Monday, January 2, 2012

WHY TO NOT TRUST ANYONE IN THE PERSONAL TRAINING INDUSTRY ::by Bryen

Seems like a pretty aggressive title right?  Well....I truly mean it.  I don't trust....anyone in the industry without a good reason or past experience working with them..  This could be in regards to intellectual property...in regards to ideas...in regards to business strategy.  I trust absolutely nobody. Seems like a pretty hard statement, but I am going to show you why I tell all young personal trainers the number one rule in Personal Training is DTA...Don't Trust Anyone.  I am going to show you an example of WHY EXACTLY AND SPECIFICALLY I do not trust other personal trainers by using a couple of videos.

The first video I am going to show you is an example of a product that came out in early 2011 called "The Rack"... HERE IS THE INFOMERCIAL (CLICK LINK) I want you to pay attention to these things:


  1. The Price of The Product 
  2. The Name of The Product 
  3. The Target Demographic being marketed toward? 
What did you notice?  Now I want you to take a look at  THIS SECOND INFOMERCIAL .  I want you to pay attention to the same things Listed above..The price, The name, and the Target Demographic. And tell me what looks similar. 

If you 'actually' watched both videos you would know that the 2nd video is almost exactly identical to the first infomercial.

In a Microsoft vs apple debate, it is well documented (here) that Steve Jobs confronted Microsoft owner Bill Gates about them "copying" some of their information from apple.  Bill Gates countered by saying "all cars have steering wheels, but no one claims it to be their invention." Even Mark Zuckerburg in the social network says "does a guy who makes a really good chair owe money money to anyone who ever made a chair?" 

Although both of these comments are snide.  They are correct.  Zuck doesn't owe anyone sh*t.  Neither do the makers of the second video in this instance.  It is CLEAR that they stole the video #1's idea.  They stole their price..they stole it all....BUT THEY MADE THE FIRST VIDEO'S IDEAS TOTALLY BETTER.  Here is what they did different: 

1. The Marketing.  
The marketing of this product was VASTLY better in the second video.  The first video was one dude. In cargo camo shorts...."trying to act hard" with no weights.  That's terrible.  No one is buying it.  No "hard" dude in the gym is squatting with the 30 lbs that rack weighs and acting like it is doing something....get real. Not only that but what girl is going to see that commercial and buy it? So basically the demographic you want, doesn't want your product because it's too soft. And the other demographic you SHOULD want (women) doesn't want the product because it is being marketed as a hardcore muscle builder. 

2. The Price 

They used the same price-point, but they added a new feature.  The independence of the hand levers and the grip with the quick change.  This now has made the product unique from "The rack" in the first video.  So you have a choice, buy the first one with no weights, and no different grip and no additional features.  Or get the second video with all the bells and whistles.  Sounds like an easy choice to me. 

This further illustrates why in business you trust yourself...and that's it.  Don't tell people your ideas without a Non-Disclosure agreement.  As I sit here today I told someone TODAY...TODAY...that I was not saying another word to them until I had an NDA signed by them and in my possession.  The moral of the story is that however cryptic it is...you can't trust anyone.  However ruthless it is...its just business.  So to all of you personal trainers out there who are looking to link up with other trainers, or do different things, unless you have a SERIOUSLY strong relationship with them I would do one thing that the Wu-Tang Clan told me to do back in 1994....Protect Ya Neck.  

-OVER AND OUT- 

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