Here is the third part of the interview about Boot Camp Marketing with owner Shawna Kaminski from Fit Body Boot Camp Calgary.

You can check the 1st part of the interview here and the 2nd part here.

Fernando:
Okay, and how about the afternoon classes, do you have those?

Shawna:
Yes, right now because we don't have a stand-alone... we're looking for a stand-alone for Fit Body Boot Camp Calgary North. We both just have a 5pm camp time and that's basically just based on when we can get a rental. So we’re kind of just at the… there is a plug for a stand-alone, and we know that we need that just because we’ll have more opportunity to setup a time that's more suitable for you rather than when you can get a space. The bulk of our clients obviously come in the morning and so we're just in the process of looking for that stand alone. I'm going to stay in my one location that's the big location... I'm in a Soccer Center which I have to rent so it's not ideal but the space is ideal here in Calgary because it's monstrous and it's an outdoor field but we're indoors. So I will always keep that Soccer Center as long as I can, even though I have the downfall of having to rent it and not own it.

Fernando:
You know what's interesting... it's something that you may not know because I coach all the FBBC owners. In the UK clients don't like to work out in the morning, they like to work out in the afternoon. So like you say you're hot times are early in the morning... over there it's like late in the afternoon.

Shawna:
I've heard that yeah because I have a lot of friends in the UK and they were saying the same. They're just not morning people there. So it’s interesting.

Fernando
In that sense I think I'm a little bit of a UK boy.

Shawna:
A UK... well it’s funny because a lot of people they’ll phone and they'll say well I'm inquiring about your 5:30 camp, and I'll say you know that's 5:30 am? And they'll say oh... oh… well never mind. And I'll say hey wait, what are you doing at 5:30 in the morning? They’ll say you know what? And then we talk about it and they’re like that just might work. So it takes a little bit of convincing sometimes but just try it out, you just never know. And then I've had people that have never gotten up at that time, never exercised or at that time, and they've been with me now for 4 years.

Fernando:
Once you create the habit it’s easy to keep going.

Shawna:
Exactly.

Fernando:
Next question. Facebook is a big thing right now. How do you use it in your business if you use it at all, to either bring leads or work that retention program?

Shawna:
It's awesome just to create a buzz for boot camp. Often I'll do the same thing on my personal page and on my fan club page just because people relate to me as a person but I have the fan page as well because I think for SEO and Boot Camp Marketing purposes the fan page is good; you would know that more than me Fernando. What we do is we'll give clients props, we'll just make comments about the workout, we'll try and create a buzz. And then it's nice when you get clients commenting about their workout because it's social proof that oh wow, this is a super fun workout. And then what's nice is sometimes when a client's friend will comment on Facebook but isn't a client. Then I feel like I've been invited into that person's life. So I can then contact that person and say "Hey Jodi, I see you're supporting Litha with her boot camp. That's awesome. Why don't you come join us? Here’s a $100 gift card." So then it's not so intrusive that I would just private message Jodi or just go stalk all of say Litha's friends, that's kind of intrusive, but because Jodi has already kind of put her foot in the arena I feel like oh, maybe she'd be interested. So then it's a natural segue to say hey, Jodi I'm Litha's trainer, I'm Shawna, I'd love for you to join us, come sweat with Litha, and then I can give her a private invitation. So that's worked to generate some referrals or someone that might otherwise not get into boot camp.

Fernando:
Right. So one thing leads to the other. You use it to create a little bit of a community outside the boot camp itself and because of the nature of Facebook, things are a little bit open so more people can join into that group and they end up earning leads and being part of your system. Right?

Shawna:
Yes, and I think the big mistake some people make with Facebook is they just use it just as a selling medium and that's kind of like... I've been taught that Facebook is a little bit like your living room and you wouldn't just go barge into someone's living room and say hey I'm selling this, buy this...It's a little bit more laid back and social. And so if someone has kind of given you the lead, then you can say hey... it's in a little more informal or casual basis rather than hard selling, because most people are pretty turned off by that. It's just a great way to create a buzz and let people know. I've had people say they've been stalking me on Facebook for a long time before they kind of took the leap. So this gives people an opportunity to see what's going on. Because I try and always post pictures, post videos, this is what's going on; oh we're raising money for this charity. So it really helps to create an awesome kind of community that people are like hey I want to be involved in that.

Fernando:
Perfect. Everybody's feels glued to it right. Now let's talk a little bit more about the actual workouts. How is it that your clients get such exceptional results? Because I know that you're known for amazing before and after pictures, can you explain a little bit more of that to us?

Shawna:
Yeah, well having lots of experience with training and with teaching has really come in handy in getting awesome results with boot camp. I do a lot of research and really it's just a matter of intensity and putting together strength moves and high intensity interval training with no rest in between. Shortening the workout. I teach at the Fit Body Boot Camp University and we're really advocating a shorter workout because we can really get results in less than an hour. I'm introducing that in July and August and my clients are kind of like hey... but you know do I get half price on workouts if they're half as long? And I feel like saying well maybe you should pay me twice because I'm getting you twice the results in half the time adding more time to your day. It's really a matter of knowing how to pair exercises and increasing intensity so that Mrs. Jones that never trained before can train beside my Joe Lean who has trained with me now going on 5 years in boot camp, and they can be side by side with a very similar workout but one is doing much more than the other. We do a lot of timed steps, we do sensation work... there's just no break. So a lot of times they're done and they’re toasted within a very short amount of time and they are just in a pool of sweat. But it's safe because there are always ways to modify so that the Mrs. Jones can be conditioned, it's her first day out, we can have a word with her so that she knows what her options are and there are ways to intensify. So you can have different fitness levels all training at the same time with the different timed workouts that we do. Most of them are timed. We'll have everybody working on the clock. So Fernando, in 30 seconds you might bang out 30 pushups and I might only be doing 5. So we're all working at an intense pace that is very self-paced. It works for all of us.

The 4th and final part of this interview will be posted in a couple of days. Make sure to check it out!

Learn more about Fit Body Boot Camp and see if a franchise opportunity is right for you.

This entry was posted on May 14, 2012 at 10:05 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Posted in Boot Camp Marketing by Steve Hochman | No Comments Yet