income brackets

In going forward here are our solutions to promoting you to the next income bracket:

Income Bracket: $0 - $60,000
Solution: Business Starter Pack, Podcast, Book and Audio Club
Our March Offer: We have 20 complimentary packs to give away, titled 'Your First 20 Clients', simply email the office at business@ptplus.com.au. Email quick as we are limited to 20 only!

Income Bracket: $60,000 - $120,000
Solution: 6 Figure Group Mentoring
Our March Offer: Sample a group coaching session before you buy. *conditions apply

Income Bracket: $120,000 - $250,000
Solution: Private Mentoring Program
Our March Offer: 2 spots left. Request a matching meeting here.

Income Bracket: $250,000+
Solution: Tailored Program
Our March Offer: Program full until end of March. Please call the office on 02 9690 0503 to have a meeting regarding April and May. This is an exclusive program so please contact to the office to see if you qualify.

income streams

So here are the initial observations of our report. There are significant income brackets which we have stated in the information below. Look at where you are and consider what you need to focus on in order to go forward.

Income Bracket: $0 - $60,000
Income Streams: 1 Income (eg. PT)
Business Focus: Week to week activity and business success is judged on the number of sessions held
Work Hours: 60 per week

Income Bracket: $60,000 - $120,000
Income Streams: 3 Incomes (PT, Groups, Product)
Business Focus: A month to month strategy building a business that can manage 50+ people
Work Hours: 48 per week

Income Bracket: $120,000 - $250,000
Income Streams: Up to 8 incomes (PT, Groups, Product, Coaching, Website, Lifestyle Programs, Seminars, Information Products)
Business Focus: Annual strategy and a clear set of KPI's. Outsourcing of tasks is common
Work Hours: 35-45 per week

Income Bracket: $250,000 +
Income Streams: Have a business and specialise in one of the 17 income streams
Business Focus: Business legacy and long jeopardy as a business leader
Work Hours: Business owners here are hard to track however observations suggest 4 a week with paid travel

how to get your first 20 clients

Following graduation from your personal training course the challenge most trainers face is getting their first few clients. Understanding most people gain certification with the idea of training people part-time, perhaps in and around another job or second income, the idea of getting to 20 clients makes sense. Consider the income of 20 sessions by $80 = $1600.00 which is a great return for 20 hours worth of work.

So how will you go getting those first few clients?

Traditional models of getting clients are:
- Printing expensive brochures
- Relying on business cards
- Ineffective letter box drops
- Hopeful newspaper advertisements

In an information age these techniques are dead and ineffective in building a business. Chances are if you follow these traditional techniques you will end up buggered, busted and broke.

Effective modern techniques include:
- Social networks
- Search engine optimisation
- Building referrals via allied Health Professionals
- Branding your business
- Websites and database systems

If these are foreign terms then why not get some great information from Australia’s leading personal trainers on how to get your first 20 clients.

We have 20 CD and e-books s to giveaway to help you get started on your first 20 clients. Simply email us at info@ptplus.com.au with your postal address!

getting more clients in 2009

A business without a marketing plan is like personal trainer with a tight fitting set of joggers. The business can work but with pain and soreness. Over time it is debilitating. To increase revenue you must be clear on how income will be devised. The title for this is a marketing plan. In PT Plus business coaching groups, we spend considerable time on marketing. These are the revenue building blocks that increase dollars into the business. By planning ahead, we can act now on implementing tactics to ensure that revenue will be met all year round.

What is marketing?
Marketing is the building of a business brand that puts you 'top of mind' of any perspective client. Marketing is the 'get clients' part of a business and a really good marketing plan removes the sell from the selling.

Business on steroids
The businesses that excel in our 6 figure group training programs are the businesses that implement the following marketing strategy. In fact not only do they earn more, they work less because the strategy does the work for them. It is like putting a business on steroids as it exponentially grows.

Annual overview
Pick the big events on the annual calendar and highlight them. Consider Valentine’s Day in February, Easter in March, Mothers Day in May, Fathers Day in September and Christmas in December. Understand that the money is in the air, people are spending it anyway so why not cash in on the spending and contribute to the improvement of the consumers health. Also consider local community events, school functions, sporting events and fun runs. Highlight the dates, then speak to the right people to see if you can add value to an event. Finally consider what you want to earn for the year 2009.

Break it down
With a view to what you want to earn, break the total figure into quarters. So if you want to earn $120,000 for 2009 then $30,000 is what you need to achieve as a revenue goal. The first quarter is January to March. If $250,000.00 is your target then $60,000 is the quarterly goal. By breaking the big total into calendar quarters it is more obtainable. Using the same system break the quarterly numbers into monthly figures. Consider your holidays, public holidays and schools holidays as these may impact or effect your earnings goal.

Monthly tactics
With a view to business revenue for the quarter the strategy needs to deliver dollars each month with revenue. Consider 2 to 3 income buckets for developing the revenue and then add 3 to 5 tactics to ensure revenue is met. A little bit like an insurance policy for your income. Get busy on developing product and putting the business services and products in front of the right people to get the result you want each month. This will set up the business for success by breaking down a bigger income goal into manageable monthly bits.

Blue Ocean Strategy – personal training style

A red ocean personal trainer competes against the tens of thousands of personal trainers in the market for clients by doing free sessions, cutting prices, handing out brochures and trying to get a competitive edge over the next trainer.

Using a blue ocean strategy, with lessons from the must read book 'Blue Ocean Strategy', by W. Chan Kim and Renee’ Mauborgne, a personal training business focuses on making the competition irrelevant by creating a leap in value for buyers by opening up new and uncontested market space.

Consider what Vision are doing with weight loss and Curves open a store every 4 hours somewhere in the world. Their blue ocean strategy taps into the female clientele, 30 minute workouts and non threatening environment of their gyms.

In the red oceans, industry boundaries are defined and accepted, and the competitive rules of the game are known. Here, companies try to outperform their rivals to grab a greater share of existing demand. As the market space gets crowded, prospects for profits and growth are reduced. Products become commodities, and cutthroat competition turns the red ocean bloody.

Blue oceans in contrast, are defined by untapped market space, demanding creation and the opportunity for highly profitable growth. Most blue ocean businesses are created within a red ocean by expanding existing boundaries like Curves and Vision. Competition is irrelevant because the rules of the game are waiting to be set.

Create your Blue Ocean now.

helplessness

Martin Seligman changed the world of traditional thinking by proving the theory of helplessness. This is an important behaviour to understand if your in business. By containing three different dogs in three different boxes and studying their response to three different circumstances, Martin was able to prove his theory of helplessness.

Circumstance 1: the dog when probed with a light electric shock was able to turn off the shock by nudging the bar with his nose.
Circumstance 2: the dog when probed with a light electric shock was unable to turn off or change the circumstance no matter what he tried.
Circumstance 3: the dog when probed with a light electric shock was given a mixed version of circumstance 1 and 2.

After a few weeks of this 'therapy' all the dogs were put in a small box with sides that allowed the dog to jump out, when probed. Dogs 1 and 3 jumped out of the situation, whilst dog 2 simply gave up and laid down. Seligman had discovered that whenever the efforts to change results seem fruitless the expected behaviour will be to lay down and surrender.

This test was repeated using humans and the exact behaviour was confirmed. Helplessness according to Seligman, sits between pessimism and optimism. For a more detailed overview I suggest reading Seligman’s book titled 'Learned Optimism' for a more thorough overview and detailed explanation. Awesome read.

In striving to achieve business goals, when all around you seems hopeless and there looks like there is no way out you will feel like laying down and giving up. It will be emotion, passion, purpose and desire that drive you from despair. When you feel like you are getting zapped from all directions financially and personally in time consuming activities, it will be the change between the ears that will be the most significant. The lesson is in the journey and quite often we learn the most when we are in tough situations. A common observation of successful business owners is that of having your back against the wall and being in a position of having to fight your way out.

If you find yourself in this position you need to pull yourself up again and keep putting one foot in front of the other. Fight for your cause ethically, stay true to your values and know your on track. Ask yourself, what is the lesson? Then keep on trekking wiser for your journey.

the grass is always greener

There is a great story I heard some time ago told by a tour operator about a young entrepreneur’s decision to cash in on the diamond rush during the 1800’s. His decision somewhat sporadic was to travel the world looking for diamonds as he believed it would take him and his family from poor to be living like kings and queens. Without any research or knowledge or review of his techniques he spent a lifetime looking for diamonds. By the time the man was 50 he had become very angry, frustrated and annoyed with the world and was lonely as his family had left him while he pursued his mission. Diamonds can be found where white sand meets fresh water and sit 2 metres under the sand, tells the tour operator however our entrepreneur only discovered in his late 50’s that this river system was in his home-town. Only minutes from his backyard lay acres of diamonds.

In true 'fitnesspreneur-ship we all look to neighbouring suburbs, bordering towns or foreign countries to develop our big ideas. Immediate opportunity lies in our own backyard. In the people we know or those that know others. In the businesses and communities of our associates. Avoid spending hours of travel, efforts in strategy and moments of thoughts thinking that the grass is greener somewhere else. Create your own world from your own backyard and use this as the leverage to springboard to wherever you want to take you and your business.