With Iron Tribe, we knew the mountain we wanted to climb was brand. To have a recognized and understood brand that people felt drawn to and wanted to be part of was our goal. But we did not drive in that exact direction at first. We began by building gyms, not a brand. We began by marketing those gyms, not a brand. We began by selling memberships, not a brand. In the beginning, we just let the brand come along for the ride.
It had been just one year since Forrest Walden and I began franchising our life-changing, Birmingham-based Iron Tribe Fitness brand, and we were finishing up a two-day trip to Charlotte, where we had the chance to coach up our newest franchisees on their pre-opening sales and marketing initiatives.
Before we left town, we decided to visit a mentor who works in the investment banking world. His firm is perched high atop one of the modern skyscrapers located in Charlotte’s Uptown district.
As we walked through this new, not-yet-established market for Iron Tribe, a group passing by us suddenly shouted out “Iron Tribe!”
I turned and said, “Yes, the logo on my shirt represents Iron Tribe. How do you know about us?”
A young man emerged from the group and said that he’d seen us building in a couple of different areas in Charlotte, where our gym construction signs had been put up and direct-response advertisements were already running.
Based on what he said, he’d clearly digested our marketing. Which means he was educated and informed on how exactly Iron Tribe provides “LIFE. Changed.”
Our initial marketing messages trained him to know that we only have 300 member athlete spots available at the gym opening near him, and if he acts now, he has the chance to join this tribe of athletes that will be established in his backyard and several other places throughout the “Queen City.”
Just one of dozens of U.S. markets where we are now developing our Iron Tribe brand.
He and his friends knew these things about Iron Tribe because we set out to clearly communicate them in our advertising and marketing—not just promote a vague idea, slogan, or logo. As direct-response marketers, it seems kind of crazy that we have actually built powerful brand identity. To our clients, our logo is known and prized. We didn’t get to this point overnight or by directly investing in brand identity.
We’ve come a long way, from a small group of 30-somethings working out in Forrest’s garage to a nationally franchised fitness chain with more than 50 gym territories sold (and counting), just three years later.
It began with one gym built upon a strict dedication to Dan Kennedy’s direct-response marketing principles, and it has evolved into a brand that people truly want to be a part of, as member athletes, as employee coaches and managers, and as brand ambassador franchise owners.
Heck, it was a direct-response sales letter from Forrest himself that arrived in my mailbox, only to make me feel like I’d be crazy NOT to be a founding member athlete of this brand-new gym called Iron Tribe that was opening around the corner from my house!
I rushed in to become one of the first ever Iron Tribe member athletes, and my life was so transformed that I was moved to change my entire entrepreneurial trajectory.
So just a few months after Forrest started this new Iron Tribe Fitness gym concept, I approached him with aspirations of partnering to bring Iron Tribe to the world. It was a big idea that might have seemed insane to most people at that time, but not to him. That’s the very reason he started it in the first place—to make a life-changing impact on the world, one life at a time.
Three years later, we are living out our dream, establishing a brand that is much bigger than ourselves, growing a nationwide franchise model with world impact aspirations, and ultimately, continuing to make this impact one person at a time with a systematized business model that has proven scalable.
How did we get here so fast? How can we maintain this growth pace at such a rapid rate? What makes us think that we have an actual brand and not just one of the latest fitness fads?
Great questions.
There are several different paths I could take in approaching each, but there would be one common denominator in each of those answers—Iron Tribe is a brand that is built upon a solid base of direct-response marketing systems.
Dan Kennedy once told us that “those who choose to grow their business from the beginning, with a foundation in direct-response marketing, will simply be more agile and so do the things that the big companies won’t do and can’t do, even though they want to. And should you become a big boy with direct response at your core, you have the chance to spread your tentacles around the entire globe.”
The majority of small-businessmen have it completely backwards when it comes to building a brand-marketing platform that attracts new clients like a cult following. Everyone wants it, but most are not willing to do what it takes to get there.
Instead of starting with direct response or even using it whatsoever, most businesses tend to act as if they are already an established brand, wasting real estate on their ad space with oversized logos and clever slogans that the market doesn’t even notice.
This is a result of the masses copying the masses. Which of course, is always a no-no. My father raised me on the principle of watching what everyone else does and doing the opposite, and that rule certainly applies here.
Don’t get me wrong, your brand and your logo can eventually stand for something. But first you have to raise your logo up like a child and earn it some respect.
Customers, Sales, Revenues, and Profits First
This enthusiasm starts with a first step of actually going out there with your new business and getting clients. Then you have to fulfill their orders with an experience that makes them feel good about seeing your business’s cost on their bank statement.
Despite what most people would like to think, marketing is much more than hiring a graphic designer who creates a trendy logo and colorful sales brochures, hoping to distribute these pretty materials and watch the cash come pouring into your bank account.
Instead, marketing is the science of getting your message to your market, with a willingness to test multiple messages and medias, and a strict dedication to tracking each of these tests in great detail. These tests produce successes and failures that turn marketing theories into a winning marketing plan. On its back, your brand can evolve.
This success starts with the direct-response formulaic approach, and if you do it right, you can actually earn your brand some respect. Maybe even enough respect to attract loads of new clients who want to be a part of a tribe—to be a part of something bigger than themselves.
Go to IronTribeFranchise.com/NoBS to watch Jim Cavale & Forrest Walden provide commentary on this chapter.