Run a Profitable Gym

Black Friday is coming, and it can be tempting for gym owners to slash their rates. But the best gyms in the world don’t offer discounts—and they don’t need to.In today’s episode, Chris Cooper explains why gym owners should avoid discounts—hint: they'll sink your business. Even better, he tells you exactly how to say no when people request a reduced rate. Instead of creating a Black Friday discount that hurts your business, you can increase the value of your service and close sales by offering bonuses. After all, added value beats a lower price when you're dealing with clients who are a perfect fit for your gym.Remember, your mission is to build value for clients, not weaken your foundation with discounts. LinksBook a CallGym Owners United1:11 - Don’t Have Sales4:52 - How to Say No to Discounts9:18 - Additional Advice11:14 - Ditch Discounts and Do This14:40 - Bonuses That Don’t Break the Bank

Chris Cooper has helped thousands of gym owners improve their businesses—so what happened when he found problems at his own gym?You'll find out in this podcast.Lots of "experts" paint perfect pictures of their gyms—but true story is often different. Chris has always been open about the realities of his gym since he first started blogging about it in 2008. So, when he found problems had cropped up in 2023, he jumped in to fix them personally—and he's sharing the story with you.In this episode of "Run a Profitable Gym," Chris gives a detailed look at Catalyst’s absolute bottom level, then explains why he chose to fix his gym after considering selling it. To rebuild the business, Chris had to take off his hat as CEO of a worldwide mentorship company and go back to being a  hands-on gym owner.To start, he cut down to the bedrock to discover what was solid, what was salvageable and what needed to be rebuilt. Then, in the ultimate "stress test," he used Two-Brain Business templates—stuff he had actually created to help other fitness entrepreneurs—to revive his own gym.If your gym is in a rough patch, listen to Chris's story, then take action to improve your business. LinksBook a CallGym Owners United1:00 - Expected Dip3:45 - The Downturn13:54 - "I Had to Save It"21:23 - Building up Ops27:19 - Simplifying Things

Breaking problems down allows you to gain traction and grow your gym instead of just feeling overwhelmed. And Two-Brain has helped thousands of gym owners around the world do just that. In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Chris Cooper breaks down three of the biggest problems facing gym owners: bad coaches or staff, not getting enough leads, and not making enough money. If you ever feel like no one at your gym can do it as well as you, then you’ve got a process problem or a people problem. But how do you figure out which it is?Or maybe your problem is that you aren’t getting enough leads. But are you sure that leads are really the problem? Try breaking down your funnel: Are leads converting? Do you need new copy?And you’ll learn how to confront the biggest challenge many gym owners face: “I’m just not making enough money.” Chris shows you how to break this problem down with an annual plan. You'll even get an exclusive look at Two-Brain’s goal-setting template so you can start down the path to a six-figure salary.LinksBook a CallGym Owners United02:00 - Bad Coach Example14:40 - Bad Leads Example23:08 - No Profit Example29:30 - Toolkit

Stephanie Fowler of EMPOWERHOUSE Gym was struggling and couldn’t see a way out. She was torn between shutting her gym down or investing in Two-Brain mentorship.She chose to fix her gym, and she saw a massive return on her investment as she worked through our RampUp program for gym owners: Stephanie acquired a ton of new clients and finally paid herself a comfortable salary for the first time in years.In this episode, host Mike Warkentin sits down with Stephanie, who shares her experience working with a mentor to supercharge her gym. A few key changes to her business: creating an onboarding program and hiring a client success manager.With firm business foundations in place, Stephanie is now working toward her next goal: earning $100,000 a year from her gym.Stephanie’s advice to struggling gym owners who are considering mentorship? “Jump in.” Links"How to Bridge the Gap From Day Job to Fitness Entrepreneur"Book a CallGym Owners United0:28 - RampUp5:09 - Invest in Two-Brain12:37 - Onboarding17:33 - Client Success Manager21:05 - Next Steps

Fitness entrepreneurs need three skills if they’re going to be successful.In this episode, Chris Cooper explains how focus, "gain thinking" and virtuosity combine to create strong businesses that improve the health of entire communities.Rush from project to project without finishing anything and your gym’s growth will stall. Spend too much time thinking about where you should be and you won’t build any momentum. Ignore the basics and you’ll constantly find yourself correcting the same problems.The best part? These skills will help you run a better gym, but they’ll also help you in other aspects of your life. And if you branch out from gym ownership, they’ll allow you to find success in your new entrepreneurial ventures faster.LinksBook a CallGym Owners United1:29 - Skill 1: Focus4:46 - Skill 2: Gain thinking10:34 - Skill 3: Virtuosity

If you think of selling as pushing people to buy things they don't want, you're going to struggle to make sales. When you reframe the sales process as "helping people solve their problems," you'll be able to confidently present solid solutions to prospective clients who will be eager to accept your expert assistance.The Help First concept is a game changer in the fitness business—especially if you struggle to close.In this episode, Coop walks you through Help First—what it means, what it looks like in practice, how it benefits gym clients, and how it increases the number on your bottom line without making you feel slimy or dishonest. You'll learn practical strategies you can employ today to build a strong business while helping people in your community accomplish their goals and improve their health. It's a win for everyone. LinksBook: "Help First" by Chris CooperBook a CallGym Owners United1:57- Mindset and overcoming obstacles4:23 - Strategy: help the kids5:38 - Strategy: help the teams8:39 - Strategy: thank the heroes10:09 - Strategy: co-branding12:50 - Content creation14:44 - Summary

Want to know how Two-Brain's conversation marketing funnel works?You're in it.In this episode, Chris Cooper walks you through a four-step process for setting up a killer conversation marketing plan at your gym. Remember: Conversations bridge the gap between advertising and sales. Advertising gets a prospective client's attention, and the sales process secures the money and the membership. But if you focus on the period between attention and sales, you'll earn trust through conversations, and you'll close more sales faster.You can use Coop's strategies to grow your client base but also to keep current members longer because conversations preserve relationships. You can even use it to bring back departed clients: Conversations rekindle relationships.In short, if you want to grow your gym business, start more conversations.LinksBook a CallGym Owners United1:59 - What is conversation marketing?3:01 - Start a conversation and listen6:19 - The invitation7:00 - The sign-up8:29 - Retention and reactivation

Two CrossFit gyms in Santiago, Chile, are home to 1,140 total clients—and Daniel Dobbs Brown owns both of them.Accion CrossFit Providencia earned the No. 1 spot on our August 2023 headcount leaderboard with 723 clients, and the Las Condes location hit No. 4 with 417. So how did Dobbs Brown do it? Host Mike Warkentin digs in to find out.The short answer: Daniel is using a precise, high-volume, data-backed marketing plan and an increasing focus on retention to build his client list. Daniel pulls back the curtain and shares all his metrics, as well as the strategies he's implementing with the help of a mentor to reduce churn, increase length of engagement and boost average revenue per member—all with a goal of dramatically improving the health of his community.LinksBook a CallGym Owners United2:22 - Acquiring and retaining clients5:59 - Getting people in11:48 - Content marketing16:06 - Group training and PT19:52 - Improving length of engagement27:59 - 3-point plan for success

Client headcount isn't everything. But it's still important—especially in a gym with great retention and average revenue per member.When gyms with great metrics across the board acquire more members, the results are spectacular.With just 150 clients who pay $205 a month, an owner can earn $100,000 a year. You can imagine what happens when a gym earns 200 or more clients who pay $300 a month and stay for years.In this episode, Chris Cooper presents our Top 10 leaderboard for clients in August 2023, but before you listen, remember that the numbers are multipliers of other metrics. To start, we want you to get 150 clients who pay $205 a month, and then we want you to increase those numbers slowly and steadily while retaining your clients for years, not months. That's how you build a profitable gym that changes clients' lives and rewards its owner at the same time.LinksBook a CallGym Owners United0:36 - Gyms 6-101:43- The Top 52:44 - Beyond headcount4:32 - Leaders’ Tips9:47 - Recap

Yes, you can use AI to bring clients to your gym. Gym owner Chris Cooper uses ChatGPT to do that even though he's written seven books and thousands of blogs by hand. But how can you use artificial intelligence effectively without coming across like a misguided robot? And what should fitness entrepreneurs know before getting started with AI?In this episode, Chris Cooper offers his tips for AI mastery, explains how you can misuse ChatGPT and other platforms, and tells you how AI can be a key part of your content marketing funnel.He also provides a rundown of his new AI guide for gym owners—available in the Gym Owners United group. The free guide is packed with prompts and step-by-step instructions so you can create valuable content that's tailored to your gym. Crank out the right content and you'll acquire more high-value clients.To get Cooper's new guide, join Gym Owners United and request "The Clickable Step-by-Step Guide to AI Mastery for Gym Owners."LinksBook a CallGym Owners United1:08 - Writing evolution4:24 - Prompts for ChatGPT8:14 - Avoiding pitfalls12:51 - When AI is wrong14:30 - How AI works in your funnel