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You're about to read a funny guest post from my good friend and mastermind client Josh Carter. When he told me the story you're about to read I knew it was a blog post waiting to happen…

So without any further ado… here's Josh!

We have all seen it happen.  A prospective client walks up to the hot trainer with the 6 pack abs and instantly wants to train with them.  Writes them a check on the spot.

I hate those guys.

For most of us it is not that easy (if it is that easy for you, stop reading now, jerk.)

You see, trainers come in all shapes, sizes and intelligence levels.

I have seen hot trainers (both male & female) who are moron trainers yet seem to have a full roster of clients.

I have seen brilliant trainers who are less than fit (some fat)  and have  next to no clients.

And then there is most of the rest of us,  lying somewhere in the “hot to homely” / “genius to dumb ass” spectrum with varying levels of clients.

The trick is to be able to be a fat trainer and have a full roster.  Ah yes, the holy grail of trainerdom. (Well, maybe not)

But that is where our story begins….

There was one fat trainer I once knew who always seemed to have clients-, I’ll call him Joe.  Joe was a minimum 50 pounds over weight, yet most of the time he had no trouble getting clients (retaining them was another issue and that’s another story.)

A few years back I owned a gym in North Hollywood, and Joe was a trainer that worked there. Joe was also a fearless salesmen.  I mean NO fear. This guy could sell ice to Eskimos.  He always seemed to have no problems filling up his schedule, mostly with hot young women, even though he was fat and 20 years older than most of them.

Joe was not afraid to approach anyone on the gym floor, or even walking by, and talk to them about training.  Although I never asked, I assume he never read anything on sales or marketing (I don't even know if he could read),  but the guy just seemed to have a gift.

One day Joe and I and a few others were hanging out at the front desk when a hot young thing started to pass by outside.  Like someone had just stabbed him with a cattle prod Joe sprang into action as he sprinted for the door.

I just sat back and watched the show, which I had seen before but it was always entertaining.  I heard Joe say something flattering to the young lady like “Hey you look great, would you like me to tell you how I can help you look better?”

She turned and shot him a look, and quite emphatically told him “ F&^K YOU,  MOTHERF^$CKER!!!”

Joe simply shrugged, apologized for disturbing her and turned back and headed into the gym- completely unphased.

A few moments later, after I recovered from my cramp inducing laughing fit I asked him how he could do it.  How could he go out there and talk to a woman he didn’t know when THAT was a potential outcome?

He simply stated “You can’t get a hit if you don’t take a swing.”

Ah, profound words from an otherwise un-profound man.

Whether he knew it or not, those words were the secret to his client attraction success.  I took those words to heart, and repeat them to myself when I am feeling unsure about my current marketing course. Successful marketing requires you to be fearless, relentless and at times ruthless.

Like the great Babe Ruth once said, "Every strike brings me closer to the next home run."

There is one other guy I know who is even better than Joe at marketing and sales (plus the other shiz that comes after that.)  His name is Bedros Keuilian.

His marketing and sales strategies follow the “You can’t get a hit if you don’t take a swing” methodology.

Bedros has said to me on several occasions “Throw it against the wall and see what sticks.” Sometimes something will work, sometimes it won’t.  But you will never know until you try.

If you need successful sales & marketing strategies with a low potential for hot women telling you to "F off", this is your guy.

Now, I’m not saying you should be a fat trainer.  I think we have a responsibility to inspire our clients on multiple levels, including but not limited to practicing what we preach.

What I am saying is that YOU CAN be a fat successful trainer if you adopt the “You can’t get a hit if you don’t take a swing” mentality in your marketing and sales.

Now go out there and fearlessly kill it.  And if you need some guidance, check out CloseClients.com and get the skills to close 9 out of 10 clients. And if you want some killer done-for-you marketing material and proven client getting ads, postcards, letters then check out TheArtOfSellingFitness.com.

A-N-D if you have a funny story about a trainer you once worked with be sure to leave it in the comment box below so we can all get a good laugh

Until Next Time,

Joshua Carter
http://carterfitness.com

There's all this talk about fitness marketing, and lead generation and prospecting…

…but no amount of marketing, lead gen, or prospecting can put money in the bank, food in your stomach, and a roof over your head UNLESS you can sell fitness – unless you can convert that prospect into a paying client.

Every “guru” talks about personal trainer marketing and all the ways you can get more leads and prospects in front of you – and to some extent, I’m guilty of it too.

But you know what? The truth is that nothing happens until you make that sale.

Until and unless you can sit across from that prospect and give them a well scripted and crafted presentation you’re not gonna get a dime from them.

See people don’t buy based on logic, we all make our buying decisions based on emotions, on wants and not needs.

There’s actually a really easy seven step process to selling fitness…

Step 1. Rapport. Establish rapport. People by from people they LIKE. Get to know your prospect and get them to know you, and like you, and trust you.

Step 2. Want. Peel the onion by asking a lot of questions that will get your prospect to identify what they WANT. Ask open ended questions like: Tell me why you’ve decided to looking into getting into shape now instead of 12 months ago?

If I can snap my fingers and give you the body of your dreams, can you tell me what your body would look like?

How will you’re relationship with the people that you love change once you’re in shape?

Questions like that will get your prospect to tell you what they really want… their hot buttons. And if you really want to dig deeper and keep pealing that onion just ask: How do you mean that?

Step 3. Benefits. Once you know what the prospect wants start talking BENEFITS and not features.

Step 4. Urgency. It’s human nature… we’re all lazy, and if it were up to you, you’d go home to “think about it” and leave it for tomorrow. But the thing is tomorrow never comes. If you want to make that sale NOW you’ve got to get your prospect to feel an overwhelming sense of urgency to take action.

Step 5. Commitment. This is where 99% of personal trainers lose the sale – they fail to get commitment from the prospect. The idea to get a bunch of mini closes before asking for the sale.

Step 6. Cost. Odds are if someone has contacted you about your personal training or boot camp program then they probably expect to pay more than just a Curves or gym membership. So really the cost issue is more of an issue about VALUE.

During your sales presentation you’ve got to build the perceived value of your service so high, so that when you actually lay out your program prices, the prospects feels they’re getting a KILLER deal.

See, it’s not about the person’s ability to afford your services– it’s about their desire to afford you. If someone wants something bad enough, they’ll find a way to afford it.

Step 7. Close. This is where almost every personal trainer loses the deal. Even if you have a really awesome crafted sales presentation. Even if you got a bunch of mini closes. And even if you established amazing rapport – you’re probably going to lose the sale IF you don’t ask for it, or if you ask for the wrong way.

The bottom line is this…

If you think that you’re going to get to six, multiple six or even seven figures in your training business just by prospecting or lead generation then the sad truth is that you’re always going to frustrated with the level of income you generate – no matter how many killer fitness marketing tactics you know.

Nothing happens until a sale is made. You don’t get money. And your prospect doesn’t get into shape.

And no one knows that better than my coaching client Samantha Taylor, from Lutz, Florida who just had a record breaking month and sold $79,585.00 in personal training services.

Congrats Samantha!

It’s no wonder you’ll find her success story here along with dozens of others who us my Close Clients personal training sales system and script.

I’d like to hear what you think…

I got an email the other day from someone who wanted to the fastest way to become successful.

I thought it would make for a good blog post so I made a video for you and in it I tell you how to attract success into your life.

Check out the video below…

Be sure to leave me a comment and let me know your thoughts. And if you want to watch a video where I share 26 killer fitness marketing tips then check this out >>

Here's a killer post from body transformation expert Josh Carter. I've known Josh for a long time. In fact he first hired me for coaching four years ago – just before opening up his now famous "Carter Fitness Personal Training Studio."

He's also in my Seven Figure Formula mastermind group along side some other big names in the industry. Josh is a goal setter… and a goal achiever. And in this post he's gonna share with you how he sets and achieves goals.

**SIDE NOTE** Speaking of coaching, I'm officially shutting down my 12 month mentorship program for good. I've been blessed with more coaching clients than I ever anticipated (which is a good problem to have), however since I'm dedicating 2010 to the growth of Fit Body Boot Camp and my mastermind groups I don't want to take on new coaching clients several times each month because the learning curve is always the steepest in the beginning and requires a lot of my time.

So, I've decided to indefinitely close my 12 month mentorship program. HOWEVER, since I know there's probably a bunch of people sitting on the fence and were waiting to get on the program at some point, I want to give you the opportunity to get on board now.

I'm going to start one last group of mentorship clients this month and that's it… after that no one else can get on the program – ever.

So here's the deal…

On Friday, January 29th I'm closing the 12 month mentorship program and we're pulling down the site. But you can still get on board right now and be in the last group of coaching clients I take on (this is email and phone coaching where I help you take you're business and profits to the top in 12 months).

If you think you're interested, just go to 12 Month Mentorship, read all about the program and get on board.

That's all I gotta say about that

Josh Carter, take it away…

Ok, the title is a stretch.

I intended to imply that you should strive to reach your goal, and have the fortitude to persevere (the definition of “mettle”.)

You may have inferred, however, that Josh has lost it and can’t come up with a decent pun for a title.

So let’s just agree that implications and inferences aside you should get from that title what I meant to say and not necessarily what I said.

Agreed?

Moving on…

I have talked on my own blog about the importance of goals before, but given the time of year I thought I would revisit the topic and illustrate how you can use it for your personal and professional lives – plus your can share it with your clients.

Be a jerk, Josh says it’s cool

Goals are exceptionally important – and an effective tool for improvement in all areas when used properly.  But conversely, goals can be as useless as a pile of turds.

For instance, “Maintenance” is a crappy goal.   I really hate that one.  High turd factor.

“Lose weight”, slightly better, but still not good enough to be called a goal in my book. Less turdish though.

For a goal to be truly effective and worth the paper you write it on (and you will) it needs to be a SMART goal.

Specific,
Measurable,
Achievable or Action-Oriented,
Realistic,
Time Bound

Clever right?  (FYI – I did not come up with this, but it is very cool.)

It’s time to re-set your thinking.

So let’s break this down..

Specific
Saying you want to “lose weight” or “make more money” is too general.  How much weight?  How much money?  It should be like this:  “ I want to lose 20 pounds”, “I want to increase my income by $1000 per month”.  Simple & specific.

Measurable
This should be covered at least in part by being specific.  When you are specific you should be able to measure it.  For example “ I want to appreciate my wife everyday”  might seem specific, but how do you measure that?  How about “I want to tell my wife I love her everyday” – that you can measure.  (And if you forget she will remind you.)

Achievable or Action-Oriented
Achievable and Action oriented means there must be real steps you can take to reach that goal. Real steps that you know (or know you can find out). For example if your goal is to quit smoking, then there are real definable steps you can take to make that happen. For instance – Step one:  Don’t smoke.  Step 2: Freak out about Step one.  Well, hopefully you would have better steps in mind.

Realistic
Be real.  It has to be achievable.  If you say “I want to make 100 million dollars this year” that might be specific, measurable, and there might even be steps to get you on that road,  but please – realistic?  I think not. (If it is, Hi, my name  is Josh I would like to be your best friend).

Time Bound
This is a big one. Set a deadline.  Going back to “I want to lose 20 lbs” – when?  In a year?  Next year?  In the next 10 years?  Set a deadline and stick to it.  “I want to lose 20 pounds by March 1st.”  Bing0 – now that’s a goal.

I recommend people ALWAYS have a goal.  When you reach a goal make a new one.

Got one?  THEN GET ONE!

Preferably a few.  And though I am a fitness dude I generally have clients tell , me their fitness & health goals,  this goal setting toll is not to be used exclusively for fitness goals.  It can be related to all aspects of your life – financial, romantic, educational – whatever.

It can be insanely effective when creating professional / business building goals.

I have made a PDF for you guys to help you out.  There is room for 4 goals, but write as many as you want so long as they follow the guidelines above.

Personal Goal Sheet

Right Click Here

It’s 2010 – time to get off your ass and take action.  This goal sheet can serve as your “to-do” list.

Joshua Carter, CPT
The Body Transformation Expert
http://carterfitness.com

Take it away CB!

I'm a Maverick. Bedros is a Maverick. And today is your chance to apply some
Maverick Rules to your bootcamp business – so that you make more money, have
more fun, and are able to give more back.

As you might know, Bedros and I are members of Yanik Silver's Maverick
Business Adventures, and we've both been on some crazy adventures as part of
that group.

But what's even cooler is that Yanik put together "34 Rules of Maverick
Business Owners", and I chose the top 5 to apply to your bootcamp today.

#1 – You’ve got to have a BIG idea

Bootcamps are so 2006. You need to be a lot MORE than just a bootcamp these
days…and whether its Fit Body Bootcamp or your own unique brand of group
exercise, there has to be something that sets you apart.

And that "thing" has to be big, unique, and easy to get. If you have to
explain your "uniqueness", then go back to the drawing board and come up
with something simpler.

Don't be a commodity…don't be "just another bootcamp". That's not the
Maverick way!

#2 – Make your own rules for your business & create your business around
your life.

I've been designing my life since high school. I knew I wanted a job where I
could read all day, and where I didn't have to work in the same place from 9
to 5, Monday to Friday. I never wanted that life and so I made my own rules
for my business and created a business around my life.

And you need to do that too. If you hate getting up at 5am to train folks,
then start looking for trainers to lead the camps for you. Or if you like
that time but hate missing your kid's soccer practices after school, do
something about it.

Don't get boxed in by conventional living – unless that's what you want. Be
creative and find a solution to all of the obstacles in the way of you
living your dream life.

#3 – Force yourself to focus on “critical few” and not the minutia while
spending your time on your core strengths.

If you suck at marketing, then you need to get it done for you (i.e. FBBC,
or at the very least, just do everything Steve and Bedros tell you to do in
their blogs – don't think, just do).

On the other hand, if you're a great trainer but can't manage to put 2 and 2
together, then hire a book-keeper so that you can take your mind off that
annoying task and spend it on better things, such as getting more campers to
your workouts.

#4 – Minimize start up risk and bootstrap your way to success.

If you're starting from scratch (with no clients or bank account), don't
even think about paid advertising. Instead, use Steve's human billboard
strategies, and get new members in on trials to show them how amazing your
workouts are.

And once you start making money, don't go spending it on every new media
sold to you. Instead, stick to this principle:

#5 – Leverage your marketing activities by using direct mail techniques
that you can measure – make sure you are tracking and testing.

If you send out 1000 postcards, you need to track how many phone calls came
in, how many clients signed up, and how long they stayed around. Only then
will you truly know the return on your investment in that postcard campaign
and only that will allow you to decide if it is worth it.

Once you know how to get $2 in profit from every $1 you spend on an ad
campaign, keep doing that all day, every day. But if you don't know the
response on your advertising, or if there is no option to track an ad, then
don't bother with it in the first place.

******************************

Put those Maverick rules into place in your business and you'll soon be making more money, having more fun, and being free from conventional restrictions on living life the way you want to.

And the reason they're so big is because they're easy to leverage, don't require big start up capital, are high profiting, and they're really affordable for a lot of folks searching for a fitness and fat loss solution.

B-U-T they also have some problems…

Here's a little video my buddy Steve Hochman put together that shows you the evolution of the modern day boot camp.

If you want to learn more about Fit Body Boot Camp and find out how you can become apart of the Fit Body Boot Camp brand and own your own territory then Just Click Here >>

My friend and owner of Toronto Fit Body Boot Camp, Adam Toohey made this awesome video and I wanted to share it with you becuase the messeage in it is killer.

Check it out…

"Adam is a Certified NLP Practitioner and Coach who also owns and operates Toronto Fit Body Bootcamp

I hope this video got you as fired up as it did me!
Let me know what your "why" is in the comment box below.

Also, I just opened up Fitness Marketing Manifesto and we're taking on a few more new members.

Get your first issue of FMM delivered to your door for only $9.95

Click here to learn more >>

Since I got over fifty comments on the "What Can I Do For You?" blog post…

and since you guys came up with some AWESOME topics for me to write about…

and since 2010 is going to be an epic year for your personal training business and I want to help make that happen – here's what I'm gonna do.

I'm gonna spend the next few blog posts answering your questions.

And since I got a bunch of comments asking about how to set up Electronic Fund Transfer (Auto Debit or EFT) I'm gonna cover that first.

You already know that EFT is probably the fastest and easiest way to automate a BIG portion of your personal training or boot camp business, right?

I mean, did you really get into the personal training business to be a check chaser each month?

AND it's the best way I know to stabilize your business and make your monthly income consistent and reliable because once you set up EFT in your business you don't have to sell single sessions, or blocks or session at a time and then try to re-sell the client all over when her sessions are done.

I don't know about you, but when I started my personal training studios I didn't want to resell each client over and over again or risk losing them when they ran out of sessions.

And if you run boot camps the old fashion way – four or six weeks on and then two weeks off… sorry, but that's probably one of the stupidest business models EVER – I mean EVER!

(The exception being specific time based programs that are designed to funnel clients into an EFT based recurring program like my 21 Day Rapid Fat Loss Program, or the six week body transformation programs that roll into an EFT based program like some of my mastermind clients are running and absolutely destroying it.)

Here's how to set up EFT for your fitness business.

Step One: If you do one-one-one training sessions – stop selling single or small blocks of 10, 15, or 20 sessions at time. Instead create results oriented programs based on time.

For example, you might have a six and twelve month program. Each program would offer a one, two, three, or four time a week training options. (I talk more about pricing options and how to set up your program prices for maximum profits in my PT Business Course.

Step Two: You can set up a recurring billing system two ways. If you have a gym or studio and want to manage multiple trainers, clients, and run EFT I suggest that you go with GetShape.net.

My buddy Larry King owns GetShape and several of my high level coaching and mastermind clients use it and love it.

You're other option for setting up and running EFT – and this works best if you are a one man or woman show or run a boot camp – is the 1shoppingcart.com and authorize.net combo.

Basically this combo is used to accept payments online from your site. You can simply create different recurring monthly price points in the system and then get it up on your personal training or boot camp sales site and your good to go.

Once a client (or you, on behalf of your client) makes the purchase from your site they are committing to $X dollars per month, to be billed on a recurring basis every 30-days.

You can set up the 1shopping cart and GetShape solutions to bill someone for a period of time, like six or 12 months and then stop. Or set it up to bill the client on a recurring basis until the clients decides they're done training – this is how I would set up my boot camp if I were you… no stop date.

Step Three: The right agreement is key. It doesn't matter if your agreement is online or in paper it's got to cover the details of the program.

For example, your agreement (or contract) needs to over the length of time the program is for, how the client can cancel if they want to do so, the terms of the payment, billing dates (if you're gonna use specific billing dates) and a bunch of other legal mumbo jumbo that will keep your butt out of hot water if you don't craft your service agreement appropriately.

If you're not sure about the contract you're using I highly suggest that you pick up the PT Business Course because in it I give you my actual service agreement that cost me over $7,000 in attorney fees to have crafted. It's battle hardened in virtually every state (though I high suggest that make sure it's kosher to use in your state before putting it into action).

Is EFT perfect?

Nope, but it's pretty darn close and it's the only way I ran my business and the only way my most successful, seven figure generating coaching clients run theirs.

I hope this post made it easier for you to understand EFT and how to set it up.

If I missed something… or if you have a question about EFT that I didn't answer here just leave it in the comment box below and I'll be sure to answer all your questions.