Over at the Rock Star Triathlete Academy, we have a “Business of Triathlon Coaching” member upgrade – and we teach coaching strategies and business tips there. Currently, we’re turning all previous calls into audios and transcriptions for members to access in a convenient package.
I want to share one of the transcriptions with you.
In this “Business Of Triathlon Coaching” seminar you’re going to learn:
- The most important trait of a triathlon coach when attempting to map out the pathway to achieving a client’s goals and the tools to be used….
- How to make your resume pop…
- The most common mistakes people make in their first year of coaching….
- In marketing a coaching business, are personal brochures effective?
- Business coaching 101…
Transcript below.
Ben: Alright, this is Ben Greenfield. And you’re on the Rock Star Triathlete Business of Coaching Call and whether you’re one of the coaches who are listening right now or one of the coaches who will listen in to this call later, the whole idea behind this business of triathlon coaching session is we want to help you deliver more to your athletes. And also profit in the mean time. And a more dynamic relationship than you just going out and getting a book on triathlon coaching or maybe going to a conference. We want to help you week by week, month by month. And what I’m doing in the station is address the things that pop up in your business. Kerry and I both run very successful triathlon coaching businesses. And we have lots of little tricks and tips that we use. So, in tonight’s call, we’re going to address some of the questions that you’ve already asked on the webinar Q and A. And we’re also going to address the questions that you’ve asked in the forum. So, what do you think, Kerry? Are you ready to rock n’ roll?
Kerry: I am indeed.
Ben: So, the first thing that we have is a question in the forum that talks about getting to know clients. And I want to fire this to your direction, Kerry. And then kind of give my own thoughts. Basically the question goes like this, getting to know a client appears to be an important trait of a triathlon coach when attempting to map out a pathway towards achieving the client’s goals. Can you provide examples of tools, steps, or processes that one can utilize to get to know the client?
Kerry: Yeah, that’s a good question. I think one of the first things to do is set-up a survey. And just go over some basic things. First off the main stuff, height and weight, if they’re on any medications, any allergies they have, their sporting background, to know where they’re coming from that way. Just all the basic stuff that you want to know in terms of that, what kind of bike they’re using, do they have a heart rate monitor, do they have a power tap, are they training with garments. These are all going to be little things that you’re going to need to know in terms of actually laying out their program to see what tools you have available, too, so you can use pacing or whatever it may be. So, that’s one of the first things that I would do. And then really ask them what their goals are. And the thing is, this is all about them. It’s really all about giving them quality and helping them get to their goals. And it’s important to remember that all the time. You know, sometimes you can look at a client and you can be like oh, why don’t you do this and you get excited and maybe you can do this but they don’t want it. So, really hone in to what their goals are and figure out what the why is, what their why is for doing this. So when things really get tough you can remind them. It might be because they’re celebrating something or they’re turning 50 and they want to prove that they’re still amazing and can accomplish anything. And really remind them that. Use that as motivation through the whole thing. So, those would be the things that I would use to really get to know the client.
Ben: Now, when you say setting up a survey Kerry, like for the folks who doesn’t really know how to go about doing that, how would you actually set up a survey or set up a way for an athlete to answer those type of questions?
Kerry: I just keep it nice and simple. I just make a Google doc or you can make a Word document or whatever you want and you can just send it to them with all the questions they have or the questions you want answered. And then just have them send it back to you. I just do it like that.
Ben: Awesome! And a couple other tools. If you want to survey a larger group of athletes, Survey Monkey is a free tool that you can use that lets you survey up to 100 people. That’s a great way for getting to know your client. Creating a survey that you can send out over and over again if you don’t want to have a program or design a survey for you. Now, what I’ve done is I actually created a survey in a Word document. Just all the questions, as well as the like whether yes-no or a multiple choice or whatever but I created it in a Word document. Just a regular Word document. And then I went to Elance.com and there’s a program on Elance.com where you can actually just put up a project and ask people to bid on it. I asked them to turn that document into a form for me and send me poll instructions for actually putting that form up on my website. So, now when my clients sign up, they go fill out that form and when they press submit on the form, it goes to my e-mail inbox. And that’s been a really useful tool not only for getting to know the clients that I’m just beginning to coach because it goes straight in to their files or their folder. I have all my e-mail set up according to folders in my outlook. But it also is a good way to sell a potential client. I’ve actually found that people tend to get a little bit more receptive for signing for coaching with you if they’ve actually gone through the process filling up a form first because it almost fills a trust relationship. They understand when they’re filling out that form that this isn’t going to be a client in a can; these are really personalized questions that this coach is having me fill out. And so, it kind of gives the client a little bit more incentive to go with you as a coach. So that’s what I’ve done in the past. Another question, in your experience with dealing with average age group athletes who are either completely new to the sport of triathlon or only a limited exposure, what are the traits or characteristics of a coach that these type of athletes are attracted to which would likely tend to influence their decision to request assistance from a coach or to become a client of that coach? What do you think, Kerry?
Kerry: It really depends on the person in what they’re looking for in a coach. Some people are going to click together and other people aren’t for whatever reasons. It’s just like why you have friends or whatever and whatever they’re looking for in a coach. So it really depends. The thing I would say more than anything though is people will go with people that they know, like and trust. And so if you build a relationship with them former to starting to coach them whether it’d be through videos online or actually in person doing clinics or whatever it maybe. It’s usually going to take a few contact points for you to actually flip them over and really see what’s going on there. So, it really depends on what the athlete is looking for. A lot of the times they might want coaches with experience with working with Ironman or they might want a female coach or a male coach. It really depends. So, it’s tough to really say. Like I’ve said, obviously people are going to go with someone that they know, like and trust the most.
Ben: Yeah, I think that’s a great point. And for me, a big part of it was building up that expert status that really makes an athlete realize that you know what you’re talking about rather than choose you out of the blue based on your yellow pages advertisement or your bios that you have on your website. Then I can read about your certifications. And who you’ve coached or what you’ve accomplished as an athlete. But the difference between that and actually reading valuable information that you’ve provided and it kind goes to almost like a premium model. And what I mean by that is that you give a whole bunch of stuff away for free and it comes back. It’s almost like its good karma to you in the end because people learn to respect your opinion, to trust you, to almost follow the type of information that you provide. And a lot of times I’ll find that someone’s been reading my articles on the internet for 11 months and then decided to sign up for me as a coach in the 12th month. But it’s all free information that I’m giving away. Now, of course the nice part is that when you give away free information on the internet you can always include a link back to your website or to your bio or to your coaching services. It’s not like when you sit down for 45 minutes or an hour to write an article on how to transition faster that you’re completely wasting that time and giving everything away for free because it comes back in the end to help you out quite a bit. So I think that’s really important that you be the type of coach that people can really approach in that sense or to trust in that sense in terms of providing valuable information. And the other thing that I think is really important, depending on the type of athlete you want to coach, it could be really humble and not super arrogant in your approach. Now, I say for some people because I think that there are some athletes and I’ve worked with some athletes like this where they need you to be that person of authority that just says whatever you know is B.S, listen to what I say, do what I say, and you’re going to go where you want to go. And then there are other athletes that need a lot softer handling than that. Bret Sutton would be an example of a coach that’s pretty hard nose and tend to be authoritative with his athletes. Some athletes need you to be a little bit more of like a friend to them and it really depends on the athlete. And you can’t be everything to everyone. So I think it returns to what your personality is as a coach. Are you really the kind of laid-back type of personality who’s maybe going to jive better with the beginner age group athlete who doesn’t want the fist of steel running the program or are you wanting to more work with the really super busy like CEO types who want to go to Kona. Who need you to tell them hey, do this, do this, do this. No questions about it, get it done, here’s your schedule. So I think it depends on what type of coach you are.
Kerry: Those are all excellent points for sure. I forgot the fact that a lot of people come to me through articles and things like that like you’re saying. So that’s definitely a good point.
Ben: There’s kind of a follow up question on that same post that says in your experience which traits and characteristics seem to turn off a group from seeking instructions from a coach? I think we kind of answered that. You’re going to turn on some people and turn off some people based on your approach. But what do you think, Kerry? Anything that you want to add to that part of the question?
Kerry: Just be yourself, that’s it. And that’s why I say you really just be yourself. And you’re naturally going to attract people that you’re going to want to work with. And you’re going to repel the people that you probably wouldn’t want to work with. So that’s what I’d say more than anything. I mean, we all know people who are total a-holes that no one likes. I can’t say that of coaches really. I don’t know any coaches like that but just people in general life that you run into. And so, it’s probably some of the coach. But really, just be yourself and everything is going to fall into place.
Ben: Here’s the next question, another one from the forum. It’s says, I’m having trouble marketing myself effectively. I’m young. Certified through a lesser known body, the ISFDA but my degree is not in the fitness field. That said, I’m a sponge for new learning. Studying to be a CISSN or an ISSNSNS and have 3 years of experience at racing sprints all the way up to Ironman. How can I make my resume pop?
Kerry: Well, the first thing is if you’re training for yourself or assuming this person that’s training is going to start their own business, honestly I wouldn’t really worry about your resume. I really wouldn’t. I would really concentrate on just giving people real good quality information in building a good relationship with them. End of the day, I don’t think I’ve had anyone ask anything about any of my certifications or schooling or anything like that prior to coaching with me or training with me. I really can’t think of a time when anyone’s done that. I wouldn’t get too caught up in all the certifications and everything. I really wouldn’t. So again, I would just really concentrate on making yourself speak out in terms of giving really good quality content in being yourself, in giving that content whether it’d be things online or doing different camps or clinics or whatever they may be, that’s what I’d say to you on that. Ben, what do you think?
Ben: I think that resumes are outdated to old school. And you’re really not going to get much off the resumes so I agree with Kerry in that sense. If you’re after formality, you may want a resume to help pave the way. But ultimately, this is a business of relationships. And the only thing you should really be saying on your resume is essentially what your certifications are and what your experience is that don’t count on the resume to do much at all. For example, when I hire a coach for Pacific Elite Fitness, I give the resume a once over. I check up the references because I’ll need those in the future. And I really get the most, frankly, out of calling that person on the phone and talking to them. Sometimes it’s just a 15-minute conversation but I can tell right off the bat if they’re a people person and they’re an effective communicator or not. So really with what you said that your degree’s in Mass Communication, that’s awesome because that’s going to help you out quite a bit in terms of marketing yourself and communicating with potential employers if that’s what you’re planning on doing. Now, as far as marketing your own business effectively, and I’ll specifically answer the part about making your resume pop, although I’d really say more about making your website pop or your bio pop, or your articles pop, or whatever. A few things that you can do is, I would say take the knowledge that you have gained in your three years of experience racing sprint all the way up to Ironman triathlon. Write down everything that you’ve learned. Every little tip or trick that you’ve learned. And think outside the box. Don’t be a sheep and write something that somebody’s already read a million times in the triathlete’s training bible or wherever else. Find the stuff that’s really interesting. You tripped over a post on Xterra trail run and you’re going to write an entire article on how to sight effectively while you’re running during Xterra. Just stuff that goes way beyond and sets you apart. And then when you write that article and you submit it to Ezine articles or maybe you have a blog and you’re posting it on a blog. Always have a very strong resource box that makes you readily available to an athlete that’s says for more tips and tricks, highly practical tips and tricks just like this, here’s my e-mail, here’s my website if you have one, or here’s my Training Peaks plans store URL. And basically give people the resource so that they can click that call to action in the resource box. But just give them fireworks in terms of the information that you provide. It’s going to go a lot longer than you can kind of return an athlete coming across your bio and reading about what you’ve done. But I mean there are probably a thousand pro triathletes that have bios that are way better than yours. And frankly, you have to show that you’re able to communicate the knowledge that you’ve gained effectively in order for somebody to really think that you’re “resume” pops. So, again, it returns to providing valuable information that blows people’s minds. So that’s what I would recommend.
Kerry: Let’s hit up the other questions we got here. First question we got from David in California. In beginning or establishing a coaching business, in your opinion what are some of the common or biggest mistakes people make during their first year of coaching? That’s a really good question. What do you think, Ben?
Ben: The biggest mistakes that people make during their first year of coaching. Okay, I’m going to tell you the biggest mistakes that I made in my first year of coaching. Number one was trying to have a perfect plan. Meaning that I wanted all my ducks lined up in a row. I wanted a perfect website. I wanted a perfect 8-week outline of the triathlon clinic that I was going to be teaching at the local health club. I wanted the perfect triathlon resume. I wanted the USA swimming, and the USA cycling, and USA triathlon certification. And I wasted a lot of time just trying to get all that done instead of just charging out in the field and starting to just teach people what I knew. Granted, you want to cover your ass for the liability perspective. And you want to have your waivers and your liability worked out and everything. And I was fortunate in that. I started off by going through a gym so people paid the gym, the gym turned around and paid me. And I just brought people in through the door to them. So that helped out quite a bit in terms of me not having to hire a lawyer to write all that stuff for me. But I wasted a lot of time just sitting in front of my computer wanting to make sure that everything was just so. And it was just one day where I thought you know what, screw this. I’m just going to go throw this 8 ½ by 11 flyer up at the gym. Tell people I’m teaching a class. And I had 2 weeks of the class planned. And I was planning out like Saturday mornings triathlon class at midnight on Friday night. And it all worked out. And people had a blast. And what it comes down to is that a good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow. So just get out there and make things happen. Get in front of people. You don’t have to be 100% prepared with a perfect plan. Just go out and start to tell people what you know. And if you are a good coach and you’re able to relay information to people, identify weaknesses and limitations, and help people out, then you’re going to do okay. You can plan things as you go. I mean do you guys listening into the call think that Kerry and I have 12-months of Rock Star Triathlete Academy contents all in a big folder somewhere? Are you kidding me? No! We’re going out and shooting videos. Like on the weekends when people write us and tell us what they want to see. And we’re looking for articles to make sure that we get that month’s quota of articles based off of what the members would like to know more about. And we’re lining up our experts sometimes in some cases the week before the call. And it’s just the perfect example that people love it. They’re getting a lot out of it. But it’s not like you have to have this 150-page business plan. And then I guess the other big mistake that I made was trying to do too much myself. I mean finding websites like elance.com or Odesk.com or get replacemyself.com. All these websites so you can get people to do stuff for that you really would not want to waste your time doing. The time you’d rather spend with your family or your kids or playing sports or whatever. Don’t try freaking design all websites and learn html because there’s always going to be some guy in India or whatever who could do ten times faster than you for nine or ten bucks an hour. So, I would really focus on doing very well the stuff that you already know how to do and leaving the tech stuff up to the people who are going to get it done a lot faster than you do. And so you save yourself those opportunity costs. So those are my recommendations.
Kerry: I think those are excellent. I think my biggest mistake was probably being ignorant about doing things online. I just had no idea how to do anything. And I fell into getting my hands on some good marketing, online marketing information which made all the difference in the world. But the other thing also is I was probably afraid to give away information. And I was thinking well my information is all I have and I don’t want to give away too much knowledge and information because when people take it and like they won’t want to be coached by me. What I realized is exactly the opposite of that. You give people good information; people are just going to keep coming to you. And it’s not like people are going to be able to put all together and form their own triathlon coaching plan. It just doesn’t work that way. Like right now I can go out to home depot, I could buy a whole kitchen and bring it back to my house; does that mean I know how to put a kitchen together? Absolutely not! I wouldn’t even know where to start. And coaching is the exact same way. You give people a lot of information. You can them a sink. You can give some cabinets and things like that. But would that mean they know how to use it and put it together? Absolutely not! So, just give a lot of good information. And get on some really good stuff that you want to do things online. I really highly possess learning from other people on how to do that. So that’s what I would say on that. Alright, let’s go to the next question with David. In marketing a coaching business, are personal brochures effective? Ones which may be left at an athletic club, cycling shop, etc?
Kerry: No. That’s what I would say. I mean pretty much I’d say no for the most parts of that unless you are giving the people in the store or the shop incentive to actually put those in a good area and market them. And the way I do that is I actually give the people who are allowing you to put your card or your brochure in the shop, I’d give them commission for any athletes that they get for you to sign up. Cut them some money back. And that’s going to build a good relationship. They’re going to love you because they can point people to the coach that they like. And on top of that, they’re going to be able to get some money back on it. So, that’s what I’d say to you on that. I don’t think brochures are particularly, I don’t know. People give me brochures and I throw them away immediately. But I’m just being ADD and stuff like that. Maybe some people will work for but that’s what I’d say to you on that. I’d say really unless people are really pushing it for you and things like that, it’s probably not going to do a ton. What do you think, Ben?
Ben: When I’m looking for advice on anything whether it’d be fixing my computer, learning how to repair my bike, trying to find a way to clean my carpet with toxin free cleaning chemicals, the last thing I do is go to the carpet shop and look at the bulletin board and take a business card off the bulletin board. Or go to the bike shop and grab a brochure or a card over there. Or go to my local running store and go to the little brochure-magazine calendar section and find somebody that looks really good and grab their card. In the age of the internet that stuff is pretty out dated. I mean considering the fact that with cell phones now, it’s to the point where you can literally for 10 cents a click, market to everybody’s cell phones in your community who has ever experienced an interest in triathlons, cycling, swimming, marathoning or running. And have it appear on their cell phones when their surfing the internet. Whenever somebody is searching for google maps for a gym, you can have not only your contact details show up but also even youtube videos that you’ve shot. Obviously the online articles, you can always tag back to your website which we already talked about. But the personal brochure’s kind of like attacking all the telephone polls in the city and all the walls in your gym. It doesn’t really get you that much with one exception. And the exception is that let’s say that you are a recognized face at the place where you’re posting these brochures because I still use this tactic. People know who you are already. You’ve got kind of this celebrity expert status and whatever. You’re teaching triathlon clinic. You’re teaching a camp. You’re doing a seminar. And you just want to get a bunch of people signed up. If people already have a relationship with you and they already affiliate your name with the place that they’re going to, and they see your brochure there or you flyer on the wall, that when there’s that trust relationship built. And they’re likely to actually sign up for whatever it is you are offering. The other thing is that if you’re working at a gym and you have that approach, the people at the gym know you. And they’re able to answer questions. And they’re able to help out in that way. Randomly putting flyers over shops, half the time somebody approaches the bike shop person and says they’ll think about this. Unless you got that trust relationship built and your name affiliated with that shop, it’s likely that they don’t. And they’re just going to say I’m not sure why don’t you just call the number on the brochure or whatever. So, there are a lot more powerful things you can do. And a lot better ways you can use your time than the personal brochures. But if you have a location where you’ve already built up a trust relationship with the people who are frequenting that location, it can help you out a little bit. So, next question is from David from California. “Can you start from the basics, a sort of business coaching 101? Suppose one has become certified and now wishes to begin building the business, what are the very first 3-5 steps someone should do to begin building the business?” Prior to attempting to seek clients and obviously kind of a loaded question. Kerry, what I was thinking was for this question that because we’re going to be doing these calls each month, we should each give out maybe three steps to start. And then we can tackle this question again in the next call.
Kerry: Yeah. So, you want me to give one. And then you give one. You want to do it like that until three?
Ben: Yeah. Let’s do it that way.
Kerry: Okay. So, the first thing I would say is sit down and write out your ideal client, what you’re really going after. Whether it’d be beginners, maybe it’s all females, maybe just Ironman, whatever it is. Just sit down and write out exactly what you want in terms of clients that you want to attract. Ben, number two.
Ben: Let’s see you’re certified. I’m sorry I lost the question. Okay, development stage prior to attempting seeking clients, so you have become certified. Okay, good! Prior to actually building your business and attempting to seek clients, I would say that you’re going to need some sort of client management system. And the one that Kerry uses or the one that I use that I would recommend that you sign up for, watch all the training videos for, and learn how to utilize is Training Peaks. That will allow you to actually be able to do something with the athletes who are coming to you.
Kerry: Yes, excellent! And then number three would be actually going out there and producing some number and some good information to start attracting people. So that can be through doing clinics. That can be through doing information online, writing articles, and videos. These are all options of things you can do. Partnering up with a shop would be a good way to do it with clinics, and things. And like I said before, if they generated any clients for you, cut them some money. So it’s going to be beneficial for both of you. Make it a mutual benefit for the both of you involved. And usually the finance stuff is what really makes these guys tick at the end of the day. So, that’s what I’m saying on that. Ben?
Ben: The next thing that you should do as you’re setting all these up, is make sure that you have either incorporated yourself as an LLC or you have established yourself as a sole proprietorship. If you’ve established yourself as a sole proprietorship, you can use your social security number and just roll with that to do your taxes. And to identify your business, start your bank account, whatever. I recommend that just for the liability perspective. You keep your business separate from your personal finances. And you actually start with your business name, you’re looking at maybe a couple of hundred dollars and a little bit of time upfront cost. Most of the websites for your local Secretary of State will have all the forms that you need. You fill them out. You get your Federal tax I.D number. And once you have that, you’ll be able to actually begin to jump through the hoops that you need to jump through such as getting a local business license, things of that nature. So, make sure that you actually establish yourself as a recognizable business entity.
Kerry: Cool. And then after that, I’d say start coaching then. That’s what I think.
Ben: Cool. And then for my third, kind of going on from what I’ve just said you’ve got your Training Peaks account set up and or you start to work on a website. It’s not necessary but it’s nice to have Training Peaks though. You could go off to a pretty good start. You’ve got your certification. You’ve got your business name. You’re providing the information that Kerry recommended. You’re starting to look at finding clients which we’ll talk more about in the next teleseminar. And then the other thing that you’re going to need to do is actually open a bank account which I referred to in the other point. But you need to go to your bank and opening a business bank account is different than opening a personal account. You’re going to want all your LLC information first or all your sole proprietorship information first. And then you open that account. And from that point, you’re going to need a way to actually accept payments from the clients you’re coaching. You don’t have that mail, you check that mail. That gets to be a pain in the butt really quickly. You use Paypal. You use Google store if you want to kind of go the cheap route. Otherwise, go to a website like TrainForTopDollar.com where I have an article there that lays out how to get signed with a merchant processor, get signed up with a shopping cart. And learn how to actually accept money from people online. I would definitely recommend that you do that.
Kerry: That I would also say is you’re just going to be taking a lot of hassle out of it. And people are more likely to stick with you when you do it that way, too. You’re going to have higher client stakes. Let’s move on to the next question then. We got Patrick in Nashville, Tennessee. “I didn’t get into the USA triathlon coaching class I wanted to. Is there a USA triathlon class in September I could attend? Should I hit that up or go to a different body such as ITCA or should I just start coaching without a certification?”
Kerry: This is what I would do in that situation. I’d go to the USA triathlon class in September. And I’d start coaching now. I really would. There are some coaches out there that are great coaches that don’t have any certification. So, I’d go with it and just probably get a good relationship with people and prove to them why you should be their coach. That’s what I would say. Ben, what do you think?
Ben: You definitely don’t have to have a USAT certification to begin coaching. Be cautious with going through any type of certification that’s a study at home type of thing. Just because you kind of cheapen the experience a little bit. Patrick, the one thing that I don’t know and if you’re here you could answer this right now if you’re in the webcast, I don’t know if you’re a personal trainer or if you have a certification as a personal trainer, as a strength conditioning coach. Any of those type of certifications; those are fine to kind of roll with. The issue here is if anything happens to you from a liability perspective and you’re not certified, that can really come back and bite you in the ass just from a negligence perspective. So, if you don’t have a USAT certification and no other certifications and nothing else to back you up at all, not even an education like a degree in sports science and something like that, I would really proceed with caution. And you can just say, well I have this body and knowledge and I want to start coaching people and you know, that’s something that people do. But for me, I would just be careful because what if somebody falls off their bike and they sue you. And it turns out that you were just some guy kind of like practicing medicine without a license. It’s not quite as bad as that but it could come back to bite you. But for me, I just started when I had my personal training certification, that’s all I had. But it was a certification. I did have a college degree in physical education, as well. And we got looks like our final question from Patrick. “What is your opinion on USAT’s insurance policy that it offers its coaches?” Kerry, do you have that policy?
Kerry: Yes, I do. It’s basic. It covers some stuff. I also have coverage through an NSCA for my CSCS certification which covers me that much more. So I kind of get done with coverage there. It’s pretty solid. I don’t really get too much into that stuff. It’s probably a weak point of mine for sure. I think Ben should probably draw into this a little bit deeper than me. It’s just something I don’t really worry about to be honest with you. I just make sure I get people to really know that they could trust me and it’s not just something I really focus on. And that might not be the best thing but it is the truth. So that’s what I have to say on that.
Ben: Patrick, I don’t personally have the USAT insurance policy. I go through the NSCA. And what they lined me up with is you can choose $1 million or $2 million personal professional liability insurance. And then for an extra, $50 to $75, you can name any of the places where you’re doing physical work on to a general liability. So basically, if you carry personal professional liability insurance as a coach, you’re going to be covered anywhere on the planet. Anywhere that you coach an athlete. But if you’re working out of a gym or out of a facility or out of a freaking grocery store, most of those businesses will require that you name them on a general liability policy that you carry. And that basically covers their ass. So if somebody gets hurt working out with you at their facility, then your insurance will help cover that general liability that you can tack on to your personal professional liability. So that being said, I pay right around $450 a year or my personal professional liability and then I tack a couple of facilities that I work at, that I do consulting at, teach seminars at, do some physiology testing at. I name them unto general liability insurance and that’s the way I roll. I guarantee that for triathlon coaching, the USAT does know what they’re doing and their insurance policy especially if you’re a USA resident, they’re going to cover you just fine. But make sure that you look into the general liability component of that, too. And don’t be afraid to shop around. There are websites that offer professional liability insurance to people in fitness. And a lot of times you can get a really good deal. One of the places that I’ve gone to that has a great deal Hagen Benefits. They can typically broker some pretty dang good deals especially if you need the combination of the professional along with the general liability. And I see that you’ve actually told us a couple more things on here, Patrick, about the insurance that’s a selling point for the USAT’s coaching classes. It doesn’t cover client and doesn’t have much breadth. I actually haven’t read the legal small text, fine points of the USAT insurance. It’s like if you’re a good coach anyways, you’re going to cover your butt quite a bit from that perspective. But I really don’t think that the USAT is going to be nickel and dime in people based on the insurance and trying to get mad profit from. And I’m sure they’re making a little bit there. And that’s why if you go to an independent organization outside the USAT, you may be able to shop around and find something a little bit better. And then when you say you’re wellness coach at the YMCA, your degree is on exercise science. You’re certified through the ISFTA. So there you go. You got a certification. So what I would do is get onto the schedule for USAT coaching certification. But just start coaching. I mean you got that ISFTA, that’s something. And again, it returns to one of the things we talked about in the very beginning of this call, a good plan now is better than a perfect plan tomorrow. So, just jump in. Get your feet wet. And work on that certification as you go. Since I’ve started coaching, I’ve gotten a bike fit cert. And I’ve gotten PSDS cert. And nutrition cert and just basically pick things up as they went. I didn’t do all that and then start coaching. I did it as I was coaching. So Kerry, do you have any final thoughts?
Kerry: No. That’s basically it. You just get out there and start coaching and start kicking ass more than anything. Don’t be cautious. No matter what, you’re going to make mistakes and you know what, just learn from them and move on. And that’s it. That’s all you got to do. Just keep taking action whatever it is. Patrick also should note there’s a lot of whining at slowtwitch that insurance is a selling point for USAT’s triathlon coaching process but doesn’t cover the client and doesn’t have much breadth. That’s why ask just the consumers perspective. That’s what people slowtwitch do, they complain. That’s what I have to say on that. If you’re that concerned about it just get some other insurance to cover your ass on top of that. So that’s what I have.
Ben: And the last thing I’d say and we’ll probably close after this is first of all, all these calls will be available for download in the exclusive forum for triathlon coaches. But then the other thing is speaking of forums, the one redeeming quality of slowtwitch is there are some good discussions on their forums. And there are discussions that can give you a lot of visibility and good link backs to your website. So if you put your website in your signature if you’re a triathlon coach, if you’re contributing good, valuable information. I’ve had a lot of questions. Slowtwitch I think is in my top 20 sources of traffic actually to PacificFit.net just because I frequently engage in discussion over there. So you have that at least.
Kerry: We can wrap it up. Like I said, Ben and I definitely share similarities but we also have some differences. He likes the forums while I stay away from them. Just because there’s a lot of shit talking going on there. Things that I don’t want to be anywhere near it. We both built our businesses very differently or not so differently. We have some similarities. But go with what feels good with you in the end of the day. So that’s it. I think we can close in on that.
Ben: Alright, we’ll wrap it up there. And remember if you have questions this month, leave them in the academy in the forum. And again, one of the things that we really want to begin offering to you guys who are triathlon coaches in the Rock Star Triathlete Academy the ability to do, after you’ve been into a few calls, we’ve taught you a lot of things. We want to start to hook you up with an article out there and participating in the academy. And possibly join us as an academy coach. And helping out a little bit, really getting you in front a lot of athletes. There are a lot of athletes in the Rock Star Triathlete Academy. And we would love for you as coaches to be able to provide them with valuable information and good health of your up for that. So, we’ll be developing that as we go. And just leave us questions if you have more questions about that in the forum. And have a great Sunday night.
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