CrossFit LA - The Biz http://www.crossfitla.com/cms/index.php/The_Biz/index/ A Santa Monica, CA based elite fitness, health and conditioning training facility that trains students in Crossfit. en john@crosfitla.com Copyright 2009 2009-10-28T05:30:06+00:00 CrossfitLa-TheBizhttp://feedburner.google.com What is your brand? http://www.crossfitla.com/cms/index.php/The_Biz/what_is_your_brand/ Great speech on branding, passion and people... And I appreciate his ability to tell people to "get out" if they don't love what they do... because the customers deserve better. Thoughts? Post to comments.
And I appreciate his ability to tell people to "get out" if they don't love what they do... because the customers deserve better.

Thoughts? Post to comments.



]]> 2009-10-28T05:30:06+00:00 How did you choose your business model? http://www.crossfitla.com/cms/index.php/The_Biz/how_did_you_choose_your_business_model/ How did you choose your business model? Does it support your desire to be a business owner by duplicating your skills? Or do you find yourself hating going to the gym because the reward is to small? When Andy and I teach at our seminar we cover the way that supports your need to be financially stable while delivering a great product to your clients. AND this model also supports your staff's desire to have a real future as a professional on par with other doctors, lawyers and other respected people. Post how you chose your business model to comments: Business Models (2 min. version) from CrossFit LA - The BIZ on Vimeo. To sign up for the next BIZ: Raise your Game seminar in LA click here now.
When Andy and I teach at our seminar we cover the way that supports your need to be financially stable while delivering a great product to your clients. AND this model also supports your staff's desire to have a real future as a professional on par with other doctors, lawyers and other respected people.

Post how you chose your business model to comments:


Business Models (2 min. version) from CrossFit LA - The BIZ on Vimeo.





To sign up for the next BIZ: Raise your Game seminar in LA click here now.]]> 2009-10-20T23:11:50+00:00 Whatever you think you’re worth will reflect in your rates. http://www.crossfitla.com/cms/index.php/The_Biz/whatever_you_think_youre_worth_will_reflect_in_your_rates/ Don't believe me... let's see what Coach Glassman has to say about it. The following excerpt is taken from the CrossFit.com Affiliate blog Oct. 13th. 2009 "Imagine you're a new affiliate: How do you figure out your prices? Imagine you're an established affiliate: How do you know when it's time to raise prices?" Posted by Lisbeth at October 13, 2009 12:05 AM "This is an important conversation. Your personality and confidence will play a strong role in a) what you will charge, b) what you'll feel like asking, and c) whether you'll get it or not. I always made sure that I was charging considerably more than the average training rate and made sure that the margins by which my training was better than average were even greater. To wit, when the average trainer was making $40/session, Lauren and I were charging $75/session, but we figured that was a bargain because our training was three times more effective and fun. I also never raised the rate on a client, ever, but extracted ever increasing amounts from newcomers. My clients locked into a rate for a lifetime. Early adoption/support had it's rewards. I generally kept my rates about 50% above the regional mode (by dead-reckoning). In the traditional non-CF gym model the memberships of the super committed are in effect subsidized by the large number of gym members who do not go to the gym but continue to pay. That's not our business model. You want to look not at what gym membership at Gold's, Balley's, or Spectrum costs but the average take per client of their trainers. On the basis of that comparison our average CF affiliate monthly fee of $150 is a steal, and those are the clients you want - people who want to be trained. I'd rather be the most expensive CF trainer in a demographic region than the least expensive - by far. The guy undercharging the market is making a statement about his worth that I'd never make. These are my opinions." Comment #11 - Posted by: Coach at October 13, 2009 4:26 PM Post thoughts to comments: Here's a Video for more on the topic.

"Imagine you're a new affiliate: How do you figure out your prices?

Imagine you're an established affiliate: How do you know when it's time to raise prices?"

Posted by Lisbeth at October 13, 2009 12:05 AM



"This is an important conversation. Your personality and confidence will play a strong role in a) what you will charge, b) what you'll feel like asking, and c) whether you'll get it or not.

I always made sure that I was charging considerably more than the average training rate and made sure that the margins by which my training was better than average were even greater. To wit, when the average trainer was making $40/session, Lauren and I were charging $75/session, but we figured that was a bargain because our training was three times more effective and fun. I also never raised the rate on a client, ever, but extracted ever increasing amounts from newcomers. My clients locked into a rate for a lifetime. Early adoption/support had it's rewards. I generally kept my rates about 50% above the regional mode (by dead-reckoning).

In the traditional non-CF gym model the memberships of the super committed are in effect subsidized by the large number of gym members who do not go to the gym but continue to pay. That's not our business model. You want to look not at what gym membership at Gold's, Balley's, or Spectrum costs but the average take per client of their trainers. On the basis of that comparison our average CF affiliate monthly fee of $150 is a steal, and those are the clients you want - people who want to be trained.

I'd rather be the most expensive CF trainer in a demographic region than the least expensive - by far. The guy undercharging the market is making a statement about his worth that I'd never make.

These are my opinions."

Comment #11 - Posted by: Coach at October 13, 2009 4:26 PM

Post thoughts to comments:

Here's a Video for more on the topic.


]]> 2009-10-14T06:14:14+00:00 wanna be rich? http://www.crossfitla.com/cms/index.php/The_Biz/wanna_be_rich/ A Recipe for Riches by Duncan Greenberg Friday, October 9, 2009 provided by Want to become a tech titan or hedge fund tycoon? Up your chances by dropping out of college or going to Harvard and working at Goldman Sachs. Are billionaires born or made? What are the common attributes among the uber-wealthy? Are there any true secrets of the self-made? More from Forbes.com: • In Depth: A Recipe for Riches • The Complete Ranking of the 400 Richest Americans 2009 • Fun Billionaire Statistics We get these questions a lot, and decided it was time to go beyond the broad answers of smarts, ambition and luck by sorting through our database of wealthy individuals in search of bona fide trends. We analyzed everything from entrepreneurs' parents' professions to where they went to school, their track records in the early stages of their careers and other experiences that may have set them on the path to extreme wealth. Our admittedly unscientific study of the self-made members of the Forbes 400 yielded some interesting results. First, a significant percentage of them had parents with a high aptitude for math. The ability to crunch numbers is crucial to becoming a billionaire, and mathematical prowess is hereditary. Some of the most common professions among the parents of Forbes 400 members (for whom we could find the information) were engineer, accountant and small-business owner. More from Yahoo! Finance: • How Self-Made Titans Launched Their Empires • Unusual Products That Made Millions • 10 Part-Time Businesses and What You'll Earn Visit the Career & Work Center Consistent with the rest of the population, more American billionaires and near-billionaires were born in the fall than in any other season. However, relatively few of them were born in December, historically the month with the eighth-highest birth rate. Of the 274 self-made tycoons on the Forbes 400, 14% either never started or never completed college. The number of precocious college dropouts is highest among those who forged careers as technology entrepreneurs: Bill Gates of Microsoft (MSFT), Steve Jobs of Apple (AAPL), Michael Dell of Dell (DELL), Larry Ellison of Oracle (ORCL) and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook. Forbes 400 members who derive their fortunes from finance make up one of the most highly educated sub-groups: half of them have graduate degrees. Roughly 70% of those with M.B.A.s obtained their master's degrees from one of three Ivy League schools: Harvard, Columbia or the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business. Goldman Sachs (GS) has attracted a large share of hungry minds that went on to garner 10-figure fortunes. At least 11 current and recent billionaire financiers worked at Goldman or one of it subsidiaries early in their careers, including Edward Lampert, David Tepper, Daniel Och and Leon Cooperman. Several Forbes 400 members suffered bitter professional setbacks early in their careers that heightened their fear of failure. Pharmaceutical tycoon R.J. Kirk's first venture was a flop--an experience he regrets but appreciates. "Failure early on is a necessary condition for success, though not a sufficient one," he told Forbes in 2007. According to a statement read by Phil Falcone during a congressional hearing in November 2008, his botched buyout of a company in Newark, N.J., in the early 1990s taught him "several valuable lessons that have had a profound impact upon my success as a hedge fund manager." Several current and former billionaires rounded out their Yale careers as members of Skull and Bones, the secret society portrayed with enigmatic relish by Hollywood in movies like The Skulls and W. Among those who were inducted: investor Edward Lampert, Blackstone co-founder Stephen Schwarzman, and FedEx (FDX) founder Frederick Smith. Parents Had Math-Related Careers The ability to crunch numbers is typically a key to becoming a billionaire. Often, mathematical prowess is hereditary. Some of the most common professions among the parents of American billionaires for whom we could find that information were engineer, accountant and small-business owner. September Birthdays Of the 380 self-made American tycoons who have appeared on the Forbes list of the World's Billionaires in the past three years, 42 were born in September--more than in any other month. Tech Titans Who Dropped Out of College Forget everything your guidance counselor told you: You don't have to go to college to be successful. Close to 15% of the self-made American moguls on the Forbes 400 never finished college. Many of the list's drop-outs made their fortunes in tech, including Bill Gates (Microsoft), Steve Jobs (Apple), Michael Dell (Dell), Larry Ellison (Oracle) and Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook). Skull and Bones Several current and former billionaires rounded out their Yale careers as members of Skull and Bones, the secret society portrayed with enigmatic relish by Hollywood in movies like The Skulls and W. Among those who were inducted: investor Edward Lampert, Blackstone co-founder Stephen Schwarzman and FedEx founder Frederick Smith. Goldman Sachs A stint at investment bank Goldman Sachs is a prime credential for achieving greatness on Wall Street. Of the 61 tycoons on our list who derive their fortunes from finance, at least six cut their teeth in Goldman's investment banking, trading, or asset management divisions. The company's crown jewel: its "risk arbitrage" unit, which launched the careers of billionaires Edward Lampert and Daniel Och, as well as former billionaires Tom Steyer and Richard Perry. See the full list of A Recipe for Riches Copyrighted, Forbes.com. All rights reserved. Enjoy this video from Steve Jobs speech at Stanford (sorry, it's long). by Duncan Greenberg
Friday, October 9, 2009
provided by

Want to become a tech titan or hedge fund tycoon? Up your chances by dropping out of college or going to Harvard and working at Goldman Sachs.

Are billionaires born or made? What are the common attributes among the uber-wealthy? Are there any true secrets of the self-made?

More from Forbes.com:

• In Depth: A Recipe for Riches

• The Complete Ranking of the 400 Richest Americans 2009

• Fun Billionaire Statistics
We get these questions a lot, and decided it was time to go beyond the broad answers of smarts, ambition and luck by sorting through our database of wealthy individuals in search of bona fide trends. We analyzed everything from entrepreneurs' parents' professions to where they went to school, their track records in the early stages of their careers and other experiences that may have set them on the path to extreme wealth.

Our admittedly unscientific study of the self-made members of the Forbes 400 yielded some interesting results.

First, a significant percentage of them had parents with a high aptitude for math. The ability to crunch numbers is crucial to becoming a billionaire, and mathematical prowess is hereditary. Some of the most common professions among the parents of Forbes 400 members (for whom we could find the information) were engineer, accountant and small-business owner.

More from Yahoo! Finance:

• How Self-Made Titans Launched Their Empires

• Unusual Products That Made Millions

• 10 Part-Time Businesses and What You'll Earn
Visit the Career & Work Center
Consistent with the rest of the population, more American billionaires and near-billionaires were born in the fall than in any other season. However, relatively few of them were born in December, historically the month with the eighth-highest birth rate.

Of the 274 self-made tycoons on the Forbes 400, 14% either never started or never completed college. The number of precocious college dropouts is highest among those who forged careers as technology entrepreneurs: Bill Gates of Microsoft (MSFT), Steve Jobs of Apple (AAPL), Michael Dell of Dell (DELL), Larry Ellison of Oracle (ORCL) and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook.

Forbes 400 members who derive their fortunes from finance make up one of the most highly educated sub-groups: half of them have graduate degrees. Roughly 70% of those with M.B.A.s obtained their master's degrees from one of three Ivy League schools: Harvard, Columbia or the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business.

Goldman Sachs (GS) has attracted a large share of hungry minds that went on to garner 10-figure fortunes. At least 11 current and recent billionaire financiers worked at Goldman or one of it subsidiaries early in their careers, including Edward Lampert, David Tepper, Daniel Och and Leon Cooperman.

Several Forbes 400 members suffered bitter professional setbacks early in their careers that heightened their fear of failure. Pharmaceutical tycoon R.J. Kirk's first venture was a flop--an experience he regrets but appreciates. "Failure early on is a necessary condition for success, though not a sufficient one," he told Forbes in 2007.

According to a statement read by Phil Falcone during a congressional hearing in November 2008, his botched buyout of a company in Newark, N.J., in the early 1990s taught him "several valuable lessons that have had a profound impact upon my success as a hedge fund manager."

Several current and former billionaires rounded out their Yale careers as members of Skull and Bones, the secret society portrayed with enigmatic relish by Hollywood in movies like The Skulls and W. Among those who were inducted: investor Edward Lampert, Blackstone co-founder Stephen Schwarzman, and FedEx (FDX) founder Frederick Smith.


Parents Had Math-Related Careers

The ability to crunch numbers is typically a key to becoming a billionaire. Often, mathematical prowess is hereditary. Some of the most common professions among the parents of American billionaires for whom we could find that information were engineer, accountant and small-business owner.



September Birthdays

Of the 380 self-made American tycoons who have appeared on the Forbes list of the World's Billionaires in the past three years, 42 were born in September--more than in any other month.



Tech Titans Who Dropped Out of College

Forget everything your guidance counselor told you: You don't have to go to college to be successful. Close to 15% of the self-made American moguls on the Forbes 400 never finished college. Many of the list's drop-outs made their fortunes in tech, including Bill Gates (Microsoft), Steve Jobs (Apple), Michael Dell (Dell), Larry Ellison (Oracle) and Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook).




Skull and Bones

Several current and former billionaires rounded out their Yale careers as members of Skull and Bones, the secret society portrayed with enigmatic relish by Hollywood in movies like The Skulls and W. Among those who were inducted: investor Edward Lampert, Blackstone co-founder Stephen Schwarzman and FedEx founder Frederick Smith.




Goldman Sachs

A stint at investment bank Goldman Sachs is a prime credential for achieving greatness on Wall Street. Of the 61 tycoons on our list who derive their fortunes from finance, at least six cut their teeth in Goldman's investment banking, trading, or asset management divisions. The company's crown jewel: its "risk arbitrage" unit, which launched the careers of billionaires Edward Lampert and Daniel Och, as well as former billionaires Tom Steyer and Richard Perry.



See the full list of A Recipe for Riches

Copyrighted, Forbes.com. All rights reserved.


Enjoy this video from Steve Jobs speech at Stanford (sorry, it's long).



]]> 2009-10-11T21:35:32+00:00 Do you believe you can run a marathon? http://www.crossfitla.com/cms/index.php/The_Biz/do_you_believe_you_can_run_a_marathon/ Do you have limiting beliefs? Where did you get them from? I had a lot of people tell me when I first opened my first martial arts school all the many reason why it WOULD NOT work. Down economy, I had no experience running a business, limited funds, no back up plan, my age. Sound like you? I hope it does. I could have chosen to believe those limiting beliefs others were projecting onto me but I didn't. Now, I'll be very blunt, it was freaking hard to ignore people who were close to me. No just ignore their ideas but physically ignore them. I could go weeks or maybe even months without talking to my family. At times I caught hell for it. But I had a vision that no one seemed to grasp as well as I did. Here's a link to a great book by Hugh Macleod called IGNORE EVERYBODY It mainly deal with creativity but what could be more creative than opening a business that has to inspire people to challenge themselves? Post a limiting belief others are trying to foist upon you to comments: Enjoy this video on a little know limiting marathon fact.
Here's a link to a great book by Hugh Macleod called IGNORE EVERYBODY

It mainly deal with creativity but what could be more creative than opening a business that has to inspire people to challenge themselves?

Post a limiting belief others are trying to foist upon you to comments:

Enjoy this video on a little know limiting marathon fact.






]]> 2009-10-01T03:54:17+00:00 How do you use your affiliate site? http://www.crossfitla.com/cms/index.php/The_Biz/..._and_were_back/ ... and we're back! Sorry for the delay in posting. A BIZ seminar in Toronto (that was really great) and then being sick for a week put me out of commission. So how do you use your affiliate site? Do you see yourself as part of the revolution of new media? Well... maybe you are and don't know it. How many of you have your site's blog post synched into your Face Book page for automatic updates? how many use twitter to reach out to your clients and friends? Post to comments the many ways you are able to get your message out using new technology. The following video from a T.E.D. conference talks about this and more. It;'s long but worth it.
So how do you use your affiliate site? Do you see yourself as part of the revolution of new media? Well... maybe you are and don't know it. How many of you have your site's blog post synched into your Face Book page for automatic updates? how many use twitter to reach out to your clients and friends?

Post to comments the many ways you are able to get your message out using new technology.

The following video from a T.E.D. conference talks about this and more. It;'s long but worth it.



]]> 2009-09-21T04:25:33+00:00 Talent vs. Hard Work http://www.crossfitla.com/cms/index.php/The_Biz/talent_vs._hard_work/ Are you a talented coach/business man or a hard working one? Read this post and decide for yourself then post to comments.... WARNING: it's a long post and full of great ideas. Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education alone will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. ~ Calvin Coolidge *(this section was found at this site) Talent or Hard Work? Many high-performing executives will tell you they don’t rely on their innate talents as much as their hard-earned skills. CEOs like A.G. Lafley of P&G and GE’s Jeffery Immelt have said that being forced to manage through crises early in their careers enhanced their abilities in ways that were critical to becoming CEOs. Certain practices can make our experiences especially productive: · Coaching helps. · Receiving feedback allows us to fine-tune our skills. · Working in a safe learning environment is essential. Workplaces encourage practice and development, and mistakes should be viewed as learning opportunities. You also need to clearly define and develop a plan for achieving the abilities you wish to hone, including a measurable time frame. 10,000 Hours or 10 Years Malcolm Gladwell makes the case for 10,000 hours of practice to attain expertise in his book Outliers (Little, Brown & Co., 2008). Almost all child prodigies in music, sports, chess and the arts seem to put in 10,000 hours before they attain expertise and produce significant results. Malcolm Gladwell: Outliers: The Story of Success The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance, edited by Anders Ericsson, Charness and Feltovich, et al, compiles scientific studies to prove the point in a wide variety of fields. The trait we commonly call talent is highly overrated. Expert performers "whether in memory or surgery, ballet or computer programming" are nearly always made, not born. Many of us have already put in more than a decade of doing what we do. The question is whether we’re practicing the right things, in the right way. Deliberate Practice Anders Ericsson and his scientific colleagues emphasize the importance of deliberate practice, characterized by several elements: · It is an activity designed specifically to improve performance, often with the help of a teacher, coach or expert. · It can be repeated frequently. · Feedback on results is continuously available. · It’s highly demanding mentally. · It isn’t much fun and entails hard work. If you think you’ve outgrown the need for a teacher or coach, it’s time to challenge this assumption. Without a clear, unbiased view of your performance, you cannot choose the best practice activities. Hire a coach who can properly stretch you beyond your current abilities and help you move out of your comfort zones. Otherwise, human nature dictates that you’re likely to spend your time practicing what you already know how to do. According to Noel Tichy, PhD, a professor of organizational behavior and human resources management at the University of Michigan School of Business, our progress depends on leaving our comfort zone to enter the learning zone, where skills and abilities are just out of reach.

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education alone will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. ~ Calvin Coolidge


*(this section was found at this site)


Talent or Hard Work?

Many high-performing executives will tell you they don’t rely on their innate talents as much as their hard-earned skills.

CEOs like A.G. Lafley of P&G and GE’s Jeffery Immelt have said that being forced to manage through crises early in their careers enhanced their abilities in ways that were critical to becoming CEOs.

Certain practices can make our experiences especially productive:

· Coaching helps.
· Receiving feedback allows us to fine-tune our skills.
· Working in a safe learning environment is essential.

Workplaces encourage practice and development, and mistakes should be viewed as learning opportunities. You also need to clearly define and develop a plan for achieving the abilities you wish to hone, including a measurable time frame.

10,000 Hours or 10 Years

Malcolm Gladwell makes the case for 10,000 hours of practice to attain expertise in his book Outliers (Little, Brown & Co., 2008). Almost all child prodigies in music, sports, chess and the arts seem to put in 10,000 hours before they attain expertise and produce significant results.

Malcolm Gladwell: Outliers: The Story of Success


The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance, edited by Anders Ericsson, Charness and Feltovich, et al, compiles scientific studies to prove the point in a wide variety of fields. The trait we commonly call talent is highly overrated. Expert performers "whether in memory or surgery, ballet or computer programming" are nearly always made, not born.

Many of us have already put in more than a decade of doing what we do. The question is whether we’re practicing the right things, in the right way.

Deliberate Practice

Anders Ericsson and his scientific colleagues emphasize the importance of deliberate practice, characterized by several elements:

· It is an activity designed specifically to improve performance, often with the help of a teacher, coach or expert.
· It can be repeated frequently.
· Feedback on results is continuously available.
· It’s highly demanding mentally.
· It isn’t much fun and entails hard work.

If you think you’ve outgrown the need for a teacher or coach, it’s time to challenge this assumption. Without a clear, unbiased view of your performance, you cannot choose the best practice activities.

Hire a coach who can properly stretch you beyond your current abilities and help you move out of your comfort zones. Otherwise, human nature dictates that you’re likely to spend your time practicing what you already know how to do.

According to Noel Tichy, PhD, a professor of organizational behavior and human resources management at the University of Michigan School of Business, our progress depends on leaving our comfort zone to enter the learning zone, where skills and abilities are just out of reach.
]]> 2009-09-04T01:40:03+00:00 inspiration http://www.crossfitla.com/cms/index.php/The_Biz/inspiration/ I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times. ~ Bruce Lee Everyone has a plan until they’ve been hit. ~ Joe Lewis
Everyone has a plan until they’ve been hit. ~ Joe Lewis]]> 2009-09-02T14:25:06+00:00 Tough times? http://www.crossfitla.com/cms/index.php/The_Biz/tough_times/ I came across this quote... not sure who to give credit to because there was no one credited where I found it on line. "It's tough trying to keep your feet on the ground, your head above the clouds, your nose to the grindstone, your shoulder to the wheel, your finger on the pulse, your eye on the ball and your ear to the ground.” Tell me what you've done in tought times to survive... you have survived and maybe even thrived? BWOD List the strategies to make it through tough times. Share with everyone Enjoy this video from Larry WInget... speaking of tough.
"It's tough trying to keep your feet on the ground, your head above the clouds, your nose to the grindstone, your shoulder to the wheel, your finger on the pulse, your eye on the ball and your ear to the ground.”

Tell me what you've done in tought times to survive... you have survived and maybe even thrived?

BWOD
List the strategies to make it through tough times. Share with everyone

Enjoy this video from Larry WInget... speaking of tough.


]]> 2009-08-26T05:32:32+00:00 What if your business was FREE? http://www.crossfitla.com/cms/index.php/The_Biz/what_if_your_business_was_free/ The book by Chris Anderson called FREE: THE FUTURE OF A RADICAL PRICE is an interesting read and supports much of what CrossFit already does (free workouts on line, free videos, lots of free information). And after reading it, which I highly recommend, I wonder if there are other ways that we haven't explored for our businesses. I have several ideas. Ideas, which honestly are at such an early stage I would insult you to even mention them here. I'll be sure to post anything that may be helpful to the community at large if things work out that way. If you have already read the book then ad a comment here. Or if you are going to then please reember this post and come back later on to add something: Enjoy this video from Chris Anderson discussing his idea in the book FREE.
If you have already read the book then ad a comment here. Or if you are going to then please reember this post and come back later on to add something:

Enjoy this video from Chris Anderson discussing his idea in the book FREE.



]]> 2009-08-22T06:36:11+00:00