Transcript
Speaker 1:
Human Vortex Training and Menachem Brodie present The Strong Savvy Cyclist and Triathlete Podcast, where we talk strength training, physiology, psychology, tech and much more to help you get fitter, faster and stronger in and out of your sport giving you expert insights, talking with other leading experts, and now your host, world leading strength coach for cyclists and triathletes, Menachem Brodie.
Menachem Brodie:
Hi everybody and welcome to this episode of The Strong Savvy Cyclist and Triathlete Podcast. Today is episode 40, and it was recorded on Tuesday, April 21, 2020. And this is very rare for us here at The Strong Savvy Cyclist and Triathlete Podcast, usually we record one to three months in advance, we have a schedule for the podcast episodes that are put up. If you remember, back in February we took a little bit of a break because we had so much that had been done and a little bit of burnout. And what we have now is this week and the next couple of weeks you’re going to notice that most of these podcasts will have been recorded that week or the week before.
The reason we’re breaking away from the schedule we had set out is two fold. One, I hear you. Literally, you the listeners here and those who have liked and followed and given reviews here for this podcast, I hear you. You’re coaches, you’re athletes who have your own small businesses whether it’s coaching or not, and you’re looking to get more out of your business, you see opportunity out there, you’re growth mindset oriented and you see opportunity, while others are getting worried, you’re getting excited. But you would like to have more resources and the ability to be able to grow your brand or business, and to help more people. So what we’re doing here this week, we have a friend of mine, a coach, a mentor as well. A great mind when it comes to health and fitness and has helped, I think at this point it’s safe to say, probably thousands of fitness professionals and business owners to grow their businesses and to help hundreds of thousands of people at this point to improve their fitness in life.
Eric Malzone has his own podcast, I strongly recommend heading over and following the Future of Fitness Podcast and making sure to give it a five star review as you’ve already done here for The Strong Savvy Cyclist and Triathlete Podcast. Now why would I say that before you even listen to his content? Because it is fantastic. I am telling you, you go over there, he has Dan John, he has Dr. Eric Goodman, Max Shenk, there are a ton of fantastic interviews with fitness professionals over on the future of fitness podcast, and it is a must listen if you are serious about helping others to grow and to get stronger.
Now before we get into the interview today which we recorded here on the 21st of April, just a little bit of a heads up, the next couple of podcasts are recorded the same week or the week before. The reason is, I hear you, the listeners. I hear you, I see your emails, I’m in constant contact with quite a few of you actually who are coaches or small business owners who are growth mindset oriented, and you said we would really like to hear some more content about how to build our business and to help more people. So, this week Eric is part of Level 5 Mentors, and you can find them online at Level and then the number 5, Mentors dot com, to help grow fitness businesses and fitness professionals to grow their business to help more people and to become what you know you can be.
Eric is a fantastic individual and he is the first really, of this series. We’re going to have quite a few others coming up including a PR specialist and we’re next week going to be talking with two coaches. Well next week will be one, the week after, Jill Bauer and Tony Gentlecore, two great coaches who are living the lifestyle, just straight shooters shooting from the hip and calling it like they see it. And the reason this is important is because there is a lot of pressure out there right now on social media, on Facebook, on Instagram, for fitness professionals and coaches to give away free stuff.
Well my friends, if you look at the best coaches out there, they’re putting out the same kind of content they were before, one name that comes to mind is Megan Calloway, she has her Ultimate Pullup Program coming out, she’s listening to her membership and her viewers as well and she’s releasing it a month early because of Corona. And also Mike Robertson has been putting out a number of different videos as I have on Instagram to help people just perform better. We’re not going out and putting out these crazy free workouts or giving away our stuff for free that’s out of sorts for us for two reasons. One is, in my opinion, we’re professionals, we understand that one crazy workout isn’t going to help you get fit. And it’s also quite a bit of fitness shaming.
Now I said back here a couple of weeks ago on The Strong Savvy Cyclist and Triathlete Podcast that I haven’t been working out as much, that was before I announced that I was taking a break. And also on my YouTube lives, the almost daily coaching vlog which is usually up between 10 and 11 AM Eastern Standard Time. I also said, I’m out of shape, I’m not working out as much as I would like to or I feel I should. Yet there is a ton of fitness shaming and people that are feeling worse about themselves because they feel like, “I have all of this time, I should be working out more.”
It’s really important to recognize that you need to do the best that you can, and that’s all that you can do. And some days it’s going to be, “I feel lazy and I feel like I should do something.” And you do a set of 15 air squats, and that’s what you get for the day. And that’s okay, recognize where you are, recognize that things are out of sorts, as we had Alan Heary on the podcast, these are things that are very challenging mentally but are going to allow you to progress as long as you stay true to yourself. And we heard last week with Chris Case, co host of a Fast Talk podcast, talking about finding a purpose for every single ride. Sometimes that purpose is because you just need to move. And sometimes the purpose is not to do it because you’re not there mentally, and that can be okay. If that’s the case, do something to keep yourself healthy in another way. Maybe it’s doing a mental health exercise, maybe it’s going out for a walk instead of doing a half hour high intensity ride on the trainer.
Don’t get swept up into doing things that you’re not quite ready to do, and at the same time, there are times where you need to start before you’re ready and that’s also important. So speaking of starting before we’re not ready, completely ready, I did that here myself, we announced the 60 challenge over on the Facebook page as well as my private page and Instagram. And I started with these folks when I had only the first month officially hammered down. I knew what I was going to do the first four weeks and I knew the rest of the program and how it was going to go but it started, I put it out there before it was 100% done.
Why? Because people needed that, and already we just had our first group call, it sounds like the RPE’s are perfect, they’re right on point. People are getting exactly what they need out of it, it’s a small tight knit group because we’re refining the program before it’s released out to the general public. Now another program that I have that was announced before it was ready was the strength training for cyclists certification, and that is going to go up for sale here, we’re going to open it in May for about two weeks because a number of you have been emailing, asking, “Hey, are you going to put it out? It’s Coronavirus, I’m stuck at home, I’d really like to take it, I missed it last time.” So we’re going to put that out in May, I don’t have the official dates yet, we’re still uploading some updates to the course including some how to coaching videos about the deadlift, the press, the pull down, the pull ups.
We have quite a few new things being added to that strength training for cyclists certification including a three pay option. So instead of having to pay up front in one lump sum, you can now put it over three months. So that’s my housekeeping for today, these are things that I wanted to share with you because just be honest and put it out there. Start before you’re ready but don’t feel like you need to go a thousand miles an hour, start with one thing and then be consistent. You are what you’ve done over the last two weeks, so for me up until about two weeks ago, I was a couch potato working on training plans and trying to figure out how to best help people. I wasn’t putting out these crazy workouts for free on Instagram or putting up YouTube lives that I couldn’t commit to or that would be crappy because I’m trying to do too much.
It’s a matter of doing what you know you can. Yeah, stretch a little bit as far as what you think you can do, but don’t push yourself over the edge, this is a marathon, this is a long haul thing that we’re going through, event. And lastly, a couple of you have emailed saying, “Hey, what cycling or coaching books, or exercise physiology books are you reading? I see you’re reading Rule One Investing and Mastering The Market Cycle by Howard Marks, shouldn’t you be reading all of these fitness books and all of this other stuff you said you want to read?” I don’t have to, I don’t need to, now is the time to make sure that I am 100% firing on cylinders for those that I am working with, for those that come to me looking for the best possible results and looking for a better way to do their strength training. That’s my job right now, is not to continue necessarily to grow, but to be there to serve people the best I can.
So speaking of serving the people the best that we can, lets get into today’s interview with Eric Malzone. Now as mentioned at the beginning, Eric and I go back actually a couple of years here, I was in a mastermind group that he was running. And he turned into from that, being a coach, into a mentor and now friends. And as you will hear today, Eric is full of fantastic information and great insights that can really help you to refine your personal small business or your coaching business. Now today we focus in on coaching businesses because quite a few of you out there are coaches, and I encourage you to bring your notebook, take notes, and to contact Eric, as you will hear he is very accessible, LinkedIn and Facebook, and I strongly recommend that you follow him, both the future of fitness podcast as well as his Facebook because he has got lots of great information. Without much further ado, let’s get into today’s episode 40 with Eric Malzone on how to stay growth oriented in your mindset and to grow or get started in your coaching business.
Eric, thanks for coming on, man.
Eric Malzone:
Menachem, always a pleasure man. I thoroughly enjoy our conversations so I’m sure this is going to be another fantastic one, so thank you, I appreciate it.
Menachem Brodie:
Yeah, it’s a pleasure and I’m really excited to actually get you in front of other people because we have worked together for what was it, two and a half years or so? A lot of good came out of that, a fantastic skill set, and very needed right now in the fitness industry. Looking at cycling and triathlon in particular, especially triathletes, now I don’t have a goal event, well what do I do now? Lets talk a little bit about in West Philadelphia born and raised, everything got flipped, turned upside down right? But now it’s not West Philadelphia, it’s the whole world. So what are some things that we can look at? Where can we stead ourselves when we don’t have that guiding North light of an event upcoming?
Eric Malzone:
Yeah, it’s a really good question Menachem, and I look at today’s recording is the 21st of April in 2020. I think that’s important because right now everything is changing so quickly. I think the last maybe three to four, maybe even five weeks depending on where you are in the world has been a total whirlwind, everything has been completely turned upside down, all of the change has been shaken out of our pockets and we have this bully thing called Coronavirus that’s just changing everything. And I’m in the United States and what we saw for the first couple of weeks is panic, small business owners pivoting hard trying to figure it out, some people are just throwing the hands up in the air, but from a societal standpoint we saw this huge rush of adrenaline, right? And a lot of people took immediate action, some people froze, some people just spun their wheels and started giving away everything for free, and you’ve seen it all right?
And now i feel like we’re settling into a moment of, a time of acceptance, okay well this is the way things are, right? Things are uncertain. Gym owners, I’ve talked to a lot of them and unfortunately that’s a tough spot to be in but they’re all starting to make decisions about okay, well what happens if I don’t make it through this? And so collectively as a society, I think we’ve seen an adrenaline rush come through, now we’re starting to see a little bit of a settling into whatever this new normal, people are just trying to accept that hey, this is really here, it’s effected me in my personal life at least three ways now and it’s real.
So I think from that perspective, from a macro perspective, that’s what’s going on in my eyes, everyone’s effected differently. Now when we look at the fitness and health profession and coaching, we can talk about that even more, we’re pushing into uncharted territories but we can kind of see what this may look like now, right? On the other side. And I think that’s the most important thing, if you’re always eyes forward then you’re starting to see what’s happening and I think, whatever you want to call it, I call it the hybridization of coaching, which you and I both do a lot of remote work, right?
So it’s not a huge thing, but people who may not be used to that are going to start to see that and for this particular audience, here is what I think that the real big silver lining is, is that professional coaching, if you’re a good coach you have a bright future because no matter what the medium is if you’re a good coach you know how to communicate with your clients, you understand their goals and you understand how to help them get there no matter what the circumstance is, whether they’re stuck at home or working with you in person, if you’re a great coach you know what to use, right? It’s just a matter of which tool you have at your disposal but you understand how to use, so that’s really good news. I think the professional coach is going to be very highly regarded moving forward and maybe the time of the personal trainer who sits there and counts reps and trades time for money, that’s going to go away pretty quickly if it’s not gone already.
And that’s something that, if you have followed the fitness industry you have known for a long time that that model is broken, right?
Menachem Brodie:
Yeah.
Eric Malzone:
And this has just quickened the pace of the way that we have had to change and evolve. So a lot of hardship man, obviously everyone knows that, there is a lot of silver linings now that we’re starting to see and I think it’s a great opportunity for people who are entrepreneurial. Maybe you and I talked about this too, is that I had a conversation with our colleague Kate Jaramillo. And once the whole thing hit we were like, “God, did you feel calm right now?” She’s like, “Yeah, yeah I really do.” I went, “I wonder why that is?” “Oh, it’s because we’re always uncertain, right? We don’t have that false security blanket, as entrepreneurs we’re always uncertain, so now everybody is uncertain and we feel really at home.”
Menachem Brodie:
Yeah.
Eric Malzone:
So it’s an interesting thing, right? So now is definitely the time to not be idle, I guess is the point, it’s really you can sit back and just wait and see how things go or you can be an active participant in your future and I think that’s the people I like to talk to.
Menachem Brodie:
And for those who don’t know you, you’re saying this not as a bystander, you owned a crossfit gym for a number of years and then sold it at a profit if I’m not mistaken.
Eric Malzone:
Yep.
Menachem Brodie:
You took to the road, you skied I think, what is it? 180 something days this year, something like that?
Eric Malzone:
Oh, man I fell short due to the virus. 57, yeah I shooting for 70, but.
Menachem Brodie:
Okay. But the point is that, and your podcast, you and I met from the Fitness Blitz Podcast which is a quick 15 minute, off the cuff, so to speak. But now you have the aptly named Future of Fitness, so just for the listeners at home, Eric is not sitting here calling it from the sides, he is not arm chairing this at all. He has been in the weeds, he served as a mentor and a coach, still does for me, and a lot of what he’s talking about is very pointed. From my perspective also, and we talked about this I think last week, a lot of coaches now feel that they’re fish out of water. For one of my posts I put out that coaches can contact me and some have, and that’s what we’re seeing, is those that have committed to progressing themselves first and foremost, and growing knowledge, they’re excited.
Eric Malzone:
Yes.
Menachem Brodie:
Those who are interested or dabbling in virtual sessions are now like, “Well now nobody has a choice so we’re going to do it.”
Eric Malzone:
Yep.
Menachem Brodie:
What about those coaches who now are seeing it’s a little bit late, now they see the road sign, the writing was on the wall and they’re like, “Oh, that’s nice.” How do they adapt to what’s going on, what would you say are the number one or two things they should be focusing on right now?
Eric Malzone:
Yeah, okay well I think, thank you for all of that. And yeah, I am still deeply involved in the fitness industry, I talk to a lot of different people. So I’m not just looking at this from a analytical view, I’m actually talking to a lot of people. So I think there is one big question that people need to ask themselves first, right? If you’re a gym owner, a coach, a trainer, whatever it may be, is you have to ask yourself do I want to make it through this, right? And that question is hard, it’s a hard question. You can ask a lot of, and I will just talk about gym owner because it’s such an easy avatar to discuss, is maybe you’ve been running your gym for five, six, seven years, you haven’t made a whole lot of money, it’s more of a job than an actual business, you haven’t figured out or had the opportunity to work with someone who can help you turn it into an actual asset.
And you’re thinking right now, do I want to take on debt? Do I want to force my way through this or is now my opportunity to step away and walk away without losing any skin, or pride or whatever it may be that you’re worried about. So that’s the big question number one. Number two, if you answer yeah, I do want to make this through this. Okay cool, now is the time to actually take action. And it doesn’t have to be perfect action but it has to be action, you can’t be idle. Whether it be over communicating with all of your current clients and finding out exactly what it is that they need, and really being that, more than a trainer or coach at this point. That’s the opportunity, because if you’re a coach for a trainer, you probably have access to people’s lives that no one else really has. You probably have seen them multiple times a week, you have multiple touch points with them, they have a relationship with you and right now is the time to be more, right?
Over deliver and really over communicate with those people, that’s the first thing is don’t just sit back idling and hope that people continue their membership with you, or their subscription or whatever it is at your service, you have got to be over communicating and not waiting for the other shoe to drop. So that’s the big thing, and then not really taking a step back and being like okay, what is the new normal going to look like? What do we know for sure? Well we know that people are now working out from home, not as many as we would have liked, the statistics show that people are being kind of lazy right now but there is a very captive audience there. And the big question you have to be asking yourself is okay, now that the traditional model is being flipped upside down, where we in the United States and North America, we fought over the same 20% of people that always go to gyms.
Only 20% of people actually engage in either a gym membership or some kind of fitness routine. That leaves 80% in North America, that number globally is 1%. So 1% of the global population actually engages in some sort of coaching or fitness program. Now what about the other 99%? That’s where we can start focusing now because the tools that we’re building whether it be virtual classes or applications or online remote coaching, whatever it may be, this is now putting in place systems that we can access the other 99% of the world. So that’s the opportunity, right? And if you look at it that way you’re like holy cow, that’s a monstrous opportunity and it is, it’s really exciting. Now we’re finally setting up the infrastructure and people are getting used to having their fitness and their coaching delivered in a whole new way, and that provides a ton of opportunity for us in the industry, for those who decide to stick around, I should say.
Menachem Brodie:
And I think that’s one of the unique things that we have, and it’s also fairly prevalent in the strength training or the personal trainer world where people have a professional in one thing and then they start personal training. A good friend of the family, his name is Rich Walter, he’s out of Pittsburgh, inspiring story, you’ve spoken to Rich on your podcast.
Eric Malzone:
Yeah.
Menachem Brodie:
Had a stroke, he did a complete 180 in his life and he wound up running a marathon I believe it was, or a half marathon after having a stroke. So he is I think, in a growing, or what’s grown to be the majority of the fitness industry, is people who don’t come in as young trainers, they come in, thirties, forties, realizing how important fitness is. So what about the coaches who are professional in something else and now either are furloughed or laid off, I’ve spoken to a number of physical therapists who want to take the USA cycling test or the USA triathlon test. Let’s put it this way, I think both you and I started our fitness business, you had a physical gym, very different completely different. And I started mine in the midst of the 2008 collapse, right? That’s both of us.
Eric Malzone:
Yeah.
Menachem Brodie:
So we did it because we just love it, right? We were like, we’re going to succeed no matter what. What about those who are listening who are just nervous, they’re like, “Well I don’t have a job, or I’m furloughed so I need to do something.” What would be a word of wisdom you would have for them having gone through that and seeing what you have seen now?
Eric Malzone:
Yeah, well I think number one we are talking about people who are probably sitting at home anxious, trying to figure it out. And the number one cure for anxiety is action. So do something, right? I personally invested in a coach, I think every great coach or mentor or anybody who is worth their salt should have a coach or mentor of their own, so that’s what I decided to do. And that’s what I’m working on now, and you know what? From a financial standpoint, April may be my best month all year, right? Here we are in the middle of a quote unquote disaster. But getting back to your point about recession is that when I look back when I started that brick and mortar business is I found a piece of information that I don’t even know if it was right, but I clanged on to it and it just said something like, in times of recession what do people spend money on? Alcohol and gym memberships.
Menachem Brodie:
Yep.
Eric Malzone:
I was like, that’s all I need, I’m not going to read anything else. That’s all I need and I’m just going to go and do it. And I think you can find many reasons not to take action but all you need is one reason to take action, and I would cling to that, look for hey, now is the time to become a great online coach, that’s all you need to know. Cling to it and take the action and keep moving forward, because if you start thinking about all of the things that could go wrong, or how things could change, then you have to have one eye up, and seeing where things are going and being aware of things around you. But ultimately if you let things, all of the negative news and of course all of these people saying the fitness industry is dead, it’s all, if you cling to that you’re not going to ever get to where you want to be.
So it’s really much a mindset thing, and you and I both know that everything starts with mindset. So number one, find something that you feel is really a positive opportunity that you truly want to do and then start taking the action because you’ll A, feel better, and you will probably be doing something that’s moving you forward even though it may not be in the perfect direction because you’re going to auto correct as you go, but get moving. That’s the point.
Menachem Brodie:
And I think something to pull out from another area of life that I’m starting to study or have been is important, this whole thing with people saying that the fitness industry is dead, what’s dead is these gyms that are barely breaking even by offering super cheap membership and relying on people not showing up. That’s what every regular gym goers and trainers complaint, or most point of aggravation, is New Years. Because you get all of these people come in for 14 days, maybe 18, and they take up all of the equipment, they have no etiquette, they don’t know what’s going on, they mean well and then they fall off for the rest of the year. So it’s like that three week inconvenience.
But there’s also the dead cat bounce as they call it in the markets for investing that I saw in 2007, 2008 when I started, and this is coaches and trainers who are getting into it because they understand that there is a need for it but they’re in it for the money. They’re not in it to help people, they’re in it to help themselves, and I saw a very quick falling through of the clients to the coaches who were there as professionals. And I think that’s an important point for people to possibly understand and explore is that we’re going to see a huge influx of people claiming to be online trainers and they’re not going to be as good as you are because you started coaching in person, you have two years experience, it matters. And to coaches that are hesitant to online, how would you say they should, is it playing the card of yes, but I’ve been coaching? How would you suggest or think about taking I have this experience, we’re moving online, or you’re joining me as an experienced coach versus hey, I just got my certification and now I’m training people online?
Eric Malzone:
Yeah. Okay, well I think lets look at macro and then we can get into actual steps to take. Because this is something that I love talking about but I think as you look at the push to online coaching, and I interviewed a good friend of mine who is the COO of OPEX who is very well situated to be great. They’ve been remote coaching for a decade, right? Their systems and their personnel and their training is, you can’t compete with it unless you’ve been doing it for a long time. So there is going to be the people who are already setup to excel because they put the time in, right? Let’s just set that category off. And then on the other side, you have the race to the bottom, right? So you have the people who are getting online, they’re charging 50 bucks a month American and it’s a price war down to the toilet and you don’t want to be in either one. You can’t win on either side right now.
So let’s talk about the middle, right? And I think the middle is where most people are who probably have some experience, they’re great coaches, they truly have a great desire to help people and help them succeed in their fitness and health goals and as maybe a coach in cycling, to get to those goals too. So I think the first thing you need to do is not get overwhelmed, so keep it simple. And we have a continuum that we talk about, and we is Ken [inaudible 00:28:34], my business partner. And it’s like okay, if you can keep it simple, right? As mentors that’s our job is to get it really simple for people, then you get clarity. Okay, I understand that, I can see that vision now, great. When you get clarity, then you get confidence to be like yep, I can do that, absolutely, right? And then once you get the confidence, then you actually take action, called engagement.
So it’s that continuum, simplicity to clarity to confidence to action, and that’s where you need to start is just keep it really simple. And one of the best things to do is really define who it is that you work with and who deliver the best results for, right? And you can come up with something that’s like, hey, here is an example. It’s like if you had your perfect client, and you want to give them, what is the best possible service you can give them, right? What is that? Outline it, what is the best possible service you can give them right now? That’s your product, and charge accordingly, right? Hey, if this is a $5000 program that lasts six months or whatever you want to do, three months, then build that program and keep it simple, and that’s going to be your messaging, right?
And I do think right now is a really good time to also think about something that gets you excited. Hey, what’s your ideal lifestyle going to be? How does this play in to it? What is the business that will support that? Because now we’re getting in to the remote world and everything is changing, right? It’s just happening a lot faster than I thought. So I think that’s number one, is really get it simple and boil it down to who you want to work with, what is the best possible service that you can offer, and then build that out, start building that out.
Then next thing is you’ve got to get visible, right? And this is where people are going to get uncomfortable. Maybe you’re not used to doing social media, maybe you’re not used to hosting a podcast, maybe you’re not used to being on podcasts or speaking on stage when those events come back. Whatever it is, you’re going to have to get visible, it’s just that simple, so get used to it, it’s now your thing, okay? Whether you like it or not, this is what you’re doing. So just accept that and don’t worry about it, just get out there because it’s just part of the process, the more you do it as you know, Menachem, the more you do it the more interviews you do, the more interviews you host, the more content you produce, whatever it is you’re going to have to get visible and get out there. So that’s really important.
And then we talk about get committed, right? So this is my five G’s by the way, I call it five G because everyone loves 5G right now. And you’ve got to get committed, and one of the things that people do all the time is they, I don’t know where this quote came from, maybe you can pull it out Menachem is that people overestimate what they can do in a year but underestimate what they can do in 10. In that if you want to build a really successful business, the business of your dreams, right? Then it’s going to take some time. So you’re going to have to get committed to it and realize hey, this is the long haul. You don’t just do things for a week or two and be like, ah, it didn’t work. It’s not how things work. I know people who, Tony [inaudible 00:31:40], Eric Sutter, friends of ours Menachem, who have been blogging for five years, 10 years, 12 years, right?
Hey, and that’s just part of the process. So and then also, really don’t worry about the vanity of metrics, I think when people start getting into the visibility of things, they’re like how many likes did it get? How many views did it get? Don’t worry about that, just stick to the plan, keep doing the content, right? Seeing what resonates, what’s more importantly is like, even if you start getting some negative comments on your stuff, I think that’s great. It means, if you look at an audience of 100 people, if 80 of them hate you and 20 of them are your adoring fans, you have a great business. That’s all you need to know, so don’t worry about how many likes and all of that, just worry about the consistency in your messaging and all of that, that’s really important.
And then last, not lastly but one of the big things too is you’ve actually got to get started. I think we have, I could think of a million reasons not to start something, right? If you want to start a podcast, well what platform should I do? What’s the name of it? What’s the logo? What’s all of this, right? And you’re like oh, god, what do I do? And then it never starts.
Menachem Brodie:
[crosstalk 00:33:01].
Eric Malzone:
Yeah, me neither. But the point is, is like oh, you want to start a podcast? Cool, record your first episode.
Menachem Brodie:
And post it.
Eric Malzone:
And post it.
Menachem Brodie:
Record it and post it. Who cares?
Eric Malzone:
Yeah, who cares? In fact record your first five, and that’s the big thing is I recorded, 600 podcast episodes later, I recorded my first 10 not even having really a name. I didn’t even really know what I was going to ask the people, I’m like, “Hey do you want to come on my podcast?” They’re like, “Sure.” Right? Dan John was number three.
Menachem Brodie:
Yeah.
Eric Malzone:
I was amazed, I’m like, “Hey, I have a podcast do you want to be on it?” “Sure, call me tomorrow.” What? Wow. So just get started, I think that’s the, start before you’re ready because you’re going to feel that way. Start pitching your product, start going out there and trying to sell it, reach out to people, whatever it is just get started before you’re ready because once you start doing these things then the process will start to refine as you go.
Menachem Brodie:
Right.
Eric Malzone:
Right? I have helped people launch anywhere between six and 12 week programs that are for their ideal clients, their signature programs, right? And they’ll sell it before they even know what they’re going to do in week one.
Menachem Brodie:
Yep.
Eric Malzone:
Right? Well do you believe you can help these people? Yeah, yeah I can. Well then sell it. Okay great.
Menachem Brodie:
And yeah, that was one of the points I wanted to pull out [inaudible 00:34:17].
Eric Malzone:
Build as you go.
Menachem Brodie:
Yeah. That’s one of the things I wanted to pull out from all of this, there’s a couple but I see all of these trainers giving away free workouts, and the first response to that, a workout is not a method, it’s not a way for you to get better, it’s just working up a sweat. And for some of us, myself included right now, that’s better than nothing right? But don’t be afraid to charge, even if it’s 15 bucks, say it’s a six week program, $15. That buy in is important, not for you, it’s not a matter of you getting paid, it’s a matter of the person on the other end having value. For example, I just had a very long phone conversation today with one of the parents of one of the kids for three years I’ve been giving a very big discount. And now we’re all online, it’s a lot of work, and they’re like, “Well I don’t want to pay that, I’m going to pay this.” I’m like, “No that’s not how it works.”
So when you don’t denote that value, you wind up kind of reaping what you sow, if you don’t believe in yourself to charge what you’re worth, it’s going to be a very long uphill battle. So starting off with free workouts, you can say, “I’m doing three free workouts, after this it’s going to X.” But allowing people to understand that there is a value there and this is part of the washing out of the trainers that don’t really have a system, they’re just giving you a good workout and getting your heart rate up, that’s great for a month but then what? We saw that with the boot camps back in the mid 2000’s, you have all of these people running boot camps and then all of sudden there is only three because those were the ones that were progressive and had a guiding rail to take you where you needed to go.
One of the other things, a lot of people don’t know this, you know this but most people don’t. The first episode of this podcast, you and I had spoken, you did a coaching call with me two days before, this is when I was on Global Cycling Network. The first podcast was recorded in the hotel room as I was getting ready to go record a full day of GCN video for them which ultimately wound up not getting used because they wanted really short and you know me, I’m not that way. But that’s the point, because you were like, “Just do it.” And I was in the hotel and I’m like, “Eric said just do it, great.”
So many of the great coaches are so afraid to put themselves out there because it’s not perfect, it’s not good enough. So how do they get over that obstacle?
Eric Malzone:
Well perfect is your enemy. And we touched on it earlier, where hey if you’re anxious then start doing some action. If you’ve been thinking, “Hey I want a podcast.” “Hey I want a Facebook community.” And whatever it is that you want, just start it. You can record it, you may never have to publish it, but I guarantee if you just by taking the action of doing the thing, you will want to do more things. Right?
When my wife and I made the decision to sell the gym and start living remotely in to wherever we wanted to go and travel more and do all of these things, it was, if you looked at the task at hand it was overwhelming. Okay, well we’ve got to get approval from her work, we’ve got to figure out how to do workstations, you’ve got to figure out where to live next, we’ve got to rent out the house, I have to prepare the house for renting, I’ve got to sell this business, right? I’ve got to sell shares to my other business, like oh my god, screw it, I don’t want to do. No that’s not how you do it, I just, well what’s the very first thing I need to do here? Okay I’m just going to write down on a piece of paper a list of five people who I think would be potential buyers for my gym, that was my very first step.
What happened from there? Well then I scheduled a meeting. No no no, I take it back, I figured out I’m going to need an NDA so I went and got and NDA online, a non disclosure agreement. Okay, well what’s next? Well now I’ve got to set a lunch meeting, right? So you just take one little step at a time but once you start those steps the momentum builds right? And then you go from there. So whatever it is, if you’re thinking about the overall end result, you always have to have that in mind because that’s what directs your actions subconsciously and consciously. But the biggest thing is just okay, lets just use the podcast example, you want to record a podcast? Okay well list the things that you need to record your first episode. That’s it, that’s all you’re going to do today, right? And then tomorrow you’re going to take action on those three steps, right?
It doesn’t have to be anything major you just have to start moving forward and it’s the same thing that we each our clients in fitness, right? It’s like, no dude you don’t have to go out and do a 60 mile ride in your first week, right? Maybe just kind of size up the bike, do a couple of intervals, that’s it. Try on your shoes, make sure everything fits right, that’s it. Because that’s priming you for action that’s even bigger next week, so it doesn’t have to be anything overwhelming it just has to be a tiny first step in the right direction.
Menachem Brodie:
So let’s take that and move in to that next direction. We know that we don’t know what’s going to be in six months, we can look at roughly what’s going on, chances are a lot of large gyms are going to close. Gold’s Gym announced they’re closing a number, 24 Hour Fitness I think is bankrupt now or in the process of. As a fitness professional or a cycling and triathlon coach, it seems, and this is the mindset change that we need to go through, it seems that the fitness world is getting smaller. So what would be a way, or what would be a suggestion that the listeners can keep their mindset in a productive, positive, a growth mindset? When everything else around them is closing, they had a friend who is a professional triathlon coach and all of sudden nobody is working with them anymore, now they have no income, they don’t have their own personal training studio. So how can Joe who is interested in being a triathlon coach whose friend Joanna just went out of business, how can he keep his mindset forward? As opposed to, well she just went out of business, how the hell am I supposed to do that?
Eric Malzone:
Yeah, it’s a really powerful question Menachem, and I think first of all we’ve got to agree that these clients haven’t vanished. Right? This isn’t End Game where all of a sudden half of the population just disappear. These people are still there and they’re still people, and they still have probably the same desires and goals as they did, maybe they’re a little different now because they have three screaming children at home and things a little bit different, but that’s temporary. So these people still exist, they still have the same desires, so the question you need to be asking yourself is how do I serve these people now and how does that look? How do I get them, and I truly believe that we’re going to move in to a result focused fitness and coaching scenario where really it’s all about the result. The processes is less important, is important, but now we’re going to have a lot more tools, right? And we’ve just got to figure out how do we do it virtually, how do we use this with the trainer that we talked about earlier? How do we deliver these results?
And really focusing on, maybe it starts with a simple conversation with these people, being like, “Hey what do you need now?” And then talking through it. And in the cycling world I would presume probably the biggest challenge is that there’s not these races going on that people have an opportunity to train for. And I can certainly see that being a unique challenge to your industry. So then the big question comes in, well what are these people doing? Are they still training? How do we give them something that is a goal? So how do you reestablish goals for them and bring the end enjoyment, because they can still get on their bike and go somewhere, they just can’t do it in a group of three or more, right?
So I think it’s more about asking the right questions and I don’t know the cycling industry as well as you do but I would imagine there is still opportunities for virtual meetups and races and things like that, right? Where it can just bide the time. But I think that’s the biggest realization is A, your clients haven’t gone anywhere, they haven’t vanished, they’re still out there, they still have desires and wants, and need a coach, just that relationship looks different and everyone’s going to have a different viewpoint on it.
Here is an interesting conversation, maybe this could shed some light, I was talking to Ken, my partner this morning, about what gyms are going to look like. And I talked to the CEO of Gold’s Gym last week and Mark Fisher from Mark Fisher Fitness, and I’m getting a lot of interesting opinions. And if you look at the boutique industry, which may come out of this brilliantly on top, we’ll see right? Is that okay, you used to have room for 10 people in your class, now you have room for five because of social distancing and things like that. So there is more demand on those five seats so you raise your rate for that, and then you’re going to come up with different tiers. Some people are going to have simply an opportunity to buy some equipment and follow your workouts at home now, that’s a different tier. There’s just going to be different tiers of service, but that demand is going to be there, and I would say now is a really good time to come up with a very high ticket item that delivers everything your ideal client wants.
Menachem Brodie:
Spot on, in my opinion as well.
Eric Malzone:
Yeah.
Menachem Brodie:
That’s what I’ve been working on is putting a package together where it’s strength and on bike or triathlon and it’s a set price for both. But it’s also a matter of not looking to serve everybody. That’s one of the thing I think is going to be a big problem here, we’re going to see a lot of coaches take on people who aren’t really their ideal clients because they feel that pressure. I’m thankfully comfortable at my point in my career where I refer people out, I just referred two out last week because I’m like, “I’m not the right person for you.” The personality or the skillset, you need someone in person, so how do these new coaches or those at home who are now growing their online business, where is that balance between I need to make X number of a dollars a month to keep my roof over my head versus taking everybody that walks in the door because they feel that pressure. How do they mitigate that?
Now you and I worked through this about two a half years ago, but how would the listeners work through that and allow themselves to build by strength as opposed to build by numbers?
Eric Malzone:
Yeah, well there’s a lot of context and nuance to that conversation, right? And I think everyone’s in an individual situation that needs to be respected and empathized with, but if we’re going to talk in generalities, I think that the low cost high volume model is desperately at risk right now. It really is, because if you’re not delivering maximum value for people then people are going to cancel everything right now that’s a non essential if they’re smart and they’re looking at their credit cards. So that’s why you see a 24 Hour Fitness struggling and Gold’s Gym struggling, is because there is no relationship there. So that is tough man, and I have talked to different people in different situations where hey, maybe they have this product or service that’s making them a thousand a month but it takes up 10 to 20 hours of their week, right? But they can’t let it go.
So at some point you have to really take a leap of faith or you figure out hey, at what point do I let this go? How much money do I need in the bank where I can just take this time back and put something together that makes a lot more sense. And once again I think it all comes down to action. So if you’re sitting there, you’re trying to make this decision about well I’ve got all of these people I don’t like to work with, then take immediate action and figure out a program that your ideal client really wants. Sell one, build some confidence, take a leap of faith and then continue on. Because all you need is that little bit, right? People are like, well I will wait for the motivation to happen. Here’s the thing, motivation happens with success, so you need a success first then you get motivated, it’s not the other way around. People are like, well when I get motivated I’ll see some success, right? No, it’s not how that works, it’s just not the way it works.
Menachem Brodie:
Yeah.
Eric Malzone:
I’ve been doing this too long, right? I can tell you that much for sure, is like you need a win, that builds your motivation. So go seek out an easy with with somebody who you consider an ideal client and maybe that first one is discounted, I don’t know. Maybe you’re building out a $3000 program and you just want to work with somebody really bad, who you know you would die to work with because they’re perfect for you and they’re perfect for them, so maybe give them a discount on the first one. But as long as that win gives you enough motivation to keep moving forward and being like, okay I can do this again and this is worth three grand, right?
And here’s the thing, the bigger the problems that you solve, the more people will pay for it.
Menachem Brodie:
Yeah. And that’s-
Eric Malzone:
So go solve big problems.
Menachem Brodie:
Exactly, people are so focused on the small problem. My big problem is solving the how do I get time for Ironman and half Ironman distance triathletes? I don’t have time. That’s what we solve, you can’t add more hours, but this also comes back to what you said at the beginning of our interview here and that is you don’t need a lot of likes, don’t go based off of the number of likes or followers you have, you don’t need huge numbers. Ramit Sethi talks in some of his courses about how he has students who have lists of between 300 and 500 email, and they send out lets say a flagship product for 899 or 999 hundred dollars, so almost $1000. And they sell to 35% of their list.
To put that in perspective, if you launch and you sell to half of a percent is what you should expect, 3% your product is under priced, we’re talking 35% of their list because they’ve built relationships. So instead of, that’s a big thing for a lot people on Instagram is I don’t have enough likes on my posts. Whoever is following you, message them, hey how are you doing in all of this? You have five likes, that’s great, one of them is your mom, hi mom, thanks, how are you doing? But build those relationships. So it’s not about people canceling the non essentials, it sounds like it’s them canceling the no relationship and Phil Towne talked about this with the Great Depression, I pray to god we don’t get to that point here with the economy but what did people, what actually did well? What businesses did well? The small luxuries, the cinema and Coca Cola. Because that was a small luxury, and you think about today, fitness, people understand the importance of movement.
There was just an article that was posted on I think CNN, it was a major publication that said physical fitness is more important for your mental health, more so than money or work.
Eric Malzone:
Yeah, yeah. And that’s like, you looking at that, what’s the real problem that people are facing? Let me give you a really good example of realigning and going big. One of our clients is Dr. Sean Pastuch of Active Life RX, and when he came into our world at Level 5 Mentors, spitting a lot of energy in different directions. He had a thousand dollar course, he was thinking about doing a certification, he also had $4000 coaching program for gym owners. And then Ken asked him, if you’re going to deliver the perfect program with the result that you want in mind, what is that? He was like, “Well I would take a gym owner and all of their coaches through a full 12 month program and at the end they would have all of the systems set up to be highly successful with my methods.”
And he was like, “Well how much would you charge for that?” And he said, “20000.” Great, so do it. He did, he put a webinar up two days later and you know how many sold in the next three days? He sold 20 of them.
Menachem Brodie:
That’s impressive.
Eric Malzone:
Right? He sold 20 of them. 20, at 20 grand over a period of, well that was actually a three month program, but the first one he sold 12 on the webinar and then he sold eight more after that because he hit the big problem. It’s that these gym owners are lost, they didn’t have systems, they didn’t know how to train people the right way and all of this, and he just developed the perfect system and he charged people the appropriate amount and then he was off and running. So he had an epiphany of hey, if I am really going to solve the biggest problem possible and the one really fires me up, and the one that’s really hurting people and they can really feel it, then what is that worth? It’s worth a lot, right?
So if you’re out there selling a six week template or whatever it might be, a mindset course that takes an hour, what problem are you solving? And are you really getting in and doing the work to help someone through that problem. Like what I’m working on now is I’m helping people build their online business, right? Seasoned entrepreneurs, not just people who are kind of getting started, don’t know what the products are, but people who really know what they want and who they serve well and we realign it in that way. It’s like, okay well now you have a flagship product and service that you can really stand behind and you’re prideful of and you know gets the job done because you get in there and you make sure that people get the results, now charge appropriately. That’s the direction I want to see people head.
Menachem Brodie:
Lets focus in on that then, so a number of the coaches that actually listen to this podcast are exactly that audience. They are coaches who have been around for a while, they’ve done the fun kind of podcast, they’re looking for science that just not recycled, they’re also looking for action items.
Eric Malzone:
Yeah.
Menachem Brodie:
So lets talk about those coaches, lets take our example from before of John, and he was a professional in something else, he’s furloughed, he’s a very good coach. He knows that, the results speak for themselves, and now he wants to go online and grow his business. What would that process look like for him as far as those first two steps? It sounds like number one is figuring out what problem he would solve and number two would be just starting a program, starting to advertise and don’t make it up as he goes along but he knows step number one is week one is going to be this?
Eric Malzone:
Yep, yeah so lets take a step back. So there’s plenty of coaches and people out there who can guide you into your first online product right? How to get your stripes set up and all of these little things, I don’t care about that. If you don’t know how to do that now, if you don’t know how to setup a corporation and start billing people then I’m not your guy. If you have experience and you’re like, you know what? Now is the time, I have the opportunity to really create what I want. The lifestyle, the business, the everything, this is my shot. Then I want to talk to you, because that’s really interesting to me and the first step you need to do is get really clear on what your core business is, right? And that means coming up with a signature offering, I like to do things in three different service offerings. You have your prospect convertor which could be anything, a load barrier or whatever, a maybe signature offering and then a continuity offer. That’s it, super simple right?
So lets just focus on the one in the middle, what is your signature offering? And it really just starts with come up with a results statement. Well what does that mean? That means in X period of time, I helped my ideal client, whoever that is do two or three things that they greatly desire without doing something that they fricking hate. That’s your results statement. Once you get that out, then you’re like whoa, and this is the simplicity of it right? Okay just come up with a sentence, that’s it. Okay, simplicity, whoa I’ve got once sentence, now what? Well now everything else falls in line, well then you just come up with the pillars of your program, well how do you do that thing? If the sentence is the what, what’s the how? Once you get that do you know what you do? You start selling.
That’s it, that’s your core offering. And then the other thing, if you work me I guarantee you’re going to be starting a podcast. Because if you are savvy at business and you start to see opportunities, you know what you do and what you do really well, which is a moment of maturity, right? You know that, as our good friend Josh Hillis said in one of my podcast interviews, still one of my favorite lines ever. He’s like, just imagine that you’re pretty much only better than your clients at one or two things, they’re better at everything else, so what is that one or two things that you’re really really good at and let’s double down on that.
And once you get that done, then you setup your community, so that’s your core, let me look at the community, right? And you’re also going to be starting a podcast and we’ll talk about why that’s important in a minute too. And then you start building your community whatever it may be, you should have an online community because if you’re going to be selling online goods you should have an online community where you’re nurturing and building trust and offering up as much as you can because you offer up everything as far as what you do for people but here’s the deal, people still need the accountability and that’s where you come in, so give it all. Put it all in there, give it all, right?
Because I guarantee you people won’t do it on their own. They need the accountability, the coach, right? So build that community, and that takes brick by brick, you’ve got to figure out your rhythm, you’ve got to figure out your rituals of doing that, and then finally you’ve got to connect with people. And that’s where I’ve seen a lot of success is using my podcast as a network building tool. And if you’re savvy and you know what you’re good at, you start to see things in the market like collaborations, strategic partnerships, joint ventures. And that’s when things really take off and get really interesting.
I think I was telling you last week I’m working on nailing down two joint ventures in the next month. Why? Because I know what I’m really good at, I am a networker and a connector, that’s valuable to some people. But I know what I’m really not good at and there’s a long list of that shit, right? Sorry to swear. But there’s a long list of stuff I realize I’m not good at at the age of 43. But if I can apply skillset to something else that people really need right now, then you have a great collaboration and that’s where the beauty of just having that maturity of being able to say, like you did, no, not my thing. I know what I’m good at, and I know what that person needs over there, and then you go from there.
So selling up your community and connecting with people, that’s the big thing, so get your core offer down, build your community, start connecting, and you can be highly successful just from those three pillars.
Menachem Brodie:
And that’s a big issue for I think a lot of, let me rephrase that, that is a big obstacle for a number of cycling and triathlon coaches because instead of, my thing, you want to learn skills, great I can teach you two or three things, cornering, breaking, descending, but beyond that go to someone else, I’m not the guy. Whereas a lot of coaches are so, I have one messaging me now, “Oh, well I want to be a strength coach for cyclists and triathletes, which certification should I get? From which body?” Neither. Be a strength and conditioning coach like, well yeah, you want to be interested, I understand that you want to learn. You can learn more by talking to those athletes and going and shadowing a coach or talking to them on a podcast than you would by going through a course and paying $500 to have a certificate on the wall.
Eric Malzone:
Yeah.
Menachem Brodie:
The certificates, that was my obstacle if you remember when I started my certification was well why should I be the one to do it? Because we understand the minimum that someone should get out of it, that’s all a certification is, is you have the minimum necessary understanding and skills to be able to go out, or tools to help people. But going out and working and shadowing somebody, most coaches will say, “Yeah, come on over, come on Wednesday from seven to nine.” They will tell you exactly when you can come to learn the most as opposed to a certification, you spend 700 bucks on a certification, $1000 on the hotel and the traveling. Yeah you get the network but you can do all of that by going in person and then you have that connection and you’re able to come back to the well over and over again.
Eric Malzone:
Yeah man. And I think you just tapped in to probably the most critical thing out of all of this, is that get a mentor, get a coach. Because I was having a conversation with a guy who was asking me a million questions, I’ve helped him start a podcast and he wants me to start referring people. I’m like hit the breaks, I’m like, “You know man, I think you’re great, I think you’re on to something here but at some point you have to invest in what we’re doing here.” And he hit the breaks, he was like, “No I’m not interested in that.” In my mind I’m like, you’re never going to be successful because here’s the thing, get your pride out of the way, if you don’t know how to do something that’s great, the person I hired, Nicole Spencer, is because she’s younger than me by a probably good chunk. But she is down the road in the direction that I want to be in, right?
And she’s got the systems, she has the experience, she’s done it, she’s built a seven figure coaching practice in less than three years. I’m like, okay well that sounds like someone who’s qualified to help me get my systems in order, right? Because this is the new age. So there’s a lot of people out there who can help you and I think no certification or anything can even hold a candle to having a good coach or mentor. And you don’t have to have them forever but it could be what you need right now, and if you’re not willing to invest in that then you’re really saying I’m not confident in myself. I don’t think I can make it work.
Menachem Brodie:
And that’s part of the problem that I have at least with all of the free programs. Like when everybody started giving these free workouts on Instagram and Facebook, I kind of did what John Vogel says, I’m big on the investing thing right now so I’ve been reading all day.
Eric Malzone:
Yeah, I love your passion for that.
Menachem Brodie:
It’s much needed.
Eric Malzone:
I do, it’s great.
Menachem Brodie:
It’s your fault because you’re like, dude you need a hobby outside of-. It’s fun, it’s scary, it’s scary shit but it’s fun.
Eric Malzone:
Yeah.
Menachem Brodie:
But John Vogel said don’t just do something, stand there. And that’s, yeah I had a couple of the clients that I have in person are coaches and they’re like why aren’t you putting anything up? One of them means well and that’s his personality, he’s very confrontational. And I just looked him in the eye on the computer, I’m like, “Why would I do that? I don’t have a direction, I don’t have-.” And what you just described with the back and forth where you really help somebody, if you don’t value yourself, this was my problem for a long time, I didn’t value what I was giving people. You’re just going to stuck and wondering well why is so and so making so much money when I’m a better coach? You don’t value yourself and that seems to be a recurring theme with not all of the great coaches, but most of the great coaches is either they’re humble or they lack the confidence to actually say, “Hey this is how much my time is worth, it’s not just my time, it’s my ability to be further down the road, as you said, to be able to help you.”
And age isn’t a correlating factor and that’s another problem I think coaches have is well my client is older than me, they know more than me. Sure when it comes to running Xerox, but when it comes to riding a bicycle they’ve only been doing it for 18 months, so having that conversation. So Eric I think one of the last questions for today is when you look at the successful coaches who have made that switch from in person or starting online and they’ve built themselves into that strong confident business where they’re helping people and connecting with people, what would be two or three themes that you’ve seen across all of the individuals that you’ve worked with?
Eric Malzone:
As far as success factors? What makes them successful? [inaudible 01:02:28].
Menachem Brodie:
Enjoyment and success, and those two tend to go hand in hand.
Eric Malzone:
Yeah well I think ultimately leaning on what your unique ability is is the biggest thing, right? So maybe if I can shed some light on what that means is I have people go through exercises of writing things in four different categories that they do everyday or on a semi daily basis. First one is incompetency, right? Shit that you don’t really do well and you hate doing. Next one is competency, so things that you can do. Like I can balance my checkbook sure, but I hate it and I’m not very good at it. And then you get up into excellence which is where most people get caught, okay? And excellence is something that you’re probably really good at but you’re not passionate about, maybe even made a name for yourself, for me that was gym ownership. I was pretty good at owning a good gym, I ran a good gym, right? Was I passionate about it any longer, not really.
And that’s where most people get trapped is in the zone of excellence, right? So then you go up to the high end which is the unique ability. What are you really really good at that you could do all day and feel super good about? And for me that’s relationship building, networking, just asking questions, just what I love to do, I could do it all day, I would do it for free. I connect people all the time at a high level for free, I expect nothing in return and I just love doing it. Now here is the thing is there is going to be fine people who are going to be like, “Well what Eric does sounds awful. I could never do that, that sounds terrible.” And there’s things like building out systems, implementing things, whatever it may be that I can’t stand that some people are like, “Oh, all day. I’ll do that all day.”
And you have to understand what your unique ability is and once you get that realization then everything starts to make a lot more sense. So these questions you’re asking, it’s really when people figure out well this is my unique ability and this is how to leverage it. And maybe you’re in a business where you need more than just your unique ability to be successful. Because the worst thing you can do is put two people together who have the same unique ability and nothing ever gets done. Just find someone who is complementary to you and build that team around you. Eventually, it’s okay to be a one man shop but understand that you’re building the business around what you do extremely well and what you’re really passionate about and then everything else will start to fall in line after that, you’re going to have to do stuff in incompetency, competency and excellence as you get started, that’s just life in business. But the more you can start steering your way up into spending the majority of your time in that unique ability, that’s the key to success.
Menachem Brodie:
Eric there is a ton that you have given us here today. I think the next step here is where can people find you online and connect with you and start to either figure out how would that process look like for mentorship or what would you say is the best opportunity for people to connect with you and figure out where to go with their businesses?
Eric Malzone:
Yeah. I think the number one place is Level 5 Mentors, so L-E-V-E-L, the number five, Mentors dot com. You can find out about a little about me and Ken and what our organization is all about. And then there’s a really easy way to start chatting with me or just simply book a time. So that’s number one. Number two is TheFutureofFitness.co which is my podcast website. There is also a link there to schedule some time with me and then I’m all over LinkedIn and Facebook so it’s not really hard to find me. So those are the big things, right now if you’re listening to this my big focus is I know there is a lot of people who are very smart professionals, very savvy at that they do but they’re a little lost right now in the online space and I can tell you, I have spent the last three years of my life figuring it out the hard way of how to build online businesses, how to do it without, I haven’t spent a single time in a conference in the last three years.
So my network, which is what I’m known for is completely built online. That’s it, you and I have never met, Menachem, someday we will, hopefully really soon.
Menachem Brodie:
Yeah.
Eric Malzone:
But we’ve never met, right? And I’ve spent the last three years figuring out this whole thing so that now I realize I can help people cut a lot of corners and build their business online really fast. So in a 10 week intensive and I mean intensive, like if you’re ready to get to work, we’re going to get to work, you’re going to be launching your product way before you’re ready and you’re going to be having new clients far before the 10 weeks is over if you do everything. And that’s what I’m passionate about right now is I want to help those seasoned entrepreneurs especially in the fitness and health area, make that leap to the new normal, and it’s going to be awesome. And it’s just really exciting, so I’m already working on it right now with a couple of people who I am thrilled to work with and they’re going to have a very bright future, so yeah man, Level 5 Mentors, FutureOfFitness.co and LinkedIn are probably some of the best places.
Menachem Brodie:
Awesome. And ladies and gentlemen, Eric as he has said is someone who has gone through it, done it hard way, he’s here to help guide you. There is tons of information out there from you already, the Future of Fitness Podcast is fantastic, lots of great guests. So make sure you are going over and subscribing and liking his podcast, giving him a five star review, you are going to find a ton of information over there. Eric thank you so much for coming on today and sharing your experience and knowledge with us.
Eric Malzone:
Always a pleasure Menachem, I really appreciate it, thanks man.
Speaker 1:
That’s it for this episode of The Strong Savvy Cyclist and Triathlete Podcast with world leading strength coach for cyclists and triathletes, Menachem Brodie. Don’t miss an episode, hit that subscribe button and give us a review. For more exclusive content visit HumanVortexTraining.com or get the latest expert videos from Coach Brodie on the HVT YouTube channel at HVTraining. Until next time remember to train smarter not harder because it is all about you.
