3 Jedi-Mind Tricks for Bootcamps

The other week I was interviewed by another Canadian fitness expert, Rob King, from Newfoundland.

He asked me, “Craig, after helping thousands and thousands of people online, in the gym, and through Men’s Health magazine, what are the 3 biggest motivational jedi mind tricks you can give us?”

Ok, maybe he didn’t say “jedi mind tricks”. But that’s what I gave him.

Now these answers are great for your clients, but they also relate to running bootcamps.

Here’s what I told him…

1) Set goals with a deadline & a reward/punishment for your results.

So sit down, look at your calendar, and circle the date that marks when you want to reach your goal. If you do, you get a reward. If you don’t, set a punishment. That will inspire you to action.

Bootcamp Tip:
Not only does that work with your bootcampers (in setting fat loss goals), but also for you in setting business goals.

2) Get social support.

Put yourself in the right environment and hang around other achievers. You can’t soar with eagles if you are hanging around turkeys.

Bootcamp Tip:
This is obvious for your campers…they get more results when training in your camps, so make sure they know it and that they tell everyone they know. Remember to always harness the power of referrals.

Plus, you need to get out to events and network with other bootcamp owners to share your best client-attraction strategies.

3) You must TRULY believe in yourself.

You must stop with the “I’ll give this a try” mindset, and switch to a “I’m going to succeed no matter what” belief. When you get that, you’re golden.

Bootcamp Tip:
We’ve all seen this with our clients…someone who doesn’t believe they can succeed will struggle, while those clients with a positive attitude get more results.

It’s the same for you. And if you need motivational help, one of the best bootcamp experts for this is Steve Hochman.

BONUS TIP) Educate yourself.

Never give up looking for new clues to success. The most successful people in life are often simply the most persistent.

Bootcamp Tip:
Always be showing your clients new nutrition strategies so that they don’t sabotage their fat loss when they are on their own.

And for you…make sure that you are doing everything to learn great new training techniques while at the same time studying simple systems for getting new clients.

To your success,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, TT Bootcamps

3 Bootcamp Tips from the Sketchy Side of Town

Just got back from 2-hour dog walk to the beach where I had a little swim and dog wrestling with Bally the Dog (and yes, we have a beach here in Toronto).

On our walk over, we saw a guy wearing a mesh shirt. Man, I haven’t worn one of those since I was 9. You?

My neighborhood is pretty gritty…there are a disproportionate number of overweight, cigarette smoking people who drive those power scooters everywhere.

Heck, one Saturday at 10am I was almost run over by woman driving her power scooter with one hand while she was eating fried chicken with the other hand. Definitely entertaining.

And every night there’s a trainer who runs a bootcamp in a big park by my place, right beside homeless guys drinking tall boys of beer.

No joke.

The ol’ East Side of Toronto. Good times, I tell ya.

By the way, that trainer is doing okay with her camp…she has about 6-8 women in there, but they don’t seem to be getting results.

Fortunately, she could be doing so much better – in terms of numbers and in getting her clients results if she just used these 3 tips from the “sketchy” side of town…

1) Set SMALLER Goals

This advice is the exact opposite of what most people do when setting their goals.

Everyone is told to dream big and set HUGE goals…but that might be wrong.

In the book I’m reading, “Bringing Out the Best in People“, human behavior experts actually recommend setting small, easy-to-reach goals so that your clients succeed, and therefore you can offer them positive reinforcement.

This positive reinforcement keeps motivation high and keeps them doing  what you want them to do.

On the other hand, when people set massive goals, such as losing 30 pounds in a month, they fail and that failure is negative reinforcement, and it causes  them to quit.

So each workout, set a small, achievable goal for each camper, and when they achieve it, give positive reinforcement.

That way they will continue with the correct behavior. So simple, so effective.

(You can totally use this on your spouses too…but use it for good, not evil!)

2) Build a Better Bootcamp with this Workout

Instead of her old-school crunches and aerobics-style moves, she should be using my no-equipment needed Bodyweight Cardio circuit.

Check this out…one of my best bodyweight workouts yet…AND it is filmed in the same park as that trainer’s bootcamp.

=> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qXxpWOow3s

Let me know what you think.

3) Now for a tip on getting MORE clients…

…this one from Steve Hochman:

She could use the “human billboard marketing system.”

She would get 21 people who get her bootcamp for free, BUT in exchange they sign a contract that they will agree to refer one paying client per month.

Interesting, huh?

If you take 21 human billboards and they get you just ONE client per month, that is 21 times $199.00 per month in income (presuming she charges $199 per month for the bootcamp).

Boom! Automatic $4k per month. It’s that simple.

And each month you get another $4k in new clients as the human billboards continue to refer you new clients (as agreed upon in their contract). Cool! And it doesn’t require you to sell, sell, sell.

Steve and I are dedicated to helping you live the life of your dreams while helping dozens – if not hundreds – of clients to lose fat in your bootcamps.

Talk to you soon,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, TT Bootcamps

21 Bootcamp Lessons for Personal Trainers

The first time I did a group training bootcamp was back in 2001 or 2002…and not surprisingly, I’ve gotten a lot better over the years. Today, I want to celebrate my 35th birthday by giving you 21 tips to help you have the greatest bootcamps ever…so here we go:

#1 – You have to bring the ENERGY.

#2 – Watch your client’s form like a hawk.

#3 – Give your clients structured workouts. Not just random workouts where you jump from one exercise to another without a plan.

#4 – Create an amazing social support group.

#5 – Follow up with your campers during the day and week by email, Facebook, or text message.

#6 – Get all clients to pay in advance to AVOID billing hassles and uncomfortable situations.

#7 – Incorporate a transformation contest into your camps to maximize their results and participation.

#8 – Recognize and reward your campers as much as possible.

#9 – Just say NO to any type of long, slow cardio (including a jogging warm-up) in your bootcamp. People don’t want to pay $20 for something they hate and can do on their own.

#10 - Specialize. Be the “best bootcamp for moms”, the “toughest bootcamp in town”, the “Beginner Bootcamp Boss”, or something that sets you apart from all other bootcamps in town.

#11 - Give all bootcampers a nutrition BONUS.

#12 - Never stop learning and improving your bootcamps.

#13 - Run your bootcamps like a business, NOT a hobby. Get serious!

#14 - Be a role model. Show up on time. Be prepared. Lead by example.

#15 - Ignore the temptation to rely on “gadgets” and “gimmicks” in your bootcamps. If you can’t create an amazing bootcamp with only bodyweight exercises, you need to work on your skills.

#16 - Find a permanent location, preferably indoors. This avoids all the hassles of training outside (i.e. bad weather, humidity, etc.)

#17 – Train safe. Yes, you need to push folks, but you also have to remember that they have jobs and families that are more important than being able to do crazy exercises. And again, watch their form like a hawk.

#18 – Run a holistic bootcamp. Don’t just bring them in, crush them with a tough workout, and send them on their way. Show your clients how to eat right, reduce their stress, and avoid injury. Make their entire life better.

#19 - Inspire your clients to change their lifestyle. Bring the energy and be the best role model you can  be.

#20 - Never, ever, ever give up. This goes for you when you’re first getting started building your bootcamps…or when another big bootcamp company comes to town to compete with you…and it’s also a message you need to remind your campers everyday, that no matter how tough things are, YOU and your bootcamp are always there for them as social support. Stay strong!

#21 – Learn from other bootcamp experts – such as Steve Hochman, Leanne Ellington, Bedros Keuilian, and Chris McCombs on how to create the world’s best bootcamp and get more clients. Just one of those workouts will PAY BACK your investment 10x’s, I guarantee it. Plus, you’re only investing $2 per workout…less than the amount you probably spend at Starbucks or on your cellphone bill each day.

Hope you’ve enjoyed my bootcamp life lessons.

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, TTBootcamps Workouts

Bootcamp Marketing to Do Everyday

One of my Turbulence Training assistants has been slowly and steadily building a bootcamp business from scratch.

And I’m very proud of her.

She did this after being laid off from her job…and she wasn’t even a trainer.

But she got certified.

Started a camp in her basement.

And just keeps going and going and going.

She’s like the Energizer Bunny.

And everyday she’s doing ONE THING to move her business ahead.

So you need to do that too.

That could mean:

• Sending a press release
• Faxing a potential business partner
• Emailing a TV reporter
• Submitting an article to a magazine
• Writing an article for ezinearticles.com
• Talking to a joint venture partner or local business
• Setting up a referral program
• Recruiting human billboards
• Etc.

So simply make that ONE THING a daily priority.

Commit to this rule:

Your day isn’t done until you’ve promoted your bootcamp and you, somehow, someway.

Every day you do one thing to move your business along.

It doesn’t matter how tired you are from teaching bootcamps all day, just promise me, you won’t “clock out” until you’ve done ONE THING to move your business along.

Personally, each day I have an excel spreadsheet of tasks that I must check off before it is “play time”.

This includes, posting to 4 blogs, submitting an article to a specific website, contacting a potential affiliate, contacting a potential business partner, reviewing my website statistics, and sending an email to someone thanking them for all their efforts.

It doesn’t matter if I’m at home or on the road, I get this done – EVERY DAY.

Heck, I even did all of these things while I was in Miami this weekend for the SuperBowl.

I never stop. Can’t stop. Because you know the competition isn’t taking any time off. Not in this industry.

And not in your city either, where a new bootcamp pops up everyday, right?

But don’t worry.

Be consistent, and you’ll rise to the top.

Keep the ball rolling, and soon you’ll have a bootcamp business as big as you want it to be.

Stay strong,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, TTBootcamp Workouts

PS – And don’t worry about your bootcamp workouts…

…I’ve got you covered.

Click here to get the TT Bootcamp workouts you can use anytime:

=> http://www.TTBootcamps.com

Let me take care of your workouts while you take care of getting more people into your bootcamps.

How to Get Your YouTube Videos Watched More Often

Before I give you these tips, I want to say that I have NO IDEA whether or not these tips will increase SALES on your website. All I know is that they will help increase the number the views that each of your videos get on YouTube.

1. Put more action and less teaching in your videos.
2. Add “hard rock” tracks (essentially making your workout clip a music video.

You can get royalty free music at www.freeplaymusic.com – and there are some decent riffs on there.

Here are more tips from Andrew Locke, one of the Internet’s top video experts and owner of the Internet TV Show, www.HelpMyBusiness.com.

1. Keep the video to less than 60 seconds.
2. Make the first 10 seconds as INTERESTING as possible.
3. Use an attention grabbing headline
4. Create a video that is not a blatant ad
5. Make it cute, funny, shocking or controversial
6. Provide compelling content. Be original, not boring.
7. Tell your list to go and watch it!
8. Embed the video on your site and blog
9. Tell your affiliates to embed the video on their sites and blogs

And make sure to use your city and fitness keywords in the title. You should be able to dominate youtube and even Google search with video.

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Creator, www.TTBootcamps.com

How to Use Holidays to Promote Your Bootcamp

One thing you always need to be doing is finding ways to call attention to your business and products.

It’s a busy marketing world, and you need to be creative in order to find a reason why your prospects should choose you over your competitors.

Fortunately, the calendar provides us DOZENS of opportunities each year to hold special promotions for our prospects and customers.

Really, there is a never any reason to miss an opportunity to promote your bootcamp. All you need to do is to create your own fame with any traditional holiday, as well as special events related to your industry.

Here’s a list of all the major holidays, plus additional times of the year when you can ADD MORE VALUE to your bootcamp to create a higher-value experience, or use as a good reason why to contact new prospects or past customers and get them back into your camps.

1) New Year’s Resolutions/“Fitness Season” 3-day promotions

Okay, doing a promo for New Year’s goes without saying since we are in the fitness industry, but I’m still surprised how few promotions I see at this time. People are “red hot” for fitness at this time of year, and you need to do everything you can to stand out among the hundreds of fitness choices consumers have at this time.

In particular, combining your New Year’s promotion with a Transformation Contest kick-off is the smartest thing you can do – so use a 21-day Rapid Fat Loss plan to get folks into your camp and hooked on your workouts.

If you currently don’t have a transformation contest running, then take an hour and write out the rules, pick the prizes, and get people involved. I’m kicking myself for not doing these sooner!

2) Every Monday

While on the topic of New Year’s resolutions, I just wanted to add that contacting your prospect list or Facebook fanpage or running an ad in your local paper on Monday’s will often give you the best results in terms of sales.

Why?

Because every Monday is like a mini-New Year’s Day, where readers return from the weekend vowing to eat better and exercise. Therefore, they flock to fitness programs to get started.

3) The SuperBowl

Why not create a fun week of pre-Superbowl promotions, focusing on Superbowl Challenge workouts, a nutrition day where you give away healthy recipes for the big day, and workouts where you divide your campers into teams – named of course for the two teams in the Superbowl.

There are so many ways you can tie into the game – even for a women’s only camp – that will get folks talking about your bootcamp.

And that’s what you should be trying to accomplish everyday…Tying your business in with current events is an easy way to keep your communications with your readers fresh, interesting, welcome, and effective.

And it’s not hard – all of your communications with your list should be like having a conversation with a friend. Did you happen to have at least 1 conversation with a friend about the Superbowl? Sure, even if you talked about how much you dislike the “big day” and all the overeating, you could have simply made your promotion about that.

4) Valentine’s Day

With a surname like Ballantyne, I’d be a fool not to do some type of Valentine’s Day promo. Heck, even Ryan Lee used my name in his Valentine’s Day promotion. Yet aside from Ryan and myself, everyone can still use the biggest, sappiest holiday of the year to promote their bootcamp.

My friend and Online SuperProfits Mastermind Member, Rommel Acda, runs an ANTI-Valentine’s day bootcamp at his gym for all of the single women…and they love it.

Now tell me, you don’t think you could get some amazing PR if you did something like that? It would be awesome…and probably one of the most intense workouts ever!

5) Spring Break

Everyone wants to lose fat for Spring Break, so you could in fact start mentioning this in your materials as early as January 1st. Fortunately, Spring Break week occurs at different times for different areas of the country, as well as different levels of school, so you can get a lot of mileage out of these types of promos.

Find out when the kids of all of your campers celebrate Spring Break and then start a countdown to Spring Break Transformation Contest.

Or you could run a special Spring Break bootcamp for high-schoolers during their week off to make some extra cash for your very own Spring Break getaway.

Those are just 5 killer ways to promote your bootcamp while tying into holidays and water cooler talk…but I’ve got another 10 ways for you to plan to take advantage of other holidays – coming soon!

To your success,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, TT Bootcamps

5 C’s For Your Bootcamp Success

Happy New Year!!!

Wishing you an amazing 2010…and it will be, I promise, because Bootcamps are still on the way up. Their stock is rising, and as a
result, so is yours.

Today I want to talk about the “5 C’s” that are keys to your success in 2010…

(NOTE: I actually sent these tips out to the folks on my “how to make money on the internet” email list, but they apply just as well to anyone who wants to boost their income with bootcamps.)

#1 – Continuity

It doesn’t matter if you’re just starting, or if you have 100 campers per month – you need to structure your business to include an offer for continuity.

You don’t need a membership site or forum.

It could be some type of supplement (i.e. lots of trainers are doing well with ProGrade supplements).

Even if you just add 5 people per month at $20, that will be an automatic $1200 per month by the end of 2010.

Also, and this goes without saying, but you must have your campers on EFT on a monthly basis…no more taking checks or taking 2 weeks off your bootcamps every 6 weeks.

Get started now.

#2 – Confidence/Charisma

Some days I think the only factor separating the most successful from the struggling is simply their confidence.

If a dog can smell fear, I think a prospect can smell a lack of confidence…so you must take a really good long hard look at what image you are conveying to your campers.

Are you confident or insecure?

If you’re the former, you’ll be successful. If the latter, you’re going to continue to struggle.

#3 – Character

You must be exciting, entertaining and fun. You need to be a character. You nee to set yourself apart. You need to talk about things that no one else in your market is talking about.

You need to create a cult of personality around you. Combine character with confidence and its game over for your competition.

#4 – Celebrity

There are more ways to use celebrity than to just hire an actor, so think creatively.

Can you create celebrities among your campers?

Can you be a celebrity?

Can you connect your product to a celebrity?

Can you be “anti-celebrity”? (I.e. anti-celebrity diets?)

Anyone can be a celebrity, and you have to use it in your marketing.

#5 – Clients

Once you have a client, you now have someone who trusts you and is willing to take your recommendations to heart.

So when you’ve solved one of their problems, start solving the rest of them – either by offering more services or referring them to other experts.

Be their top source to solve all of their problems.

*******************
Put the 5-C’s into your business and 2010 will be the year you “CRUSH IT”.

To your success,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS

PS – That’s a lot to think about right?

So let me add in a 6th “C”…

Craig’s workouts.

Take all the frustration and time out of workout planning by using my done-for-you TT Bootcamp workouts here:

=> http://www.ttbootcamp.com/order.shtml

Plus, you’ll get lots of client-attraction marketing secrets from the 6-figure bootcamp champ himself, Steve Hochman.

Have an amazing 2010!!!

5 Pre-New Year Bootcamp Tips

There’s still a little time to do a few important things before Christmas and New Year’s to make sure your bootcamps are full, fun, and profitable.

Do these today and you’ll have 25% more campers by mid-January.

Here we go:

#5 Inspire people with your facebook page and fanpage as a place of community/social support.

First, make sure that your personal profile is professional, and that you have anything “non-professional” hidden from public view.

Second, post one inspiring quote first thing in the morning.

Third, build a fan page for your bootcamp where you recognize one camper every day and post a summary of the workout – and videos of the camps as well. Make it fun to be part of your bootcamp fan page.

#4 – Remind your clients in person, by email, or via text message:

“If you fall “off the wagon” cut your losses, don’t worry about it, and get right back on track. Immediately. It’s minor damage that can be dealt with. Stay STRONG!”

This is an essential message that your clients need to hear at this time of year when many of them are panicking about overeating at parties. If you can be that voice of assurance and reason, they’ll love you for it.

#3 – Get your New Year’s Transformation Contests all set up.

Be prepared to take before photos or give a handout to your campers on how to take photos (good lighting, with newspaper, from front, sides, and back, etc.) and how to take measurements (limb and waist circumferences, body fat scales, etc.)

#2 – Create a take-home “holiday workout” program for your campers.

Give them a quickie workout they can do on their own for 10-15 minutes each day so they maintain their fitness during the bootcamp break and so that they don’t feel guilty about skipping workouts over the holidays. Again, being a consistent source of reassurance will give you more authority in their view.

#1 – Design some very cool challenge workouts that will inspire your campers to new levels when they get back.

If you aren’t familiar with the challenge workout set-up or you need some help designing some new and original sessions for the New Year, then don’t worry, because the TT Bootcamps “Done-For-You” workout manual has a bunch of proven workout challenges and 21 complete no-equipment workouts that will take a load of work off of your shoulders.

(That way you’ll come back in the New Year well rested and with new, awesome bodyweight bootcamp workouts.)

=> Click here to get the Done-For-You TT Bootcamp Workout Challenges

Helping you and your clients get more results,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, TT Bootcamps

3 More Holiday Bootcamp Marketing Tips

Winter arrived in Toronto on Wednesday…and its only 2 weeks till Christmas…but you can still be pushing to fill your bootcamps and working on plans to get more campers in 2K10…

So I asked Pat Rigsby, bootcamp-filling guru, for his best advices on what you can do right now…

Tip #1 – Reward your current members.

Send a personal card to all of your campers and consider adding a $20 gift card to Starbucks or something similar. While some
businesses will send cards, few if any will actually give ‘real’ gifts.

You’ll stand out from the crowd this holiday season and it will lead to referral word of mouth around holiday parties so that you’ll have more people calling to enroll in your camps.

Tip #2 – Get your MIA campers back on the scene.

Design a reactivation campaign to get all of your former campers and clients back on board for January. They’re going to go somewhere to try to reach their fitness goals in January – make sure it’s your camp.

Pat has more info on a bootcamper reactivation strategy here:

=> http://tinyurl.com/reactivatebootcampers

Tip #3 – Launch a New Year’s Transformation Contest.

Model what Turbulence Training does with the TT Transformation Challenges and use it to motivate your campers, produce referrals and generate buzz about your camp.

For more info, check out:

=> http://www.TransformationContest.com

Bonus Tip #4 – Create a 21-Day Bootcamp Program

Consider offering a short term program to capitalize on people’s new found motivation. Many of Pat’s Bootcamp Blueprint members are offering a ‘Drop a Dress Size in 21 Days’ program with great success.

******************
Those are easy to implement to make sure that you’re off to an amazing start for 2K10, while finishing strong in 2009.

To your success,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS

5 Holiday Bootcamp Marketing Tips

I bugged Steve Hochman and Bedros Keuilian to give you some holiday bootcamp marketing tips…and to get you set up for more campers in January.

Tip #1 – Implement a 21 day rapid fat loss challenge

You’ll set this up for a $97 fee…and everyone who takes this offer gets unlimited bootcamp and a 21-day meal plan.

Then you can up-grade them when they come in by offering them 7 extra days (for 28 days total) as long as they sign up to start the monthly program after the 28 days…

Let them know that it’s a no brainer because IF during the 28 days, they decide they don’t want to continue, they can cancel with no
penalties or hassles.

Of course, thanks to your amazing workouts, they’ll be hooked on your bootcamps and will become a raving fan for life…so they’ll stick around much longer than 28 days.

It a really cool way to get new people in on a promo now that takes them through the new year…and that way they already know, like, and trust you for their New Year’s fitness solution.

NOTE: If you don’t have time to do this before Christmas, no worries, just start it up after Christmas…perfect way to get new clients in for New Year’s.

For more info, search the 21-day rapid fat loss program on Bedros’ blog here:

=> http://www.PTPower.com

Cool!

Tip #2 – Give Your Current Campers Plastic Gift Cards

If you’ve read the interview I did with Steve, you know he loves giving out plastic gift cards to clients.

So give each of your bootcampers a $20 gift card to Starbucks (for them) along with five $100 plastic bootcamp gift cards to give to
their friends.

Each bootcamp gift card is worth $100 of bootcamp, and that will be another way to get new clients hooked on your workouts…and it makes your current campers look awesome for giving out that cool gift.

Tip #3 – Reward Your Current Members…

…by getting a free service from the local tanning salon, spa, chiropractor, and nail salon, and combine them into one big certificate and gift it to your clients.

Okay, those are great…but we’re not done yet…here are MORE TIPS from Bedros on how to prepare for the January rush…

Tip #1 – Offer free Saturday boot camps every Saturday in January for the entire community. This has worked awesome for California fitness expert, Josh Carter.

Tip #2 – Make January the bring a friend for a week month. Each member can bring 4 friends throughout the entire month (one friend per week). This is a killer referral system.

Whew. There you go.

That will get you off to an amazing start for 2K10, while finishing strong in 2009.

To your success,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS

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