Greetings,
The subject of this email could be misleading, so let me
explain. I'm merely changing the NAME ONLY of this
newsletter from "Fit By Fingertips" to "Saving 39 Minutes".
I'm also changing my outlook & vision & mission, too.
It is part of a huge lesson I experienced over
the course of Saturday through Sunday this past weekend.
Basically, I "woke up".
When I first started my business in February & launching
its physical start in March of 2006, I started and went off
some marketing and business practices of some of the top
successful trainers out in the field. Some of these tactics
worked, others were not so great and failed miserably
sometimes.
I finally realized why the stuff that was great for my
business went well, and why the stuff that didn't go well
ended up turning out that way.
Here's why the stuff that went wrong, went wrong:
I was trying to lead my business towards an 'elitist'
mindset, which in my heart, wasn't in my best interests.
I was fooled for a long time into thinking this was the
way to run my business. Oh, how wrong I was!
You see, I believe that my profession is one of SERVICE.
It is the BACKBONE of the fitness & sports training
profession. Providing a neccessary service to you, my
clients.
There are some marketing methods that I used which perhaps
came across the wrong way to people, & for that I apologize
if I have offended you in any way.
Right now, before I market a thing in the future, I will
first ask myself "How is this effort going to best serve
my clients and future ones I seek to have?"
I had an awakening moment in a discussion with my great
online trainer confidant, Steve Payne, out of Texas, in
our conversation on Sunday.
Steve's line to me "Am I wrong in saying that there's
something missing in the servant role we should be
taking in our profession?", is one that struck a chord
within me, and turned my direction around for the better.
Simply, it was the answer I had been seeking all along.
I shared some of this story with my clients throughout
Monday & Tuesday, as I believe there seems to be a hidden
agenda within the fitness industry to turn it into an
elitist, up-on-a-pedestal, vanity-only type of service. This
is a method that seems to promote that trainers must 'set
themselves apart' and demand their clients only work at
the trainer's times he/she wants to work, and demand their
clients pay high fees for such a service, because 'the
trainer's time & knowledge is worth the price'.
I had a hard time figuring out why this style doesn't
mesh with my beliefs. Ever since I was a child, who started
out mowing my neighborhood lady's yard for $3 a shot (about
a 15-20 minute job), I learned back then that its more than
just earning money that's important.
The lady who I provided the mowing service for wasn't rich
by any means. Now and then she'd ask me to go to the store
and pick up some milk & bread for her, since she was pretty
much home-bound with limited use of her hips. She'd always
invite me in for cookies she'd bake, and always had a nice
cold glass of milk to go along with it. I could have
'demanded' the $10 average I was getting in other yards that
I mowed, because 'my time is only worth so much', but my dad
reminded me that 'If all Myrtle has is $3, you'll get paid
back more in the long run and get more than that $7 back."
Looking back, I never once had to pay to put gas in the truck,
or the gas in the lawn mowers. Dad always took care of that
for me. That $7 was coming back in terms of basically
getting complimentary gas in my truck and mowers from my Dad.
My Dad, Myrtle, Jerome, Bob, Oliver, Glen, all the people who I
mowed yards for, they all taught me the true lesson of
SERVICE. Glen took me on small plane rides as a kid. Oliver's
wife, Edna, always had a cool glass of water, and a nice
air-conditioned home, plus a treat for me after the job was
done. Jerome always gave me $20 each time I mowed his lawn,
which took me 20-25 minutes only to do. He always told me
"I never pay you enough" and now & then he'd pay me $40,
out of the blue, and he'd say "keep it, you need it."
Bob always had a nice cold pop in the fridge he had in his
garage, and he'd even let me use his lawn mower to mow his
yard, and always kept it full. All I simply did was show
up with my lawn blower and started mowing away!
Did I mention too that we never once charged the Catholic
Church to mow their yard? Dad was the trustee of the church,
and when I asked Dad why the Church doesn't pay us to mow
the yard, when they did for others previously, he said "God
doesn't give you money to mow His yard, Rick." True, how true!
It is time I get back to providing the same style of service
that enjoyed my life as a young man, growing up and learning
the wonderful lessons of life that I did.
I need to bring back that excitement of service to my
clients, because they give me so much more than their
money to get in a workout.
Part of this is getting back to my roots again and starting
with the addition of this to my slogan:
Formerly: "Xpress Exercise for Every Body"
Now: "Xpress Exercise For Every Body, With Xceptional Service."
Be on the lookout for future changes in my sales copy and
other websites I have in the next few weeks that reflects
this mission. This will take time, so be patient as I change
the reflection of my sites.
I am also on a mission to help other trainers discover
this basic essential quality of SERVICE, and enhance it by
putting it back as the primary reason we do what we do.
Others have joined me in this effort, and we have created
the first, that we know of, the first Christian Trainer
network, called Real Cross Trainers.
The site is here: http://realcrosstrainers.com
All membership fees are donations to a pro-life agency
that I support, the LifeCare Center of Thief River Falls.
It was a pro-life issue that was the catalyst of this
new change, where I felt I had to stand up and defend life
in a case of pointing out some wrongs when it was being
cast as a 'right' and 'good' thing.
It is a natural fit that I am pro-life in my beliefs, since
my profession is in its nature pro-life: we support and
try to improve the health and life of our clients.
If that offends you, I pray you change your mind.
Even if you aren't a trainer, you can donate as well to
the cause. You can recieve some gifts as a thank you for
your donation. Some of it are e-books of mine which I am
giving up any profits on through this donation effort and
mission. Give it a look if you are interested.
You can donate any amount you wish, really.
We have a special retreat that the LifeCare Center is
putting on in March. (When I say "We", its because I am
on the LCC's board and its retreat team) We could use some
funds to help support the basic costs of food & supplies
we need to conduct this special retreat. You can see
what this special retreat is about, at this site:
http://rv.lifecaretrf.com
Thank you for your time in reading this, and if you
choose to donate to the LCC's cause, I thank you in
advance as well!
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Be ready next week for the first "Saving 39 Minutes"
weekly newsletter!
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"Run so as to win."
Rick Karboviak, CSCS
PS: I want to thank Rhonda for leaving me a surprise meal
on Monday after her & Crystal's workout! It was that
surprise meal that inspired me to discuss the treats & eats
and nice little bonsues I experienced as a kid mowing yards.
It tied in SO MUCH with what I had to say today.
Thank you for bringing me back to that!
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