AFAA APEX is coming up! Dates are February 12, 13, 14 2010. Here are the cities:

Atlanta, GA
Boston, MA
Charleston, SC
Chicago, IL
Columbia, SC
Dallas, TX
Denver, CO
Ft. Lauderdale / South FL
Kansas City, KS
Las Vegas, NV
Los Angeles, CA
Nashville, TN
New York, NY
Orlando, FL
Phoenix, AZ
Raleigh, NC / Chapel Hill
Richmond, VA
Sacramento, CA
San Antonio, TX
San Jose, CA / Bay Area
Washington, D.C. Maryland

They have a couple of early-bird specials posted on the site — if you register before December 31, 2009, you can get discounts on training materials and some of their other courses. See you in Charleston!

AFAA APEX

Just a quick post to share some blog posts I’ve found that provide some excellent information about the Primary Group Certification. They add details I have missed, and also share insights that I couldn’t have had. There are differences to be noted for location, who is the presenter, and more, so if you are looking for more information on getting the best out of the Primary Certification Workshop, or to hear how others have felt through the experience check out these posts:

• The Chic Life – “AFAA Primary Certification Day”
• Goodboy Norman Featherstone – “AFAA  Cerification Training”
• Fun Life Fitness Inside and Out with Paule Valerie - Don’t You Just Love that Post Exam Feeling?
• Geek Turned Athlete – AFAA Primary Group Exercise Certification

If you have blogged about your experience with the AFAA certification process, please share your links with us by leaving a comment.

Apex is returning this fall! This truly is an unbelievable deal. AFAA is highly reputable and one of the best certs available for group fitness instructors. You can get your Primary Group Certification (valued at $299) for only $99! If you have been thinking about turning your enthusiasm for group fitness into extra cash and a free gym membership, now is the time. It’s also a great deal on CEUs. The dates are set for Sept 11, 12, 13 and they will be in the following cities:

San Diego, CA
Los Angeles, CA
Stamford, CT
Jacksonville, FL
St. Louis, MO
Charlotte, NC
Denver, NC
Long Island, NY
New York, NY
Columbus, OH
Philadelphia, PA
Memphis, TN
Houston, TX

If you are interested, check out the website to get registered: http://www.afaaapex.com

The Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast. This website presents the worlds best Indoor Cycling instructors, presenters and industry leaders. They discuss a broad range of topics from teaching and presentation skills to class ride profiles to promoting your class and so much more. I found them after learning that my pedal-on buddy SpinBob was featured for his discussion on Mentoring. They have lots of great advice, so if you teach Indoor Cycling, I encourage you to check them out!

http://www.indoorcycleinstructor.com

To follow up my post, Make $100 or more per class, I wanted to share with you some success stories about folks who are making more than $100 per hour teaching group fitness.   These are individuals who took some great ideas and ran with them.  You can do the same!  Be inspired by these folks and know that you absolutely can do it too.

Operation Boot Camp

I learned about Operation Boot Camp from a friend of mine who lost 20 pounds through the program.  These instructors took exercise and weight loss out of the gym and out to the parks of Atlanta.  They have a great following and an excellent product which includes nutrition advice, early morning workouts, and motivational assistance (if you don’t show up, you get a call and extra pushups!).  I saw them featured on a CNN health segment.  You can see what they have going on at their website.

 Bella Vita Retreat

 Can you imagine being paid to take groups of men and women to tropical resorts and teach classes to them on the beach?  My friend is doing it with her new business and I can’t tell you green with envy I am that I didn’t think of that!  Her travel packages include hotel arrangements, spa-style meals, personal coaching, indoor and outdoor fitness classes and beauty treatments.  What a treat and what a money maker!

I read an article a couple of weeks ago by a local yoga instructor that basically said most yoga instructors would teach for free if they could – they only charge money for their classes because they have to survive.  I laughed a little bit, even though I understood where she was coming from.  It would be really nice if we could all exist happily doing whatever our hearts enjoyed and didn’t have to worry about things like mortgages, sales tax, or groceries.  However, the reality is, we aren’t a socialist state (yet) so you are going to have to earn some money to pay your bills and buy your stuff.  If you are like me at all, then you want to make the greatest amount of money in the shortest amount of time so that you can spend the other waking hours of your day enjoying the other parts of your life that make you happy too.

First off, let’s ask, is it really possible to make $100 per class that I teach?  Actually, yes, it is.  Just ask Billy Blanks.  He’ll laugh at you because he makes thousands per class.  Do you have to be Billy Blanks to command that kind of money?  No. Do you have to put some effort and thinking into doing it?  Yes, but it can be done, so let’s roll up our sleeves and come up with a game plan.

The first question you need to ask yourself is, “Who will pay me $100 for an hour of my time?”  There may be a gym out there willing to pay you that kind of hourly rate, but you have to be the lifeblood of their organization.  If your classes are busting at the seams and new people are coming in droves to join the club because of you then, yes.  See your boss for a raise because you deserve one.  The highest I’ve seen a club pay one single instructor, though, was $50 for one class, so if you have your sights set on bigger numbers, you’ll need to think bigger.  Note:  There are pros to remaining an emloyee of the gym, e.g. someone else does your accounting, you don’t need your own liability insurance, and it is easier to get a sub if you need to leave town or have an emergency.

Who else will pay me $100 an hour? Try thinking like a personal trainer.  If you are highly skilled and have excellent tutoring skills, you could offer private lessons in whatever you do best.  With privates, you charge whatever you want and keep the entire amount.  However, if you are using the club’s fitness room or their equipment for this endeavor, you may be charged rent or required to abide by their payment rules for personal trainers.  Still, if you market yourself right, you can command high dollars for your valuable time.  If not $100, still more than the $18 you are charging now.

 Let’s extend the idea of one-on-one instruction to the increasingly-popular, small-group “exclusive” classes.  Similar to private lessons, you market yourselves to individuals who pay to take your “class”.   These exclusives focus on a topic that isn’t readily addressed in general fitness classes.  By charging a group of five people $20 each to be in your class, you earn $100 for the hour — genius!  But what would make a person want to pay $20 for a fitness class?  Again, think a little bit like a personal trainer.  They want advice specific to a need or a want they have.  You could provide a 6 week running clinic for new runners in the early spring.  You could offer functional training workouts to prepare members for ski season.  You could hold a “Bikini Boot Camp” in the pre-summer months.  If you are an expert in a field, you could offer highly-advanced classes for the members who like what you offer and want to get better than the general levels can offer.  Or, you could offer a series of classes geared toward individuals with any special need or goal.  Have I got your mind churning yet? 

So now that you have the idea that you are potentially worth more than $20 per class, I want you also to think bigger than that.  Are you worth $200 an hour?  $2,000 an hour?  You are only limited by your beliefs about your self worth.  Steve Pavlina, who I quote a lot in this blog, had a great post a while back about this: http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/11/how-to-earn-10000-in-one-hour/

 The possibilities don’t end there, but this post will.  Get out your brainstorming pen and your notebook and go to town.  I know that you have enormous potential and I am excited to hear what ideas you come up with!!!