I can see it in his eyes, even now.
Frustration.
You know that feeling you have when you’re trying your hardest, and it’s just not working?
We do too, which is why Exercise.com created a tool for personal trainers. Click here to request your demo today. Okay, back to the story.
My friend, Kevin. He’s a personal trainer and a pretty darn good one too. He has what seems like dozens of those fancy personal training and exercise certifications—you know, the ones with all the letters at the end of his name that seem to go on forever?—and not just the kind you can get by taking a 20-minute test online where everyone passes, either. He’s the real deal; he studied hard, and he knows his stuff.
He also walks the talk, too. He’s always in the gym, either working with clients or working out himself. He’s not really like Men’s Health cover model material or anything, but he’s definitely in shape, and don’t ever make the miscalculation of challenging him to what was supposed to be a friendly boxing match…
I won’t make that mistake again…
That’s why it was doubly discouraging to see him so down on himself, just standing there, totally dejected, in the gym. Because Kevin is a go-getter, a hard-worker in the gym and in his training business.
(Grow your training business by requesting a demo today!) Okay, back to the story.
But what he told me rocked me to my core (and not my “core” like the “abs” kind)…
He looked down at the floor, nudging a kettlebell to the side listlessly, and then met my eyes.
This is a kettlebell.
“I’m losing money in my personal training business.”
I didn’t know what to say.
Kevin, the hardest working guy I know, and someone who seemed to be perpetually busy; if he was losing money, what hope did anyone have?
And then he continued:
“I wish I could be like all those Instafamous fitness celebrities on Instagram and YouTube.”
I blinked, a little taken aback. I managed to mumble, “Umm, what do you mean?” (I’m a pretty wise business consultant, obviously.)
He sighed, shrugging his heavily muscled shoulders.
“I mean, they make more money with one post than I do all day training clients. And you’ve seen me, my schedule is packed! I just wish I could figure out how to stop trading my time for money. I need to grow and scale my business, not just jam my calendar full of appointments that suck up all my time and energy. You know, work on my business, not just in my business.”
He looked drained.
Exhausted.
Like a man who had just attempted a marathon and found himself drawing up short.
Before I could say a word, he continued:
“It just makes me so annoyed, watching all these people with perfect 6-packs but who haven’t even trained a client in their lives—they can’t tell the difference between their iliac crest and their Crest toothpaste!”
He looked at me, eyes wide. I managed a frown and a head shake. A trainer joke, I guess?
Thanks, Wikipedia.
This encouraged him and he continued:
“I mean, I like some of these online guys too, I’m not going to lie, and I don’t want to be one of those online haters—I’m glad for their success, I really am—but I just know that something has to change. I can’t keep busting my butt training clients all day long, and then after all my expenses, all my time and my money are gone, and what do I have to show for it?”
He shook his head slowly from side to side.
“I’m not trying to get rich quick or be an overnight success or anything, you know? I mean, I know that it’s still a lot of hard work to build an online business, just like any business, but I just want to build something sustainable, something that can grow outside of me, like a real business, not just me trading my time for money, you know?”
I took a deep breath, searching for more pearls of wisdom that would cheer up my friend. “What are you going to do?”
He took a deep breath, his massive chest heaving in and out, and then, the strangest thing happened. When he looked me in the eye next, I saw the strangest thing…
Hope.
Desire.
Ambition.
And, maybe even some of that same killer look in his eyes back when we boxed.
“What is it?” I asked quickly. “What are you going to do?”
“I met some guys. I’ve got a demo call scheduled with them tomorrow. They told me about my new secret weapon. It’s software for growing fitness businesses and scaling them online.”
His eyes shone, and I could swear I heard the Rocky theme song start playing somewhere in the gym.
“They work with all of the top fitness professionals online. Mike Boyle, Tony Gentilcore, Jordan Spieth’s training company, AMPD Fitness, D-1 Sports, James Harden’s trainer, Spartan Race, and lots of other online brands. All the real pros, and big to small, but people who want to grow their business, not just trade time for money, you know.”
I nodded sagely but then cocked my head. “What do you mean?”
“I can deliver online workouts to my clients, do distance training with clients anywhere in the world, I can sell products and online training group memberships to 1,000’s of clients just as easily as 1 or 2 clients. My clients can log their workouts online and on their phones in the gym. I’ll even have my own custom-branded app!”
“That sounds amazing.” I frowned. “But, who are they?”
“Exercise.com!”
#paidpost #ad #notsubliminaladvertising
He slapped me on the back, and I belched out a, “Oh, that’s great,” as I fought to keep from stumbling forward.
“Well, thanks for cheering me up. I’m really excited about the future now. I know it’s still going to require a lot of hard work, and it takes time, but now I can grow and scale my business, instead of just trading time for money.” He slapped my back again, right on my already sore traps. “You’re a great friend. I feel better already.”
I nodded, watching his wide back walk away, his head held high.
Puffing my chest out a little bit, I walked over to the squat rack.
All in a day’s work.
The great thing is that you can feel this sense of purpose just like Kevin. Schedule a demo of Exercise.com’s All-In-One Fitness Business Software today to learn more.