I’ll expand further, and offer lots of examples, in my training video below. Consider it a chance to sit down each quarter with a business mentor, over a cup of coffee, and have someone pour into you. I hope you tune in and enjoy it.

I’m a journalist by trade, a long-time health club owner and a fitness leader. Each quarter, I’ll share two business tips, one personal growth tip, and one book (or audio) recommendation. I want you to find tangible steps or shifts you can make in your own fitness business – as a personal trainer, group fitness instructor, studio owner or any wellness practitioner.

Some of the best advice I received when I opened my health club more than 18 years ago was to keep my offer simple – not too many options, layers, add-ons, or complexities. In the age of bronze, silver, gold, and platinum club memberships from 3 months to 6 months to 9 months to annual, it was a sea of confusion. I trusted the advice. In my bricks and mortar business and in my on-line business, I created one core offer and one alternative offer. I make both my offers as all-inclusive as possible to give people exactly what I believe they need to succeed – no more, no less.

This is easy to message and easy to enroll people. Keep your sign up process simple, remove barriers from someone showing interest and getting them going. I even use basic Google forms to collect interest and have everything I need to convert them to a simple sale. Look at your current offers, look at your current sign up process. What layers can you remove? What offers can you simply cut? Simplicity sells.

It is easy to get stagnant in what we offer. We get bored and so do our clients and teammates when we fail to put a fresh coat of paint on what we deliver. There are so many ways to deliver fitness – live, indoor, outdoor, virtually, hybrid, with accountability, nutrition support, peers, and the list goes on. Bring creativity not just to the workout, but to the programs and services you offer. In the video, I shared about a “Fitness Doesn’t Take the Summer Off” promotion and a 6-week Summer MELT boot camp with lots of ways for you to replicate, or rip off and make your own!

What holds people back from achieving their greatest potential in their fitness business and career has nothing to do with a sale, a sign up or a system. It’s about getting bogged down in their personal lives, or the lives of those around them. Work on moving through struggle faster. Whether it’s a family squabble, an issue with kids’ school or sports, a relationship struggle, a move or transition in life, there are a few steps to take. Face it, fix it or move on from it. Then get back to business.