Boot Camp Marketing - Overcoming Your Fear

I've got some news for you, and it isn't good.

But if you aren't willing to step outside of your comfort zone so that you can grow... as a person and as a business... you aren't going to achieve the success you are after. All growth takes place just outside of our comfort level.

Never fear, I have good news as well.

All of us get uncomfortable at some point, and we experience fear and doubt over what we are doing... what is happening. The ones who succeed aren't the people who have no fear, they're actually the people who've experienced their fears and worked past them.

If you're passionate about having a successful boot camp business, then it's time to get serious about stepping out of that comfort zone. I would say that you should get comfortable with being uncomfortable but then that sounds counterproductive... I wouldn't want you to become complacent. However you should know that change... and being uncomfortable... well, they are a part of life... a very important part.

It is that uneasiness of standing the edge of what is known and what is unknown. It is knowing that edge... and being able to walk that edge that separates those that are successful from that that wish they were successful. Do something every day that makes you uncomfortable. Even if it is getting dressed without taking a shower that day... or driving a new route to work.

Become one with the phrase: "ACTION ALLEVIATES ANXIETY."

It is inaction that causes anxiety. When you are action... when you are moving towards a goal you are not being held back by fear. You are taking action in spite of the fear... smacking fear in the face and telling it that you are king of the mountain. This is the foundation to boot camp marketing strategies.

When I first started my boot camp business I had to do more uncomfortable things then I cared to count. But they were necessary. Had I avoided them... had I said, "No, there is another way," I wouldn't have a successful boot camp business today. Oh, I still face uncomfortable issues and obstacles... today though I look forward to them because they provide me and my business the opportunity to grow.

Let me tell you about my first boot camp marketing strategy that I tried and it was successful. I decided that the best way to promote was through word of mouth... which is free, free for me... but what was I going to do to get people interested in working with me... wanting my services? Well, free advertising enticed me... so why wouldn't this work?

I talked to every person I knew... every person... and any person I came into contact with. My goal was to build a large base of pro bono clients, I wanted as many as I could possibly get. I am not kidding you when I tell you I went door to door in my neighborhood, and I even talked to people I had never met.

Yes, it sounds insane... and I felt a little insane when I started, but it was one of the most successful boot camp marketing strategies I have every used. In the end I talked to over 150 people... and that landed me 30 pro-bono clients. Yep, there were a lot of no's... but each no was 20% of a yes.

From there, the next boot camp marketing strategies that was important to implement was asking my 30 clients for referrals. I kid you not when I tell you that was almost more difficult then talking to 150 people I didn't know. It was probably one of the most uncomfortable things I have ever done. Even though it made nervous just about every time I asked I kept doing it and I kept getting more referrals.

From there the next step was to raise my prices. Overtime my rates have increased to be 50% to 200% higher than most other trainers in my city that offer the same services I do. Well, I discovered that people will pay ME to train them! Yes, raising my prices made me nervous... what if it caused people to not want to work with me? As you can tell it eventually got easier, once I broke through the fear and took action.

I am boot camp trainer... never would I have ever considered myself a sales person. Know this, if you are going to own your own business you better be able to sell your business to people or you aren't going to make any money. Sales made me nervous! Still to this day they make me nervous, though I have become a damn good salesman... I think that it is the nervousness that has made me good salesman.

Today though I have a team of salespeople, they help to generate even more sales. Why do I have a team if I am so damn good? I recognized early on that I was going to need more than just me to "sell" my boot camp training to as many people that were interested... and go after the ones that didn't even know they were interested.

If you are interested in learning ways to overcome the fear from stepping out side of your comfort zone follow these quick tips:

Make sure you do something each day that is outside of your comfort zone.

Turn fear into excitement

Read "Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway," by Susan Jeffers.

Act - do something, inaction breeds anxiety

Give - When you come from a place of giving instead of one of taking you naturally feel much less fearful.

You gotta work out (don't get too wrapped up in business and let yourself go).

Do the actions to the best of your abilities but don't get caught up in the results... you have NO CONTROL over the results, only the actions... and trying to control the results is a sure fire recipe for misery.