If you think you should have it completely figured out before you start a business… you’re never going to start a business.
Trust me, everybody who has ever done anything worthwhile in this industry started out not knowing exactly what they were doing.
I have had the luxury to rub elbows with some of the most successful people in this industry and they all echo the same statements;
They cringe at their old work.
They admit they were guessing in the beginning of their career when it came to the trajectory of their business.
They discuss how they learned from their mistakes because they made plenty of wrong moves along the way.
The list goes on, nobody is perfect and buying-in to somebody telling you that you’re going to go from “zero to seven figures” overnight is complete nonsense.
One of the reasons I was able to come up with all of those embarassing examples is because even though I provide business advice these days, it wasn’t always that way and I went through some severe growing pains earlier in my career.
But, I did one thing right in my early days that allowed me to create a social media following and ultimately create a life of financial freedom around it.
That is, I taught my audience better than anyone else.
Building A Business With No Budget
I had a negative-budget when I started building my business, if somebody had given me 20 grand I would still have zero dollars in the bank.
But, that was ok.
Why?
Because you can advertise, you can hire sales people, you can sponsor events, and you can do all the things that your budget-having competition is doing — but let me ask you this, why are you trying to do exactly what their doing in order to stand out when you know you don’t have the budget for it?
Avoid the budget and do exactly what I did.
Instead of trying to outspend your competition, place your efforts into out-teaching them.
Teaching is something so many of your competitors aren’t even doing properly because they’re worried about the next algorithm shift in social media or what their current cost-per-click is.
Let your competitors focus on selling because when you focus on teaching your sales will come naturally.
Gary Vaynerchuk taught people about wine on Wine Library TV and the result was over $60M in sales per year generated through his YouTube channel for his father’s wine business.
Grant Cardone teaches people how to sell with a seemingly endless stream of video, article, and podcast content and because of that he is now regarded as one of the most successful salespeople on the planet.
Precision Nutrition hosts hundreds of articles and videos on how to maximize results through proper nutritional programming and because of this they are the #1 resource for nutritional education in the entire health and fitness industry.
HockeyTraining.com teaches everything hockey players need to know about becoming a better hockey player and we are the #1 player in the online hockey training space.
I hope you’re beginning to see the pattern here — give and you shall receive.
The Big Lesson
The bond you create with your audience will grow only to the degree at which you teach them awesome things.
Trying to have your voice heard through using the same traditional marketing tactics that your competitors are using with much larger budgets than you is a failing proposition.
Buying someone’s attention with a banner ad is something completely different than earning someone’s loyalty through teaching them something new.
When you teach them, they trust and respect you more. Even if they don’t buy from you right away, you will still be first on their list if they ever do become qualified prospects in the future because you have already built that bond with them. Additionally, they can shoot referrals your way as well.
Building A Social Media Following By Accident
I was like a chicken with my head cut off in 2011 when I first got into the online world.
I was all over the place with no business plan or professional direction.
Yet, I still managed to have myself “heard” in the saturated market because I was so passionate about health and fitness that I posted every single day about tips that the average person could use to improve their health and appearance.
The effect was so powerful I used the same business model for Team Garner, BaseballTraining.com, HockeyTraining.com, and conveniently, CreateFreedom.com
By earning trust through free content you don’t have to “sell” nearly as much because your prospects are already sold on YOU and not your copywriting or advertising budget.
Final Thoughts
Personal trainers and fitness professionals have the power to do something that the big companies can’t — and that is to build a personal connection with your audience.
Big companies can afford a wicked advertisement commercial; you can’t.
But, you can afford to use your time to teach as much as possible and this I can guarantee you will lead you into a life of financial freedom while simultaneously helping more people in a positive way than you ever imagined possible.
If you want to make all the right moves, check out the Create Freedom Academy and let’s get to work on your business.
But in any case, start teaching!
It’s your most powerful tool right now.
Dan Garner
Kevin McClelland
