WTF Gym Talk

As of March 14th, 2020, the COVID-19 shit show has many microgym owners scared and confused as to what the future holds.  I truly believe we are going to see many small businesses suffer during this time and I think people practicing social distancing will be the dagger.  Here's what I recommend we do to offset cancellations during this time.

Recently was tipped off that a microgym had downloaded and stolen marketing videos from Urban MVMNT and Alchemy 365, put their own logos and bumpers on them and were running them as their own. Well, I just so happened to have my camera nearby and a few cocktails in me which turned what would have been a boring evening into a fun filled conversation with the lazy fucker resposible for the theivery.  Enjoy. 

Some of my recent content caused some owners to disagree with me (weird, right?). And one of those individuals took the time to actually reach out and we had a consructive conversation around the topic of breaking through the status quo that most microgym are bending to...it lead to this podcast.

If you haven't heard, a chain of 27 CrossFit affiliates decided to reposition their brand, remove the CrossFit name and go down their own path. Interesting.   Here's my take on it. 

How many microgym owners are still stealing time from the business and their clients to perfect their own fitness pursuit? Too many. Too many of us are still spending HOURS per day to increase our own fitness, purse some pipedream of being a competitive athlete, etc. Guess what?  You own a business now.  That is your new sport and passion.  Continue to enjoy fitness and stay fitness, it's good for the mind and body...but it's time you really analyze if you're acting selfishly and outside your lane now that you own a business.

Some strong reflection on this notion that microgyms need to be responsible for providing the coveted and widely overused title of 'Best Hour of the Day'. I'm even guilty of this marketing tactic myself - trust me.  But what's important is that we continue to evolve our message and when it hits critical mass (every god damn microgym claiming this), we need to re-eval. 

On the inter-webs recently, another content creator in the microgym biz coaching scene and I had a disagreement. That individuals name is Matt Baitieri and he's the owner of Box 2 Business in Australia.   We went back and forth on the quality of content that I see these other biz coaches putting out and why I think they are going to need to step up their game overtime if they want to stay relevant.   Matt shared how he ended up as a "biz coach" and the price you pay when you buy Instagram followers to increase your clout. Huge thanks to Matt for coming on the show and sharing his difference of opinion with me! @box2businesses 

If you aren't fucking with these three amazing creative assets in a 2020 world, then you're just asking to lose.   DM me if you want the affiliate link discount for Design Pickle! 

Big thanks to my man Ben Isabella, owner of Isabella Fitness in NJ, who inspired this segment.   Many of you have created something new recently in regards to a new style of class or a different fitness brand and it's not exactly catching with your current customers....so I decided to drink and rant about it. Full video version on YouTube!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi_hmMONixU&t=29s

Sean's a buddy of mine, a smart dude and a respected colleague.   He's also grown an amazingly successful online business - free from all the bullshit overhead of having a brick + mortar. So then why the fuck did he decide to lease a building for his online business? We get into this and tons of other microgym biz nuggets on this episode. Enjoy!  @activeliferx