Today we’ve just rolled into San Francisco on our tour and are ready for a great week in California.

The sun is shining and the weather is beautiful.

Yesterday we had a great time in Portland, filming with VIP Member Daniel Iverson. Daniel has come a LONG way in just 9 months of working with our team, and he’s a scheduled case study presenter at MEGA TRAINING 2011.

Check out what Daniel has to say about “The Trigger” that kicked things off for him this year. There is a LOT to be learned from listening to him speak!

Then be sure to head on over and grab your seat for MEGA TRAINING 2011 if you haven’t done so yet. Over half the seats are now gone for this event so far. Don’t be left out! RSVP to reserve your spot here.

Click here to read all the details and
Register for MEGA TRAINING 2011 now

To your success,

Sean

P.S. I’m using our Facebook fan page all month long to share updates and coordinate client and partner get-together events on the road. Head on over to “like” the page to watch details of our adventures I won’t be posting anywhere else!

This morning we’re in Montana, about to head out to Glacier National Park.

But before we go I wanted to share this quick interview I did with VIP Member Randy Hartz while in South Dakota that last 2 days.

Check it out, then head on over and grab your seat for MEGA TRAINING 2011 if you haven’t done so yet.

We’ve made the Inc 500 list for the second year in a row and to celebrate we’ve decided to once again turn MEGA TRAINING into a FREE customer appreciation event. All you’ve got to do is RSVP and reserve your spot here.

Click here to read all the details and
Register for MEGA TRAINING 2011 now

To your success,

Sean

P.S. I’m using our Facebook fan page all month long to share updates and coordinate client and partner get-together events on the road. Head on over to “like” the page to watch details of our adventures I won’t be posting anywhere else!

We’re scheduling upcoming get together events in San Franciso, San Diego, and Phoenix, and Houston over the next 2 weeks!

We’ve just arrived in Boston so I gotta make this a quick post.

Since we announced MEGA TRAINING 2011 in my last video from the road, we’ve had a ton of registrations. And we’ve also had a number of folks write in and say “give us a tour of that bus!”

So last night before rolling out of DC, I recorded this short video to give you a “behind the scenes tour” and show you how we’re living on the road this month.

Check it out, then head on over and grab your seat for MEGA TRAINING 2011 if you haven’t done so yet.

We’ve made the Inc 500 list for the second year in a row and to celebrate we’ve decided to once again turn MEGA TRAINING into a FREE customer appreciation event. All you’ve got to do is RSVP and reserve your spot here.

Click here to read all the details and
Register for MEGA TRAINING 2011 now

To your success,

Sean

P.S. I’m personally NOT a big Facebook fan, even though we use it successfully in our business and have helped many of our clients kill it with Facebook advertising and integrated marketing promotions.

However, I’ve using our Facebook fan page all month long to share updates and coordinate client and partner get-together events on the road. Head on over to “like” the page to watch details of our adventures I won’t be posting anywhere else!

I’m on the road in Nashville this morning, but recorded this video late last night (in Atlanta) to  “officially” announce that registration is now open for MEGA TRAINING 2011!

Watch the video for more info, then head on over to the MEGA TRAINING 2011 site for complete details and grab your spot.

We’ve got some MAJOR announcements about this killer event, most of which you’ll find over here… but we’ve got a few more up our sleeve we can’t reveal just yet.

Stay tuned as I’m broadcasting more updates from the road over the next month!

Click here to read all the details and
Register for MEGA TRAINING 2011 now

To your success,

Sean

P.S. If you know me at all, you’ll know I’m personally NOT a big Facebook fan. Even though we use it successfully in our business and have helped many of our clients kill it with Facebook advertising and integrated marketing promotions.

However, I’m using our Facebook fan page all month long to share updates and coordinate client and partner get-together events on the road. Head on over to “like” the page to watch details of our adventures I won’t be posting anywhere else!

Before I get to the HUGE SURPRISE (and it’s a doozey), let’s talk about creating killer fitness marketing content your list will love. I want to show you an article and a couple videos you can model.

There are two powerful fitness marketing lessons in this great Men’s Health article titled:

Lose The Spare Tire With Just Two Exercises

The article begins…

A few months ago, I asked Alwyn Cosgrove, C.S.C.S. — one of the world’s top trainers — to create a cutting-edge fat loss program for Men’s Health. And, of course, he obliged. But a curious thing: One of the workouts in the plan featured just two exercises.

He makes a good point. And in fact, once you understand the philosophy behind Cosgrove’s routine, you start to see why it works so well. But first, an explanation of the actual routine itself. Here’s how it works…

Before I send you over to read the full Men’s Health article, let me make a couple points that’ll help you appreciate how strong this fitness marketing content is:

1. The title and premise of the article “Lose The Spare Tire With JUST TWO Exercises” – As da Vinci says, “simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” When you can simplify stuff for your readers (prospects and clients), they will love you for it. Dan John and Brett Jones, who are both referenced by Men’s Health fitness expert David Jack in the videos that accompany this article, are two of the best in the world at simplifying fitness so people “get it”. Simplification IMPLIES “simple and easy” – and that’s what people want. Whenever you can honestly and ethically simplify the process of attaining their goal, you will produce serious interest. That’s performed perfectly in this article and the accompanying videos, which is why I want you to see them.

2. The use of video for DEMONSTRATION – these are two of the best fitness videos I’ve seen. David Jack does an outstanding job of educating and demonstrating the movements. The vidoes are concise and to the point. And he delivers the information and demonstration clearly, with energy and enthusiasm. The only thing I suggest you add to your videos is a brief call to action at the end inviting folks to opt-in to your youtube.com channel (or whatever list building process you’re using) to get more great videos like this.

Okay, now you’re ready to check out this killer fitness article and videos from Men’s Health.

But first I suggest you take a look at this HUGE SURPRISE!

You’ve never seen anything like this before, and you probably never will again. So don’t miss it.

It’s absolutely amazing, and I’m still a little shocked Sean is doing it…because he’s so busy, his time so valuable.

Go here and scroll down a little bit until you see my picture and the words “Sean, this copy is LAME!”

It’s so awesome.

Be a consistent fitness marketing maniac,
Eric

Do you know Paul Chek?

I’m not sure how you can be in this industry and NOT know his name by now.

Anyway, I’ll be speaking at the Chek conference over Labor Day weekend (September 2-4th) in San Diego.

And as a speaker, I’ve been offered to extend a special discount on the conference to you.

The full event info is online at www.CHEKconference2011.com

Just enter coupon code:

CCNPE10

At checkout to save 10% on individual, partner, or group registrations.

I also plan on hosting a special breakfast for NPE members in attendance, so shoot an email to support@netprofitexplosion.com after you register (or if you’re already registered now) so we can coordinate details with you.

To your success,
Sean

P.S. An interview with Paul is featured in this month’s issue of Muscle & Fitness magazine on newsstands now. To say Paul is a “colorful” personality is putting it mildly. Read more for the full story!

P.P.S. Our all-star coach Camelia will also be coming out to the event so you’ll actually get to see 2 (count em’) NPE staff members at this show.

Don’t miss your chance to grab your free, no-obligation VIP Info Pack here.

VIP is our highlest level of NPE Membership, absolutely LOADED with all of our top systems, tools and coaching. And our VIPs are absolutely killing it. See their results here.

Here’s a fantastic fitness marketing video from former NPE Member of the Year finalist and boot camp VIP, Randy Hartz.

Randy’s boot camp exploded from 24 to 106 clients (440% growth) in 8 months from September 2010 to April 2011

His gross sales more than tripled from 12K to almost 40K, and his NET profit jumped to a juicy $15,000 per month!

Watch and learn how he did it using fitness challenges and contests in this outstanding fitness marketing video presentation.

Plus Randy’s earning over 5K NET in supplement sales.

He breaks down the exact results from his Body Balance Challenge promotions (3 of them), showing you how his gross sales ramped up each time.

And Randy reveals all his fitness business numbers, and shares best practices with you (including lots of neat ideas for relationship building…and how his challenge competitors come to him PRE-SOLD).

Don’t miss your chance to grab your free, no-obligation VIP Info Pack here.

VIP is our highlest level of Membership, absolutely LOADED with all of our top systems, tools and coaching. And our VIPs are absolutely killing it. See their results here.

We’re celebrating our Independence Day (July 4th) here in the US this weekend, so lots of festivities and little work for us right now.

But I did want to break away and share a NEW video with you we just posted:

Freedom and Independence are BIG values in our book over here.

And I’m honored we’ve been able to play a role in helping so many folks experience much MORE of it in both their business and personal lives.

This is a really cool video that speaks to both those themes.

VIP Membership is Now Open

We’ve now reopened VIP Membership for a limited time and info-packs are flying out the door.

If you haven’t requested yours yet, then fill out the form here and we’ll get yours out in the mail to you today.

This is THE place where all the top fitness business owners come to grow.

Whether you’re a studio/facility owner, Crossfit affiliate, boot camp, or Gym… this is where it’s at for PROVEN systems and tools that put you on the profit path.

Click here to request a VIP Info-Pack and get all the details on this program

To your success,
Sean

P.S. You know once upon a time, on July 4th in 1776 a group of gentlemen signed a letter, sent it off to the King of England,  and CLAIMED the freedom and independence that they decided was rightfully theirs.

And that’s how America was born.

What are YOU waiting for in “making the decision” to claim YOUR freedom and independence?

Finally!

The U.S. Postal Service has finally made it simple, quick and CHEAP for small local businesses like your fitness business to do cost-effective, geo-targeted “farming” with direct mail postcards.

It’s called Every Door Direct Mail Retail, and it’s a legitimate breakthrough for fitness businesses.

From USPS.com:

“Every Door Direct Mail Retail allows small volume mailers to use the Simplified Addressing format for saturation standard flats mailed from a local post office. Saturation mail is delivered to every address on a carrier route. Every Door Direct Mail Retail enables you to reach your customers via saturation mail with NO mailing lists, permits or permit fees.”

Select your local area

Choose your carrier routes

I’ve been researching it for 3 weeks before writing this post because I wanted to make sure it is what I think it is. The USPS website explaining their new Every Door Direct Mail service leaves much to be desired. It’s more confusing than it is helpful…at first.

But I reached out to some direct mail companies like SonicPrint.com to get clarification and help understanding the USPS definition of “commercial flats”.

Here’s what SonicPrint says on their EDDM FAQ page:

What is Every Door Direct Mail?
Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) is a new program by the USPS that allows retail businesses to mail at 14.2 cents per postcard. Not only can you mail postcards, but you can also mail catalogs, brochures, samples, or anything else. You can mail anything as long as it meets “commercial flat” size requirements.

What size does a commercial flat need to be?
A commercial flat is at least 6.25″x11″ or larger size which means you have plenty of room to get your message to your customer. This is over 3 times the size of a 4″x6″ postcard and costs 9 cents less!

From Eric: The reduced cost and simplified process are both significant, and when combined with the fact that you can now mail a full sheet (8.5X11″) postcard (or larger) at this saturation mail rate, to ONLY the carrier routes your choose…is FREAKIN’ HUGE!

Who can I mail to?
With Every Door Direct Mail you can mail to all homes and businesses in a mailing route. Each zip code is comprised of many different routes. Each of these routes contain approximately 300-600 homes and businesses.

Where do I find the routes?
The post office has created a new website called Simplified Mailing Process located at http://smp.usps.gov. This website allows you to geo-target your area by zip code, city, or address and then you can map out the carrier routes that you want to mail to. Best of all this website will automatically generate the paperwork necessary to give to the USPS mail clerk.

Can I target the homes that I want to deliver to?
You can omit businesses from your mailing, however one of the core requirements of EDDM is that you have to mail to all homes in the route. You do have the opportunity to exclude certain addresses, such as competitors, customers, or people you know that do not wish to receive your marketing messages. You can exclude the addresses via the facing slip in the provided paperwork.

What if I want to exclude business addresses?
While the smp.usps.gov will let you choose only residential routes, it is important to change your endorsement to “Local Residential Customer” on your postcard. This way, the carrier will know you want to omit businesses from your mailing.

What is the minimum or maximum we can mail?
If you are mailing through Every Door Direct Mail “Retail” you can mail as little as 200 pieces and as many as 5000 in one day. If you need to mail more, please contact us and we will assist you.

Can I print the cards on my home printer?
We don’t recommend that you try to print these on your home printer because the paper stock required is too thick. Additionally the cost of toner is very expensive, and the quality will not be the same as if it was printed by a commercial printing company. We are offering discounted print rates to help customers take advantage of this new program.

Will you prepare the mailings for me?
If you want to prepare your own EDDM mail, we will walk you through the process and assist you in preparing mailing for free. Although it is not technically difficult, there are some guidelines that should be followed in order for your mail to be accepted by the post office. For a more turnkey approach, we will prepare your entire mailing and paperwork for a small cost of 3 cents per card. We will ship the prepared mail to you with all of the necessary paperwork. All you have to do is bring the cards, paperwork and your postage check to your local post office.

This is not an endorsement of SonicPrint. I have not used them myself, so I can’t attest to their value. However I will tell you they have been very helpful and are one of the few printers/direct mail companies I could find who are up to speed on the new EDDM service. I’d say it would be worth your time to give them a call if you have questions.

The “Target Farming” Fitness Marketing Strategy

We know that the single most important success criterion with direct mail is…the list…the “who” you are sending your direct mail to.

But the steep learning curve and high cost has generally made response lists a bridge too far for most fitness businesses marketing to their local community.

That’s why we have historically defaulted to compiled lists from providers like InfoUSA.com. And they’ve been more than adequate, generating very positive results for most.

But what I love about this new Every Door Direct Mail service is the ability it gives you to mail very small quantities (or very large, if you choose) to the exact carrier routes you want surrounding your fitness business location and/or surrounding the homes of your existing clients. And to do that at half the cost of regular first class postcard postage…with 300%+ more space to tell and sell.

This is a BIG deal.

Consider this ultra-targeted, scientific fitness marketing strategy:

1. Go through your database and plot the location (home address) of your existing clients on a local map.

2. You will most likely find some “clustering” of clients. Now you know the best locations to start your EDDM marketing.

3. See if you’ve got testimonials and pictures of at least a couple of your existing clients that live in one of those “clusters.” If not, get ‘em.

4. TARGET your marketing message at the people living in those clusters, using their NEIGHBORS’ (your existing clients) testimonials as proof you deliver results.

5. Lather, rinse, repeat.

At the incredibly low postage cost of just 14.2 cents (and no mailing list cost) to mail an 8.5X11″ huge postcard, you’re getting an incredible marketing bang for your buck. You can even do an 11X17″ mailer folded over to 8.5X11″ for even more selling space…for the same 14.2 cents. AWESOME!

Look, you may be in love with the internet for local lead generation (and you should definitely be working that channel), but do NOT make the mistake of neglecting direct mail. Particularly now when the USPS has finally made it so cheap and easy for local fitness marketing.

Summary and Links:

- 14.2 cent postcard marketing
- Choose only the carrier routes you want delivered (powerful geo-targeting)
- Oversized selling space on huge postcards
- Mail as few as 250 pieces to as many as 5,000 a day (awesome flexibility to TEST)
- No mailing lists to buy or rent (NOT a problem when marketing with postcards, no personalization necessary)
- Mail into high probability “clusters” of homes (and target with a strong message to market match by leveraging client testimonials who live in those clusters)
- Handle it all with a few clicks of the mouse (try not to get frustrated at first with the USPS interface, it’ll be worth the effort to plow ahead despite their initially non user-friendly instructions – reach out to SonicPrint if you need help)
- No saturation mailing permit required

USPS Every Door Direct Mail Retail Description and Instructions

SonicPrint EDDM FAQ and Contact Info

SonicPrint How To Get Started With EDDM

Deliver Magazine free subscription

Be a consistent fitness marketing maniac,
Eric

P.S. I want to give a public shout out to VIP Jeff Tomaszewski of OVERLOAD Fitness who delivered the best, most valuable fitness marketing presentation I’ve ever seen at our VIP event that just concluded in Orlando. We’ll be re-opening VIP enrollment shortly, so be ready. You absolutely do not want to miss the opportunity to surround yourself with million dollar fitness business owners like Jeff. To all current VIPS: watch Jeff’s presentation again and again when we release it to you on video. It is PURE GOLD!

Well it’s Friday afternoon before a long holiday weekend here.

And I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to “shutting things down” and heading out of town for a few days.

So no blog posts this weekend, and I’m keeping things “light” today.

But before we head out of here I wanted to share with you some really cool footage we shot last fall while over in Australia.

This video shows you a bit of what Sydney is like (if you’ve never been) and profiles Aussie Member of the Year 2009 Dirk Hansen.

Dirk was making all the “classic” mistakes running his facility like charging too little AND the BIG “no-no” of collecting payment for his training services in the rears.

Then Dirk heard about our VIP program, joined, launched our Raising The Rates Campaign, and brought in over $400,000 in sales.

Talk about LIFE changing… this was it for Dirk!

Check this out, and whether you’re heading out of town this weekend yourself or not… come on a little “virtual vacation” with us to Australia via this video.

Have a great weekend,
Sean

P.S. Dirk’s studio is right up the hill from Bondi Beach, as you’ll see in this video. The morning we were shooting this on the beach it was overcast and drizzling rain. But fortunately there was a  GREAT cafe up the hill we hit up for breakfast and coffee after this was over. If you’ve never been to Australia, one thing I’ll share with you is their coffee is like “liquid gold”.

I could drink it all day long. It’s THAT good.

P.P.S. We’re getting ready to re-open the VIP program very shortly. Stay tuned…