What is a teleseminar?

Growing up in the 1960's did not make learning technology any easier. I still remember typing on a manual typewriter. As a matter of fact I was a telex operator for a couple of years. Do any of you remember what that is?

Well things sure have come along way since then. Now we are technology that is changing so rapidly it's almost impossible to keep up. One such example is a Teleseminar. To be honest the first time I ever heard that word was at a conference I attended in the Spring 2007. Alex Mandosian, who is the king of the teleseminars is making a zillion dollars through his teleseminar series so of course I became interested in this product. First I had to understand what it was.

The basic anatomy of a teleseminar is that it is a live phone call or webcast. You are given an access code upon registration and you can either phone in, (long distance) or logon via the website. You listen to the presenter give their session and you can ask live questions or type in questions throughout the seminar. The presenter may send you a handout or ask you view a power point presentation during the session. It can be interactive and is great for theory based information or discussions.

I also liked the fact that you can listen in the comfort of your own home, you don't have to travel, pay for parking and best of all you can stay in your jammies. The last part really intrigued me.

Well to stay on the cutting edge I decided to offer teleseminars to my students and I am looking forward to receiving feedback on the process. I guess my only concern is that this technology is kind of new and maybe people are not really sure how it all works. I decided to offer the programs for only $20.00 so that people would try them out and not feel as though they were sacrificing alot of money.

Best of all the sessions are recorded which means you don't have to be present at the time of the presentation to get the benefits of the session. You can purchase the replay and listen it to at your convenience. I know this all sounds very foreign but try one out and let me know what you think. Check the website at http://www.edgefit.ca/ and click on TELESEMINARS to register.

Book Review - The Business Personal Training

The Business of Personal Training
Written by : Scott O. Roberts et al.
ISBN: 0-87322-605-4

The Business of Personal Training was first published in 1996. It may have been one of the first books written on the subject. I am sure for its time it was a very useful resource for many new trainers as the personal training industry was only just starting to explode. However, there have been no further revisions since 1996 and therefore lacks an up-to-date feel. For instance, there is no mention of technology or internet marketing strategies for personal training. The book does cover fundamental business principles which may be useful for new trainers who are not familiar with business practices.

Each chapter is written by a different author specializing in their area of expertise. I am sure many of the authors probably have a lot more to share after over a decade since its publication. Part I briefly covers the history and origins of personal training. Part II dives into creating, marketing, managing and understanding the legal aspects of a personal training business. The concepts covered in this section are fairly rudimentary.

Part III deals with the personal part of personal training with an exploration of the client trainer relationship and psychology behind personal training. The entire length of the book is less then 150 pages so each chapter is very small. It was really hard to get into each section because each topic was covered very superficially.

The business of personal training has certainly come a long way since this book was first written. I would treat this resource as a very basic introduction to the business of personal training and perhaps look for a more up-to-date resource.