5 Takeaways From FBS 2016
We all had such a great time at the 10th annual Fitness Business Summit! We enjoyed seeing old clients, meeting new prospects and are overwhelmed yet excited with all the new information we learned at the conference.
Check out our recap video about our experience at FBS16:
1. Clarity is Key to Your Success
Bedros spoke about this for a good chunk of his talk on Saturday morning. So what does “clarity” have to do with marketing a fitness business? Having a clear understanding of what YOU want is essential when operating your business or if you want to achieve a goal. “Clarity” really just means making a clear goal for yourself. Bedros started with having “clarity of purpose”, aka the long-term goal. According to Bedros, this objective needs to be impact driven, not simply about how much profit or revenue you want to generate. It needs to be specific, such as you want to train ten new clients by the end of May. Next, Bedros said you need to have a clarity of vision, or the logistics of the goal that answers the question “how exactly are you going to achieve your objective?”. Finally, you’re going to need a clarity of path, the more day-to-day plans that ultimately determine the final outcome. All three points are significant and need to be acted on.
2. Stick to Just a Few Things You’re Good At
Alwyn’s talk covered a range of different topics from branding yourself to life in Scotland, but his discussion of “systems” was what truly resonated with me. Alwyn started with “write down your core values and live by them”. Your values, he explained will then translate into a system of how you operate your life and ultimately will shape your business. “Systems make businesses great. Anything that isn’t a system is improv. Your business can’t operate on improv.” Wow. Some powerful words! Maybe you answer the phone the same way, or you give a tour of your facilities the same way every time – systematic. Alwyn did give caution by saying that you should stick with just a few of your strengths. We all can’t be great at EVERYTHING, so choose wisely.
“You can only do a few things and be great at them.” -Alwyn Cosgrove
3. Create Videos and Share Them Via Your Social Media Accounts
The Tuscany Ballroom was jam-packed for Jeff Sherman and Josh Carter’s social media strategy talk. What they had to say was informative about creative and effective ways to run your business’s social media accounts. Both Jeff and Josh emphasized how important it is to consistently post videos of what you are doing to connect with your followers. Jeff highlighted that posting any kind of content gives people a chance to see that you’re living up front, or essentially practicing what you preach. Josh went on to say that creating short video ads (about 30 seconds long) is an excellent way to build custom audiences. He also said that you don’t necessarily need to hire a camera crew or buy expensive equipment to make a great video – you can easily shot a video on your iPhone. Josh said that you want to be “authentic” and “real”, meaning that shooting video with your iPhone is a great way to be you.
“People don’t want to buy fitness from brands. They want to buy fitness from people.” – Josh Carter
4. Invest in Good Friends
At least three of the speakers highlighted how necessary it is to surround yourself with successful people. Bedros definitely stressed this point by saying that if you are friends with five successful people that you will become the sixth. Lewis Howes stressed this point too and so did Aubrey Marcus. Aubrey took it a step further by saying that so often we go out looking for romance, possibly searching for a hook-up. We rarely think about finding a friend – a good friend. Making connections and networking is an important step in being successful.
5. “Reframe”
Bedros hit and make sure to re-hit this point several times during the weekend! In sum, reframing means taking something negative and looking at it in a more positive light. Bedros’s example was that living in California is expensive, but he chooses to view the expense as a “luxury tax” because he gets to live in paradise and is willing to pay for all of California’s amenities. We can all use this tool of reframing to shape our outlook of certain situations.
We had a great time this year and we’re looking forward to next year’s FBS!