About
Start Here…
“Find out what the majority of people are doing and do exactly the opposite” – Earl Nightengale
This site is to help fitness entrepreneurs … self-employed personal trainers, gym owners, fitness info marketers and the like …. to help more people, make more money and have more fun and freedom in their life and business
Kick Back Life means doing what you LOVE, not what you feel you HAVE to, NEED to and GOT to do
It’s about building a dream fitness business for fun, profits and contribution
As a reader of this site I’ll probably challenge you to think outside of the box and get out of your comfort zone
Follow along, take action and you can have a fitness business that helps you create the ideal life you want and deserve.
A lot of the wisdom on this site may go against everything you’ve heard before, especially if you’ve ever been a trainer working for a big box gym or listen to what 99% of the trainers in the industry have to say about marketing and business
Since most fitness trainers and gym owners struggle with their business and have no idea what they’re doin’ when it comes to marketing, it may not be the best idea to listen to them unless you want to have those same struggles as well
The site will help you build a REAL fitness business
You can see just a few of the success stories this website has created here
The first thing I would do is get on my preferred subscriber list, I’ll send you blog updates and some cool free stuff, starting with The Fitness Profits Road Map
Inside you’re gonna learn all sorts of cool stuff you can put into action right away to take your training business from where it is now to where you want it to be
Including…
- 9 ways to get new leads in your fitness training business
- 2 Sales scripts you can just plug right in to help you convert those leads into paying clients
- 3 BIG WAYS to make more money in your training business
Just put in your email address … I promise to never sell it or share it with anyone:
And click here for a list of resources I highly recommend, that can help you grow your training business
Oh… and Who am I?
I’m Big Chris… Chris McCombs that is… I’m the tall funny-looking dude who’s blog this is (=
I’m really not all that interesting, but if you’d like to know more about me, then this blog post will give you a little bit of an idea about where I’m coming from
Or you can check out my personal blog at ChrisMcCombs.net ( heads up, it’s pretty raw, gritty and uncensored )
Also, here’s a simple graphic I made for you that breaks down how to make more money in your training business
Just do what’s in this info-graphic, now it goes without saying, you gotta dish out quality service and results, and that’s a big part of how you get more referrals and better retention, but on top on delivering kick ass training… do this and YOU WILL MAKE MORE MONEY… Period.
This site is full of posts that break down pretty much everything that’s in this graphic
BTW, here’s a post where I outline what’s in this graphic, and there’s also a link for you to download it: How To Make Money Personal Training
And here’s a list of some important posts for you to read
How To Not Get Your Ass Kicked By Life and Business
Top Fitness Marketing Tips for 2013
How To Grow A Personal Training Business
Breaking The Fitness Business Rules – Advanced
How To Run Charity Boot Camps and Profit Big
Declaring War On The Lies That Bind You
Fitness Training in a Crazy World
Beast Mode – Blueprint for Personal Trainers
41 Ways to be a Lifestyle Design Badass
Hey Chris,
Thank you for helping me with my site (You even wrote the copy) and helping me realize the power of online marketing. Thanks to you these days 8-10 of my clients find me on search engines and I have actually now developed a team to help other trainers get a ton of leads on autopilot through the internet. Thanks to you my local blog is getting a tone of traffic and I am making an additional 12.5K per month just from affiliate and supplement sales from my blog.
It is true! Literally 100 clients added in 3 months, and we are trending up even faster!! I had to put the brakes on just to let my trainer team catch up (they…we were not prepared for that much growth…) But now we REALLY have our game faces on and we are looking to grow into a facility three times the size as the one we currently own, as well as be a nationally recognized niche training company! Stoked on the time you have spent with me Chris!!
Your friend and brother,
Aaron
I have known Chris McCombs for about 7 years now. He is absolutely all vision and progress and very little talk. He has helped me with things that I have struggled with in my business. His personal moniker "Rise Above" and what it means is something that I use to this day. I work about 20 hours a week and I have maintained a business that is very successful and rewarding. To this day I look forward to getting up every single day to go to work. He has taught me that when things aren't fun for you then its time to change your life to fit YOUR needs. Chris is a valuable leader in the fitness community and an honest colleague and friend.
Greg Faunce
President of OCTrainer.net
Chris Mcombs has changed my life as a trainer/entrepreneur in so many amazing ways. First off, within the first 5 months of reading his blog, using his products and applying his strategies I literally doubled my income and dramatically reduced my work hours.
Chris taught me the actual blueprint of how to work smarter, and not harder. He opened up my eyes to a whole new world of marketing and business building strategies.
Soon after my success with his principles and products, I decided to hire Chris as a coach to push me to the next level. As Chris coached me I was blown away at how quickly he revamped my entire business and accelerated me towards my income goals. The secrets he shared with me allowed me to live the life I’ve always dreamed of.
To give you an example, Chris emailed me a tactic that generated 278 new leads and added an additional $5976 to my monthly revenue!!!
I only have 1 regret, and that is not utilizing Chris McCombs the moment I decided to be trainer. The man will take you places if you believe in him and take action with his methods!
Aj Mihrzad
Long Island Weight Loss http://www.LifeFuelFit.com
Life before Chris- 11 clients, training one-on-one just kinda winging it. A year and a half later, life after Chris… A team of trainers, multiple boot camps, totally different mindset, on our way to opening our own facility and over 100 clients and growing rapidly! He not only helped me grow my business but helped me grow mentally and as a whole, Big Chris has helped me develop this unstoppable mindset and and outlook on life. One of the most generous dudes I know.
He's helped me create systems for everything and pretty much put the business in autopilot, I actually took 3 months off in 2010 because of a surgery I had and was on pace to do better than the year before…All thanks to the big fella.
A big part of where I'm at today is because of his guidance, support and belief in me. Thanks again for everything Chris, you've always gone above and beyond.
Sako Yakinian
No Limit Personal Training
Chris has literally changed my life and changed the way I do business FOREVER.
He has helped me accomplish the following things:
- Going from working 20 hours in my business to working "0" hours in my business.
- Helped me go from a personal trainer making $60,000 a year to being a BUSINESS OWNER who makes multiple six figures every year and has his sights on seven figures.
- Helped me DOMINATE my competition on Google with multiple listings in the first page.
- Introduced me to my current mastermind group of high achieving business owners from whom I get awesome marketing and business strategies from.
- Helped me create a business that runs on its own so I can take a 3 month trip to Asia this October to January.
I do not know where I would be if it wasn't for Chris' coaching program and his products. Dude…I can't thank you enough for helping turn my business around.
Chris Mcombs has changed my life as a trainer/entrepreneur in so many amazing ways. First off, within the first 5 months of reading his blog, using his products and applying his strategies I literally doubled my income and dramatically reduced my work hours.
Chris taught me the actual blueprint of how to work smarter, and not harder. He opened up my eyes to a whole new world of marketing and business building strategies.
Soon after my success with his principles and products, I decided to hire Chris as a coach to push me to the next level. As Chris coached me I was blown away at how quickly he revamped my entire business and accelerated me towards my income goals. The secrets he shared with me allowed me to live the life I’ve always dreamed of.
To give you an example, Chris emailed me a tactic that generated 78 new leads and added an additional $3976 to my monthly revenue!!!
I only have 1 regret, and that is not utilizing Chris McCombs the moment I decided to be trainer. The man will take you places if you Believe in him and take Action with his methods!
Aj Mihrzad
Long Island Weight Loss http://www.LifeFuelFit.com
Chris has inspired me and helped me out in so many ways. I have had my own fitness biz for about two years and have been following Chris's blog for about a year. I started off my biz knowing what I wanted the end result to be but with no idea of how to get there. I felt so lost with no direction.
I started following Chris's blog and products and my whole view on biz changed. I now have a clear, simple path of how to get my biz to where I want it to be and I am loving the simple process of taking my biz to that level.
Chris- I am so appreciative for everything that you do. You kick a$%
Chris
ever since I met you in the convention in Vegas my biz has taken off. I have added 15 new EFT clients to my Bootcamp and my biz is doing better than it ever has before. I look forward to reading your blog posts, they are extremely inspirational when I put them to use.
Thanks for for everything dude
Looking forward to seeing you next time
P.S. That new assistant was a definite score
From the office of Dustin "The Dominator:"
Before I discovered Chris I was jsut your average 1-on-1 trainer making somewhere between $2500-3000 per month.
I could barely pay my bills, had no spending money, was living at home, and was a slave to my dying business.
Life pretty much sucked…
You see, in the Midwest the economy had been hit harder than anywhere in the country and 1-on-1 training just wasn't in demand anymore. Folks around here were much more concerned with losing their house than with losing weight.
I was losing clients quick, fast and in a hurry and the referral well had pretty much dried up.
Every day I struggled to remain positive and I was VERY close to quitting training altogether and shutting the doors on my studio.
But then something awesome happened…
I found Chris McCombs online and things began to change.
Chris taught me how to train groups instead of 1-on-1's, how to market, how to sell, how to manage my time, how to delegate and outsource most of my business, etc.
And in just over a years time I've gone from making very little money, working all day long and hating my job to working very little, making ALOT of money and absolutely loving what I do.
Thank you SO much Chris!
Hey Chris, Just wanted to chime in here and say how awesome it is to be one of your first coaching clients. I have learned so much advanced marketing, seo, blogging, and emailing techniques from your coaching….so much that it had put me light years ahead of my competition..HA!
On top of that, you have made it possible for me to become the laziest trainer in the world where I only have to work no more then 20 hours a month…. It's pretty funny…Going on vacation is actually more work then actually running my business
Thanks for all your guidance and also thanks for your support team and awesome wife.
I look forward to many years living the kickback lifestyle.
Jonas- aka laziest trainer in the world.
P.S. DUDE!!! your MASTERmind in VEGAS was UNREAL…especially when Frank Kern Popped in looking for his weed..lol.. I don't know how you pulled that off but it was SO BAD ASS! You know how to throw down a awesome Mastermind bro!
Hey Chris!
Did I ever tell you i actually was saying to myself the first time i saw you…"who is the guy…WTH does he know about training? I've been in the business for years…who the hell is he and how did he gets so successful, so quick?"
Yeah…about 5 years ago you started popping on to the scene and you blew my mind. The stories you shared about some personal stuff was real….and I thought "OK…let me come in for a landing off this ego tripping cloud i was on"
Your intense learning curve of strategies that you studied and picked up so fast….helped me by getting one of my sites,Mr. Fat Loss boot camp, up pain free with Shingo and the Fitness Formula Website process…which started a metamorphosis for seriously my stagnant training business.
And a lot like a domino effect of several other elements my man…you taught this old dog to bow down brother. My business is currently climbing into a financial places that rivals Doctors , Lawyers and other professionals. Some of them actually ask me for web advice now!
Not so long ago…being a "trainer" was frowned upon by many in society…but the cash flow we make now….shuts their @ss up!
Apologies to the PG reader…but those who know me…know I shoot straight almost to a fault.
More fluff,smoke and mirrors in our industry is not what we all need…but fast, effective money making strategies that prove to work…even if your a stubborn, think you know it all kinda guy like I was!
Many Thanks again and hope to enjoy more success with you in the future!
Emile Jarreau
Bea Fox
http://www.m2fitnesspros.com/
http://www.mrfatlossbootcamp.com/
Hey Chris!
Its been over 20 years that I've been in the fitness game…and to understand the impact that
you and technology has had for my business has been amazing. About 5 years ago, when you first came up on my "radar"…i didn't honestly know what to think.
Part of me was like "who is this guy think he is and WTH does he know about training!" and the other part, which still has to be controlled,was my big, F#king ego, saying all the typical
non-sense about who,how,what,why I or my way was the best. It wasn't.
I had to suspend some B.S. thinking long enough and listen closer…but when you spoke about your personal story and how your past had to really be part of your process…i actually had to take another look at not "how" you were saying it…but "what" you were saying and the results. Which has been very impressive in the short span of time I've seen you "rise up in the ranks"
Two things…first,your "Fitness Formula Website" with Shingo and the plug and play way of set up made a previous,crazy waste of time for me trying to learn all of this, simple and painless…which was scaled down to less than a week! The results for my Google placement has been insane with 20+ leads
per month from the one site.
And second, the ongoing blog and "kickback" monthly membership site you have with your boy Zach. I am not "Mr. Tech Guy" and the tools that were simplified into bite size chunks of info, video, audio plus PDF to model after made this monthly payment give back 100 times a return!
So Chris…the journey always starts out tough…but if a person has the strength and can handle the heat long enough…the best stuff still will come. I'm watching you and learning like a sponge…keep up the great job your doing "paying it forward" because you've moved into a top tier position as one of the industry's elite.
Emile Jarreau
Bea Fox
http://www.m2fitnesspros.com/
http://www.mrfatlossbootcamp.com/
Hey Chris
It has been about 6 months since I started working with you as a VIP coaching client and I just wanted to say thanks dude, it has been awesome!
I have taken my business from struggling month to month to find income or sell PT packs to straight up EFT.
In that time we have gone from earning $1500 on EFT per month to $16,000 per month on EFT and each month we keep growing and our retention is through the roof.
I spent way too much money with other coaches and marketing businesses building pretty looking marketing pieces which were full of we to shit and were totally ineffective.
We had a shopping list of options for our members and I was only working to pay wages and provide a great service to my clients.
Since I started with Chris he moved us to EFT, I only now have 3 types memberships with only 2 options, month to month or 12 month. (no one ever takes month to month)
We have recently changed our 1 on 1 pt to small specialized groups and my costs have been chopped in half, my margin has tripled and my clients can now train longer and not pay any more. Talk about a Win/ Win outcome.
Chris's help with getting my complete in the box training software for trainers to run their businesses, full nutrition tracking and a complete system for running transformation contests, has been amazing.
I love working with Chris and I love his blog because he tells it how it is, which I like and this shit really works. It makes sense and if you have the balls to take massive action with it all, you cannot go wrong and you can achieve anything you want.
Thanks for everything bro, has been a blast so far and I cannot wait to see what we achieve in the next 6 months.
Without exception, every single time I talk to Chris, he gives me an idea that directly results in at least 5-figures of additional revenue to my business.
That's why dinner's ALWAYS on me
Thanks for all you do, Chris.
–Clay
Back in the day, I took a huge leap of faith and spent like $3k to attend a live internet marketing event (at the time, that was not cheap for me, and I remember trying to hide the fact that I was NOT staying at the fancy conference hotel, but instead at a cheap hotel in the bad part of town about 1.5 miles away).
The event started at 9AM on a Friday. And being completely incapable of getting up before 10AM, I walked through the seminar doors a few hours late.
Anyway, when I walked through the doors, the first thing I did was approach some guy sitting at the very end of the very last row of seats to ask him if I’d missed anything important. (By the way, the guy I approached was a friggin’ huge dude with a shaved head . . . and I couldn’t quite figure out if he was a Buddhist monk, an ex-green special forces/black-ops military guy, or both.)
That guy was Chris McCombs.
When I Met Chris, He Was THINKING About Launching a Product For Personal Trainers
When I met Chris, he was thinking about doing this product for personal trainers (for the record, he ended up launching that product, but I’m getting ahead of myself).
Long story short . . . Chris and I began a friendship at that event. (Chris, by the way, is one of the most generous people I know).
And since we were both passionate about marketing, we spent a lot of time talking about that (I told him what I knew about blogging, and he told me what he knew about direct response marketing).
Anyway . . .
About A Month After That Event, Chris Launched That Program He’d Been Thinking About Creating (And He Totally Crushed It)
After the seminar where I met Chris, he did end up launching that product we’d talked about (at the seminar where I met him).
And he launched it in a big way.
But the magnitude of Chris’ success isn’t all that I remember.
Not by a long shot.
I remember seeing Chris’ sales copy the day before he went live.
I remember him telling me (before he put everything into motion) how he lined up his affiliates, how he decided what to work on and what NOT to work on.
I remember Chris showing me draft copies of the logo before everything went down.
And I remember him mulling over his plan of attack.
I Remember The Experience of Being Behind The Scenes As I Watched Chris’ Big Info-Marketing Victory Unfold Right Before My Eyes
As a consumer, I’ve seen literally hundreds of winning and losing marketing campaigns over the course of my life.
I’ve watched them on television.
Listened to them on the radio.
And participated in them on the internet.
But for me, Chris’ launch was different.
Chris’ Launch Marked the First Time that I’d Personally Gone Behind The Scenes of a High-Grossing Campaign . . . Of A One-Person Launch That *I* Was Capable of Running
Somehow . . . hearing Chris’ personal account, and seeing specific examples and numbers behind his launch (plus hearing the story of how it came to be) . . . made everything believable in a way it hadn’t before.
Sitting there on the phone, listening to Chris recount to me the play-by-play on how his launch took shape did something for me and my education that hadn’t happened previously.
It opened me up to a new reality and made everything real.
Getting all the nitty-gritty step-by-step plans and details behind a real live campaign that I had seen with my own eyes made something click.
It made me think “I can do this too.”
But most importantly . . .
Watching Chris Got Me To Do What No Other Course, Program, Or Coach Could Do . . . IMPLEMENT
Seeing behind the scenes of Chris’ campaign got me to take action for the very first time.
I’d read “all the books,” gone through “all the courses,” and spent plenty of money and time doing what consultants, and gurus, and teachers TOLD me would work.
But with all the courses, there was always this little voice in the back of my head saying “this is internet marketing, this is probably bullshit, you can’t REALLY do this, this isn’t REALLY possible” . . .
. . . and that voice had scared me action-less for too long.
That voice is why I never gave it my all.
That voice is why I never really fully committed.
That voice is why it took me so long to finally follow through.
Yes, I had gone through all the courses. I had studied everything. But, strangely, seeing Chris’ specific example got me to actually believe that this whole online business thing was real (and not just a pipe-dream created by marketing teachers to sell me expensive shit).
And it was when I truly, deep-down, believed it was possible that my dreams became a reality . . .
And then I started executing like a madman because I finally had recaptured the enthusiasm and “I can do anything” outlook of excitement that I had when I first got started.
Watching Chris not only gave me confidence, but it also gave me an airtight PLAN (that I had 100% faith in) and a simplified, workable structure for moving forward.
And within three months of watching Chris do his thing, my income skyrocketed.
In fact, I pretty much learned from Chris’ plan of attack . . . and adapted his approach to my market.
And within three months of seeing what he did, I’d tripled my income.
And Then It Happened Again. And Again. And Again.
At the very next conference I attended, I ran into Chris again.
And he SHOWED me behind the scenes of another promotion he’d run (he told me what he did, showed me his copy and conversion stats).
I implemented. And I made money. AGAIN.
In fact, I made about $12k within the next three weeks.
That's the longest about me page I've ever read!
Nice work.
WOW, what an awesome "ABOUT ME" page. Great stuff no doubt. And ya gotta love that kick but picture with your adorable kids. So COOL.
Amazing and excellent bio!
Hi Chris,
I have been following you for some time now. I am at the very beginning of my Fitness Entrepreneur journey and a lot of what you say resonates with me. I think you are right. Serendipity is certainly a track to follow. I have started incorporating some time each month to help a client for free on something. I figure by giving the natural way of things is to receive.
Thanks again, keep up the great work.
From Tim over the Pond in the UK
Great post Chris. Right on.
I have enjoyed the journey you have left and continue to look forward to being inspired by the new one that you are on while I speed through mine with the intention that I may influence millions soon.
THANK YOU!!! Excellent POST! Everything that's been on my mind this entire month everyday from the time I wake up. I look forward to more. Be happy FIRST!
Big Chris, I like the update of your site's mission and description.
You "started with why!" Well done. I'm honored to be on your "approved" list. Keep rockin' it.
- JSE
I opened my first personal training studio in February of this year.
To get started, I followed Chris' strategies, blog posts, and some of his products (mainly No-Cost CLient Getting, Low-Cost Client Getting, and The Referral Marketing & Retention Marketing Blueprints – all for a TINY investment.
The results?
Doors to my studio opened on February 26th 2012.
With no more than a $300 investmnt (in plastic gift cards) by March 30th 2012 I had 34 personal training clients.
Now, in July 2012 I am currently at approximately 50 personal training clients and looking for a bigger studio.
I have more than tripled my income in a a few short months by putting Chris' tactics into ACTION (the key word here!)
If you are on the fence and you want a better life for yourself and don't know where to take your fitness business PLEASE, PLEASE , PLEASE take the infomation on this website and USE IT. Your competition won't be (it seems now that my competition ALL know my name and want to find out what I've been doing – they are just scratcing thier heads).
Please beleive in Big Chris.
Thanks Chris, I hope to meet you one day in person and shake your hand, and thank you to your face for helping me build a new life for myself.
Justin