Two weeks ago, Dec. 7 marked the first year anniversary of the official publishing date of my first book, HOT EXERCISE. My original intent for the book project was to provide the franchise and the public with a comprehensive guide to the brand and all things relevant to infrared fitness training. As I have travelled around the country to HOTWORX studio locations for book signing events I have had the opportunity to listen to customers, franchise owners and staff members who confirm that HOT EXERCISE is delivering on that purpose.
I remember when we opened the very first HOTWORX location only four years and nine months ago. It seems like a lifetime in terms of location development, but back then, customers would come into that first studio and would look around at the rows of workout saunas with an expression as if they were staring into the future. It still happens like that all around the USA and at our international locations in Ireland and Australia.
When we set out to launch the HOTWORX franchise with that original location in Oxford, MS, we stated a goal to have 500 locations open within our 5th year of operations. We didn’t really think about how advanced the workouts were or the level of innovation we were bringing to the fitness industry table, we focused on how to get faster and more efficient fitness results through technology for our clients, and that remains our number one focus today. Then, and now, we know that laser focus on client results will be the reason we reach our initial 500 open location goal. Every day we work towards that goal, if for no other reason, because we believe that it is possible! We know that we can get there if we continually provide our members more than what they bargained for. We are on track to hit that goal and open the 500th location in 2022!
Not too long after we launched the franchise, I began to envision a book to help explain the purpose of HOTWORX. The title of the book came to me as soon as I made the commitment to the book project. Shortly thereafter, I also imagined the subtitle. HOTWORX truly represents, and in fact created the “Bold New Infrared Fitness Frontier”.
So, as it turns out, through our mission to create a better way to workout, we discovered this new fitness frontier. Some people may call this luck, I would opt for a Tony Robbins quote, “The meeting of preparation with opportunity generates the offspring we call luck.”
Another quote I live by is this one from General Patton: “A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week.” My book would have never been completed, much less published, if I had waited for the perfect timing or an “adequate” level of information. You have to TAKE THE FIRST STEP into the abyss and keep moving, otherwise you will sit on the sidelines and watch others do it. Wouldn’t you rather be in the game? I would rather be on the field and running plays with an innovative playbook.
When I made the commitment to the book and then finally, after over a year of writing, had compiled a VERY rough draft of a manuscript, I found myself at an impasse. The draft lacked a logical flow and cohesiveness, and I knew that I really did not have a very well organized table of contents. There was no logical structure to the manuscript. I soon realized that I needed to learn what I needed to know. When you hit a wall like that, the first thing you have to do is admit what it is that you are ignorant of. I knew that I needed book structure, but I lacked the expertise to make it happen. I needed a coach!
In that moment I turned to the internet and found a website that offered book authors a list of qualified editors who specialized in every aspect of book development. That was it. I needed to hire a coach for an author, an editor! The name of that website was reedsy.com which I highly recommend to indy book authors like myself.
I hired a developmental editor who happened to be from the UK. She was awesome, and a well seasoned book editing veteran. It was what I needed at that moment in time. After that, my book project was finally on a track to the finish line. The moral to that story is, learn what you need to know when you need to know it!
I am forever grateful to all of the folks who have purchased the book and who help to spread the word of how fast and effective the HOTWORX fitness training method is. I’m happy to report that the book, in its first year, has remained in the top 50 and has ranked as high a #8 as a Best Seller in the Business Franchise category on Amazon.
For those who are new to HOTWORX, I want to welcome you all to the Bold New Infrared Fitness Frontier. 👊🔥
Click here for a copy of HOT EXERCISE.
