Instructor Newsletter 31st May 2012

Hi everyone.

Hope you are enjoying this glorious weather and it is not affecting your class numbers too much? I would love to hear about your class numbers Ive opened a thread on the Choreographytogo Facebook page so join in and lets talk numbers.

 

Plus its JUBILEE weekend HURAHH!!!

I will be waving my union jack this weekend in London with Jayne, Michael Steele and Greg Seller and I cant wait. This weekend will be a great opportunity to get right into the community with friends and family.I hope you all have a wonderful bank holiday break.

This week’s newsletter sees contributions from Jill, Claire, Cori, Sally, Jayne and Andrew. It was great to see many of you setting up new YouTube channels as a result of my article last week; I’ve written a follow-up for this week.

Heres my audio BLOG for todays newsletter click below:

 

http://soundcloud.com/rachel-holmes/c2g0-newsletter-31st-may-2012

 

YouTube

My article on YouTube in last week’s newsletter got a great response and it was awesome to hear from many of you and your YouTube channels. YouTube is such an important component of your social media mix, as video is the perfect medium for showcasing your brand, teaching, classes and expertise.

Please keep connecting with me on you Tube and I can help promote you and your videos. You can also see the 1st episode of Rachel Holmes TV and my new “Weekly Workout on Wednesday” video. My goal is to build my subscribers and channel views on you Tube as I think it is so crucial.

I would love your feedback on episode 1. You can comment directly on you Tube or Tweet me @RachelHolmes and please like the Choreographytogo Facebook page

Rachel Holmes Workout TV Episode 1 Click here

Here are the first free Wednesday’s Weekly Workouts Click here Press Up challenege

Subscribe to my YouTube channel for daily workouts, fitness business and coaching and fitness lifestyle information and if you are harnessing the power of YouTube let’s connect and subscribe. Of course YouTube is all free and I’ll be posting daily content on my channel relevant to all Fitpros.

The Dirty 30 Workout Club

Starts tomorrow 30 workouts in 30 days for £30. I have filmed 30 x 10 – 15 minute workouts including HIIT, Leg workouts, Upper Body, Cardio Core, Fitness Pilates, Aerobics. In fact 30 unique workouts so you can train at home with me. It starts tomorrow.

Included is a private Facebook group and the videos will be emailed to you so you can watch on your iphone, ipad or laptop. So, if you are away or on holiday you will still be able to get the videos and won’t miss out on anything.

As of this morning there are 90 people signed up so its going to be a lot of fun. Every day has a different theme, and as I sit here now I am having trouble walking LOL, I’ve made the workouts intense with as many variations as I could think of.

To sign up for The Dirty 30 https://www.choreographytogo.com/the-dirty-30-club/



The Fitness Pilates Wellness and Vitality Boutique.

The initial Boutique was a wonderful success. 30 Pilates instructors all took part. I filmed 14 new Fitness Pilates workouts, daily mindset coaching audios, nutrition for wellness and vitality rather than fat loss and we had a wonderful pleasure dish of the day featuring one of Jill Gardner’s mouthwatering recipes.
We all had a great time using the Boutique and exploring a much more holistic approach to health, fitness and well being.

Looking into the future, my prediction for Fitness Pilates going forward is the combination of lifestyle coaching, nutrition and mindset information enabling our class members to benefit from a full holistic package.
Consumers of the future are becoming more sophisticated and as we move towards an increasingly ageing population, holistic & wellness packages will become more and more sought-after.

This style of Boutique program can be delivered on and off-line; it works for small groups and larger groups.

The initial C2GO instructors taking part in the boutique have now gone on to develop their own style of boutique.
The ethos of the FP Wellness & Vitality Boutique celebrates that we work in an incredible and wonderful industry. It is now up to us to shape the future and how we take our teaching and coaching forward.

The next boutique is now open for booking and begins Wednesday 6th of June.

https://www.choreographytogo.com/fitness-pilates/fp-wellness-package/


The Ideas Factory by Rachel

One thing that Fitness Entrepreneurs are not short of is……. ideas!

We are all creative people and love what we do, so ideas come easy. We get excited and inspired, we write tons of to do lists and we are enthusiastic about helping people and getting our new programs and projects out into the marketplace.

So, when you have a million ideas, it’s important to choose your top 10, then choose 1 that you will drive forward and finish. This is how successful entrepreneurs and business owners get things done.

Choose your one goal.

Create the steps you need to achieve the goal, then every day do something on your list to get you closer to your goal.

Here’s my audio on the subject http://soundcloud.com/rachel-holmes/morning-motivational-from



How to Generate new Customers and Clients using Social Media by Rachel

Social media has made it easier for fitpros and entrepreneurs to not only engage with current customers, but generate new business and to communicate their message like never before.

What is important to remember is, you have a public image. If you’re online in any capacity, you have a public image and that image can either make you or break you. Everything you write on social media is building (or destroying!) your brand and reputation.

Here are my top tips on generating new business for your classes and courses using social media.

Brand You – With all Facebook noise it is important to focus on what is differentiating yourself from everyone else. Nothing compares to authenticity. Think about what 5 things differentiate you from everyone else? What is your brand message? How do you create value in all of your products and services?

Showcase – Showcase your expertise. It’s not enough to only promote your services, people need proof, they need to see you in action, they need to see if there is a fit between them and you. They need to understand if they will fit into your classes. Video is such a crucial part of the marketing mix on social media. Do not underestimate the power of even small video clips of you in action.

Always answer – The quickest way to kill any business leads is by not answering questions. If you don’t answer questions on your social media platforms, you are walking away from turning the questioner into a client. Other people will also notice when you don’t answer or engage so make sure you take the time to answer wherever possible.

Mix your content – Gone are the days where you focus on one mode of communication. People are looking for more. To generate more business you have to have a good mix of content including blog, newsletter, audio blog, video, webinar, and podcasts etc.

Host a webinar – Host the webinar that gives value to your listeners. The webinar is the perfect opportunity to showcase your expertise. People will not do online business with you until they get to trust you.

Blog daily – Any fit pro who is serious about creating an online arm to their business must create interesting daily content on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Blogging allows you to showcase your expertise on a daily basis and you should be doing this consistently.

Once you have decided to really create an online business it’s the small things you do daily that will build your brand and your business online. The key to effectively turning your social media followers into loyal clients and customers is consistency, and consistently engaging, helping, answering queries and connecting on a daily basis.

Tweet me @RachelHolmes



Do you need a website? …….No you need a WordPress Blog by Rachel

It’s still a question I get asked all of the time from Fitpros.
“What website shall I get?”
“What is a WordPress blog”
“Will I be able to update it myself”

Choreographytogo.com is a WordPress Blog but what exactly is WordPress and why should you get one for your website.

With WordPress, you have complete control over your website. You can make edits, updates, changes, you can add pages and content as often as you need to. And the best part about using WordPress is you don’t have to hire a web designer to do it for you. WordPress makes it easy for you to have complete control over your website.

A WordPress Blog website is FREE!

With WordPress you don’t need any HTML experience to get your site up and running. You can add graphics and video, a shop and a membership section without any prior experience. It really is that easy.

It’s SEO friendly – This has to be one of the biggest advantages with WordPress; it is optimised for the search engines. Google loves WordPress and that means your site is going to come up in searches more often and in return you will get more traffic to your website.

Plug Ins – There are millions of WordPress plug-ins to enhance your site from membership sections, media icons adding music, adding audio and marrying into your social media platforms really easily.

WordPress makes social networking simple. You can add all of your social media icons to your site and you can exchange your content between social media and your website. WordPress now has a mobile application so you can turn your word press website into a mobile version so your customers can view your content on their smart phones.

You can do this on choreography to go by going to www.C2go.mobi and watch any of our videos on you iphone.

I’m putting together a simple WordPress blog webinar course which will teach you how to create and update your own WordPress blog/website.

So, let me know any questions you have about WordPress or frustrations you have or any thing I can put in the course to help you understand create and navigate your own WordPress blog.

If you are interested in my Worpress Course Tweet me @RachelHolmes 

 

Its the Jubilee with Jayne Nicholls

 

its Jubilee – how many of you are celebrating the very heart, the epitome of our community in your classes or via your business? How about some union jumping jacks? Some golden deals? How about a family fitness package that brings the party pitch to your clients? These are just the times when the savvy instructor capitalises on all of the media hype that surrounds a community project or celebration. We are spoilt for choice this year with both the jubilee and the olympics – you can dine out on branding, specifics and offers for the next few months. Couple this with the summer trend and we are or should be laughing.

Because we have the opportunity to model what we do instantly and offer some great pay on the day deals, our industry is one of the biggest earners at times like this. At the very heart of what we do are these 3 things:

Community Spirit
Love of what we do
Sharing via social interaction

If you are focusing on what you do right now rather than what you can make you will undoubtedly reap the benefits by offering much more authentic product and ultra genuine service.

The hard sell if it works at all will only be a short term result. All clients will see through a business whose focus is 100% on how much money they can secure on day 1. You know full well that our best client is our longterm user for both income and word of mouth marketing.

the joy of todays message is that, what you need, you already have, I wonder if while in search of something out of your reach, you may be ignoring what is right under your nose.

jayne www.groupxtraining.com




Lazy or Exhausted? by Jill Gardner

Following on from last week’s article Problem with Protocols? all about diets (Only half the article was posted – please feel free to read the whole version at http://www.hateitchangeit.co.uk/exercise/problems-with-protocols-protocol-or-process-solution-or-journey-diet-plan-or-lifestyle/) I decided to continue with this theme…….

Change is hard and it can often wear people out trying to do it…..

You must have all recently read the incredibly sad story about a morbidly obese teenager girl called Georgia. A dramatic £100,000 partial house demolition was undertaken to get her out of her house and into hospital.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2150598/Georgia-Davis-63-stone-teens-desperate-plea-I-stand-sparks-100k-rescue-operation.html#ixzz1wHNOQKai

Despite having lost an incredible amount of weight (15st) previously on a boot camp, she has piled it all back on and much more.

Was she greedy? Was she lazy? Was it a lack of willpower? Lack of self-control? Was it her environment? What do you think?

Imagine Georgia was one of your bootcamp clients…………………
You worked tirelessly to help get them results
You gave so much away because you wanted to help them change
You offered more support than you had time for because you cared
You gave all your passion and energy in the hope it would help them……….

Yet despite all of your effort and seemingly theirs they just can’t sustain the effort. Or if they do it doesn’t last for long.

The ones that are successful under your guidance say all the rights things and do all the right things………. but does it last? How long does it last? What happens 6 months later?

Are we trying to tell them too much at once?
Are we overwhelming them with too many changes to make?
Are we leaving them paralysed by too many choices and options?
Are we leaving them exhausted by it all or…………..
Are they being plain lazy?

Most of our daily habits are automatic and happen without consciousness. Like a pre-programmed computer. Habits are formed to free the brain up to perform other tasks. Maybe, trying to get them to change a million things at once leads to exhaustion of their mental muscles? At the beginning of the journey they have masses of enthusiasm, or at least until their self-control or will power runs out.

“Self-control and will power is exhaustible…..it’s the mental muscle that fatigues first!”
– Chip and Dan Heath, Switch

Example – is getting them to change some of their shopping habits better than trying to change all their eating habits? In other words – coach them how to buy a better lunch instead of telling them to eat a better lunch?

The new habit needs to be as easy or even better, easier than the habit it is replacing. Complex clean eating recipes won’t work for people who are used to buying sandwiches and crisps. But coaching them to throw the top slice of bread away and choosing the less fatty option with a salad might work to start with. A quick protein shake is likely to be easier for most to engage with in the beginning than a 6 egg white – spinach and feta cheese frittata!

If they cease to buy tempting food (ie biscuits) then they are not fighting their self-control to resist them when they come home from work. Maybe having a protein bar in the glove box on the way home is just be enough to save them from the drive-through?

They are not fighting their environment anymore…..they are shaping it. If the environment is shaped to match the path then maybe the journey is easier!

Telling people about nutrition alone doesn’t change their behavior. They have to practice it and master it and it takes time. Change this, alter that, don’t do this, do that…….eventually the client is exhausted…..not physically exhausted but mentally. And when a muscle wears out…….it ceases to work and gives up until rested.

I’d love to know what you think. You can connect with me at www.hateitchangeit.co.uk or facebook.com/hateitchangeit twitter/@itsjillgardner

Big love, small tummies!

Jill – The Fat Controller

Sally Ghafoor

This week I attended a tournament my middle child Taylor was taking part in. Taylor is currently doing Rachel’s 7 days to a six pack workouts, he wants to look after his body. He also suffers with ADHD. I use no medication. I keep it all under control with exercise and nutrition.

At lunchtime, we all sat down to eat lunch on the grass. I had made a huge prawn and avocado salad for Taylor. It was full of enough protein, carbs, fats and nutrients needed, and enough to fill him up. In fact it was HUGE I couldn’t have eaten all myself. He also had scrambled salmon to go with it. However some of the parents did not agree with me… “surely he needs more substance than just a salad?” It’s not just a salad was my reply, if you look what he has in it; it is completely nutritionally viable for him and what he is doing today. They offered me a packet of crisps and a Twix to give to him as he really should eat more. Since when is there a need to think that kids are not getting enough food if they aren’t eating a packet of crisps and chocolate bar, nutritionally inept food. I could have told said parent that what her child was eating (a ham sandwich, packet of McCoy’s crisps, Twix, and a fruit shoot) had no nutritional value whatsoever. However I was in no mood for food wars that day.

Then Taylor mentions that he is doing 7 days to a six pack at the moment. I nearly spat my water everywhere. The look on the parents’ faces was well classic. Now let me get something straight here – I am not trying to achieve my son getting a six pack at age 11. However, he wants to be fit for pre season training. The workouts are 10 minutes a day. He plays a high level of competitive sport and wants a competitive edge. I have the tools and the contacts to help him, so why not? Would I rather he spent his time on the xbox or playstation or hanging out at the shops drinking “crunk juice”(the latest high energy drink). I am extremely proud that he wants to take care of his body. He is interested in healthy food and exercise and being the best he can be, so no I am not going to stop him, and in fact I am going to encourage him.

The parents couldn’t understand this. He should be being a child they said. So all of a sudden because my son is thinking about his health and the best way to keep in shape he is not a child? He goes to the park, he has friends over to play, he climbs trees, he does everything any 11 year old boy does. He just doesn’t want to sit doing nothing; he wants to learn about keeping healthy. He wants to excel in sport, he has a dream and he wants it to be a reality.

Do you think you are setting him up for an eating disorder was their next question…. seriously??? I teach him to eat as much as he wants, I teach him that some foods are bad some are good and he makes informed choices from this, Does he sometimes eat crisps and chocolate um yes, but he doesn’t over indulge and because of this he knows the perils of eating disorders. In fact Taylor eats adult size meals and has done since aged about 7 to keep up with his active lifestyle. He ate every single bit of his lunch and felt completely content. Taylor’s reply to the parents, it’s not about what I look like, that’s secondary. It’s about eating to maintain a healthy body for what I do. I don’t not eat crisps and chocolate because I worry I will put on weight; I just don’t over indulge and don’t eat them on a daily basis. Anyway mum makes me cakes made in a different way and I can eat as many of them as I like!

I found myself justifying the reasons Taylor keeps fit …… Really this should not be the case, why were they not trying to justify to me the junk their children were eating. Is this why we are in such peril as a nation because it is the norm to eat crap and the people that don’t want to are seen as “extreme” and me as a pushy mother….

Just as I was about to start thinking maybe I am a bad mum, maybe I should get him to eat anything etc, one of the mums said to me, I think it is brilliant, he is driven, he is confident, he is charismatic, he is a tribute to you. I wish I could get my boys to do half of what he does, I wish I had been more into the things you are both doing early on. I started to feel better. And then to top it off Taylor won the tournament.

My children have seen me eat well, do marathons, have an active job, of course they are going to copy what I do. Is it extreme? As a kid I ate well, and trained hard, I was extremely competitive and still am. I am sure this is what drives me today. It didn’t do me any harm. However, doing nothing might have. There is also nothing wrong with children who are not competitive. Children have different interests, for example if your child was interested in say playing the flute and practised every day, it wouldn’t been seen as extreme, so why does it for my child who loves exercise and sport, plus it keeps his ADHD under control to the point you would never know he had it…………. what are your views???

Taylor will be doing a blog soon; he wants to inspire children to get fit and healthy so watch this space. We go live in 2 weeks. If you want to see it follow me on facebook or twitter. A child’s point of view on fitness and nutrition, for other children, communicating on a level they can understand! He is my little entrepreneur in the making!

Sally Ghafoor

We would love your feedback on Sallys article please Tweet or Facebook us

A,B,C………….Easy As 1,2,3
By Andrew Crawford

Wow ….what a week this has been. It seems to go quicker and quicker as I get older. Is it the same for you?
Can you remember when you were 1, 2 or 3?
And what did we first learn..?
Our A,B,C……..!!
Soon it will be the kids summer holiday then the Christmas adverts start filtering through….in fact, you will see the big stores decorations go up and the fairy lights start twinkling in the shop fronts…!!!
Oh…..before then it will be the Olympics. I was up early when the torch came in at Lands End…..don’t know about you but there were tears in my eyes as I watched the proceedings and the £150,000 valued Olympic torch being passed from the 1st walker to the 2nd and the 3rd …….
Why the tears….?
Well….you or I possibly will never see this again on British soil in our lifetimes….men and women…in their prime, competing against each other to be in positions 1,2 or 3.
This weekend saw me as one of the invited speakers at Jon Le Toq’s Fitness Entrepreneurs Bootcamp. There were a lot of inspirational speakers there who are top of their field delivering some great personal messages.
Instead of me naming them here, take a look yourself at these wonderful people and what they delivered….

http://fitnessentrepreneur.co.uk/

For me…the A,B,C ramblings by Dax Moy struck a chord with me…….ting…(C minor)..!!
(I’m sure he doesn’t mind me sharing this with you…I’ll be brief and tell you exactly what it meant for me…)
A – Was for Authenticity.
Be authentic. …listen…have you ever met somebody and in the FIRST 2 mins..KNOW they were not ‘Authentic’?
I’ve done this many times…you just look deep in their eyes and listen to their lips and SEE their eyes telling you a different story..!!
It’s a feeling….your spirits are invisibly ‘fighting’ one another…They are not Authentic.
Have you ever thought this when meeting someone…?
“….I don’t know what it is but there’s something about that person…..”
It’s a gut feeling…!
B – Was for Bravery
Be bold be brave and bring your own voice. There are many times we shy away because we are frightened of what people may say or think……me?? I don’t give a b*ll*x…… That’s how you should roll brothers and sisters….(you’re dead too long mofo’s).
Don’t look for Approval ….Just share your story…true?
C – Was for Commitment
Has a decision been made….? if so….do it….your committed. So decide NOW.
THIS was the sentence I just loved…….
“…..You can’t give to another what you don’t have yourself….”
Wow….that is some DEEP s…. Stuff..!!
There was a D and E but it doesn’t go with the theme of my title so you’ll have to gag for it…. tee hee..
Remember what my mantra was…?
“……..I decided long ago never to walk in anyone’s shadow…if I fail if I succeed at least I live as I believe…..”
It still is…….however, I decided to ADD to this …”…No man is an Island..”
So….I decided not long ago never to walk in anyone’s shadow…if I fail if I succeed..it’s down to my 2 NEW Mentors….ha ha ha …
They don’t know yet but I have engaged and chosen them because in their respective fields they are A,B,C…(Authentic, Brave & Committed)..
I can also Trust them 1000% and believe they will give me the best advice from their perspective without sugar coating it…rather like getting a kick in the old spherical objects …ouch..(that was eye watering).!!
One male……..one female.
You may know them…..
The ‘Queen of Social Media’ ..Miss Rachel Holmes and the ‘Pied Piper of Fitness’ …Mr Kardy Laguda.
That was easy as 1,2, 3
So Andrew….
What has Dax Moy’s A,B,C…Jon Le Toq’s F.E.B got to do with you A.J.C and Accountant C and Tax??
Well…I will share with you 3 of the 24 ideas I spoke about at the weekend.
1. Employ your children
“Everybody gets a Personal Allowance”
What does this mean to you?
Well, if you have children, stop giving them pocket money and let them work for you instead.
On a Saturday or Sunday, they can work in your business doing the stuff you couldn’t do during the week. Things like filing, updating websites, shredding paper, data entry, cleaning the company vans/cars, sweeping, polishing….etc…you get the picture.
There are certain restrictions to bear in mind. They cannot work before 7am or after 7pm and the hours cannot take up school time. You as the employer may also need to ask the local authority about permits….yes, even though you will be employing your own child.
You will need to do things properly. That means putting them on your payroll and completing Form P46 (new employee without a tax record).
Get the P46 form here…. (Notice of New Employee)
http://www.fitnessindustryaccountants.com/ard/documents.asp?AID=1987&SID=11&FID=37234
What does this mean to you…………£8,105 for this year…!! (Their Personal Allowance) deductible from your turnover….
Supposing you had 2 kids..??

2. Selling your Sole Trader Business to Your New Company

Instead of transferring your sole-trader business to a company…SELL the business to the limited company. This will involve the selling of shares which means…Capital Gains Tax.
Say…£75,000 luvely jubley..!!!

How do we avoid this awesome tax?

The solution is to issue shares in the new company in consideration for the asset of the business bought.
What happens to the Capital Gain in this instance? It effectively is deferred until you SELL the shares. By that time, you would have qualified for Entrepreneur’s Relief.
Entrepreneurs’ Relief allows individuals and some trustees to claim relief on qualifying gains made on the disposal of any of the following:
all or part of a business
the assets of a business after it has stopped trading
shares in a company
Again, there are conditions you must meet ;
1. The whole of the assets must be transferred to the new company
2. The business must be transferred as a going concern
3. The business must be transferred wholly or partly in exchange for shares issued by the company to the person(s) transferring the business
Because you are transferring the business effectively to yourself, the Inland Revenue doesn’t like it. They call this ‘connected persons’ but me and you know that the business and you are separate legal entities.
What they will want to do is, impose a market value on all trading stock which is transferred which means you will be taxable on the full selling price of the trading stock before you have even sold it.
What can you do to avoid this?
You can make a claim (election) to transfer the stock at the higher of original amount paid by the company. Again, notice that this must be claimed, they will not tell you this!
3. Use of Garage as a ‘Storeroom’
If you operate your business as a small company and you store your fitness equipment in your garage, charge the company for storage..!!!
Get a letter from the company (It just so happens that you are the Director) that you will need to store the equipment for ‘security purposes’
Also, in addition have a rental agreement between you and the company setting out the terms of the rental.
This will be a deduction in the company’s accounts and an income for you on your tax return. You can then deduct any expenditure necessary to keep the equipment ‘safe’.
Finally…do you think my 2 new Fitness Industry Mentors have their work cut out for them?…..I’m a stubborn old Bar Steward..!
Oh by the way here’s Kardy’s email address info@kardy.co.uk sshh…don’t tell him I gave you this….ha ha ha….or he’ll kill me…!!!
I bet you were singing the Michael Jackson track in your head….A,B,C….Easy as 1,2,3….easy as doh, ray, me …A,B,C..1,2,3 baby….You and…………..??..!!
£25,000 prize money
What’s the missing word? Call 999 to find out…Calls cost £100 per second..!!
Until next time..
Peace and Love
Andrew Crawford
Visit our website at: www.fitnessindustryaccountants.com for more FREE resources and articles.
‘Like’ our page at: www.facebook.com/fitnessindustryaccountants
Andrew Crawford can be contacted on twitter @tax4fitness or info@fitnessindustryaccountants.com

How to have a guilt-free holiday

By Claire Mockridge
Ante/Postnatal Fitness Expert

So, how’s everyone feeling at the moment? This warm weather has been amazing, hasn’t it? I’m originally from Australia (G’day!), so generally speaking, I really like the heat (apart from when I’m doing one of Rachel’s hardcore KSFL workouts back-to-back!). It’s quite a rare sight to see me outdoors in the UK without a fleece or sweatshirt on, so it’s like a little treat for me. I’m loving it.

I wonder though, did you notice a drop in your class numbers last week, due to the heat? My sessions last week, I have to say, were very well attended. Why? Probably, because all of my classes are run on a pay upfront basis.

Are you running classes on Jubilee Monday and Tuesday next week because you feel it’s the right thing to do for your clients, only to discover that when you set up for class, that a lot of people will cancel or be absent?

I take between 10-12 weeks off a year. This figure might astound and shock you, but, one of the main reasons I became self-employed was so that I could take time off when I like and go wherever I want. Is this one of the reasons you work for yourself too? I’d be interested to know.

How can I possibly take 12 weeks off a year and still make money, I hear you ask? Well, firstly, it’s down to working with a niche client group, and secondly, it’s about having a successful online business. As you know, I’m Ante/Postnatal trained, and the majority of my classes are for pregnant and postnatal women.

I run just 9 classes a week, from Monday-Wednesday and I have 2 DVDs and home workout sheets called “Pilates on a Page” which sell really well. Clients buy my DVDs/Worksheets before I go on leave; clients buy them for pre/postnatal friends; Ante/Postnatal Instructors buy them to add some fresh, new content into their classes. My online products appeal to a wide market.

Because all of my pre/postnatal classes are pay upfront, guess what? So are all of my mainstream classes too. This is because, the vast majority of my clients in a mainstream setting, came to me from my pre/postnatal classes, and they’re already trained (or brainwashed?!) into paying upfront for my services, so there’s really no difference.

What happens when I go on leave? Well, firstly, I obtain cover for certain classes eg my Pregnancy, Beginners and Improvers Pilates classes (that’s 4 out of the 9 classes I teach per week, by the way). My Little Black Dress Workout ladies who pay £18/month via Paypal, get videos, home workout sheets, nutrition tips and recipes as part of their monthly payment whilst I’m away (we’re up to 5 of the 9 classes, I teach now).

The remainder of my pregnancy and postnatal fitness classes (that’s 4 on my timetable), just don’t run. It’s as simple as that. I’m very well qualified, and find it difficult to get a cover instructor to teach my style of fitness classes to my pregnant and postnatal clients. I provide flexible attendance for my pre and postnatal fitness clients, and they then accept that I take time off when I need to.

Who does my admin whilst I’m away? My wonderful VA, that’s who. She’s brilliant. As long as I’ve done the marketing and advertising to get the clients in the door in the lead up to going on leave, generally speaking, when I return from my jollies, any dormant spaces that need filling in the new 6-week courses have been filled, thanks to a bit of planning, and my VA.

What is it you’re afraid of when you take time off? Is it that your customers will go somewhere else? Could you change some of your classes to a monthly payment system, like mine, and offer clients more value? What’s stopping you setting up an online income stream to your business?

If you’re only taking the standard Bank Holidays off per year, when exactly do you relax? It takes me a good 5 days to completely switch off, unless I’m completely drained and then it’s like, 2 days!

We work hard, so why can’t we reward ourselves with more time off?

If you’d like a copy of my Pregnancy or Postnatal Fitness DVD or more information about setting up an online business, join my private Facebook group here:

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Bye for now.

Claire Mockridge
Ante/Postnatal Fitness Expert

Do we always do what is best? Cori Withell

As instructors, trainers and coaches we come into contact with lots of diverse people. People who want and need many different things from us. Do we always give them what they want? Do we always give them what they need? Do we actually tell them what they need?

Many people come to us as a last resort, they are using us to fill a void in their life and it would be unrealistic and unfair of us to assume that we can fix that. Since really narrowing down my niche I have seen more and more people try to contact me because they are under the illusion that I can ‘fix’ them. I can’t. If I could I would be a multi billionaire! People put their entire happiness on a certain body shape, an image they want to portray. They often have an ideal and with that comes a whole load of connotations of how their life will be. They might say they want Kylie Minogue’s figure but with that comes her smile, her great personality, her seemingly perfect life. They don’t see that this will be a front and actually they have no idea what her life is like. The important thing to be aware of is that no matter how perfect you manage to get their body shape, if you haven’t addressed the underlying issues then the client will perceive you of having let then down.

You haven’t of course but you need to set boundaries and expectations right at the beginning. As nice as it might be to allow an individual to think that at the end of your programme, with complete compliance, their life will be perfect. This is not fair on your client or on you as a trainer because ultimately it will reflect badly on you when the clients perceives it as you not doing what you said you would. This is also not good for your own emotional well being. If you allow a client to make you feel (and ultimately it is your choice to feel how you want to feel) that you have let them down, this is going to make you feel rubbish. Long term you will start to doubt your abilities as a trainer, you will wonder if you are in the right job and then, heaven forbid, you get into the negative cycle. You start to ‘help’ more and more clients like this to try and make amends and show that you can ‘fix’ them. Why not just make a decision to not go there in the first place. Ensure that your client takes responsibility for themselves, not you and reinforce this all the time. This doesn’t mean you are not being supportive or not encouraging them or motivating them. You are doing what is right for you and your client and your client will respect you for it.

Within my niche I have countless clients who try to do this. They try to manipulate me into agreeing to ‘fix’ them. I can’t and I won’t. People with low self esteem and confidence and reaching out all the time and we, as trainers, need to recognise this and embrace it in a positive way. Identify what the client is doing and turn it back around to them. You are the facilitator in their life. You are showing them the things they can do and changes they can implement that may make the improvements in their life that they are searching for BUT, at the end of the day, they have to WANT to change. We all know this but so many of us continue to work with clients who are mentally, emotionally and physically draining. Don’t you deserve better?

You can follow me on Facebook www.facebook.com/cori.withell and Twitter www.twitter.com/CWFitness and my daily blog www.cwfitness.co.uk/blog

Health and happiness x
Cori x



Best wishes
Cori x

 

 

Hope you have a wonderful week

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Rachel xxx

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