Instructor Newsletter 20th June 2013

Another busy week goes by here in the fitness world. We’ve been filming the new C2GOPT videos and finalising the new Fitness Pilates for Men Workshop DVD. Thanks again for all the feedback, emails, Tweets & Facebook messages regarding last weeks newsletter on goal setting and getting your priorities aligned, judging from the feedback I think the article resonated with many of you.

My Top Apps – Running your Business from an Iphone 

All this business and marketing  and connecting stuff that we all have to do now in the fitness world of 2013 can be sooo overwhelming! ( I so dislike that word!) Everyone appears to be constantly OVERWHELMED. I’m a solutions girl. I’ll always try and work out a fair solution to make things work.  Posting on Social media, responding to emails, texts messages, what’s app, Tweets, Snap chat, Instagram, uploading your class clips to youtube, promoting your digital posters & marketing, your to-do lists, your goals, year plans, business plans, appointments, sharing documents with your PA and staff members, posting audios. In fact, running your online and offline fitness business can be easily managed on the go via your iphone.  My iphone and ipad mini are crammed with apps that I use every day to run C2GO, My Social media, KSFL and everything I do day to day. I also store all of my clas s music on my phone and use the tempo magic app and iDJ as a pitch control if I need it for some of my music. It also has my year planner, diary and appointments.

Here are my to die for apps – I’d love to know what yours are:

1.Facebook mobile

2.Facebook pages

3.Twitter

4.Hootsuite

5.Whats app

6.Dropbox

7.Soundcloud

8.Tempo magic

9.Instacollage

10.Picstich

11.Gymboss

12.Keynote Remote

13.Google search

14.Orange apps – wifi/orangewednesday/orange useage

15.HSBC

16.People Per Hour

17.Skype

18.Pages

19.Instagram

20.4Square

21.Phonto

22.Notes

23.Reminders

24.Youtube

25.Vimeo

26.imovie

27.Camera+

28.iDJ

I use most of these apps on a daily basis and I’d love to know what apps you use all of the time. Tweet me @RachelHolmes

If you would like to know more about using your iphone to run your online fitness business I will be covering this on my Fast and Furious Fitness Business Day in Nottingham on 13th July. You can book your space here. 

Mobile Fitness Marketing is the Future

Mobile marketing means interacting, promoting and marketing with your clients, customers and potential customers via the mobile phone. We carry our phones around with us everywhere we go so communicating using mobile platforms is crucial.

67% of people access Facebook via a mobile phone, 76% access Twitter on mobile. 97% of people always open text messages.

Do you wake up to your phone alarm? When the phone goes off do you then pick up your phone and quickly go through your emails and delete the ones you don’t want to read, then flick through Facebook, your groups, your pages, check out Twitter, Instagram and any other social media apps you are interested in…all while you are still lying in bed??? (or is it just me!) We tend to filter our emails via our iphone first thing in the morning before we get to our lap tops or desk tops.

So DO people make a decision that early in the day if they are going to train or go to a class? It may be worth experimenting with sending out your own emails or newsletters between 6 – 7am and making them shorter so they can be scan read super quick? Something to think about…….

Is your website mobile friendly?  If you have a wordpress blog website you can easily add a plug in that will convert your content into a mobile friendly platform, so if someone looks at your site via a mobile it’s the mobile version of your site.

I’ve been experimenting with Choreographytogo and being able to view the video downloads via your mobile phone. I’d love it if you could help me test something –

1.Please go to your phone

2.Go to your browser

3.Type in www.choreographytogo.com and you should arrive at the mobile version of C2Go

4.Log in and make sure you have tokens in your account (You can purchase your video tokens.

5.You will see my latest HiLO Download Summer Smashes, I’ve set it to purchase at 1 token or 0.99p

6.Please purchase with token and let me know if you can play this video on your iphone.

I’d love to know how you access your social media, what you read this newsletter on and if you watch your downloads via your phone. Accessing  information via your mobile is EXPLODING and my personal view for marketing our fitness services is that things are shifting yet again in how we read, view, access and communicate with our clients and potential clients.  I’d love to hear your thoughts Tweet me @RachelHolmes

New C2GO Personal Training Video Download Stream 

This week I have launched the C2GOPT series of downloads with Marvin. The videos are quick updates, tips and progressions of exercises that can be performed as drills or part of your programme and training sessions for your personal training clients.

In the first 4 videos Marv covers 3 Ways to improve your sprinting, and I used all of these drills in my HIIT class yesterday to much moaning and groaning but what a wicked workout, Ideas for your PT Warm Up, Plyometrics and how to add power for beginners right up to athletes, Crawling ideas and drills which works brilliantly in circuits and bootcamps.

Each video is only 1 token or £1.99 and we would love your feedback and also PT training ideas you would like to see. You can view and download all of these videos on your iphone,ipad2, ipadmini, laptop and desk top. Enjoy

Kelly Reed-Banks Fitness Pilates Focus Workshop 

Kelly is receiving amazing reviews for this highly useful workshop and this week she will be hot footing it down to Bristol and Woking.  If you would like to join Kelly on either of these days you can book a last minute place by clicking here 

Marvin Burton – Tip #9 Read and Research

In my experience of over 12 years in the fitness industry the common factor that all successful trainers have is the passion and drive to improve their knowledge. I personally don’t consider myself a good reader but I practice and read something fitness related every day. I like to read before bed to help me relax. I also make a note of any topic that I may have not fully understood and try to find some research on that topic or watch some videos related to it on YouTube. Reading before bed has been proven to reduce Cortisol levels.

www.marvinburtonfitness.com

www.instagram.com/marvinburton

The top 5 things you should be doing on Facebook by Sally Ghafoor 

Facebook likes are worthless, they don’t make you any money, get off Facebook…. have you heard this recently?

Let me tell you about this…

Facebook fans/likes are WORTHLESS if …

1. They are not interested in what you have to say/offer

2. They are not your target market

3. They will never buy off you

However

Facebook Fans that

1. Are interested in what you have to say

2. Are your target market

3. Who’s dilemma’s and problems you solve through free content

IS worth it – it’s about the quality of Fans not quantity.

Here is exactly how you CAN convert a Facebook fan into a quality lead, and we all want leads right?

For those that are friends with me on FB, you will know my middle child started senior school and let’s just say, backchat, not doing homework, typical teenage hell ensued. I was feeling awful, always arguing, atmosphere in the house, what had happened to my lovely child.

Then I saw a promoted post from the Facebook page Empowering Parents it stated this “Sick of arguing with your child, here is how to stop the backchat” it was like they knew I had been awake the night before worrying about exactly this.

I clicked on the link and read it, brilliant advice. I liked their page and signed up to their newsletter, applied their advice … it worked.

Their posts would pop up in my newsfeed, each time with content I thought they had plucked from my brain… “Worried about how your child is going to turn out” “How to stop the nightly homework battles” “is your child being disrespectful, here’s why it’s not your fault”

I became their best and biggest fan, I shared their content, and advised my friends to sign up to their page. Now 92 of my friends, also like their page… they all have children, all of them are Empowering Parents target market.

They did not once try to sell me anything through their FB page. They used their FB page, to engage with me, give me great content, they used their email marketing system to tell me about what they had to offer…. guess what

I bought one of their systems

So they took me from a prospect, to a fan, to a lead, to a customer and also I became the best Word of mouth ever!

I wasn’t a worthless fan was I?????

1. Understand your target market

If you don’t know who your target market is, your FB page and in fact all your marketing will flop big time. Think about the other pages your target market would like. Then look at Empowering Parents and their blog posts, they hit a nerve with me, it was all things that were bothering me. What is bothering your target market? How can your content solve it?

2. Get engaging

Are your posts not getting any reaction from your fans?  This could be because of two reasons; you are not asking the right questions or none at all or you are not consistent. Mix up asking easy, quick to answer questions with awesome problem solving content.

3. Stop selling

Here is my timetable, join my class, sign up to my clean eating plan, join me today and let’s get you to those goals. STOP now. People do not come on Facebook to see what you have to sell. Facebook is a place for you to engage, build relationships, gain trust, solve their problems.

4. Use your awesome content to get them to sign up to your email marketing list. Remember you rent space on Facebook, if Facebook decide to pull your page/profile you have lost everything. Get people signed up to your email marketing list, this way they are giving you permission to tell them more about your products.

5. Be consistent. Building relationships take time. Do you trust someone the minute you meet them? No and the same is true for Facebook, this is where you can get your target market to trust you, forge a relationship, find out what things bother them, give them content to solve their problems. Posting for a month and giving up because you aren’t getting anywhere doesn’t cut it…. give it time.

www.facebook.com/fitnessbusinesshub 

Bigging Myself Up by Yvonne Radley 

Well I did it! I came out of Facebook world and into the real world with a real audience to put on my first ever LIVE workshop.

Big Me Up Live was held last Saturday in Nottingham in front of around 35 Fit Pro’s who had travelled from all corners of the UK from Southampton to Scotland.

It was a workshop I created with my friends who I used to work with when I was a News Editor at Capital FM East Midlands, and the lovely Sally Ghafoor who gave a fascinating insight into how to turn Facebook into a lead generating machine.

My whole aim was to break down the barriers that Fit Pro’s imagine between themselves and the ivory towers of the media.

Lee Burton (our radio expert) was funny and witty and gave the delegates some great insights and tips as well as some giggles.

He did a live interview on stage with two members of the audience – one face to face so they could see his interest and facial expressions, replicating a live interview in person and the second back to back so the interviewee had no idea if he was interested in what they were saying. It was very illuminating.

Hannah Patterson (our TV expert) was warm and informative. She passed on some great contacts and a great little tip for scripting your videos – check out I-prompt! And you’ll find a nice little App that gives you your own auto-cue.

I covered newspapers and magazines and like to think I was mildly entertaining and dropped a few knowledge bombs.

I wanted the workshop to be very interactive and I wanted the guys to walk out of their with a press release in their notebooks. Something they could send out on the train journey home and we did.

I also wanted to show them how to get in touch with the national press within the first five minutes and how easy it is – and they did. I will share that one with you guys in a second.

It has taken weeks of work to develop but now I have it I can use the format again and again, travelling the country delivering the workshop again and again and getting different guest speakers in every time.

If you are thinking about doing a workshop or talk my advice would be to definitely push yourself out there out of your comfort zone and just do it.

Ignore the fear and push your boundaries. Your knowledge is valuable but only if you share it with others.

I was so happy when people told me how much they loved it. My Facebook In-Box was inundated yesterday with Thank You messages and I even picked up a few new clients.

When I came up with the idea for Big Me Up Media I wanted to help Fit Pro’s get into the media.

This LIVE event was all about putting it into practice and it feels great to help people push their businesses out there and build their public profile and brand.

So, how do you get in touch with national journalists within 5 minutes?

Go to Twitter.

Put Journorequest into the search bar.

Look down the feed and you will find loads of messages from journalists looking for health stories.

Hit reply and leave them a message.

Check back later and you could find a request for an interview.

Easy.

Yvonne Radley

Big Me Up Media

Katie-Bulmer Cooke 

Hey C2Goers,

I hope all is good in your fitness hood!

Last weekend I attended Yvonne Radley’s Big Me Up LIVE workshop in Nottingham…what a super day!

We really did get the inside scoop from Yvonne on how to write a professional press release and how to write for magazines. I’ve been doing Yvonne’s coaching programme for a while now and her tips and formulas really work…now every time I write a press release and send it out someone always wants to do a story on it whether its press or radio.

After Yvonne came Lee Burton, he is head of news at a local radio station. He was really funny and did a great role play workshop to show us how to be interviewed by a radio reporter. A PT called John got up first and was interviewed face to face with the mic then Yvonne nominated me to get up to do the blind interview, where I couldn’t see Lee…it was super tough as you couldn’t get any visual feedback from him…no nods, smile etc…I was right in the hot seat but it was a really good exercise that I’ll be practicing at home to help me sharpen up my skills.

The lovely Sally Ghafoor made a wonderful appearance too, sharing her vast knowledge of Facebook marketing and all the up and coming features…boy does she know how to take a complex topic and make it easy to digest!

Finally, Hannah Patterson, a TV presenter and voice over artist was up…she’s worked on Ideal World, QVC and Fitness TV. I had tons of questions for her, as this is the one medium I’m yet to crack. Her advice was ace and she’s been really helpful after the workshop too.

I always love a course but this one was really ace…super speakers and great handouts to take away…we even got ‘papped’ on the red carpet as we went in, this course certainly had the wow factor and 4 reps points to boot too!

Fingers crossed this Sunderland lass can get some auditions even with a broad accent 🙂

Katie x

THINK……..It Ain’t Illegal YET..!!!  (…..But They’re Working On It…!!) 

By Andrew Crawford 

I had the most tremendous weekend starting on Saturday with some luscious foxy ladies who said they actually read my articles (ramblings, advice, guidance)…Thank you all and I appreciate it deeply..!! (Handbags at dawn)

Lord have mercy………..I thought I was going dolally (if that’s how you spell it..?) tee hee..

I think I was at a very informative, educational and actionable workshop run by a very ‘experienced’ lady called Yvonne Radley……oooohh Matron…!!

I think Sally Ghafoor delivered some ‘diamond’ information surrounding the use of OpenBook…….ooopps…..I meant FaceBook..!! I think that those in attendance got their monies worth.

I think the sentence handed out to the sex offender in the Jimmy SoVile case was a load of bollox. The other day members of a gang in the riots (where no one died, no injuries occurred or sexual acts were committed) got 20 years each….!!! Go figure.

I think the judges handing down sentences should be judged themselves.

I think the judicial system needs a fresh NEW start with new judges.

I think Nigella’s husband intended to hurt her……”..It was just a playful tiff..” with his hands stifling the breath from around her neck and her eyes bulging from out of their sockets…..!!! Tiff??? I think I’m going to have some playful tiffs with Parking Attendants and any mofo from now on…….lots of tiffing will be going down…!!!

I think that there isn’t enough ‘Positive Images’ for ‘Men of Colour’ …(Pre-dominantly NEGATIVE) ….it’s always Violence, Sex, Drugs & Rock & Soul……….

So Thinking Andrew……..

What has thinking got to do with Accountancy & Tax??

I think Tax Avoidance is just a word bantered about and means precious little if banks are in ‘debates’ with the HMRC spanning up to10 years. I think we are lied to constantly by the Government. I think….

Well….I think that, after conversations this weekend, I have not addressed the issue of why I feel setting up a company is better than running a business as a self-employed entity.

I think you are told that there is too much paperwork involved and lots of administrative duties to conform to. Whilst this may be true, you will benefit from the lower 20% corporation tax rates. Personal Tax rates can go as high as 45%

45% or 20%??

Which one is better?………..There’s only one way to find out……………..!!

My good gracious me…………lots of thinking today….Here are the differences…..You should find this useful I think….

Limited Liability

As a sole trader your liability is unlimited. Whereas in a company you have limited liability.

What does this mean?

As a sole trader there is no distinction between your money and your businesses money as all business debts are the personal responsibility of the sole trade. Therefore unlimited. Unlike the company, where the company is a separate legal entity from you as a Director. The debts of the company are limited to the company alone.

Unless, you as a Director has continued to trade knowing that the company could not afford to pay its debts. This is called insolvent trading. In this instance the debt would then be a personal debt for the Directors.

Lower Tax Rates

Ok…this is where the fun happens (I think I need to get out more…!!) you and me both like working on figures and tinkering with numbers.

Sole traders pay 20% on profits up to £32,010, between £32,011 – £150,000 this figure becomes 40%, anything over £150,000 is charged at 45%.

Now…it doesn’t stop there…..Enter National Insurance Class 4. On top of your tax there is this small insignificant (tongue in cheek) NIC to find. An additional 9% on profits between a certain level then an additional 1% if income tops the top threshold.

Hey…..what about Payment on Account? Yes…this will need to be paid as well. Advanced tax. Now compare this to the tax rates of a company.

Profits up to £300,000 you pay tax at 20%. No payment on account.

After paying the tax in a company you have what is termed distributable profit. Where are they distributed Andrew? Answer: In your bank …!!!

Dividends are taxed at 10% up to the upper limit then 32.5%  up to 37%% at the upper level. More often than not you would take a dividend on top of a salary (which would be equal to your personal allowance.) The dividend would benefit from the 10% tax credit up to the upper limit. With me so far?  Therefore one can take up to a further £32,010 as a dividend without paying income tax.

Accounts

There is no statutory requirement to produce accounts for a sole trader. For the limited company you produce an abbreviated set out accounts for Companies House and a full set of accounts for HMRthieves…..oooppss  HMRC…!!

A full set meaning a profit & loss account, balance sheet and notes to the accounts.

Now you may be thinking…”I can’t  be bothered” but think of £32 grand with no personal tax to pay…!!!

I didn’t want to go too deep into this because it ain’t sexy ……like abs..!!

In summary then…….

Advantages of being self-employed

Simple accounting required

Only required to prepare a Tax Return once a year

Less expensive to run

Not subject to Companies House and Companies Act requirements

Disadvantages of being self-employed

National Insurance charged on net profits

The Tax-Payer is personally liable

Payment on account (advanced tax)

More scrutiny from the HMRC

Advantages of a Limited Company

A separate legal entity from its owners

Liability of the company owners limited to the value of the shares (Normally nil as the shares are generally fully paid)

For example any tax due is the responsibility of the Limited Company and not of the individual. The same applies for other debts. (However, the directors must trade responsibly otherwise if they trade when the company is insolvent, they may become personally liable)

No National Insurance due on the payment of dividends hence more tax efficient

A more attractive corporate identity (especially to banks and clients)

More suitable if individuals needs to be employed by the business

You can sell parts of your business

Disadvantages of a Limited Company

More expensive to run

More complex legal and reporting requirements

Accounts must be filed at Companies House and published

IR35 may apply. This is a piece of legislation intended to stop individuals from forming a limited company when they should be employed by the contractor. The sole purpose of this arrangement is to have a tax advantage. Where IR35 applies additional tax liabilities become due

So definitely think about it.

Finally

Think and Grow Rich.  Think Yourself Thin. (Puff……I’m 12 stones..!!!) Think Once Think Twice Think Bike…. You can get achieve fitness exercise bikes online cheap so make sure you buy one.

I think….therefore I am….!!

Think……It ain’t illegal yet……but they’re working on it..! Don’t you think?

Have fun

Andrew ‘The Thinking Man’s & Woman’s Man’ Crawford

www.fitnessindustryaccountants.com

www.facebook.com/andrewjamescrawford

Have a wonderful Thursday

Love Rachel

I dont forget to let me know how you are accessing this newsletter