News and Updates by Rachel Holmes

As I write this week’s newsletter the perspiration is running down my back. It’s hot and muggy but still classes are busy and buzzing, which is fantastic.  Jayne and I will be travelling to San Diego on Sunday to the IDEA convention so I will be Tweeting, Facebooking, Blogging and Vlogging from San Diego reporting back on all the latest fitness trends and updates. PLUS I’ll be teaching the final Fitness Fatloss and Functional Bootcamp at Nottingham this Saturday and that will round up another successful tour. I’d like to thank everyone who attended and for the great feedback you have given me re the Bootcamp music and workouts. Do watch this space as I will be adding more Bootcamp workouts online. This week I have added 2 new downloads and have done 2 new C2GOTV episodes on great books to read and about a new social networking site called FourSquare that you ought to be jumping all over.

Check out C2GOTV on What is FourSquare

 

Fitness Business Mentoring

As you know, I began my mentoring and coaching programme 5 weeks ago and it’s been one of the most rewarding projects I have ever been involved in. The students have come on in leaps and bounds and  together we are shaping their businesses, projects, ideas and goals. This week’s and next week’s newsletter  will be featuring articles written by  my mentor group as I know you will find their experiences and stories motivating and inspiring. This week you can read about Jill Gardner, Nina Lancaster and Becky Lane, Katie Bulmer with more to follow next week. To follow the progress of the mentoring group please add them individually on Facebook and Twitter and you can see their businesses unfold and move forward. If you are interested in the next round of mentoring please email for details RachelLHolmes@aol.com aadn you can check out the mentor students VLOGS here

New Downloads

Functional Body Conditioning Ideas with Rachel Holmes

Code:FC0	Functional Body Conditioning
	Join me as I explore new Functional body conditioning ideas for you to implement into your Conditioning, Bootcamps, LBT and intervals classes. Use tri plane movements to train the whole body incorporating new moves and exercise variations . click here to view
	2 Tokens	Length: 11 mins
	£4.99	Size: 35 MB

 

Are you thinking about setting up classes in local commercial property? Rachel Holmes

Have you considered using Commercial Property for a Studio?

There’s a lot of commercial space hanging around, town centers, and rooms above, behind and inside shops and offices.

Have you considered approaching local estate agents and land lords and actually find out the costing, rents and lease terms available – It might be cheaper and more cost effective than you think…..

Many C2go Instructors who are fed up with the rising costs of halls and being unable to find the right venues at the right times have gone for it and are running lucrative community studios.  They have also realised  it’s cheaper to run commercial property than to run a village hall 5-6 times a week. You don’t have to get tied up in a long agreement. Some landlord are looking for much shorter time. There are a lot of spaces out there with nobody renting or leasing, you may even find landlords will give you the property 6 month rent free, there are lots of deals to be had and bargains on offer.

There are many class slots through the day where potentially you can run a class aimed at a different client profile:

Early morning 6/630/7am

Mid Morning 930/10/1030

Lunch Time 12/1230/1

Mid afternoon 2/230/3

Evening 530/6/630/7/730/8

Each time slot appeals to a different demographic depending on your area. Different styles of class such as Zumba, Pilates, Bootcamps, Conditioning, etc. fit into different time slots much better than the others.

It’s important that you have a client profile.

Client profile means identifying your target market for each class and time slot

For example, for my Fitness Pilates class. I aim this at “Radio 2 listeners” they are 45+, enjoy group exercise, have attended Aerobics in the past but now feel knees/backs etc. They work part time or not at all, have older children, female, married, live within a 3-4 mile radius of the venue, tend to attend with friends. It’s usually the only class they attend per week as they also swim, walk. They read the local town newspaper, and are involved in local community, therefore, I market to them in local magazines and leaflets. Only 40% are on Facebook but 95% have emails which I market to them with a weekly local newsletter.

Whichever time slot you choose ensure you have a clear client profile in mind before you begin marketing.

There’s no point spending money at advertising only to find out no one’s going to come. Do your market research. Don’t commit money to anything unless you found out if there’s a niche, this is really important.

Then start to build you brand. Decide how to market your new venue, work out the typical customer who will come to your new facilities. Think big when it comes to flyers, remember the average take out on a flyer is about 1% every thousand, so you need to have a lot of flyers. Advertise in local publications, a village or parish magazine and  get on the radio! Find out how to by going to bbc.co.uk website or the different DJ’s throughout the day whenever you want to take your class, so get on that show. They have diverse experts like embroidery expert, cake decorating etc., and you might be the Fitness expert!

It really is doable to open your own studio, you are a brilliant instructor and you can beat the big boys. People will come to a venue where customer service is a priority, where ALL members and participants are made to feel special, where instructors care about them and know their name.

So I hope that all inspires you. If you haven’t found a venue, then find one now!!!

 

Check out new Editions of C2Go Tv – Rachels top 3 Audio Books to help all Fitpros

 

click here to watch the Mentor VLOGS

 

Real Life Instructor Stories

Jill Gardner Hate It Change it

So who is perfect anyway?

Two and half years ago I decided that I had had enough of working in a gym.  I had been employed as a Personal Trainer and Group Ex instructor for over 6 years.    I was knackered, depressed, underpaid and undervalued.  I tried to please everyone and I took it hard when I couldn’t!

But it was my fault!!

It was a dream come true when I was offered the opportunity to train as fitness professional.  I wasn’t looking for it because I didn’t think I would be ‘perfect’ for the role.   My kids were a little bit older so I seized the opportunity.  I was more excited than a 4 year old on Christmas day!

I just couldn’t get enough of learning.  I spent every spare moment reading books or attending courses.  I drove my friends and family mad with my incessant preaching, reading and fitness pursuits!

I loved my job so much that I knew that I would do it for free!  And often this became the case.  My kind, giving nature meant that I was often helping people and asking nothing in return.  But my drive for high levels of perfection meant I was rarely ever satisfied!  Even though my classes were always full and I never had a problem picking up PT clients I had very little belief or confidence in myself.  I firmly believed I wasn’t as good as I should be.  I just wasn’t perfect!

Over time I felt my passion deflate. I was finding it harder to keep myself motivated to train and I was getting tired.  I started to resent all the time I was training, teaching and learning whilst getting very little in return.  My frustration grew to the point where I just didn’t want to work in a gym anymore.   My family life was suffering and I was getting no job satisfaction.

I had built a solid reputation at my gym but it was in danger of being spoilt by my drop in motivation, so it took months to make the decision to leave and then finally do it.  I decided I would set up my own business and work freelance.  It seemed like an ideal solution and it couldn’t be that hard.  I should be able to earn double and work half the time – this is what everyone else does right?

How wrong and naive could I be?

At first I was keen and excited to get started.  I thought I needed an all singing, all dancing website. I had no clue!!  I didn’t even know what I was selling or to who!  I watched and followed many fitness professionals through social media which was just picking up momentum.  I attended seminars and I spent hours watching and observing what others were doing.  I read articles, watched webinars, joined groups and even asked questions.   I followed some of the industry greats and it’s them that get me going!

The first month of being self-employed I hit a real low.  I had never had to market myself before. Clients ALWAYS came to me.  As an instructor I was in demand to teach classes.  But all of a sudden no one in the big wide world knew who I was or how I could help them.  This came as a massive shock and I realised that I actually didn’t know how to sell myself, who to and what to do about it!

I felt lost in a big sea of fitness and I was very uncertain about my future there.  Maybe I was right all along and I wasn’t good enough to be there.  I spent the next 2 years just hanging on by a thread.

I picked up clients here and there and keeping a smattering of classes in clubs for regular income.   Again, my drive to please everyone and never say no drove to make the classic mistake of not finding a niche.  I wanted to be the master of everything but this simply couldn’t work in the real world.  Finally after 18 months of floating around aimlessly I made a bold decision to let all my bio-mechanic, lower back pain and older adult training go and focus on the thing that really lit my fire.  The thing that made me comes alive when I spoke about it!  Food!!  Once I made this decision it was like a weight was lifted off my shoulders and I had a clearer direction in which to travel and I came truly came alive!

I wasted time and money on pointless marketing.  Hours of frustration on which way to go.  Should I teach in a community hall? Will I like it? Will they like me? What if they don’t come?  What do I teach? What if I am not good enough? How shall I teach it? How much should I charge? Will it be too much?   I should have just followed my passion and my heart and just done it.  If it didn’t work I could have tried something else.  I was trying to be a perfect everyone else instead of just being me!

So how did it change?

2 years on and I feel like I am finally running a business, I have a vision and a plan of where I want to go. I have come to realise that people are buying into me and not because of how much I know or how many qualifications I have.  And this has given me the confidence to soar and to continue to soar.  I have read so many great books and listened to some fantastic people and I now realise that my journey from being fat to fit is what gives others hope.  My belief in my ability to help others is what gives me passion.  So no more trying to be great at everything and the perfect fitness professional.  Once I stopped trying to be perfect I felt perfect!

Follow Jill’s journey on Twitter http://Twitter.com/ItsjillGardner or “Like” Jill’s business page on Facebook Hate It Change it

 

Becky Lane

Do the Vacuuming and you can have a chocolate bar?!

I’m sure I’m not alone when I say I have attended many slimming clubs, taken diets out of magazines, gone on smoothie and cereal diets.  I have tried and tested so many methods and none which gave great success!  This seems to be the norm in today’s society no matter what age!

Slimming clubs are becoming increasingly popular due to growing rates of obesity.  Britain is in the grip of an obesity epidemic with 1 in 4 adults being classed as too heavy!

Granted, some people have lost weight by attending Slimming clubs in a life changing way which has significantly reduced health related problems.  But what about the average Mr and Mrs Smith who come to your classes and would like to lose a few stone for one reason or another.

Some slimming clubs say it’s absolutely fine to indulge in a hamburger or curry for example, if that’s all you have for the whole day.  Where is the nutritional value in that? How are people going to lose weight by being lead like this? How about, “if you do the vacuuming for 15 minutes you have earned yourself a biscuit”. What!

I think this way of educating people about eating is ludicrous and doesn’t help people to understand the importance of eliminating those processed foods, take-aways or unhealthy snacks.  It should be about food groups, eating fresh fruit and vegetables which are packed full of nutrients and vitamins.  How to make superfood meals which can burn fat while you sleep, not what chocolate bar or packet of crisps has the least calories!

Many people are unhappy with the way they look, they want to feel attractive and confident, not hide behind their clothes. So why are so many people using these weight loss programs? Why are they not getting advice from people like you and me?  We have the knowledge to help people achieve the results you know they want.

Let’s get those client testimonials filmed, interview those who have achieved their goal weight and let’s start educating today’s society.  If not, it’s scary to think what our children /grandchildren will experience as they grow up.

To follow Becky’s Business Progress Please add http://Twitter.com/Beckyfitness

 

Jayne Nicholls

I have been exercising outdoors recently and notice the huge impact that Boot camp style training has had on the general public. Crystal Palace park is full of couples working out together in intervals with basic high intensity exercise. It’s had a fantastic impact. I am left wondering about how we can generate an interest in those who are still not exercising. It needs to be basic and palatable. Take a look at this web site and let me know your thoughts http://www.gymophobics.co.uk/ they are tapping into that market who never go to the gym, by selling them the gym! It’s an interesting concept. I am sure that community fitness is the perfect place to create a new interest for those currently not on our radar.

As instructors we all seem to be completely absorbed in what we teach at present rather than who we teach. It may be wise to step back from our class formulas for a minute, take a deep breath and consider creating a class for those that we are currently not seeing.

Worth a thought!

jayne@groupxtraining.com

 

The Best Results I’ve Ever Had by Katie Bulmer

Hi C2Go Gang,

I hope you are all doing great!

This week I wanted to share with you something I’m super proud of, that has changed my business in a big way!

It’s called The Little Black Dress Club.

So what is it?

Well, it’s small group personal training- and not only has it changed my business (meaning I get to work less hours and have time with Heidi Boo), it’s also changed the lives of my clients too (like Elizabeth who dropped 49.5cm in time for her wedding)!

It’s a 6 week course which has yielded results like I’ve never known before, even though I’ve taken the exact same nutrition, training and supplementing system I use with 1:1 clients.

So what is it that ensures that consistently, our members get top draw results and never ‘fall off the wagon’?

One word… ACCOUNTABILITY!

You see, not only are they accountable to me, they are also accountable to the other 4 people who are on the same journey with them. Nobody wants to get to week 6 and be the one that didn’t lose inches! Accountability is absolutely HUGE, and it’s proved a real game changer as far as my Little Black Dress Club goes!

So, how does it work?

The club meets once a week for 6 weeks, are given a new home workouts to do 3 times on their own each week, and their measurements and photos are taken on weeks 1 and 6. Clear goals are set and they send in their food diary, via email weekly. This formula is an absolute winner!

I genuinely believe this is the future when it comes to helping people look and feel amazing with a capital A!…and for us as trainers, image always being surrounded by motivated people who always follow what you ask them to and never fail to achieve!

Have a super-fabulous day,

Katie

p.s. if you wanna see some of the ridiculous results my ladies have achieved, like Alison who went from a size 12 to an 8 in just 6 weeks, then check out http://katiebulmer.com/little-black-dress-club-small-group-personal-training

 

Have a fantastic week

Love Rachel xx