Today I want to start you off with a single idea that you can hopefully integrate in to your business model...

About 6 weeks ago Greg Robins raised his hand during a CSP staff meeting to share an idea. He'd read somewhere that by presenting your most expensive service offering first instead of last, it would cushion the blow of the price points associated with our lower training frequency options.  He proposed that we modify our pricing sheet to allow for clients to understand what it would cost to train in an unlimited format before learning what our once-a-week rate is.  

The thought was that maybe our incoming clients who were entertaining the idea of once or twice a week training with us would be more inclined to take a stab at the 2x option than they had been in the past because it was still dramatically more affordable than the number they'd first seen covering 4+ sessions per week.  I made the change, and we immediately started seeing positive (and measurable) results.

Six week's time is obviously a small sample-size, but we're seeing a noticeable bump in 2x/week or more session package purchases coming out of each initial assessment. If your business has an existing pricing sheet, I'd encourage you to experiment with this concept.

So let's get in to this week's Friday Four content.

First things first, here's a link to my blogging (and podcasting) efforts from this week:

• Gym Owner Musings - 5 Random Lessons Learned - I first outlined this post as a bit of a miscellaneous list of ideas, but upon review it reads as a great check list that new and aspiring gym owners should take in to consideration. If you do not fall within that segment of the population, I'd still encourage you to open this up if for nothing more than to see the total dollars I took home from CSP during our first year of operation (#5).

• Fitcast Book Club - Zero-to-One - I had the pleasure of recording an episode of the FCBC with longtime friend (and former CSP intern), Kevin Larrabee. We spent an our discussing our approach to consuming information from personal and professional development books, our favorite takeaways from this one in particular, and other business concepts.

• The Secret Economic And Career Benefits of Taking Vacation - So it turns out that vacationing is about more than drinks on the beach. According to this piece, your next trip will make you a better employee and help to stimulate the economy. "Researchers estimate that even using one more day (of your allocated vacation time) would add $34 billion in spending to our economy." You read that correctly, many of us have a tendency of leaving paid time off unused, and it is limiting job growth. 

• The Most Powerful Advice Entrepreneurs Ignore - This Entrepreneur.com contributor points out (accurately) that many entrepreneurs disregard the importance of seeking out a mentor.  I am guilty of ignoring this advice from time to time. We could all save ourselves a great deal of time, energy and money if we were to set our egos aside and embrace the idea of learning from those who have already accumulated these life lessons. Step number 3 in this proposed mentor search process is among the most important in my experience.

• Don't Pop Your Top: 5 Thoughts to Keep You Calm In An Angry Moment - This piece was published about a month ago but found it's way back in to the limelight in response to Steph Curry's embarrassing meltdown last night during Game-6 of the NBA Finals. Not surprisingly, when the reigning 2-time MVP throws his mouthguard at a fan, discussions regarding keeping your cool in stressful situations will arise. The advice in this piece can be applicable to those of us in the fitness industry who have competition that might not always speak favorably of our efforts. In those moments, do you pop off, or do you bite your tongue and stay focused on what actually matters?

• Business For Unicorns Vlog #2 - If I told you that Mark Fisher occasionally records a ten-minute video covering fitness business tips from his closet, you'd tune in...right? In this second edition of his video blogging efforts, Mark covered concepts ranging from performance evaluations for staff, to the nuts and bolts of assembling an amazing team for your fitness business. This one is well worth ten minutes of your time.