Hello everyone, and welcome to the Littabour podcast. I'm Stryakin, and today I will come
on Andy Morgan from rippedbody.com. I love speaking with Andy. We mainly cover how
his online coaching works and how he sets expectations on communication and contact
with his clients, something that I don't think enough of us actually consider or take
the time to specifically say to our clients what our process is. His process is one that
I think we can learn a lot from, so I hope you'll take one or two of his tips and try
them out following this episode. We also covered the importance of creating space and time
to create content, some book recommendations, and more. I will have Andy back on before
the year ends as there was about 20 questions that I did not get round to asking. Thank you
very much for being here, and enjoy today's episode.
Andy Morgan, welcome to the Littabour podcast. Thank you for having me on, pleasure. It's
an absolute pleasure to have you. When I was thinking about where I wanted to start this,
one of the things that I had in my notes on you, Andy, was that at the bottom of your email
signature you have a line that says, "I don't reply on Fridays as I spend it reading."
And that's just really interested me. Can you talk a little bit about why you have that
there, and I suppose when you came to that decision?
Yeah, so most of my best ideas are entirely stolen, and this one was stolen from a buddy
of mine called Soul who runs examin.com, which I'm sure you're familiar with, but for anybody
listening who isn't, is a great unbiased resource for supplement information, so if you
were to hear a friend talk about how Zinc has been amazing for XYZ, then you could go
away and quite leave fact check them and see a list of all the research around Zinc for
whatever issue they've had, and what the effects of that has been according to examin's
really good team there. So, Soul had this, I don't check my email on Friday's thing, and
I've stayed at his house in Toronto quite a lot, he's a good buddy, and I really liked
that idea, and I'd already front loaded my week so that my client workload is all on
like Monday Tuesday perhaps Wednesday anyway, and that's, I get clients to check in every
couple of weeks on a Saturday, and then I work through client updates, checking through
their progress reports, normally it's just like great, everything's fine, keep on, sometimes
I have to make adjustments, maybe it's 75%, let's not do anything, 25%, let's change
something, people have a tendency to want to mess with things, most of the time patients
is the only thing that's required, as long as the setup is really good, we can get back
into that of course, and sorry in the gate, the day gap between the Saturday and the Mondays
because you know time zones differ, and that just ensures that wherever they are in the
world and I am in the world, I will have their update in my inbox on Monday, so I front
loaded my week, so that way I know that Monday is my client day, I booked nothing in there,
it doesn't matter whether I'm on vacation or whatever, Monday I'm working, and what that
has helped me do is give myself clear blocks of space in my calendar to write and create,
which I personally need, I can't just weekly like, let's say I've got an hour block of
time between chatting with yourself and then going and meeting someone else, I find it
very difficult to get into the zone of writing, like I'm currently rewriting a book on
the Diet Adjustments right now, kind of what I've learned over the last nine years,
I say rewriting this will be the third edition, I want a solid block of time like three hours
for that, so the next kind of step was to just say hey, I don't check my email on Friday,
so what this does is it sucks the expectation with everybody that, look, if you email me
on Thursday, you could probably going to be waiting until the Monday until you hear from
me, because it's in my email signature, everyone knows this in advance, as soon as they
email me and it's not an issue, and this, we can kind of come back onto this when I believe
you probably want to ask me about how I coach online and how I set things up, but I think
it's really important to set expectations, when the expectation is that you'll give
fast responses, whenever you don't give fast responses, those expectations get let down
and people see that as a slacking of the customer service, but if the case, in my case,
is that look, for somebody that won't be anything, Monday's the main update day anyway, when
you email me, those responses won't be quick, but they will be exceptionally detailed,
so this is not a text message right back and forth, as long as that's consistent people
are okay with it, and so that was kind of the next step in clearing out my schedule so
that I could just focus on that creation side, because ultimately, the content that I put
out is what attracts people to hire me for coaching, and that is my business, so that
has to be prioritized as well, I always answer the coaching emails from clients of course,
but if I don't create space in my schedule for the creative stuff to happen, it's very
easy to just let that be pushed to one side, does that make sense?
It makes a lot of sense, yeah, and I really like the last bit that you said around content
creation being your business, and you have to give it the space that it needs to be done
as best as possible, so that you are convincing people to come on board with you.
Yeah, exactly, but the approach that I've taken has been to try to think first what is
going to be helpful for the client, and right with the client in mind, and this isn't
something that I've always been successful at, because my ego has gone in the way, but
whenever I've managed to set my ego aside, and whenever I've put helping the client, Joe,
let's say, who had a really good question on Monday, one thought about how could I expand
on this answer and make it into an article, good stuff has come out, whenever I've let
my ego get in a way, the writing hasn't been as good, yes it's been more technical, but
I've been writing for my peers, or those that I look up to, because I desperately want
them to see me as quote unquote legit. So there's no point in me writing for, or rather
to impress Eric Alms, my co-author, but he's, you know, far more intelligent and knowledgeable
and has far more experience than I do, because there's nothing that I can say that is going
to impress him really. There's no point in me writing for, let's say, Eric Trexler or
Greg Knuckles over at Stronger By Science, and I really look up to and respect both guys
and what they do for our community, because again, there's nothing really that I have to
say that could impress them, because they're just so far ahead. So I need to, whenever
I take away my ego and start thinking first and foremost, what can I say that's going
to help the client, that's when the good stuff comes out, and usually that stuff is a lot
simpler, and I say I need to remove my ego from the situation, because I have to remind
myself that nobody's looking at the simpler level of content that I'm putting out for
people and thinking that that makes me a done-done, because that's just not the case, right?
Does that make sense?
It does make sense. I want to pull it back handy to some of the stuff that you've said
around, like, clients when they check in with
you. They only check in through email. It's not a text exchange. And this is
something that comes across very, very clear on your website. You make it part of
the sign-up process that if somebody is looking for a coach to be at their
back-end call, you're not the guy for them. And I suppose I'm just interested if
this. Have you always been so specific in terms of this is the way that I work
with my clients. So when I first started off coaching, it was nine and a half
years ago. And I would answer all time today. And I noticed that the faster I
responded, the worst, this least, less thought responses I got back. And often
things were missed. And so I started responding a little bit slow, but then a
little more detail. Purpose for it. And then I would find that I would get
slow up and more detailed responses back. Interesting. And I also started to put
less pressure on myself because the expectation there wasn't that I would
respond very quickly. And if I didn't, then something's wrong. Because you know
the things come up. Let me say they often go for a hike. Well you can never do
that without customers being upset if you've trained to expect to respond to
them a certain amount of time. Well a certain short amount of time, right? So I
started to shift it into, well I answer emails typically in the morning now.
And that's it. I'll answer once a day. So it's never a back and forth. But it's
always in detail. And then because there's only one today, people then think more
carefully about what they want to write to me because they know they don't want
to miss anything because they know they'll have to wait another day. And the people
that I work with really like it. And before someone becomes a client, they know
what they're getting into. Because you know, I do make that clear on the
application page on the coaching information page. And if you want to have a
look, it's just ripbody.com/coaching. And please feel free to steal any ideas on
that you like because you're going to have a look and make them your own. I'm
speaking to personal trainers here. And then I send them over a question there,
and if I make it clear in there. But also in every stage of that process, as I'm
answering, I'm responding to their questionnaire. I'm doing it at the same
pace and cadence and level of detail as I would as if they were a customer. So
if that isn't okay with them, and they want something that's faster responding,
then well, they know I'm not the guy. Right there and then. So someone who wants
like quick text, text like back and forth. Well, they're not going to get to the stage where they hire me
anywhere. So it it's kind of it's worked well. Just the key I found is to just be
consistent congruent with what you say and then consistent with what you do when
they're not yet a client. And then what you do when they are a client. Do you think it
encourages Andy? Sorry to jump in. Do you think it encourages clients to take
responsibility quicker because they don't have you at a Beckin call. And even though
you are giving these detailed responses and you're not leaving them with
questions, you are very much encouraging them to take ownership from the
star of the coaching process. I think so. And I like to think that this helps
lead them toward their independence better because questions that could
otherwise be fired off without really thinking aren't anymore. And so they're
more likely to sit and think and maybe have a look through the information I've
already given them or perhaps do a quick Google search to find out their answer.
And then when they do find out their answer to that gives them confidence that
they can find out answers that they can do it and they don't need to be
specific and so ultimately the goal is to create a sense of independence a
feeling of independence in the client so that they can leave me. So they don't
feel that they need me. And I have some clients that I've been working with for
two and a half years and their check-ins now is kind of at the point where I can
be like, "Okay, what do you think we should do here? What do you think is the right
move?" And they just kind of have me here as a comfort, I guess. Many, they finish.
I think the average length of time I work with someone is seven months, seven
and a half months. The minimum for references 12 weeks I say. That's to lock
people into a commitment because there may be things or maybe off in the
initial setup and it can take a few weeks to get things set up right because
you know you're making estimations of the outset when you're working with a
client and you want them to be committed, you want them to push past because
it's hard creating physical and lasting change is hard so you want them
committed and locked in. So I have that as a 12-week minimum.
Remind me the question sorry. The question you've answered around ownership and
personal responsibility? Yes, yes. So by making sure that by giving them space, by
creating space, I feel that it actually does them a favour and I'm not knocking
anybody who decides to go down another route where they do want to be available
at all times. I think that can be very draining but if you do want to go down
that, that business model. That's okay but it appeals to a different client
segment than who I work with, client population than who I work with because
they tend to be more experienced trainees. They're usually they've read a
significant portion of the website. They're familiar with my writing, they know
what I do, they kind of know what to expect, they know what kind of training
I'm going to recommend, they know what kind of eating pattern I'm going to
recommend and there aren't any surprises. So these are people that have already
got quite a baseline of knowledge but for those that have less I can
understand that more frequent contact that would be more useful. I'm not
pretending by any means here that I am the way that I do things is for everybody
and I'd recommend that you don't try to be all things to all people. You niche
down to the people you enjoy working with that you have a skill set for and you
write about helping those people because then you'll attract that kind of
people and that just creates kind of a what's the opposite of a vicious cycle.
Like a positive cycle. Did you learn that the hard way? Did you learn that by
working with some clients who necessitate, who need more behavior change and
more guidance, who may walk into the gym, not knowing what they're doing? Did
you work with some of those types of clients and then go this isn't where I'm
good, this doesn't work, I need to put my eggs into this basket.
No, not really. Conversations I have in person tend to go down that road
because you know the internet's a big place. The kind of writing that I put
is quite detailed. Detailed writing that only attracts a certain type of
person who's already pretty interested in committed because otherwise you know
someone who is not that into it isn't going to really see the value in reading a
5,000 word article. You know something that they think is kind of irrelevant so
I've always tended to attract those kinds of people anyway but in
person, I don't really talk about what I do. I live in Tokyo and people know
that I'm in the fitness space. Some know that I have a popular Japanese
website, some know that I have an English website. There's a vague idea that
I'm an online trainer, I've written a book or books, maybe they know that and so
that does mean that people will occasionally ask me questions especially in
like
company so to speak, you're out, you've met meeting people for the first time and then they're like,
"Oh yeah, so I read that blah blah blah, right?" Now I can answer that, but these people aren't my
customer, they're not my target. Maybe they are a little bit into fitness, but they're not ready yet,
working with me would over a while now, and so in that case I would recommend that they do a
bit of reading first and that's kind of where the website comes from. See if there's a trainer
listening on Andy and they're like, the setup that you have sounds more desirable than the one I
have just now for my online coaching, where I have this erratic relationship with email and WhatsApp
and messenger in Zoom and all these other things that a lot of online coaches do have, they have
systems that don't look anywhere near as clear and concise as yours. What would be your advice
to them to start to maybe not emulate exactly the way that you've got things set up, but to move
more towards that type of structure? I don't know if it's my place ready to tell anyone what to do,
I could just try and think through how I might move from there to where I'd want to be, so I think
in that case I would want to have everything on one one channel so that I can easily search through
it and read back through the conversation. My preferred channel is email because I like to be at
my laptop and I think being asked the best thing on my laptop. I don't want to do any work on my
phone because my friends are always with me and I don't want to be distracted by work when I'm
trying to be present in life and switching notifications often on and hiding apps, it just doesn't
personally work for me, I prefer to have complete device separation, laptop is work, phone is play,
the two don't meet unless there's something I have to do on Instagram that can only be done on the phone.
So I think in that case I would just announce that hey I'm moving everything over to
X from now on. I think the problem is any client you currently have is trained in the way that you
currently doing things and they're not going to like change. So every new client you have you just
explain the system to them. Hey we do it over email. If someone their message is you on Facebook
message or Instagram message or what's up then you say hey thanks for the message. What's your
email address? I do all of my coaching there right immediately at the outset. Bam there's no chat
that's where the conversation happens and if someone respects you they will respect that.
If someone doesn't respect you and they're put off by that then they will not see us in the first
place. So you will lose people when you say hey I want to say this to email just where I do more
work. May I ask if you're email address right you do it in a polite way. Anyone who doesn't
respond to that or is put off by that they weren't serious in the first place they were just a casual
someone very casual. You're acquiring yeah exactly. So all new people I take it over to email
personally. When it comes to Zoom or any kind of scheduled video chat personally I would knock
that on the head I would not do that. Because then what you find is that you have
just your schedule just becomes very quickly hard to manage and
yes it does give the client more of a sense of connection if they can have a chat with you
but if you're going to do that I would make it an exceptionally premium option or
the exception rather than the rule so very infrequent and I would change that to being
a recorded video that you make for the client and maybe a recorded video that the client makes for you
answering a set series of questions at the update points that you then respond to on the video.
Now my preferred staffer is to client emails me with their questions and I've got a set
though rather the client emails me with the spreadsheet with all of the data in the tracking data
for weight and body measurements and subjective feedback measures on sleep stress hunger
and lethargy fatigue and then also there's another sheet within that spreadsheet that covers
their training. They'll attach that to an email that has like how are you feeling? How's your
motivation currently? What issues did you come across? What were the wins of the last couple of
weeks? Do you have any concerns? Sorry just repeating myself and then is there anything else?
bullet points. So then on video if someone has chosen that option, not just email, I will then
respond. I'll do a little screen share, loom, l-o-n or vdard, v-i-d, y-r-d and these are plugins that
can be used in the Chrome browser. I can share my screen there, have my little head in the corner,
look at the email, look at their data, point out things in the data and answer the questions
over video and then I like to then type up a summary of what I've said in the video in bullets
in a response. Why do I do that? Because I then have a written record of the conversation so that
at the next update I can refer back to it. Next update I can refer back to it. I can go back months
if necessary so I'm absolutely up to date with everything and nothing's missed. I do not like to
rely on memory and the problem if it is a video that the client is recording for you is that unless
there's no written record for you to refer back to and you can't realistically click through and
watch all of the videos each time. So yeah that's how I would do that with the new clients moving forward.
With the older clients it can be tricky but you've got to try and phrase it in a way that is
clearly going to benefit them. So um let's think this through.
I have been finding that my answers to you have not been up to the standard that I expect of myself
and you deserve and I think it's because the WhatsApp messages come through to my phone,
swap WhatsApp for Messenger or Instagram or whatever and I can be getting your message when I'm
distracted. And when I get the message I can't help but look at it I'm sure you know the failing.
And when I look at it I want to respond because now it's on my mind and I believe you I owe you
that response quickly but then I'll be responding when I'm partially distracted by something else
and that is not fair to you or me and so I want to move to something that's I consider
better if it would be okay with you and what I'll propose is that we move this to email
and that way we've got a written record. How does that sound? That's probably a version of how I've
phrased it. Some clients are going to be that will be jarring for them. I think most clients
are assuming you work with reasonable people and you have a good relationship with them.
That'd be totally cool with them. That's that's really really useful Andy. Thank you for that answer.
I think there's a lot that people can can use within that. So going to go into your support method
be an email. Clients can touch base and they you check in every two weeks. Did you used to do weekly
and you moved to biweekly or have you always done biweekly? They check in with me. I don't check in
with them so they will send their update over to me. So if something happens or they can't send it
on their Saturday I have some send it on the Friday but in the case where they can't do that then
they'll just check in two weeks later. So I'm not pestering people there. The onus is on them to
check in with me because there's no point in sending an email and saying hey could you check in
place? Where are adults? There are adults. You can just say hey just you know every two weeks
just have to remind that check it. It's not hot especially when they're paying good money for it.
So that's just to clear that one up.
I have done four weeks. I did that at the start. I found that every four weeks was two
in frequent for some people and sometimes it could be useful for me to have check-ins a little more
more frequently so that I can.
could make an adjustment in the meantime or in the in between time of those
months so I switched to I haven't tried every week I do have friends that
have tried every week and what they have reported is how I imagined it would
go which is they check in you have a look over it and they've got to check in
in detail you know it's it's a time effort upfront for them or time sink for
them every week and a pressure for them every week you then have to we as
coaches then have to respond and we may feel pressured to make adjustments when
nothing is necessary we may feel pressured to say stuff and give advice when
the only thing needed is to set me yep carry on because really the best
case is that everything's working training's going well diets progressing is
normal everything looks to be fine and we can just say to the client yep great
carry on don't change anything right but if people are checking in every
week they may maybe be a feeling that you as a coach have to provide value each
week and there's a client expects value each week and there may be a mismatch
between yeah that's that you're doing great carry on and and and so you feel
that you're not giving value there and they feel they're not getting right
either so by shifting into every two weeks even though sometimes I do say quite
an elaborate form of we're doing good let's not change anything and I'll point
that data you know to explain why it's it's it's it just makes it easier when it
is every two weeks and a friend Brian Brian Minor he was he switched over from
every week to every two weeks and he said when he announced that when he say
announced is a bit of a strong phrase when he suggested that he would like to
do that change with his clients he said the response was very positive and
several actually commented about how they feel less pressured now and they
grateful for the change interesting is there anything else on the the systems
that you use in terms of supporting your clients that you feel would be good
for the personal trainers listening to this to to consider that you've
learned and your experience considering you doing this for for nine and about
years now Andy I ask clients not to respond or reading us on the front that's a
pretty unique one I saw that on your website yeah I'm I'm insistent on that and
it's certainly a my mind situation love it or hate it but the people who get it
get it because you know most of the people I work with their their business
people they do email a lot and badly written emails from phones annoy the
hell out of them as well so my people get it right I think with phones is the
level of detail I'm putting in some many of the emails I give people they're
just not really suited to reading them on a phone when you could be dashing
around on the train maybe you know just between getting out of the car and
walking into the office and you've got that 50-yard walk from the car park to
the office door right that they're not and then you know Cheryl's gonna say hi
and then you know you get indistracted all the time they're just not suited
there and then when you've read an email on your phone you're you're you want
to respond so you can get out out of your inbox right and get off your mental
brand so if a sense of people don't read all right from your phone to me they
know that they just have to sit and leave that for later and then they have to
be a computer and then they're not gonna be distracted they're not gonna be
half-licking a nice green while you know staring at the girl across the way and
you know oh they've just got an Instagram notification they're just gonna be
focused or certainly more focused and just the difference has been night and
day clients are happier I'm happier fewer things get missed and that's that's
been great that's started that's definitely within a year possibly within six
months of coaching now back nine years ago people that like emails on
phones have certainly increased over time but I haven't found I haven't found it
to be an issue but then again that's quite possibly because I'm very clear up
from that these are my rules and if it's not okay with you just don't don't
apply yeah yeah if I mean it we're kind of coming back to that theme it's like
say expectations to start as you mean to go on here if you're already working
for people and they're on their phone already emailing you you're probably just
gonna have to let that one go and then for all the new clients and you say hey
please write to me not for me phone that one has been a really big one for me
that's the one that when you asked your question came to mind is the most
strikingly beneficial you know something very simple but it's made a big
difference I mean I think the expectations thing applies across the board and
coaching whether you're in person or you're online I think it's really really
smart at the start of the coaching process of a new client to say this is when
I'm going to be free to be contacted and if you contact me outside of these
times I'm not gonna reply to you this is how I expect or this is how it's best
to contact me using like the word that comes to mind when I think about it
and you talk about and these is really intentional it's very well thought
through I think is is how I think about you and rip body as a brand when I
want your website I'm like wow this has been this is you've spent a lot of time
on each part of this and I can tell that you've probably had conversations
around the pros and cons of doing this and this and you've tested it and you've
tried it that way and you've gone no I preferred it this way and I just I genuinely
really like that and I think there is a lot within your approach to doing things
that trainers can pick up from thank you I appreciate that it's funny the
contact page which is a contact form with some notes before it I think I've
edited that 40 times now and I spent four hours a couple of weeks ago rewriting
it and then I decided two days ago that no no no no I've got to scrap it
I think put something else there and the reason is I want this absolutely
seamless link from if someone reaches out to me on social where I can bam
send a canned response to say you'll go here to the contact page and then on
that contact page they're greeted with a firm but warm hug where the
boundaries are clearly set and here's how you can contact me and if you're
after this go here or this go here and if you're after a question I'm not going
to answer in social media in the message that you kindly sent me I will only
answer in the comments but it's free and answer every day but unfortunately
email is for coaching clients only and if coaching somebody you're interested
and then here's a link for that and if you've got a question about the books
and I actually have created a page on the books website where Eric Helmsonite
we've answered a thousand questions in the comments you can just go there so
trying to how do I if you would send reach out to me on Instagram how do I send
a canned response back that doesn't spoil the feeling that you have for me or my
brand at that moment despite it being a canned response it's a very quick
response to the link the link goes out for contact page there's a preview of
the first sentence this is on the contact page and then it will explain like
why I've just done that and where you can get help and I think anybody that
then reads that and then goes on to any article and they look at the comment
sections they'll understand okay well they might not like the fact that they
have to go and ask me a question in the comments and they can't just have me on
a backing call in Instagram messages or whatever it is but when they see the
level of detail that I give everyone in the comments who kindly asks me
there I think they're respected well certainly I don't get too much shit for
that but
you know, I have to protect my time. I want to set things up in a way that I can sustain
and fielding questions in DMs isn't a sustainable method. Offering to answer anything as long
as it's in a certain spot. For me, it's in the comments on the articles. Is sustain books I can
check in every morning and do that and then that then helps other readers as well. Who reads through
they help us build trust because they say okay well holy shit he's just answered two comments
on this article that was seven years old but in the last week he's still here he's still going to
comment this guy isn't going anywhere okay he's an online coach but he lives in Japan but okay he's
clearly here and has been here for a long time you know that trust and credibility is now
being built up in the potential customers' mind as well so it benefits me in that way as well.
It's probably a little signal that's sent to Google as well when comments sections are active.
I don't know about that but it's just a guess. I have two more questions. My second question.
Thank you. My second last one. Honestly I've got three or four topics on my question list
that I would still love to get into so if you're up for Andy I would love to do a round two at one
point. My my second last question I was going to ask just on the notes of specifically the online
coaching stuff. Is there anything you would love to go back to you on day one of starting your
online coaching business and say about the process of business or coaching clients online that you
wish you had known? I mean I think the beauty of not knowing what you don't know is that
you can have boundless energy and confidence and that can rub off on people and help them get
results even though it may not technically be correct or optimal. Things could have been
tweaked a little bit better and you learn along the way. I don't regret any of it because I
wouldn't be where I am now and knowing what I am now without having all of that experience.
You know other than what I've said about the setup as however the advice someone who wants to do
something said let's what I do with my startup coaching do. There aren't any specific regrets or
things I wish I had known so to speak. I appreciate that response because I think you're absolutely
right around you only know what you know at the time and you did the best with the knowledge that
you had at that time and everything that you've learned along the way has been good to know but
you didn't know the time at the start. I think the other important thing is let's say you miss speak.
Don't be afraid to tell people hey I screwed that up. I think that it can be helpful to have an
email list oh yeah 2015 I started my email list but 2011 I started my website convertkit.com
has free plans for that. I think it's a great service there are many other email service providers
but I wish I had started that in 2011 actually because that also gives me a way of reaching out
directly into people's inboxes so I can spam this shit out of them and I can put out corrections
of things that I felt were wrong and here are my new thoughts and here's why I think that's
really important and I think contrary to the pain that we feel in our ego that is if I tell
people I go wrong they won't trust me. I think that the kinds of people that you want to attract
and work with are the ones that will respond well to those who are capable of saying I was wrong.
Here's why and if there are people out there you look up to an employer and you've been following
them for quite a long time and you've never seen them say that they were wrong about something
or they use too many like absolutely 100% that like categorical
they speak with too much certitude those are red flags. Look for those that are capable of
caviating their answers I think it's a prudent approach. I agreed. My last question feeds off
of the first one that I asked and it's just around books. Do you have any books personally or
professionally that I've made? I suppose a profound impact just when it comes to the way you
either run your business or the way that you run your life. Yeah actually I'm going to give two
and none of them neither of them are about fitness. One my favorite book I really love biographies
is called Unbroken. It is a book about a guy called Louis Ampourini who is a mile runner
in the 30s in America young guy and he's recruited conscripted I think into the American Air Force
and it's the story of his time serving in well to getting shot down having the
I'm not sure whether it's still the current record but at the time it was certainly the longest
recorded open raft survival in open sea. If anyone's familiar with a Victor Frank Hall's
man such a meaning which is a memoir of the time in the concentration of Auschwitz concentration
comes there. It's a similar it's not similar but it's a story of resilience and that book just
reminds me that I'm capable of much more and that no day I have is actually a sheet one and
it's good to keep me grounded in reality personally. It's a great hilarious painfully
hilarious book clearly written very well written by a one called Lauren Hillen brand and if you
want to find it and yeah that's that's certainly my favorite book. I've got loads of books
that that that's one that always comes along and then the one for business is a guy a guy called
two guys Julian Smith J-U-L-I-E-N Smith and Chris Brogan BROGN called Trust Agents this was a 2010
book I believe on creating trust in the digital age a bit of an outdated term but
basically how to come across online in a way where you how to become trust it so I took all
of the advice in that book and put it into my blog and I know I tried to do that in you know
Instagram in my email newsletters. Create the feeling that I am one of you my my customers I'm
just one of you I know a little bit more than you I'm a little bit further ahead than you I've got
a bit more experience than you so I can help but I am not your sense I am not your guru
I'm just someone who can help guide if you're open to it and the book is kind of about you know
creating building community creating that feeling of trust and how you can do that and at that time
it talks about you know your Twitter account and blogging but the principles still apply to
whatever platform you capture your clients with and it's funny that that book I it's the most
bookmarked book I've I've ever had and that Julian he reached out to me on Instagram
nine months ago and I fired off my canned response as I always do when it's a question
and not a response to you know just it's kind of shooting this shit
um, when's the question about nutrition training?
If I left him a kind of response, he's like, "Oh yeah, okay, no worries, thank you."
And then he asked me the question in the comments on the blog.
And then, uh, the next day, like, I come to look at answering the comments on the blog.
And, I see the name Julian Smith and Julian is spelled with an e, and I'm like, "What?"
So then I click on the website that he put in and he's actually him.
And I'm like, "Holy shit, this guy who, whose book helped me develop prospects in a niche
and do well has, of all the websites out there decided that he's going to repine and then
trust it." And then when I went back to his Instagram message and actually grabbed it because
normally, as soon as I see it's an nutrition question, it just far off the response.
It was like, and I don't mean it's the same bad, like, I wish I had a sentence at the time.
It's like, "Hey, Andy, look, I think I must be responsible for at least a third of your
traffic over the last week because I've just devoured the majority of it."
It's really well, and I'm just, I'm just like, "Wow, wow, isn't that nice?"
Just come full circle of decade later, and I'm still working with him now.
Sorry, he ended up becoming a client after about three months, he signed up for the newsletter
and he had a few nice comments in there and asked a couple of questions and he just ended
up becoming a client and I'm working with him now.
But that, that's a very recent thing, but that book has been exceptionally helpful for
the principles in there a timeless, I believe they've just released a 10th anniversary edition,
so I recommend that.
Those are two books I have never heard of.
I will definitely check them out.
The first one sounds right up my alley.
I know that from our quick email exchange and setting up this interview and looking at
some of the books you would put on Instagram, you mentioned the one about Ernest Shackleton,
and there's one I'm going to recommend for you, Andy, now I always understand that people
have lots of books, but have you ever read any of Hampton's sides books?
No, I don't think so, do you ever have a specific one? Yes, so he is a book called Kingdom
of Ice and it's about a voyage and I think it's the 1800s to get across, to be the first
people to get to Antarctica, I think, and the level of suffering that they go through
on this voyage is just mind blowing, and I really like reading stuff like that, and it
sounds like you do too, so it's one that's really really good, he's got a couple of really
good books as well, and our one's called Ghost Soldiers, well worth checking out.
Ghost Soldiers about the Philippines, the American prisoners in the Philippines are basically
about to be abandoned by a head command, the major or whoever it is decides to script, I'm
going to send over a team anyway to try and rescue these soldiers who are about to be executed
by the Japanese, and that is a great book.
There are parts, there are parts in that book where I had to stop reading because I was
so like taken aback by the level of just atrocity and detail that the author goes into, but
it's a great book if you like that kind of stuff, Andy, do you want to?
You look at your grandparents in a different way after that, many of them are age, may
not be around anymore, or great grandparents, amazing stuff really.
Do you want to point the listener towards checking out anything, I'll have you on Instagram,
your website, and the show notes anyway, but do you want to point the listener towards
anything intentional that you're working on?
Just if there's a topic that you're particularly interested in, brickbody.com, and then click
on the search bar, I'll click the menu there to find it, I'll try to write detailed articles
on that, and do not fill the blog roll with an article a week or something like that.
I'll write one article on the topic and then just keep updating it.
If you want to go in depth on something, to an extent, there, if you are more interested
in casual stuff, then Andy underscores brickbody on Instagram, that's more casual stuff, and
the stories are just for the bands, if that interests you, post some stuff about life
in Japan, maybe I'll ramble about some paperwork here, or then I'll post some fitness stuff
in there as well.
Thank you very much, your time man, I really do appreciate it, it was a pleasure to have
you on.
Yeah, thank you too, thank you for everyone who's listening.
That was Andy Morgan from rippedbody.com there, if you want to see a fitness professional
who knows their audience incredibly well and writes specifically to them, and his website
ripbody.com is well worth checking out his content, his top class, and you can see that
he does take the time to really solidify who he's talking to and what it is that he's
talking about.
Every word is chosen, and I like that I think we can learn off of that, and there was
quite a few things in this episode that if I was going to start up an online coaching
business, I would definitely think about putting in place.
I probably wouldn't go for the buy weekly because the clients that I would be working with
I think would necessitate more contact, but I would definitely have a specific day for
doing it.
I would definitely be asking them to do it over email rather than over WhatsApp and Messenger
because I have too many platforms just now that I use, so I'm going to try and take something
off the back of this and implement something new, so that I can be more detailed and more
thorough and more intentional in my responses and deliver a better service, so I would take
that into account.
I also do like the non mobile phone thing, I don't know if you need to go and implement
that, I just genuinely really like that, and I think if you have a similar way of thinking
and working to Ande, it's one to consider, but definitely think about your expectations
that you set with your clients around communication, make sure it's clear as day when somebody
new signs up about how you work things and why that's going to benefit them.
And I think this will definitely help when it comes to reducing your stress and ensuring
that you don't end up burnt out from them at the time you have to contact your clients,
and also just feeling like you're doing everything and anything for your client base.
If you're really particular around, this is when you check in, this is how you check in,
this is what my expectations are, this is what you should expect of me, I think you're
going to have a much better relationship and hopefully get much better results with your
clients.
Thank you very much for taking the time to be here today, guys, I really do appreciate
it.
I hope everybody's doing okay in the world right now, I know we're in hard, hard times,
England have just gone back into lockdown or they're going to be going into lockdown
this week, and a lot of places still in America, Australia, Europe, we're all in that
second wave point just now, so tough, tough times to be a personal trainer, I hope this
is just giving you a little bit of light within your day, and I just genuinely want to say
I hope that you do not end up leaving the industry because of this, because you are very
much needed, and I genuinely appreciate you just taking the time to listen in today.
I would also love to hear from you, so please reach out,
[email protected], I will
get back to you, I always love hearing from listeners, and enjoy the rest of your day.
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