Business

I’ve heard it said that ‘Effective marketing is just setting expectations. Show why & what you do, then deliver on that promise.’

If a company makes false claims (or manipulative claims), they’ll pay the price. If they portray a product or experience as something other than what it delivered (even if the product/experience is good), people will sense the disconnect and be uncomfortable doing business in the future.

This is where having a clear understanding of your brand image and knowing your…

What is more important for coaches: The mouth or the ears?

Most people would assume that your voice is the most important tool as a coach.

You give people directions.

You tell them what to fix.

You yell at them to slow down (or go faster).

You talk to them about what they should be eating (and what they should not).

You describe how they can change their habits.

But the truly great coaches… the ones that focus on the relationship just as much as the technical side… they listen more than t…

One of the most important things we do with potential members and new members is build trust.

• When trust is established, people sign up faster, and are more likely to pay upfront.
• When trust is established, people are more likely to do what you tell them (and get better results).
• When trust is established, people are going to tell their friends to come and see you.

A critical first step to building trust is to not assume that others build trust as you do or that they understand the depth…

Hey Everyone!

One of the best parts about CrossFit and trying to be good at everything:

We learn to appreciate everyone’s unique strengths and abilities.

“Sally may not be the leanest, but have you seen her deadlift?”

“Joe has trouble squatting, but he can do pull-ups like nobody’s business!”

“Did you hear about Katie’s 5k time? Unbelievable.”

“Steve is so jacked!”

“Melissa has such a crazy schedule; I don’t know how she finds the time to make it in!”

“Mike’s burpees are insane, I don’t …

“Do I want to be better?”

It is a simple question.

But before you answer it you must think hard about what it really means.

A better question might be:

“Am I willing to put in the work, and the sacrifices, to be better?”

There is one thing across all people who are successful in our gym that seems to be consistent across all personalities, tastes, walks of life…

They answer YES to this question.

It is a unifying characteristic that allows the 80-year-old grandma to get respect from the 25…

I assure you… the title is not clickbait. (Refill you coffee or adult beverage, this is a long one. It might be a good idea to bookmark it to review again in the future because understanding it can change your whole perspective on coaching and leadership… -jj)

There are some important lessons we can take from these things if we look at them through the lens of a single principle. A principle that most (if not all) successful coaches, gyms, mentors, and businesses follow (whether they know it…

When it comes to opening back up under limited capacity, there are a ton of great resources that gyms/mentor groups have been putting out. It is up to you to decide when you want to open up, and what protections specifically you want to put into place. Today we are going to cover some bigger principles, some recommendations, and what the real purpose to opening back up early is.

Remember that opening back up is an exercise in risk management. You will want to balance the benefits of opening u…

Are you (or your CrossFit class coaches) nervous about coaching personal training sessions? 

Are you asking yourself: "How is a 1-on-1 different than a class?"

Or maybe: "How can I provide the best value as a Personal Trainer?"

I've met hundreds of CrossFit coaches who have never taught a one on one session before. Many were totally comfortable coaching a class of 10-15 people, but got sweaty palms thinking about what to do for an hour with a single individual paying a dollar a minute (or mor…

Many gyms are getting excited about being open again. That is great!

But before we go charging down that path, we need to step back and do some strategic work.

“To launch the arrow, first you must draw back the string.”

This article is less about what are going to be the best practices for a ‘soft launch’ of opening up your physical space and more about what re-structuring you can do during the shut down and as you ramp back up. How you can ‘draw the string’ to launch your business to an even…

When working remotely with people one-on-one or in a group, it is important to understand them from a personality-type standpoint. Here is a tool you can use to help deliver a better online coaching service!

This is a follow up to a previous article that was geared toward coaching classes. You’ll want to check that out here. (it is kind of ‘required reading’ for this article).

I will also note that categorizing people will never be a perfect science. Humans have few categories that apply to ev…