Run a Profitable Gym

Don't feed the trolls! Or wait. Should you? What about the troll that says your program sucks? Should you swoop in and argue back? Probably not, says digital-marketing expert Mateo Lopez. But that doesn't mean you should never respond to comments, either. Here, Mateo shares when and how to respond to comments, some tricks for filtering out spam ahead of time and what to do when the troll...

If you're struggling to find clarity and direction in your business, the issue is probably not a lack of information. There are thousands of business books, blogs and podcasts with the next great idea. The real problem is paralysis by analysis: You don't know what to do with all that information. You need a map—and a guide. In this episode of Two-Brain Radio, Chris Cooper explains the ne...

You've seen him scream and punch the air like a smaller, less-green version of the Hulk. You've watched him pay the man, roar at the sky and kiss some babies. He's Josh Bridges: former Navy SEAL, six-time CrossFit Games athlete and one of the most popular characters in Games history. But behind the muscles and handlebar mustache is a big heart and even bigger work ethic. Here, he sp...

Selling functional fitness to the retired Marine or the ex-college athlete? Easy. Selling your program to the lifelong office worker who's never exercised and who clicked on your ad in a brief moment of inspiration? Not as easy. Cold leads are hard to convert, and that means you've got to be on your A-game if you want to close the sale. Here, sales expert and certified Two-Brain Mentor J...

You know exercise is just part of the equation: Your clients won't reach their goals without good nutrition, too. But you're a business owner and a coach, not a nutritionist. And there are so many definitions of good nutrition out there—keto, paleo, Zone, intermittent fasting, macros—so what should you tell your clients to follow? None of them, says Mike Doehla, founder of Stronger U Nut...

Camille Leblanc-Bazinet is one of the most recognizable athletes in CrossFit Games history. She appeared at the Games every year from 2010 to 2018 as an individual and stood on the podium as a member of a team last year. She is also the founder of the online training program Féroce Fitness. Here, she talks with Sean Woodland about her competitive CrossFit career, what it was like winning the 2014...

You've seen the ads: "Six weeks to a new you!" "Sign up for our six-week total-body transformation!" But do they really work? And if they do, does that mean you have to start all over when the challenge period is over? Digital-marketing expert Mateo Lopez is here with the scoop. He'll tell you why the six-week challenge and its variants work so well, the essential ele...

There's a lot of competition in the fitness business. Gone are the days where being a great coach and offering a great product are enough to get you clients—that's the bare minimum. Every successful gym has great coaches and great products, so what makes you different? Jason Rule, founder of Driven Nutrition, is faced with the same question daily. The supplement industry is vast and comp...

Meg Reardon is an elite athlete. After playing field hockey at the University of California Davis, she competed twice as an individual at the CrossFit Games and is slated for her third Games appearance in August. But what you wouldn't guess by looking at the leaderboard is that she's also a small-business owner. Five years ago, Meg founded Wags and Weights, a lifestyle brand for fitness...

Last month your Facebook ads cost $10 a lead. Now they cost $50. What gives? And should you pull the plug on Facebook advertising? Not just yet. Rising ad costs are normal and to be expected, especially if you're advertising to a local market. But that doesn't mean ads are a dead end. It's all about knowing your numbers. In this episode of Two-Brain Radio, digital-marketing expert M...

What's your 30-second elevator speech? That your gym is state of the art? That you have all the best equipment, the most qualified trainers and the smartest programming around? That's cool, but it's probably not going to get you many new clients. Customers don't want to hear you talk about yourself; they want you to talk about them. How they'll accomplish their goals and i...

More than a million dogs are euthanized in shelters each year. Many are pit bulls or other bully breeds, which are often stereotyped as vicious and sometimes outlawed by local government. Alex Castiglione is working to change all that. When Alex visited a shelter after losing his beloved bully, Chops, he noticed all of the unadopted dogs were bully breeds. Soon after, he and his wife founded Barbe...

The photo was perfect. The beads of sweat brilliantly illuminated, the chalk dust billowing through the air. At the center, your buddy hitting a PR clean. So why does it only have three likes? Social-media algorithms are constantly changing, and the dance between paid and organic marketing can seem complicated and confusing. Neither paid nor organic posts are enough on their own: You have to use t...

What would it be like to own a million-dollar gym? Would you be rolling in dough? Sleeping in every day, never having to worry about another bill again? Not quite—but it's still pretty awesome. Peter Brasovan and Jared Byczko opened NapTown Fitness in a tiny space in an ex-FBI building for $500 a month's rent. In the early days, they kept the lights off and the heat low, and they posted...

In Kari Pearce's first CrossFit Open, she could barely do a set of 10 double-unders. A few months later—after less than a year of CrossFit—she qualified for the CrossFit Games in 2015. What Kari lacked in experience she made up for with a robust athletic background. She was a gymnast for nearly 20 years and competed on the gymnastics team at the University of Michigan in college. She took up...

You're running ads for your gym. You've honed your copy and paid the man to boost them. Still, no bites. What's the problem? It's hard to get strangers to buy into your core offering when they know nothing about you or whether your program works. That's why in addition to your regular advertising, you need lead magnets. Lead magnets are smaller—but still valuable—offerings...

What makes a better coach: an impeccable eye or a sense of empathy? Do you need to be a full-time coach to be a professional? What makes someone a not-so-great coach? Jason Ackerman is a career coach. He's owned multiple gyms and coached more than 10,000 trainers as part of the CrossFit Seminar Staff. With all that experience comes not only a wealth of technical knowledge but also a keen sens...

Emily Bridgers has been a competitor for most of her life. After a 16-year career as a gymnast, she competed at the CrossFit Games as an individual five times. Her best finish was 6th in 2014. So what do competitors do when they stop competing? In this episode of Two-Brain Radio, Emily speaks with Sean Woodland about her competitive career and why she decided to retire after the 2018 Games—despite...

How do you get people to click on your Facebook ads? And how do you write ads that entice your audience without sounding slimy? It's not as hard as it might seem. And while you could hire a pro, you definitely don't have to. In this episode, digital-marketing expert Mateo Lopez unpacks the components of a great Facebook ad. You'll learn how to write in different tones to match your...

Say you've got a great idea for a killer event in your community. Maybe it's a local competition. Maybe it's a networking or continuing-education event. How do you get people to actually attend? Just do what Per Mattsson did. Per is a Two-Brain Business mentor and the founder of Coaches Congress, a multi-day event in Sweden for gym owners and coaches. The Congress is attended by fit...

What would you do if in a single moment, everything you had worked so hard for was wrenched from your grasp forever? Scream? Cry? Give up? Kevin Ogar may have screamed and cried after the accident that left him—a lifelong athlete —paralyzed from the waist down, but he didn't give up. He rolled with it, finding purpose in helping adaptive athletes, veterans and able-bodied people alike change...

Did you resolve to read more in 2020? We've got you covered. Chris Cooper reads for at least an hour every day—often via audiobooks on Audible—and in this special, extra episode of Two-Brain Radio, he shares highlights from his bookshelf in 2019. He shares summaries of his favorites and honorable mentions—as well as some that he didn't like, but you might—and which phases of entrepreneur...

"Sorry, I can't make it to our appointment tonight; my dog is sick." "I just got called in to work." "I lost my job between last night and this morning ... " Sound familiar? If you own a gym, you've probably heard all these excuses and more for why a lead—who has willingly clicked on your ad and opted in—suddenly can't take your call or book an appointm...

January. It's the time for resolutions and goal setting, and many gyms see an influx of new or re-committed members in these first days of the year. But what happens when the novelty wears off? When temptation creeps in and setbacks occur? This episode of Two-Brain Radio is all about human behavior. Chris Cooper speaks with Ty Krueger, owner of Packerland CrossFit and founder of the Behavior...

Chris Spealler was the underdog of CrossFit, competing against men weighing up to 70 lb. more than him and holding his own. That's what made him relatable—that and his big heart and tremendous work ethic. "Speal" is an eight-time CrossFit Games competitor (7 individual, 1 master). He stood on the podium three times during his individual career. Time after time, he won fans' hea...