Hello and welcome to episode number 32 of the Ricky Long podcast. Hey, welcome to another episode of the Ricky Long podcast episode number 32. We are again sponsored by the way. Wonderful Podium for sport Northern Ireland's Sports retailer of the year in 2018. We specialize in all types of fitness gym equipment as well as equipment for schools and uniforms for schools Etc. Really really good guys. I've been associated with putting for sport for a long long time now and really really grateful for their continued partnership and support. Port through these podcasts the second sponsorship is actually my own so jump 4.2 is about to launch in May the 1st 2019. What is jump 4.2 jump 4.2 is a training nutrition and mindset program specifically designed for group fitness instructors who want to get fit to teach tree and the teach have a better relationship. An energy with their exercise that helps them and serve them when they come to do their job IE teach a group fitness class. If you want to get involved and jump 4.2 you need to private meal me. You need to email me. You need to connect with me on social media and I will make sure you get all the information which allows you to start on May the first and what do you get for that? You're going to get your own individual training portal you can access this portal on your phone or on your Your laptop anytime you like and this will allow you to work through the workouts the mindset drills and nutrition education at your own piss. You will have connections with a Facebook group where everybody else has gone through jump 4.2 in the last two years and we can lean on each other support. So today it. I've had a hundred and forty-five. I actually contacted the other day a hundred and forty-five people go through job 4.2 and the only other concern S hand on heart. I have had a Bowden 95% success rate the 5% known success rate were due to extenuating circumstances such as horse moves and in one of those cases, it was a whole continent move as well. So people have the Opera date is Sunday the 14th of April 2019 to give you some context and the apologize in case you hear any outside noise. I'm actually sitting in my car, right? Now recording this podcast in the last week. It was announced on social media and email marketing about changes too high. It's going to work for a Les Mills instructor. So this email is this email this podcast is done on edited by the way, Don off the back of the news that was announced last week. This podcast is a flight instructor pay in the fitness industry instructor pay in the fitness industry. Now, I'm going to have to come at this a couple different ways. I'm going to do a couple of disclaimers right at the start of the episode and I apologize in advance. If I at any point seem a little bit random and want to jump between conversations and jump between subjects. One of those was in fact that I put this out. On my Instagram that I was going to record this episode and was there anything that people wanted me to talk about and a lot of personal trainers who don't teach Les Mills classes actually got back to me and started talking about their own pay for personal training. And and I think that's another big subject and I might go into that a little bit today, but that's going to be another topic for another time. This one is going to be specifically specifically about group fitness instructors pay. The news that was announced last week came from Les Mills a company that I work for. I'm a contractor for Les Mills and it was about changes to high an instructor will stay and educate themselves with Les Mills. So beforehand that used to kind of be they pay it was kind of a pay-as-you-go system pay for the touch points you do pay for the music that you buy pay for the education sessions. Your tent and what Les Mills have announced in the last week is that that is going to change to a quarterly payment system. It's kind of like a membership but not quite and for that slight increase of quarterly payment per program, you will get access to two three four five times the amount of access that you would have had before for the same amount of money. So I am not going to quote the actual figures here. I'm just going to pull a couple of numbers out of my head. So would have been about 30 points per program for your minimal touch points per quarter. No, it's 35 points per quarter, but you have unlimited touch points. So people are paying like six or seven points extra and they're getting a you know, if you were to work out the master probably getting access to about three or four hundred points extra. By way of Education called a workshops touch points, etc. Etc. So this is why this topic has exploded a little bit and social media and when I put up my post on Instagram people are very very passionate in the responses. So let me qualify myself to talk about this for just a couple of minutes. So I'm going to talk at this from three points of view of Donna podcast in this before kind of similar, but I'm going to flesh this one out a little bit so So first and foremost, I am qualified to talk about the instructor pay a group fitness instructor gets because I have been a group fitness instructor for over 10 years not I've taught spin classes. I've taught head classes. I've taught circuits classes. I've taught Les Mills classes obviously, I've taught yoga classes. I've taught Pilates the freestyle classes and I've done some well as are yells out of them Beachbody classes before I've told a couple of and silently classes. I have got F of theta for work that owner for the you know, worked out 10 years 20 classes a week. I mean, that's a lot of classes. That's a lot of counting it. That's a lot of group fitness classes taught. That's a lot of members. - I've had in front of me. You're probably talking close to that's definitely over six figures how many members are would have had in front of me? How many clubs that might be and how many countries and continents and secondly, it also means I have done a shitload of invoices and means I have asked for money for a lot of those classes the second person. I want to talk from the perspective of is the club owner. I have been a club. Owner before from 2015 until 2017. I ran my own club in Banger Northern Ireland. It was called belong Fitness and we had on our books 10 members of Staff teaching group fitness classes. We were paying license program fees to Les Mills. I've been paying all the bills for the club. I've been paying the staff wages the rear its rent the license fees for for music. There's something called PPL which is your license to play copyrighted music just about every Bill I've had to sign for in that regard before I was the club owner. I have also been a club manager basically doing the same tasks as one of just said for another club. So I am qualified to talk about how it feels to pay an instructor because I have been that person before and the third person I'm going to talk in the perspective of is the layers Mills trainer because I am a Les Mills trainer and I have been a Les Mills trainer since 2011 2012 or thereabouts have been a Les Mills instructor since about 2010 and the reason why I need to talk about the Les Mills trainer is I was I was talking to someone a before the despoil castings explaining how I was going to do and I said Ricky just be careful because I know what you're like you can run your mouth off sometimes and you can have around and you can pass a few people off and you don't want to be doing anything the the pistoleros Mills off and say stuff you shouldn't and I completely appreciate the advice but the fact of the matter is this is a delicate. Delicate subject and it needs spoken about and as a Les Mills trainer part of the Les Mills value proposition to instructors, which I 100% by into is we are dedicated to helping our instructors achieve greatness. And for me that goes far far beyond what I deliver on a Les Mills module. That goes far beyond what I deliver on an educational quarterly Workshop. I want the instructors to achieve greatness and of part of your individual greatness is earning more money. Then I'm going to do my best in my lifetime in this part of my career to make sure that instructors have the ability the totals to earn as much as they are worth. So whilst I am a Les Mills trainer. I am speaking to you today as Ricky Long a fitness professional. I think that's all I'm a disclaimer is done. I think so. So if at any point you are a club owner, I've been there if you're an instructor I am one you are a Les Mills trainer or Les Mills member staff. I am speaking on behalf not on behalf of y'all but in perspective of y'all I'm going to give different kind of analogies as you go through right and like I said, I'm going to jump across topics from time to time as you do this. So first things first what you get paid, In your life is a direct reflection on the service and the results that you get for other people. So if you were to pause this podcast right now and go into your bank account and look at the the sum of money in your account that that sum of money is 100% Correct for what you've been doing. You will always use the money you've you are. If you're in 20 grand a year by the end of the year, sorry 20 grand a year. So what's up 1/2 gram the month, whatever it might be by the end of the month. You're going to be skint if you're on a hundred grand a year. So it's by eight grand a month by the end of the month. You're going to be skint. That's just how high how it works. So it's all relative what you're getting paid and what you get paid is a direct reflection of the service you provide. It's why a brain surgeon will get paid more than a general. Senior doctor because they have specialized in something therefore they get more money. If you are the best PT and you get the best fat results and the fastest time you can expect to charge more than the standard PT just off. Of course who doesn't really specialize in anything if you are group fitness instructor and you are known as being the best hit. But Camp type coach in the area you can expect to be paid more than someone who teaches generic workouts and doesn't really specialize in amethyst. So my point is what you compared is a direct reflection on the service and value you bring to other people. So first things first, what is the pay for a group fitness instructor now this varies massively and I've asked quite a few. People from all quite well connected throughout the UK and Ireland and I've been able last people in different parts of the the contrary countries countries. I've got to get that right because I've just mentioned five countries UK and Ireland. So I'll let you work that out for a minute hiders five countries in the UK and Ireland. You get a prize if you message me what those five countries or if it is, correct? And the kind of figure I've kind of settled on, you know rounding off a little bit is about 20 points a class. So some people get paid more than that and some people get paid less than that. And there was a lot of people kind of saying well, there's Mills classes compared this yoga classes compared this players classes because the pair dish and Sammy the classes compared this I've kind of just, you know, kind of your thanks. I've taken abroad average. I was about 20 pounds per class and that sometimes translates as 20 points and or but it's Always tried to poison our because some classes to be 45 minutes 30 minutes, maybe even some classes or the longer than the 60 minutes. So that is the rough and what's really really important for any of the listeners out there to realize who don't teach group fitness and classes 20 points and or shines like a decent deal because you're probably thinking well, you're going to work 40 hours a week because that's what everybody works for 20 points in or you're thinking you know, that's a hefty sum only. Well, it's four for four from that because as a group fitness instructor, you're limited the amount of classes you can teach on a couple of reasons one of those reasons is you Don't do it at all hours of classes per day from the simple point of time. So you might get one or two classes before 9 a.m. Couple of classes between nine and twelve one class round about lunchtime. Then there's this big black hole in the afternoon were no group fitness classes ever exist. And then in the evening, you may be able to get three possibly four classes. So that's where the windows of classes come and let me tell You this for Nothin teaching more than two classes per day is a massive massive asked on the body physically mentally, they might the food you would have to eat to get through that. They might have recovery. You need to be able to teach those classes and not damage your health. And then the other side of that is well, you might be getting paid 20 points for that one class. But it's not 20 points and are because you're going to have to span two or three hours prepping for that class. You're going to have to spend time getting to and from that gym. So you might teach half an hour away from your house. So that's half an hour there half an hour back. That's an order that classes and or that's to your Expedition. You're giving me 20 points for it. We'll all of a sudden that's an item points and are and then if you take into consideration, I've had the span say four or five hours learning my choreography learning my routines. Well, not all the sudden. It's about three or four points in our and what's the minimum wage nowadays seven or eight points? And this is another interesting. I told you I'm gonna go off on tangents. So the minimum wage has consistently risen for about the past 10-15 years orange instructors pay has stayed the same or actually got less especially in some clubs case. And by the way if you're a club And you do this. I really really resent you for doing this the way PPL and music license fees repaired. A lot of the time that's been passed on to the instructor. So the instructor was getting paid 20 points per class and then on some clubs they know I deduct about 1.57 from the instructor per class. Do you teach in ten classes a week for that Club restaurant to lose 15 points? So you've give us another pickup Yeah, and I know I'm speaking as the instructor right now. So let me flip that rind. Let me speak as the club owner. Your rates have gone up your rent has gone up your bills just to run your Club in general have gone up. We can't put yourself wages up. But have you put it the minimum wage up for your front the house stuff. You probably have put that up. So why can't you put this the wage up for everyone else or because you're not enough money in the business. Well, then you need to pass the payment on to your members and start providing them a much better more fulfilled service. That's what needs to happen. And the members will actually reward that reward that well actually value that as a value offering and so I've just kind of going through my next Point here, which is what are the costs of being a group fitness instructor. So there is the cost of upscale that is staying generally educated that's knowing how to teach your program to the best of your ability. There is also the the personal development side of things. So that's like I'm really really good at teaching a body part. Coaching model if I do say so myself, but to in order to stay upscale the myself. I also do a lot of things outside of the fitness industry and a lot of self and personal development to understand what motivates people to understand how to read and listen to people which isn't necessarily taught in the fitness industry. So that's more cost second on my list here is closed like second or my list of expenses is closed. To put that to give that kind of weight is a group fitness instructor we go through clothes fast. We sweat a lot close start to smell clothes loose ship. They were losers support. So we are going to need new stuff and I use the word need there. Deliberately. We're going to need new stuff probably every three or four months depends on many classes you're teaching if you're teaching ten classes a week. That's 45. As a month that's a hundred and twenty classes at 220 sweaty sessions in three months. Well, your clothes are going to start to with a little bit, you know, when they get that kind of stage just as soon as they get a little bit warm, they start to stink you're going to need to spend money and clothes there's insurance. So we all need to have our own insurance equipment. So what equipment do you need to teach so you might need to bring certain wits equipment with you? Dinah bands with your hurdles with your SAQ, whatever that might be. I know that would be possibly a one-off cost or once per year course, but it still needs to be factored into your business and then there's a more functional things that when you turn up the air Club what they provide you with do you need to provide your own microphone your own batteries and that sort of thing. It's you need to factor in all that cost and then the biggest cost to any group fitness instructor I've touched on this already is time the time you must dedicate the teach a 60-minute class is Way Beyond 60 minutes. It's probably closer to 5 or to teach 160 minute class because you've got to do all that prep time all the education all the getting to and from the club. I've spoke about before I don't want to go into it too much more. Other things that kind of spoke about a is what the the club should or should not provide. This is a massive bugbear of mine that some clubs will provide you with equipment X y&z. Some clubs will expect you to bring equipment X y&z. If I am the club owner, I need to make it very very clear to my perspective instructor coming in to teach my class as a contractor what I am going to Provide them with are they going to get batteries? Are they going to get the microphone or they go in to get an iPod late? Can they play for my court? Do they still need CDs? And I know some clubs still work from CDs so that as the club owner, I need to factor that into how much I then pay the instructor to provide all that to come and teach my members this the other side of that is as the instructor. I need to decide am I going to go and work in clubs that don't provide me with x y&z. Where am I going to go to a club if they don't have a microphone because I know I have to go and buy a microphone and that's a couple of hundred points cost up front and then there's maintenance of that D. I want that in my life. I know a couple of instructors and this I really really respect this decision. I know a couple of instructors who refused to teach in clubs refused to teach bodypump and clubs that do not have Les Mills smart Tech. Not and I absolutely love that. I think if I'm honest if I was to go back into teaching full time, I would do the same thing. And the reason why I would do the same thing as my standards are high. I only want to teach in the best clubs with the best equipment. Now, I know that whole sentence will have pissed a few of you off, but that is me that is my opinion. I want to teach with the best equipment in the best clubs that might not be you. And the the last part of that is what should the instructor provide by way of the service. So I'm going to command I'm going to come and teach your classes and then I'm just going to go home or I am I going to come in 5-10 minutes beforehand chat to your members teach your class and then stay five ten minutes after and I want to post on social media about your club and their benefits at your Club has am I going to tear and other club events and communicate with your Brush, I'm going to provide extra equipment on my going to provide extra session. So what is the value you as the instructor are going to provide to the club? I kind of got sidetracked when I was talking about the instructor instructor pay though just for a second is there the minimum wage has consistently gone up and up and up and up and up and the instructor Ridge has stayed the same and in some cases gon die. So we as group fitness instructors have essentially had a massive massive pay cut over the last 20 years. That is our fault. That is our fault for not making sure we are getting paired what we are worth and we are worth more than the or Leary it of taken a class. All right, let me get get my phone. So what I'm trying to do now, I've got some got some stats for you. Which came straight off some research platforms. There's a lot of Les Mills that's here. And there's a lot of just just that industry-wide and it's to support why group fitness instructors and group fitness programs in clubs actually benefit the club. I was triggered last week. I saw a post on social media and if this if this sentence gets back to the person who wrote it, I didn't reply to your time because I probably couldn't have worked out harder replied. constructively But it was in response to some of the recent changes of charges and being a Les Mills instructor and the sentence was and I quote you're not I forcing us to treat our passion as a business. When we previously treated it as or passion on a read it and I thought well, yes. We are you should have been doing that from a long time ago. It's turn your passion into a business. That's what the sentences that's what we we when I say we are not point we as entrepreneurs and not speaking as a Les Mills instructor or a Les Mills trainer or club owner when I say that we as entrepreneurs satyr. Turn your passion into a business and if it doesn't make business sense, don't make it a business. So the examples are I really really like one of my passions and life compilation was say this on a podcast. I love playing football manager know there is a way you can turn playing football manager the computer game into a business that involves doing YouTube videos that involves going to gaming centers that involves getting sponsorships, etc. Etc. I could turn that passion into your business word that business be enough to keep my life go. In the style. I have come across them to probably not so what am I going to do it? No. If I put in 40 50 hours of work per week per day in some cases. Could I make that passion a business that pays me handsomely in return Yes. I'm prepared to do that. No, so that's why you've got away up and you've got to think like a businessman or woman. If you enjoy keep it teaching group fitness classes. It must make Financial sense. So if you're only teaching one class of a program per week, and it's caught Student you about the same in terms of time and money and Investments on am not speaking about Les Mills specifically here. If it is costing you the same. It doesn't actually make business sense for you to do that and might give work for that amount of return. So you have a couple of options. Do you do more work? Do you search for more ways to deliver that program or do you think you know what that's not making sense right now. I'm going to stop doing that and spend my time doing something else. So to give you something. Tangible it up through a lot of and again, I'm going to speak to Les Mills instructors as a Les Mills instructor myself. So you might be certified in a couple of programs. Let's take three of our bigger programs body pump body combat and Body Balance, you might have three pump you might have to combat and you might have one balance. So you look at the cost for everything in that so it's going to cost you the same per quarter for all of those three programs. So maybe you're thinking well. It's worth wide for pump because I'm doing three classes a week for combat kind of it's okay and for balance while I'm only doing one class a week of that. So it's cost me about the same and time love energy and money. So what should I do? Should I try to increase the amount of balance classes? I teach should I stop teaching balance and pick up an extra body pump or a combat class? That makes business sense business owners do this on a quarterly monthly weekly basis. They reevaluate their pla their profit loss. Like if you're a group fitness instructor, you need to be doing the same. Look at your p&l line. What is making sense? What isn't what is bringing you in the most amount of income and what is causing you the most amount of loss and hi. Can you start to bridge that Gap so there is more money. Common in to your Fitness business because that is what you are. You're a Fitness business. You're not a group fitness instructor. You're not a personal trainer. You are not a member of Staff. You are a Fitness business. You are a personal brand and you've got to treat your passion as a business first and foremost, right? So I'm stats for you, which I'm going to pull out here 32 and this is this is going to be Lafitte are a lot of people. So let me clarify who this will benefit you. So if you're a Les Mills trainer listening to this or Les Mills member of Staff. These are the stats that we work towards and try to increase because we know the benefits this has on instructors Club retention and profit and loss and the effect that actually has on gym members the instructor. So if your instructor and you're thinking, you know, what regular lungs I'm not talking a lot of sense, right? But he's about the real awesome stats and I want to pay rise. So I'm going to listen this is support for you. And if you're a club owner, I have heard this sentence before as a club owner. I have I'm ashamed to say this as a club manager. I kind of said something to this effect that the group fitness studio doesn't earn you any money. It just costs money in instructor costs, which is absolute nonsense and Bones yet. I'm pleased to say that was like 10 years ago when I was a lot less educated than I am nice. So 32 percent of the adult population attend some sort of Fitness industry all these stats by the way can be found on the Les Mills website and it's all verified and published research 80% of all people paying for exercise or Millennials or Generation Z. Let's just sit on that one right now 80% of all people paying for exercise or millennials. Or Jen's at so that's people basically under the age of 33 34 depends. What book you read what qualifies as a millennial 80 percent of those people are paying for Fitness. You go back 20 years 80% of 35 year olds on under were not paying for Fitness. They were paying for alcohol drugs and course. So that's where the value is and put in our efforts into serving these people group fitness attendees visit their facility on average four times per week. So what that means? Is that the member of your gym. Your goes to group. I'm hoping reading this right now interpreted interpreted interpreted and Tarpon this right? So group fitness attendees visit their facility on average four times per week. So they will go to the gym four times per week where someone who doesn't attend group fitness classes. It's actually less than two times three kids by one and a half times per week on average. Let's knows workouts account for 45% of all group workouts to music globally. Sense retention globally Les Mills attendees who visit three classes per week have an average membership of 22 to forty nine and a half percent longer than GM only member. So let's take the lower end of that scale 25% So there's a couple of other stats of got written down here. So members who attend three times per week will stay three times longer and it's estimated that people who attend your gin. In Joe who join your gym half of them will leave within a year. So if you get a hundred people to join today or on April the 14th. By April 14th, 2020 only 50 of them will still be members. So what these stats say is if you can get those hundred people to start doing group fitness classes, two three four times a week. They are three times four times more likely to still be there in the next year. And in fact in the next two or three years. So this is where the group fitness studio starts to earn you money. Because instead of you having to run out and get your seals Force the get in more and more members. Well, you've got all your members still in the club and this is another thing that pisses me off about the fitness industry is that you walk in the most gyms and you wanted a member of gym stuff and you can find any Because there's only one of them and he or she is probably away cleaning machine not their fault. It's the industry's fault and then you go down to the seals officer reception and there's three or four members of Staff. They're all trying to get new members in. Well, what if you flip that what if you can flip that what if you had one member of seals on at any one time and three or four members of the GMT mourn and in any stage of time the gym staff were servicing members so they stopped leaving. The membership staff don't have to get a hundred people per month all the sudden. They only have to get 5 or 10 people per month folk. There's my alarm. About time to tell me your record just be careful to stop swearing. Right so warm was I on that 45% globally 86% of all there's Mills attendees or extremely satisfied or satisfied the results. That's a little plug for Les Mills. Obviously, I'm going to do that and and here's a great one for the club Owners listening to this group fitness attendees recommend 18% more. Then Jim only members so Jim's will do referral schemes here refer a friend and you'll get a free water bottle. You'll get a free some bad. You'll get a free Cinema ticket, whatever it might be or group fitness attendees will recommend people on a average of 18% more than Jim only because we're more sociable creatures 95% of all, there's males attendees refer versus 85% of GM only attendees. So if you have a class of People probably unlikely for most gyms. But if you have a hundred people were saying that 95 of those people will recommend the friend and if you have the gym floor with a hundred people on it only 85% of them well or 85 people of them 85 people of them. Well recommend some and group fitness attendees refer on average about for non-members to everyone or of or Jim going members. And then this is just for the instructors 79% of cycle class attendees site that the instructor was extremely important When selecting your class, I don't have this stat in front of me. There's two things that help you win when it comes to run and a group fitness studio is your location and your timetable you can do nothing about your location. Your location is just where your gym is what you can do is work on your timetable. So you can position classes in a certain way you can have specific. Constructors for specific tasks and you can upscale your instructors to absolutely on limited value what happens when you upscale an instructor, they will keep your members happier when you have happy members, they get more results and they stay for longer what happens if you're an instructor who is exceptionally upscale with a massive reputation will suddenly you can earn more money than the next instructor. One off on a tangent. So one thing that gets me about the fitness industry as well. As you know, I'm aware actually had these had these three from I'll not say their name from a company I work with and it was the contract of employment or contract of freelancer agreements. And in that contract that was telling them what the Ritz is payer and I was thinking well if a plumber walked into Union Coolidge you for some work, Doc contractor would tell you this is how much it's going to cost for the labor. This is how much it's going to cost for the parts. And this is how much it's grown a and this is how long it's going to take cetera Etc. Whereas in the fitness industry. It's kind of the other way around, you know, I'll walk in the club and they'll say Ricky we pay 20 points for that class. No, this is where you as a group fitness instructor. This is where you need to prove your worth. If you don't think you're worth 20 pints of class, you think you're worth more than that, you need to tell them that we need to stop being embarrassed and ashamed about money. We all want money. We all want more money and we're all worth a certain amount of money and we have to ask for more that so I'm going to say this all my podcast if you offer me 20 points to take a group fitness class, I don't care if it's Two minutes 40 minutes 60 minutes and car how long it is. I will not do a class for 20 points. It is not enough value for what I can bring to your club and the second side of that is I don't even believe group fitness instructors should be getting paid per the class. I think it would be a much better Arrangement between the club and the group fitness instructor to have a monthly quote-unquote salary now, I'm not going To get into pay waii and tax and all that but let's just say you're teaching one class a week. So up before classes a month. If you get paid 20 points of class, that would be 80 points of the month. Let's just say I month has four weeks what I'm saying make that a hundred points and use the club nice start to treat that freelancer as an employee include that contractor in business decisions in business meetings. Get that contractor to buy into your Club values your Club ethos to interact with your members and not just in a group fitness environment make them feel part of your team because what that instructor will give you back is a better class is more likely to post about your Club on social media. So what I'm saying is the old school way of thinking on paying your instructors per class. Well, I'm just going to set it doesn't work at all. Don't leave long-lasting results and affection. So why why don't you change it? Not very many clubs do this. I used to do it with belong Fitness is we didn't pay or freelances per class. We paid them in an overall package per month and it meant with the main reason why we did it is when they posted on social media. They were only ever Post in the Bible on Fitness. They weren't potion about the local Leisure Centre or the other clubs the torrent because they only happy to teach and or place everywhere else was slightly different. So why don't Go against the Stars start school. Yeah, cool cool. Go against the tide and deliver something else create your own value proposition between the club and the instructor. I'm going off on tangents all over the show. I know this podcast is going to be listened to a lot of probably a new your audience to me and you want to be wondering or these podcasts always is random in this and the answer is fucking yes substance over style matters most for the instructor Choice 40% of people prefer. Someone who coaches intelligently verse 26 percent of people who prefer someone entertaining. So what I take from that is As a group fitness instructor, you have a responsibility to teach your program to get results from your memories because that's their the biggest thing that keep members in a club is a results and some of that is functional aesthetic results and some of that is social results. So you as a group fitness instructor what I'm basically saying is you've got to do more than just High we're going to do this way. It's workout. Today we're going to do four sets of ear. Then we're going to do 5 sets of 5 then we're going to do some heads. One two three go you got to be entertaining. You've got a coach. You've got to connect with people. You've got to make long lasting relationships. Not just between you and the the class but between class members and other class members that again brings your self-worth and value up a couple of other stats to when a member joins their risk of canceling in the first six months. Is higher so let me word that again. When a member joins their risk of counseling in the first six months. Is higher for Jim only at fifty-six percent compared to just 27% from somebody who joins in those group fitness classes. So that means if somebody joins and wants to start doing classes will you know, there are 27 percent less likely to cancel their membership in the first six months. So you as the club owner you as a group fitness instructor should be doing everything possible to make sure your group fitness offering is the best it can be 61% of people who exercise are members of a gym. So a lot of people exercise and not everyone wants to be a member of a gym, you know, some people be member of clubs such as football hockey netball swimming and member of someone Club my hashtag. I'm a swimmer and so 61% of people who exercise and members of a gym group fitness accounts for 44% of club visits 44% of this why pins through Your Club this week are going to come from people who are booked in to do a group fitness class. What a massive step. I've touched on the Millennials and gen Zed. What I want to kind of elaborate on the Millennials and gen said is so these are the under 35s. I think Jen's are door kind of I don't know 25 and Below. These are the kids as I call them. You know, I'm obviously 24, so I'm Jens at 80% of the club or Millennial or Jen said and 81 percent of all Fitness action on your phone that you're listening to this on. You know, all the fitness apps 81 percent of users of fitness apps or under the age of 35. I either Jen's add or millennia. So that's how powerful that market is. So as a club owner, I would be thinking right now. Okay, so if I want to get more members because there's more Millennials and gen Z ads. Hi can I tap into that market? So I got to become really really Savvy with social media. I've got a create an app and I've got to get my instructors post and about my club on their social media the same side of that if I'm an instructor and I want to get more money. Need to build up a social media following so is that when you know the fitness club and the rackets Club come to me and say you want to come and teach you my studio would pay 20 points. I can say to the fitness club know I teacher 40 points the fitness club will say no we don't pay that in the rackets Club say, well we can you can teach your class here for 20 points. I said, well, I've got this following on social media and I know they're all going to come here. Okay, you can come here for 40 points. I'd be like Date, so I've just proved my worth. I'm just using a fitness club and a racket club just as just as examples are I'm not talking about anyone specifically. Hopefully you get what I mean, and I've said this before members to attend a class three times per week will stay three times longer. So now I'm going to want to dive into my phone. So just give me a second. I'm just getting a heap of heap of emails through and All right. So this is again, I won't flash these like too much but there's a couple of them which I know we're going to trigger me. So this is when I post it on social media and said, is there anything you want to talk me about a PT who doesn't teach Les Mills classes, but this PT is very very clued up in the industries and man of the world it said because you need to pay the teacher layers Mills class. You need to take the right class. In the right club and take the right amount of them in order to make business sense of touch in this before if you're going to make any sort of investment to teach a class to go into your course, you need to make sure it's for the benefit of your business. So it's business over passion rather than passion over business. Where's the other one? So Alan sent this tree, which is a great point is if you're a group fitness instructor, you will probably be self-employed. So you'll need to factor in tax National Insurance holiday pay over being contracted. So what what is absolutely fantastic about being a group fitness instructor is you will be able to register as being self-employed which means you do your tax return at the end of the year and anything you buy for the benefits of your business. You can clean back against the tax. Which is brilliant so always got a proper content rather than recognize podcast to talk you through that, but I spoke about it earlier every three months you might need to invest in Newport trainers. Well, that's tax deductible. That's all I'm going to say about that coach going in the accountancy and taxes and pay why he's just a little bit not so this one's come in from someone who I'm not going to mention. This girl's name. And this is what I'm going to get triggered on is so the question was anything about an instructor paying one of their podcast and this instructor has said no tiered payments depending on class numbers. So let me stick on that one. I was doing some research for this episode and I came across a great article which was backed by research and Science and stats. It was on the Les Mills website and they were talking about their the benefits of paying your instructors depend on how many people are going to your class. So I'll just put you some figures out, you know, if you have under 20 people maybe you'll get 20 points you have over 20 people. Maybe you'll get 25 points and if you have over 40 people maybe it's 30 points something like that and a lot of Start say this works, but I can tell you right here right now. That does not motivate me. And no way shape or form. It's not something a group fitness instructor is actually in control of and it doesn't matter how many people are in front of me as your group fitness instructor, but like it could not I could not care less. How many people are in front of me? Whether there's one person or a hundred people in front of me. I'm going to deliver a world-class work out doesn't matter. How many people are there? I don't care how many of your members have turned? What I do car is people have turned up get the best of me. Therefore. I should be paired rewarded for my value and my service which hasn't changed. It hasn't because only three people have turned up. My class doesn't mean it's tickets me any less time energy investment to teach that class. So why should I be paired less than that? Ignore me. So those tiered Payment Systems. They're brought in by club Owners and Club managers in order. In sent the FI their class instructors to bring more people to the classes while I'm sorry, that does not change how we deliver a class. Okay, if you want the incentive i-i us to bring people to your classes. Well, perhaps offer us some sort of membership referral I if we get someone to come to the gym you're going to pay us 20 points for a class flat rate the matter how many peoples are but if we get someone to come to the gym, well, perhaps you give us an extra 10 points in our pay packet the next month. I don't know. I'm just speculating what I am saying tiered systems for teaching classes and teaching quo. I'm going to say I'm going to say I'll you're ready is everyone At a who's listening to this. I know this will rival a few people. My time is highly highly highly valuable. It doesn't matter whether there's one person there or 20 people there my time for Value has not changed for me. So what you pay me needs to be the same doesn't matter whether it's a group fitness class or a training module or a speech or public speaking. My time is my time if you want me to come and do something for you you put the people in front of me. Wow, triggered, but like I said, there's nothing on the Les Mills website, which probably goes against everything. I've just said there so, it's Tit for Tat depends. What you believe in. Where is the other one? So, like I said, I'm doing this in the car and I car has just pulled up and beside me so apologies if that gets a little bit noisy. I'm just going to keep chatting. So how long have I been chat and I want the To be 20 minutes so far. We're on 55 minutes. Wow, you ready really do charge a lot? So to summarize I'm going to cut this short in conclusion. What does Ricky Long think about instructor pay? I don't think instructors get paid enough. I don't think instructors do enough to Warrant more pair. I don't think the majority of club Owners unlicensed payers do enough for their instructors. I don't think a lot of Club. God Studio providers truly value the power of the studio. Therefore, they're not getting the best financial return of investment in their studio right across the board as a as a trainer for Les Mills. I think the demand to be an instructor is as strong as it has ever been on people's passion to teach these absolutely fantastic programs again as a strong as ever been what I would encourage anyone what the teacher group fitness class is you need to treat it as a business. You will need to give away two of the most important Commodities of life. One of those is money. You will need to invest money in order to be upscaled in the fitness industry. Not just Les Mills instructor in the fitness industry. You will need to invest money to stay up-to-date to stay with current trends to be relative to be current more than anything else. On the second thing you'll have to invest in give up is time and you can never get time back. So in closing this podcast has just taken up around about 60 minutes of your time. You can never get that 60 Minutes back. So I hope this podcast has brought you value. I hope there's been lots of information in here which which can serve you and if it's just a simple case of well, I am an instructor so I need to go and demonstrate the my club why I should get more money. Make sure you you demonstrate that. They'll go bang on the table. So now just listen there any loans podcast and he says I need to get paid 20 bucks. Or class now. I'm not saying that I'm saying you need to demonstrate the value. Why do you deserve to be paid more than 20 points? Plus? Why do you deserve to be paid 30 points in class? If you're the group Fitness Studio owner, you know, how can you attract the better group fitness instructors in your area? How can you create better group fitness instructors in your Club already? So you might have tan great instructors in your Club Hoyer they different to the club down the road here. Also have 10 different group fitness instructors. So what are you doing for your staff or you send them on personal development courses self development courses industry specific questions to this isn't me saying send them on a Les Mills module make them better not send that that might be part of it. Yes, but what are you actually doing to make your instructors stand out? So as your members get a better experience your members get a better experience. They are less likely to leave their less like the leave. You can put your membership premiums up supply and demand. Claws of business and service. So I'm flying home next weekend. It's my mom's birthday. It also falls on Easter weekend. My mom's birthday's the 28th. I know you're old wish her happy birthday Easter Sunday normally flights back the bail faster about seventy or eighty Point return this weekend. It's cost me 290 in points because it's Easter weekend. It's supply and demand. So therefore if you have a phone studio time table or your classes around You can start to increase your membership. So you increase the ticket price to get into that class for your membership you pass that and you don't take that money for yourself you invest that into your business. You either do refurbs you pay your staff more whatever. It might be you get what I'm saying? Not telling you how to run your business. I'm just giving you examples of how you can grow how you can make money work for you the faster you get the flow of money moving the faster. Money, welcome back to you give you a little life tap the next time you're out for dinner. You know, when you leave the tip normally you leave the tip at the end of dinner give the waiter or waitress the tip at the start. The reason why you do that is you actually get a better service for that because they will think oh, these customers are good. They're just handing me a tampon note. I'm going to really look after these guys and girls, I think that's about it because I was trying to wrap this up, but I kind of went off on one I'll do. Do that. Like I said, I don't know this episode is going to attract new listeners. I know it's going to piss a few people off. I've tried to be really really objective including as an instructor. I think you should get more money, but I think you need to demonstrate that why you need to get more money. What are you doing for your Club as a club owner? I think you need to constantly assess and review all your group fitness space is operating. And as a as part of a training provider just to clarify what I do with Les Mills skin is I am a lot of you won't do this. I'm going off and on again. I'm not a member of staff at Les Mills. I'm a contractor for Les Mills. So they a bit like, oh, yeah a bit like teaching a class. So if you are asked by a club to come and teach a class they will pay you a writ for going and doing that if I'm asked to go and do a training module for Les Mills. I am prepared to go. And do that but at the same time I can say no. I'm not free that weekend the wonder that so we're all we're all contractors for Les Mills. But what we all have in common at Les Mills as a trainer is we're dedicated to achieving instructor greatness for me personally that goes a lot a lot fucking deeper than saying this is how you teach bodypump. This is how you teach CX works. I'm going to give you life skills. I am going to tell you how you can become more of a SAS in the Fitness Centre because that is what my passion is and that is why I love doing what I do with Les Mills because I lines with Ricky Long's passion. I want to make people create Fitness professionals being a Les Mills instructor May for a lot of people be part of that. Therefore is a Les Mills trainer. I'm skilled and able to deliver that. Wow, I'm going off on one again. I'm going to I'm going to I'm going to cut this episode here. I'm sure this episode is going to lead to some feedback. You can direct all feedback to Ricky Ricky Long corn. You can also connect with me anyone social media. It's Ricky Long 42. Basically on every platform Facebook Snapchat Snapchat for that. Jen's are by the way a shallow. When do that. No, that's another episode for another time Instagram wrecking all 42 LinkedIn Ricky long you website come on along soon big shout-out to put in for sports sponsors of the Ricky Long podcast Northern Sports retailer of the year the new Ulster and Ireland rugby kit. They have in by the way is exceptional and final shout out to anyone who wants to do jump my Transit each training nutrition and mindset program. You've got to contact me. It's starting to made the first and it is going to transform so many instructors out there and that will transform so many members out there. And by the way, if you start doing that you will become more valuable for your Club there for your service offering and value proposition may increase I'm Ricky long. This is a regular on podcast. Thank you. Goodnight sigh.
  #32 Should you be paid more to teach Group Fitness? How much should you get paid as a group fitness instructor? What should you pay your group Fitness Instructor? How valuable is it to have Group Fitness in your club? This episode is a hybrid. I jump from multiple points of view on this one. I speak from the qualified perspective of a group fitness instructor, a club owner and a group fitness trainer of trainers. I feel this podcast is a can of worms. Already an hour after editing I can feel more topics I wish to speak about around this subject. Watch out for follow up episodes! Should you wish to turn your passion into a business then please start thinking as a business owner would think. Otherwise you will always be frustrated and earn well below your potential. You want to teach group exercise as a career? GREAT! It will cost you time and money so make sure your business plan sees a return of investment both spiritually and financially. This episode is sponsored by podium4sport who are a Northern Irelands sports retail shop of the year 2018. They are based in Belfast and specialise in home and commercial gym fit out. Right now you can check out their brand new website at www.podium4sport.com. This Train To Teach Mindset programme is deigned specifically for group fitness instructors to connect health and well being mindset to give energy when teaching classes. We look at training, nutrition and the mindset that connect them both. You can register for the May 1st Launch and qualify for early bookings, bonuses and discounts. 