In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Eric Conner shares how he measurably improved his gym in just 60 minutes a day using Chris Cooper’s Golden Hour framework:

• Go to a place where you can focus
• Open your mind
• Lead with marketing reps
• Do your big projects
• End after one hour
• Next steps 

Eric sets aside a Golden Hour every morning in which he focuses on high-value, CEO-level work. He puts in marketing reps, such as reaching out to former clients and unconverted leads. Then he works on larger projects, like improving his gym’s 90-day client journey. Finally, he outlines what he needs to do in his next Golden Hour.

Starting Nov. 1, Chris will lead you through the Golden Hour Challenge. He’ll tell you exactly what to do each day in simple, easy-to-follow steps. Then you’ll learn to stack habits and build momentum to produce measurable results in your gym.

To take part in the challenge, use the link below to join the Gym Owners United group. 

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“The Golden Hour” by Chris Cooper

Gym Owners United

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00:20 - The Golden Hour

05:59 - The Golden framework

13:13 - Stacking good habits

15:54 - An all-around improvement

17:49 - Eric’s tips for success

Gym owners with the fastest-growing businesses share one specific skill: focus.

They have access to the same tools, resources and mentors as everyone else. What sets them apart is their ability to consistently do the key things that are required to improve their gyms without second-guessing themselves or getting distracted.

You can learn how to build this entrepreneurial focus by reading “The Golden Hour,” the upcoming book from Two-Brain founder and CEO Chris Cooper.

In today’s episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Chris invites you to join in the Golden Hour Challenge, beginning Nov. 1.

This six-week challenge is designed to help you grow your gym in just one hour a day by developing habits and focusing on activities that measurably improve key metrics.

Each week of the challenge, Chris will introduce new essential habits for you to master. By Week 6, you’ll be a high-speed, ultra-efficient CEO who can push a fitness business forward in 60 minutes a day.

The challenge starts Nov. 1, and you can take part by joining Gym Owners United via the link below.

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Pre-order “The Golden Hour” by Chris Cooper

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0:55 - What top performers are doing

5:54 - Habits and the skill of focus

14:25 - The Golden Hour Challenge

22:01 - Mining for leads

31:27 - Avoiding slow growth

Gym owners in Two-Brain’s Tinker group have hit about $100,000 in net owner benefit and are working toward reaching $1 million net worth. In fact, the program has certified 54 millionaire gym owners—with seven earning that status in the last quarter alone.

Today on “Run a Profitable Gym,” Mike Warkentin sits down with Joleen Bingham, one of the program’s leaders, to explain exactly how top gym owners use Tinker to level up. 

Tinkers focus on four pillars that strengthen their businesses and personal lives: wealth, leadership, lifestyle and scaling.

- Wealth: creating a legacy for your family.
- Leadership: fixing yourself so you can fix your business.
- Lifestyle: increasing happiness, health and freedom.
- Scaling: expanding your gym or making other investments.

Gym owners in the Tinker program attend four in-person meetups per year with workshops and expert speakers, and they meet weekly online to learn and solve problems together. They also have access to mentors and a huge pile of resources in a special toolkit.

Perhaps the most valuable part of the Tinker group is the relationships with like-minded gym owners who share similar goals. It's common to hear stuff like this at a Tinker meet-up: "I've done what you want to do. Here's exactly how I did it, and here's how you can avoid a few mistakes I made."

Whether you’re just getting started with your gym or you’re several years in, you don’t have to go it alone. A Two-Brain mentor can help you reach the next level of entrepreneurship.

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Gym Owners United

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2:10 - Millionaires before and after

6:37 - Tinker program structure

9:35 - Weekly call and accountability

13:55 - Imposter syndrome

18:17 - Are you a future Tinker?

You have access to tons of information about growing your gym, so what’s keeping you from getting results on your own?

Just like the clients in your gym, you need a coach—someone to help you set a goal, build a plan to accomplish it and stick to that plan.

Today on “Run a Profitable Gym,” Two-Brain founder and CEO Chris Cooper outlines the phases of Two-Brain mentorship and explains exactly how they’re designed to help fitness entrepreneurs grow their businesses fast.

Two-Brain clients are set up for quick wins—such as more high-value clients—in the early phases, with a goal of reaching income of $100,000 a year (or more) in phase three. Along the way, a mentor helps the gym owner make informed decisions, stay focused and do the work.

By the time you reach the fourth phase of mentorship, you’ll be paying yourself a great wage and providing real careers for your staff. Then you’ll start focusing on investing in your future, whether that’s expanding your gym, buying your building, opening more gyms, starting another business or putting your money into low-risk investments.

Tune in to hear the full overview and learn how Two-Brain Business can help you build a better gym and change more lives in your community.

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Gym Owners United

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3:52 - Phase 1

7:57 - Phase 2

8:56 - Phase 3

13:41 - Phase 4

21:06 - Phase 5

Gyms are fragile businesses. Seasonal fluctuations, local competition, staff departures, economic changes and even pandemics can all reduce or eliminate profit. 

At a recent meetup for top gym owners, Two-Brain mentor Kenny Markwardt laid out a plan to help entrepreneurs prepare for a financial downturn.

In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Kenny walks through his four-stage plan with host Mike Warkentin.

Performing a stress test will help you see just how prepared your business is for a worst-case scenario.

Kenny—who owns Sandpoint Strength and Conditioning in Idaho—explains how you can strategize for revenue dips ranging from 10 to 40 percent. Some of the tactics include eliminating costs, putting off non-essential purchases, helping staff generate more revenue and negotiating with landlords.

Tune in to learn how to increase your ability to survive a financial downturn. You’ll sleep better knowing you have a plan.

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Read more on Affinity Marketing: The Prescriptive Model

Cutting tiny classes: How to Kill Poorly Attended Classes

Gym Owners United

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1:21 - Helping gym owners find clarity

6:29 - Plan for potential revenue loss

10:23 - The impact of larger revenue loss

18:57 - Hiking through Death Valley

28:56 - Plan now even if you’re doing great

Gym owners give their members reps to help them get results, and business experts do the same thing with their clients.

In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Two-Brain founder and CEO Chris Cooper presents several common scenarios gym owners face regularly. If you practice operating in these situations, you’ll be ultra-prepared when they come up in the real world. And your gym business will grow.

Chris gives you practice reps for selling, performing goal review sessions, using the Prescriptive Model, generating referrals through Affinity Marketing and having hard conversations (think firing staff or raising rates). Then he shares tips for navigating these situations like a true pro.

You don’t want to get your reps "when it's real." For example, it’s too expensive to fumble around and lose clients in the sales office while you gain experience. Instead, practice having these critical conversations with your coaches, your spouse or your dog. Or even talk to yourself in the mirror.

If you put in the reps as an entrepreneur every single week, you’ll soon have an A+ fitness business.

Links

Read more: The Prescriptive Model

Gym Owners United

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1:24 - Sales: sell to your dog first

2:57 - Practice the sales scenarios

8:29 - Getting referrals

12:04 - Hard conversations

15:10 - Build good habits: do your reps

“We've documented absolutely everything in our sales process,” says closing king Brian Foley, owner of Activate gym in Killarney, Ireland.

Brian and his team at Activate were on the July leaderboard for close rate, which ran from 22 to 34 new clients.

In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” host Mike Warkentin grills Brian on his impressive sales funnel to find out how his gym closes so many new members.

For starters, Brian has processes for absolutely everything, from the moment a lead enters the funnel to handling objections in the sales office to onboarding and beyond.

Get this: Leads booked 27 appointments at Activate, 24 showed up for their meetings, and 22 of them purchased. Of the two who didn’t buy, one was referred out to a gym that would be a better fit for her.

Brian and his team are constantly auditing their sales system to see how they’re doing, and they make improvements whenever the metrics highlight an issue.

Activate has a dedicated client success manager (CSM) who handles 99 percent of sales, and she does so with a Help First mentality. There’s no slimy, pushy, buy-buy-buy pressure. She truly wants to help people become healthier and fitter through the gym, and this attitude shines through during the No Sweat Intro (NSI) process.

To her, it’s not “selling.” It’s “helping people solve their problems.” That mindset shift makes all the difference when you’re sitting in the sales office.

Links

Chris Cooper’s “Help First”

Read more: The Prescriptive Model

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1:02 - Having a tight sales funnel

5:24 - Simplifying the sales process and pricing sheets

11:25 - Solving problems by watching your numbers

18:05 - Help First and Help Best drive sales

26:33 - Closing tips

Last year, Facebook generated US$131 billion in ad revenue, proving that paid ads work—but they don’t work for everyone.

In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” host Mike Warkentin sits down with Two-Brain chief marketing officer John Franklin to break down why some gym owners struggle with paid ads while others have great success.

The most common ad mistakes gym owners make are not understanding key metrics, underspending and giving up too early.

John also details the common flaws of unsuccessful ad campaigns, including straying from proven offers, using ineffective images and headlines, and targeting too broad of an audience.

Tune in to learn how to avoid critical mistakes and successfully funnel new leads into your gym with digital marketing.

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Gym Owners United

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0:39 - Why do people avoid running ads?

6:26 - Underspending and advertising

11:32 - Do we need to run paid ads?

17:10 - Reasons gym owners say ads don’t work

25:27 - Don’t kneecap your ad campaign

Ivan Racic’s gym, CrossFit XV in Croatia, has tripled its revenue since joining the Two-Brain Business mentorship program three years ago, and month after month Ivan is consistently earning more.

This July, Ivan landed on Two-Brain’s marketing leaderboards for set rate and show rate—the number of leads who book appointments and the number of bookers who actually show up.

Today on “Run a Profitable Gym,” host Mike Warkentin learns exactly how Ivan managed to book so many appointments and get so many people to show up for them.

Ivan says using paid ads and hiring a client success manager (CSM) were key decisions that his mentor, Taryn Dubreuil, helped him make.

Marketing mentor Colm O’Reilly guided Ivan through setting up highly effective paid ads, which he spends just $5 a day on. Ivan’s CSM reaches out to new leads within 24 hours, and she also has a list of daily, weekly, and monthly marketing and retention tasks—and she does it all in only six to seven hours a week.

Tune in to hear the full episode and learn how to give your salespeople more chances to help clients change their lives.

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Gym Owners United

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0:52 - Paid ads and new members

5:36 - What does Crossfit XV offer?

9:10 - How Ivan brought people to the gym

17:40 - Ivan's ad hook

23:08 - Ivan’s plan for the future

Are you using your leads to grow your gym?

In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Two-Brain founder and CEO Chris Cooper presents the monthly leaderboards for set, show and close rates.

The owners of the gyms on our leaderboards have mastered key areas of the marketing funnel: they get leads to set appointments, they work hard to ensure people show up, and they change lives by closing sales.

Chris shares proven practices from these top gym owners, including tracking metrics weekly, hiring a client success manager (CSM), training staff regularly and investing in mentorship.

Listen to the full episode to learn how to systemize, optimize, and automate your sales and marketing so your gym can help more people, provide careers for your staff and thrive for 30 years or more.

Links

Gym Owners United

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01:49 - July 2024 appointments set

2:55 - July 2024 shows

3:42 - July 2024 closes

4:59 - Who is best at all three?

6:19 - Quotes from the leaders