Hi everyone,

Today I’m sharing with you the second NPE Member of the Year Contest entry.

Shannon Willits is the owner of Pilates Sarasota, in Florida, USA and joined NPE back in February this year. And boy has she come a long way in that VERY short period of time!

In just 8 months, Shannon has totally transformed her business. She’s gone from being frustrated, burnt out, and on the verge of closing her doors… to record breaking months in revenue, accomplishment, and personal achievement including:

- Increased revenue a whopping 340% September 2008 over September 2007

- Has her marketing pipeline full, leading to a steady 3-4 NEW client consultations each week

- Full groups and classes for each time offered in her studio

- And… the word is out all over town that her facility is ‘the place to be’ for guaranteed results and pilates training!

Each month continues to improve for Shannon and she is now set for a tremendous 2009!

Here’s the products and coaching programs she’s gone through on her ‘rise to the top’:

Maximum Response Fitness Marketing

AUTO-CLOSER™ Fitness Sales System

DUPLICATOR™ Fitness Business Management System

ACT® Database Management System

DEEP CORE™ Fitness Marketing System

Cash Flow Surge System

In addition to investing in those products and coaching programs, Shannon became a Gold Member in February, Gold Plus member in May, and the day before the event became an AREA-EXCLUSIVE VIP Member!

So watch the video to see how she did it..

Best Regards,

Ric

P.S. We’ve still got 3 more videos… so keep an eye out!

 

Here’s what Fitness Business Success Looks Like. Their names are Mike Stare, Shana Ross, Coach RB Berry, Shannon Willits and Conor Kelly. They’re the five finalists who competed for NPE’s Member of the Year at last month’s Mega Training Workshop in the US. You’ll see them telling their stories from the stage, in front of what is probably the largest live audience any of them have spoken to.

Today I’m pleased to share with you the first of 5 killer videos NPE has provided.Conor Kelly, from Toronto, ON, Canada, was first up on stage in front of the big crowd. And he represented himself, and the Canadian flag in a BIG way, as you’ll watch.

Here are the programs Conor has participated in here over the last year:

GOLD RUSH™ Fitness Seminar Marketing System

AUTO-CLOSER™ Fitness Sales System

DUPLICATOR™ Fitness Business Management System

GOLD PLUS Membership Program

Conor also owns 2 info-products from our up-coming web store:

Cash Flow Surge System & Physicians Referral System

And he’s in NPE’s DEEP CORE™ Fitness Marketing System current coaching course, has pre-registered for GOLD RUSH™ 2009 course, and he’s applied for all 3 of NPE’s NEW VIP AREA-EXCLUSIVE Programs.

Congratulations NPE and Conor on a fantastic year… and we know you’ve got an even BIGGER 2009 ahead!

Ric

Hi All,

We had our last gig here in Perth on Friday and it was great to see a really good crowd in out home town.

We’ve had lots of positive feedback about the superconferences already and we heard from some of our members about how well they’re doing when they implement our strategies. A couple stand-outs were Leonie Berger in Adelaide and Laurie Maximilian in Perth. Check out their videos regarding the Maximum Response Fitness Marketing System and the Auto-Closer Advanced Sales System and the respectively.

Those who attended will now be able to implement a heap of new strategies just like the one we shared in the post of May 19. In fact, in Adelaide on May 22 we heard about one member who had already got moving on that one as soon as he read about it on the blog and had some results before he even got to the seminar. Now that’s what we like to see! Action!!! And you can let us know your results by posting comments here or if you’re a member, on our online community.

Ric

Hi Folks,

Just at the airport on our way to Adelaide for tomorrow’s PT Road To Riches so all I have time for is to show you Trevor from New Level Fitness winning the iPod at a fantastic seminar in Melbourne. If you haven’t booked for Adelaide already, it’s pretty much too late, except maybe for Perth. You might still be able to get in — call AIPT on 1300 13 84 34.

Onwards to Adelaide and Perth!!!

Ric

Hi All,

Well, we thought our superconference in Brisbane was great… until we got to Sydney! The Parramatta Leagues Club was an excellent venue but far more importantly, everyone networked with lots of other fitness professionals and walked away with heaps of great ideas for their business. I don’t have a lot of time right now as we’re furiously preparing for our big Melbourne event (which will be over twice as large as Sydney), so I’m just putting up three videos from Sydney.

The first is of me explaining how to work with other businesses to get referrals and you’ll be surprised which type of business I talk about in this video.

The second features our Gold Member, Sue Smith, of “Launch Into Fitness” who’s an ex-intensive care nurse, explain how adding a guarantee to her services has helped her and her views about marketing and how it’s not just about money.

Thirdly, we have our the winner of the iPod packed with heaps of pre-loaded marketing gold content.

Before I go I need to mention that we’ve had to get bigger rooms in both Melbourne and Perth and therefore have more room. So if you haven’t booked yet, please call AIPT now on 1300 13 84 34 or visit www.PTRoadToRiches.com. Don’t miss out on these!To your success!Ric

PS Here’s an email we just received:

>dear ric
>
> i would like to thank you on a great learning experience yesterday 19 may at the sydney conference.
>
> it was an overwhelming experience for a new business owner like myself. the quality of information recieved was >excellent. unfortunatly i had to rush off at the end of the day as i had a session at 4 30. after i finished my session i had an >inquiry in my pt buddy session that i advertise in the gym i work in and with the tips fresh in mind i was able to close the >sale with no problem by offering a complmentary session.
>
> i would just like to thank you again for the great experience i already feel much wiser from just that one day
>
> good luck with the rest of your seminars
>
> regards
> scott peterkin
> s.p personal training
Campbelltown NSW

Hi Everyone,

Just a quick hello to show you some of the footage of the event on Friday. This is just a snippet of what you can expect tomorrow in Sydney and the rest of the events this week.

Check out this email from one of the attendees at the Brisbane gig. You could be next.

“Dear Ric,

Yesterday was great, it finally gave me the clarity & the ” reflection in the mirror” that I needed to make a very decisive and pivotal next step in my career.

I think it’s more about having the self belief to go through with what I always knew was possible but was too afraid to pursue. Leveraging off your systems and knowledge has erased the self doubt and replaced it with an inner strength and confidence about my future.

It struck a chord with me regarding wasted advertising money. I was once associated with a Bootcamps organisation that was all about the hard hard and very manipulative sell. I used to have to run in the parks at 5:30am and hassle the people who were exercising into joining our bootcamp. I actually got pretty proficient at my sales spiel and clipboard, whilst running up the road next to the early morning joggers! I only got paid $35 if I sold a membership - it was really tough! After I signed up 50 people - and 3 other trainers signed up 20 between them, we really had a great contingency of people training with us. After a couple of more 4 week camps like this, the directors decided that they were really goign to launch it into the big time and put a double page spread in the Sunday Mail - full colour and everything!

But I think the sales people at the paper SAW THEM COMING ! $10,000 later! my boss told me that he wanted me to sit in the office on the sunday to wait for all the calls that were going to come in. Do you know how many phone calls came in that day and on the following week and the weeks after ???
……….
………………
………….
…………

ZERO!!!!!

That $10,000 was a lot of my own hard work running after people and doing someone else’s dirty work…. And it made me realise even though the boss ie “The Manipulator” thought he knew it all… he really didn’t .

I think that is my big message to myself, that I never want to give my control away of my own business and my own effort and go back to a franchise or working for someone else. That’s why I have decided to really capitalise on the beauty of the Sunshine Coast by training outdoors and at peoples houses when it rains and having my own team of trainers who can service the women who love the outdoors and don’t want to join the gym.

The other main pearl of wisdom that i took away from yesterday - was to not be all things to all people. And yes i’ve heard it before - but it only seems to have sunk in now !… but I train guys who want to bulk up, guys who want to get fit for rugby , women who are 40kilos overweight, women who want pilates and core strength,,, but my niche is women who enjoy training and are quite self motivated but they are 5 - 15kilos over weight and they want to sculpt their bodies. I am spreading myself too thin with those other clients. My USP is that I’ve done it myself, after 10 years I finally lost that hateful 15 kilos and am now working towards going to World Championships for Natural Bodybuilding.

My only regret Ric though is that I have spent the last few years knowing that there MUST be a better way and there was no one to show it to me. I have really floundered in and out of sales jobs, personal training, working for the in laws and seriously I’ve been lost. I actually really resent, quite bitterly unfortunately, all those years I spent at school, and those out of school where people ( and my family ) just told me I had to get a degree and a good paying job before I was really making progress.

I’m really looking forward to showing them that they were wrong

Thanks again”

Bianca Aiono

look good feel great

personal training

 

How’s this venue for the Sydney superconference? We are so pumped to be giving you this amazing information tomorrow. and I can’t wait to see you there.

 

Hi Folks,

I really want you to watch this short video clip of Susan Sheehan and her response to the PT Road to Riches seminar in Brisbane on Friday. Some of you might be wondering what you’re going to get from the day and I think Susan sums it up nicely.

We’ve got another video here from one for our Gold Plus members, Jeff May who was also at the seminar, explaining what a difference our program has made to his business.

Here’s the story of a guy who’s had a life-changing experience after applying the tools and strategies we taught him. In just nine days he has completely transformed his PT business. Don’t just watch this next video - really listen to the words and emotion that Joel Scutt uses. This is an inspirational story.

Sharon Simmons was the lucky winner of the iPod door prize that you too could win just from attending the event. But it wasn’t just an iPod, it was fully loaded with well over 20 hours of marketing gold.

We could have shown you so much more stuff from the day. We had so many people telling us what a great time they had. So come and experience it yourself at one of the events this week. We’ll be in Sydney on Monday, Melbourne on Wednesday, Adelaide on Thursday and Perth on Friday. www.PTRoadToRiches.com

Love to see YOU there! Ric

Alan, Andre and I arrived in Brisbane today and went to the offices of AIPT in Banyo to put our last minute touches on our presentation. The team at AIPT are so excited about tomorrow and next week and we can’t wait to get started. Here is a quick video of me and Paul Timms of AIPT looking forward to seeing you tomorrow or next week in the other capitals. And watch out for our other blog posts over the next few days as we tour around the country to bring you “kick-ass” fitness marketing and sales strategies.

To your success!

Ric

Well, here we are guys watching the sun come up at Perth Airport. Ready to leave on our biggest adventure yet. We are so excited about this seminar series and giving as much information as we possibly can to help all of you explode your PT business. Remember it’s not too late to book in if you are serious about making a difference to the obesity epidemic in this country. Really looking forward to seeing you on the trip. Make sure you introduce yourself so that we can put a face to a name.

All the best

Ric

Eric Ruth at NPE sent me this the other day and I thought you should see it:

Back when I was in college at George Mason University, I sold pianos for a summer - a lot of them.

I don’t play the piano, or any instrument, for that matter. I’m the only person in my family without a lick of musical talent.

My mom was a gifted pianist and singer - she cut a record as the soloist for her Church choir back in the early 60’s.

My dad’s pretty good on the piano (well, he used to be).

My older brother, Mike, went to Berklee College of Music in Boston to play the drums. It’s about the most famous music school in the country with alumni like Steve Vai, Quincy Jones, Melissa Ethridge, Branford
Marsalis and John Mayer.

Now Mike’s a Navy Pilot. Go figure.

My younger brother, Zak, is an alternative rock/metal drummer with a band called Common Effect. He’s also 6? 4? and 230lbs of muscle, so he THRASHES the drum kit. It’s something to see.

Me, well - I could do a little break dancing back in the day - but I don’t think that counts.

Every other salesperson at the Piano Shop where I worked was a musician. A couple of them were really, really good.

But they struggled with sales.

Just goes to show you that technical profiency in a particular field has no bearing at all on your ability to sell.

Because sales, like playing music, is a skill that must be learned.

And I learned it from one of the best - the owner of the Piano Shop, an older (60?ish) woman named Phyllis.

She had a beehive hairdo and the heavy foundation makeup, a kinda raspy voice from all the cigs she puffed on during the day…she reminded me of a rougher version of Endora, Samantha’s Aunt from BeWitched (the great TV show, not the crappy movie).

Phyllis was ‘old school’ sales. She got down to business.

And she followed (and taught us to follow) a SYSTEM.

She called her sales system the ‘education.’

“Eric, dear, this young couple would like an education,” she’d say to me when handing off a prospect.

For the first month I worked there, I resisted following the ‘education’ and relied instead on what I thought was a God-given silver tongue. I could schmooze with the best of them, and developed rapport quickly.

That worked about half the time.

But 50% closing was most definitely NOT satisfactory to the old battle-axe Phyllis.

So she watched me like a hawk to make sure I gave the complete ‘education’ to every prospect.

And there was some improvement when I followed the system. Enough for me to get a ‘taste’ of how well it ‘could’ work, if I got better at delivering it.

So I went to Phyllis and asked her for some help - I asked her to work with me on my education. And she lit up like the White House Christmas tree. She’d found her ‘protege’ and she was stoked.

Phyllis coached me and drilled with me. We did a lot of role playing until I had it down cold. And she’d watch me work with a prospect and critique me afterwards. It was absolutely priceless training.

And, well, it worked like crazy. I began selling to every person who walked into the store.

I sold Schimmel baby grands at ten to fifteen thou each, and Weber and Yamaha uprights at three to five. And I sold a lot of them. I made almost 20K that summer.

And the bulk of that came in the second half - when I got serious about getting coaching on how to deliver the education like a polished professional.

If it weren’t for Phyllis coaching me, I would have been an average 50% closer like the other salespeople at the Piano Shop who reflexively relied on their musical skills to sell - just as I had relied on my wits.

Those guys resisted coaching from Phyllis - while I embraced it. They drank Schlitz after work. I drank Heineken.

Getting good at sales was the foundation on which I’ve built my career. Now I just do it more in print than in person. Getting good at sales is the single most important skill any business person can learn.

If I have children, they will be required to get sales jobs at some point. It doesn’t just prepare you for business, it prepares you for life.

And being good at sales is almost always a function of two things:

1. The quality of your system
2. The quality of coaching you get

So it’s no surprise that every fitness professional who goes through our AUTO-CLOSER sales system training just explodes their numbers.

You cannot get better training and a better system anywhere, at any price.

And make no mistake, the training and coaching is the secret.

Think about it. You can give some outta shape guy the best fitness protocol ever developed, but if he doesn’t get trained on how to follow it (and have accountability and coaching along the way), chances are
really good he’ll get less than half the results he would were he actually working with you, right?

Now’s your chance to get the sales training/coaching -and the sales system - that is having the most profound, documented impact on the fitness industry than any other.

http://www.PTAutoCloser.com

Get trained by the best,
Eric Ruth

P.S. Every single prospect REALLY counts. Closing at 50% is a recipe for trouble when you need every single client you can get. Double your closing and double your profits starting now:

http://www.PTAutoCloser.com

P.P.S. There are few guarantees in life - few ’sure things.’ This is one of them. Not one person who’s gone through AUTO-CLOSER has failed to immediately explode his or her sales…to the tune of tens of thousands. Now it’s your turn.

Like we say, “the numbers don’t lie.”

http://www.PTAutoCloser.com