He looks guilty

Needless to say, it isn’t me. Many of my friends commented that they thought it looked like me when they saw the sketch. I’d like to thank them for not turning me in . That’s a real friend there.

I guess if I wasn’t so positive and smiley somebody would have thought something was up. What do you think? Do I look like him?

Those of you that know me, know that I am a man of science and WILL NOT attach my name and reputation to just anything. They have gone through the extra effort of becoming GMP certified. GMP means Good Manufacturing Practices. Nutritional supplements are not FDA regulated. In the absence of that, a GMP certification with third party auditors ensures inspections of dietary supplement manufacturing facilities to determine whether specified performance standards on a number of measures—including quality control, cleanliness, receiving and testing of raw materials—are being met.

All of the ingredients are something I feel comfortable ingesting, myself. In fact, they don’t use artificial sweetners (aspartame) which make other supplements like workout shakes taste crappy. They use Stevia which is a non-caloric sweetner which also has a nutritional content and contains fiber. And there aren’t any strange herbs or anything. It’s very good stuff. Just good old fashioned nutrients.
Like I said, I won’t attach my name to just anything and after nearly 3 years of research, this is it!

S.P.A.R.T.A.’s Pro Grade Nutritional Supplement Line

Today is the first day of the launch. We’ve started with the basics like men’s and women’s line of multivitamins, whey protein powder, and pre and post workout drink.
BE SURE TO STAY TUNED because in the following days, I’ll be releasing a new product each day.

Tuesday - Meal Replacement with 35 grams protein and 8 grams of fiber.

Wednesday - Nutritional bars “Cravers” only 180 cals. No trans fats and comes in peanut butter, almond butter, and spirulina. Healthy dark chocolate to satisfy that chocolate craving.

Thursday – Essential Fatty Acids. Reduce your risk of early death from cardiovascular disease by 50%. It’s krill oil which is just as effective and won’t give you “fish burps”. I’m a huge supporter of essential fatty acids for everything from brain health to it’s anti-inflammatory properties.

Friday – The week will be culminating in the release of the weight loss product, METABOLISM. This link will come with one of the best articles on metabolic effects of certain nutrients I’ve ever read. This is a great natural product at the right dosage so as not to cause the side effects of other weight loss products.

This is big. If you’d like a reasonably priced supplement line that you can feel safe taking and expect good results, I’ve found it for you through my own research. I’m very skeptical and I haven’t seen anything that would make me not want to be a part of this or not want to attach my name and reputation to it.

So here’s that link again. Come in and check out what we’ve got available. Thank you.

S.P.A.R.T.A.’s Prograde Nutritional Supplement Product Line

I’ve got a great book for you to check out. It’s written by my friend, Dave Durell, of High Intensity Nation from Orlando, Fla. Most of the people I see are looking for general fitness and fat loss, specifically. Our clientele is almost always a slight majority of women. But, this one is something special mostly for the guys. Not that women should be afraid of muscle, on the contrary, that should be your focus if you want to raise metabolism and improve shape. But, men, if you’d like to pack on some lean weight, raise your metabolism, and start to develop that upper body shape you’ve been looking for, this book will tell you the way to do it. Better yet, it tells you how to do it in a safe and very effective method using high intensity training principles specifically for BUILDING MUSCLE!

Click Here!

Dave knows what he is talking about too. He’s spent quite a bit of time with the industry’s leaders in bodybuilding and strength and conditioning.

Pro bodybuilding results in little time!

Click Here!

Dave has personally spent time with and been trained by the man above, the late Mike Mentzer. Former pro bodybuilder in the early 80’s. Mike knew the secrets to getting lean and muscular without overtraining. When most bodybuilders were working out 6 hours a day and twice a day sometimes, Mike was working out twice a WEEK! He was maximally stimulating his muscles for growth and then allowing them to grow with the proper amount of rest.

Dave has also spent 10 years in all helping to build pro athletes to tip top shape as a strength and conditioning coach for pro football teams like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Jacksonville Jaguars, and even at South East Missouri University. He knows what it takes to get lean and muscular and it’s in this book.

You’ll also get a couple other bonuses like I did. You get the simple nutrition guide to go with it as well as 2 downloadable MP3 files for the High Intensity Muscle Building Audio Program where he literally walks you through to your success. You’ll also get access to his High Intensity Training Video Vault. The first video is the secret to bigger biceps. Now, I know my anatomy being a Master Trainer, but Dave showed me something in this video that even I didn’t think of. It’s a simple technique, but extremely effective if you want to maximize your bicep’s muscular development. What guy doesn’t want to do that? I wish I had seen that video 10 years ago. I’ve never seen anybody else recommend this technique. There’s also an excellent technique if you’re having trouble making progress with dumbbells. Sometimes a 5 pound jump is too much, well what do you do? Dave shows you a simple technique that can make an intermediate step in this process without interrupting your muscle building progress.

Again, I can’t say enough about this book and all the extras, information, and tools that come with it. I fully endorse his methods and would jump at the chance to grab this book. And just like us, he has a GUARANTEE. If you’re not happy with it, there’s a 100% money back guarantee.

Click Here! to get your copy of this must have book if you’d like to start building that lean muscular frame or if you’re a trainer looking for a great technique to get your clients exceptional results.

My favorite is the cerebral palsy guy who suddenly got really lean and muscular while at the same time increasing the size of his head by 3!

View the FAKE before and after pictures here.

The Skyndex is probably the best body fat caliper on the market. This is the one with 2 formulas programmed into it. It has the Jackson-Pollock formula which is good and reasonably accurate for everyday use and the Durnin formula if you ever plan to need it for research or a clinical setting. Or if you just want to be a little more accurate. It’s easy to use. You set the dial to a number that corresponds to a range of the subject’s age. Then take 3 or 4 sites to measure, entering each one as you go by pressing the thumb button. When you are done, it automatically goes through the formula for you and give you the body fat percentage on the digital display. It’s the best one I’ve used to date. Everybody claims hydrostatic weighing is the gold standard, but you have to measure tidal volume. If you don’t, it’s not any more accurate than calipers. Plus, hydrostatic weighing requires extra time, a wet area, etc. It’s a hassle. Why not just get reasonably close to the same results in a much more practical product? Comes with its’ own case and power supply.

This is the Lange skinfold caliper. It’s a little more cost effective option, but is not digital. It is very compact and comes in a small case that you could easily store in your gym bag or something. This is the second best body fat caliper I have ever used. It takes a little more time because it isn’t digital, but it is VERY well constructed and will last you a long time. It comes with a calibration block to ensure accuracy. It’s accurate down to within 1 millimeter.

Garmin make some awesome stuff. This is the Forerunner. It’s a GPS with a heart rate monitor and stop watch mounted on the wrist. It’s pretty cool and you can use it to compete with previous workouts for yourself or use it in the gym to time client’s sets and/or workouts.

The PT/Pro Bench is great. For you in home trainers, it’s an excellent portable option for a professional adjustable bench. It’s got a carrying handle and strap for you to easily maneuver from location to location. It’s pretty versatile for just about any type of training you want to do. At 23 pounds, it’s heavy duty too so you don’t have to worry about it falling apart on you.

The Bowflex SelecTech Dumbbells. These could also be portable if you want to lug them around. It’ll replace a whole rack of them. Between the PT/Pro Bench and these, you could really put together a good program for someone. They are fully adjustable and should satisfy the needs of most clients going from 5-52.5 lbs. each. This link even has many of the routines and exercises you can do listed right out for you.

Bodylastics are a great complement to the bench and the SelecTech dumbbells. Very lightweight and versatile with door anchor and ankle straps. You can load up multiple bands at a time with the carabiner clip totalling 127 pounds per side.

The TRX is hot right now and it was specifically invented to use where equipment is lacking. That’s one of the hardest things to address is pulling exercises for the upper back (latissimus) when there is little equipment around. Not everyone can do a pull up. That’s one of the benefits of the TRX is that you can use your body weight (or only a fraction of it) in a way that will allow you to address those previously neglected areas. This one is a cool military green color. It’s VERY well made and should last you a very long time.

This is the online training system that we use. It can allow you to get at previously unreachable markets and disperse your fitness knowledge to people over distance. We private label our site through their enterprise account and our own domain name so it looks like the clients are signing up right through us. All you need is a paypal account. Like I said, this is good for people at distance or a good downsell to someone that cannot afford your services one on one. It has a library of fitness routines, a workout wizard, and nutrition tracking. You can set your own pricing and customize the users experience as much as you want.

If you have your own location, a good scale is a must. A physician’s balance beam model is the way to go as you can calibrate it easier and they are more reliable. You can also measure height with this model.

Myotape is a great tool to use in place of a regular measuring tape. You can measure up to sixty inches and the push button tape retraction makes it a little easier than fumbling with a cumbersome normal tape measure.

Robic is one of the best companies out there for timers. Here they have a clipboard with a ruler/straight edge down the side as well as a stopwatch/calculator combo. You’re covering all of your bases with this one as you can time client activities and calculate anthropometric measurements as clients come in during the day.

This is Sportline’s digital tally counter. I don’t know about you, but the traditional way of counting reps gets in the way of instructing the client mid set. With this tool, you can click off the reps as the client completes them while you continuously instruct them. Then you can look at the total countable reps you clicked off to record after the set is complete. It frees your mind to focus more on what you should be…instructing the client, not counting to 10. You can obtain a lot of data while fully instructing a client. You can time the whole workout, time each set with the clipboard, and track whole reps with the tally counter. All of those numbers should give you a really good idea of what kind of progress your clients are making.

Another testing device is the flex tester sit and reach. Probably the most used test to determine flexibility improvements. Obtain readings in metric or standard. It is well made and accurate with the height of the box at the subject’s hands.

Here is another portable option if you’d like to have clients do a chin up or pull up. This bar has multiple different hand grips and won’t cause damage to the door frame. It can also be used as an anchor point for a band or other suspension device like the TRX.

So there you have it. 14 awesome tools you can implement in your personal training business if you don’t already have them.

I just so happen to be a Master Trainer, but for me being in fitness is about owning a successful business. My second favorite subject is economics. Free market (Austrian) economics. A lot of people have strange feelings about money and maybe even guilty if they acquire a significant amount of it. They may feel or appear greedy some other negative sounding adjective. But, in reality, it’s greed that drives us to achieve and produce for the society. It’s not a bad thing. I was lucky enough to go to one of the best economic schools in the country, George Mason University. My professor always used to say “In order to serve our own greed, we must first serve others’ need.” In other words, you have to provide a service or supply a product in order to get paid for it. There is nothing inherently evil or bad about money or wanting more of it. To me, money is just representative of how well I’ve done achieving the goals I’ve set for myself. And to allow me the freedom and lifestyle that I would like. That’s it, nothing more. Of course, to be a good member of a free market society, you have to have a strong charitable streak too.

OK, that’s how I feel about money and I hope you don’t have any of those negative feelings about it and about pursuing more of it. But, entrepreneurship in general is about the challenge for me. It’s hard, damn hard. But, it’s the journey and the process that keeps me guessing, always learning, and continually driven to do more. I played pretty high level ice hockey when I was a kid and I wanted to play pro just like every other young kid in just about any sport. And even though my Dad (I love him dearly) is a raging Liberal and been an employee who complains about his job his whole life, he recognized the benefits of being the boss or your own boss. He said something simple, but profound to me one time. He said “Why play when you can own the team?” At the time, I was playing for love of the game, but totally understood what he was getting at. Especially after you get a lot of injuries, even as a kid and think that it would be hard to do that for a career. That was when I was about 12 or so and I guess I’ve known really since then that I wanted to be an entrepreneur and have my own business.

I’m really in business to set it up, make it run like a well oiled machine, and create something working I can sell to someone else, and get out. Then move onto another goal. I may never leave this industry, but I may have several different businesses within it while trying to achieve different things.

So, I want to hear what it is for you. Why did you get into it? When did you know you wanted to do it? What keeps you in it? And where do you want to go?

Be sure to leave a comment if you would below. Thanks for reading!

First of all, you’ve got to know what you are going for. For you, what is your niche or target market?

I was going large mouth bass.
You should be aiming for (fill in the blank). Is it stay at home Moms, women in general, skinny guys who want muscle, geriatric clients, etc.

Then you’ve got to know where they are. For you, where do your best clients eat, go to the doctor, chiropractor, hang out, get their hair done, what do they read?

I went to the same spot 2 days in a row. I saw some fish action on the first day and knew exactly where to go the second day. Sure enough, I got ‘em in the same locations.

You should be making friends with local businesses your clients use, getting in touch with their medical professionals, set up a referral partnership with a hair dresser, etc.

Then you have to know what is going to attract them to make them bite. For you, what are you going to say to this target person and how are you going to deliver the message to them?

I knew from the first day that they ate a certain kind of bait that I used and my fishing partner and client, Marc, had also used. The second day, I used that same kind of bait and similar looking ones and it worked!You should be looking at marketing to this target in low or no cost ways that are likely to have a powerful effect and a positive return for you. You can create partnerships with those local businesses, place business cards and flyers everywhere you are able, writing letters of introduction, holding contests, getting charity involved in your business, holding seminars or workshops, webinars or eclasses, etc. Generally, your going to want to tell them who you are, what you do, and what problem (that keeps them up at night) you can solve for them. If it’s a postcard for example, you’ll want to include a catchy title, maybe a subtitle, a testimonial or two (before and after pics are great), what your special offer is, and probably most importantly, a call to action. A call to action is telling them they need to call or email or register NOW possibly because there is only XX number of spots. Placing a set number on it is called creating scarcity. People value things that are scarce (gold, diamonds, YOU). You could direct mail these post cards (expensive and only expect a 2-3% return) or just have them printed and use them to hand out or place in various locations.

It’s really pretty simple. Make sure it is simple and ridiculously easy for your target market to understand. It take some practice, but in time you’ll recognize the patterns as you track your efforts and you can more effectively target your big fish!

Speaking of that, I’m opening my 24-Piece Personal Trainer Master Marketing Package for a limited time for only $169.99. You’ll get a Personal Trainer marketing plan, post cards, flyers, business cards, small ads, medical referral pad, gift cards. Don’t waste time producing all of these materials yourself. Grab your copies now. Instant download of all materials.

Check out these monsters!

You’ll need a plan first and foremost. A marketing plan.

*I would pre-sell before you open for a discount or charter membership or something. That way you can hit the ground running at opening.

*Get a few people in for very low fee and make it absolutely mandatory that they give you one paying referral a month.

*Get out and network. Here’s how.

*Post flyers, business cards, and postcards every where.

*Introduce yourself to businesses with similar clientele and try to joint venture.

*Get your friends and family involved as paying clients first.

*Advertise on craigslist all the time.

*Give a free consultation or session.

*Have a NICHE. Like stay at home moms or something. Something very specific and something you can go deep with.

*Give out a referral letter or gift cards in exchange for free sessions to your clients you do have.

*Build an email list and send out a bi-weekly newsletter to stay front of mind. Include a referral link or ask them to send it on to their friends.

*Write prospecting scripts and get on the phone to drum up new business form your existing contacts. You can call people you already know to see who they know that could benefit from a program like yours’ and see if you can give them a call. It’s not a cold call, you’re tracking down warm leads.

*Have a dynamic website.

*Get a wordpress blog and contribute at least weekly.

*Write a free eBook or report to give to new contacts in exchange for their email address to add to yoru list.

*Put on a workshop or class for your niche. Make sure you market it appropriately with enough lead time. You’ll probably need a press release, email blasts sent out, a letter or paper tickets, more email blasts, phone calls, and finally, more email blasts to remind everyone to show up. Have them RSVP.

*Buy cheap ads on Facebook and/or Google.

That should hold you for a while.

Or you can join our association which helps trainers develop these type of strategies and grow their businesses. You’ll get a free monthly marketing piece in addition to the other benefits just for being a member. It’s only $33/month.

If you don’t have time to workout or were scheduled to, but are running behind, this is a great routine to give a shot. Pick it up here. “I Don’t Have Time to Workout Workout”.

Generally, I try to go to as many events as I can. You’ll have to make a choice as they do have costs associated with them. So going to a lot can really add up, but could be more than worth it too. For me, if I get 1 or 2 clients a year from chamber activities, it’s worth it. Obviously, I’m
shooting for more than that. The large breakfasts and after hours mixers are fun and fairly productive. Leadshare is the most productive for us. It’s a name for a program which consists of smaller, but closer groups where members join to “share leads”. You get exclusivity in the group as you’ll be the only personal trainer. You meet twice a month for lunch or breakfast. Each member gets 30 seconds to stand and introduce themselves and give their elevator speech. You’ll want to have a standard and scripted elevator speech and not just wing it. You’ll sound a lot more professional and get the vital information out that you need to your fellow group members. If you don’t have an elevator speech, go here for a good tool to help you build one. The other group members are supposed to be on the lookout for good leads or referrals to send to you. You have the same responsibility to them. Some people are just in the group to take leads and not give anything, which is fine, but doesn’t really work as well. The more you give, the more you get. We’ve proven that over and over again in the statistics we track. In between meetings you should have 1 on 1 meetings to more thoroughly understand your new business partners’ individual businesses. It may take some time for people to get to know, like, and trust you. I don’t think I really got a good referral until about a year and a half after being in that leadshare and continuously positioning myself as a reputable professional they can trust. Now, it’s the best thing we’ve done. And I think our company is one of only a few personal training/fitness facilities in the chamber unlike other industries where there is a LOT of competition.

I would go into it with a giving hand first. Do anything you can to drive
business and good referrals to the other members. If you meet people at
mixers or breakfasts, look for ways you can benefit them first. Not only is
this just nice, but it serves as an ethical bribe. You gave them something
so now the natural feeling is that they owe you so you will be front of
mind. EVERYBODY is looking for what they can get from the chamber. It’s
better just to go into it with a giving hand first. Follow up with the
people that you meet in person. Meet with them for a 1 on 1, if for no other reason than to
just learn more details of what they do and how they work and what good
referrals for them are. A lunch meeting is always good and you can write it
off. It’s got to be VERY VERY clear and simple what kind of referral you
are looking for and that you are the man or woman to go to if they run across that
person. I would list all the people that you meet and go through your
contacts to see what kind of connections you can make. For example, our
trainers are looking for middle aged men and women (mostly women) that are
short on time and would like to lose fat, increase their strength and
stamina in a short, effective 1 on 1 or small group personal training
setting. We offer a FREE one hour consultation and trial workout ($140
value) to sample the program. Also, people that would like a cheaper option
and one that is in a more social class format, can join boot camp
for a fraction of the cost. Now, you know people like that and so does
everyone else, it’s just a question of making the connection.

You may get clients that are members of the group or chamber themselves, but the
purpose is to give and receive referrals. I use a certified financial planner (no commission
financial advisor) who is a member of my leadshare. That was a good connection for me as he is one of only 300 or so fee only advisors in the country. We also work on several joint ventures together.

If you have a newsletter, it is a good idea to get the people that you have
met and have a good relationship with on the newsletter. Another way
you can always stay front of mind with your business associates, partners,
and prospects.

Your most successful conversions to clients will be qualified leads. In
other words, if you run across someone who needs to sell a house, try to get
permission for the realtor in the group to give them a call or email to discuss the options using
his/her services. I RARELY convert referrals where someone just
gave somebody my name and number, they rarely call. Try to get the person
providing the service or product to get in touch with the prospect if
they’ll take it. If you do this, you’ll be far ahead of the rest of the
group.

There are other events especially during the days in the form of luncheons,
and expos, etc. These may be more appropriate for a personal trainer’s schedule as after work hours may be prime time for you to train clients. However, it is vital that you make time to get out and continuously network so that you continue to drive new prospective clients into your marketing funnel.

Speaking of networking, be sure to join S.P.A.R.T.A. for only $33/month and jump into the discussions and networking going on in our business of personal training social network. It’s just like a Facebook for those of us that would like to improve our personal training businesses. Come on in and start networking now.