://drritamarie.com/youtube

Resources:

Your Business Scorecard: For Fitness & Health Coaches: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/business-scorecard/

Copywriting for Marketing to Women Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course/

Menopause Fitness Specialist™ Program:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/menopause-fitness-specialist-program-2022/

Shine Event 10/27-10/29: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/shine2023

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Coaching menopause fitness clients? They aren’t going to respond the way men or younger women do. In this 3rd episode in the series I actually pull back a bit to look at the big picture, so you can see both perimenopause and postmenopausal need for modifications.

What you do in Perimenopause vs postmenopausal may be quite different
During the menopause transition (2-5 years) women are at risk for accelerated loss of muscle and bone
If a woman you work with went through the pandemic not lifting and was in this transition, the time to mitigate is now
Despite her plea or goal to lose weight, get a body composition test and measure muscle in weight – regularly. Women will still default to weight… losing it being a success, not losing it is a failure. There’s no neutral for many. This takes talking and talking and talking.
They’re on their way to a smoother ride but not there yet when they hit that 12-month period-free moment. Many women have breakthrough bleeding
Whether they choose or opt not for HRT, the recommendations for exercise & exercise nutrition are the same for women in menopause, that is, not for mice, men or young women
HRT is not the same across the board. Awareness of this and what to ask about HRT, bHRT will increase your personal knowledge of why your client may or may not be having success and support her (and increase your value)
Estrogen (as well as progesterone and testosterone) drop with menopause, however a woman can be Estrogen Dominant due to multiple factors and you need to recognize them and adopt a fitness program that supports this. It’s not going to be HIIT and high intensity weight training EVEN if she is gaining weight and needing energy.
Sleep deprivation will interfere with any attempts toward exercise and or diet results.
Gut health will interfere with muscle, bone, and brain benefits of exercise. Working knowledge of how to help and intake questions reflective of gut health are key to supporting individuals in menopause.

Coaching Menopause Fitness Clients Is Rapidly Becoming a Niche

There is a huge demand and a need to be approachable. Since 2018 we’ve educated hundreds of primarily female coaches and trainers with the Flipping50 Menopause Fitness Specialist. There’s a huge need for those who understand the science. Many have even their own frustrations – we’re not immune – so if this is you, you’re not alone!

Don’t be afraid to be transparent. Talk about issues you’ve had. Mistakes you’ve made.

We’re looking for more trainers and health coaches to join our directory as more and more customers are seeking in real person menopause specialists. If you coach weight loss, athletes, overall health, and you want to be included in this group, I’ll share how to get started during Menopause Month in October and gain some huge perks as a results.

You don’t have to have a perfect body to be a good menopause coach. You do want to have adequate experience coaching others in the niche you’re in or have solved a major problem for at least yourself. A proven track record or credentials make a difference. A title is not a qualification and too many coaches and trainers are finding out, as savvy clients become more educated themselves.

Resources:

Your Business Scorecard: For Fitness & Health Coaches: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/business-scorecard/

Copywriting for Marketing to Women Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course/

Menopause Fitness Specialist™ Program:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/menopause-fitness-specialist-program-2022/

Send an Email to support@flippingfifty.com if you want to learn more about the founding member’s rate for the Health & Well Pros mastermind.

Other Episodes You Might Like:

5 Things to Know About Perimenopause Fitness Clients: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/perimenopause-fitness-clients/

6 Things to Know About PostMenopause Fitness Clients: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/postmenopause-fitness-clients/

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In postmenopause fitness clients generally things have smoothed out. Ironically, many ask questions like, “what should a women over 60 do?” And the answer is often, more. More intense, more frequency even.

How ironic given in the previous podcast episode I relayed that based on the physiology of menopause together with physiology of exercise and research featuring women in menopause specifically, perimenopause is a time when many women need to do less to optimize body composition.

Less volume, that is. And less intensity if they’re struggling with insulin resistance + adrenal insufficiency + chronic stress or any combination.

For postmenopause fitness clients, these things are critical to know:

For many postmenopause occurs or they become aware in the 60s they’re well past and exercise needs to be addressed to avoid pitfalls they’ve seen in aging family members. At age 60 muscle loss increases from 3-8% on average loss per decade to 1-2% per year. Now is the time to monitor muscle and have a strategic muscle mass building plan.
Functional exercise should be a part but going overboard on defense of functional vs heavy traditional weight training for older adults will contribute to additional muscle loss.
The focus needs to shift from calorie burning and constant movement to preservation of lean muscle mass during exercise. That is, less cardio and more strength prioritization.
More days per week of strength is not the answer. Fatigue from life stressors for a 60-something can be significant. Young adult family, aging family, career still in play, caregiving at home, together with exercise and possibly dealing with effects of a perimenopause unaware of how to manage may have resulted in significant bone, muscle, and strength loss.
Reaction skills, agility, and balance need to be built into exercise routines without necessarily increasing time. Warm ups, cool downs and ancillary exercise sessions between intense workouts can cover that base in minutes if well-planned.
Protein timing and amounts should be a significant part of the exercise coaching in order to boost muscle protein synthesis now about 30 years in the slow down if nature was allowed to take its course.

One Last PostMenopause Fitness Thought for Health Pros:

Most importantly, the ability to exercise and do so intensely and in some cases like HIIT, more frequently than in perimenopause, can stave off visceral body fat deposits, brain decline, and muscle and bone loss.

It requires planning and knowing the application not just of exercise but specific to women in postmenopause.

And they’re seeking support for problems. So there is not just an opportunity, there is a demand when you use the right messaging.

Because there’s also a fear installed in those who have started, stopped, and gotten hurt.

Resources:

Your Business Scorecard: For Fitness & Health Coaches: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/business-scorecard/

Copywriting for Marketing to Women Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course/

Menopause Fitness Specialist™ Program: https://www.flippingfifty.com/menopause-fitness-specialist-program-2022/

Send an Email to support@flippingfifty.com if you want to learn more about the founding member’s rate for the Health & Well Pros mastermind.

Other Episodes You Might…

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/perimenopause-fitness-clients/

Training Midlife Clients | Zone 2 Training For Menopause:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/zone-2-training-for-menopause/

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Picture yourself teaching yoga on the beach one minute and sipping drinks with straws the next. Teaching vacation programs make this possible and have for decades now. Learn how ideas are incubated, born and nurtured into something you’re proud of.

I had one more question to ask, about whether there were any success stories from FitBodies, Inc. Then she told me about her experience with assuming her own strength because she had to. As she answered, I deleted every letter of that question. You’ll understand when you hear it.

My guest today blends the exact tropical vacation and complimentary services you want with the ability to teach fitness classes from the beach or lanai and be sipping a drink with an umbrella at the pool soon after. Enjoy 24 hour room service and a week away from it all. If you fancy a teaching vacation, stay tuned, we’ll tell you how.

My Guest:

Suzelle Snowden is the founder of Fit Bodies, Inc., the creator of the largest teaching vacation organization in the world. Fit Bodies, Inc. blends the vacation aspirations of exercise professionals with the wellness needs of a luxury resort. Suzelle’s passion is to share fitness with others! With over 35 years in the fitness industry, Suzelle is ACE CPT and GFI with numerous other certifications including Spinning®, Yoga Alliance E-RYT-200, Corefirst and Strong Nation.

Do you collaborate with pros who have an idea and niche they'd like to offer as a "retreat in paradise" option?
What's your advice to trainers or health pros (or want-to-be's) who have a business idea or something that they dream about... and are afraid to begin? (knowing our audience is midlife and beyond women)

If you’re interested in signing up for a teaching vacation, your account is free. You can browse vacations and when ready to book you can with a membership book a trip up to a year in advance.

Take a friend, the family, come right back or stay longer. You get to decide. What I do know is those who go tend to go back.

Connect with Suzelle:

Website: https://fitnessprotravel.com/ or https://www.fitbodiesinc.com/

On Social:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suzelle_fitbodiesinc/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fitbodiesinc

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzellesnowdenfitbodiesinc

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Perimenopause fitness clients are the most likely to experience first signs and symptoms of hormonal change. It may occur anywhere from late 30s to mid 50s the majority in their 40s will find they have changes of some kind.

For some perimenopause fitness clients it’s mild, they barely notice and wouldn’t associate it with menopause even.

For others, hot flashes and night sweats are a dead give away.

During this time, as a trainer, or health coach, you have the best opportunity to positively impact not just their symptoms but their health.

Perimenopause Fitness Clients:

Can experience any one or more of 34 symptoms or can be entirely asymptomatic, yet knowing the status of their regular cycle, or how long it’s been since a regular cycle, and the way they feel throughout it can help you modify training to optimize results for both now in dealing with symptoms and later in life, maintaining optimal body composition, strength and bone density.
Don’t often understand that just checking the “exercise box” doesn’t necessarily support a reduction in symptoms of perimenopause. Science literature (complete references listed in previous blogs, podcasts and both You Still Got It, Girl! And Hot, Not Bothered!) suggests that for instance, with hot flashes and night sweats, reduction is associated only with exercise that is of adequate intensity.
Exercise tendencies currently still default to more volume as opposed to more intensity and often tip the cortisol scales in direct opposition to supporting any change in symptoms or body composition and may in fact worsen symptoms.
A majority of perimenopause women still recall the advice of the 70s and 80s for “exercise more, eat less,” and are increasing their cortisol levels (or over taxing low levels) which can cause muscle catabolism and increases in fat storage, particularly to the belly.
Poor eating habits (dieting) are independently a problem for women who are exercising regularly as they will not be absorbing all the macro or micronutrients to enhance the muscle and bone. Even a woman who temporarily finds she’s leaner with current under nutrition, may be increasing her risk for reduced muscle mass, low bone density, or other issues often supported by optimal nutrition.

Now is the absolute best time to begin working on heavy weights, and to avoid over exercise.

Biggest Tip Regarding Perimenopause Fitness:

The toleration of exercise may be lower. This is the exact time to reduce total volume, enhance recovery in order to improve the menopause transition and avoid muscle loss and fat gains.

Resources:

Your Business Scorecard: For Fitness & Health Coaches: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/business-scorecard/

Copywriting for Marketing to Women Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course/

Menopause Fitness Specialist™ Program:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/menopause-fitness-specialist-program-2022/

Send an Email to support@flippingfifty.com if you want to learn more about the founding member’s rate for the Health & Well Pros mastermind.

Other Episodes You Might Like:

3 Ways to Coach Menopause Clients Out of Mistakes:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/coach-menopause-clients/

Training Midlife Clients | Zone 2 Training For Menopause:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/zone-2-training-for-menopause/

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Fall is here! Fall fitness & health professional business growth strategies are also here. What you do now not only determines how you finish this year but how you start the next. The last quarter of your year is pivotal.

You currently have enough data for the current year to look back and determine your revenue sources. You can look at your best sellers, your time and energy drains, and best decide where to eliminate, condense, archive or delete.

Most of all, you want to know right now where you are according to your goal for each month of 2023. Are you ahead, behind or right on target? And why? Do you know what worked?

You always want to have a goal. Monthly, then weekly, and daily.

When it comes to a podcast, we have a number of downloads we want each month. With social media posts, I want a certain amount of engagement each week. Some have daily engagement goals and are posting multiple times a day to get it.

The point.. Is only when you know what goal you’re running toward do you know how to get there. If you’re just using “hope” strategy, that usually doesn’t work out very well.

Health Professional Business Growth Strategies

Be Early Not Late
1. Don’t wait until the last minute to plan the content, the guests, the ads and partnerships
Plan your first 6 months of 2024
1. Launches
2. Content publishing
3. Collaborating
Enroll before the holidays

Once November hits… it starts and attention spans end

Use Holidays
October - a month & a day
Open Houses
Black Friday, Thanksgiving, Cyber Monday
12 Days of Christmas
Twas the week before Christmas
Preview Goals & Post Mortem Breakdowns
1. Test don’t guess
2. Never shoot blanks
3. Calculate and make it happen
4. How much is your time worth?
5. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater

Resources:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

SEND a message to support@flippingfifty.com if you’d like info about joining the fitness pros mastermind group

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Fitness Marketing Video Strategy: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/fitness-marketing-video-strategies-get-customers/

7 Simple Sales Strategies: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/simple-sales-strategies/

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The Instagram tips you didn’t know you want are right here! Get right into this with your bio and fix that first! If you wonder what you’re doing wrong or why you’re not getting found, this could be so insightful for you!

It’s not too late. It’s time to start.

My Guest:

Sue B. is an insightful, energetic, and in-demand online marketing educator, influencer speaker, and a no-BS business coach. Sue B. is a popular CreativeLive Instructor and has been named by Huffington Post as one of the “Top 50 Must-Follow Women Entrepreneurs” as well as “The Top 50 Social Media Marketing Influencers” by TopRank Marketing, and “Top Female Business Influencers of 2019” by Fit Small Business. Sue’s blog was ranked as one of the Top 10 social media blogs in 2017 by Social Media Examiner.

Whether she’s taking a global stage, or speaking at an industry conference, like Social Media Marketing World, or working one-on-one with her clients, Sue B. is driven to help business owners leverage the power of Instagram to meet (and exceed) their business goals. As a lifelong entrepreneur, Sue B. has over 30 years of business experience. And, with her extensive knowledge and implementation of social media, it is Sue B.’s mission to teach, mentor, and empower others.

Questions We Answer in This Episode:

1-3 most important tips for pros to use
1-3 most common mistakes that happen right now
Where are there still opportunities for the listener who thinks, "there's already so many people I can't stand out"?

Let me know if these Instagram tips were beneficial. Which is the first you'll take action on?

Connect with Sue:

Website: https://learnwithsbz.com/

Sue on Social:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theinstagramexpert/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SueBZimmermanEnterprise

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Fast Fixes for Social Media: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/fast-fixes-for-social-media/

5 Tips for Health Coaches: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/health-coaches-marketing-formula/

Resources:

Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

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This episode is about how to write a better job description for your personal assistant. Need help with business? Check. With personal? Check. Today’s guest is the perfect person to answer this. We dished on what drew her to the job description when she was a personal assistant.

She’s an author and business owner. She also recorded with me on Flipping 50 and if you need to organize or declutter, listen to this and then that. You’ll understand exactly why I asked her to come over here - spontaneously - she didn’t know it!

My Guest:

Tracy McCubbin is a decluttering expert and the author of Making Space, Clutter Free and her latest book Make Space for Happiness. Tracy looks at the root of our clutter to find the real cause and ways to get real solutions. As the CEO of dClutterfly, she has helped thousands of clients clear the clutter in their lives to create space for positive life changes.

What I Asked Tracy in this Episode:

What’s the secret to a job description that gets quality applicants?

What attracted you to the jobs you first had and what did you use to hire your own personal assistant?

5 Tips:

Be clear about the help you need E.g. business and personal
Find someone interested in the field you’re in
Interested in the same thing -media, marketing, business, and fitness
Find out if they want a path to growth - duties expand
Like to solve problems

Fast Action:

List 10 things that you can’t get done that you need done

Connect with Tracy:

https://www.dclutterfly.com/

On Social:

https://www.instagram.com/tracy_mccubbin/

https://www.tiktok.com/@tracymccubbin

Other Episodes You Might Like:

4 Keys to Selling More Now: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/get-more-sales/

Sell More Corporate Packages: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/sell-more-corporate-wellness/

Selling for Coaches: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/present-your-fee/

Resources:

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Marketing to Women Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

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Can’t get new clients? If you don’t know how to get them or aren’t able to keep them, this is for you. And there is a really good chance you are NOT making this mistake I’m about to share. Trainers and health coaches who listen to business growth podcasts are already conscientious.

If you are making this mistake, you do now or you will fall into that category of trainers who can’t get new clients.

I share this in case it shows you that even though the world has exploded with people collecting fitness and health coaching certifications, there is room for you, there is plenty of room for you. Because a certification, you must be reminded, is a minimum viable knowledge to enter the field. Few certification programs support trainers or coaches in the client-getting process, or the effective ongoing coaching process.

To get new clients you need two things:

Great system of service that gets great results in current clients, so they continue
Systematic way to ask clients who get great results for referrals

If You Can’t Get New Clients…

It’s not that hard to get new clients when this is happening all too frequently…

Some trainers ask this at the beginning of sessions:

“What do you want to do today?”

We call them broke.

Why? Because a busy man or woman, who's hired you and told you their goals and allowed you to assess them based on health & activity history, movement screens, expects that you have the plan. They expect that you know what they need based on the problem they wanted solved when they hired you.

Most people don’t hire a trainer because they’re 100% in love with their health, fitness or performance. On one or more levels they want change. You’re the guide.

“What do you want to do today?”

Throws us all under the bus a little. The entire fitness industry just suffered a little. Because now, not just that one trainer, but “I had a trainer and she ….” Becomes all too easily, “trainers are hit and miss… some are good, or good at telling me form but others are not worth the investment.”

So, you are doing or are going to do the opposite.

First, because you’ve got a plan, a system or a method that outlines what they need to be doing and you can easily determine, what parts of that do they know, what do they need to learn from you or what movements do they need to review.

Review Your System if You Can’t Get New Clients

One of the best ways to make it easy for people to say yes to working with you is to make it easy to get results with you. It’s clear what happens first, and next, and after that. Three steps. 5 steps. Recently I spoke with a woman who has 11 steps. I said too many, how can these be grouped into fewer categories? I’m not asking you if you’re listening to eliminate the steps you think are crucial but do they fall into what feels like a shorter process?

You want to tell people how they work with you in 3 or 4 steps. If you are a nutritionist, do they eliminate foods, add supplements, reintroduce foods? Do they Eliminate, Add and Try… that’s an E.A.T. system. And that’s what you’re looking for… a name and a process both.

So, what about you? What’s your process? Write it down. Play with the words.

I, for instance, use a 4-part L.I.F.T. method with business growth for trainers and health coaches. We leverage what is unique about them, define how they Influence others and create a strategy, Feed ideal clients into their world and Trade Time for smarter ways to scale so they can enjoy the life and freedom they want.

Second, you’ve got an accountability check in before sessions, so you know exactly what status a client is showing up in. Did they do the recommended workouts and activity since seeing you last? You ideally already know that from their check ins or their prep form. You’re not learning this in the first 5 minutes of a session.

You’ve Got Training Clients, Why Aren’t They Getting Results?

A client who doesn’t comply with a reasonable plan, isn’t your fault. It’s theirs. It may take a modification from the original plan (and the goal) but a progressive training relationship shows change over time.

If a client buys a 6-month package or a 6-session package, there should be a discussion about desired outcomes. What are measures of success? What if those aren’t achieved? What will be the reason? That’s an excellent question to ask on an intake form. You want to have the individual reflect on what they’re willing to commit to in order to get results.

The biggest message to you listening is that there is plenty of opportunity for conscientious trainers and health coaches. Even in what appears at first glance to be saturated. The only place it’s saturated is on social media. You don’t even want to compete with social media. You want to compete on the client-getting side of things. You get them, you keep them.

Pretty social media doesn’t perform as well as dirty and real. Have you noticed? We’re paying more social media support people and many of the individuals doing this… are still not gaining traction and growing their clientele. Measure what matters.

Other Episodes You Might Like:

4 Keys to Get More Sales: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/get-more-sales/

7 Simple Sales Strategies for Health & Fitness Pros: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/simple-sales-strategies/

Resources:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

https://www.flippingfifty.com/wellness-coaching-for-life/ Decide if we’re a fit .. to work in any capacity or brainstorm on the spot or review your social media presence. You can choose… or let me based on where you are. You can work on your business OR your personal hormone balancing fitness.

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You’re here for a reason. You want to make a difference. To have an influence, you need to be a profitable health expert. So, if you have a relationship with money that needs fixing, fix it. If you want to give it away, you can do that, but never will you have as much voice as when you have money to vote with.

This title may be a turn off to some of you. You’re not doing it for profit. You just want to do what you’re passionate about? I say that if you start taking it seriously and making a profitable business you will find your purpose and passion explode in a way you’ve never dreamed about.

Your expertise is perceived by the organization of your thoughts.

-Denise Young of Apple

It’s not a 20 question quiz… it’s a 7 question quiz

It’s not a 11 step program… it’s a 3 step program

When you jump on a live video with a friend or are a guest on a podcast, if you can’t succinctly and concisely answer the question that solves the problem the audience members have or in the way the interviewee can run with, you may have a wonderful program, be the perfect person to be teaching it… but no one will follow or get results even if they get inside.

You confuse, you lose.

I don’t know who said that but I do know it’s true for all of us.

There are different strokes for different folks. (As long as we’re throwing out quotes, why not a little cliche!) What is perfectly clear to one individual may be perfectly confusing to another.

Case in point:

Occasionally, we’ll have someone cancel a membership. Recently the email request to cancel before renewal date said this, It was just too hard to get started, and I don’t have time to measure, I just want to work out.

During the same week, a prospective client who is an event planner said, “Then I found you, and it was so well laid out and clear…”

Same membership, just two different people.

How Profitable Health Experts Talk

So your job is to identify with absolute clarity who is and who isn’t your ideal customer. Most of us would agree the ideal customer is one who does the work, follows through on agreed upon steps, and asks for help if they need it.

For me, the “this is not for” information on a sales page or promotion includes:

Blames the process
Won’t ask for help
Has excuses
Isn’t committed

That’s getting organized. So organizing your message in print, audio or video is a hallmark of a profitable health expert.

The biggest part of getting clients, keeping clients, and getting them results, is organizing your thoughts. In other words, communication is crucial.

When you:

Go live on social
Post static or pre-recorded videos on social
Give an interview
Pitch a tv or radio news station

How to Communicate Like a Profitable Health Expert

Organizing your message is the way you’ll get someone curious enough to want more of you. If they aren’t buying you and what you say and how you say it, they aren’t buying from you.

Here’s a little assignment so you get into action.

Write down your response to, what do you do?
Now read through it and answer these:

How clear is that to someone who doesn’t know about your industry or profession?

Does it assume they already know something? And what is that?

Last, will it make them curious to learn more or did you tell them everything they needed to know?

This filter will help you decide if your title (for a pitch, an article/blog, or a video) is a conversation starter or a conversation killer.

Other Episodes You Might Like:

7 Things Profitable Health Professionals Do: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/profitable-trainers/

6 Most Profitable Health Programs: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/profitable-fitness-programs/

Resources:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

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Don’t sleep on this episode if you want better client results these client sleep tips come directly from America’s sleep expert. He gives more than 400 appearances a year and has published multiple NYTimes bestsellers.

He’s also contributed to the You Still Got It, Girl! Chapter on sleep. So if you’ve read that, you’re a Flipping50 Menopause Fitness Specialist, you may recognize his name. You might have seen him in an inflight magazine before those were pulled too.

Look, one of the most-downloaded cheat sheets I give trainers and health coaches is the Sleep tips tool. Why? Well, first if they don’t sleep, they don’t show up well if at all. They cancel more. When they do arrive, clients with 2 hours of sleep deprivation lack coordination. Four hours and they have the reaction skills of a legal drunk. Imagine that. We’ve got people driving to sessions if that’s the case, who actually shouldn’t be on the road any more than someone with a blood alcohol content level that would give them a ticket and a DUI.

Then, what are we doing? Agility, reaction drills with them or pushing to heavy loads when they are more likely to get injured or deplete their immune system. Let’s dive into this super short episode and you may be inspired to hop over to the Flipping 50 episode too.

Client Sleep May Determine Your Success

My Guest:

Michael J. Breus, Ph.D., is a double board-certified Clinical Psychologist and Clinical Sleep Specialist. He is one of only 168 psychologists in the world to have taken and passed the Sleep Medicine Boards without going to Medical School.

Dr. Breus is the author of four books with the newest book (2021) Energize! Go from dragging Ass to kicking it in 30 days, adds the concepts of Movement (not exercise), and Intermittent-Fasting to his already famous Sleep Chronotypes. And it was recently named one of the top books of 2021 by The Today Show. In his 3rd book (2017) The Power of When, which is a groundbreaking biohacking book proving that there is a perfect time to do everything, based on your biological chronotype (early bird or night owl). Dr. Breus gives the reader the exact time to have sex, run a mile, eat a cheeseburger, buy, sell, ask your boss for a raise and much more based on over 200 research studies.

He is an expert resource for most major publications doing more than 400 interviews per year (Oprah, Dr. Oz, The Doctors, NY Times, Wall Street Journal etc.-list available). Dr. Breus has been in private practice for 23 years and recently relocated to and was named the Top Sleep Doctor of Los Angelos, By Readers Digest.

Questions We Answer in This Episode:

How can trainers help clients sleep?

How can health professionals avoid putting clients at risk if they are sleep deprived?

I include our client sleep tips in this show notes here at fmm.com/client sleep tips so you can be the guide for your clients better results!

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Training Client's Metabolic Flexibility: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/metabolic-flexibility/

3 Reasons (and Fixes) Clients Aren't Getting Results: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/female-fitness-client/

Resources:

BUSINESS SCORECARD: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

FREE CLIENT SLEEP SUPPORT: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/sleeper

FLIPPING50 Full Episode: https://www.flippingfifty.com/better-sleep-in-menopause

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To be a real voice for fitness, an advocate for health and behavior change, your voice quality will matter. As AI-driven voice-overs may be able to make you sound better than you actually sound, this may be a podcast who’s time is past, yet I think if you can make your voice become something that conveys confidence, authority, and simultaneously inspires hope and action steps in your audience, I bet you’d say, yes please.

And the truth is there are voice qualities that make it difficult for people to want to listen to you. If you want your voice to be music to someone’s ears, there are things you can do.

One obstacle you’ll have to overcome is awareness of it.

It’s nearly impossible to hear our own voices as someone else does.

Definitely when we’re speaking we have a very different experience than anyone else might hearing us. The input is coming through a combination of the skull bones internally and through the air externally.

A 2005 study showed our own reality of our voice tends to be much different than what other listeners hear. We are more harsh judges and tend not to like our voices. So do cut yourself a break. Do listen to your own video, audio but also realize we have a unique experience listening to ourselves compared to someone else’s experience.

Be a Voice for Fitness : How to Fix Your Flaws

Get feedback.

If you’ve ever had someone say, it’s hard to hear you, speak up, or a mean-girl (it’s almost always a woman unfortunately, not everyone has gotten the message that we’re being nice to each other now) say something like, “I can’t stand to listen to a voice like that - like fingernails on a chalkboard” then listen.. A little. You don’t have to be the voice for everyone just for those who are going to love working with you. And sometimes sound quality can be fixed! With a combination of free, low cost or higher investments, even voice exercises.

So, if you discover or know that your voice isn’t as smooth or as strong as you’d like it to be, what can you do? There are some ways to improve what you’re doing.

A Better Mic

Back in 2012 when I first started podcasting, someone said the best mic was the Blue Yeti. I got one. I hadn’t a clue about what I was doing or how I was doing it, but I knew if it was going to be listened to, it had to sound good. And that thing is way more reasonable today, and actually I retired mine, because even after careful packing it was not producing the kind of sound I needed. So, during the pandemic the entire podcast set up at Voice for Fitness changed. You may want and need a mixer, headphones and a high quality mic. But at the very least you want a high quality microphone and a room set up for acoustics - with carpet or rugs, things on the walls and ceilings, or I’ve known podcasters who record in a closet.

If you want the list of items I use as a part of my setup from platform to tech, stay tuned til the end and I’ll share those.

Improve Your Voice Quality

Some of the same things that make the difference behind a richer more powerful voice are also going to support your pelvic floor muscles. Any hints? Breathing. Deeper breathing that comes from your diaphragm supports your voice too.

You may be doing planks all day every day but if you’re not doing diaphragmatic breathing your core is missing the foundation it needs! And so is your voice. Singers sing and cheerleaders project from their diaphragm and you should too even when your mic is 2 inches from your mouth and you could whisper.

Cheat

Use the audio adjustments available to you in your movie editor and garage band (anyone using that anymore?). This isn't ideal because sooner or later you’re going to be asked to speak… or do a media appearance or keynote or lead a breakout session.

Voice Tips for Health & Fitness Pros Before You Record:

Hydrate
Posture - try standing! Or move for a few minutes before ! (working out is easy, sitting is not)
Smile!
Warm ups: lala, tikita takata or Peter Piper picked.. , papapa, dadada, bababa, ar-tic-u-late
Diaphragmatic breathing
Know your script OR … bullet points so you’re NOT reading

Some good rules:

Sound when sound, quiet when quiet.
Try video even when audio podcast
Leave it out. Instead of “um…” or? Do you ?
My Sound TechDeck for Health & Fitness Content Creators: Room: carpeted, surrounded by bookshelves on three walls
iMac Desktop 24”
Mic: Heil Pro40
Mixer: Focusrite Scarlett
Headphones: Sennheiser HD 280 Pro
Podcast recording platform: Zencastr.com
Podcast Platform: Libsyn
Post production team of contractors
Mic For Video with Sony Alpha 7: RODE wireless
Mic For Video with iPhone: RODE wireless and SmartMike+
You might also like: Descript.com

Other Episodes You Might Like:

4 Steps to Creating Video for Marketing: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/fitness-marketing-videos/

4 Ways to Grow Your Email List with Fitness Videos: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/grow-your-email-list/

Resources:

Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Marketing to Women: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

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No matter what’s going on with the economy you can get more sales.

How are you going to get more sales during a time it may be harder or purse strings tighter? Is there or is there not going to be a recession?

It’s almost the 1st of the month as I record this and last night I was reminded that I had to get something ordered because the "special" was almost over. Not only did I order, I ordered 2 because it was a while they last, this is flying off the shelves, message. I ordered subscribe and save too because that means I get priority. I’d seen this thing and wanted to think about it. Because it said it was amazing but I was thinking about whether this was different from other products I’d tried. I ordered from a fellow golfmom friend I’d met years ago when our sons were on the same college golf team. I knew her as an accountant, so it took a minute for me to grasp she could now be a skin care consultant. But I’d been watching her posts for a couple years. She was having lots of success. So it was either a really good product, she was really good at customer care or both. And I just like her.

How to Get More Sales in a Recession

If everyone is talking about a recession, I say, Good! Let them talk. Do you know why? Because during recessions people have committed to the things that are most important. If stress is higher, the need for what we do is greater. A recession post pandemic will mean a growth of wealth for some. For the ones that don’t allow their mindset to think that this is hard, no one is spending money, it’s not true.

You may not be creating the right solution. You may not be targeting the right customer. But there is an abundant set of people in need of what you’re doing, seeking support.

So, this episode is a quick reminder of some of the basics of selling so you can get more sales and do it with integrity.

From least to most important, so stay with me to the end! These are

Get More Sales with These 4 Key Components

Urgency

limited time

ends …

bonuses go away

price goes up

Scarcity

-limited number

-when they’re gone they’re gone

Specificity

solves a specific problem

for the individual (not their spouse, daughter)

Context

relative to where they are in their relationship with you

relative to where they are in their awareness of problem

You’d include these on a opt in, a sales page, an email, and a post.

Resources:

Health & Fitness Professionals Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Marketing to Women: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Sell More Corporate Packages: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/sell-more-corporate-wellness/

Selling for Coaches: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/present-your-fee/

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We all want simple sales strategies to make it easy and quick to make sales and get clients and the truth is, it can be! There are a few things clear to us here behind She Means Fitness Business that get in the way. First, not knowing exactly what you want and need to happen for success this week, this month, or this specific launch promotion… you can’t get there. Do you have a sales goal?

For instance, I have a spreadsheet for every monthly sales record since 2018. I look at it every month. I also look at it and dig into it every October or early November. I look at not just the numbers but dig into what sold, what didn’t, where did I spent my time and energy and what should I potentially stop doing or start to work less and have it reap better benefits.

Working More Isn’t a Sales StrategyNone of us should be breaking ourselves or breaking down to fix what’s broken in the world, right? (credit to Donald Miller on that!) But those of us who are driven often do. I’m all for hard work. And yet you have to realize when you’re in a season of hard work or a week or month and when you’re just doing something terrible to yourself that isn’t working or going to change.

I’ve studied with some great leaders, and Michael Bernoff is one who really nails the fact that if we don’t set out to build the kind of business and lifestyle we want, 5 years from now you’ll still be doing the same kind of business you’re doing today. If you’re not making enough money now, you won’t then either. If you’re working all the time, you will then too. Let’s both hope it’s not both! Solo entrepreneurs can do that too easily. You are not alone. Find your tribe and get support for you… and your business.

So, with this mindset that we can do it, there is a clear need and confusion we can help stop, let’s dive into this episode.

7 Simple Sales Strategies – Adopt them right now!

Launching expectations and Launching realities
You have to have a goal. How many, how much, what percent of upsells is your goal, and what is made? How many tickets about it? How many refunds? Set the goal, then break down the launch after with anyone on your team involved.
Shifting your selling mindset
You have to ask for a sale to get a yes.
You have a solution to a problem your customer knows they have, then you have a responsibility to share how it helps and let them know how to get started.
Selling the transformation instead of the features
When asked how they solve the problem …. Many trainers.. many health coaches.. strength training programs when The problem REALLY …. Belief they can do it, that they won’t get hurt this time, that it will work for them….
Persuasive words for the personality type (copywriting skills in case you don’t know these)
Being okay with getting a no (expecting you will not always get yes)
Not every product or service is right for everyone.
Now isn’t the right time for everyone
No is not personal
No can be researched and open a door
Showcasing how well someone will do with this and what could happen if they don’t.
It’s not about your benefits
It’s not about 27 different workouts or 14 different coaching sessions: how will life be different?
What is the risk/cost if they don’t do it?
Everyday Actions:
Go live (what do they need right now?)
Send personal videos (I use Bombbomb)
Send messages (text from your CRM or personally)

Resources:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

Other Episodes You Might Like:

4 Ways Dating Advice Will Boost Marketing for Health & Fitness Pros: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/marketing-for-health/ Fitness Marketing Hacks: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/fitness-marketing-hacks/

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If the distraction of a good idea is a problem you need to solve, this will resonate with you. Answer a few questions…

Do your creative juices flow when you get a good idea? So much that if you talked about it at lunch or heard it on a podcast, you want to go right home and start figuring out how to implement it?

And possibly, abandon the other 18 lose ends, open loops, projects that need completing and course content that needs to be reviewed and redone?

Then it’s official, there’s a good chance you’re a serial entrepreneur. Even if this is your first business, or you are only thinking about being a health or fitness professional, this is so important. You also may collect certifications instead of getting one and realizing it’s the business of marketing and selling the service and skills you now have that is all you need.

Do you love new ideas? Love to create new programs and think about how to deliver them? Do you like to think about the title and the way you’ll create the sales page and how it will look? Do you love to play in Canva?

Are you constantly creating lists and documents and maybe also losing them? Knowing you had a great idea and wondering where you put it? Do you have tons of journals, notebooks, legal pads with notes and things you just have to remember?

Confessions, I had an estimated 200 yellow legal pads with notes and ideas and things that were so important that of course I’d come back to.. that I had to sort out before I moved in 2022. After a short time, I’d pull out another drawer of my full size filing cabinet and just start dumping. Twenty-five-year-old manuscripts for children’s books I’d submitted to publishers … notes from mastermind meetings that cost me over 20,000 annually that I felt I couldn’t part with… and potential titles for programs and new series and pitch decks for media… All gone in black garbage bags. I hadn’t looked at them … many of them in a decade, others, you know you get home and you finish that Pilates Reformer cert … and 15 years later still have your notes.. you’re never going back to them.
But every one of them is a good idea … and the distraction of a good idea could kill the full day ahead of you that you have to get Sh# done!*

If you’re an entrepreneur, there’s a good chance you’re a creator. You’re potentially a “quickstart” too. Short attention span for the follow through but a passion for starting and creating.

And this is not bad. It’s great… to realize it and start using your talent to your advantage in a way that still creates boundaries so you can avoid the distraction of a good idea… another one.

Dump them into a G-Drive
Revisit them regularly but infrequently
Never just kill them or let them die on a post a note or desktop note where you’ll never find them (that mental clutter will drive you nuts)
Share them with your team members, if one keeps popping up… but do it also to inspire their ideas (many minds!)
Pull out the ones that are worth discussing in a team meeting and decide what the rewards would be, what the cost would be and what the time investment would be
Usually ideas are new products, new ways of promoting your business or being seen but a new book … or a podcast… or a new certification …. Usually mean a new long-term commitment to promoting, selling, in order to make it payoff so list all of those things too.

Answer These Three Questions to Evaluate a Good Idea:
How much will it be worth to you?
How much will it cost you if you don’t do it?
How much time and expense will it take to make you money (what it’s worth to you)?
The dates on all of these are so important. If for instance there is going to be 6 months and thousands of dollars in building it before it’s ever used and there’s no real monetary reason for doing it, you might quickly realize this is not the best idea after all.

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Boost Productivity and Creativity for Your Clients: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/boost-productivity-and-creativity/

5 Things: Do This Every Monday for Better WorkFlow: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/do-this-every-monday/

Resources:

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

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In this behind-the-scenes quick episode with Dr Terri DeNeui we discuss what trainers need to know about hormone replacement therapy. We open up about how to recognize a woman is in menopause, and how you can help be a part of a collective team supporting her. You spend more time than any professional with your clients so optimizing your value is all tied up in this episode.

If you’re not yet a Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist, on your way to increasing your clients, your revenue, and your freedom, we’ll link to that in the show notes too.

My Guest:
Terri DeNeui, DNP, ACNP, APRN-BC is the founder of EVEXIAS Health Solutions and creator of the EvexiPEL method. She leads the EVEXIAS Medical Advisory Board, hand-selecting leading experts from around the globe to support the education and knowledge resources that provide the opportunity to experience a whole new way to practice medicine that is truly transformational for patients and practitioners.

Dr. Terri DeNeui is a board-certified nurse practitioner, nationally renowned speaker, author, and entrepreneur. She holds advanced certifications in Hormone Replacement Therapy, Preventive Wellness Medicine, and Functional Medicine.

Her career in medicine began as a hospitalist in emergency medicine, where Dr. DeNeui quickly realized that day in and day out, the focus was on disease management instead of disease prevention. She felt saddened and frustrated—she wanted to do more for patient care and for that, she had to know more.

This was the catalyst for what has become her life’s work. She began to pursue extensive education in hormone optimization, integrative health, preventive care, and alternative medicine.

Dr. DeNeui founded Hormonal Health & Wellness in Southlake, Texas (now EVEXIAS Medical Centers) in 2008 as the first step in her new pursuit. In her practice, Dr. DeNeui strives to help men and women find optimal health.

Questions We Answer in This Episode:

How can health coaches and Menopause Fitness Specialists support their clients and suggest best questions to ask when seeking a functional doctor?
What is the symptom you most commonly hear about first?
How can trainers and health coaches support women with regard to finding the right resources in physicians?

Resources:

Fitness and Health Coaches Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

Other Episodes You May Like:
3 Ways to Coach Menopause Clients Out of Mistakes:
https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/coach-menopause-clients/

What Women Need to Know about Hormone Replacement Therapy: https://www.flippingfifty.com/what-to-know-about-hrt/

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Celebrate the small stuff! We get so caught up in comparison mode and go, go, go… do more and mission impossible… that it’s crazy we miss all we’ve done.

You’ve battled cancer and won. Hello... You know who you are! You’ve done a fitness competition at 70, you know who you are too. You’ve launched a podcast, started a new company, and donated to charity.

And then there are the other things you may be overlooking so I want to share a few. But I also am calling on you, even if your hand isn’t up! Share something you know you should be celebrating but you’ve underwritten it, passed over it.

Some Small Work Wins:

Rocking a presentation
Creating branding that really feels like “you”
Getting your inbox to “0”
Reaching out to those business accelerators
Updating your vita or resume
Gathering all the “as seen in” content you have
Taking time to “set” the day
Defining the lifestyle you want unapologetically
Following up consistently
Getting “no” every day for a week
Hiring support
Delegating and letting go
Firing the wrong person for the job
Investing in a coach to accelerate progress
Sent the email for your beta program
Created an email funnel for your course
Reviewed your product modules
Took time off work

Not all of these will fit you. You’re in a unique place in your business but I guarantee you that at least 50% of them are things you are not stopping to acknowledge. It’s those who pass by them and think that this feels like giving M&M s for pooping or graduation ceremonies for kindergarten or ribbons for every participant is just too much, that end up hating work, burning out, and burning out everyone around them.

You know how I first realized I needed to do this and how much it matters? When a colleague of mine acknowledged an email once. (he’s done it more than once) The first time he said something about an email that contained a story and that resonated with a lot of my listeners in a big way, I realized I didn’t even give myself credit for it. It happened again when I did a half marathon with a client to support her when it wasn’t convenient, was purely for her, it wasn’t my race.

Resources:

Fitness and Health Coaches Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Boost Productivity and Creativity for Your Clients: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/boost-productivity-and-creativity/

12 Content Ideas for Fitness & Health Coaches: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/content-ideas/

Grow Your Fitness Business in 2023 | Personal Trainers and Health Coaches:https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/fitness-business-in-2023/

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Shocked? Employee wellness for fitness centers probably sounds like a crazy unnecessary thing at first pass!

In a recent episode, I shared how to sell more corporate wellness and this podcast is really a spin-off of that but something that may make this episode targeted at gyms and studios.

I’ve witnessed this for decades in fitness centers and studios as personal training became a full-time position, and sometimes more. Trainers starting early, ending late, and tired or hungry often begin taking less and less care of themselves. They’re no longer exercising regularly, they’re sleep deprived and they begin to feel a little angry about the situation they’re in.

What can too often happen is feelings of resentment and blame is laid on the employer for taking advantage of them.

If you’re a trainer attempting to make a full-time living paying bills, saving money, and enjoying life on a personal trainer’s salary, you may know this feeling. All trainer compensation is not the same. You can work smart with groups and find other ways to increase your revenue without increasing your time.

Employee Wellness for Fitness Centers

The pandemic stirred things up. They haven’t all settled back into the same spots and they aren’t likely to do so. It’s too easy to quit and get hired by another gym. A trainer or coach can create a digital business with a single email.

To receive the best service for customers, gyms and studios need to be the best. The best are not just compensation, in fact a lower pay with a better work environment may be better. What can you give them?

Trainers and coaches who work for a gym will spend a lot of time with your customers but not a lot of time with you. Am I right? Notoriously, this is how it’s been. So, it’s both trusting and naive to think that they aren’t talking to customers about things that you as a business owner would prefer they not.

Unhappy about work conditions they:

Tell customers what’s happening from their one-sided perspective
Share information about possibly leaving
Discuss their personal lives with clients

When you create happy employees that enjoy each other’s company, they stay. They enjoy work and don’t mind meetings. They’re loyal and speak of the business this way too.

Trainers and coaches work independently for a significant amount of time. The reality is that they are around people a lot and potentially lonely. You can make a difference for them.

If you don’t, trainers are oversharing with clients, blurring boundaries between professionalism and personal friendship. Potentially they’ll also share the inner workings of the business practices that they don’t agree with and that’s not going to go well for your business.

Employee Wellness

No matter what side of the wellness triangle you’re on gym owner, or trainer who works in a gym setting, realize your fitness and wellness professionals need a wellness program too.

Resources:

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

Other Episodes You May Like:

Sell More Corporate Wellness Packages: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/sell-more-corporate-wellness/ Is Passive Revenue Too Good to Be True? Affiliate Marketing: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/passive-revenue/ Selling for Coaches| How to Present Your Fee (Make an Offer) | Fitness & Health: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/present-your-fee/

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What would it do for your business if you could sell more corporate wellness packages? And if one presentation could result in dozens or hundreds of new clients?

Corporate clients generally mean higher sales within a shorter period of time. If you’re a gym owner you already have a list of corporate clients you’re trying to reach. But with more gyms competing for the same corporate clients, what makes yours stand out? This episode will provide some ideas so you can create presentations that don’t just talk about features like how many treadmills or classes you have a week.

If you’re a solo entrepreneur, this market can still be something that works for you. While you’re building your program, and hopefully, taking some fast actions with private clients so you’re creating a profit margin from the start, you can open a whole new way to add revenue with corporate clients as a target.

Selling Corporate Wellness: Appeal to How They Win If They Do It and How They Lose If They Don’t Get It

How Do They Benefit:

Greater productivity
Fewer errors
Greater job satisfaction
Greater loyalty

Without Health, Team Members:

Customer care suffers.
Customers hear everything that goes wrong.
Customer service goes down when distracted or disgruntled employees don’t do their best.
Someone’s wife, mother, partner, daughter is hurt in the meantime.

And don’t stop there. Everyone else will.

Be able to share number of visits, progress, participation. Can you provide additional white glove service to a corporation’s employees who join? Can that include a special recipe guide, meal plan, training for a 5k or other adventure?

A corporation wants to know how greater loyalty can be inspired by the expense they’ll have. Show them that instead of costing money and requiring someone’s time on their staff that you have things in place to help create cohesiveness among them. Host a few challenges where teams compete but team members are actually cheering each other on and dependent on one another’s success.

Can you show the cost of losing an employee and recruiting, hiring and onboarding a new one?

Show the stats on productivity.

Tell them how you’ll celebrate wins and give you the details about employee’s use, or progress (with permission) so they can see for themselves how their investment is paying off.

Step-by-Step Selling to Corporations:

Start a list of corporations in a spreadsheet
Include details about the contacts, when contacted, when to follow up
Find out how they prefer to be contacted. Call, email, text.
Make it your job to learn more about the decision-maker and budget
Put together a variety of packages: special offers to employees, bonuses within a time frame, the corporation pays the partial amount, and employee covers the rest
Follow up, follow up. Invite in the decision-maker for a free trial
Book a presentation or series of them
Know how much time you have and don’t go over it

Resources:

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

Other Episodes You May Like:

Selling for Coaches| How to Present Your Fee (Make an Offer) | Fitness & Health: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/present-your-fee/

Is Passive Revenue Too Good to Be True? Affiliate Marketing: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/passive-revenue/****

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Do this every Monday and I’m not saying Mondays won't still follow Sunday scaries, but they will get better.

There will always be something to pull you off the long view and into the short game. It feels like putting out fires sometimes. Until it doesn’t. You’ll have more and more times where you’re in flow and revenue is continuing to grow and your time demands are not.

While you’re starting and growing you want to create a culture of doing it with the end in sight. Even if it’s just you, if you do this every Monday things will go more smoothly for you and your team - or your eventual team.

These are things we do every Monday. There are a few more that I’m adding only to the podcast so be sure you’re listening!

Do This Every Monday

Use an agenda
Add follow-ups to a task with a deadline
Discuss what’s on now/coming up
Ask for input
Make it okay to make mistakes

Connecting personally with everyone.

Sharing a reminder about why and changes over the years.

What else? Decide when you exercise and stick to it. Your personal health and fitness can’t suffer or your business will. The two hours prior to a meeting on Monday, I can’t be reached or if I am I’m on a trail or a walk. It’s what has to be if I’m going to draw boundaries about how business happens. There’s always going to be something to do.

Organizing Monday and Everyday

We use a tool called Basecamp to dump the agenda in. It’s also where we create tasks so that from the agenda the tasks can be created by anyone on our team who is key in taking that task on for their own. I do a screenshare of the agenda as we’re going through it. Then we screen share anything else that helps solve a problem on the spot or talk more about a certain opportunity we’re focused on.

It’s not just the flow of work. It’s the energy around the work and the team you pull together. By finding the right people, sharing the vision of what you’re doing, asking for input, and keeping an open conversation you’ll hate Mondays less.

Resources:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

Other Episodes You Might Like:

10 Ways You Can Operate Like a Team Without Hiring a Team: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/hiring-a-team/

Business Planning for Health & Fitness Coaches: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/business-planning/

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If you haven’t wondered how to share a personal challenge with your community or clients, you probably will. Life is full of them and there’s one that’s bound to be one you keep to yourself for a while but that in fact maybe you can’t. It could be physical and impossible to hide if you’re on camera or in photos regularly. No matter what…

There’s a right time and way, so this episode dives into how to share a personal challenge publicly. There are lots of reasons this might come up. You go through a breakup or divorce, especially if you’ve shared content that includes your family. You have a health issue. There’s a tragic death in the family.

The Best Times to Share

There are things to consider that may help you decide when to share if you have that luxury. (Remember you may not always if it is something physical).

After you’re healed from the initial personal blow.
When you need to relay why you’ve been quiet or absent.
It will help your audience members going through the same or offer prevention so they won’t have to.

You may recall a recent podcast episode I shared early in 2023 after interviewing one of our Menopause Fitness Specialists, Amy. (Link to both the Flipping 50 and the She Means Fitness Business podcast in the show notes today)

Could Sharing a Personal Challenge Backfire?

Sharing too much could blur your own personal and professional boundaries. It can be a challenge to make the distinction if you are the brand. Is your name in your brand for instance? Then it’s you, right?

I chose carefully to have a Brand name that was saleable later. Though I’m the brand for now, it has a mission, a message, and a project that are all trademarked.

I know a friend who as recently as 2016 was struggling as a divorced, single mother who took her kids camping so she could Airbnb her home to make the mortgage and in 2023 is traveling the world and thriving. To tell her story, revealing her name would be wrong. It’s not my story to tell. It also may be a story she doesn’t tell for another decade because it may be too recent, and may change the way her audience feels about her.

When I was living in a town of 50,000 and everyone knew me because I’d been a fitness professional in private gyms, churches, universities, and corporations, published a weekly column in the newspaper, hosted a radio show… I was very private. My personal life was my personal life and customers were customers.

When I shared my personal story in my TEDx talk, it was years later, I was speaking collectively to the world, not to a small group of next-door neighbors. So context is something to consider. You’ll know when you consider how it will make you and your family feel.

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Being Healthy Enough to Beat Breast Cancer: A Trainer’s Story: https://www.flippingfifty.com/beat-breast-cancer/ How to Be Healthy Enough, Profitable and Successful Enough: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/successful-enough/ Resources:

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

My TEDx Talk: https://www.flippingfifty.com/TEDx/

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Whenever you’re looking at adding a product or service to your business or you want to know what your audience really wants so you can deliver, surveying your audience is a great way to do it.

When you post on social media you can do it to connect, to attract, to research, and to sell once you’ve earned the right and then very infrequently. A survey for your audience falls under research. When you ask, you engage if you ask the right questions.

Posting or sending surveys to your audience provides great insight to you but also allows your audience to feel seen and heard.

Tools for Surveying Your Audience:

Typeform
Survey Monkey
Questions in Stories
Posts in Insta or FB

There is an art to writing questions. As a Senior Lecturer in Kinesiology, I recall writing those first exams, after kicking the pre-empted text-generated questions to the curb. It was painful.

Then over at the testing center when we literally had to walk the bubble sheets over to get results back, there were reams of 8 ½ x 11 sheets of paper lining the walls with articles on how to write better test questions.

Going to work for ACE (American Council on Exercise) as a Subject Matter Expert to write items for the Personal Trainer, Medical Exercise Specialist, and Health Coach certifications, there was always a short course refresher for us on writing the exam questions.

Though you’re not writing for a nationally accredited certification or something that is going to make or break a college degree, you want to be sure you’re really asking a question that gets you the answer you want.

How to Ask Questions:

Multiple choice
Ranking/rating
Round up responses to a specific question

Part of asking is also in WHO you ask. Realize there’s value in asking on social media, but even if you call them yours… they’re not. You have no idea of whether they have ever spent a dime with you or ever would. So don’t put a lot of stock into what you ask or get too detailed… they’ll be over it.

Survey Your Audience with the Right Questions

Sample questions you might ask:

Rank the following in order of importance:
Rate the quality of the [feature]
How important was __________ to your decision to purchase this product?
Which of these is the most important to you right now? (pick 3)

When you survey your email subscribers be sure you weigh the responses of your buyers heavier than that of those who have never purchased anything from you. This kind of segmenting is possible with any CRM (customer relationship management) tool you use.

Just a word about CRMs.I have used several to assist start up trainers, gyms and in rolling through growth myself so if you have questions on:

Aweber
Constant Contact
MailChimp
Infusionsoft
Or a custom email provider

I can help you. I’ve used them all and I’ve looked at others.

There are dozens more that you may be interested in. What you do want to know is that you have something that plays well with others. That is, you can integrate with your shopping cart, your website, and potentially plugins that help you automate so many things in your business so that you can focus on your personal magic.

Other Episodes You Might Like:

2 Goals of Every Communication (Sale or No Sale) that Boost Success: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/every-communication/ 5 Hacks to Reduce Fitness Marketing Time Without Losing Traction: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/reduce-fitness-marketing-time/ Develop & Define Your Brand Voice | Fitness Marketing Made Easy: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/define-your-brand-voice/ Resources:

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

The Flipping 50 Cafe:https://www.flippingfifty.com/cafe

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

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If you don’t define your brand voice, someone else will.

In this episode I’m going to share a fundamental of distinguishing yourself from others. This is how you stand out instead of blending in. It’s how you overcome the hurdle that one recent trainer said to me, “There are so many of us.”

Spoiler alert: There’s only one you. When you define your brand voice so that you know it, that’s when others will recognize it too.

Working for years in gyms and university exercise clinics, what I know and used to tell fitness instructors, trainers and gym owners is your brand is what they say about you in the locker room.

It may not be the one you want, but that is definitely your current brand. Is there anything that you want said? What is being said? If you asked 15 people who follow you… how would they describe you?

If I think of some of the influencers I watch on social, here’s how I would briefly describe them to someone else: (not by name)

That beautiful and sexy midlife fitness woman from Mexico, definitely using her body showing herself in revealing poses that display strength and a lot of skin to promote and draw attention. Behind the scenes, independent, and a little aloof, you never see her educating, communicating with her audience, or creating collaboration with others.

That exerciser-turned-fitness influencer/trainer who shoots a lot of videos in her car relates to women in midlife, and portrays a real how-to approach.

The retired high school counselor turned fitness coach who’s got a bit of a Jersey accent, straight-forward, sharing the same message consistently on repeat.

Who Do You Follow and How Do You Describe Their Brand Voice?

Others I follow, and potentially you do too:

Dr. Mark Hyman - always a health-related message about fitness and longevity, revealing what are basics, but not to all people, serving as reminders, not offensive but firm

Chalene Johnson - a whistle-blower, sharing her personal journey and making it real for other women in midlife going through similar things in several areas.

BettyRocker - she has always been more than anything an advocate for her followers, she’s clear about not being their hero, not motivating them, but having them be their own hero and inspiration. She gives them the tools to value themselves.

Dave Aspry - Bulletproof Coffee founder is a biohacker and has been and will always be. He calls BS on “health” practices that are harmful, new practices that are not yet mainstream and adopted by many. He’s not looking to be handsome or in style, he’s just who he is sharing why he’s doing things and how you too can improve your health and not fall for tricks leading to worse health.

Can you think of others? Food Babe, Ben Greenfeild… clearly defined brand voices.

You can hear brand voices as you listen to the radio. Commercials for cars, and ice cream - two of which have me changing the station faster than you can imagine - have a clear brand voice for a reason. They stick in your head. They may not be meant to be loved. They’re meant to be remembered. It’s not the same as a jingle, but it’s a similar concept.

You go to that car salesman and you know they are ready to do business, you’re going to get a deal. This is not where you’re going for your luxury drive. You want have something special when the grandkids are coming over, you may reach for the brand of ice cream that made you think of warm-fuzzy family memories.

When you define your brand voice, you have the thumbprint that is yours and yours alone.

You may have soundbites but they’re not rehearsed. (They’re natural!)

You may use quotes, but you attribute them not borrow as your own.

You don’t just become interesting, you are interested … interested in using your voice to go against anything you stand against and toward everything you stand for.

Where You Use Your Brand Voice

You’ll need it in writing and speaking and once you find it there won’t be any mistake about who you are, what you stand for, what you stand against, and every message will be congruent.

It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about writing or speaking, finding your voice takes time.

You may be 50 and just beginning to develop a brand of your own, and still be searching for your unique voice.

Who has a voice that you respect?

Oprah
Dolly Parton
Jane Fonda

Think about each of their messages and also the way they deliver it. They’re uniquely different. They represent different causes and yet each has a unique appeal. Don’t confuse celebrity with voice. They may have reached celebrity status in part because of their voice.

They didn’t do it by becoming one of the pack. They have had ups and downs and yet each maintained the same voice. So it isn’t about rising to the top, getting or even staying at the top. Having a voice is something you develop, fine-tune, and you get known for.

How To and Not to Develop a Brand Voice

It’s not a topic that creates a brand voice. It’s not a niche. It’s what you stand for and what you don’t. It’s what you talk about (and how) and what you don’t.

Take Action! Answer these questions to define your brand voice. But once you do, ask your team members to each do the same. You can have them show you or not. But then reveal to them exactly what you’ve written and why and review it with them. (You’re not trying to “grade” them so reviewing their answers is not necessary and might backfire them. It’s enough for them to understand how they can be aware of when they are on or off-brand).

What does your brand stand for:
What do you stand against:
What does your brand talk about:
What does your brand never talk about:
What tone of voice does your brand use:
What words does your brand use:
What are examples of words you’d never use:
How do you want people who interact with your brand to feel:

The Impact If You Define Your Brand Voice

Your emails sound like they’re from you even if you don’t write them.

You will attract more ideal customers and have fewer unsubscribes and unfollows.

Your posts sound like your freebie and that sounds like your emails and everything is a congruent journey.

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Social Media for Fitness Professionals: More Results Less Time: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/social-media-for-fitness-professionals/ Is Passive Revenue Too Good to Be True? Affiliate Marketing: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/passive-revenue/ Resources:

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

How to Create an Irresistible Freebie: https://www.flippingfifty.com/irresistible-freebie-how-to/

Earn as a Flipping 50 Affiliate: https://www.flippingfifty.com/affiliate-program-join/

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See it, believe it, do it.

Was that Wayne Dyer who said that?

Well, today it’s often Joe Dispenza saying it based on science.

Whether you keep replaying things you don’t want to happen, things that you wish were different, things you wish you had done differently OR you think about the future and wonder what is possible, OR you vision what you want and you act AS IF… you will be right.

Based on the proven science (I’ll link to Joe Dispenza’s work) that your brain does not know the difference between an intention tied to a strong emotion and an actual situation happening, you can create and attract exactly what you want.

To illustrate this, consider it for yourself. Are you thinking about needing to make more money, feeling like your business is not as successful as you want it to be? Are you thinking about your own weight gain in menopause, your belly fat, or your feelings of inadequacy in some way or another?

Do you think about having to work hard all the time to get what you want? Do you think about having to play a role in your family that prevents you from being as successful as you want? Do you think about being limited with opportunities in your current situation?

And what is true of your current revenue and business?
Does it match?
Which came first?

Write your future self a letter.

Write your future customers, members, or students a letter.

My Letter to Members:

I’ll share a note I recently wrote to my Flipping 50 membership legacy group. That’s those that have been members 3 or more years, and a considerable amount since 2016 when I first opened.

This was following an outreach specifically to them. I realized in writing it, I’ve been lucky. I’ll share why after I read it.

Exactly 10 Years ago from a house on UTAH DRIVE in Ames, Iowa at this time I was about to pay the first check to the university my son would begin in August. I had virtually no revenue. I'd quit everything in January to go 100% in. The regular paychecks stopped coming 3 months later after training my replacements... I was in front of my computer 14-16 hours a day learning, building, and feeling VERY much like a beginner after 30 years of establishing expertise. I hadn't done it online.

I had no idea I would be where we are today, having the privilege to meet and work with so many women who INFLUENCE so many lives ... and the health of others.

I am grateful for you. You were first... and you are still here.

I Failed the Future Fitness and Health Coaching Success Strategy!!

Why did I fail? A couple of key statements there!!

“I had no idea I would be where we are today” is one clue!

I didn’t have a specific vision. Not one I was invested in. About 2015 I attended a conference and considered joining my first mastermind… that scared me to death! It was a huge investment. (By the way, since then I’ve invested over $160,000 in various masterminds alone. That’s not including conferences, retreats, programs, and work to surround myself with people who are doing what I want to be next but am not yet.

Now, it worked out. And there are some who would say, when you jump - and I did - the net will appear.

That’s for those of you who are still playing it safe. No judgment if you LIKE right where you are. But if you’re clinging to your full-time, regular paycheck and benefits thinking you’ll never get there with your own business, it will be absolutely true.

Playing it safe isn’t what entrepreneurs do. You can, however, be a wonderful and valuable coach. Just be sure that you are very comfortable with yourself… no use of the word “JUST” in reference to what you’re doing. Modify your language so you reflect exactly why you do what you do and exactly what success looks like to you!! We women tend to belittle ourselves.

I just want you to be honest.

Do you really want what you have… or do you want more, something different?

Go get it if you do!!

Combine Room for MORE with a Vision

I may have mentioned this, my son is going to start his own business. That’s a risk. I’m excited for him. I’m not nervous for him in terms of success. Maybe in terms of stress and challenges and personal growth that occurs when you go all in, but that’s also a part of the excitement. He could settle for working the way he’s working…. Or he can take a risk and have potential that is based solely on what he can create. When I brought this up 6 years ago, he resisted. A lot. When I first brought him to a conference for entrepreneurs, he lasted half the day. By lunch, I’d lost him. So as a mom, I’m not going to say I told you so, but hey, I told you so!

Do create a vision. Most usually we need to 10x that vision. Someone else said they started wanting to help 1 million people. Then they did, so they had to raise it to 3… But that didn’t quite excite me.

So I never did it. Nothing with emotion behind it at least. And if you have an empty affirmation or “goal” … without an emotion so strong that you get tears in your eyes… I have witnessed, it won’t work.

Use both goals/intentions AND room for more. This or better is such a good phrase. Set an intention in a wise way.

I will make more than …..

I will enjoy at least # days off a month … while making …… or more

I will only work ….. Hours a day and make ….. Or more

I will help …. # people and in do it working ….. Hours a week … making ….

You don’t limit yourself with these. You create an opportunity for what you want and can envision and… so much more!

If you have a goal and intention, make it BIGGER.

BUT.. you need to have a strong emotion around it!

My son not too long ago gave me one. Knowing that he saw me like that was possibly one of the greatest gifts he will ever give me.

Your Future Fitness and Health Coaching Success Action Items:

Write yourself a letter as if it’s 10 years from now
Write your members and students a letter as if it’s 10 years from now.

Resources:

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

Sunlighten Saunas: https://www.flippingfifty.com/sauna

Other Episodes You Might Like:

A New Fitness Business Model for Your Virtual Fitness Business: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/virtual-fitness-business/ Social Media for Fitness Professionals: More Results Less Time: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/social-media-for-fitness-professionals/

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Injury risk is still a fear for many older adults. They already feel vulnerable, aches and pains due to diet or lifestyle more than aging itself. Have you ever considered injury risk could be your niche?

That there are enough adults who fear injury risk or who’ve been injured that you could develop an entire - profitable and sustainable business - on that very demographic?

About My Guest:

Are you aware that 87% of all exercisers get injured while exercising?

That alone may scare you from wanting to train clients. Or maybe you believe that you create exercise without risk. My guest Robbie Stahl is also The Fitness Doctor.

When you listen to his confident bio you’ll understand the difference between passion and conviction, going all in on what you do and know and how you help, unapologetically. You’ll hear Robbie’s full bio at the podcast I’ll link to and for our behind the curtain interview with Robbie here, we’ll share Robbie’s story after 20 years of training and extensive research and experimentation he mastered the science of healing and bulletproofing the body through the power of exercise.

One of Robbie’s claim to fame is a 100% success rate for fixing shoulder function in his clients who were told surgery was the only answer. A rumor like that alone is enough to fill your personal training schedule.

But Robbie started like anyone else, without clients, without education or certification. I’ll ask him how he got where he is now.

Questions We Answer in This Episode:

How did injury risk or injury prevention become your focus?
What mistakes did you make?
Who else is a part of your team and operations?
What advice would you give to the inexperienced you?
You run a 5-day fix. What can trainers and health coaches learn from attending?

Connect for the Full Body Fix:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/fullbodyfix

Robbie On Social:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/fullbodyfixchallenge

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tfitnessdoctor

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Common Injuries After 40 (and How to Fix Common Injuries):
https://www.flippingfifty.com/how-to-fix-common-injuries/

20 Tips to More Midlife Fitness Clients Post Pandemic | #319: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/more-midlife-clients/

Resource:

Sunlighten Saunas: https://www.flippingfifty.com/sauna

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

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Are you using lab tests for menopause clients to guide your exercise prescription? I hope so! If you’ve got some confusion, it’s time to get clear.

Listening to this, you very likely are a woman in midlife herself and may also still be new to menopause symptoms, treatment, and lifestyle options, so this episode will serve as an overview.

Lab tests for menopause clients is something we go into more deeply so that you understand what’s out there, why Western labs don’t tell the whole story and the difference between norms and optimal levels are so very different. Our specialists have a better understanding of how to support clients as they work collaboratively with their practitioners about what to ask and why they may want to seek answers to questions tied to their ability to get results from exercise and dietary changes.

More information on the Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist here.

Let’s explore options, insights, and how the results can help you if clients already have them.

Functional vs Western-Trained Lab Testing (root cause vs illness detection)

What to do with your Western-trained doc

What to do with a functional doc (because you may HAVE to and because only they’ve been trained to interpret)

Complete Blood Panel

Thyroid

Micronutrients

Cortisol saliva

Stool test

Dutch

Lab Tests Menopause Clients May Want, When & Why :

Complete Blood Panel if not in last year

Inflammatory markers: A1C, CRP

Fasting Blood Glucose (still may not be conclusive)

Saliva Cortisol

Micronutrients

Stool Testing

Hormones and…

Thyroid

TPO

Antibodies (these can be a clue to Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis)

Reverse T3

Not all Functional Docs need or favor Dutch (blood tests can also pinpoint for you)

Estrogen (3)

Progesterone

Testosterone

DHEA

Resources:

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Menopause Fitness Specialist Program: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/menopause-fitness-specialist/

My Lab for Self-Directed Labs: YourLabwork.com/flipping-50 Use Code: Flipping50 for $25 off your first order

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Using Lab Tests and Nutrition Coaching to Get Better Outcomes, Legally: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/using-lab-tests-nutrition-coaching/ 3 Reasons (and fixes) Your Female Fitness Client Isn’t Getting Results: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/female-fitness-client/

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It happens to everyone. Sales stink sometimes. You haven’t gotten traction yet, your message isn’t resonating, or you haven’t found your deep niche. Or you have, and the economy changed, the market made what used to work ineffective (take gym memberships for the biggest example in the history of gyms). But it can also be that you took a risk and tried something and it did not work.

Good for you! Celebrate! Taking a risk is a big deal.

This episode is all about …

How to Pivot When Sales Stink

So let’s just do one thing first, and that talks about when and why it will happen if you’re going to grow and scale a business!

In order to grow you will go backward sometimes. There are so many instances of this.

You’ll hire contractors or employees for the first time and gulp, realize your monthly expenses have gone way up… but your revenue has not gone up immediately. Long-term is that necessary? Yes, it absolutely is!

If you begin selling some products…. A journal, supplements, merchandise of any kind and you have to buy the inventory first, then pay to have it distributed when your customer purchases, there’s a somewhat hefty bill you’re going to have to pay ahead of the actual revenue which ideally includes a profit margin but it’s a one step forward two steps back game for a while.

Let’s dive in … with no special intro… let me ask:

What do you think would motivate someone to take a first step with you?

How well you answer that question will tell me if you can find out something very important: do you know your customer’s motivation?

Notice I didn’t say your motivation level. But instead, something very different, it’s their motive. What moves them to do something different, reach for different content or information?

What was YOUR motive for listening to this episode? What did you hope or think you would get out of it? Did you listen just because it was up next and you listen to them as they come out? Or did you return to this one, skip ahead to this one, or have it pop up when you were searching for answers?

Now, potentially, I know your motive for making a decision at the end of this conversation. Do you understand?

If you want more sales, you may be perfect for the Marketing to Women Copywriting course.

Or you may find that you’re here knowing I build my business from 0 to 6-figure months in about 4 years and you want to know more about working with midlife women and getting them results.

Next, What do you do?

How you answer that question may tell us a lot about why sales stink.
Is what you say something anyone can say? Is it what a lot of coaches or trainers with the same qualifications as you say?

Then you’re not getting anyone’s interest. And you have to have it.

If no one is really finding you interesting such that they have interest in learning more… a sale isn’t too likely.

Do You Surprise Them?

Michael Bernoff would call this intrigue. Interest of course we discussed. But intrigue is when you go a little further.

Let me give you an analogy. Or two.

First, when you want to get media experience and you’re green reaching out to people, fitness pros often reach out with I have this degree, that degree, am an elite so and so… and no one cares.

A producer wants ratings. A producer wants to know you understand that an audience loving your content gets ratings up. When audiences tune in more often due to great content and because you share you’re going to be on, were on - these things matter. It’s not about you talking about “your passion.”

It’s not about a potential podcast guest reaching out to me saying So and So’s book xxx is coming out and they’d love to talk about it on your show.

That’s lovely for them. That’s them winning from exposure on my real estate with my audience. But what’s in it for my audience?

“The mistake people often make is that I do this because I’m passionate about fitness and love to exercise. The truth is, I love seeing clients get results and change their entire lives because of starting with a few simple lifestyle changes we make step-by-step.”

What just happened there?

First of all, if that’s not you, you may not be in the right place. Because I’ve heard thousands of college students, personal trainers, and fitness instructors tell me “this is my passion.” And what they mean is they love working out, looking good, and to some extent showing off. When some trainers are injured or struggling with menopause themselves, they’re no longer as excited about their passion.

It can’t be about you. It can’t be about selling.

It has to be about helping someone get what they want instead of settling for what they have.

(Michael Berhnoff states this too regularly - I have to give due credit)

*Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course*

To summarize:

Do you intrigue? Surprise them? And know exactly what motivates them?

If you don’t, sales will continue to be a struggle and customers who do start may not feel taken care of.

When you turn this around though, you will love what you do, not feel like you’re selling, and bring more clients into your programs.

This may feel like it’s not an immediate fix. It can be. If you change the way you speak and what you say, every meeting, every email you send, and every post… targets and communicates more clearly why you are different and you are the solution to their problem.

When you ask… and you listen better… you tap into how your customer is making decisions. If you don’t know that, you can’t get a sale. No matter how much what you have can help someone…you have to know what motivates them to a yes.

Using the right science, the right words about your step-by-step, and how you uniquely approach menopause fitness based on proven methods strengthens your sales so that you can strengthen clients’ health and your business.

Miss our recent open enrollment period? Reach our support team at support@flippingfifty.com

Resources:

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Menopause Fitness Specialist Program: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/menopause-fitness-specialist/
Sunlighten Saunas: https://www.flippingfifty.com/sauna

Other Episodes You Might Like:

6 More Ways to Increase Your Fitness Sales This Season #293: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/6-more-ways/

11 More Ways to Boost Personal Training Leads, Sales, and Revenue: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/11-ways-boost-personal-training-leads-sales-revenue/

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If you’ve attended a fitness conference recently, this may or may not resonate. Online fitness conferences in the past few years have been different. Back in real person, we’re all a bit hungry for the community and excitement that bringing people together offers. But have you experienced this? A drained feeling, a definite adrenal rush potentially, but also a superficial show of persona as opposed to real connections? This may resonate with you if so.

Sometimes you just know that you’ve landed. Whether it’s because you find your people, or you have also found yourself and you’re comfortable in your own skin.

The soul-sucking information pathway that social media has become for me was taking a toll. I was definitely not looking forward to this trip. I could think of a million reasons not to go! We’re launching a new cohort of the Flipping50 Menopause Fitness Specialists and it was the last 4 days we’re open. I had just opened our recent launch of our 12-week consumer course-plus-coaching offer. I had a mastermind meeting to prepare for. And every once in a while, I can take for granted where I’m at and what I’m doing and wonder if I’m offering any new insight in my talk.

Definitely my thoughts before the fitness conference. Of course, in the process of presenting, and answering questions, and having people thank me and ask follow-up questions, I realize that I... I am the biggest benefactor of presenting because in doing so I remind myself that from 0 to 6-figure months is nothing to take for granted. I realize that sharing that story was crucial for me to have the reminder of what I am capable of doing… again.

Time to Attend a Real Fitness Conference

I was long overdue to attend a fitness conference that wasn’t full of superficial “awesome” high-fives and selfies and find some source of peace and collective goal-seekers.

Mission accomplished.

I’ve known the hosts of this conference for a decade I guess. I don’t know at all. Cody Sipe was first on my radar I believe as a presenter and award-winning fitness pro with ACE (American Council on Exercise).

He and partner Dan Ritchie formed Functional Aging Institute. They hosted a first event in 2015 and I was invited. It’s a small world, where I’ve met other guests that will be familiar to you if you’ve attended the What, When & Why to Women’s Exercise Summit: https://www.flippingfifty.com/womensexercise

Dr. Emily Splichal – who is your go-to for all things feet issues that may limit your clients and for improving balance, stability and continued activity for life.

Bedros Keuilian – who is a renowned fitness marketing mastery expert and who has evolved as so many fitness and health pros do, to mindset and personal growth. Fitness Marketing Secrets.

Sister team Kymberly Williams-Evans and Alexandra Williams of funandfit.org co-wrote a guest-contribution to You Still Got It, Girl! (published by Healthy Learning in 2015).

Dan and Cody also contributed to the same book’s chapter on strength training. And Dan was a guest speaker on The What, When & Why to Women’s Exercise Summit.

And here’s why.

The Health & Fitness Professional Experience

When you meet good people, hold onto good people. I’ve had many “lunches” with fitness pros over the past few decades. But many of them were networking from the beginning, felt like networking, and I couldn’t wait to recover after.

Others, like lunch I had with Dan a couple years ago, and the lunch I enjoyed with Lindsay Vastola (you may recognize as prior editor of PFP magazine for 10 years) and a few others, this weekend were rich in real connections and laughter.

It’s not fair I suppose to compare pre-pandemic to post but I do believe there’s more to it. It’s also not fair to compare an early career or tendency to wear imposture syndrome, with seasoned career and an attitude of I just don’t care what people think, I’m doing the right thing.

I’ve seen too much about the inside of fitness conferences and about who and how they are chosen to speak, and what they’re reality is behind the scenes. I don’t suggest that we don’t all have things we may regret, but if you knew about industry award-winners, who and how promotions occur, and the very flimsy “influencer” market you are playing in if you decide to post based on what you see others with large audiences post, you’re headed for a reality check faster than you might know.

What glitters, and is botoxed, does not shine so much in real life.

The Reality of Fitness Conferences

I usually go home from fitness conferences exhausted. Not because of living a 1980s or even early 90s fitness conference reality where it was workout session after workout session. But because of the vibe. The junior-high-like cliques, ego-driven exchanges, the near-elevation of presenters to celebrity status that makes it less a learning environment than a day at a fitness bootcamp to see who holds up the longest, has the newest apparel and still parties through the evening.

But this conference was different. Connections were real. Instead of ducking out to my room to recharge I stayed the day watching it all before and between my sessions. Speakers were around and making connections with each other as well as attendees.

A panel of three female fitness leaders I was on had such great synergy not only with each other but with the audience. It was as rich an experience for each of us participating I think as it was for those in the room attending beginning to grow their own businesses. Lindsay, I and Alexis Perkins whom I’d never met had a great time co-hosting the panel.

If you want to see and know what’s possible, consider that Alexis Perkins has founded Chair One Fitness [Link to learn more https://chaironefitness.com/]. She’s 30. She’s got contagious enthusiasm. She’s figured out it’s figuroutable. Don’t look at her and say, I wish I’d started then, look at her and say that it’s possible for any one of us. She’s a young woman of color, serving an older market both in the older adult caregiving arena and in the fitness professionals she trains. What do you need to overcome? Why not you? She’s doing it and she’s a breath of fresh air.

Conference Locations, Sessions & Keynotes

The keynotes were not “look at me” but a real connection with audience through personal story and industry facts and overcoming challenges.

Seek out conferences where you not only get knowledge poured into you, but you get filled up like this.

Recently in our customer support I was asked about fitness conferences in Salt Lake City. This comes the same weekend I’m IN SLC for this conference. Does that feel a little too like AI or Alexa listening in? I can’t answer questions like that unfortunately, Google is your best GPS for that.

But if you do have questions about what and where to gain education virtually or in person in a way you not only get knowledge, but gain community, reach out to us. We’ll help and we’ll host. We have educational events for health & fitness coaches in conjunction with our Flipping 50 retreats. So if you’re up for a weekend of hiking to put your fitness to work and your mind at ease and then also fill up your cup with business support, let us know you’re interested.

We’re putting together some challenging destination hiking opportunities as well as other slightly milder but high-volume outdoor adventures combined with Menopause Fitness & Coaching Strategies for you.

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Fitness Marketing Secrets to Recession-Proof with Bedros Keuilian: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/fitness-marketing-secrets/ Business Partnerships and Collaborations | Amazing Health & Fitness Growth: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/business-partnerships/ Resources:

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Sunlighten Saunas: https://www.flippingfifty.com/sauna

The Flipping 50 Cafe: https://www.flippingfifty.com/cafe

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We all come up against this at some point. Then, later, we’ll come up against it again as long as we keep growing. This came up as a question on a female fitness business entrepreneurs panel I was part of at a recent conference. A young woman asked a question but let’s be clear, you could ask the same question in your 50s if you were new to fitness. Let’s say you’re a fitness pro and pitching a group of doctors or businessmen, do you think the same hasn’t happened before to women of any age?

So no matter if you are young or older, or in fact, if this is helpful to a young woman in any industry, feel free to share it. We need to have each other’s backs and the way to do it is by sharing things you’ve already been through.

This too is the value of a coach or a mastermind so you can surround yourself in a safe place with people you can confide in and know they’ve been there or will have something to offer.

In this episode on Being Taken Seriously at Work:

The real truth that may be the reason this bothers you
What this is and other ways it shows up
How to handle a gap between you and your customer (age, gender, experience level, economic or social circles)
What to do to create authority with rapport

Last Tip on Being Taken Seriously in Your Health & Fitness Coaching Job

I’ll leave you with this last thought regarding the feeling that you can’t get someone to take you seriously. Think about the people who don’t are the 20% who really matter that you can gain 80% of your business from or they are the 80% of people who are hard to deal with, hard to serve, the most needy and demanding, but least profitable and not committed to getting your help as much as you are to helping.

Something I wish I knew sooner was that dropping so many of the things that kept me “busy” would have freed me up to work on the things that truly resulted in higher revenue with more ease. I spent a lot of years running from this to that. For too long fitness professionals were led to believe that’s how fitness worked. You should be doing 5 jobs. It was in fact what limited us all. Do we need part-time trainers in the industry? Yes, absolutely. But if a career is your objective, one that creates a sustainable life you love and a revenue that is consistent and either predictable or only limited by your ability to create it, you can’t play the game. A job done in tights, sneakers, or barefoot that changes lives is no less important than one done in a business suit.

It’s just that too many fitness professionals believe that it is and tell you so, even making it sound glamorous because they get a little “hit” of dopamine every time they are wanted and featured as an instructor. Being asked to speak at conferences for free in exchange for the “prestige” and exposure? Really? Women in the fitness industry asking for this of other women (and men) are unrealistic and keeps this industry in the dark ages.

The reality is trainers and instructors can spend as much time traveling between jobs as at jobs, turning the rate of pay into not that much more than minimum wage. The pandemic was a grateful game-changer for many, yet it was right there all along.

As soon as you stop playing someone else’s game, you can start winning at your own. If there’s a problem enough customers have and you solve it, you have a business.

Challenge yourself to look at problems from different angles, to ask and talk it out with someone who has been there. You will grow so much faster and feel so much lighter instead of carrying it around wishing, hoping, and then watching… as someone else does it first.

We don’t see ourselves like others do and an outside voice will accelerate your growth.

How to Take Your Business Seriously to the Next Level

Take this Action: If an intimate group business-building coaching with like-minded women for an influx of paying customers sounds amazing consider this. Whether your dream is to sell high-ticket, high-touch or to sell a low-ticket app to many - if this sounds like a perfect fit for you, just let us know you’re interested. We’re putting together a small group and an intimate opportunity for female fitness & health coaches. Building your business from the first idea to the detailed leadership, products, marketing, sales, and financial blueprint so you AND your business can thrive is not an easy task.

If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together. - African Proverb

I’m kicking off a 6-month training with a weekend adventure near the Grand Canyon. You’ll be a part of a challenging day of hiking, trusting, and getting to know each other in the midst of a weekend of training, business evaluation, and planning. No matter where you are - a dream and idea, or a plateaued business, to a new revenue stream or a complete business remodel you want - let us know. I’ll connect to learn more and find out if this group is right for you and let you know the details. Email support@flippingfifty.com and I’ll reach out to you personally.

Our first cohort will occur fall of 2023. The second in spring 2024 with leadership opportunities for those in the first group.

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Five Fitness Speaking Steps That Makes Free Pay Off:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/five-fitness-speaking-steps-that-makes-free-pay-off/

Talk to Customers You Want Most | 5-Minute Marketing Tips: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/talk-to-customers/

Resources:

Sunlighten Saunas: https://www.flippingfifty.com/sauna

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

     **Affiliate Program: https://www.flippingfifty.com/affiliate-program-join/**

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Business partnerships and collaborations are great opportunities.

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” – African Proverb

Got a business partner or thinking about it? There’s less risk, there’s more minds, more eyes… and there are more opinions about everything, so getting an agreement in place regarding the business venture you’re starting before you do it, or now if you’ve not done it, is a good idea.

Invest a little time and money into making it legal, making sure everyone signs and understands.

Whether you partner to host a podcast, or you partner in a full-fledged business, with your sister, your spouse, or friend, you want it in writing. Whether there’s two of you or 10 of you, how will you determine the role of the individuals involved?

These are things you don’t want to leave to chance.

In this episode I’ll open with ideas about how you may already be partnering and not even realize it, options you may consider having a business partner for first in your business and give you a few things to consider before you get legal advice and invest in making it official.

Think of this as your introduction into partnerships if you’re not doing them (but like I said, you may be and not realize it), or a great reminder to review what you have in place to keep partnerships running smoothly.

Considering a Business Partnership?

One thing I would suggest is clear. It rang true for all the people I talked with whether they were in a business that was currently making money or that on the flip side, was hurting and not making money. Whenever there is money involved there is emotion. Someone can too easily feel taken advantage of. So, while you’re thinking about it, or in early stages and just beginning to look at how you monetize your podcast business partnership for example, it’s a very good time for all parties to consider “what if.”

Honestly, this could have been the name or this episode. What if… This is a very good place to start.

Business Partnerships and Collaborations | Amazing Health & Fitness Growth

I’m going to throw out a couple scenarios for you to consider here:

If you have investors, someone who helped you with a startup, do they have any decision-making power?

If so, what? How much? Who has the bottom-line veto power?

Say someone approaches one of you and wants to do business with you but not your partner. They want you to do something on the side. Is there any agreement about partners ability to have a “side hustle” that is related to the same business?

What if one of you feels strongly about hiring or firing someone? About the training methods and who is responsible for it?

How do you split revenue? Is it down the middle after expenses? Or is it split differently based on tasks and responsibilities?

Are you taking commission and paying yourselves a base salary commensurate with what you’d pay someone else doing the same tasks if you were to hire them? Or are you only taking distributions after expenses?

That already is a lot. But let’s look at a situation where you and a partner might start a business that includes fitness programs, nutrition programs and social media posting and podcasting. The day-to-day decisions alone are numerous! Who posts? How often and when? How do you determine the posts? That’s a time-consuming task right there, but if you not only do it, but you have to run it by a second party, there’s a lot of time involved times two. Or is one of you in charge? Or one of you in charge of overseeing your VA who is doing it for you and tracking and reporting the stats for partner decisions to be made at regular meetings.

Other Fitness & Health Business Partnership Decisions

Then there are pricing decisions, branding decisions, cost of goods sold, services you hire for branding, photos, videography or editing. Or if one of you does this, is that paid hourly or on salary to do it, then again business profits are handled through distributions paid out to each of you in an even split? The platforms you use have a certain cost and as you grow there will be more of them. Who decides or does the research? Who monitors expenses like this?

Someone has to be responsible for accounting, bookkeeping, monitoring P & L statements to know if this is really working and what parts of the business are working and which are not.

Let’s look at one of the early business collabs you might do which is co-hosting a podcast. How fun, right? To host a podcast with a friend, what could be better? You get to have chats regularly and have twice the reach with your personal accounts plus your business account, and twice the people you meet and want to engage with.

And then say, you start having people want to sponsor your show or have you promote them and all of a sudden you’re monetizing that podcast. Or you might start promoting affiliate products or services you love to your audience and that starts generating revenue. Is there a business account where that’s going? Is that revenue equally split? Is there any reason one of you will feel like you deserve more because you enlisted them, suggested it and created more of the promotions?

What if one of you has a business that she monetizes – a weight loss coaching business. The other one doesn’t really have a coaching or fitness service but is the more journalistic and media personality behind you starting and getting in front of people.

What if one of you is a doctor and the other a fitness professional? One of you sees patients and builds a business based on medical services. The other a fitness professional may refer to the doc and doc may refer to the fitness programs, but it isn’t clear exactly the benefit to each of you. What if the relationship dissolves? Who “owns the podcast” and the listenership and ability to market via social to the established list?

Business Partnerships Next Steps:

List all the partnerships you have now

Consider ones you are thinking about

Make a list of possible situations (responsibilities, exit strategy, decision-making, distributions)

Ask your partner(s) to make a list too

Have a meeting (or a series of them)

Have an agreement made up about the partnership and legal rights of each and how decisions, or board meetings, and reporting are handled.

Other Episodes You May Like:

Grow Your Fitness Business in 2023 | Personal Trainers and Health Coaches: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/fitness-business-in-2023/ A New Fitness Business Model for Your Virtual Fitness Business: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/virtual-fitness-business/ Resources:

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Menopause Fitness Specialist Program: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/menopause-fitness-specialist/

     **Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course**

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Your clients may choose to use HRT or avoid HRT... But I propose they could also abuse HRT.

What to do in both cases…

I’m going to cut right to the heart of the message.
I want to get your attention.

If I have it, keep reading and I’ll explain (and so will a podcast).

Muscle is an endocrine organ – Muscle is HRT for Women 40+

It is HRT.

Still, reading? Good… let’s do this.

Hormones and Training 101

Once a woman doesn’t have the same level of estrogen and progesterone she did, building muscle makes a big difference in the way she ages.

Cortisol has an uptick when estrogen falls. That means, women no longer have the muscle-stimulating effects of estrogen AND they have the deleterious effects of cortisol breaking down their muscles further.

Loss of muscle means a gain of fat. By default, even if fat isn’t gained, the percentage of body fat goes up. But in minutes- or so it seems for many women – your metabolism slows (not because it must… but because she may have this first wake-up call that she hasn’t been eating enough protein, sleeping enough, or doing enough or the right kind of strength training. She will gain fat.

Even if her false golden idol scale says she hasn’t gained weight, she has changed her body composition such that she doesn’t have metabolically active tissue anymore. She will gain weight, and it will be 100% fat.

Flipping50 Menopause Specialist: https://www.flippingfifty.com/specialist

She hasn’t thought about it like this.

Have you?

Look… if you’re going to the trouble to understand what happened for you, what’s happening for her… by knowing signs and symptoms and offering all the tools that support her (Check out the Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist), then you must know how to talk to her about it.

In a way she’ll listen.

We hit on estrogen and progesterone levels. They play a big part in glucose regulation. A high percent of women become less insulin sensitive, or said otherwise- insulin resistant because they’re eating the same as they’ve always done, exercising the same as they’ve always exercised and it’s not going to work the same. More muscle acts like a bigger sponge for blood sugar. Then each time you move that muscle – in daily activities of life, in walking, and in intentional exercise, the muscle is acting like HRT for Women 40+. It’s not giving extra estrogen and progesterone, but it’s helping take up where estrogen left off and where insulin would have to take over, with its negative effects. (Progesterone, BTW, responds well to certain foods and making sure you’re not going too low on carbs too often is a big part of balancing this hormone).

How Can Exercise Negatively Affect Hormones?

Women who revert to cardio, cardio, and cardio are also potentially elevating cortisol with endurance activity. More pronounced even if they’re already stressed, sleep deprived, or eating too little protein and carbs to fuel. This is at that moderate level they’ve been led to believe (even we as fitness professionals have been led to believe, is best).

With less cardio and more strength training + low-level exercise, + anaerobic work (getting breathless) -when appropriate, a woman stands a chance at improving her life.

Strength training and HIIT also have a positive (and not negative) effect on testosterone and growth hormone as well as cortisol.

A woman not lifting is live choosing to avoid HRT. Overexercise is abusing it.

Resistant Exercise as HRT for Women 40+ and Mood

Then there’s mood. A recent study in the Journal of Physiology (Jan 2023) found that high intensity has a far greater effect on the BDNF factor in the brain. Studies in the recent past years (excluding the pandemic) showed high-intensity high-impact studies done on postmenopausal women to be not only effective in bone density benefits but also researchers discovered something. They said in the discussion that the participants liked the HIIT. Compliance and adherence rates were high, and the exercise had notable favorable effects on mood and sense of accomplishment.

These are all related to serotonin, oxytocin, dopamine and of course endorphins. More muscle enables more motivation to do other activities that bring each of these as well.

Weight training done correctly has a positive hormonal effect on HRT. No weight training, it’s another way your clients may abuse or avoid HRT. Whether you’re a coach or a trainer, or a combination, there is no other exercise that substitutes for the positive impact on hormones like a proper resistance training program.

Overexercise has a negative impact.

Chronic cardio has a negative impact.

Your clients, you know those that overdo it, do it too frequently, don’t rest… are essentially taking double doses of their hormone shots, creams, or pills. No one would do that… but she doesn’t see that she is.

Without you. Are you ready to dig into the science and the way to deliver it with confidence you know how to help your menopause clients now and tomorrow when her status changes? Can you pivot? The Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist course is open and comes with 2 huge bonuses and a special rate for podcast listeners. DM me on IG or send a message to support@flippingfifty.com to get this $500 off and 10K in bonuses now!

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Muscle is an endocrine organ – Muscle is HRT for Women 40+: https://www.flippingfifty.com/hrt-for-women/

3 Ways to Coach Menopause Clients Out of Mistakes: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/coach-menopause-clients/

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Every communication you use in marketing has two goals (and you know me, I can’t help but add an extra so at the end I tell you the one more that would make the trilogy test of “is this a successful post, email or video?”

They are:

Establish Clear Authority
Create Rapport

In this episode I will provide you with examples of good and bad, hits and misses of these in action.

It’s so easy if you’re consciously doing this. Little phrases you say, words you do or don’t will alienate you or make you go to the top of your prospect’s inbox.

Establish Clear Authority in Every Communication

State your credentials without stating your credentials
Tell them what you do and how you deliver service without listing it

Imagine saying something like, “One of my private clients, Jennifer lost 100 lbs in her mid 60s. When I worked with Jennifer…”

“In our bestselling group strength program, the data over 7 years has shown…”

You’re telling a story and at the same time telling someone that you coach private clients. You begin to share a statistic and have shared that you do group strength training.

“When I was teaching at the University…” Or “When I was preparing my TEDx talk….”

Find ways to weave your credentials and ways you work with clients into your talks.

Create Rapport in Every Communication

Teach without preaching
Raise and praise for effort
Let them know it’s not their fault

These may seem obvious. But I’m usually surprised by a lack of awareness shows up in social posts and podcasts. Here’s how to make sure you don’t alienate, and instead befriend your ideal customer: Before you speak… to a group or in a podcast, consider that you are speaking one-on-one to the person who may be making a mistake you’re talking about.

How do you want them to feel about you?

What delivery will help nurture that?

If you’re talking away to your show host or your show guest, for instance, you can get caught up in comparing notes about all the crazy thoughts of your customers and forget… the actual purpose of hosting or being the guest on the show is to make the listeners feel heard and seen.

Claiming, “They don’t drink enough water!” or “You’re just aging faster without strength training,” though true, may leave your listener feeling judged and just labeled or lumped into a group … and not supported.

“It’s not your fault.”

“Here’s why it’s so easy to fall into that trap.”

Remember in a previous post I shared how to deliver a message so that you can relate to your audience better. Tell a story about you! Start with “I” .. then move to “we” then finish with you.

Anything else can feel like you’re just being a teacher telling someone they’ve done it wrong but not giving a reason why, of course, that mistake is so easy to make.

If There Was One More… This is It

If I could give you a third it would be, be distinct. Don’t be a parrot or minah bird:

Don’t just repeat what someone said.

Know why you’re saying it and where it came from.

Know why you’d die on a hill for it.

Put it in words that are yours not some that belong to someone else.

Connect:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com

On Social:

https://www.facebook.com/fitnessmarketingbiz

Resources:

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

Other episodes you might like:

Better Email Marketing: Love Letters To Your Customers: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/better-email-marketing/

3 Ways to Increase Your Email Opens (social posts & website traffic) NOW!: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/ways-to-increase/

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You’re human so how you handle mistakes is a need-to-know part of business. In a word, fast, is the Cliff notes here but stick around for this episode. I wish this is something I’d had to listen to and lean into when I was just starting.

Before I knew that hassles and mistakes and random website updates would happen… you know, all the stressful moments when you’re in a launch and the website goes down or it’s Black Friday week and the cart has a plugin update.

All just stuff.

But what about the times when you send an email with an incorrect link?
What about the typos you neglected to catch in a proofread?
And then the time when you used inappropriate language in a meeting with a contractor and he quits within hours?

I’ll share those and a few more mistakes with you in this episode. And most importantly, what we’ve implemented as the SOP to fix things.

Handle Mistakes with Grace (or at least tenacity)

If you’re just starting it may be hard to imagine you’ll make these mistakes. But if you grow, you inevitably will. Or someone working for you will. It’s just the fate of being human. Being human and juggling a lot of things in this life.

If you’re growing you’re probably experiencing these growing pains!

1 Customer service language really matters and it’s not going to happen by accident.

Give them some permission and authority to smooth things over on your behalf.

Can they offer…

A free access to a gift you don’t even have for sale?

A course they don’t already own?

Make it congruent with why they reached you in the first place!

Make it complementary to what they wanted.

Problem with a “free” thing, give a low cost or “free” thing.

Problem with a paid thing, give them something hidden, invisible, or that you created for just exactly this purpose. Because we all know human error and technology are going to create instances where it just doesn’t work.

2 If it was a tech glitch or a campaign oversight it’s best to have a team member send.

You as the owner, unless you’re still wearing all the hats, should have your team member who missed something send the email.

The subject line includes an emoji and says Oops, We Goofed! Here’s this…

Inside, my team member will say, Hey this is “Sam”, you don’t usually hear from me, I’m behind the scenes of all the tech and programs here and you recently received an email with the subject line “xxxxx” and I made a mistake!

He’ll go on to say what the mistake was.. Something that shouldn’t have been sent.. Or was sent at the wrong time… or an incorrect link… but that then for me.. Makes me the good guy still.

He apologizes… and again restates what’s true and that’s it. Super short.. But from him.. Not me.. And explaining how embarrassed he is that what happened…

And it works so well. Often they’ll all comment, even have empathy for him for being so honest and quick to fix it.

If you want to do this, I suggest taking a screenshot, crafting a couple of examples. I had a developer who was great at this and just naturally did it. For my next hire we needed to go over why this was so important that it come from him when there was a mistake behind the scenes. Not everyone you hire will know to do this, so you’re going to help make it a safe place for mistakes to happen, and then train them how to handle mistakes when they do by having this as a part of onboarding training.

3 What if it’s not your fault?

It wasn’t your fault… it wasn’t your team’s fault and it wasn’t your tech.

It was a user-error.

First, accept that your ideal customers having a user-error can provide insight on how to prevent it, make it easier or show you how to be different.

We have people type in wrong addresses, zip codes or .con instead of .com frequently!! Then they wonder why they can’t check out, or why they didn’t get their product or their emails.

They even go as far as doing a chargeback which takes you as an owner down a rabbit hole because instead of reaching out to you… they went over the top for a refund. Buyer’s remorse set in, maybe with the knowingness that they did make a mistake but frustration in life led them to just wanting to forget it all happened.

How we handle this:

I call them. Or video call them. I text them.

Personally.

4. What If We Dropped the Ball? This Mistake Hurts

How we handle this:

I call them. Or video call them. I text them.

Personally.

It’s Me. I. I’m the Problem its Me.

At this point, someone else might say, how can you still be doing that? But I think, how could I not? It's my business. Every team member is my responsibility that they know how to do their job, know their role, and has what they need to succeed. So, I could have someone else do this, but I don’t think that’s right. There’s value for me in valuing relationships.

Maybe a part of me likes it when someone squeals with surprise that it’s really me. Not every phone call goes like that though. Sometimes people are genuinely mad. No amount of apology or offer to make it right help.

But mostly, I make these calls after. After we’ve refunded, honored a chargeback without a dispute and just call to say I’m sorry. I’m sorry it ended that way and that - if we did - that we dropped the ball and I’m sorry it had to be them that made us aware of the need to make some upgrades behind the scenes.

5 I Handled a Meeting with a Team Member Poorly Resulting in Quitting

The outcome of the meeting was not a mistake. How it happened and why was.

I had let a situation escalate giving too many second chances, and the benefit of the doubt, when a team member was non-responsive to requests to connect. You don’t need to know the details to know this. As I sat at an airport waiting to board a flight on a Sunday afternoon, I had reached the end of a fairly patient streak. I’d been taken advantage of, paid in good faith and the numbers didn’t add up. Essentially, my temper led to words inappropriate and offensive.

Bottomline is no matter what needed to happen and did, no matter what someone else’s behavior was, you and I are responsible for our actions.

I kept hoping he would apologize, make me aware of a reason for the odd behavior, point out the error in charging me twice what he worked, and it just didn’t happen. I used a poor choice of words.

He quit within hours, leaving my team member, holding the bag, to cover for him.

How did I fix that? Well, I was already out more than $1000 of time that hadn’t been worked and lower quality work than matched our expectations. Nothing I could do about those. But I also owed the biggest apology to our team member who ended up covering that base until we hired again.

You get better at hiring slow and firing fast when this happens. I also think there’s some growth for everyone when you mess up as the team leader and own it and make it okay to mess up since we’re all going to.

Handle Mistakes in Your Health & Fitness Business Fast

Here’s the bottom line on mistakes:

Handle them quickly.
Apologize… not necessarily for making mistakes if you didn’t, but for the experience that someone had, or for not creating an environment where someone felt able to reach you or your team for support.
Ask for help coming up with solutions.

The painful ones are the biggest growth opportunities.

Resources:

The fitness health coaches scorecard:https://www.flippingfifty.com/the-fitness-health-coaches-scorecard/

Menopause Fitness Specialist Program https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/menopause-fitness-specialist/

Other Episodes You Might Like:

How to Hire the Right Person for Your Team: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/hiring/ Female Fitness Leadership: It Starts with You: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/female-fitness-leadership/

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This Game-show-like episode I hope will be a fun way to test titles and give you insight that will strengthen your ability to create clear titles (and not confusing) for ANYTHING!

Plus, in case you didn’t know, you can go back and change your YouTube titles to get them to perform better if you created something that didn’t perform the way you thought it should. Even better than modifying the old though is creating everything from here on out with greater awareness and nailing it! When the exact person you created it for feels just as if you are speaking to her… #nailed it!

Here’s the game we’re going to play. [Credit where credit is due… on a 12-hour road trip I listened to more country music than is probably legal, but also heard the Sandy Show.. I couldn’t tell you Sandy, who… but he and his wife Trish played a similar game. Stealing this!]

So what I’m going to do instead of just talking is share a few examples of clear titles and confusing titles and ask you to vote… and then of course, I’m going to give you may answer. So, if you’re still thinking and like to contemplate, be ready to push pause!

What I want you to do - and what I’ll do for you - is as if it passes the test or not between clear or confusing. We’ll vote either confusing/clear OR Preach & Teach vs Raise & Praise.

Create Clear Titles Game

Podcast Episode Titles:

The audience is females 35-50 in perimenopause. You’ll talk about everything related to fitness but not only fitness.

Fitness Mindset
Lifting Heavy Things
The Fitness for Women Perspective
She Lifts Heavy
Your Menopause Made Easy

Blog Titles:

Blog audience is women 30-50
Eating More to Lose Weight
Friday Favs
Currently… this
Things I’m Loving Now
Lifting to Define and Lift Your Chest

YouTube video titles

Target a wide range of women primarily in 40-70 range
Well+Good website creators on the health and wellness craze (CBS - 9 years ago .. only 931 views)
Top 5 Ways to Recession-Proof Your Body
3 Worst Exercises for Women Over 40
Methods on How to Get Tone
The Most Dangerous Woman on YouTube

Create Clear Titles for Social Media Posts:

Targeting a midlife women demographic
Healthy Habit Tips
The Truth About Drinking Water

New Podcast Episode!

Do you get the idea?

Resources:

     **Health & Fitness Business Scorecard:** **https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard**

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

Menopause Fitness Specialist: https://www.flippingfifty.com/specialist

         **Other Episodes You Might Like:**

Fast Fixes for Social Media Mistakes: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/fast-fixes-for-social-media/ Filling Your Personal Training Programs with Juicy Titles That Sell: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/filling-personal-training-programs-juicy-titles-sell/

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Marketing opportunities for your business and personal brand aren’t all the same. At first, you may be tempted to say yes to everything. It’s experience. It’s getting better at being interviewed or speaking. But I want to share how this quick lesson in clarity applies to how you run your business and choose to invest your time.

What’d I suggest you do is declare who you are, what you do, and what you want to do more of. When I review some of my prospective client’s websites and social accounts, it’s easy to see the reason there may be a mismatch between effort and results. That’s your brand, your mission. When you have a mission, your entire team has a mission to guide them.

Marketing Opportunities are More than Just “Getting Out There”

Clients come to me because they want to make more money. That’s not really about landing a picture on the cover of a magazine. It’s not about having a huge “influencer” following from beautiful images on Instagram. (After all, that doesn’t build a program or service or proven method or close the deal. It doesn’t create a repeatable, predictable process to get traffic, get leads, nurture leads, and sell to create new customers). There have been plenty of people who got their 5 minutes of fame on Oprah who weren’t set up to sell anything after or nurture leads.

When you have a mission, it’s easy to say yes or no to marketing opportunities, projects and offers. The bigger and more well-known you are, the more of these offers come in. There will be offers to partner and promote skincare, and yoga mats, and foam rollers, and acupuncture tools. These are just three sitting in my inbox right now.

Then there will be the stationary bike desk and the electric bike and the bed. And they take time! I once said yes, and got into an entire year-long relationship with a company that took hours of filming, writing, and often editing, then posting and sharing, which took a significant amount of time from my real business mission. In the end, was the new bed worth it? Not sure today I’d say yes again to that. At the time I couldn’t see it, but it didn’t accelerate my business, it slowed it down.

In this episode, I cover from start to end:

How to decide if you’re in a phase of just saying yes to everything
When you will want to start being more selective about marketing opportunities
The importance of using your brand’s mission to decide (already touched on)
Using this example to get a clear message, to a clear individual, that resonates
When you say yes to marketing opportunities, how to be ready and make it easy to take a next step

Who Does Your Brand Say “Yes” or “No” to?

Recently I was asked to speak on a podcast that was new to me, a fairly new podcast, and in reviewing previous episodes I was a little confused.

The aim of the podcast was clear at first glance, and then looking at the content it wasn’t at all.

The podcast was targeting allied health professionals. The guests were varied health coaches and trainers who serve direct-to-consumer programs and services.

Do you see the issue already?

The purpose of the podcast according to the host was a podcast for health or fitness pros. The topic was overcoming obstacles to getting started (for consumers). The next step however in supporting your target audience would be … not hearing how to get motivated yourself to overcome but how the coach or trainers coach to overcome. Someone who wants to say, how do I do this too, wants a training program themselves.

So, I thought, maybe I’m missing it. Maybe in fact this is a behind-the-curtain look at how other coaches and trainers are coaching clients out of this obstacle.

It was helpful to listen and to read the bait-and-switch of the podcast. It has begun as one thing and evolved into another. Fair enough. We’ve all done that business and personal lives!

Is this Brand Exposure Opportunity a YES?

Back to you, the potential guest, (and BTW, if you’re a host, be very clear who your listener is and what their problem is that you solve too!) what you have to ask is whether this serves you. When you are asked to be a guest do you ask:

Who is your target audience? What demographic?

What’s your reach? (in the case of a podcast – ask downloads per episode and per month).

How many will you be sharing this with on your social media channels and your email list?

These are fair questions to ask if you’re asked to give time and expertise for the benefit of growing someone else. Because they will expect that you share via email and social media. and They will potentially ask and get your agreement to do this as a part of agreement in being a guest. There is one individual I’ve interviewed in the last decade of podcasting, over two shows and at this point 4 episodes a week, who does not share. It’s a part of all communications. If you’re the author of the most sold books in the topic and subject area like Dr. John Gray, you too can choose to do this. But until then, you will want to share and be shared both.

Making the Most of Fitness Marketing Opportunities

Then, if asked and it’s a perfect match: Be ready! Don’t send a new acquaintance, barely more than a stranger to a program. Even if it’s low priced, a 12-week program or a 4-week program is a commitment with someone they don’t know.

What’s your freebie? A quick win they can do without you.

For decades fitness centers assumed a free week trial, or free personal training consultations were the best way to get someone in and hooked.

For 80% of the population not moving, intimidated, it’s too big. It’s too much.

Start small. Start with ONE step and one more step after that’s mastered. Try it, you will not be disappointed. Should you also make it possible to buy? Yes. But it should be there for that 15% of customers who make up their mind and are ready now. The focus of your growth in a blue ocean of potential that no one is successfully tapping into, is ideally on the 85% of people who need one small and easy win that comes without the intimidation factor.

Someone who’s not exercising, who has a perceived obstacle of time, doesn’t think of themselves as an exerciser. THAT is where you can make the most difference. Without that difference, the actions won’t come or won’t stick. Change that and you change everything.

Other Episodes:

Fitness Trainer Opportunities Right Now | Start Over Start Strong: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/opportunities/ Fitness Marketing Hacks: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/fitness-marketing-hacks/ Resources:

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

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Your clients need it. Can you define Metabolic Flexibility?

Metabolic flexibility refers to the ability of the body to efficiently switch between different fuel sources and adapt to changes in nutrient availability. That is, when your client eats a lot, or your client skips a meal, metabolism isn’t damaged and fat is not stored.

It is a key aspect of metabolic health and plays a role in maintaining energy balance and weight regulation.

When we consume food, our body breaks down macronutrients (carbohydrates, fats, and proteins) into smaller molecules that can be used as fuel. Metabolic flexibility allows the body to utilize these different fuel sources based on the body's energy needs and nutrient availability.

In a metabolically flexible state, the body can easily switch between using carbohydrates and fats for energy. For example, after a meal, when glucose (derived from carbohydrates) is readily available, the body primarily uses glucose for energy. However, during fasting or periods of low carbohydrate intake, the body shifts to using stored fats as the primary fuel source.

Having good metabolic flexibility is beneficial for overall health and can contribute to weight management. It allows the body to effectively use stored body fat for energy,

which can help in reducing excess body weight and maintaining a healthy body composition. Moreover, metabolic flexibility is also associated with improved

insulin sensitivity, better blood sugar control, and reduced risk of metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes.

Certain factors can influence metabolic flexibility. Regular physical activity and exercise can enhance metabolic flexibility by increasing the body's capacity to burn fat and improving insulin sensitivity. A balanced diet that includes a variety of macronutrients and minimizes excessive consumption of refined carbohydrates and added sugars can also support metabolic flexibility.

On the other hand, factors like a sedentary lifestyle, a diet high in processed foods and added sugars, chronic stress, and poor sleep habits can impair metabolic flexibility.

What Impairs Client’s Metabolic Flexibility?

Cutting calories too low for too long impairs metabolic flexibility.

Fasting while also decreasing caloric intake for a short period of time may be a positive stressor, but for too long or without the post-feeding, can backfire.

Over exercise and undereating combined - that is too low a caloric deficit.

Not sleeping is a risk for metabolism slowing.

Sugar Burning vs Fat Burning: The Metabolic Flexibility Difference

These factors can lead to a preference for glucose as the primary fuel source and hinder the body's ability to efficiently utilize stored fats.

Improving metabolic flexibility can be achieved through lifestyle modifications, including regular exercise, a balanced diet, stress management techniques, adequate sleep, and

maintaining a healthy body weight. By enhancing metabolic flexibility,

individuals can support their overall metabolic health and improve their body's ability to adapt to different nutrient conditions.

And… it’s the RIGHT type of:

Exercise - balanced exercise for a midlife woman is not “according to guidelines”

Diet - balanced diet is not equal amounts of protein, fat, and carbs

Body weight - may be less important than body composition

Other Episodes You Might Like:

What Personal Training Clients Wish They Could Tell You:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/personal-training-clients/

Training Women in Menopause | Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/training-women-in-menopause/

Resources:

Menopause Fitness Specialist: https://www.flippingfifty.com/specialist

The Health & Business Pros Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

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Zone 2 training for menopause? Is it the solution to fat loss? If so why, and if not why not?

Everyone is talking about Zone 2 training. What is it? First, it's important to understand that I use 5 training zones. Other sources and other coaches use 6 zones, still others 4 and 7 zones… so we’re already not talking about the same thing. It’s so much easier to share this in a “feels like” description.

Especially when talking to clients.

I recently had a question from a client: What zone should we be in when doing intervals?

My answer needed to be very intuitive. My answer could have backfired. Here’s how.

Say I tell her that zone 4 and 5 are the zones for HIIT intervals. (alternated with zone 1 for recovery).

With that answer, what’s she going to do? Very likely, she has never been tested using the mode of exercise she’s going to use (treadmill or bike) and instead what she’s doing is using an age-related chart predicting her target heart rate range for a specific level of intensity. This would be so wrong.

For adults over 40… this kind of prediction underpredicts where they should be the majority of the time.

Then, even when someone tested and a knowledgeable coach has interpreted and determined ranges…

For anyone trying to use HR to see if they reach the right intensity during a 20-30 second burst of exercise… a monitor typically is measuring what happened, not the actual what is happening.

So we’ve got challenges with different sets of zones. We can’t compare apples to oranges.

We’ve got challenges with predicted and tested zones. And we’ve got a fundamental challenge with fat burning zone myths that still linger.

This episode focuses on:

Understanding fat burning - when and how it happens at each level of exercise
Understanding the best application of types fat burning exercise - for women in midlife you may be working with

Busting Fat Burning Zone Myths for Midlife Clients

The theory behind “Zone 2” for support with fat burning is a bit of a myth.

Facts:

Exercise at lower intensities burns a high percentage of fat.

Exercise at high intensities burns a low percentage of fat.

Though it’s possible to train in a way that allows your body to gradually continue to use fat at higher intensities, it’s a process and many are skipping ahead to higher intensity exercise or just experiencing DRIFT.. where they do it long enough that their heart rate and intensity goes up from the stress and dehydration… instead of consciously keeping comfort level (talk test, breathing through nose AND Heart rate if known from testing) where it should be to train a base.

The thing to remember (written in 2015 in You Still Got It, Girl!) is that a small percent of a bigger number can still be more than a big percent of a small number.

AND.. it’s not the exercise time alone that you want to focus on. HIIT has a bigger post-exercise “after burn.”

However, what is most important… is this:

If you’re stressed… the HIIT-imposed stress may be too much (during adrenal or chronic fatigue) … and or if situational life stresses are HIGH.. the intensity of your exercise should potentially be lower to REDUCE CORTISOL and INFLAMMATION first… before adding the HIIT.

For most women… zone 2 is walking but not jogging. It’s often impossible to keep the HR low enough to be training ZONE 2 while running. Even though you “feel” good…. if the cardiac drift is enough, you’re in zone 3… and cortisol is elevated. This definitely happens as you approach 60 minutes and certainly beyond. Heat, dehydration, sleep deprivation or emotional stressors can also increase the intensity.

At true ZONE 2… staying low enough for short enough times, zone 2’s biggest benefit is NOT burning fat for fuel. It’s REDUCING cortisol levels by moving at a low level, reducing blood sugar levels, and creating a base to build greater fitness.

Zone 2 training for menopause can’t ignore the fact that women already burn more fat compared to men at any intensity level of exercise. It may be the exercise that supports greater insulin sensitivity is a lower-level exercise and that HIIT positively influences post-exercise fat oxidation. So that if your client is exercise tolerant right now, both included in her program are helpful.

To learn more about Exercise Intolerance and Menopause Fitness, check here for the Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist. https://www.flippingfifty.com/specialist

What About Strength Training and Zone 2 Training?

Traditionally we don’t think of weight training as Zone intensity using Heart Rate to tell intensity, but number of repetitions to fatigue and volume in terms of multiple sets (not time). So you’re heart rate will soar during a set and return to zone 1 between, mimicking true HIIT, but it isn’t the point of strength. Your evaluation there is based on reaching muscular fatigue in recommended repetitions. Beginners start with more not less. You’ve got to show some love and respect your joints and ligaments before your strength training will help you love your muscle and body composition.

References:

Oliver J. Chrzanowski-Smith, Robert M. Edinburgh, Mark P. Thomas, Aaron Hengist, Sean Williams, James A. Betts, Javier T. Gonzalez. Determinants of Peak Fat Oxidation Rates During Cycling in Healthy Men and Women. International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 2020; 1 DOI: 10.1123/ijsnem.2020-0262
Oliver J Chrzanowski‐Smith, Robert M Edinburgh, Eleanor Smith, Mark P Thomas, Jean‐Philippe Walhin, Francoise Koumanov, Sean Williams, James A Betts, Javier T Gonzalez. Resting skeletal muscle ATGL and CPT1b are associated with peak fat oxidation rates in men and women but do not explain observed sex‐differences. Experimental Physiology, 2021; DOI: 10.1113/EP089431
https://web.archive.org/web/20190219091132id_/http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/1876/7c1a9e2c309e470821f34f66ad43c3a5bc67.pdf

Resources:

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Menopause Fitness Specialist Program https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/menopause-fitness-specialist/

Other Episodes You Might Like:

4 Ways Blood Sugar Could Halt Your Clients Fat Burning & Weight Loss: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/helping-midlife-clients-lose-weight/ 3 Fast Ways to Better Results for Female Training Client: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/female-training-client/

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The thing I didn’t say in this TEDx talk pertains to you, coach. And it’s this:

It took making the mistakes first.

I discovered the science about the serious gap in exercise and sports medicine research featuring women in 2013.

At that point I’d coached hundreds of women privately, thousands in groups, and supervised hundreds of thousands of personal training sessions in homes, parks, private gyms, universities, and just about anywhere fitness can take place I’ve been there.

So, there were clients that I had to learn with… I had to look at the physiology of menopause and the physiology of exercise and interpret the signs and symptoms by gathering it all together. Because no studies existed about women in post-menopause having an impossible time removing weight. Following all the rules and getting no results… was common.

Yes, of course, there were those clients who wanted to continue enjoying their cocktails and “moderately” healthy diets but weren’t actually willing to make changes.

But there was a large percentage of women who were willing to go 100% in and get changes… who I still struggled to support.

Some were athletes, fit and exercising regularly, even competing in events.

Others were just exercising alone, preferring it to be a private “me time” activity for them.

But both types of women following guidelines and position statements, counting steps and calories, were failing to get results.

It was those that found the following recommendations not only didn’t work but backfired, that made me dive into a rabbit hole of research every day for hours. But in 2013, when I accidentally discovered that changing my own exercise routine resulted in better fitness than I’d ever experienced – even as an Ironman triathlete – that’s when it all came together.

You see, that part that WAS in my TEDx talk.. was the reason I finally got it. After exercising for hours daily.. for decades, I was not for the first time since I was 18. I was behind a desk and computer and trying to figure out just how to turn in my recently (self-directed) no income into something better than the mid-6 figures I’d been left behind and make a bigger impact on more people as well as the fitness industry.

Exercising either briefly at high intensity or at low levels was all I did. I walked a big old, and only moderately motivated dog, did yoga or I chose to lift weights or do HIIT for 20 minutes. That was my exercise for about 11 months. Suddenly? I was in the best shape of my life… and naturally, easily thinner.

WTH?

Resources:

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Menopause Fitness Specialist Program https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/menopause-fitness-specialist/

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/@Flipping50TV/

Cardio vs Weights After 50 (Wish I Knew this Sooner) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCsa0CRCzbM

BIG Fitness Mistake Women Over 50 Make (It's Crucial for Lean Muscle) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uchTI_anm60

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This episode is such an accidental marketing for health & fitness pros post! Seriously, maybe the universe is sending me a message but I keep getting sent to dating sites. And then an article popped up with dating advice. For kicks, I read it. And I felt as if I could practically have changed the title and made it a post for marketing for health coaches.

Alas, I did not! Look AI may be what you’re using to create a draft, but I hope plagiarism nor AI is running your business. The playing field is way too level if you do that. There’s no YOU in it.

So here’s to your first date and everyone therefore after, with your new ideal customers.

Use Your Personality: Or Your Brand Personality

Why would you ever want to attract someone by acting in a way you aren’t? Say you’re introverted and you like movie nights, dinner for two and you go online to a dating site and make it sound as if you’re the life of the party and enjoy dancing in clubs to dancing in the living room.

Likewise, don’t get yourself all excited and enthusiastic if you are calm, quiet, and subdued in working with clients.

If you use words like “girlfriend” and people don’t like it, do you change or do you use what attracts people who DO like it? If you would stop using some term that actually fits your ideal customer, because a stranger disliked it, you’re like Julia Roberts’ character in Runaway Bride who doesn’t know what kind of eggs she likes and changes based on who she’s with.

Start with Flirting

Never forget that if you’re in-the-face, and skipping the education or you’re in a frenzy when talking… you alienate anyone already intimidated by overwhelming information, or in a frenzy with life themselves!

Just flirt. Share some science. Explain the science. Listen, scientific studies are misinterpreted ALL-THE-TIME… so go back to your grad school 101 courses on interpreting types of science studies and know that this information is so very basic and much needed. Many women don’t realize the difference between a small study and a large one, an 8-week, and a 10-year, a split routine, and total body, the sequence of exercises, or the amount of rest and impact on them.

Just little things. One thing at a time. A flirty look takes seconds and has you looking again in a few minutes right? Exactly.

Ask for Advice

Marketing for health & fitness pros has never been so easy! This one is foolproof if you share something that matters to your audience.

What should you wear for a photo shoot? What should you call your next program? How would you describe our business? Which colors do you like best? What logo design is your favorite?

Women love to give their opinions! And they will. What they say may or may not be as important to you as the engagement. DO be prepared for responses and then comment!! On every single one!

I’ve gotten great responses to ingredients in a new product, to which dress to wear to an event, and which tights to wear at a photoshoot.

Ask Some Questions that They’ll Ask (subconsciously) After

Did I feel heard?
Is there something that makes me curious to know more?
Did I feel more energized?
Did I laugh or smile?
Do I feel a little more inspired or excited?

Marketing for health & fitness pros from dating advice - who knew!? But you truly are starting a new relationship. Let them see the real you, or the you that is your brand.

Resources:

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Fitness Marketing Hacks: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/fitness-marketing-hacks/

Successfully Marketing to Active Older Adults | Fitness & Health Coaches: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/older-adults/

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I have a friend and colleague who is a little more in-your-face than I am. She and I have different strengths about delivering our messages even though we have similar audiences and even services.

She and I have a very similar programming foundation. We’d have to, right? It’s the same audience, same research, you can only come up with so many variations unless you’re using opinions.

But people show up in my community who say, “I follow her too. But she’s intimidating. I can’t really relate.”

Other times I’ve supervised dozens of fitness instructors. Many have attempted to motivate by saying things like, “ If you don’t squeeze your glutes no one else will.”

On my YouTube channel of 170,000 organic followers so many comments, “too much talking, get to the workout.” Yet, they have the time to comment and thousands of other options to follow for free.

I know these, “quick fix seekers” are not my people. But what you have to decide is, is there any truth to what they say? Is there another way to say it without alienating someone that could get me better results and still get the message across?

Your job is to know what words will make your best health coaching clients - your prospective clients - recoil and run the other way. Then to consider, if those words make them run away, is that a good thing??

Is it something you said? Certain phrases, even single words that alienate your best health coaching clients could be hurting your marketing.

In my own experience, some women who feel SO strongly about the use of the word “girl” or “girlfriend” will let me know it. They will write and say, You won’t do that with man and boy. Please stop.

Other’s of us recoil at the term “ladies.”

So what’s a savvy health & fitness coach to do when trying to attract more clients?

The very words you use, as terms of endearment, or to connect and build rapport, could be turning them away.

Here’s the kicker… you and not even they… may know it.

So this episode isn’t going to solve world peace. It’s not going to give you a conclusive, “say this not that.”

What it IS going to do is share with you the unique nuances that you may consciously choose to keep using if it’s a part of your brand. Or you may opt once you’re aware and sensitive to consciously change them.

I’ve mentioned terms like, girl, girlfriend, lady, ladies, or approaches like, aging gracefully, or women in their prime… all sit a certain way with us. How they sit is probably related to our own unique experiences, individuals who’ve used those terms we liked or didn’t in our past.

“Ladies” for me just doesn’t work.

I’m a “girlfriend” kind of person. And I’m not changing that. I’m going to be a “girl” til I die. I’m not going to be a “lady” much as I might try. I don’t have a desire to age gracefully, but “racefully” speeding to a halt having used up every reserve, exclaiming, What a ride!

That’s me. What I have to decide is, is it also my brand?

Potentially, this has already got you thinking about terms you use - much by default and how they may or may not be landing on people.

And there’s more. This next side of the episode is about instruction and directives - not alone bad things… that could feel condescending at worst, or at least a little too close to school. Oddly, as much as we like to learn (or you wouldn’t be here), it seems that most of the adult population doesn’t like to be reminded of school when they were constantly told what to do.

Marketing Words & Phrases that Alienate Your Best Health Coaching Clients

You Need to….

You can use “I needed to” and tell a story. You can use “we tend to” and tell some statistics about behavior, but unfortunately “you need to”

You Have to…

So, you’re saying, in order to get more lean muscle mass you have to lift weights.

It’s true. What could possibly be wrong with that? Well, depending on your ideal client it often works best when they identify what they think they need to do instead of hearing from you.

You can list facts and science without saying YOU have to do this. If you haven’t gotten to “you” from I and we… often you feels offensive to people new to you.

You Should…

Even if it’s, “You should feel proud of yourself.” Ironically, that comment that may have intended to put them into intrinsic motivation and internal praise, you just “shoulded” on them.

Resources:

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

Other Episodes You May Like:

Health Coaching Tips: Your Personal Stories: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/health-coaching-tips/

Content That Creates Clients That Only Want You: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/content-that-creates-clients/

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You promote health. You promote fitness. And ultimately you do now or will want to promote your own products or services.

But if you feel salesy, or spammy, it’s going to show in your communications. Consider what’s in it for them. Tell them. Tell them why you trust it and you have proof they trust you if they’re on your email subscribers list! So they DO want to hear your recommendations!

This follow-up to an affiliate promotions podcast gives you some very specific tips that work for me. And affiliate revenue is an amazing way to promote and earn even when you aren’t launching!

Successful affiliate promotions (where you share something you know, love, and trust will be a benefit your community will love) require just three things.

Commit to promoting your affiliate repeatedly on each platform you choose.

Two minimum and three is even better, emails are MUCH MORE EFFECTIVE than 1 email, and 1 social media post.

People are BUSY. They don't see your posts the way you might imagine in your head! They may skip days of hopping into social media. (Lucky them!?) So.. you want to tap someone on the shoulder several times to get their attention. Use a new image or new Subject Line in your emails each time.

In the body of your email, the first time you send you can get really detailed about why this is relevant :

My friend and colleague, Debra Atkinson created this event to answer questions you have AND those you may not yet know to ask. She gathered 40 experts... not "influencers" flashing bare bellies, but the in-the-lab experts, the go-to speakers for industry events and education. And you can access it for free!

In the body of your second email - a couple of days later you can refer to the first email:

A few days ago I shared this with you and I know that exercise is an important reason you're here and plays a big part of your success.

In the 3rd email (maybe the 2nd), I put it at the TOP of the email above the actual greeting and make it short:

Real quick: I don't want you to miss this and know you're busy. I mentioned this FREE event for Women's Exercise Over 40, It's starting NOW... so CLICK HERE to get in. I'll be sharing some of the highlights I'm loving from it with you too! See you there!

Come back to the email about the affiliate product you send and later in the day.

Resend it to unopens. This one is ridiculously easy ... and often OVERLOOKED. So if you're disappointed in the performance of your emails, no matter what you wanted (open rate, click-through, sales) ... you may make FAST improvements by being sure that your busy audience SEES the email. Remember they aren't sitting on their device waiting and hoping for an email from you! So resending brings it up from the buried inbox emails we all get.

Treat Social Media with respect when you Share affiliate promotions!

Share and share again.

Know your social media channels! On IG... share in stories and use the LINK so all someone has to do is CLICK. Be prepared with a link when someone DMs you and says, Where do I find that? AND use the link in your bio to go to multiple with a link tree or your custom page on the website where they get right to it. DO NOT put an ugly URL in your post copy.

Get smart with Facebook too. Stories are hot, news, and clickable. Use them that way! Posts are good.. but buried if you don't nurture them by liking and commenting and sharing with your personal pages. Add to groups or link groups to the post.

You can easily promote health and fitness and earn revenue without feeling salesy or spammy. If it’s something you believe in, tell them about it with conviction! If it’s not, reconsider sharing it. I’ve had plenty of products or people I once shared and no longer do for one reason or another it just stopped feeling right.

Other Episodes You May Like:

Promote Affiliate Partners: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/promote-affiliate-partners

Social Media Advice for Fitness & Health Pros #303:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/social-media-advice/

Resources:

Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/Scorecard Marketing to Women Copywriting Course:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com//Copywriting-course

Menopause Fitness Specialist:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/specialist

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Let’s examine some fast fixes for social media and make sure you’re optimizing the time and energy you’re spending right now on social.

Maximize your stories for selling and awareness.

Optimize your posts and reels for growing your audience.

Remember that carousel posts engage your current audience but don’t help you grow a new audience.

Posting Too Frequently

This one backfires in the worst possible way: by giving you the exact opposite of what you want.

Look, there’s a time to build and a time to use what you’ve built.

For instance, before you go into a launch for a program or a webinar selling into a program, you want to be growing and focused on how to grow your following and congruently your email list.

But during a launch, you focus on nurturing and making that growth aware of what you’re promoting.

I just hosted the What, When & Why to Exercise for Women 40+. We wanted as many women as possible there to hear 40 interviews with experts with tips that will help women in midlife (or trainers and health coaches who work with them) exercise in the best possible way.

Prior to the event and just otherwise, normally I would generally post one or two reels within a week. And primarily post multiple stories daily.

During this launch I’ve posted a reel every 1-2 days and posted 10-15 stories a day.

Including Long Ugly Links in a Social Media Post

No one comes to social media to see your promotion. When you’re talking about a program or a webinar you’re hosting and you don’t have a Pretty Link or a link they can get to in your bio, you’re just hurting yourself!

Here’s a better way. A Pretty Link is a plug-in for use on a Word Press site. It’s free and it helps you create a link like fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course (where we house a marketing-to-women course for health & fitness pros). Now, that’s not the URL to get to the site and the store… but it is an easy-to-remember one.

If I have a link to a product I am an affiliate for, I’ll make it flippingfifty.com/c60 for instance for the product I use for mitochondria support, improved skin and hair growth. It improves your own hormone function. But.. I digress.

That isn’t the URL where the reader ends up ,,, but that URL is an ugly serial number-like URl no one is going to remember… and isn’t going to bother trying to copy and paste from your post. That just doesn’t happen.

Remember they came to see friends and family and funny things. Entertain them. Use your stories to share and then you can use the LINK sticker so they can click directly to it.

This past promotion period I must have posted the link to our event 3 times minimum daily.

Not Posting Stories Often Enough

Which... Of course, this brings me to the last fast fix for social media mistakes. You’ve got to make sure that you are using stories to let people in. If you are having a sale, you’re having a webinar, you’re sharing that link right on a story. Post an image, post a video of you inviting them… and keep it in the real-life moment. Too polished accounts and posts aren’t the ones growing the fastest right now.

Realize that overly “manicured” content could be hurting you while going live, just talking, not being hyped up, but being authentic is the way to connect.

Doing the Same Thing Not Getting Results and Not Looking into Doing It Differently

If you are doing the same thing and you’re getting the same dismal views, not many saves or shares, few comments, I want you to change it up.

Here are some things to consider:

Look at your use of tags. Are you using only what's in text or verbally said or images on your video or pictures? You’re not pulling tags that are about your title but you’re using tags that are about the content of the post?
Look at long vs short copy for posts. What does better? Do more of that.
Look at use of emojis in your posts to break up text.
Do you ask a question that makes a response almost compulsive? (in the copy of your post?)

Resources:

The Health & Business Pros Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Marketing to Women Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

Other Episodes You Might Like:

5-Tips Health Coaches Marketing Formula for Quick Social Media Wins:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/health-coaches-marketing-formula/

2-Ingredient for Better Social Media Posts! Beyond Better & Less:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/better-social-media/

10 Social Media Tips That Work for Fitness & Health Professionals:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/social-media-tips-2/

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If you like passive income, you probably want to promote affiliate partners. But there are a few things you want to know as you get started, or get more serious about generating affiliate revenue. These 4 mistakes could prevent you from supporting your partners - and your audience from support you can provide.

Using UGLY URLS to Promote Affiliate Partners

Ugly URLs in social media posts or your emails. I’d like to say this is a rookie mistake but I see a lot of experienced entrepreneurs doing it too. Either their VA doesn’t know to ask, or the entrepreneur isn’t aware there’s a better way.

Back in the day people used Bitly for things like this. But with Pretty Links on word press it’s easier than ever. And then once you set it, you’re not vulnerable to say a platform change that your affiliate partner makes, deeming every single blog post where you put that link broken. It won’t go anywhere. SO not only won’t it make you sales, it will make you frustrated visitors to your site.

Save yourself the trouble. A Pretty Link not only makes an ugly url pretty, it is the one link you’ll use all the time when mentioning that product or service you’re promoting. Then if you need to, you can go in and change the URL there - in one single place and it updates all the places you’ve used the pretty link.

Include All Your Affiliate Partners in a Single Email

I’ll admit I come close to doing this once a year every year. That’s when we share the Flipping 50 Gift Guide at the holidays. In our Gift Guide we’re selective about what we’ll include and choose different categories like “stocking stuffers” or “budget-friendly” or “the Victoria’s Secret Diamond Bra” equivalent. But there’s no denying that any other time of year when your customer ISN’T buying not just for themselves but for a wide variety of people they want to spend a wide variety of money on, this would be a mistake.

Now, I DO have a resources page. It’s where I share things I’m asked about over and over again. It’s where I share things I use and affiliate for and things I use and don’t affiliate for, I just am answering the same question so frequently that it’s become easier to refer them to one URL, and you guessed it, it’s a memorable pretty link: flippingfifty.com/resources.

Not Really Investing Time and Energy in Promoting

This one is going to tie right into the last so I’m going to lump them together for explanation’s sake.

If you agree or ask - to promote someone and then all you do is write a blog post and leave the promotion sit there… without actively sharing the post regularly, or driving traffic to it, or including the affiliate promotion in an email, you don’t really have your heart in it. If you have hundreds of thousands of visitors to your site regularly, that’s one thing.

But if you’re struggling to hit 5000 visitors to your website a month, chances are that hidden blog post isn’t going to attract visitors frequently enough or at the time they need to be there to make any difference at all.

If you ask to promote or are invited and agree, do your best. Make a plan in your promotional calendar. With summits for instance, some of you fitness pros listening promoted for the What, When & Why to Exercise for Women 40+ event. And you earned 50% of the sale when people bought the course and or the recordings which was about $34-$60 depending on which they did.

If you told people (busy people) about it once on social… 5% if you’re lucky, saw it. And they’re not, scrolling back through old posts to find your information.

So usually a quality promotion is 2 or 3 emails, social media posts, maybe hosting the event host on your social media live. That’s really making an effort to make the most sales and support the affiliate and your audience with something they need.

Spreading Your Affiliates too Thin

One of the reasons you may not have promoted with a consorted effort is because you said yes when it should have been no. You were in the middle of your own promotion and you couldn't promote something else too. Or you were trying to promote several things at once which means no one really gets the attention they deserve.

A couple guidelines for affiliates for me. I would rather promote really really well partners who I really believe in. And sometimes it doesn’t work. RIght now for instance, I can’t be promoting for a great affiliate partner I promoted for last year, because I’m hosting my own summit.

I hated to say no, but of course she also couldn’t say yes to me, it’s just timing. I happen to have 3 other affiliate partners I love, one I’m working into this

Resources:

(Always>> the Health & Business Pros Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Marketing to Women Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

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4 Ways Health & Fitness Pros Can Create Income Right Now

What if you have a dream of a health coaching or fitness training business but the reality is you need to create income right now? As in, today?

What if… what if someone had a gun to your head or someone you love, would you find a way? Would you go ahead and take a risk and do it?

I think we’d all say yes, of course, right? And we’d lose the concern or fear of what someone might think. We lose the pride that may keep you from asking for money. That by the way is tied to some sense of feeling like you’re begging for money which of course is ridiculous if you have a serve that will help someone.

The truth is there is no easier way to create income right now than in a service business. You don’t have a “cost of goods” or at least it is very small. Unlike selling supplements or gym equipment or sweat towels, tights, or visors... You just have to create an offer and ask.

So whether you’re just getting started or you’re already selling something, this is for you.

Before You Can Create More Income

One word first though. Get ready to make money. Be prepared to track your revenue, your expenses, and know what amount of this is profit. Know how much time you spend servicing for a specific amount of revenue. That will help you determine your profit margin. Because most trainers make the mistake of thinking that it’s all profit since they are making it and taking it. They forget, their time is worth something. So if you’re spending more hours than you realize, you’ll want to stop that right away or as you expand you won’t have anywhere to go!

This entire episode revolves around you having an email list, ideally a segmented email list of buyers, and non-buyers, so you can choose to put an offer in front of people who are not currently in a program with you now.

If you don’t have an email list… you do. You have friends and family and colleagues. And that’s no way to run a business but it is a way to start. Jeff Walker with his Product Launch Formula created a thriving business with this soft launch and so can you. You can start with it, that is. If you’re serious about business, then get a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software and some support if you’re not techie and get things hooked up to your website so when customers purchase they automatically get exactly what they should and never see what they shouldn’t.

If you don’t yet have an email CRM I’ll link to some prior episodes about growing your email list.

4 Ways Health & Fitness Pros Can Create Income Now

Make an offer right now: Stop Procrastinating

In this example, you float out an email and say "Still interested?"

Make a spontaneous offer that requires an urgent response. In my case, I did this because I realized I was creating an entire challenge for one of my private clients who needed to boost her metabolic flexibility. She was doing all the things and not losing weight.

I realized it was a problem others in our community probably also had but weren’t necessarily going to buy another program because they were potentially already doing HIIT, and Weight Training. But they would do this… a specific challenge designed to target the specific problem.

I presented it as a “beta group” and said…” I know it’s last minute but we’re starting this Monday. So if you want in… I need you to let me know tomorrow. I’ll send you the order form, then the pdf, and the WhatsApp group once you’re enrolled.”

Other times when this is a big offer, like a retreat and we’re at $2000 or higher, it’s beneficial to do an email to a phone call if you have time. I wouldn’t have had time in this case and it’s only a $500 product sent to about 25 people that know me well. Their risk was low - they already know and trust me - and most have been VIP clients with me in the past.

Make an upsell for anything you’re already selling.

This way you optimize the services you already have. Just like, “Do you want fries with that?” or hotel room service that asks, “Would you like a piece of chocolate lava cake with that?”

The 20% of those customers who say yes, just increased their sales by 20%. You should do that all day long. Take the chocolate cake for an example though. They don’t just ask:

Do you want anything else with that?

Do you want dessert with that?

No, they get very specific and use descriptive words.

So should you.

Do you want the success coaching with that?

Do you want the 20 One-Pan meal recipes with that?

Do you want...

Take whatever you're already selling well and increase the rate.

Based on consumer psychology, there’s no difference between $49 and $59 or $69.

Take a $69 product and make it $99.

You can take a currently $99 and make it $129 or $139.

The conversion rate doesn’t change but the profit margin goes up.

Package all of These Income Generators together.

Send an email today, suggesting a new group starting that’s focused on a problem you know a lot of your community have, offer it at 20% higher rate than normal - it’s specialized after all - (or suggest you are going to raise the rate after this beta group and they want to get in now to take advantage of it. Offer an upsell for more private time with you, or simply an add-on that you know they’ll need to have to be successful.

Think like ... You HAVE to. Sometimes you just have to imagine.. That you do in order to get out of your way and do what was always possible anyway.

Your email list should provide you that kind of cushion. You have the ability to send an email and make money every single day. Are you using it?

Which of these ways to create more income now will you use first?

Other Episodes You Might Like:

4 Ways to Grow Your Email List with Your Fitness Videos:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/grow-your-email-list/

How do you know what freebie to create:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/freebie/

Resources:

Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

How to create an Irresistible Freebie:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/irresistible-freebie-how-to/

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Kilimanjaro with 3 artificial joints; got your attention? Feeling a little tired… after your early morning swim or your HIIT session today? This will give you a new perspective.

Even better, with adult kids. If you’re a parent you know what that would mean. If you have parents, especially if they’re gone, you may know what it would be like to have a memory like that with them.

What kind of life lessons are tucked into experiences like this. Maybe you pursue marathons or triathlons, maybe you like bodybuilding.

Is it for you, or ego, or is it also something to create a life for later you love?

Is it to put something in your life that is more meaningful, or to escape reality of today?

There are so many reasons to add a "reach" experience to your life, and none of them wrong. Perhaps the only wrong is in not knowing why you want it or do it.

Enjoy this short Q and A.

My Guest:

Dr. Irv Rubenstein, exercise physiologist and personal trainer (NSCA-CSCS, CPT, Certified with Distinction; ACSM-EP; FAI-Functional Aging Specialist), is president of STEPS Fitness, Nashville’s first personal training center. He has been an educator for fitness professionals with Exercise ETC; a contributor to online articles on fitness myths, functional training, and proper exercise technique; and has also contributed to books and articles for and about personal training. He was a founding member of the Eating Disorders Coalition of Tennessee (now Renewed Support) and served on its Executive and Education Committees. Dr. Irv has presented nationally and regionally on exercise and anorexia, arthritis and exercise, exercise and weight management, and several other exercise-related topics. He currently is an advisory board member for the MFN, has provided webinars for the MFEF, and is co-author of its Orthopedic Fitness Specialist course.

Questions we answer in this episode:

How did it impact your leadership or did you use it as an example in that way?

What does a person do after reaching a personal goal like that?

Was there any fear of separation or isolation from clients?

How did this help you relate to your clients, or did it?

The full episode: (included video footage)

https://www.flippingfifty.com/kilimanjaro

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Adventure, leadership

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How do you evaluate business expenses to take thoughtful calculated risks? Everything that’s unpredictable is a risk, afterall. And spending money before you make money is a risk. If there are things you’ve never done before, it can be hard to decide when to say yes, when to say no, and when it’s just no, not right now.

While we’re on this topic of investing, realize we’re not just talking about money. Time and energy are the other two things that you want to consider. How you spend your energy is due to where you place your attention.

Business Expenses Related to Health & Fitness Coaching Are Inevitable

They aren’t all as easy to spot as a credit card bill or check, unfortunately.

If you’re putting attention on things that don’t really serve you, like:

Conversations with people you can’t control

Weight that you don’t want

Regret or anger you aren’t letting go of

Or, more related to business, a project that you create but haven’t tested whether anyone wants to buy it…

That gets very expensive even if you haven’t spent money on it.

For instance, you’ve got a phone so you shoot videos that you use to create a program using unlisted YouTube videos. It doesn’t cost you anything because the phone, the YouTube platform and the ability to send an email are all free.

Have you considered how much time it takes to create video, edit video, polish and brand it, and upload it?

If you know how much your time is worth (Between $100 and $500 an hour) then those things become something you don’t want to do unless you’ve tested and evaluated.

Let’s start with a series of 5 questions you can use to evaluate your business expenses. [Step 1]

Then I’ll take you through how to set up tasks within projects. (Those sometimes reveal expenses you hadn’t already planned on). [Step 2]

5 Questions that Evaluate Business Expenses:

Will it make you money?

Will it cost you money?

How soon will it make you money?

How soon will it cost you money?

Is there anything you need to stop or start doing to see it through?

Now that you’ve answered those questions, you may have already decided to keep going or to scrap the project.

Next…

What Tasks Will Help You Evaluate Good Business Investments?

These will not only help you evaluate good vs poor business decisions, but they’ll get this project planned out!

What are some of the tasks you need to do?

How much will each cost?

How long will each take?

Who will be responsible for it?

What are deadlines related to this project?

If you can complete this evaluation, you’ll save yourself a lot of time… and a lot of money… and keep yourself organized.

[Step 3] A project that you evaluate as “not right now” can still be one you return to and do later. But now you’ve got it, documented in draft form, ready to modify or run with.

Resources:

Health & Fitness Coaches Business Scorecard: https://www.flippingfifty.com/scorecard

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

Other Episodes You May Like:

Your Fitness Business Annual Plan Step-by-Step: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/annual-plan/

Business Planning for Health & Fitness Coaches: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/business-planning/

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What I wish I knew sooner that 39 years has taught me.

1) It's about them not about you.

Marketing, emails, speaking would have gone so much better so much sooner had I realized this. Heck, teaching at the university would have gone better because that too is selling from the minute they step foot in that classroom to the minute they turn in the final exam.

2) As soon as you start listening to your heart, things will fall into place much faster and doors will open for you that wouldn't open for anyone else.

Connecting your mind and heart, or your “gut” are big keys to success in business. You know the right thing to do.. Just remind yourself of that.

3) When you are triggered by people or circumstances, or you're uncomfortable... what it means is you recognize parts of yourself that you don’t like. There’s a measure of truth to it for you that hits too close to home.

4) When you have things you just "have" to do... "have to eat" "have to exercise" .... they are running the show and not you.

5) There will always be hard things, if you build it that way.

If you don't start with the idea that there are things only you can do and identify them, you're identifying the things you can first hand off to someone else. For the freedom you want this is a must.

6) Consistently -doing the right thing - pays off.

Do any of these things I wish I knew sooner resonate with you? I have one last one to share.

7) You truly have to be willing to invest in yourself for anyone to invest in you.

Resources:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

Write me! What are your personal “things I wish I knew sooner”?

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Recession-Proof Your Business: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/fitness-marketing-secrets/

Stop Overworking and Under Earning: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/overworking-and-under-earning/

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What if every workout you created for yourself or clients got even better results?

Should Trainers Suggest Supplements?

What’s your stance on that? I believe that in 2023, it’s still and has always will be food first. Yet, I find it almost impossible for even me who I’d say is incredibly conscious of what I will and refuse to put in my mouth to eat enough and enough diversity on a consistent basis, or to eat all that I would need to in order to make the nutritional needs I have.

It’s going to take more to compensate for depleted and overworked soil, sabotaged by pesticides and fertilizer.

And as new discoveries are made, about molecules we didn’t know could support human health, do you ignore them or are you curious about how they can help you and your clients?

Brought to you by the Flipping50® Menopause FItness Specialist

My Guest:

Jennifer Scheinman, MS, RDN, LDN, completed her dietetic internship at New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center and went on to complete her master's degree in Integrative and Functional Nutrition at Saybrook University. Over the past 20 years she has worked at some of the country’s leading institutions for health and wellness, including Hospital for Special Surgery and Optum, where she led the creation of nutrition and health education programs that positively impacted thousands of people's lives. Jen is currently the Senior Manager of Nutrition Affairs at Timeline Nutrition, educating healthcare practitioners and consumers on the latest scientific breakthroughs in healthy aging.

Questions We Answer in this Short Episode:

Why would trainers want to bring up supplements to support mitochondria production? Including Urolithin A/Mitopure
Support with Exercise Intolerance and menopausal symptoms
Has there been testing on athletes? And on bedridden subjects alike? (asked on Flippingfifty.com/healthy-aging)

Try It For Yourself:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/mitopure

Code: Flipping50

on Social:

Instagram: https://instagram.com/timelinenutrition

Other Episodes You May Like:

With Jenn Scheinman on Mitopure: https://www.flippingfifty.com/healthy-aging

Resources:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

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How would you like to reach more people for free, or potentially get paid for it? Book more interviews. You have to be seen and heard across platforms, in person and digitally. Being visible is a must for growing your business.

This is about doing more of what you love.

To make these steps really valuable, start a spreadsheet.

Before you start reaching out to people, create a one-sheet for the topic you’re pitching. Include the science, statistics, a quote, and bullet points for your hosts. Your name and title and contact information should appear at the top.

First know what you can talk about.

Answer some questions about topics you want to talk about:

How is it tied to this season?

How is it tied to something in the news?

How is it tied to recent science? How does it directly benefit the audience you want to speak in front of?

How does it make the host of the show or meeting look good? (do ratings go up? Does the boss love it when employees or sales reps have a good meeting experience or end up more productive and more satisfied with their job?)

Think specific to your audience. Businesses need to hear about outcomes that businesses measure.

Call every friend you have. Ask her/him for every group they’re in. Ask for the meeting planner’s name and contact information (hint: it’s often the vice president that does the program planning).

Ask for an introduction via email or coffee.

Call the local radio and news stations. Ask for the producer. Which producer? The one that books guests.

Start contacting people and recording the dates and details.

Do you need to follow up?

Other Episodes You May Like:

Stop Boring Introductions | Bio Makeovers: https://www.flippingfifty.com/bio-makeovers

Get Interviews and Get Asked Back: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/get-interviews

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If you want more interviews this is for you. What you really want is to give interviews and get invited back. But wait… if you’re scared to death about an interview.. This is still for you! Because girl there’s no better, faster way to increase your reach than an interview. Whether local, regional or national media or a podcast to your niche, interviews are gold.

This episode is essentially part 2 though of a two-parter, maybe 3, because what you really need to know is how to get booked more often so you can show off these new skills.

So we just did it. Gave me a little homework for an additional episode. But this.. Is how to interview and get invited back!

Or have someone listening invite you to speak at their event or on their podcast.

Part 1 was all about your introduction or bio. It’s not the first time I’ve shared this type of content. In fact I have an entire worksheet and other episode that deep dives into how to stop being boring and stand out!

And I’ll tell you this… it’s not just because you’re new at it, experienced professionals make this mistake too. Doctors have never been taught this. Some of the weakest introductions I’ve had are among fitness professionals who are solo entrepreneurs and doctors who are new to PR and marketing to promote themselves.

Give me a shout out if you’d like some live training on this. I’m considering doing a half day interview session. We’ll include hot seats where you actually would not just write your bio but you’d have the opportunity to be interviewed and apply your soundbites. Just add a note in the comments at fitnessmarketingmastery.com/give-interviews

Part II is this one, about how to be in the interview with your interviewee having such a good time that they want to have you back before you’ve even left.

Part III I’ll talk about how to get invited in the first place. Like you’re not going to get asked to dance unless you get dressed and go to the dance, you’re not going to get asked unless you’re finding ways to tell people you have something to talk about.

Be Memorable

Be remarkable! Or better yet, retweetable, at one point was the word, but seriously who is on twitter today? You must be able to talk in what we call sound bytes. It’s great for you to be able to embellish on an answer. Definitely no one wants a “yes” or “no” response. That’s not much of a conversation.

Resource: POP!

Soundbites

Soundbytes allow you to be both retweetable (so you’ll be remembered) and to pause. Most likey, your host will repeat your soundbyte. Then your audience hears it again. Win! These are things that become the best social memes too.

What are your soundbytes? Try to write some down. Maybe you mythbust things like:

No pain no gain as I do. My sound bite was no pain, no gain, no way/no brain.

I don’t like SMART goals. I call SMART goals DUMB.

They don’t have to rhyme but it’s nice. They could just be rhythmic. They could have alliteration. I have 10 Tenets of Flipping50® I teach to our students and to our professional students of the Flipping50 Menopause Fitness Specialist course. For instance, Intense Early, Light Late or Restore Before More.

(If you’d like, lmk and I’ll teach you the rest and why we do it. We share these regularly and they’re a part of our core values or tenets like 10 commandments.)

Keep a list of subjects/titles and soundbites you can use so you’re ready at a moment’s notice. PLUS… these are your treasure chest of social media lives when it’s just you!

For great examples of great interviews, register for the What, When & Why to Exercise for Women 40+ summit. Not only will you get nearly 40 examples of how to knock it out of the park on your next interview you’ll get insight into how to help women in midlife balance their hormones with your help.

https://www.flippingfifty.com/womensexercise

Pause

Truly, if you get anything right get this right. I have had two guests on my podcast during 10 years of hosting 2 unique podcasts that have published at least 1 and currently 2 a week…. That’s a lot of podcasts. Two guests stand out as I cringe when one comes on because she’s a runaway horse. She’ll start talking and not pause. The interview was an hour and didn’t need to be. There was too much information, too much overwhelm, and it just wasn’t fun to have a guest come on and rant. No matter how good her content is, and how much I want to have her again, twice might be enough because though warned, she did it again the second time.

The second guest was not even an acquaintance and did something similar. I didn’t air it. It just was a waste of preparation time and recording time for us both.

Remember you’re there to serve. First, the host. Second, The audience. And sometimes there’s a third party depending on who booked you. That could be a PR agency who booked you that you’re paying to do so however, if you do a bad job here it makes their job like starting at square one every time. If you do a good job, every interview you have can help you leverage a bigger interview.

Let me give you an example of wearing different hats in an interview or presentation. Say you are booked for a panel interview. There is an organization paying for the event somehow. There may be a meeting planner who’s job hinges on you making them look good for her boss. And there are audience members, that everyone wants to benefit but your consideration has to be… who hired me and what is the outcome they want for this event?

Then deliver.

When you do give interviews with someone if you run right over the host without doing your homework and knowing what do they promote and what do they stand against, what do they want you to talk about during this interview and what do they not want to talk about during this interview, you won’t be asked again and the interview may never air.

Provide suggested questions

Help your host look good. Confirm you’re on the same page. Don’t give generic questions if you’ve talked about doing something very specific.

I can go anywhere, ask me anything - is one of the least-helpful things you can do to a show host. Yes, they ideally have done their homework. The bigger you are the more that’s true. But if you’re interviewing up, so to speak, then it’s your job to hand the speaker questions that may be good to ask.

When I ask someone for an interview as a host, I have seen them post about something I know my audience needs. Or I’ve heard them speak on content I have questions to ask on my audience’ behalf. I’m going to suggest very clearly THIS is what I want to talk about. I’ll begin drafting the show notes based on that.

I did this for my summit. However, the EA of a speaker may be the one filling out the summit forms and put in standard content answers. If so, I won’t accept and I’ll email back, “Hey, this isn’t quite what we agreed to discuss, this is what we’re talking about, is XXX still okay with that?”

Do your homework. Listen to previous episodes. If I’ve done a Thousand podcast episodes there’s a good chance I’ve talked about or interviewed someone on your topic. Is your angle different? How? Tell me that in your application.

Go give interviews and get asked back!

Resources:

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

POP! By Sam Horn

Tongue Fu By Sam Horn

Other Episodes You May Like:

Stop Boring Introductions | Bio Makeovers: https://www.flippingfifty.com/bio-makeovers

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Stop those boring introductions and settle into this bio makeovers episode that’s going to play like a masterclass.

Your audience is screaming, get my attention! Wake me up from this bad dream of messages that are the same from everyone!

There are trainers and coaches and podcasters that are pining for invites to speak on podcasts or appear in the news. When you get the chance, don’t blow it with a wimpy introduction.

If your host isn’t excited to read it, re do it!

If there is nothing to tell your listener that you are an expert, re do it!

If you cringe when it’s read, re do it!

If there aren’t at least 6 notable things someone learns about you in that introduction, re do it!

If there isn’t some unique, distinct description of you that no one else can insert their name into,

If there isn’t something in the bio that makes people sit up and smile, bio makeover coming up.

Mistake #1:

Providing information that is subjective.

Andrea’s programs are …….. And instead of …… do ……………..

If I have to read that, it implies that I the host think it. Rarely have I got enough background to have that kind of an impression with a guest.

If you’re a bestselling author, or just an author. I can say that.

If you have created a program intended for xyz based on principles of abc, I can say that too because it’s fact.

But if you have just soft information that sounds like opinion and the news wouldn’t publish it, you have bio makeovers 101.

Include Facts:

Certifications

Degrees

Authored Books

Appeared in magazines

Awards

Published in: (authored)

Medium

Frequent contributor to:

Frequent speaker at:

Have spoken at women’s events (locally? Regionally? Or nationally)

As seen in: (were written in and quoted)

Why are you the expert?

Without telling someone you’re the expert, how do you tell them?

Instead of just hormone balancing fitness expert or menopause fitness expert… I tell them I’m the TEDx speaker and the Flipping50 Menopause Fitness Specialist course creator.

Why should they listen with a dozen other things to do and 100 other podcasts to tune in for?

State your full name

If you have a business, or a title associated with your business, include that.

Hormone balancing fitness expert
Fitness business marketing surgeon

Pack 3 credentials into your name.

Hormone balancing fitness expert and best-selling author, Debra Atkinson is a 39-year full time international fitness professional

Functional health coach and TEDx speaker, Debra Atkinson is the founder of Flipping50® and creator of the Flipping50® Menopause Fitness Specialist

Start Now

Yes, you can start before you have a book, a podcast with 3 million downloads, and a TEDx talk.

Yes, you can start without 4 decades of experience.

An article, an award, blended a 20 year teaching career with a passion for exercise and advocacy for midlife women?

A 20 year career as an engineer? Lead with that?

Lost weight yourself - how much- at what age? Kept it off for how long- taught how many others do do the same?

Resources:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/betterbio

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

https://www.flippingfifty.com/womensexercise

Coming up: Tune into the next episode where we talk about using sound bytes in your interviews, or your own podcasts, videos, and lives.

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Success leaves clues and successful health & fitness entrepreneurs are no different. Some of these will surprise you though.

Get a morning routine

Complete this sentence: __________ first.

You know what it is. There is something that has to happen for you to be productive. Is it meditation, exercise, or is it that you have to “eat the frog first” - in other words do the things you don’t like?

Get an evening routine

How you end the day determines how you start. Stephen Covey’s principles are still in circulation today because they work. The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People is a book … or audible book - worth listening to and yet it won’t be news.

With a recent contractor I asked that each day we touch base with priorities for her to work on and at the end of the day with where those tasks were. Knowing a contractor has more clients than just you, yet to you, your business can’t wait it’s easy to know exactly what the next task is, keep on schedule with mini deadlines and avoid stress of last minute items.

Surround yourself with successful people

Often, but not always, this involves paying to be around people smarter, with more experience and expertise than you. From someone who has done it… not too long ago, and or is doing it successfully right now, you can learn how to avoid mistakes and how to benefit from their mistakes.

It’s easy to be shortsighted here. If you feel like you don’t quite belong in the room, you’re probably in the right place. If you’re around people exactly like you, you’ll find it hard to learn from each other without a mentor of some kind helping you to see where you’re spending time on things that will keep you stuck.

Build a life you love while you’re building a business

There are a lot of successful people who are lonely. They’ve built a business. And had the discipline to do it but at the expense of family and friends.

Decide what kind of life, and health, and friends and family you want. Be careful about spending too much time alone, especially if you work online a significant amount of time.

Be Unapologetically You

The reason you will be successful is because of your uniqueness not your sameness. What makes you different? What do you love to do? What are you good at? Blend those two and add your personal stories. Nothing else will cut it today. People love transparency, honesty, and an approachable personality.

Be Unapologetic About Committing to Growth

While having a personal life you love is important, you will make sacrifices. You’ll miss parties, vacations, events. You’ll skip meeting friends or girl’s weekends.

When I was working a ton and my son was golfing in highschool, I had three things in my life. I worked. I watched golf. And I trained for triathlons. If one suffered, it was triathlon training. At least I have an excuse for being so slow.

I missed a lot of meetings and dinners and hanging out with friends. I went to bed early, got up early and wouldn’t have changed that.

But not everyone is willing to do it. Growth will take this. It’s a part of the reason 9/10 businesses fail in the first 10 years.

You’re halfway through the 12 habits of successful health & fitness entrepreneurs list. I want you to come back to me if you’re multitasking. And ask this… if you had breast cancer … this year and recovered would this list have more meaning? Listen to these last 6 habits as if that were true.

If fitness and health are absolutely your passion, it will be clear this is true if you want to come back after something like this. Or an emotional divorce or family tragedy.

Ask yourself if you’re taking for granted your potential or if you’re really using it.

Grow Personally

This one… is a given. If you buy in to everything I’ve said so far and do it, growing a business is the fastest route to personal growth. Life happens when you’re growing a business. How you handle that is a big part of your growth.

During mine… I got divorced without it being public. At the brink of starting Flipping 50, my life literally fell apart or so I thought. Then we experienced a truly terrible family tragedy.

I’ve hired people wrong for the job- lovely people - but wrong for the job and tried to make it right only to be sorry later. I’ve waited too long for people to do the right thing and then behaved with a level of integrity I’m embarrassed about.

Now, it’s easier to watch in amazement at the struggle of finding support.

Stop Pretending Busy is Productive

This one is hard. But it's easy to spin.

Believe It's Doable.
1. Try meditation, manifesting and whatever you need to do to put yourself in the future vision you see for yourself.
Confirm the Actions Then do Them

We often lie to ourselves.

Stop Exchanging Dollars for Hours

Initially, you must do this. You have to have a proof of concept. Posting on Instagram and TikTok is not proof of concept. Concept comes from a unique set of steps laid out to get predictable results. That can’t be “meet with me 3 times a week.” You have to have something unique and methodical so you could teach 10 other coaches to do it and it would work with their clients.

Exchange Overwork for Important work.

The last of 12 habits of successful health & fitness pros is this. It echoes the busy and productive distinction. However, this means you do stop working. You have discipline… and discipline not to drive yourself into the ground. If you tend to judge your worth by achievement, accomplishments, you may struggle to pull away.

Resources:

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Other Episodes You Might Like: Identify and Stop Overworking: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/overworking-and-under-earning/

3 Reasons Your Fitness Clients Aren't Getting Results: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/female-fitness-client/

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Social media or other platforms hosting group communications is a reality and you’re personally either coaching or hiring coaching for these groups. Create expectations for coaches and for clients based on outcomes your coaches provide if you’re not doing the coaching.

There are three types of service to consider:

There are logistics and soft skill responses to clients questions.
Then there are the “hard skills” or the expert answers that should come from a qualified expert.
You also may distinctly offer customer support within the group - related more to technical support or information about purchase, product, or what’s included. You may choose to separate where these functions occur. There’s no right or wrong answer.

Without deciding in advance, there is opportunity for self-interpretation expectations and responsibilities, and understanding of scope of practice.

What follows are some basic tips for boosting your group satisfaction and success.

Health Coaching to Groups and their Social Posts:

Make them feel heard and seen

Acknowledge how they feel with neutrality

Their opinion matters: doesn’t mean you make them “right”

Repeat what they said

Clarify understanding/summarize

Summarize what you heard in your words and ask for clarification

Restate with a reframe

Why do you think that? What made you believe that? What are you thinking that makes you feel that way? vs. I’m sorry you feel that way, you shouldn’t.

Mirror/reflect vs evaluate

Repeating exactly what they say in a neutral way

That makes me so happy for you! vs you should be happy

Reflection is sharing an observation of something someone may not realize about themselves: Create an awareness about a limiting belief.

What makes you believe that’s true?

How is that belief working for you?

Do you want to explore other options for you?

Provide opportunity for internal reflection vs external reliance

Instead of “good job”(evaluation and external judgment – good/bad) offer insight for them: How did you set yourself up for success this week that made that happen?

Empathy vs sympathy

I understand how you feel based on what you’re saying Vs. I know how you feel, I feel for you, You have every right to feel that way.

In a coaching situation where you need more information:

Ask questions that get you to the solution vs asking about the problem. One is helpful, the other stays stuck in sympathy and comes with a negative energy that is contagious.

On the other hand, if you’re in a marketing situation, you ask about the problem. You describe the problem. Here though, you coach: you deliver.

In a new masterclass for Continuing Education credits for our Flipping50® Menopause Fitness Specialists, I explore Essential Coaching Skills for Working with Midlife Women. If you’re a health or fitness professional and a little confused by the loose use of the term “coach” today, this will help you realize when you’re actually coaching and when you’re not. You may find you have more potential revenue streams that bring accelerated results for your clients and your business. Be sure you’re on our subscriber list to get the first chance to take this one.

Resources:

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

COMING SOON: Essential Coaching Skills for Midlife Clients (CEU course)

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Health Coaching Tips: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/health-coaching-tips/

Coach Menopause Clients Out of Mistakes: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/coach-menopause-clients/

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Life happens to you while you’re coaching. Sharing personal experiences and stories can be valuable for clients. However, when and if you’re in the middle of it, you shouldn’t be “healing from the stage” (a term used by professional speakers).

Know when it’s not a coaching relationship and it’s become something else. Be ethical and willing to say goodbye. If you’re hiring coaches, identify when they’re not coaching they’re “friending” and put an end to it, or find a new coach.

“Because I said so” (mom/kid scenario) doesn’t work well.

It’s got to be their idea.

Instead of “You’ve got to put on your oxygen mask first” or “self care is not selfish” >

How does it make you feel when you make time for yourself and exercise? How does that change the rest of your day?

Do you want to explore ways to do more of that?

Without thinking about any obstacles, would it be great if you were someone who exercised regularly? What kind of benefits do you think you’d get if you did?

You mentioned you always get hurt when you get started or you’re getting into a routine. Say more about that.

You said you're suffering from hot flashes and night sweats. What kind of exercise and nutrition changes have you made to mitigate that?

You mention that you’re doing a lot of walking and you lift weights regularly. Can you describe that in detail so we can determine how well it matches the best recommendations for women in menopause?

Here’s the formula:

I - tell a story about yourself that is relevant to what your client may be doing. Describe a time when you were making a similar mistake or one that you can draw an analogy from.

We - bring yourself to the customer. Refer to you as one of them, or just like her by doing this. You’re no longer on a pedestal or intimidating.

You - Ask, What about you? Do you…. Have you ever …

Resources:

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

COMING SOON: Essential Coaching Skills for Midlife Clients

Other Episodes You Might Like:

3 Ways to Coach Menopause Fitness Clients: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/coach-menopause-clients/

7 Ideas to Get Booked as a Speaker: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/get-booked-as-a-speaker/

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There's more than one way to skin a cat! Heard that? Well there are multiple ways to run a successful business and to coach menopause clients that will prevent them from making mistakes that cost them energy and muscle.

This episode dives into a topic covered more in depth in an upcoming masterclass for CEUs being offered to our current Flipping50® Menopause Fitness Specialists and to other fitness & health coaches serving midlife women.

#1 TELL THEM.

Tell them the science (literally share it the source and interpret the science)

Common mistakes you can coach menopause clients on:

· the belief plant-based diets are healthier for all

· Going high intensity is always the answer

· Ignoring resistance training

· They’re fragile if they have osteoporosis or osteopenia

2 SHOW THEM HOW Show them how to do it. This is literally helping them learn the way to support themselves after they learn what you teach.

For instance, you might teach a workshop on how to do something very specific like:

· planning their exercise schedule

· doing core exercise correctly

· how to cook and meal plan

#3 TELL THEM WHAT TO DO

Tell them what to do.

In this case you don’t actually do it for them.

You can plan the steps but then your work is done. They may have to go hire people or get to the functional doctor to follow up on questions you’ve helped them gather.

If you’d like to dig into these methods a little more, and learn how each can be a unique revenue stream, you'll want to be register for the coaching CEU course I’ll share with each of our Flipping50® MENOPAUSE FITNESS SPECIALIST alumni first then share with the public.

RESOURCES:

Health & Fitness BUSINESS SCORECARD: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

OTHER EPISODES YOU MAY LIKE:

3 Ways to Generate Revenue for Anything You Want: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/the-voice-for-fitness-professionals-podcast/

5-Tip Health Coaching Marketing Formula: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/health-coaches-marketing-formula/

Save Your Spot for this Event (and Invite Your Clients!):

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Get booked as a speaker, you may say, me? Yes, you. If you’re talking on video, going live to connect with an audience, hopefully you’ve learned the parts of a good story. And that applies to a podcast, to a presentation that is 5 minutes, 15, or an hour in front of a small or big audience.

Doing a podcast or a training for a company, opening as the keynote for associations, or organizations is an awesome way to establish credibility, and exposure to a large pool of people who need your services.

Why 7 ideas?

The title is designed to get your attention. There are dozens of podcasts or music you could be listening to right now. Just like in our coaching world, when we are up against the famous names, the niche experts, and the masters of the industry, we must find something that gets noticed. My title likely grabbed your attention, and I am hoping for my ideas to do too. Think about how you can grab prospects' attention.

1 Circle of 100: Start with 25

Create a list of 25 people who know you. Ultimately, a network of 100 is what you want. Family counts, but only if they have a connection with an organization that could benefit from your work. Send a sales letter by mail to each of the people on the list and customize each middle paragraph of the letter specific to the addressee. Let the circle know what you are currently doing in your career and ask them to help you identify organizations that might benefit from your work. For this idea to generate business, it must have several components.

· Middle paragraph specifically written for the addressee, form letters don’t count.

· Be clear about what you offer and don’t have a dozen options. Keep it simple.

· Message should be benefit driven not ego driven. Don’t go on and on about how great you are but rather the solution you provide.

· Call to action on their part – ask for what you want.

· End your letter with a question like “Would you be so kind as to pass on my name?”

· Database everyone, not just the decision‐makers.

2 Make hot leads a priority because they cool off fast

The biggest mistake of my career was not chasing leads soon enough. I still cringe when I think of all the people who approached me after a program, asked for my card, and promised to call to schedule me for their next meeting, and never did. I would leave meetings thinking I had a dozen leads and then realize months later that I had heard from very few that followed through. ASK the interested party for their business card and permission to call the next day so you can hear more about their needs. Then make sure you (or a staff person calls back as promised).

After speeches, I’d be holding 25 evaluation sheets that asked me to contact them or add them to a mailing list. I was sometimes so overwhelmed that I didn’t call them within the week (if I was at a conference when we met) or few days (if it was a local presentation) nor add them to my email list. At the time I started this texting was a BIG deal and I didn’t text to connect but today I would definitely do that. AND say, “I just sent you a quick email message with the info I promised, check your spam or trash just in case.”

3 Plan calls ahead of time. Have notes and all necessary tools in front of you

Before you place a sales call, do your homework! The internet has made sales so much easier than when I started. Now a quick company website check will tell you more than you should need to get it done. Don’t begin the call by telling the client you have done all this research. Just listen and take careful notes. By using some of the same terminology you found on the website, you will connect with the client better. Also, search for signs of previous conventions to know what level of speaker they have hired in the past. If it was a household name and you are not one, it might be a breakout, something for spouses at a convention, or a workout instead of a speech, you are going for instead of the keynote.

To get booked as speaker that gets paid for the presentation is not necessarily your goal. The goal is to get in front of audiences, of 25 or 100 or 1000 who are ideal customers, or who know someone who is. There’s an opportunity with the individuals in the audience, and there’s an opportunity with the business owner or CEO if your services are valuable for supporting metrics they want improved.

They care about revenue. They care about turnover. They care about productivity. Speak to these things, not to reducing weight, belly fat, and blood sugar.

4 Research the contact person in addition to the company you are calling

To deepen your homework even farther, take the time to find out what you can about your contact person. Look on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Google search and company website for data. Look for any common bond you might share with the person. If you want to be on a podcast, listen to some episodes. Do not pretend that you have by scoping out one single episode and commenting on it verbatim. Chances are you will not fake it til you make it.

Others have let me know they too are from the Midwest or are in Colorado or Arizona. This creates an instant rapport, and at least I know they have not just gathered a list but followed me and looked at my content. Know what organization the contact person belongs to and even the hobbies that interest him or her. Although the homework you did may never come up in conversation, you are prepared and professional if it does.

I’m contacted daily about guests for my podcast. When you’ve been doing it for a minute, or when you consistently have 100K downloads a month, people want exposure to the audience you have. Some do their homework, some pretend to do their homework, and some never do.

It’s easy to sniff out the pretenders. They’ll never make it on the show. I’m already irritated before I respond. Those who listen but still don’t understand have the opportunity to correct it. Those who never do homework might get lucky and have something I absolutely love.

Once in my eagerness to show the contact person how much I had put into the preparation for the call, I started to run off at the mouth. I ended up almost reciting his life’s story to him without a real point other than to show how much I knew about him. I think it really bothered the guy, and the call ended shortly thereafter.

5 Joining several organizations that serve your audience

If you spend all of your time networking with fitness professionals or health coaches because that’s who you are, consider going bigger. Consider networks or conferences for functional medicine, or lifestyle medicine. Attend IRHSA instead of a trainers conference, where you might meet owners of bigger fitness corporations who hire specialty training for their staff members. If I had to do it over again, I would budget my time differently allowing some room to be in other settings where my own clients hang. In later years I have been better about this but wish I had learned it sooner.

You’re not going to get booked as a speaker by other fitness professionals. You might though get booked as a speaker by a gym owner or a hospital fitness center director, or women-run health care business. Consider going to meeting planner’s events, too. These are the decision-makers about speakers. They need all kinds of speakers from keynotes to breakout sessions.

6 Hotel marquee board hints

When visiting a hotel, make note of names listed on the convention marquee board. These are groups having meetings and possibly needing speakers for the next year. I’m amazed at the opportunities that we miss right under our noses. Currently, training and group programs at hotels is minimal but you can rent the studios, host a workshop and charge $100-$200 for it, do an upsell and what would that be worth if you filled the room with 20 people then sold 40% of them into something long term? $2000 for a few hours and then the opportunity to upsell for a $1000 long term program to 8 people? That’s a $10k day. When appropriate, visit with the registration staff and learn more about the group which provides me with a slightly warmer call to make the following week.

Try visiting local resorts with gyms/spas and ask about their rental policies. Then visit the front desk and ask who’s in charge of conferences. Potentially, you could serve them with workouts before the conference began, offer a workshop for spouses during a half day of the conference. They may love doing a revenue share like that with you. It’s something they could offer ala carte to their clients and either make a profit by doing so, or simply be the better choice and edge out competition.

7 Invitations to sample

When a client is undecided about hiring me, I invite them to attend a group session I am presenting online or in their area if possible dependent of course on how they’ll hire you). We interview potential candidates for personal training this way, and it’s also a nice way to allow your personal training clients to interview you.

Make the effort to make the guest feel special (and of course make this okay or understood in advance with your clients or participants).

Those 7 ways to get booked as a speaker are not all meant to be “ideas” that just sit, or things you want to do all at once! Pick 1. Start!

Other Resources You Might Like:

The Number One Source of New Clients: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/always-never-public-speaking-profit/

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Resources:

Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

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First things first! Define your successful fitness retreat!

There are half a dozen goals you may have, but to host a successful fitness retreat you have to pick your top one. You can have subcategories below it. I’ll give you 6 possible ways to define success. Then I’ll walk you through how to plan and types of activities and experiences you want to offer.

6 Measures of a Successful Fitness Retreat

Profit
Community
Bonus
Upsell
Affiliate sales
Orientation for high ticket group (mastermind)

Types of experiences:

Physical

Hiking, biking, yoga, SUP, triathlon training, water fitness, strength, Pilates, horseback riding, golfing

Individual opportunities for learning

Addressing the group but individual worksheets

White space

Down time! Between activities, plenty of time to get ready

Emotional

Laughter, vulnerability, bravery, courage, sadness

Connecting

Group hot seats, partner activities, small groups

Profitability will depend on several factors:

How much does it remove you from doing what you would otherwise be doing to generate revenue? Or from access to team members depending on you?

How much does each dinner, activity, lodging, and materials cost you?

Will you deliver solo or have guests attend and present? Will you pay them or compensate otherwise?

Think in advance about your refund policy. Will you:

Refund at all?

Do a partial amount?

Will you refund within 30 days of the event?

Will you be educating them? Entertaining them? Connecting them? Connecting them on a deeper level to you?

If you’re doing a hike, does pace and ability matter? How to screen everyone so they’re similar or have sherpas along for a lower price or as trainers health coaches who work for you.

Do a planning session.

Vet each of your venues.

Do a post retreat breakdown.

What went well? What didn’t go so well? What would you do differently? What would you do more or less of?

How could you screen more optimally to be sure you’re attracting the right audience?

Price it:

Evaluate Raw Cost

Value your time

Set Registration Fees

Could there be a VIP experience?

Consider Upsell

Where?

Local (for you), destination, Local (for them).

When?

Lead Time?

Two months is not enough, 6 is not too long depending on the location and nature of the retreat.

Price Structure:

Early Bird, and regular (40% above costs, or 50-60% above costs)

Bonus and no bonus (value of bonus commensurate with the value of the retreat)

Follow up:

Feedback & Evaluation

Make the offer (if applicable)

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Fitness Coaches: Identify and Stop Overworking and Under Earning: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/overworking-and-under-earning/

18 Revenue Generating Strategies | Health & Fitness Professionals: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/revenue-generating/

Blueprint for Your Fitness & Health Coaching Business Plan: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/health-coaching-business-plan/

Resources:

Women's SheTreat: https://www.flippingfifty.com/store/coaching-programs/2023-retreat/

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What do high functioning female bosses know that you need to know?

Have you got that flexible 80-hour workweek that often happens with being the boss? It may no longer be an 8-5 for someone else but if you’ve shifted to more hours of the day, your work dripping into your personal life… you want this episode.

My Guest:

Dr. Laura DeCesaris is a functional medicine practitioner, specializing in women’s health and high performance. Laura works with driven, ambitious women, helping them to rebuild their metabolism so they can experience optimal brain health, body composition, and natural vitality. She takes a female-centric approach to health and wellness, teaching women about their bodies and brains so they can make better decisions for their health and leverage their biochemistry for optimal performance.

You can find her contributions in outlets such as Forbes, NBC news, Greatist, Parade, Well + Good, and other publications. Laura is based out of Scottsdale, AZ, and works with clients virtually around the world.

In this episode of high functioning female entrepreneurs we only touch on women’s cycles and working with not against your hormones. Was it a valuable episode for you? Tell me in the comments and we’ll do a deeper dive!

Questions We Answer in This Episode:

How can we leverage brain chemicals (dopamine, serotonin, etc) as entrepreneurs to feel better and be more productive/efficient?
Biohacking tools - what are some of your favorites? And how can we leverage them for a better business?
Why is burnout so prevalent with entrepreneurs and how can a shift in how we view our business help change that pattern? Burnout is, at its core, a loss of flow and a loss of connection to what we truly need to feel our best and perform our best

Connect with Laura:

https://drlauradecesaris.mykajabi.com/herwellnessvault

Laura on Social:

Instagram: www.instagram.com/dr.lauradecesaris

Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/ambitiouswomanwellness

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/dr-lauradecesaris

Resources: Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.flippingfifty.com/copywriting-course

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Interested in Fast Flip Business coaching? Once you check out with any current Fitness Marketing Mastery or Flipping50 program, send a message to support@flippingfifty.com and we’ll respond by personal invitation if Debra currently has a coaching opening.

Other Episodes You Might Like:

The Mindset of Growing Your Personal Training Business: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/mindset-growing-personal-training-business-2/

Stop Holding Yourself Back | Why You Aren’t Getting New Fitness Business Clients: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/stop-holding-yourself-back/

Female Fitness Leadership: It Starts with You: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/female-fitness-leadership/

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Is there something you want and can’t afford? Let’s flip the script and talk about ways to generate revenue to make it happen. The question should never be, can you afford it. It should be, how can I make that happen?

Sometimes you spend money. Sometimes you invest it.

Right now, I’m looking at hiring a new customer service team member, and onboarding an EA after a 90 day trial onboarding period, and my Daily Operations manager is ready to go full time for me and be my Director of Operations. Can I afford this? Is not the question. Can I afford not to do this, is also really not the question (though it’s better).

The question is how can I make this happen?

If a course or training is going to make you more money by making you more marketable it’s an investment. I want you to think twice about a certification, especially if it’s another certification. When was the last time you ever had someone ask, are you a certified trainer? And upon your response either hire you or not? I’ll tell you when… never.

Trainers are a dime a dozen. Health coaches? Are becoming the same. Does it teach you how to support fixing the hormone balances a woman reveals from her signs & symptoms with exercise? Or does it teach you how to coach her to be accountable to changes?

OR… is what you need something that will teach you how to use the right words, avoid the wrong ones to GET clients in the first place??

I can help with all three. But only if … you know where your biggest challenge is. The degree to which I can get you clarity (and revenue) is in direct relationship with how clear you are on your biggest problem.

Are You a Health Coach, Trainer, or Consultant? 3 Questions That Tell You

Are you a health coach? Or not? Are you overcharging, undercharging or just right based on the services you provide?

Do your customers WANT a coach, trainer, or consultant?

A coach asks questions and helps develop the client’s ability to make decisions.

A consultant TELLS a client what to do.

A Trainer, for a minute leave the world of “personal trainer” and think just trainer. A trainer teaches the client to do this for themselves.

You may be doing all three.

Coach, Consultant, or Trainer?

I would BET; however, you are NOT 100% a coach even if you’re selling your products and services using the title coach.

What people usually want when they hire a personal trainer is a CONSULTANT (or as I’ll share in next, a trainer – in a different sense of the word).

They say:

Tell me exactly what to do when we’re at our sessions.

Tell me exactly what to do between sessions.

Based on your experience, is that right? They want to know how to close the gap between where they are and what they want.

If you are truly a “trainer,” some larger fitness corporations will frown on you doing a really good job. Why? Because your client is no longer dependent on you because you’ve taught them how to do it… how to make decisions about exercise and how to do the exercise correctly and plan it so they can do it on their own.

Let’s face it, when customers buy that 3-session package or meet with you once for free, that’s what they want. They want to know a routine and how to do it so they can use the gym membership or the home equipment they have. They often want a Trainer.

What a coach does is gives up the “expert” advising. Wearing your coach hat, you would ask a client what she’s willing to commit to doing. When they ask, are you a coach, if you’re doing this you can say yes.

But you might need more.

Is Coaching Enough?

They might need you to be a consultant. A consultant to tell them exactly what to do. For instance, I can ask fitness business coaching clients, “What are you willing to commit to between now and next time?”

But if they don’t know how to create that powerful one-liner, and their brand mission statement, or a craft a series of emails that uses the right words based on what motivates their dream customers to buy, that’s keeping them stuck. I would be leaving them guessing.

The trick here is this: you need to know when you’re being a coach, a consultant, and a trainer.

And you need to charge accordingly.

Accountability coaching is the lowest of the rankings as far as coaching goes.

Training is next – you’re going to empower them to do it themselves. You’re a trade school.

Consulting is the highest paid and can include coaching to support it. You tell them exactly what to do because you have a proven track record and system for getting results. But they still have to do it.

This is an example of how you create a program. Here’s what you do on Monday, Tuesday… etc.

Then you offer the accountability coaching to help them understand why, now that they have the GPS they aren’t using it, they’re resisting it, or don’t believe it will work for them.

So, back to you. Are you a coach?

Do you need one? Or do you need a consultant plus coach?

If you’d like to identify the right words to put in front of your dream female customers, I have a special Marketing to Women copywriting course. Click here for a special rate today.

If you want the Fast Flip Business coaching to help you eradicate any limiting beliefs you’ve got or nail your personal traits so no one can compete with you… I’ll put a link in the show notes.

It’s really the best way to help someone… Both you helping your dream clients, and getting help yourself.

Resources:

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.flippingfifty.com/copywriting-course

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Other Episodes You Might Like:

18 Revenue Generating Strategies | Health & Fitness Professionals: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/revenue-generating/

5 Ways to Promote Affiliate Products for Passive Revenue: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/promote-affiliate-products/

Still More Ways to Boost Personal Training Leads, Sales, and Revenue: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/still-ways-boost-personal-training-leads-sales-revenue/

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You can create content all day long but if it doesn’t reach your dream customer and have them say, I want to work with her! It’s a miss. Create content that creates clients and leave the busy work to the rest.

You just promoted for someone else. With CHAT GPT you have to be good. You have to tell stories that an AI can’t. You have to have humor and personal input no one but you can have. Brandi Clark has experienced the mistakes trainers make as have I!

We potentially have failed so you don’t have to! And we let you lean over the fence and hear how to avoid those kinds of mistakes. In a moment in time where you can’t afford to be lost in the shuffle.

We reposition your goal on social, and your thoughts about creating content that is truly deep.

Want more help? Join the Fully Booked Online Fit-Pro summit hosted by Brandi.

My Guest:

Brandi Clark is a marketing and sales mentor for those in the fitness industry. With over 20 years in the fitness industry she has served her clients in every capacity from group instructor, personal trainer, master trainer offering CEC’s to fitness professionals and a gym owner with multiple locations. She understands how quickly the industry changes and evolves and she spends her time helping fitness professionals adapt so they don’t get left behind. Her specialty is teaching coaches and trainers how to create content that really connects with their audience so they can build their training business and help more people achieve lasting lifelong changes.

She spent years as a Master Trainer educating fitness professionals thru CEC courses and programs that she developed and delivered.

Questions We Answer in This Episode:

How to create content that stands out
What do most fitness professionals do wrong as they enter into the online space?
What should fitness professionals focus on as they incorporate online training?
Tell us more about this upcoming Virtual Summit?

Your content that creates clients won’t look or sound like anyone else's. If it does, you have work to do. A copycat approach won’t work for an authentic success.

Become a Fully Booked Online Fit-Pro: Where to Focus Your Time and Energy in 2023

https://fitnessmarketingmastery.com/fully-booked

Brandi on Social:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brandiclarkfit/

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/fitprohangout

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/standoutfitpro/

Resources:

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

Other Episodes You Might Like:

The Truth About Email Frequency and Content: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/email-frequency/

12 Content Ideas for Fitness & Health Coaches: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/content-ideas/

What to Post on Social Media | How I Decide Weekly Content: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/what-to-post/

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This 5-tip list is NOT elaborate. It IS the health coaches marketing formula you can count on. It’s easier and it’s lighter. Months ago I shared this within our Flipping50 Menopause Fitness Specialist support group.

It’s still a bit of a struggle for coaches who don’t have:

A clear message

That solves a customer-identified problem

That the customer is actively seeking an answer to

Sometimes it just takes a flip of content.

For instance… if no one knows they need magnesium… and you’re not a pharmacist or doctor, telling benefits of magnesium is generally not going to be a hugely popular post.

If magnesium supports sleep, constipation, and 400 other enzyme actions in the body… like metabolism the better lead might be “How magnesium supports menopause issues.”

How to sleep without medication.

How to poop without laxatives.

And how to boost metabolism without tons of exercise.

So… while this 5-tip health coach marketing formula for social media will help … you have to get beyond #1 in order for them to work.

#1 A perfectly crafted message that solves a problem your customer has

Non-salesy
What problem does it solve?
How high a priority is it for your dream customer?

#2 Good sound and clear visuals

Good sound is a must if you’re narrating. Closed caption is also important since most have sound off by default.

A casual pic on your iphone is perfect for stories. It may not be on your post.

Over produced Canva-obvious graphics that look like a business are not the solution, though.

#3 Post about 2 maybe 3 Reels per week

Posting more cannibalizes your own content.

Make it much better, much less often. Share it again, react and respond to comments.

#4 Short beats long

When you can use content less than 15 seconds that gives tons of value. Make them want to play it over and over again. If they watch 100% of it, it helps you be seen. If they play it over and over or save it… even better.

#5 Talk, Tag, and Text repeat the SEO

If your text (copy in the post) is unique to the video or the images… you lost an opportunity. You want layers of talking in a video, or words on a video Plus the tags you use Plus the copy you use. Repeat 3x for gold. It’s not this in the post graphic and that in the post message.

Resources:

Flipping50® Menopause Fitness Specialist: https://www.flippingfifty.com/specialist

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Other Episodes You Might Like:

2-Ingredient for Better Social Media Posts! Beyond Better & Less: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/better-social-media/

Fitness & Health Pros, Get More Social Media Traction: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/social-media-traction/

Personal Trainers: How to Boost Your Social Media Engagement: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/social-media-engagement/

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Let’s tackle this impressive-sounding term and science so your exercise prescriptions are on point!

Your Health Coaching certification and your Group Fitness training don’t cover it. Your personal training certification doesn’t.

The “minimum viable information a fitness or health professional needs to enter the field” is not enough for your support of women. Let alone women in menopause, the most significant disruptive period of her life (pun intended).

So this episode aims to give you the insights about what it is and how and why it’s important.

Responses in groups range from, “every woman is different” to “something is better than nothing” and these comments come from both our consumer members and our health and fitness professionals.

This information provided exclusively on the She Means Fitness Business podcast is intended for health and fitness professionals to grow their business by enhancing awareness of strategies for coaching midlife women, marketing to midlife women who are looking for support, and for coaching midlife women in a way that helps them most, and helps you grow a thriving business - as a midlife women - given most of our audience though not all are themselves midlifers.

The second step we offer helps women go from earning a sporadic income to increasing their monthly income by at least $5000 a month so that they can make a reasonable living. Once someone goes through 90 days of coaching and training to reach that, there’s a level of sustainability and the focus becomes scaling. Some trainers and health coaches may feel this is “success.” Most however, if they’re honest truly want a greater impact and influence and freedom in finances and time for themselves. That’s really phase 3.

You may be wondering, what’s step 1? That is the Flipping50 Menopause Fitness Specialist. If you’re not already well-versed in exercise endocrinology, this is the way to make sure you have answers when midlife clients have questions. You know what’s possible and within your scope and how to support and receive support from other allied health professionals.

Here I’ll discuss exercise endocrinology basics:

Definition (influence>

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Making fitness recommendations on social media or your “newsletter”? Are you meeting with clients and giving them some tips on how to improve their health?

For fitness and health coaches working with individuals, it’s time we do them justice! These fitness recommendations need a tune up.

First, let’s acknowledge this: there are all kinds of health coaches. Some are board-certified functional health coaches that have a significant depth of study, knowledge, understanding what questions to ask and what answers reveal.

Then there are health coaches that are certified by organizations that have required little more than reading a text or viewing training videos online, taking a test when ready and receiving a passing grade of 75% or more. (I always wonder about that 25% of comprehension, don’t you?)

Then, there are health coaches that have adopted the title without diving into training of health coaching, how to answer questions. They may also be giving advice as a fitness or nutrition professional, and not actually coaching. There’s a distinction between the two. For more information on a CEU course coming up, stay tuned at fitnessmarketingmastery.com. As a part of the Flipping50® Menopause Fitness Specialist course for alumni and for CEU course alone, or as a part of renewing I’m providing a 2-hour training on coaching midlife women.

Be the first to know by clicking here: https://www.flippingfifty.com/specialist

I’ll let you know when we open again, and when the course is available to take. No obligation, we’ll just send the details!

OK, let’s dive into those recommendations and why so you have a much better understanding!

Common Fitness Recommendations that need to die!

Healthy Snacks

Not all clients should snack. A percent of women over 40 are definitely dealing with some blood sugar issues or adrenal stress. However, many more women actually need to fast between meals so their liver can function optimally and they can begin to burn fat. Snacks keep someone using what goes in now. So the need for snacking is a clue. And yes, for those women who do experience shakes, or nausea or dizziness, they need to deal with that now. However, that’s a sign you need to get to the underlying cause of it.

In the Flipping50 Menopause Fitness Specialist, we help clients (and trainers who work with them) identify which protocol will help them. Food, sleep, exercise - all need to be unique if this is the status of clients.

Suggesting healthy snacks without suggesting when and why and who is a disservice to midlife women. It is keeping some fat.

High Protein Meals from inflammatory foods

In 2014 some of the most popular pages on Facebook were those listed as “high protein meals” and now? On instagram it’s “fitness meals.” The following is huge. But the ingredients are often highly inflammatory foods for most midlife women (and others).

Hormonal changes bring gut issues. They show up in skin issues, weight loss resistance, digestive issues, irregularity, inability to reduce fat, inflammation. That points to leaky gut. Leaky gut is an obstacle for weight loss, immune function, disease prevention because not absorbing foods or supplements means there’s a gap between what someone thinks is healthy lifestyle and what’s really happening.

Exercise 1st Thing in the Morning

This will be unpopular. Especially if you do something very Orange Theory and have 4:30am or 5am classes or meet with clients at this time. But there is greater risk of disc issues within an hour of waking. [A podcast with Dr Stuart McGill at Flippingfifty.com or on your favorite podcast platform will help you understand this]. So, are clients up by 3:30 to do your session?

Don’t shoot the messenger. It’s science.

You also may be disrupting sleep, not something midlife women can afford. Working with your hormones on a daily basis - as well as weekly - is so very important.

And I won’t go into this, but end of the day isn’t ideal for intense exercise either. So HIIT at that 5:30pm class isn’t in your client’s best interest.

Surprised? More blogs and podcasts at fitnessmarketingmastery.com support how and why.

You may also like this: https://www.flippingfifty.com/sleep-fmm-specialist-opt/

And last but not least, this common fitness recommendation is potentially the nemesis of some midlife women.

HIIT Workouts to Burn Fat

A midlife woman already under a high level of perceived stress, and sometimes not perceived is just increasing cortisol. That’s increasing catabolism. That as you know is when muscle breaks down and the body stores fat easier.

The body can not both store and burn fat. Under stress, it will opt for fat storage. Stressed midlife women, or those with too little cortisol, needing a nap after workouts, are burning out… not burning fat.

Sooner or later they will have to stop. Stop exercise. Stop training with you.

HIIT workouts should be the smallest percentage of exercise and movement time a midlife woman does in a week.

HIIT should also be the last thing added and first to go if a woman isn’t feeling amazing! And getting results from her program.

Other Episodes You Might Like:

3 Reasons (and fixes) Your Female Fitness Clients Aren’t Getting Results: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/female-fitness-client/

Adaptogens for Coaching Midlife Clients: How & When It Helps: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/adaptogens/

Coaching Clients Effectively | Weight Loss Success Coach Interview: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/coaching-clients-weight-loss-success/

Resources:

Flipping50® Menopause Fitness Specialist: https://www.flippingfifty.com/specialist

Help Clients Sleep Better: https://www.flippingfifty.com/sleep-fmm-specialist-opt/

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

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How would you like to reduce fitness marketing time and still continue to attract ideal clients? Yes, please, right!?

Even better, is the idea that you can potentially get better results. You’ll hear why in this episode.

Cranking out content every week takes time. I’m going to start with 5 mistakes I have made, and not going to lie, I can still default to these mistakes if I’m not careful!

However, I want to say this, having to create content for two-arms of my business, our Flipping50® community and our Fitness Health Coaches and Trainers - has been the biggest eye-opening experience of my life.

You can create MORE all day. And I'll tell you, I am prolific. It’s my superpower. I’m joking! It’s my safe place. I love to create. So naturally this is where I’ll bury myself on a Sunday morning. Not because I’m behind or don’t have a book or a walk or something better to do, I truly love it. But content creation - whether packages and services, or blogs and podcasts - that are not marketed… don’t help you or I.

How bizarre is that? I just said that creating marketing copy that you don’t market doesn’t work. What I mean is the only way you can reduce fitness marketing time - and want to - is if you are getting the content you do create out there. You never want to create a podcast … post about it once, and never again talk about it!!!

5 Ways to Reduce Fitness Marketing Time

Script your videos. Don’t just turn on the camera and riff. At least not until you have an established audience and you go live and have people there who will ask questions.

When you start scripting… you may realize as I do, I don’t have one video, I have 5. I have 5 short videos that I can drip out this next 2-3 weeks and stay congruent with the topic that is in alignment with whatever we’re promoting.

Batch record.

This is easy, when you do #1. Maybe it’s not batch record. Maybe it’s creating 12 photos of you with different expressions or using professionally done images in new ways. Maybe it’s finding the images you want to use or the graphics you’re going to use in Canva.com

Create posts in advance.

I’m still of the school of thought that posts done in real time do better. At one point, who didn’t use Hootsuite, or some other 3rd party scheduler? Even Facebook or Instagram in advance - though they’re popular - I generally don’t.

What I do is create the content and use Trello.com so that the content is there, I copy it, paste it to the site and I’m done in minutes.

Observe engagement

First because it informs what you do more of, what you stop doing or do less of, but also because this can be done in 15 minute increments every day. It’s THIS… not the post itself but you engaging with the followers who comment that matters!

Think ahead.

The more time you spend regularly before you go into production mode, the more reduction in your actual time creating marketing content you will spend. I do this “think time” while I’m lifting weights or I’m taking a hike. It’s the best place for ideas to come to me!

What’s coming up right now? Superbowl, Valentine’s Day, St Patrick’s Day, Spring Break, March Madness…. What do you want to do with each of those? What are you launching next month, the month after that? What do your clients need to know before they’d realize they need what you’re selling? That content pre-meditated and not “hey, we’re open” is the difference between engaging content and flat feeling like an ad content.

People are on social media to see family and friends. No one wants to feel judged, like they’re in school, or to see an ad in your timeline posts.

A little bonus is this… I’ve found that no longer is 4 posts a day on Facebook an advantage. And the more time I give my reels on Instagram to marinate and be the most recent content, while using stories to stay TOMA, the better they do. So reduce fitness marketing time by posting less.. Could also work for you. Test it.

What about you? Ways you reduce your fitness marketing time?

Other Episodes You Might Like:

10 Social Media Tips That Work for Fitness & Health Professionals: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/social-media-tips-2/

Generate Simple Social Media Content Fast | Fitness Coaches: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/social-media-content/

Fitness Marketing Secrets to Recession-Proof with Bedros Keuilian: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/fitness-marketing-secrets/

Resources:

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard:https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

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What’s the difference between coaching and advising a client? Are you using the title coach but a little unsure of what that means? You’re not alone.

There are thousands more coaches of all kinds: health coaches, business coaches, life coaches, wellness coaches, divorce coaches, career coaches, and many wear the hat of an expert in their field too.

So, whether you are or you’re not a personal trainer, this is for you.

Coaching has great value.

Yet, when you’re playing the role of cheerleader or you’re giving expert advice you’re not actually coaching.

This episode explores when coaching is valuable and when you want to advise, if you do have the knowledge.

Coaches:

Support

Ask questions

Improve accountability

Encourage autonomy

Encourage self-examination

Ask for realistic goals

Trainers:

Provide assessments

Give recommendations for actions

Set realistic goals

Give answers

Evaluate performance

Determine next steps

When clients don’t know what to do in order to achieve results, trainers determine the actions that make the most sense for them.

When clients know what to do but aren’t doing it, coaches help discover why that is true.

To be an effective leader in programs, you may be both.

First, you’re trying to determine the exercise plan based on a scientific combination of current status, health and activity history, hormones, goals, and limitations. That’s training using exercise science to create an exercise prescription.

Concurrently or next you may be trying to consider why past attempts failed or why clients are non-compliant. That’s coaching using questions.

Both skills are necessary for the improvement of fitness.

Where does the line between coaching and advising blur?

Where coaching and advising blur – and where effectiveness begins to wane, is when what is intended to be a coaching call becomes empathetic and without objective.

A coach is definitely a warm person. However, it’s not enough. Are you able to ask questions that help someone see the answers for themselves? A coach allows an individual to have more personal power. When a coach praises or judges and evaluates she robs the client of personal power.

Let me do a check-in with you, respectfully. You may have just felt a little offensive to what I just said. I’d like for you to stay with me. I hope you’ll consider that you’d only take offense if it was something you felt you did.

If you say, good job! I’m proud of you! I’m so glad you did that…

Any of those is evaluative and a judgment. Though they’re praise and you may see that as positive, they indicate an evaluation.

If instead you asked, how do you feel about that? Or I can only guess how good that feels, what’s it like for you? How is that different from what you’d experienced before?

If you’d like more information on how to buff your coaching skills. Not those we associate with cuing and positioning clients, but skills like mirroring and reflecting, stay tuned. I’ve got a Coaching Midlife Women’s workshop coming up later this month you’ll love.

Resources:

Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.flippingfifty.com/the-fitness-health-coaches-scorecard/

Other Episodes You May Like:

How to Charge More, Raise Your Health Coaching Rates, and Not Pee Your Pants Doing It: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/raise-your-health-coaching-rates/

6-Figure Months From 6 Mindset Shifts: Fitness Coaching Business: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/6-figure-months/

4 Fitness & Health Coaching Website Pages that Make Sales Easier: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/website-pages/

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Wondering where your clients come from? You’ve got the cert, the degree, the lululemons and still not many clients filling your schedule or revenue filling your bank?

When you’re ready for Facebook Ads, this is your episode.

Small budget?

Start your Facebook ads by creating a leads campaign.

The Basics

To Begin Using Facebook ads:

You need a personal profile

To Create a business page

From your business page you create a Facebook business manager.

This is where all of your ads are created.

Leads help you create an email list. This email list is where you’ll begin creating sales.

Selling directly to a cold audience is expensive and the results are dismal. That means just deciding you have a program starting and you want to advertise is about 2 months too late. You ideally have started 2 or more months ago sending traffic to a lead generator that was free and you’ve been nurturing those new subscribers ever since. Now they’re warm leads who want the next step.

Start by giving something that will lead to a sale later.

The shorter that path to a sale the better.

At some point though, you’ll want to increase your traffic to an opt in that you know your ideal customer wants.

The higher the conversion rate for you the better. Ideally you know that from looking at your Google Analytics. From it you can see how many land on your opt in page in a given date range. Then you can see how many land on your thank you page in a given date range. From the two you know your conversion rate, right?

You want to be sure that you share the freebie to social, any existing email list and get as much traffic as possible

Two Tips:

Keep the form filled on Facebook for the lowest cost leads. From your thank you page, which can double as your opt in page you’ll take them to the next step. An automation email will drop them right into your email list where you should have
Broad audience – that means about a million people

All CRMS have a Facebook integration. No matter what Customer Relations Management you use, you’ll find some support for connecting to Facebook. If you’re not technical, and don’t want to do your own ads at all, you DO want to know what’s possible. You need to know what numbers you want and are possible.

Ready for Traffic?

If you don’t have a freebie that converts, creating one is your first order of business.

Share it with your most active and engaged social media channels. Test and establish that your ideal client wants it.

Resources:

Ultimate Freebie Creation: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/bestfreebies

Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Other Episodes You May Like:

The Perfect Facebook Ads Formula for Fitness & Health Businesses: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/fb-ads-facebook-ads-formula/

11 More Ways to Boost Personal Training Leads, Sales and Revenue:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/11-ways-boost-personal-training-leads-sales-revenue/

3 Ways to Increase Your Email Opens (social posts & website traffic) NOW!: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/ways-to-increase/

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In this best health coaching business podcasts year-end countdown episode, I give you what you voted based on downloads as the best of 2022. This year clearly it was tips and tricks to market to train your menopause fitness clients, and featured 3 expert interviews.

In Letterman style countdown here it is. All the episode links will be included in the show notes so you can catch up on any you missed.

#10 Fitness Trainer Opportunities Right Now

You can see fitness trainer opportunities or you can see obstacles with gyms at low capacity and so many virtual programs. How would you like to sit down with an expert at getting seen and heard when it’s not easy? Guest JJ Virgin brings her years of expertise to this episode.

That’s just what you’ll find in this episode full of health coach and fitness trainer opportunities.

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/opportunities/

#9 4 More Better Fitness Marketing Tips

There are better fitness marketing tools than a newsletter. There are better fitness marketing tools than Tic Tok if you don’t have a back end that makes sense and attracts new subscribers.

Are you inviting people to your email newsletter? That one died in the early 2000s. This episode will bring you into the future with better ways to let the world know about you.

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/better-fitness-marketing-tools/

#8 I Hate Exercise | Psychology Health

Behavior change is hard. And if you know that all too well, say you’ve seen your detailed exercise prescription fall by the wayside and clients fall off the bandwagon, then this episode may give you some insight into why.

Mike Kelly is my guest on this episode and as an expert in exercise psychology since 1989, his topic is one that we’ve not made enough progress in since 35 years ago when I entered grad school committed to creating better ways to facilitate behavior change.

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/psychology/

#7 How to Pivot Your Fitness Brand

If you’re scared, frustrated, or feeling unrewarded for the hard work you’re doing, listen in. No one has a smooth ride all the way through and Natalie Jill is no different. As you hear her resilience, you may recognize some of the fight in you too.

There’s a place and a need for your fitness brand right now. Here’s how to pivot what you may be doing and turn it into better results.

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/your-fitness-brand/

#6 Find Clients and Students for Your Programs

If you’re a trainer or health coach with all the certs, and education, a desire to serve and to make a living, it doesn’t matter if you can’t find clients and students for your fitness programs. But there’s such an obvious need. So the question isn’t is there demand. It’s where they are, how do you get them (instead of letting them find another option). It’s also getting out of your head the idea that to find clients and students for your fitness programs isn’t the problem. If you believe that there’s too much competition, you’re sunk.

There is room for all of us. This episode will show you how.

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/find-clients-and-students-for-your-fitness-programs/

You’re half way in this BEST Health Coaching Business Podcasts of 2022 roundup. You’ve got endurance! Do you have the answers to hot flashes, belly fat, weight loss resistance and adrenal fatigue for your clients? Are they suffering from exercise intolerance and how do you know?

For answers to this and more so you can coach your clients… and yourself … the Flipping50® Menopause Fitness Specialist course is designed to give you more than the CECs you need. It’s designed to give you the answers your clients - millions of potential clients are looking for.

Learn more at: https://www.flippingfifty.com/specialist

#5 10 Instagram Secrets for Better Posts

If you think there are Instagram secrets that magically will gain you verified status, grow your followers by 10k or… that you even want to do that… this is not your episode!

Oh, and if you’re being asked to invest 1-2K to grow your followers by 10K on the daily, don’t! It’s so tempting right? Even though it's going to ultimately hurt you when you have zero engagement… it sounds like something you can almost justify.

Try the tips inside this episode instead.

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/instagram-secrets/

#4 5 Marketing Ideas for Female Fitness Business Owners

In this episode, I share 5 marketing ideas for Female fitness and health business owners. If you’re stuck.. this will help you get unstuck! They’re not rocket science. But as I’m recording this on a Monday morning, I know that this morning maybe more than most can be a pain point for fitness and health coaches. If you aren’t full, if you didn’t have a lot of calls and inquiries, and maybe especially if you tried to work through the weekend (but even if you tried taking time off), it’s tough to feel like you’re doing enough.

So, these 5 marketing ideas have little to do with doing more. They’re really about some things you already have and using them better.

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/5-marketing-ideas/

#3 3 Fast Ways to Better Results for Menopause Fitness Clients

If you have a female training client, I can almost guarantee she wants it all, AND is overwhelmed before she starts.

You, dear trainer (or health coach) will be tempted to give them the diet changes, the hydration goals, and the exercise to do all at once. And they will start on Monday and blow it by Wednesday and come back to you next week sheepish, feeling like a failure already.

So don’t! In this episode I show you how to get much faster results with uncommon strategies.

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/female-training-client/

#2 Marketing Health | Every Day...

Marketing health is no small task. It’s the biggest part of running a business. Often, a year (or less) into deciding they want to be a health or fitness pro, some of the best pros realize that the training, coaching, and movement they love doesn’t matter or take up the majority of their time. It’s the marketing that does.

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/business-priorities/

#1 12 Content Ideas for Health & Fitness Pros

Whether it’s email, blogs, or social media posts, the number of content ideas you need is endless. Before I go further, I will say that having a strategy around your content is crucial for it to be successful.

For social media posts? You don’t have to and don’t need original content in each of these places.

Your original content should live at your site. That’s where your content ideas are going to work for you most. The posts you do on social are the next step. If you’re a coach or trainer with longevity, substance, and here for the long haul, those here now gone tomorrow posts are not what you want to invest your time and energy in.

This is your resource for ideas that will help you now and throughout 2023.

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/content-ideas/

There you have it, the BEST Health Coaching Business Podcasts of 2022 from She Means Fitness Business. Stay tuned, 2023 is right around the corner with 20 ways to market your health coaching business, coming up!

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You may have the best heart, the best program, or be the best local trainer or health coach, but if you haven’t figured out ways to market your health & coaching business consistently, effectively, then no one knows about you.

There are dozens of ways for you to market your health coaching business here. Some are direct and others indirect. Indirectly marketing means you’re not just sharing your freebie. That still feels a little like someone you’ve never met stalking you for a date. You have no reason or motivation to get a freebie (let alone, to those of you who are posting on social media your programs and hoping that people register from social media – that strategy unfortunately would go on the “20 ways to kill your organic marketing” list.

Indirectly marketing your freebie means you’re sharing it but leading with some other generous offer first. Did you know? We no longer require 7 touches before someone will know, like, and trust you – potentially even enough to give you an email, let alone buy from you – it takes about 21 today!

Yes, 21 times(many say 28) in front of someone. And they are not seeing every post you painstakingly made on social media. People have lives. They don’t wait for your next post, email, or video. So create, yes. Then share, send, and resend when they didn’t open. Be purposeful, have a plan and it’s then that these will get your wheels creative juices going!

You can return to this over and over! It’s not a checklist suggesting you need them all, but you do need number 1, then you need to give it wheels as many of the additional simple ways to market your health & fitness coaching business will.

Create a Freebie

If you don’t have one you love, that works consistently, focus on this until you do. Where do you post it? Not just hidden on your website. In your blogs, podcasts, interviews, and on social posts in an organic not spammy way. Be sure that you don’t make this mistake: make a freebie, and then leave it. Or this mistake: make a freebie and then make another and another. Stick with your freebie. Promote it, and drive traffic to it (in ways I’ll share below as well as paid traffic depending on your budget).

Watch your conversions every week. How many people actually opt in for it? If you create anything… that no one wants.. you’ve wasted time. So be sure you base what you make on what your customer wants. Keep tweaking until you know that the conversion rate (number of people who land on your freebie thank you page after being presented with your freebie) is high before you go and create another one.

Not many things on this list will market your health & fitness coaching business the way a freebie will. It’s going to be true for a long time.

Pop Ups

Add a pop up on your website to the freebie.

Examples of pop ups include: announcing something special, are you leaving/before you go, and did you forget? I’m including 3 images of pop-ups in the notes here that may give you ideas. And yes, they can be annoying. But they do work.

Create content that lives forever:

Start a Blog

Write an Article or post for someone else.

Create a Video

Start a Podcast.

Every time you post a new blog (relevant), video, or podcast, insert a ‘native’ CTA for the freebie and then create a slice of that content and share it on at least 5 platforms with a graphic. Haven’t been doing this and have tons of content (a book? Blog or podcast?)? You can go back and do this for every one of them! Continue to share them once created over and over again. This is really an indirect share of your freebie.

You’ve got gold, now you just need to harvest it! The gold here is that as long as the content is still relevant, you can and should drive traffic to it regularly.

Examples of These Simple Ways to Market your health & fitness coaching business in Action:

I have a knee strengthening video on YouTube. It has millions of views. In it there are 5 or 6 exercises. I can and should share ONE of them in a short video post and tell them that to get the rest of the exercises they can watch the full-length video here…xxxx.

I can also share a study about omega 3 and inflammation in knees (I have in my arsenal) and suggest if they want other ways to exercise for relief... they watch the video.

So while I’m sharing a free social post to another free full length video... in order to finally give them an option to “opt in” and subscribe to my email list with another “freebie” – it often takes that kind of chain reaction to prove the trust factor to a new prospect. (85% of consumers make a slower decision than the 15% of us who may jump in)

Got tons of blogs? Create a book using them. Each blog can be a chapter. In every chapter link to or send to the free resources in your freebie. The book itself can be your freebie. Using a free book with shipping or a free pdf version with a small fee. (Often called a “trip wire” based on the theory that buyers of a small item are usually the best buyers for something more).

Be a Guest. Every time you’re a guest on someone’s stage, podcast, or summit, share your freebie, with a juicy description. It’s not a pdf, it’s a solution to a big problem your audience has.

Ask for a Referral current members to give you a paid client. Ask ONE person for one referral. Don’t send some kind of a broadcast to a group of people expecting someone to step up. What happens when you do that in a room? Everyone believes someone else will but feels no obligation or inspiration to do so.

Tell them how to do it in a specific way and reward them both.

Share success stories/ testimonials. When you do this, how you get your testimonials matters. It’s not an accident. There are questions you absolutely want to ask and those that you don’t.

Want help collecting testimonials?

Sponsor an event.

Events are always looking for business partners who then get their name on the t-shirt, or the advertisement, or get to talk at the event. Explore how much it would be and the visibility you would have.

What this looks like:

I sponsored an event for $12500. I was a keynote speaker, had a vendor booth, and gave a workout one morning before sessions. I paid for my sponsor multiple times over in the revenue from new clients and students that continue to be a part of programs today. So don’t dismiss these paid opportunities to be in front of a dream live audience. They may be a far better investment than paying for Facebook or Google ads to strangers.

Brand It

Consider putting your own brand name and logo on a t-shirt. Then wear it every time you’re on camera. Strategically you want to make sure placement of the logo is clear and legible and probably higher up than you might ordinarily have it on a t-shirt. I was on with a colleague recently and watched a replay clip of us he shared. In it, he had on his branded shirt, and while I was in brand colors, he was a billboard in his shirt, as well as in the graphics framing the clip that was used for social media. Brilliant! I go to the gym or to run errands regularly wearing a visor. Why wouldn’t I get branded visors made? In fact, I have one. There are dozens of ways you can apply this.

Be a Vendor

Be a vendor with a booth at a health fair or women’s event/kids’ event (where would your customer be?) There’s a fee but if it’s your specific demographic it’s probably a lot better way to spend that money than spend the same on Facebook ads.

Host a program for your (or other) church

Present at Women’s Meetings

Contact women’s organizations in the late spring/early summer about doing a program for them next year. This is when many organizations wrap up for the summer, new officers are installed, and t

he new Vice President or Education chair has the task of deciding the programs for the next calendar year before fall. Sometimes organizations -specifically women’s philanthropic organizations – have multiple divisions in the same town/city. In the college town I lived for 30 years there were 20 unique subdivisions and I presented at more than half over the years.

Market Your Health & Fitness Business with Radio Exposure

Contact the local radio station about a month or day – sleep awareness month, osteoporosis day – and offer to provide tips and do a talk show or be interviewed with their host. When you’re booked, promote promote, promote. After you’re on, get the recording, send it out and promote, promote, promote.

Use that station’s logo on your site in an “as seen on.”

Be Seen on TV

Contact the local TV station and pitch a newsworthy story. Use statistics, and tie it to their largest audience. You’ll need to do research on the kind of stories they do, the kind of guests they host, as well as know key soundbites that you can give them. They’re busy. Make their job easy by providing the news, why it’s relevant, timely and why you’re the expert. Provide your contact info and 4 questions you can answer. Call, email, and keep asking to talk to the producer until you get an answer. Once you’re booked, do a good job and you’ll be asked back.

Double your Reach

Create a Buddy Pass**. If you already have clients joining your programs, whether your paid or your freebies, give them a buddy pass to share with a friend for 50% off. You’ll want to tie this to some kind of reward for the one who shares it. She wants to save! So… you can do this for a special product right off the bat, a buy 1, get the second 50% off and say instead of each option costing $50 the two can join for $75.

Make Gift Giving Easy

Mother’s Day, Christmas, Birthdays… are all perfect opportunities for gift certificates, or special promotions. But… don’t stop there. It’s not really special for you to say, “Spend your gift money here.” Instead sweeten the pot. Include a package they can wrap up: send an actual book (not a pdf), a journal, a set of bands, a t-shirt, sweat towel, small ball, etc. Make it something you’ll incorporate into your workouts or coaching.

Then include a $10 off or $50 off a next step program for the gift recipient too. So you’re not just getting a new client sale, you’re increasing the chance they’ll make a second purchase and planting that seed for them too.

**About buddy passes and gift giving ease: These are ways to market your health & fitness business… as long as you talk about them! And if your ideal target market is following you, invite them to share the news with their gift-buyer! Or Be sure you know WHO you’re talking to when you post or email… in the gift case you’d potentially be targeting a partner or daughter or son. You have to give that some thought.

Attend Training with Other Business Owners

The networking with other business owners that you do alone can be worth the cost of attending. This could be as small as attending your Chamber of Commerce business networking breakfast once a month. But it can today be virtual and if your business is virtual, even better. Yesterday in fact, on day one of a two-day training on business skills (yes, even after marketing fitness for 35 years I still invest in learning and getting coached myself).

In our small group, we had a chance to hear each other and everyone in my group needed what I have. When you have your radar open to every situation you’re in, there is a potential to meet others who need your services, it can happen organically. Even if not them, their wives, or moms or daughters or a corporate presentation could be waiting for you.

There you are! All the best in 2023!

Resources for building your business:

Marketing to Women Copywriting course: https://www.flippingfifty.com/copywriting-course

Flipping 50 Menopause Specialist: https://www.flippingfifty.com/specialist

Help Your Clients Sleep: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/sleeper

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Can you talk to customers the way their friends do?

If the customers you want to attract want clarity, want to end the confusion, want confidence, they also want to sense it from you.

Two Common Incongruencies:

Fitness and health coaches who are over the top on social videos, moving in a frenzy, speaking with overzealous enthusiasm … that isn’t a fit for the market they want to attract with money to spend, and the commitment to follow through.

Fitness coaches forget about the customer they want to attract and the mistakes of making videos on social media – that don’t get any likes, shares, views, comments or saves.

Don’t forget WHO you are and WHO your ideal prospect is. Reverse engineer from your ideal customer – the one you know has the most success and that you love working with!

Talk So Customers Listen

How do you talk to customers in a way they’d listen? What tone of voice, what rate of speech, what type of video would appeal to THEM?

If you’re just trying to compete for eyeballs without caring which eyeballs, your popularity, if you get it may cost you. Wasted time on people who want freebies, or entertainment… and maybe not even that. Because without being authentic, it’s hard to attract anyone.

Know who you are, and who the customers you want to attract are! Be you and speak to them like a friend not like a speech or performance. You want to talk authentically whether you’re writing, actually speaking, or in a video moving.

Other 5-Minute Marketing Episodes You May Like:

How to Promote on Your Timeline Posts: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/timeline-posts/

Post Less, Engage More: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/engage-more/

Resources:

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

Last chance! If you're seeing this and you work with women in midlife, now is your chance! Join the Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialists already earning and learning more to boost their business this year!

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Timeline posts that are promotional read like ads. Ads push people away. People come to social media for social awareness, laughter, to see what friends are doing, to get to know you, education -as long as it’s entertaining.

Engagement tells you everything. If you post promotions and no one likes it, comments on it, shares it, or saves it or fewer than 10 people do any one of those, you are hurting yourself.

Timeline posts that are promotional, even including paid advertising, ultimately hurt your organic reach.

Use the evidence that you have as the testimonial for this one. I can think of 2 recent students doing this regularly, and even my own example of doing this a month ago (after having not done so for more than two years as a rule.) The performance of that post was pathetic. And now? It’s sitting there as a sore thumb. Archiving content that doesn’t serve you is a good idea. Get rid of it so no one else scrolls through your timeline if they’re looking at you for the first time.

Case Study:

A recent social media Instagram audit revealed that more than 80% of posts were promotional. They were either images of programs or the post copy did nothing more than relay the details of the start and cost.

Once we reviewed how to share tips included in the program and then tease a free next step, engagement went up and conversions to paid customers began to rise consistently. That is, even though promotions were down to 10-20%, the effectiveness improved dramatically.

Using a place where people want entertainment, humor and to catch up with friends, to promote will backfire.

Other Episodes You May Like:

Post Less, Engage More: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/engage-more/

Fitness Marketing Secrets to Recession-Proof: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/the-voice-for-fitness-professionals-podcast/

Resources:

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

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Better social media posts come from 2 things.

A watched post never boils….oh, that’s pot. But the same is true. If you look at a post every

hour or in 20 hours and think, it didn’t get much engagement I’ve got to post again, you’re missing the boat.

#1 Post less often.

#2 Keep them more engaged on previous posts.

Too often we’re confusing better social media posts with posting more. Instead, post stories. Why? Because no one can watch just one story anymore than they can watch just one reel.

How do you watch stories? You land on a story and then you click click click through all of them from the same account. So does your prospect. So they will see the post that you shared, then you immediately shared to your story (you did that right?) and you can post it again to stories after the first disappears in 24 hours.

Go Big, Then Go Home... and Relax

Try posting something bigger less frequently and then blow it up with stories.

Better social media posts come from a blend of mindfulness about your customer, and a little luck. I recently had a reel get 14K views in 2 hours with no idea why. I couldn’t distinguish it from others that had far less engagement. So there is a timing, there is music - use good not overused music over reels. Try voiceover reels. Try it all. When the algorithm changes you’ll have to determine again how to create better social media posts.

But you should never have to determine what your audience wants. When you know them you should always get a consistent connection. Remember that if you pass this off to a VA who is doing it for you, it’s still you that should monitor the posts, and review the insights to be sure:

You’re growing
You do more of what works less of what doesn’t
They use your voice
The engagement you get comes from the customers you want

Here’s to better not more!

Other Episodes You May Like:

Post Less Engage More: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/engage-mroe

6 Ways to Boost Your PR Without a PR Company (or Budget): https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/boost-your-pr/

Resources:

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Marketing to Women: Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

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How would you like to engage more people on every social media post?

Make juicy content and then post stories to bring you TOMA of your account. But stop cannibalizing your own content. I know “they” tell you to post every day, four times a day, but that’s old news and it’s not working.

This is.

I post daily and I might get 2000 views on a video and 60 likes.

I post every 3 or 4 days and I get 5000-6000 views and 2-300 likes and comments.

As the algorithm changes, so too must you change.

Posting on social media frequently was truly a thing in 2013 and 2014. In fact, posting 4 times a day on Facebook was a thing and worked. It doesn’t any more. Unless, possibly you are in real estate, selling houses and your audience is looking for a house right now.

With fitness, you may wear out your welcome posting that much consistently. It might work for a “day in the life” post or an “How I eat in a day” series of posts. And always, if you have a theory about what will work because you know your audience, test it.

Will your ideal clients follow multiple posts a day? Are you really capturing her or are you throwing things out there trying to capture anyone? Do you want to post many times and get little engagement on any one post, or post once, and reshare it to stories, to your personal feed, several times to boost its appeal?

Likewise, consider what your posts are doing for you. Are you just throwing up cute memes? Or are you connecting, relating, or driving traffic to more important content? My goal is 99% the latter. I bring eyeballs to my content over and over instead of thinking of new posts that dead end over and over.

In 2022, good content that your audience wants was gold.That’s not going to stop in 2023. Let a post take your ideal prospect to somewhere for a deeper relationship. Hint though: it’s not a sale, a promotion. It’s a cornerstone piece of content or a freebie.

Post less, engage more by using stories.

Other Episodes You May Like:

Best Social Media Fitness Posts Right Now: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/best-social-media/

What to Post on Social Media: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/what-to-post/

Resources:

Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

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Chances are if you don’t have deep pockets you need ways to boost your PR without having to spend thousands of dollars on a PR agency. I’ve got 6 and a list of examples both in the episode and the shown notes here.

Don’t skip the homework! Taking action is the only way to make the time you spend listening worthwhile! I love to brainstorm and conceptualize as much as any entrepreneur. But it’s in the followthrough that business owners win.

Collaborate with other fitness & health coaches

You do fitness? Find a health coach or functional doctor who is recommending exercise but isn’t an exercise specialist

You train women? Find someone who trains men and cross promote you to their audience and them to yours

Call your media stations (on Speed Dial RIGHT NOW)

Ask whether they host guests.

Ask what their lead time would be.

Follow their anchors or segment hosts

Use Your Media Segments

It’s never the one time you’re on air for 3 minutes. It’s what you do with them.

Host a “Show”

It could be a podcast but doesn’t have to be. Live on FB, IG, or YT with a guest

Host Leaders of your industry niche

Senior Games hosts of each state, National

Menopause Society and NAMS

Fitness Associations

Fitness Conferences

Write a book.

Self-publish

Co-author

Small publisher

Traditional (longer timeline)

There you have it, 6 simple ways to boost your PR without it costing an arm and leg. Which did you like best? Which will you do first?

Other Episodes & Resources You Might Like:

5 Step Blogs: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/best-blogs/

7 Things Profitable Trainers Know: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/profitable-trainers/

12 Content Ideas for Fitness & Health Coaches: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/content-ideas/

Create an Irresistible Fitness Freebie: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/irresistible-freebie-how-to/

If you're talking, creating video, posting and have the website and emails, but still business is slow? You most likely are not using words that your ideal customers need in order to reach for their credit card and ask how they work with you. Get support now to stop struggling and start attracting.

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This episode of things profitable trainers need to know may not be what you expect. There are other practical components of building funnels, writing emails, and creating copy that makes customers buy I could talk about. But not here.

There are hundreds and thousands of trainers. Not all of them, not even many of them, are truly profitable. While you might think I’m going to talk about the need for a course, and a course before your course... and we definitely could. That is funnel talk. But there’s more. There’s this sixth sense kind of list that has to be there first.

Do let me know if this is helpful. I’ll share a way to give yourself a grade on your business too. (check resources below)

This episode of 7 things profitable trainers need to know is based on the foundation for tracking, communicating, and decision-making.

Look objectively at the right numbers

-the “books” P & L statement

-subscribers in and out

-source of traffic

-ROAS for ads or marketing effort

-where do I spend, where do I spend less or stop spending

Train Holistically – it’s more than movement

-foam rolling isn’t necessarily the best way to support fascia

-assess and respond to hormone status of individuals

Create Simple Messages from a Complex Set of Information

-stop the teach & preach and move into raise & praise

-lower the barrier to entry

-be inclusive vs exclusive

-make it step-by-step

Breakdown the What, Why, and How of Information for Prospects

-Share WHY far more than HOW

-you can’t be a step ahead or new prospects won’t join you

-demonstrate you doing… and explain WHY

Be Willing to be Seen and Heard Imperfectly

-all marketing is visual today

-a brick-and-mortar business still needs individual trainers teaching digitally

Spot Trends and Solve Problems

-Trends and fads exist for a reason

-How do you answer uniquely?

Choose a NICHE, Stay In It

-collaborate with others who know more about something than you

-it takes a village, make sure you’re building one with collaborative partners

-if you’re reluctant to interview someone because you think you know more, think about it

-if you “do that too” it doesn’t mean they can’t be a partner

-if you go deep in health coaching, and clients still need the very specific exercise

-If you go deep in exercise, and clients still need the nutrition

There you have it! 7 Things profitable trainers need to know! And there’s more of course! The tactile and practical creation of courses is a must for passive revenue.

Resources Mentioned in this Episode:

Your Business Scorecard podcast: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/business-scorecard/

Right to the Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Training women in midlife? The Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist directory is growing with trainers and health coaches who train in person and virtually all over the world. The Advanced Specialist is the only one that is included, and allows lifetime access to the Facebook group as long as you’re an active contributor, and license to use dozens of worksheets customizable with your contact information for two years. After that you can renew with proof of your continuing education and CEU-courses offered via Flipping 50.

https://www.flippingfifty.com/specialist

Which of the 7 things profitable trainers need to know was the most valuable?

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We’ve got fitness marketing secrets for you inside this episode. Every other word is nearly a pearl, a story, or advice for you to recession-proof for this recession/depression that is ahead.

Though he’s the author of Man Up, and the title may not turn your head, it’s for you too. It's HU-Man, up. There’s never been a better time to be a woman in business. The power and the influence you have and the ripple effect of that extending through each woman you help influencing others can change health care history.

My Guest:

Today Bedros is a serial entrepreneur and investor in over a dozen industry leading brands and businesses. He’s the founder of Fit Body Boot Camp, three times listed in Inc Magazine as well as Entrepreneur Magazine’s 100 fastest growing franchise brands in the world. Bedros is the author of the Wall Street Journal Best Selling book Man Up – How To Cut The BS and Dominate In Business and In Life.

Bedros believes in the power of the human spirit and uses the stage, TV, social media, his podcast and his blog to share his Immigrant Edge and American Dream story to help inspire audiences worldwide to get unstuck and reach their fullest potential!

Questions we answer in this episode:

04:14 You’ve coached trainers on the practical aspects of fitness business. Yet, leadership and personal development are what you seem to be talking about now, what’s behind that?

What two “Rs” does Bedros recommend we all learn?

08:16 Since the pandemic happened, how do fitness providers deal with this mom

23:20 How does your ability to make decisions quickly matter?

27:25 How do you build your decision-making muscle?

31:32 Who’s a better leader, an introvert or extrovert?

53:24 How would you start over and be seen and heard?

There is so much more in this episode you do NOT want to miss. Play it. Play it again.

You’re going to hear these remarkable “quotables,” or Bedros-isms, to help you recession-proof your business(and your mindset) right now:

2 Rs to Success

Check Up from the Neck Up

The model of F.I.O.

The subconscious mind doesn't know the difference between a small or big decision.

-Bedros Keuilian

Connect with Bedros:

https://www.youTube.com/bedroskeuilian

https://www.Instagram.com/bedroskeuilian

Bedros’ Book is MAN UP on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Man-Up-Bullshit-Kick-Business/dp/1946885037/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1670003450&sr=8-1

My suggestion: get the Audible version: https://www.audible.com/pd/Man-Up-Audiobook/B07KBF2J23?source_code=GPAGBSH0508140001&ipRedirectOverride=true&gclid=Cj0KCQiA4aacBhCUARIsAI55maEeFDUoXvbgmPyh7eH9rxFtgSSOtwCE-OUW0eyTlUDuEGXatQvzLJUaAlsTE

ALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Man Up: How to Cut the Bullsh!t and Kick @ss in Business (and in Life)

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Your choice of color might be hurting your business. This episode, and the sister episode on Flipping 50©, will be a big eye opener for you.

What benefit could dressing in your eye color or using your hair color for accents have for you?

If your choice of color sends the wrong message how much could you benefit from a change?

Feel a lack of confidence going on video or getting your pictures taken ?

It could be color.

I've loved and been drawn to specific colors all my life. I've also hated certain ones. And in a standoff with my then new stepfather at age 7 I wasn't shy about what I liked and didn't and what I'd wear and wouldn't. I won. But, years later I know now that brown may in fact have been my better choice. Every time you dress, you create an image, you design or tweak your website or someone creates images for you, imagine if you could improve your relationship with your customers or would-be customers. What would that do for your business? If just doing the same thing, but you improved your results by 10 or 20%, would that be okay?

Heck, yes!

And know it or not consciously, you feel better in certain hues and tones and more selfconscious in others. Why not eliminate the random choices right now ?

Questions we answer in this short episode:

How important is color to relationship building in a business?

What are some ways to implement color into more than just wardrobe choice?

I’d love to know, have you experienced the influence of right vs wrong choice of color? What happened?

Connect:

https://membership.jenniferbutlercolor.com/

Schedule A call: 323-931-26266 Leslie

JENNIFER on Social Media:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferbutlercolor/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JenniferButlerColor

Complimentary masterclass with Jennifer! Don’t miss it!

https://www.eventbrite.com/o/jennifer-butler-color-30053486018

promo code FIRSTTIME to attend for free.

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Whether you’re overworking because it’s still a side-hustle for you and you can’t let go of that “real job” with real benefits or you’re overdoing all the social media posting and getting no traction anyway, or… you’re making money and seeing profit margin grow but still working constantly .. this is for you. It’s a wake up call.

Overworking and underearning feel a little too like you? I get it.

The excuse that you love what you do isn’t enough. Not if,you have to pay the bills, or you really had to prove to someone this isn’t a hobby and you could actually sustain your living doing what you love.

There are dozens if not hundreds of fitness presenters that you know like and trust, that can’t make a living doing what they’re presenting on. They are telling you how to create group training programs and often have never solely earned a living doing it. They’ve coppled together half a dozen jobs, teaching at multiple sites, teaching at universities, and still aren’t earning the kind of revenue they want, need or deserve.

So, how do you? How do you break this cycle and stop seeing what appears superficially to be such a cool position to be in, and really create a life where you have free time, a family or travel and leisure ways you spend time?

Feeling like you have to do more…

True confessions, I’m not proud of this one. And it still plagues me to this day.

Even though I have 6-figure months. If you’re trying to make your first $1000 month or $10k month, I get it. I have been there. One month at a time, one sale at a time, is the only way any of us gets there. And.. not only have I done it, I’ve done it with high stakes. At 49, 11 years divorced, with a son starting college, I started over. When others were thinking about a corner office and a convertible, I committed to the dining room table and to driving my Lexus until the wheels fell off. (I pretty much accomplished that) AND, I said, if I’m not where I need to be in a year, I’ll sell the house. As it turned out I had to.

Pro or Con?

Fortunately, I had no debt before I started all of this.

Unfortunately, I had no debt before all of this… because I didn’t understand calculated risk. I didn’t understand the feeling of creating a responsible debt in order to create something scalable. Well, I learned. You know, present the problem and the teacher shows up? All that.

I have always worked a lot when I had a responsibility, a goal, a deadline. It wasn’t only the urgency of staring at 50 living in a bedroom - with my dog - of my niece while paying college tuition that drove me. So, I share this with you in case you too are driven to do well.

You may be putting off taking the leap. I did. For two years I’d been thinking about leaving my job and doing something with a bigger reach. Then during a trip to Cozumel during Thanksgiving week - it’s easy to dream and plan out of your environment, I sketched out all my ideas. At the end of the year, I intended to give notice. I didn’t. January 15th I intended to. I didn’t. On January 16th I finally did it at lunch with the boss. I formally turned in my resignation letter the next day.

Leaving is Hard

Leaving that job was hard. I had the flexibility and freedom to work in a way that got the job done, hit and surpassed my numbers every month, cared more than anyone else about the numbers, and wanted to do better and better. But I was beginning to see I had done with the people there and the systems there I was reaching an upper limit. I wanted to take the systems I’d created and share them. It’s what I used as framework for Flipping 50, and it’s what I use to coach trainers and health coaches in our mastermind (DIY and Live coaching) how to do it too.

I still work hard, but I love it. I love the freedom to take off for 10 days and be in Colorado, working in the morning and later in the day, and spending the day hiking, and strolling Pearl St in Colorado. I love the flexibility of blocking out days when I may be shooting videos for a program, or… I may be on a trail in Moab creatively allowing ideas for a business plan to take on a life.

And yet, that entire 6 weeks when I was still locked into a regular paycheck and benefits, it was hard to face the reality that it would all be up to me.

So, I still work hard. It’s become a habit.

I am better. And it takes discipline to stay better.

I meditate on this. I use discipline and accountability with friends. Because I still need it.

When I began Flipping 50, in 2013.. There was a lot of research, a lot of work and testing, and very little revenue.

That gave me anxiety.

I had been in a very comfortable mid-six figure earning range for several years, with no debt, owned my own house, drove a Lexus, belonged to the country club and the women’s sorority and all the things.

And then 11 months later, I’d withdrawn from my job putting me in front of audiences regularly, on the radio regularly, leading teams and without an income that covered expenses, beginning to make me very uncomfortable.

So I worked. I worked from rise to bedtime sometimes and I vividly remember not getting out of my pajamas some days. I remember starting at my dining room table at 6am and finishing not before 10pm.

And there was online learning, coaching sessions, developing copy, creating offers, learning tech, and online commerce, and Facebook ads.

I hadn’t been afraid of hard work before that. In fact, I joked before and during my resignation that I was going to spend my flexible 60+ hour work week on my own business and thought I could be at least as successful as I was running a program and have a bigger reach in an area that needed it.

[I was targeting trainers. Some of you may be here because of the Profitable Programming for Personal Trainers program that was my first offer and coaching that was a part of that for those that chose it. [And the Planned, Profitable Promotions masterclass is launching soon. This model has evolved but still works today to plan every month, quarter, and year.]

And I was right.

For a few years it was scary AF. And I wasn’t even making enough to cover my rent, utilities, grocery needs, let alone the cost of investing in my business skill development.

But I did.

I invested 100k in programs and masterminds because I needed a guide who had done it, and a community who didn’t look at me like I had 3 heads (to this day my relatives don’t really know what I do).

And.. instead of making 5-7k a month (with no debt/mortgage/car payment) as I had when I left safety and security in January 2013, I hit 6-figures in more and more months every year.

AND, I don’t need to work as much.

I don’t need to work as hard.

BUT I do sometimes.

So what is that about?

That’s really what this episode is about.

If you’re just starting and this feels like, there is no way I can relate to you. I can.

I promise.

My rent was $3000 a month in the mountains after I’d sold my house because I needed the money. My bank account was so low I got a $13k loan from a relative.

I know exactly where I was sitting that night talking to him on the phone accepting his offer for a loan. I know I was in tears and felt like a loser and so helpless.

And the tears I believe looking back were less about hopelessness than they were pride and inability to ask for help.

Once I sold my house, about 5 dicey months later while living in the basement bedroom of my niece’s home, I invested $20k of it into a mastermind 2 months later.

And it made me feel both vulnerable and supported all at the same time. I knew I had found someone who had been there. And who could help me accelerate what I needed to do, eliminate what I didn’t need to do, and get out of my own way.

You, by the way can simultaneously be coaching someone to do something you know already and be reaching out to someone to coach you to do something you don’t know yet.

If you are a good coach, you are coachable.

Once you establish habits, even if they aren’t serving you or you aren’t getting results, habits are hard to break.

Cigarettes for instance, are making it hard for the smoker to walk upstairs, to catch her breath, but it’s such an addictive habit that it’s hard to break.

If you’ve always received praise for hard work, (and it’s pretty likely if you’re in midlife or older you did), then that is really embedded in your fiber.

It might be weird for you to hear this, but you have to unlearn the “hard work pays off” mantra.

If you’re overworking and underearning, you’re at least partially to blame.

You have to start considering, what if it was easy?

Even sayings like, don’t make it easy, make me stronger, can backfire on you. Because, think about it, what are you telling the universe? Give you something hard to do.

And if you pray or hope for patience, what’s going to happen? You might get stuck in traffic or delay success. Because you asked for these lessons.

What do I do to avoid overworking and underearning ?

Let me clarify that overworking at first may give you traction. Like it did me. This is IF you are doing the right things. However, at a point, you will find you hit a place where your ROI has hit a threshold. It will be true that working more rewards you less and less. Not only in money. But many of us though we need and want to make a living and have a lifestyle, we want something more than money. We want quality of life, freedom, flexibility, and we want to make a difference. We want a legacy.

That’s in part both egoistic and altruistic. Both parts exist in all of us.

So depending on where you are…

Overworking and underearning because you just got started and want to get there faster (like I did) …

overworking and underearning because you’re not doing the right things….

Or you’re overworking and underearning because while you’re making many times over what you did once, you’re continuing to pour into it out of habit, and the idea that YOU must.

Here’s how I’m working on this:

I start my day very differently than I have before (different choices produce different results)

I tap into my most creative time of day to do work.

I know when to pull away because I lose my attention and focus.

And I tell a friend who won’t let me off the hook for it and keeps on me.

I feed my brain and soul with the right books, podcasts - like this one, exposure to friends and coaches doing the same but maybe in different ways so I can explore ideas for my customers.

At bedtime, I mentally practice again what I did in the morning. Just for a few minutes before I sleep.

Every day. Not sometimes. Every day I do these things.

Every month I break out of routine for 3 days. Some months that is a mastermind event I attend, others that I host. And sometimes is a staycay and others a go-away stay.

Then, I take a trip every quarter for a week. These last two trips have been to Colorado. These are trips where I do what I want to do when I want to do it. There isn’t an agenda. There may be family, there may be friends. If for instance there’s a retreat(I’m hosting or attending) or I’m flying in for a private half day with a few clients, I add time before or after it. The work time is not my break.

Too many fitness professionals are overworking and underearning. Too many health coaches are doing the same.

ATTEND FREE:

My Masterclass to help you PLAN and increase profit and make it predictable - in terms of time demands and revenue.. https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/planpromos

She Means Fitness Business Episodes You’ll Love:

For an episode that relates and will help you realize 5 Key areas to growth:

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/business-scorecard

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To earn more you have to have a sense of your value, your distinct difference (sometimes called brand), and you have to believe the transformation you offer is worth it.

Have you cried in a meeting? Have you broken into tears asking for help? Have you been in tears about your current job situation and yet not known what to do about it?

In this short episode, I ask Dr Sharon Melnick about two key scenarios I’ve seen over and over in the fitness industry. Whether it’s happened to you, or almost, or you can empathize because maybe you so get it but wouldn’t allow yourself to be in that situation… this is for you.

The episode describing Dr. Melnick’s new book is available at flippingfifty.com/in-your-power for you to listen to after this.

My Guest:

Sharon Melnick, PhD is an executive coach for women leaders who shows them how to be heard, stop second guessing, and use their power to create change.

Her approaches are informed by 10 years of Psychology research at Harvard Medical School. She's coached/ trained 40,000 professionals at over 50 Fortune 500 companies and numerous start-ups and women-led companies, and presented at conferences worldwide (including at the White House, West Point, and the United Nations).

Her new book about how women can use their power to advance their career and end disrespect is titled In Your Power: React Less, Regain Control, Raise Others, available now for pre-order. She is also the best-selling author of Success under Stress: Powerful Tools to Stay Calm, Confident, and Productive when the Pressure’s On. Dr Melnick enjoys hosting the Power Shift podcast.

Questions Dr. Melnick answers in this episode:

Female fitness professionals notoriously struggle to charge enough to make enough - what advice would you offer?
Women in fitness working for small, mid, and large size fitness centers tend to bring emotions with them to meetings. The saying, there’s no crying in business comes to mind. But I’ve seen tears way too often in meetings with upper management.

That’s it. Helpful? You can earn more by stepping into your own power.

Get the Book! And GIFTS!

www.inyourpowerbook.com

Connect with Sharon:

https://www.Instagram.com/drsharonmelnick

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharonmelnick/

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As a health entrepreneur there can be a roller-coaster of emotions. If it attracts you, it excites you. You love everything about health, wellness, fitness and you like reading it, watching it, doing it. You’re drawn to new books of all kinds - cookbooks, detox books, and you’re following influencers and educators learning as much as you can.

Then there’s the resistance. As you look around you, not all in your immediate environment are seeking the same kind of growth or knowledge. They resist change and enjoy their lifestyle even if not their results. To them, you’re the oddball, the obsessed, and constantly thinking and talking about health.

So from one health entrepreneur to another, I bring you this episode with Jon Carder. Each of us gets to our own tolerance level. Whether it’s our health or our illness tolerance, or it’s the resistance from others.

Unless you surround yourself with enough people who do believe, who get you, and who are like you, it’s all too easy to wonder, is it you? Are you the one going in the wrong direction?

Are you a lone health entrepreneur?

For me, this happened in 1982-86. I was shifting into a world I’d never been exposed to before. One that was wide open with other ways to choose how to live and care for yourself. And I loved it and was thriving thanks to it. But constant comments and swimming upstream in a world not tuned into health, wellness, and fitness as more than a “craze” was hard.

As it turns out, I was ahead of my time. But without a community who felt the same. So this is for you if you’re in need of community and a reminder this will always happen if you’re starting something.

Questions we answer in this episode:

You described yourself as a hotdog salesman shut down at an early age… and that was the beginning. What was the attraction for you? It really wasn’t a love for hotdogs… why do you think you didn’t just want to be shooting hoops or hanging at the pool?

From hotdogs to making health more accessible to more people, that’s a pivot. Describe your business entrepreneurial pivots due to failures…

You quit college to do your own business, what kind of resistance did you experience? Did your parents love the fact you quit college?

Connect with Jon:

Website: FREE TRIAL

On Social:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wearevessel

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vesselhq

Twitter: https://twitter.com/wearevessel

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vesselhealth/

Other Episodes You May Like:

Female Entrepreneur Playbook: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/female-entrepreneur-playbook/

New Female Fitness Entrepreneur Podcast: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/female-fitness-entrepreneurs/

Are you growing your business fast enough?

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Growing your fitness & health coaching business right now may feel overwhelming. Until that is, you realize what steps you need to start, which to stop, and which you’re already doing you need to accelerate. So let’s just dive into this interactive episode.

Free Download:

First though.. go grab the download I have for you here. https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

When you’re busy it can feel overwhelming. It can feel stressful. But it can also be comforting. You get to ignore the little voice that is nervous about revenue and wants to be making more. That’s the benefit. When you stay in motion you don’t allow yourself to analyze what you’re doing that may not really be working. That’s the detriment for some of us that are as or more addicted to hard work as we are to results.

I hate to admit it, but I’ve fallen into that trap. When I started over at 49 with a huge sense of urgency, I knew marketing, I’d been doing it for decades for fitness businesses, not just my own. But what I blindly failed to assess is the fact that I needed to sell, not just to market, more often. And that branding, is not marketing. It all has a place and time – branding, marketing, selling – but staying stuck in any one of them is not going to grow your business.

True Confessions

I personally am a recovering content queen. I spent an abundance of time creating programs to sell, and then over-invested my time in content creation, before I really was selling.

Don’t get me wrong, content creation is absolutely important. But it won’t make sales. You have to ask.

In this business scorecard I’m sharing with you we discuss these steps:

Find prospects
Get Clients
Serve clients
Retain clients
Get referrals from clients/testimonials

The reality is you can find prospects and get clients before you have your product or service ready. You want to start growing your email list so you have a waiting, willing audience when it’s time to promote.

To do that you need a freebie gift for them so juicy that they’d have paid for it. That doesn’t mean big or something that takes a long time to consume (or create). It’s usually something that could be done in a day, or a day plus the time it takes you to enlist a graphic designer or Fiverr.com gig.

I’ll cover these 5 key areas for building a fitness & health coaching business :

Niche
New Clients & Customer Acquisition
Follow Through
Nurture
Process & Customer Outcomes

Think of this business scorecard as a wellness checkup. Find out if your business is healthy with activities that grow your fitness & health coaching business.

Where are you in regard to a developing a niche?

Listen to these and identify which one of them best describes where you are now. When you’re looking at the score card, you’ll realize you have 3 different numbers within the category to choose. Consider that 1 is low and 12 is high. You may decide that you’re in the lowest category right now, but you could be a 1, 2, or 3 in it. So, as you make progress, even small progress, you can improve your score.

How well are you at attracting new clients or customers?

Are your daily activities working for you to grow your fitness & coaching business?

Be honest as you fill this out. You may have heard something before, know you need to do it, and still not actually be doing it.

Does your level of follow through slow or grow your fitness & health coaching business?

People aren’t always ready to buy when you want them to buy. So how do you handle that? This section will tell you if you’re on the right track or if you have some small things that could make major improvements in what you do.

Do you dedicate time regularly or have an automated way to nurture your business?

How do you create relationships that are beyond superficial with your customers? Do you have a predictable way to be top-of-mind for your audience?

How well are you able to document your process?

Do you create predictable outcomes with your avatar? What is your process or method? Listen to these statements and choose the one that best describes where you’re at right now.

Download the cheat sheet. Do this quarterly, or if you’re building your business, do it monthly. You’ll want to declare for yourself the area you plan to focus on improving and the steps you’ll take so that you can see progress from one assessment to the next.

Create to https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard

Be sure you stop by https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard to get the scorecard and become a part of our community so you receive the invite to masterclass.

Are you Planning and Promoting Like a Boss? Learn how I plan content and how it pays to plan.

A one-hour masterclass AND sharing the exact planning tool I use to plan my promotions and publishing calendar. You’ll see how I plan content and I’ve duplicated it for you to use as a template this year, next year… and beyond.

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What’s your current email frequency? How did you arrive at that? Did you test less or greater email frequency to determine what works best for your audience?

Spoiler alert. This episode dives into the real effect of a daily email frequency on the creation of a business. Now, it’s up to you. In terms of your own email frequency, do you have a limiting belief about people unsubscribing? Or do you have actual proof?

Do you know that if they’re actually unsubscribing it’s because of your email frequency and not the subject line and email incongruence or value?

My Guest:

Kevin Ellis, better known as Bone Coach™, is a Forbes-featured certified integrative nutrition health coach, podcaster, YouTuber, bone health advocate, and is the founder of BoneCoach.com.

Through a unique 3-step process and a world class coaching program called the Stronger Bones Solution™, he and his team have helped people with osteopenia and osteoporosis in over 1500+ cities around the world get confident in their stronger bones plan.

His mission is to not just help over 1+ million people around the globe build stronger bones… It's to help our children and grandchildren prevent osteoporosis and other diseases in the future so they can lead long, active lives.

Questions we answer in this episode:

How long have you been serving your niche of women with osteoporosis?

Once someone is on your list, what’s your email frequency?

How long do you give someone who isn’t opening emails on your list before you show them the door?

What is the reason you have been so successful? What do you think is the difference in the way you’ve been able to build quickly, and successfully?

Attend the Masterclass for yourself or share with your clients:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/bone-health-masterclass

Listen to Kevin's Interview on Flipping 50:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/bone-coach

Connect with Kevin:

BoneCoach™ Website: https://bonecoach.com/

BoneCoach™ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bonecoach

BoneCoach™ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/bonecoach

BoneCoach™ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bonecoachkevin

BoneCoach™ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/bonecoach

BoneCoach™ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bonecoach

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If you’re a trainer or health coach with all the certs, and education, a desire to serve and to make a living, it doesn’t matter if you can’t find clients and students for your fitness programs. But there’s such an obvious need. So the question isn’t is there demand. It’s where are they, how do you get them (instead of letting them find another option). It’s also getting out of your head the idea that to find clients and students for your fitness programs isn’t the problem. If you believe that there’s too much competition, you’re sunk.

So in this episode.. whether you run a gym and you’re struggling to bring people back in, or you offer an online fitness business, there is something in this episode, examples of how to market, in this episode.

There is room for all of us.

00:00

For those of you doing online programs feeling threatened by the reopening of gyms and the changes of numbers - Maybe you experienced some success during 2020 or 2021 if you got started then, and maybe your numbers aren’t quite as good in 2022. OR, Maybe you’re wondering about it being worth starting in 2022 because you haven’t yet. There’s something for you too.

Statistics

05:20 Despite compelling scientific research and widespread public health recommendations, among women 45–64 years and 65–74 years old, only 18% and 11%, respectively, perform physical activities that enhance and maintain muscle strength and endurance two or more times per week

(2010)

Create a Community

06:57 Although personal involvement and commitment to any exercise program are essential, studies indicate that initiating individual behavior change is more likely with social or environmental change and support.

A large number of women who drop out report time, and preference of exercising at home, as obstacles to exercise (in a gym). Good news for at-home exercise options not as good news for gyms, you might think.

But post pandemic it’s a different landscape. Some are returning to gyms because they miss the, what I call, parallel play. That is, when you go somewhere for a specific reason and others are doing the same thing. You’re not distracted in the gym by laundry, lawncare, or the work desk staring at you.

This could actually be a positioning point for gyms now that group fitness and personal training options that are abundant and easily accessed online. Marketing that appeals to that pain-point of not getting to the workout, even with the best of intentions, because at home there are just too many other things to get in the way, may be one way to connect to people with fresh ads.

The elephant in the room for gyms is that:

10:04 Globally, from Q1 to Q2 in 2020 there was a 46% rise in fitness downloads:

60% of Americans enjoyed their home workouts during quarantine so much, they plan on canceling their gym memberships.

Interestingly, India had the highest increase in downloads, rising by 156%. I bring that up for this reason: it makes sense because India had the largest lockdown in the world from March – May 2020 when 1.3 billion people were suddenly housebound.

If you don’t have a gym in India and you’re wondering why this is important, stay with me. If you consider then states in the US, or wherever you are listening in the world – Canada, the UK, Australia – with the strictest lockdown status, the largest reported numbers of C-virus, those areas may be among some of the hardest to come back without an online option, marketing that takes an honest look at benefits of exercise vs risks of contracting the virus.

Will the Pandemic Help Physical Activity Increases

11:50 What remains to be seen is if this increase in accessibility and convenience will support increased fitness or a rise in the number of people consistently exercising enough for health benefits.

Will the Physical Activity Increases Support Better Health?

This too, for gyms may be a point of distinction for those who embrace education of “activity” and “availability” compared to quality and direct tie to the needs and goals of individuals.

It’s an opportunity to educate on the benefits of yoga and Pilates, that are not the same benefits one needs for muscle strength, metabolism, and bone density.

It’s an opportunity to demonstrate the need for planes of motion in movement and not isolating activity to say, a spinning bike.

Statistics on Participation in Exercise Pre-Pandemic

15:10 As age increases, participants are more likely to adhere to strength training. For example, for every additional decade of life, participants were approximately 10 times as likely to adhere to strength training.

In a study that featured comparison of web-based vs print-based physical activity interventions (a decade before the pandemic), web-based outperformed print-based, but both were effective.

So, you understand how this went:

One group was given a print-form of exercises and journal to record.
Another was given web-based exercise instruction and recording of activity. Both worked well.

The results:

71% of previously inactive became active

94% of previously active continued activity at recommended levels after the program

Yes, please, all day, right?

The World Needs Options

18:26 For those of you doing online programs feeling threatened by the reopening of gyms and the changes of numbers - Maybe you experienced some success during 2020 or 2021 if you got started then, and maybe your numbers aren’t quite as good in 2022. OR, Maybe you’re wondering about it being worth starting in 2022 because you haven’t yet. There’s something for you too.

At-home exercise works. Print, web-based, both work. Meaning, whether you’re using a pdf of exercises and just providing a simple program, or if you’ve created videos… how you provide online training may not matter.

But, something else does.

What It Takes

If you arrive at the right program for your ideal customer, you can create a huge and lasting impact. However, there’s one more step. You have to be able to market this program. They have to know it exists and it’s just right for them. You have to have a means to distinguish it from others and make someone say, I don’t just want any program, I don’t want any program but that one.

Your voice – whether it’s funny, serious, educational, girl-next-door… needs to be full of conviction and inviting to the person who will thrive in your offering. You need to sound like you can hear the voice inside their head. They need to feel you know what they’re thinking, what they worry about, and what they want. That’s not branding, it’s not a broad approach, it’s marketing and it’s narrow.

How do you know when your message is distinct enough?

20:30 You’ll have enough followers that you have some haters. Someone will say things like, “you confuse me” or “you need to get to the point” or “I don’t like your tone of voice.” I’ve heard all those. But out of 100 people if 2 people with nothing more to do than criticize tell you that, and you connect with 98? Those people will only find you IF YOU take a stand. They will find you because of the way you explain things, and don’t rush to conclusions, or whatever unique quirks you may think you need to fix! Keep them!

In fact, marry your unique interests with your message.

In the Marketing to Women Copywriting course, students learn how to identify not a broad target of women in midlife or women who are pregnant for the first time, or just diagnosed with osteoporosis… but that within THAT niche you choose, there are 5 unique personas that you will either repel or attract with the marketing you choose. Then you combine your personality with that? Gold. That’s how you find clients and students for fitness programs… in an evermore crowded space trying to get them.

From the images, the script you use in videos on your pages, to your opt in pages, your emails or social media posts, what you say is important, HOW you say it is everything. Every woman in your niche does NOT make her buying decisions based on the same values.

Consider this

23:02 How many people are socially awkward and don’t enjoy the gym? How many actually now have social anxiety since things are opened back up – who never experienced that before? How many of them were the paying members in a gym we call “low maintenance” – meaning they used it less than 2x a month?

So, let’s say you’re targeting women in their 50s and 60’s who are concerned about bone and brain health and balance. Are you talking to the ones who have anxiety and depression?

With pandemic weight gain (averages still range from 15-29lb), and the correlating diabetes, pre-diabetes, bone loss risks from pandemic behaviors we are still in a moment in time when we’ve got to address this in marketing.

And few are.

Another point of distinction. Lead with it, don’t bury it.

I’ve attended and presented at 6 fitness conferences in the last 2 ½ years. Interestingly, not one had many – if any – sessions dedicated to what’s true right now, and how we bring up the need now, deal with long-haulers, anxiety and depression from isolation to get people started where they are. Problems people have now are not the problems they had pre pandemic. Even now, as things “feel normal” cases are coming up, weight is still there, causing the risk of comorbidities that the right exercise can do something about.

We won’t get people active, or over the hurdle of coming to the gym for the first time, or back to the gym, without talking about these issues. What’s their comfort level in your environment relative to their anxiety and depression? It affects large masses of people. Do you deal with how to orient them and make them comfortable? Enthusiastically telling them that the exercise is going to help, isn’t enough.

25:43 You’ve got to tell them how you’re going to make them comfortable coming in and doing the exercise. You want to describe what they feel when they go to leave their house, or get out of the car once in the parking lot. These are real things. You don’t alienate people who don’t have anxiety and depression by doing that. You probably also impress them with your openness and willingness to talk about tough issues. That’s your distinguishing feature and positioning point.

Gym Owners and Trainers:

26:37 Will you suggest times of day that are better?

How will you check in with them with a phone call to review how it’s going?
What’s their preferred communication?
Will you suggest a private session instead of a group program based on their individual emotional needs?

These are the kinds of things we have to keep in mind now:

Coming on too strong,
high enthusiasm,
over-the-top confidence…

could actually alienate some of the people who need you most.

Think in the Now About Your Avatar

Who do you want to help? Who do you need to help? How many people does your current approach leave out feeling they don’t fit in or want to?

And best question… how can you create or tweak an offering so that they have a place they can feel like home… whether it is at the gym or at home?

There’s a place for your business model, for creating one that you love and allows you to deliver in the way that you want to for your lifestyle. You may want to keep exploring models you hadn’t yet considered for these times we’ve never been in.

Keep the Faith

28:34 So, don’t be fooled by gym-reopenings being bad if you’re an online program provider or coach.

Don’t be dissuaded or fearful of all the Peloton, mirror, and online trainers and apps if you’re a gym.

There are always going to be people who choose people and need to lift heavily safely in a gym. There will always be people who have all the things sitting in their home, access to thousands of workouts, and don’t do them, needing accountability – of an online coach or program.

We all know, we are not serving enough people and that is where the real opportunity lies. Combine the real talk about seriousness of health and fitness in this moment we’re in, not ignoring or discussing weight loss the way you did in 2019 and find your point of distinction.

Don’t be just different. Be better. Be the perfect match for your ideal customer and the absolute wrong match for others.. Feel like home.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course : https://www.flippingfifty.com/copywriting-course

Similar Recent Episodes You Might Like:

12 Content Ideas for Fitness & Health: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/content-ideas/

3 Reasons (and fixes) Your Female Fitness Client Isn't Getting Results: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/female-fitness-client/

References:

There were many references used in the creation of this episode, many of which were also referenced in this Flipping 50 episode: https://www.flippingfifty.com/

Seguin RA, Economos CD, Palombo R, Hyatt R, Kuder J, Nelson ME. Strength training and older women: a cross-sectional study examining factors related to exercise adherence. J Aging Phys Act. 2010 Apr;18(2):201-18. doi: 10.1123/japa.18.2.201. PMID: 20440031; PMCID: PMC4308058.

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Coaching midlife clients brings a new set of hormones, conditions, injuries, lifestyle habit challenges and stressors. You should have an equally robust toolbox expansion to go with it.

Consider this one episode that will help. In our Flipping 50 Menopause Specialist course there is a module dedicated to one of the topics we discuss today. You’ll hear my guest expert on adaptogens discuss just how you can find ways to inform your clients, support them through application, and in doing so, increase your value as a coach.

I’m curious: have you tried adaptogens?

I’ve shared details about benefits of maca - and the difference in the quality and mysterious 11 strains that may or may not help a woman in previous Flipping 50 podcasts. I’ll link to that as well as to the brand that I recommend for clinical grade maca when someone truly wants to use an amount proven to support their needs.

Others include ashwaganda, rhodiola, and we’ll talk about more on this and the other podcast. When you or your clients are looking for natural, this is a great solution!

My Guest:

Danielle Ryan Broida is a pivotal voice in the functional food and wellness space. As a Registered Herbalist of the American Herbalists Guild (AHG), Certified Holistic Nutritionist, Instructor of Mycology, and Head of Education at Four Sigmatic, she is teaching the world about the importance of a life on super herbs and mushrooms for vitality, longevity, and better performance from brain to body. She is the author of a new book, Healing Adaptogens, published September 27, 2022.

Rapid Fire Questions we answer in this episode:

How can adaptogens help midlife female clients?
What are the most common questions midlife women ask about adaptogens?
Is there any risk of drug or medication interaction?
Do most adaptogens come in a dose recommendation based on weight or to-tolerance, or how is that addressed?

Listen to the full Flipping50 episode: https:///www.flippingfifty.com/adaptogens

My Foursigmatic coffee episodes are fewer and further between right now but I do love it and the wise addition to a habit most women already have. Why not make good habits all that easy to well, adapt?

Other Episodes You May Like:

Coaching 7 Hormone Phases: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/hormone-phases/
Training Menopause: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/training-women-in-menopause/

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That’s just what you’ll find in this episode full of health coach and fitness trainer opportunities.

Link to the Flipping 50 5-Day Marketing to Women in Midlife Challenge.

My Guest:

Triple-board certified nutrition expert and Fitness Hall of Famer JJ Virgin is a passionate advocate of eating and exercising smarter. JJ helps people stay fired up and healthy as they age, so they feel the best they ever have at age 40+.

JJ is a prominent TV and media personality, whose previous features include co-host of TLC’s Freaky Eaters, 2 years as the on-camera nutritionist for Weight Loss Challenges on Dr. Phil, and numerous appearances on PBS, Dr. Oz, Rachael Ray, Access Hollywood, and the TODAY Show. She also speaks regularly and has shared the stage with notables including Seth Godin, Lisa Nichols, Gary Vaynerchuk, Mark Hyman, Dan Buettner, and Mary Morrissey.

JJ is the author of four NY Times bestsellers: The Virgin Diet, The Virgin Diet Cookbook, JJ Virgin’s Sugar Impact Diet, and JJ Virgin’s Sugar Impact Diet Cookbook. Her latest book, Warrior Mom: 7 Secrets to Bold, Brave Resilience, shows caregivers everywhere how to be strong, positive leaders for their families, while exploring the inspirational lessons JJ learned as she fought for her own son’s life.

JJ hosts the popular Ask the Health Expert podcast, with over 14 million downloads and growing. She also regularly writes for Rodale Wellness, Mind Body Green, and other major blogs and magazines. JJ is also a business coach and founded the premier health entrepreneur event and community, The Mindshare Summit.

Visit www.jjvirgin.com for hundreds of free recipes and resources, plus state-of-the-art programs, products, and plenty of support to help you build your dream life.

00:00

Questions we answer in this episode:

04:42 If you were starting over right now, unknown, what would you do to be found, seen, and heard?

09:25 What mistakes do you see qualified/credible health & fitness pros making

11:06 What difference has the pandemic made in the way fitness and health coaches want to consider showing up differently? Is there an opportunity there that we’re not fully stepping into?

Rapid fire:

15:15 You’re posting every day and you’re not getting any engagement?

16:05 You feel like you’re not “enough” … pretty enough, certified enough, fit enough so you procrastinate

17:37 What do you find that gets the best engagement right now?

20:50 Thoughts about using Facebook groups today?

21:14 To those fitness pros who are afraid to email more often because someone will unsubscribe…

Connect with JJ:

https://www.jjvirgin.com

mindsharecollaborative.com

Resources Mentioned:

Super Fans - Pat Flynn

Belong - Radha Agrawal

Superfans: The Easy Way to Stand Out, Grow Your Tribe, and Build a Successful Business

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For social media posts? You don’t have to and don’t need original content in each of these places.

Spend time studying your customer. Know the experience you want them to have. Fifteen seconds on social is not the starting point. It’s the result of knowing what to say to bring them to the next step already waiting, complete, and logical based on what they think, feel, and do now.

But we all go dry or get distracted by life sometimes and it’s nice to have a vault to go to. So, I’m giving you one here. Create a place – maybe for you it’s a spreadsheet or Google doc where you and a team contribute with ideas. My hope is that these become the inspiration for a whole set of ideas for you.

00:00

Twelve Ways I Get Content Ideas

06:37 Listen to podcasts – outside of our industry and niche

What kind of treatment did they give the content? Pay attention to that. Is there a point, a story, an example? What’s the rhythm and how did they organize it?

07:25 10 Most Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What burns the most calories?

07:41 10 Questions You Wish They’d Ask (SAQs)

How do I exercise to lose fat based on how I feel right now?

08:02 Use AMA Post Round Up

Use the posts in Instagram, or create your own on any social media account.

08:47 Go Back to Old Blogs, Articles, podcasts, videos and create an “update” (or just get ideas)

09:55 Go Big with a list of tips, reasons, sources

These are usually lists. Things that support weight loss that aren’t exercise: sleep, drinking water, eating the right foods, etc.

Compile your small lists into this big list (then link to it)

11:16 Go Deep with one of the big items

Take one thing from that list and explain it in depth. When there are 5 or 10 or 20 things, give them one and go deep and explore it.

e.g. Why drinking water is so important. List 10 things it does for you or the obstacle it is when you don’t. Those are two posts.

13:10 Use what’s already news and create a comment or reaction

NYTimes articles are a great source of information. Recently Today compared nutrition status of white potato to sweet potatoes. What is your reaction to it? Set up alerts so you are first to know when new research is shared on your topic.

15:52 Create Top 10 lists or Listicles

Top 10 exercises for _________ (correcting a problem)

Top 10 reasons ________ (you’re tired, you’re gaining fat)

The Ultimate FREEBIE Guide for Health & Fitness Pros

18:24 Create complimentary content necessary for making the fitness work

What else do they need in order for exercise to be most beneficial? Create content ideas about that. One content idea is sleep. Another is protein. Another is alkalinity.

18:52 Talk About an Elephant in the Room in your niche or our industry

The barrier to entry. Recently it’s been in the news that there’s a shortage of trainers and coaches in the fitness industry. What’s that mean to the quality of trainers and what do you think of it?

19:25 Round up interview of unique experts that you reach out to

Biggest post-pandemic problems for your niche, or the recommendations they give on a certain topic, e.g. bone density: supplements, foods to eat and to avoid.

In an upcoming episode, I’m going to talk about how to stay focused, organized, and follow through on these great ideas, because let’s face it… a lot of us are “quick starts” or we’re so analytical that we don’t go into action.

Other Episodes You May Like:

Every Day Business Priorities: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/business-priorities/

How to Reverse Engineer a Funnel that Converts: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/fitness-funnel/

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Marketing Health Better with Better Priorities

Everyday business priorities are probably the hardest part of running your own business. With a multitude of to-dos, between the marketing, advertising, creating programs and products, determining price point, writing emails, there’s the incoming emails from customers, people marketing to you, from prospects. Then there’s the sense of urgency you have about posting on social media and keeping up with that, at the same time wondering if keeping up with that is worth it or what that secret is that you don’t know everyone else seems to know!

There is a lot. So, this episode is dedicated to helping you sort out the skeleton of what you need to do, and first though, to removing the things that are getting in your way.

What’s Blocking Your Business Priorities?

In a very sneaky way, what I’m about to say is procrastination. If you’re doing any of these it’s easy to fool ourselves and pretend some of these are part of business, and necessary.

I would argue that if you don’t have a master plan, they can sidetrack you and hijack the time you have … some of the best time for focusing.

You’ve got a business priorities challenge if any of these describe you:

The first thing you do is pick up your phone… find a way not to.
You create posts to social media before you do anything… you’re like a boat just drifting without an anchor.
You look at your social media numbers and they make you giddy … or deflated and baffled… before you look at your CRM and subscriber numbers… you’re counting your deposit slips instead of counting cash.

What is important?

In the sea of things to do and possibilities that YOU alone decide, it’s important to know how you determine the most important thing.

One highly successful business owner said it during dinner with he and his wife.

At the end of the day, did I make more money than I spent?

Simple, right? And to build a business with cash flow – unless you have investors who fund your business and you’re okay losing money to start up in order to make predictable gains later – you to sell before you spend.

With an in person one-woman shop or an online fitness business, that’s very easily done. We operate as far from build it and they will come as possible. Instead, we attract them, sell them things they want and the create them.

But that’s not always going to happen every day. Some days especially at the early stages of your business, (and that can last for a long period of time if you’re not 100% focused on it daily), you’re going to need to create the content and marketing that will create an audience to sell to first.

Unless you have a big budget, and a proven advertising strategy, and funnel that converts, investing in paid advertising too early is risky.

When You Need Traction

Two questions to ask so you can determine your business priorities:

Is there a promise that the way you invest your time will provide ROI?

What are good non-revenue ways to spend your time? Here are two.

Create a product:

What it looks like: a course or framework for it and the marketing copy for opt in pages, the emails the sales page, planning the assets you need to create or outsource

Business Plan:

Plan your next 6 months of 1) promotions, 2) launches, and 3) marketing.

What it looks like: First, what it’s not- creating all the pieces. Instead, it means to plan what you do need so that you can plan what then goes on your calendar. Marketing health will take a significant amount of your time until… until you’re confident you know your audience better than anyone else, until you’re able to hire someone who can do it better than you, and you know exactly what numbers to ask for and measure.

Promotions

You start with what you’re promoting. What program or what package are you featuring?

Plot that on a calendar and think about your time investment to run the program you sell. How often will you offer the program? Is there another program after that for people? Write out the plan based on the things you want to sell, your customer journey, and when programs will start and end.

Launches

This is something so many skip it’s ridiculous and that’s perfect for you since you won’t miss it! A launch includes pre-launch – the time leading up to the cart open

Cart open – when you are on the daily talking about testimonials, overcoming objections, providing information about why this, why now, and why you

Program start – when you’ll pour into your new clients

[Content] Marketing

You may decide you’re posting a blog or creating a new full-length video 2 or 4 times a month during your pre-launch. Once you determine the frequency you can commit to, you decide what each of those posts need to do. Are they top of funnel kinds of marketing?

Are they middle of funnel kinds of marketing?

Are they bottom of funnel marketing?

Do you already have content you can use? They may need a review and additions or updates to serve your next launch. Note that you need to review them, but don’t DO it now.

Do you need to create new posts? Will you or someone else do the research, outline, and writing? Make a few notes about what topics or slants but not if it gets you stuck.

Will you do the actual post creation and grab images, handle the SEO? Write down the flow of tasks for the launch, step-by-step. Or if you’re at the point you’re going to hire this done, assign yourself the task of creating that SOP (standard operating procedure)... but don’t DO it now.

Those are the things you might do in say a 3-hour block on a Thursday. You’re making decisions more than writing the posts. It’s the meta view, or overview, but not getting in the weeds. Not today.

Warning here: this is like cleaning the house. In my experience it is so easy to go down a rabbit hole while you’re doing this. So, you want something to keep you on track. Have a system of organizing ready when you find articles or videos that you can use and will be tempted to jump in and edit them or watch every detail. Put them somewhere and grab that link or folder location and put that in the plan you’re creating, or you’ll find that your 3 hours is up, and all you did was edit a couple posts and you don’t have a plan for how to use them or boost your sales and help more people – so you’ve still wasted your time!

Social media and marketing health

When does that happen? AFTER you know WHY you’re using it! When you know what you’re promoting. And you know what someone needs to know or think or feel before they buy. You have nailed the content piece you have that gets them there. Then you can post on social media with confidence your gift is good.

So, yes. After all the framework is done, you can pick up the phone and post.

Helpful?

I would so appreciate you sharing this podcast with a fellow fitness professional. Share the post on your social media story and let other pros know this is what you listen to. Even though you post for the benefit of your customers, other fitness pros are watching too! You and I both want to help our educated, heart-centered colleagues do well in this post-pandemic era.

Marketing Health is Big Business Now

… but little business owners pivot faster!

Leave a comment below if this episode was helpful.

AND… if a live workshop would be beneficial. In it, we would not only

lead you with materials to plan your promotions calendar, and
discuss pre-launch strategies and
social media techniques that work,
we’ll provide you with “white space”
followed by Q and A for each section so that…
you can absolutely complete a framework for your business and add realistic to-dos to your calendar to keep you moving forward.

Just respond to us… you’re not obligated just indicating interest in learning more. If you struggle with procrastination about this piece. If you’ve never actually created a business plan for the next year the fall before it starts, or if that plan has not helped you one iota to feel calmer, confident and solid you know what’s next… this is probably for you!

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Why the psychology for health & fitness professionals today? You love exercise and you crave it… and most of your clients don’t. We’re often so far from clueless or from understanding what that feels like to be awkward, uncomfortable, and feel out of place we can’t relate.

We’ve got to earn and learn our empathy.

Why I hate exercise, my summer report. It’s the truth for too many of us. Since my beginning in fitness 38 years ago, the statistics have not improved. There are still too few of us exercising enough to improve our health (let alone our fitness). This interview episode dives into that psychology for health & fitness professionals.

Change

Behavior change is hard. And if you know that all too well, say you’ve seen your detailed exercise prescription fall by the wayside and clients fall off the bandwagon, you’ll find a great deal of support inside the Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist course you have access to expert interviews like Dr. Joan Rosenberg, Mindy Gorman-Plutzer, Dr Sandi Scheinbaum - and more.

They discuss the art and the science of coaching change, within scope of practice, and as issues like disordered eating, self-sabotage, and past failures, haunt your clients. These complimentary Expert Interviews are a professional development extra for the certification course, and a priceless resource for improving the coaching skills you use daily.

Learn more about the Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist here.

My Guest:

Mike Kelly says he has some contrarian views related to health and fitness developed over 40 years in fitness.

He has been a personal trainer, university varsity level S&C coach; expert legal fitness witness;and a master TRAINER for other fitness professionals. Despite knowing the body extremely well from an anatomical perspective, he went back to school five years ago to become Queen's University's oldest Psychology grad in the spring of 2020 – knowledge he says has allowed him to expand his understanding of the connection between psychology and the physiology, or as we know it, mind-body connection.

He adopted the moniker “The Cynical Trainer” which he uses on social media and we’ll find out what that’s about.

Questions we answer in this episode:

Before we discuss now, let’s talk about why you’re here, what got you into providing health and fitness as a career?
Why the moniker, "The Cynical Trainer"?
What do you feel are contrarian views to exercise (and who do you mean you’re contrarian to)?
What are your thoughts on the current obesity levels?
As an older adult, how do you personally exercise and what are your goals and motivation?

Connect with Mike:

https://wemeanfitness.com

Mike on Social:

Instagram: @cynicaltrainer

Twitter: @cynicaltrainer

Facebook: canfitpro Ottawa

Other Episodes You might Enjoy:

Getting the Inactive to Exercise: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/getting-overweight-large-size-person-start/

From Anti-aging to Anti-ageism: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/from-antiaging-to-anti-ageism/

Psychology for Health & Fitness Pros book: https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/psychology-for-health-fitness-professionals_james-gavin/1335646/#edition=4559028&idiq=5714385

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How to be and how not to be a podcast guest if you want to get booked on a podcast or podcasts and you want to be a favorite guest making those look good and love having you and you want to get asked back for use it, that podcast episode as leverage to get booked again. Stay tuned.

A podcast is one of the best ways to get your message across and relate to an audience who may expand your email list.

00:00

You want to provide, first of all titles, appropriate topics of content and titles as you reach out to someone who's got a podcast in order to promote yourself or if you're handing this task off to someone else.

4:07

In doing your preliminary homework I've addressed that you do your homework, no the podcasts know the topics they cover the topics they don't cover, know the business just a little bit. And it's always great if you've had a referral from a friend but if you're smaller, you're starting out and your friends aren't hosting podcasts right now. That's okay too. Don't wait to start. So I highly recommend you go ahead and get after it. Put yourself out there. But do some homework don't expect them to.

8:59

And when you're booked, you'll be asked for these things by almost every podcast host:

Send me your bio. I was just sent two bios in the last two weeks. Well, both of their bios came as if they were writing it first person like they were writing an essay for English class.

But when you submit a bio, and I'm going to put in the show notes today, how to write a better bio. That is not boring, because nobody nobody really wants to know your alphabet soup of certifications. Because they mean nothing. When you say certified by ACE and NSCA and I SSA and bla bla bla bla bla, it just sounds like what, what did she say? Right? So if you're going to put something in that important or prestigious spell it out.

11:05

So people always learn better when they're laughing and smiling.

Think about that. So then you'll be asked questions that you want the host to ask you. Now that doesn't mean they're going to use those but that gives based on the topic that you're suggesting that you're talking on.

Create a list of 15 or 20 different questions depending on which topic we're really going to dive deep into and be able to pull that out and have to rewrite them every single time. Then you want to, they're always going to ask where's the best place for listeners to contact you. Choose one place. Because people given multiple choices will do nothing.

So make it easy to remember your website by using a Pretty Link.

16:10

“So if the timing is right and our program is open, here's the link. And by the way, if you miss it, don't worry about that. That link will still take you to something you can do right away. While you're waiting for the program to open. We've got a good second best for anyone who wants this information specifically.”

So make sure that you're also prepared and the podcast platform is something you're familiar with.

20:46

Follow any of the instructions that generally you will be given.

Talking Points. Let's talk about that. So you want to be a good guest and you do that by going back in studying all Oprah shows. Right? So when she has guests on what happens? There's talk back and forth.

A sound bites might be something like let me tell you about one of the key concepts of flipping 50 Number one of our 10 tenants is restore before more.

25:20

This podcast for instance, She Means Fitness Business and, Flipping 50 has been there. You know for eight years. She means fitness business by other names, but nine years, we probably covered almost every topic.

27:18

Offer to create an affiliate link for your host. So I would create that pretty link for you to send during the show notes if I were the affiliate to the guest and I would send that in provide that for my host and then I would know everyone who comes through with that Pretty Link, I need to compensate and you make those arrangements in advance.

Due Diligence!

So we started talking about your homework so do your homework, listen to the podcast know what's been on there before.

Write your bio and do it in third person so someone else could read it in you before you turn it over. Read it out loud.

Make sure you have your questions already prepared, and so that your guests can read them

Have the links that you want to send people to one link on your website, and then your social media links

Be on time and be sure to tell the host if you have a hard stop that is sooner than the end of the appointment.

Then always welcome is a thank you afterward.

Most of all though a host expects you to share the podcast with your audience.

If you have a small audience be sure that you’re beginning by reaching out to hosts with similar sized audiences. You’ll grow together.

Ready to be a podcast guest?

Pitch yourself by responding here or reaching out in the contacts. I will do a coaching session with you if you’d like to review your business instead of talking about your niche and your success.

OR... rather be coached on a business topic you want help with?

reach out to us!

Resources:

Download the better bio worksheet now (Podcast below will help you fill it in!) https://fitprofreebie.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Boring+Bio+MakeOver.pdf

Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist: https://www.flippingfifty.com/specialist

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course

Related Episode:

Write a Better Bio Podcast: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/boring-bio/

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Training women in menopause is an honor. They don’t trust easily. They have been around the block. It’s not their first rodeo. And it comes with an opportunity and responsibility. The opportunity is that this woman influences 3 generations.

The responsibility is, screw this up and you can change her future for the worse. Muscle, bone, brain health, and diseases made worse with blood sugar issues hang in the wings.

No pressure! Lighten up! You’re up to the challenge.

This episode is sponsored by the Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist

1) Solely focused on “functional” exercise

Corrective and functional exercise is very important. For this population, it is very much needed! The word “functional” is very misleading, however.

In midlife, women juggle – or have a trainer who will for them – multiple needs of metabolism, muscle maintenance, bone density, fat optimization, as well as their mobility and joint/ligament health.

A trainer focused only on one or the other, whether it’s lifting heavy and power training, or it’s exclusively corrective exercise at the cost of the others… does a woman a disservice.

As always is true in a workout program, there are priorities and then there are secondary goals. A woman might have as her first priority to improve her mobility and any necessary corrective exercises for alignment. Secondary goals may be to begin boosting metabolism and blood sugar support.

So, while she’s spending much time doing unilateral work, or isolating some small muscles, she also can begin her strengthening of major muscles and lifestyle movement to reduce blood sugar swings.

Helping a client understand this is key to compliance and successful outcomes.

2) Lack of emphasis on timing of exercise

The training women in menopause, the timing and type of exercise becomes a real priority. Whether for helping support blood sugar stabilization, or optimizing fat burning or sleep, the influence of hormones on exercise becomes a key to successfully exercising for longevity and results women want today.

Late day intense exercise will backfire on more midlife women than it helps. It’s no longer a matter of “whatever time of day you’ll do it” is the best time to exercise.

Sleep disruption or quality of sleep issues are more likely to occur and circadian rhythm will be hurt more than helped.

3) Failure to identify signs of hormone issues

Knowing that a woman is struggling with hot flashes and night sweats and that this is identified with menopause is one thing. Identifying her burning mouth or electric shocks as the same is another. Knowing how to modify exercise and what to ask about her lifestyle habits for her if she’s got insomnia is still another.

There are 34 identified symptoms of menopause, not all are easily identified and in odd combinations are even illusive to doctors. So ,it’s beyond time that trainers who spend so much more time with a client knows what to ask, how to respond, and what to do with the information when it comes to exercise.

4) Recommending clients have hormones tested

This is a recommendation assuming a lot. First, it’s assuming a woman wants to take hormone replacement therapy.

Second, it’s assuming a woman knows where to get tested and what differences in tests she wants are.

Third, it assumes that a woman knows who to go to that will interpret these labs for her optimally not according to norms. Norms are developed according to a whole lot of people who don’t feel good. Norms are nothing more than “average.”

If a woman doesn’t feel good, a trainer has already helped identify signs and symptoms and modified exercise and coached lifestyle habits, the first question is, “Do you want to consider hormone therapy or learn more about your options?”

From there an educated coach can – within scope of practice – share information, suggest resources, and connect with her network of functional health doctors for the appropriate next step.

5) Inadequate knowledge about labs and results

I alluded to this in #4, but there is a big difference in tests (doing a Dutch test vs a blood test, doing the types of thyroid testing that fully informs where the issue may be, and potentially micronutrient or stool tests to first look at whether improvements to gut health and micronutrient sufficiency or detoxing could be the root need to help hormone production and micronutrient absorption).

A midlife hormone or health coach doesn’t need to have a medical background. She does want to responsibly know what’s possible, know when to refer and who to refer to.

There’s no better coach or trainer than one who’s been through it or is going through it herself.

We see these mistakes training women in menopause daily. On social and in gyms. We see corrections and suggestions NOT made as well as training mistakes made.

When we realize it, understand it, for me at least, it was time to do something about it. It’s not popular necessarily – or 9 years ago it wasn’t – nor was it in 2020 when my TEDx was released – to go against what many believe.

But it’s what leaders do. Are you ready? Let’s create an army supporting women in the way they deserve.

Resources:

Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist: https://www.flippingfifity.com/specialist

Leave a comment:

What do you see in regards to women in menopause and the mistakes they make, we make ourselves as fitness pros, or trainers are making?

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You’ve got to be able to create a fitness funnel that converts no matter who you are. This podcast is all about it. And it’s in answer to all of the scurry, the flurry, and the nonsense going on around social media.

I see fitness pros and health coaches posting daily with very little growth over time. And it’s frustrating! If you’re spending more time daily creating posts on social media – or if it comes FIRST for you – before creating emails, diving into where your funnels are falling off and you lose people instead of converting them… you want to stop.

Or before getting yourself in front of real audiences with something to say because you’ve worked on your story, your sound bites and you’re ready to say with confidence, invite me and I’ll both entertain and educate your audience with this unique angle.

Need support on this? If you're in a program, you're eligible for a "fast flip" business coaching to target your best next actions.

Consistency is important. A part of that is consistently doing the right thing. Learning the hashtag strategy, supporting others, priming your audience, using stories and reels using all of this- no matter what platform you’re calling your base, you’ve got to do more than just be there.

00:00

Notice Something Missing?

Every once in a while if you notice, I will drop a podcast without any music … and there’s a reason for that. And that reason is important! Because it also applies to social media! The message has to be more important than the way you look.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a great teacher.

It doesn’t matter if you have a great product or service.

You may still struggle to sell your product to enough people to make more money doing what you love.

Even after 9 years of really, to be honest, greater success than I had envisioned (note to self: think bigger), I am no different than you in having to problem-solve to build a thoughtful experience for my customers. I have to plan it.

You might like this….

And be sure that you:

Create a sense of urgency

Make it a no-brainer

Inspire the FOMO

The words I suggest (listen to the episode) are these:

Based on _____________ , the next logical step is _______________

There you have it, the episode of the Say This Not that series this week. Leave me a comment or a rating in iTunes for the Fitness Marketing Mastery show.

If you’re not already a Fitnessmarketingmastery.com subscriber, it’s the next logical step if you’re listening to this podcast. (See what I did there?) You’ll find a message from me on the home page about how I can help you make your business go or grow in the next year. But better yet, let me help you with strategies for the Marketing to Women: Copywriting Course.

Click on the link in this episode’s show notes and you’ll have a day with special savings. If you’re stuck:

Finding the right words

You type and then you retype and start over again

You stare at a blank screen

You post and send and get very little positive response

And… you know in your heart you can HELP your ideal client. You KNOW you have something she needs.

Then don’t spin your wheels. Don’t stay stuck with thoughts of, “I can’t do this myself.” Seriously, there is no one who does it like you. But there is not an abundance of marketing and sales strategies available for health & fitness coaches. You need to get in the weeds and not just do broad strokes like check the box you sent an email.

If no one else is asking... I am. What words are you using in your emails? In what order?

It matters!!!

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course

How to Create the Irresistible Freebie (your ideal clients will love)

Otter.ia

Other Episodes You May Like:

Small Talk Say This, Not That Series | Fitness & Health Pro #295 Say This, Not That Series | Fitness & Health Professionals #294

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There are better fitness marketing tools than a newsletter. There are better fitness marketing tools than Tic Tok if you don’t have a back end that makes sense and attracts new subscribers.

It is well into 2022 if you’re listening in real-time. If you’re not do not go away it’s still relevant.

Are you inviting people to your email newsletter?

That one died in the early 2000s. I know some people are still using that invite. They’re not doing really well and my first guess is that their entire marketing funnel isn’t really connected or intended to nurture non-buyers.

Clubs and fitness centers go right to having conversations with members. That’s like completely ignoring someone you invited to a party who knows no one else and doesn’t have any common memories with others at the party. They probably aren’t going to stay long.

In this “say this, not that” episode, I’m reviewing a common problem that trainers and health coaches both do.

Instead of Inviting People to Your Email Newsletter: * Offer a juicy freebie that they’ll love (in exchange for their email address) * Provide a learning experience (like a webinar) * Invite them to take a quiz (and then send them the results via email) * Ask them to answer a survey so you can provide the best information * These now become ways you are adding value, not just increasing the influx of emails that bombard us all and make us feel like we’re drowning. You’re inviting them to get something they WANT for free or to give an opinion and contribute (usually something we’re compelled to do). It’s well, much more inviting.

Do You Do This Too? I for one, on the daily, click something I requested, I don’t have time to really dig in at the moment, then I’ll delete it later because I figure if I didn’t look at it for weeks, I managed to live without it, it can’t be that life-changing. Even if your “get my newsletter” works you have an issue. So, they’re in, they’re out if you have this “newsy” email in most cases.

There you have it, this episode of the Say this not that series this week. Is there one of these better fitness marketing tools that resonate with you? Leave me a comment or a rating in iTunes for the Fitness Marketing Mastery show. If you’re not already a Fitnessmarketingmastery.com subscriber, you’ll find a message from me on the home page about how I can help you make your business go or grow in the next year.

Take action.. whatever you do. If you’re out walking, running or you’re lifting, pull that phone out and create a note if you got inspired. I know I do.. most often on a trail while listening to a podcast and if I don’t capture it… I lose that great idea. Better fitness marketing tools can’t be implemented if you don’t remember the inspiring thought you had!

Resources mentioned in this episode: How to Create an Irresistible Fitness Freebie (for your ideal clients)

Other episodes you might like: Are Your Fitness Newsletters a Bad Reminder?

What to Say to Close the Fitness Sale (and what NOT to) What to Say When They Say They Can’t Afford You | Personal Training

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Fat burning & weight loss are hot topics uniquely, and together, during menopause. Since for decades, the dogma has been that metabolism slows with age (proven not until about 60 very recently) and that menopause hormone changes make weight gain more likely, it’s easy to believe there may not be much you can do for your clients.

Not so fast. Look, the research I’ve shared for nearly a decade, and studies both older and newer show lifestyle habits – epigenetics have much greater influence on fat burning & weight loss than do anything else.

The trick? Identifying not what you thought once supports fat burning & weight loss, but what really does for clients (or you) now in menopause. So, let’s break this down.

Blood Sugar and Fat Burning

Insulin causes the liver, or muscles, to remove sugar out of the bloodstream and store it in the form of glycogen. It releases a small amount regularly for all the organs that function continuously (heart, brain, nerves).

Hormones like stress hormones (cortisol and epinephrine/adrenalin), sex hormones, growth hormones, and glucagon – can cause the liver to secrete glycogen back into the bloodstream.

Epinephrine and cortisol are released when your body needs a sudden influx of sugar for energy. (For example, exercise or need to sprint to avoid harm or spare someone else from harm).

As blood sugar goes up, unless clients are insulin resistant, (which often can happen to women in midlife) the increases are mild and short because insulin is released to bring it down. If however, clients are more insulin resistant (it takes more and more insulin to bring blood sugar down), your body is more frequently in a fat-storage state than a fat-burning state.

Blood Sugar and Fat Storage

Let’s talk about these 4 (not new to you) things that impact blood sugar for your clients. It’s not just dessert and popcorn. Your client’s fat burning & weight loss obstacles may be something you and they are overlooking.

Stress

Any form of stress, including thinking about a stressful situation, physical stress, will increase glycogen, and therefore insulin. Learning to deal with the emotional stressors so they’re less negatively affected, can decrease fat storage. Clients don’t necessarily think stress interferes with fat burning & weight loss. They’re more likely to think weight causes stress.

Sleep

Sleep deprivation and or poor-quality sleep, even being off their optimal schedule (going to bed later than usual) can increase physical stress and the stress hormones. The day after having to rise at 3am for an airport run for a houseguest, my blood sugar levels were all higher throughout the day.

I attempted to keep the rest of my day low stress by observing the best hydration, regularly timed meals high in protein and fiber, and connecting by phone with family to keep stress lower. You increase your value with clients when you coach them to respond this way themselves.

Exercise

When you’re going to do a workout with clients, as long as clients are not overtrained and they’re allowing for adequate recovery, muscles will release glycogen for energy. This is when they’re able to burn fat rather than store it. The glycogen and cortisol (responding to physical stress) both increase available energy to do the physical workout.

** It’s important to consume adequate high-quality protein during training, to be sure that carbohydrates then fuel the muscle with exercise and aren’t stored as fat.

Food

Different foods and at different times of the day or in different sequences will have various effects uniquely on your client. While it makes sense that a piece of chocolate cake in the middle of the afternoon is going to spike blood sugar more than if enjoyed after a meal with protein, fat, and fiber, clients may be surprised something beef stew for dinner could spike blood sugar (happened to me).

In those situations, you’ll want to help clients identify whether it is an ingredient in the food, or if it’s one of the other influences from above.

For example, the same morning coffee drink in the morning when someone gets up at 3am to take someone to the airport, could spike your blood sugar dramatically different than having it at the usual wake up of 5am (also happened to me)!

The Fat Burning & Weight Loss Bottomline on Blood Sugar

Blood sugar is no B.S. (I couldn’t resist). Now that Continuous Glucose Monitors are easily accessible, and you can see immediate results of your clients’ lifestyle habits and nutrition, you may be able to experience much greater ease losing weight.

A great way to begin is to try it for yourself. Use your own experience as teachable moments for your clients. Share your results, and what you’re learning. Your clients’ successful fat burning & weight loss efforts are right around the corner with your help.

Want to try the one I’m using? You’ll save $25 on your first month with my link. CLICK HERE

Resources:

Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist

NutriSense Glucose Monitor

Other Episodes You Might Like:

5 Ways to Use Shock to Attract More Fitness Clients

7 Tips to be a Personal Trainer Every Midlife Woman Wants to Work With

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If a trainer tells me they hit a plateau and can’t get more clients, I ask them about their email list.

If you aren’t working on growing that email list, chances are that’s a large part of why.

Before you get more sales skills, you want to attract more people, more on that in a minute.

The Problem with a Small List is….

If you’re in a “launch” with few people, and then you “launch” again with the same people there may be a small number who say yes. It wasn’t the best time for them before and it is now. They were people who needed a little more time to know and trust you before deciding.

But you’ll also be losing a small percent of them which you should expect.

If you don’t lose subscribers every time you email, you’re probably not emailing enough.

Those people are not seeing all your posts every day, you know.

They’re busy. They want the news delivered with white gloves and that is why they subscribed to email. They may not like social media. So, while you think they see and hear that and your daily message is enough, it’s not true.

… You can’t get more clients online.

3 Reasons You Can’t Get More Clients Online, boil down to this:

The email list you have now is small or abandon

You’re attracting anyone too broad a group on social

Inconsistent habits (you’re busy but not productive)

Here’s what to focus on:

1) You need to grow your email list

Have a freebie that peeks interest and desire (my freebie builder cheat sheet)

Make sure you’re sharing relevant social content and suggesting it as a CTA for those who want more

Have a profile page with links directly to it (no ugly URLs someone will never remember that only your mother would go to the trouble of tediously entering – if she would!)

2) You need to attract the right kind of people to your social (first step before email)

Have you reviewed who you attract?

Do you clearly tell who this is for and who it’s not?

3) You aren’t focusing on the right things consistently. If you focus on your social media more than you focus on your customers and business, something is definitely WRONG!

Are You Addicted?

To be honest, does it give you a little adrenaline hit when your video got XXX views on Tik Tok? Or frustrated you when you spend half an hour creating a reel and it doesn’t get much of anything? Your time and your energy can get sucked into social media and it’s not going to move the needle for you. Let’s keep in mind that while it’s necessary, it’s something that takes a dedicated 15 minutes twice a day and between you really need to be building the business behind it.

There’s a difference between not being consistent and being strategic. You’ll see sometimes if you followed me on Instagram, I don’t share every day. I usually do, but when I either have something that didn’t get much traffic I thought would, is getting a lot of traffic, or it’s a date that warrants a little longer time, I purposefully won’t post for a day or two leaving room for prior posts to gain traction. But I will add them to the story again to increase engagement.

I have an action challenge for you. What do you need to focus on?

Do you have a funnel that converts? I’d focus on that before I built a course.

Do you have a system you’ve proven with yourself, and then tested on a pool of others for testimonials and proof that it works?

Do you have copy that defines your unique difference? There are a million options for how to exercise, why you?

DECIDE. That’s the action. Decide where you really will get the biggest wins from focusing on and then do… Monitor your time on social media and if your brain is constantly flirting with it, you’re probably not getting anything else done.

I’m going to link to the resources mentioned in this episode. Before you visit it, my hope is that you’re walking or working out, because for me at least, that’s when I listen and get tons of clarity … not when I’m sitting at my desk. And not when I’m moving through a Bootcamp-like set of crazy moves.

Quick Tip

I know you’ve turned up the speed on those social videos to show a lot of moves, energy, and not give a whole workout… but have you stopped to think that they relay a “frenzied” kind of feeling that makes people think you’re a crazy intensity frenzied-pace kind of trainer?

What do you make viewers FEEL?

That’s the question of the day!

And… how does social media make YOU FEEL? Spend less time on it and more on your business so it converts when you reach them. If you can’t get more fitness clients online right now I hope this episode has been helpful.

Resources Mentioned in this episode:

How to Build a Better Freebie (freebie, how meta is that!?)

Marketing to Women Copywriting course

Other Episodes You Might Like:

Exclusive Look Inside Build Your Business Accelerator Mastermind 5 Ways to Use Shock to Attract More Fitness Clients

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How would you like to ask social media advice of someone with over 65 years of fitness marketing experience? Collectively in this episode that’s what we’re giving you. It is with great pleasure I get to share with you this interview with Petra Kolber. I took a few minutes to ask her some questions about marketing and social media.

Before we begin… know that Petra has rebranded herself in her career more than once. And she’s doing it again now… closer to 60 than 50. So if you wonder how to stand out, don’t think because she – or I – have more than 30 years of experience each that we haven’t had to start from scratch more than once.

What if all you needed to know is you're enough?

My Guest:

Petra is an Author, Speaker, DJ, Performance Coach, Podcast Host, and more recently a Digital Nomad.

In August 2019, Petra released her first book, The Perfection Detox which was recently translated into French and Spanish, and Arabic. She has over thirty years of experience in the fitness industry, with bestselling workout videos, a television show, and has been honored to receive some of the most prestigious accolades in that arena,

Petra is a two-time cancer survivor and is passionate about waking people up to the precious gift of time. Her current work is helping women in transition look at their future through the lens of possibility, so they create the life of their dreams versus leaving their life with regret.

She will be traveling for the next two years as she writes her second book and thinks that maybe in her sixties she will settle down and become a grown-up.

Questions we answer in this episode:

What social media advice would you give fitness & health coaches starting out?
How do you feel about the social media messages from the fitness industry(collectively)?
Where do you feel there is the opportunity for new fitness & health coaches?
What need isn’t being met?
How can fitness pros stand out?

There you have it, social media advice that is as basic and simple as it could be. Follow… your customers. Listen… to your customers. And copy… no one.

Connect and Follow:

Website
Instagram
Facebook
Podcast
YouTube: Launching February 2022 https:/petrakolber.com/watch

Additional Marketing Resources:

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course

To hear more from Petra, listen to the Flipping50 podcast featuring her when it’s released in March 2022 at flippingfifty.com/perfection-detox

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What is personal branding and how do you build your personal brand? It’s connecting to your customer with a personal story.

You can talk about a mix of personal and professional

Hormones
Fasting
Kettlebells

Building relationships in your own environment, showing your personality

Your home
Your family
Your favorite pastime (not working)

You share in-the-moment, in-real-life, behind-the-scenes of you that lets people know you and love you in a way they want to do business… with YOU. Instead of Peloton or Planet Fitness.

Some ideas to help you build your personal brand:

Share behind the scenes with you on the weekend

If your family is open to it, share pictures or videos of them. If not, try a from the back photo, in silhouette.

Try a day in the life hour by hour on your stories.

Give someone a tour of your home, home office, home gym or kitchen.

Keep the personal touches in.

Don’t let perfection trickle into everything unless that’s you sun-up to sun-down always behind make-up and home perfect.

Why People Buy From One Brand vs Another

The real reason to build your personal brand and not just a work brand is this:

People buy from people. They have a clerk they look for at the grocery store. They return to the small hardware store for that personal touch even when there’s a huge store where they might get it for less. Likewise with any product. Yes, they’ve got access to the world, but if you’re local, they’ll like that fact and connect with you because of it.

The real reason not to have you and your brand be the same is so that you can hire, and sell it someday easier than if it’s you and your name always and only in images.

Thoughts on this one? Are you already building your personal brand? Do you have a separate business and personal brand?

Tell me below the show notes at fitnessmarketingmastery/build your personal brand

Resources for Health & Fitness Coaches:

How to Build a Better Freebie (freebie, how meta is that!?)

Marketing to Women Copywriting course

Other episodes you may like:

Pandemic Fitness Business Success Story: Family Busines 18 Revenue Generating Strategies | Health & Fitness Professionals

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Every one of women’s hormone phases of a woman’s life provides a unique demand for exercise protocols that are most beneficial. Then you layer in the nuances true of her right now. If you find you’ve gained weight due to the pandemic or it came on during menopause and you haven’t learned that it’s just a sign what you’re doing now doesn’t work, that’s a nuance for you. If you’ve just learned you have osteoporosis and you don’t know what to do with that information, you could easily fall prey to programs that can all say they improve bone density but that may help only to a small extent.

If clients need better pelvic floor strength, they might be told Kegels or Pilates are the best way. They’re not for all. And that’s where the need-to-know exercise for women’s hormone phase of life comes in. You do need to know.

You need to know your client’s personal priorities:

Weight loss

Bone density

Muscle strength

Energy

Sleep support

Libido boost

Mood & Cognitive support

And from the answer to all of these 3 questions:

What stage she’s in

What conditions, injuries, or limitations she has

What priorities she has

…You choose exercise based on the best protocol for the combined collection of each of those. Let me walk you through why this is so important and clients can get derailed so very easily. Clients start doing something like this: that one woman described as “She’s a hormone specialist just like you” and realize anyone can talk about hormones. It’s always been part of exercise science, but until the last 10-15 years we didn’t understand how much every hormone phase of a woman’s life is unique. A trainer or program targeting everyone is designed for no one.

Let’s Talk Fitness (& Health) Coaching Marketing

"A fitness or diet program that says “for women in menopause” with no science featuring women in menopause, is just good marketing."

There are fitness and health celebrities I just love. There are behaviors of the same celebrities I just hate. And this is one of those behaviors.

Targeting midlife women with a weight loss program that was not specifically designed based on their hormone health, gut status, and signs & symptoms are just irresponsible use of celebrity.

"It’s like the professional athletes our kids cherished using steroids or taking money to manipulate the game. At a time when women are vulnerable to feelings of low body confidence, exhaustion from insomnia, and betrayed by a body they can’t figure out any more any message that resonates with them and hits you at a time they feel all the frustration, is enough to make them take a risk. "

A big fitness icon who's sold millions in fitness programs is doing just that.

Several fitness pros just entered midlife themselves. So, I get it. She’s experiencing menopause, she’s talking about it. That is a good thing. But slapping a marketing campaign on another diet program just to take advantage of midlife women is a crime. Her programs have always targeted women… of all ages. But as I checked out this new program she was offering, the only thing that had changed from 10 years ago was the marketing on the front side.

So, let’s be realistic. If you’re paying attention and have been here, at Fitness Marketing Mastery or following Flipping 50 for a minute, you know that what works for mice, and men and young women will not work for women in midlife. So, programs targeted for 20 and 30 and 50 and 60 something women, were built with no one of them in mind.

Every Women’s Hormone Phase is Different … but pros aren’t addressing it that way

Even two women in menopause differ. One may be a small-framed who wants to add muscle and bone density, even gain weight while another needs to focus on gaining muscle in order to lose weight, and still, another could be either one of these women with prior injuries. One has adrenal fatigue and one is fine but just new to exercise. A program and a trainer or health coach needs to be able to see the top priorities for a women’s hormone phase choose the most important variable and start there.

Yes, it’s true, they have the same body parts. But every decade of life – simply as a good way of arranging it – needs to change slightly. Better than each decade, in every phase of hormone change exercise needs change.

In pre-puberty:

Building bone density

Building a lifetime of love for activity

Experiencing a variety of movement

In puberty and young adulthood:

Continued building of bone density

Optimizing peak muscle mass

Building body confidence

Establish strength training habits & sound technique

Learning proper technique & injury prevention

Pre-natal:

Maintaining (even gaining) fitness for optimal fetal and maternal health

Avoiding too much heat early in pregnancy

Avoiding too much joint stress late pregnancy

Offset changes in the center of gravity, upper and lower back stress

Pelvic floor integrity

Post-natal:

Ensure gradual recovery from pregnancy for long term joint/ligament health

Optimize wellness in new mother

Continued support for back in recovery from birth with newborn

Begin the transition to strength and cardio activity post-partum

Peri-menopause:

Identify lifestyle habits associated with the prevalence of menopause symptoms
Bone density building strength training
Muscle mass maintenance and increase
Rest & recovery increase

Menopause (late peri/early post):

Muscle mass loss prevention
Bone density loss prevention
Menopause symptoms reduction
Brain-boosting exercise connections

Post menopause:

Weight and body composition optimization
Gain or maintenance of strength
Gain or maintenance of bone mineral density
Mobility emphasis
Continued enjoyment of the activity
Pelvic Floor Integrity

Marketing without Science in Programming Seduces Them

It’s beyond time to stop false marketing --- but it’s not going to happen. You can help promote YOU, but not if you’re only saying the same thing as other trainers and coaches. Be different. Say the truth. Be willing to take on those who oppose what you say.

Clients who should be working with qualified trainers and coaches like you:

Fall for programs promoted by midlife women who look good but don’t use those same principles

Fall for programs based on the celebrity’s creativity instead of evidence-based science used to build them

Find a one-size-fits-all approach – even for programs designed based on hormone balance – without flexibility for unique joints and energy needs

Why Not YOU? Coaching a Women’s Hormone Phase

Are you taking a stand? Are you willing to say the unpopular thing? Are you willing to share the facts? Take the heat if you go against the dogma? That’s what it takes to stand out against a crowd. Once you have the knowledge then you have the confidence to apply it and to have a stronger voice.

I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment below the show notes at Fitnessmarketingmastery-dot-com/ women’s hormone phase

Resources Mentioned in the show:

Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist

And something you may also want if you are qualified but they just aren’t coming….

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course

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If you want to attract more fitness clients you’ve got to get their attention. Talking about more sleep, drinking more water, and walking are probably not enough. Not unless you do something silly and out of the ordinary. If you’re a little shy or more reserved, then here’s a smaller step for you to take.

Surprise or shock by agreeing with on something they would have sworn you’d never say.

Tell them Quick Fixes Do Work

A good night’s sleep leads to better concentration and better cognitive health. Cortisol improves and cravings decrease. So, something as simple as going to bed an hour earlier can change things dramatically.

According to webmd.com dehydration leads to higher heart rate and low blood pressure and drinking water can even things out in 15-20 minutes

Petting a dog reduces cortisol levels. (They never met my dog). According to hopkinsmedicine.org it does so my increasing the feel-good hormone oxytocin. Oxytocin and cortisol can’t both be elevated. Other things that kick up oxytocin are hugging, cuddling, and you guessed it, going all the way.

According to uchealth.org, breathing in and out deeply slows the heartrate, decreases or stabilizes blood pressure, and reduces cortisol. That’s a great opportunity to tell someone about why they may not have lost weight the last time they tried. If cortisol is high, it’s like a road block. Even if you’ve got a Ferarri under there it’s not getting through a roadblock. That’s an opening for an opportunity about your yoga session, your meditation, or before following the meal plan you made them… or just being reminded of breathing in and out during a training session… with you.

One more way to attract more fitness clients this year….

Prove Diets Do Work

You can find someone within arm’s length who has lost weight from a diet. You can also find statistics online to prove the diet industry is worth $71 billion dollars (cnbc.com). The weight loss works. The problem is… the weight or regain works better.

And that’s how you get their attention… and then go on for the teachable moment. You get into the science and share information, with a little humor, and a little science. Just bit by bit creating these openings where new people may be attracted because you share things in a new way.

It’s great to have a voice, and it’s great to break from it sometimes too.

If you want to learn more about hormones and exercise, weight control, and midlife women, check out the Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist. Take your business from doing fine to finally providing you freedom and lifestyle you love.

There you have it.... easy ways to attract more fitness clients this year.

Want to Be the Women’s Hormone Balancing Expert?

Get details for the Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist

Including:

2.5 ACE CEU credits 1.8 NASM credits (and more)
8 of my Signature Course Modules
8 Exclusive Coaching modules & transcript
20+ Client-ready customizable worksheets (advanced)
Additional Bone health, Adrenal Fatigue, and Hormones & Exercise for Trainers sessions
Plus Exclusive Expert Interviews & Fasting in Midlife (advanced)

Details here:

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Wonder if you should be an employee or entrepreneur? There are a lot of reasons why I became an entrepreneur. The entire first two weeks of this year it would be very easy to say I’ve done nearly none of them.

Why I think most of us go into business.

I’ve spent the majority of my time doing things I’m not good at. I’ve been procrastinating doing them, which amplifies the negative impact of them.

And still, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

I Still Have to Say No

In the beginning, I had tons of time, and no revenue. That was uncomfortable for someone who was used to taking action and seeing results. So, it was discipline that made me say no to opportunities. More often I said yes. Not necessarily for the right reasons. I went to get the ego hit that comes from being asked to present to a room of your own peers or to author this or that for them. But did I consciously think whether or not it was the best investment of time money and energy? Then, not really. I probably did blow up the credibility benefit of doing it and used the media exposure to my advantage. It’s anyone’s guess as to whether that was productive or not.

And now, I’ve grown to the extent that I have to say “no” to things I actually really do want to do. I recently had the opportunity to author a chapter for NASM, and I love them and the work they do, but I’m having to base my time spend on what is best for the company I run. I’ve been asked to do an adult education course for my alma mater’s Retired Alumni but again, I have to consider what I won’t be doing with that time and energy.

I’ve recently been invited to present at prestigious conferences I used to love presenting for and again, I have to say no.

These might be things that you’d say recharge your batteries and you love and at one time I would have too. But I realize that the writing for someone else, the traveling and expense of that and time away puts a crunch not just on me but on everyone else in my team too if I’m not accessible.

A Tough Decision

There are things I’ll say yes to because being out in front of more people is good for me, but others I need to say no to not just for the time and energy spent preparing but for the steal from what would normally be recovery time.

I share this with you because if you’re a personal trainer starting out … or already out on her own you may be wondering – especially in this climate with gyms not doing so well and online training really not requiring a gym to do it – if you’re best suited for an employee or being an entrepreneur.

Having been both during my 38 years yet literally from the beginning, always having something independent, I can weigh in. I’m also tapping into others who’ve managed, owned, hired, trained and fired and watched employees quit, leave and go it alone.

For a look at who thrived, survived, moved on to becoming an employee again… stay tuned.

Failing on your Way to Deciding Employee or Entrepreneur ?

First of all, I want to say something before we start. Having tried it and failed to reach the success you wanted is still a win. Along the way it’s our failures that teach us far more than the successes do.

If you go the entrepreneur route, I would absolutely make sure that you have someone who will keep you accountable. If you have a spouse and a reason there’s no sweat, it’s a disadvantage.

Trust me, I know this. For 4 or 5 years while supported by my husband my business was a loss. That’s not only a red flag for the IRS but it’s not really a business. If it were paying your bills, or if you were going to ask for a loan or seek investors, no one in their right mind would say yes to that. So don’t fool yourself if your partner (or parent) is gifting you money and so you look on the outside as if you’re a business with revenue, expenses and a profit margin, while inside your books show something else.

It’s not just me. I’ve seen it happen all too often with other fitness professionals too. They’ve been given the money to start. They’ve been bailed out by investors when it wasn’t working. They’ve not been willing to quit the day job to really do it. Without that pressure… which if you’re listening and that feels like a bad thing, you don’t have a reason to do make it work.

How Prepared Are You?

Here’s how willing and – maybe naïve – I was. It was going to work. So, I quit my job, barely worked for 14 months, and truthfully 3 more, while I was figuring it out. There was never – well that’s probably not fully true… I remember looking at jobs at universities and considering applying to teach – but there was never a time when I thought, this won’t work. I sold my house, dipped into retirement funds, whatever it took I was willing to do.

When you have that fall back, and it’s not a formal relationship where you’d pay it back with or without interest, it’s going to hold you back. Your business plan should be strong enough that you can make it work. If you wouldn’t be comfortable asking for a loan, and showing how you’re going to use it, really take a good look at whether you’ll get ahead or just further in debt – even if just emotionally if you don’t make changes.

No matter what you want to do, there’s a way to scale it. But some plans just aren’t scalable and you need to think about that. Then there’s the fact, nothing is guaranteed. I wouldn’t want to have a brick and mortar business in 2020 or 2021 and wouldn’t invest in one now. It’s improving but there’s still a lot of doubt. But that doesn’t make an online business a no-brainer.

So, to answer are you an fitness employee or entrepreneur, answer these 11 questions

Do you like to have specific hours and be able to arrive and leave work at a specific time?
Do you like to have a dependable paycheck that’s the predictable every time?
Do you prefer to have your pay reflect what you did, your effort, and how successful it was?
Do you like to grow and constantly learn new things that challenge you?
Do you like to make the decisions or prefer to have them made for you?
Do you want to have someone to consult, mentor, and lead you?
Do you like freedom to do your job when you work best as long as you get the job done?
Do you have a creative, problem-solving mindset that everything is figure-outable?
Do you have the desire or ability to lead and mentor others?
Do you take personal responsibility for your work? Are you self-initiated?
Do you prefer to work with a team or work as an individual or leader on the vision?

As an entrepreneur…

You’re never “off.”

If you’re not insanely driven or pressure isn’t good for you…. you will probably be happier as employee.

I will tell you that any employee with an entrepreneurial spirit will do better today. If you find employers who hire for jobs they want done, with the description of success, and you’re the kind of person who wants the freedom to problem-solve and handle things with guidelines and a set of values… along with latitude, you will still do better. You’ll find positions that you like doing and that feel like you control to some extent what you make or how you are able to experience your job.

I’m moving more to hiring the people who have the skills, beyond mine, and defining success, not a job description. When someone doesn’t get the job done or needs constant reminding when they’ve got a task already assigned to them, they aren’t long term.

As an entrepreneur…

You’re always free. You’re free to do the work when you work best. You’re free to take the afternoon or the week. You’re free to make the decisions in the morning and implement them in the afternoon. You’re free to be inspired and put ideas into action. You’re free to decide the direction of your business, who you serve, and how you serve them.

As an employee…

You’re always (or almost) safe. You’re secure. You’re certain what you’ll earn and when it will come.

I can personally tell you that just before I was leaving my position I had a few conversations with my boss about changing the way I was paid. Because they’d never considered the program would grow to this level and my commission override was growing right along with it. And I said, “Don’t do that. If I don’t have a reason to run hard, it won’t be so fun for me.” That was knowing that slower months of revenue would still have meant a consistent income. I was like, “No! If you want me to perform best you won’t do that.”

I like knowing that what I do gets a result. I’m in control.

My son his first couple years out of college was looking for the right fit. As he tried a couple positions, I suggested he considered his own business. He was like, “No way, why would I want that kind of responsibility!?” and then we discussed management because he was outperforming everyone in his first 5 months on a job, including those who had been there for 12. Again, “No, way I just want to do my own thing.”

Until… a couple years later. He’s considering both. I say that for you… you may think you’d never want that, until you do. So, if being an employee and learning the ropes from others is most appealing to you now, there are jobs. And later, you may want to revisit when you have a bigger skill set, more ideas about what works and doesn’t or what you’re not able to do in your current situation that you could working for yourself.

We work a significant part of our lives. It’s important to have purpose in what you do every day.

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How would you like to give a great interview? Or first, get more media opportunities? Book more podcasts? In order to stand out and get your message out to more people you want to make the most of every conversation.

When you land a minute on the news or the paper calls to interview you for an article, you want to make the most of it.

Here are 11 Steps to a Great Interview

Start with an introduction that intrigues
Share 3 takeaways

Make sure you are not there to talk about your book or program but to give tips and actionable items

Talk in sound-bytes (and pause)

Remember it’s a conversation not a monologue

Answer thoroughly

No “yes” or “no” answers, say a bit more to explain

Tell stories or use analogies

Your story, a client story, like withdrawing money from the bank …

Practice tonality (up not down)

Be better than boring

Put authority in your voice

If you’re too soft or too slow no one believes you know what you’re talking about

Be clear: If you confuse you lose

A short easy answer – you can always elaborate if asked

Make it easy for the interviewer
Provide the talking points or the questions as aske

Ask questions, do research in advance

Who is the audience? What is their problem?

Make it news

(your book or program is not news)

Don’t Wait to Be Asked

You can create your own opportunities to give a great interview. You don’t need to wait around for it to happen. Call the local radio and tv stations and let them know you’ve got tips on how to use exercise for boosting immunity. Suggest 5 moves someone can do at home. For core, hips, lower back, stretches… the content you come up with is endless.

The key is, make it news, and make it entertaining. If any other fitness pro (who could overcome stage fright) could do it, it’s not got a good enough angle.

Content that Makes a Great Interview

Use brand new released studies, or seasonal and timely information. Think ahead. Sure, it may be January, but what is going to be news next month? Heart health? Or if you’re hearing this in October, it’s time to talk about holiday weight gain and tips to make those traditional meals healthier or avoid holiday weight gain. News stations already have today and tomorrow filled.

They’re looking for content for 3-4 weeks from now, that’s unique they can begin teasing and adding to other content now.

Another episode you may like:

How to write a Bio

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This episode is a countdown of the Top Fitness Marketing Podcasts of 2021 (and All Time). I couldn’t resist throwing in some that are huge standouts from prior years (this show is in its 9th season)!

You can find the episodes at fitnessmarketingmastery.com, Apple podcasts, iTunes, iHeartRadio and anywhere you listen to podcasts.

In true David Letterman style, which is what any self-respecting Iowa girl would do, here we go!

The Top Fitness Marketing Podcasts of 2021 (and all time)

#10 Why You Don’t Want Your Social Media to Go Viral #272

Shocker right? Why don’t you want your social media to go viral? I lay it all out here. It may be an eye opener about a number of other goals you thought you had that aren’t serving you.

#9 Fitness Marketing in Less Time: How to Get It All Done

The most precious thing you have is time. If you’re doing busy work constantly, chances are you’re not getting it all done and you’re not doing it well.

#8 How to Get Results on Instagram Without Wasting Time

If you’re using Instagram, you want more than to see your own brilliant pictures or REELs. You want engagement, and to grow your email list.

#7 Is Passive Revenue Too Good to Be True?

If you are new to or a stranger to affiliate marketing, this is your introduction. Revenue in your jammies is not an impossible wish. Just what and how do you do this though?

#6 Do You Pay Yourself First?

It’s a big question and it’s often not the first thing considered by a health coach or personal trainer. The dollar per session may sound good, but when you factor in travel, time, writing programs, doing all the things…. If you haven’t learned to automate… then this. Take your business further faster with less time in 2022.

Continuing with the Top 5 Fitness Marketing Podcasts of 2021

[Seeing this on another platform? Link to the show notes for the links to all podcasts from the countdown: fitnessmarketingmastery.com/top-podcasts

#5 2020 My Systematic New Fitness Client Process

This is by far one of the most popular episodes. It’s clear you want help structuring a system to work with clients and deliver excellence as you set up your business. Here’s how to set up yours.

#4 Start and Grow Your Menopause Coaching Services

If you run menopause fitness coaching services or want to, this is for you. Do you know the difference between training a woman 50 and one 70? Between a woman in perimenopause and post? Do you know what triggers belly fat and hot flashes and how to adapt an exercise prescription that improves her flashes?

Here's an inside look at how to be the go-to-authority.

#3 Taking Care of You, Personal Trainer & Coach Business Plan

This episode content came from my observations and conversations with female health coaches and fitness trainers and business owners who are intelligent women doing things they’d never be able to – or allow – their employees to do. If you’re overworking, underpaying yourself, operating with a schedule that doesn’t mimic what you tell clients to do… this is for you.

#2 4 Steps to Create Fitness Marketing Videos

Video is still and is always going to be king and queen. So, this episode coming in at #2 is no surprise. You know you should. You are. You want more success doing it. Help is here!

#1 Are the Words You Use Costing You Customers?

If you’re not in your customer’s head, heart and thinking and feeling like them, it’s going to be very difficult to support a “yes” decision when it comes to getting started with you. Chances are if you haven’t created your programs with that same unique slant you’re going to struggle to make programs they love and experience wins doing.

Did you know there are 5 unique buying personas of female buyers? So even if you’re trying to reach women in their 40’s they aren’t all going to respond to the same words (or images). This episode will help.

Resources Mentioned:

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course

Flipping50 Menopause Fitness Specialist

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Love or hate small talk, you can make small talk matter big! Here’s how to take the most benign questions and turn them into an opportunity to showcase your work in a way someone becomes intrigued by you and wants to hang with you longer.

If you’re an introvert, I’ll bet you can relate to this. You end up at a party or mixer, not knowing anyone very well, and wishing you didn’t have to show up but knowing it’s supposed to be good for you. You dread that small talk and the feeling that your responses to questions are lame.

Not anymore, my friend.

First of all, I want to address the fact that if you are indeed an introvert, you’re not alone. Did you know? More of us in fitness and health are than aren’t. Many professional speakers and actors are introverts. Still, it’s like required reading. You’ve got to do it.

Where to Make Small Talk Matter Big

Sports events for your kids meeting other parents
Holiday parties for your business or your partner’s, with neighbors or friends
The shoe salesman at the mall
The passenger beside you on a plane
The chamber of commerce meeting
Talking when your mouth isn’t preoccupied at your dental hygiene appointment

And so many more!

What do you do?
Where do you work?

They’re questions that are likely to come up during holiday parties, in Zoom breakouts, and at fitness conferences.

The way you answer could be the difference between, “oh, cool,” and the start of a relationship with a new client or a collaboration with a new company or partner.

Here’s what you’re not:

A personal trainer
A health coach
A medical exercise specialist
An exercise kinesiologist

Why? Because it either means nothing to the listener or it means what they think it means.

Why? Because whoever you’re talking to knows at least one person if they aren’t that person who needs and wants your services. Are you going to let that get away?

Have you imagined what it would be like if the owner of a company said, I’d like to do this for all of my employees, could we work together on something that makes sense for both of us?

Or you connected with a grocery store owner who said they’d like to start monthly fitness & health tips and want you to head that up?

You just don’t know. Opportunities come, as long as you swim out to the boat. When you’re in front of people, make your words count.

So let’s say this not that.

Not, personal trainer.

Say this:

Who you serve?
What they are struggling with?
What they want?

For instance,
I serve busy professional women in midlife, struggling with time and fatigue to fit in exercise that want stress release and energy.

Your response will be a question. That’s important.

You know busy professional women in midlife who struggle with time and fatigue who want exercise for stress relief and more energy?
I help them get what they want easily without huge time commitment.

Why a question?

A question leaves an open loop. It compels the listener’s brain to answer. They usually will.

That’s me to a t.
That sounds like my wife.
I wish my sister knew you.

And with that, you’ve opened up a conversation. With a simple answer like “personal trainer,” you’ve closed it. In fact, if you’re uber qualified?

So tell them, specifically what it is you do or want to. Dig into your niche with your answer. You’ll extend your reach far faster. Make small talk matter big.

Cheers fitness & health pro! Whether it’s a holiday party, a New Year’s health panel, or something else. Small is big.

Other Episodes You May Like:

Say This Not That, series

6 More Ways to Increase Your Fitness Sales this Season

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Say This, Not That Fitness & Health Pros

Now, there’s a whole lot more involved in a good post that gets engagement, a quality call-to-action, use of the right hashtag strategy, engaging with your audience after the post, priming your timeline before the post, and congruent consistency of content… but without this first very foundational piece, your post won’t be seen, discovered, or engaged with.

So, let’s get started.

Here’s where you could easily go wrong when you start your post intending to give help and support. How can that go wrong? Here’s how.

When your topic or message isn’t targeting a problem that someone wants a solution for and isn’t stated in the way your customer talks about it, it isn’t going to get a big engagement.

Don’t assume too much.

Instead of this:

“Tired of sit ups and crunches?” make it clear why NOT sit ups and crunches.

That question assumes your ideal customer is indeed tired of sit ups and crunches.

Ask, is my ideal client asking Dr. Google, What can I do if I’m tired of sit ups and crunches?

If the answer is no, then you’re going to miss the engagement you want from a post and the time you’ve spent creating, editing the post, and the real estate you could have used better, is gone.

Get to the root of the problem in the customer’s eyes and language.

If someone isn’t tired of crunches and sit ups, then they skip this because it does not resonate with them.

Work with women in menopause or want to?

What Are They Aware Of?

If someone is under the impression that sit-ups and crunches work, they aren’t looking for help with alternative exercises. (They may not be getting results, but also not be attributing that to the exercises they are doing).

No one wants what they NEED, we want to buy/watch/learn about what we want.

Say This Instead:
Why sit ups and crunches are failing your quest for a flat belly (and what to do..)

Why sit ups and crunches will never help you shrink your waist (and what to do..)

Biggest core exercise mistakes and fastest way to a stronger core/smaller waist (and what to do…)

Why This Not That Message:

Now, you’ve stirred curiosity. You’ve taken someone from thinking they were doing the right thing, to questioning it. You’ve got their attention. First, because you’re talking about the thing that is most important to them. And because the thing they really want (flat belly, strong core, smaller waist, less belly fat) isn’t achievable doing what they’re doing. Now they are going to pay attention.

Resources:

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course

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Rest assured; I’m going to give you 6 more ways to increase your sales this season. But I’m going to do it a little backhandedly. That is, I’m going to share why your marketing ISN’T bringing you more sales.

These are six reasons why too many fitness pros are striking out when it comes to social media, or any marketing for that reason, and what to do about it.

Fail to serve your customers

Posting generic information that another fitness professional can post, you need to ask why. There are currently about 375,000 trainers in the US alone. Yet, keep in mind no one is restricted to training with a trainer “locally” anymore. I’ve worked with clients in Italy, Trinidad, UK, Australia as well as all over the US recently.

Personal training is expected to grow by 39%. That is, the number of trainers, not necessarily the number of clients. Now, what’s happened during the pandemic? Big chains, medium and small ones are losing 2 to 5 trainers at a time right now because there are not enough clients to go around. There aren’t enough members coming back in. That doesn’t mean they’ll all be successful with online businesses.

Either way, be the unique one serving the niche you serve better than anyone. Get press, get partners, get wise on social media strategies and then use them, every time.

Fail to identify how prospects are thinking or feeling before you create content

Posts about random health habits for the holidays are generic commodities. What deeper layer can you provide that shows understanding of exactly what emotions your customer has during the holidays?

Are the emotions excitement and desire to toss abandon to usual health habits to have pleasure? Is it fear of gaining weight and losing control? Is it a depressing time due to emotions of holidays past or losses? You can’t know how to help them if you don’t focus on what they feel and think at this moment. You also can’t do a post so inclusive that you target someone who is depressed and someone who loves the holidays in the same piece of content. You’re doing it again – trying to serve everyone all the time. That level of marketing forgets what really works, targeting one individual.

Not tracking results

You have to know what works and toss the rest. What are the results of your digital ads? How many visits to a landing page and from unique visitors, how many sales? You have to track your conversion rates. On social, how many website clicks result from your posts? How much engagement matters too, but if you’re not moving them off social to your email list, what’s the point? Email is where you nurture and sell. Those are the people interested in real help and support.

Not making it a part of a whole relationship with you (bring them back for next week’s episode/blog/live or send them to the episode prior.
Too long on your introduction & explanation

Get to the answer within seconds. Whatever your title or image promises to deliver. Do it. No long bumper or talk about the show or anything but the thing you promised in the title that was so juicy it got them there. If you’re on a live and you wait “until a few more join”? and I got there on time? You’re wasting my time. So, start when you said you’d start.

YOU should join early if you want to wait a few minutes to dive into material, but it is maddening for busy people or just prompt people when you ignore them in favor of the latecomers, or when you don’t just give me the info you promised before some long prelude.

Thinking they need to know who you are or how you’re qualified first

It’s easy to think they need to know who you are and launch into years of experience or degrees. They don’t. And for that reason, they’ll choose a stranger who has simply been a fitness enthusiast for years, happens to have had good luck and next to no training if they get a quicker answer than listening to a dissertation about your background.

There’s a place for it but don’t lead with it.

There they are - a backhanded way of finding 6 ways to increase your fitness sales this season. I’ll link to previous episodes where I’ve shared others.

Do you make any of these mistakes? Choose just one and change it first before you try the overwhelming task of changing them all. If you’ve felt like you just can’t understand why what you’re doing doesn’t work, these may give you the ability to see it.

Other Episodes You May Like:

What to Say to Close the Fitness Sale

10 Social Media Tips that Work for Fitness & Health Professionals

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We all have to deal with strong emotions and yet if you’re an entrepreneur you also have to figure out doing business anyway.

If you’re running a business, no wait really, if you are the business, then inevitably you’re going to run into moments when life happens. You will have to both run your business and deal with the unpleasant reality that our loved ones are born, get married, break bones, have accidents, die, and you have emotions around all of it.

You’ll move, have arguments, and break up. You’ll miss planes and get stranded. You’ll encounter technology not working. You’ll lose people and you’ll need to train others. You’ll get sick or have car trouble. You will have an old dog that needs care.

All of those things will show you the leaks in your business. At least they did for me.

Doing Business Anyway

You’ll have to make hard choices and sometimes through all of that, you can’t control your emotions.

Recently, I went through a tough time. I’m talking about it here because of the opportunity it’s provided me to see what needs to happen next for me.

I also realized that much of what I default to doing to myself is not moving my business forward as much as it is a distraction and a comfort to leftover feelings of fear that may not be justified in the moment.

Strong Emotions and Doing Business Anyway

One of the last trips to see my mom, and it wasn’t pleasant. She’d struggled after her fall and surgery. She felt less stable. She was resisting moving to assisted living.

This is all the emotions and decisions that any adult child goes through really. It’s not a surprise. But you definitely get it when it’s you. I was locked and loaded with a hot spot so I could work while I sat with her. And then that never happened. There’s just way too much to do. And she and I spent time quality time going through memories and journals. And that time was absolutely precious.

But other moments of that trip were horrendous. There was a quarantine from covid the first day I was there. I got food poisoning and so for the last two days I was there I couldn’t see her. I then had a flight cancelled and was stranded for two days in Des Moines, Iowa, still recovering from the food poisoning.

That was just the beginning of a downward spiral of my mom’s health.

Fear

I had fears at the beginning. I definitely did, and for good reason, really. I got down to very little in my bank account. My house was for sale but there were no buyers and it was -20 too near Christmas for anyone to really want to buy. It was then that I learned the habits I’ve kept for longer than they serve me.

I roll up my sleeves. I go to work. I make things, I’ll say that too.

Like you maybe, which is why I say this, I tend to create things. The reality is that I’ve become the most successful by slowing down creating and amplifying the marketing. I have award-winning content and programs that get rave reviews. So, what I really need is not another program, but more people in my programs.

But we default to the old patterns… at least until we break them.

Greif

Most recently this has been what I’m dealing with. My mother passed and for the last couple months it’s been down hill and we knew it was on an accelerated path. I found myself not wanting to take care of other people, just wanting to be taken care of.

When you feel like this you only have so much bandwidth to function. You’re not likely to be able to take care of everyone else in the way that you usually do. Juggling things that normally are nothing are much harder.

So, if you keep having the same expectations of yourself, but aren’t able to have the same work habits as you usually do, it creates some friction.

All of that leads to fatigue and it can get hard to take care of yourself. This one must be the hardest of all to handle. It’s unpredictable. It’s not a fever, a cold, or the stomach flu. It’s not a fight that you’ll be mad about and then make up from.

Holidays

You also have to think about the holidays. I say that now because it’s fresh on my mind that these will be the first holidays without my mom and it’s a fresh wound anyway. It’s not the first holiday I haven’t been able to be with her. We all experienced that during COVID. And I’d had others where that was true too. But I’ll be alone this Christmas and at Thanksgiving without that phone call to make where we pass it around the room.

What do you do during the holidays? How do you automate during the holidays? How do you promote? It’s time to think about not just making things happen or attaching your “success” to how much money you’re bringing in, but to how you’re doing it. Are you bringing it in in a way that is sustainable, and you love? Or are you building a business you don’t love and want to keep doing?

It’s so important to consider your answer to that. Sooner rather than later.

Had I not had time to pause I may not have realized how much I’ve carried over habits I began when business was very different to now when I can build a sustainable business and do it with more thought.

What’s the Bottomline?

The biggest take-aways from this episode are that business will have ups and downs. Those are more predictable usually, though I think we can agree the pandemic threw everyone for a loop.

But more importantly, life will have ups and downs. The way I describe ideal workout planning for women in midlife is that it’s a sweet spot of stress. Just enough, not too much not too little. So, if life is full of emotional stressors or financial ones, then the workouts should back off.

It's the Same in Business

The same is true of business. When you’re struggling with a lot of emotional stressors, or you’re trying to hit a big physical activity challenge yourself, it may not be the best time to push any business goals. Your business might plateau or even dip. Sometimes that’s ok.

At least you want it to be ok. You want to know where your space is for your breakeven. Your burn rate. Like every month I know how much my team expenses are going to be. And I know how much equipment and platform expenses will be. I want a profit margin above that.

If I’ve had a healthy couple months with a large profit margin I might expect things to be a little quiet and be fine with that, knowing my average is still up.

Resources:

Masterclass for Fitness & Health Business

Black Friday Specialist Event [add to cart for details]

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To fill your health & fitness coaching business, you have to know what to say to close the fitness sale. Or, rather how to open a conversation.

And it's not what will come out of your mouth first... unless you've rehearsed it after thinking about it.

When you’re:

On a phone call
In a consultation
Doing a presentation (webinar, live talk)

What should your flow be? (on the webinar? in the consultation call?)

How long should you allow your calls to be?
How much time do you spend on each part of your call?
How do you start?
How to set your prospect at ease?
How to take control?
How do you help someone make a decision?

So that you can:

overcome objections before they come up

and then if they do…

Know what to say when they say:

I have to think about it
I have to ask
I don’t have time
I don’t know if this will work/for me

So, It’s Your Turn:

What do you say when someone asks, “What do you do?”

So that you are not just a commodity:

Personal trainer
Health coach
Midlife health coach

You don’t improve by telling someone you’re an online personal trainer, or a midlife weight loss coach.

You haven’t mastered this art of engaging prospects if you say you’re just adding adjectives like a midlife or menopause health coach. Even for my Flipping50 Fitness Specialists, I would never want them to answer, I’m a Flipping50 menopause fitness specialist. Not until far into a conversation.

Know why?

Because last year, there were no #midlifehealthcoach uses to speak of, this year there are hundreds calling themselves that. (some of them who go so far to steal client testimonial content and call it their own!)

So what? Did it make someone better, knowledgeable, relatable so they can get the sale because they’ve called themselves that? Or stole a testimonial?

No.

The ability to transform your answers into something powerful that makes a listener say, oh, that’s me! Or oh, that sounds just like my wife!

Or, that sounds just like so many of my clients! (Says my hairstylists/my dermatologist/my dentist)

That is what gets you the next step. The curious other person who isn’t just waiting for the polite conversation to be over.

Where it goes wrong

In too many cases, when you say… oh I’m a personal trainer or a health coach, they just assume that they know you by their own personal experience with a trainer or health coach. There’s no need for more conversation. If you say Medical Exercise Specialist, Pilates instructor, Yoga Teacher, it’s the same. Nothing – not even an identifier of “midlife women” or “menopause” helps you there.

You friend, are burying your opportunity not to tell people you’re award-winning fitness instructor, or international presenter, or certified or master degree holding.. which are all commodities and labels that mean nothing about your ability to relate to your next prospect.

It’s not about you. It’s about them.

You can build credibility without listing your degrees, certifications, and it definitely can’t be done by giving yourself a label.

Resonate with You?

If you want more, meet me for a special masterclass. I’m sharing 3 of the marketing mistakes I see trainers and health coaches unintentionally do every day.

If you work with midlife women – and who doesn’t or won’t – they make up 80% of personal training clients, I’ll also be sharing 3 of the most common mistakes trainers – even experienced ones are making with their clients. (or themselves) ATTEND FOR FREE

What I say. (in episode!)

Can you describe yourself this way? In a way that makes someone say, oh that’s me? Not with a cold blank label that is generic?

You're Invited:

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Who doesn’t need and want more revenue generating actions?

Note I said actions and not ideas. My goal is not to give you a list of very good ideas. What I want you to do is treat this like a check list. It may be a reminder for things you have done and have worked but you just stopped doing. The first step is to not assume everyone already knows about you and they’ll come find you when they’re ready.

Free masterclass with 3 biggest marketing mistakes and 3 training mistakes that miss with midlife women.

Host a Free Challenge

These are hot for good reason. Make it targeted enough it attracts and serves your exact demographic (That isn’t every possible customer in your geographical area. It’s the specific 66-year-old woman concerned about osteoporosis, getting weaker, gaining weight, and not wanting to be frail like her mother). The value is your follow up offer. Make it congruent with the challenge. It’s not just generic “personal training.” A package that feels complete and solves the buyer’s problems is what sells someone.

Create a Paid Challenge

This is my preference. I like someone to be invested. It's already revenue generating from the beginning. The saying goes, when you pay you pay attention. It’s so true. Otherwise, it’s nothing but another email reminder or thing to have to do but nothing at stake so why bother? Someone misses a day and they’re likely to skip out altogether if they didn’t pay. Challenges don’t need to be a big investment though. Host it for $19 or $27 or $49 at most depending on the length of the challenge.

Some challenge hosts will do a free challenge but also include an upsell to a better VIP experience, including maybe hot seats, or handouts, or additional materials or access to live presentations inside a group.

Host A Live Event

Make it a presentation that is news and noteworthy. Holiday weight gain realities vs myths. Where it usually comes from. How to eat more and not gain weight.

Host an Online Event

Yourself, invite a panel, invite a guest. But make sure you’re solving a problem. You’re giving a unique and tangible offer. Meaning 3 healthy family-proof recipes they’ll all love, 5 short workouts for holiday health (and sanity).

Host a Virtual “Open House”

Just your house! Let them see behind the scenes! Your fans love to know what you do, and what works for you.

Host an “Open House”

By appointment this year rather than a large social gather. Yes, it's like a sales appointment, but it feels different with this frame. And treat them differently. Give them favors, refreshments, treats that are unique.

Get Booked on a Podcast (or 5)

Target podcasts that serve your same audience. Someone who does something complimentary, not exactly what you do. Reach out, introduce yourself, make it clear you’ve listened to previous episodes and understand what they want. Provide the 3-5 take-aways for listeners. Let the host know how you add value to listeners, and mention your own email list and social media following. It matters.

The value of a guest is ...

Social Media tour live at two busiest times of the week

If you own a brick-and-mortar business, I know it’s been tough. Don’t forget ways to help those who’ve fallen off the bandwagon to come back in. Think about their biggest objections. No ignoring that it may be safety, and the mask and vaccine situation. There may not be a lot you can do about that except nurture them. Stay connected. Be a source of healthy immune boosting habits that people can do at home if they’re not back yet.

But what if it’s something else? What if ...

Post a recipe a day during a specific time period
December
12 Days of Christmas
September Tailgating

That’s not all though. Make an offer each time you post...

Create a membership

...There are so many ways to use a membership. Maybe it’s a way to add value to current training clients with extras like recipes, meal plans, workouts when they’re not with you, traveling plans that include tubing/bands/body weight only. Maybe there are extra perks inside your membership that feature discounts or a special relationship with select vendors (you have rounded up). It could also be a second or third step after a course or training so that someone who feels they’ve got this, can just stay consistent with support.

Create an online course

You know those questions you’re asked all the time? That’s a course. Are there people who want to go deeper on a topic but you just don’t have the time to do it one-on-one and can’t get a big enough group to participate at the same time? That’s a course. If it solves a problem, answers a question, it’s a course.

Get booked on local Media

If you’re hosting events, whether presentations and panels or races, or open houses, it could be news. If it has a who, what, when and it’s relevant to the community, it’s news. Here's how...

Get affiliate partners

When it’s time to grow, really scale, you’ll no longer be exchanging time for money. You’ll have programs you’ve proven to achieve good transformations for clients. You’ll know what words you used, the exact emails, and the social media copy that helped bring people to a yes. That’s when it’s time to start recruiting affiliates. Partner with people who need a program like you offer. The ideal candidate is someone who doesn’t do what you do but works with the same audience you do. What you offer has to be in their customers or patients’ best interest.

Does your copy suck?Copywriting course so that you can write copy that works and speaks to your female buyers better.

Use Affiliate partners of your own

You use products and tools or wear workout gear you love that you know would help your clients be more successful too. Why not set up affiliate relationships so you can earn money promoting them?

I also affiliate for my colleagues

Much of the time these are people who just as before, serve the same audience that I do. But I also share my list with a friend I trust who does something similar to me, with a unique process different than mine...

Host a paid retreat/workshop

Now is a good time to offer one no matter where you live. Indoors or out. How could you create a fitness “camp” for adults and allow them to flow from yoga to spinning, then weight training to foam rolling. Maybe there’s a place to serve them lunch catered in from a restaurant or food truck. This can be a great revenue generating strategy in itself. But at the event you can also upsell to training or coaching packages.

Offer to do paid workshops/retreats for other businesses

Who needs you? The answer is more people that you realize. What business needs a moral boost for employees right now? What business would welcome a stress reduction yoga session or joy-enhancing practice of meditation for its employees? Whether it’s during the stressful holiday season or any other time of year. What businesses did well during the pandemic? Incredibly well or were extraordinarily busy?

Send Another Email (or 4)

If you nurture your email list and you have a good offer, an email (or series of emails) should always produce sales for you. Be cautious about burning your list out by not only sending sales and promotional emails. Continue to regularly share valuable content (to them) in the same vein they subscribed to your email list in the first place. Then when you do make an offer, some of them will be thinking that this was perfect timing and will be glad to purchase it.

This episode is filled with gold for marketing all year. Treat it as a checklist! Keep it close.

Answer these questions for yourself:

Which of these are most urgent for fast growth?

Which of these do you want to implement in 2022 but need more thought to do well?

I know what I'd tell you! (what I'd tell our mastermind members).

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Are you starting a new business as personal trainer? You’ll want to listen to this episode. I interview Jen Shaver who is in her second career. We hear here story of starting and growing her personal training business.

My Guest:

Jennifer Shaver from Fit with Shaver. She is a former endurance athlete who spent many years doing countless triathlons, 7 full marathons and 9 half marathons.

Jen didn’t enter the age group world of running until age 33 but, once she started the only thing holding her back was her pain. During her endurance athlete time she was suffering from bulging discs, anemia and extreme joint pain because she didn’t implement several important factors into her training as she was aging. As a child of the 80’s she is a reformed cardio junkie and has changed her ways and her pain.

New Career

Jen is a former middle and high school Spanish teacher who has combined her love of teaching and enthusiasm for fitness together and has taken her talents from the classroom to online to help the busy midlife woman learn to make exercise work for their body, for their hormones and for their schedules. She offers a variety of online, at home strength training classes for the everyday busy woman with no extreme moves.

Jen describes all of her workouts put the fun in functional training and are void of vomit-inducing burpees, crunches, and jumping. Just the functional movements that will lead to a strong healthy life filled with enjoyment and movement.

She enjoys sharing her knowledge as a triple certified fitness expert to help women experience the mood and energy boosting effects of exercise. Her workouts are designed to make you feel empowered, not defeated.

Questions we answer in this episode:

1). How did Fit with Shaver come to be?

2.) What exactly do you do at Fit with Shaver?

3.) What is your niche?

4.) What has been the hardest part of starting a new business/career?

5) What have you learned from starting your business to now?

6) What do you think makes you unique?

7) What has been the biggest “aha” about the business of fitness?

8) What do you want for your business in 2022?

Connect:

fitwithshaver.com

She’s Social too!

Instagram: Fit with Shaver

Facebook: Fit with Shaver

Are you starting a new business as a personal trainer or health coach? Start right with this masterclass where I share the 3 biggest mistakes in training women in midlife AND the 3 biggest mistakes marketing to them.

Resources:

Masterclass for Starting or Growing Your Business

Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist

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Avoid burnout post pandemic no matter what the reason you have it.

Stop scrambling to compete with someone else.

The best way to beat comparison mode is two things:

Know your customer better than everyone else

What are the problems they have and want solved right now?

What do they know now and what do you want them to know?

What do they feel now and what do you want them to feel? (all things you can learn in my Copywriting Course)

Are you focused on a budget-minded shopper or someone who will spend whatever?

Does your appearance, brand, and stance attract her or repel?

Rise above the noise

Instead of competing and worrying about what someone does, do your thing. No one can compete with you being better and ahead.

Remember why you’re doing what you’re doing and what parts you like and do more of that.

If what you love is teaching fitness, say you love it as much as I love researching science and breaking it down into applicable actions, then figure out a way to do more of it.

You’ve got to do the basics of choosing the right audience, knowing how to reach them, understanding how to create a funnel. But then you can and should do the things that light you up and less of those things that make the light go out.

Keep it simple instead of buying all the things you very likely don’t need.

You don’t need a YouTube channel and a podcast, and a blog all at once. Two things inform how you create valuable content. (By the way content that you share via email – if you’re still focused on social media first, you’ve got it backwards. Content starts at your website. Then you share it with your social media posts. You always, always, want to bring people to your website.)

Resources Mentioned:

Copywriting course

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If your free fitness consultations fail to convert, you’re not alone. Here’s a look at why and what to do about it.

It’s not a body composition assessment or a movement screen. It’s something that once set up doesn’t require you to lift a finger.

But it will make every single one of your consultations more productive.

Helping Hand?

First, I want to say this. We love to help. Fitness professionals and health coaches love to help. We overdeliver. And that is a quality that makes you such a warm coach. However, you’ve got to have boundaries. You have a business. You’ve got to find the clients who do want to do the work. Those who expect that you wave a wand and they reach their goals easily make the relationship an energy drain and usually get the least amount of progress.

That said, it’s not only about conversions. I always enter a consultation with the frame of mind that the person I’m talking with will get value from the call even if they buy nothing. If they don’t take a next step, or don’t do it right then, they will get value.

Passionate About Fitness

To you givers, though I say this: always ask. You must ask for the sale in order to get a yes. Sure, there is that 1/100 who will interrupt you and ask how to get started. Honestly, that’s me. When I’ve gotten so far as to do a consultation and I know what the bottom line is and the value of whatever the transformation is to me, I may interrupt and say, “Look I’m ready, how do I start?”

What that means is during your consultation you should slip in a chance to by early for those fast-action takers. You can talk people out of doing it by making them feel aggravated and going on too long.

How to Fix Your Fitness Consultations Fail to Convert Rate

A survey (or application) so you can pre-qualify them.

You can make it a part of your process.

You actually share the link to the Survey FIRST and on the thank you page after they hit “submit” they will get the link to book the appointment.
You can have survey/application link in the calendar booking link they open. (This method will result in some people booking without ever filling out the survey. When that happens, I cancel and let them know that it’s because they didn’t give me enough information about the meeting). It’s important to me (and YOU) not to waste my time. I’d love to help as many people as I can but I can’t help tire-kickers. Those “squatters” who just think you’re so nice for doing this for free… have no intention of buying and have every excuse why not to start or they can’t afford it.

Who Do You Serve BEST?

Remember, not "everyone" is your people. If you want high-quality clients who pay a premium price and expect premium service, you too can expect that they give a premium effort. The way someone books this consult shows you exactly who they are. I’d rather work with lawyers, realtors, professionals who are serious about doing the work and who can follow directions. Push back at the beginning means a rocky coach-client relationship for the duration of coaching.

If you’re applying for the Fitness Marketing Mastery Build Your Business (BYB) Mastermind for instance, I have personal trainers, health coaches, studio owners attend a masterclass first, then apply/enroll. They then do a call with me. If either of us has reservations about moving forward or whether the mastermind is right for them, they’re refunded, before they ever see materials and content.

Once they do see the current content, the library of 2021 mastermind content they get as a bonus to begin building Black Friday, the additional bonuses to start generating revenue the next weekend… I do not refund. I do guarantee, if someone shows proof of doing the weekly work, that they will increase monthly revenue by $5000 or more or I will work with them until they do.

What should you ask on the survey?

Ironically, it matters less than there is one.

There are a few pre-screening questions you want, but they are not absolute.

Ask questions that get them reflecting on why they want and need this.

Ask how serious they are (a sliding scale/number)
How long have they been thinking about it?

Be sure you collect their name and email address in the survey. That way from the calendar booking you can open the survey and see responses before or while you’re on that call.

Reference the survey on the call

Customers, or prospects, hate filling something out that you don’t look at. They’ll be super put off. I’ve done it before. I’ve had too little time to open it. I’ve been on the go and have to conduct the consultation from my phone in my car or at the gym. Not ideal, but I don’t miss appointments and weather, traffic, all can interfere with the best of intentions. Do the best you can to screen those responses prior to calls. A put-off prospect is not someone who is in a ready-to-buy state.

If they’ve been trying to lose weight for 10 years… mention it. “If you’ve been thinking about it for so long it’s pretty important to you. How much would you say you think about it daily?”

That was worth the price of admission to this episode, by the way. You’re welcome.

Joking aside, that is a question to tuck into your arsenal. As obvious as it is, many trainers and health coaches don’t realize the impact of a question like that. There are a handful of others that are similar.

You make the person so aware of how much of a problem, drain, focus this is for them, they are ready to learn about a solution, YOUR solution, since they’re in front of you.

Stay out of the weeds

They got on the call. They have a reason. They have expectations about what’s going to happen and the outcome of the call. So, lay that out at the beginning. And stick to the purpose of the call. It’s to share the options and get a yes or a no. Period. It’s not to show them how smart you are, or how much you know or can tell them. Help them make a decision in this meeting. Set it up that way from the beginning.

Stick to a few questions in your survey/application.
Stick to the purpose of the call once you get there.
Take control of the process and you WILL improve your results and turn fitness consultation failure into coaching-client relationships you love.

Resources:

Copywriting Course

Menopause Business Specialist Masterclass

Mistakes You Make with Menopause Clients

Tools You Might Like Referenced in this Episode:

Survey Monkey
TypeForm

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You may think social media doesn’t pay the bills. But it could. In fact, there are plastic surgeons, physical therapists, and fitness pros who got checks from YouTube during COVID that kept them going when business was shut down.

And in fact, it can be a huge source of organic traffic. It is for me. I grew a YouTube channel to almost 130K organically. Still today, 8 years later, people that join my programs will tell me, “I’ve been following you for a long time on YouTube.”The social media tips that work here I know because of my own, my colleagues, and my coaching clients’ success with them.

Are You Making This Mistake?

But it’s easy to just throw things at social so you can check that box off. That’s the kind of activity you’ll use to prove social media doesn’t work. So if you’re using resources (time, money, and energy) to be on social media, here’s 10 social media tips that work.

Aside from the fact that video wins over everything else, I’ve got some social media tips that work. Social media requires strategy. What you post on Instagram doesn’t go on Facebook. The same hashtags on Instagram that help you get found (if you use enough and they’re relative to your post), will actually hurt your reach on Facebook.

Blindly just being on a platform is a waste of time and resources. Here’s a few tips to apply no matter what platform you’re on to do better with engagement and success. You’ve got to be measuring the right thing. The value of saves, shares, then comments and likes on Instagram should be clear to you. Is your content something your ideal customer wants to share? Have you solved, or started to solve, a problem so they want to keep coming back?

10 Social Media Tips That Work

Focus on your purpose
1. Grow your email list
2. Grow social proof
3. Grow engagement
4. Do product and market research
If it’s not working: that’s not a message the platform doesn’t work.
1. Is your audience on that platform?
2. Are you using the right platform strategy?
Nothing kills your engagement faster than posts that sell.
1. People are on social not to shop but to be entertained or at the least edu-tained
2. If you don’t have a following you’ll never grow one sharing “ad”-like content
People engage with people not businesses, reveal WHO you are.
Represent your brand in a way your audience feels like you, wants to be you, respects you.
Raise & Praise™ instead of Teach & Preach™
1. Share information in a way that makes people feel good not judged
2. Avoid “don’t” “no” and “stop”
When you know what converts to email list subscribers best, do that all day.
On Instagram, use a specific hashtag strategy. On Facebook hashtags hurt.
Less than 5% of your audience sees your post. You have to have more than a post and ghost strategy.
Prime the post, engage with the post comments, use all the places on a platform.

Social Media Posts Need Words That Work

The right words matter. With every post you have to be thinking about what you want your ideal client to think, feel, and do after seeing it. In order to do that you have to know your customer better than anyone else.

My Audience, For Example

I know for instance that my fitness and health pros feel frustrated that they aren’t making as much traction as they want to. They’re spending a lot of time doing what they do but they aren’t making a great living doing it. They don’t have the freedom financially or the time freedom they want. They don’t feel comfortable with the marketing and the sales or the business decisions that make them more than just busy, that make them a true business.

I know many of my fitness & health coaches work with women in menopause and don’t understand why they can’t get their own weight and belly issues resolved let alone their clients. In fact, some of my Flipping50 mastermind members are fitness clients themselves first.

So, with all that information about my audience, when I post to social for them I know what will resonate with them. I know both what they already feel and how I want them to feel. Optimistic, there are answers, and I cracked that code 9 years ago so they can benefit right now.

Resources Mentioned:

CopyWriting for Marketing to Women course

Flipping50 Fitness Specialist Masterclass

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Having to get things done can either be the best or worst thing for productivity. Some perform well under the gun, others not so much. If you’re in a habit of waiting til the last minute, in other words, you’re probably a perfectionist, here are 3 tips to help you get things done easier without the cortisol-escalating adrenaline rush that may not produce your best work.

You’ve got programs and workouts to write. You’ve got blogs, articles, videos to create. You have follow up emails, or cancelled appointments to reschedule. When does it all happen? Well, some things have to happen at the optimal times and others can happen whenever. Once you figure out when you’re most creative so you can schedule the things that require the most brain power, then these will tips come in handy.

I’m sharing what I’ve learned and how I cope when my attention-span wanes. You can’t go from 0 to six-figure months randomly getting things done. Here’s how I did it.

The absolute worst thing for productivity to do is to open another word document and start a new idea thread.

And I try to do it all the time. It’s usually an equally important or urgent task, so I can justify it. So, if I don’t keep a list of what I need done and when and then translate that into blocks of time weeks before that I will focus on that thing, I’ll get to the last minute with too many things on my plate and nothing gets done. Even though I know I do this, it still happens.

So, here’s how I handle it. The publishing calendar I create for myself has a block of time every week to work on something due at the end of the month. When I get started on it weeks before I’m the most creative.

https://www.flippingfifty.com/getstronger Ready for Resistance

If you’re a creative like I am, I resist doing the work I’ve put into my publishing calendar sometimes because it feels like I’m backed into a corner. I have to remind myself that I can still have latitude with the treatment of the topic, and what I use to engage my audience.

A creative mind- like so many entrepreneurs have – hates to be put in a box and told to do a certain thing! I never work well like. You know when you go to meetings and people are put into groups or individuals are asked on the spot to come up with something? I don’t perform well during those! I need to go away, get quiet, play with the ideas and then come back to it. Then I love to share. But I’m often a blank for my own work.

We Can't See the Nose on Our Own Face

That’s why hot seats work so well for me and others! It’s why we do 12 of them in the accelerated 12-week Build Your Business mastermind course. You and I can see someone else’s problem so much more clearly than we can see our own. So, instead of saying, here – work on this and then share your answer during sessions, you just present your problem/challenge/question and other’s brains can go to work on it. That ends up freeing your ideas too. It’s a win-win-win. Everyone involved gets something from hearing the problem, hearing answers from others who aren’t emotionally attached to them, and you get to put them all in your pot and let them marinade for you.

The second worst thing for productivity is to make myself work through a longer block of time than my brain wants to focus.

Your brain will wander at about 90 minutes and your productivity takes a nose-dive if you don’t take a break. A productive break is an exercise break. Clear your head, increase circulation to your brain.

The Western world has done this forever. Those 8-9 hour days and 10 and 12 hour shifts, really do not lead to more productivity. You know how we most-recently know? The pandemic proved to companies that when people are allowed to work at home (most likely with more breaks) they got more done! People were happier. Many companies considered not bringing people back in, or doing so only in limited capacity and allowing people to choose.

Sprints vs Marathons

While it (at home) doesn’t work for everyone, if you have a job that requires creativity, problem-solving, it most likely is best to work in short sprints of focus and then leave a project and come back to it.

Here’s how I avoid the #1 worst thing for productivity – I take myself out of my environment. I do it in two ways:

I work in the dark. Not kidding. I can get more done working 4am-6am than 9am to 11am.
I literally go somewhere else. I’ve not done a lot of this but plan to keep it in my arsenal. Pre-covid, I went to Maui to watch my son golf, and had extra days to work and relax. The two for me shouldn’t be isolated but instead exist together. Last year, I went to Sedona for two nights and got filled with hikes and inspirational views and then worked early mornings, mid-day after I’d come back. This last week I did the same in Colorado. I hiked every day – after and before I spent blocks of time creating the content for the new accelerator mastermind for next year and touching base with our Flipping50 community.

Worst Thing for Productivity May be Too Much Forced Productivity!

This kind of “white space” is sometimes missing from trainer’s days. It’s an old cliché that you’ve got to work on your business, not just in your business. Meaning that you can’t just schedule your training sessions all day and leave no time to develop the business plan and systems.

You’ll sink fast. You’ll paint yourself into a corner so busy with clients that you are “too busy” to focus on scaling. You can’t scale one-on-one sessions. Unless you can keep raising rates to $100 and $150 and $200 per session, and get clients to pay it, at some point you’ll be aiming at too small a pool to make that work.

When do you work best? When are you most creative? When can you think and focus best?

Work Best

For me – and most- thanks to cortisol, it’s morning.

So, I’ve made two changes in my business life over time.

I don’t work out right away anymore. I work for 3-4 hours first. Because I will workout, but I can’t force that creative time. And building and growing my business was the way I discovered the foundation behind menopause fitness science. So, never forget, you should walk the walk your clients walk. The more like them I am (with jobs and families and a desire to be fit), the easier it is to relate. They imagine fitness professionals just workout all day. Couldn’t be further from the truth if you truly run a business. You would never suggest a customer exercise 4-6 hours a day… you can’t do it either.
I don’t allow calendar appointments until Noon. So, I am working, I’m working out depending on the day, and responding to emails after 9 or so when I first open a browser.

Productivity an Issue for YOU?

Is it that you don’t know which tasks are the highest priority?

Or is it that you can’t focus due to too many distractions?

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Are you marketing to active older adults? Successfully? Did you know more than 2/3 of them – especially women - don’t think advertisers understand them? While this episode touches on marketing, we dive into just what supports older adults most. There's gold in using the science and facts to educate and allow it to work for you.

My Guest:
Pete McCall is a personal trainer, the host of the All About Fitness podcast, author of Ageless Intensity: High Intensity Workouts to Slow Aging and Smarter Workouts: the Science of Exercise Made Simple (both published by Human Kinetics) as well as several articles and textbook chapters about exercise physiology. Pete holds a MS in exercise science and has been educating fitness professionals since 2002.

Currently Pete lives in Carlsbad, CA where he is an education consultant for Core Health & Fitness, the parent company of Nautilus and StairMaster, as well as a content creator for both the American Council on Exercise and the National Academy of Sports Medicine.

Questions we answer in this podcast:

How are we defining “Active Older Adults” for this podcast? Older than what?
What are the most effective types of exercise for slowing down the aging process?
What promises do active older adults want?

Other things to think about for marketing to active older adults:

What images appeal to older adults?
What images show the transformation they want?

Successfully marketing to active older adults, or anyone, starts with doing your research. You have to ask questions not just imagine that you know who they are, what they want. That, perhaps, is the most important piece. People buy what they want not what they need.

As fitness & health coaches it's easy to see what people need and try to sell them that. Two things help bridge the gap. Help them understand what they need in a way that makes it what they want. And compromise so you give them what they want.

Connect with Pete:
www.petemccallfitness.com

He’s on Social:
Insta: @Allaboutfitnesspodcast

Twitter: @PeteMc_fitness

Resources Mentioned:

Pete’s New Book Ageless Intensity – sure to become one you reference and recommend!

Smarter Workouts

Copywriting Course

Ageless Intensity: High-Intensity Workouts to Slow the Aging Process

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How would you like a Facebook ad formula that works? Yes, please, right?!

No matter if you’re brand new to paid advertising, only thinking about it, but haven’t done any yet, or you’re a veteran but have noticed a huge change (for the worse) recently, listen to this episode.

It will help you think about thinks in a way that makes it far less mysterious.

When I first began running ads I would have loved to have a Facebook ads formula. I was fortunate enough to have access to a mastermind group and expert resources to begin. This is one area few personal trainers or gyms feel good about. There is always the question of whether or not you’re spending too much, not enough, and what to change or test to get better results.

This episode will help you identify a plan.

My Guest:

Jono is an award-winning international speaker, bestselling author, podcast host, the co-founder and director at Fitness Education Online and the admin of the one of the largest Facebook Groups in the world for Fitness Professionals (Fitness Education Online Community). Jono is the current Fitness Australia Educator of the Year and a former Exercise New Zealand Educator of the Year Finalist.

Questions we cover in this episode:

How much spend for a 1 million revenue from an ad?
Is Facebook still a viable advertising source?
How has Facebook advertising changed?
To listeners overwhelmed with the idea of setting up Facebook ads, you say?
Where does a listener start?
What about the difference in boosting posts vs using Ads Manager?
What is the perfect Facebook Ads formula?

Facebook Ads for Fitness & Health Pro Example from the show

Initial investment = initial sale

$500 ad spend

$10 leads

Close rate 10%

$500 cost of program (start of customer value)

Zero percent of local businesses run effective Facebook ads.

-Jono Petrohilos

Formula for $5 leads

Photo – small group of people all smiling and having fun after the workout

No: no smiles, working out/working hard, exercise photos, too professional, really fit and good looking

Headline – mention the suburb,
Copy – challenges work, 6-12 weeks, urgency

e.g. 12-week challenge kicks off 8th of August TOWN location. Click for more.

Lead Generator Ad (no website required)
Targeting – no interests required, distance/age/gender keep below 150,000 people for a small radius

There you have it, the perfect Facebook ads formula for health & fitness professionals

Connect with Jono:

www.fitnesseducationonline.com.au

FB Group: www.facebook.com/groups/fitnesseducationonline

IG: www.instagram.com/fitnesseducationonline

Through Sept 30. Code: comebackstrong20 allows 20% off one of 2 options.

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Whether you sell fitness & health services by webinar, phone, or in person all of these tips will help you get there.

First, before the meeting:

Set the stage for it being about how we’ll work together not if.

How long have you been thinking about this?
How serious are you about taking action?
Why do you think you’re not where you want to be?
Which of my products or services make the most sense to you?
What do you need help deciding?

On the call.

Set up…take charge.

How these calls usually go…
Ask permission to continue or share your ideas for them (based on survey results)
Ask questions pertinent to what you need to know.
Listen, and ask follow up questions.
State your recommendations. Ask, am I explaining that clearly? (make it about you not them if they don’t understand)
Do you want help creating and following through on that plan?
Would you like that help from me?
I work with people in two ways (no more)… x and x which is better for you.
Take the credit card details right then or… risk sending an email follow up.
Here’s what happens next. Paint the picture so they know what happens when the enroll. (as if… they will, already did)

What if they want to know if there’s any other option. Ask why. And if it’s price:

Let’s look at what parts of the program aren’t important to you and what we can remove from the service to make that make sense.

That can create a fear of missing out. No one wants less of the service. What they want is all the service and to pay less. So, when you paint it like that, they often find the money.

Before What You Say to Sell Fitness & Health Services

Most important… what are you doing to get people into your funnel: to your calls, consults, webinars? Do you get qualified leads? The ones ready to buy, start, get results?

Here’s how to write copy… which is everything you say, write, and speak on stage or in videos that either attracts or repels people. If you can’t help people take action, you can’t help them.

To sell fitness & health you really have to have a good product, really care about people, and give value that wows your customers.

Resources Mentioned:

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course

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There are two parts to how to present your fee or make an offer and they are:

Where – meaning what format
When and what do you say

So, I’m breaking this down into two podcasts because when I went to unpack it I knew I’d leave you hanging and leave important considerations out if I didn’t.

Present Your Fee ABCs

In this episode of how to present your fee it’s about where you’re going to do that. I’m talking about your customer journey from the time they find you and follow you here. The cost of your program or service also matters here.

In general, the more expensive your services the longer time you’re going to spend with a prospect before you make the offer. So, before you go too far into thinking about how to sell, make absolutely sure you know who you’re selling to, whether you’re selling a low cost item – usually less than $100 or you’re selling a higher ticket item, $1500- 4000, or a more custom product $5K and up.

Here are different platforms you can use to sell your services:

Low cost products can be sold via email.

The higher your price point, or the less time your customer knows you, the more likely you’re going to want to sell one of these ways:

A phone consultation
A masterclass
A live person consultation

Which One and When?

A phone consultation can follow a masterclass. A very small percent of customers make up their minds right away and buy on the spot. It’s about 15%. The higher the price point that number shouldn’t go down as long as you’re attracting the right people to your list.

Someone could make a phone consultation appointment with you from your website. Ideally, you’ll do pre-booking screening, so the customer is qualified and legitimately considering your services and able to afford you before booking.

Say you host a webinar or masterclass to sell. About 15% of those fast action takers are going to decide right then. But many more will need more time and more follow up emails. One of those emails could offer the opportunity to book a free phone call with you for those on the fence.

If you’re seeing clients in person now you can also present your fees and close in person, or there’s always zoom.

One Offer

If you confuse you lose. Give one good choice. When they’ve made that you can build an upsell but don’t present two different products in one email or one masterclass or you’ll no sales.

Big Clubs Big Mistake

Big clubs who launch numerous fitness programs at one time are constantly at risk for this. They just vomit the list of paid programs and hope the right customer will find the one they want.

But they can’t nurture that customer based on what they’re thinking if they take that approach. A whole lot of people who aren’t the ideal target are also getting that email.

So, if you aren’t already, segment. If you serve both men and women, segment. Sure there may be times you have something that works for both, but you want to be sure when you’re talking about menopause you’re sending that email to women in their 40s – 70s.

Keep It Clear

Decide your ONE offer and make that offer irresistible. If you’re collaborating with someone make sure you’re selling one thing that the customer has to decide on. Nothing more. It’s always possible for you to make a special consideration if someone reaches out and says, I’d like to do it, but I just need x, I already have y, can you work with me? A single option, a single price, and I won’t teach irresistible offers on this episode. Do let me know if you’d like a review of how to do that.

Don't Miss it!

Resources:

Copywriting Course: Marketing to Women

Flipping50 Fitness Specialist & Advanced Specialist

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In the year and a half we’ve had it’s nice to hear a fitness business success story. Hang onto your hats because it sounds too good to be true. But founded on listening to what was already working, first for them this sister act created a community that love them and what they’re doing.

Sisters, best friends, coaches, and most importantly, moms! Both Ashley and Jocelyn are NASM Certified Personal Trainers and Certified Nutrition Coaches, also holding a B.S. in Health and Fitness Management. The Lavender Sisters created TLL Fit to help busy moms step into their power and become who they were always meant to be, inside and out!

Listen to this fitness business success story and create one of your own. Are you using the right words to attract your ideal customer? Have you truly defined who it is? And do you know what motivates them to buy. Find out the 5 female buying personas and a dozen word families you can use to create your emails, posts, blogs, titles and sales pages that (ethically) help your ideal customer say, YES!

It’s how I went from $0 to 6-figure months after gutting my fitness business life at 49. You’ve got this.

Questions we answer in this episode:

Why this? What sent you into this business? What's your personal story?
How did The Lavender Lifestyle and TLL Fit come about? What's your backstory?
How long have you been in business?
How is your business unique?
What are you doing to set your business apart?
How has the pandemic treated you and what pivots did you make?
Biggest learning moments you've had?
How's partnership working? Biggest points of conflict? Who's in charge of what?
Who handles accounting, promotions, campaigns, back end?
What are your goals for 2021 and beyond?

Key in fitness business success stories generally all start by having a clear customer journey from getting to know you and buying from you, again and again. Once upon a time your first step for ideal customers was…

TLL Fit offers fitness challenges to kickstart healthy habits and also 1:1 fitness and nutrition coaching. How is your business different or what sets you apart?

And the last question I asked this fitness business success story is this:

What have you learned from being in business that you feel is helpful to share with other entrepreneurs?

Connect:

www.thelavenderlifestyle.com

Connect on social media:

https://www.instagram.com/the_lavender_lifestyle/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/TLLFitCommunity

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This fall fitness is on shaky ground if you're running a gym or studio. These are uncertain times for people.

A confused mind doesn't do anything. That could mean changes for those who are doing virtual sessions or memberships as well.

This episode is all about how to launch fall fitness programs and promote packages in a way that respects the moment people are in.

If you need help understanding promotions, creating offers, and presenting them in ways that are anything but sleazy, salesy, or pushy, click here to learn about how to ethically connect with your clients.

Launch Fall Fitness Promotions

Things to consider before you begin promoting:

what is your customer's biggest problem right now?
what have they tried already?
what happened?
what did they love/hate about it?

How to respectfully promote right now:

address the concerns for safety
address concerns about immunity
use testimonials of people just like your most reluctant members and clients
be open and honest about your concerns and the actions you're taking

Planning a Launch

A launch has multiple parts. The mistake most fitness professionals make is waiting until a program goes on sale to think of marketing it.

But the bigger the price tag the longer the runway should be.
There's a pre-launch - that's the period of time when you haven't yet opened the cart (made it for sale) and you begin to tease it.

First there's the subtle launch when you're considering what your customer needs to be thinking and feeling in order to buy. What do they need to know.

Then there's the more direct pre-launch where you let them know you're:

working on something special
excited about something new

When you launch:

the cart is open
you're sending frequent emails
posts and lives are happening daily
there's urgency
you could use bonuses that disappear

When you close, it's firm. They have to trust you and word travels fast when you don't honor deadlines.

Need help finding the right words for your promotional emails, posts, pages, headlines and subject lines?

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Fitness professionals…Are you teaching multiple fitness classes a day online?

Running personal training sessions online and doing the workouts with clients?

Feeling beat up, exhausted, tired all the time?

All the while juggling….

Keeping a facility afloat
Home schooling 2 kids
Operating as a single mom
Or juggling time with spouse/partner and family
Caregiving to aging parents

In the past two weeks, I’ve heard all of those. Many of them from the same person. You can’t sustain a life or income stream by doing that. If you go down it all crumbles, right?

It’s beyond time to work smarter… and it’s easier than ever

There is a way better business model.

It’s not just that the 1990s called and wants what you’re doing back.

It’s time to let go of limiting beliefs you have about online training.

And… it’s your time. There has NEVER been a better time to create something as a solo entrepreneur that serves people, uses your skills and talents without burning you out.

Listen, first get this:

Health coaching is a multimillion dollar a year industry.

And access to classes does not have to be live.

Be honest.. have you been correcting people in your class on their form? Really giving them feedback? Then there is VERY little different from the perspective of your customer between a recorded session (that allows them to pause and rewind) and live.

The convenience of having access 24/7 so they aren’t dependent on you at a certain time is a WIN for them. A benefit you can charge them for. If they love you, they love you.

Let me back up and talk about health coaching again.

I began health coaching back in 1995 and raised my rates when I went from meeting clients in person to meeting them on the phone with the convenience of being in my home or traveling when I did it.

When I stopped training completely (by then I was only doing 2-3 sessions a week at most anyway) 3 years ago my 50-minute personal training sessions were $100 while coaching is about $300 per 50-minute session for one-on-one. When I do a group I make $500-700 per session. If a group didn’t reach that revenue I’d either cancel or we’d look for a few more participants.

Why Do One-on-One

But I don’t even do one-on-one anymore except for a handful of professional women I love to work with. Because I can’t afford to. A group coaching program triples my hourly revenue but even then, managing a business that brings in 6 figures a month means that my time may be more valuable spent elsewhere. When I do it because I enjoy it, I’m in the comfort of my own home or in a hotel or with my mom.

I have an online business.

Most people have no idea what that means. You might hear it and think that means I’m a personal trainer delivering one-on-one sessions online. Not ever have I done that. Not once.

What Does an Online Business Look Like?

Here it is. Yes, I’ve been a personal trainer, medical exercise specialist, strength and conditioning coach with all the certs… yoga, Pilates…. For years.

But I’m not doing it daily. I’m not even doing it weekly unless I’m launching a new program. Even then, I often don’t need to create a new workout, I can use pieces of prior programs. It’s all there!

So, I’ve created programs once…. ONCE. And sold them for years. I’ve put thousands of women through them for $97 - $249 and then they go on to do the next thing, I’ve also already created once and sold hundreds and then thousands of times.

And so can you.

I laugh when trainers say my Flipping50 Fitness Specialist course is more expensive than most. Whatever you’re thinking of doing with it … you’re thinking too small, my friend. You no longer have to think about the people within a 25-mile radius who will be willing to drive to you. You don’t have to wonder if people will show up for your 4 o’clock class.

Since 2020: Fitness Has Changed

Fitness has changed for fitness professionals. It’s become convenient for consumers. They can choose from anyone in the world. Don’t let that scare you, because most fitness professionals don’t spend time getting to know and care about their customers. They don’t polish their communication and marketing skills. They don’t know how to write copy.

But you can.

If you’d like to learn more about how to do that…

And how to promote that so you aren’t lost in the sea of trainers, health coaches, Pilates and yoga instructors, and barre classes available… all online vying for the same customers right now…

Then I encourage you to take a step.

Step I

First, register for the 5-Day Build Your Business bootcamp to grow your business. It’s the start of growing your presence, your confidence, your clarity about your message. If you’ll commit to yourself and your business for 5 days, you’ll have the process that’s grown my following to over 200,000 women in my niche, who then join my email list, who then join programs.

Wherever you are in your process of starting, growing, or scaling your business so you don’t have to do everything personally or physically and finally can have freedom and health you’re teaching others to have… in order to get a change, you have to change.

Step II

Next, if you work with midlife women, register for the Flipping50 Fitness Specialist course. This month you get a complimentary Marketing to Women Copywriting Course with your purchase. If you’re worried about the cost, you and I need to spend time together so you understand how to make the single sale that pays for that and then keep doing that over and over again.

We’ll do that with a virtual conference late fall to help you outline the business – and the life with freedom – you want.

Links to Resources:

5-Day Build Your Business Bootcamp

Flipping50 Fitness Specialist

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course

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If you make either of these two biggest fitness marketing mistakes post pandemic, it will cost you. You’re going to make them totally unintentionally. I mean of course, right? Why would anyone intentionally make a marketing mistake?

Beyond that, though you may think that yes, you’ve got these two bases covered and realize after listening, no you don’t.

One way you know this is worth a listen is you’re attracting the wrong kind of people.

Another way you know this episode is worth your time is you’re not getting any engagement on your social or your content marketing.

If you confuse, you lose.

What are you sharing in your social media posts?
Do people understand what you do, why you do it?
Are you establishing yourself as a go-to authority in the area where you want people to find you for programs, products, and services?

Analyze:

The name of your social media profile
The posts you create (one by one because that’s how they see them)
The way you’ve positioned yourself

And then apply this to the following to avoid two biggest fitness marketing mistakes

Big Fitness Marketing Mistake #1: No Specific Audience

The other day I reviewed a business website and social media platforms as part of a social media audit. It was hard to know who the ideal customer was and if I couldn’t tell as a fitness marketer looking for it, how could anyone?

Just because you’re focused on a certain age and gender (demographic), it doesn’t mean that that everyone in that demographic wants the same thing.

First, there’s your niche. Are you about food, exercise, mindset, hormones, weight loss? What is your specific niche?

But that’s not even enough.

Here's an example:

Take women in menopause. Many are married, but an almost equal number are single. Are you talking about dating? About traveling alone? Or about family vacations? About drinking wines and trips to Napa? Some (I’m one) wouldn’t enjoy that at all because they rarely and then barely drink.

Some women have a conservative view of menopause, what’s happening and possible, while others are thinking about doing triathlons after retirement. Who are you talking to?

Women in perimenopause are more likely to have kids at home full time jobs, and a unique set of problems, compared to women just post menopause. There’s a subset of women in post menopause who did have children later … so who are you talking to? Define it very specifically. And realize, they need to feel “like you.” If your images, videos, and copy doesn’t resonate with who they are or want to be, you miss the opportunity to help women looking for you.

Bottomline?

Narrow your niche. Know who they are and who they are not. In the Marketing to Women Copywriting course, I shared 5 unique profiles of female buyers. Not only from an interest standpoint, but from a motivation to buy angle. When you dive into that you’ll create copy that resonates so very much with your audience. The fitness copywriting tips will improve every single fitness marketing outreach you make.

Big Fitness Marketing Mistake #2: Making It About You

Once you’re a brand: a Jodie Foster, or Simone Biles, someone cares about you and what you’re doing. But until you have that brand recognition what really matters is how you tie any post about you to them. It’s always about them.

Know before you post what emotion you want to evoke. How do you want them to feel by reading/watching/viewing your post?

How could it make them feel? Is there any way what you’re posting could evoke a negative reaction? Consider it. We can’t please all the people all the time, but you do want to consider if you could cause more of a disconnect than a connection. If your post puts you too far up on a pedestal you may want to consider if there’s another way to tell the story you’re aiming for.

Make Changes to Avoid Big Fitness Marketing Mistakes

Maybe the photo works if the copy changes, or vice versa.

If you’re stunning, for instance, sharing how vulnerable you feel at times, or if you’re thin, lithe and fit, sharing how and when it wasn’t always this way, can connect you better to someone who is not there yet.

Here’s an example of a flat vs. a connecting post:

Original Post copy:

“Women in their 60s have served and cared for others so much. They find it hard to care for themselves. You can’t pour from an empty cup.”

New Copy:

I see you there, beautiful giver. Serving and caring for your family and your friends. I see you wanting to continue doing that for decades. Wanting to enjoy retirement – or rewirement – and your decades ahead.

Can you pour from an empty cup?

What fills you up? With your wisdom of care for others you’ve suppressed your own needs for a time, but you know. What is it for you?

Time alone
Time with friends
Reading
Nature
Music
Exercise

-----

This new kind of post reaches her. It reaches her instead of teaches and preaches™ or just states a problem. It asks a compelling question that a reader will answer in her mind.

Never forget one of the most powerful words in marketing is you. Whether you say it or write it or imply it, speak to one single “you.”

There you have it. Two biggest fitness marketing mistakes that you can avoid. If you’re a solo entrepreneur, you can pivot quickly and make your next post already better.

Resources Mentioned in this episode:

Marketing to Women Copywriting Course

Flipping50 Fitness Specialist

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It’s December 8, 2013. Tears stream down my face as I remove family pictures from the great room in my home...

The year before…

I had a comfortable 6-figure income, no debt, owned outright a 4200 sq ft house I loved, a Lexus, retirement funds, and no worries about paying my son’s tuition let alone where my next paycheck was coming from.

If You Think It Was Easy for Me

My house was not even under contract, and every belonging I had that wasn’t with me, sat in boxes in the middle of rooms in that 4200 square foot house I loved. I waited for a buyer, but temperatures are below zero for weeks, reducing the number of buyers looking.

Circumstances that started when I handed in my resignation letter January 16, 2013, started a cascade of 8 major life changes that occurred over 14 months. I could have only predicted two. I quit (safety, security, and a regular paycheck) on purpose, on a mission, and my son was going off to college. The other 6 – some I’ve hinted at here others matter a little less, but here they are.

A 10-year relationship fell apart, as it turns out it was entirely built on false pretenses, and I’ve learned that painful reality over and over again for years, my financial situation changed dramatically based on investing everything – time, energy, and money into a business(stubbornly trying to do it myself).

Living the Struggle

I went from mastery in everything I was doing every day to totally learning from scratch how to build a business in a different way, I’d moved away from immediate family and friends, and suddenly had much less in common with them (who else did I know after all that was in a 100% online business? Um, no one. My family once again did not know what I was doing. I’m not sure they still do to tell you the truth. They say things like, “you can do that from anywhere,” with no idea that this is more than about posting to Instagram from my phone daily.)

If You Want to Get Untouchable Fitness Copy

I’m going to share with you how to do that. You can imagine we can’t possibly cover everything that goes into the programming, the pricing, marketing, selling … the what you say when they say “… “ details you need.

At the end I’ll share with you the last chance to get support this year. I have a passion for up leveling the fitness industry.

Copywriting for Marketing to Women Workshop

LIVE July 21, 2021 3-6pm Pacific

Miss it? Try clicking on the link and we’ll have something special for you.

5 Profiles of Female Buyers (they aren’t all like you)
12+ Word families that influence purchases
5 Templates to use for infinite inspiration
Mining your stories

Think your fitness marketing never works? It will. When you tap into your magic, and your customers.

Register for this workshop and let me show you how easy it is.

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The best lessons for fitness & health coaches are always going to come from making mistakes. Let’s face it, if you get it right the first time, you got lucky. You need to know why. So often that comes from doing it wrong, realizing what can go wrong, so that you can avoid it and plan for it next time.

Even with an experienced team, you’ll have mistakes. Sometimes it’s because of the experience. They aren’t looking at it fresh and meticulously like something they take ownership for it the first time will. It’s time to make a change.

It takes a village.

From behind the scenes to get it ready, and keep it going, to the partners who promote you, and ask you to do lives on their platforms, to the team members who are invested in the breakdown of a launch or event after and get to work on completing tasks.

For your affiliates, find like-minded business partners.

For your team find people to hire that you both like and agree to be accountable for the measure of success of their role responsibilities. When mistakes happen it’s easy to get upset but when you genuinely like the people you work with it’s easy to forgive when it blows over.

What Did You Expect

That said, you need to have a clear expectation and see when someone isn’t meeting your needs and is overstretched or can’t support your backend the way you need it. Sloppy mistakes and lack of willingness to report on measures of success is either a lack of understanding, lack of ability to do the job, or lack of motivation for what they’re doing. Decide what you can fix. It might be communication, instruction, and it might be the wrong WHO to do the job.

If you have someone you’re grateful you have, ask them what they need to succeed and what could distract them from doing the work you have to have done.

You’ll depend on others more and more if you want to grow and grow. For us hard-to-delegate I’ll-just-do-it people it’s a big and necessary step.

Things will break and mistakes will be made.

Expect it, anticipate it, and you can get best at preventing it.

Writing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) is a start. But holding a person accountable to doing them is the important part of operations. If they skip a step or complete it incorrectly, your business suffers from the mistake. Once you’ve created SOPs you need not only to have them checked, but it has to be visible. An individual who is following instructions behind the scenes is not holding themselves accountable for their role.

That just doesn’t work. Hire responsible people who want to do a great job, be held accountable, love checking off that they’ve done a task and are on track. Then everyone can celebrate it together.

People are watching, listening, and reading your content if you’re consistently adding value.

A few people will buy after first meeting you, some will buy when a source they trust introduces you, many more will follow you for months, or even years, before they decide to finally buy.

Play the long game and it will pay off. Your emails should offer so much value that people want to open them and stick around. Email promotion after promotion without any value is not enough.

You can email frequently and it’s okay as long as you offer value.

Mailing infrequently is a surefire way to fail. So, if you’re worried about emailing frequently, what you already know or fear is that your emails don’t offer value, you don’t know what to say, or you don’t have buyers on your list. Decide which of those is causing the most reluctance and deal with it.

Your emails don’t offer value?
You never know what to say?
You don’t have qualified leads?

These 5 lessons for fitness & health coaches are all important but none potentially more important than the last. If you want to make a major change in your business and be a personal trainer or health coach, but be THE personal trainer or health coach, then you need the ability to do this.

Put yourself in your customer’s place and make it the basis for any and all content you create.

The only thing that matters is what she thinks and feels. Put your personality into your content. Put facts into your content. And put emotions your customer can identify into your content.

I hope these 5 lessons for fitness & health coaches were helpful. Especially if you’re having a tough day! When mistakes happen it hurts! It’s your business and if a team member makes a mistake, they aren’t the owner, though you may get lucky and find someone who treats it like it’s their own, they will likely never care as much as you.

There is nothing different about making $5000 a month and making 6 figures a month when it comes to relationships with your customer. So, if you nail the conversation now, you’ll be on your way. If you don’t have the right message or clarity about what you do, who you serve, so that you can create more happy customers, then consider this.

Resources Mentioned in this episode:

Marketing to Women Copywriting Workshop

https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting

Hurry as this live event will close July 21, 2021.

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Is hiring help on your radar? Are you at a point you need to hire?

The start of relationships is always yummy and exciting. The middles are riddled with hiccups and speed bumps, and the ends are either mutual or explosive.

Here’s what I know after 37 years of private business work, as the individual being managed, as the manager, and as owner.

You know what it takes to write a good ad for support?

It takes copywriting skills.

It’s not that different, hiring internal customers vs attracting external customers. Over 20 years ago when I first labeled our staff members internal customers in a then mid-sized health club,it changed the way I led them.

[Mind you, I still had a lot to learn. For instance about the different personality needs. I assumed too often- and still do - that people are like me. That is I get my satisfaction from accomplishment, finishing, I actually don’t love praise from others because if I feel myself it was well done that’s so much more to me and if I don’t that kind of external praise doesn’t land on me well.

They're Not You

But I tick differently than others. And so do you. For instance, I assume people will get the job done that they say they will, or we will communicate about it ahead of time. It would never occur to me to change a date or deadline without advance notice. But mostly, I would just get it done. I know what I can get done realistically and I don’t promise more. Not everyone is like that.

I Never Knew

External acknowledgement is one of the most important things to most people. To someone like me, that’s a shock, so I have to really effort to do it, without if feeling fake. And it’s not that I don’t appreciate the job, but when the job expectation is to complete it, on time, working well, that feels to me like making a huge fuss about stopping at a red light].

I’ve been involved in private businesses from health clubs, to financial planning businesses (very lightly and by way of marriage), and my personal fitness business since 1987. I’ve stepped into leadership titles often before I was a leader because that’s how we did it in the fitness industry early on.

Know what I mean? If you were hired and promoted fast, you do.

Don't Make the Fitness Industry Hiring Help Mistake

Teaching fitness, and being a responsible rockstar employee that showed up on time, never called in sick, then often got you promoted to “director” or “manager.” But.. it’s an entirely different set of skills.

There was a need to set a standard, a set of guidelines, and expectations for job success and what would lead to termination if those expectations weren’t met. I’ve conducted thousands of weekly and monthly meetings, some effective, some just chit-chat in my eyes that employees loved. So you’ve got to balance the task-minded, focused with the what your hires need.

Again, a need for clear communication about needs, and goals, and task-at-hand so that none of it is forgotten.

You’re a New Leader?

Or maybe from the aftermath of 2020, you struck out on your own. Suddenly you’re the owner, entrepreneur, and you may wear all the hats for a time. As you do, if you don’t create systems (the steps for the actions you take every day), you’ll struggle to delegate when you hire. I’ve got systems I created in 2013 however and I have yet to find someone who can do them as quickly as I can, so I still do them too much. I see them sitting in the little file that says “systems” dated 2013.

That’s a delegation problem. That’s on me.

At some point hiring help is mandatory for your growth. Compensating an A-gamer who gets things done on your timeline, meets deadlines, is proactive and intuitive, and careful to check and test anything before releasing it to the public is asking a lot. But not too much.

Not if you’re clear from the beginning. If you have someone who doesn’t want to be contacted when something they’ve built goes wrong and wasn’t checked & tested, you’ve got a problem. But if you failed to share the details for measures of success and expectations in reporting, it’s on you.

Business Differences and Similarities

The dynamics in each business are different. From a small one-location fitness center, to a partner-owned studio, to a multi-location business with annual growth of a department that had to work within a whole and 8 team members around a conference room table every Monday, to a small solo-run financial planning business with 4 individuals and a region of dozens of agents… each was different and yet so very similar.

You as leader have to be clear.

And I for one, wasn’t. When I started hiring new people to help with tech and customer service, I wasn’t clear. And because of it I learned a lot of lessons.

So.. in case you’d like to be spared some of those, take this message now!

Successfully hiring help hinges on clear expectations and measures of success. When you do that you find the right person for the job. You’re finding the right “who” to perform rather than filling a what (a person to fill a position who has the skills). You have to have both.

Doesn’t that ring true of any program or service you offer? You’ve got to describe with complete clarity the expectations for the customer. You share with them what you’ll deliver in terms of transformation(benefits), and the way you’ll do it (features).

Similarly when you’re hiring help, you’ve got to be clear. There’s been a shift. If you want to level up a team, the best way to leap a hurdle of hiring help is to stop writing job descriptions alone and be clear on the measures of success for a job.

Successfully hiring help hinges on clear expectations and measures of success.

When you do that you find the right person for the job. You’re finding the right who to perform rather than filling a what (a position).

How do you get clear? In a special Q and A during the Copywriting for Marketing to Women masterclass I’ll answer how to write a better job description to avoid headaches.

In addition to the 5 Templates you’ll get, I’ll share a template for creating a killer job opening so whether you’re hiring someone to help you build a campaign funnel, manage your social media, assist with your household needs so you can take care of business, or something else, you have the best shot of getting a match you’ll both say “I do” to.

EXCITING OPPORTUNITY

It’s really exciting when you step into leadership for your own business. Are you thinking like a business owner who already makes what you want to make? Who already has the influence you want to have? It’s easy to play small and realize one morning that what’s not working is you.

Hiring Help Gets Easier with the Right Words

It’s also easy, oh so easy, to flip the mindset shift, and get on with hiring help in a most effective way so your days are far less stressful and you have the creativity you need to without having to keep a thumb on deadlines for everyone else. Every week… the measure is there. Every day between meetings and check ins team members know what has to be done and their role in doing it.

Clear messaging internally and externally is a big part of your start, your ability to grow, and your ability to scale a business. When you’re hiring help it’s crucial.

Ready to get clear on messaging?

Learn more.

July 21 I’m sharing a 3-part 3-hour copywriting for marketing to women workshop.

I’ll present and you’ll craft messages during as well as take 5 Templates with you for use creating your daily, weekly, and monthly content. The bonus template is based on today’s content, hiring help.

Register to save your spot as I share the 5 profiles of female buyers, how to emotionally propel them into action ethically when you have a product or service that improves the QOL.

Resources:

fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting

FAQs about the copywriting workshop:
Q: Will there be a replay?

A: Yes, so you can "workshop" in your own time. (and replay this later to create killer content for your upcoming programs!)

Q: I'm not even sure about my offer yet, will this be appropriate for me?

A: Absolutely. No matter where you are, communication is important. You can use the right words to identify what your audience wants. Even with a small list, (or for growing a list), copywriting is a skill you can't succeed without.

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I don’t personal train anymore. Want to know why?

I don’t work one-on-one any more except in a coaching relationship. I never exercise with a client. And would not advise you to be doing that if you’re coaching someone online. That’s a ridiculous service job that takes you back light years. Imagine exercising for 6-8 sessions a day.

That kind of thing last happened in the 80’s as the norm. It carried over into the 90’s for those “addicted fitness instructors” who ignored the well-known risks science had discovered. (My master’s thesis, in fact was about how to avoid exercise injuries from “aerobics.”)

You Don't Have to Repeat Past Mistakes

But trainers did it. During the pandemic trainers who never would have done it meeting in person with a client did it when meeting virtually with them. What was that about? Discomfort. Lack of confidence and belief in what you were doing being enough. That is something valuable to acknowledge, and to deal with.

You are no less valuable training a client while they’re at home in their living room than you are in person. The exercise done to proper fatigue is just as valuable for them. You in fact monitor them less keenly while you yourself are doing the exercise. Upgrade your services by making sure you’ve given tips to them instead. Provide a more accurate cheat sheet for them as well as homework between sessions.

In a darker background, wear light clothing
Wear form-fitting clothing so they see your demonstration
Be sure you have a quiet space so clients can hear you
Check your internet connection.

But you exercising all day is a super quick way to burnout, reduce the value of your time, and trash your body. Why would you want to send the message to a client like that? You’re their role model, right?

Do What You Love

But that’s not why I don’t personal train anymore. I can’t afford to. My time per hour would price me at a ridiculous rate. If I’m not making $500 an hour it’s hard to justify time spent training when I’ve got other things to do in my business.

Fitness professionals today don’t “exercise for a living.” They support others exercising for a living. There is a big difference.

I have a gym owner friend who says, and has for years, “I sell sweat for a living.” In my opinion, that’s a functional mindset issue and a message to staff and public that loses clients and trust. What he really sells is hope, optimism, and inspiration.

Inspiration Not Perspiration

And so do you.

You can stand out online in this crowded market, even if you don’t personal train as we know it anymore.

It’s not hard.

There are a lot of copy cats making it easy to be unique.

Pay less attention to what someone else is saying on their social media. Pay more attention to what your customers are saying. Respond to that. Know your customer better than anyone else.

That is good copywriting. And if you’re not good at it now, you can get better at it.

Right Message Right Time

Here are 5 examples of where you’ve got to be good at it:

Email subject lines
Emails
Social media posts (the copy below/above your image)
Your blog/video titles
Your video script

And I’m giving you all 5 PLUS a bonus template

descriptions for hiring your virtual team or staff members

Those alone are worth the registration for my Marketing to Women Copywriting workshop July 21. I’ll share what I’ve used to grow from $5000 a month to 6 figures a month. Using original content only you can create and everyone will want to copy, but can’t.

Think outside the box. Think about how you can really do what we all must do to be in business, solve a problem.

What is it you solve?
How do you do it uniquely?
What’s special about your method?
Why you?

If you can get a clear and compelling message to the audience you want answering those questions you can create thriving business.

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People are texting asking me if they can promote my program to their group.

Carole, who I met a few years ago at an event we were both attending and we’ve been friends on Facebook and see each other annually otherwise (except for COVID). That’s it. But she knows what I do.

She knows me and she knows her audience.

She knows they need what I have.

And she’s seen me promoting. I’ve been in lives on Instagram and Facebook on my own timeline and been a guest on a mutual friend of mine’s timeline. I’m advertising in Facebook and she’s probably seen the ads.

Typically, you will reach out to others. And I have. I have 3 others promoting for this launch. But Carole is not the only one, another friend asked last week and she and I did a live for her audience Thursday night.

So that’s 5 people actively promoting to their audiences who share my target customer.

When you successfully grow your email list all the time so that you can launch to your own list (and not burn the same people out selling the same product), and then…

You have others who have a significant sized list email and promote for you…

You will not only grow your sales…

You will grow your email list…

You will grow your social media following…

And you will have another chance to sell something more or sell something the first time to these people.

Texts and Emails can become overwhelming at times. But I’ve always got room for these kind.

Your homework:

List 5-10 affiliate marketing partners that you would love to have promote you

List 5-10 affiliate marketing partners that you could promote (the lists might overlap)

Start nurturing those people.

Like their social media posts, comment, share

Think of someone you know they should meet and ask if they’d like in intro

And?

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You don’t really want your social media to go viral!

What? If you’re hoping, wishing, even trying to create a video that will go viral, (come on, even just a little bit?) I’m about to convince you otherwise!

With the hope that you can then:

Focus on increasing the impact of social media you’re spending time on
Stop wasting time and energy (or just envy) on those gone-viral videos

You’ve no doubt heard that “riches are in the niches.” Meaning, that if you have an “everybody” approach to who you serve and how you market, your message doesn’t hit home for very many. It’s why Flipping 50 Fitness Specialists do so well. It’s a niche. It just happens to be a niche where now women are contacting me, saying they’d sponsor/scholarship a trainer who lives near them with the course just to be sure she gets a trainer who knows how to help her menopause fitness.

Let’s talk about some of the very few ads that appealed to a broad audience.

What Do Folgers and Budweiser Have in Common?

Remember the Folger’s commercials? It’s Christmas morning and one of the adult kids sneaks into the house having finally made it home from the army or some weather-delayed trip? He’s found first by a little sister, then the parents. And hey, it’s the holidays… that may be one of the rare commercials that spans ages and genders.

Superbowl commercials, the ones with the Clydesdales and the cute dog, do a pretty good job, as they should – it’s a wide audience of men and women at every age, everywhere tuning in for different reasons.

You Don’t Have Superbowl Reach

Then there’s you. Your ideal customer is not “everybody.” And there’s a big difference between a brand-loving ad and an ad that gets a specific customer to buy a specific service you offer that solves a specific problem.

If you run a big fitness center, you may want to work on ads that feature an emotional return right now (just post pandemic as I record). And it could appeal to a broader range with a “Cheers,” or a coming home kind of angle.

Remember that one person at a time is seeing your ad. If it’s not specific to the problem she wants to solve, promising the transformation she wants, featuring the clear message she feels speaks just to her? She’s may not even click on your ad image.

Can You Afford Loyalty Only Now?

However, those big broad ads do something you don’t want to do. They are just trying to win your hearts and loyalty. My guess is that you want and need to make sales from your messages. So being the “center of it all” is kind of not helpful. (Sorry, not sorry to someone who needed to hear that).

You really need to tell one person seeing your post the one thing that moves them into action with you. If you convince someone to get active, start their pandemic comeback but you fail to show them why it needs to be with you? You may be selling the competition who does get that message to them clearly.

People aren’t looking for “something.” They are looking for “the thing.”

Imagine This

A big fitness center with dozens of trainers has trainers who work specifically with midlife female clients. That those trainers are also seen working with men, and older adults.

Then there’s a boutique studio owner/trainer and an online trainer who both work exclusively with women in menopause.

The woman in menopause will decide between the online and boutique studio owner based on their preference for in person or online and price may be a factor. But it also may be a matter of who has the stronger brand. I want to work with the best and if I can have the best virtually, I’m going to choose that over mediocre in person. What about you?

I worked with a functional doctor in Austin Tx, while there were probably 12 functional doctors within 20 miles of me right here. Why? I wanted the best. The Austin-based doctor gave me far more value for free than a local doctor ever did. I knew that the service after we began working together would be amazing.

You are competing with the world right now. You’ve got to be better at marketing with value than you ever have in your business life before the pandemic.

Why You Don’t Want Your Social Media to Go Viral

Let’s talk videos. Because YouTube is a search engine, it’s got the most potential for virality. Is that the right word? When a video goes viral though think about it. In my life, I would have seen it, my family members – older brothers and sisters would have seen it, I would have shared it with my son.

Say it’s one of those humorous videos shared about triathletes. It’s funny for triathletes, for their coaches, for family members or ex-girl or boyfriends (who could have made the video).

But that’s a wide variety of people who aren’t going to buy the thing you might be advertising for, right? That’s young and old, men and women, athletes, non-athletes, you get the idea.

It’s not about viral it’s about value. -Sunny Lenarduzzi

Sunny’s quote comes from a podcast I recently listened to and I’ll link to the Entrepreneurs On Fire hosted by John Lee Dumis episode. There were several mic drops in the episode.

Let It Go Viral

So, sure, let your social media go viral but don’t aim for that.

When you offer value to your ideal customer, the one for the program that you’ve created exactly for that person, you’ll have immediate gratification in more leads and more sales.

If you’re still living in the land of objections:

That won’t work for me because I’m in a small town
We just don’t have that many customers
But I offer personal training and I can serve anyone

I encourage you to answer these:

If what you’re doing isn’t working why are you defending it?
What do you have to lose by marketing better?
If you spend a full day or more to create a program, shouldn’t you spend multiples of that to create the marketing plan for it? Do you?

If you have no idea how to write emails that get open, get clicked, and get customers…

If you leave the copywriting for your website pages to someone else…

If you know the gap between number of people landing on your sales pages and the number of people actually buying your services is huge

(or if you don’t actually even have that statistic??)

My Fitness & Health Coach Copywriting Workshop is just for you.

Respond here to be added to the invitation list. It was a bonus for the May purchase of Flipping 50 Fitness Specialist (advanced) and it’s a part of the BYB Mastermind, but you can attend too. Just send your request for more details and we’ll share it with you.

If you’re coming here after it’s over the recording will be available.

You don’t want social media to go viral. You do want your ideal customer to find it valuable.

Another episode You May Like:

3 Reasons Your Social Media Isn't Working

Would you like a fitness copywriting workshop invite? Send us a message.

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In this episode, I cover 3 Reasons Your Social Media Isn’t Working.

If your social media isn’t working, don’t give up. Get up, dust yourself off. And let’s do more of what is working right now. Post pandemic marketing strategies have changed. What worked 2 years ago, won’t necessarily now. What works today won’t necessarily in 6 mos. or a year.

What always does work is letting your customers decide what, and where, once you decide why you’re posting. If social media isn’t working for you right now, with more people online than ever before, it’s time to regroup.

Everyone is On Social

Friday afternoon I got my haircut and colored. Every person in the chair including myself was head down staring at their phones. Saturday afternoon I swam at the gym pool after a workout. Between sets guys and gals are staring at their phones, and at the pool? Same thing. I was the only one with a book or magazine in North Scottsdale, I think.

I think it’s safe to say the majority of those people weren’t creating or sending emails for work. (Okay, entrepreneurs, I get it, sometimes yes, but it’s rarer.) They may have been texting but for sure the 2 ½ hour average use of social media in the past two years hints that we have an opportunity, but only if we’re standing out. Smart and beautiful is not enough.

You have to have a voice.

It starts with your bio. The introduction of you to your audience on your website, your social media “about” section, the intro you do at regular intervals on your social media posts. It also includes the intro you hand to a host of a podcast or at your media appearances and guest speaking gigs.

If you’re not even sure where to start so that you’re not just a list of certifications that anyone else can say, and your audience doesn’t even care about, I’ve got just the solution. How to Avoid a Boring Bio is a quick little worksheet that will help you not sound like everyone else!

It’s Not Clear What Your Followers Will Get from Following You – There’s no theme other than you

Imagine that you decide you’re going to target midlife women. Your content includes:

Interviewing other fitness experts
Talking about food and fashion choices
Discussing aging and menopause
Sharing home remodeling and vacations

That’s a lot of variety. And if I really want fitness content, I’m going to follow a fitness expert. If I want recipes and food, likewise, I’ll search for that. If I want menopause-related content I’m probably interested in eliminating signs and symptoms, hormones, and science.

If I want to remodel or choose a vacay, I want to find an influencer who is sharing home flips or beautiful travel images. Unless you’re established as must-follow celebrity it will be hard to identify an audience who wants to jump around from one thing to the next.

A lack of value right up front and frequently

1. How do you save them from making mistakes, and get them whatever they want faster?
2. Are you busting myths or revealing research? Sharing recipes or giving workouts?
3. Do you show up regularly doing that so they can count on you?

A fellow presenter posts regularly in multiple accounts about bikini fitness contests, being a fitness model, life with Hashimotos, and about fitness in menopause. That’s a lot going on in her posts with a really diverse amount of information.

She’s not getting traction. The growth of her accounts and the engagement is very low, compared to some less-educated, less knowledgeable, and far less beautiful influencers. Followers would have a hard time knowing why to follow her though. She might do better having multiple accounts with just one clear focus. Brand those distinctly. Don’t cross over.

A lack of conversation that’s meaningful for your audience

1. Earn the right to be an “influencer” who shares insights into your personal day, schedule, vacation, diet, etc.
2. Before it’s about you it has to be about them.

“It’s not hard to eat healthy on vacation… just choose xyz.”

Comes across a little teachy and preachy to someone who says, “It’s hard to eat healthy on vacation.”

What if instead you flip it, and say, “It’s easy to fall off during vacation. Here’s how I cope.”

Trust me I used to make this error. I’d post without realizing my message that I feel 100% better and enjoy the vacation so much more when I do choose well, didn’t come across that way. It came across more as, “I’m strong, you’re weak, and not committed,” and… if your audience really needs you… they’ve left. They aren’t going to share that they gained 10lbs eating at the buffet on the cruise every day or sucking down margaritas, chips and salsa in Cabo.

The only ones who are going to like that are the ones already doing it just like you. So, think about why you’re posting, who you’re posting to, and where they are in their heads before you create a post.

What's Next?

There’s a lot here. I’m not a fitness marketing expert. I’m a fitness marketing surgeon. If you want to take the next step to bettering your fitness marketing, there are several ways I can help.

Get the free How to Build a Better Bio cheatsheet
Join the 2021 BYB Fitness Masterclass series
Join… for 2 days more the Flipping 50 Fitness Specialist PLUS Mastermind for 2021 at 40% off right now during this last 2 days of Women’s Health Month. Use: whm40

Never have to say your marketing on social media isn’t working again.

And stay tuned, I’ve got a special episode coming up for you about viral social media. And it’s so not what you’d expect I’d say.

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My content was stolen last weekend. An Instagram post I’d shared on February 6, 2021, was almost verbatim copied… by another midlife health coach, who after using my post as if it were her own in which I shared a client conversation she took and used as if it were her client, and then also used the copy below the graphic almost word-for-word.

There's More

But it gets better. Just after using the copy she plagiarized, she pitched her program declaring that her goal was to help someone reach their full potential… by coaching with honesty.

I don’t quite know what to think about it still.

I wanted to believe it was an honest mistake. But how could word-for-word be an honest mistake. Someone would have to be so naïve to think that stealing someone else’s words is ethical.

I found it hard to believe a midlife woman, who wants to be coaching midlife women, doesn’t know the foundational core values of no lying, stealing, or cheating.

Here’s What Makes This Potentially Very Risky

In using my client testimonial as her own, and the copy I wrote, she was promoting her own program. Profiting from this type of behavior makes it a worse offense.

So, when you have content that others admire, or think works, or wish they’d said, you too will have this happen to you.

It will happen. In this episode is what to do.

My choices were to…

Ignore it
Message her privately
Post about it publicly
Let the platform (s) where she’s used my content know that she is spamming me.

I chose 2 and 3. I have yet to do #4, and I don’t have time to focus on being a watchdog. That kind of negative energy doesn’t serve you. But sometimes you have to choose to make an example. This is one of those times.

The Message: My Content Was Stolen

I messaged her in Instagram. I posted on my Facebook page and shared it to my personal page. I used it to both gather feedback and to share with my community that this likely happens all the time. To someone, not to me. There are a lot of copycats out there.

By the way it’s a new teaching for our mastermind masterclass about how to create copy without being a copycat. It is perfectly okay to curate – that is share, repost, and credit – but it is not okay to copy and steal. If you know your customer better than anyone you should never need to or want to copy. Fitness pros and health coaches, do your homework, it’s easy, enjoyable and fun to really connect to your clients.

To her credit she responded to my message.

She accepted responsibility. And asked me to remove the post I’d made about her stealing the content. At the same time, she didn’t offer to remove the one she’d posted using my content. I have a proposal for her so we can discuss it, use it as a way to identify ethical practices, honest mistakes, and truly unethical ways of “collecting” marketing copy. Other posts of this copycat have begun to be “suspiciously similar” to other experts. She doesn’t herself seem to have a voice.

If your website or other content was stolen you have some options. First, though for many of us will be in this spot I was initially. And that is, a desire to understand it and how it could happen.

Will We Ever Know Why?

The thieving coaches and trainers (if they are, and aren’t bots) either:

Don’t know any better
Don’t have their own content or client testimonials
Know full well it’s not right but do it anyway

And last unfortunately, know enough to know your copy is good and that they need good copy.

So, it will happen, friend. If you’re here, I think it will happen to you.

I’d like to make this one thing clear before I point out what other options there are if you’re content was stolen, or you find that true in the future.

There is Room for Every Authentic Voice

I created a Flipping 50 Fitness Specialist course and host a mastermind and masterclasses in order to help trainers and health coaches’ market themselves better. I want my students to be successful. And I can do that because there’s no way that one of us can serve all the people who need help. I teach you how to use your own voice, tell stories, and elevate your audience members with marketing.

It’s what I try to do every day. It is one of the reasons after 37 years of experience, I still am very closely tied to every message I share. I’ve created it. Written it. Gathered messages from my clients and students.

That real, authentic, truthful content I share is mine. Not borrowed, or stolen, or made up.

So does the world have too many health coaches? Fitness trainers? If the health statistics tell us anything, and I believe they tell us everything, there is room for you. As long as you use your voice, your unique personality, skills and talents to connect with your clients.

You Can Only Authentically Market You. Start.

No one will copy a copycat. But they’ll follow and use your content. That’s not to say that like-minded people serving the same or similar audiences, don’t come up with similar ideas or read the same research they’ll share. But never verbatim.

Our personalities, our way of teaching and communicating are unique. It’s that uniqueness that makes you marry who you marry, not your best friend’s spouse. It makes you choose the outfit you put on and send the other things back in the dressing room. And it makes you appeal to customers you will love working with and supporting their transformation. Attracting them based on someone else’s words and stories is not only wrong but it’s going to backfire on you.

So, what you and I need to do is know what course of action you take if you ever have to say, my content was stolen what do I do?

Copyright is real.

What is copyright? Not ironically, we are diving into that in June with two lawyers expert in copyright, Trademarks, domain, and legal aspects of your website in the Flipping 50 Fitness Specialist Masterclass.

Too few fitness pros start with the legal business parts and instead dive into service and delivery.

Copyright Legality

Copyright begins when you use something. You say it in public speaking, write it, use it in product titles. Your use of it first and repeatedly makes it yours.

Back in 1998 a US law intended to update copyright law for electronic commerce and electronic content providers. It criminalizes the circumvention of electronic and digital copyright protection systems.

That’s known as the Digital Millennium Content Act.

It’s unethical. Is it illegal?

If you used someone else's copyrighted material and commercially profited from that use, you may have to pay him monetary damages, and court may prohibit you from further using his material without his consent. A federal judge may also impound your material and order you to immediately destroy it.

Your Content Was Stolen?

The DMCA, or the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, protects creative works on the internet and contains the legal foundation for rights management in digital works. It covers things such as articles, videos, and photographs.

The DMCA protects both copyright owners and internet service providers (ISP), otherwise known as online service providers (OSP). To warn would-be content thieves away, you can use a DMCA Protection Badge on your website. (this content from: https://www.upcounsel.com/dmca-protection also mentioned in resources below).

DMCA is all about getting your stolen content taken down.

More Explanation

It’s a little like copyrighted music. If you’re found using copyrighted music without a license to do so, once upon a time in gyms that came with a hefty fine. What DMCA will do is help get that content taken down.

If your content lands on a scammy website, you risk association with it.

Email Example

The same can happen with emails. Say you’re unknowingly emailing bots or spammers who’ve signed up for your email list. (Yes, this is a thing). If you fall into a spam trap set up by these bots, then Google reviews that as you sent spam and you risk far-reduced delivery rates, something none of us wants.

If you haven’t yet grasped that your email list is gold, and you have to scrape it regularly it’s time. If you already have poor delivery or open rates, Google knows at the least; you don’t clean your list. You’re sending people something they do not want.

How Do You Avoid Committing This Error Yourself?

If you love a post, don’t “copy” it and make it yours. Repost it. Quote the individual who said it. Interview the person. Engage and interact with them. Ask permission to share the post (and tell them specifically how you’re going to do it).

Add your own interpretation and you both win. If you have followers, they’re there because they like what you’re doing, how you think, how you teach. Your voice resonates with them. If you don’t have a following, that’s a red flag that potentially you need to do more you!

I’d love your questions or comments on this. Has it happened to you? What did you do? Have you witnessed it? Do you think, OMG, you might have made this mistake in the past and now know better?

Resources Mentioned in this Episode:

https://www.upcounsel.com/dmca-protection

https://www.dmca.com/ProtectionPro.aspx?r=mlmpptst

Mastermind & Masterclass

Tax & Legal Masterclass Bundle

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Doing that weekly fitness marketing plan is a must. Whether you decide you need to post four times a day on Facebook, or just once, once a day on Instagram or just every other day, it has to be done. Deciding on the image the text, any call to action, and all as a part of a strategy, not a random plea for attention, takes time.

How long does it take?

As long as you allow.

Every task expands to the time it’s allowed.

So, you decide. You have to decide.

Decide right now.

In this post I’m going to share the approximate time it takes to:

Write an email
Write a subject line
Write a blog
Write a video script

Whether you are a fitness or health coach, marketing is something left off every certification and every physiology and kinesiology degree program. Marketing 101 with the four Ps is not going to help you in 2021. I once suggested to my son who was contemplating changing majors to marketing that if he did, I’d encourage him to drop out. I was going to bring him with me to conferences and enroll him in the programs I’ve worked with to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars in the last 8 years.

Start thinking about marketing as small parts of a whole. You need to think about your big goals for the year, the quarter, and the month. That gives you a better goal for the week. You’ve got to be tracking the right numbers.

Tracking Weekly Fitness Marketing Progress

What’s your scoreboard? How many people engaged with you last week, compared to the week before?

How much growth did you have? How much traffic came to your website from the social posts you shared? Again, comparing it to what you did the week before is important.

Because marketing is one of the most important things you do in your business, and you’ve got to do it and do it well. (Frankly, polishing your marketing should come before your next certification, your next hire, or your next program starts). Marketing is always research that confirms what you’re selling is something people will buy. It confirms whether the message you’re using to describe it resonates with the ideal customer you’re targeting.

Marketing First, Delivery Second

But I’m not going to spend time exploring the importance of marketing in this episode. You know that. I mention that however to get you thinking about how little you spend time interviewing and testing marketing skills, or even writing the job description to a marketing director for your organization compared to how much time you spend hiring a trainer or front desk manager.

If you’re doing the marketing yourself, how much time and resources have you dedicated to learning how to do it, compared to getting certifications and reading books about the services you should be marketing better? That might be a touchy subject but someone listening needs to hear it. If you suddenly task your personal training director or yourself, personal trainer or health coach, with writing emails, ad copy, creating social media posts, and you’ve never studied it? How could that turn out well?

Weekly Fitness Marketing

Here is a rough estimate for weekly fitness marketing tasks:

Emails – 15 minutes each
Subject Lines – 30 minutes
Blog – I have a 5-minute blog post freebie – 5-20 mins to do the writing
Video Script – 10 minutes
Ads – 30 minutes for text ads

Notice that the fewer the words the more time you want to spend.

And you’re going to repurpose content. Research you have for a blog, will be used to create social media posts. You’ll weave that content into videos.

In reality, I know for me and my friends who do research-based blog posts it can take four hours to do all the tasks. But I don’t have to do every step. I create the topic and the bullet points. I can outsource the research links for the post. Get efficient doing what you do best. Set up alerts for new research.

Keys to cutting down your weekly fitness marketing time:

Know your ideal customer. You can’t craft a clear message if you’re trying to talk to “everyone.”
Know where the ideal customer is on their journey.
Know what problem you solve for the customer.

If you want help with weekly fitness marketing content and copywriting across your business, you can learn more at a special session for trainers and health coaches who help midlife women.

During Women’s Health Month, we have a special presentation and open doors for the mastermind. It ends June 1. Stage your comeback, your start or your growth with messaging that is on target for this moment in time.

Fitness Marketing Mastermind Masterclass

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How would you like to get twice as much done every day? In half as much time as it normally takes. Well, listen, I’m not going to talk about Tim Ferris’ 4-Hour Week. I think we can all work 4 hours a week if we want to. We just might be broke doing it. Most of the wealthy – and healthy – entrepreneurs I know (in the medical, health, and wellness fields) work considerable hours.

Is this you?

They do the things others aren’t willing to without complaining about it. They’re choosing to serve their chosen customers. They have goals. And they commit to reaching them. Not because it’s easy or effortless.

There’s another catch. They do the most important things first. They have taken the time to determine what those priorities are.

If you struggle with that, the most important steps for building your business, I’ll add a link in show notes for you. If you serve midlife women, you want to serve them optimally, and stand out in a crowded marketplace vying for the attention of women over 50, this is for you. There is a masterclass you want to attend as early in 2021 as you’re hearing this. It’s becoming more and more urgent that you get ahead of the crowd.

More Than Playboy or Playgirl Lifestyle

So, I hope you get already that this episode isn’t suggesting that you can work half days and then go golfing or skip the communicating with your audience the rest of the day. It’s not like that. But if you’re here so that you can accelerate your progress and yes, take the occasional vacation, or work less when you take work with you, then stick around.

The last plug on the productivity tips coming up in this episode is this: you’ll have fewer errors and regret your work less when you learn to work in a way that serves you.

I’ve got questions for you. Think of it as a quiz. The real evaluation of the quiz is not in the right answers. It’s in the quickness that you can answer the question.

Do you know the answer to these questions?

When do you have the best focus?
How are you inspired?
What boosts your creativity?
What time of day is the best for your concentration?
Is there a best time for meetings, sessions, and learning?
What’s the absolute worst time for pushing to finish a project?
What time of day do you make the most errors?

Do You Know Yourself?

I hated the typical workday schedule in private business and universities. I always felt like I was working all day, but I wasn’t getting anything done.

I was following my intuition before I ever knew I was following my intuition.

In high school, I got up early, (somehow, I was still always late for school) but I got up early! That’s when I would work on the school yearbook or other projects. In college I continued getting up early. Irritatingly early, for half a dozen roommates in small dorm rooms, I’m sure.

It’s Not Just the Workplace

There are no interruptions at 5am. Or few. Very few. Until there was. In 1995 I was introduced to my first real interruption. That first morning after we brought our son home from the hospital, I had a rude awakening. He was not going to be sleeping in for me. Quiet time evaporated for a while. Yes, totally worth it, but it made me realize how much that time was sacred for my productivity (and sanity).

A couple years later when I began working for a university and a gym both. When I had to be at morning staff meetings or taught 8am classes that came after handling kiddos, puppies, and workouts, I would get up even earlier so that I didn’t miss my productivity. I’d work for a couple hours, then workout, then get the flow of “get ready” and finally show up to be “at work.”

When I was training for Ironman distance triathlons, it didn’t matter if I needed to run 9 miles before my son had an early tee time, I’d get up a couple hours even before that in order to work first. (So early that for night owls, you might have been coming home when I was getting up!)

Like Willpower, Daily Productivity is Limited

Because I knew if I didn’t, I’d lose the productivity. That time can’t just be shifted somewhere else in your schedule. The work you put out if you’re not working on your personal schedule will probably be crap. After a day I just described hauling my son to golf tournaments, I could answer emails and phone calls, but I could not write, create programs, or edit content.

What About Your Morning Workout?

I used to be a morning workout person. Now I will if I can, but I can workout later and I can’t get the focus and concentration later, so it always wins. If I’m at a conference and know I want to get a workout in before it starts in the morning, I rise and work, then workout, then start the day.

You need to know you.

What’s the biggest killer of productivity? A Monday morning staff meeting.

What’s the second biggest killer of productivity? A staff meeting any other morning.

What’s the other productivity killer? Interruptions and distractions. Just like you don’t want to have an open door with people walking by or stopping in, you don’t want to have 14 tabs open or your phone beside you vibrating and buzzing.

Ask for specific thought-requiring tasks or set them for yourself to be done in the morning.

More Secrets to Get Twice as Much Done

Collectively? Are there common denominators? Based on hormones yes. Cortisol is higher in the morning – if it’s at optimal levels – it feeds your focus, concentration and productivity.

Suggestion: Create an unspoken rule in your business that those first couple hours in the morning should be as uninterrupted as possible for your admins and copywriters, and marketing staff or managers working on programming and scheduling.

Move meetings to the afternoons!!

When you block that productive time you want to be sure you are inspired and have ideas that you can implement. How do you keep the creativity flowing?

Ideas for Ways to Boost Your Creativity

Read industry articles
Spend an hour doing a science dive
Let it marinate while you exercise
Keep notes or voice messages for yourself
Listen to podcasts (like this one??)
Take a continuing education course (Flipping 50 Fitness Specialist)
Read consumer magazines
Poll your audience
Read books you love
Get a massage or a facial

You get twice as much done in ways I don't

The way you boost creativity to get twice as much done in half the time is different than the way I do. The books you choose will be different. You may choose to listen instead of read. The exercise you do may be different and you may find you are more creative in a group with people around unlike me who has to have some uninterrupted quiet time (and a mug or two of matcha) to be in my zone of productivity.

Above all, be sure the things you’re getting done, matter. There’s a lot of busywork out there that can make you temporarily feel good. You can fool yourself into thinking you’re working hard. But if it’s only helping you fill your hour up and not amplifying your revenue and the way you scale it, it’s not what you want to be getting better at.

Sometimes, saying no to opportunities means you can say yes, to productivity and profit.

Resources:

Fitness & Health Coach Masterclass (if you want and need to grow your business)

Flipping 50 Fitness Specialist

Tax & Legal Masterclass Bundle (ends soon)

My Matcha – my secret productivity weapon

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So you're posting regularly you're using Instagram, maybe Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, all the things, but results are dismal. Nobody is really liking, nobody's really commenting and nobody's really sharing and if you're on Instagram, we're going to talk a little bit more about Instagram specifically, Nobody's saving, which is like the gold standard. So, here's why, and what you can do about it.

So literally what I want to share with you is what I've been watching and observing in certain exercise professionals: trainers, bodybuilders and health coaches on Instagram. I'm watching their accounts, and what I've seen is great post great content, they're beautiful images, and nothing.

There's really very little interaction, engagement, and there's a low number of people actually even liking it. So that’s kind of level one.

They give you a comment. That's level two.
And they share it you’ve made it to level three.
They save it, level four when you're on Instagram.

We're not seeing that happen in a lot of accounts that I'm watching.

Are You Legal? Got Tax strategy for your HEALTH & FITNESS business?

7:15

today we're talking about hashtags. Your hashtag strategy has to be very, very specific to the post, not to generically what you're trying to read.

The algorithm on Instagram is getting smarter and smarter, and what's happening is it's looking at your posts, the images and or the videos that you're posting, and it's also looking at the copy the text that you're posting, and then the hashtags that you use. If they're different. ..They don't even apply to what it is that you wrote in your message? The algorithm and Instagram is confused. It's not going to help you get discovered.

Get It Right

So if you're creating great content the images and or great videos, you want to make sure that everything there is congruent, the pictures the videos, the infographics that you're creating, together with the copy that you're creating, and the hashtags, most importantly. Those latter two, so you can put a beautiful image that catches somebody's eye and then makes them come in, look, and your text and your copy may not actually be completely representative, just because you're talking about eating correctly, choosing, you know what you're eating and using the discipline and the knowledge that you need.

BETTER IMAGES

You may not show somebody sitting down to a plate of food you may not show food at all, but it may be an image, expressing this is how you're going to feel, you know like someone on vacation or on the beach, arm spread out up to the world full of energy, that kind of imagery is still appropriate, and probably a better idea than just one of food, but when you go to your hashtags…they have to be congruent.

You want to make sure that if you're posting something about getting started with exercise and beginning personal training and what that personal training experience should be like for someone.

9:32

If you're posting hashtags that are unrelated to the text that you added,

The algorithm is confused, is not going to help you any get discovered.

And here's a secondary thing that I've just learned from my Instagram guru and I'm going to share this insider tip with you. [And if you want more information and how you actually take the course that I took and get access to this a woman who is sharing so much great content and updating us all about what we need to be doing, DM me in Instagram or email us at debra@fitnessmarketingmastery.]

10:11

Multiple Images for Social Media Traction

It's important that you realize that if you add an ability to scroll so multiple images and pictures. If you add that, that scrolling with hashtags… and

scrolling is helpful because it keeps people on your timeline for a little bit longer, it will boost the engagement of the people who are already following you.

However, what's new now is that those hashtags that you're using won't help you get discovered by new people on a multiple carousel multiple image carousel well they're where they scroll.

So realize that you want to have different kinds of posts, and sometimes you're going to want to have just one video, or one image, not scrollable.

ONE IMAGE or VIDEO for Social Media Traction

That's when you really want to do your homework on your hashtags, and when I say homework, you've got to look them up and look up, you know, to find out. Are you really going to be found using those hashtags.

So if you use “#fitness” for instance, unless you are like me, Arnold Schwarzenegger that everybody recognizes, or that Jillian Michaels, who is going to be known for fitness, you know, lesser known people potentially like you and I today are not going to get so much traction, if we use that because it's got millions and millions of hits.

So you want to go deeper and say #fitnessforwomen #over50 You want to look at hashtags that illustrate that and see how many searches, and how many hits of that are there and make sure that you're doing a range that is reasonable.

Hashtag research for Social Media Traction

You want to have a wide variety of ranges, some smaller some medium size and some bigger in every post that you do but very related to what you're posting about. So let's go back to my example. So you're talking about the personal training experience what it's really supposed to be like, how it takes the guesswork out of what you're doing, how it is about strength training it is about cardio, it is about stretching, but it's about it for you, and no one else but you. It is very individual, and it is not just a group program that appeals, or is targeted at really no one in particular thing that's what you're talking about that's your soapbox, then use your hashtags.

Wise Hashtags

You want to make sure that you have, say, #FitnessAfter40

You want to make sure that you have women's fitness, and that's a big one, by the way, but #womenshealth, a smaller one, #womenswellness is smaller one.

So think about doing your research on post like that. But if you simply put happy, or you put something like versus active aging. If you appeal to an older population that's going to be a good idea, but if you're doing that you wouldn't want to put in the same hashtag set, you know, fitness after 20 or fitness at 20 Right, because those are conflicting, you've got to be in that same spirit that same audience would be attracted to any and all of those hashtags, and maybe using them to search for solutions.

So if you're talking about your virtual training, you might put #onlinetrainer #onlinehealthcoach, #onlinewellnesscoach

For Local Business

For social media traction within a geographical location use geo tags and hasthtags. #bouldertrainer #scottsdalecoach #iowafitness

If it's used just 500 or fewer times, I always skip it. But if it's used 1000 times 10,000 times 5000 times. Take a range of those types of hashtags, that's actually going to help you.

Make sure it's related to the exact content that you're sharing.

It can't be a reach. It really needs to be are these words that you've used so if you've ever used keyword kinds of research in say posting your YouTube videos. It applies here to the keywords that appear:

in your title
in your description
your tags
Long tail phrases are better than single words.

Do Your Homework

Think about what we're women search for when they're looking for core exercise, they're probably going to put something like core exercise for women after 50 So think about, literally, if you were her, and you need to know her that well, better than anybody else, when she's alone, frustrated left to her own devices.

What specifically is she typing into Dr. Google, so that you will come up your title, your description your tags, and similarly on Instagram, your copy in the post your selected hashtags, and potentially the image, but more so if that's an infographic.

TAX & Legal Strategy Master Class Bundle 50% off right now. Price increase May 5. (and still totally worth it!)

If you don’t know the answers to these, join me as I ask… and you can send your Qs if we still have space.

What’s the best way to set up my business? Sole proprietor, LLC, S-corp
How do I pay myself?
How do I protect my personal assets (and partner’s) from business?
What forms are a must on my website?
What do I need to have on my site if I have e-commerce?
When is Trademark beneficial and what’s the cost and process?
What if someone else has the business name I use? The domain?

Register now. You’ll get the recordings even if you can’t join live. The cost of consulting with one (let alone 2 lawyers who know health & fitness inside and out) and a tax strategist for more than two hours is at least 2x the registration fee and 6 times the early bird.

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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:

Can I deduct my fitness clothing/shoes I wear to train clients or make videos?
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?
How much of my house can I deduct if it’s my home office and I also shoot videos in dedicated spaces?
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?
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?
What do I need to know so I can keep more of the money I make?
Do you recommend using QuickBooks?
Do you recommend a bookkeeper? And How much does that cost, if so?
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?
I remember there being some kind of tax strategy about hiring your minor kids to work for you, can you explain that?
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.

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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

Should you be an LLC or an S-Corp?
How do you protect yourself on your website?
What do you do if someone else has the business name you’re using?
What is the value of getting a Trademark?
When should you consider a Trademark?
How much does it cost to get a Trademark?
Do non-competes hold up in a court and if so, what should be in one?
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)
Do you have advice about selling supplements in my business?
What are the must-have forms to have on a website to be legally compliant if you have an e-commerce store there?
What types of paperwork do I need in place for hiring contractors?
What types of paperwork do I need in place for hiring employees?
Is there an advantage to me for hiring employees vs contractors?
What exactly is copyright and what if someone uses exact copy from my website blogs and articles?
Is fear of being sued the biggest reason to hire a lawyer for my fitness business?
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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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:

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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)

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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!)

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

Elgato Key Light Air - Professional 1400 lumens Desk Light for Streaming, Broadcasting, Home Office and Video Conferencing, Temperature and Brightness app-adjustable on Mac, PC, iOS, Android

Logitech Brio 4K Webcam, Ultra 4K HD Video Calling, Noise-Canceling mic, HD Auto Light Correction, Wide Field of View, Works with Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Voice, PC/Mac/Laptop/Macbook/Tablet

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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.

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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

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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.

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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

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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:

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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.

Three pieces of content.
Each is worth about 6 different social media posts.
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!

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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.

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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!

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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?"

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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.

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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.

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New personal training revenue streams are a welcome topic in 2021. If it was a tough year for you, there’s light ahead. But chances are with vaccines, increased feelings of safety, people are going to opt for more of a hybrid exercise style for a long time. They’ve invested in the at home equipment. They’re not just going to let that Peleton and the $49 monthly membership collect dust.

Plus, they’ve discovered they can and it’s convenient. They like it. And they’re getting results because it’s easier to fit it in. I think they’ll come back. We’re social beings. But having a hybrid option and many more revenue streams in place will post-pandemic proof your business. That’s going to be good in any economic struggle.

Fitness will always be essential. People seek positivity and movement. We are essential. But be prepared with options for individuals and for yourself.

10 New Personal Training Revenue Streams

Add nutrition/lifestyle health coaching

Between active sessions or instead of them

Affiliate with other pros

massage therapist, nutritionist, acupuncturist, stem cell physician, dermatologist

Add supplements
Start a separate company
Bundle immune products
Bundle daily supplements
Consider protein, fiber
Add digital products
Live, recorded
Workouts
Corrective exercise
Education
Add group calls

To teach any above

Create an online membership site
Grant perks like discounts from sponsors
Special percentage off
Add courses, recorded workouts, forums with access to Q and A
Add group to private clients

Partner, small group, and large group

Add adventure training
We will travel together again
What if you also traveled “together alone”
Add family members or friends

For a discount, for coaching, for a family healthy mission

Affiliate with equipment products

Rebounders, treadmills, bands, tubing, stationary bikes (you provide the workouts), weighted vests

Resources mentioned:

Flipping 50 Fitness Specialist

Learn More About the Mastermind

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Hiring a team seem too far off? This episode is about how to make your life easier, run a business better, and learn valuable lessons about communicating right from the beginning... even with one.

If you struggle with delegating (hello, join my support group), this is for you. If you’re a “I can do it myself faster” kind-of-gal, I get you.

And you can. Until you can’t.

My Start

Listen, in December of 2020 my business made more than 12 times what I made in 2012 working very comfortably for someone else. It was right about then I began to spend 100% of my time building my own business, now Flipping 50, (and Fitness Marketing Mastery) with two arms to the business – supporting women in midlife with smarter exercise endocrinology - and teaching fitness professionals how to market and grow their own unique niches.

When I started? My revenue dropped to below zero. No more debt-free, dispensable income. Instead, hours of learning, taking courses, attending very different kinds of conferences, and no revenue coming in. That winds you upside-down really fast. So fast I had to sell my house… and that’s a story for another day.

Doing What You Have to Do

But for the first 3 years of that business I did it ALL. And I mean all. The email delivery system set up, hiring the website design, and overseeing that. Getting clients, creating social media, figuring out how to start – launch – promote not one but two podcasts. I wrote blogs 2-4 weekly and podcast episodes, and created the graphics and infographics.

I’m tired! And you may have needed to do that. But here’s what I wish I’d have known. Sooner. That my time is more valuable than that per hour. And once I had a system, handing that off to someone else would have been smarter use of my time. Truly to be a business, an influencer, with a mission, you can speak what you are about to someone else in a way they can support you.

Not Hiring a Team Just Yet?

So, you’re not hiring a team yet? Okay, no worries. Here’s what you can do. Fiverr.com is a service and it’s pronounced (“5-er”) like the number. I’d been using it for a year or so when my son was going off to college in 2013. I told him you could have anything done for about 5 bucks. Editing papers, resumes, cover letter preparation… and so can you! Some jobs are more than that but it’s fast, it’s efficient, and it’s so easy to start. You’re out very little if it doesn’t work, and you can ask for edits.

Why Fiverr.com?

It’s low risk
You’ll learn how to communicate better
You’ll be better at delegating from the beginning

Here are 10 ways to Fiverr it if you’re not yet hiring a team:

A list of Months/Days/Weeks of the year related to your business
Lists of quotes – like for Women’s History Month, or from fitness icons
Create a set of 10 memes for your social media posts this month
Generate covers for all your social media platforms
Create profile images that brand you on all social media
Media cheat sheet with a bio, topics, questions, contact info
Post-production of your podcast
Rockstar Thumbnails for your YouTube videos
An ebook design for your freebie
Power Point template for your presentations

That’s just to get you started. From that you can probably think of 10 more. Just think about what you’ve spent time on in the last 3 days that really isn’t something that is:

In your best wheelhouse of skills
Only you can do

But before you go Fiverr.com to replace hiring a team, make sure that you don’t just go there and go shopping.

You’ll go down a rabbit hole. You’ll lose an hour thinking of all the things you could create, and how cool it would be.

Don’t!

Like going to the grocery store for our clients, you’ve got to have a list.

Know what you need. Is it website design, or editing for your ebook? Is it graphics for your social media?

YOU want to have already created the list of business assets and the next steps you need. You want to be sure that you really NEED vs have a Nice to Have when you’re starting out. It’s easy to spend money!

Make a Profit or It's Really Not a Business

One of the silver linings of the pandemic has been eliminating all the “extras.” I’ve gotten really good at distinguishing NEED to have vs NICE to have in my business. If you’re just getting started, you want to stay lean while you put money into places that will make you profitable, not just there, or even creating revenue if there is no profit margin.

Try fiverr.com here: http://www.fiverr.com/s2/2851b750ff

Ultimately, hiring a team is going to be a step you’ll take. But for now, this is a perfect baby step that will teach you how to lead and manage projects.

Whether You're Solo or You've Got a Team

If you love, want, and need business growth tips for your fitness business… and you serve women in midlife … I have a special invitation to an upcoming Masterclass to help you overcome the biggest mistakes trainers & health coaches make in:

Training midlife women
Promoting their business online

Save your spot:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/specialist-masterclass

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If you’re taking the time to post but need to more social media engagement, this is for you. Wondering how you stop getting a handful of comments on a post and start getting some traction?

After observing hundreds of posts and giving feedback for consulting clients about why what they’re doing isn’t working and how to get better results, I realized the majority of mistakes are just unintentional glitches.

What is this Post About?

So, this post is all about how to make Intentional corrections to what you’re doing. You can boost your social media engagement. And it doesn’t just take throwing money at a post, in fact that easy, sleazy way of boosting a post with money? Will fail you every time while Facebook gets rich on it. There’s only one reason to boost a post, and that’s to test it.

Then if it’s working you go into Business Manager and create a real campaign to get real results. That, is an entire other podcast, actually a master class and you do need to create ads, friends. If you’re serious about using Facebook and growing a business, you’ll need to. But first… what you post has to be worth it. Boost your social media engagement organically before you move on.

Start Here

No matter who you’re targeting, talk to them not at them.

But first…

Be clear who you’re talking to before you post.
Do you need more leads, or are you talking to your customers? It’s a different conversation.
Do you want to reach local business partners?
Engage that specific target with a question so you can have a conversation.

Okay, now that we’ve handled that, let’s move on.

Ask a question every ideal customer (even a stranger) can answer easily

These become easier to respond to when they become polls. In Instagram or on Facebook you can create a poll. Use stories to do it, or create a meme that does it for you.

Have you worked with a personal trainer?

Yes or no

Do you workout at home or gym?

Home or Gym

And in those two questions I increased the level of engagement. In the Yes or No “poll” it’s an easy answer. In the home or gym question, someone could have to add an answer they type in.

Be thoughtful about strangers. These are prospects. They haven’t even joined the ranks of your leads yet!

They like to vote but they aren’t going to spend a lot of time doing so until you’re someone they already know and trust. You can try telling them, you’re taking a poll, and you’ll share the results. They’re going to want to benefit from taking the time. People do love to share their opinion, but they have to have some reason for doing it.

Additional questions to boost your social media engagement

If you were a gym member before the pandemic, will you return (just gym-goers, please)?
Are you over 50? Able to do lunges without knee issues?
What’s the worst symptom of menopause you’ve experienced?
When it comes to weight training, do you love it or hate it?
How many times a week do you do interval training?
What’s your favorite time of day (or your have-to) for exercise?

How to Stir Up Emotion

I’d love to hear your experience. Did you work with a personal trainer?

What did you hate about it?
What did you love about it?
If you never did, what’s stopping you?

Have you ever worked with an online trainer? Did 2020 make you do it?

Follow up!

If you’re forgetting that social media is a conversation, you could be missing the best way to increase your engagement. As soon as you post, you need to be available to engage. Go in and like and share your post from your business to your personal profile if you are your demographic.

You can’t set it and forget it. If you’ve got posts scheduled, that’s fine, but be aware of them and add comments to them yourself! The more action the more traction. You can start it.

If you have those few customers who follow you whatever you do, and engage with you, use that to your advantage. When they comment, respond back. Use more than 4 words to do it, and end with a follow up question.

Each of those things matters to the algorithm. And be sure you don’t just have your 5 kids like your post… because if they’re boys and you’re targeting women in midlife for instance, you’re going to be shown to more people like those first responders. It’s not going to go very well for you is it? Try tagging a few friends who are in the demographic you want (who are okay with you doing that).

Don’t Make This Mistake

What You Do on Facebook is Not What You Do on Instagram.

Or is it? I’m guessing if you’re simply automatically posting every Insta post to Facebook it’s not working very well. That’s because these are two different platforms. You’re going to say things like “link in bio” in your Instagram, and you’re going to use hashtags, that hurt your reach on Facebook. (Did you know? More than 4 on Facebook, maybe even any at this point, really decrease your reach there?)

There you have it, literally some real questions you can ask, and answer, and follow up on to boost your social media engagement.

Questions about how to boost your social media engagement? I’d love to hear them. But remember this… you should spend a very small amount of time on social media. It is not your content. Your content comes from your website. The social media is giving that wings and wheels so you get that message out and bring them back to your website.

Do What Only You Can Do

You and only you can do live video. But someone else, for a lot less $ than you should be earning per hour should be doing your social media graphics, and quotes from that content. I call that system Social 365 and I’ve taught it at 3 major fitness association conferences (ICAA, SCW, and FitnessFest). Most fitness pros start with social instead of ending there to bring people back to their site. Know your platform.

I’ll link to my book Health & Fitness Professionals Guide to Social Media Marketing (Healthy Learning). Yes, any social media guide can easily be outdated by the time it reaches print. It’s why I wrote this one to be inclusive of the questions you need to ask of all your marketing and of all platforms now and in the future.

(link to prior episode)

Resources:

Flipping 50 Fitness Specialist

Build Your Business MasterMind

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If you’re a female fitness business owner, even a solo personal trainer, and I would include, one working for another business, this is for you.

Because 2020 rocked all our worlds, nowhere as great as fitness face-to-face and restaurants, and hotels and airlines… you may have realized you put all your eggs in one basket. Attracting customers was easy because in fact you didn’t have to do it. Someone else fed them to you. If you established a reputation of helping your clients get results, you initiated some attraction. But when that model got taken away, and even now still when a very high percentage of customers are not looking to return to the gym any time soon, you realized, uh-oh.

This Episode is for You

This episode is both a little tough love and a little how to take back power that was yours to have all along.

You have the most power if you can sell. There are superficial titles that may make some of your fitness icons look successful, but news flash… if someone has more than 2 or 3 titles …. They don’t have more revenue. And they definitely don’t have more time and freedom.

So, know what you want. The limelight is okay if that’s what you want. Just realize it may be a swap for the finances and the freedom of time and energy to live your days in charge of your own schedule.

How Female Fitness Business Owners excel at sales

When you feel like you can’t sell or promote your own services or products, you have a belief problem in either your services or yourself. You’ve got to:

improve your product or service or
get support to build your confidence

Everyone sells. Everyone. Some do it so easily because they truly believe what they sell helps people.

When I was selling for someone else, selling the services of trainers who worked for me, it was so easy. When I went from taking clients who came to me easily and filled the limited slots I had to selling my products for 100% of my income, it changed everything. It in fact, rattled me a little. You falter, you shrink… temporarily. Or at least I did. Then you either pick up your big girl self and get on with it or you go find another job working for someone else for less than you want, for hours you don’t like, and give up freedom and potential to make whatever you want.

When you work for yourself as a female fitness business owner, you create money today where there was none yesterday. You can decide to create a package and sell it five minutes later.

There’s nothing in the world as powerful as that.

How do you get there?

Flex your muscles. Start doing live social media. You can start with recorded sessions but once you do them and realize video is king, queen, and prince and princess of social you want to do lives. But how, you ask? What are you going to say? (Link to prior live social media episode)

Most women do well when they start storytelling and teaching.

There is a difference however in teaching/preaching and raising/praising.

Teach in a way that is not condescending.

Don’t tell someone they need discipline.
Ask them if they’re committed.
Don’t tell them they need to ditch dieting.
Ask them if they’re ready for a more reasonable, realistic way.
Don’t tell someone they owe it to their family to be their best.
Ask them who else will benefit if they are, or who else suffers if they’re not.

Do you hear the change?

My bet is that when you aren’t selling with confidence, it’s not that you don’t believe in what you’re doing. It’s not that you don’t believe in yourself or your ability to help. More often it’s that the way you’re trying to do it, backfires on YOUR ability to feel integral around it.

It feels wrong but you can’t put your finger on it.

Am I right? I would love to hear your comment on this - below the show notes or a rating and comment in iTunes if you’re on an iPhone.

You’re a Badass Female Fitness Business Marketer Waiting to Hatch

Look at the scripts or bullet points you prepare for yourself.

Rewrite them in a way that you feel like you are supporting and backing up a customer who has been frustrated and shamed by programs and trainers in the past.

Review the content in the show notes here. My hope is that it will help you start to automatically convert your messages into those that connect you with the right audience.

More resources:

Flipping 50 Fitness Specialist

Fitness Marketing Mastery Build Your Business Mastermind

Mentioned in this episode:

Previous episode on Live Social Media

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Live social media sessions are the best possible use of your marketing time for so many reasons. You can repurpose them

You connect in real time with those interested in you and your topic
You learn from the questions and from the topic
Your platform algorithm will reward you for doing it
You gain confidence every time you do it

But, if you don’t plan what you’re going to talk about based on your followers, fans, and prospects asking, What’s in it for me? You could be wasting your time.

Social media lives that feel like a blind date may not hold enough attraction to get me there.

Live Social Media Strategy

Are you asking people to show up for live social media sessions without giving them a reason to show up for lives?

If you’re Jillian Michaels, the president of Lifetime Fitness, or CEO of Club Industry… maybe you’ll get lots of people showing up because you announce you’re going live at a date and time.

But if you haven’t got a lot of followers, established a reason why you, or a topic that is JUICY, or given a call-to-action beyond “this is free, you should come” then you’re making a cardinal mistake.

Sharing that you’re going live with your email list will help, if they’re also on that platform. It will get more of your buyers there and that will help tell the platform to show your content to more people like them. But if your buyers aren’t on that platform – aka – big mistake to try to use Instagram as your number one platform if your current customers aren’t using it as their ideal platform yet.

Be Careful Sending Customers Backward Without a Plan

Why spend time and energy promoting a social media platform? When they’re already your customers? I’d say that’s a silly waste of time when you’d want to be thinking about how you upsell those people and keep them busy doing your program instead of taking them back to a relationship on social. Now if they’re there…. Great. But you want to be giving your paying customers more exclusive material, more step-by-step systems to reach success.

Tell them what’s in it for them. It's all they care about.

What will you teach?
What will they learn?
What will you share?

In fact, when I do monthly webinars for my customers that’s exactly how I lay out the content on the page. My team requests that content, I add it to the form we’ve created and they’ve got the layout and system down. I’ve been doing webinars monthly for 6 years and before that for 2 years I did them weekly… yes, weekly. And I do a separate one for my membership. That’s a crazy amount of practice. And that’s only one arm of my business. When you add the fitness pros master classes I do onto that? I’ve done close to 300 live master classes.

Easy Entry with Live Social Media

You don’t have any barrier with social media like you do with webinars. You don’t need to use zoom or gotowebinar or be comfortable with them. But you do absolutely want to be as organized as if you were doing a masterclass/webinar. This is your first date. A blind date. The question you have to answer is, will there be a second date?

Use a Proven Model

Take a look at any syllabus from a course – university or CEC – it doesn’t matter. Or the “blurb” used to advertise a course at a conference or a program you signed up for.

That detail is important… if it got you to sign up, it’s likely got some good strategy.

It offered and teased some good content.

Now, who knows whether the content was GOOD.

The point is the marketing was good. Good enough to get you to invest time and money and energy in doing it.

Most of the things you and I are going to choose to spend time on we’ll make decisions based on level of importance.

And maybe convenience.

So, if I see you’re live and happen to be following you, I might check it out for a few seconds – yes, a few seconds. (that’s another podcast… about getting on and getting started ASAP – no chit chat)

But if you go to the effort – and you should – of promoting a “live” at a certain day and time, then you want to make sure you’ve thought about that schedule.

Will they stay?

Is this a time when your audience wants to be on social media?

I can tell you the best times for my customers – not you dear business pros – but my customers… and that is late afternoon at best, very early evening for East Coast, or it’s early in the day on the weekends.

Do you know when your customers want to be online, and when they’ll show up? Are you consciously thinking about what’s in it for them?

I hope I’ve given you some things to think about in regard to your live social media strategy.

Spontaneous?

You of course, may just want to do it, jump in and get comfortable. Then get more organized and use what little intel you got from those. But to help calm your own nerves and boost your own confidence… have a list of things you’re going to talk about. Have 3 questions about a topic you’re going to answer. It has to be organized for you… and for them or you’ll never be able to attract customers and build authority in one niche. Remember the key to success is going deep not wide.

Resources:

Building your online marketing strategy master class link

Social Media Marketing for Health & Fitness Professionals

Expert Instagram Support

The Health and Fitness Professional's Guide to Social Media Marketing

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You know you need an email service, often called a CRM (customer relationship management). You can’t send from your gmail or your yahoo account if you plan to have a fitness business, be a business woman, and scale a business.

This episode is to help you go from “tell me more” to “how do I sign up?”

Before you ever jump in to setting up what’s known as a funnel you need to know your customers inside and out. So, this episode jumps in somewhere in the middle of the story… and I want you to know there’s some homework to do before you get here.

I’ll link to a few prior podcasts and blogs in case you don’t know that customer like you know your best friend.

What You Need to Know to Use Your Email Service Optimally

Know the end thing you want your leads to do. What will they ultimately buy? Is it one-on-one coaching? Is it a course, is it a year-long program? What transformation do you provide? Some trainers will say weight loss. Some trainers will say athletic performance. Some trainers will say energy and optimally aging. You have to know. You may be working with people on more than that, but you have to narrow it down to something very specific if you want to grow a brand and increase business. This first step is crucial
Create a freebie. Something that your audience wants so badly they’ll give you access to their inbox and invite you to send them emails. It has to have a specific hook and it has to give them a quick win moving toward the bigger transformation that they get from you.
Create an opt in form. That’s just the little box where they add their name and email.
From there you create a series of what is called autoresponders. It’s the first email they get that delivers the yummy recipes you’ve created for them, or the workout video, or pdf.
Don’t set it and forget it. Watch it. Make sure you’re watching what happens when you email. Do they open it? Do they click on it? How many emails in do they drop off? What could you do instead? Your email service doesn’t do the thinking and adjusting to the analytics. You do.

Why Email Is the Way

Your email service can help you meet more people and care for them easier, effortlessly, and find the best customers while allowing those that aren’t a good match to know it and move on. Ultimately, that’s what you want. There’s an abundant amount of people in the world who need exactly what you have to offer.

You are the wrong match for some people and jobs, and for others you are absolutely perfect.

There may be things about your job you love more than others. This email service should be one you love. If you’re reluctant about it, I’m willing to bet, dear trainer or coach, that you’re thinking about it all wrong. You’re getting stuck in the its-new-and-I-don’t-know-what-I’m-doing… and we can’t be good at something we’ve never done before.

But if you instead think of the emails you’ll write, as if you were having a conversation with a client, your ideal client. And you write to that client.

Then, copywriting becomes FUN.

Copywriting is For Winning Email Service

Want a little info on an upcoming copywriting masterclass? I’ll put some details in this email so you can tell me more about what you want and decide if it’s a good fit for you. I’ll help you write everything from your emails, to your website sales pages, and your product descriptions, to your video scripts. Everything you say, and write is copy. Is yours working and consciously written for a fit or not?

Click for details on the copywriting clinic

Show notes will be at fitnessmarketingmastery-dot-com / email service

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Are you a medical fitness professional or want to be? On this episode I catch up with founder of the Medfit Network about the 2020 and what’s a head.

My Guest
Lisa Dougherty founded the MedFit Network in 2013. It is both a free online resource directory and professional membership organization. She established the MedFit Education Foundation, a nonprofit 501©(3) in 2017 to elevate the quality and amount of available education for fitness and allied healthcare professionals.

Beyond COVID we are still facing a chronic disease, obesity, opioid and mental health crisis.

This is an opportunity for the fitness & healthcare professionals to up level their education and services to be the front line of healthcare by aiding in the management and prevention of chronic disease.

This is a time where they can expand their offerings and services to the largest, fastest growing demographic in the US (the world).

Questions we answer in this episode:

Who joins Medfit?
What do you see Medfit members doing differently than a year ago when we were normal?
Do you agree that this may also weed out the weak and leave us with the strong?
As the founder of Medfit what have you found was the message of members during the pandemic? Were there noticeable waves of response?
What have we learned about fitness and health habits during the pandemic?
What have we learned about serving clients?
What has changed for Medfit and what has stayed the same?
You’re offering some new ways to connect and interact?
“The average personal trainer fails within 2 years”

~Lisa Dougherty, Medfit founder

Connect with Medfit:

https://www.medfitclassroom.org/
Social media: https://www.facebook.com/MedFitNetwork

60-day free trial membership https://medfitnetwork.org/promo/

Fitnessmarketingmastery-dot-com/medicalfitness

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Burnout among personal trainers is up. Are you at risk? This post shares a new study published in the Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research – ahead of print version.

I’ve written for the fitness industry for over 20 years, published in places like Fitness Management, IDEA Health & Fitness Professionals, and NSCA’s Strength & Conditioning Journal.

While I was still lecturing in Kinesiology at Iowa State University, I often found statistics from the Labor Force demonstrating very high job satisfaction among fitness professionals. I have to include that this was at a time that more fitness jobs were still part time. Fewer individuals were actually training at even the 32 hours lumped into full time work. Many included were fitness instructors teaching a few hours a week, and personal trainers included in those statistics were self-declared fitness professionals.

Full Time?

Today, or pre-pandemic, more trainers are employed full time. Many trainers are at risk for job-related addiction which often goes undetected and because of that is promoted. Consider it yourself, what’s the stereotypical trainer like? Chicken and broccoli? Protein shakes, Lululemons, always exercising and eating perfectly? Never misses a workout, often puts clients ahead of family or friends. Allows clients to dictate work schedule. Sound familiar?

Reasons for Burnout Among Personal Trainers

Work-related stressors for trainers during the pandemic included:

Less access to clients if they were in an in person only service delivery
Working 100% on commission for training sessions and or experienced layoffs
Need to adopt new training services and delivery options for multiple revenue streams without the education, experience, or skills to execute quickly
Inability or unwillingness to pivot quickly to adapt to the new and unique problems people faced during the pandemic and new need for marketing strategies that reached them

Those stressors likely spilled over burnout among personal trainers personal lives. Financial burden and new home life changes affected all of us as home became work, gym, leisure time, and school for all of us and limited our additional sources of social support.

I’m including results from abstract in the show notes as well as the link to it. My goal is to provide you with options and suggestions for you and for your team that have been proven to support burnout.

Starting Your Own Business? Surround Yourself with Support

In times when you may or may not be able or choose to gather in person, I hope that these will help you. One thing that definitely can, in a time for many they’ve taken a risk and begun their own business is knowing that while many suffered losses during the pandemic, for others in fitness 2020 has seen a huge growth. It’s for those willing to remember that where there is a problem and a solution, there is always a business model.

If instead your burnout comes from work addiction… where you’re a trainer who finds herself (or himself) constantly reading, watching, taking courses, in addition to doing your own fitness workouts, seeking the best nutritional advice, and never breaking for your personal interests beyond your career vocation. What hobbies outside of fitness did you love, what people have you stopped spending time with, what activities do you love and lose track of time doing?

Pre vs Post Covid Results

Seventy-one subjects completed the survey before March 2020; after which, a worldwide pandemic (i.e., COVID-19) occurred possibly affecting employment workloads and work-related stress.

Thus, post hoc analyses were conducted to assess differences in burnout scores pre-COVID-19 and post-COVID-19.

Within PTs, 33.0% reported personal burnout, 29.6% reported work-related burnout, and 17.4% reported client-related burnout.

Higher levels of burnout, across all scales, were observed in those who were PTs, women, unmarried, living alone, would not choose to be a fitness professional again, and took the survey post-COVID as compared to their respective counterparts.

Findings suggest that fitness professionals are not exempt from the stressors associated with personal and occupational burnout. Strength and conditioning coaches and PTs may reduce the risk of burnout by increasing social support, continuing education, and allowing for personal-care time with the intention of buffering these factors.

Social Support

Friends outside the fitness community
Fellow trainers and colleagues within the fitness community
Mastermind groups – to avoid burnout within personal trainers get support growing your business from people who have done what you want to do or are still doing it is required – no one does it alone

Continuing Education

Do it to completion – for many fitness pros the shiny object syndrome means purchasing courses they never finish which can actually increase feelings of burnout and overwhelm
Determine the value of con ed based on: 1) what it will do for your revenue and 2) what you’re most interested in and 3) how will it improve the quality of training you provide to your clients
Plan your con ed so you’re not forced to take multiple courses at one time, at the end of your recert period when there is pressure

Personal care/Self care

Do seek leisure time content beyond your work. Look, most trainers have science books on their nightstand. Find books, movies, and rekindle hobbies you’d forgotten. During the pandemic I personally took up reading “fluffy” novels again instead of heavier science-based content. I read Nicholas Sparks and similar books before bed, a complete diversion from the heavy work and political climate we’re in. Right now I’ll take a predictable happy ending any day.
Schedule your breaks so work tasks aren’t an option. I know a fitness owner who goes to mass at noon most days. Find a way to recharge your batteries before they’re dead. Make (even online) dates with friends to complete tasks. You don’t even have to be working on the same thing but knowing that a friend is also focused on a project and you’re touching base again in an hour, keeps you on track.
Rethink your workouts. During the pandemic when other areas are cranked up the tough workout you think you need may need to take a backseat to less. Before you hit the wall, consider getting exercise instead of driving yourself to illness. I know a trainer who thinks he’s fit because he runs 10 miles most days. Honestly, he’s sick more than most people I know. That’s not fitness, especially not in this climate.

Modify for the Times

I’m an 8-time Ironman. I’ve been swimming for 30-40 minutes a few times a week and doing a 30-minute weight training session a couple of times a week along with a lot of walking. Train for the energy you need instead of training as if you’re not in a pandemic, don’t have stress. For women especially, less is more if you want to avoid hormonal disruption that actually leads to sleep issues, and weight gain.

Burnout Among Personal Trainers

Burnout among personal trainers is up and job satisfaction is down the greater number of hours you work or perceive you work even if you’re not earning money. This is a pivotal time in history and in fitness. You have a unique and never to be experienced again opportunity because the pandemic has created additional problems that require solutions for those who are willing to go beyond just providing online classes and training via Skype and Zoom. Are you ready to create multiple sources of revenue? Be somewhere else and still be providing value and earning revenue. Click here for details.

Resource:

Snarr, Ronald L.1; Beasley, Vista L.2 Personal, Work-, and Client-Related Burnout Within Strength and Conditioning Coaches and Personal Trainers, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research: January 22, 2021 - Volume Publish Ahead of Print - Issue -

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=burnout%20among%20personal%20trainers

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Finding it impossible to do your fitness marketing? Here’s how to get it done in less time.

You’re the trainer, the bookkeeper, the advertiser, the marketer… and then you’re the chef, the cleaning lady, errand runner and oh, yeah trying to stay fit to walk the talk.

Have I about covered it?

So, I’m no different. And I don’t want to tell you that I haven’t had times when I did wake at 3 and probably slept by 8 or 9pm in order to get in a workout and be the golf mom, the manager, the trainer, coach, and all the things. And I thought I loved it. In truth, all of that was a lot of pushing, pushing, pushing and maybe proving… or trying to, prove something to myself or someone.

So, no matter who you are, if you’re an energizer bunny - and I mean really… without the caffeine and the adrenaline rush of attention or pressure of deadlines, or fear… you really are, great. But if you’re exhausted by all that action that you can’t see traction from this is for you.

Here’s how I finished a month of podcasts in 2 ½ hours this morning.

I had brief outlines and bullets, already waiting.

When I get an idea I add it to a list. It may never become a podcast or blog. But it might be a post or talking point for a consulting client. So I fleshed it out, decided what details like resources will make it more valuable to listeners. I add the intro and outro in case we’re promoting anything like the business building mastermind & masterclass series right now.

I allow no more than 30 minutes each.

Since I’ve already had these ideas marinating on my desktop, this was plenty of time. When I walk or run ideas come up and I just add to them. Any task will expand to the time you allow it. So don’t.

I repeated the final steps for each.

Then I get into my recording space and turn on and go.

I try to record start to end and have the least possible amount of editing. For an urgent timely message, I’ll skip the music and go from recording to postproduction in the same day. Listen, you don’t listen to a podcast for the intro and outro music. At least I don’t. You listen because the podcast gives you concrete applicable steps you can take or helps you feel like you’re not the only one in the world going through what you’re going through! Music is overrated!

Later today I will load these up into my host, Libsyn.

Then share show notes on my site. But listen, that’s copy and paste work. I can do that late in the day when I’m firing on fewer cylinders like I am early. It’s actually relaxing for me to do that. And next month when I’ve got support, that is one of the things I’ll hand off.

A support person you can hire for $10-20 an hour should be able to load up at least 3 in an hour, check for mistakes and allow you to either earn hundreds more doing something only you can, or to relax and do nothing.

Create the social media posts ready to share for release date.

Again, down the road to do your fitness marketing in less time this is just a system you create. But you don’t have to do it. Not once your time is so overscheduled that what you really need is a break and time and space.

There you have it how to do your fitness marketing in less time. Broken down into one specific task. But it works for everything. I tell this to my customers all the time. When they say I hate cooking! Or I don’t have time to cook! It’s because they are overwhelmed with the whole idea of ALL of it.

But.. in these steps:

Choose recipes
Write the shopping list
Do the shopping
Do the food prep

...it’s not overwhelming and other people can help if you let them.

So it is with you in order to do your fitness marketing in less time.

I hope this was helpful. Whether or not you have a podcast. That’s not the point.

Resources:

5 Day Build Your Business Bootcamp

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If you offer a free consultation to get more clients, you may have any one of these problems:

Getting people to book sessions
Getting people to show up for sessions
Making a sale from the consultation

Then there’s what if you don’t make a sale at the consultation, if that was the purpose of it, what you do next with that lead.

Stop the Anti-Sales Chatter

Let’s be clear that I totally understand none of us wants to be salesy, pushy or sleazy. So, since I didn’t even mention that ‘til now, I want you to do a selfcheck here on how you even feel about this whole episode title and the topic of sales. Unless you’re going to work for someone else, and even then, if you can’t sell, you’ll never be in charge of your own destiny. People who can sell, run the world. The people you can help need to buy your services.

Improving your success at any step of your consultations will help your business. Improve your success at every step will boost your business significantly.

If you aren’t a part of a mastermind or a sales and marketing strategy group so you review: how you get leads

how you convert leads to customers
how you get more value from every customer
how you renew and keep customers
how you get more new customers from current customers

…it’s time to be sure this is a part of your business, every week. The earlier in your business you start, the sooner you realize, if you didn’t ask anybody to become a client today, no one can say yes.

Before you even take any of the suggestions I’ll list in this episode, I highly recommend that you start tracking your statistics. Look at your insights. Listen, you can do that on a platform like Facebook or Instagram that you don’t even own, so if you’re not looking at every move you make in your own business, what are you doing?

Track these things:

Month/week/day
Number of consultations booked
Number of consultations conducted
Number of sales from consultations
Number of sales from prior consultations
Number of “no” at consultations
Reasons for every missed sale
Number of total sales

You or Your Team?

If you personally don’t do every – or any - free consultation to get new clients for your business track anyone on your team who does.

Should they be? Or should they have additional training? Average closing percentages in the business are about 40% for consultations. But if you do a good job of preparing people before they get there, I believe they should never be lower than 50%.

Look, most of us did not go to school to learn sales, or persuasive language, or copywriting. I’ll bet that the courses and continuing education that you’re taking are all about conditions, and training strategies, or joints, or something you feel lacking in as opposed to something that will help you get the clients you want to train with that knowledge.

Don’t be the best kept most educated secret.

It takes sales: do well at marketing and the sales is easy

If you’re not a part of a group of people supporting you to grow your business, your profit and identify how to keep the money you make by being smarter about expenses – so that you don’t out-educate yourself, instead of marketing yourself, find a way to fix that. If you want to be in charge of your own future, and the revenue and profit you make, you know how to sell. You’re good at it and you enjoy it. If you’re not there you can learn. It’s the path to helping people. If you have a money relationship that is damaged, you’ve got to fix it and that’s another episode.

If I could have shared that message in thousands of trainers that I’ve met from university teaching, managing personal training department, and presenting internationally, it would be that. Yes, of course, you’re passionate about the workouts and the learning more as you should be, but the presenters you envy and love … don’t even have the life and freedom you want. Make sure you’re following someone who both loves their life and has built the business.

Is a free consultation to get clients a good idea?

It is if it works. But look closely at who books and how long they’ve followed you and been looking. A free consultation is a big, huge, first step for someone who is intimidated, feels like a failure, and doesn’t want to be judged. So that leaves about 15% of the population who are already quick decision makers and they’re ready that will be most likely to book a session.

If you’re not careful with them, you could talk them out of it. They’re already annoyed that they can’t get started and couldn’t figure out how to buy what they wanted.

So, it’s clear you have to be clear. What is your objective for the free consultation? And what is the message you send the potential customer about this free consultation? If you don’t send them a message about this being the time when they decide WHICH way they’re going to work with you and take care of all the details of getting enrolled, but that’s what you intend? Then they may expect a free session that will show them what they need and how to workout so they can do it on their own.

What Happens If They Feel Misled?

Imagine how they feel if they don’t get that. Not likely that if you shock them at the session and there’s no exercise, or assessment, that they don’t get what they wanted they’re going to be excited about working with you after that.

Imagine instead that you’ve asked exactly what they want at the session, so that you can give it to them. What if you share with them the exact process of how the meeting happens and the objective, and what they’ll leave with before the meeting. Then you remind them of how you’ll spend time during the consultation during the first few minutes, and then you summarized the session at the end. How will they feel after a session like that?

If you’re nodding your head, you get it. We all like to know. Clear expectations make a huge difference in our satisfaction of an experience. So, those big signs and invitations for a free consultation with a trainer or a health coach or nutritionist are a big mistake. Give them some description. Start with who this is for, who it’s not for, what you’ll learn, and what you’ll take away.

10 Parts of a Free Consultation to Get Clients

1 Free vs Fee

Paid – flat

Paid – and applied to first purchase

2 Preview & Screen

A survey before they can book

3 Reminder

Email, text

You’ll contact if they don’t arrive on time

4 Overview

The way these sessions go…

Ask permission

5 Middle

The more they talk the better

Problem

Agitate

6 Pre-Close

If I could …

Would you like help with that…

7 Close

Would you like my help with that?

Take care of the details

Here’s what to expect next

Many of my customers ask to add ___, do you want to do that too? If you’d like to I’ll add that for ____ off. Or you can get it later, if you want to think about it, at the regular rate.

8 Follow Up – immediate

Same day for either a thank you, or for the links to complete transaction

9 Follow Up - a couple days

A down sell for those that didn’t purchase and a check in for those that did

It wasn’t the right time to do ____, I do have this group/program, starting and I have some spots left, and I thought of you

10 Follow Up – long term nurture

Is now a better time?

Are you still interested?

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Make money in your jammies, they said. Passive revenue, they said. Are you participating in affiliate marketing yet? or unsure of how to get started?

Have you begun to do any affiliate marketing yet? Affiliate marketing for health & fitness coaches is a natural, especially now! It’s probably easier for you to list the clients who didn’t want to know what they needed for home exercise than to list those that did not ask you.

I’m in the process of reviewing all sources of revenue – something I do before the last quarter of the year to determine what I need to do more of, less of, start or stop in the next year. But now given we’ve all got to do taxes I’m diving deeper into revenue sources outside of my products, services, consulting fees, and speaking fees.

Free and Easy

Passive revenue is not too good to be true. Every month it’s so nice to have that extra money drop in. It’s not like I have a specific revenue goal, unless I’m helping an affiliate with a specific launch and they are doing it through me and only me. And that’s rare.

Early during the pandemic I rounded up a blog post of all my favorites. I shot video of those items explaining why I liked them, what they were helpful for, and how to use them. Amazon was sending me gift cards (my choice for payment) regularly. I also gained a lot of subscribers by layering the YouTube videos in the blog and pointing from each individual item back to the blog. It was relevant and timely.

Choose Affiliate Marketing Partners Wisely

That’s exactly what every one of the affiliate partners I choose is. Skincare you may be thinking, how is that relevant? Well, in my book I talk about hormone disruptors that interfere with fitness efforts. If you’re putting a lot of toxins on and around your body, they’re going to sabotage my audience. So, it’s very relevant. At least for my brand.

If you’re gorgeous or have amazing skin… your people may be asking what you use. That makes it relevant too.

I encourage you to make a list. If you are your demographic, list the things you use on a daily basis. If you are not your ideal customer, then list the things you wish they would use, and need to know. And know, sooner or later someone will ask if you want to partner with them.

I always ask two things before I say yes:

Does spending time doing this take me off my mission?
Is this really something that I know, like, trust and feel good about putting on my site?

My Favorite Things: Affiliate Marketing or Not!

These are just a few but some of my favorite products to share with clients. Everything you see here and I share, I know, love, and trust it before I share. I use it, own it, and or know the program and the company – often the owner has been on the Flipping 50 podcast.

Sauna
Electric bike
Beds, Sheets, & Pillows
CBD products
Bone broth
Skincare products
Thrive Market
Natural hormone support
Castor Oil Packs
Coffee & Tea

I also share programs that serve my clients:

Emotional Eating Programs
Fasting programs
Function Medicine Coaching
Instagram Success

Remember again that the whole point of sharing anything – including programs with your customers and audience is to HELP THEM! Customers are already trying to crack the code… on something! Hormones, emotional eating, or for you and I Instagram, or YouTube ads, and I don’t do it all. I teach marketing strategy, consistency, and messaging. If you want an expert to teach you how to create an ad or get the best engagement on Instagram you want an expert!

If you work with seniors for instance, you might be sharing senior cell phones, alert buttons, chair lifts, and yes, they are online and if they’re not the sons and daughters seeking solutions for them are.

Start with Amazon?

An easy first step to get started with an Amazon store front as an Amazon affiliate. For me and likely for you when you find yourself answering the same questions over and over, it’s best to create a page. They ask you what scale you use, what weighted vest, what tubing or bands, or if there’s a brand you like.

I share it all on a resources page. Not all things there are affiliate, some are simply things I love and use or am asked about so very often I share them there.

Test Options for Passive Revenue

I also love to share the process I use with clients to get them better results and derive a better program for them. I do DNA test result overviews and lab overviews. It’s important to stay within your scope of practice. I tell clients the purpose is to teach them how results can help them make decisions, help me create specific questions for their health care provider, and what it might mean for exercise based on other clients results and examples.

Self-directed lab tests
DNA testing

Things That Didn’t Work or I Said No

Even passive income shouldn’t make you compromise your mission. There have definitely been some failed items sent to me to try that either weren’t successful or weren’t something I could even speak positively about. My agreement with a company is always to offer negative feedback to them and positive feedback if it’s right for me to promote.

Some of those products include: a lower back support, a painful pair of sandals, an equally painful pressure point mat.

Lesson Learned

The biggest lesson I learned and I’ll pass on to you is that if you’re not sure, I’d pass. The lack of authenticity if you don’t love it, will deem it ineffective. And it takes time to vet those things. So I would definitely pass if you aren’t going to promote it a lot or you don’t love it.

If you want to go and look at some of your affiliate marketing options, you can also start at an affiliate center – it’s like a hub for affiliates. Some of your favorites and mine like Power Systems, Perform Better, and Road Runner or JumpSport for instance use the platform to operate their affiliate programs.

5 Easy Organic Ways to Start Affiliate Marketing Now You’ll Love

Add a resources page to your website
Create gift guides for specific holidays
Create a top 5 list cheat sheet
Insert a link or image into a relevant blog
Link to items in recipes or workouts

Some months I have a few hundred and others it’s a few thousand extra dollars to the bottom line. Like anything you do want to plan your promotions to make the most of it. In the mastermind group we’re running this year, I’m sharing exactly the things I use, especially the ones that help my clients solve problems they’re asking me about.

Your Own Affiliate Program Creating Passive Income for Others

The flip side of affiliate marketing for someone else is creating your own affiliate marketing program. Do you sell a program or package that you can afford to gift a percentage of to a partner? Consider if you had to advertise for that customer what the cost would have been and that if the referral comes from a friend it’s likely to be a great customer.

Don’t give your time away however. A small percent is given if you’re giving away your time coaching or training. On digital programs the percentage is usually 40-50%, or sometimes a flat fee. You may not yet be ready but think about who you would partner with if you were. Start building relationships now.

Learn more about getting started in the Mastermind at one of 3 levels while this crazy perfect storm is yours.

Resources:

https://affiliate-program.amazon.com

https://www.cj.com

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So, imposter syndrome. First of all, let's define it, it's that feeling when you're ready to go live but you have this feeling or thought of what's everybody gonna think? what are they going to think when they see this? What if they knew that I don't know all the answers? What if I'm live and somebody asks a question that I can't answer? Those are just a few of the questions actually that came up this week.

In the last six days I've been doing a build your business boot camp for fitness professionals, primarily females helping other females in midlife that may not be your niche, but the things I'm about to talk about with imposter syndrome belong to all of us.

You’re Not Alone

No matter what level you're at, one of the things that I want to assure you of before I go any further and help you break through the imposter syndrome that we can all feel is that everyone does experiencing it, everyone experiences it at every level. And what I mean by that is if you're teasing yourself and imagining that when I get to that place, maybe you're looking at someone else who appears to have all of it together, or all have their shit together. And you're thinking when I'm in that place in that position, then, then I'll have confidence, then I won't have that imposter syndrome because really that's what imposter syndrome is all about. You lack the confidence in yourself.

You Do Deserve It

Somewhere deep down you don't believe that you deserve it. Now, that's a topic for a lot more than a 20-minute podcast, and there's really one I give you here is something really short and sweet to take away, and some tips to maybe listen to, or habits and routines and rituals to get into before you go live. That will get you up. Excited enthusiastic and remind you, who you are. It actually is very helpful to talk about a topic that makes your blood boil a little pain. If you feel that there's an injustice.

The World Needs Your Voice

Among those fitness, quote, unquote, professionals who really aren't qualified, who really can't help, who are making mistakes because of not intentionally, but because of a lack of education. Do you know, quick fix, crackerjack box certification that really is a weekend certificate. That doesn't allow them to really be working with some of the people who've got special injuries special conditions and need TLC. And you know, that what's between you and helping that client. And the person who got them, who's helping that client is very likely being in the right place at the right time with the right message that my friend is marketing.

Get Angry

So, if it upsets you that someone who's unqualified can win that customer because they have the better marketing strategy. Okay then think about that before you go live. Because if you don't get your message out there. Strong enough, you don't get your message out there, frequently enough. And you don't get your message out there with enough heartfelt clear conviction. You can't win clients.

And if you can't win clients you can't help clients, and if you can't win and help clients, you can't win revenue, and you will then convince yourself that you are an imposter you can't make any money doing this and you have to get a quote unquote real job. Is that where you want to go. So, wow, that went downhill quickly didn't it.

Everyone Has It

So let's back up, back to this place. First of all, everybody feels imposter syndrome, on a regular basis. I would guess, daily, if they're actually putting themselves out there and listen here's the thing, maybe this is the gauge of whether or not you are actively doing enough in your business. And that is if you don't feel imposter syndrome on a regular basis, you're probably not working hard enough

At outgrowing your current comfort level.

Get Uncomfortable

You're not stretching yourself, you're not reaching new people, you're not being the first one to walk into the room and stick your hand out and be the one approaching someone instead of waiting to be approached. And what I encourage you to do is if you've got a mentor somebody that you really respect and you can open up to about questions you've got, knowing you don't have to have all the answers without certain person. I would ask them, Do you ever feel this way?

Everyone Has Imposter Syndrome

Here's what I know, from mentors. When I first began spending the kind of money that I do now for masterminds. When I first plunked down my first $20,000 for a mastermind on an annual basis. First of all, I had never joined a mastermind for anything less. I just went right for the top, pretty much the way I went from doing a sprint triathlon to doing an Ironman distance, most people work their way up. I was all in.

And when I did that, the first day of the first mastermind of the year. I walked into the room, and I literally met that coach at the door and I said, Okay. Have you ever felt like a really small fish in a really big sea? And she said, all the time, she said I put myself there on purpose, said My goal is to always be the most naive person in the room. I want to be surrounded by people who were smarter than me, who I can learn from it doesn't do you any good to be surrounded by people who know less than you do, or who know just the same as you do so that you can share ideas back and forth.

To Grow

You have to be surrounded by people who have a difference of opinion, who have different experiences, and who can help you grow and stretch, because they don't always think that everything you say, is correct. And it's very uncomfortable, but I still do that, and it's now five years later, I'm reaching out to even more groups and doing the very same thing. So being the quiet person on the call or on the video really doesn't help you at all.

Getting Over Imposter Syndrome

How do you get over it though, because saying you're not alone, not so much helpful when it goes to the lights on, that cameras pointed at you, and somebody is waiting for you to talk. I want you to remember this, that it's about them. And I first gave you that one tip, if you can think about something that gets you upset.

Like, There are so many marketers out there, winning people over by their quick fixes by their fast game z sales the, this is going to work and you're going to lose 14 pounds in 14 days, you know there's a lot of that out there in January, but listen there's 11 more months in the year and it happens all year round and you know it, and soda why. Think about those things.

What’s Your Why

Because if you don't speak up, if we don't have more voices out there saying the right thing, then it is the squeaky wheel, right, get the grease. It's true. The message people hear over and over and over again. Are is the one that they're going to respond to. If you go dark and you go quiet. There's not much response on the other end right?

It’s About Them

So, think about those things and then remember, it's about them. When you're about to go live if you start all getting up in your own head about what are they going to think, you know, are they going to think you're trying to be some big thing you're in your own head. You're in your own ego worried about little old you and your quote unquote reputation will listen sister, maybe brother, I don't know who's listening, but maybe you think a little bit too much of yourself.

Maybe you don't have a reputation and maybe they're not even thinking about you in the first place. And the whole goal of you going live is not about you. It's not whether your hair is actually bleached as blonde as you want it, or your teeth are as white or your hair is combed correctly or not sticking up. It's about the message that you're about to tell them how strong, are your conviction in that message and getting it across.

Be Human

Do you know that it doesn't really even matter if you get a little tongue tied, while you're on a live video, because that's human people actually need to be able to relate to you. So if you take 10 takes to get it perfect. You're probably never going to be satisfied with any one of them. You're always going to be imperfect, that will never be good enough. And all those messages my friend said gently with respect, are about something in your past, somebody didn't think you were good enough and gave me that message. Somebody was always critical of you. I don't know who it was, but they're not here anymore.

What Do They Need?

And now it's up to you to shake that off and think about the people on the other side of the camera, and make it about them. What is it that they need to hear from you. What is it that they need to hear from you right now today before they go sit down on the couch instead of taking a walk before they go to the cupboard and get something with a barcode, instead of going to the refrigerator to get something that was recently alive, what do they need to hear from you.

Right now, today.

Define You’re Why

The next thing to help you get out of that imposter syndrome is really to think about what is your why. And a little secret. So I'll share a little piece of one little inkling that we did on the five day build your boot camp challenge. And that was having a riveting go on and talk about their why. Because, what is your why is the reason that you will be there in the first place, you'll be reminding yourself as you reconnect with your audience, they need to like you. Yes, but more so they need to believe that they're a little bit like you that you're like them.

You can't be up on a pedestal and perfect. Isn't that ironic. The reason that you're going to stop yourself that you're feeling imposter syndrome is because you feel like you have to be perfect, you have to know the answers to every question in the universe that a client might possibly ask you. And if you don't, or if you don't have a degree and you don't have a certification in this and that thing you feel like oh I'm not quite ready I can't really do that, you know, it's crazy, because nobody has all those things.

You’ll Never Have All the Answers

Nobody ever knows all the answers in every instance in every situation. And you wouldn't expect that of anyone. Think about your mentors, the people you most respected, whether they were your professors or your major. Professors you're maybe

parents maybe they were friends of your parents. Maybe it was someone in your church, those people that you really respected in your life Do they really have all the answers. Did you ever hear them saying you know I'll have to find out. I'm not sure about that one but I will get back to you, because that's a logical answer for intelligent people, to give.

You'll never have all the answers, and you don't have to be doing it perfectly. listen. Didn't you have an overweight coach at some point during junior high or high school or even call it mean, they weren't perfect, but yet that didn't mean that they couldn't be a winning coach. Remember your role. you are not there to do it perfectly. You're there to interpret it perfectly for someone else.

Find a System, a Method, a Blueprint

It's called Personal Training, it's called health coaching but it's one on one. And that really means you're not telling them the way you did it, or how you would do it and what would work for you. You're telling them the path the blueprint to get them there. So it takes the pressure off of your need for perfection. But let's come back to the number two thing that I gave you. Number one was it's all about them number two is, what's your why go into that tell it. Why are you here, why are you not a teacher or a plumber or a nurse or a doctor or a foot salesman bicycle repair.

Tell Your Story

Why are you not one of those things instead of a health coach or a personal trainer. If you can get into that mindset about well here's my why this is my why, because I know you've got one, you've got one is probably emotional. Maybe it's because of what fitness did for you how it lifted you up when things are dark. Maybe it's about saving the life of someone that you love. Maybe it's that someone you love with sick, and with the right help and how they have this information they wouldn't have been, I don't know what your, why is.

But I know you've got one.

What If You Never Do It?

And if you could tap into that right before you go on, even tap into that as the first thing you do when you go on, you introduce yourself you tell them what you're going to talk about. You tell them your why and then you launch into what you're going to do. Okay, number three. I want you to think about this. This is putting fear in you. For something that could happen. If you don't do this. So this is what I call that could have been me.

You don't want to be in those shoes of somebody who, in a year or two or three or five see someone else who took a risk who took a chance. And look at them and say, that should have been me. You don't want to be in those shoes. But unless you get out there, take a risk put yourself out there and start getting clear on what your unique and distinct messages.

You’re the Only You

Look, we all may be talking about core exercise or functional movement, but you're going to describe it in your own unique way with a unique tone of voice that is a mind. It isn't somebody else's. And you're going to resonate with someone listening, because it's you. So if you ever heard Marie Forleo heard of Marie Forleo. She's a fantastic marketer. She's a fantastic motivator. But one of the things she will say, in her show in her preamble and her PostScript is that you're sharing, only the gifts or the gifts that only you can share. And that is the whole point.

But if you don't get started, potentially, you will still be there in that moment you felt that haven't you somebody invents something and you think, Oh my gosh, I had that idea so long ago. I should have done that I should have done something with that could have been me or you see another trainer. And they've established some kind of credibility or maybe sense of sense of shame, however big or small it is, but you might just have a little bit of envy or jealousy.

Well, harness that that's a piece of your that could have been me, or that should have been me and you don't want to be that person in five years thinking. Had I done this, that could have been me.

review imposter syndrome.

Number one, remember this, we all have it. And you have it now. And you will when you level up, because as you level up, you will sure you'll gain competence, but you'll only have the competence when you're looking down as you're looking up to the people and the peers and people you aspire to be, like, later you will still feel like I don't quite belong here yet. And there will always be just a little bit of that.

it's about them.
what's your why.
remember that that could have been me, that should have been me. And you can stop that from happening.
Remember the thing that makes your blood boil, what gets you going.

Got Comments?

All right, if you've gotten comments or questions, or you just want to admit that right along with me. You too, sometimes have imposter syndrome. But you're going to commit to not letting it stop you from doing what you need to do to help the people that you know you can help.

Leave a comment below the show link at Fitness marketing mastery.com, forward slash imposter. What are you waiting for, the world needs us right now, more than ever.

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Trying to get results on Instagram? The platform that's becoming a search engine, a resource for answers your clients are looking for?

My guest is the founder of Capture Social Group and the Social Butterfly course. She's become a social influencer with a message and created a proven way to do it over and over again for her clients. Theresa Depasquale is a prior fitness pro and gets you. She's been where you are and understands the day to day list you have.

CEO and founder of Capture Social Group, Theresa began her career as an entrepreneurial fitness expert. In 2012 She started her Instagram page and used her business acumen and marketing skills to quickly dominate the social media space by successfully building multiple large, revenue-generating brand pages on Instagram. Her own personal brand page @TheresaDepasquale has over 230k followers and is still growing today due to its motivational and educational content.

With over 10 years of online branding and social media experience she’s worked hard to master the art of online branding and social media strategy and has become the go-to for many high-level clients and companies providing one-on-one consulting and programs to help them successfully build their brand online and to grow their reach and credibility.

In this podcast we answer:

What's the magic of Instagram?
Who is on Instagram?
How does anyone ever keep up with changes?

So if you:

want to build a brand online but don't have time to figure it out
want to gain credibility and establish yourself as an expert
want to use social media to positively impact your business
are willing to get out of your comfort zone and commit to a system that works
Then hop below to the link in this podcast to learn more about the upcoming program.

Learn more about the next course:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/social

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In this episode I share top episodes to grow your fitness business in 2021. From solving superficial problems you can handle today to identifying where you can change bigger systems and strategies for the long game, you’ll find a trove of answers.

Every one of these episodes I’m sharing was released during the pandemic and relates to the “new now” in our fitness industry. It doesn’t matter if you’re totally digital, you’re offline or you’re doing a hybrid, you’ll find marketing and other strategies at the foundation are very similar.

Flipping 50 Fitness Specialist & Mastermind Details

When You Can’t Get Fitness Clients

I share 7 questions to ask yourself when you can’t get clients. I also shared the mistakes I made early in my career when I wasn’t getting the clients I wanted. And trust me I still make that mistake occasionally. In fact, fairly recently, a 20-minute consult turned into an hour-long session and I knew in the first 10 minutes it wasn’t going to work out. But I was so mystified I let her keep controlling the conversation. That’s a story for another day.

If you’re not consistently turning those interested people into customers I share why that’s probably true and what to do about it.

Branding for Fitness Professionals | Personal Trainers

In this episode.. and if you like it, you should join me in an upcoming fitness pros master class to learn more about playing the long game. You don’t develop a brand with pictures. Or a logo. You do it with a message. One that breaks through the repetitious crap that people are tuning out because they hear it so often.

I had a great time talking with a photographer who CAN however get you killer photos and can do the whole package. We dished all things branding and building the business that stands out… instead of blends in. If you find yourself buying the same tights and the same jackets and doing the same poses… as everyone else… are you being you? Cause everyone else is taken. You are just throwing yourself under the bus.

There’s only one you. Identify what and who that is. Pssst… you’re going to have to be real, be who you are when you haven’t showered and made up sometimes.

No Time to Build Your Fitness Business? Step- by- Step

There is never going to be enough time to do all the things you add to your to do list. You can’t do them all and have a life and love it. So you have to work hard and focused when you’re working. Then you have to stop working and have the life you’re doing the work for. Sadly, if your work becomes your life or you hold yourself back from a career you really want saying you can’t because of your family, will you train boys to love strong women or girls to follow their dreams?

In this episode there’s no judgment about what you want but before you listen I encourage you to be honest with yourself. It’s easy to use your family as an excuse not to go for it. That way you don’t have to put yourself out there, you don’t have to worry about what people will think or if you’ll fail or make mistakes. You don’t have to learn it all and ask questions and feel vulnerable.

But you also won’t satisfy that you inside that knows you have something… you have a purpose and this is it.

Are the Words You Use Costing You Customers?

Of all the podcasts to help you grow your business in 2021 this is one of my favorite. Words, meaning the ones you use in copywriting matter. And copywriting is everything. It’s what you say, what you write. It’s the way you start an email and the way you finish it. It’s the words you write in a text. It’s the way you introduce yourself and tell someone what you do.

Are you a personal trainer? Or do you say something that peaks interest uniquely?
Do you use words that turn would-be customers off?
Do you know how to create an ally in your customers?
Do you know the difference between a positive and negative and neutral title in your subject line and how it influences your open rate?

If you’re not testing it all and looking at the analytics, you should. What would 10% greater open rate do for you? What would more smiles at the front desk do if you’re in a brick-and-mortar business? That greeting is copy. You’re either using it or not.

Listen to this episode and you’ll get curious about why you love certain restaurants. It may not just be the food. They may train their staff so well that you’re feeling the effects of copywriting.

Taking Care of You | Personal Trainer & Coach Business

To grow your fitness business in 2021 you have to work smart and so you are simultaneously taking care of yourself. Have you figured that out while you’re getting up early, training over lunch and in the evening?

There are 3 parts to planning your business success. And that three-legged stool requires them all.

Start and Grow Your Menopause Coaching Services in 2021

You can and should know every detail about hormones and exercise. You need to know why exactly late day high intensity is likely to throw a menopausal woman under the bus.

But without the knowledge of how to attract, and keep her for the long run you’ll never build a sustainable profitable business. And look, what’s the point of having a fitness career that doesn’t even pay the bills if it were all you had to rely on? It’s too many hours, starting early and going late, squeezing your own workouts into minutia to really be a healthy lifestyle for many trainers who really make it a career instead of a hobby.

And yet it’s too easy to make a living equivalent to a hobby. So listen to this ‘cast about what you need to know how to reach them, enroll them, and how to measure your success.

Steps to Create Fitness Marketing Videos

If you want to grow your fitness business in 2021 you’re going to create video.

You’re going to create videos for programs, for courses, for passive revenue streams that make clients more successful when they work with you. You’re going to create video ads, and live video to talk to your clients. You’re going to create coaching videos and interview videos and demonstration videos.

If you’re afraid of the camera or don’t have a plan, this tactile episode will help you do the things that make a video better even before you turn on the camera.

The Dirty World of Fitness Conference Content

Here’s what you have to ask yourself when you go to a fitness conference, read an article, post or listen to a podcast just like this one. Has this person – the source of the information – done what I want to do? In similar situations to mine? Consistently over time?

What proof do you have of it?

I revealed some interesting tidbits from behind the scenes of fitness presenters that are only too happy to get up on stage and teach business of how to make more money. Yet, they have never had to make the money, they’ve always collected a paycheck. So if you’re a trainer who wants to create money where there never was money, you are going to want to make sure you have a legit business success teaching you how to do it.

That is not one who’s not made mistakes, one who has, and has stood back up and can help you see the path because of it.

Past Fear | Grow Your Personal Training Business in 2021

Does fear stop you from pursuing your fitness career dreams? You want to present internationally? You want to be a fitness influencer? You want to be the one they think of when they think of your niche? You want to earn more? You want to offer that unique program? You want to run your own business?

But you don’t know how? And that scares you so you don’t take actions to learn it, share the dream, speak the things no one else is willing to say.

If you see something that you know isn’t working and you think you could do it better, you have a solution, and you know it… but you’re quiet? Who can you help?

If you know these feelings and thoughts… thinking… that should have been me. That could be me. Then listen to this episode.

The State of Fitness During the Pandemic |Business in 2020

This episode released in October may have surprised you. We thought everyone had gained 15 pounds and been watching Netflix eating chips and drinking more wine.

But not everyone, in fact not a lot of everyone. I can vouch for our Flipping 50 members. Many of them are in better shape now (and were in October than when Covid19 began).

But there are things we should be worried about since the pandemic. My guest shares information from a poll of over 10,000 people about their exercise during the pandemic.

There you have it, 10 short listens to help you grow your fitness business in 2021.

Need support?

For more support all year, learn about the fitness business mastermind designed for heart-centered, skilled trainers and health coaches who are tired of not being the one that did it. The one that said yes to now being the best time to start.

This moment is not coming back. This one post- pandemic, new year, new awareness of the need for health, immunity, fitness and mental wellness.. through fitness.

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Do you pay yourself first? Meaning both do you pay yourself a wage and do you give yourself time off to recover and time you plan to workout exactly the way you’d tell your clients to?

This post is just for you. Because most trainers who have started their business in 2020 don’t yet have the business side of things down. How to pay themselves, how much, when, whether that’s moving money from one account to the other or it’s a business check… first steps first. Let’s talk about how much the job you’re doing is worth and how can show up to do it best.

Pay Yourself First

As a fitness entrepreneur I would bet you fall into one of two categories.

1 – You don’t pay yourself enough. You take a payment from your business only if you make money and you move it to your personal account when you need it.

You pay yourself less than you would pay anyone else for the same job you do. You will workout before anything else, there’s no way you skip that but you’re not as disciplined when it comes to running your business

2 – You don’t give yourself the same disciplined exercise and nutrition support as you do your clients to get. You get caught at your computer, returning emails and phone calls and writing your programs … and don’t eat, don’t get up often enough, don’t workout the way you should, drink too much coffee…. And you promise yourself that tomorrow will be better, that when you catch up, or when you make enough money it will be different.

If they’re not perfect descriptions for you, they’re very close.

How do I know? 37 years of doing it myself. One or the other or both. And even if I have made huge leaps and bounds… 2020 put me right back a few steps.

In fact, today… this year I’m committing to two things myself, I pay myself first… 1)with workouts. No more .. work straight through from 5am to 11am or noon and miss the workout I wanted to do.

… and 2) with support staff. I paid myself crap for much of 2020. As we all did, I cut expenses everywhere I could to balance the months where panic was evident and spending from customers was down. But… as business took off (and it definitely did) I continued to do jobs that could have been done by someone for $10-15 an hour instead of the value that I have in the company.

You Can Afford It: You Can't Afford Not To

You may have always wanted to hear this from someone… the sun rises and sets with you. But in your business, it’s true. Yet, it’s not the podcast production, or the blog posts or the scheduling of clients or social media posting… it’s in the vision and the programs and products only you can make and the team of support that only you can lead.

No one else on your team should see themselves as a visionary of your business. You’ve got a problem if that’s true. You hire a team to implement the things that you can’t. Within their scope of practice – say technology – they can tell you what’s possible when you’ve described to them what you want, but YOU and only you, call the shots.

So.. if you aren’t sure how to not do it all… and you aren’t sure

if how you spend time is the BEST use of your time
how to create systems and schedules that fit with the growth you want
how to be more than a fitness instructor or health coach with a “certification” or collection of them

Then let’s change that.

Now Is the Time

If you have the skills, the heart, and the desire to help without the marketing and sales skills your business will be just a dream. Or a nightmare… lots of time money and energy but not much to show for it.

It’s something you like to call a business but truly couldn’t survive if that’s all you had to depend on to survive.

I know how that feels. And I know the mistakes… I’ve made them. You don’t need another certification. Even after you get it, or another degree, you need to market, to sell, to have visibility and a voice.

You're Invited

Meet me Thursday evening January 7th. Whether you want to work with women in midlife where I’ve made my niche, or you have a niche you love, the ability to

create an offer,
increase the number of customers you sell it to or
increase the amount of that sale, and
save on expenses that are unnecessarily killing your profit

...are skills every fitness entrepreneur needs.

I’m going to host a 5-day challenge so you can grow your social media reach – organically – you won’t spend a dime on it unless you choose to. Stay posted on that… it happens in the next two weeks.

Paying Yourself First: Where do you start?

For paying yourself you’ve got to look at what you’d get paid if you were working at another comparable employer. If you buy your own insurance or would if you didn’t have a spouse you were covered under, you want to factor that in, too.

Look around a little as if you were seeking a job. What are the offers you’d consider? Is it hourly? Salary? Commission? What is the compensation package and then determine if you’re paying yourself that kind of wage for the time that you’re putting in. If not, something has to change, my friend.

You need to raise your rates.

You need to sell to more people (that is if you have the time)

You need to create an online program that stands alone or that is a compliment to your one-on-one training

Or you want to do a combination of all of the above

You Won't Lose Clients

Now don’t panic. If the best answer for you is raise your rates because you’re out of time, and the reason is you’re in demand, there’s a good chance that when you raise your rates you not only get better clients, but you also get a bigger waiting list.

It’s just how it works. Everyone wants the best. If your marketing messages your quality and that matches the rate you position yourself with, it can work beautifully.

You’ll find potentially you’re no longer attracting those most likely to drop out. You’re attracting business owners, lawyers and realtors who are busy. They do the work, and they show up for appointments.

Making Time for Your Self Care

This one is going to require delegating. Either someone who does it faster than you, or can do for less per hour than you’re worth what you can do.

For you to remember what it’s like not to be tied to your phone or have a laptop constantly with you, you’ve got to give up some control. That’s it right? That’s the reason you won’t delegate.

Because if you go back to the hourly rate you’re worth – whether it’s $30 on average or it’s $50 or $95 that you could be earning in a session and instead you’re creating graphics for social media posts? That’s crazy when you could hire someone to do that for $8 – 15.

But you’re saying they won’t do it the way you want them to. They could. If you create ONE important piece of content called a Style Guide.

Resources Mentioned in this Episode:

Fitnessmarketingmastery.com Scroll down to the style guide template to download

Flipping 50 Fitness Specialist

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We’re approaching that time of year when every personal trainer who is committed to a career in fitness needs a new fitness client process. You need a system or a method. And you need to measure whether it works.

After 37 years in fitness, and 33 as a one-to-one trainer or health coach I’ve definitely made my share of mistakes. But actually, thanks to my ex-husband and friend, back in 1992 I developed a process and I have used it over and over to describe how I work with clients, to start clients, and to continue with clients.

My first session follows several steps.

Consultation with New Fitness Client Process

More and more with each book published, media appearance, TEDx talk, keynote speech, clients will apply to work with me without ever doing a consultation.

But still 50% of the time, I will consult with a customer not sure if we’re a match or with questions about how it works. Even during this consultation, I share the steps of how I work with clients from beginning to next. We all like to know what to expect. Setting expectations should be a part of your process.

Following enrollment there is Pre-First Session Homework for the New Client They’ve filled out all the pre-questionnaires, history, inclusive of health, fitness, hormones, and awareness.

Documents are Turned In

Homework is Turned in 24 or more hours before I meet with a client. That guarantees I have time to go through them and start identifying an ideal lifestyle plan.

That plan however is never the actual starting point. Literally, never.

We’re working with real life humans with a history of habits and preferences and a reality that has to be a part of the step-by-step change we help them make.

Books to read for supporting you in supporting them:

Tiny Habits
Atomic Habits
The ONE THING
Essentialism

Identify Questions for First Session

I’ll pick one, two or three areas where I want to ask questions.

If I don’t see an obvious ONE THING to start with and ask if the client agrees, I’ll ask them which feels like a bigger pain point for them so we’re co-collaborating on a starting point. I never turn a client’s world upside down or assign an arbitrary goal out of the blue. They are somewhere before we met. That’s our starting point for deciding where to go next and for deciding what turn to take.

I have a template that I use for those meetings. I use a checklist. I list the follow up questions I need to ask to collect all the data I need. Those questions are qualitative and quantitative both.

The answers to those questions that I’ll use to finalize the actual proposed plan for week 1. In my mind I’ve got week 2, 3, 4 also plotted. That’s creating an ideal. There is always a change to it based on data and feedback from week 1.

Flipping 50 Master Class

Platforms for meeting:

Tele-conference calls
Skype
Facetime
Zoom

Follow up connections with clients:

Text
What’s App
Voxer

Start Your Sessions Systematically

Ditch the small talk and the, how are you? Seriously, catch your clients when they throw that back to you. Yes, it’s polite and conditioned but it’s trite. This is about them. The purpose of this call is not to open up how you are.

I’ve got their session prep form in front of me when we talk. But I always ask, is there anything else you want to add to this list or is it complete? And: Is there anything unusual coming up for you in the next week I should know about so as we talk I can take that into account so you’re next week’s plan makes the most sense for you?

I ask if the client wants to go through things from top to bottom or if there’s a highest priority item they want to start with.

Give Choices

All of that is about putting the client in charge. Listen, we’re co-collaborating here it’s not a dictatorship. My job is not to make someone co-dependent, it’s to help them rely on their own judgment and take charge. It’s more about that than taking responsibility. A client who’s reached out to you is extremely responsible.

My view is the client is an expert. No one knows them better than they do. My expertise is hormone balancing fitness, kinesiology, movement, and behavior change that sticks. We have to do this together.

End Sessions Systematically

One of the important things for you to do is pad your sessions. I learned this the hard way. When I would have calls with 3 clients in a row and then have the day take off like a runaway train, getting back to send homework and summarize the session and give recordings to clients became really hard to do.

So, I leave 10 minutes minimum and I’m also taking notes (keyboard right into their call transcript). You can also transcribe it with otter.ia but you will have to go through and edit that or have someone on your team do so.

That way I send homework, recordings, any additional resources to a client before I start anything else. It’s so much less time consuming done this way.

A part of the session end for my new fitness client process is letting them know when we have 10 more minutes in this session. It’s a good time to ask, is there anything additionally that you want to make sure we talk about today, or do you want to continue on the track we’re on?

Foreshadowing

There is always a next step. I want clients to know that even as I keep the steps small in the beginning there will be bigger ones that I may believe they’re capable of even before they do. I’ll plant seeds about their progress, their goals, and about our working together and what next steps are.

You want to make sure you have a next step. What will your clients need or want next? If you can’t keep a customer or client and keep them on track with life goals you’ll also jeopardize your business. Find a way to always be thinking, what’s next for this client? How can I serve them in their next step? Often those options don’t require that one-on-one attention. That then provides a new opportunity for both them and your business growth.

That’s the sign of a business with longevity.

The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth About Extraordinary Results

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

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Optimize your organic reach right now for fitness business success in the coming months. No matter when you’re listening (reading) this, it’s time to do this. If you haven’t started early and aren’t already 60 days into your pre-launch for the new year (as I create this early December 2020) then put on your calendar RIGHT NOW to start October 1, 2021 preparing for Jan 1 2022.

For now? Let’s roll up our sleeves and start making what you’re doing now matter more.

Need help? I’ll get you lift off AND 10 months of branding, marketing, and selling strategies if you’re working with women in midlife.

Use key words.

Distribute key words in three places:

title
content
meta description

If you’re on word press, use a tool called Yoast, even on the free level to help you know when you’ve done this.

Before that you need to do some homework.

Do you know the words you want to be “found for”? These are words that you deliver on. These are the problems your clients come to you with, in their words not yours. Key words are a part of the transformation your clients want. Your key words are a mixture of the problem and the solution that your ideal customer wants.

So before key words even? You need to know what your favorite customers of all time, who made the most progress, and loved working with you, say they want. What do they say they’re grateful for?

Because you and I could say we give our clients muscle mass and strength. But even in 2020 when I write about it constantly and you’re reading about it as the way to help and support them, it still is not what they ask “Dr. Google” at 8pm on their couch watching Hallmark movies. It’s not what they search for at 2pm when they should be working but they’re distracted by feelings of bloat or discomfort in clothes that don’t fit any more.

How to Improve Your Organic Reach (Homework exercise)

What are those words? Take a moment and come to the show notes later and do this homework because it’s big.

Problem

#1 Way my client describes her problem:

#2 Way my client describes her problem:

Transformation

#1 Way my client describes what she wants:

#2 Way my client describes what she wants:

Personal Condition

#1 Word or phrase that describe my client’s status (in her words)

#2 Word or phrase that describe my client’s status (in her words)

Some combination of problem or solution plus condition are your key words. Do your homework.

The Mistake that Fails Your Organic Reach

Does this sound familiar? You know you need to post regularly on social media. So you set aside time to do it, create the graphics, a quote, or take a picture, even invest 30 minutes in creating a REELS. But do you go into action doing that before you even think about what your ideal client is thinking or feeling right now?

No judgment here. I’ve done it too. Not that long ago I spent hours on Sunday creating my week’s posts for the week, cueing them up as scheduled on platforms and wa-la, done! (I’m typing wa-la thinking I don’t even know if that’s a word!)

Them vs You

Here’s the deal…. If your posts are pushing your content and information that you think people NEED out there… it will fail to get you traction. It’s a conversation. When you do that it’s like sitting across from someone who is talking and instead of listening, you’re thinking about what to say next.

You may have the answer to their problem but it’s not going to resonate with them if you deliver it like what they just said doesn’t matter.

How Do You Know If You’re Falling Short?

Look at what you’ve been doing. How well has it been working? If you continue to do more of it… how will you get different results? If your reach over the last 3 weeks has not gone UP, it’s time to change.

On a blog post, use all of the previously mentioned. The same goes for your show notes if you’re podcasting. What about social media? Both YouTube and now Instagram even are becoming more like search engines. So if you’re not doing the same with title, description, tags on YT and using hashtag strategy that works on Instagram, you’ll fail.

Instagram is Good for Your Organic Reach, Too, Done Right

Instagram strategy is not posting daily. It includes the right hashtags based on research, the right number of hashtags, relevant hashtags for your content, the right use of images, graphics, memes, quotes, and your content matters. Are you telling stories? It’s social remember. So longer posts that describe who you are, and why anyone will care about what you say are important. Ask questions.

Use your timeline, stories, IGTV and REELS as well as lives. Encourage DMs to communicate. Especially when you’re smaller, it’s possible to generate leads and customers so long as you’re not selling on social.

Your Organic Reach vs Paid Traffic

Know that once you begin using paid advertising your organic reach will go down significantly. A platform that knows you’ll pay to play will begin to require it. A good rule of thumb though is that if your organic reach isn’t going up, you don’t want to pay for it to reach more people who won’t respond! Always look at how something does organically first, then build on that momentum. It’s the same way January is a busy month in fitness, right? It’s the month you should be advertising the most.

There you have it. Not so secret secrets… and the biggest one of all is doing these consistently.

Links mentioned in this episode will be in the show notes at fitnessmarketingmastery-dot-com/organic-reach

Resources:

10-month mastermind

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Posting feverishly without getting results? Fitness professionals social media efforts generally either fall into one of two categories: definitely work or definitely failing. If you’re spending money for someone to do your social media, or you’re spending time doing it yourself, it’s expensive to get zero results.

With more ears and eyes on social media than ever, this is for you. Any one of these 7 fitness professionals social media mistakes can hurt you. Fixing any one of them is definitely a step in the right direction. Let’s dive in.

Episode Sponsor

Flipping 50 Fitness Specialist 2.0 – includes the 10-month branding, influencing, and positioning support for growing your fitness business with the help of social media. You get it all including the hormone balancing fitness prescription you need for working with women in menopause. More here. (open for enrollment during December).

Posting before you have a strategy

Imagine a pee-wee soccer league. If you don’t have kids of your own, you may have coached, you’ve got a niece or nephew, or you’ve just watched this. A 5-year old cares more about treats than the minutes they play. But inevitably one kid will finally get the ball and run with it to score the perfect goal… for the other team. If you are consistently posting without results, you too may be running in the opposite direction. Now, are you helping your competition directly? Not exactly, but you are using time and energy where it is not paying off. Before you post…

What is the reason for your post?
How is this tied to your customer journey?
What’s your Hansel & Gretel plan for getting home?

Posting without a message & mission

What do you want the listener, viewer, reader to do, think, or feel?
Why do you want that?

Fitness professionals social media posts should be in alignment with the message and the stand they take everywhere. It can’t be the same as every other fitness professional. What do you stand for? What do you stand against? In 2020 we’ve been presented with a number of challenges that we may never have thought would polarize our audience, but have. From masks to vaccines, to quarantine, to racism, there have been reasons to address these things that may have been listed in your style guide as “never talks about.”

(If you don’t have a style guide, you need one. It will force you to know your message and your mission in a way that everyone you work with knows clearly what’s in and out of bounds.) Learn more about Style Guide creation.

Missing hashtag strategy in Instagram

Fitness professionals social media mistakes on Instagram are many, but the biggest ones involve hashtags. If you’re not aware of the number of hashtags you need on social media, the place you want to put them and don’t, and the range of the hashtag popularity to use based on the size of your current following, you’re wasting time.

Being consistent is about doing the right thing consistently. If you want to get in on some of the secrets that make your Instagram not just grow your following but grow it authentically with people who want what you’re selling, it’s a part of the Flipping 50 Fitness Specialist program.

Not supporting (specific) others and engaging

Social media is meant to be social. You can use social media to create relationships. Give to others. Identify 100 people who are doing what you want to do or related to what you want to do in a complimentary way. Follow them. Take time regularly to comment and post and DM them. That should be as much a part of what you’re doing and not random. List those people out specifically. If you’re tempted to copy, don’t. People smell a copycat.

Notice how larger accounts post. They don’t post their freebies. They post content that organically connects to their freebies. You have to have an engagement first. If you haven’t got eyeballs on your content, back up. Connect. Start looking at your insights.

Neglecting to Use Insights

Insights are free! Fitness professionals social media mistakes center around this one on every platform. Not using insights is like ignoring your friends when they call. Eventually they are going to stop calling. Fitness owners and managers have almost cultivated this bad habit when they didn’t know enough about social media and turned the process over entirely to a young member of their team that they assumed “know more about social media than I do.”

The only way you can create more effective messages that resonate with your audience is to measure what matters. Set up a weekly “weigh in” and start looking objectively at whether you increased or decreased engagement, which posts, what type of posts, and what content works. Do more of what works and less of what doesn’t.

Yes, it takes time to get traction but if you’re still posting to a handful of people after months it’s time to change your strategy.

Forgetting how your customer feels

Preaching doesn’t work. Teaching works sometimes. Talking to people works. Listening works best. Are you ever asking questions? So often fitness professionals social media posts probably feel condescending to your clients. Imagine how they feel and post based on that. When someone is frustrated and in despair, they don’t need to read a post about getting steps in. Maybe they need to read a post about how hard it can be to start when you feel the road is long. Tell a story about when you felt this way.

If you look super fit, and your customer is not, you need to relate to them somehow. That’s not to say you have to have been fat or out of shape at some point in your life, but you need to relate to struggle.

Not telling your why

You could be a plumber, teacher, lawyer or doctor. Why are you a personal trainer or health coach? Fitness professionals social media accounts are often void of the backstory. That’s like getting to a movie 10 minutes late, or not reading the text on the screen so you know the significance of the story. I can relate because last week we were watching a Tarzan movie and I was admittedly multitasking on my laptop. My son rewound and said, “Are you reading this?”

Much of the movie would have had less meaning to me if I hadn’t read those screens.

The same is true for you. Periodically, you have to share your story again. Introduce yourself. Tell them who you are, your rags to riches story, the story that makes you relatable and unique. What is it? What makes you cry, cringe, sing, dance and celebrate?

There you have it – fitness professionals social media mistakes, why they hurt, and how to fix them.

Links to mentions in this podcast:

How to Avoid the Biggest Mistakes Training (and reaching) Women in Menopause - masterclass

Style Guide step-by-step (SCROLL DOWN on the page)

My Social Media Book from Healthy Learning

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This post explores words you use costing you customers! No one wants that from time and energy spent writing articles or doing podcasts!

Create a Common Enemy

For us all in 2020 it’s been COVID19.

For the first time in the history of the world we all have a common enemy. No matter who you might blame or back or what you do or don’t agree with about how it’s been handled, we are just people. We’re daughters and sons, parents, siblings, significant others who care about the health and well-being of our own.

It doesn’t matter if someone speaks your language or is across the street or across the globe, we’ve experienced a moment in time connecting to others.

If all workplaces communicate their mission so much that teams hold take not just the mission but the obstacles to achieving that mission personally, they’d thrive. If entire teams come together fighting the same cause – as opposed are pitted against each other – there will be fewer internal rivals and more job satisfaction.

There are Plenty of Bad Guys

And if you can harness a villain – be it age, or bone loss, or cancer, or sedentary jobs, or misinformation about fitness for midlife women… you can then become a part of a team with your audience and tribe.

You fight with them, instead of preaching or teaching.

It feels very different.

Teaching, without intending to, can feel like judgment.

If you instead are sending your message to “them” or to “the cancer” or “the menopause” or the “stigma”… then you’re fighting the battle with your audience.

Read/Listen to these two headlines:

Why What You’re Doing Is Not Working for Midlife Women/Clients

How to Harness the Power of Misleading Information

Feel the difference?

In the first there is a hook and it’s more negative. Like, you are doing it wrong! Don’t make this mistake. There’s definitely something to be said for it. There is certainly a large percent of population that will be more likely to click on that than something giving them content.

In the second example, however, there’s no blame on you the reader. It still suggests something is wrong, yet it implies that I’m going to give you the secret to be a part of the solution instead of telling you you’re a part of the problem.

They’re both potential subject lines or titles for a blog or podcast. Which one speaks to you more? Which one would you click on first?

This Very Post's Title

There’s a time and place for either a negative or positive title. And the best way for you to decide which you use is to test it. I’ve found many times that say, 3 Biggest Mistakes, will get more clicks than 3 Biggest Secrets. But… don’t guess. Start testing, even if only by looking at your statistics on traffic to your blog, or on popularity of YouTube videos.

I’ll let you in on a secret. I considered variations of two subject lines and narrowed it down to these two before choosing:

Are the Words You Use Attracting More Customers?

Are the Words You Use Costing You Customers?

Obviously, I chose the latter. Because it’s more urgent. Do you feel that when you hear it (or read it if you’re at the show notes)? Pay attention to how it feels. And remember every one of your customers is going to experience responses unique to their life, sense of humor, prior experience about the topic. When in doubt, run your titles by some of your customers.

Come up with at least 10 if not 20 variations of titles. Narrow it down to a few good titles. Use a tool like Headline Analyzer to see how well you’re doing. Be conscious of key words in your title you want to use throughout your post text too for S.E.O.

Did I just lose you with SEO and the importance of key words? If you want step-by-step support for doing this and treating your content like part of a real business, that attracts real customers I’ll link to how to learn more about the 10-month Flipping 50 Fitness Specialist. It’s open now for a limited number of trainers and health coaches and only for a limited time. You want to leverage your content to stand out in the noise.

So, let’s explore some words that are dripping with emotion and how you can use them. I’ll give you some examples of how I have used them recently.

Avoid Words You Use Costing You Customers with These Examples

Gambling (In my TEDx talk after I revealed the poor statistics on science for women and exercise I mentioned it's like "gambling... with really bad odds."

That makes listeners who are impacted, angry.

Crap (Sit ups are Stupid, Crunches are Crap is the title of a book by a recent Flipping 50 podcast guest. Brilliant and I wish I'd thought of it myself!

The title is important because crap, doo-doo, or the actual word, conveys very succinctly that something stinks. Not you but it.

Lies

Everything Women in Menopause Learned About Exercise May Be a Lie was the title of my TEDx talk. I’ve used it again in blog posts and podcasts. The word lies conveys strong emotion, and certainly brings us together if I’m revealing lies to you that you didn’t yet know about. Then I’m going to give you solutions for revenge in the content.

Not telling the truth…

“I haven’t been telling the truth, I was doing it wrong, we’ve all been doing it wrong.” These words, some exactly this and some implied were also a part of that TEDx talk. Let me also make something clear, you don’t create a talk and then move on and create another. Your signature story is your signature story.

You go to a Bruce Springsteen concert and expect (or demand) to hear Born to Run, right? James Taylor had better play Shower the People. They may weave in new content, but audiences want and need repetition. Before you start talking about a topic, make sure that in a year and 5 and 10 you still want to be talking about it!

Betrayed

I’ve used phrases like betrayed by your body and betrayed by the fitness industry and even medical community in blogs and presentations. It evokes a strong emotion, right? So it’s not the same as if you’d been betrayed by a spouse, but betrayal by anyone or anything can make your content memorable, or remarkable.

And to stand out, be something liked, shared, commented on that’s exactly what you want.

What they don’t tell you…

This one would be easy to insert into a post. What they don’t tell you is…

When I talk about stress with clients, especially when I’d first published You Still Got It, Girl! I would point out that though our parents probably all had the sex talk with us, what they didn’t tell you was that we were going to feel stressed. They didn’t give us the ways to abstain from that or to a morning-after solution if we did have stress. There wasn’t a stress-talk like the sex talk.

In talking about it like that I made it not their fault. And I made them think back to that moment when they had the 5thgrade health session where parents come to talk about puberty and all the things. It got personal because of a memory.

Misleading …

I’m about to publish a post for my Flipping 50 community about Misleading Fitness Studies and Poll Results from an annual trends report. I do it every year and yet it always a hot topic among both fitness professionals and midlife women seeking intelligent fitness tips.

So think about how you can look at 5 of your recent titles and see how you could have put an emotional hook in the title.

Myth-buster –

This is used commonly in titles and it’s almost always a winner. The only exception is if you over use it or it’s not an emotionally enough charged title directed at a narrow enough audience.

Weight loss Myth-Busting

Debunking Weight Loss Myths

Those are both potential titles. Yet, they’re pretty general.

Change to Menopause Weight Loss Myths or to Debunking the Menopause Weight Loss Myths in 3 Recent Fitness Magazine Articles - now you’ve got something specific, targeted at an audience, and timely with some urgency.

Two More Empowering Words

These last two words- and by no means this is an exhaustive list - you may realize you do have emotional words in your posts, emails and conversations already. This podcast is just going to give you more of them to use strategically.

These two words are ones you could use in titles and in copy to provide a solution when you might start talking about your program or service.

Reclaim

Here’s an example of a title: How to Reclaim the Muscle You’ve Been Losing Since 30

That would peak curiosity for one, if women are like, wait a minute! I’ve been losing muscle? And it gives a solution for them too, and gives a solution to someone who you may already have informed of muscle losses that start after 25.

Here’s an example of using that word in the body of an article or email:

You can reclaim that muscle and in doing so boost your metabolism.

Get back

This is another way to say reclaim. Try them both out, or use them both. Because remember you’re going to be writing, and talking, and creating video about your topic for a long time. You’ll want to use different words to appeal to different customers as you do it.

There you are! Some specific examples of how to avoid words you use costing you customers!

It’s Not To Late!

Remember it’s not too late to change titles of YouTube videos. If it’s not getting traction and you know it’s good, go revise it. If you really haven’t had any traffic to your website articles, and you’re sure S.E.O. is something you’ve never thought about?

I’d go in and change it. Then from here on out think about your title, the key words in your title you want to be found for (these are words and phrases your customers say and search for frequently), before you post.

For now, what I want you to do is go back and look at your content and title. Are you repeating the words you want to be found for? For instance, the words you use costing you customers is the phrase I’m using in this post. Did you hear/see what I did there? I just inserted the phrase again in the post.

Words You Use Costing You Customers (and relationships)

Really, this works two ways. The words you use, and the words you don’t use could both be costing you customers. And it’s no surprise. Because if you’ve got a family, whether it’s kids, a spouse or parents and siblings, it’s HOW you say anything that gets the results you want, right?

So, try on everything!

Read your Instagram posts! Do they sound preachy and teachy? Instead of the motivating and inspiring you were shooting for? That’s good homework. Then as you begin to weave in some of these emotion-laded words you’ll begin to engage even more.

Resources mention in this post:

Flipping 50 Fitness Specialist FREE masterclass

She Means Fitness Business: Recent Episodes

Debra Atkinson