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This channel (presented by Two-Brain Business) is packed with business tools for gym owners and CrossFit affiliates. We provide actionable, data-backed business advice for all gym owners, including those who own personal training studios, fitness franchises, and strength and conditioning gyms.
Are you an accidental fat-shamer?
On July 1, Pinterest released a press release banning weight-loss testimonials, products and before-and-after pictures. Pinterest isn't the only company to move in that direction; online, the debate rages: If you're selling nutrition and fitness coaching, are you body shaming? Or helping people get what they want?
It's a complex subject, so Two-Brain Radio host Mike Warkentin brought in an expert, psychotherapist Bonnie Skinner.
In this episode, she explains how triggers — like before-and-after pictures — work, the difference between self-worth and weight, and how gym owners can use language to clarify exactly what they're selling.
Links:
Drink O2
Level Method
Gym Owners United
Timeline:
2:17 – What’s the problem with before-and-after pictures?
4:19 – What happens beneath the surface when someone looks at your ad.
6:33 – “Nobody can make you feel anything.”
9:25 – Self-efficacy and self-improvement.
10:59 – The messages we’re sending our brains.
13:19 – How to connect with people without triggering shame.
16:57 – How to advertise weight loss.
20:53 – Responding to backlash.
23:26 – How to use before-and-after pictures responsibly.
26:16 – What are you actually selling?
31:54 – All about reframing.
Jordan Fink quit his day job and bought a gym in early 2020. No sooner had he signed the papers than came the mandatory COVID-19 gym shutdown. He didn't even meet his new staff until months after he'd become their new boss.
From there, Jordan endured multiple member mass exoduses and roller-coastering revenue. At one point, he even started dusting off his resume.
Today, after starting mentorship with Two-Brain and learning to sell high-value packages to give people the help they need, Jordan's posting the highest revenue numbers he's ever seen.
Get to know the winner of Two-Brain's 2021 "Comeback of the Year" award in this episode.
Links:
Clearlake CrossFit
Chalk It Pro
Two-Brain Coaching
Gym Owners United
Timeline:
1:21 – Buying a gym at the start of a pandemic.
4:00 – ”What have I done?”
7:51 – Mass exodus.
10:10 – Seeking mentorship.
16:13 – Initiating the comeback.
20:43 – Diversifying revenue streams.
21:40 – The second mass exodus.
23:56 – Learning to sell high-ticket services.
29:25 – Embracing being the comeback king.
33:54 – It’s easy to get advice. The hard part? Acting on it.
At the 2021 Two-Brain Summit, psychotherapist Bonnie Skinner spoke about fear. And when she asked gym owners to share one of their top fears, Justin Keane shared a big one — in front of thousands of other entrepreneurs.
Doing so went against his very nature. Justin would much rather stay silent than show vulnerability. But as he learned from Bonnie's presentation and through practice with his own staff and members at Woodshed Strength and Conditioning, being open, honest and vulnerable can increase your team's trust in you and make your business stronger.
Links:
Bonnie Skinner
Jason Cohen: How Embracing Vulnerability Improved My Gym Business
Why You Feel Like an Imposter: And What You Can Do About It
Incite Tax
Two-Brain Programming
Gym Owners United
Timeline:
1:43 – Why Justin shared his fear at the Summit.
4:58 – How to balance showing vulnerability with being a leader.
10:11 – Examining yourself.
15:14 – Learning about the shadow self.
19:33 – One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make.
23:56 – Find your Cordelias.
29:02 – One thing you can do today to be a better, more communicative leader.
Mike Collette is the winner of Two-Brain Business' 2021 award for metrics (he won it in 2020, too). His secret to getting great numbers? Build great staff members.
Here, he joins Mike Warkentin to talk about leadership: how to develop it in yourself and cultivate it amongst your staff through mentorship.
Links:
Prototype Training Systems
Beyond the Whiteboard
Incite Tax
Free Resources!
Gym Owners United
Jason Cohen: How Embracing Vulnerability Improved My Gym Business
Handling Difficult Conversations, With Per Mattsson
Perks at Work free online classes
Timeline:
1:38 – Why you should mentor your staff.
4:13 – Where gym owners go wrong when trying to lead.
5:57 – How to let your staff fail.
9:34 – Why you need to meet one-on-one with each staff member regularly.
11:21 – Small changes lead to big results.
13:18 – Learning to lead with Next Jump.
20:32 – The first step to becoming a better leader: self-awareness.
23:31 – What happens when you invest in mentoring your staff.
25:40 – Getting better at tough conversations.
28:52 – Two steps to take today if you want to be a better leader.
We don't sell mentorship to burn a hole in your pocket. We sell mentorship to help you make even more money than you spent on it in the first place.
With a return on investment of $10,000 per month, Charlie Lima of BoomFit in College Station, Texas, is doing just that — plus some.
Here, he shares how the lessons he's learned from multiple Two-Brain mentors have helped him earn more, develop his staff and improve his own leadership skills.
You'll also learn the two key things you can do today to make sure you get great ROI on calls with your mentor.
Links:
BoomFit
Gym Lead Machine
Forever Fierce
Gym Owners United
Timeline:
1:16 – Justifying the cost of mentorship.
4:35 – How mentorship has transformed and improved Charlie’s business.
8:43 – Working with multiple mentors.
15:39 – How to get value out of sessions with your mentor.
19:06 – Mentorship, accountability and vulnerability.
21:33 – Setting ego aside.
24:31 – Career roadmap sessions for staff.
30:28 – How to get a good ROI on staff meetings.
36:22 – Combing staff development and sales.
39:40 – The most important thing you need to do to get a great ROI from mentorship.
Josh Nimmo owns CrossFit MetroEast in Illinois, and he's the winner of Two-Brain's 2021 award for coach education and opportunity.
Here, Mike Warkentin digs into how he earned it — and Josh shares how he went from being a micromanaging Jack of all trades to mentoring to his staff, helping them develop personally and financially rewarding careers and building a strong, successful team that's in it for the long haul.
Links:
CrossFit MetroEast
Arbox
Driven Nutrition
Gym Owners United
Timeline:
3:26 – Learning to pass roles onto staff (and teach them how to fill them).
6:22 – Stepping into the CEO role.
8:50 – Learning how to develop staff.
11:58 – Teaching staff to sell.
14:13 – Becoming a mentor.
18:22 – Teaching staff to charge for their time.
20:33 – Leveling up even more with Two-Brain Business.
22:44 – Implementing staff contracts.
26:26 – Full-effort failure.
31:33 – Career roadmap sessions with staff.
35:50 – Being OK not being the best at everything.
When Bryan McDowell joined the Two-Brain Mentorship program in April 2020, his gym was making $6,700 a month. Less than a year later, that number ballooned 400% to $45,000 a month.
He also stopped wearing all the hats in the business, passing coaching, personal training and lower-value roles off to staff so he could focus on growing the business. The result? Both Bryan and his staff are happier in their careers and making more money.
Here's how he did it.
Links:
AGuard
Drink O2
Gym Owners United
Free Tools
Timeline:
1:26 – Following the plan.
2:35 – Getting burned before joining the Two-Brain family.
5:32 – Revenue explosion!
9:17 – Game-changing changes.
13:38 – Climbing the value ladder.
16:39 – Developing staff members.
18:44 – Next steps: $500,000 and a six-figure nutrition business.
23:08 – What to do if you’re struggling (hint — take the advice you give to your clients every day: Get a coach).
25:35 – The ROI of mentorship.
How do you decide what your prices should be? Or which marketing tactic to try? Or even what size building you should get?
If you're like most microgym owners, you guess. Or you do a social-media poll and make business-altering decisions based on the opinions of 10 keyboard warriors.
There's a better way — and it's based on data.
Two-Brain Business has spent years and thousands of dollars compiling critical data from microgyms all over the world. Then our mentors use that data to help gym owners make decisions that have been proven to work.
Chris Cooper and Mike Warkentin get geeky and explain the magic behind the numbers.
Links:
Level Method
Two-Brain Programming
Gym Owners United
The State of the Industry
Free Tools
Timeline:
1:31 – Why the microgym industry needs data.
5:44 – How Two-Brain built its dataset.
10:55 – How data helps gym owners make better decisions.
18:57 – How data saves gym owners’ time.
20:31 – What are the metrics that matter?
26:48 – Gym owners who track metrics make more money. This is why.
29:48 – Why Two-Brain won’t ever publish the first guide to the next big thing.
31:41 – How Two-Brain’s dataset is going to get even better.
Nate Beveridge is competing in the men's 40-44 division at the CrossFit Games this summer.
He's an elite-level athlete, but he's also an elite gym owner: His gym, Hybrid Athletics, topped the Two-Brain Leaderboard this spring for revenue.
Few people can compete at that level while still running the day-to-day business of the gym. That's why Nate took a few years off competition to focus on the business. The work he did during that time — getting a mentor, setting up systems, hiring great staff and growing multiple revenue streams — is the reason he'll be able to focus on the competition floor in July without worrying about what might be happening back home in the gym.
Tune in for a deep dive into how Hybrid Athletics became a Two-Brain revenue leader.
Links:
Two-Brain Coaching
Incite Tax
Gym Owners United
Timeline:
1:27 – Switching his focus from competitor to business owner.
6:01 – The many revenue streams at Hybrid Athletics.
13:23 – Personal training, group classes, and the post-COVID environment.
18:25 – Revenue vs. profit margin.
25:25 – Building personal-training revenue by showing faith in his own program.
28:22 – Getting creative with nutrition programs, the corporate world and kids training.
31:25 – Plans for the future.
Chris Coopers gets emails from Two-Brain followers every day. And when they start to form a theme, he makes a resource — like this episode of Two-Brain Radio — everyone can benefit from.
In this episode, Coop answers a few hard-hitting questions about marketing:
"Which marketing strategy do you teach?"
"What do you do for marketing at your gym?"
"What's Two-Brain Business' lead-nurture sequence?"
Plus, you'll learn what you need to do before tackling any of the strategies he shares.
Links:
Beyond the Whiteboard
Gym Lead Machine
Free Resources!
Gym Owners United
Timeline:
1:29 – “Which marketing strategy do you teach?”
4:52 – Why you need to get the fundamentals right first.
7:33 – What you need to know about advertising.
11:56 – Should you learn to advertise yourself or hire someone to do it for you?
19:44 – “Chris: What does YOUR gym do for marketing?”
23:52 – The secret of marketing at Two-Brain Business.
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