When I started my gym in 2008, I made lots of mistakes.
I messed up by overspending on equipment I didn’t need.
I lacked a clear target market.
I did not have a systematized sales process.
I waited too long to give my team ownership over certain parts of the business.
These were all valuable lessons to learn and it is why these things are strong in our business today.
But I did one thing really well that helped a ton. It made up for some of these things I messed up.
I became a local celebrity.
The key word here is local.
I did not try to be a consultant, I did not write any articles for T-Nation, I never had anything published in Men’s Health.
Instead, I got famous by being everywhere in my community.
I spoke to the PTA, the youth programs, high schools, middle school career days, and the Chamber of Commerce on a regular basis.
I attended events of my clients.
I sponsored local programs and events.
I set up booths at the local 5-Ks.
I did it all.
It’s not hard to become a local celebrity, you just need to do the work.
The one thing I did in addition to everything just mentioned, was linking up with another local celebrity, a knee surgeon. I asked him to do a joint seminar with me on ACL injury prevention. He agreed and we ran it together for 8 years. It brought in well over 100 local people each time.
My face on the poster with him was instant celebrity status and brought people into our gym that never would have been there otherwise.
It opened up many doors for us and we still benefit from those events today.
The key here is that you have a local business.
The people that live 10-15 minutes away will be the ones that make your business a success.
These are the people that need to know you.
Don’t step over dollars to pick up pennies.
Becoming known in your local market is much more valuable than having an article in Men’s Health.
An article in Men’s Health feeds your ego, a local seminar in front of 10 qualified customers feeds your bank account.
P.S In celebration of my Podcast launch, I purchased an Assault Bike from Perform Better to give to a lucky winner!
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