Run a Profitable Gym

Last year, Facebook generated US$131 billion in ad revenue, proving that paid ads work—but they don’t work for everyone.In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” host Mike Warkentin sits down with Two-Brain chief marketing officer John Franklin to break down why some gym owners struggle with paid ads while others have great success.The most common ad mistakes gym owners make are not understanding key metrics, underspending and giving up too early.John also details the common flaws of unsuccessful ad campaigns, including straying from proven offers, using ineffective images and headlines, and targeting too broad of an audience.Tune in to learn how to avoid critical mistakes and successfully funnel new leads into your gym with digital marketing.LinksGym Owners UnitedBook a Call  0:39 - Why do people avoid running ads?6:26 - Underspending and advertising11:32 - Do we need to run paid ads?17:10 - Reasons gym owners say ads don’t work25:27 - Don’t kneecap your ad campaign

Ivan Racic’s gym, CrossFit XV in Croatia, has tripled its revenue since joining the Two-Brain Business mentorship program three years ago, and month after month Ivan is consistently earning more. This July, Ivan landed on Two-Brain’s marketing leaderboards for set rate and show rate—the number of leads who book appointments and the number of bookers who actually show up.Today on “Run a Profitable Gym,” host Mike Warkentin learns exactly how Ivan managed to book so many appointments and get so many people to show up for them.Ivan says using paid ads and hiring a client success manager (CSM) were key decisions that his mentor, Taryn Dubreuil, helped him make.Marketing mentor Colm O’Reilly guided Ivan through setting up highly effective paid ads, which he spends just $5 a day on. Ivan’s CSM reaches out to new leads within 24 hours, and she also has a list of daily, weekly, and monthly marketing and retention tasks—and she does it all in only six to seven hours a week. Tune in to hear the full episode and learn how to give your salespeople more chances to help clients change their lives.LinksGym Owners UnitedBook a Call   0:52 - Paid ads and new members5:36 - What does Crossfit XV offer?9:10 - How Ivan brought people to the gym17:40 - Ivan's ad hook23:08 - Ivan’s plan for the future

Are you using your leads to grow your gym? In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Two-Brain founder and CEO Chris Cooper presents the monthly leaderboards for set, show and close rates.The owners of the gyms on our leaderboards have mastered key areas of the marketing funnel: they get leads to set appointments, they work hard to ensure people show up, and they change lives by closing sales.Chris shares proven practices from these top gym owners, including tracking metrics weekly, hiring a client success manager (CSM), training staff regularly and investing in mentorship.Listen to the full episode to learn how to systemize, optimize, and automate your sales and marketing so your gym can help more people, provide careers for your staff and thrive for 30 years or more.LinksGym Owners UnitedBook a Call  01:49 - July 2024 appointments set2:55 - July 2024 shows3:42 - July 2024 closes4:59 - Who is best at all three?6:19 - Quotes from the leaders

Today’s guest, Joleen Bingham, has developed an ascension model to help you retain staff by creating careers for them. Since implementing the model, Joleen’s staff retention has improved, and she has multiple team members earning over $100,000 a year.In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” host Mike Warkentin sits down with Joleen, a multi-gym owner and the leader of Two-Brain’s Tinker program for upper-level gym owners.Joleen’s model begins with a consistent, structured hiring process that eliminates many staffing problems before they appear.The onboarding stage features a clear checklist and standard operating procedures (SOPs) that document expectations, and the owner's values and vision for the gym are communicated.Once a staff member has been onboarded, the model focuses on development, moving from basic to more complex skills. Owners also mentor team members to help them work in areas of passion. The next step is growth and retention. Career Roadmaps are a huge focus here: They help staff members become leaders and stick around long term.The final component is the exit: ensuring you have a strategy for when staff members eventually leave.Tune in to hear Joleen’s full staff ascension plan and to get an exclusive look into Two-Brain’s resources for clients. LinksMentorship: Tinker/Stage 3Gym Owners UnitedBook a Call  1:55 - Mistakes and how to fix them4:44 - Staff ascension template19:16 - Growth and retention25:51 - Decrease your turnover31:41 - Take action with staffing

A link is missing between credentials and careers in the fitness industry—and it’s costing gym owners a lot of great people. Common story: A trainer starts making $20 per class and works up to coaching 40 sessions a week. But the trainer isn’t making enough money and can’t see a way to make more without burning out. So the coach leaves the fitness industry to “get a real job.” The gym owner shrugs and tosses another coach into the cycle. Sound familiar? If so, this episode of "Run a Profitable Gym" is for you.Host Mike Warkentin and gym-owning mentor Karl Solberg discuss the detailed coach ascension program used at CrossFit Medis and CrossFit Sickla in Sweden. The model allows trainers to level up as they develop and add the skills that bring more value. Clients get better results and pay more, the gym earns more, and the coach earns more and creates a career. Everyone wins. The first step: Create an evaluation for your coaches and then review their performance regularly to ensure they’re improving.To go further, review Karl’s system and consider building something similar to create careers for coaches at your gym.LinksGym Owners UnitedBook a Call  1:43 - Ascension plans increase value3:35 - Levels increase value6:48 - The coach ascension plan10:48 - A detailed look at the plan32:53 - Creating and implementing

It’s Worst-Case Scenario Week on “Run a Profitable Gym.”Today, host Mike Warkentin is joined by Matthew Becker, owner of GymLaywers.com, who shares stories of partnerships from hell and explains how to avoid them. Partnerships in gyms can go wrong fast and create living nightmares for entrepreneurs. Partners might have very different views on topics such as dating members, day-to-day operations and finances, and sometimes a partner might even be involved in illegal activities. Or maybe one partner just isn't pulling their weight.Without solid agreements in place, these situations can spiral quickly. For example, gym owners in need of money might sell paid-in-full memberships, then have a disagreement and close the gym abruptly, leaving members out of pocket. In the worst cases, the money is long gone, and the owners can find themselves facing criminal charges.Matthew, former gym owner, shares tips for avoiding these situations and getting out of them as quickly as possible if you run into partner trouble. It boils down to proper business setup, management and documentation. To ensure your business will protect you legally and financially, get a lawyer to create or review a partnership agreement. You can reach Matthew at Gymlaywers.com.Links"Your LLC Isn't Protecting You if You Do These 5 Things"Gym Owners UnitedBook a Call  1:41 - Potential legal problems with partners10:24 - Preparing for the snowball19:32 - Partners leaving and presales29:26 - It keeps getting worse?38:39 - Stopping the daisy chain from hell

Although fitness training is incredibly safe, injuries and emergency situations are unavoidable.The best plan: Be prepared. In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” host Mike Warkentin sits down with Erik Zeyher, owner of Warlock Athletics in New York.In mid-August, one of Erik’s clients had a heart attack at the gym. Coaches and other members quickly worked together to administer CPR and resuscitate the member using the gym’s AED.At the hospital, the member's wife said that if her husband had been anywhere other than the gym, he wouldn’t have survived. Erik and his team have a full emergency plan in place and undergo regular AED training, and their preparation allowed them to save a life. In the aftermath, Erik had to make critical leadership decisions, such whether to continue with classes, how to comfort clients who witnessed the event, how to communicate with his larger community, and how to ensure his staff members recovered from the stressful situation. Tune in to get the full story and Erik’s tips for emergency preparedness so you can form your own action plan.LinksChris Cooper on the CALM modelGym Owners UnitedBook a Call   1:15 - Medical emergency at Erik’s gym8:39 - What about the staff and other clients?15:11 - Following procedure after a crisis24:29 - Things to think about post-event28:49 - What is on Erik’s list?

Most gym owners experience a revenue slump during the summer months. But today’s guest posted his greatest monthly revenue total of the year in June.In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” host Mike Warkentin digs into summer revenue with Stan Skolfield of Skolfield Sports Performance in Maine.Stan’s gym focuses on youth sports performance, and his summer programs—perfect for kids who are out of school—generate front-end revenue and downstream revenue for rest of the year.In summer, Stan runs camps and events that target under-serviced demographics. These outdoor camps don’t take up any space in his gym, and they funnel kids into his core programs that run during the school year. To ensure he’s always got a steady stream of leads, Stan employs a consistent social media posting schedule to connect with youths who are attached to their screens. He pairs great content with sell-by-chat marketing to get more people in his gym.If your gym focuses on adults, adding a kids program is a fantastic way to boost summer revenue. Stan even shares an exact template for running a summer sports camp so you can avoid a summer revenue dip in 2025.LinksBill Parisi’s episodeGym Owners UnitedBook a Call  2:59 - How did Stan hit his June revenue?6:07 - Skolfield Sports Performance11:40 - Breadcrumbs into main program16:54 - Progress over the last 5 years23:10 - Add $2,000 to next June’s revenue

For many gym owners, revenue drops off a cliff in summer. For others, it soars higher than ever. How can you make sure your gym is crushing it instead of crashing in summer?In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Two-Brain founder and CEO Chris Cooper presents the Top 10 revenue leaderboard for June 2024 and shares the leaders’ tactics.The top gym in June posted its best month of revenue thanks to a very successful kids summer program that’s a feeder for its main offerings. Your takeaway: Kids programs thrive in the summer months if you build them properly, and they’re a great option for gym owners looking for additional revenue.Outside specialty programs, the Top 10 gym owners all employed similar strategies to generate revenue: They prioritized consistent growth, they focused hard on their clients, they used targeted ads, and they relied on mentorship.Tune in to hear more and then use the tactics you learn about to hit your personal best month for revenue.LinksGym Owners UnitedBook a Call  1:49 - June 2024 Revenue Leaderboard5:18 - Consistency, not beginner’s luck6:58 - Lessons from the Top 107:37 - Camp revenue breakdown11:23 - The common theme for the leaderboard

What are the best gyms in the world doing?Two-Brain Business’ annual "State of the Industry" report has the answers. It’s the most robust dataset on microgyms anywhere in the world, and it helps gyms grow by enabling their owners to make decisions based on science instead of guesswork.You can be part of the 2024 report and get access to 16 special resources for gym owners by submitting your survey response before Sept. 4, 2024, via the link below.In this special episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Two-Brain founder and CEO Chris Cooper joins Sevan Matossian and Matthew Souza on “The Sevan Podcast” to discuss the state of the fitness industry, including the state of the CrossFit community.They talk about some of the issues facing CrossFit in recent years, touching on everything from the evolution of CrossFit HQ after Greg Glassman’s departure to the best way to help CrossFit affiliates.Gym owners face lots of challenges in 2024, but they can avoid mistakes and grow their businesses faster by making decisions based on data. Two-Brain’s “State of the Industry” report will be published in late November, and gym owners who contribute their numbers will get the guide before anyone else.To be part of this year’s data set and get access to a special Resource Hub for gym owners, fill out the survey here.LinksGym Owners UnitedBook a Call  0:01 - The "State of the Industry" report12:39 - CrossFit and its affiliates29:39 - The CrossFit Games53:35 - Getting help when opening a gym59:17 - CrossFit and the fitness industry1:06:20 - CrossFit ownership1:13:57 - Fill out the survey!