A couple weeks ago I was attending an internet marketing conference in Nashville. I love going to these conferences because it is an instant adreneline push for me that lasts for several weeks. This past conference I had the pleasure of meeting a truly inspiring man.

His name is Nido Quebin, an enormously successful entreprenuer and motivator. His business credentials are a mile long, but the best part is that he is now president of High Point University. He has completely changed the college environment, and HPU is one of the most desirable colleges in the United States. In fact, I’m tempted to take a drive to North Carolina to check this place out. There are ice cream trucks on campus that give out free ice cream, snacks, water. The dorms are like great condos rather than dumpy old apartments.

Nido even teaches a course that all freshman have to take, they learn about life, success, and the meaning of being significant.

I saw Nido Quebin speak a few years ago and I was hooked ever since. His teaching is entertaining and inspiring.  I listen to recordings and watch videos of his presentations all the time.

It was kind of like being a kid and meeting Michael Jordan or tiger woods. I was totally thrilled.

Is there anything worse then doing your taxes? Ok, so maybe a root canal, or vacation with your in-laws..

For most of us procrastinators, we scrambled this week to organize all of our documents, itemize a years worth of business expenses (including that $5,000 trip to Vegas that you swear was a business trip) I’m not sure what $400 bottles of grey goose and lap dances have to do with business, but anyway:)

Nonetheless, we made it thru another tax day!

But, what would you do If you got it audited? Would you be able to provide all the necessary documents, would your business pass with flying colors? Or would you freak?

Here’s an even bigger question? What would you do if a business / marketing expert knocked on your door and barged in to audit your marketing. What if he asked you. “how many lead sources do you have?” or “how many new clients can you expect or project for next month?” Would you have confident answers, or would you fumble for words, or better yet just pull a Sammy Sosa at the congressional hearings and say “ah no speaka english.” That’s strange he spoke English perfectly for ten years before that:)

I have never been audited by Uncle Scam, I mean Uncle Sam, but If I did it would probably be the best thing to ever happen to me. It would be the smack that I need. Just as if I (or another marketing specialist) came to you and audited your business from a marketing point of view. It might hurt but it would surely change your business forever.

So I urge you, after you have recovered from the post tax stress, take a step back and look at your business as if it was someone else’s. What have been the biggest obstacles in growing your business? Write them down, then research solutions for these obstacles.

Get to it!

Keith

Is your business recession proof? Let’s face it, the herd (the general public) will accept whatever the media says. If they say “recession” we panic and we end up causing the very recession they were projecting in the first place.

Personal trainers are very vulnerable to the back lashes of a recession or down economy. People freak out and think “where can I cut back”, and gym memberships and personal training sessions are let go.

So how can you make sure your business is recession proof? Here are a few tips..

Consider offering a lower priced service like a group bootcamp. Bootcamps are hot right now anyway, plus the profit margins are high and you are growing your customer base. Bigger customer base = more potential referrals.

Step Up Your Marketing - most of your competitors will cut back on advertising in a poor economy. Remember, not everybody is effected by a recession. If you think about it, most people that can afford $75 per hr perceive money differently than most people. Their health, self esteem and self image are important to them. Remember that.

Seek Free Publicity - Be creative and try press releases. If one gets picked up you could get a bunch of free publicity that will more business Diversify Your Leads - I don’t want to beat a dead horse but this is a big one. The economy is cyclical, if you can weather the storm you will be fine.

Bottom line, don’t listen to the media. Shut the TV off and work on your business. I’m not going to lie I watch a little TV, but the only reason I watch the news at all is too see if there are any media stories I can write about.

Plus, I watch Return to Chimp Eden, which is a great show about rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing chimps. Some of these chimps could work for our government, but that’s another story:)

Keith

Let me blunt here, at some point or another, someone will $%^&* you. They will steal, copy, or cheat you out of business. I’m not sure why, but this just seems to be the way the personal training industry is. There is very little respect, especially online, where they can hide behind a computer.

Obviously, this has happened to me. The quick version of the story is that some low life trainer (I wont mention any names) ripped off one of my websites word for word and even had the balls to send my free report (that actually had my name all over it).

The truth is, after a few threatening emails and phone calls, I just let it go. I realized that he will never out market me and I’m not going to let his negative energy bring me down. The moral of the story, and this blog post, is that you need to develop thick skin to be successful in the personal training industry. Clients will cancel, occasionally take advantage of you, and fellow trainers will behave unethically.

But that’s ok.

Protect yourself legally of course, then if it happens… say “o’well” and move on.

The sooner you grasp this the sooner you will be better off.

As for the trainer that screwed with me (who may be reading this now), I’ll be the better man but don’t be surprised if you get a visit from my Uncle Vito.

Keith

One of the most under rated factors of growing a successful personal training business is the complex nature of humans, also known as psychology. You could be a great trainer, with a great studio, but until you dive into the realms of “who your customers” are, you are truly missing the point.

Why do people seek personal trainers? Is it because they want to be fit? Yeah I guess. That’s not really why they seek you. Deep down, there are much more powerful motivators. They want to be more confident, better looking or sexy, they want attention or they want to accomplish great things. We all do, including myself.

When you are writing your sales copy, emails, brochures, do not estimate who you are writing to and what makes them tick. On average, each person sees 7,000 marketing messages per day. How are you going to make your message stick out. You can do that buy reaching their “hot buttons”, the feelings that really hit home for them.

Odds are, the last real purchase you made was probably driven by psychology. Go ahead, think about that. What was the last somewhat major purchase you made? Revisit the marketing, soon you will start to see marketing and adverting in a whole new light.

Keith