5 Beta launch lessons to build your fitness business
“What comes out of a beta launch process is an overall refinement of YOU and what YOU want out of your career, what you want to offer the world and how you want to offer it.”
-Ericka Thomas
Transcript
Ep 208
5 Beta launch lessons to build your fitness business
Last week we mentioned using beta testing as a way to find direction and course correct when we’re learning how to price our services in the fitness industry. Today our work in we’re breaking down the mighty beta for fitness professionals. I’m going to share how to use 5 beta launch lessons to build your fitness business from the ground up. Even if you aren’t a fit pro this is interesting because you might be on the other end of a beta program sometime and it applies in other areas of business as well.
What is a beta test in business? Basically it’s a test run of a product or service. Sometimes it’s free. But not always. Sometimes if it’s a product you use it for a specific amount of time and then give it back so the company can know how you used it. ALong with your feedback. SOmetimesyou get to keep the thing and just give feedback. But services, especially fitness or wellness services can be a little different. I first learned about this when I moved my business online in 2019 (before covid). So I thought it might be a good exercise to look at some of the lessons and takeaways from that process and see if we can apply them to real world fitness work in the wild.
When I did my first beta launch I was in a transitional moment in my fitness career and life. We had just moved to a new state and I was coming out of a burned out situation. I wasn’t really sure what I wanted exactly. I knew I wanted to do something different but I didn’t really know what that thing was yet. I thought I wanted to shift my focus to work with a new demographic and offer more than just a workout and I knew I didn’t want to be in a gym all the time anymore but I had no idea how to go about it.
So, after an appropriate amount of wallowing, I stumbled on this online fitness/wellness thing. I did some research in the form of a deep podcast binge and got some guidance. And one of the things I found was the Beta Launch. This is a tried and true method for developing scalable evergreen online courses. If you’ve spent 30 seconds on social media you know how abundant the online course creator economy is. When you want to build an online business social media is the default town square that you use. However, you can use the same principles of the beta launch and the evergreen funnel in the real world also. And you can do it anytime, no matter how long you’ve been in the business.
Why would you want to?
Beta testing principles give you a safe proving ground for your ideas with less financial and energetic risk.
Beta testing allows you to build community, credibility in your work, experience with your ideal client and set the perfect pricing. All of these lessons and more can come out of working through the Beta process
Lesson 1: Find your people
Lesson 1 is learning who your people are and aren’t.
Myth: The universe will lead your perfect clients to you.
Your ideal client/student isn’t random. If you don’t take some intentional action, you will struggle with the people you attract. The lesson here is to find your perfect clients, don't be random. Sketch out who you’re looking for.
Now you might not know who that is yet, so sit down with a pen and paper and sketch that person out. List the qualities they have right down to their job and paycheck, their hobbies and marital status.
I know an instructor who teaches yoga classes specifically for knitters. That is how you niche.
This is an important step because you need to know exactly who you’re talking to. It will guide and inform all of your copywriting from social media to flyers at the grocery store.
Once you decide on the kind of person you want to work with you can move on to the next step.
What do they need/want?
Second lesson: Creating the minimum effective dose (MED)
THis is what the Beta is all about. Whatever you do, whatever you offer, remember this is a test. We want to see what will work and what won’t. It needs to be the minimum effective dose of what you do to absolutely get your perfect client the results they are looking for.
This means everything doesn’t have to be written, planned, or created yet. The Beta gives you room to co-create on the fly with this group of people (assuming you have your ideal clients). It’s scary, I know. But one of the best parts of the process is the community you are creating through your authenticity. There is an energy exchange and if you are very clear that this is a beta process people will help you.
What does a MED look like?
Let’s talk about examples.
It might be a 4 week session of classes and coaching when you want to eventually offer a 12 week session.
It might be a 2 hour weightloss workshop that will eventually be a 6 week series.
It might be a 3 hour mini retreat that will eventually be a 3 day retreat.
It might be a 3 day retreat that will eventually be a 7 day retreat.
This could also be used if you just learned something new and you want to refine the information. There is no better way to integrate new knowledge than to teach it. So coming back from a restorative yoga training you could offer a 4 hour workshop and roll that into a 4 week series or more. You get the picture.
3rd lesson: Make it an invitation.
Beta implies that this is something brand new and never before seen. It’s special. What you are offering is going to be special. Part of that specialness is in being part of the creative process. THis is where the invitation comes in. You are talking directly to the people who will get the most benefit from what you offer and it will…
Create excitement: brand new thing, you’re so excited
Create exclusivity: It’s just for them limited # of people
Create demand: Limited amount of time to take advantage of this pricing/offer etc.
It’s also completely transparent. In other words you tell them this is a beta launch and explain that the price is a reflection of that. It will never be any lower than this…
Ex. I’m looking for 10 stressed out high achieving moms who want to build muscle, lose weight and rule the world…to join me in the beta launch of my new 4 week program.
Or “I’m looking for 15 former weekend warriors who want to shed the dad bod and learn to reconnect with their true self through movement and meditation.
You will have to do some education because not everyone knows what you’re talking about when you say beta. When you’re inviting the right people for your offer they will be into it.
The invitation approach to copywriting is a little nicer I think than the hard sell. I’m definitely not a copywriter but we’ve all had the experience where we read some sales copy that kind of left a bad taste in your mouth. That just happened to me the other day. The ones I hate most are the No thanks buttons on upsells that include a snide comment. Like “No thanks I prefer to not be prepared”. Seriously, that made me want to cancel my order. Those kinds of things say something about that company.
Lesson 4: Selling the expectation.
Beta testing is not free. One of the questions you are looking to answer is “what is this worth?” Not “How much does this cost?”
Too much free attracts the wrong clients, too low attracts the wrong clients. Understanding your ideal client and where they are coming from is critical.
So you base pricing on what you think the full program will be, not what it is now. If you want to do a big 6 month coaching program and your beta is 2 months of that. What is the value of 6 months working with you? Then you can take a percentage of that to figure the beta cost.
This is not a price per hour thing. It’s not based on how many hours it takes you to create the thing. It’s based on the value that the client receives. You have to decide that. But you don’t have to pull it out of thin air. Do a little market research to get a baseline.
If you have the right clients in front of you you can ask them what they think it’s worth. People say I just can’t afford that, or wow what a great deal. You’ll get a good idea if you’re on the right track on pricing.
Then you over deliver in your course/class/retreat whatever it is. You over deliver results.
Lesson 5: Edit and evolve
Once your offer is underway you take note of everything that works and doesn’t work. What you like, clients like, and don’t like. You don’t have to wait till it’s over to change things, add or subtract.
It’s not over once it’s over. Nope. Now the real work starts. Reaching out to each of your participants to get feedback. Asking the hard questions. Avoid yes/no questions
For clients…
What were your results?
What did you like/not like?
What would make it better?
Was it too long/too short?
What was missing?
What was this worth to you? What would you pay for it?
What change did you experience?
For you…
What worked well, what could have been better?
What did you enjoy…or not?
Was the energy exchange worth it?
What did you learn about yourself, your clients, your skills?
What were the epic fails and how can they be corrected?
All answers to these questions and others are correct. It’s just as good (maybe better) to learn what you don't want as it is to learn what you do want.
On the surface yes Beta is about testing the offer but it’s also testing YOU. To maximize this benefit of this process we need to give ourselves some grace and approach everything in this process with an attitude of experimentation. A beginner’s mind. Allow ourselves to try, fail and to be wrong with space to change your mind. Without that the whole thing is just an exercise in frustration.
What comes out of a beta launch process is an overall refinement of YOU and what YOU want out of your career, what you want to offer the world and how you want to offer it. I encourage you to give it a try in the wild world of wellness.
Thanks for listening!
Are you a fit pro in the wild looking for ways to grow a burnout proof career? Being a solopreneur doesn’t mean you have to go it alone. Head over to
savagegracecoaching.com/theworkin you’ll find all the show notes for this and other episodes plus lots of free resources.including link to book a 30 min strategy call with me. And of course I’d be ever so grateful if you would take a moment to like and subscribe to this podcast wherever you’re listening.
Until next time, stop working out and start working in
Hey there!
I’m your host Ericka Thomas. I'm a health coach and trauma informed yoga professional bringing real world resilience and healing to main street USA.
I offer trauma release + yoga + wellness education for groups and individuals…regular people like you.
Book a call to learn how I can help.