Instructor Newsletter 28th January 2015

 

How are you?

I hope you are having a fab week.
I’ve been on the road
again in Sutton Coldfield launching more KSFL clubs
& getting ready for the webinar tonight.

So another busy one

You can jump on tonight at 915pm.

It’s all about tweaking your nutrition to get better results
physically and mentally.

click here to reserve your space

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I’ve been teaching “Aerobics” since 1986 &
I am STILL massively  excited & enthused about the whole industry.

It is still only the beginning!!!!

The industry is still in its infancy;

We have so much to share, more people to help,
new opportunities to seize, concepts to develop,
anatomy to understand, and if you truly are passionate
about Health, Fitness, Wellness & Spirituality,
you will always be able to help others & make a great living
doing something that doesn’t feel like work!

Here are my TOP 60 TIPS For Being A
Better Fitpro

Let me know which ones you agree with!

1: Attend EVERY course you can possibly afford on all fitness related subjects – LIVE & Online.

2: Attend ALL conventions, events, trade shows to learn & network. Knowledge is KING.

3: READ EVERYTHING you can get your hands on – fitness/productivity/time
management/Business/Wellness/Spirituality/Positivity/nutrition

4: BE YOU – Stop trying to be someone else.
By all means have role models
& model yourself on successful people, but YOU Do YOU.

5: You won’t make A HUGE amount of money teaching face to face classes long term.  Trends will come & go with the potential to earn short term, but if you follow trends you have to keep
jumping on the next one.

6: Immerse yourself in e-commerce – Learn WordPress / Learn to update your own website/Digital is the way forward to expand your business.

7:Your Website is your digital home.
Be house proud! Make it professional, not cheap
& nasty.

8.Understand Facebook -Its here to stay.

9: Learn to say NO – Get a fast track ticket to “JUST SAY NO TRAIN” for your
own health, wealth, life and SANITY.

10: Stop being a people pleaser.

11:Learn to meditate.

12: Choose happiness & positivity every day possible.

13 Get interested in the law of attraction, manifestation & quantum physics.

14: Charge more & don’t be the cheapest.. EVER.

15: Listen to your girlfriends – what they talk about, problems & issues they have.

16: If women are your main audience, then read women’s media, magazines, blogs, podcasts – immerse yourself in female culture if women are your business.

17: Only teach what YOU love. Teach things you don’t love & people will not come for very long.

18: Ditch TOXIC immediately – Don’t keep it going for the money/kudos/to get your foot in the door/the possibility of xyz….just ditch it.

19: A sustainable fitness business takes time to build. You have to put the spade work in.

20: Act as if you are the most successful person in your field and believe it.

21:Be kind to others, you haven’t walked in their shoes.

22: Get as fit & healthy as possible. Hire a PT / Train yourself / Eat Clean & walk the walk.

23: Delegate and Outsource – Pay a book keeper / accountant / PA if you need one and focus on doing the things you love, like teaching & training people & brainstorming new ideas.

24:Build your platform online so you can spread your message & serve more people. Your income is directly related to this.

25: Understand & use Facebook Adverts. Google ADWORDS & PPC if you want to grow an online business

26:Find a great graphic designer who understands you and your concepts. Branding/Posters/Leaflets digital or hard copy are VITAL to your success in building a bigger business.

27: Don’t take criticism personally & don’t let it set you back.

28: Reach out to new markets – Older/Younger/Overweight/Disabled/Kids/Families/ so many untapped & under serviced niches who need fitness etc

29: Write every day – The more your write the better you get.

30: Find PASSION in all you do. Passion is like a muscle, you don’t find it under a rock, you have to train your passionate muscles every day.

31: Take plenty of breaks / holidays /days out. Keep breaking up your weekly routines for inspiration & increased productivity.

32: Work out EXACTLY what your core values & core priorities are. Evaluate every week & maneuver & change to keep on your true path.

33: Have a LIFE partner who has your BEST interests at heart. This doesn’t have to be your partner or spouse, someone who you can bounce your ideas around & talk things through honestly.

34: Never compare yourself to others; it’s the fastest way to negativity & giving up.

35: Embrace Change. Change is good.

36: If you are enthused & motivated by a team or group. Join a franchisee or work with a collective.

37: Before you embark on a project research every angle thoroughly. Calculate all risks before you spend money and go for it.

38: All Fitpros LOVE the idea of owning a studio. But I beg you to do the research & make sure your numbers add up before you commit to leases & purchasing property.

39: If you REALLY want to write a book hire an expert to help you.

40: Marketing plays a HUGE part in your success, like it or not.

41: Network digitally or in person with as many health professionals as possible – Drs/Nurses/GP’s/Massage/Therapists/Dietitians/Dentists

42: Find out what EVERYONE who comes to your classes does for an occupation. You’ll be amazed at the fantastic contacts you see every single day & probably don’t even realise it.

43:Stop trying to be all things to all people. Accept some people will like you and some will not. It’s life, there’s nothing you can do.

44: Get into juicing

45: Learn EFT – Tapping

46: Workout how much money you want to earn. Have a joyful relationship with money, understand your own self-worth & stop underselling yourself.

47: Live in the NOW/Present. Plan and Affirm but don’t miss out what’s happening in the now. Be present.

48: Even if you are a complete one man band see yourself as a business.

49: Be a customer – Take a fitness class / Yoga / Pilates class, be a beginner again at something fitness related.

50: GET IT OUT THERE – if you have an idea just get it out there. It doesn’t have to be perfect, you have to release it and perfect it afterwards. Don’t wait, you will never launch it.

51: Build your email list & grow it every single day. You do not have a business unless you have a list, no matter how small.

52: There are no get rich quick schemes in fitness.

53: For GOODNESS sake get into TWITTER & INSTAGRAM – Stop seeing these as time sucks, they are amazing ways to spread your message, your brand and your leverage.

54: VIDEO killed the radio star – Interview all of your clients, class members. Put yourself in front of the camera and get real people, saying real stuff about your classes & services, on Social Media, daily!

55: Check out IlU fitness gear its ROCKS.

56: Put your Daily/Weekly/Monthly/Yearly in your iphone and LOOK at it all through the day. Stay focused on it and get the job done.

57: When you set your stall out to work at your desk, REALLY WORK. Don’t answer calls, text, watch apps, instant message, go on Facebook. Keep your head down for the time you allocate to the project and keep going. REALLY WORK.

58: Work on your daily affirmations & mantras

59: Believe in YOURSELF & YOUR abilities 10000000%. It shows if you don’t.

60: Work Smarter NOT harder.

61: Guard your time with an iron will. Don’t waste a minute you cannot get it back.

Short. Sweet & To The Point

Add me on Snapchat RachelL Holmes

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Mairi Taylor – Organising A Retreat Day

Never underestimate the amount of washing up!!!

Last November when my yogi Amy Fitta asked me if I would be interested in hosting retreats with her my instant answer was NO! I don’t have the time, inclination and am not good enough to ask others to spend a whole weekend with me! Instant response coming from fear and ego!

Amy wanted to run and was running a very successful weekend retreat in the UK and wanted to go bigger – I had never run one and wanted to stay small.

BUT the seed had been sown and over the next few days it grew and pushed and nudged me to open my mind to the endless possibilities!

Those days away at stately but impersonal day retreats where there as a gentle reminder of what I didn’t want to do, where one is called madam because that’s what the Operating Manual says the welcome greeting should be – well I may at times be a madam, but please don’t call me madam, it doesn’t make me feel special in fact it makes me think you have no idea who I am or even want to know who I am just another person coming through the door, or is that just me?

I don’t find these day spas relaxing or fun maybe because I work in the industry but for me the classes are always insipid and very often either cater to the lowest common denominator or don’t offer any alternatives at all (so I seethe my way through – mmm work to be done there), the food can be a huge let down and very rarely meets my expectations (and  those who know me know I have very high expectations about food and what it does, but you will also see me with the occasional bag of chips)) and the treatments can be second rate and rushed – but that’s enough about what I don’t want what did Amy and I want to do?

Our mission is to bring 5 star service and excellence to our local community, offering the very best in total #selfcare and #nourishmentforthesoul through the stimulation of all the senses: sight, sound, smell, touch, taste and proprioception.

Being a very visual person the 1st thing I did was get a logo off fiverr® after all if there’s a logo – there is a brand and if there is a brand then there is a product – something to sell! So I merged our two logos and FAB&FITTA holistic wellness retreats was born – here we would build a community where everyone is supported through the day and beyond to achieve their health and wellness goals as a WELLness Warrior (that needed another logo – tada!)

Deciding to host just one day events  locally would also make us more amenable to those busy women who were still learning that it was okay to put themselves first, every now and then, without the “guilt” of a whole weekend away and long travelling – although we did have people travelling to join us which was very rewarding – we knew we were on to something!

So now the planning began and we got our diaries together to map out a seasonal programme as we wanted to offer a retreat for every season and just co-ordinating our diaries was hard enough so for 2017 we will start the planning much earlier!

Once we had our dates (which took a bit of negotiating and mapping given how much we both already had booked into our 2016) we then went out to the various people we knew we wanted to be our guests at each retreat and checked their aviability – this meant that if someone attenended each retreat they would get something new each time so that over the year they would have had the chance to experience many different aspects of wellness that they may not otherwise have encountered!  So now we had creative work, Ayurvedic healing, crystal healing, tantra, and gong baths to tantalise our clients with!

Next we had to find the right venue and so began the phone calls to local hotels, inns, village halls etc and some journeys into rural Leicestershire to visit venues that just didn’t quiet do it for us, plus the packages always included things we didn’t want – why are people so excited to tell you about their tea and coffee with packaged biscuits? I am the Juice Queen for goodness sake we do natural fresh and homemade! So we decided we would do our own catering – something I have come to learn brings me real JOY!

So a chance conversation with a client led us to look at and book Seagrave village hall, 5 minutes from my door, large room, kitchen (more of that later) and a separate bar / creative room! Ample parking, windows and no one else in the venue!

Next came the budget and fixing the price and this is always tricky! What was our worth? Did others know our worth? Would people even book? Would we earn any money? What was the purpose?

So we set a price per head (based on what we thought was a reasonable and acceptable price) offering full package deals and an early bird price budget for each aspect of the day, we then set a budget:

Room hire

Food

Goody Bag

Guest speakers

And from there worked out what our earning potential would be! Next time start with what you want to earn add your budget and then set your price! Otherwise you potentially run the risk of resentment settling in over JOY and that is not a good place to be running a WELLness retreat from.

Whilst this was going on we had started to send out emails to our lists asking for interest and for those who wanted to be on the VIP list to put their hands up, so already creating interest before we even got the product fully finalised. I have found creating excitement and bringing your tribe on the journey with you helps them with their decision making. We used Kate Ford of Fordyfit.com to help us create just the right images and branding to create that polished 5 star look! It’s been a real team effort and many of the people have been friends gained through either going to their workshops or following on Facebook!

When we were ready to launch at the start of December 2015 we sold 5 full packages within the 1st few days and sold out our January and March event by Jan 2016. This involved lots of Facebook posting – emailing tribes and sharing the excitement of bookings and the food we were going to be having – we all love good food! BUT the proof was there this is what women want!

A DAY OFF – A DAY TO BE NOURISHED – A DAY FOR THEM TO FOCUS ON THEM –

A DAY TO BE THEMSELVES!

All of this so they can go back to being wife, mother, daughter, lover, sister, auntie, boss, co-worker with renewed vigour and voom!

With the bookings came the reality and the enormity of the task and this allowed my inner control freak to surface and control me and my inability to delegate.

Luckily I had just attended a raw cookery class with Stephanie Jeffs @exploreraw so had some tried and tested dishes I wanted to use and the next step was working out portion control and prep time and storage time. This if you are doing your own catering is key – there was no way I was leaving it to my normal fly by the seat of your pants approach – we measured, weighed tested and retested to ensure quantities were right, I even portioned up all 24 servings of suop to ensure I had enough – my worst nightmare – entertaining (for this is how this felt to me – like a great house party for specially invited friends) and having guests go hungry!

I would highly recommend you build this step into your day if you are doing your own catering otherwise you will either over order or not have enough! We had plenty and the feedback was simply awesome! As a consequence of the sheer amount of joy this brought me I have booked to do my Raw Chef Certification Level 1 with Deliciously Raw in February so that I can continue to tantalise the taste buds of our retreat guest!

On the day we had very clear roles as there was 3 of us hosting the day and those we agreed in advance via facebook messenger – I was backroom and co-ordinator of refreshments – Amy and Jenny from Kashmir Arts were very much front of house creating the community vibe and right environment for nurturing and opening up through, movement and creative expression.

The day was a huge success – from the friendship circle and bracelet ceremony at the start, to the art journaling and yoga nidri, warming drinks on arrival, a new food experience for many at lunch and Berrylicious fix and afternoon tea to finish the day, 21 women certainly left feeling nurtured rejuvenated and inspired to Manifest their year of Transformation. It was also very hard work, but that enjoyable hard work, where you know every decision you are making is making the difference to someone’s experience and joy, and the sheer amount of washing up was something I didn’t factor in!

These days are certainly the future for me as they allow you to create such a wonderful experience for women and of course men just like ourselves who forget that they deserve to be nourished and looked after too!

Lessons we are taking away from the day:

Check that the heating is working – luckily I had gone to an event earlier in the week and it was freezing so I arranged to meet with the hall co-ordinator got though and test all the heating (we found a few issues which were sorted) and we also brought standalone heaters and borrowed heaters from friends and colleagues!

Check the venue has all the crockery etc. you need! A little visit a month before left me realising there were no plates, cutlery glasses etc. – hoorah for Ikea, Costco and charity shops! Oh and that it has hobs to reheat your soup on!!!!!! If not mention this in class and a very helpful client will pipe up what about crockpots as your brain has locked down. Day before event you find yourself driving round collecting heaters and crockpots  (all the behind the scenes stuff the client doesn’t see or you only tell them about after)

Ensure you know what time the person is arriving to open the gates at 7:00am I was climbing over fences and shuttling my stuff in as the gate opener arrived at 7:09! Yes maybe only 9 minutes but time was vital before we got going!

Don’t allow your ego to get in the way of the day – I was so obsessed with perfection – it almost got in the way of my joy – and all this over some teaspoons! This week I have been reading detox your ego by !

Bring 100’s of tea towels and hire a pot washer you can’t survive without them!

So here’s to 2016 the year of the day retreat – those small well-formed days where you get to step off the merry-go-round and refocus back on you!

We are still taking bookings for our June, September and December retreats and in June Miss Zoe McNulty is joining us for an evening of empowerment – it really is about gathering those good and inspirational people around you! To find out more click here http://www.fab-fitness.com/product-category/fabfitta-wellness-retreats/

And if you have any questions you know where I am stay FABulicous x x

HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY

LOVE RACHEL XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX