159 Jonathan (Jon) Goodman | Redefining How Fitness Professionals Learn & Earn

March 14, 2021

Jonathan Goodman - Founder of The Personal Trainer Development Center & Online Trainer Academy Certification

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This week’s guest is Jonathan Goodman, a world leader in helping fit pros do better, have more, and go online - and the founder of @theptdc The Personal Trainer Development Center

Coach Jon Goodman (how he is known on Instagram!) is truly a visionary in the health and wellness industry. At the age of 24 he wrote his first book with ZERO knowledge of how the process worked, but what’s amazing is that he just kept figuring it out .

A few years into his Personal Training Career, Jonathan Goodman injured himself and faced the reality that he would be off work for 2 whole weeks, unable to get himself to the gym to train his clients, and also unable to collect his paycheque.

It was at this point in his career when he started to imagine how he could package up his extensive knowledge and turn it into an info-based product.

And it should be noted that this was almost a decade ago, when online courses and certifications were certainly NOT the norm.

What came next was a business beyond his wildest imagination.

In today’s episode, Jonathan shares candidly what it took to build The Personal Trainer Development Center, which has now certified over 35,000 trainers around the globe.

Sure, from the outside, it may look like Jonathan has always had a carefully calculated plan to revolutionize the personal training industry, but there was a messy middle when he was simply putting one foot in front of the other, trying to find out how he could solve his community's pain points.

Jonathan is intelligent beyond belief, calculated in his approach, and visionary in the way he sees the future of his company. This was a wonderful conversation.

Tune in to hear…

Why 137 phone calls was the secret to figuring out his business plan,
How he launched his first info product using a beta test group,
Why data has driven so much of his companies growth,
Where the personal training industry is headed,
How artificial intelligence will play a massive role in all of our industries in the next 5 or so years,
What his team looks like today,
& MORE

Click the image below to tune in!

Want to take a peek at my “Prep Notes” for the show?

These are totally unedited, and give you an idea of what I do to get ready for the interview.

You are the founder of the Personal Trainer Development Center and author of multiple bestselling books for personal trainers. In addition, you founded the first-ever certification for online fitness trainers, the Online Trainer Academy.

Since then, it’s been tested by 35,000 trainers around the world, which is outstanding. You’re also a father, husband, and worldwide traveler.

First things first, have you been able to get on any vacations since COVID hit?

You founded an Online Certification Program called the Online Trainer Academy that helps fitness professionals to get their life back-- and you built this certification well before it was cool to be building an online program…

Take us back (as far as we need to go) to hear the origin story of how the idea to build The Personal Trainer Development Center came to be…

What were some of the early successes that nudged you to keep going
Were you mentoring with someone who created a similar online academy, or did you simply figure it all out on your own?
How did you know how to “develop a curriculum”
Did you ever come up against any doubts that this would take off?
Is there a certain type of marketing effort that you can attribute much of the early growth to?
When it comes to enrolling new students today, which type of marketing has worked BETTER than you expected and which type of marketing has UNDERPERFORMED compared to what you expected

Reading through the website, there is a certain level of confidence that the certification carries.

You guarantee that your students will find clients (or their money back), you show them how they can earn their investment back, and you are very clear that this is “not another weekend certification” and we won’t point fingers…

What sets the Online Trainer Academy apart from every other course?
Have you always felt this level of confidence?
How has offering guarantees improved sales (if at all)

Today, you have a business that has scaled way beyond yourself.

Describe some of the team members you have & how they support the business
Has leadership & team building come naturally to you
What is your role in the company, today
Despite operating at scale, you still talk about a concept of being “gloriously unscalable” when it comes to customer touch points -- can you describe what this is?

Now, let’s recap 3 visionary takeaways from this episode…

The Messy Middle years of business.

It seems as though this is something you simply cannot avoid. You know, that time in business where everything feels chaotic and unorganized and like you have no damn plan but you’re working so damn hard. Ya, that time.

I loved that Jonathan was candid about his time inside of the Messy middle and he was open and honest that he didn’t just know what his life's purpose was right from the beginning, like some may assume from the outside.
Get out of your privacy cave.

Jonathan and I both agree on this one. If you decide to start your marketing efforts only once you’re launching your business, you’re 4-6 months too late.

Instead, his advice is to bring your community along the journey, just like he did with his book writing group. Make sure you include your community, and that you make them feel like they’re part of something...and that they know what you’re up to.
The difference between the haters, the critics and the trolls.

These 3 groups are not the same and it’s helpful to discern who to pay attention to and who to simply ignore and tune up when it comes to their feedback and criticism.

Insightful comments from critics are certainly something to consider, and to use when modifying your offerings, but haters and trolls are another story. Know the difference so you don't get bogged down by the weight of those who don’t deserve your time or energy.