Instructor Newsletter 10th January 2013

How are you? I hope class numbers are increasing this week as all of your regulars are coming back plus lots of new faces. Historically, you may find that you will get a massive influx around payday time (a couple of weeks) then usually February is the really big hit. I’d love to know how your numbers are doing so do post on the Choreographytogo Facebook page

I kicked off my first week in January with a 3 day course with Phil Richards which was outstanding. Driving over 250 miles to Port Talbot for 3 days was quite a commitment but so totally worth it to hear Phil, who has an amazing knowledge base and expertise.
Phil kicked off the course with a fascinating session about the brain and nutrition connection. The seminar Brain Busters was very thought provoking and I feel this is the future for us as Fitness Professionals, the link between brain and gut health was also enlightening and Phil talked about the need to have a good digestive function in order to supply the brain with the nutrients it needs to function at its optimum. It was fascinating and I learnt a lot in this lecture.

On the second day we listened to dentist Dr John Anderson who talked about the dangers of mercury fillings and the destruction mercury can cause to the brain and body. It was shocking and fascinating all at the same time. I had my silver fillings taken out about 5 years ago (purely vanity reasons) but still the white fillings I now have could contain mercury. It really is scary, chatting to a friend of mine who is “always ill with colds, flu, aches and pains and constantly fatigued,” has 11 mercury fillings? Coinsidence? – or could it be the Mercury? Again, a fascinating subject. Mercury is the most toxic substance after plutonium and think where your fillings are…….so very close to your brain…food for thought indeed.

Dr Karl Morris was next up discussing the psychology behind change and beliefs and how we as trainers can help our clients reach their goals.

The final day came all too quickly and Phil delivered an exciting lecture on the heart and this is where I learnt so much ground breaking information. The brain/heart relationship was something I’ve never really considered but Phil’s facts and research point to, probably the most important link to health, wellbeing, longevity, fitness and fatloss. This is an area I plan to research more into as I found it so interesting.

As in any course, meeting other Fitness Professional and business owners is always a huge part of the course, discussing the information and chatting through ideas is almost as important as the course information itself. It was great to hang out in the evening and chew over the course fat with like minded friends.

I strongly recommend you attending more courses this year and reaching out into new areas. There is some fascinating research and information available which can only enhance our own lives and those of the people we teach and train. I challenge you this year to learn and read more. If you can’t get to seminars then you can plug into live webinars, online material and tons of books to further your own knowledge so make sure you don’t stand still, and gain a thirst for new and exciting knowledge or whatever subjects interest you.

My YouTube Channel – Rachel Holmes TV – I’ve filmed some Vlogs about the supplements I’m taking since doing Phils course so please subscribe to my Youtube channel for regular updates, workouts, recipes, news and reviews Click here to subscribe

 

 

New Music for Freestyle

Pure Energy have released 2 corking mixes for January. I’m loving the Dance Days and Club Nights as it is loaded with top tunes and fast mixes.
Click here

Chart Breakers 5 – Part of the super popular Chart Breakers Series this mix certainly packs a poppy charty punch
Click here

Events
Guildford Spectrum World Fitness Pilates is almost upon us on 20th January 2013 and Bristol on 23rd Feb. To book your place click here:

The Fitness Business Builder Workshops with Andrew Crawford Click here for details

KSFL Digital Magazine I posted the wrong link last week so here you can view the first edition click here

How can Fitpros use Social Media more effectively – Part 2

Last week I did my top tips for Facebook Fitness Marketing and here is part 2.

Social Media is about building the buzz and being everywhere at once. FITPROS can use Social media for Marketing, Customer Service, Public Relations and Client retention. Use social media and find out what people want and need, you can market research everything and anything – Interact with your Facebook friends and your Twitter followers.

Take Off line and Online marketing – You get 1000 flyers printed and delivered for a new class, you are not sure if customers want it at that time but you go ahead anyway and book the venue and get your flyers printed. Using Social media you can ASK if you friends and followers would be interested in a specific class at that time in that venue before you have even spent a penny on advertising. Before you embark on anything, ask and get feedback before you commit any money to flyers, hall hire and marketing.
Interact and engage with your friends and followers – find out what they want and who they are – THEN plan your classes and services accordingly. Build Trust online.

Use Social Media to gain online trust in YOU and your Services

Now more than ever, organisations are opening up to the public and becoming transparent due to the impact and evolution of social media. Social media has forced small and large companies to join in on the conversations that people are having about their brands. If you want to continue growing your fitness business and its brand then you need to gain trust from your customers immediately. Below I have listed 5 simple ways to keep and gain your customers trust in an online environment.

1.Be consistent with all of your branding. In order to keep and gain trust you need to keep a consistent branding strategy across all of your platforms on and offline. What this does is shows your prospects and consumers that you are consistent and clearly portrays who you are, everywhere, all the time. Something to keep in mind is the consistent branding all the way down to the simplest things such as consistent colour schemes. Being consistent tells your customers that “this is who you are all the time, with no smoke or illusions”.

2.Let a personality show through. People trust, and buy, from people. This is the reason it’s important to let a person, shine through in your online presence. Especially in your businesses social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Be you and tell your story and have a laugh. Let your social media be a fun place for people to read.

3.Capture client testimonials. Create a system where you are capturing testimonials from people who use your product and or service. By doing this you are creating a great way for you to gain your future customers’ trust. In many cases before someone decides to purchase something from you or attend a class they research your business online and part of that research will be in the form of reading your past testimonials. Don’t just capture the testimonials but make them readily available for your future customers to read and gain trust in your brand before they purchase from you. Post them on all your platforms. Invite people to read about these experiences, so when it’s time for them to use your company they already are competent in the fact that they made the right decision.

4.Be transparent and authentic. The many social media platforms that are available these days have made it easier than ever to allow your brand to become transparent and authentic. Being transparent enables your customers to see into your company and gain trust on a whole new level. Social media makes this easy by allowing you to respond to whatever issues that your business is having in a public manner for all to see. This will automatically create the sense of authenticity of your brand and will ultimately create the trust your brand and organisation is looking for.

New Body Transformation DVD is out

This is my latest DVD for Instructors looking for new ideas for conditioning, toning, circuits and HIIT workouts

Click here to view details and purchase

Hello 2013! by Katie Bulmer-Cooke

What a year 2012 was! For me it was the best of my fitness career, and in 2013 I fully intend to keep the momentum up and make it another brilliant year!

As always, the fitness industry is full of opportunity to launch new programmes, develop existing ones and ultimately help even more people who need to improve their health and fitness and want to change their bodies.

The start of the year is always so exciting. New plans, ideas, motivation and of course resolutions.

New faces show up in our classes and make enquiries for PT…but how can we ensure that our newbies become our regulars and we can continue to help them achieve their long term goals.

For me the answer lies in 2 areas:

Results
Service

Want ever the client’s desired result, we need to be confident and ensure we can deliver it. Whether they want to run a marathon, drop a dress size or improve their flexibilty, we need to know that our programme works. So if you are launching a new programme run trials with existing clients, follow the programme yourself or ask your friends and family to try it out, so you can be 100% confident of the results it yields.

Secondly, give outstanding customer service. From the second they sign up, aim to impress, from a welcome email that looks professional with images and text through to regular calls, texts, emails to keep them on track and help them along on their journey. Come up with ‘bonus features’ that you can give them, such as:

a weekly newsletter
recipe book snippet
recorded home workout videos
extra class passes
discount cards for local businesses tat sit well along side your brand, e.g. hair and beauty or local grocer and butcher
a weeks worth of free supplements
a fruit basket

It’s the little things that people really notice, will remember, and most importantly will keep them on track.

Their results are your adverts!

Here’s to a great 2013 for our clients and fitness businesses.

KBC x

Jayne Nicholls

I was chatting to someone this week, a fellow business person in fact who said, ”I really must start a newsletter” and of course I agreed fully that anyone with a client base should offer a newsletter or at least stay in communication on a regular basis. Actually we had a similar conversation around November of last year and still no newsletter. As I write this I am also on a webinar with constant contact which is FREE and is helping me to optimise my newsletter openings and content. I am not sure whether you have noticed that there is so much free and valid training around at present by large companies with proven track records.

So my focus for this week is on offering a good customer service that also doubles up as a reminder that you are there, a launch pad for new products and a source of education for all clients who have ever shown an interest in what you do.

So many instructors are suffering from ”over providing” to their clients. The class fee is no longer just for the class, it now includes nutritional advise, reminders, recipes etc, the list has grown and grown and with it we have to spend so much more time on providing for a little or no rise in profit. Is this you? If yes it is wise to audit how much time you dedicate to your client base per pound spent. There is little use sending information that they do not use or value, in fact too much information can turn people away.

A newsletter works on 2 levels, it is a means of expressing yourself in a way that you do not get the opportunity to in a face to face situation. Your clients can read your articles, get to know you and share experiences. It is also a means to selling a greater range of services.

As an investment it is prudent to use one of the email services or have tracking options that allow you to see what is popular, who is opening and why, who shares your content and where they choose to view your newsletter for example via facebook, twitter or PC.

We are so lucky to have an eager client base who look forward to hearing from us, it is wise to capitalise on this.

Jayne Nicholls www.groupxtraining.com my newsletter goes out every Tuesday and compliments the C2GO content.

January by Cori Withell

I have learnt a lot over this last weekend at The Musclebolic Mind Workshop with Phil Richards and others, the lectures on how mind and thoughts control us was part of the inspiration for this article.

January – The time of the dreaded blues. Most people feel a sink in their mood after the Christmas and New Year period, many of us almost expect it. For fit pros, we are madly diving around leafleting like mad, promoting, talking to local business and praying that classes will be rammed. We stress out if we can’t get out all the leaflets or we haven’t ordered enough. If business has been quiet, and let’s face it, most of us had noticed a drop in numbers this last year, we worry more about paying bills, mortgage etc.

Then what happens?

We turn up at classes, numbers may be ok but the negativity creeps in pretty quick doesn’t it? To start the week you have all the Positive Penny’s who are going to ditch the weight this year, this year it will be different and they work hard, ask your advice about nutrition, maybe sign up to extra classes you may be doing. By Thursday, or if you are very lucky, a couple of weeks in, Negative Nora rears her head with a vengeance. She’s back and she is going to let you and the whole class know about it.

‘I can’t do that with my knees’
‘It hurts’
‘My wrists ache’
My back won’t let me do that’
‘There has to be an easier way’
‘They tell you at SW you don’t need to exercise to lose weight’
‘I can’t not have alcohol at the weekend’
‘I’ve earned a treat’
“I have a party to give’

Whilst the physical complaints may be genuine, then won’t take any advice an adaptations, coming up with more blocks, the more you try the more frustrated you get. All we can do is promote what we believe in and that is going to be unique to us. We can offer adaptations, party food ideas, alternative to booze, recipes etc etc. If people don’t want it then they don’t want it – simple as. What you need to do is protect yourself against Negative Nora’s and Negative Ned’s so that they don’t bring you down. Negative people sap the energy out of positive people in seconds, you need to spend minimal time with them but if they are your bread and butter you may have no choice. What you can do it make sure that all the time that you are not with them you surround yourself with every Positive Penny and Positive Paul to buffer all those negatives!

On the party food front, I may be able to help you, The Mood Food Party Cookbook goes live on Friday 🙂 Just £9.97

Health and happiness x
Best wishes
Cori x

Tax Returns….Well…What Did You Expect?
By Andrew Crawford

The 31st of January is FAST approaching and for all you Self-Employed Fit Pros …it means one thing……Tax Returns are due.
No sooner than your turkey has settled in the depths of your stomachs next you’re scrambling for bank statements, receipts and invoices.

For those who were organised, you would have already submitted your Tax Return before 31st October where you would allow the Inland Revenue to calculate the tax you owe them.

For those who waited after the 31st October but before 31st January, you calculate your tax and tell the Inland Revenue what you will pay them.

Umm??!!

My advice to you would be that if you are owed money, get your Tax Return in early to receive your dosh earlier. If you owe tax, delay the return of your Return until 31st January.
You will then need to pay online. Here is the direct link.

https://www.santanderbillpayment.co.uk/hmrc/scripts/nrpayform.asp?pt=SA

So today this article is just going to be a summary with a bunch of links to the appropriate place on my website for you to either read or watch. The videos are below 3 mins, so no loooong boring drawn out explanations.

The links are to frequently asked question received on my email which you may find of use.

Great news…..!!

Finally there is talk of simplifying the Tax Return for all you guys who earn under £154k. You will be able to mix your capital expenditure with your revenue expenditure.

Beware…………..If they GIVE I one hand, they will TAKE from the other hand, so don’t be too excited. Read the summary here….
http://www.fitnessindustryaccountants.com/ard/enews_article.asp?ID=3333&AID=1987&CID=1

The ‘Wholly & Exclusively’ Rule

The Wholly and Exclusively rule forms the basis of all your expenditure. This is briefly what it is about.

http://www.fitnessindustryaccountants.com/online-video-series/wholly-and-exclusively-rule.htm

Documents to keep for your Tax Return
Download a list of items you must keep for the Tax man here….
http://www.fitnessindustryaccountants.com/articles/What-To-Keep-For-Your-Tax-Return.pdf

Allowable and Disallowable Items
Watch the video of the types of things you can keep.

http://www.fitnessindustryaccountants.com/online-video-series/expenses.htm

Download the one page summary list here…
http://www.fitnessindustryaccountants.com/articles/Allowable-Disallowable-Expenses.pdf

Mileage Allowance
Answer me this….
Does driving and petrol cost you less when you do long distances?
So why is it that when you travel over 10,000 miles for your own business you can only claim 55% of the allowable costs……#justasking..!!!

Here are the ‘Annual Mileage Allowances’
http://www.fitnessindustryaccountants.com/ard/detail_doc.asp?ID=638114&AID=1987&SID=11&FID=37232
Yes, you can and should claim the 20p per mile for using your bike for business purposes.

Use of Home As Office
Since most of you work from the warmth and comforts of your homes, constructing routines, writing training programmes, devising new schemes to extort….ooopps ..relieve your clients from their hard earned cash, this was a very popular question popping up again and again.
How do you work out the proportion of your home costs…find out by watching this short video.
http://www.fitnessindustryaccountants.com/online-video-series/use-of-home-for-business.htm

For those of you who would like to download a copy and read instead, here is an old article I wrote about it. It’s only one page long..!!
http://www.fitnessindustryaccountants.com/articles/Use-of-home-as-an-office.pdf

Car Expenses
There are 2 ways in which you can claim your car expenses. Find out from this short video.

http://www.fitnessindustryaccountants.com/online-video-series/using-car-for-business.htm

Download the 2 page example here…
http://www.fitnessindustryaccountants.com/articles/Car-Expenses.pdf

ok Folks…there’s a lot more I could add but I am aware you want to dash off .

Finally…
This may have escaped you but did you know about the 2 HBOS bank Managers charged with the £35m loan fraud?

“…..The pair, who were charged with six others, said to be senior managers for the bank and were charged with conspiracy to corrupt, fraud and money laundering.
The men were given numerous high-value gifts by a financial consultancy in return for appointing the firm to administer bank loans to companies in trouble,
HBOS had to be rescued in 2008 through a government-engineered takeover by Lloyds Banking Group which weeks later, had to ask for a 20 billion pound government bailout…….”

Hey….did you see this..?

21 Reasons why English Is Hard To Learn

http://sphotos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/406756_262004907261617_1432505565_n.jpg

I actually found that very funny…..!!!

Bye for now

Andrew James Crawford

www.fitnessindustryaccountants.com
www.facebook.com/andrewjamescrawford
www.facebook.com/fitnessindustryaccountants
www.twitter.com/tax4fitness
www.fitnessindustrygossip.com

Have a wonderful and productive week.

Love Always

Rachel x
Follow me on Twitter @RachelHolmes