Jim Wendler - Strength Training as a Business Model

[stef]

Jim Wendler discusses his experience with strength training as a business model.

Lecture recorded at the Starting Strength Coaches Association Conference, October 2013.

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[tertius]

Jim Wendler discusses his experience with strength training as a business model.

Lecture recorded at the Starting Strength Coaches Association Conference, October 2013.

Watch Video

Excellent. Wendler is a funny, smart dude.

[George Christiansen]

I think this is the Dick Dale interview Jim, spoke of:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AJxc3Lxn4o

[trick_ster]

I like talking about "intellectual property business models"... so some perspective as the target audience.

You shouldn't count illegal downloads as lost sales. The vast majority of those people will never read your work or would've paid for it otherwise. "Piracy by the masses" is inevitable if you make something that targets the masses. I can't think of a single (publicly known) case where it was reduced without affecting paying customers. In the case of strength training, Rip's approach with articles worked very well for me. I think I read all of them before buying the book. They were a good representation of what's in the book and at the same time the book was more than just collection of articles.

On a related note, there's nothing wrong with an occassional sale. It gives people that are curious about your work but don't consider it to be worth the full price, a chance to acquire it legitimately. See here for an example on how it sales on Steam (Amazon for video games, for you old folks) work out for game developers. Unfortunately, people in the fitness industry seem to follow the lead of car salesmen. That makes the sales (and the products) look cheap.

I consider networking as Jim describes it to be dishonest. If I'm following a trainer I'm interested in what they use and what worked for them. I'm not interested in what they think about the latest FMS book a month after it's been released. It's just more noise I have to wade through. Eventually, I just stop following those people. There's a lot of you guys and I only have so much time.

On a technical note, there's a jarring red blip at around 34:30-35:00 mark.

Thank you for posting this.

[Bluefan75]

Any chance of a transcript being posted?

[Mark Rippetoe]

Not unless you post it. Why? Is something wrong with the audio?

[JM3]

In 16 years I've never offered a special or discount - nice to see Wendler feels the same way and see that it works for him as well.

[Bluefan75]

Not unless you post it. Why? Is something wrong with the audio?

No, it's just tough for me to get more than a few minutes at a time to watch/listen to a video. It's a lot easier for me to cover a lot of ground in a few minutes reading. But that's me, if there isn't a transcript, so be it. No worries.

I'm not reporting any audio problems, as I haven't listened to it.

[David Abdemoulaie]

I like talking about "intellectual property business models"... so some perspective as the target audience.

You shouldn't count illegal downloads as lost sales. The vast majority of those people will never read your work or would've paid for it otherwise. "Piracy by the masses" is inevitable if you make something that targets the masses. I can't think of a single (publicly known) case where it was reduced without affecting paying customers. In the case of strength training, Rip's approach with articles worked very well for me. I think I read all of them before buying the book. They were a good representation of what's in the book and at the same time the book was more than just collection of articles.

I share this opinion trick_ster. It's rather disingenuous to equate unauthorized downloads to lost revenue. Obviously it's "wrong", but I guarantee that it's good for sales. Numerous examples abound on the internet of the net-positive effect of unauthorized downloads on the music and video game industries. Obviously stealing is stealing, but not all unauthorized downloading is stealing. For example, I downloaded a torrent of the 5/3/1 ebook before I purchased it. I read it for a few days and determined that it was worth purchasing. I have subsequently bought four hard copies of the book (two 1st editions for me [spilled protein shake on one], and two 2nd editions [one gift]) as well as the corresponding e-books. I've also bought both an e-book and hardcopy of the Beyond 5/3/1 book. I equate it to being able to leaf through a book in a bookstore, or browse pages on Amazon.

[BarbEricScotaku]

Obviously stealing is stealing

Which illegal downloads are not; they're infringement. But that doesn't quite sound as immoral and sensational, does it?