2 June Instructor Newsletter

Note from Rachel

Firstly, I have to comment on last week’s newsletter. I had the MOST response to it than to any other newsletter. The feedback has been coming in via Facebook, Twitter and on email in its droves. Any mention of Zumba appears to inspire Instructors with every point of view imaginable to comment and feedback and it really gets everyone talking. I’ve tried to respond personally to everyone but I suspect the articles in this week’s newsletter may evoke the same amount of response. Thank you also for all the comments about the new website, the site is really flying now and there is so much more planned to come. My 90 day coaching programme is looking IMMENSE I’ve loaded it with so much info and it’s only a matter of days now before it’s released.

This week’s newsletter is another action packed edition with Jayne and Sally both talking Zumba and a brilliant article from Katie Bulmer and new contributor to Choreographytogo, Nicola Joyce, who is a fitness journalist, plus I will be featuring a series of 3 articles on fitness writing in the following issues.

Feedback and comments

Quickest way to comment and feedback to me personally is on Twitter, I’ll get your tweet straight away and if I’m not teaching or  in a meeting will get back to you asap Tweet me http://twitter.com/RachelHolmes or you can get to me on Facebook and the Choreographytogo Fan page http://www.facebook.com/Choreographytogo

 

Fitness, Fatloss and Function Bootcamp Workshop Plus Business Ideas

This week I will be kicking off my latest tour, which has loads of new practical class content for Bootcamps, Conditioning and classes and Circuits. I’ll also be feeding in new business ideas, promoting yourself and your business and how to take yourself and your teaching to a new higher level. It’s a real action packed afternoon. This week I’ll be in Bolton on Saturday and London on Sunday and you can still grab a last minute place, Manchester only has a couple of places left so you may need to get in super quick.

To book onto this event https://www.choreographytogo.com/workshop-booking/fitness-fatburning-functional-bootcamp/

Today’s Twitter Webinar

If you hadn’t noticed I LOVE Twitter. Even more than Facebook (shock horror!) It’s put me in front of so many more businesses and business people that I have been able to network and talk to. In January I did a Fitness Twitter webinar and it was the most popular webinar we did in the series. So this is an update for those of you who are still struggling with the what, how, why, when and the nuts and bolts of how to turn your Twitter account into a full on Networking, Marketing and Engaging machine.

If you want to get a quick response from me add me on Twitter as in 160 characters I can answer you quickly and give you feedback, PLUS the market research info you can glean on Twitter is the best. It’s a brilliant world wide grapevine full of rich content if you know where to look. There are only 100 places on today’s webinar so if you would like to grab one of the last ones then register below.

https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/286196190

I’ve had several emails from people saying ” Rach  I have the kids at home so I cant get involved” – Don’t worry you don’t have to do anything! You can just listen!, you don’t have to ask any questions or interact if you don’t want to or have your hands full with the kids. Come and join the webinar experience, it’s really fun and it will be 60minutes maximum. I’ll be doing a weekly webinar at different times over the next few months so come and get involved.

Congratulations

Big Congratulations to Choreographytogo friend and Bootcamp King Paul Mort and Lesley who got hitched last weekend.

New Fitness Business Builders List

I am starting a new section of Choreographytogo for Instructors and small fitness business owners who are looking for more specific business, marketing, coaching and PR  information. If you would like to get involved please add your email address to https://www.choreographytogo.com/news/business-builder/#

 

Goal Setting and To do lists

It really is 1/2 way through the year. Unbelievable as it seems, 2011 is steaming by, so now is the perfect time to revisit the goals you made way back and understand if you haven’t quite got there yet, what’s been holding you back and make some changes. NOW!

Your goals (if you are anything like me) are constantly changing and evolving. Being in the fitness industry is like no other business, we don’t have a set path to follow, we are all moving forward in the industry in different ways so the important thing is to focus and spend time working out what is the best route for you.

Time management is usually the biggest excuse for not getting your biggest goals completed. If you need to get  back on track and overcome obstacles that are stopping you then read the above article and I hope it helps.

Many thanks to Michael Hepple for inspiring me on this topic.

” I dont have enough time”

Split you week into 3 sections: Key Days, Stuff Days and Me Days.

Key Days: On key days work only on getting your biggest goals completed – Work as hard as you can on getting it done. Don’t go on Facebook, don’t answer the phone, stop reading emails put EVERYTHING on hold and work only on moving towards your biggest goal. My key day this week is Friday.

Stuff Day – Include a “Stuff day” where you do your weekley,menial tasks that have to be completed – Newsletters, promotions, flyers, articles, bill paying, general admin whatever the tasks are have a day where you get all of this completed for the week. Batch it all together.

Me Day – Plan Fun days that take you out of your office and teaching. The word here is to PLAN a ME day, organise a lunch with friends, cinema, a walk in the country, day at a spa, a family day whatever will give you and your brain a rest and do something that you will really enjoy.

The brilliant Michael Hepple taught me this principal and since adopting it, its working a treat, but, I have to tweak it a bit because I can’t sit in my office for one whole day. I have about 3 hours of total concentration then I have to be with other humans, I also need to train and usually teach a class so for me I have Key, Stuff and Me afternoons and one whole Key day as thats super important for me to get the biggest goals completed.

If you like this idea check out my blog tomorrow as I have made a video about this principal.

 

Jayne Zumba Nicholls

There seems to be a lot of screaming and shouting going on about Zumba right now, some are angry because ‘the unqualifieds’ can teach it, some are angry because ‘its dangerous’ (insane), some are angry because it is so damn popular and the majority just plain love it. Have you noticed that on the ground  floor, the people who really matter, our audience just come because it is exquisitely marketed, packaged and they have a great time.

Aside from this, the very reason that they stay, come back week after week and the thing that everyone appears to forget is YOU. It could be bumba, rumba or pumba and YOU would be able to teach it to hundreds. It could be dance, boot camp, aerobics or conditioning and YOU would command the class. YOU are the constant in the equation, YOU are the common denominator between a good and a bad class, Zumba or otherwise. YOU are your greatest asset and I am not sure that you even realise it.

I have no professional or social interest in the success or failure of Zumba, it is what it is. As a protagonist in the freestyle market, I applaud its success as a business model and liken its rise to that of Les Mills, Aerobics and Jane Fonda all of whom have had or are having their day. What I  do think is interesting though are the amount of instructors who have surrendered their  individuality and even their identity – Jayne Zumba Nicholls – (have just nearly fell off my chair) to the Zumba cause. This is not  because you love it or because it pays well, it is because you want to belong. In the very same way that Les Mils took hold, Zumba has done the same thing. It is not the punter or the club that insist upon its very existence, it is the instructor who gives it its worth, its credibility and who will ultimately determine when it is over.

And it will be over! (Please feel free to write to me with insults I have had it for years and my skin is as thick as my Mercedes Benz tyres,  but as I am fully aware of my own strengths in this business, I have rarely been wrong). My point is not that it will follow the fate of every other trend, my point is that I really DO NOT WANT YOU to go with it. Realise your strength and your worth, love Zumba and whatever is next for what it is, a tool to fuel your business but save your identity and use your strength to further your own cause.

I have written a lot about the pack mentality lately and it continues to fascinate me, especially in the fitness industry where our very existence is to make change to the lives of the general public, the masses who do not have our devotion to health and fitness. Know your strengths, keep your individuality and love what you have – not what you are given.

 

 

A Bit Extra Pocket Money Just When I Needed It! Katie Bulmer

Hi there,

Sorry it’s been a while since I last wrote for the C2Go readers…I’ve been very busy this last year. Me and the hubby have made this the year that we ‘set ourselves up for life’. Now that might seem like a big statement, but basically, we wanted to buy a big family home for our 9 month old princess Heidi and put in place things that will dictate early retirement etc.

There is so much stuff out there right now about being a 6 or even 7 figure fit pro, which is great, but for me my goal is lifestyle orientated, of course this requires money, but that isn’t my direct goal…I’m after stuff instead, e.g. home, nice car, better work life balance etc.

So why am I telling you this???

Well for a start, I’m guessing that many of you feel the same. We have families that we want to provide for, and we want to be able to spend less time working and more time enjoying our kids/family/friends etc. But in order to do this we need the funds right?

So how do we make some extra wonga without leaving the house or spending an extra 5 hours a week glued to the laptop?

Well here’s how I did it recently…

I made my own workout DVD!

It kinda came out of the blue…my pal Paul Mort had a camera man coming up to our neck of the woods and we shared the filming time. I took 2 of my fabulous fitness camp girls and my good friend Angi along to the studio to do the demos and we shot the whole thing in 1 hour. Then around 2 weeks later my order of 50 copies landed on my doorstep.

The DVD doesn’t have fancy lighting, make up or editing- it’s real! And that’s its selling point! A REAL workout for all levels of REALLY BUSY WOMEN (in fact- that’s the title)!

Now I must admit I didn’t expect them to fly out the way they did. I thought 50 would last me quite a while…maybe I’d sell a few in classes over the coming months. How wrong I was…all 50 sold in 4 weeks! OMG!

And it made me the tidy sum of £500…a nice little bit of pocket money just as I needed it (the new house needed a new boiler-oh joy!). This extra dosh was a real help towards having the home of our dreams!

The outgoings/set up costs are minimal- all you have to shell out for is filming time, buying the stock (you can buy smaller or larger quantities than 50), postage and packing, it’s that straight forward. Oh and Asda is the best place to buy your padded envelopes J

I would absolutely recommend every fit pro do this for a number of reasons:

· I was able to sell to a wider audience- selling copies to people outside the area I run my classes and PT in

· It’s time efficient: it took me only 1 hour to film and 1 hour to create a webpage on my site to sell it from

· I had more time/money to spend on doing up our house (believe me it needed a lot of work)

· I had loads more time to spend with Heidi Boo and still earn (I was literally earning while we were at the swings)

Am sure all you guys with kids know how hard it is to juggle family life with running a business, teaching classes etc and for me this is the perfect solution!

Check out http://www.amvservices.co.uk/2.html for the lovely Andrew who did the filming (why not do what Paul and I did and split the filming and cost)

If you’d like to find out more on the niche filmed my DVD for check out http://katiebulmer.com/buy-katies-dvd (it’ll also be pretty good for you guys who teach boot camps if you’re after some new ideas- it’s all body weight/interval training stuff)

I hope this has given you some ideas and inspiration,

Katie xx

 

Why all the Worry? by Sally Gharfoor

WOW, what can I say I was overwhelmed with all the feedback from my Zumba Haters article. Thank you to everyone for taking the time to send your feedback, it was immense.

So we all know Zumba is extremely popular, when I read the forums and comments on facebook. I see people worry because there are so many Zumba instructors popping up everywhere. Worry that their classes will be affected. I see people moaning about others as they have set up a class in the same hall or on the same night 2 minutes down the road. So how do you become THE Zumba instructor to go to, how do you put yourself ahead of the rest, how do you get into a league of your own?

I am not going to pretend I know the answers and I am not going to tell you what should be on your flyers or how you need to market your classes as the best advice I can give you all is to change your mindset.

Worrying, feeling animosity to another instructor will give you a bad mindset, it wastes energy, switch it to positive and guess what, opportunities reveal themselves to you.

Change it!!!!

What you are thinking, right now, right this second, is contributing to the outcome of your life, how about you change the thinking to a positive outcome? Two books I thoroughly enjoy reading Flip it by Michael Heppel and Crush it – Gary Vaynerchuck. They really motivate me, makes me realise, you know what, I can change things. I also love Jen Mercer’s twitter updates at the moment, every day she posts a positive saying/quote. It’s fab, a great kick up the backside when you log onto twitter. I am going to take a leaf out of Jen’s book and do this too!!!

Worrying will put you in a bad mood, you are worrying about something that may not even happen, your classes may not be affected at all and if they are do you think worrying helped to make it any less difficult? How about when you wake up, decide that  today is going to be a good day or bad day – it’s up to you whether your mood is good or bad. Life will challenge you, but if your mood is good you can and will deal with it so much better. If the mood is good you will become proactive, if  it’s bad, you will wallow, feel sorry for yourself and achieve nothing. So find something to cheer you up. I love a great tip in “the Secret” – look at pictures of your children when they were babies. When I do this my heart fills with joy and pride- how can I not feel great after that! It’s a bit like on Harry Potter when the Dementors come and fill their heads with depressing thoughts; they have to think of something that made them happy – really happy to get the spell to eradicate the Dementors to work.

So when Zumba sets up at the same hall as you – and why shouldn’t they? – Don’t panic. Do you have rights to that hall? Do you know what position the new Zumba instructor is in. Maybe they have been made redundant, maybe they can hardly pay the bills, can hardly feed their kids, and the only hall with a space is the one you currently teach in. Are they really going to give up an opportunity to help themselves so they don’t upset someone they don’t even know.

You know once, I got a call from a hall I teach in, someone wants to teach Zumba as well, do you mind? Without a second thought my answer was No that is fine. I had a call from an instructor once who loved my flyers, could I help her design some for her new class – competition to mine. Yep of course I said send the info over, I designed her flyers and told her where I get mine printed, gaining her a large discount. Yet still my classes haven’t changed they are busy, new classes have not affected my business so here is what I do

1. STOP WORRYING – All the time you spend talking about or worrying about the new class that is being set up around the corner from your already established class is wasted time. You could have used that time to be pro active in getting your classes out there.

2. Be Proactive not re active – I never worry about competition because I am constantly promoting, constantly getting my name out there, always thinking ahead. New classes will be being promoted, but you know what so are mine, I NEVER stop promoting.

3. Remember people go to classes for the instructor; you are in the driving seat not the new class.  Clients are extremely loyal, they tend to like the one style of instructing and may attend the new class but will return, they come for you and your class.

4. SMILE 😉

www.gethealthsavvy.co.uk

 

How to make sure your press release gets read! by Nicola Joyce aka The Fit Writer

In this series of blog posts, fitness copywriter Nicola Joyce lets us into the secrets behind successful copy: content which persuades, informs and sells. First up, press releases.

What is a press release?

A press release – also known as a news release – is a widely-used method of letting journalists and editors know about anything newsworthy going on within your business. Usually sent via email as an attachment or in the body of the email, a press release can also be uploaded to many free websites to boost your SEO and Google rankings.

There’s a trick (or few!) to writing press releases which will actually be read. Don’t forget, journalists get hundreds of releases a day. Editors get more. If you can get them to read past the first line, you’re doing well. Remember, a press release isn’t an advert. And it shouldn’t used to circulate standard information about your products or services. Think “news release” and you can’t go far wrong. The purpose of a release is to communicate something newsworthy. After all, what you’re asking for by sending the release is a mention in the magazine or newspaper – without paying. Ask yourself “is this something truly newsworthy which the editor will be glad to use? Or is it something I should be paying advertising rates for?”

Why should you be sending press releases out?

Press releases give you a way of communicating with inhouse editorial staff at newspapers, magazines and websites, and with freelance journalists active in the sport and fitness sector. They can’t come to you for an expert quote or a kit test if they don’t know you exist. They can’t mention your industry award or fantastic client case study if you don’t tell them about it. But remember… these people get lots of press releases, and most of them are badly-written and irrelevant. Yours won’t be if you follow these top 10 tips for writing a press release!

Top 10 tips for press releases which get read

1 Is it news or an advert? You’re asking for a free mention in a publication which charges a lot of money for ad space.

2 Did you know only 1.5% of fitpro press releases get opened? I’m not sure if that’s true, but it shows the power of a strong headline. Make it intriguing but not vague.

3 Human interest is good. Case studies, success stories, charity mentions and community stories go down well.

4 Know your audience. Make sure you’ve read the publication, their readership and the type of news and features they usually go with.

5 Details, details… ensure every bit of information the editor or journalist could want is in the release. Names, dates, places, RRP, web links, where to buy and more!

6 Include images (and caption them). If your release gets picked up, you may be asked for a high-res image. Include a low-res version with the release and state you have a high-res one available.

7 Support your content with stats, figures and number where possible, citing the source.

8 Make sure your contact details, or those of your press officer/PR person are on the bottom of the release: name, email, phone, website and availability.

9 Mention that you, your case studies and any other key people are available for interview and photographs.

10 Include a “notes to editors” at the bottom of the release. This is where you put facts and background information which would otherwise clutter the release (biographies, company information, etc).

Good luck! Oh – one last tip – don’t forget to upload your press releases to somewhere like <a href=”http://www.prlog.org/”PRLog</a> as well as sending them to journalists and editors.

 

Nicola Joyce is a freelance copywriter and journalist who specialises in writing for the sport and fitness industry. As a journalist, she writes regularly for Body Fit, Muscle and Fitness, Triathletes World, Women’s Running and lots of other consumer magazines. As a copywriter, she helps businesses like yours communicate clearly with their customers, clients and prospects. Read her blog http://thefitwriter.wordpress.com/ nd visit her website <a http://www.nicolajoyce.co.uk/

 

I hope you enjoyed the newsletter this week

Have a great week

Love Rachel xx