Curiosity is good for business.
I started creating content for microgym owners back in 2015.
Even back then, some of the ideas I threw out were controversial and met with a decent amount of push back from the gym owner community.
Today, most of us don’t deny the value of PT first, operational capacity, or brand design + strategy.
But it wasn’t too long ago that conversations around those ideas were looked upon as “too businessy” for this grassroots microgym movement that was unfolding.
“Just do great work for your clients and you won’t have to worry about the business side.”
“Personal Training doesn’t have a place in group fitness.”
“Operational what??? I’ll just stick with trying to have the largest facility in town so everyone knows I’m successful.”
See, it was responses like this that got me curious.
Why are these topics causing fear in owners?
Why doesn’t the small business owner want to discuss objective data (numbers), but instead wants to hope their subjective data (coaching, community, and programming) will deliver their desired definition of success?
Curiosity lead me to study these “new” ideas intimately and even more so, pushed me to study gym owners in greater detail.
What is currently a status-quo that you question on a regular basis?
Have you ever been so curious that you went down the rabbit hole of “Why is this the way it is?” “What is preventing people from doing something different?” “How can I reframe this paradigm and expose people to a different perspective?”
I believe curiosity is a large contributor to one’s success.
You have to be genuinely intrigued by a topic and want to investigate it if you want to become an SME and potentially add to or challenge the current viewpoint.
Challenge yourself to get curious this week.
Find one thing within your business that piques your investigative interest.
Do your research, create a theory and then start testing that theory in the wild.
You may just stumble upon something that completely transforms your client experience, business model, or the way you look at messaging to your ideal avatar.
Let me know what you come up with.
Stay curious, my friends.
xoxo
Stu
Influencer Marketing Is Easier Than You Think
They don’t realize it, but your staff has influencer potential.
Is being a fitness coach synonymous with being an influencer?
Should social media fall within the list of "must-haves" on a coach's job description?
A recently updated article (Feb 9, 2022) unpacks social media's role within the fitness industry, outlining the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Here is the gist:
The good
Social media can be a powerful tool for both the coach's personal brand and the associated company brand/business.
An instructor's ability to motivate and steer participants to fall in love with a format should be celebrated.
When hiring, a candidate with content creation skills will trump a candidate who does not.
Social media presence indicates that an instructor understands the world is changing, and they are capable of learning and connecting in a new way.
The bad
Do not fall victim to correlating influence with ability. It's a huge mistake to presume that influence or perfectly crafted fitness-inspired posting equals quality teaching skills.
If you require staff to post, don't be the dick that doesn't compensate.
The ugly
When teaching turns into an influencer competition, it may inadvertently limit the effectiveness of programming.
Popularity contests and incentives based solely on selling out classes can backfire.
Possibility for legality issues if social media issues arise.
MY TAKE
If you're a regular consumer of my content, then you may have picked up on an emerging thesis that isn't broadly being talked about within our industry. I put out a few podcasts about it, and will summarize it here:
Your staff members should be required to post on their personal social media to advertise themselves as coaches within your business.
They should be trained and developed to do it.
They should also be compensated for it.
51% of you are going to agree. 49% of you will combat this concept.
Regardless, this is a discussion that we need to start having, and if you scour the internet…nobody is having it.
That article summarized above was the closest thing I could find to address this conversation, and it still left much to be desired.
But this is what I do.
I educate microgym owners and start conversations that no one else is discussing. And today, we are going to look at a new way to reimagine marketing efforts through employee participation.
Ultimately, we need our staff to help amplify our marketing message by requiring them to post on social media for the following reasons:
Content creation is a skill set they already possess and exercise. Just not currently for your brand.
The status-quo marketing efforts are pricing out small businesses, and their ROI is a fraction of what it was just a few short years ago.
Instead of paying a third-party marketing firm a $1,800/mo retainer, plus having to spend $3000+ per month to get any sort of decent lead generation, you can now reallocate those funds to your staff and allow them to 10x your organic marketing reach.
Your coaches are hyperlocal, micro-influencers. They just don't know it yet. They each have 1k-3k followers that probably consist of many local friends, family, and colleagues. Who better to help spread your brand message than those who work for you and have a built-in audience?
This past weekend, the newest course to Microgym University was added, which fully outlines this thesis and gives an in-depth look at this new marketing framework. This graphic is from that course, and I wanted to share it to make my next point.
It's simple and self-explanatory.
Together, this hypothetical brand and its trainers can influence almost 1,500 followers per post, with a total reach of ~15,000.
Alone, they barely make a dent in anyone's thumb scroll.
Looking for a proof of concept? It's already been done.
For the skeptics who are not sold that this marketing strategy will work, I have good news. It's been tested for years and has proven successful by the largest brand names in fitness.
Follow any of these IG accounts, held by regular trainers, with normal followings, and you'll see how a normal employee can incorporate their role as a fitness professional for a particular brand into their social media curation.
A Soul Cycle instructor who loves to post about her weekend partying, spending QT with her goofy friends, and of course, highlights her passion for indoor cycling as she encourages her followers to attend her classes at the studio where she works.
He's a big fan of being shirtless, and for a good reason, the dude is jacked. But he's just another Barry's Bootcamp instructor who has interwoven his everyday life, beach trips, and his love for Barry's brand and his professional career into his social media.
A Rumble boxing instructor whose modest following likes, comments, and attends his classes when he is instructing. Pair that with pictures and videos of his weekend outings, taking his grandma to baseball games, and his dog - and you have an account that fills classes and still feels very authentic and not "salesy."
YOUR TAKEAWAY
I know this issue leaves a ton to unpack, but that's fine. Unfortunately, I can't give this topic justice in an email (get over to MGU if you want it all), but I can leave you with some parting advice if you see value in implementing this marketing strategy.
Once you accept that your staff needs to help amplify your marketing message, ensure that you can set them up for success by having the following:
Ample media for them to post when they can't render the creative juices themselves (video/photo)
Clear brand guidelines as to the tone, lexicon, and writing style. This will come from your brand manual. If you don't have one, contact Metcon Creative. He specializes in this sort of thing for our industry.
Supply them with the important CTAs, information regarding your front-end offer, associated sign-up links, etc.
Specific language in your employee agreement outlining expectations such as posting frequency, platforms, timing, etc. Don't assume they know what to do. Develop and train them on how to do it.
And for the eleventy hundred emails I'm going to receive with the following:
"But my coaches don't have an Instagram account/hate social media/aren't good on-camera...So what do I do?"
This is simply a series of excuses you're using to avoid an uncomfortable conversation.
First, who the fuck doesn't have social media? Maybe .01% of fitness instructors?
OK, fine, I'll bite.
If they don't have an account but understand why you're requiring this from employees, then help them make one. They can get clever with the name (kind of like the Cher girl from Soul Cycle above did) and use it specifically for advocating how great their classes are, highlighting the success of their participants and their various fitness tips and thoughts.
Now, if you have employees who have social media accounts, but they never use them because they've taken the "I don't do social media" approach. Then it might be best to discuss with them that the future of their career will include social media. Trust.
If they had to leave your company now and re-enter the workplace, do you think their resume goes to the top or bottom of the pile when the hiring manager sees they don't exist on SM? That person doesn't give a fuck how many kettlebell certifications they have - there are far too many other viable candidates who can educate and entertain via photo, written word, or video that will strongly weaken your potential for employment.
And finally, if you have staff that is just awkward, not great on camera, or just don't know what to do with their hands - then WTF are they doing in public speaking scenarios for your microgym?
Do you not understand that instructing 20 adults, motivating them, coaching them, and getting personal with them makes for the best skill set for doing well with content creation?
No matter how camera shy a coach is, that individual (by nature of being a coach) has thoughts, ideas, and perspectives that can be shared. Maybe they will find their niche in audio via podcast or written word in long-format IG posts.
If you can coach, you can create content—the end.
I'm hopeful that this has at least allowed my thesis to penetrate your brain and plant some seeds, enabling you to reimagine how your team can assist in the marketing lift that your business requires.
Do you have coaches who are already doing a great job at this? Send me their social media handles, and I'll make sure to highlight them to help encourage others.
If you find this content valuable, please do me a solid and share it with your staff and colleagues in the industry. I’m trying to get fitness industry famous AF and need your help.