This is sort of a follow-up to a comment that Chris Chugart made concerning a possible NHB video; i.e. that it wasn’t going to happen because most strength coaches, etc. are trying to safeguard the information they have and absolutely forbid anyone taping their sessions. While I understand this position, I wonder if those coaches have really run the numbers and thought this through? Let’s take Charles Poliquin as an example. Seems to me that if he gets, say, $350 for a seminar, and if somewhere around 30 people show up, that yields a little over $10,000 (minus whatever overhead he has to pay). Not bad for a day’s work, and of course he can do this as many times as the market will support.
But let’s look at the downsides. First and most obviously, not a whole lot of people have that kind of money to spend on a seminar, to say nothing of the costs involved in getting there, taking time off work, scheduling problems, etc. Second, the information is going to come out anyway. On this board there have been threads discussing this or that routine that someone heard CP mention in a seminar. So the info doesn’t stay secret no matter what kind of restrictions are put on it. (Info is like that.)
So why NOT do a video? I’d pay $50 for a CP Strength and Mass tape, and I’ll bet that there are at least 10,000 others who would as well. That’s 500K right there - over a month of seminar work. And the thing is, people who would spend the time and money to get up close and personal with CP in the first place would probably still go. After all, no tape is going to substitute for the real thing, and God knows CP has enough info in his head to give people something extra if they attend.
What do the rest of you think? (And just out of curiosity, how many of you who went to NHB to see Ian King already had his tape/book/etc.?)
I have Ian King’s books “Get Buffed” “How to Write Strength Training Programs” and “How to Teach Strength Training Exercises.” I also have his Killer Leg Training video. I get his “Behind the Sets” newsletter, and his printed newsletter.
And I went to the NHB seminar and found the presentations and hands-on training info the be worth every damn penny I paid for the two-day event.
I don’t think taping the seminar is a good idea. At first I did, but this is my reason not to. Each seminar will be different. Ian asked us what we wanted to go over. So that is what we did. So if he tried to make a video of each seminar, they would all be different, yet many would overlap.
His general videos (Killer Leg Exercises, Stretching, Get Buffed, etc) are far better than anything you could get at a NHB seminar. But that’s just what I think.
Chris, Nate-Dog is right in saying that every seminar is different. I’ve been to almost all of King’s and Poliquin’s seminars and when I speak to someone who went to one I did but in a different location, there is always a little something different.
From a business standpoint, $50 for 16 hours of a seminar is not how you make money.
Granted, the tapes and books are very valuable and extremely helpful (plus not everybody can afford the price of the seminar, airfare, hotel, etc.); learning from them first-hand is invaluable. An added bonus, you find out they are just like you and me. You see them for who they really are: human.
Well, see, that’s my point. Since every seminar is different and “personalized” to a certain extent, people will still go to them, even if they own videos and other stuff (like Nate Dogg). So there’s no (or not much) loss of business. And I’m sure - as the Dogg said - that the $350 is worth every penny. But as it stands now, it’s sort of all or nothing. Either you pay a ton of money and go through a lot of inconvenience, or you don’t get anything except what the mags decide to print. (Not that I’m complaining about T-Mag!) How about some kind of middle option? And I have to disagree with you Stoll: 50 bucks times however many thousands of people is definitely a good way to go. (I own a business, so I know. Mass marketing is the bomb.) It wouldn’t have to be 16 hours, either - although it could be with no loss of time to the trainer, since he’s conducting the things anyway - I’ve seen 3-hour CP Strength and Mass seminars advertised.
(And an apology to Chris Shugart - I just noticed I misspelled your name in my original post. Sorry!)
Chris Chardon, your point makes good sense and the mass marketing would take care of the money issue. But since the seminars are different and not as organized, I think it’s best to buy a specific video. Then you get something that is more useful overall. I mean, I would rather have Ian King’s Killer Leg video, rather than a video of the stuff he showed us at the seminar. Because the Killer Leg Video actually shows more stuff than we covered in the gym.
I think there is a middle ground to this situation, but it’s whether or not Ian, T-mag and the contributors think it is productive and cost-effective.
Ian did say he’s going to have more videos available similar to his Leg video. His next one will be on flexibility. And it would be nice if he did an upper body video too. That would cover most of the training info. Other than that, it would be cool to have a general video going over some of the things he talked about in his lecture (and is also included in Get Buffed).
Chris, what I meant by “$50 a tape is not a way to run a successful business” is that King and Poliquin charge an athlete $300+ per training session (and this is how they made a majority of their income). If they only charged the “thousands” of people $50 per tape, the athlete would have every right to refuse to pay $300+ a session. King and Poliquin would be devaluing their services by charging so little for a tape.
You said you run a business. Is it in the health/fitness field? Is a service or product driven business? If it is not in the same area as we are speaking of…then you’re playing an entirely different game on a different playing field.
Actually - Ian King does have several seminars on tape (strength and speed specialization, flexibility, injury prevention etc). Check out kingsports.net and you’ll see them all.
I also have several Paul Chek seminars on tape and a very good semianr by Tom incledon.
Most of the stuff is widely available - as far as I know it’s only CP who doesn’t allow anyone to videotape his semianrs.