Fitness Marketing Superiority

Remember the housing boom a few years back?

 

Remember how it didn’t matter who you were, what you did, or how you went about it – you could buy a home and almost instantly have equity?

 

Everyone was buying and flipping homes and making truckloads of dough.

 

Real estate agents were raking it in. In fact, if you remember, almost everyone you knew was in real estate a few years back.

 

And if they weren’t in real estate then they were mortgage brokers, and investment bankers… whatever those are.

 

But then the economy happened. A recession, the “New Economy”… possibly a depression and all the “me too” real estate agents fell off the map.

There was a thinning of the herd.

 

Those who knew the business for years survived – and those in the top two percent who had market superiority continued to thrive.

 

It’s the same way in personal training.

When the economy was booming anyone could be a trainer. And they were. And they’d do okay.

 

Even though competition was at an all time high and personal training studios and boot camps were on every corner – everyone was doing good, playing nice, and making money.

 

But then the economy changed. And lots of fitness pros lost their business - the bottom just collapsed.

It’s a sad thing actually. Over the last two years especially I’ve gotten a good number of Facebook private message and emails from trainers who were otherwise a dear in headlights - becuase they never saw it coming, and now it was too late.

 

On a purely analytical level it’s very interesting to see the contrast between those trainers who’s businesses just evaporated in front of their eyes and those in my 7 Figure Formula Mastermind program.

 

My private coaching and mastermind clients operate what I call an “adaptable business”, a business that can change and adapt quickly as the economy does, as people’s needs and wants change, and as trends evolve.

 

Business adaptability means being a market leader…

 

… a pioneer, not just a “me too copy cat”

 

… originality in product or service delivery

 

… and giving results and client satisfaction that drives a culture of referrals - my coaching clients and Chino Hills Fit Body Boot Camp owners Cara and John Eckerman do this perfectly.

 

Those are the core elements which give YOU Fitness Marketing Superiority which is the whole reason I’m writing this post for you.

 

See I recently conducted a survey that was sent to over 50,000 fitness pros who subscribe to my blog and email broadcasts.

 

The results of the survey were eye opening to say the least.

 

I’ll share more of the survey results with you in a future post.

 

But the one survey result I want to share with you here is the percentage of fitness trainers who are on pace to make under $50,000 this year (2011).

 

62%

 

And, according to the survey, if you factor the number of trainers who make under $100,000 you’re at 82%.

 

Pretty staggering right?

 

Over eighty percent of personal trainers will make under $100K in 2001. And majority of them will make less than $50K this year.

 

Let me translate that for you (and feel free to drop me a comment down below confirming this if you so want).

 

What these numbers tell me is that over 80% of fitness pros are just getting by.

 

Maybe taking a profit some months.

 

Breaking even in other months.

 

And maybe sometimes dipping in the red.

 

The 62% of trainers who reported that they will make under $50K this year are more likely to experience the later two circumstances more frequently.

 

I’ve been there in the past.

 

It’s not a good place to be.

 

But there’s something you can do about it. Actually, there are two things you can do about it.

 

Thing one; Read this blog post – in it I teach you the success formula as it relates to mindset. And don’t kid yourself into thinking that mindset has nothing to do with it…

 

… MINDSET IS AT LEAST 90% OF THE EQUATION.

 

Thing two; You and I both know that the economy will straighten out again. No it will never be like it was. That was a false economy, built on a house of cards, destined to come crumbling down.

 

But it will get better. We’ll have, and we’re seeing signs of the NEW economy.

 

I spent this past week in Atlanta at a Dan Kennedy seminar along with the wonder from Canadia, Craig Ballantyne and we got some critical work done, conducted a few high level meetings over crab legs and fish tacos, and actually spent a combined 46 minutes in the actual seminar hall itself listening to Dan tell stories. Funny and full of gems.

 

Even cooler was running into friends and clients like Zach Even-esh, Jonas Deffes, Fit Body Boot Camp owners Kristine and her husband (argh! I can’t remember his name for the life of me right now) and a bunch of marketing buddies that I haven’t seen for a while.

 

But I digress.

 

My point was that Dan Kennedy was quick to point out and reinforce that in his lifetime (the dude’s REALLY OLD) he’s been through several recessions like this – and that this isn’t the last one that we’ll experience.

 

Now there’s REALLY GOOD NEWS in this for YOU.

 

See, a recession is like “natural selection” of the business world… a thinning of the herd.

 

The entrepreneurially weak, systematically unorganized, “flying by the seat of their pants” fitness trainer will be weeded out.

 

This leaves YOU in a position of power IF (profound emphasis placed on the word “IF”) you position yourself for fitness marketing superiority.

Market superiority is the process of YOU positioning YOUR business as the single obvious choice in your community for anyone seeking a personal trainer or fitness and fat loss results.

 

Market superiority is you having a defined niche. Carving out a segment of the population and becoming the expert to those people.

 

Market superiority is knowing EXACTLY who your avatar is.

 

Market superiority is you knowing where your ideal avatar is in your community.

- where they shop

- what newspapers and publications they read

- what social or business groups they hang out in

- what businesses they frequent

- what their greatest pains are (fat loss, tight tone body, more confidence, energy?)

- what their fitness and fat loss wants and desires are

- who their facebook, twitter, and linked-in social groups are

- what fan pages they “like” most

- what they’re searching for on google

- what radio stations they listen to

- what TV channels they watch

 

Market superiority is knowing how to reach your prospect using the above mentioned vehicles.

 

Market superiority is knowing how to craft an offer that gets them to act, and act now.

 

Market superiority is realizing that it’s not just about building a massive email list, but even more importantly, it about building a massively deep and authentic relationship with that list.

 

Market superiority is establishing authority, credibility, and likeability with your list and within your community which ultimately translates to TRUST.

 

And TRUST is why people will buy.

 

Market superiority is being talked about in the community.

 

Market superiority is having systems, scripts, and processes for selling, answering inquiry calls and emails.

 

Market superiority is having retention, referral generation and even reactivation systems in place (because from time to time people do quit).

 

Honestly answer this question: Based on what I just described do you think you have market superiority?

 

Now imagine if you established market superiority today… what would that mean for your persomal training or boot camp business?

 

And imagine the market share that you’ll dominate and the security that you’ll have in the new economy, when more trainers come into the industry.

 

That is power in the market place.

 

That’s what builds businesses that are recession proof, economy proof, competition proof and unsusceptible to being thinned out even when the economy dips again – and it’s most certainly going to dip again - as long as we have dip shit politicians running things.

 

B