Hey girlies, how are you and what’s going on in your world? I’m sitting here with my mum’s dog, Kenza, snuggling on my lap. She’s staring at me with her one eye. Bless her! She got attacked by another dog and got an infection, so her eye had to be removed. She’s a lovely dog. So calm and LOVES a cwtch. It’s great dog sitting her, but also nice to give her back – ha ha! Once she’s gone, I can spend time in the gym or going to class.

Which brings me to what I wanted to talk to you about in this blog. I’m starting a class on Monday, for the first time in two and a half years – can you cope!

Due to the pandemic. I’ve been dancing out of my kitchen for two years.  Covid meant I had to pivot my business and learn about the digital world. The past year I’ve been working hard, developing our On Demand platform. The idea behind this came from that fluidity, grace and flow you’ll see in some dancers as they move from one move to the next.

It might look effortless, but there is A LOT of work the dancer must do behind the scenes to move like that.  Strength, core strength, correct technique, flexibility, mobility exercises, correct posture, nutrition, consistency, self-love, and a vision. So, I’ve created a brand-new platform that has all of this, plus so much more. My hope that is that OnDemand will help women from all walks of life to dance with fluidity and have access to everything they need to achieve this. It’s so exciting. BUT it’s also taken up soooooo much of my time.

Going back to class:

I always said to myself that no matter how busy I get, or how big the business grows, I would never stop doing classes. And here I am, two and half years later, and I’ve not done a class in so long. If you don’t use it, you lose it. I never want to lose that social element, the feel-good factor, plus the fitness. So I’ve decided to set up a class again.

And guess what? You’re not going to believe this! I found myself thinking: ‘What if nobody shows up?’ That made me think, “If I thought this, I’m sure the girls have experienced it.” So I reflected and brained dumped everything I used to do to bring 50 women into class. God, I was relentless! I never stopped thinking about it. But as I’m sure you’re all aware, nothing comes easy. We have to step outside our comfort zone because that’s how we grow.

Saying no to negativity:

If you’re struggling to get your numbers up or if it’s all brand new, this is for you. You’re excited that you’ve passed the course. You’ve learnt all the routines. You want to share with other people how amazing Turn’d up Fitness makes you feel. But then you turn up to class and there’s nobody there. You can see all the other girls have packed classes and you feel deflated. It sucks. You feel sad. You feel like ‘What’s the point? It’s not worth it. I’m not making any money.’ You tell yourself that you’re rubbish.

If you feel like this, the first thing you must do is put the blockers on and not worry about what anybody else is doing. They were once in the exact same position as you. They don’t show you the work they do to bring those people in. All you see is the happy ending. And who knows, I bet they struggle with imposter syndrome too.

That negative voice in our head that stops us from doing the work required to bring people into our classes. We procrastinate. We don’t want to message people because we feel like we are bothering them. So we just turn up for class and hope for the best. It’s happened to me many times.

I want to share something with you:

The reason why I feared turning up to classes was because I knew deep down, I hadn’t done what it takes to get people to class. Unfortunately, 50 people don’t just walk through the door, as much as we want them to. We have to earn it.

Running fitness classes is not like running a coffee shop where people will just walk in. If you are serious about turning your fitness classes into a profitable business, then your best bet is to find a prime location and build up the community. Then you can work your own hours and pick a day and a time that suits you.

In this blog I’m going to be sharing all the strategies I used and still use if I am putting on an event or want a packed-out class all year long. It is sooooo much fun when you have 50 women behind you, all moving as one, whooping and woohing, sweating and smiling. It’s electric. It is some serious fitness magic.  I’m sure every fitness instructor would agree. You reach another level of excitement.

Let’s just face it, all dance fitness teachers are performers at heart. We vibe off people. We love a little show off and an audience. We were born to dance. And what’s more amazing is that everybody in the room is having the time of their lives because of you. It’s SUCH a magnificent feeling.

How to build your girl gang:

I’ve written this blog to share loads of strategies that can help you build confidence and create and keep your girl gang, all year long. Some of us are good at marketing, and some of us suck. But I’m going to share with you all the strategies I use to fill up my classes and what I’ve trained 195 women to do, too.

The first thing you need to do is create a private Facebook group. Then invite people to the group who you think might be interested. Create an event on Facebook. Then invite your friends. Try messaging ten friends and ask them if they wouldn’t mind sharing it. Most people have a few hundred friends on their Facebook and Instagram pages. It all adds up and you’ll soon have an audience of a few thousand people who will see your posts. Can you cope?

Set up a booking system of your choice. Eventbright/ Fatasoma/ Skiddle/ GoogleDrive are all good ones. Then create a targeted Facebook and Instagram ad that allows you to collect email addresses of people who might be interested. Here and here are two good YouTube links that explain how to do it. When writing the caption for your event, come up with a headline and an emotive short story about how TUF has changed your life and what you’re offering. I learned this from the Russell Brunson book: The Underground Playbook for Creating a Mass Movement of People Who Will Pay for Your Advice.

I know they are dated but they do work. You could always flyer drop in your area, just put them through people’s letterboxes. Leave the flyers at the studio you are teaching in. Pop some into shop windows, Slimming World groups, bridal shops, nail and beauty salons and school fairs. Again, wherever you are it’s about building relationships, being inquisitive, being a good listener, and staying fun and positive.

Flash Mobs:

These are brilliant! Get your speaker, grab your girls, and bust out some moves. You’ll soon stop the town and have people coming up to you and showing interest in your classes. It’s a great opportunity to give out flyers and meet new people.

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