Don't Buy Ads: Grow Your CrossFit Box

I.P. Law - for Non-CrossFit Gyms

Perhaps to your surprise - maybe to your chagrin - CrossFit has exploded worldwide. This is good for everyone: pulling people toward higher levels of fitness changes the paradigm. If you run a yoga class, 'boot camp,' or spin class, get ready to benefit from the trickle-down effect.

Driving this tsunami, at least partially, is the tectonic-size social effect of CrossFit. Our pictures are everywhere: beautiful, inspiring pictures of performance and the athletic aesthetic. Well-written essays, professional photography, motivational stories, and professional video. Heck, we're on ESPN2, and every shoe company is trying to get on the bandwagon with their own training videos.

It's tempting, isn't it? There are pictures of our athletes everywhere. Some have motivational text added. Some have incredible abs. It's so EASY to right-click, or drag; to save and re-post as your own.

What is Intellectual Property (IP) ? 

Just because something appears on the internet doesn't mean it's free. Though it may be intangible - just a bunch of organized pixels - the concept is owned by its creator, just as surely as if it were made of clay. Use a picture that I own? You might as well break into my house and steal it off the mantle. Less broken glass, sure, but still theft.

The difference between 'Sharing' and 'Borrowing'

Hitting the 'share' or 'like' button on social media is okay, because it gives attribution to the creator of the picture or essay. Hitting 'like' denotes your passive acceptance - you 'like' something, obviously - of something you find on facebook. Hitting 'share' means you think it's important enough to show your friends. 

Saving a picture to your own hard drive, and re-uploading it - modified or in its original form - as your own, without permission, is theft. Permission is NOT implied online. When in doubt, ask for permission, or don't use it. 

Q&A:

Can I use the term, "CrossFit' on my website if I'm not a licensed Affiliate? No.

Can I take pictures from CrossFit.com and make them my profile picture? No.

What if I crop them? No.

What if they're REALLY awesome? No.

What if someone else did it first, and I take it from THEIR site? No.

What if I'm a hippie with a sense of entitlement? No.

What if I'm not a corporation, but just a tiny person? No.

What if I'm a supplement company? No.

What if I'm a hyoooooooge fan? No. Sorry.

What if I'm just registering a .com so that I can have it when I Affiliate? No.

The really tricky stuff:

What if my web designer uses copyrighted material, and I'm not aware? You're liable. Call 321GoProject.com - 435.901.2173

What if I take a picture from a third-party site, instead of its original owner? You're liable.

Take a picture found with Google image search? You're liable.

Copy a block of text that you found REALLY motivating on LisbethDarsh.com, and paste it on your own blog? You're liable (and lazy. Just ask permission and give credit.)

A New Fitness Landscape

As gym owners, we're accustomed to carrying insurance for liability, damage, theft, and fire. Some of it seems a bit overboard...but it's necessary in our litigious climate. 

The new coverage you'll be considering when you renew? IP Defense. In case you're sued, your insurance provider covers your attorney fees up to a certain amount. It may seem superfluous, but some gyms to whom I've spoken have been hit for up to $1800 per picture. 

NO ONE wants to pay a lawyer with money that could go toward a new rower. Be careful out there.

The Real Solution

Affiliate. Join the movement. CrossFit has the lowest barrier to entry of most new businesses. Do it right.

Why Write A Book?

In 2008, I combined my philosophy that I learn BEST when I paraphrase and teach with the new knowledge that I was gaining in business. When I started posting on DontBuyAds, I was telling myself stories. I was writing because I love writing, and because I didn't want to forget any of this stuff.

When we started studying psychology, behavioural anthropology, and neurology for Ignite, the applications to the business world were immediately apparent. Our brains are not those of our ancestors; our thoughts are not those of our parents. Our business is not the gym business of the 1970s, the 1980s, the 1990s...or even the modern-day "low-price lifetime membership" model of today.

Nearly 400 posts later, I started worrying about forgetting stuff. Affiliate owners and coaches were emailing questions about problems I'd encountered years before, and I wanted to send them the best answer I could provide. I also wanted to arrange the content from this blog, and many other things I've learned, into a more cohesive process. 

This book is the sum of 7 years of experience owning a gym, 9 years' experience coaching before owning a gym, hundreds of calls with other gym owners, big mistakes, and big victories. There's a lot of research, and many stories. 

I'm a member of the CrossFit Media Team, a position that's been incredibly rewarding. However, this book does NOT reflect the opinions of HQ, and though some on the Media Team will read it, they weren't asked to edit the book because the act would constitute a blessing they won't want to give, in the name of objectivity. 

Cover design by the magnificent Clay Weldon of 321GoProject.com, with whom I'm lucky to share the joy of helping new and existing Affiliates make their businesses better every day.

Enjoy. I sure do.

(click the book to buy it.)

The Ditto Revolution, Part Two

In my previous post, I outlined two challenges (and one compliment - sorta) that had confirmed my belief that Big Globo is attempting to steal our identity. One, in particular (the theft of a picture from our site, used to promote their event) was especially egregious.

There are positives from such obvious chicanery. It's much easier to galvanize a movement when the 'enemy' is concrete and known. Bush knew it; other governments employ the "Us vs. Them" to distract their citizens all the time. My Catalyst Family rose to the occasion, further distancing themselves from Globo, where many had attended before they found CrossFit. It pulled everyone together and got us looking in the same direction after a summer of disjointed attendance.

We face, as Affiliates, the same threat on a much larger scale. Education is our only solution. This afternoon, I'll post a link on our site comparing CrossFit to 'boot camp'; tomorrow, I'll talk about something else.  If we can talk about it, we can teach the difference. How will we start the conversation? How can we get the CrossFit world - the Affiliates, the bloggers, the athletes - looking in one direction, and uniting against the REAL threat?

To coordinate support for any cause, you need an emblem that is simple to understand, easily shared, and descriptive. We need a rallying point that is immediately recognizable.

I give you the NotEqualTo sign.

By itself, it doesn't carry any relevance. However, using the social meme tool, and adding words that strike home with YOUR clients....now we have something.

If you like, download this graphic, and add your own meme. CrossFit NotEqualTo BootCamp. CrossFit NotEqualTo SpinClass. CrossFit NotEqualTo 3x8-12. Take it, insert the knockoff in your town, and let your members share.

Here are some we'll be using:

Right click and "Save Target As...' on a PC. On a Mac, drag and drop. Add whatever you like, just make sure you have the right to use the word, "CrossFit." Tag clients. Let them make it their profile picture. Let them share. Let them start the conversation.

 

What Makes US Special?

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to sharea plane ride with my first business mentor (frequently referred to as "The Consultant" in many posts on this site.) I was on my way to Boston; he was headed to Toronto for more Consulting work. At $500 per hour, he has no trouble filling his time. 

He also usually draws a crowd, even on a commuter flight, so our conversation was a short one. I mentioned that I was helping others in the role of Mentor for 321GoProject.com; he was pleased. "You've certainly earned it," he said. I asked what he meant. I expected him to say, "You've made more mistakes in 16 years than most make in a lifetime," but not this guy. 

Instead, The Consultant picked highlights of our business from his memory:

• We're the first CrossFit Affiliate (and, likely, the first Garage Gym) to receive funding from Insurance Companies, at least at this magnitude.
• We're the first gym to run studies, at our own expense, purely in the interest of helping our clients.
• We're probably the first gym ANYWHERE to win "Innovation Company Of The Year," an award that spans ALL industries. We beat out energy companies, Tech companies, and inventors.
• We're bigger than a 'gym': people who haven't been here in two YEARS still identify themselves as part of the 'Catalyst Family.'
• We're probably the first gym in the world to offer math classes, guitar lessons, drama, and French Tutoring on the same nights as Strongman, Powerlifting, and CrossFit groups.
• Our adherence rate (93% last year) is almost exactly DOUBLE that of the fitness industry (47%.)
• The Catalyst 'Family' is a top-level goal of our business. Not a means to an end: a corporate goal. "You have enough friends YET?" he joked. "No," I said.
• When people 'leave' Catalyst, they very rarely leave forever. They don't join a GloboGym, for instance. They just take a break.
• We're perhaps the first gym to have a library where our Family brings books to share and takes others home. This is a member-driven initiative; we don't have library cards.
• We have (possibly) the lowest monthly rate of any CrossFit Box in the world, but (equally possibly) the highest monthly revenue per member. 
• People identify themselves as PART of Catalyst, not a Catalyst 'client.' They take ownership because they achieve self-fulfillment here through education, donation, and sweat. We do a LOT of fundraisers, and for many, this helps fulfill their spiritual needs.

Yes, it's impressive that The Consultant could remember these things off the top of his head - but he IS a genius, after all. When folks visit YOUR website, what are three things they'll remember three months later?

What Makes You Special?

In addition to editing "Two-Brain Business," my new book about building and operating a successful CrossFit Box or Garage Gym, I'm incredibly fortunate to be on the CrossFit Media Team. My role, beginning a few weeks ago, is to collect stories for the new Community Page.

It's a LOT of fun. Every day, I hear a new story about a CrossFitter doing something extraordinary. These gifts of great empathy and courage sometimes happen within their Box, and sometimes outside, but ALL list CrossFit as a driving force.

Surprisingly, and perhaps sadly, the majority of these stories are buried. Even when someone like me, who WANTS to share your Affiliate's special purpose with the world, is creeping your website...your special stories can be tough to find.

After reviewing over 300 sites in the last week, I'm surprised to find:

• Almost half of all Affiliates don't have their contact information on their main page.
• Almost 30% of all Affiliates have a 'contact us' form, but don't give out their email address ANYWHERE.
• Around 40% of Affiliate websites send a new user straight to their WOD page. 
• Most Affiliate sites don't have an obvious point of differentiation, even in more crowded centres.

Answer this question: WHY US? 

The average lifetime value of a client is nearly $10,000. If I'm on your site, and can't find a convenient way to ask questions about my knee injury...I'll just ask the next guy. He'll know.

What to DO?

You know what's going on. At least, you've read all three sides.

In a nutshell:

Greg Glassman's ex-wife, Lauren, is selling her share of CrossFit. She currently owns 50%. She's selling to Anthos Group, whose spokesperson in this case is Bryan Kelly. Bryan claims to be a CrossFitter with solid motives. Coach suspects otherwise.

Your stake:

Currently, you pay annually to license the use of the word, "CrossFit." 

Your risk:

Some pay more than others, depending on when they signed up, but even at the high end ($3000/year) the gross return should be 100x the fee. That's one hundred TIMES, not one hundred percent. We don't own shares. Though the outcome can affect us, we don't control the dogs in this fight. We don't get a vote, no matter how powerful our hashtags.

Your options:

Await further instructions. If there's something to know, we'll know. From Coach to a CrossFitter:

Anthos has gotten a commitment from Lauren to sell them her shares once the divorce is final. The divorce is held up over the disposition of CF Inc. 

We have every advantage in this battle I could hope to have. We are on the side of righteousness and the law; our resources are greater financial and legal. Our numbers are stronger. 

Nothing is going on here beyond our letting our brothers and sisters know that evil lurks and we're on it. You need to take no action.

It might feel like a drive-by to some, but this is the level of our entitlement. It's not a democracy. No one is 'selling out.' It's a custodial lesson: if you have partners, it could happen to you. 

Jeff Tucker's facebook post was a good one:

I'm going to sit back and wait until someone asks me for my two cents on this, meaning those that matter - which I bet will not happen and I am okay with that too. So rather than getting all alarmed by moves I cannot control or have input on at this moment - I will wait until the actual battle starts and then suit up the armor and ready the horses...

As for me, I'm going to do what I aim to do every day: open ten minutes earlier than posted. Smile at everyone at least once. Find a subject to post about that's relevant to my Catalyst Family (hint: this ain't it.) 

Nothing will change for my members in the short- or long-term. If CFHQ asks for help, they've got it. Until then, I won't pace or fantasize. If I'd known in 2008 that the brand was half-owned by an investor, I would have signed up anyway. It's still miles and miles better than owning a GloboGym, or being at the top of the soon-to-be-announced P90X "trainer" program (spoiler alert: the 'P' is for 'pyramid.')

I believe in Coach.

How To Retire

An excerpt from my upcoming book:

Two years ago, I was sitting in a stiff-backed office chair in a tiny room with my business mentor. The lights kept going out. On automatic timers, they responded to movement, and I was so riveted that I wasn't fidgeting enough to keep the lights on. That office chair was beginning to feel like a therapist's couch.

"What's your biggest fear in business today?" he was asking, and I didn't have to think long at all.

"Retirement. I'm putting NOTHING away." I said. I'd been brought up at the feet of regular RRSP contributors, who maxed out their annual contributions for tax refunds. My parents had every conceivable form of 'safe' investment; I hadn't contributed to a retirement plan for 5 years.

"Well, don't worry about it. You're not going to retire." he said. My blood pressure spiked. "You're not the kind to retire. You're always going to be doing something." He said. Strangely, that put me at ease. It may not do the same for anyone else.

Tim Ferriss' first big seller, The Four-Hour Workweek, shared several novel ideas about the relationship between 'work' and 'time.' Instead of massing a lump sum over 30 years, and then stretching it for another 30, Ferriss advocates "mini-retirements" throughout one's lifetime.

The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich (Expanded and Updated)

Rather than trying to save 600,000 by age 55, take one whirlwind vacation and settle into a pattern of driveway-watering, Ferriss champions the idea of three-month "mini-retirements" while you're young enough to enjoy them. Twenty thousand dollars, spent judiciously, can get you out-of-country for a year at a time, if you choose. Ferriss goes into great detail in his book, which I recommend.

Rather than work stoppage, then, we may consider work abatement. We can think about rest time. Call it 'active rest,' if that makes you feel better about it.

For many entrepreneurs, a change is as good as a rest. There are two parts necessary for you to walk away from your business, a week or month at a time:

1. Solid business infrastructure, so that staff can run the business (no business runs itself);

2. Cash flow that doesn't depend on your presence (though cash flow from your LEGACY is fine.)

More on this topic, including Investment at startup, and investment through your gym's lifetime to provide hands-off income, will be included in my book. First editions, crudely edited, will be available at the Ops Seminar in Fort Lauderdale on August 11; nicer copies will be available by the end of September.

The Label Problem

Fitness is a model of ubiquity. It's everywhere. Everyone's involved, on one side of the curtain or the other.

If you're not asking advice, you're giving it. The process involved in flipping sides - from asker to responder - has shortened; many are now both teacher and student at the same time. Expertise is inferred by number of posts on internet bulletin boards. 

Your title, "Personal Trainer" has devolved. Fifteen years ago, you were the purse-dog of the elite: viewed as an unnecessary accessory, a display of wealth ("I can PAY someone to count my repetitions for me.") Ten years ago, you were the unfair advantage; the specialist paid to give a professional (or child of a parent with money) a leg up. Five years ago, you became the hobbyist. Today, you're my neighbour. EVERYONE is a Personal Trainer. EVERYONE has access to information - good and bad - and can print their own business cards overnight.

In CrossFit gyms, we differentiate ourselves by calling one another "Coach." As the system germinates, sprouts, and flowers, the description of 'CrossFit Coach' becomes generic - and, with its definition, so does the title. WE know that one CrossFit Coach isn't the carbon copy of another. Our clients do not.

When you have computer trouble, you call your 'computer guy.' When you have car problems, you call your 'mechanic.' When everyone in an industry shares the same label, newcomers don't know how to discriminate between those selling the service. The ONLY way they can think to discern different is to ask your price: "How much is a membership to your gym?"

If they know your story in advance - if they've been referred by another client - you avoid this trap. If, however, they see you on television and DON'T know, then they may think you're a commodity, and try to sort based on commodity pricing. "CrossFit Yellow costs more than CrossFit Orange," they'll say, "so I'll try Orange first."

Unless the label's different. If you're not under the same category in the yellow pages, wearing the same name tag, and putting the same search terms in your site's code....

Blue Ocean Strategy

When I opened Catalyst, I was in competition with EVERYONE: the gym down the street, the 'Personal Training' Studio next door, the doctors and nurses and health writers. EVERYONE was mowing my grass. They were telling people - my potential clients! - the wrong things. They couldn't possibly help anyone as well as I could.....

This forehead-smacking ideal was reinforced by my partners. "We want to put everyone else out of business!" they'd exclaim. "Don't put your ideas on a website - people will steal them!" Game for competition and drama, I'd lap it up, and then heap more on the top of the compost pile.

In short, I'd fight. I'd wake up mad, and go down swinging. It sustained me. I was wrong about my opponent, though.

A week or two ago, I mentioned that a new gym had opened a block away, and that a few of their members were trickling over. No one asks if we're worried about the 'competition,' because we now understand that we're not IN competition. We're so different that we almost warrant our own category. We're not 'a gym.' We're Catalyst. We do CrossFit, Personal Training, and have MMA in the back. We also help people with autism and serious brain injury. We teach guitar, drama, math. We run up mountains instead of walking on stairclimbers. We're an experience.

Tonight, we'll be attending an awards ceremony where we've been nominated as Innovation Company of the Year. How does a gym fit into a category normally reserved for algorithmic athletes and Alternative Energy experts? 

By taking a step to the left. We don't compete head-on. Our 'competition' isn't other gyms: it's sloth, bad habits, ignorance, depression. Our fight isn't against CrossFit AreaCode: it's against the khaki bureaucracy of the healthcare and education systems. 

In nature, the species without natural competition thrives until it dominates the landscape. It becomes so overwhelming that, eventually, it gets sick of itself. I'd like to see what that feels like. 

The Creativity Paradox

The right hemisphere of your brain is most commonly associated with creative tasks. It also handles most of the stuff we identify as desirable character traits: spirituality, empathy, a sense of shared identity. It's where the intent to speak is formed -where ideas are put together. When your client asks, "How do you dream this stuff up?!? Do you lie awake at night thinking of new ways to torture us?" You can just tap your cranium and say, "Nah, it's just my right hemisphere."

When we're describing ourselves in a personal ad, or online, or in a resume, we boast about skills borne of the right hemisphere. "I'm very creative," you'll say. "I'm spiritual," or, "I work well in a group." It's these tendencies that we prize, and for that reason, we tend to value the right side of our brains as more important.

New gym owners think about the white canvas: what will my gym be? How will we behave? What will it look like? How will I program? They see themselves, the Great Artist, painting a landscape that turns itself, layer by layer, into a masterpiece. It's a beautiful process, and perhaps the triumph of entrepreneurialism: your practice is your art, and your gym is your medium.

But.

No one thinks about the easel.

No one thinks about where the next brush is coming from, how tightly to stretch the fabric. No one thinks about building the frame.

This is the world of the left hemisphere: the organizer, sorter, translator. A beautiful idea, left untold, is just a dream. Your empathy, unshared, is just a prayer. The left hemisphere organizes thoughts into language, objects into numbers, randomness into programming. Without the left hemisphere to form concrete ideas and actions, the right would be left to its own mute conceptualization.

In a franchise model, you get a shrink-wrapped, "just-add-water" colour by numbers kit. Not so with a garage gym, martial arts studio, or CrossFit box. What you get are instructions on plucking the hair of the horse to make the brush, perhaps, or how to fold black into red to make bloodtone. This is the way we want it, right? We want to be right-side Creative; free to experiment and make mistakes; to build our wings on the way down.

Or, maybe, just a little help with building a frame....