PTR #58 - I spent 4k on CPD last year.

Here's how I spent it.

The PT Roadmap

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Last week, I asked for movie recommendations as I had some free time. Someone recommended the movie Rounders. Thank you, kind person, who doesn’t want to be named. It was excellent.

Here’s the Wikipedia description:

“Rounders is a 1998 American drama film about the underground world of high-stakes poker, directed by John Dahl and starring Matt Damon and Edward Norton.”

Let's get into it!

Business

How I spent 4K on CPD last year

I didn’t like school.

I wasn’t good at it, and I struggled to focus.

If things had been different, I’d have been a joiner for the council. I got down to the last 4 in the apprenticeship process when I was 16.

But instead, I stuck around and finished school so I could head off to Uni.

I didn’t enjoy the education much there either.

Even though I was studying exercise.

Too formal.

Too much stuff I had zero interest in.

But in my final year, as I was trying to figure out what to do with my life, I stumbled upon the world of Personal Training.

As a gym instructor at my Uni, I must’ve spent hundreds of hours on the PTDC, T-nation and Bodybuilding.com forums. Easiest job I’ve ever had that one.

And I’ve been hooked ever since.

I loved the practical nature of learning about being a PT, and running a PT business.

This love of learning hasn’t withered.

And last year, I spent £4,000 on education.

Here’s how I spent it and what I’d rate each of my purchases out of 10.

1) Mentoring with AF Mentors

Cost = just under £2K

Rating = 8.5/10

After leaving Lift the Bar and knowing I needed help getting my mentoring business off the ground, I shopped around.

I was looking for someone I:

  • Liked

  • Trusted

  • and knew had built something similar to what I wanted to build

I’ve known Emma Storey-Gordon for a long time. I’ve watched her build AFM into what it is today and enjoyed how she’s done it.

I worked with her for 2 months.

It was exactly what I needed. Solid direction, insights based on Emma’s experience building her mentoring business and, most importantly, results.

Her guidance helped me get my first 10 clients.

My only critique was the cost. I wasn’t earning enough to keep paying Emma’s rate.

I’d have also loved more 1-1 contact. The way it worked when I was a client was 1 call every 2 weeks.

This influenced my decision to offer weekly calls to my mentoring clients. In a similar way to 1-1 PT, I believe more contact at the start is a great way to get going. More support when you need it most.

2) Courses.

Cost = £1.5K

I purchased 4 courses:

  • Justin Welsh’s content operating system - This came at a good time and helped me formalise my content system. It’s short and very actionable. If you’ve been creating content for a while and want to create more of a system, I recommend it. Rating = 7/10.

  • Sukh Sidhu’s email marketing machine - I haven’t finished this yet, and what I have worked through has felt more like a how-to-start email marketing rather than guidance on the actual doing. Rating (so far) = 6/10

  • Sukh Sidhu’s phased launch - I used this course to launch a social media challenge, which sold out. It was helpful and filled with templates. I’d 100% do things differently next time as I took Sukh’s templates and didn’t spend enough time making them my own, but it was perfect for giving me a framework to launch a new product. Rating = 7.5/10

  • Dan Smith’s Magnetize Your Market - I have little experience in lead magnets. Dan does. And this course promised to help me get one off the ground. It’s helped me do that with the launch of my PT Biz Quiz. Really useful course if you’re looking to get a solid lead magnet off the ground for your online PT business. Rating = 8/10

3) Books.

Cost = £300-400

Ah, books.

I love to read, and I love to learn from reading. Give me a hardback, a highlighter and a notepad, and it’s easily one of my favourite ways to learn.

Here are a few I enjoyed from 2023:

There you have it. 4 grand of CPD broken down. Let me know if you enjoyed this one. I enjoyed writing it, and I suppose that’s half the battle.

This Week’s Tip: Local Facebook Groups

Facebook groups can be a goldmine for clients.

Here’s how one of my mentoring clients recently used them to get over 60 leads.

She ran a competition to win 14 days of free PT by guessing the number of easter eggs in a jar.

We picked the group that contained the highest number of her target market (anxious female gym goers) and wrote the copy in a way that called this person out.

She received private messages from people who didn’t even enter the competition asking to start PT, and she’s got a list of 60 people to work through and offer a free session. As well as a couple of lucky winners who now have 2 weeks of PT to use that may convert.

Social Post

Taking your clients through a deadbug or hollow body hold exercise?

This drill from Anna Wish is great for keeping core tension.

Attach a band to a rack. Stick it under the client’s back with enough tension that if they lose their core tightness, it’ll ping back.

Thanks so much for reading.

Until next Friday, Stuart.

Want to score your personal training business and receive customised recommendations for improving it?

Take the PT Biz Quiz.

It’s free, takes just 2 minutes and will tell you where to dedicate your time so you can:

  • sign up more clients

  • improve your marketing message

  • and run a more systemised business.