reachoutsidethebox-blog

[reachoutsidethebox-blog]

You know why little kids are so excited and talkative all the time? Because they get to look forward to doing something totally new and awesome EVERY SINGLE DAY!!! How awesome would that be!?!? Every day something new is going on in your life. It's exciting when it's happening, it's exciting after, and it's exciting before, because you never know what's waiting on you tomorrow! 

What if your box was like that? Unknown and Unknowable right? What if people came in every day LITERALLY not having a clue what they were doing or even where they would be doing it? What if you loaded everyone up and drove to the box across town to WOD with them for a day? What if you played hooverball the next day? What if you turned a WOD into a scavenger hunt...maybe hidden under that stack of tires is the missing clue! Maybe you throw an event every month. Think people are excited about coming to your box now? Wait till you throw a whole new level of anticipation on there! 

You know what that sounds like? FUN! Train hard, train heavy and train like a little kid. Make the most of the "Unknown and unknowable". A happy family isn't necessarily a healthy family, but a happy, healthy family is the best kind of family.  

[reachoutsidethebox-blog]

These are just some of the ways you will see CrossFit Central's logo when you're driving around Austin. It's on buildings, storage containers, cars, people and now, their cell phones. If you say you do CrossFit to someone in Austin, odds are, they'll respond with "Is that the place over on Burnett?". The reason you see the double C's all over the place is pretty simple; people can't talk about CrossFit Central if they don't know about CrossFit Central.

Visibility = Credibility. Once people have seen a logo in a dozen different places in a short amount of time, they begin to assume that business is strong, successful, and good at what it does. And odds are, you are good at what you do! So blast your logo on the side of your building, slap stickers on your car, sell the heck out of your t-shirts! You're going to give people a reason to talk about you, your community's going to get a shot of pride every time they see your logo, and your business will begin to grow. 

[reachoutsidethebox-blog]

So, you don't spend a single, thin dime on advertising. All your new business comes from your proud community going out and spreading the word about all the rockin stuff happening at your box. That's awesome. Traditional advertising methods are outrageously expensive, and don't produce nearly the results that a well executed referral strategy does. 

Reverse the tape. Did you see what I threw in at the end? "well executed referral strategy" That's right. Strategy. Odds are, you're doing a hell-uva job at what you've wanted to do since you first opened your box...building stronger, better people. If your box is anything like the boxes we've been to, there are 10-20 people who would say joining your box has been life changing, if not life saving!  

If you were hearing a subconscious "uhhh-huh" while reading the opening of this post, those proud clients aren't just your customer base. They're your sales team. The best thing is, they don't care about being paid, and they're more than happy to spread the good word. The only thing is, as much as they love what you're doing, they too have a million things going on everyday. That doesn't mean relying on them to refer you is a bad thing. It just means you can't expect to get a consistent stream of new business without a well executed referral strategy in place. 

The primary reason we built Outside the Box was to generate referrals. From staying at the top of your clients mind to setting the expectation of referral generation to following up, we're bringing the tools and info you need to put a proven referral generation strategy in place. You ready to grow your box?

[reachoutsidethebox-blog]

6 Questions...

Are you an affiliate owner or coach? We've got 6 (more) questions for you...

Do you rely on referrals for business growth?

Do you have a follow up plan for when a client tells someone how awesome your business is? 

Does that plan rely on the person to contact you?

Do you think the future of the internet/technology is mobile devices?

Do you think you could turn more referrals into clients if you could speak to people right after they've been referred?

Have you ever wished you could just get a simple, quick message like "Weather's bad, but classes are still on!" out to people?

If you said yes to most of those....or if you just said "No" to question 2.....call us. You're leaving new clients on the table.  484.602.4929.

[reachoutsidethebox-blog]

The most powerful marketing tool you have as an affiliate is the change you create in peoples' lives. Videos enable you to get those stories out. Our goal is to help you deliver them.  

Here's Amanda Stetson's story, shot by Heightn Athletics for Crossfit Invictus. 

[reachoutsidethebox-blog]

We think impression matters.  

Making a first impression that gets across how awesome your box is is really, really tough. It's why an elevator pitch and success story pictures are so important. Don't get me wrong. A first impression isn't about being all things to all people. It's about making sure that if you have 1 minute with a potential new client, they know EXACTLY what makes your box the awesome, insanely unique place that it is. That's tough to do. 

While brainstorming for the app, it was a pain point we felt we could help address, the following being some of the ways...

a) Showing someone your own branded app makes a big impression of it's own- It looks sick, shows how "with it" your box is, and means your interested in your clients' lives outside the box. 

b) Extend the conversation- Maybe you only had a minute to talk in person, but if you have a follow up video on the app, telling more about what you're doing at the box, it means they can access the info when it's convenient for them. 

c) There's nothing more accessible- Apps eliminate the "Action" barrier between people and information. It may sound crazy, but even having to type in a website is enough reason for people to stay away from info now days. 

[reachoutsidethebox-blog]

This is 1 of 3 wireframes used as a blueprint for the tracking section of Outside the Box. It's basically a sketch, with a lot of writing that shows the programmers how the app should work. It's like a blueprint for a building. 

I didn't do any blueprints for an app once, and it fell on it's face. But it's crazy how often mistakes turn into ordeals that turn into failures that turn into lessons that turn into confidence that gives birth to ideas that turn into successes. 

Thanks failure. You look out for me ;)

[reachoutsidethebox-blog]

You know those times when technology blows your mind? This is about to be one of them. This is Mike Matas. He's the guy largely responsible for making the iPhone so easy to use, and one of the best in the world at making technology simple. What would you ask him to work on next?  

[reachoutsidethebox-blog]

If you're waiting for the road to open, don't. The life you want isn't locked behind a door and it isn't waiting on the "right opportunity". It's waiting on you to decide you're going to get it. Once you do that, you'll figure out the way.  

[reachoutsidethebox-blog]

"Becoming stagnant is never an option. We wanted to create a useful app for our gym, clients, and international following to stay connected. We keep up our game at Ethos to be a community example. It's important to us to be on the cutting edge, but keep our deep roots as one of the original 300 boxes. Having an app like this helps us hold on to our community heritage and, yet, still move on with the next generation of stellar CrossFit Affiliates."

 - Madeline Litchford, Co-Owner CF Ethos

[reachoutsidethebox-blog]

So what is Outside the Box???  This video should give you an idea.