S4 Ep 1: The Fitness Business Landscape Has Changed...What You Need To Know

You know, these are some typical problems that are faced when we're struggling to grow, when we're struggling to go, how come we can't generate what someone else is doing? Is because we're simply— our vehicle's not right. There's something broken in it. There's something needs to be repaired. Welcome back to the Marketing Muscle Up Podcast Show. This is season 4, episode 1. Also 121 episodes on this particular show. In this show, we're talking about the secret to fitness business growth in 2022. We're back after a couple weeks breather, and I want to talk about what I've learned in this last 2 to 3 weeks. And if you haven't yet listened to the last episode for season 3, Episode 40. It was from Kylie Rae. She had grown her business nearly 4 times whilst coming into our program, and it was one of the most popular episodes so far. So if you haven't listened to that, please listen to that one because it's going to go into this topic of today. It's, it's a good lead into this topic of today. And that's exactly what I want to talk about. I want to talk about the secret to your fitness business growth in 2022. I've been getting a lot of questions on this. A lot of people are asking, Richard, what's working now in the marketing space? What's working now in the fitness space? How are you generating leads? Because I'm finding it really difficult. I'm finding it hard. People are pausing, canceling, everything like that is all rolled into one. And a lot of people are going through the same struggles. But the other side, there are some people that are absolutely crushing it at the moment. And they're doing so because That's what I want to talk about today. I want to show you what they're doing differently than everybody else in the marketplace. Now, team, if this is the first time listening, welcome. So good to have you here. In this show, we talk all about ways that you can grow your fitness business using marketing, sales, and growth strategies. And we get on some special guests. We combine our team as well. So we've got different people on our team that come onto this show, and we also get some special guests that— some people that I, um, are having some good conversations with, and I invite them to the show to help you out to win in your space. And that is what this show is all about. For those who don't know, we do run a marketing program. We run a really cool marketing program to help businesses to, number one, become a marketing ninja And then grow your fitness business using the marketing skills, strategies, tactics that we give you. You know, this year it's 10 years in our company Complete Online Marketing, and then we changed our name to ComMarketing about 5 to 6 years ago. And I set this up with my wife Joey, and about 5 years ago there was a problem— there was a problem that happened in the landscape. In regards to marketing, and everything was readily available. It was easy to market, it was simple to market, everything was free. But the problem was, when there's a lot of things on the market, then the confusion sets in. So about 5 years ago, we turned our whole model to education, educating fitness pros how to use these amazing free tools to grow their business. And we've been doing so for the last 5 years. We have a a program called the Ninja Program. And I say that because we always have to adjust what we need to do to continue growing our business. And that's what I want to talk about today. And we had to do that about 5, 6 years ago, make some adjustments to ensure that we felt right with what we were doing, that we kept excited to what we were doing, that we kept hungry to what we were doing. And the, the secret— what, you know, what is the secret to growing your fitness business in 2022? Well, let me talk about some problems first that I've finding in the, the break of, uh, podcasting and just producing a bit of content. It was a, it was a great break, but also really highlighted a few things that that we had to do as a business just recently, and also businesses that we help had to do with businesses. Because, you know, when I see businesses not growing at the intensity they want to grow, and that's a lot of businesses at the moment, things have definitely adjusted and changed at the moment, but there are some businesses that are still growing at a really good rate at the moment. And I go, well, what's the difference here? Why does we have the same, you know, we're basically providing the same service to a degree. Some are providing that service better than others, sure. But at the end of the day, we have the same tools, resources, time, timeframes, structure, strategies, techniques, yet some people are crushing it, some people are struggling. What's the difference? Well, it's got to come to the person that's at the front of the— driving the ship. It's got to come to the captain. It's got to come to you as a business owner and go, well, what am I doing or not doing that's not getting me to the goal that I want? And I haven't never— I've never really talked about this concept here, but I do believe that I've heard this a few times on a few YouTube videos I was been watching. I actually started to watch Urban Climbers recently. I think Joe Rogan shared it on his Instagram, and I've just went down a rabbit hole a little bit and following these guys. These guys climb buildings with no safety harness. I'm talking about they're climbing 200, 300-meter buildings with no safety harness. No safety harness. Crazy. Crazy. And I mean, first word is crazy. The second word is like, wow, they've got such faith and belief in themselves. And the third thing that I really got here is that they're driven. And when you're halfway up a building with no safety harnesses, just using your fingers and bare feet, you have to be driven. There is no one— there's no way around this. If you're driven, You're gonna, you know, with all the training that you've had, you'll get to the top. If you're not, something will kick in and you'll stop. And you can't stop halfway up a building. That doesn't work. And it kind of really resonated with me watching all these YouTube videos and checking it all out is that how driven are we to get to the top? How focused are we? To break through any limitation that comes our way, any obstacle that comes our way, any problem that comes our way? Do we overcome it fast, or do we sit in it and unpack our suitcase there for the next day, 2 days, 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks? What is it that we do here? And so running a business is different to Climbing up a straight building, the top is the top. And apart from, I guess, wind and building not falling down or something happening, the line is straight. In business, I don't believe we have that on our table. Like, if business doesn't work, we don't fall off a building. We have other options. And I think this is sometimes the issue as a business owner, especially if you're a business owner that's been in the game for a while and you possibly have been asleep at the wheel, had it easy for too long. Leads were coming in cheap and easy for a while, and now things are different. Ads cost more. The same strategies that you used before don't work now. Or they don't work as effectively now. And these are all coming and you're going, okay, well, this has just happened. Why can't I just turn the Facebook tap on? Why can't I just, you know, send an email out and things will, will be, will just be the same? Well, they won't because things have adjusted. The world has moved on. And that's the landscape of business. Landscape of business has always changed. It's always evolved. It's always moved. It's always— Yeah. been a tough ride. And I think when I say tough ride, some people go, Richard, well, I find it easy. And some people say, Richard, well, yeah, it's been a real struggle. But then you look at the people that are moving mountains. Let's say Elon Musk, for example, with a lot of news about him at the moment purchasing Twitter. I recently watched his SpaceX show. And I see him now and again, but I also went deep on him and understood what he's been doing. And for somebody who's changing the space and changing the way the world is structured through his inventions, is definitely driven. And I look at driven, I go, wow, that's driven. same as climbing up a building, is driven. He's driven to make adjustments and changes and changing obstacles. And you just gotta, you know, watch, watch the SpaceX or watch some YouTube videos of him, and you'll sort of see that it's not just one interview, it's multiple interviews, the same, same conversation. And then you're looking in the fitness space and you're looking at people that are crushing it, the people that you're looking towards. They go, how come they're getting clients in? How come they're leading the way? is because they've lost their safety net and they've gone, I want to push. I want to drive. They've made that decision. Now, when people come into the game early on, sometimes they have that fire in their belly because they haven't had a loss. But I'm probably talking a little bit more to people who have had a loss in their business where, for example, they've had a great business for 10 years and all of a sudden, boom, Not as smooth as it used to be. And there's been some problems, and you may relate to some of these problems. I certainly do. Number 1, wrong goals. You've had the wrong goals for too long. You're aiming for the wrong things. Something's not sitting right in the gut. Something's wrong in the gut. It's not feeling right. It's not working right. The sales are not working right. People aren't purchasing. Your memberships for some reason. Number three, there could be a level of burnout that's happening. You've been working for too long, you know, especially through COVID. You could be working for too long for two years, really retaining, and you just burnt out. Sometimes loneliness has kicked in, working from home too much outside. Some of you are online trainers, and you're really siloed in. A lot of business owners are. a lonely full stop, not just from COVID but always working by ourselves. Number— what's that? Number 4 or 5, clarity. There's a lack of clarity that you have right now. And then the last one I've got is too many shiny objects, too many decisions you need to make, too much Instagram popping in and do this, do that, download this. This is too much choices. And I feel that these, you know, these are some typical problems that are faced when we're struggling to grow, when we're struggling to go, how come we can't generate what someone else is doing, is because we're simply— our vehicle's not right. There's something broken in it. There's something needs to be repaired. And so if you haven't yet repaired these items, the burnout, the loneliness, the clarity— lack of clarity, I should say— you're working on too many shiny objects, too many things, too many goals, unwrong goals, well, it's time to actually make the adjustment and make that change. And I go back to the secret. Honestly, the secret here is driven. How driven are you moving into 2022 to rip in, to make the changes you need to make, and to get on with the job? How driven are you? And it's okay if you're not, but if you're not, the way to win in the game in 2022 is to be driven, is to know that we have to push through and find the gap in the marketplace, in your community, in your business that's going to make you win, that's going to make your clients win. And some ways that are working for people that are driven is they have a very clear direction of where they're moving into. So number one, do you have a clear direction of where you're moving into? Is it crystal clear or you're working it out? Every day. It's like a new, a new changing something every day. Do you ask for help more now? More than ever, you need help because things are adjusting, things are changing. Are you asking more? Do you ask for help? Are you trying something out fast? And then, you know, if you're not asking for help, you're obviously trying something out fast. It's working or not, moving to the next thing. Most importantly, because you've got to, you've got to kind of do that fast. I actually think that, I actually think if you've never had a coach or a mentor, have never had some sort of direction, I think now's the time to probably tap into the resource there, tap into a clarity from somebody that's above. When I say like they're not in the business, they're not in your business, they're looking at things in a different perspective without being emotionally attached to the business. For years and years and years, I was emotionally attached to my business, struggled to get someone to look at my business from an outside. I always thought I've got enough view of it, but in fact, I was still in the business. And so I urge, if you haven't yet, jump into a mentor, coach, and just really work on that. Commit to somebody for at least 3 months. Say, hey, I just need some more clarity and more direction. And then sort of go from someone there. Not a plug from us, but, but definitely if you are struggling with marketing, I would definitely look at our Marketing Ninja program. Go to commarketing.com.au, and that's a good progression for the first 90 days to get into. And if you don't have any of those things, it means then you have a crystal ball and you're doing a lot of research, a lot of adjusting, changing, because You're trying to find the way forward. So there's the easy way or the, the faster way or the slow way, and there's always 2 ways. I think for some reason people think they have to take the slow way. I'm certainly one of those people that love the slow way because I want to be unique. I want to be different. I want to try new things. But, but in fact, when I've got mentors and coaches now, I can actually use that and have someone to bounce off to say, yep, this is the right or wrong thing. And everybody that's doing something great, every athlete has multiple coaches, multiple mentors. So, you know, there's a reason why there's, you know, very few in the world that could be highly driven. They're either amazing analytical researchers and people that study on the topic finances and growth and they study that. Or if you're not that person, you don't have that time, it's about finding somebody who is playing that all the time so you can make fast decisions. And the key here is to get back to being driven. The key is to get it done. Some great strategies that are working for me, I love Mel Robbins' 5 Second Rule. If you haven't heard from her, she's got a book out, there's podcasts, there's probably a video you can watch in 15 minutes to give you the CliffsNotes version of that. But it's the 5-second rule, something you think about, execute, and get done within 5 seconds. Otherwise, the mind changes and tricks ourselves into doing things. And the 5-second rule is a good rule. However, without the direction, it could mean that you're doing these tasks that are meaningless and going nowhere. And that's the reason why I, you know, the big push here is just to make sure that you're clear on your path before you get to the next point. Before you can just rip in, get it done, move forward. It takes time to know that you're at the right position to do that. And I go back to what I just said about our last guest on the show, Kylie Rae. If you haven't yet listened to that podcast and you're in that position of like you've been sitting on here for a few years, it's just not working, it's been a tough 2 years, it's been a tough 3, 4 months to start the year, I would go back to that and go, okay, what had to change? You had to get— Kylie had to get drive back in her business. She had to get clarity. She had to get purpose. She had to get certainty. And she had to get confidence in the advice that she got so that she could find her inner drive. Now, I always, you know, there's never a person that even comes to our marketing business and says, I'm just going to learn that. And even if they execute it, some people can learn it And some people can execute it and execute it and win, and some people can execute it and sit because it's the drivenness of some person. It's the drive that you either have or you don't have. And if you don't have, you need to get, you need to find, you need to find it because that is the secret to fitness growth in 2022. Yes, it's the Facebook. We could also, I could also say it's the 5 funnels that you need to have. Yes, you need to have 5 funnels now. You can't just be relying on Facebook or Instagram. You need to have multiple funnels working for you. However, it is the concept of get back to the thing that you love, get back to the intensity that you want to play again. And when you get back to that, magic will happen. When you get back to that, growth will happen. When you get back to that, you'll see business growth every day. But sometimes we're not told that, hey, if you don't— if you're not— if that's not— if you're not growing that way, there's something that's broken and it's your responsibility to fix it. And it doesn't matter if it was the thing that worked for you for years. This is a different world we live in. If you haven't yet realized that, it's a different world we live in now. And if we're still working on the same strategies, that we were in in 2020, I don't believe it's the strategies for the future. I'll say that again. If you are working on the same strategies that you worked in 2020, I don't believe it's the strategies that is going to get you to the growth that you want in 2022, 2023. So have a think about that, team. Let me know your thoughts. I'm excited to be back. Season 4. Season 4. Episode one. This is 121 episodes we're doing in the Marketing Muscle Up Podcast Show, and I'm really enjoying bringing this to you. I'd love to know your feedback. If you've liked this episode, be sure to share it with somebody. This is on or subscribe, share and subscribe on Spotify. We're on iTunes, Google Podcasts, wherever is a good podcast for you. We're there. And if you do want to watch this on YouTube, you can go to our YouTube channel, Com Marketing, and check that out. I'm a video person. I love sort of seeing what's going on as well. And in this season, I'm going to bring you some amazing guests that I feel have been really driven, that have really just had to pivot and change and keep driving forward. I'm going to flavor this entire season on the ability to be driven, how to drive where you're just not sure how to, how to find that, that, that power inside you. I'm going to focus in this season all on that. Hope you enjoyed this episode. I'll see you next episode when we talk about that. We continue this conversation. If you've liked this, again, just subscribe it, share it. I'll catch you next time on the Marketing Muscle Up Podcast Show. Bye for now.