← Pilates Business Podcast
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What you say in your marketing really matters. Being able to clearly articulate what you really do, that's what will bring you more clients. Because all the tactics in the world won't save you if your marketing messaging is not resonating and not representing you and your business. So before we dive into today's episode, I wanted to let you know that the wait list is now open for my next Marketing Intensive group. This is the exact system that I have used in my one on one work with studio owners for over eight years that has helped those business owners to stand out with messaging that really resonates to create systems that streamlines their marketing efforts, helps them price their offerings to help them grow their income without the overwhelm. You come out of this program with a marketing message unique to you and a marketing plan designed specifically for your business goals. Plus, when you join the wait list, you get access to all sorts of perks including a special discount and access to an exclusive live workshop all about how to stand out from the crowd and grow your business year after year. All that just for joining the wait list right now. Sounds good, right?
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Awesome.
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So hop on over to spring3.com forward/marketing intensive and get on that waitlist now. Or you can click the link in.
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The show notes 200 episodes. Wow. When I first hit record on episode number one, I never imagined we'd reach this milestone together. Over the years, you've heard me stumble, laugh, navigate some very awkward interviews. But we've also learned so much and celebrated the incredible resilience of so many boutique fit business studio owners just like you. So I thought for the 200th episode of the Pilates Business Podcast, I'd take you behind the scenes and share with you a few fun facts, perhaps revisit some of the most loved episodes. But I'm also going to reflect on the lessons that I've learned along the way and what it's really like to host a podcast and keep showing up for you guys week after week after week. Well, hi there, I'm Sarah Glanfield. I'm a business and marketing strategist just for boutique fitness studio owners like you. If you're ready to be inspired and make a bigger impact, you're in the right place. All you need are a few key strategies, the right mindset, and some support along the way. Join me as I share the real life insights that will help you grow a sustainable and profitable studio. This is the Pilates Business Podcast. Welcome back to the Pilates Business Podcast. I'm Saran Glanfield and today is a very special day because this is the 200th episode of the Pilates business podcast. Can you believe it? I can't, honestly. When I started this back in May of 2021, it had been in the back of my mind for quite a while, the idea of having a podcast. Honestly, I think I wrote the plan and all of the ideas for episodes out many, many, many months or maybe even years before I actually hit record and did the thing. But I cannot tell you how happy I made that leap and made that jump and did it, because Since May of 2021, the listeners have grown to be not just local or people who knew me or know me, but people from all over the world. You are a global community. We've had listeners in 154 countries around the world, 6438 cities worldwide, and there have been hundreds of thousands of downloads. And honestly, I am still pinching myself when I see some of these stats. It has been such a joy and a privilege to connect with all of you, to you, and to be with you, for many of you, every single week in your ear. So I appreciate you and thank you. And I hope that what you gather and learn from these conversations that I have with studio owners and industry experts and peers and from what I share with you, from what I observe and see and have learned along the way, that it's helpful to you. Because the reason I do this truly is to be of service and to help you. That's what. That. What drove me to opening up the podcast in the first place. And that really is the mission, to provide studio owners with actionable strategies, inspiring stories from others, and to also give you a place to, or perhaps a sense that there is. There is a community here for you, that this is, you know, you're not in this alone. And because, you know, I really know how isolating it can feel to be in business alone. And I speak to a lot of studio owners every single week who share with me that they feel that way also. And so I hope that by being here and perhaps listening in, you don't feel that way quite so much. And I show up every single week because of that, because I want to help you to continue to do what. What you do really, really well. And because I want the world to experience movement and the joy and all of the good things that come from a. A body that can move well and that feels strong. Right? And I know that that's why you do what you do also. And I want to help you do more of that, and that is why I'm here. So I thought it'd be helpful for you, and interesting, I should say, for you to perhaps hear a little bit about how it works behind the scenes. Because just like you in your business, you're wearing a lot of hats. You're wearing the hat of perhaps the teacher, the scheduler, the customer service person, the organizer of the people who work for you, the marketer, the payroll, the hiring, maybe occasionally the firing, the admin, the opening, the closing, the tidying upper, all of these things that I know that you do. You know, in some ways I am also doing very similar things in my business too. And so I think it's the journey we are on as entrepreneurs, as business owners, small business owners, you know, it's natural to be wearing a lot of hats. And just like you, when I started out or developed my business into sort of more of a consulting and coaching role, I didn't really have any training or any experience with podcasting of any sort at all. And so it's certainly been lessons along the way, but sometimes you do just have to learn by doing so. When I started the Pilates business podcast in May of 2021, you know, you'll remember at that time we had come through some very challenging times. Many folks around the world were still in some very challenging times due to Covid and what I had found during that time and what I did during that time was actually bring people together because I felt that is what we all needed at that time. And the most wonderful thing about being in this industry for as long as I have is that I had a lot of people all over the world and all over the country and doing in slightly different phases of life and phases of business who were, who were looking for someone to talk to about what they should do and what they should do next. And that's when Ashley Thrive was born, was in May, sorry, in March of 2020. And bringing people together and having conversations about how to navigate those incredibly challenging times. And so seeing how incredible it was and truly fulfilling for me, it was to bring together like minded studio owners and observing how incredibly supportive they have been to each other, I wanted to spread that a little bit further beyond our group. And that is truly why I started the podcast in May of 2021. I wanted to fill that gap and I also wanted to give you practical business tips. At that time we were also seeing there is and continues to be a lot of noise in the coaching and consulting world. You may or may not be exposed to that And a lot of the things that I saw people tell others to do or recommend were I felt perhaps not lacked some perspective. And perhaps it. It might be helpful for people to hear some other ways to grow your business. There is not just one way to do. And so I wanted to sort of fill that gap and I wanted to reach you and I wanted to share with you not just, you know, some ideas, but I also wanted to share with you insights, because as anyone who has run a business knows, you are coming up, you are going to come up alongside or face some challenges along the way. And I think there is this misconception that some people don't. And I think the more that you speak to others and hear the story of others, you act. We all kind of come to perhaps accept that there is not this perfect journey. And I think that's a good thing because that perspective can help us perhaps navigate our own set of challenges and we can learn from what others have done or have not done. And I think that's really incredibly powerful. And so if I could have written a book that would have gathered all of the things that I had learned and known and heard from people, I would have. But this is a much faster way for me to get this information into your. Into your world. And so the podcast has been just a real blessing to me and a sort of a nice little surprise and something that I've enjoyed so much. So, like I said, we have listeners around the world. You might in fact be listening from somewhere far, far away from where I am sitting right here today. Almost every country in the world, we've had a listener over 65, 6400. Sorry, yeah, 6438 cities around the world. We've got listeners and like I said, hundreds of thousands of downloads. And I think, you know, that's a testament to how much we all are seeking guidance and best practices and perhaps a sense of community as well. And I really love when people let me know that they. What they have learned from these conversations, because it really helps to shape some of the things that we continue to talk about here on the podcast. And so how does it work here behind the scenes? Well, what we have developed behind the scenes here at Spring 3 at the for the Pilates Business Podcast is no shock to you to hear this, but it is some serious systems. And when I started the podcast, I decided I didn't want to this. For this to be an ad hoc thing, because I believe in consistency and I believe in showing up. And, um, that truly is sort of the foundation for what I do inside of my programs as well. I show up every single week for my studio owners. We're very consistent in showing up for you. And that's how I approach the podcast as well. So I knew I didn't want to do seasons. I knew I didn't want to just record whenever I felt like it. Um, and so in order for that to happen, in order for there to be that level of consistency, even when life gets busy, even when things get break, even when I'm sick, we have to have a system behind the scenes. Not just for this podcast, but for many of the things that we do behind the scenes here at Spring three. And so it's no surprise that we do have a system for the podcast. And usually that looks like me. Crafting ideas for topics that I want to discuss, things that I hear from you, the questions that you ask me that my. The studio owners I speak to ask me on a regular basis, and some themes and topics that pop up, you know, that I see in the community, in the industry. And so I usually have my podcast planned out well in advance. No surprise there. And in fact, typically I'm recording at least four to six weeks ahead of time. Now, this episode is a little different because I did want to close out the year, first of all, to just make. To sort of. To really kind of get a handle on some of the favorite episodes that we've had. But typically I'm recording well in advance, and typically I also batch record my episodes. So it's kind of hard to pop in and out of podcast recording. It's hard to pop in and out of going from podcast recording to being coaching inside of Thrive, to crafting those resources and those templates and all of the things that we do to support our studio owners inside of Thrive. So I batch record these episodes, and what that means is that I can dedicate my time and energy to just doing podcasting for certain days of the week and certain weeks of the month. And I find that to be so helpful because this is a different kind of toolkit that I have to use or rely on for myself, different set of skills that I need to have when I'm sitting here talking to you guys and kind of. It feels often like I'm talking to myself, But I kind of. I do find that to be really helpful. And so, you know, it's something I recommend. You've heard me recommend here on the podcast before. But batching the same kind of tasks is something that I do in my business, too. Just like I recommend to you as well. And so I am usually plan out my episodes well in advance. I batch record them usually two at a time. After about two, I'm kind of, I get a little kind of tired of the talking to myself. And that's usually about as much energy as I can give through a microphone to you. But I do that a couple of times a month and I have those guest interviews in between as well. So let me talk a bit about that. How does that come about? And I don't know if you, anyone listening? If you've got a podcast or you've experienced podcasting world at all. What happens is when you have a podcast, you get inundated with a lot of requests, people to want to come onto your podcast, if you're lucky, like me, I guess. And I do get a lot of requests from people. Not people like you though, probably listening, but a lot of people who want to get in your ear. And so I'm incredibly selective about who I bring onto the podcast. And I've had some fabulous guests over the years. My favorite guests are the people that I get to work with inside of Thrive. So you've heard them come on here and share their stories and their journey. And I love to do that. I love to bring studio owners on here to be real and honest and upfront about what is happening in their business. That's my favorite. And honestly, those are the most popular episodes and that warms my heart like more than I can tell you. But we've had some fabulous experts from the industry, people who have been in the industry a long time who are doing really interesting and very cool things in the industry. So I have the great fortune of being able to get some fabulous guests. But I also turn down a lot of people because they really often are not as relevant to our industry as I would like. So I get a lot of spam guest requests, which I have to politely decline on a regular basis as well. So if that is you, I'm sorry, but maybe the timing was a little off or the topic was a little off. But typically anyone who is in our industry and who has the right intentions, I love, love, love to have conversations with. So we have structure, we have guests. I have a. No, I have an unending amount of things that I want to share with you. I always have a very hard time keeping these episodes down to that sort of 20 to 25 minute mark. But that is my goal because I want this to be really actionable and doable for you. Now, the other Thing I've learned From having done 200 episodes of the Pilates business podcast is that perfection is. Is not real. It is not the goal. You've heard me stumble. You've heard me cough. You've heard me sigh. You've heard me laugh. You've heard me catch myself from almost saying something I didn't want to say to the world. And so I know that some episodes did not go as planned. And I have a fabulous editor that helps to edit. And luckily, I have to say, we don't usually have to cut a whole ton, even from those great, great interviews, even the ones that don't go quite so well, perhaps a little bit awkward, but because I want to keep this as real and raw for you, like we're having a conversation, because I think the perfection is not where I want to, not, not what I want to share with you, honestly. I think we get fed too much of the highlights, and that's not real. And I think that's as helpful as it could be. So perfection is not the goal. So sometimes I do have to hit restart on or stop and start, restart the recording. I usually fluff my words in the first two minutes, if at all. And so. And sometimes I just continue and stumble through. So thank you for sticking with me if you heard me do that. But perfection is not the goal. I always say to my, my. My studio owners in my programs that we are aiming for B plus work, not a work. B minus is great some days, too. It's all a function of what you have going on. But perfection is not the goal. And so I've learned a lot along the way. And I've also learned that, you know, things happen like episodes get deleted, emails get missed, sometimes deadlines don't get met. And so because of that, you know, I do kind of plan ahead a little bit, but we've had moments where we have forgotten to hit publish on an episode here and there. So I think it's only happened twice, actually. I've got a great team, and so, you know, these things happen and they come up and we fix it, and then we move on and we continue on. And I have to say that I am very fortunate that behind the scenes, I do have a great team. I've mentioned my editor, who is great and so easy. Makes it so easy for me to share with him the episodes, and he takes care of adding the music and everything else. But then I've got other members of my team who helped me to keep all of our episodes organized behind the scenes in A database with all of the content that we have as well as all of the media, social media promotions, all of the videos that we have. Because this is also on YouTube, we share snippets and clips on social media. So there's a lot of moving parts that go into this podcast. And again, I didn't come into this knowing how to do this. I did learn along the way. And luckily for me, I have a great team that helps with all of these other parts of making it happen so that I can focus on supporting and coaching consulting studio owners just like you, because that's where my best time is best spent. So I am not here alone at Spring three by any means. I do have a great group of folks who support me and you by getting this podcast to you every single week. Week. Okay. So I do. Now that I've shared a bit more about behind the scenes, I do want to give you a quick rundown of the top episodes over the last 200 episodes. Okay. And no surprise that Top of the top is all about building your brand. So I my philosophy around building a business is that there is no one way to do it and that you need to lean into. We should all be leaning into what we do that is unique to us, to build our visibility, to connect with our clients and to bring people in. And so maybe that resonates with you and my audience. I think it does. Because the top episode is how to build your brand. My top five tips and the biggest takeaway from that episode is that your brand is not just a logo. It's the story that you tell your clients every single day. And I think in the world we're in today, that connection element is so critical. So if you want to go back and listen to that, it's actually episode number two. It's one of the top downloaded episodes, over 1500 downloads. It's a big one. It's up there. The next one, the next most popular episode is episode number 97, also a high number of downloads. And that is called the five tips to building a standout series studio brand. So branding resonates. I'm so glad because I think it's so powerful. And many of you emailed saying that this episode already helped you to really think or rethink about how you communicate your studio's value. Now, we cannot talk about top episodes and most listened episodes without talking about some of the other, I think probably things that top of mind for you. So the next episode is actually episode 100, which is called how to double your studio Revenue, something I'm sure you all want. And that was episode 100. And in that I shared with you with a guest of mine, some real world examples of some of the small changes that can lead to those big results. So often I find studio owners are looking for one big sweeping change. It's going to change everything and be that one hack. But the reality is that growing a business is about a lot of often smaller tweaks, smaller changes that lead you towards those bigger shifts. And so this episode has that in it. The next episode that was very popular was episode 123 called Empty Classes on your schedule. Here's what to do. And I think this is one of the most common challenges that we face as studio owners is that perhaps some classes are full and some are not. How do we manage that? What do we do about it? And sometimes those classes are full, sometimes during the year, and at other times of the year they're not. And so we want to make sure that we are focused on being dynamic with that. And that episode is 123. And that talks through some ideas for how to fill those dreaded empty time slots. So we talk about branding, we've talked about revenue, we've talked about scheduling. But the other favorite episode is titled Five secrets of the highly organized studio Owner. And this makes my heart happy because I think it's very challenging to build a business if you are disorganized and chaotic about what you're doing and what you're focused on. In fact, that structure, I think actually creates the, the, the growth in your business. And so I'm so glad that this is one of those top five episodes. It's episode 121 and it shares the habits and the tools that successful studio owners use to really stay on top of it all. And I'm sure that there are, there are. I know I could keep going with the next few episodes and. But they typically, the most favorite episodes do sort of focus on these elements. It's how do you manage your team and your, your schedule, how do you grow revenue and how do you stay organized and avoid burnout? And that is something that I am. So my biggest sort of focus when I work with any studio owner is helping you to help to get to where you want to get to. And it's not about me telling you that you have to have this level of growth or you should have any level of growth, but it's about me helping you to get you to where you want to be and whatever success looks like for you and that version of success, honestly, is going to change over time. Not, hopefully not week to week or day to day, but you might find some years you're more focused on. On certain things in your life, the things in your life that, you know, you might want to. To incorporate into how you spend your time and your energy. And that is absolutely fine. Because my goal, like I said in the very beginning of this episode, is to help you keep doing what you do and sharing that love of movement and great movement experience with as many people as you possibly can. And in order for you to do that, you have to be fulfilled and energized by what you do, which means you have to show up as your best self, which means that you need to take care of yourself as well. So I am here not to tell you that you should have a certain growth or you should have a certain revenue, but I'm here to help you, to get you all of what you want and to help you to navigate the challenges along the way. So I have to say, I have to. I finally. I just want to. You know, I've been so blessed, and I feel so fortunate that I get the opportunity to be with you every single week. So I have to say a huge. I have a huge amount of gratitude to you for listening and to all of the guests that have come on and openly shared so, so incredibly, openly and vulnerably in a lot of. A lot of times, their experiences and their journeys. It's been, uh, it's been so, so wonderful and so fun. So I hope we have another 200 episodes together. Um, and I really have really, really, really enjoyed doing this, and I would love to hear your feedback on this episode and on all of the episodes and let me know what it is you want to learn more about. Um, what you'd like me to talk a little bit more about, because I am open to ideas, because I want to make this as powerful and as actionable as possible for you. Okay? But if there's one lesson that I want to leave you with today, it's that consistency and communication and connection truly are so incredibly powerful. So whether you're building your business, filling your classes, or, like me, you're running a podcast, maybe not. Not what you set out to do. These. These very intentional steps really do lead to big results, big outcomes, and very, very fulfilling outcomes also, most of the time. So thank you so much for being a part of this incredible journey. Whether you've been with me since day one or you've just been listening in I'm so grateful to have you here. Here's to the next 200 episodes.
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Did you love this episode and want more? Head to spring3.com and check out my free resource that will help you run.
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A profitable and fulfilling studio business. And before you go, one last reminder.
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There is no one way to do what you do, only your way. So whatever it is that you want.
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To do, create or offer, you've got this. Thanks again for joining me today and have a wonderful rest of your day.