How to Get FREE Leads from Social Media with Matt Guffey

[00:00:00] Hello, my friend on today’s episode, I’m bringing back to the podcast, Matt Guffey. He is a unicorn society member and founder of victory submission strength in San Jose, California. This time on the podcast, he’s sharing some of the amazing work he’s been doing to grow his social media following and generate leads through social media, organic social media.

And so if you want to generate more leads just by engaging more effectively on social media, this is a great episode for you. So keep on listening.

Welcome to the business for unicorns podcast, where we help gym owners unleash the full potential of their business. I’m your host, Michael Keeler. Join me each week for actionable advice, expert insights, and the inside scoop on what it really takes to level up your gym, get ready to unlock your potential.

And become a real unicorn in the fitness [00:01:00] industry. Let’s begin.

Hello, fitness, business nerds. What’s up. Welcome to another episode of the business for unicorns podcast. I’m very excited for our guest here today, back on the podcast for a second time. But before I get to him, I just want to remind you all that we have a fantastic YouTube channel that if you’ve not subscribed to go check it out, link is down below in the show notes, but we have really actionable videos with Mark and videos from this podcast.

That if you want actual advice on a regular basis, we have a whole library of it over on the YouTube channel. So go subscribe. So you catch new videos and again, link down in the show notes, which is actually a very appropriate shout out for today, because today we’re talking with Mr. Matt Guffey, who is the founder of victory submission strength in San Jose, California back on the podcast for a second time, also a unicorn society member who recently won our famous unicorn awards, which we’re going to talk about, but welcome back to the podcast, Matt.

Thanks so much for having me. Yeah. I remember last time you were here, we were just talking about, before we recorded, we were talking about [00:02:00] gift giving, which is something you are fantastic at. And today we’re talking about a different topic, which is all about how to grow your social media following and to get actual buying members to actually convert people from social media to.

To membership. And I’m going to ask you about those stats and how you’ve been doing that and break down your strategy before we do for folks who don’t know anything about victory submission, strength, just say a little bit about what’s your gym all about and how’d you get started. Yeah, we’re a strength and conditioning gym for grapplers.

It’s a really specific niche. I would say 90 percent of our members are jiu jitsu athletes. We’ve got some MMA guys, some wrestlers. Strength and conditioning for grapplers, that’s the name of our game. And our mission is just to try to get them faster, stronger, more mobile, so that they can stay on the mats longer, do more of what they love.

Love it. I love it so much. And I think even that I think is a great lesson for our listeners because so many people are afraid to niche down. [00:03:00] They’re afraid to focus on a very specific kind of client with very specific needs. And you’re such a beautiful example of how to do that well. So I love that.

Maybe that’s another podcast for another day. We’d love to talk about it. Let’s talk about what we have you here for. So you mentioned to me probably a few months ago at this month, at this time, at this moment that you were having some really great social media growth. Your following was growing, but you were also developing better and better processes systems for what we often call a sell by chat by connecting with your audience and actually converting them into membership.

So can you just give folks some numbers and some context for what makes you say this has been going well for you? Yeah. Yeah. So from a followership. perspective, we’ve probably grown roughly 4, 000 followers over the last eight, nine months. And that is due in large part to you guys pushing me to post every day and make sure that I’m checking all those boxes and providing value [00:04:00] for the people who are tuning in and watching.

And so that’s from, that’s just from a followership basis. And then. The next step, once we got the hang of that and got a good rhythm going, was to start communicating with these people. It’s not just, it’s not enough to just post every day. If you want to build a loyal followership and ones that will eventually turn into paying.

Members, or if you have online programs and customers in your, the online setting, you have to engage with them. And that’s been the single biggest, that’s been the single biggest turning point for us is when we started to engage with people, reaching out to them, asking for them to give us their suggestions or answering their questions, whatever it was, that’s when we started to see a really big uptick in both.

online program [00:05:00] sales and leads coming in from Instagram. Yeah. Yeah. I love that. Yeah. We’re going to break down your process and how you do that in a second. But I think even that I think is also a great takeaway for our members because all too often I see people actually posting a lot. I see a lot of gyms who are pretty prolific about posting on a regular basis and maybe they didn’t have great engaging content where they’re speaking to their avatar and solving problems for them.

I see some people getting that, but then they stopped there. They stop there and they forget that part of being on social media is being social, that actually you have to engage with them. So people who like and comment and share your content, it’s okay to slip into their DMS and say, Hey, thanks for sharing that.

Did you have any questions? Or, Hey, I saw you liked that. What other content would you like, right? To start conversations like that is how you develop the relationship. You build the trust. And then they start to know you like you and trust you enough to maybe even give you their email or give you their phone number or opt into a lead magnet.

And the next [00:06:00] thing you know, you’re off to the races. You’re suddenly in a marketing funnel where you have real leverage to keep pushing them to a next step and the next step. So, good for you for, one, posting on a regular basis, and two, being willing to reach out and get social. Let’s just stick with the posting for a second, because I know a lot of our listeners are stuck there.

So, how did you turn the corner and push yourself to start posting more, and especially content where I know you’re in front of the camera a lot, which I know intimidates a lot of folks. So, how did you turn the corner there? Yeah. So, I’ll answer your second question first, and that is, Nobody remembers what you post.

So, for people who are shy about being in front of the camera, just ask yourself what the coolest piece of content you consumed yesterday was. And I almost guarantee you can’t remember. Because it goes so fast. And unless it was something truly remarkable or truly entertaining, it’s It’s, it’s very rare that anybody can actually answer that question truthfully.

And so just remember [00:07:00] that once you post it, people see it and they might engage with it, but at the end of the day, it gets pushed to the back of their head very quickly. And so you just got to do it. It’s a great mindset. Cause our goal is to get into their feed. Our goal is to get into the algorithm, get the algorithm to know that we like each other and they want to see our stuff.

And that requires a consistency. Like the more you click on stuff and you all know this, especially on Instagram, where it’s so clear when you look at your stories, that the ones that show up first are the ones that you look at the most you’ve clicked on them. And so that’s the game we’re playing. And I love that you’re, you took some solace in the fact that you’re almost anonymous.

People forget what you did. So it doesn’t have to be perfect. Yeah. Yeah. And then remind me, what was the first part of the question was really just about how did you break through to creating it? That was how you kind of your own way. But like, how did you actually create the process or rhythm to post so much?

Yeah, this kind of comes down to what we’ll call stratification. And [00:08:00] so what that just what that means is, One idea can be several posts and it wasn’t until, and I should give credit where credit’s due. Alex Sterner is another jujitsu strength and conditioning gym owner in California. And he and I have chopped back and forth and we hopped on a call one day and I asked him cause he’s an extremely prolific.

He’s growing three accounts and all of them are in the tens of thousands and it’s all growing very fast. And I was like, man, how does this guy do it? And so I reached out, he told me, we hopped on a call. And the thing that really hit home for me was this idea of stratifying ideas. So for example, say. The deadlift, right?

You could have a talking head post where you’re talking to the camera and explaining how to do a deadlift. You could have a nonverbal post where it’s just somebody doing a deadlift and maybe there’s text on the screen and it’s saying step [00:09:00] one, do this, step two, do that. You could have a coaching and cueing one where you’re coaching somebody through the deadlift.

You could have a text based post, which Pete Dupuis is like one of the kings of that, right? Just text based post. It could be all the benefits of a deadlift. And then there’s memes. And I would encourage people to, if you’re funny, use memes. If you’re not, don’t worry about the fifth one. And that’s okay.

Some people are comfortable putting their sense of humor out there. Others are not, and that’s totally fine. But you could, there’s There are deadlift memes, they’re out there and if you want inspiration just search for it, but that, so that just shows how the idea of a deadlift could be five different posts.

And at least, and there’s so many different ways to, to show all those things. It could be dozens really. So that was really the, I think the biggest factor in helping us get to a point where we’re posting [00:10:00] daily and we’re not afraid if we’ve posted about the deadlift before, we’re not afraid to post about it again a couple months later.

Like I said, it’s gone. Nobody remembers it. And almost nobody’s scrolling through your thing, looking at every single post you’ve ever made. So that’s, that was the biggest thing for us. Yeah, I think it’s huge, Matt. And I’ll just say, I had that issue early on with this podcast and I’m on whatever, 300 and some episode 300 and something at this point.

And I worried early on, I’m going to be talking about the same shit over and over again, I was like, who’s going to want to listen to that Apparently a lot of people because when they hear it, it sounds different from maybe they maybe said a version of the things we’re saying here today on several past episodes, but maybe today is the day that someone really needed to hear it.

And I’ll hear it in a new way, be able to take action on it in a new way. And so I’ve had to get over that myself and just be like, yeah, I’m going to repeat myself a lot. My guests are going to repeat themselves a lot. Yeah. There’s only so many things to talk about when it comes to running a gym. It’s a big pool, but it’s not endless.

And that’s okay. Cause I think people will [00:11:00] hear it at different times and it’ll mean different things. I think it’s a really good lesson and the idea that like a single idea or a single piece of content can be repurposed and reused for multiple things, I think is also really critical. People think that each piece of content that they create has to be some sort of like unique snowflake and that’s just not the case.

And so I love that you’re starting with that and I just, it unlocks so much. It unlocks so much when you allow yourself to think like that. A hundred percent. Hey there, Business for Unicorns podcast listeners. If you haven’t had a chance yet to leave us a rating and a review on whatever platform you listen to this podcast, it would be so awesome if you take just a quick second to do that.

And here’s why. Number one, by leaving us a rating review, you’ll allow our podcast audience to grow. So more gym owners can build a life and a gym they’ve loved. And number two, by leaving us feedback, you’ll help us shape the future of the podcast. So we know what you like. We know what you don’t like, and we know what types of content is resonating and what else should we create for you?

Thank you so much for your consideration. And now back [00:12:00] to the show. Let’s talk a little bit more about the process. You’re posting just about every day. You’re posting hopefully a really engaging content that’s directed toward your avatar in multiple formats, some tech stuff, some video stuff, face to face camera stuff, all of that.

And then how do you decide who to engage with further? How do you decide which of your followers you’re going to take on the next step? Yeah, so there’s two parts to this. The first is, and this is something that I took from not the most recent, uh, Unicorn Society, uh, retreat, or previous retreat, but the, the one prior in Austin when Jordan Saiz spoke, you know, he made mention of, you know, When somebody comments on your post, the absolute last thing you should do is just give them a thumbs up emoji.

Thumbs up. I’m so guilt. I was guilty of it. Yeah. I, you know, I didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t sure and I, I, you know, some, I, I, I didn’t want it to come off as, I guess [00:13:00] inauthentic. I don’t know what the hangup was, but yeah, I, I think we’re all, we’ve all been guilty of it at some point or another. And when he said that, I, I think the story that he told, he was like, imagine somebody.

They come over to your house, you cook them this dinner, it took you all day to make, and you put it out there, and they were like, wow, this dinner was really amazing, thank you so much. And you just go like this, and you give them the thumbs up, and he’s like, how rude is that? So rude. And I was like, wow, man, that really hit me right in the gut.

And so every single comment gets a response, a worded response, whether that’s, hey, thanks so much for taking the time to watch this. Or maybe it’s a question that, that tries to further the conversation. If somebody says, what about this? I would ask them about their experience with X, Y, or Z, whatever it is.

So not only does that humanize your brand. But also tells the algorithm that people are engaged with this and the [00:14:00] more comments get the more Comments are posted the more that it gets pushed to other people. Mm hmm, and the thing just starts spinning spinning that way So that’s the first thing is just any comment Comment back and make it thoughtful as thoughtful as you can in a shorter period of time as you can I think it serves a few purposes.

One, it’s one, it’s great for the algorithm. Two, it starts a conversation. Yeah. It starts a conversation, which is the start of a relationship and it shows other people that like, you can comment here and I’m going to talk to you. Like, I’m not a robot doing this. Like it’s me. And I think that has a snowball effect, which is awesome.

All right. So people who comment, how else? The second way, this is something that I took from the BFU Facebook group. I can’t remember who posted it originally. Uh, I would love to. Give credit where it’s due, but every single new follower that we get gets a DM. We’ve got an, not an automated response cause you can’t automate that yet, but [00:15:00] a template that Kelly, my admin will send.

It’s just like, Hey, thanks so much for the follow. We’re here to provide as much free content as we possibly can. Is there anything that you want to see on the page that you haven’t seen already? Do you have any questions that we can answer? And that could go a few different ways. A lot of times they don’t answer.

Sure. Sometimes they just double tap it and like it. And then the third way is a lot of times they’ll respond and say, wow, I can’t believe you reached out. This is what I’d like to see. And sometimes we’ve posted on that a bunch of times. And so we’ll say, Hey, we’ll curate it for them. So Kelly or I will go through and say, here’s everything you need to know about the thing that you just asked.

And these are all the posts that we’ve done on it. And they’re always very thankful for that. Cause they don’t have to scroll through and try to find the thing. The second thing that could happen there, if they respond in that way, is they ask a [00:16:00] question or they ask for something that we haven’t done before.

And so here’s where I think I’ve gone a step further than most people will go. Is. If it’s a question or they’re asking for something we haven’t posted on yet. First, I’ll write down, Hey, we should make a post on this. But the thing that I’ll do is I will respond to them with a video message. So I budget about an hour a week to, I sit down in my car after I get back from the gym and I just, and I’ll say, I’m never prescriptive, but I’ll say, Hey, thanks for the question.

This is in our experience. What’s worked for us. You might want to watch out for X, Y, or Z. If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to ask. Like we’re always here for you. And that is always met with just rave reviews. People really appreciate. Taking the time to answer the questions. [00:17:00] And sometimes I answer it and I’m like, you know what, I’ve got a couple of resources on this.

This is what I think you should take a look at this and let me know what you think, or give this a try. And if you have any questions about how the logistics of it all, let me know. And, and we’ll help you out however we can. And that I think has been a huge piece. of turning people, turning followers into customers, whether that’s online or in person.

Yeah. That’s so impressive, Matt, because you’re right that people don’t expect that kind of attention and reply from like a random gym they reach out to. And when it happens, it just goes so far beyond their expectations. You know what? I don’t have content on that, but I’m gonna record a video of you.

Telling you what I would say, how I would answer that question. And you get a fan for life when you do that. It’s a small thing, like you said, an hour a week, you can respond to. I’m sure a lot of people in an hour and a quick little video just gets you people who are going to keep asking questions and stay engaged and think of you first, when they have those kinds of questions or they’re looking for a gym [00:18:00] or an online solution in your case, and they have that too.

So I think that’s so critical. And I think even if our listeners just did those things, just reply to everyone’s comments. Yeah, DM to brand new people started following them and then people do ask questions whether they’re new people or not And you either give them content or reply with a video and answer the damn question I think even those things I think would be a game changer for the amount of engagement people get in social media I’m more engaged to the more likely you can take them to a next step Which is making some sort of offer or engaging them further And I mean, our lead magnet has at this point collected hundreds of emails.

Our, uh, online program sales are way up. Uh, last month we did close to 1, 300 in sales at just online programs. Like they’re already made. We don’t have to do anything. Yeah, that’s great. It’s, it’s already done. I attribute that to the presence that we have on [00:19:00] social media, so that’s great. So let’s just take the, the kind of next, the final step here, which is, okay, so you’re creating lots of content and posting regularly.

You’re engaging with people who comment and you’re engaging people in their dms, starting conversations. At what point do you pivot the conversation to the sales funnel to, to get them to take some action? Yeah. So some of that depends on what they ask so much. Some people, I had one person today, they were like, do you have any templates for this, that, or the other?

And I was like, yep, here you go. And I just send them the link to the program and this is how you do it. Sometimes, uh, you know, we’ll look to see if they have like common followers or if they, If it looks like we’re pretty sure they’re in the Bay Area. And if that’s the case, then Kelly knows to say, Hey, just have curiosity.

It looks like you follow this person, that person, the other, we love working with them. And they’ll typically respond with, yeah, I train with them or I’m good friends with them. And then, [00:20:00] you know, then we try to surprise and delight and just say, Hey, a friend of so and so is a friend of ours. We’d love to extend a 14 day VIP pass to you.

If you want to come in, give it a try. We’d love to have you. And that always goes over really well. So it takes a little bit of legwork to actually open up the profile, take a look at their location, take a look at their followers or whatever. It’s worth it in the end, because if you get one, Yeah, so worth it.

I think that’s it. And you could even, if you wanted to, I know there was some scripts. I think our script for in our content library for unicorns and members, our script, I think recommends people just flat out ask, Hey, we love working with people like you do live in the area. And just like ask if they live nearby or I see we have some friends in common.

How do you know so and so, right? And I think all of those things just help humanize and localize you as a business, especially for those of you listening who don’t have online offerings, right? You really do rely on people being geographically nearby. But I think that’s a really important qualifying question to ask early.

In a conversation is if they’re nearby and then you’re off to the races, [00:21:00] then you can do what Matt did is make an offer for your low barrier offer, make an offer for your free strategy session or success session on a call or a lead magnet, where there’s so many directions you can go to get them to that next step.

But I think the key part of the strategy is just engaging with people who are engaging with you, starting to build those relationships. Yeah. You got it. Yeah. Good for you. I think the, there’s so much I could say about this one, but the thing I love so much about this strategy above all else is that the strategy costs no money.

It takes time and time is money, right? But for those of you listening who don’t have giant marketing budgets, can’t find the cash to go spend on paid advertising or an ad agency, or even print ads in your local papers, right? If you’re strapped for cash. You got to find the time because this is a strategy that takes some time, but it’s free.

It’s free other than that, right? And it’s infinite, right? There are infinite number of people on social [00:22:00] media in your neighborhood, maybe not Instagram, maybe not Facebook, but there’s a platform that they’re on. And there are many more of them, many more of them than you need to become members as an infinite well.

And so I think this is a great strategy for all those out there who are cash strapped and don’t yet have the paid advertising budget. Or even if you do, this is a good one to keep doing. One last question before we wrap things up here. One of the kind of common kind of pieces of pushback I get from folks about the strategy is the fact that it takes time and they realize they need to spend some time on marketing.

But we just say, do you have any tips for them about how to carve out time? You mentioned one I love already, which is just like an hour every week to respond to folks. I know you work with Kelly on your team to also share in this responsibility. So you just talk a little bit about what any tips you have for making time for this.

Yeah, I think it starts with building systems that other people can help replicate so that you can be in more than one that Kelly helps a lot with the outreach and that enables me to spend more time on the content itself [00:23:00] Mm hmm. So I think just building good systems buys you time when you’re able to delegate some of those things that I would say that is probably the biggest factor in my ability to like, continue to pump out as much content and that’s a good one, Matt.

Yeah. And if you have a thing that makes that really important is I think when you have two people working on something that something can keep going when one person’s on vacation, one person’s out sick, right? When there’s two people, there’s more than one person who knows how to do it. Then that means the, the engine doesn’t have to turn off.

When one person’s not available. I think that’s pretty critical for something like marketing. Yeah. Thank you for coming back to the podcast and sharing more of your amazing work. I’m sure there’s more amazing work coming and we’ll have you back again, but thank you so much for your time. Thanks for sharing.

Shout out to Kelly. If you’re listening for all the great work you’re doing on this topic and for you listeners, one final reminder that if you’re not subscribed to our YouTube, go check it out. If you like this content, you’ll like, you like what’s on our YouTube as well. So go subscribe link is down in the show notes.

Thanks again, Matt. I’ll see you on the [00:24:00] next one. Yes, sir. Thank you.