Bedros Keuillian – Fitness Business Summit

Bedros Keuillian – Fitness Business Summit

Price: $494

Just For: $40

I listened to my own advice and “stepped outside my comfort zone” and made the commitment to attend The Fitness Business Summit 2015. You are probably asking, “Why is a fitness business seminar out of the comfort zone for a fitness guy?” Valid question. I have been lucky to attend some powerful seminars over the past 10 years: Perform Better, Thomas Plummer, Ed Thomas, USA Track and Field and USA Triathlon. These various events have all supplied so much usable content that immediately returning home, I was able to implement my ideas to improve my trade as a coach and assist with my business. I have high standards regarding these events so I was excited to see what FBS would be like.

Fitness Business Summit is led by marketing expert Bedros Keuilian. Just like many fitness business owners have done, I did a “fitness marketing” google search and Bedros’ name is one of the first to pop up. His coaching and expertise has assisted him to become a top name in the fitness business world.

As I started to research Bedros, his company and this specific seminar, I started to wonder why I never saw him at a Perform Better Summit? Why wouldn’t the “fitness marketing genius” be asked to speak at one of the most reputable educational seminars in the world?

Back to why this was out of my comfort zone…because I knew The Fitness Business Summit was going to be a different experience than any other educational encounters I have attended. I was intrigued to see how this event would run its course.

I arrived to a populated event, over 650 attendees. And was ready to take on the weekend….

Day 1:

• Stephen Jepson! Have you heard of him? Me neither. This 74-year old, lover of life, full of energy man was tremendous. His quirky style made him unique and entertaining to listen to. Stephen’s message was “never leave the playground”. His presentation was full of passion, knowledge, laughs and real world solutions to help with sedentary living. “The BRAIN people. All this stuff is for the brain. What’s more important than the BRAIN? When you practice new things, new brain neurons and connections develop and it keeps you snappy and sharp. I want that!” Jepson excitedly said. Walking around in his short black and white striped shorts and his pink shirt, Stephen demonstrated many simple and playful games that instill balance, stability and coordination. He puts a big focus on working both the hands and feet. And let me tell you, this man was athletic, mobile and fun! Pretty much everything we should be shooting for with our general fitness clients. I had the chance to talk to Stephen after his presentation and I was inspired by his words and knowledge. He told me that he was on his way to speak at Ido Portal’s Event, “Movement 2015”. He said his career is “taking off” and he was “so thrilled.” I want to be that guy when I am 74. Watch his video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOP7AdJ0OXU
• Immediately into the Summit, I recognized the “ABS” rule of marketing: Always Be Selling. And let me tell you, there was no let up. This rubbed me the wrong way. I did not register for this event to be constantly pushed into buying something. I registered to learn and better myself and this pushy sales message put a bad taste in my mouth early.
• Two of the speakers on Day 1 were Fit Body Boot Camp Owners. Bedros is the CEO of FBBC. The stories of these young coaches were inspiring. They battled through some tough life occurrences and were able to find Bedros, open up a FBBC franchise and thrive. Both of these presenters talked about their experiences in their businesses; what worked and what didn’t. As the stories were inspiring, the FBBC testimonials were starting to get drawn out and here we were again; I wasn’t there to open a franchise. But this message was continually being shoved in our faces. I did my best to not allow that to decrease the value of the messages of the presenters.
• I left Day 1 with some valuable nuggets of information that will help my business:

1. A more sophisticated approach regarding the marketing of challenges, events, programs, products etc. through email marketing campaigns. There is always something to learn in this area.
2. A few different ways to show our community driven facility: a steady stream of “real world” pictures on facebook, consistent before/after pictures, and more frequent client testimonials.
3. Understanding that EMOTION and PASSION is why we do our job. I knew this already but it’s always good to reiterate important messages. It’s very important to make this the foundation of business and ultimately your life. Without emotion and passion, life is boring so make sure to find what motivates you and keep your inspiration flickering.

 

Day 2:

• We started Day 2 with a very inspiring talk from Nisan Trotter. Nisan owns and operates TROT Fitness in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. It was refreshing to hear Nisan talk about personal growth and life long ambition. You can tell by his humble demeanor that he followed his own advice and loves life and the people he works with. For him, it wasn’t just about marketing tactics or how to reel people in the door, it was about PASSION and HEART. His message was that by genuinely portraying these two characteristics, not only will business improve but also life will be energized! I see big things for Nisan in his future, not only has an owner but has a motivational speaker.
• After our break, I came back to my seat and was excited to listen to Craig Ballantyne, who is the founder of Turbulence Training, a widely used fat loss system. I came back to my seat, only to notice a large black folder, with a GOLD SEAL, sitting on my chair…and every other attendee had one as well. It looked highly important and said “Do not open”. I was intrigued and opened it and…. You guessed it, another sales pitch, and this time it was a “special deal” into Bedros’ mastermind program. I now started to get agitated with the redundancy of “buy, buy, buy”. Not to ruin Craig’s presentation, I regained my focus and took good notes from his talk. For any Coach trying to embark on a fitness product, Craig gave some good advice and usable strategies regarding the creation, marketing and selling of the product. To be successful in the fitness product industry there needs to be some sophistication in the marketing and selling of the product or as Craig mentioned, “You end up with boxes of DVD’s or books in your garage because you didn’t sell anything.” I have some key takeaways from Craig’s presentation that I will use when my book is launched later this year.
• Bedros was the 3^rd presenter of the morning. His topic was “How to generate referrals and triple your business through word of mouth.” This is the point I started to feel disconcerted with the pushy sales approach to this event. It now became clear, well at least in my personal view that a major focal point of this Summit was to buy something. I again regained my focus and listened to Bedros’ talk and he did share some great ideas regarding online marketing, getting referrals, how to connect with other businesses in the community and creating a more efficient marketing system.
  Bedros knows his stuff and absolutely knows how to sell product; whether you agree with his philosophy or not, he is very good at what he does.As Bedros was diving into the topic of “funneling and how it’s important to have a very low, first barrier to enter into a program”, he looked to the crowd of 600+ people, and said, “You guys all right here, I got you to buy my lowest barrier program. I will break even on this seminar but I am ok with that because I know I am going to get a handful of people to buy my mastermind. I know I am going to get people interested in Fit Body Boot Camp. This is how it works.” I listened intently to this message and it triggered some emotion. I first thought, “Did he just tell us all that we were scammed into coming to this event just to buy more from him?” But I also thought, sure that is needed in any marketing funnel; you need a low entry-level program for people to try the system. But it was how he went about it; if felt tactical and calculated. It was the consistency of the pushy sales message over the past 2 days that I did not agree with. At that moment, I quickly realized that this approach is NOT how I personally do business. I respectfully grabbed my backpack and quietly walked out the door and did not return to the Summit.

 

I am not here to tell you that Bedros’ system is a scam or to bash his organization. In fact, by the looks of it, it has helped hundreds if not thousands of fitness trainers become successful. I respect his success and the people he has worked with. I just do not agree with the approach he took at this particular Summit. I left with a bad taste in my mouth. I walked into this event with a substantial and successful business. I was not looking to open a franchise or to be talked into signing up for a mastermind program and that is what I felt. I came for knowledge, continuing education and personal growth. I left the event analyzing the situation and here are my main learning points:

• There are many ways to skin a cat. Whether it is a particular workout system, a marketing program or a diet, there are several ways to get results. The key is to COMMIT and entrust in the system you are following. If you are highly committed, odds are you will get the results you are looking for.
• Know your values. I think this is so important. If something does not align with your personal values, it’s ok to not agree and respectfully “walk out”. In life, there will be many times where you will need to find the door and move on and that’s ok.
• Whether you agree with a system or not, there will always be takeaway points that you can learn from. Be positive, find something good and leave with a smile.
• In marketing and sales, not everything needs to be a “strategy”. You must have an intellectual approach to growing your business, but in my opinion, the #1 key is to be completely genuine and upfront with people. If you are GREAT at what you do and always stay sharp, and hustle your ass off, your business will prosper. Don’t think that you need a strategy for EVERYTHING. Just be you, do it well and the rest will come. It’s not all about making a buck.
• Just because you personally disagree with a system or a unique approach, that doesn’t mean it will not work for someone else. Respect that and appreciate the success of others. Stay humble.