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Stronger Sundays

Dominate your fitness business with this weekly collection of strategies, tips, and tricks.
By trainers, for trainers.

03/28/2024

Quote of the week:

“The two best predictors of future injury are:

1. Previous injury

2. Being an idiot”
                                - Nick Tumminello on Facebook
Watch for this newsletter from the Personal Trainer Development Center each Sunday.

In this issue:

  1. How to launch a new business in four steps
  2. Stop talking about food as something to “burn off”
  3. This week on the Online Trainer Show
1. How to launch a new business in four steps – Jonathan Goodman (follow him on IG @jonathan_goodman101)

My wife, as many of you know, is a retired doctor of naturopathic medicine. But even though Alison hasn’t practiced for a few years, her ability to study and learn is amazing to watch.

Case in point:

Last year she decided she wanted to get into real estate investing, a subject neither of us knew much about. We didn’t even own a house until 2020.

There’s a lesson in how she went about it.

Step 1: Gather info

She listened to podcasts, read books, attended events, ran mock numbers, and spoke to literally anybody involved in the field.

That’s when she realized she had two choices: Pay $10,000 or more for a mentor, or learn while doing.

Step 2: Understand your risk profile

Both choices offered considerable downside. So she looked for a way to improve her odds.  

Alison found a veteran real estate investor through her podcast. They spoke multiple times, and Alison decided a joint venture was worth a shot.

The arrangement is that we put up the cash while our partner manages every aspect of the property. She would handle permits, construction, finding tenants, and maintaining the properties.

It wasn’t without risk, but we were comfortable with the amount of risk we were taking on.

Step 3: Learn while doing

For our first project, we invested $120,000 for a down payment and renovations to turn an illegal duplex in Midland, Ontario, into a legal duplex.

We had positive cash flow from the start, and within seven months we were able to refinance it, taking out more than 100 percent of our initial investment.

Step 4: Assess, learn, repeat

With the success of our first investment, Alison saw an opportunity closer to home: Our house had gone up in value since we bought it in February, while mortgage rates had dropped.

She had our house reappraised and used the appraisal to refinance our mortgage at a lower rate. Despite the cost of the transaction, we came out ahead, giving us more cash to invest.

Alison took the money from our house and rental property and invested in not one, not two, but three more properties. And we had enough left over to renovate our kitchen.

In our first year of home ownership, Alison—who, again, is entirely self-taught—has navigated six mortgages and invested in four income-generating properties with 15 different tenants.

If nothing else, this case study illustrates why you should marry someone smarter than you.


2. Stop talking about food as something to “burn off” – Ren Jones

You see it every holiday:

Coaches on Instagram post charts about how many [steps, minutes, reps …] it takes to "burn off" [cookies, candy, pie …].

Or they post about how their workout helped them “burn off” something they ate yesterday.

If you’re one of those coaches, I beg you to stop. Here’s why.

1. You’re encouraging a disordered behavior

Exercise bulimia is a subset of bulimia nervosa, one of the most common eating disorders. Instead of purging after a meal, the person tries to work off the calories through exercise or uses exercise to “earn” the calories in the next meal.

2. You’re using fear to motivate people to move

And you know what Master Yoda said about that:

"Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering."

In case it’s not clear, you’re Darth Vader in this scenario.

3. Science doesn’t support the premise

The pumpkin pie your client eats for Thanksgiving is going to have between zero and zero effect on their overall health. Only werewolves and transformers change that quickly.

4. It makes you look like a bit of a jerk

"I had half a Snickers last night, and I was so ashamed of myself that I did a two-hour session this morning. Check out my video.”

You tell yourself you’re motivating your followers. But what you’re really saying is, “I’m only 99 percent perfect, but I’m still 100 percent better than you."

You know what would actually help your audience? Letting them see you’re imperfect, and that being imperfect is perfectly normal.

Tell them it’s okay to have pie on Thanksgiving, or cake on a birthday, or candy on Halloween or Easter.

Tell them they don’t need to punish themselves for enjoying a holiday. Just continue with their regular workouts and meals.

Tell them that’s what a normal, happy, imperfect life is supposed to look like, and they shouldn’t feel guilty about it.

And then make sure you listen to your own advice.
3. This Week on the Online Trainer Show
The Online Trainer Show is proud to be sponsored by PT Distinction. After carefully reviewing all the major software platforms, we recommend PT Distinction because it offers a unique combination of flexibility, coaching tools, and ease of use. That’s why we use it in Online Trainer Coaching, our just-launched personal training business.

Click here to get a full 60-day FREE TRIAL to try PT Distinction with your own clients.

Here’s what podcast cohosts Jonathan Goodman, Carolina Belmares, and Ren Jones talked about this week on the Online Trainer Show:

In Episode 51, How to Deal with a Negative Client, podcast producer Amber Reynolds runs down the types of negativity you’ll encounter with your clients.

It’s a topic we covered in detail in this article by psychologist Lisa Lewis, and one that 100 percent of personal trainers will encounter.

All-or-nothing thinking is the type of negativity Amber sees most often. If they don’t accomplish everything, they’ve accomplished nothing. There are no silver linings or shades of gray.

For Carolina, “shoulds” are the biggest challenge for the over-40 women she trains. They have trouble accepting that their bodies change over time, and tell themselves they should still fit into a size 4 or they should be able to eat or drink what they used to enjoy before menopause.

All that said, no matter how frustrated you are by some of your online clients, you should feel grateful that you have online clients. Episode 52, How to Get Started in Online Training in 2021, has some timely advice for those who don’t.

The key, Jon says, is to become the right coach for a small group of potential clients. You don’t want to compete with the entire online fitness market. If you can average 30 clients who pay you $200 a month, that’s $72,000 a year.

The best way to get started is with the “one to a few” business model. Jon calls it “gloriously unsexy” because it’s easy. It doesn’t require paid advertising or complex marketing funnels.

Don’t make it any more complicated than it needs to be.

You’ll find every episode here:

--> The Online Trainer Show
P.S. Whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways we can help you:

1. Grab a free copy of The Wealthy Fit Pro’s Guide to Online Training
It’s your blueprint to building a fitness or nutrition business online. --> Click here

2. Join the Online Trainers Unite Group and connect with other online trainers  
It’s our Facebook community where fitness and nutrition pros like you can share insights and advice about starting or running a successful coaching business online.
--> Click here

3. Join the Online Trainer Academy
Our world-class certification course is everything you need to responsibly and profitably coach fitness or nutrition online. --> Click here


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