Instructor Newsletter 17th April 2014

For all Fitpros who want to reach more people, earn more money & have a happy life in the process – leave your email here

 

 

 

 

 

As we all wind down for the Easter break, it’s time to reflect and enjoy some downtime with our friends and families. As the weather is picking up, post Easter is the perfect time to plan your new classes, courses and revisit your goals & todolists.

I’m really happy to be announcing I’ll be back on tour in June & July, delivering my new KS Extreme Workshop with Kelly Reed-Banks. The day workshop will introduce 4 new Class concepts:

KS Extreme – An intense body weight training class using motivating licence free music by Pure Energy. Class progressions, marketing & branding will be optional for Instructors on the day.

KS Spiked – Kelly launched the Spiked concept at Blackpool and will be delivering up new timings, exercises and ideas for this unique HIIT style workout.

KS Lite/Minimum/Base – Not wanting to exclude all of our class members with joint problems for whom the plyometric, jumping & super high intensity is just too much the KS Base class.

Fitness Pilates HIIT – Capitalising on the HIIT trends we have created a full workout package including music to slot straight into your Fitness Pilates sessions. Working with 1 minute of exercise and 30 seconds of rest, this 45 minute class takes you head to toe through Fitness Pilates using interval principals

We will be running 5 Training Days in Guildford, Bristol, Manchester & London. Priority booking will be up on line very soon, so if this rocks your world and you are ready to jump on board with us keep your eyes peeled for booking information.

HOW FUNCTIONAL IS YOUR WEBSITE?

A topic I love to revisit from time to time, and as 2014 is rolling along faster than any of us can believe, now is a great time to make sure your website is fully functional, able to take bookings and YOU are able to update it. Here are my top tips for creating the perfect fitness website for your business.

1. In my humble opinion, WordPress is still the best platform to build your website on. It’s free, you can choose a funky theme and you can easily get someone to create it for you really quickly. Both C2Go and KSFL are both built on WordPress blogs.

2. Invest in a robust email newsletter delivery system. Aweber, Constant Contact & Mailchimp are all great ways for you to collect email addresses and send out your regular newsletter and your special offers and updates. YOU have to collect every email address possible and build up a list of everyone who visits your site and comes to your sessions.

3.Wordpress has tons of “plug ins” which means you can plug in videos, podcasts, photos, audio features and pretty much everything you need to make your website an all singing all dancing site that is attractive and will service your members and client base. Plus, it will create your own revenue stream.

4. Learn how to update your site yourself. Firstly, I would get someone to create your site for you and get lessons from them on how to update it so you can change, tweak and update the site as often as required. If you can’t do this, then life can become expensive and difficult as you will always have to rely on a 3rd party to update things, which is tiresome.  So learn how to do it yourself. It’s worth it.

5. Invest in great branding and graphics. Your banners and logos need to be created professionally. Choose your colours, logos and fonts wisely and employ a graphic designer to do a selection for you until you get the right mix for you and your brand. This could take a few weeks so don’t rush it and really consider the kind of image you want the site to give.

6.Make sure you have a shop where you can sell your classes, services, online products easily and are able to add new products as your create them.
Paypal is the easiest way to take payment, so sign up for Paypal Pro account and lean how to create Paypal buttons to take money in your shop.

7. Create great content for your website and keep updating it. Your site is a reflection of YOU and your services.  There’s nothing worse than a cheap looking, outdated site, so keep adding to it once it is built.

8. You can easily get a wordpress blog/website built for you. My favourite site to getting things technically done is Peopleperhour.com and I like to use people based in the UK. They maybe a little more expensive, but you will get what you want so much faster and easier than if you outsource overseas. Use the same site to find graphic designers and adding plug ins for your site.

If you already have a site that’s looking a little tired and not really performing, then now is a great time to put some effort into it and getting it all shiny and new ready for the summer.

Outsourcing Tips:

If you have decided to get a new website then I suggest 100% you take a look at www.Peopleperhour.com I LOVE this site and get so many of my technical jobs done here. You can easily search for web designers, take a look at each one carefully and check out their portfolios. You will be able to see samples of their past projects and work. Put a brief together of exactly what you would like to create send an email asking if this is something they can do for you. I would send your brief to several possible designers and ask for feedback on your project, then all you need to do is choose the one that feels right for you.

Quick Tips when Outsourcing:
1.Create a brief of how you want your new site to look.

2. Search PPH website and check out as many of the web designers as possible.

3.Contact each one that looks like it could fit your bill and email your brief asking for feedback, costings and how long it may take.

4. Research thoroughly each designer’s portfolio and ask more questions if necessary.

5. Choose one. You are asked for a deposit, then the balance on completion.

You will need to make tweaks and updates as you work though the project. Ask the designer to consult you at all stages of the design to ensure they are on track.
Getting a site built is really not as scary as you think and using a site like PPH is a straight forward process. Do let me know how you get on. Tweet me @rachelHolmes or message me via Facebook.com/Choreographytogo

5 Top Tips to help you write better articles!

We all know that to get your message across you need to write. You need to supply copy for your websites, blogs and, of course, Facebook and Twitter updates. But what if you are not a confident writer and writing doesn’t come naturally? Well, you need to not panic, there are lots of tricks that can help you write interesting articles that will help you get your message across. Writing will help you get attract followers, new business and new clients but it doesn’t have to be hard work.

Here are some ideas for writing interesting articles that will help solve problems for your clients and position you as a voice of authority.

1.Write a list – My Top Tip.

Everyone can write a list! Lists are super easy to read and great for newsletters where readerds may only speed read and glance down. It’s quick info to digest.

Give a short one or two paragraph intro, then launch right into your list. Keep each item to a few sentences max. People love numbers, so number your list and give your total number in the title. (You may have noticed that the article you’re reading right now is following the LIST format.)

5 Top Ab Exercises…… 10 Ways to lose Fat this Summer……My 5 Best Cardio Workouts………5 Exercises to improve your posture……Get the idea?

2. The Real Life Case Study

How Jean lost 1 stone in 3 weeks after attending Zumba/Bootcamp/Fitness Pilates etc

These type of articles are really inspiring and motivating to your audience, you can even get your featured clients to contribute to the article.

3. Interview

Choose an expert or client to interview for your article. Present it in either a traditional article format or do a Q&A.

For example. Jean has now left her full time job in xxxxx and gone full time in the fitness industry – You can then interview Jayne and write the answers to your questions in an article.

4.Be a trend setter

Trends aren’t just for fashion! Whenever a trend sweeps health and fitness ( and there are many on a daily basis), you’ll see Blogs and Facebook all commenting on the newest/the latest/the most hip and happening. From the latest class to the latest piece of gym equipment, people want to know all about these trends—their origins, benefits, and drawbacks. Easy to write about!

5. Studies show…..

Brilliant for fitness and weight loss as you can always find on the net studies that show  ………..xyz……..These articles report the results of a study or survey. If you do a bit of research, you can probably dig up a recent study on which you can base your article.

Personal Trainer to BritAsia TV Star! by Dal
Part #1
My name is Dal and I am the founder of Body Perfect Personal Training Studio – specialising in women’s health fitness and wellbeing. I have been working in the wellness Industry since 1998. I’m also the first Indian female to launch a fitness gym in the UK.
My passion is to help busy women feel and look good, gain confidence, built on self-esteem and be the best possible version of themselves. I am dedicated in educating and assisting women to achieve their optimum health, fitness and well-being goals.
Recently I got appointed as the first Health and Fitness presenter on BritaAsia TV.  My new show  FitAsia launches later this spring 2014.  I have personally designed the show content myself – all 12 episodes! BritAsia TV- sky channel 833 broadcasts to 4 million in the UK, across Europe and Canada.
So let’s start right at the beginning of my media journey.
As a Fit pro I knew if I wanted to move forward and be the go to expert in women’s health and fitness I would have to raise my profile.  As we all know the fitness industry is pretty competitive.
The first action I took was to contact Yvonne Radley – and enrol on her 121 media coaching program. With Yvonne’s expert guidance I learnt the importance and power that Social media can have on your business. If you utilise it probably then amazing things can happened, and that’s exactly what happened to me!
At the beginning of this year I decided to put my focus on using Twitter effectively. I started to follow those individuals who are influential and successful in the world of health fitness, media, TV and Radio.
During a casual twitter chat with a TV producer for Brit Asia I asked if she would like to interview me on one of their current affairs shows.  It was a little cheeky tweet but I have always believed that if  you don’t ask you don’t get!
I believe strongly that if you want something you have to go get it and make it happen – create your own opportunities, so that is exactly what I did.
After receiving my tweet the TV producer inboxed me and asked for my Email address. I replied back immediately.
Within 15 minutes I got an email from the producer inviting me down for a meeting at the BritAsia TV head office in Birmingham. In the email the TV producer said she was interested to discuss how we could do some work together
I was given very short notice for the meeting, just two days. I made this my priority and rescheduled my personal training appointments at my studio and stayed up most of the night to prepare for my meeting. After all opportunities like this don’t come that often and I had to really go for it.
It was all very exciting and I was really looked forward to the meeting………. to be continued……

Twitter @daldhaliwalPT
Facebook page: Dal Dhaliwal   https://www.facebook.com/daldhaliwalpt?fref=ts
Website: www.bodyperfectpt.com

Decisions Decisions……!!
By Andrew Crawford

If you heard a noise in the middle of the night coming from the bathroom whilst in bed sleeping next to your partner, would you…

Turn over and check that your partner was still next to you and also heard the noise as well?………or

Jump out of bed, load up your high calibre rifle and shoot at will?

Decisions Decisions….!!

There’s a party on Saturday night, everybody in the ‘In Crowd’ are going…do you..

Pay the outstanding electric bill?………..or

Buy that new frock?

Decisions Decisions…!!

Polling Cards have just hit the mats today. Dou you ….

Vote………or

Stay in and have a nice candlelit dinner, soft lights, raging coal fire, soft soul music, warm apple pie and custard (low calorie cream for you fitness fanatics), crystal glasses with ice cold champagne, don’t forget the strawberries… romantic movie, box of tissues….for your eyes…..slippers and onesies with fido the dog and shaggy the cat …..?

Decisions Decisions…!!

So Andrew……..

What has Decisions got to do with Accountancy & Tax?

Well….earlier this week I was tagged into a conversation by the lovely Cori Withell regarding a major decision to be made by ‘The Fat Controller’ (who isn’t fat by the way…..) the other lovely Jill Gardner….

Does one buy or lease a car?

Well…..That debate warrants more than the few lines I’m going to dedicate to this in this article as it brings into play many variables including available funds, future needs etc.

Essentially, in a lease, you never “own” the car. You make payments for 2-3 years, then hand the car back. This is like a long-term rental.

When you buy you use up savings and available cash reserves and own the car outright.

With lease payments, you can offset the costs against your business whilst  on the other hand if you own the car you will be restricted to how much you are able to offset.

This will depend on your business usage…!!!

It is vital to do you figure work before jumping in. Here are 3 examples I found giving you 3 different outcomes.

Example 1

List price £37,495
Discounted price £34,750 (7%)
Predicted resale value after three years/36,000 miles £20,625
Pay cash
Total cost over three years/36,000 miles £14,125
Pay by finance
Monthly cost £1,051.19
Total cost over three years/36,000 miles £17,218
Lease
Deposit required £2,371.36
Leasing cost per month £796.20
Total cost over three years/36,000 miles £30,238

Verdict: Buy it

Example 2
List price £20,990
Discounted price £15,615 (26%)
Predicted resale value after three years/36,000 miles £7,350
Pay cash
Total cost over three years/36,000 miles £8,265
Pay by finance
Monthly cost £493.60
Total cost over three years/£36,000 miles £10,420
Lease
Deposit required £919.94
Leasing cost per month £258.69
Total cost over three years/36,000 miles £9,974

Verdict: Lease it

Example 3

List price £20,280
Discounted price £17,122 (16%)
Predicted resale value after three years/36,000 miles £8,925
Pay cash
Total cost over three years/36,000 miles £8,197
Pay by finance
Monthly cost £517.94
Total cost over three years/36,000 miles £9,721
Lease
Deposit required £793.44
Leasing cost per month £270.19
Total cost over three years/36,000 miles £10,250

Verdict: Close call

So you see, that decision is not as straightforward as one might think. It depends on the numbers………

My story……..
I bought a new car for £44,000 and was paying £735 per month. After a few years I sold that car…………….wait for it………….for £1,000. Go figure.

So……..Factors to consider.
If you want a new car its a very cost effective, worry free alternative.

You pay the total cost of the lease… they pay the road tax, so all you have to worry about is one service & possibly changing the tyres.

If you buy the car yourself you would need to find the initial deposit and then deal with the depreciation after a few years.

After 2 years it goes back then you can negotiate a new deal.

Insurance is just the same as having your own car.

I think the best option is to lease or do a pcp contract where you pay a monthly amount and before the final balloon is due at the end, give your car back to the dealer and get a new one.

Cars are a depreciating asset and will only lose you money unless you are the type of person who will keep your car until it falls apart!

Usually what happens is that the customer uses the current car as a trade in for a new one and any equity that you have in your car goes as a deposit against a new one and so the cycle begins. This way you can change your car every 3 years and stay within the warranty

Here are a couple of resources for you. They are links to calculators.

Fuel Cost Calculator
This calculator will then provide you with details of how much you spend on fuel per year.

http://www.fitnessindustryaccountants.com/ard/calculators/fuel_cost.asp?AID=1987&SID=11&FID=37233

Company Car and Fuel Benefit Calculator
The taxable benefit on your company car is based on the CO2 emissions of the car. These calculations are for the 2014/15 tax year.
http://www.fitnessindustryaccountants.com/ard/calculators/car_benefit.asp?AID=1987&SID=11&FID=37233
Finally

My prayers go out to the parents of the children in South Korea ferry disaster.

So…how do you drink your coffee, with or without cream?

Decisions Decisions…!!

Andrew James Crawford

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

HAVE A WONDERFUL EASTER Love Rachel x