10th October Instructor Newsletter

Hi from beautiful Turkey, where I’m teaching on the Fitness week. We have a great mix of Instructors and participants from across Europe and a great group from the UK. If you are interested in coming in 2014 the dates are 11 – 18th May 2014, and I will be posting booking details when I get back. It really is a fab holiday as the resort is 5 star, the food is amazing and we have created a packed timetable of all kinds of unique freestyle classes ranging from Yoga, Fitness Pilates, to Dance classes, strength and conditioning classes, to running sessions and Qi going on the beach at sunrise. Let me know if you are keen to come along in 2014. For all of my Turkey pictures check out the Choreographytogo Facebook page – www.Facebook.com/Choreographytogo

We have now got Kick Start running in South Yorkshire Police, which is going really well. Out of 50 Police officers, mainly male, all have lost weight and are getting fitter. It’s been a real eye opener working with the NHS and the Police, quite different from working in the fitness industry, but we are learning all the time and they are very worthwhile projects to be working on. Andrew Scott who is leading the sessions have written a great article below all about it.

Thanks for all the feedback on last week’s HIIT workout template. I’m glad it was of use to some of you looking for simple HIT ideas.

Instructor’s ToolBox Part 3 – Creating an Ebook

Lots of instructors I talk to fancy writing and publishing an ebook. This could be on any topic that will be of interest to your customers. A workout book, recipe book or whatever you specialise in.  Of course you could just write your book in a word document, add your graphics to a funky cool cover and turn it into a PDF, but to give it a really professional edge and open it up to a wider audience you could publish on Amazon Kindle or Apple ibooks. Both platforms are relatively straight forward in getting your book onto and, of course, you get instant expert author status, which is a huge accolade to have and great for bragging rights on social media! PLUS will bring you in a passive revenue once written and published

Kindle
In-tablet purchasing—If you’ve ever downloaded a Kindle book from your Kindle reader, you know how easy they make it to purchase. From the time you search for a title (or just browse), to clicking the “Buy” button, less than 30 seconds will pass before that book is loaded on your personal reader to enjoy. It satisfies the instant gratification humanity craves, and Kindle has tapped into that craving to result in selling more e-books.
Free Samples—Besides the brilliant “Look Inside” the book feature on Amazon.com, Amazon also allows you to download a sample (usually the first chapter or so) of an e-book. Then, once you’re hooked on reading that e-book there’s a convenient “Buy” button at the end of the sample. It’s really hard to not push that button, which will immediately download the rest of the book to the Kindle and charge the credit card Amazon has on file.
KDP Free Promotions—As part of their 90-day exclusive agreement for Kindle authors, Amazon allows you to choose five out of those 90 days to give your e-book away for free. This can generate a lot of buzz and add a bump to your sales after the free promotion is over.
Kindle Lending Library— In another brilliant move, Amazon created Amazon Prime, an annual membership gadget. As an added bonus, Prime members can download any single Kindle title that’s listed in the Kindle Lending Library (part of KDP exclusivity) to read—one per month.
You can go onto the Amazon Kindle website and it walks you through the exact step by step process to get your book published on the platform.

Apple ibooks

Up to now, iBooks holds only 5% of the market share. However, that number is also rising as e-books get more sophisticated, more enhanced, and more app-like.
With the recent release of ibooks auther Apple is once again setting a standard in technology. EPUB technology has the ability to be highly interactive, yet Amazon’s Kindle is still having trouble reading EPUB files cleanly since they use and prefer their own MOBI file format.
What’s really nice about iBooks Author is the app is free, creates gorgeous, interactive iBooks, allows for custom fonts, and brings to life an otherwise plain e-book.
The main downfall of iBooks Author is it’s only supported on the iPad. This exclusivity cuts out the majority of the market (currently 95%). However, as more authors make use of this amazing tool and create higher quality e-books, iBooks will probably rise in popularity. Knowing Apple as we all do, the market share will definitely be increasing really quickly and the other bonus is your book can be read on an iphone via the app, and as most people have an iphone this is huge selling point. You can also get the Kindle app and read Kindle books on iphone/ipad via the app.

Again, a complete step by step guide with getting your book published can be found on the apple ibooks page.

If you have published a book on either platform I’d love to hear from you, so email me and I’d be happy to feature it here in the C2Go Newsletter. tweet me @RachelHolmes Now all you have to do is get writing.

Great Music

Here in Turkey my favorite Pure Energy mixes are storming the classes. Here are my top 4 current favorites. You can purchase all of these direct from Pure Energy who have a great 3 for 2 offer on at the moment.

Club  Classics 2 – I haven’t had this OFF much over the last 2 weeks. I love every single track on both sides. The faster side is brilliant for Hilo and I’ve been using the slower side which works perfectly for Conditioning, Aqua, and Step. It’s a really versatile mix if you love your club classics anthems.

Mind Body 19 and 20 – These 2 mixes are not new ones but still always get a great reaction in Fitness Pilates and Stretch classes.

Soul and Motown Party – This is HUGE, especially for your active seniors’ classes. Every track is a winner and this is a real singalong CD that all ages can enjoy.

HIIT Volume 1 & 2 is storming and everyone loves music and the workouts you can design to go with it.

Jayne Nicholls

At this time of year we are asked to predict trends for 2014. I suppose like the lottery, you have to be in it to win it with this, the more people that jump on board the bigger the trend. So like the chicken and the egg, who commands a trend? Is it the public who decide or is it the strength of the marketing campaign behind the product. If you look at the latest group dominators in Les Mills, Zumba and Bootcamp, it is only really Bootcamp that has been instructor led and kept on top by their efforts. i doubt BMF fuelled the masses who trained both indoors and in the open air.

No matter where you go the strong instructors have kept their favourite classes alive including step & aerobics, so will they make a come back? There is a massive percentage of instructors looking for something new but are not equipped – without training, to construct their own classes and there are the freestyles who are desperate to re instate how it used to be before pre choreography. We have definitely seen a shift towards heavy weight lifting with traditional olympic lifts like snatch, clean and press becoming common dialect on the gym floor.

May be if we mic up freestyle and heavy weights it will look a little like this – take a look

Tweet @JayneNicholls

Andrew Scott

What a week! This is one of those weeks where you just don’t know whether you’re coming or going and at a hundred miles an hour non-stop. The last seven days has seen the launch of KSFL ALL over Worksop. I’ve began working with the South Yorkshire Police. 50 (yes 50) men and women have committed to making the change of a lifetime, lose weight, get fit and most importantly get healthy, and also the launch of my community KSFL Club.

For those not aware, Worksop had been named as ‘The most obese UK Town’ in The Sun newspaper. I’d been very keen to get involved with KSFL from the word go, but after the normal umming and ahhing, considering all the factors, i.e. day job etc. I didn’t feel it was the right time. However after this article had been written about my home town, it was a complete no brainer and I got straight back in touch with Rachel and got on board.

So, during what’s been an exciting time with the training, the promoting and advertising etc, come the obstacles we face daily as fitness professionals. For example a status reading “Launching a revolutionary Diet & Fitness Club”…Cue half a dozen statuses from PT’s in the area about diets this and diets that. Now this has driven me completely insane, but I seriously haven’t got the time to be defending myself and all I’m going to do is allow the results to speak for themselves. Already with the Police, EVERYONE lost weight and inches, and that’s just in week 1. Cue the silence……………..

We’re unfortunately in an industry where support and camaraderie is very sparse, particularly within the same area, as it’s seen as the competition. I’m a firm believer in there is enough room for every one to do ‘their thing’. For example I’m the only one in my area teaching Hilo and Step, the first to Launch BOKWA, and now the only fitpro delivering up to date fat loss and nutritional info through the KSFL Club. Now I have not stepped on anyone’s toes to make this happen, I have packaged myself up, with my skills and experience and now have a completely separate market and client base compared to Joe Bloggs PT down the road.

Here’s a question, are we completely confident in what we do? What we teach? How we train? etc. I’m the first to hold my hands up and say when I’m in front of my captive audience, absolutely YES, to the local PT probably not. We’re a nation (not just an industry) of being defensive, putting the barriers up, when really we should let the haters hate and carry on doing our thing. I’m in my absolute element teaching my freestyle HiLo and Step classes, and believe I’m not too bad at it either. Yet if I put a video clip on my social media, I sometimes feel like I’m waiting for the backlash of comments relating to old skool exercise blah blah. Or, if I bump into a local fitpro and discuss classes we teach, what do I say first? Step and Hilo, or HiiT and Bootcamps?? Why I hear you scream, if I only I knew.

So, if you’ve had a trying and troublesome week, look at what caused it, deal with it, remove it from your mind, focus on the positives and look to the next week. #PMA

@AndrewScott1989
andrewcscott1989@hotmail.co.uk
www.andrewscottfitness.com

Black History Month
By Andrew Crawford

I was asked today if I knew who Alexandra Dumas was. Now I have heard that name before but couldn’t place it.
So I researched.
Many of you may not know that October is ‘Black History Month’….in these months little known facts about ‘Men of Colour’ …..Black men are bought to people’s attention.
This was one of those moments.
It’s strange but true that most of the achievements and accomplishments of Black men have been written ‘Out of’ history books and not taught in schools…!!!
General Thomas Alexandre Dumas was a mixed-race Haitian slave and swordsman who had been nearly erased from history by his jealous rival, Napoleon Bonaparte.
General Dumas was born in 1762 to a slave mother and a white father in Haiti. His father was a fugitive. Though he could have taken his father’s respected last name, he chose his mother’s side as namesake. Born into bondage, Dumas was taken to Paris by his father, where he joined the French Army and rose through the ranks to General.
A leader in the French Revolution, Dumas led over 50,000 white soldiers to victory. He once captured thirteen enemy soldiers by himself. He also led four men on horseback into enemy territory and captured 16 more prisoners. It was recorded that he led a small group of men up icy cliffs at night to surprise and defeat an Austrian battery.

Referred to as the leader of the “The Black Legion,” Dumas protected the French borders against Germany. This was until Napoleon Bonaparte became jealous during the battle over Egypt

Dumas was slowly poisoned while in captivity. While he was locked away, Napoleon Bonaparte returned the country to slavery and tried to erase the legacy of Dumas. By the time Dumas was released, France had been restored to segregated turmoil and dictatorship. General Dumas died in 1806.

The only monument to honor General Dumas was constructed by his son, Alexandre Dumas II but was destroyed in 1940 by Nazis in Paris. Consequently, General Dumas’ son went on to become a successful author.

Thomas Alexandre Dumas and Napolean Bonaparte lived as best friends and would both claim each other to be like god parents to their children. But as soon as he could Napolean turned his back and would not let anyone call his name.

His son, Alexandra Dumas was a literature genius, producing an enormous outline of novels, travel works, memoirs and historical studies that dominates French literature through the 17th century.

Dumas is best remembered for his romantic novels such as:
The Three Musketeers
The Count of Monte Cristo

Both of which have been attributed to his father’s leadership in the French army.

These books have become very popular and made into movies, plays and produced into many languages.
Other works include
The Viconte De Bragelonne
Queen Margot
The Lady in monsorean
The Forty Five
The Black Tulip

Now both father and son have a list full of stories and books between them which makes for interesting reading……if you are interested…!!

Now come on Andrew…..What has all this Black Man achievement and accomplishment stuff got to do with Accountancy & Tax??
Well…….I was concentrating on the literacy works really. Did you miss that?
It’s all about Copyright baby…..and recently I have been contacted by FitPros about this very thing. Although I have covered it before, I thought it would be cool touching on it again, as some of you will be writing, designing and creating stuff.
These are your Intellectual Property Rights.
Just for those who are not familiar with this topic, Intellectual Property covers:
Trade Marks
Copyright
Design Rights
Patents

Today, we will cover copyright.
What is a Copyright?
This is a form of non-registered IP which protects literary works, music, artistic work and other works from being copied.
Just to reiterate…..an IDEA which is not a tangible product, such as the format of a fitness program, is not protected from being copied.
You, as the copyright owner, has the exclusive right to do and to prevent others from doing any of the following;
Copying the work
Issuing copies of the work to the public
Performing or playing the works in public
Communication of the work in public
Adapting any of the above

What can you Copyright?
You must ensure that anything which is capable of being copyrighted is an original work….so we have
Literary works (books, articles, advertising, websites, brochures)
Musical work
Artistic works (logos, labels, photographs, illustrations, paintings)
Sound recordings
How to Protect Your Copyright
The first thing I advise you to do is to always use the symbol © on your original copyrighted work along with the first year you published the work and your name. Eg  © 2013 Andrew Crawford

The works have to be undeniably original, with certain amounts of your skill and expertise.
Write it down in as much detail as you possibly can, yes, …in writing and in your own handwriting…..put dates on this.
Send the original to a Solicitor or better still, send it back to yourself, registered post (so that you have to sign for it) then DO NOT open it.
Do not tell anyone else until they have signed a Confidentiality Agreement

If you are getting someone else to produce your work or you are outsourcing your work, ensure that you clarify who owns the copyright. Usually you would stipulate this at the beginning or else the work belongs to them. Get an assignment of licence.

What is the Period of Copyright?

Literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works; at the end of the period of 70 years
A sound recording; at the end of a period of 50 years
A film; at the end of 70 years
Broadcasts; at the end of 50 years
The typographical arrangement of a published edition; at the end of the period of 25 years

There are Civil Remedies for infringement of copyrights
Damages
Account of profits
Anton Piller order for search of premises and seizure of evidence
Delivery up and destruction orders

Just thinking about it I have covered this and more about protecting your brand here….. (The link will be fixed by the end of the day)

http://www.fitnessindustryaccountants.com/ProtectYourFitnessBrand.htm

Finally

October also reminds me of Germanys’ October Fest in Munich.

At high school we enjoyed ‘Exchange’ trips. Germany, Spain & France. Long story short. Dated a lovely German blonde haired beauty and went to enjoy the fruits of my labour in the Black Forest close to the Swiss border.

Each October, I went to Munich to taste the local beer, sausages, snapps & sing song.

Adolf Hitler would be turning in his grave if he was alive today knowing that I infiltrated the German borders…!!!

Love me some Black………….History…..!!

Once you know Black…!!!  Tee hee…….
Have a great week.

www.fitnessindustryaccountants.com

www.facebook.com/andrewjamescrawford

Have a wonderful Thursday

Love Rachel xxx