How a Sydney based PT went from struggling to 20+ clients in 6 weeks!
Chris Lynton from Tribefit.co interviews Oliver Smith and gives insights into how he has succeeded with getting loads of online clients and generating 27 clients in a very short period of time, quit his full-time job and is now coaching clients online, while he's on the other side of the world.
Chris Lynton: G'day guys, it's Chris from Tribefit.co, and today I'm speaking with a very special guest, Oliver Smith. How are you, mate?
Oliver Smith: Yeah, good thanks, Chris. How are you going?
CL: Yeah, good, good. And if you could let everybody know whereabouts in the world are you currently calling in from today?
OS: I'm in Japan in Fukuoka at the moment, so I'm in my little apartment here not far from the city, so yeah.
CL: Beautiful. How's the weather today?
OS: It's actually raining. It's a bit overcast. It's coming into winter here, so I've got my jumper on and, yeah. Rugging up.
CL: Okay, fantastic. All right, mate. Well, I guess first and foremost today, well, thanks for your time in regards to the interview today, and I guess today it was just a bit more of a get to know you and your background, what you've been able to do, and I guess a bit of, in essence, a bit of learnings. Obviously, you had some great successes with what you do. But I guess first and foremost if you could give-- if you have a one-liner of your background and your market, your niche?
OS: Yeah, sure. So, I was in the army for ten years and I left that and started a gym, and that kind of merged into-- I started to think about online training and I started developing that within the military and police niche, is my target market. And yeah, so I started doing that. I had mixed success when I branched into the online area, and yeah, just over a couple of years, I kept chipping away and trying to learn that stuff, and then that's when I came across your course, Chris, and had a look at that.
CL: Okay, cool. And I guess, I can remember quite clear our first call; you'd done courses before, but I remember you mentioning you were a bit hesitant on moving forward on another one.
OS: Yeah, yeah. I think part of the process that probably a lot of people go through when they start a business is you want to learn and accelerate the process, so I did a twelve-month business coaching thing, and to be honest, it wasn't all that crash hard, and then I did another one after that and I sort of was getting a little bit tired of these whole bunch of courses and business coaches and all this sort of stuff, so when I spoke with you, I was trying to establish the legitimacy and whether it was a good investment for me or not. But I'll tell you, I am very happy that I did it. It's probably the only course that I've actually really gotten a lot from that's actually helped me move forward and get actual results. So, yeah.
CL: No, I appreciate the kind words. And so, in terms of what was sort of holding you back from the previous-- or from not getting the results you were wanting to get before, what did you find was your, I guess, recurring issues, problems? What do you think they were?
OS: I actually thought about this the other day. I was going through the same thing in my head, and I think that the thing was your course is specific from what I'm doing and you know how to make that work. A lot of the other stuff I did, the guys would be like PT business coaches and specialise in that niche and stuff, but I don’t think they had really done it, like, for example, built online PT business stuff. So, that's sort of one way for me to look at it, but I mean, I had some mild success with what I was doing, but it definitely wasn't going to be something that I could just live off, basically, and grow well with. I think I answered the question there.
CL: Yeah. No, 100%, mate. And so, I know when we first met, you were currently-- you had a full-time job and you were kind of trying to do this on the side hoping that it could get to a level where, I guess, you could do it full time.
OS: Yeah, 100%. Along the journey, you actually had to close down the gym and I started working in marketing automation space doing some contract work and stuff like that, and yeah, it just sort of evolved. And I was working full-time contracting and I was like, "No, I'm going to do this online thing. This is what I'm going to learn and just figure it out." I'd probably still be trying to figure it out if I hadn't done your course, so I just wish I had done it like two years ago. That would've saved a shit load of time.
CL: I appreciate the kind words. And so, I guess-- I know you mentioned when we first spoke that you tried-- there's so much information out there and you tried lead magnets and this and that and you had all of these things, or trying to do a number of different things and you weren't getting the results you were wanting. And I remember our first call, it was more of just focusing on a proven format and really nailing that rather than doing a hundred things that may not have worked and may not have been proven, or whatever it is. So, I guess, in terms of just being able to narrow and focus on that final, would you say that was probably one of the biggest wins or the biggest takeaways you got from the program?
OS: Yeah, I would say that. The structure of the funnel, the offers, the copy that you go through, that was really as simple as it seems, it made that much difference to me like it completely changed the whole situation as well as the product structure as well. Seeing how to structure your product online and your price points and stuff, that was another big thing for me.
CL: Beautiful. All right, mate. And I guess in terms of where you've gone to, how many clients have you got on the books at the moment? How many have you kind of got as leads to follow up?
OS: So, I've got twenty-seven clients now and that's all happened in the last six weeks, pretty much. I've got as many leads as I want; I've got hundreds of leads in there. I'm paying around $8 for a lead and--
CL: Which is crazy. It's really, really good.
OS: Well, it's good, because the profit margin on that is good, so, yeah. Like, the road to success is just there, like I've got a-- if I want more clients, I just turn on my ads and get more leads and make more sales. So, I'm really focusing on my product development and just growth. It's there for me, so, yeah.
CL: Yeah, cool. And exactly as you mentioned, it's kind of like-- we use the analogy of the tap, is when you've got too many clients and you want to focus on something else, you can literally just turn the tap off and then wake up the next day, week, whenever, and go, "Okay, I need a couple clients," turn the tap on, and like you said, the leads flow in and it just makes it-- I guess from a comfort perspective, security perspective, it's-- yeah, it just makes it much more straightforward, I guess.
OS: Yeah. Yeah, 100%. It's a really good feeling to have something that I-- I hadn't experienced too much before, just being able to go, "Look, shit, I can grow now," you know? I can see a way to grow my business and add more value and create more income and make it successful.
CL: Beautiful. And so, I guess you mentioned that you've moved on from the job that you had on the side and now this has obviously become your full-time focus. In terms of, I guess, six months from now and what will people be seeing from Oliver, what would it look like?
OS: Well, I've kind of written down my goals and looking at this. So, I'm going to move my-- have my coaching product, which is my higher end product where I work a lot with the guys one on one and in a close-knit group, and then I'm going to develop some digital products and some courses in that avenue as well, maybe in a membership site structure. So yeah, that's going to be my next move. So, the business will grow and I'll just keep moving it forward.
CL: Keep on keeping on. No, and probably for me, the best part of the whole thing is your clients are in Australia - the majority of your clients or all clients?
OS: All are in Australia. I think with the digital product I might look maybe in the States as well, but yeah, everyone's in Australia at the moment.
CL: Yeah, but it's pretty cool you've been able to do it from Japan and almost have like a bit of a virtual international business, and yeah, I personally think that's pretty awesome, and mate, looking forward to helping you grow further and take the business to the next level.
OS: Yeah, me too. I've done it all from over here in Japan, so yeah. It's an online business.
CL: Cool. Yeah, for sure. So, I guess just to wrap up, is there any words of wisdom from you for anyone that might be looking to do a similar thing and get away from their day job and, I guess, follow their passion and dreams and build their online training?
OS: Yeah. I think-- and again, I was thinking about this the other day; just finding a legit dude that-- a legit business or like yourself, Chris, that knows the-- like has paved the way, so they've done what you want to do. So, just find that person and just do that, because I mean, I spent two years and like, a lot of money and a lot of savings trying to figure it out. So, yeah, that's my best advice and what I'm going to keep doing. Just find someone that's done it and knows what to do and then learn from them.
CL: Yeah, no, it's pretty valuable. Like you said, it just follows the proven path rather than get out the machete and try and cut your way through the forest and find the path. It's definitely faster, quicker, cheaper, easier, so it makes total sense. Cool. All right, mate, well, I appreciate your time, as mentioned, and have a great day. And I'm sure people listening to this are going to take a lot of good information and insights from it, and it'll probably give them the confidence that they can do it too. So, really appreciate your time, mate, and thanks for being with us.
OS: Yeah, thanks, Chris. Yeah, it's been good.
