Want to see what it takes to make $100K+ leveraging your knowledge for income?

Look no further than Jonathan Lautermilch who built a course, aimed at fitness professionals, at the "worst" time.

On the latest episode of The OMG! Show, Jonathan breaks down his entire business and talks about how, through his course, was able to pivot. 

As we all know, the pandemic was a difficult time for the fitness industry, with gyms shutting down and people losing their jobs.

Yet, for Jonathan, it was a turning point that took his business to the next level and added multiple six figures to his bottom line.

So...

• How did he do it?
• What is he offering?
• What kind of results are his people getting?
• How can you get similar results?

Well, let's get to it and break it all down!

The Easiest and Fastest Way to Build a Thriving Fit Pro Business…

Before we talk about what Jonathan's actual offer is, let's get some context.

Prior to the pandemic, Jonathan was doing a lot of 1:1 consultations. 

At the time, he had years of experience in the fitness industry and growing businesses so he created Smart Shark. 

To this day, Smart Shark helps business owners develop a profitable business around the core ideas of freedom and legacy.

What Jonathan found out was that they hit a cap with that business model.

He needed something else that would allow him to scale without sacrificing more time.

This is where the idea of the FitPro Collective started sprouting. 

A course/mastermind model that would provide fitness professionals the resources they need to build a thriving business.

Enter pandemic.

Now, many fitness professionals were looking for ways to keep the cash flow coming in.

Something that the FitPro Collecive was already positioned to do. Talk about "right place and right time."

The FitPro Collective has three different levels that it offers:

• Level 1: Foundations
• Level 2: Coaches
• Level 3: Mastermind

Each level is aimed at a different segment of the market.

Level 1 - Lead Yourself Before You Lead Others

Level 1- Foundation is all about helping newbie fitness professionals establish a strong foundation.

How? Through a self-paced course that is divided into four modules.

• Mindset
• Systems
• Growth
• Scale

For Jonathan, everyone who comes into the Foundations level has to start off with mindset training.

The reason?

"Because you can all the tools, tactics, and strategies in the world, but, if you don't know how to apply them, it's like giving a baby a sword. You're going to hurt yourself"

After mindset, students are then granted access to the "System" module. Here, the course walks them through the systems they need in their business.

Once completed, they are granted access to "Growth” which covers marketing, sales, sales funnels, and more.

Finally, in Scale, students are walked through how to scale their business and increase retention.

Each of these sections is locked down, however. The only way a student can get access to the next section is by getting on a call with one of the FitPro coaches.

Customers get on calls with coaches to ensure that they are learning and applying the information correctly.

An idea that came from Jonathan’s wife whom he credits as the number 2 learning and development leader in the world.

This makes sure that people are learning and understanding the information so they can use it. It also makes sure that people are not getting too much information at once, which can be confusing.

The perfect strategy for newbie coaches who need to learn the fundamentals.

It’s important to note that it took some time for Jonathan to set this system up.

A lot of his early customers kept hitting bricks that kept them from doing the necessary things to move forward and grow.

Studying the behavior of his people and watching where they got stuck, and where they were excelling, was key in optimizing his program over time.

Level 2 - You Are Who You Invest Your Time With

Level two is for those that have their business running, but want access to people that are in the know. 

The idea is "we become the sum of the five people we spend the most time with."

So instead of just access to a community, customers get access to a coaching pod where they are surrounded by people that are at the same level, business-wise.

For example, if you have a business that is predominantly online, then you’re in the online pod.

If have a brick-and-mortar business, then you have different problems, different challenges, and different goals.

Therefore, you’re placed in a brick-and-mortar coaching pod.

The goal is to surround their customers with the right people.

To create a hive mind where the answers don't just come from the coaches, but from other members who are actually doing it.

It's Jonathan’s philosophy that the more they can help surround their customers with the right people and provide them with the right information, the more their customers can have true business transformation.

Level 3 - Have A Mentor

At this level, customers get ACCESS to Jonathan and two other high-level coaches in a hands-on experience.

They provide one-on-one access and the ability to tap into a wealth of tools and resources inside of Jonathans' inner circle.

How much does it cost?

Level 1: Foundations is priced at $3000 or 12 payments of $250 and the price goes up.

Regardless of which level a customer elects, all are a 12-month commitment.

The logic behind the 12-month commitment:

I don’t wanna do business with you for a season. I wanna do business with you for a reason.

The price also acts as a filter. 

At that price point, Jonathan says that it keeps a lot of the opportunists, "shiny-object" chasers, and side hustlers to stay away and attract quality individuals.

Quality Individuals who have the grit to see something through and build something of value.

So now that we have a solid understanding of the offer, let's now take a look at HOW Jonathan brings people into the FitPro Collective.

The Application Funnel: Finding Quality And Product Fit

Jonathan’s funnel is pretty streamlined.

It all starts by offering different lead magnets to his Facebook community.

Once someone opts in, they are encouraged to fill out an application to schedule a call with one of the FitPro collective coaches.

If people choose not to, they are then followed up in a variety of ways including email, text, and ads.

The application acts as a filter, allowing customers to enter their struggles and the goals they want to accomplish.

The questions on the application are very specific because again, they are looking for a specific type of person that aligns with their core values.

On top of that, some people are looking for marketing, some for sales, others for mindset, and others for scaling.

The application is used to help guide the conversation between the coach and the prospect.

Jonathan’s team is fine-tuned to look for any red flags but also are keen on knowing how to enter a conversation to provide the best possible advice on the call.

The call is all about understanding what the prospect actually wants.

Many times, a prospect will say one thing but mean something else entirely.

During the call, the objective is to help people by actually helping them first.

This call also acts as a vetting process.

If the prospect is in alignment and are a good fit, Jonathan's team will direct them to one of the 3 levels - whichever is best suited for the prospect.

They are very careful in only recommending the level that is appropriate for the prospect.

Two reasons:

1. It’s about finding the right product to match the need of the customer.
2. Protecting the integrity of the group

Letting a beginner in with a group of high-level CEOs, is not going to really benefit anyone.

This helps keep the quality of the group higher - which is important as members being to recommend others based on the quality.

One of the aspects that helps Jonathan maintain a high conversion rate on these calls is actually showing the prospect how they can recoup their investment instantly.

For example, someone who is being talked to about Level 1, are shown how they can charge $300 a month for a 1:1 coaching program.

Which shows how the program pays for itself. It’s all about, "You give me $1, and I’ll make you $3."

Each level is structured the same way, knowing that if they can deliver on those results, the customer is going to commit. 

Now let's take a look at how Jonathan is able to drive traffic to the FitPro Collective. 

Leveraging Facebook Groups For More Traffic

Jonathan’s strategy is almost exclusively on leveraging Facebook.

While they are beginning to expand into other social media platforms, Facebook is their bread and butter.

So how does it work?

Inside the group, they give away pieces of the paid information found inside the programs.

What they have found is if you actually help people by helping them, money tends to exchange in the process.

Posting valuable content gets people to share - adding more likeminded members into the group.

At a certain level, the Facebook group starts to take a life of it's own and the group members start posting high-quality information.

Part of Jonathan's growth strategy is not to give TOO much information.

Otherwise, it overwhelms people and they don't take action. "analysis paralysis."

Instead, they focus on solving ONE specific problem.

The goal is to create an “Ah-Ha” moment for someone where they go “Wow! I applied that thing and my engagement doubled in a week!”

Leveraging the reciprocity principle, this leaves your prospects wanting more.

Thinking that if the free training was that good, what will the paid stuff be like?

Jonathan recommends not to be afraid to give your big stuff away. Just make sure you break them down into bite-sized pieces that are easily consumable.

The other side of the coin is their own personal branding.

Jonathan and his team run a successful podcast called Real Talk with Real Fit Pros, he is also a best-selling author on Amazon, and he speaks on stages, along with his business partner.

So they also get people into their group from these power moves.

However, their main mechanism for attracting people organically on Facebook is by providing value-driven content to build up their "Know, Like, & Trust" factor - and the use of memes. 

The Team Behind FitPro Collective

With a handful of people, the FitPro Collective is able to run like a well-oiled machine.

Jonathan's main role is operations. Making sure that people are getting a return on their investments.

His business partner, Marc, is focused more on the marketing and promotion of the community.

His team also include a sales representative who helps with the calls and an executive assistant whose primary responsibility is to maintain the backend systems.

On top of that, they also have a few "brand ambassadors" who share their message of success and attract others that way on Facebook. 

On top of the team, they also use a variety of tech in order for their business to function. 

Course Tech: Build On The Land You Own

For Jonathan the main component when it came to his tech stack is building on land he owns.

Because of this, his team runs their websites off of WordPress and use LearnDash to administer the course. This helps keeps costs low, rather than paying $149 a month for a platform like Kajabi while also getting full customization and ownership of the data. 

In the event that LearnDash was to shut down, their business would still function.

They do use a CRM called the “Smarted CRM” which is powered by the Go High level platform. It does everything from emails, automations, reputation management, sales pipeline and more.

For sales, affiliates, and JV partnerships, they use ThriveCart which an online shopping cart software that give you full control of your checkout processes and sales automations.

While they do have a few other odds and ends such as using ZOOM for calls, their primary tech stack for selling and administering the course is pretty lean, efficient, and theirs.

Your Turn

You don't need to create the perfect course right away. Jonathan was able to fine tune his course over time with real time feedback from those that were going through it. 

His course allowed him to add another revenue stream to his business in a time of uncertainty. From the looks of it, he's not doing too bad. 

Jonathan shared his entire process for positioning and selling a course that has generated well over six figures for his business and the components that make it successful.

Biggest takeaway? Getting clear on exactly who you want to work with and who you can help. From there, it's all about putting a process in place to vet your traffic, and provide some real value at the level of your prospect. 

Leveraging your knowledge for income is not only a great way to add another revenue stream into your business, it also allows you to reach and help more people, without having to sacrifice more of your time. 

It's possible, and if you know how to teach others how to do something, something in demand, then I'm sure a course would benefit you. 

I'd love to hear what your biggest takeaways from this article where. Leave them in the comments below!