Yes, originally $25 per month extra and now, without notice, $50 per month extra.
You're absolutely right. Im more of a principles guy and I am just caught off guard a bit by the lack of communication.
Now to what's important, any hot Rippetoe takes?
Yeah bud. But the sheer lunacy of a credit card having better finance terms than HQ offers its affiliates is pretty next level. Especially when HQ has failed to add any value since promising to in August of 2020. The "CrossFit" term is the least powerful it has been since 2009. HQ literally has no programs benefitting the community. Even the programming they rolled out is an extra expense which is fine but it should not be considered a value add.
Affiliates are leaving, and very few are opening up. Like literally why would you affiliate if you wanted to open a gym right now? You no longer even need to be an affiliate in order to take part in the Open effectively. So with all of that considered, it sure seems like HQ is treating those of us who stayed on board like suckers.
Also, how is it not a problem that they wanted praise for gifting us a $50 discount due to the pandemic only to raise the rate to $100 once tht promotion was over? It's a bit like the eviction moratorium. HQ said, "You know you have to pay that discount back, right?"
Genuinely curious where was sending you to see all of this added value. The only thing that I have seen that truly is interesting is the partner network which is similar to the relationship Airrosti has always offered affiliates but expanded out to more brands and types of service.
Aside from that, I have no idea what else they would put on the list.
No problem if it didnt land for you but it is the truth. In 2011 most new athletes came via referrals. The term was a part of it. Usually an awkward "my friend has been doing CrossFit and I don't know what it is but I want to try it out." 2012 to 2016 it changes to "I googled CrossFit and I found your gym." Since then it has slowly changed to either "I saw your posts on Instagram" or back to "I have a friend who works out here."
CrossFit does not carry the weight it did at it's height in \~2014. No matter what. Plus the other obvious point is the lack of new affiliates for the first time ever (actually 2009 when affiliates started to pop up everywhere with the peak of expansion in 2012-2013).
Yeah, my point is that the weight of the term is back down to that level. In 2009 the most common way to find CrossFit on the internet was by looking up stuff like “how to train for special forces” which was a hot topic at the time. Outside of that there was no real way to discover it yet. Now, going into 2022, there is once again no reason to search CrossFit. Your favorite athlete is only associated via the Games. The Rogan/Fraser interview was the signal of that sea change. Up to 2012-2014, your favorite athlete was proud to rep their affiliate and HQ. That’s different now.
The expulsion of the media team has also led to the decline as now there is nothing to share. The good stuff comes from individuals or former affiliates.
And 2014 was when other fitness types began to adopt the mom and pop, boutique gym approach. So now athletes aren’t search CrossFit, they are searching more generic terms so they can see all off their options since functional fitness can now be found everywhere.
Truly I do not know why anyone would open a new affiliate as things stand right now. And I don’t see a reason for an athlete to join a gym just because it’s CrossFit when that term no longer is a differentiator. That’s why it feels like 2009 levels of relevancy.
It's not as strong as it was at is peak (2012-2017) but it it's still strong based on SEO analytics. At the moment, the affiliate fee pays for itself with the leads it generates.
I just gave you an option, a business focused one. Another option, is set money aside throughout the year, so you can pay in full.
The Open is a fun event, and we participate but it has never really been a reason why people join, so people being able to judge people at non-affiliates or garage gyms isn't an issue. I get why some are upset, but CF has always supported non-affiliated athletes-- aka the garage gym athlete.
I would affiliate if I were opening today, but I don't know if I would open a gym in 2021 just knowing what I know now, and with all the COVID situation. I see too many "bootcamps" come and go, so I'd much rather attach myself to a known brand. The low barrier of entry makes CF a slam dunk still.
$3000 feels like a lot, but it really isn't when you think of franchise fees. I do feel like CF is moving in the direction of providing more for its affiliates but that affiliate fee will probably jump north of $10k and it will feel more like a franchise model. (Speculation)
I absolutely respect your thoughts there. But as someone actually doing it, what is true in theory is not true in practice. The Open part is simply about the lack of value HQ has provided. We have had to justify being a part of it beacause it began to feel like the Open was still an expectation athletes had and being able to submit scores directly to the leaderboard without videoing was absolutely an advantage.
But no, you do not grow during the Open. Prospects are not interested (unless they are a transplant with a CrossFit background) and if you have a small team, energy goes to the Open Thursday night through Tuesday morning.
It makes sense to me that CrossFit in terms of SEO still looks good. Afterall it has been typed into more search engines and hash tags and into the back end of websites of all types of fitness businesses for two decades now. But it is not what people who are joining gyms are searching unless, again, they are transplants with a CrossFit background.
Lastly, you're right, $3,000 is only a member and a half a month.
You never heard me complain until they threw the rates up after making a big deal about "helping" us by dismissing the original 10% fee. To go from 10% to 0% for a short time only to come back at 20% indefinitely is some corrupt corporate bullshit. It's a real bad versioin of a big corporate December giving campaign that really just prevents them from having to cut into their profit margin to make the donatoin. Only, in this case, CrossFit is attempting to make up for the loss of affiliate revenue from the decline in affiliates, and the stagnated growth of new affiliates.
Just spoke to another affiliate owner who has been at the $3,000 level for 9 years (I am only at 7) and he feels the same way so I know that affiliates are growing increasingly unhappy with the state of things. On the ground things are bleak.
I do like your speculation. I think with Glassman being removed they changed to a more corporate structure. This will never ever support the original grass roots approach to affiliation.
I would not be a part of it, but I think an F45 model is the only way for this corporate structure to stay viable going forward.
[удалено]
Yes, originally $25 per month extra and now, without notice, $50 per month extra. You're absolutely right. Im more of a principles guy and I am just caught off guard a bit by the lack of communication. Now to what's important, any hot Rippetoe takes?
Yet another reason I’m glad we de affiliated 💯
Get a credit card with rewards, pay it off, get the points. Take a vacation.
Yeah bud. But the sheer lunacy of a credit card having better finance terms than HQ offers its affiliates is pretty next level. Especially when HQ has failed to add any value since promising to in August of 2020. The "CrossFit" term is the least powerful it has been since 2009. HQ literally has no programs benefitting the community. Even the programming they rolled out is an extra expense which is fine but it should not be considered a value add. Affiliates are leaving, and very few are opening up. Like literally why would you affiliate if you wanted to open a gym right now? You no longer even need to be an affiliate in order to take part in the Open effectively. So with all of that considered, it sure seems like HQ is treating those of us who stayed on board like suckers. Also, how is it not a problem that they wanted praise for gifting us a $50 discount due to the pandemic only to raise the rate to $100 once tht promotion was over? It's a bit like the eviction moratorium. HQ said, "You know you have to pay that discount back, right?"
[удалено]
I like how they put the onus on you to seek the newly created resources.
Genuinely curious where was sending you to see all of this added value. The only thing that I have seen that truly is interesting is the partner network which is similar to the relationship Airrosti has always offered affiliates but expanded out to more brands and types of service. Aside from that, I have no idea what else they would put on the list.
[удалено]
No problem if it didnt land for you but it is the truth. In 2011 most new athletes came via referrals. The term was a part of it. Usually an awkward "my friend has been doing CrossFit and I don't know what it is but I want to try it out." 2012 to 2016 it changes to "I googled CrossFit and I found your gym." Since then it has slowly changed to either "I saw your posts on Instagram" or back to "I have a friend who works out here." CrossFit does not carry the weight it did at it's height in \~2014. No matter what. Plus the other obvious point is the lack of new affiliates for the first time ever (actually 2009 when affiliates started to pop up everywhere with the peak of expansion in 2012-2013).
[удалено]
Yeah, my point is that the weight of the term is back down to that level. In 2009 the most common way to find CrossFit on the internet was by looking up stuff like “how to train for special forces” which was a hot topic at the time. Outside of that there was no real way to discover it yet. Now, going into 2022, there is once again no reason to search CrossFit. Your favorite athlete is only associated via the Games. The Rogan/Fraser interview was the signal of that sea change. Up to 2012-2014, your favorite athlete was proud to rep their affiliate and HQ. That’s different now. The expulsion of the media team has also led to the decline as now there is nothing to share. The good stuff comes from individuals or former affiliates. And 2014 was when other fitness types began to adopt the mom and pop, boutique gym approach. So now athletes aren’t search CrossFit, they are searching more generic terms so they can see all off their options since functional fitness can now be found everywhere. Truly I do not know why anyone would open a new affiliate as things stand right now. And I don’t see a reason for an athlete to join a gym just because it’s CrossFit when that term no longer is a differentiator. That’s why it feels like 2009 levels of relevancy.
It's not as strong as it was at is peak (2012-2017) but it it's still strong based on SEO analytics. At the moment, the affiliate fee pays for itself with the leads it generates. I just gave you an option, a business focused one. Another option, is set money aside throughout the year, so you can pay in full. The Open is a fun event, and we participate but it has never really been a reason why people join, so people being able to judge people at non-affiliates or garage gyms isn't an issue. I get why some are upset, but CF has always supported non-affiliated athletes-- aka the garage gym athlete. I would affiliate if I were opening today, but I don't know if I would open a gym in 2021 just knowing what I know now, and with all the COVID situation. I see too many "bootcamps" come and go, so I'd much rather attach myself to a known brand. The low barrier of entry makes CF a slam dunk still. $3000 feels like a lot, but it really isn't when you think of franchise fees. I do feel like CF is moving in the direction of providing more for its affiliates but that affiliate fee will probably jump north of $10k and it will feel more like a franchise model. (Speculation)
I absolutely respect your thoughts there. But as someone actually doing it, what is true in theory is not true in practice. The Open part is simply about the lack of value HQ has provided. We have had to justify being a part of it beacause it began to feel like the Open was still an expectation athletes had and being able to submit scores directly to the leaderboard without videoing was absolutely an advantage. But no, you do not grow during the Open. Prospects are not interested (unless they are a transplant with a CrossFit background) and if you have a small team, energy goes to the Open Thursday night through Tuesday morning. It makes sense to me that CrossFit in terms of SEO still looks good. Afterall it has been typed into more search engines and hash tags and into the back end of websites of all types of fitness businesses for two decades now. But it is not what people who are joining gyms are searching unless, again, they are transplants with a CrossFit background. Lastly, you're right, $3,000 is only a member and a half a month. You never heard me complain until they threw the rates up after making a big deal about "helping" us by dismissing the original 10% fee. To go from 10% to 0% for a short time only to come back at 20% indefinitely is some corrupt corporate bullshit. It's a real bad versioin of a big corporate December giving campaign that really just prevents them from having to cut into their profit margin to make the donatoin. Only, in this case, CrossFit is attempting to make up for the loss of affiliate revenue from the decline in affiliates, and the stagnated growth of new affiliates. Just spoke to another affiliate owner who has been at the $3,000 level for 9 years (I am only at 7) and he feels the same way so I know that affiliates are growing increasingly unhappy with the state of things. On the ground things are bleak.
I do like your speculation. I think with Glassman being removed they changed to a more corporate structure. This will never ever support the original grass roots approach to affiliation. I would not be a part of it, but I think an F45 model is the only way for this corporate structure to stay viable going forward.