A Fitness Business Post by Chris McCombs

Hey there, hope you're doin' awesome

Recently two of my friends, Paul Reddick and Zach Even-Esh both did guest posts here on my blog about the rules they follow in their businesses

Well here's a few of my own rules ( some are the same or very similar to Zach and Pauls rules, while some are VERY different)…

But first, a quick warning…

IMPORTANT: Now, I realize that some of these rules might make me some enemies ( that's ok, there's plenty of people who don't like me or what I do )… and some of these rules might tick people off, make me seem selfish, arrogant, self-centered or greedy.

So be it…

These rules help me live by my own values, doin' what I love, providing the ideal life for my family, helping as many people as possible with as few headaches as possible, and allow me to get a TON of stuff done in very little time… so I can spend the rest of my time with my family, enjoying my hobbies and getting all I can out of this life.

I'm not suggesting that you adapt these same rules, I'm just telling you what works for me.

That said, let's jump in….

Fitness Business and Marketing Guest Blog Post by Zach Even-Esh

1) Low Hassle, High Profit - I learned this when I first began getting into the business from Ryan Lee & Jimmy "Pickles" Labadie.

I HATE headaches or in plain English, anything that isn't fun or doesn't make me happy I don't care how much money it brings me, I kick it to the curb and give it a "NO."

I still remember having a $3,000 lunch with a VERY popular business man. I told him I wanted my gym to make 10 Grand a month and he said I should bite the bullet and train some high paying house wives, I said "NO F**ING way!!" He was shocked.

I told him I experienced enough unhappiness and pain in my life to last a life time, I don't need one ounce more of it.

This is also why I turn down engagements to travel around the world and hop on planes. I am not a fan of flying and neither am I a fan of traveling extensively away from my family. The town I live in is a vacation town anyway so why travel. I'd rather make less money, say NO to others and YES to my family.

2) Create Synergistic Businesses - I NEVER create a business that only brings me a return in one form.

For example, my gym, The Underground Strength Gym allows me to leverage all the activity inside of there, in turn, giving me multiple businesses as a result, requiring very little extra effort on my part.

A Fitness Business Guest Post from Paul Reddick

A Fitness Business Mindset Video Post from Chris McCombs

Hey there, hope you're doin' great and your fitness business is killing it

Got something pretty cool to share with you today

It's a few quick videos that really get me fired up

I hope you find them as inspirational ad I do

Enjoy…

Fitness Business Guest Post by Elliot Hulse with the Bottom Part by Big Chris

"Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile." - Albert Einstein

"The creative person has to go alone, he must drop out from the mob.." - Osho

If you're anything like me, you've chosen the profession of fitness trainer or coach in order that you may lead your chosen tribe (clients) towards increased health, strength and vitality.

A Fitness Business Post by Chris McCombs

Hey there, hope you're great

I have a VERY important question for you at the bottom of this post

But first I gotta tell you about something that just happened… My assistant Del just walked in and scared the living sh*t outta me… I don't believe in ghosts or anything but she sure as a hell trotted in looking like one

Check it out…

A Fitness Marketing and Time Management Post by Chris McCombs

Live by this next sentence, and you'll put yourself in the top 1% of the fitness industry…

Refuse To Be Like The 99% of Fitness Professionals Who Live Re-Actively, Letting Distractions, “Busy Work” and Other People Dictate Their Time, Income and Their Life

Most fitness professionals and personal trainers are so damn busy getting people in shape all day, they don't focus on the really important things like strategy, creating sales funnels, marketing and the rest of the big picture stuff that it takes to drive your business to the six or seven-figure level

If you're so busy getting people into shape that you don't spend enough time on the big picture stuff… we'll… you're pretty much screwed.

BIG MISTAKE: Most trainers spend WAY too much time training… in fact, that's what they think they're job is in their business… sure it's part of the gig… but the MARKETING OF WHAT YOU DO is actually much more important than training people… so you gotta get good at marketing the training

A Fitness Sales Guest Post by Adam Toohey

1. You cannot NOT communicate

Communication is made up of the following:-

7% Words
28% Tonality
55% Physiology

Think about that for a second; and as you do, think about the message you are sending to your clients, and to your prospects.

- How do you sit, when sitting across from a prospect?
- What are your eyes doing?
- Are you really present and listening to them, or are you off with the fairies?

I remember a crazy Ex of mine that had a habit of freaking out… like really losing it at the most ridiculous things.

Usually it involved members of her family, her brother as an example.

One time he ate the last 2 pieces of pineapple in the fridge and she flipped… totally tearing him to shreds about how he had no respect, no consideration, ignorant, you never learn, blah blah blah… and his response?

He flipped out too and began to belittle her in her quest to become super fit and healthy.

This pattern continued and one day instead of her brother copping it, it was me. Rather than freaking out, I simply smiled and walked away. (I was still sending a message; I was using that 55% of communication known as physiology)

Saying nothing is still a form of communication and as a result, sends a message to the person standing before you.

How they interpret that message is a whole different kettle of fish.

2. You have all the resources you need to achieve your desired outcomes

How often have you heard (or told yourself) the story that "If only I had THIS, THEN I would be able to do THIS… or "If only I had THAT… THEN my business would be booming"

It's all too common and can happen to the best of us.

A Fitness Business Guest Post by Craig Ballantyne

Even if you have your bootcamp business or personal training biz humming, you still probably feel like you don’t have enough time to start an online web biz.

Well, I’m going to show you how to get more done by making more time in your life

One of the big things you need to know is how to start making the progression from training all the time to spending more time working on your Internet business.

Eventually you just have to cut out some training and commit a block of time to working on your ebook and website projects.

I started with Thursday afternoons. No more clients. Then I cut all clients from Thursday mornings. Then all day Tuesday as well. And so it went, eliminating chunks of time as my online business grew.

Do baby steps at first…you might be terrified, but when you see how much work you can get done working on your e-book for 6 hours straight compared to 1 hour for 6 days straight, you'll know you've made the right decision.

But even after you’ve freed up that time, you still have to find a way to GSD (get stuff done). I still get a lot of people asking me how I do it…how do I get so much done?

A lot of it is energy management. Something that is practically impossible when you are training people all day, trading time for money.

Energy management means working on the right tasks at the right time.

Specifically, working on creative tasks when you are most creative. However, for most trainers in the gym, they are often most creative when they are stuck training people for 4 hours in a row.

But when they finally get in front of a computer, it seems like their brain has gone into shutdown mode. I know, I've been there.

So if you are stuck in that position, here's one tip…

A Successful Personal Trainers Post by Chris McCombs

Hey there, Chris McCombs here… hope you're doin' awesome and your fitness business is friggin' crushin' it. You probably know lately I've been making a documentary with my friend Bedros about the subculture of internet marketing, including interviews with a few successful personal trainers. We traveled around the country and visited the most successful internet marketers in the world. There were some pretty common themes that kept coming up when it comes to what's made them so successful… I'd like to share those with you here…

1. Even though many of them have ADHD and dropped out of high-school, they almost all invest in their marketing education on an ongoing basis. Almost every one of them had closets, bookshelves and stacks full of products to help them get better at marketing and reach their goals… you should see MY closet, I now have about 250K worth of info-products. Too many fitness pro's invest in multiple certifications to get better at what they do, but actually that won't help them make any extra money at all. If you want to be in the top 1% of highest paid trainers in the world, invest more in the marketing of what you do… that's what'll get you there.

Hey there, hope you're doing awesome…

I've never been one to wanna conform to the norms or comply with the status quo.

I like to do things my own way…

In my teens and twenties it got me into a lot of trouble, but today in my late thirties I've been able to get it to work for me.

You see, I'm completely unemployable, so I own businesses.

I like to live and work on my own terms… and enjoy feeling I've figured things out that very few people have ( Like how to get up at 11am and own two successful businesses)

Not that this way of life is for everyone, but for me it's perfect.

I'm also intrigued by other personalities who do things their own way… out of the box… who stand up for who they are, change the way things are done, and make a lot of money and have a lot of fun in the process.

That's what this post is about… The Renegade Entrepreneur… and I'd like to introduce you to a few of my favorites…

Fitness Business Guest Post By Dan Go

Hey there…hope you are doing great, KILLING it in your fitness business and changing lives in the process.

My name is Dan Go and you don't know me so maybe a quick history on myself and my business…

- I was a fat kid who was made fun of by friends and family. I was sick of myself and I got so pissed off I lost 37 pounds of fat and turned my body around. It changed my life so much I decided to become a personal trainer.

- I started off working for a big corporate gym… I worked about 30 hours a week and after 1 year I started to hate it… especially when I was always getting half my paycheck taken from me and having a manager that was sniffing up my a** every hour pushing me to sell people on the floor.

Trying to sell personal training to a 50 year old cranky lady on the elliptical machine is NOT a pretty sight.

- Then I got into one on one freelance training where I would go to people's houses and train them for an hour. This sucked just as badly. I was working half the hours but the other half of the hours were spent traveling all over Toronto. I hate driving… I hate driving even more when it's snowing.

And I was STILL working like a dog.

Hey there, hope you're doing awesome… a few days ago I just started working again after about 8 weeks of vacation… and even now I'm only working about 2-4 hours a day.

Some people would go crazy if that's all they had to work, but for me… it's perfect… it allows me to live as close to a balanced life as possible.

Basically both of my businesses are almost entirely automated and outsourced… my businesses are run on systems I created… I build the systems, and the systems do the work.

I'm one of the people who read Tim Ferriss's "Four Hour Work Week" a few years back and it just felt like truth to me… so I applied it with everything I had.

Somewhere in the book is a sentence that goes something like "The world has agreed to shuffle papers from 9 to 5" … and that resonated with me… I've always felt in the pit of my soul there had to be a better way.

Do I only work four hours a week?

No… I work more than that

In fact, sometimes I'll work 60, 70, or 80 hours in a week, like when I launched Market Annihilator… but that was only for a few weeks.

Typically my year pretty much looks like this…

• For about 3 months of the year I don't work at all… I take vacations ( with the exception of helping my coaching clients via email and phone calls… I pretty much answer coaching emails throughout the year )
• For about 7-8 months out the year, I'll work about 2-4 hours a day and work about 4-5 days a week
• And for about a month or two out of the year, I'll put in 60-80 hour weeks working 6 days a week… like when getting ready for a big launch or something… which I'll usually do by putting myself under firm deadlines… I'll bust my butt to create a systematized money funnel that I can then put on autopilot

Luckily I love what I do, so most of it doesn't even seem like work anyway

When I work I focus on the important stuff… like…

NLP Presuppositions - Part 1

A Fitness Sales and Marketing Guest Post by Adam Toohey

1. The Map is not the territory

How many of you started your fitness businesses and had an idea (Map) either in your head or on paper of what was required of you to make it happen, only to find out later that you were either totally wrong or about half right regarding what REALLY had to be done (Territory) to make it happen?

Your may have the greatest goal setting/planning strategy known to man and that is great. Remember that there will always be those things that are thrown up in your face (we sometimes refer to them as challenges) that you were not prepared for. How you handle these things can either build character and strengthen resolve, or they can destroy confidence and shatter dreams. The choice is yours.

2. People respond according to their map of the territory

To understand and appreciate your clients' world it pays to understand and appreciate that their "Map" may be different to yours even though the Territory is the same.

In fact, every client you have will have their own unique "map" and in order to really serve them and connect with them, you need to know what it is.

An easy example of this would be a new client comes to your Bootcamp or Training session and finds it "too hard." Their idea or "map" of what a Bootcamp or Training session is, was different to what they got. In other words, according to them, you kicked their ass too much.

This is a Fitness Marketing Post by Craig Ballantyne

A Fitness Business and Mindset Post by Chris McCombs

Hey there… hope you're having a kick ass day… or night depending on when you're reading this…

I'm curious, if you could define your life and/or business philosophies in one single sentence or statement or paragraph…. what would it be?

Here's mine…

Life Philosophy:

Let go, trust God, be grateful, live in the moment, help others, put family first and blaze your own trail

Business Philosophy:

Do what you love, work for yourself, focus what you want, feel good about getting it, take massive action, help others and create your business around your ideal life instead of your life around your business.

Would love to hear your philosophies for life and business in the comment section below…

Hey there, hope you're awesome

As a fitness professional and a regular reader of this blog there's a few things about you I'm dying to know ( you can leave your answer in the comment section below)

1. What's your favorite quote?

2. What are your favorite workout songs or artists or albums?

3. Who is your favorite strength coach / resistance training guru?

4. What type of training do you do? One on one? Group? Boot Camp? CrossFit? A combo?

5. What's your favorite movie or movies?

Feel free to answer one, a few or all of these in the comment section below… I'd love to hear from you and I'm hoping you can turn me onto some cool new stuff

Hey there, hope you're awesome

I need a HUGE favor from you, I got this email the other day, and it really got to me, it would mean the world to me if in the comments section below you could show this guy some love and maybe give him some words of wisdom, share how you've triumphed over hard times, whatever you can do to show him some support… like I said, when I read this it really got to me, especially being a father myself… I did a little something to help him with his business and I also told him I can just feel it in my bones that this is gonna be the Decade of Michael…

Unforeseen challenges can hit any of us at any minute, not that we should walk around worried about it, in fact… quite the opposite, I think we should expect good things to happen, however… when the chips are down on one of our own, I think we should have their back.

So, if you could show him some fitness industry love in the comment section below that would mean a lot to me ( and I'm sure to Michael as well)

The second paragraph is the part that really got to me

++++

Thank you Chris….you are a true inspiration to me bro.

I used to live in Houston the last four years and just recently moved to a suburb 15 mins away from Chicago. So when I get more clients… I want to become a member of your Fitness Profits Blueprint Program and anything that can help me like your Market Annihilator Program. That's when I can afford it… right now, I am just barely getting by with making bills, like my unexpected medical bills.

I had lots of downs in my life recently within the last two years… between losing my 11 yr. old son Joshua in a car accident, myself being in coma from the accident and not being able to speak for nearly 10 months, my fiancee breaking up with me because of my coma and just recently losing my dad and supporting and living with my mom in Chicago now. So times are tough but watching all your videos inspire and motivate me to keep working and to not give up.

Even though life has knocked me down, the last two years… I am paying true respect to the both my son and father by getting back up again and keeping on. That's the best way I can honor them. This is why after the loss of them and surviving my coma that I seek a motivational and fitness field of work….. and I promise not to give up.

I will keep laying the groundwork for change. Thank you Chris

Sincerely & Respectfully,
Michael Angelo Morales
www.Fit2Fight.com

P.S. This is one of the last photos I ever took with my son Josh

+++

Like I said, I hooked Michael up with some stuff and would be stoked if you could just give him a minute or two of your time with some comment love below… he deserves it

I SERIOUSLY think this will be the friggin' Decade of Michael… his attitude is good, he's taking action and ready to kick some ass

Fitness Marketing Guest Post by Zach Hunt

Hey there… it's Chris McCombs here, and I hope your boot camp and/or personal training business is rockin' hard… this is a guest blog post by my Zach Hunt… my partner on products like the Auto-Delegation Tool Box and The Fitness Profits Blueprint… this post is about the state of the fitness training industry and how to get ahead… I hope you enjoy the post… and I'll let Zach take it from here…

When I was going through college I remember researching the average salaries of the so called "personal trainers", at least in my state the average was either around or less than $20,000, not too inspiring.

Plus, I remember I was talking with my friends at that time in college and they were telling me about how long they worked and how they were pushed to sell supplements and all the other fun sounding things they were doing, this of course was in a national chain gym, but I didn't know any difference at the time.

"As a fitness professional and nutrition professional, you are drastically underpaid. While it really is true that you can make six to seven figures as a personal trainer, the traditional industry is not set up to accommodate the large salary that you could (and should) be making. Instead, you're stuck with a small salary or an hourly pay structure. However, to truly succeed in the fitness business, you must take matters into your own hands, and the only way to accomplish this success is if you have multiple income streams."

That was a quote from my friend Ben Greenfield's new book, "Personal Trainer's Guide To Earning Top Dollar". We met locally for the first time at a Mastermind event of local internet marketers, copywriters and the like where he showed me a copy of his book. Pretty cool!!

It's so true, and yet kinda unfair - for some people that is. If you do follow the typical industry for personal trainers, there really is no room for progress and the natural progression is burn out and either switching jobs or just continuing on with a miserable career (unless you do like 40 hour training weeks and doing things like other tell you).

We also, talked about how it doesn't really matter how much fitness you know, it's more about getting the great results for your clients, and firstly - getting clients to come in and get those results for.

Not the typical mindset of beginning trainers. Yes, when I first started I was reading: Mel Siff, Stewart McGill, and pretty near every other training book out there.

But, I have to admit, I stopped reading "fitness" books a while back. I now read pretty much only business and marketing books and of course fitness marketing blogs =)

Hey there… hope you're doin' awesome…

… Getting a lot of people into shape… kickin' ass… making good dough… living by your own rules… and having a blast…

And I hope you're asking the right questions…

Ya know, the questions we ask ourselves shape who we become… like the gigantic natural "growth hormone" wonder Tony Robbins says… "The quality of our questions determine the quality of our lives"

And I actually have a VERY important question I want to ask you…

… it's a question many of us know we should be asking ourselves on a regular basis… yet it's an easy one to forget…

The question is…

"How Can You Better Serve Your Clients Today?"

This is one of the most important questions you can ask yourself… I'd LOVE to hear your answers in the comment section below…

A Fitness Marketing Post by Chris McCombs

Hey there, hope you're having an awesome day…

I talk to a lot of trainers, and one thing that keeps coming up is how complicated many of them make things for themselves… I touched on this in a post recently that you can read here.

Basically the post covers getting clear on your goals, working backwards from the end result, cutting out the fluff and taking massive action. Pretty basic stuff, but easily overlooked and forgotten. ( Feel free to check out that post to get up to speed)

Today, it's real easy to get caught up in the 24/7 hecticness going on all around us… ( I don't even know if hecticness is a word… but it is now)… we have information coming at us 24/7… moving parts to our businesses where something always seems to be going wrong… customer issues… cool things we wanna do but it seems like we'll never have to… constant demands being thrown on us by other people… iphones and blackberries sending us seemingly urgent text messages / phone calls and emails faster than we can keep up with… twitter… facebook… car maintenance… bills… you name it…

We are getting friggin slammed… and us entrepreneurs can get it the worst… your typical person can clock in… clock out… and leave the problems back at the office, gym or factory.

We get to carry these little stressors around with us wherever we go… it's the curse of the entrepreneur… even though being a business owner is a gift I wouldn't trade for anything in the world… it's easy to get caught up in the craziness of being so damn busy sometimes… success happens in the midst of chaos and that's just the way it is…

However there are some things you can do to simplify your life and business… here's a few work well for me…

Hey there, hope you're doing awesome…

Market Annihilator 2.0 is just about sold out… it's probably got about another day or so before the doors are closed, so if you wanna get a bunch of clients from the internet… I'd get over to to the site while there's still a few spots left ( like I said, it'll probably be open for about a day at this point)

Here's the page you wanna go to: Market Annihilator 2.0

Today I wanna talk about gratitude without getting too woo-woo on you ( even though I'm into the woo-woo) … where a lot of people go wrong is that they don't combine the woo-woo with action… they just sit around and try apply law of attraction type of thinking to their lives without doing anything about it.. BIG MISTAKE.

I had a friend do this for years, he would literally meditate for hours a day and think positive thoughts, but he would never really take action in the direction of his goals… needless to say did he not only end up broke, he also became suicidal… it got pretty ugly.

He missed a few key elements…

Here's the way it works: Positive Mental Attitude + Focus on a Clear and Definite Purpose + Action + Helping Others = Reasonably Happy and Successful Life

Ok, so without getting to deep into all that stuff right now I just wanted to bust out a quick post of some of the things I'm grateful for… and I WOULD love to hear in the comment section below some of the things you're grateful for…

Hey there, hope you're awesome and kickin' some serious ass in your business

Seriously… I hope you are just friggin' CRUSHING IT… cuz it really is all in your hands.

No one else is gonna crown you a bad ass… or has the right to decide whether or not you're worth of everything you want and deserve in life.

In fact, the majority of people are miserable in their lives, relationships and jobs… so I wouldn't listen to most of em… they're better off to learn what NOT to do from… it's true… if you want to have kick ass life and a rockin' business… just watch the majority and do the opposite

Most people put give all their power away to others and make excuses for every negative thing in their life, putting WAY TOO MUCH stock in what others say and do… what the economy is like.. what the "industry experts say about x" … what so and so thinks.. etc…

Most trainers put way to much emphasis on the number of certifications they have… now I know this ain't gonna make me a lot of friends… but the only people who the certifications really matter to are the organizations who make the certifications… cuz that's how they get friggin paid… handing out letters to go after your name… but besides that they're pretty much useless.

NOW, if what you LEARNED to get those certifications makes you a better trainer, or if you enjoy getting certifications, by all means do so… NOTHING wrong with that… and definitely don't stop getting them cuz I said so…

Just know this one simple fact… 9 times out of 10 the trainers with the most certifications make the LEAST amount of money ( I know plenty of GREAT and BROKE trainers… living month to month… but they gotta lotta letters after their name ) There are exceptions, but they're rare.

And… it's not like you can't learn all that stuff by reading a few books from some of the great exercise and resistance training minds of our time. LOTS of good books out there… they just don't come with cute little letters to put after your name.

SURE, you gotta be good at what you do… but some letter after your name has nothing to do with how good of a trainer you are and CERTAINLY has nothing do with how much money you're capable of making.

Ya know what the trainers who make the most money and have the most fun do?

They learn how to get from where they are now to where they want to go ( very rarely does more certifications come into play here )… they educate themselves in things like business, sales, marketing and time management... and usually even some mindset stuff thrown in there.

They take massive action in the direction of their goals… MASSIVE action… not like one or two little things… they get a TON of momentum going in the direction of their goals.

They do the stuff they makes them uncomfortable ( the only way to grow is to get out of your comfort zone…. and if YOU don't grow, chances are your business won't either)

They don't take a lot of shit from people… they give others a lot of shit either… they live by their own rules and let others do the same.

They invest in themselves and in their business… knowing that if they invest in the right things, it'll come back a hundred fold or a thousand fold or even more.

They almost always work for themselves… knowing that if you really want to get ahead they need to be the captain of the ship, take charge, take a few risks and friggin head out to sea.

Guest Post by Zach Even-Esh

I was 16 years old, a senior in high school and I was walking heading into the local Quick Check to read the most recent bodybuilding magazines.

I remember 2 dudes staring at me when I was walking in, trying to look tough.

If they woulda started shit with me I woulda used my wrestling background for some ground n’ pound, or so I thought.

You see, things went a bit unexpected, because when I stepped outside 15 minutes later, there was a good 12 or so kids awaiting to kick my ass, 1 of them was storming the parking lot screaming, “we’re gonna fight, we’re gonna fight!!”

The dude who was staring at me when I walked in was suddenly much tougher with an extra 10 guys. He called me out so I turned around, he pushed me and I did the ONLY thing I knew to do…..wrestle.

I only had 1 thing I knew how to do.

Kinda like a trainer who only has 1 way to get clients.

In business, the number “1” is the worst number unless you are # 1.

I have a SUPER important question for you… and I'd love to hear your answer in the comment section below…

In your fitness training business, what is your main 'contribution' goal?

Example, in my business… not my local personal training business, but in my info-marketing / coaching and consulting business, my goal is:

Help 1000 fitness experts make six and seven net incomes working where they want, when they want and as little or as much as they want

It's attainable, it gets me fired up and helps keep me focused on what's really important, cuz I'm as susceptible to focusing too much on the money as the next guy ( the money is important too, but it's FAR better if the goal is tied to helping others)

My goal has a far greater reach then just the 1000 fitness experts I'm helping… I'm helping fitness experts to help more people get into shape, which not only also helps THOSE people… it also makes the lives of their family's and others close to them better ( the family's of the clients the fitness trainers are helping)… and on top of that it helps the fitness experts to provide a better life for THEIR OWN families and make a larger contribution to society… so the goal goes FAR beyond the 1000 fitness experts.

I hope this makes sense.

What a great industry we're in where we're able to touch so many lives on so many levels… it's one of the main reasons I TRULY love the fitness training industry… not a lot of people have the kind of impact you do… and for that, I tip my hat to you.

Bottom line: It's really important that your goal is focused on others, it's important to have financial goals for yourself and your business, but what's your goal in terms of contribution?

Being in the fitness industry I know this is something you've probably given a lot of thought to and I would just love to hear all about it

Let me know in the comment section below, I'm really looking forward to reading it.

Two weeks ago I sat with Brad Fallon, CEO of Stompernet, in Southern California while he conceived of the new Stompernet Launch ( Stompernet still holds the record for the biggest launch in internet marketing history)

What amazes me about Brad is how fast he makes decisions.

Here it is 2 weeks later and I'm out at his home in Atlanta Georgia while the launch goes live… check out this video I made about about the power of making fast decisions… and leave a comment below letting me know your thoughts on this…

Hey there, hope you're awesome… I wanna talk about why you do what you do… and I really wanna know WHY you do it…

Lemme explain…

You see, lately I've been feeling pretty fortunate to be in the businesses I'm in…

I own a personal training business with about 15 trainers doing all the training for me ( I just market on the internet and the damn business runs itself… I gotta admit, I'm pretty impressed with this one)

I'm a blogger ( Blogging is one of my favorite things to do in the world… it's my platform to the world and serves many purposes personally and in business)

I'm an information marketer ( I sell "how to" info products… a business I love and am absolutely fascinated with… along with the 'publishing model' it probably offers more freedom than any other business model I can think of)

I'm a coach/mentor ( I work one-on-one with a few select trainers in my coaching program to build their businesses to the six and seven figure marks… helping others achieve success in one-on-one environment is one of the most rewarding things in the world to me)

And on top of the businesses I'm a husband and father of two little girls ( 2 and 3 years old)… the youngest one I'm convinced is completely insane

I feel very blessed in business and life… and part of it is because I'm very clear on why I do what I do…

And I'm curious, why do you do what you do? ( Why do you get people into shape for a living?)

I gotta tell ya… I friggin' love HBO shows… I mean HBO friggin' kicks ass ( I'm not one of those guru's who thinks people shouldn't watch any tv… a little tv can be great for relaxation)

And yes… this post has to do with your fitness business… just keep reading…

For example…

Hey there, hope you're awesome… ya know I love free time…. in fact free time is EXTREMELY high on my list of values… much higher than on most peoples.

I love free time because it allows me to…

• Spend more time with my family
• Spend more time with my friends
• Create more automated streams of income ( actually this is one of my favorite things to do with free time… create more more products and services to make more money)
• Go to the movies
• Ride my Harley
• Lift weights ( been doing a lot of this one lately)
• Read books / Study info-products
• Go on trips
• Basically whatever the hell I wanna do

I'm all about having a freedom business… and not just a business that makes me money… in fact, I could make a TON more money than I do if I wanted to work a lot more… but for me, the free time actually means as much to me as the money if not more… cuz the money's just a vehicle to freedom and security anyway… so I've found a nice balance I'm happy with…

Basically what I do is create an income source, then automate it…. it's really that simple… right now I'm at about ten of them… and I'm working on #'s 11, 12 and 13 ( in my free time… of course)

If you'd like more free time in your business, here's some tips…

Here's a quick video from master internet marketer Ryan Deiss, Ryan gets a ton of stuff done, makes eight figures a year and still lives a balanced life… spending lot's of time with his ever growing family… plus he's like one of the nicest guys in the whole world.

Check out how Ryan get's so much stuff done…

Guest Post by Adam Toohey

There are times when life has served me up lessons and I have taken a little bit of time to get the message.

Whether it be ignorance, procrastination or distraction, we all fall into the same trap. IF you are intelligent (and I know you are) you will get the lessons life serves you even if it takes time to sink in.

The penny dropping is a liberating feeling (or painful if you kick yourself) and being reminded of such lessons is a key part of life's success puzzle.

My puzzle and your puzzle could be vastly different in terms of size, shape and appearance and that all comes down to your vision.

• What is your vision and how do you intend to construct it?
• What will it look like?
• How will you know you have achieved its completion?

They are all important questions to ask yourself and along the road you must.

That road will be filled with obstacles BELIEVE ME it will be.

Which brings me to lesson number 1 - Persistence and Belief

How many of you have started (or are currently) working towards a goal, or the creation of a business or product and are experiencing an incredible amount of obstacles?

What you thought would take a week, has taken 5 weeks. What you thought would take a few months, has taken nearly a year.

It may be technology being a bitch… people sending you all their doubts and negativity… or it may be your own self doubt and fears that hold you back.

Perhaps life in general trying to beat the piss out of you… beating you down until you decide to quit.

There's a dude I know who was 3 months out of his first Body Building Comp and all of a sudden his appendix exploded (which you can die from) had emergency surgery and he ended up on the shelf for 6 weeks feeling pretty sorry for himself. Although progress has been very up and down since that blow, I continue moving forward even if sometimes it feels like I'm going backwards.

So I ask you… how much can you take? How many times can life beat you down until you decide you have had enough… and quit? Or do you say F@&% You and pick yourself up and kick some ass.

In order to do that you need to BELIEVE in yourself. That no matter what happens you will continue to push forward (persist) until that day comes when you can claim victory.

Here's an awesome clip from a guy we all know, and most of us love delivering the lesson as good as anyone can…

Hey there it's Chris, this post is gonna be pretty short.. check it out…

The majority of my income today comes because I helped people out in the past… in all honesty, this isn't my nature… well maybe it's my True Nature… but it definitely ain't the nature of my ego… which seems to run the show a lot of the times

Seriously, I was one selfish SOB for the first 30 years of my life… but over the years I've learned a few things and prefer happiness over misery… success over failure… wealth over poverty… so giving is a no brainer these days… without it I wouldn't be where I am

I'm not trying to sound like I'm some altruistic dude and that butterflies fly out of my butt or anything like that… cuz trust me, I can still be pretty damned selfish… I just think I'm fortunate enough to have learned a lesson that took 30 years and has made the last 8 years pretty damn good

My buddy Steve Hochman is one of the best givers I know… and it's made him a very happy and successful man

Craig Ballantyne is a giving dude… in fact he sent me a book called "The Go-Giver"

Most happy people are givers… as are most successful people ( I'm talking about true balanced success)

There's a simple little quote that changed my life years ago…

"I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve." - Albert Schweitzer

Check it… do me a huge favor… go do something to help someone right now and then leave a comment letting me know what you did… and if you don't have time to do it at this exact moment, commit to doing it today, and let me know what it is you're gonna do.

You could…

Recently me and my friend Zach Even-Esh were on our way to shoot some footage of renegade blogger Jonathan Fields ( Career Renegade ) in Central Park…

During our trip I grilled Zach on his biggest marketing tips…

Hey there, it's Chris… hope you're kickin ass in your fitness business and loving every minute of it… well at least loving most of the minutes… some sure are better than others aren't they?

And yes… that's me on the Harley to the right… but I don't wear the skull face mask too often these days as it scares the living shit outta every little kid in the neighborhood.

Check it out… as you know the movie I'm making is in full effect… so some of my posts will be a little on the short side for the next few months… which is GOOD… because this FORCES ME to get straight to the point… maybe I'll start creating more quick little video blogs and let my assistant load em' up… more along the lines of what Zach Even-Esh and Gary Vaynerchuk do… mmmm

The one thing I wanna get across in this post is that no matter how much fear you might be in when it comes to doing the things that need to be done to take your business to the level it deserves to be…

No matter far outside of your comfort zone you need to go…

Just remember this three word phrase…

Guest Post by Adam Toohey

Hey there, it's Chris… this is a guest post by Adam Toohey, Adam's been a regular reader of this blog for some time and I've so impressed by some of his comments that I decided to take him on as a guest blogger… you're gonna love this one… I'll let Adam take it from here

What are your deepest FEARS?

It was Zach’s first day on the job. Fresh out of completing his Personal Training Certificate he was full of energy, enthusiasm and swagger. He would soon be making AT LEAST $30 an hour for doing something that he loved. Zach loved working out, lifting weights and keeping in shape. He didn’t mind the now attention he was receiving from his sister’s hot friends too.

Zach had learned weights from his older cousin who was a stickler for form, and as such, became a stickler for form himself. After a conversation at the gym one day with a trainer, Zach discovered his passion in life was gym, and he was going to become a trainer.

So here he was, fresh out of school and ready to motivate people to getting in shape and achieving amazing results.

It was then he saw it…

Guest post by Jim Smith… "Smitty"

Hey there, it's Chris here… the following is a guest post from my friend "Smitty"… Smitty is wicked smart when it comes to systematizing aspects of his fitness business so he can get a whole bunch of stuff done in very little time.

This month we're adding some videos of Smitty explaining EXACTLY what you can do can do to get a lot done in a little time… those videos will be posted in the members only area

Enjoy Smitty's post…

You've been feeling run down lately and you just can't seem to find the time to spend with your kids or get away. Each day rolls into the next and the year is flying by… just like last year.

Well, what are you doing about it? What are you doing to ensure your long term success and improve your business? You have to start taking steps now to make sure that you can get away, you can spend time with the kids and you can be sure that your business is running smoothly.

It all starts with the processes. The tasks you do everyday. They need to be defined and optimized so that no matter who does them (the person you leave in charge when you're on the Harley) they get done right and there is a predictable outcome.

I am going to give you three quick tips to get you started…

There nothing more I love than seeing things get done for me on a regular basis without me lifting a finger. Automation and delegation are DEFINITELY where it's at..

Sure it takes a little initial work to develop the system, organize the system, find someone to do it and train them to do it, but once you have it ready to go, there's nothing further to do. It runs on auto-pilot (at least it should).

A well designed system should take very little or none effort on your part once it's in place (well, unless you're the one running your system, which you shouldn't be).

For example, here's an insiders look at my Auto-Ranking Article System (it involves a total of 6 people, 3 article writers, 1 writer / editor, 2 spinners / submitters, and a few other automated things you should see) and it runs on total auto-pilot without me lifting a finger…

Let me explain…

If you read my post the other day, you know I'm about to embark on a pretty crazy adventure… and I can't tell you how excited I am to be doing this… it's a dream I've had since I was a little kid… it's still pretty top secret but I'm sure you'll be hearing all about it soon.

LUCKILY even while I'm away on this adventure/project, I'll still be able to make money from all the systems I've created… that's what I LOVE about having systems and people to delegate them too.

Just about every little piece of my businesses are step-by-step systems that are delegated out to other people, and then I have another person manage the people who the stuff's been delegated out to.

It's actually a pretty addicting way to do business and I've found it doesn't take any more work to have many streams of income than it does to have one stream of income.

It just takes focus in the right areas… focus on creating streams of income INSTEAD of focus on trading an hour of your time for a dollar… or for ten dollars… or even for a hundred dollars

Trading hours for dollars is a small way to think… focus on systematized streams is much BIGGER and better ( and more fun) way to think… at least for me… I'll admit it, I'm lazy and trading time for money makes me feel like I'm betraying my dreams and just settling.

Here's some of the stuff I actually have other people do for me…

I love technology, right about the time you probably get this blog post from me, I'll be speaking in front of a few hundred trainers at the fitness business summit… talking about how to be a bad-ass blogging mutha f*cka ( that's my topic)

This next few months is gonna be pretty crazy for me… I'm about to jump in heads first to the biggest project I've ever been involved in in my life ( besides being a dad)… I'll be cruising all around the country doing something totally out of the box, but also something I've wanted to do since I was a little kid.

It's not a fitness industry thing, but it's something my soul has been calling me to do for a while now ( can't ignore what the soul wants)

I'll still be taking top-notch care of my coaching clients and making sure that Market Annihilator members and Kick Back Lifestyle members are getting everything the need to kill it on and offline…in fact TONS of new new step-by-step content going up into BOTH those programs on a regular basis.

But for a few months my blog posts on Kick Back Life ( the free area) MIGHT be a little shorter and a little fewer… maybe not… just kinda playing it by ear at this point cuz of the magnitude of the adventure I'm about to embark on…

I LOVE this blog, and I wanna make sure to keep delivering cutting-edge and controversial free content to help you make more money and work less hours, but this might be a little crazy for the next couple of months.

Anyhow, I LOVE having you as a reader and I wanna know something from you…

In one year from today, what will your business look like?

Let me know in the comment section below, I look forward to seeing what you have to say

Guest Post by Zach Even-Esh

This is a guest post by one of the coolest, funniest, most down to earth dudes in the fitness industry… Zach 'Killing it Bruddha' Even-Esh… This post is RAW and CONTROVERSIAL and NOT for the easily offended… but Zach nails it… and his brutal honesty is appreciated BIG TIME here a 'Kick Back Life'

Make no mistake about it, those who surround you are very, VERY likely NOT at all like you. They are satisfied with life. They enjoy going through the motions and having that routine.

They love the safety net they have and rather than live their dreams they watch reality TV and dream their life.

That's a safe way to live. Steady pay check, pension, health insurance - that stuff rules, especially when you have a family.

It's also extremely tough to let go of, but, nothing Great has ever been achieved without great risk.

Babe Ruth was not only the Home Run King, he was also the Strike Out King because he ALWAYS swung for the fences, he didn't want to hit a single or double. Besides, you and I both know Home Runs and Grand Slams are what we REALLY want.

You're a rare breed, that is why you are here, reading this very post and all the other posts on this Blog that give you goose bumps.

These words help you push onward and upward, against all odds, especially those who surround you on a daily basis.

99.9% of people will tell you how crazy you are, they will try to talk you out of "it" and tell you to keep doing what you're doing. You know, keep that safe job, don't be stupid, yadda, yadda, yadda

Guest Post from Adam Toohey

The following is a guest post by Adam Toohey. Recently I wrote a post about a few things I've learned along my path of being a fitness entrepreneur… and Adam Toohey wrote a comment in the the comment section I was so impressed with I asked him to do an in-depth guest post on some of the things he talked about in his comment… check out what Adam has to say…

Picture this… It's 7am, you are walking around like a little lost sheep, hoping that at any moment something or someone will throw you a lifeline and drag you out of the now cesspool that you are drowning in. You think to yourself, "What the Bloody Hell am I doing here? I have made a big mistake, why…

Why did I do this?

Stupid, I should have just stayed with what I had, with what I was comfortable with. At least I would have been getting paid a normal salary. At least I don't have to be THERE for 14 hours. At least I didn't have to worry about doing my own marketing, or getting my own business. I didn't pack enough food, AND even though I have these breaks in between, it is not enough time to go home and chill. What if business is slow in the first month? How will I pay my rent? I have my car payment… and what about the bills?

Ahh… welcome to the world (one world) of the Personal Trainer. Yep, that was me around 2002 and I have no doubt that it could have been, or was you too. (BTW I never resorted to Tuna/Diet Coke Protein Shakes….uuggghh) Since then I have been between jobs, played PT on Cruise Ships and ended up right here in Toronto, Canada.

Now we have heard the many stories of us PT's working like dogs, 70 sessions a week, (of which we get paid 50% for if we're lucky cuz we work for a BIG GYM) then be expected to work out and stay in shape all while dealing with the financial strains of living from pay check to pay check (i.e. Broke) and yet we had been told of this magnificent career where you can get paid up to 100 an hour. It is true, you certainly can and the reality is that most of us do not start out like that. Some of us are still getting nowhere near that and yet we have this desire to break out and achieve more, to help more people, to make more money, to live an extraordinary quality of life.

For years I walked around with a sense of unease and discontentment that varied anywhere from slight to explosive…

I'd look around at all the other guys I worked with all day and whatever was bothering me didn't seem to be bothering them… they were content to have a sh*tty life.

After years of trying to figure out just what exactly was causing me all this inner torment it hit me one day…

Hey there, Chris McCombs here… first of all I want to thank you for being a reader of this blog… I hope you've been enjoying all the free content

Second, I'd like to ask you to leave a comment at the bottom of this post answering a pretty important question for me… but before you do, check this out…

Ya know… I'm pretty damn passionate about marketing… I LOVE it… with every cell in my body I honestly LOVE it…

And because of marketing strategies my days go pretty much exactly how I pictured a few years ago when I wrote out a goal list of what I wanted my typical work days to look like… it's incredible how my days are pretty much spot on with the vision I had for myself…

And this really trips me out… cuz it doesn't seem like I've had to do a lot to get here… I pretty much stopped going to school in the 11th grade… in fact I'm confident most of the readers of this blog have a higher I.Q. than me, are better educated and are harder workers

So the following totally trips me out…

Here's what a typical day looks like for me today…

Hey there, Chris McCombs… it's been a while since I've done an actual post myself… been busy with about six projects, helping my private consulting clients grow their businesses as fast as possible…and besides that just hanging out with the fam.

Luckily ever since this blog really took off in popularity ( it's the # 1 fitness business and marketing site in the world right now according to Alexa… and you can't argue with that… thank you valued reader)… there's been a ton of people applying to be guest blog posters… and honestly I turn down 95% of the offers for various reasons… one being that I want to make sure and only provide you with top notch and fun to consume information here… but I have taken on a few people who I really feel like they know what the hell they're doing.

So I hope you've been enjoying their posts, the feedback has been awesome… THANK YOU.

Today I wanted to bring you post with quotes from a few of my favorite renegades… I love people who live on the edge, speak their mind and push the boundaries… in all honesty normal people bore me to death.

If you work a nine to five job and the highlight of your week is watching American Idol… well… you probably aren't all that interesting. ( If you're a regular reader of my blog I highly doubt you fall into that category cuz you'd have been turned off a long time ago… I do get hate mail pretty much every week… I'm well aware my blog isn't for everyone and that is ON PURPOSE.)

The following quotes are from some true out-of-the-box thinkers who probably have as many enemies as they do fans… but these dudes are the real deal, and we can learn a lot from them.

Here ya go…

1. "I'm in the Gene Simmons business"

Guest Post by Kaiser Serajuddin

This is guest blog post from Kaiser Serajuddin. I love Kaisers writing style and what he has to say so he's now a regular contributor for KickbackLife.com

You know, there's a pretty interesting phenomenon that goes on in personal training and the fitness world in general …

It's how some independent trainers have it really easy, can get clients anywhere, and have to turn down more clients than they take on …

… while other trainers have a complete mental block to achieving results like that. They assume they're false and dismiss them. The only problem is these trainers will keep working at the same gym for the same pay for years on end.

If you're one of those trainers, I've got news for you - I've asked around and the verdict is in: you can make big money easily as a personal trainer. This isn't just me being funny, talking pie in the sky marketing nonsense, or talking only about my own experiences.

It's reality, and Chris' and my blog should have opened you eyes to that. So then what's this difference between the haves and have-nots?

I was able to break it down into one mentality - it's something you may have heard of before, but right now we'll talk about it as it applies to Personal Training:

It's the abundance mentality.

What does the abundance mentality mean?

Check it out…

Whenever I do screen capture video I always do a quick test to make sure it's working… cuz I don't know if you've ever used screen capture software but there's nothing worse than spending 47 minutes making some killer "how to" video and then finding out you forgot to plug in the mic or something… ( trust me, I've done it)

So today, just like I always do I did my little 8 second test, but before deleting like the rest of em' it I watched it and thought you might like see my strategy, not only does it apply to testing screen capture software but it applies to SO MANY things in life

And it's only 8 seconds long… check it out and hopefully you'll pick up a few quick tips you can use in your own business ( make sure your volume is up cuz this is super important stuff)

This is the real behind the scenes stuff that you're NOT supposed to see, but I figured what the hell, I'll share it with ya anyway.

As you might of heard I just recently opened the doors on the Kick Back Lifestyle Club with my buddy Zach Hunt. Zach is a long time coaching client of mine who I'm so impressed with I asked him to partner with me on the Life Style Club.

Basically it's a members only area of KickBackLife.com with a focus on not only making more money (which it does focus on), but also getting more done when you do work, being more productive, having more free time, less stress and owning a fitness business that really works around your ideal life.

Cuz for me, money is awesome, but if I gotta slave away night and day to make it… no thank you.

The Life Style Club is loaded with audio and video about how to create a business that not only gives you financial freedom but ALSO free time ( gotta love that damn free time)

And we're adding lots of new video and audio to the club on a monthly basis…

Here's a transcribed excerpt from one of the audios from this months materiel. And if you want, you can try the program for a buck, just go here.

Guest Post by Dustin Maher

Here's a guest post by fitness professional Dustin Maher about outsourcing some of the busy work in your fitness business. I personally I am HUGE fan of getting other people to do most of my work for me, just like I did in the now famous fitness marketing post.

The buzz word of late in the fitness marketing world is outsourcing. Tim Ferriss made this even more popular with his New York Times bestseller, 4 Hour Work Week.

What exactly is outsourcing?

I'm writing this blog post from the cozy abyss of my home office. My daughters are upstairs taking a nap and the wife is running my errands (gotta love wives). I've got some John Coltrane playing in the background on my itunes, think I'll listen to some Al Green next, or maybe step it up and put on some DMX or Metallica… maybe even some PANTERA.

The other day (from home) I did a tweet that said "I f**ckin LOVE working from home, anyone lovin' it?"

Within just a few minutes, here's some of the tweebacks I got (tweetbacks, twitbacks, twatbacks… whatever the hell they're called)

"amen brother"

"Dude…. Workin from home is sick… especially when its -35 celcius outsid"

"I do have to say that I love being able to spend a lot of time at home."

"I'm with you!"

"Working from home rocks, beats a cubical any day!"

"the only thing about working from home is sometimes it is difficult to stop working"

"except when there are cookies in the kitchen and laundry in the hamper. Kinda distracting"

Exclusive Guest Post by Jim Labadie

Recently I took on a small select group of guest blog posters. My bud Jim Labadie is one of them… here's a new exclusive post from Jim…

You are surrounded by enemies. You might now know it. You might not believe it. But you are.

An invisible battle is being waged all around you. And some of the people you have trusted the most are your own worst enemies.

Just about everywhere you turn someone or something is trying to hold you back from becoming everything you can be. This is not conspiracy theory. This is not hype. This is the Battle for Your Life.

You CAN have it all, so to speak. You can…

Make millions (or billions) of dollars

Take lavish vacations

Provide an incredible life and education for your children

Give untold amounts of time, money and energy to your favorite causes

Have really cool cars

Live in an amazing house

Create incredible value for others and make their lives better

Truly help your fellow human beings overcome and triumph against all odds

You can live a life that most people cannot even begin to imagine is possible. But to "have it all" you are going to have to win the Battle for Your Life.

For most people life just kinda happens to them.

They're at the mercy of circumstance, hate their job, hate their spouse and are bored out of their f**king mind.

Then there are those who design life to be just how they want it. I call these "Lifestyle Design Bad-Asses"

Here's a quick post I whipped up about how to be a lifestyle design bad-ass…

There are some things in life that are just friggin' cool… like 70s soul music.  I'm talking about Al Green and Marvin Gaye and that kind of stuff. 

Also, Johnny Cash is pretty damn cool.  I don't know too many people who would disagree with that. 

Chris Hansen busting guys trying to get laid by 12 year olds they met on Myspace… now that's pretty damn cool as well.  In fact, I think above owning a personal training business, Chris Hansen has the best job in the world. 

I think one of the keys to driving your business forward is to use time blocks, especially blocks of uninterrupted time that are focused on doing the most important things to move your business forward. 

Every day you should be setting aside a minimum of one to two hours to do the most important things to move your business forward.  If you can spend more time than that, all the better, but at least one to two hours. 

Here's a little video I created that shows how I'm able to get an insane amount of work accomplished in just a few short hours of actual work each week. It was out of sheer laziness and my dislike for working long hard hours that made me seek out and create rituals in my own life and business that allow me to work very few hours while having a business that continues to grow and allows my family to enjoy a level of financial success that I never thought possible. What's really cool about these strategies is that they can work for ANYONE… I guarantee you, that if you integrate these same rituals into your own life you'll soon be amazed at just how much you'll be able to accomplish in such a short time.

All growth, whether personally or in business, is going to happen just outside a level of where you are comfortable with. If you're not willing to get outside of your comfort zone then you're probably not ever going to grow your business to level where it could be. Not to sound harsh, but those are the facts.

The good news is that EVERYONE gets uncomfortable and experiences moments of fear and doubt, so you're not the only one. The people who succeed the most aren't the ones who have no fear, they're actually the ones who have acted in spite of their fear, they felt the fear and acted anyway.

I suggest you do something every day that makes you uncomfortable. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable… just accept that that's part of life and business and know that the razors edge that separates those who succeed in making their vision become a reality and those who don't is whether or not they are willing to experience fear and act in spite of it. Remember this phrase:

Action Alleviates Anxiety

When you're in action and moving towards your goals you're not allowing yourself to be paralyzed by the fear, you're taking action in spite of the fear and in doing so you alleviate the fear. The paralysis of inaction is a much more scarey and dark place to be then experiencing the fear while you take positive action in the direction you want to go.

By guest author Logan Strain

One of my favorite techniques for relaxing and getting loose is called “progressive relaxation.” It was developed by the psychiatrist Edmund Jacobson and first published in 1929 (which means it no doubt came in handy for many distraught stockbrokers.) It works for me because it breaks the relaxation process into tiny, digestible bits, and the overall experience is very refreshing. You have probably run into a variation of this technique if you have ever taken an acting class, guided meditation, or spent any time on a shrink's couch. The reason it comes up so frequently is simple: it really works, even for the most tightly wound.

To start, just lean back in your chair, both feet on the floor, with you hands in your lap. Feel the weight of your feet and consciously relax them, letting gravity pull them towards the floor. With your feet loose and relaxed, sense your legs, feel their weight, and relax them.

By guest author Logan Strain

Outsourcing can free up a lot of your time, but it can also lead to a lot of headaches if you do it wrong. Here are some solid guidelines that will make sure your every outsourcing experience goes smoothly.

Clearly Describe the Project – The first step to getting the right candidate is clearly defining what you want done and the qualifications of the ideal applicant. This will hopefully deter candidates who may not have the skills or experience you are seeking, and give the successful candidate a good idea of how to go about doing the first project

Don’t Go Cheap - “You get what you pay for” sometimes goes for outsourcing as well. While it is entirely possible to get ace work done for very little, don’t always count on it.

By guest author Logan Strain

Step number one towards squeezing the most productivity possible out of every day is keeping a time log. This means for seven days, you should keep track of how you spend your time. Record how long it takes you to get ready in the morning, track how many minutes you spend eating breakfast, clock your commute, etc. It sounds like it might be tedious to log every single minute of your day, but by the second day it will feel totally natural. At the end of the week, add up every activity

What are you good at?

What are you passionate about?

What are your highest 5 values?

What brings in the most revenue in your business?

How much of your time is spent doing those things that you're really good at, are passionate about and bring in a lot of revenue?

Do you know?

Have you ever written it down and looked at it?

It can be a real wake up call…

I know what I'm good at and what I'm not good at.

I'm good at strategizing, marketing, creating sales systems and creating win-win relationships.

Multi-tasking is about the biggest waste of time I can think of for the small business owner.

Too many health, fitness, and wellness professionals and business owners, spend their time jumping back and forth between phone calls, e-mails, text messages, responding to customer's needs, dealing with employees, all at the same time and they're not giving any of this stuff their full attention.
One of my favorite marketers, Eben Pagan talks about how multi-tasking lowers the IQ more than smoking pot. Well I 9 out of 10 small business owner that I know are absolute multi-tasking stoners, hitting the bong of countless interruptions…we're all guilty of dipping into that sack one too many occasions..

The problem is that when we try to get 10 things done at once we're not giving anything the attention and presence it deserves.

It's a hodge-podge of endless little to do's as we jump from little task to little task and at the end of they day, we didn't really do anything that needed to get done to move the business forward.

E-mail used to be fun and exciting and was supposed to make our lives easier and our workday more efficient.

Unfortunately this is rarely the case. Today the inbox has turned into a wrathful place and many of us are full fledged inboxoholics, even though we know it's bad for our workday and productivity…just like your drunk uncle knows the Jim Beam and prostitutes are bad for his marriage, he keeps giving into the temptations of the night…

I honestly feel my blood pressure rise and heart rate speed up every time I open my inbox, part anticipation and part dread to find out who screwed up what and how this might waste some extra time of my workday…time I should be spending on truly important tasks instead of putting out some fire.

I came back after a holiday one time and had FIVE HOURS of emails. That's when I decided that my current email system sucked and it was time for an overhaul.

There's an Asian Philosophy called something like "The Art of Leaving Things Undone"

If you're a personal training business owner you most likely have well over 100 things on your to do list. That's just the name of the game when you're in business for yourself.

Unfortunately most entrepreneurs get so caught up in the day to day busy work and unimportant ( yet seemingly urgent ) tasks that they never have time to get the important strategical tasks done to move the business forward.

I like the A, B, and C pile method.

If it's super important and you're the only one who can do it then it goes in the A pile.

If it's super important and you can outsource it then it goes in the B pile.

If it doesn't fall into either category then it goes into the C pile - which is the waste basket.

And the goal is to move as many projects from the A pile to B pile and from the B to C pile as possible so you can really get the important A+ level tasks done.

As entrepreneurs we want to make sure everything gets done now and that it gets done correctly…but actually this isn't the best mode of operation for moving the business forward.

Storyboarding is an incredible time management strategy. It's a way prioritize and reprioritize your tasks and give you a visual overview of the things that need to be done in your business to move it forward. I learned this time management strategy from Dan Kennedy and tailored to work for myself and business. The difference it has made has been profound and I'm sure if you use it you'll reap a similar reward.

Here's the video tutorial:

Chris McCombs (CM): I’m here with William Tiller. Bill, who are you and what is it that you do?

William Tiller (WT): Well, I’m a physicist who was a Stanford professor with the Department of Materials Science for 34 years after spending nine years in the industry at Westinghouse Research Lab. And now I am an emeritus professor. I live now in Arizona, northern Arizona, and I have a laboratory that I built here to do experimental research and theoretical search in a topic which I call psychoenergetic science, that I have been working on in parallel with my conventional science for the lat 35 years.

WT: That’s fine. So, next. I guess you want to know what is psychoenergetic science?

Chris McCombs (CM): All right, I am here with Geovanni Derice. Geovanni, who are you and what do you do?

Geovanni Derice (GD): Well Chris, basically I’m a personal training business professional out of Brooklyn, New York, and I’ve currently train people, men and females in their homes. So, I pretty much run that business just providing them with solutions and workout programs to actually achieve their personal fitness goals.

CM: Geo, what is your typical day look like?

It is very important to have rituals set in place every work day that allows you to get the things done that you need to get done in your health club or personal training business. There should be scheduled blocks of work time and scheduled blocks recovery time. Just like in weight lifting, a muscle needs to be worked, and then a period of recovery needs to be allowed for that muscle to get stronger, before the next workout, the same is true for work in the business life. I schedule blocks of time of 90 to 120 minutes of intensely focused work time, where I will focus usually on a particular task with short breaks in between those periods of time. These short breaks are usually anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour. Here is an example of my current daily rituals.

I own a small, locally based personal training business, but I choose to work from home. This saves me from the day-to-day commuting that most small business owners need to do. The location where most of my business is done is about 10 minutes away from my house with no traffic, but with traffic, it's about 45 minutes away and since I live in Orange County, California, there is so much traffic on the road that this would take me an hour and a half a day to commute to and from work.

Now, if I were to commute I can use this time to make business phone calls or listen to relaxing music or to listen to some marketing CDs, but the truth is I would rather use that time to get some real work done in my office at home, or so I can get off earlier or get to work later, see my kids more and have more time for things like exercise and meditation.

This morning I am on my way to a Master Mind meeting (I'm creating this blog posting using Copytalk, the dictation will be in my inbox in a few hours) and I am amazed at all the people on the road going to their crappy little day jobs like ants to the piece of crumb on the kitchen counter (some people do truly love their jobs but I bet 90% wish they were doing something else)

I found a great little nugget of a service that really helps me to create content on the go. It's called Copytalk. If you're creating a blog, or an eBook, or a hard copy book, or an article, or even need to send out a long e-mail, all you need to do is call your Copytalk number, put in your pin, talk away and they will make the transcriptions of what you say.

A Fitness Business Time Management Post by Chris McCombs

We've all been there…busy all day but didn't get a damned thing done. Don't you hate that? It seems to be a common frustration for every small business I know. Up early, home late, and they weren't able to get one thing done to move the business forward because they were so busy doing all the little stuff that needs to be done to keep the business going and put food on the table.

The simple truth is that if these business owners could just avoid and/or properly manage the following list of time wasters and energy killers better they would be free to grow their business in profound ways:

1. Multi-tasking - Every time you have to shift gears to work on something else, you're not giving the original thing you were working on your full attention. It is very important to absorb yourself with one thing at a time, give that thing your fullest attention and complete it (at least the part you were planning to complete now) before moving on to the next thing. Give the tasks you work on the attention they deserve, otherwise most things will be done half-assed.

2. E-mails - E-mails are one of the biggest time wasters known to man in the modern world. They can be an important and valuable tool that can be used to get business done more efficiently but the sad fact is that my business owners let their inbox rule their workday.

A Fitness Business Management Post by Chris McCombs

I love doing something that I enjoy but ALSO makes me money. In my teens, twenties and early thirties I worked many jobs that I couldn't stand. Slaving away to fulfill someone else's values and make them rich was not something I enjoyed. One job I did enjoy was being a bouncer but bouncers don't make much money, plus you gotta deal with a lot of drunks…not my favorite crowd.

Today there is something I love to do, I do it 5 days a week and it has multiplied my income many times over…

I learn. That's it…I learn. I learn what needs to be done to make a lot of money and have happy life with a lot of free time to enjoy it.

Today there are books, cd sets, audio sets, seminars, teleseminars, forums, blogs, membership sites and mastermind groups on just about any subject you want to know about….even if you're into some pretty sick stuff, which hopefully you are not.

I knew all those years I was running around answering phone calls, checking emails, dealing with my employees, helping my customers and returning text messages that somehow I was being unproductive. Here's one of my favorite marketers Eben Pagan talking about this same subject