PT Plus Coaches

Chunking time to be more effective

2010-10-23T13:30:00.000+11:00

By Aaron Whear

One of the topics that generated the most discussion at a recent 6 figure trainer workshop in Melbourne was around the concept of chunking time. The reason that this topic was so interesting to so many people is that most trainers make exactly the same mistake when they first get started, i.e. they don’t chunk their time. The root cause of this problem is that trainers often don’t value their service as much as they should, they lack confidence in their ability to attract a client base and this leads to a scarcity mindset. See if you can relate to this scenario, you have just started work as a Personal Trainer and because you lack confidence in your ability to get clients you make yourself available to clients 24/7 and as a result your day ends up looking like this, 6am client, 1pm client, 5pm client and 8pm client! This is no way to live as you have only been paid for 3 hours work (based on 4 x 45 minute sessions) but you have done these 3 hours over the course of a much longer day where you have been mentally “on” for the whole day. This type of situation where trainers get their day totally out of proportion is one of the reasons that the average lifespan of a Personal Trainer is between 2-3 years and they end up burned out, buggered, and busted! However, it does not have to be this way.

Chunking time is not a new term, but for many people it is a new skill. Chunking involves focusing on completing one task at a time, or working on similar tasks together. In the Personal Training context for a trainer who wants to work with both morning and evening clients it may look like this. Monday, Wednesday and Friday being available between 4-8pm, and Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday being available between 6am-10am. Throw in a mid morning or lunch time small group classes and this trainer is well on the way to a 6 figure income and beyond working “in” the business for a maximum of 6 hours per day and actually enjoying life outside of training because they have defined “chunked” periods of work time and play time.

Another chunk of time I would recommend is a minimum of 4 hours per week of “heads up” time for Personal Trainers earning up to $60,000 per year and at least 8 hours of “heads up” time for those working towards $100,000 and beyond. The chunking principle for this time would be doing things like writing all your proposals together, blocking out two hours to meet a potential referral partner, or blocking meetings back to back. When these tasks are chunked together and distractions like e-mail alerts and mobile phone interruptions eliminated it is amazing how productive you can be. Many people who implement these practices report that they get more done in a 4 hour block than they used to get done in a week!

The point of this article is that trainers have a lot more control over organising their day and precious time than they think. All that is required is a shift in mind set in terms of showing enough confidence in yourself and your services to let existing and potential clients know that you have set times when you are available to train rather than being available 24/7. Once you make this shift in the way you do business you will be amazed and how many clients will rearrange other commitments to make sure they can continue to train with you and once this occurs you are well on the way to longevity within this great industry. You will be working sustainable hours and really enjoying what you do rather than continually having to pace yourself through the day because you are never “off”. My challenge to you if you are not currently chunking your time is to take out your diary right now and start working on a plan for a more sustainable weekly schedule.

Adelaide Personal Trainer of the Year - James Smith Interview

2010-10-19T20:07:00.001+11:00

How did you come to work in the fitness industry?

It was a natural progression from coaching and playing squash semi professionally. I’m a 3^rd generation athlete and a bit of a sport nerd really. I’m fascinated with how the body functions and adapts. It is incredible what the body can do. Have you ever watched a 100m final at track side breaking under 10seconds? Or a bunch sprint in a professional cycling reaching speeds of over 70kph when crossing the line or swimming world class level. It is phenomenal the speed and power the body can generate. I find it exhilarating and have a real respect and appreciation of these athletes. I was lucky to be able to turn my interests into my job. I find it rewarding when working with clients, athletes and trainers to make a real change to their life!

What s been most significant achievement over the last 12 months?

It has been a huge year both personally and in business. This year I have just emigrated to Adelaide from London with my fiancé. We have just bought a house and are getting married next month.

I am the Personal Training coordinator for Genesis Glenelg . Just under a year ago, we set up and opened Genesis Glenelg a 2,000 sqm facility. My job included the recruitment and training of 8 Personal Trainers, the design and implementation of many procedures within the club, organising the distribution of follow up of almost 350 Personal Training packs sold throughout the pre-sale and inducting 1,700 members safely.This was all whilst building and developing my personal PT business, The Smiths Personal Training. My business now has multi revenue streams including PT sessions, seminars, PT mentoring, Boot Camps, Corporate clients.

How have you strived for the best practice within the industry?

To be a successful personal trainer you have to have the complete package. You have to work on both your technical and business skills constantly. “absorb what is useful, reject what’s useless” (Bruce Lee). I have been fortunate enough to be mentored by some great industry leaders. I work hard to implement what I learn to Genesis and to my business with the Smiths PT. Every week I spend a day developing or working on my business. Having extensive industry experience gained from around the world, I have managed to select best practices from different workplaces, coaching and sporting experiences and courses.

Describe some of the ways that have helped you to become the local fitness icon of Adelaide?

1) Setting up a complete professional network; I work with local physiotherapists, a podiatrist, sports massage therapist, nutritionist and psychologist.

2) I deliver seminars at the gym, to corporate client groups and AIF.

3) I am a member of a ‘round table meeting’ with other leading trainers in Adelaide.

4) I am currently mentoring over 20 trainers in Adelaide and internationally!

5) Marketing- website, monthly newsletters, leaflets.

To become a fitness icon, I believe that, first and foremost you must deliver a high quality complete service that achieves client’s results.

What advice would you give trainers to build great businesses?

It is a constant journey, as soon as you start in the industry you need to develop your business and technical skills continuously. Find an industry leader to mentor you, a great way to coach, teach and guide you on this journey. It will accelerate your learning process and business ventures.

How have you found the experience of working with a PT Plus coach?

It has been great achieving high levels of accountability and more accurate focus from someone who has done what you’re are trying to achieve. I have managed to increase my productivity, reduce work hours and increase my income and revenue streams.

What can we expect James from the Smiths PT in Adelaide in the future?

I am looking to establish myself as one of Adelaide leading personal trainers and mentors. I want to work with trainers who are incredibly driven and want to be the best in the industry; I will help accelerate their progress!

3 Quick Business Building Tips by David Virgo

2010-10-18T21:12:00.005+11:00

Sometime we make the idea of getting clients too hard and difficult. One thing I have done consistently is

1. Build a data base that is willing and ready for you to impress with your knowledge of how you can help them.

2. Creating new offerings that allow more people to jump on board with you in and put them on show for all to see, print off, download or be directed to by you or anyone marketing your business

3. Send out an e-newsletter to all of you data base regularly so you are top of mind mind when the time comes to discuss health and fitness

PT Business in a box

2010-09-24T15:38:00.002+10:00

PT Business in a box
I was put on the spot by my coach the other day when deciding on making a financial investment in some resources. He said
"what's it not worth for you to do"............ wham between the eyes it was going to cost me more by not investing and telling myself I couldn't afford it as opposed to looking at how I was going to do it.

A lot like creating PT wealth, what's it 'not worth to you' to not have the best business tools and resources in your listening and reading library. For the best PT business in a box resources, designed to develop you and your business, by successful PT's, studio owners and business owners let me know what you listen too and read.

Sales School Program

2010-09-20T15:10:00.001+10:00

how to take the sell out of selling

Without clients you don’t have a business. Without a steady flow of new leads to your business you will battle long jeopardy. To have success and spread your healthy message to more people, to generate the lifestyle and business you deserve you need to implement a sales system. The ‘yuck’ generally associated with sales does not have to be so painful. Learn to have qualified leads into your business by taking the pain out of sales and putting some pleasure into your business.

Who should attend Sales School:

· If you currently don’t have a process or system for generating leads

· If you have credit card debt and need to increase your income

· If you love what you do and want to positively effect more people

· Find you have energy vampires as clients

· If you aspire to running a successful business

Why this program:

· Learn to sell in a style that suits your personality

· Understand why scripts and cold calling don’t work

· This is specific to personal trainers, studio owners and gyms

· We give you a proven system that you will customize to your business

· No hard selling, offensive techniques or American Hype

You can expect:

· To have a personalised six step process

· Ongoing follow up and support following the workshop to refine your skill

· Learn how to close the sale without feeling like a slippery salesperson

· Understand that discounting is dead and how it will kill your business

· Dealing with objections

You will be shown:

· The top 20 techniques to killing a sale

· How to convert 90% of your sales

· Sell a $20 product and a $20,000 product

· How to attract the right people to your business

· How to take yourself to be a 9/10 in the area of sales without feeling awkward

· Why traditional advertising is dead

For a small investment in time and money you will save yourself hours and dollars on the process of obtaining new clients. Put on hold the small advertisement you intend to run or the brochure you plan to print, and invest in this industry specific program.

This program delivers a day of learning and is then followed by an option 6 weeks of coaching to ensure that the workbook and notes are not left in a pile in your office. We will keep you on track and well supported so that you completely get a full return on investment and on your way to boosting your business. Email us at info@ptplus.com.au for more information about our sales school program.

Advertising is dead - Dave Liow

2010-09-06T21:31:00.001+10:00

Yep – traditional advertising is still dead...

Just a reminder (yet again) that traditional advertising is well and truly dead!

I’m writing this article from a hotel room looking over Tokyo city after a day of exploring the streets of the world’s biggest city. There are 28 million people buzzing around below in what I’d describe as very organised Japanese chaos. This morning I spent time walking around Shibuya, a very hip and crazy busy part of town. I have never been so absolutely bombarded by the world of advertising. There are giant screens on the side of buildings, blaring advertisements, people handing you flyers and calling you into shops. There are signs on the footpath, buildings, and on the front of people being walking billboards. Every sense is overrun with advertising. The locals walk around oblivious to the world of advertising around them. I was jumping out of my skin from the assault to my senses. When I sat and watched what advertising was effective, I noticed that the only advertising material that was being kept and read by the locals were paper/plastic fans (with ads on them of course) that could be used to generate some breeze in the humidity and pollution of a 36°C summer’s day.

Let’s put this in the context of how we advertise as PTs. How do you advertise? Is your advertising valuable or are you a blaring video screen saying look at me?

If you are producing useful, valuable resources that help and inform your community, just like our Japanese fans, your message will be noticed. People are interested and thirsting for knowledge about health. In fact a recent Harris Interactive poll reported that 60% of Microsoft searches are health related (second only to travel searches at 61%).

Bottom line is that if you want to get noticed, give value. Do this in your talks, newsletters and with the clients that you work with everyday. Leave your glossy brochures at home, go get out there and be noticed.

Success Story from a little town of Waipu in New Zealand

2010-09-06T17:00:00.004+10:00

1. Sharon – You’ve experienced being a personal trainer in the big city. Can you describe the experience of starting all over again in a small town?
Daunting and exciting. There is no gym here, so I was truly starting from scratch. Also, people had tried personal training and group fitness classes here before and for whatever reason it hadn’t worked for them, so it was a real leap of faith.

2. How has your business developed over the last year?
Wow, it has been an amazing year. I have gone from a couple of personal training clients and some group fitness classes to being almost full as a trainer and running 8 x group fitness classes a week. I have also organised 2 x major fundraisers, implemented a kids active programme in the local primary school and started a walking/ running group and cycling groups.

3. Can you describe some of the ways that have helped you to become the local fitness icon of Waipu?
I guess it has to be all of question 2. Just getting involved in the community. Offering a good variety of options for people and sharing what I love to do.

4. What advice would you give trainers in the smaller towns in New Zealand to help them build great businesses?
Believe in yourself. Small towns are all about community, so get involved. Create opportunities, keep up to date with what is happening in the fitness industry (Get Active, FILEX, PT Plus etc) and get a good mentor.

5. You are a mother of 2 young lively kids, a wife and a business owner. How do you fit it all in?
Systems, systems and more systems. You have to plan your day, week, month etc. Making time or the big things and the little things. This helps to ensure you have a great balance. Have clear objectives and don’t be afraid to think big!

6. How have you found the experience of working with a PT Plus coach?
Life changing. Having a coach has given me and my business clear focus and direction. It has made me look at what is working in my business and what needs working on. But more importantly it has given me clear objectives that are achievable, challenging but achievable.

7. What can we expect from Smart Fitness and Sharon Carroll in the future?
To be a $100,000+ trainer. To keep making a difference in my community. To keep working on and not in my business, so that I have a great work/ life balance. To keep challenging myself and others to dream big, have fun and achieve the impossible!

How Holidays can change the way you do business - David Virgo

2010-09-06T16:05:00.001+10:00

Wow 2.00am again and I’m still working on this damn website. Years ago this was the normal practice for a period of time in my business life. Or what I thought was a life. Website creation, hardcopy newsletters, articles, programs and even recording income and expenses to help me at tax time.

My downfall in hindsight was thinking I was the business and I should be doing it all. One big wakeup call I needed was watching my wife and kids head off to the USA for 3 weeks without me on a holiday. I will never forget the tears from the kids and my then 3 year old son’s words, “I will be strong and not cry Dad” as he walked into the boarding race.

Focusing on the business of fitness, like any other business is more than just delivering a product and taking money for that service, however once you take the cash you are a business. I think most of us get this. However what you might be struggling with is the fact that others can contribute to your business and relieve stress but most importantly leave you to work your strengths. Deleting urgent but not big picture tasks from your workload is vital for efficient time management and allowing you to focus on doing what you do best.

Analysing your current workload and seeing exactly what you are doing in your business will uncover some tasks that you are currently undertaking but don’t really enjoy. And if you are honest with yourself, someone could do it better in less time leaving you more freedom to do the things you enjoy and in turn earn more to pay for it anyway.

On reflection I lacked direction, purpose and was virtually physically tied up to my business. To get to the stage where your business allows you some freedom look at adding these three components to it.

1. Direction: Ask questions such as what do you want your business to provide for you (lifestyle, financial freedom, holidays, time) and plan for them.

2. Organisation: Get your strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes, big picture and small picture tasks down on paper and see what you can delete to keep you directed and purposeful.

3. Belief: Having the belief that you are capable of achieving this will only come from getting direct and purposeful because it will allow you to physically see a way forward. Once you have the why out in the open seeing the how (organisation and strategy) will provide the belief.

Since waving my family goodbye to the USA I can gladly say we have all been overseas two times since and interstate once as a family. The business runs fine if not better without me around and I get to sit next to my son on the plane and listen to him let out a huge “YAHOO” as the plane accelerates furiously up into the air. I will never let my family go on holidays without me because of work or business ever again. That is freedom.

a goal without action is just a dream

2010-07-11T19:59:00.002+10:00

I had the pleasure of presenting to personal trainers throughout New Zealand last month at Bisgro. In the session we spent a good amount of time developing our vision of what we want in the future for our business and our lifestyle. If you haven't done this exercise I would highly recommend that you go through this process. This article by Aaron Whear - my fellow PT Plus coach will provide a great place to start. If you were at Bisgro, or if you have set yourself some goals earlier in the year, can I ask what you've done about moving towards your vision since then?

Failure to get into action, as the title of this article says, turns goals into dreams. The reality is that will not get your goals by chance.

Goals are achieve by consistent action. Think of driving from Wellington to Auckland at night. You can only see a few hundred metres in front of you but you're always moving forwards towards your destination. If you focus and follow the road ahead you'll reach your destination. Breaking your big goals down into quarterly and monthly blocks will help you to put an achievable plan in place. Then break down each month into weekly targets and daily objectives. Take action each day to move yourself towards your goal. If you have a 'to do list' replace it with a 'must do list' each day. Check that the tasks on the list take you closer towards your goal.

This week - get focused on consistent action and check each day that your must do list is taking you towards your goal.

Dave Liow

guarantee success by getting truly rewarded

2010-07-11T19:39:00.002+10:00

A recent spate of wealthy individuals sought after by the Australian Tax Office (ATO) for fraudulent activities have subsequently received severe penalties including jail time. Paying the price for success and receiving your reward brings forward the point of what is success and have you set a path of rewards.

Defining success is different for everyone and to judge your success according to someone's will set you up for failure. This was something I did constantly early in my business career and luckily I changed. Money is one of the measures of success however it won't drive you to be successful in the long term. Using money, as a motivation tool to success will cause a huge imbalance in whatever balance exists in your lifestyle. You only have to look at the fate of these very wealthy businessmen that the ATO caught. A question of motives and definition of success resulted in the ATO taking it all back from them.

Success can only be achieved when the balance between your giving and your receiving is equal. So in your case realizing your true worth as a fitnesspreneur will allow you to be rewarded handsomely in recognition for the value you are providing to your circle of influence. Think about it; transforming lives is such a valuable resource. Are you getting adequately in all aspects of your life for the difference you are making?

My point being if you aren't prepared to spend the time, effort and resources on creating, growing and sustaining a business that will allow you to give and receive in correct proportion to your true self worth you can't expect to deliver the goods to your members and ultimately achieve personal success yourself.

That is why part of the process for every budding fitnesspreneur that crosses our path seriously looking to be one of the Top 200 fitness professionals in WA is made aware of the BUT principles (email us for more information on these). This ensures you are the business owner are paying enough attention to yourself to allow the balance between giving and receiving is front of mind in any business decision.

To find out if you are receiving true value for the wonderful life transforming work you are doing ask yourself these three questions.

1. Am I prepared to do what it takes to be one of Western Australia's top 200 fitness professionals and never waiver from the vision?
2. Is my business supporting me as a person and allowing me to enjoy the activities and lifestyle I desire.
3. Is there any way you could entertain the thought that there is a better way to do things in your business that will allow you to have full control over your success and give you the freedom you desire in your lifestyle?

If yes was the response to these questions without thought or regard for the how or the what it would take to get there, you are in the right industry. Your challenge is now to strive for the balance that is needed between the giving of your value and the true reward for that giving. Our business support mechanism designed to assist you get this is there for you. You need to give adequately to get the rewards it offers, are you willing? Click here and read all about it.

David Virgo

the bed situation

2010-07-02T14:03:00.002+10:00

Getting up out of bed of a morning can be one of two things:

1. A liberating experience
2. A total drag, especially on these frosty winter mornings

What determines the success of this early morning task is reviewing what you're getting up for? What situation, clients and income are you going to face at work? Is it stimulating exciting and challenging or energy sapping unrewarding and full of energy vampires? As a fitness professional 'getting up' is part of the job, it is a part of life. Jumping up and out of bed in anticipation of a stimulating and exciting day or is the scenario more 'i'm not quite sure whether I am looking forward to my day?'

If you aren't as excited about your day as you could be chances are you have created this situation.

The good news is that you don't have to live with it, should you choose to do something different. This is where you can make the choice to become a 'fitnesspreneur' or stay where you are as a regular personal trainer. The burden of 'having to do things' rather than having 'choices to do things' will help to determine the quality of your nights sleep and whether your rolling or jumping from bed of a morning.

Why have I focused on your day? Well I figure if we get you right, you can go about helping more people more often and that helps serve our mission of supporting 200 of Western Australia's leading personal trainers.

The first step to ensure you are excited when you get up in the morning is to plan a day full of inspiring and captivating tasks. These tasks must serve your personal mission and if you don't know what that is, now is the time to start bringing it to life. Carrying out mundane tasks that don't inspire your day isn't serving you well. Eventually it will resonate through to your clients who you are trying to inspire to a higher quality existence. I know by deleting the tasks that don't serve your businesses best interests and adding the tasks that will take you directly to where you want your business to be, is aligned with success. Yet so many business owners avoid implementing this simple concept. I know, I was in denial also for a few years.

Your business success or failure is determined by you. In fact the first thing I work with on any PT we support is you because you are the business. Check out these BUT principles. Assess yourself right now to see how your BUT principles measure up and how they will help you leap out of bed into more profitable relationships, clients and business outcomes.

B = business: are you happily implementing these things in your business?
*accounting
*website
*newletters
*sales
*staff
*systems
*business plans
*annual strategies
*budgeting

U = you: are these areas in your like taken into account and addressed to make sure you are at your best, healthy and consistently fulfilled?
*your health
*wealth creation
*your relationships
*hobbies and interests
*social abilities
*self development

T = technically: you have the skills and abilities to get the results you say you are going to provide to your clients.

Developing awareness around these areas in your business life may highlight what you aren't enjoying or aren't doing. Take it from an individual that literally fell out of bed with little motivation to now jumping out of bed at 5 every morning (even weekends) knowing that the day is going to be special and inspiring for me. By deleting the time wasting tasks and adding direction to your business, motivation will be at a high and so will your outcomes and income. Working on the BUT principles allowed me to start the changes, it has successfully worked for so many others and I now it will do the same for you.

David Virgo

great trainer, poor trainer - what's the difference?

2010-06-18T14:56:00.003+10:00

What makes a great trainer so great, and others not so good? This was the discussion at our recent Million Dollar Mentoring Day event in Melbourne. The response below is from a room full of great trainers, putting together a guideline designed to lift the professionalism of the industry.

Great Personal Trainers do the following:
1. Client focus - as opposed to making it all about them (I eat only organic food and train 4 hours per day, can bench press 140kgs blah blah blah) great trainers make it relevant to the client. The great trainer genuinely wants to help their clients and displays a service ethic dedicated to the clients lifestyle and outcomes.

2. Consistency of service is high on importance to great trainers. One of the best techniques for building a strong business is referrals. By being consistent you get results and by getting results you get referrals. Clients want a consistent quality of service, this may include session start and finish on time, receive follow up calls to new clients etc.

3. Great trainers practice what they preach. They schedule time for workouts and set a good example for their clients in all parts of their life. They walk their talk and clients respect them for it.

4. Training sessions are result based, ie/ the trainer has taken the time to work out exactly what the clients goals are and have formulated a plan of action to get them there within an appropriate agreed time frame.

5. They offer a professional level of service, they are uniformed and they look after their own hygiene even when taking multiple sessions throughout the day! In addition they have adequate insurance, they screen clients for potential health issues, and they refer to other allied health professionals where appropriate. They keep appropriate records like old exercise programs and fitness evaluation and health screening data in an organised file easy to locate.

6. They ask lots of questions and actively listen for the response their clients give them and they then use that information to help refine the clients exercise program, nutrition and/or lifestyle choices.

7. Tough love is required to help people to better health. Great trainers keep clients accountable and sometimes need to hold the mirror up to their clients if they go off the rails or have 'that' conversation.

8. They are specialists rather than generalists. This means they choose to become an expoert in 1 to 3 target markets. They realise they cannot be everything to everybody and a jack of all trades but master of none.

9. Recognition of client achievement is high on their list. A great strategy many implement is to reinvest a percentage of what the client has paid them back into some sort of client appreciation event or activity.

10. They allocated exercise and nutrition homework to do between sessions and they educate the client to help them make healthier lifestyle decisions which leads to better results.

Poor trainers do the following:
1. Text or talk on mobile phones during sessions, indicating that the session is all about the trainer and their ego and not about the client and their needs.

2. They are often late to sessions and/or allow their sessions to run over time which results in inconvenience to clients.

3. They are poor communicators ie/ they often talk a lot about their favourite subject...themselves! They are tellers not askers and this is not a good recipe for adherence as the client must have their own goals as opposed to having a trainers one dimensional philosophy forced into their life.

4. They profess to be an expert in every single area of training possible - a strong giveaway is that their advertising material says they specialise in 'Weight Loss, Hypertrophy, Re-Hab, Sports Specific, Stretching, Pilates, Yoga, Pre & Post Natal, Children and the list goes on and on'. The relevant point being that a specialist refers to a small number of areas, ie/ between 1 and 3 NOT 33!

5. Often the poor trainers do not have a uniform, they are not well groomed and hygiene for some is sadly not a priority.

6. The summary being that for all of the reasons listed above they are unprofessional in many ways.

Here is a quick user guide to what makes a trainer great and what makes the others not so great. Great trainers value themselves and their clients, are consistent, professional, follow up clients outside of sessions, and walk their talk, while poor trainers do not. The only question that remains is where you will position yourself both in your own eyes as well as those of your client?

Aaron Whear

freedom or fugitive

2010-06-18T14:36:00.002+10:00

which one are you planning for?

The statement is 'failing to plan is planning to fail' and I have heard it so much I initially struggled to use it here due to its extensive usage. However its relevance to today's fitness professional is high as the need to plan your business dealings is becoming more and more important.

Unfortunately you probably don't know any better as the traditional PT model is one of swapping time for money. It is only because I have been through the process and also didn't plan properly that I can confidently tell you that the traditional way isn't suitable, especially if lifestyle, freedom and fulfillment are high on your agenda.

Getting caught up in the, 'what am I going to do' and 'how am I going to achieve it' is great but there needs to be some order to your business. Prioritizing your duties is a great way to ensure you get the most important and valuable jobs done in the right order. You can't do it all so don't waste valuable time and energy trying. Initially planning to fill your diary with a certain number of sessions at a set rate will ensure a certain level of income. Once this has been achieved you can definitely start looking at outsourcing and handing off the tasks that aren't high on your favourites list.

Sticking with the failing to plan planning to fail theme; is part one of the process. To get your business to the stage where you have a solid foundation. Here are three simple steps to allow you to start this very important process. This is especially relevant to you now if you aren't currently earning $60,000 per annum.

1. Construct a very basic business plan that defines how you are are going to make your money. Be realistic here and set challenging yet achievable targets.
2. Put some tactics or strategies around how you are going to make this business plan work and generate that amount of money. These are your priority tasks and must be done before anything else.
3. Be accountable and check you have achieved these tactics every week. All the best laid plans are worthless unless action follows. If you want to increase your chances of achieving the revenue you want get a specialized coach to keep you accountable, limit your mistakes, minimize your risk and has an interest in your success.

It isn't rocket science but here is the catch. If you won't take these steps or get someone to help you take these steps you will struggle to find freedom, sustainability, fulfillment and long term business success. Remember the words 'failing to plan is planning to fail'. Fitnesspreneurs plan to succeed so if you want to join the fitnesspreneurs club it's time to start making plans.

David Virgo

getting clients

2010-05-27T15:24:00.002+10:00

Like the muscles in a body builder's arms, a business that is not growing is in trouble. A growing business is a healthy business for all involved. It starts by identifying the kind of growth and the income you want to earn.

A typical PT works in the business delivering sessions (heads down - immediate work) as well as having to run the business in terms of looking after marketing and finance (heads up future goals work). If we simplify the process, to create a growing business there are only 3 steps to follow:

1. Get clients in front of you (generate leads)
2. Convert these leads into sales (have a sales process)
3. Retain these clients (keep them coming back)

If you analyse what your business needs the most - it's usually lead generation. This is not unique to personal training. I recently presented at a corporate function for RE/MAX Real Estate and Nick Thiele (RE/Max Australia Director) identified lead generation as most important area for growing a business. As a director of one of the world's fastest growing real estate businesses I took note.

Generating leads is getting more difficult for all businesses. Our potential customers are in hiding from being bombarded by the world of advertising. Low value advertising will not be noticed in a world that is bursting at the seams with ads in every direction that you look.

The key is become a valuable source of information and get to know your customers.

Consumers crave valuable information. To ensure that you have a community of customers that can help to build your business stay in touch by using these 3 tips:

1. Having a database - an obvious one that starts the momentum rolling. A database is your best business asset
2. Educate the database. Send regular articles/newsletters that contain valuable information. Understanding it is the information age people require more information than ever before so provide 80% content and 20% advertising. Build respect from your database by providing excellent information and advice
3. Get to know your clients by regularly keeping in contact with personal calls/emails. Business is about relationships. Look to turn your database list into a relationship list by getting to know your potential customers. Take the 'cold' out of cold calling by warming people up to who you are and what you do. Being consistent is king

Getting clients in front of you is an important step in growing your business. Backing this up with good systems, sales processes, and keeping existing clients is a great platform to launch your fitness career. The business builder course in Christchurch (June 12) or Auckland (June 19) is an event you'll want to be at to learn how to build your fitness career. This course only has 20 places available. Enrol now to secure your place by emailing newzealand@ptplus.com.au

Dave Liow

Are you in the top 200?

2010-05-17T10:12:00.003+10:00

Are you in the top 200?

Are you one of New Zealand's top 200 trainers?

Here are the 10 top attributes of the trainers we're looking for?

Our 200 top trainers:

1. are passionate about the business of personal training
2. consistently strive to provide an exceptional experience for their clients
3. are clear about their future in the industry (have a vision)
4. have a personal mission
5. understand the need for self development
6. are committed to ongoing development of their business and technical skills
7. understand the concept of return on investment (ROI) to grow their business
8. are health and fitness role models
9. balance their work and lifestyle
10. are REPs registered

If these attributes resonate with you, here is your opportunity to join other New Zealand top trainers in an exclusive group as part of our business support program. 70 places have already been filled by members in our existing programs. Our New Zealand membership will be strictly capped at 200 members. These members will be offered a range of workshops, audios, books, forums and so much more as part of our business support program to boost their business and cement their standing as one of New Zealand's top 200 trainers. To start the ball rolling, memberships in May will receive complimentary entry to the next PT Plus workshop in Wellington (25th June), Christchurch (12th June), or Auckland (19th June) and ALL quarterly workshops in these centres over the next year. As an added bonus you will receive 24 interviews from the leaders in health and fitness sent via CD or podcast (worth $500) for sign ups in May.

Contact us now for more information and an application form to join our top 200.

Dave Liow

Build it for them and they will come

2010-05-17T09:52:00.002+10:00

Having just returned from Australia's biggest fitness convention FILEX I had time on the flight home to gather my thoughts and reflect on a great experience. My first thought was the huge benefits and lessons associated with investing time, money and effort into spending time with industry leaders that ooze passion and are constantly seeking to inspire others.

The most prominent aspect I picked up from being in the same space of leaders in the health and fitness industry like Joe Cirulli, Grant Gamble, Andrew Simmons, Paul Taylor and Paul Brown was how much self development and work has gone into improving themselves. A common theme was that everyone of these leaders has struggled and failed more than once in their business life.

The underlying message from all of these very influential people is so simple yet so very under rated in the fitness industry. Create great relationships with your clients and your staff. When these relationships are created then go about inspiring your members and staff daily. At the end of the day memberships and personal training are wonderful tools to use in keeping people healthy and well but they are worthless unless you are building trust and rapport that retains them and allows the life changing benefits of physical activity.

Unfortunately the state of our health as a nation is telling us that collectively we still have a way to go before we, the health and fitness industry, can say we are inspiring Australians to better health and wellness. By building a solid business foundation you give yourself the freedom of focusing on the job of informing and empowering your target market as well as delivering on the technical side of your business. The three tips below are very effective and easily automated processes that allow you to deliver great information to your audience.

1. Create a newsletter that goes out to your database regularly on the problems of your target market. Inform and educate them, they need your knowledge.
2. Phone any contact that expresses any interest in improving their health and ask them what information or assistance they need to help and then deliver the solutions and some more.
3. Over deliver by giving more value. Don't prostitute your services by cutting prices; give so much more than you promised. We are about to get bombarded by cheap gym memberships, do you really want to compete with them?

If you do nothing else this year but work on building a rock solid business foundation and then incorporating these three tips into your fitness business you will be providing an extremely valuable service to the needy. Australians are looking for help to lose weight, fight diabetes and battle depression. So start getting your valuable message out there today, building trust and become an inspiration to your circle of influence.

For more information on building a solid business foundation click here.

David Virgo

the most effective way to utilize business cards

2010-05-10T10:41:00.003+10:00

"Here's my business card why don't you give me a call and set up a time to come in and we can sit down and chat about your situation and get you losing weight the healthy way. It sounds like you are editing and losing muscle tissue which can be detrimental for your metabolism and your long term body weight stabilization"

This is a typical conversation that occurs in most gyms, BBQ's and social setting throughout Western Australia. This is how I started in my business and the use of business cards only to find that I went through stacks of them without getting a client. Then I changed my tactics and my results sky-rocketed! Let me share with you the most effective way to utilize your business card.

The first shift is in changing the traditional focus of handing out lots and lots of business cards. This process depends on the person you handed your business card, to get back to you. Secondly in a busy fast paced world people are having dozens of conversation everyday and the chance of them remembering you after 24 hours is minimal. In fact I don't have a business card anymore, I find picking up everyone else's and making a note on the card about our conversation a far more effective way of building business. Instead of giving out my card I always take the other persons and with permission email them some great information, like an article, interview or anything else relevant to their situation as well as add them to my database and put them on my newsletter list.

Now my approach to the initial scenario has changed a few degrees. Here's what I do now. So the typical conversation occurring throughout most social settings should now go more like this.

"It sounds like you may have gone about losing the weight in a way that might not have been quite as effective as it could have been. Give me your details and how about I send you some great tips on losing weight and keeping it off forever".

This process allows me to send information in return for their details. I also add to my best business asset, my database. Furthermore, the prospect and I feel comfortable in the follow up phone call because it is all about them and their weight loss as opposed to me trying to sell to them. I can then market to this person regularly via my email newsletter, ring him personally every month to see how his efforts are going and when he is ready he will utilize my services because I have kept in touch.

So next time you can see an opportunity why not offer to help out first before asking for the sale. This process is more effective than giving free sessions and consumes a lot less of your time, assuming follow up.

David Virgo

Discover how doing less can bring so much more to your business

2010-03-31T10:16:00.002+11:00

Three years ago my mindset changed and so did the way I went about my business. My previous mindset of more is better didn't fit in with the healthy lifestyle I wanted to live as I felt my energy levels drop resulting in missing my own training sessions and poor nutrition.

For years I followed this aimless 'work harder' path only to lose the enjoyment of what I did. When I decided to get some professional, proven advice from someone who had been through what I had been through it became the catalyst for change to a lifestyle that allows me to travel and still have my business ticking over. The best place to start is in assessing where you currently are and then putting a strategy around how to free yourself from your business.

Analyzing your business will enable you to get a better understanding of what you are doing well and more importantly where you are deficient. As soon as you develop awareness around your deficiencies your efforts can then be directed at building a better business rather than putting out spot fires on a daily basis.

One of my glaring weaknesses was my involvement in the training side. It needed to be pulled back if I was to honor my perfect week and my strong values of family and health. So I put a strategy around removing myself from training clients; which was challenging as my business model was a boutique, semi personal training model. Clients liked my style and knowledge so my strategy was to bring someone in to train the clients with me and get them used to training under another trainer and literally handing them over to the new trainer.

What's my point? Freeing you up from personal training still allows money to be made but allows you to develop an expanded awareness around your business and highlight the amount of opportunities in the fitness business world waiting to be captured. Working on your business, staying accountable to a plan and honoring your own values are a proven success strategy that will never fail you.

The add, delete, multiply and delete model PT Plus follows will give you the opportunity to firstly identify what you are doing well as what is holding you back. It will highlight what you can multiply in your business to increase income, time, or whatever it is you desire as well as how dividing one small business aspect such as moving from a one to one training model to becoming a semi personal training model can increase the amount of people's lives you affect as well as increasing your hourly rate.

You and I live in an environment that is so conducive to health and wellness yet our population is getting sicker and sicker. Sun, warmth, lots of open spaces and a great economy are what we have in WA so getting your fitness businesses health in order will allow you to make a world of difference to so many lives, not to mention your own. Start working on your business today by requesting your very own business health check.

David Virgo

you are your business

2010-03-09T13:38:00.003+11:00

As a PT you are your business. This fact determines how you operate and how to develop your business. Many of you that have attended PT Plus events would have heard us explain the BUT principle. As a quick recap, the BUT principle states that in order to have a successful PT business we must develop our skills in the following three areas:

B = Business

U = You and your personal life

T = Technical

In my experience PTs spend time developing their technical skills to the detriment of the business and personal side. The reason that we become PTs is usually that we enjoy exercise and the skills that allow us to do it, teach it and talk about it as professionals. In some cases I've seen trainers attend technical workshop after technical workshop in the belief that by improving their knowledge their failing business will miraculously turn around. The belief that improving your technical skills will generate you a large client base and a solid business is flawed! If you want to be a great technician (which I hope you do) you must study technical skills. If you want a great business, you need to develop your business skills.

The PT Plus Business Bootcamps we delivered throughout Australia and New Zealand had a large emphasis on personal development. Since you are your business, developing yourself = developing your business. As a coach, I've found that self development is the foundation to grow your business. Without belief, vision and purpose you won't get far. For those of you that attended our bootcamp you should definitely have clarity around your vision and mission.

What's the next step? Make a plan and action it! Drive yourself into action to achieve your vision/goals. This is a very difficult step for most folks. In my experience common responses are:

Being overwhelmed and not knowing where to start
Have great intentions but can't/won't put time aside to work on what is important to take their business to the next level
Know it's important but decide it's too hard at the moment (and for months/years after)

Do you need help to develop your plan and create action? As a follow up offer form Business Bootcamp to help drive you into action we're offering a six month six figure group program to keep you accountable and in action towards your mission. This program starts on 15th March. Please email us at info@ptplus.com.au for the details of this program. * please note group only available to people in Queensland

Dave Liow

11 top tips for business success in 2010

2010-03-09T13:13:00.003+11:00

1. Build a database. My opinion is that the health of your business is directly proportional to the size of your database. In fact Ryan Lee who was one of the pioneers of Internet marketing in the fitness industry has been quoted as saying words to the effect that 'you could take my millions (of dollars) away from me tomorrow - just leave me my database and I would create financial independence again in no time'. Your database should include your current clients, past clients, people who you would like to be your clients, potential joint venture partners, family, friends - anyone who has even the slightest interest in health and fitness or seeing you succeed. Once you have established a database then communicate with them regularly via a monthly newsletter, weekly health tip and/or special offers.

2. Personalise your service. This tip is all about adding value to current or potential clients whenever you can. It involves following up meetings or sessions with a personalised email with an article attached. It could be sending a gift to a client's place of work. The imagination is the limit with this tip.

3. Lead boxes. This lead generation tool has been around for a long time, however sometimes some of the old school methods are the best. Approach other business who service your ideal client such as health food stores, hairdressers, beauty therapists etc. The most effective way of forming a relationship with owners of these businesses is to offer to train them and/or their partner for free as well as to feature their services in your newsletter. If you go in with an attitude of 'what can I do for you' rather than the other way around then you give this strategy its best chance of success.

4. Referrals. IHRSA which is the largest Health Club membership body in the world suggest that 46% of new fitness business clients come from word of mouth referrals. Now obviously doing a great job with your clients will drive a percentage of referral business, however to put this on steroids you will want to start driving traffic more directly. One idea that I love is giving cash to clients who refer, eg/ you might give clients who refer a client who signs up for one of your packages $100 cash. If you know the lifetime value of your clients then you will know how much you can afford. Eg/ if your average client spends $200 per month with you and on average stays with you for 12 months then there lifetime value if $2400. Now that you are armed with this information it is a no brainer to offer $100 at the point of sale to receive $2400 in return.

5. Have a social element to your business. Having things such as client appreciation days will increase client loyalty which equates to more dollars for you. In addition social events can be a great lead in for inviting friends of clients to come along which is another obvious lead generation tactic.

6. Join an existing community. This could mean joining your local Business Networking International (BNI) Group, becoming involved with a local sporting club etc. The more exposure you have within your local community the greater your chances of attracting new clients.

7. Have an online presence. It is the year 2010 and if you don't have a website than I don't believe that you are serious about having a business! You really want to have your online presence optimised so that when a potential client searches Personal Trainers in your suburb that you appear on the first page in the search engines. In addition having a blog is a great tool to engage with existing or potential clients.

8. The power of 5. This is PT Plus speak for having joint partners. Ideally we believe you should have at least 5 other businesses that service your ideal client refer clients to you and vice versa. Typical businesses include allied health professionals such as Physio's, GPs, Massage Therapists, as well as other businesses like health food stores, beauty therapists, sport stores etc.

9. Meetings. A key performance indicator I use for Private Mentoring clients is to have 10 new business meetings per month. These meetings could be a no obligation health chat, through to a meeting with a potential Power of 5 joint venture partnership. As mentioned above under the 'personalise your service' tip follow up each of these meetings with an email and an article or download. This follow up will add credibility and differentiate you from other Personal Trainers.

10. Talk to 5 people every day. This strategy is one of the most powerful things you can do for your business. You can draw these people from your existing database, gym floor, potential power of 5 partner etc. The more you talk to people about your business the more it will grow. Try this tactic for 3 months and you will be blown away by the results.

11. Public speaking. This is one of the fastest ways of growing your business. Health and Fitness is very topical and there are many community groups and work places that would love to have someone come and give them good quality information. Once you have completed your presentation make sure you have a special offer for your services as well as the ability to capture the contact details of all attendees who will go onto your database for ongoing communication - see tip 1.

Aaron Whear

the missing link to come out of WAFIC

2010-03-09T12:55:00.002+11:00

All in attendance would agree that WAFIC 2010 was a wonderful event and if you didn't go this year; you need to be there next year. From my perspective, all in attendance of the of the business seminars are set for a big business future. Why? By attending business events you invest in your business and future growth. If you fail to invest your time, action and resources into your business everything you have done up to now and will soon become outdated with the speed at which the way we do business moving faster than ever before.

In reviewing the PT Plus model of Add, Delete, Multiply and Divide I have identified a common denominator that is lacking from the majority of businesses that I was in contact with at WAFIC. By adding this simple concept to your business immediately, you will already be stamping your fitness business as superior to your competition. I want to share with you a simple technique I teach personal trainers keen on making the transformation to 'fitnesspreneur'.

If you don't want to do it or you don't enjoy a certain task in your business - systemise it. Medial tasks but vitally necessary to ongoing business are administration responsibilities. To allow you to easily add an admin assistant to your business you need systems for them to follow.

If you document a task a week that you do yourself, step by step you will soon have a file full of systems that you can pass onto anyone that enters your business to assist. If it is producing invoices, sending out thank you cards, adding people to an automatic debit program or posting articles to a website or blog. Take the time to document each step in simple, easy to understand steps so someone helping can pick it up easily.

If you are serious about growing and making your fitness business sustainable, creating systems must be a priority right now. Having holidays, attending WAFIC's and not becoming a slave to your business will all be available to you if you embrace the systems concept. Also if you are aiming to build your business up to sell, then systems will guarantee you a much better price because your business will be capable of running without you.

So hop to it Western Australian 'fitnesspreneurs' and start systemising your business.

David Virgo

Get system driven in 2010

2010-01-28T13:44:00.002+11:00

In 2009 did you get any unwelcome challenges in your business? Here are the top 7 business challenges that came as a result of being in a health and fitness business and following are tips on how to avoid them.

* Missed tax payments resulting in fines by the taxation office
* Lost phone resulting in losing appointments and client contacts
* Double booking sessions on a regular basis
* Losing training plans and test results
* Forgetting to book testing and training rooms for important sessions
* Missing rent payments resulting in lost time in phone calls and explanation
* Missing client payments that were picked up months down the track

At best these challenges are annoying; at worst they can cause severe damage to your business, finances and mental state. However by becoming system orientated you will find that a lot of these challenges are completely avoidable by setting up the correct process to increasing productivity.

Now I realise that we don't live in an ordered, structured world where events happen like clock-work. Strange, unplanned, urgent events do come up. However, if they are coming up for you on a regular basis it's time to start developing some systems. When you get an unwelcome challenge, the key questions to ask yourself if "What system/process can I put in place so that this doesn't occur again?"

At a recent conference in New Zealand I attended a talk by Casey Conrad (founder of Healthy Inspirations club chain). One of her observations of world-class businesses is that they were all system-driven. Michael Gerber author of the E-Myth focuses on developing business systems to create businesses that can run without their owners. As a personal trainer the biggest challenge to running your business is that if you don't turn up you don't get paid. However, you can create a business that runs smoothly so you can spend your time on more important things, like family, friends, your health and fitness or watching a movie.

Here are some key systems to develop in your business and personal life.

*Personal Health Systems - the process of looking after you (because you ARE the business)
* Financial Systems - to track your profit, cash flow and targets
* Selling Systems - the process of converting leads into signing on the dotted line
* Marketing Systems - how will you generate the ongoing income you desire and avoid living week to week?

In 2010 the choice is yours. Continue doing what you've always done and hope that things turn out differently; or choose to make success happen this year by developing a systems-based business. The result is that you can free up more time, earn more and work less to have the lifestyle you deserve. However you need to create some action towards making this happen.

We have one-day Business Bootcamps running in Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch on February 19, 20 and 21 2010 and a 6 week Business Booster course starting the week of January 25 2010.

I will be presenting a session on developing business systems specifically for personal trainers. To find out more about Business Bootcamp and various Business Booster programs email us and we'll send you more program information.

As health and fitness experts our expertise are in helping people achieve better health and fitness. As business owners we generally make hopeless system developers. I know because I stuffed it up for years and work with most of my business coaching clients in implementing systems to free up time. So stick to what you are good at but learn to leverage from the benefit of what systems create.

Dave Liow

Leverage Series - Part One

2010-01-27T16:28:00.004+11:00

Take a step back from your busy life and check that you are doing all the things you enjoy. If you are not being fulfilled in life with enjoyment then you're missing one of the key survival factors to longevity and happiness and you will find your life to become unbalanced. Correct me if I am wrong but I am guessing your unbalance comes from work. In business if you neglect
The most important thing to you is work/life balance. How do I know this? In coaching health and fitness business I find it is the same thing I am working towards with most business owners. The problem with the work/life balance myth is that it doesn't exist. Who really works eight hours, sleeps eight hours and plays for eight hours. Especially if you are in business! There are times when you work more than play and visa versa. To go in search of work/life you are setting yourself up for failure. Consider the word 'integration' as a more productive way to get you closer to work/life balance where work and life are integrated into your day. The work/life integration model is more successful way to live your life, especially if you value your health, your family and enjoy your work. One of the factors to promoting a better lifestyle is creating leverage into your life. Over the coming weeks I want to offer some solutions to lifestyle challenges by exposing you to the concept of leverage.

Take a step back from your busy life and check that you are doing all the things you enjoy. If you are not being fulfilled in life with enjoyment then you're missing one of the key survival factors to longevity and happiness and you will find your life to become unbalanced. Correct me if I am wrong but I am guessing your unbalance comes from work. In business if you neglect balance in your life, you will find that you are always busy, flat out and lacking energy. I learnt the hard way, by developing a life threatening disease. Avoid times of un-lengthy balance in your lifestyle and don't make the same mistake I made.

How do we create balance?
Meet my great friend Leverage. A very powerful word that is great to have integrated in your life. It has assisted my life's transformation and my business coaching clients from complete chaos to organised chaos and if you feel like your business life is in chaos then study and implement leverage and watch what it can do for you. Leverage allows you to grow your business, increase income, give you more time for the important things in life; better performance and most importantly put some sort of balance in your lifestyle. Do you want to get your great message out to more people and positively influence? Do you want to earn more by doing less? Well jump aboard and take the journey into the world of Leverage. Let's go!

In the fitness industry the first point of call for leverage is to get involved in the game of the internet. Start with an internet registration and add an income producing website, a blog and a professional email address. These are necessities and non negotiable, without them you aren't in the game of leverage and set yourself for trying to build a business using 1980 style resources in the year 2010. It is a very hard game to win. From here there are a whole range of leverage tools that can be created. Such as database collection tools, information products, online services, complimentary gifts, sign up forms, payment forms and even offers to join you on Facebook and Twitter. I should also mention, selling advertising space, audio downloads and adding videos to your site.

As an industry we are fantastic at getting people healthy and fit however we are really hopeless at understanding the growing and confusing world of websites, internet and social networking. Typically it's all about sets and reps, which is only one element to being successful and remember there won't be many sets and reps in your bank balance if people don't know you exist. Online are where the world goes for information so you need to be playing in the online game. If you don't understand how to create revenue from this area then learn another important leverage lesson by outsourcing what you don't know and stick to your strengths.

As Scott Krywulycz, PT Plus CEO, reported on the 6 Figure Trainer Podcast program in December 80% of people look up medical issues online before going to a doctor. So you increase your chances of growing your business and getting better at building an online strategy by playing in the game. Of course you also understand the amount of leverage it will create as well.

Worksites also provide an ideal staff member who can talk and promote us day in and day out. A website will answer these prayers for you. It will work 24/7 without having a break; it won't judge anyone, call in sick or take holidays. You need a website working for you and this is only the tup of the iceberg as far as the leverage a website offers.

Get busy on your online strategy and while most people in the business of health and fitness are out there thinking about it you can be building something of significance by simply getting in the game. If you feel you need a bit more guidance in this area then I have 10 spots available to discuss these concepts to anyone who responds to info@ptplus.com.au with 'leverage tips' in the subject, and we can organise a business chat.

The tips you will be getting in this series of articles on Leverage will potentially save you 5-10 hours a week. So if you are truly serious about building a $100,000 plus per annum business and maintaining a lifestyle at the same time this is the place to be.

David Virgo

Do you know where your business is headed in 2010?

2010-01-27T15:21:00.002+11:00

As the saying goes if we fail to plan then we plan to fail. With this in mind the importance of an Annual Strategy for a business becomes vital as it really is a road map for success which gives direction to the efforts of the business owner.

The way to start developing your annual strategy is to imagine it is Christmas Eve 2010 and to picture what it is that you have achieved in your business? This means visualising how much money you have earned. Making a list of the things you want in your business i.e. a new website, 2 corporate clients, deliver 5 workshops, have 10 outdoor group sessions and 20 one on one clients each week. The more measurable these things are the better. This process of starting with the end in mind is called reverse engineering.

Once you have 5-6 key measurables for the year then ask yourself why is it important to reach these goals? This means asking yourself what will it mean to earn X dollars? What does it represent to you? Keep going to the why? Eventually we want to come up with a single word. For example, hitting my financial goals each year is represented by the word CHOICE. The reason being that having a good income means that there are more choices available to me in terms of products or services I can purchase, the length and destination of holidays I can choose from, etc. What I am getting at here is that money is a lot like weight loss, in that I don't believe that people are motivated by actually losing weight - rather it is the benefits that losing weight represents like being more attractive, being able to play with kids, finding a partner, or fitting back into an old pair of jeans.

The next piece of the Annual Strategy puzzle is to brainstorm a meaningful reward to give yourself once you reach your goal and to visualise the satisfaction that comes with achievement. For example, when I hit my financial goals this year I will be taking my family on a 2 week holiday to Queensland and I will be well satisfied with my efforts for the year as I know that for me to achieve my goals I will have helped a number of fitness leaders achieve theirs.

One of the reasons that it is important to go through the whole Annual Strategy process is that when the inevitable ups and downs of the business occur you can refer back to what drives you and the rewards that hitting your business goals will bring. I recommend spending up to an hour each day around planning your time and efforts and then give each day your best effort. Look after your health and understand more is not always better in terms of hours spent working. You can be just as effective in 2 hours as 10 if you have the drive. Finally review each day and look at what was good, great and what can you do better. Using a journal is a great way to do this.

Once you have written up your Annual Strategy you should hang up in your office so that you see it everyday. I advise that you should read it everyday as it will slowly morph into your subconscious so that you live and breathe it.

Once the outcome of the Annual Strategy is determined then it should be broken down into bite size pieces. What this means is to set a quarterly strategy and then to break this down into monthly strategies and finally daily actions. You should develop strategies around income, expenditure, product development and personal development. It is really important to know your numbers and to track these ideally through a scorecard system and to keep the personal development process occurring as up-skilling can remove potential barriers to success. A really good ecample of a monthly strategy would be as follows:

This month I will earn $10,450. I will do this by completing 84 world-class PT sessions @ $100 per session and having enjoyable fun in testing my outdoor group participants and delivering 12 sessions @$150 per session. I will sell my e-book and audio download for $50 to 5 people this month. By earning this money this month I will serve my mission of creating a healthier population plus help to build one step closer to my annual goal. I will work hard on my sales skills by reading 'Killing the Sale by Todd Duncan. Further to this I am avoiding being broke and not having money to do what I want when I want. This will be a great month of business.

The Annual Strategy is then broken down into the monthly tactics which is where the rubber hits the road and you nail down specific outcomes that need to occur each month. Monthly tactics would be having 2-5 specific tactics for each revenue bucket and specific personal development actions.

Having coached so many fitness professionals through the Annual Strategy process I know it to be the most effective way of achieving what you are after from your business in 2010, so if you don't have a written Annual Strategy in place I implore you to start working on one today.

Aaron Whear

the state's growing, are you following suit?

2010-01-15T12:09:00.002+11:00

Being a home grown Sand Groper from the bush you don't have to reinforce to me what is so good about our state. Recent figures quoted for the first half of 2009, when we were supposed to be in a recession, highlight to me that the word is already out about how attractive this state is to live in. 220 people a day are immigrating to WA; not a month, a day. That equates to over 40,000 people in six months who have decided to live in WA. What's my point?

The opportunities in this state for you to create sustain and grow a fitness business at the same time as creating the most self fulfilling lifestyle you could ever dream of has never been better. But with this massive growth comes some pitfalls if you aren't aware. Such as, 'how long will it be before you strike a spate of bushfires in your business which will need you to radically pour all of your efforts take your focus away from you, your lifestyle and your clients results?' Regular problems such as not having systems in place to deal with an increase in client numbers and how to effectively take their money, monitor sessions used up and keep regularly updating their programs. All of these little problems can be easily averted by looking forward and planning months in advance.

All of these problems mentioned are just the tip of the iceberg. The problems will progressively overtake your business and life if you fail to plan ahead. If you are already in your own PT business (remember as soon as you take money for your services you are in business) and after reading this you can see the spot fires starting to appear, I would suggest you start taking steps to divert tragedy asap. Here's some steps I would strongly urge you to take.

1. Ensure you know what goals and outcomes you want to achieve in your own life. Your business is you initially so if you aren't right how do you expect the business to work.

2. Put rock solid foundations in place that will support you when you get challenged - as you will. The concrete pillars that fell at Rottnest Island have been reportedly found to be of poor foundational structure following this step yours ago may have saved a life. You following this step now may save your business and your own lifestyle from tragedy in years to come.

3. Get accountability in your life and if you can't do this yourself look outside and that person will appear. Someone from outside looking in can easily see dysfunction you won't be able to until disaster strikes.

The investment of time, money and self development now will pay huge dividends in the future of your fitness business but most importantly the lifestyle you deserve. Don't become a PT statistic and drop out fo the game, jump in and make a massive difference in the health and wellbeing of all West Aussies.

David Virgo

leverage

2010-01-15T11:58:00.002+11:00

Leverage plays a huge part of helping your business grow to another level. In saying that most of you are probably too busy to even think about leveraging your own time to create more income buckets and to work less. I only say that because I know that's how I felt when the concept of leverage was introduced to me.

What is even worse, until you start embracing leverage there is no way you are going to ever graduate from where your business is at right now, unless you want to earn more by working more hours. Honourable but not necessary. What would you say if I could guarantee you could work less, earn more and even better absolutely love your work more and more every day? Leverage will do this for you by allowing you to spin what you do in more ways than just swapping time for money.

To highlight my point better I have a great story to tell about the humble M&M (little bit of chocolate covered in a coloured sugar coating). Recently while n the USA we called into Las Vegas where I stumbled upon the M&M Factory - my daughter took me!!! You wouldn't believe the amount of stuff they sold in that place. There were two stories full of products. Stuffed M&M toys, M&M's in cars, single packs of 1 colour M&M's, M&M umbrellas, M&M hats and the list goes on. I kid you not there would have been over 100 items related to M&M's for sale. And for your information the store was full of M&Mers (a PT's dream market).

Point being if they can leverage a little piece of coloured chocolate into over 100 income buckets don't you feel your valuable product could be leveraged a little? Hopefully you can start to appreciate that all of those long hours you are doing you could be put to better use. You could even start to spend more time keeping yourself healthy and happy rather than focusing all your efforts on everyone else and their fitness needs.

Start the process off by giving it a little bit of thought. Try this formula to get you thinking.

- What is my specialty? What part of my personal training do people really like?
- What benefits do my clients get from my expertise?
- What do they want more of?
- How can I give them more of what they want and get greater results without me being there?

This will start you thinking and creating an awareness on how leverage could be adopted by you to help grow your business and work less hours.

David Virgo

welcome packs

2009-12-22T15:25:00.002+11:00

Does your Personal Training business currently have a 'Welcome Pack' for new clients? If not then this is something I believe you should implement immediately. The reasons for having a Welcome Pack include:

1. It will differentiate you from the scores of trainers that do not offer clients anything tangible at the point of sale and will reinforce your position as a professional

2. Most people buy based on emotion and then justify logically. Because the benefits of Personal Training are experienced in the future after multiple sessions rather than at the time of purchase, giving the client something physical that they can take away with them will minimize the chances of buyers regret and will make them feel good about the decision to purchase your services

Things you could include in your welcome pack include the following:

1. Welcome letter congratulating the client on investing in their own health and fitness. It would also include all the details they need to know about outdoor training sessions, cancellation policies etc

2. Information about your other products and services

3. Articles about common topics of interest such as nutrition, the importance of resistance training for fat loss etc

4. Training diary

5. T-shirt with your company logo

6. A skipping rope and/pr pedometer so they can do 'fitness homework'

The imagination is the limit as to what you might put into your Welcome Pack. The reason for putting one together is to reinforce your positioning as a quality Personal Trainer who has an excellent approach towards customer service. It will also help to create an initial WOW experience right from the beginning of the training relationship. It can also be the ideal lead in for your referral program and cross selling of your other products and services. The reality is that most Personal Trainers do NOT have a Welcome Pack or procedure so by implementing this simple strategy you will immediately position yourself as a superior trainer in the eyes of the client.

Aaron Whear

the game plan for personal trainers

2009-12-22T15:11:00.002+11:00

The Game Plan concept evolved from reviewing my business and life experiences and pinpointing the common thread running through all the successful times. I found that whenever I had achieved success there was always a plan in place that has allowed it to occur, and whenever things had not gone well it was often the result of poor planning.

I believe this is true for most people. We all know that 'if we fail to plan then we plan to fail', however planning still remains one of those things we don't do enough of.

I preach the Game Plan message using a combination of tools and experience to ensure my business coaching clients set appropriate plans and complete the mission. I believe that success does not come by accident and that to achieve what you are truly capable of you must have a Game Plan that accounts for the following:

Learning - personal development and business development are directly linked, so address your ongoing education. After all, the more you learn the more you earn.

Earning - focus on the areas of sales, marketing and client retention as well as developing and refining your business-specific systems. Attention to these areas will contribute to increased cash flow.

Conserving - regardless of your income, the key to wealth is spending less than you earn and investing the rest. Have an organised savings and investment plan, allow for tax, and understand the difference between profit and cash flow.

Preserving - preserve both your mental and physical health. Put in place strategies for relaxation, getting adequate sleep, taking regular holidays and optimising the results you get from your physical exercise program.

You can hear more about the Game Plan at Business Bootcamp 2010, which will be held in Melbourne on Wednesday 17th February. If you are committed to making 2010 your best year in business ever then click here to find out more.

Aaron Whear

focus and commit

2009-12-21T15:17:00.003+11:00

How did you go in 2009? When you reflect back on 2009 business how would you rate your performance out of 10 (1 being miserable, 10 being outstanding)?

What would you need to take your business performance from its current score to a 10/10?

For some of you it may be earning more dollars, for others it may be getting more control of your time. Getting more clients and getting organised are also common answers that I hear during coaching sessions with personal trainers and studio owners. When you've identified what needs to be improved, get specific about what the end product will look like and make a solid goal around how you want 2010 to be. For example - 'In 2010 I will earn $60,000'. From here you can break this goal down into smaller time frames - into quarters and months.

Having a focus or goal is great. What you focus on is what you'll get...but it needs to be followed up with action.

Peter Drucker (author of The Effective Executive) states that effective executives commit resources (time, money) to the possibilities of tomorrow. What actions and commitment will you make to develop the possibilities of your business in 2010? Useful actions of commitment may include devoting 2-4 hours per week to working on your business. At PT Plus we call this heads up time rather than just working 'in' your business. Committing time blocks to read or listen to business development resources to increase your business skills is also time well spent. As PTs we love improving our technical skills. We certainly need good technical skills - obvious too, but often neglected by PTs as they become technical biased! You won't go broke if you don't know 40 lower ab exercises, but you will go broke if you don't have a business plan or marketing strategy!

As 2010 knocks on the door we're making a commitment to help personal trainers get their businesses on track. We have 2 programs coming your way that will help raise your business score closer to a ten.

Opportunity number one starts on January 22 2010 and is a 6 week Business Booster program. Designed to give you a strategy, accountability and the chance to work with a coach on your business goals.

We have a one-day Business Bootcamp running in Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch on February 19, 20 and 21. Designed by successful personal trainers for personal trainers this program is specific to the outcome you want for your income.

These programs are designed to help deliver business skills to personal trainers. To find out if your more suited to our Business Booster program or Business Bootcamp 2010 email us at info@ptplus.com.au and we will do a review of your business and decide which is the best program for you.

Dave Liow

dreading the loss of income over this festive season?

2009-12-21T14:14:00.002+11:00

It is difficult to find a better time of year than the festive season. Especially as Fitness Professionals it can provide the freedom to go to the beach, relax the routine a little and spend some extra time with the family and friends. Of course there is the social and partying element to contribute too as well. Practicing what we preach means we need to take time out to relax, rejuvenate and recharge the batteries. Whilst it seems this is great in theory, the festive season in our profession is proving to create a little anxiety and worry amongst a lot of people in the industry. Here is why:

Over the last month in my presentations and coaching sessions the common concern about this time of year or what 'should be' a great time of year was that it resulted in loss of income over the holiday period. Chances are if you have mismanaged your business then you have just fallen into one of the most common business mistakes made this time of year. To stay on top of the game and to enjoy the festive season you need to ensure you Christmas proof your business.

Here are 3 simple steps to enjoying a business that supports your income during the festive season:

1. Plan - your planning should include strategies that will ensure all your marketing for next January is ready to roll out towards the end of December.

2. Execute - when you are relaxing you want your marketing efforts to be working for you and your bank account to be filling up.

3. Accept - this time of year to make hay whilst the sun shines and then enjoy sometime to recharge and enjoy the moment so get used to the fact that this is part of the life of a Fitness Business. Once you embrace this fact you can look forward to this period every year and use it to your advantage.

Adhering to this 3 step plan will allow you to stand above all other fitness businesses and go forward in leaps and bounds. Just imagine coming back to work half way through January with a list of waiting clients, a bank account with funds in it and totally recharged and ready to drive the health and wellbeing of all your members to their best levels ever.

David Virgo

10 ways to reward referrals

2009-11-23T14:35:00.004+11:00

IHRSA which is the largest international health club organisation in the world has survey results that indicate that 46% of new personal training clients come as the result of word of mouth referral. This is a really interesting fact and naturally leads to the question I have been asked by several of my mentoring clients "what can I do to increase the amount of referrals my clients give me?"

In answering this questions I have 'borrowed' what a number of successful Personal Trainers from around Australia are currently doing. Here are 10 practical ideas from which you can choose.

1. Hand written thank you card with 2 movie tickets.
2. 12 month subscription to a Health and Fitness Magazine, such as Ultra-Fit, Men's Health or Women's Health.
3. 30 or 60 minute massage voucher.
4. Two free Personal Training sessions.
5. Voucher to a day spa.
6. $100 cash.
7. A bunch of flowers.
8. Bottle of wine.
9. Books.
10. CD or DVD.

In terms of tools it would also be a great idea to have a written referral form that you give to all of your clients as part of a welcome pack that they can pass on and to make all clients aware of the benefits of spreading the word about your services.

One of the keys to a great referral program is to reward people who refer and to give them something which costs you as little as possible but has a large perceived value. The cheapest thing you can give away when you are getting started is your time and the value of 3 free sessions may be more than $2--, therefore the perceived value of your services may be much higher than some of the other ideas listed with the only cost incurred being your time. As you become busier your time may become more valuable to you and the other strategies become more appealing. Whatever decision you make about how to reward those who refer you to others, just make sure that you do something!

Aaron Whear

is your business lost?

2009-11-16T09:53:00.002+11:00

"Rowing harder doesn't help if the boat is heading in the wrong direction" - Kenichi Ohmae

Do you feel like you're continually on the run, chasing loose ends?
Is your today's to do list getting so big that it's overflowing into tomorrow's to do list?
Do you know what next year has in store for your business?
Do you have a plan that covers your monthly, quarterly and annual marketing and income goals?

If your working hard but going in circles, odds are your not working effectively. Let's get clear on what we mean by 'effective' work.

Firstly, working effectively and working efficiently are two very different things.

Effective = doing things that get you closer to your goals. Note that if you have no business goals or direction it's highly unlikely that your working effectively.
Efficient = performing a given task in an economical manner (whether it's important or not)

The bottom line is - what you do is infinitely more important than how you do it.

If you're looking to make 2010 an effective year with clear business direction, you need to start planning NOW. PT Plus has a Business Booster course starting on November 20th that will provide your business with clear direction for 2010. Make 2010 the year that your business takes off.

We have two places left to fill on this course. The last two applicants will receive a bonus 18 months worth of audio programmes with interviews from world leaders in business and personal training and a FREE I-pod (over $500 value).

Contact our office on business@ptplus.com.au to enrol.

If you need to get clear on your direction in 2010, see you at Business Booster starting in 4 days!

Dave Liow

how you spend your time determines your results

2009-11-05T09:48:00.003+11:00

Some of us are born bigger, stronger and richer than others. The one thing that we all share in common is how much time there is. There are 7 days in a week, or 168 hours or 10080 minutes in each week. How you spend this time will determine your results.

Everyone complains about not having enough time. In fact I can't remember talking to anyone who had too much time on their hands. Are you making the best use of your time?

One of the best solutions to time management that I've come across is by Stephen Covey in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. He categorises all activities that we do into 4 quadrants.

Quadrant 1 - Urgent and important
Quadrant 2 - Not urgent and important
Quadrant 3 - Urgent and not important
Quadrant 4 - Not urgent and not important

An example of a quadrant 4 activity would be spending excessive time watching TV or playing Playstation.

A quadrant 3 might be answering a phone or checking your email inbox.

A quadrant 2 activity might be exercise - it's important, but you don't need to do it right now.

A quadrant 1 is also known as a problem. For example not having enough money to pay your rent, or missing a session that you had booked with a client.

The secret to managing your life and avoiding quadrant 1 (problems) is to put effective systems in place to manage quadrant 2. This may include booking systems, financial systems, personal health systems, client booking systems, heads-up time working on your business and so on. If you're short of time - check in on your quadrant 3 and 4 activities to see if you can free up any time for quadrant 2 activities.

At PT Plus we're big on systems. Systems PRECEDE growth. Making a bigger business without systems will create more chaos. Our best product to help you develop your business systems is Business Starter Pack. The last business starter pack for NZers and Queenslanders starts on November 20th. This is spread over 15 weeks and will allow you to create not only a profitable business, but a business with systems that is able to grow. There are 3 more places available for this course. Contact our office at newzealand@ptplus.com.au to have a chat to us about this programme.

Dave Liow

a lesson from alcohol?

2009-11-04T09:37:00.003+11:00

In my local neighbourhood recently I saw a hotel building that had been revamped ready for business again but there was no indication as to what the new venture would be. There were shopping trolleys out the front so I automatically presumed it would be a mini super market or something to that effect. 2 weeks later I saw it had opened as a discount liquor store outlet. The car park was full and a steady trickle of people were coming in and out with purchases.

What is my point? Why can a new shop instantly create a mild sense of hysteria selling something so destructive, yet a personal trainer, gym or fitness business not be able to have that mini hysteria effect? Obviously the sensation and release alcohol gives the user contributes, but exercise and activity can offer the same effects just not as instantaneously!

Has it occurred to you that the preparation of the liquor industry in terms of marketing has been great? You need to get your marketing planning to a great level so when you are up and running it doesn't take you years to build up a loyal following of raving fans. I know the liquor industry has loads of cash to spend on marketing and sponsorships but at the end of the day they can't force people to buy alcohol. People talk and rave about products if they like what you have to offer and it gets results.

You know your product will be a winner but do you know your business building efforts are also a winner to match. Getting strategies and systems in place early to set up a steady stream of leads is going to fast track and guarantee you success.

So what is stopping you planning to succeed in your PT business? Self belief, knowledge, money or fear of failure? Here are some simple steps to follow if you know you want success in the fitness and personal training world, but don't know where to start:

* Start investing in yourself and gaining any knowledge possible about specific fitness businesses and what the good ones are doing. Enroll in an audio course or go to a business lecture at a fitness event. You have done this step technically so why not do it in a business sense
* Start living the dream. Let yourself imagine freely and without restraint the wonderful life you will be leading with a fitness business that rocks and a lifestyle that is even more fulfilling
* I know it is a worn out cliche but I am going to use it anyway. Just do it. Take the knowledge and the dreams and place it in a rock solid foundation that can't ever be damaged unless you decide to rebuild

Back to the alcohol thing, don't think I am a wowser as I love a drink as much as the next person, in moderation of course. But the liquor industry has it happening and we need to declare war on them and make ours happen!

David Virgo

Something to think about and I would love to hear your views. Maybe I am way off the mark here and I don't mind being told so.

E.P.A

2009-10-19T12:36:00.002+11:00

Placing extra and inflexible fitness regimes on already busy people is setting everyone concerned up for failure. In my experience you need to resist a one size fits all approach and try the individualised approach. The only way to do this is empower the busy and often out of balanced PT’s to look for a way that to stop just putting out bushfires and start taking steps to run an efficient business. It flips the thinking but has massive results in terms of you the busy person’s conformance. Use EPA to get you to this point.

See most PT’s think getting busy is a priority and training clients is all they think of. Unfortunately here is the problem. Once you have 10, 15 or 20 clients it’s bushfire season so you can forget even thinking of building a business.

1. Get Emotional. Empower yourself to see why it is you want to plan to build a business into your already busy lifestyle. What is most important to you, health, wealth, lifestyle or even family. Also what are your values?

2. Prioritise You. If you are already busy you will perceive there is no time for you anywhere as training clients will be all you can think of and giving all of your energy to them. Without a structure or plan for you and your business which run congruent, hopefully now you can see how staying in the PT game may be a little bit draining.

3. Be Accountable. Now you are emotionally charge and want to get your business building up and running all that is missing is accountability. It is too easy to say when the time comes I am too busy. So getting accountable means getting a coach or a mentor or even a fellow business owner to keep you moving forward. You will feel less inclined initially to let someone else down than yourself so tap into that mode of thought initially. It will be an initial investment that will pay you back indefinitely.

Everyone is time poor so the last thing you need to do is make yourself busier by just extinguishing bushfires and fixing problems. Stand above the PT crowd and become a star by planning and execute a business building plan starting today.

David Virgo

a winning mindset for personal trainers

2009-10-14T11:32:00.003+11:00

One of the biggest challenges confronting Personal Trainers is self-belief. There is a saying that best sums up self belief "whether you think you can or you think you can't you are probably right". I know many trainers who would either like to start up a business or take their current business to the next level but there always seems to be something stopping them. More often than not that 'something' is a limiting self-belief. Thinking you might not achieve your goals or that you are not worthy of success will ultimately lead to failure unless you can turn those thoughts around.

My background in sport and fitness instructing has taught me that one of the easiest things in life is to spot a fault. However it is a far harder thing to correct. This same philosophy translates into business and in understanding that limited thinking is probably the cause of why many are not achieving as much from life as they would like, the question becomes - what can you do when suffering from low self-belief?

The first step is to define what success is for you? For me in a business sense it is about achieving a level of financial independence where I can do what I want, with who I want, whenever I want. Coupled with this are goals around maintaining an optimal level of health and fitness, being the best husband and father I can be, as well as a commitment to lifelong learning, and then passing my experience to others through teaching, coaching and mentoring.

Once you have an understanding of what your goals really are it is like having a fog lifted from your life and you are able to see clearly and take positive steps in the direction you want your life to move in on a daily basis. The great business coach Zig Ziglar is famous for saying "the difference between a millionaire and a billionaire is that a millionaire reads his/her goals once a day while a billionaire reads his/her goals twice a day". The key learning point from this quote is about having clarity in what you want to achieve.

Another great tactic for developing a greater self-belief is to ask yourself better questions, i.e when you see someone doing something that you would like to do or achieving a result that you would like to achieve, ask yourself 'what would I have to do or change to make that happen for me?'. When you ask yourself better questions a magic thing happens - you get better answers and uncertainty about whether or not you will achieve your stated goals will often start to disappear.

Your beliefs can create your reality, so forming positive beliefs is the first step to achieving positive outcomes. An example of this philosophy in practice would be to look at a statistic that says 90% of small businesses fail within the first 5 years. Someone with a positive belief system would focus on the 10% of businesses that do succeed and would ask themselves good quality questions about what those 10% of businesses are doing and then modelling a number of their business practices.

One of the ways I have changed my beliefs is to constantly look at people who are doing things better than me and to learn from them. There is real power in associating with people who have achieved what you would like to achieve.

If you have a desire to start your own Personal Training Business and need an injection of self-belief then why not hang around other successful personal trainers in our Business Starter Pack (BSP) Program. The next course starts on Friday November 6 in Melbourne - click here for more details.

Aaron Whear

measuring your wealth

2009-10-14T11:12:00.003+11:00

There are many currencies that measure wealth - money is just one of them

As PTs we often get into this business because of the fabulous lifestyle it can deliver....if it's done well. As a PT Plus coach and mentor I often see a different side of PTing. I'm often called on by PTs to resurrect this dream after they have either not enough business (dollar wealth) or their businesses are out of control running their lives causing them to be dirt poor in other areas of their lives.

At PT Plus we measure wealth by a number of currencies. These questions should help direct your attention to other areas in your life that indicate your 'wealth'. Give yourself a mark out of 10 (0 being miserable, 10 being fantastic) for each category.

* Are you fulfilled in your relationships?
* Are you healthy?
* Are you happy with your body?
* Do you have systems in place to manage your health/well being?
* Are you satisfied with your income?
* Do you have a long term financial plan?
* Is your work enjoyable?
* Are you happy where you are living?
* Do you take time out?
* Do you have time for fun/hobbies?
* Do you take adequate holidays?

Being the richest man or woman in the graveyard with no experiences is not a well lived life. If you're not creating wealth in all areas in your life, odds are that you will not be in this business for the long-term. You will join the list of trainers that have been burnt out, unsuccessful, or given it away for a comfortable wage job.

Pick your 3 areas to work on from the questions above and make it a personal priority to get into action and bring these areas up to speed. Get a coach to really help you drive these areas back into balance.

PT Plus is about creating great leaders in the industry. Great leaders are great people. Great people have great careers, relationships and health. At PT plus we pride ourselves in creating great financial wealth for our clients. However, one of my personal joys in my role as a coach is to create wealth in all areas of life for my clients.

If you'd like to have a chat about improving your business wealth and your life wealth please contact me for a no-obligations chat about how we can make you a truly wealthy business leader. Simply email me at business@ptplus.com.au

Dave Liow

success tips from a business coach

2009-09-16T09:12:00.003+10:00

Customer service is usually the difference between trainers who succeed and trainers who don't. Delivering a good quality personal training session is every client's basic expectation, so take that as the baseline - its the customer service around those physical sessions that provides your point of difference.

Some customer service strategies that many successful trainers use include:

A Welcome Pack - clients are often spending a substantial sum up-front, or are entering a periodic direct debit contract on the basis of a result they are hoping to achieve in the future.As we live in an instant gratification society, my advice is to give clients something tangible at the point of sale to help positively reinforce their purchase decision. The simple act of giving a backpack containing some merchandise, educational articles or fitness equipment tends to reduce 'buyer's regret' and will separate you from personal trainers who don't do this.

Reminder Calls - trainers that take the time to confirm appointments save themselves a lot of cancellations. It also shows the client that you care about them.

Setting Homework - many personal trainers make the mistake of delivering a great session once or twice a week but not following up with their clients outside these times. You are doing yourself and your clients a disservice if you don't set homework or follow them up outside of session times. Homework should include specific exercise prescriptions - cardiovascular training, resistance training, flexibility exercises and group exercise classes that are appropriate to their training goals. Other homework tasks should include a focus on incidental exercise and diet.

Follow Up - whether this takes the form of a phone call, e-mail or SMS doesn't really matter, but follow up contact is vital. For a new client this may be a call to reassure them that its normal to feel sore after the first workout and that this will get better as their body adapts to training. For an experienced client this may be to check that you have worked them hard enough. Successful trainers also communicate, educate and interact with clients via a regular newsletter, as well as educational and social events.

Aaron Whear

marketing tip - the chicken or the egg?

2009-08-10T10:40:00.004+10:00

I remember when I was starting my career as a budding fitnesspreneur (fitness entrepreneur). I designed what I thought was the world’s greatest workout program for mums at home. What a great audience, they are looking to get back into shape, lots of them out there and a majority are at home. I was going to take the fitness world by storm. This was my ticket to freedom. My program was well structured, had minimal equipment, and the exercises were world class. This program would get results and change the post natal market forever. I bought this home proudly presenting to my wife like a proud cat bringing home a mouse to eat. “Nice program darling –shame it’d never sell though” she said after 5 minutes of browsing through my pride and joy. This was from not only my wife but a potential client and I got a ‘no’ first up.

My wife is a clever woman (she constantly reminds me of this). She proceeded to awaken me to a key marketing principle I’m about to uncover. The problem with the program was that it was designed by a male, using male exercises structured in a male workout from a male’s perspective. I was trying to produce a product for a market that I really didn’t understand. Thank goodness I learnt this lesson before I threw more time, money, and effort into the project.

When we try to create a product then find a market we often miss the mark. Here’s a different approach:

Find your market and THEN find the product.

What markets do you really understand?

If you’re a PT and a mum, odds are you really understand what it’s like to be a mum trying to get back into the gym. You’d understand how having kids can really change your body, pelvic floor dysfunction, and the difficulty in giving yourself some time with a new born. It’s most likely you’ll understand this market better than I ever would.

Once you know your market, ask yourself “What can I sell to this market?” – Whether it be PT sessions, mentoring, information products or any of the other 17 income streams that we’ve talked about at PT Plus.

By following this process when you develop your next great marketing idea your chance of hitting the mark and connecting with your audience will be greatly improved.

Chicken or the egg? Who knows, but find your market before you make your product.

Dave Liow

steps to achieving your goals

2009-07-31T11:14:00.003+10:00

One of my favourite past times is spending time with my family and it is something I plan into my week. What I want to pass on today is the reinforcement of the need to set goals but more importantly the need to break them down into a step by step process. It may sound like an extra job but taking the time to do this will be a vital part of your success.

Sabina (my eldest daughter) was casually remarking to me how it would be so hard to count past 100 and how she couldn't do it. I calmly took her to the number chart on the wall and highlighted to her how easy it was to count to 1000 if she could count to 100; and how easy it was to count to 100 if she could count to ten - which she can do. From that point on she started counting and made it right up to 200. This was monumental for her, small for you I know, but there is a lesson to learn from this.

Are you trying to create a sustainable and profitable PT, fitness, lifestyle or wellness business? I’m guessing you are or you wouldn’t be reading this. The lesson I’m highlighting will apply to your business success.

Where ever you are in life the big dreams can seem too big and out of reach. In reality it is only a matter of breaking the dream down into achievable segments to get you to your destination. The power is in the process as Sabina found out. Once she knew counting in blocks of ten could lead to making it to 100 she worked on counting to ten, then 20, then 30 and so on. Same with you; break it down, see the process is achievable and you have the motivation to go and achieve because you can see a path to take you there. The key is making your path clear and visible. Something we are passionate about teaching people like you.

These are the steps to take to get your PT business success:
• Think big - get your goal front of mind and don't disbelieve it. When your thinking says it can't be done, correct it to be, "it is possible and I will find the way"
• Break it down - what is it that you need to address that will allow you to get that dream or outcome. There is always three or four things if not more you need to attend to.
• Get a strategy- For each area of challenge or concern put together 4 or 5 (or more) strategies that will help you improve the areas needed to be addressed that will drive you to your end point.
• Commit to you and honour it - by following the strategies to the letter and all of a sudden the points to come out of the 'Break it down' phase are being improved and addressed. Sticking to the strategies consistently will drive you to your dream.

There you have a simplistic and broken down approach to getting your desired outcomes. Constant attention to the process and details will ensure massive results, guaranteed.

David Virgo

if I could accomplish one thing today, what would it be?

2009-07-27T12:25:00.003+10:00

This is the question I ask myself every morning to help me focus my time. Time is my most valuable resource. I have two under 5's, a wife who I dig hanging around with, and 5 businesses in 2 different countries to manage. Things can get busy.

In the past I used to waste my precious time answering dozens of emails which weren’t important and spending far too much time surfing the internet wondering what useless consumer products that I needed to buy next. Don’t get me wrong. My work capacity and output were great. I had reasonable systems for managing my health and my business. How come I was still busier than a beaver, but not really getting the time to develop my businesses and live the life I wanted? This was hurting my business and my home life.

Here’s the thing I came to realise – being efficient and being effective are two very different things. Being efficient is working economically (whether the task is important or not). Being effective is doing things that get you closer to your goals. Just because you’re doing something that takes a lot of time doesn’t make it important. Doing something well that isn’t important still doesn’t make it important. I needed to become effective and then work efficiently towards my goals. My time was at a premium, and I was investing my time and getting little return on investment (ROI).

Since I have started my morning routine asking myself “If I could accomplish one thing today, what would it be?” my effectiveness has sky rocketed. Try this simple technique and see if you can boost your effectiveness.

Dave Liow

7 key customer service strategies for PT's

2009-07-15T10:50:00.003+10:00

Ask any business owner worth their salt and they will tell you that on average it costs 6 times more to get a client than to retain an existing one. The costs include all of the time and money you spend on marketing and promotion. Couple this with a statistic from IHRSA (International Health Racket and Sports Association) which says that 46% of new clients come as a result of word of mouth referral!

With these things in mind it still staggers me as to why most Personal Trainers don’t place a much bigger emphasis on retaining existing clients and giving them reasons to spread the 'word of mouth virus' to more people. Perhaps it is because they either don’t understand the implication for profitability or simply don’t know what they can do to influence these factors. The purpose of this article is to remove the second of these excuses by giving you strategies that you can implement today.

• Welcome Packs – clients are often spending a substantial sum of money up front, or are entering a direct debit contract on the basis of a result they are hoping to achieve in the future. As we live in an instant gratification society, my advice is to give clients something tangible at the point of sale to help positively reinforce their purchase decision. The simple act of giving a backpack containing some merchandise, educational articles or fitness equipment tends to reduce 'buyers regret' and will separate you from personal trainers who don’t do this.
• Confirmation calls – trainers that take the time to confirm appointments save themselves from a lot of cancellations. It also shows the client that you care about them.
• Set Homework – many personal trainers make the mistake of delivering a great session once or twice a week but not following up with their clients outside these times. You are doing yourself and your clients a disservice if you don’t set homework or follow them up outside of session times. Homework should include specific exercise prescriptions – cardiovascular training, resistance training, flexibility exercises and group exercise classes that are appropriate to their training goals. Other homework tasks should include a focus on incidental exercise and diet.
• Follow Up – whether this takes the form of a phone call, e-mail or SMS doesn’t really matter, but follow up contact is vital. For a new client this may be a call to reassure them that it’s normal to feel sore after their first workout and that this will get better as their body adapts to training. For an experienced client this may be to check that you have worked them hard enough.
• Thank you cards – showing gratitude is one of the most powerful relationship building techniques you can use. It positions you as different from other Personal Trainers. Think about it, when was the last time someone you have purchased from took the time to send you a thank you card in the mail? My suggestion would be to send something physical in the post to your clients 4 times per year.
• Monthly Newsletter – a regular newsletter builds you credibility with existing clients as well as any prospects you have. Some rules about newsletters are that they must be regular, i.e. don’t be the trainer who sends out their monthly newsletter every 6 months! They should also include relevant information that you clients can either use or directly relate to such as an exercise of the month, recipe of the month, success profile of one of you clients, quizzes, recognition of client birthdays or special achievements, etc.
• Client Appreciation Days – the imagination is the limit as to what you could do here. You might have a day at the cricket or the football, a movie night, a bush walk, a picnic, etc. The key thing is to make the events something your client base would appreciate. Again a key thing here is that you are doing things that the average Personal Trainer does not and that is what will separate you in the eyes of you clients which in turn builds incredible loyalty.

There you have it, 7 useable strategies that if implemented will give you an edge in customer service over the great majority of your competition. Some of the strategies may sound simple, however please do not make the mistake of thinking that simple is not powerful. If implemented, these strategies will make the world of difference to customer retention and referral which in turn will have a dramatic influence on your income.

Aaron Whear

Dave Liow

2009-07-08T09:00:00.008+10:00

Dave started PTing at the beginning of personal training in New Zealand in the early 1990s. “Why compromise when you can have it all?” is a slogan that Dave has always lived by. He managed to complete a Masters in Physical Education and kayak 3 days a week while maintaining a successful PT business for a number of years. Dave isn’t one for compromising so decided to continue personal training, managing a gym, and became a senior lecturer for occupational therapists then in exercise science.

Dave became an exercise rehabilitation and athletic training specialist based in Wellington, New Zealand specialising in helping clients return from injury to high performance. Dave was the head trainer for the New Zealand Black Sox for two successful World Series campaigns, and worked with NZ hockey as a head trainer and regional trainer for NZ Women’s and Men’s Hockey for several Commonwealth and Olympic Games. He was also the head trainer for the NZ Titleist Men and Women’s Golf Academy for several World Championships.

Dave is a qualified coach and mentor and has lectured and worked with hundreds of trainers mentoring them in technical, business and personal development.

Dave recently moved from New Zealand to the live in Sunshine Coast to live in eternal summer with his wife and two young daughters, while directing his health and fitness businesses in New Zealand.

Dave really enjoys developing business vision with trainers, and creating actions and systems to drive momentum to create their dream job and life.

David Virgo

2009-07-08T09:00:00.003+10:00

David was born in the Upper Great Southern region of Western Australia in a country town called Narrogin.

David completed Year 12 in Narrogin but in between spent 3 years attending Hale School. Being bought up in the country allowed David the opportunity to play a wide variety of sports. Showing promise in cricket and football these were the sports that he put most of his efforts into. He then moved up to Perth as soon as he finished Year 12 to focus on playing cricket. David was in the Western Australian state cricket squad for 4 years and to this day still holds the record for the highest individual score achieved on the Mt Lawley Cricket Club’s home ground. He captained the Mt Lawley cricket club and later on coached the club.

In May 2000 a diagnosis of Leukaemia turned David’s world upside down. This turned out to be a pivotal point in his life as it forced him to take stock and look at his own values and lifestyle, making him realise his passion was in assisting others to grow and develop. This is when he made the decision to get into the health and well being industry. He now runs his own health creation and performance enhancement company called Lifestyle Improvers where he specialises in assisting and teaching others to build mental resilience and lead a more engaged and directed life.

He is happily married to Adriana and they both share their lives with Sabina, Tyrone and Daniella in their beautiful self built family home in the Perth suburb of Morley. He can be found spending time with his kids, reading or surfing, a skill he only recently learnt.

Aaron Whear

2009-07-08T09:00:00.001+10:00

Aaron is the ‘trainer’s trainer’. With over 15 years experience at all levels he has a proven record working with all levels of trainers in developing and refining success strategies. In an industry where trainers have a very short life span Aaron has stood the test of time and long jeopardy. His specialty is success strategies for our industry. Aaron understands the fundamental platform for any success is having a strategy. With a proven background of success in business, sport and life, Aaron has a natural instinct for developing a personal game plan for your business. Aaron says “The difference between those that succeed and those that don’t in this industry is defining what you want and having a clear plan on how to get it. As health professionals we understand this in writing health and fitness programs however so many personal trainers miss it in their own businesses”

In business, sport and family life Aaron plays with a Game Plan. The result is he is a leading business owner, sporting warrior and supportive husband and father. Having worked with hundreds of health professionals Aaron’s Game Plan is tailor made for our industry.

Aaron began his career in the fitness industry as a gym instructor in 1992. He quickly moved his way up the ranks firstly as a personal trainer and then as a gym manager. It was during his role as a gym manager that Aaron realised there was a gap between what gyms required from employees and what training providers were delivering to students. This lead to his move into Fitness Leader education and a strong desire to help bridge the gap between education and what is required in the “real world” as a fitness instructor.

Aaron’s obsession is developing the next generation of successful personal trainers as business owners.