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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.
In Kari Pearce's first CrossFit Open, she could barely do a set of 10 double-unders. A few months later—after less than a year of CrossFit—she qualified for the CrossFit Games in 2015.
What Kari lacked in experience she made up for with a robust athletic background. She was a gymnast for nearly 20 years and competed on the gymnastics team at the University of Michigan in college. She took up weightlifting after her college gymnastics career was over.
Kari has finished in the top 10 at the Games from 2016 onward and has also been named the fittest woman in the U.S. for the past three years. Here, she speaks with Sean Woodland about how her gymnastics career set her up for success in CrossFit and how she's working to become the first American woman to stand on the Games podium since 2014.
Links:
Book a Free Call with a mentor
Contact:
Instagram: @karipearcecrossfit
Timeline:
1:26 – Starting gymnastics at just 3 years old.
2:27 – Training 20 hours a week and mental toughness as a young child.
3:21 – Developing a work ethic in the gym.
4:08 – Competing on the University of Michigan gymnastics team while also managing her studies.
7:31 – Finding weightlifting after college.
9:00 – Embracing CrossFit after first rejecting it.
11:25 – Qualifying for Regionals after her first Open—depsite being bad at double-unders.
13:51 – Her rookie CrossFit Games experience.
16:35 – The fire to do better.
18:18 – Taking fifth in 2016.
20:22 – The key to sustained success.
21:59 – Pursuing the podium.
24:10 – Best Games memories: Doing Mary strict.
26:47 – On what it takes to succeed at the Games in its new format.
27:47 – Rehabbing a slight Achilles injury.
30:15 – Plans for Sanctionals and training to peak at the Games.
You're running ads for your gym. You've honed your copy and paid the man to boost them. Still, no bites. What's the problem?
It's hard to get strangers to buy into your core offering when they know nothing about you or whether your program works. That's why in addition to your regular advertising, you need lead magnets.
Lead magnets are smaller—but still valuable—offerings that give people something in exchange for their contact info. They don't have to be expensive or complicated, and they're a great way to widen your lead funnel and get more people in it.
In this episode, digital-marketing expert Mateo Lopez shares the key elements of effective lead magnets and how you can get started making your own.
Links:
Free Tools
Book a Free Call
Contact:
mateo@twobrainbusiness.com
mike@twobrainmedia.com
Timeline:
1:48 – Lead magnets: Really great bribes.
2:53 – Where lead magnets go.
5:01 – The purpose of lead magnets: to get people into your lead funnel.
6:43 – Positioning your company as an authority figure.
7:08 – The importance of presentation.
9:21 – The mistake many gyms make with their ads.
11:15 – Removing risk for the prospect.
13:00 – Lead magnets can double as retention tools.
13:58 – A few examples.
16:11 – Be irresistible and specific.
17:39 – Solve a problem.
18:20 – Offer a quick, small win.
19:25 – Make it actionable.
20:09 – Lead magnets should be easily digestible.
22:11 – Cost of production.
22:30 – Follow through: Make sure your lead magnet delivers on its promise.
24:07 – More on establishing authority.
25:15 – Real and perceived value.
26:00 – Design matters: Proofread.
27:20 – Don’t steal photos.
29:00 – Scarcity and urgency.
What makes a better coach: an impeccable eye or a sense of empathy? Do you need to be a full-time coach to be a professional? What makes someone a not-so-great coach?
Jason Ackerman is a career coach. He's owned multiple gyms and coached more than 10,000 trainers as part of the CrossFit Seminar Staff. With all that experience comes not only a wealth of technical knowledge but also a keen sense of the soft skills of coaching.
He recently wrote a book called "Best Hour of Their Day," and on this episode, he joins Chris Cooper to discuss how coaches can give their clients just that.
Links:
"Best Hour of Their Day"
"Founder, Farmer, Tinker, Thief"
Contact:
Instagram: @thejasonackerman
Timeline:
1:40 – Catching up with Jason Ackerman.
4:00 – Jason’s “10,000 hours.”
6:05 – It doesn’t matter if you can coach the air squat if no one wants to be around you.
7:34 – The importance of soft skills.
9:14 – How the book came to be.
10:46 – Taking a look at himself.
12:52 – Be punctual.
14:43 – Coaches need to care.
15:30 – Ask one more question.
18:31 – Keep learning.
22:15 – What NOT to do.
24:39 – Do you have to be a full-time coach to be a great coach?
26:12 – Knowing your limit.
27:28 – Your clients deserve a professional experience.
29:40 – Give every client a win—even if the class is huge.
Emily Bridgers has been a competitor for most of her life. After a 16-year career as a gymnast, she competed at the CrossFit Games as an individual five times. Her best finish was 6th in 2014.
So what do competitors do when they stop competing?
In this episode of Two-Brain Radio, Emily speaks with Sean Woodland about her competitive career and why she decided to retire after the 2018 Games—despite being pulled off the field early with a dislocated ankle.
She shares what fitness looks like for her today as she manages CrossFit Terminus and raises her first child. She also opens up about how hard it is to turn the competitive switch off and what it would take to get her back on the floor.
Links:
CrossFit Terminus
Two-Brain Business Free Tools
Contact:
Instagram: @emilybridgers
Timeline:
1:50 – Finding competitive drive in gymnastics.
2:42 – The physical and mental toll of years of gymnastics training and competition.
4:25 – Dealing with the end of her gymnastics career after injury.
7:01 – Finding a new competitive spark in CrossFit.
10:21 – Emily’s first Games experience: fueled by nerves.
13:14 – Taking on new opportunities in fitness competition.
14:16 – The 2015 and 2016 Games: “The biggest disappointments of my entire career.”
15:03 – Wrecked by Murph and pushing through anyway.
19:01 – Finding fun in off-season events.
20:24 – Deciding to retire in 2018.
23:03 – “Is my foot facing the wrong way?”
24:52 – Why there (probably) won’t be one more year of CrossFit competition for Emily.
26:25 – Life as a new parent.
28:07 – Training one hour a day and loving it.
30:05 – Setting an example for daughter Riley.
31:00 – Turning off the competitive switch—it’s not easy.
32:55 – What it would take for Emily to compete again.
34:12 – Emily’s message to the next generation of athletes: Make sure you truly love it.
How do you get people to click on your Facebook ads? And how do you write ads that entice your audience without sounding slimy?
It's not as hard as it might seem. And while you could hire a pro, you definitely don't have to.
In this episode, digital-marketing expert Mateo Lopez unpacks the components of a great Facebook ad. You'll learn how to write in different tones to match your target audience and what information to include—and he'll give you a few great examples along the way.
Links:
Free Tools
Book a Free Call
Contact:
mateo@twobrainbusiness.com
mike@twobrainmedia.com
Timeline:
2:00 – Do you need to be a professional writer to write good ad copy?
7:17 – Before you write a word, know your offer.
8:24 – The more attractive your offer, the more successful the ad.
10:14 – The aggressive lens.
12:52 – The benefit-driven lens (for all the Spocks out there).
14:35 – The inspirational lens.
17:29 – Using Facebook to tell you which ads work.
18:51 – What to do if you don’t want to write ads yourself.
19:55 – And if you do, templates can help.
19:41 – Result + time period + handle the objection.
22:03 – Action + time period + result.
24:38 – You gotta get people to stop scrolling.
25:06 – Hooking your audience with a question.
27:01 – Hooking them with an anecdote.
28:28 – Solve the problem/make your offer.
30:28 – The power of scarcity.
31:43 – Offer proof and/or authority.
32:41 – Relate back to the reader.
33:45 – Don’t forget a call to action.
36:54 – Look for examples in the wild.
37:45 – Check out what the competition is doing.
38:45 – Test, check your data, revise, retest.
Say you've got a great idea for a killer event in your community. Maybe it's a local competition. Maybe it's a networking or continuing-education event. How do you get people to actually attend?
Just do what Per Mattsson did.
Per is a Two-Brain Business mentor and the founder of Coaches Congress, a multi-day event in Sweden for gym owners and coaches. The Congress is attended by fitness professionals from around the world, and it features world-class speakers and exhibitors.
But the Coaches Congress started just like any other event—as an idea. Per grew it from the ground up, sourcing speakers from his personal networks and personally inviting people to attend. Without little to no real marketing efforts, he grew his audience from around 80 people the first year to nearly 300 in 2019.
In this episode, he'll tell you step by step how he cultivated his audience and established so much trust that when last year's keynote speaker backed out—Greg Glassman himself—only two people asked for a refund.
Links:
Buy tickets to the Coaches Congress 2020
"Founder, Farmer, Tinker, Thief"
Timeline:
2:06 – What is the Coaches Congress?
2:59 – Where did the idea come from?
5:33 – Why not pair a business event with a competition?
7:30 – Diving in without worrying about potential problems.
8:50 – How to get people to show up.
10:39 – Engaging the audience before and after the event.
12:59 – Finding great speakers.
15:09 – How to attract sponsors and exhibitors.
18:27 – Why people come to the Coaches Congress.
19:54 – What to do when your key speaker backs out.
23:12 – Coaches Congress 2020: More world-class speakers, workshops and value.
26:17 – The key to building a robust, trusting audience: communication.
What would you do if in a single moment, everything you had worked so hard for was wrenched from your grasp forever? Scream? Cry? Give up?
Kevin Ogar may have screamed and cried after the accident that left him—a lifelong athlete —paralyzed from the waist down, but he didn't give up. He rolled with it, finding purpose in helping adaptive athletes, veterans and able-bodied people alike change their lives through fitness.
After the accident, Kevin went on to become a member of the CrossFit Seminar Staff, teaching the Adaptive Training specialty course (he now works with the independent Adaptive Training Academy, which teaches a CrossFit-preferred course). He opened his own gym, CrossFit WatchTower, and co-founded the Reveille Project, a nonprofit that uses fitness, nutrition, community and faith to help veterans post-active duty. Kevin also competed on the U.S. Paralympic Powerlifting team.
Listen to Kevin's interview with Sean Woodland to learn how he stays positive and driven—and get his advice for how you can do the same.
Links:
CrossFit WatchTower
Adaptive Training Academy
The Reveille Project
OGAR: Will of Steel
Contact:
Instagram: @kevinogar
Timeline:
1:24 – Kevin Ogar, pre-CrossFit: a “meathead.”
2:28 – His first CrossFit workout and the “Kevin-sized hole in the wall.”
4:17 – Becoming a competitor.
5:58 – The accident.
7:27 – Rehabilitation at Craig Hospital.
8:52 – Getting through the low moments.
10:32 – The response from the CrossFit community.
12:20 – Moving forward.
13:13 – Opening an affiliate and the power of coaching.
14:52 – The Reveille Project
17:03 – On the power of helping others.
17:59 – Joining the U.S. Paralympic powerlifting team.
19:12 – On the adaptive-athlete community.
20:55 – What it’s like to be an inspiration.
22:17 – Helping others get through similar struggles.
23:33 – Where does his positivity come from?
24:54 – Helping people understand what it’s like to be disabled.
26:20 – On being a newlywed: “I get less of my bed now.”
28:24 – Lessons learned since that fateful day in 2014.
29:05 – Refining a sense of purpose.
29:54 – Why he wouldn’t trade everything that’s happened for the ability to walk again.
Did you resolve to read more in 2020? We've got you covered.
Chris Cooper reads for at least an hour every day—often via audiobooks on Audible—and in this special, extra episode of Two-Brain Radio, he shares highlights from his bookshelf in 2019.
He shares summaries of his favorites and honorable mentions—as well as some that he didn't like, but you might—and which phases of entrepreneurship the books are best suited for.
Links:
View full reading list here.
Contact:
chris@twobrainbusiness.com
Timeline:
2:00 – Top tips for buying and learning from books.
4:08 – “This Is Marketing,” Seth Godin
4:54 – “Scaling Up,” Verne Harnish
5:27 – “Never Lose a Customer Again,” Joey Coleman
6:09 – “Leadershift,” John Maxwell
7:25 – “The Courage to Be Disliked,” Ichiro Kishimi
8:07 – “Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on it,” Chris Voss
9:12 – “Clockwork,” Mike Michalowicz
10:30 – “Rebook,” Jerry Colonna
11:37 – “The Alter Ego Effect,” Todd Herman
12:54 – “12 Rules for Life,” Jordan Peterson
14:10 – “Turning the Flywheel,” Jim Collins
14:58 – “Atomic Habits,” James Clear
15:28 – “Turn the Ship Around,” David Marquet
16:07 – “The Like Switch,” Jack Schafer
16:30 – “Principles,” Ray Dalio
17:10 – “This I Know,” Terry O’Reilly
17:40 – “Building a Storybrand,” Donald Miller
18:20 – “Simple Numbers,” Greg Crabtree
18:56 – “Vivid Vision,” Cameron Herold
19:39 – “Can’t Hurt Me,” David Goggins
20:04 – “The Zappos Experience,” Joseph A. Michelli
20:59 – “Founder, Farmer, Tinker, Thief,” Chris Cooper
22:06 – “Who Do You Want Your Customers to Become,” Michael Schrage
22:48 – “Competing Against Luck,” Clayton Christensen
23:42 – “Abundance,” Peter Diamandis
23:57 – “Contagious,” Jonah Berger
24:29 – “The Infinite Game,” Simon Sinek
25:45 – “The Culture Code,” Daniel Coyle
26:49 – “Resilience,” Eric Greitens
"Sorry, I can't make it to our appointment tonight; my dog is sick."
"I just got called in to work."
"I lost my job between last night and this morning ... "
Sound familiar?
If you own a gym, you've probably heard all these excuses and more for why a lead—who has willingly clicked on your ad and opted in—suddenly can't take your call or book an appointment.
Sometimes it's legit. But take a look at your lead sheet and note the frequency with which sudden emergencies, tragedies and wild, unpredictable obstacles occur, and you'll notice a pattern.
Here, Mike Warkentin of Two-Brain Media and digital-marketing expert Mateo Lopez open the valve and vent. You can take comfort in knowing it isn't just you who gets the last-minute excuses or gets ghosted all together.
You'll also learn why in the grand scheme of things, it's not that big a deal—and how to reframe rejection into an opportunity for future success.
Links:
Free Help Kit
Book a Free Call
Contact:
mateo@twobrainbusiness.com
mike@twobrainmedia.com
Timeline:
2:03 – Free gifts, Jay-Z and Will Smith.
5:53 – Ghosts are real—and they won’t return your call.
8:03 – Working past the hyperactive ad-clickers.
9:51 – Why people make excuses.
10:18 – I don’t always have kids, but when I do, they’re sick.
10:52 – Still, ghost leads aren’t money down the drain.
11:08 – Sudden divorces and the lead who wouldn’t stop crying.
13:49 – If it were really a bad time, they wouldn’t have picked up the phone.
14:56 – They can’t come in? Make the pitch on the phone.
16:20 – The midnight firing.
17:27 – Weed out out-of-staters by making sure your ad settings are accurate.
18:56 – Treacherous weather (i.e., light winds and a sprinkling.)
20:06 – The doctor’s “note.”
20:44 – When they can’t come in, but want free stuff anyway.
21:51 – The influencer epidemic.
24:20 – Glitching calendars and flat tires.
25:01 – And then there’s spam.
26:20 – Bait-and-switch gyms are ruining it for everyone.
27:46 – Lost keys and perpetual errands.
30:00 – When they cancel AFTER you’ve already made the sale.
31:05 – They made an appointment, but they don’t know how it happened.
32:19 – How to weed out no-shows before they happen.
33:17 – Think like a quarterback.
33:47 – Stay professional: Today’s excuse-maker could be next year’s new member.
January.
It's the time for resolutions and goal setting, and many gyms see an influx of new or re-committed members in these first days of the year.
But what happens when the novelty wears off? When temptation creeps in and setbacks occur?
This episode of Two-Brain Radio is all about human behavior. Chris Cooper speaks with Ty Krueger, owner of Packerland CrossFit and founder of the Behavior Change Collective, which helps families with children struggling with behavior issues.
Ty has a master's degree in applied behavior analysis, is a board-certified behavior analyst and previously served as clinical director for an autism treatment center. In this episode, he brings his expertise to the gym, sharing how owners can help clients make positive behavior changes and stick with them for the long haul.
Links:
Behavior Change Collective
Packerland CrossFit
"Founder, Farmer, Tinker, Thief"
Contact:
behaviorchangecollective@gmail.com
Facebook: The Behavior Change Collective
Instagram: @behavior_change_collective
Timeline:
1:00 – Finding a passion for studying human behavior.
3:29 – Joining CrossFit after gaining “sympathy weight” during his wife’s pregnancy.
4:20 – Opening Packerland CrossFit.
5:29 – What is behavior analysis?
6:36 – Bringing behavior analysis to the gym.
8:05 – It’s all about building personal relationships with clients.
9:03 – Why most resolutions fail.
10:06 – Seven layers of “why.”
11:54 – Turning “can’t-do” goals into “can-do” goals.
14:37 – How to set clients up for success.
16:07 – How to keep clients on track.
18:12 – The importance of check-ins and follow-ups—even with longstanding clients.
20:32 – Maintaining one-on-one relationships during in influx of new clients.
22:10 – The importance of treating every client as an individual.
24:15 – All about the Behavior Change Collective.
27:56 – Three things gym owners need to do to improve client behavior and retention.
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