How a Strongman Transformed into a Business Guru in 24 Months.
Before we begin.
If we’ve never met, I spent the first decade of my career in major market and network radio and TV, in addition to writing for multiple national publications about everything from psychology to pop culture.
Around 2012, I simultaneously got bored with traditional broadcasting and fell in love with making stuff online, which I’ve been doing ever since.
For the last two years, I’ve written The Five, a bi-weekly publication covering under-reported but vital news and pop culture stories. That publication enjoys a passionate readerships and maintains an 80-90% email open rate.
Recently, I decided it was time to start writing about one of my other passions—business growth.
This newsletter focuses on digital growth strategies for anyone with an idea or business to get out to the world, and publishes Wednesdays a Noon, CST. If you like what you read, subscribe for free and I’ll email it to you.
I never saw Zach Homol coming.
Heck, I didn’t even know who he was when I DM’d him.
I saw a tweet that said “looking for marketing help,” and quickly skimmed his profile.
Dude was…memorable, to say the least.
A former drug-addicted coal miner who found Jesus and a good woman, Zach got opened a gym while down to (almost) his last dollar (technically, he had just over $700 to his name), and would have lost everything if he hadn’t signed up members in the first month.
When we met, he had ventured into training remote clients, and was working on a premium program.
To be honest, I had no idea if it would move.
In the Beginning…Could We Sell a $500 PDF?
When Zach and I hopped on our first call, he told me about Perfecting Percentages, a forthcoming training program Zach had poured his heart and soul into, which showed elite athletes who dreamed of picking up 220 lb stones multiple times in a row, or overhead pressing 120 lb dumbbells with just one arm.
“I think we can sell 15 copies in the first week,” Zach told me on one of our first calls.
Those were the early days, and I didn’t yet know the man I was dealing with. I didn’t tell him no, but the price seemed high, and the market…very limited.
As we talked about how to achieve this goal, I asked him about email.
”Oh yeah, I’ve got this Mailchimp list of 4,000 people I never use,” he said to me.
Four. Thousand.
And you’re not tapping into it?
”Nope.”
We agreed to start there.
The first email—an announcement of Perfecting Percentages, performed better than I could have imagined.
If you’re looking for “the secret sauce” of subject lines, copy and layout…I’ll write about those at a later date.
Subject lines may have pushed open rates up, but it was the sender name that drove Perfecting Percentages to “bestseller” status in the niche of ebook athletic training plans.
”Zach Homol at Iron Valley Barbell.”
Consistently, for years, Zach had opened the doors of Iron Valley to out of town visitors, many of whom found a way to route through Indiana just for a workout session, and to learn invaluable lifting tips.
Every so often, I get a DM on Twitter asking the question “how do I become the next Zach Homol of [insert business/influencer arena here].” I normally tell the questioner to start as a “giving nobody” and invest in turning online connections into offline community as much as possible.
Nobody wants to hear that (and even less want to implement it), which is sad, because it works.
What Happened After the Cabin in the Woods
When COVID hit, Zach retreated to a cabin in Brown County, IN with his family and dogs…to figure it out.
I expected a text to start virtual workouts. More ebooks. Video courses. Something like that.
Nope again.
“In the cabin, God told me to lead men.”
If that sounds like a crazy answer to you, fair enough.
Zach and I have both built our lives on the cornerstone of the Christian faith, so I got it.
He sold out his first men’s retreat, a mix of hiking and physical tests mixed with “internal work” around values, life planning and goal setting.
In a world that was going virtual, Zach moved his business further into the physical world.
In the time of confusion, Zach entered the business of teaching clarity.
How a Series of Athletic Feats Drove Massive Website Analytics & Email Signups.
As the retreats started to sell out through regularly, Zach started pushing himself harder.
Already a record-setting Strongman competitor, he moved towards new tests of the mind and body, like mastering the cold.
This summer, Zach texted me and we hopped on a call where he told me about two goals.
The first was to knock out several feats in a single week, to challenge himself to become an “Ultimate Athlete.”
The second was to move much of his best content behind a “free paywall,” (a password protected section of his website).
As he knocked off the “peak week to do list,” the views just kept growing, (the 900 lb tire flip alone had over 36,000 views).
When we launched zachhomolsystems.com, I was shocked by the breadth of the audience.
Keep in mind, at this point, Zach had done almost no “outside interviews,” on other podcasts. Zero traditional media coverage.
No social media ads to grow his brand.
And in the first month, we had visitors and signups from 50 countries, with 15-20% of the monthly traffic coming from outside the U.S.
When “Soon” Became “Now”
Ever since Zach and I started working together…which is more like the brotherhood born from a championship sports team run or time spent serving in a warzone than a traditional “business relationship,” he often told me “not yet.”
I knew Zach had massive star potential, and wanted to push his “brand” as fast as I could.
”Just so you know, when it’s time to start doing public speaking, the people who book you are already following you on social media…we just don’t know who they are yet.”
”It’s not time yet,” Zach told me.
This fall, it was time. Zach put out a couple of tweets about speaking, and was picked up by Bisnow, where he delivered a keynote and led conference participants through ice baths (on a Miami rooftop, no less).
Key Takeaways
Here’s what I’ve learned from the last two years on this journey with Zach.
People respond to what’s real. In the era of social media becoming either more photoshopped, or more “fake vulnerability” (which I define as influencers who become strategically “enraged” or “sad” to boost impressions or views), authenticity still wins.
If you want an exceptional audience, push yourself to exceptional heights…and be prepared to show others how to do the same.
Social media is an incredible tool for reach…but the dollars flow through email and landing pages. Zach was selling products and coaching fine before I came along…but as we moved from individual tweets to a solid email and landing pages (and later password protected website) experience…sales scaled dramatically.
To boil it down to a sentence—be real and be exceptional..and get yourself a good email and landing page strategy.
I’ve seen seven figure earning corporate VP’s who can’t figure this out, who keep thinking more advertising, flashier campaigns or maybe a celebrity endorsement will turn their brand and sales around.
Nah.
Those tactics worked 40 years ago.
The world changed a long time ago…corporate types just didn’t keep up.
Create trust.
Model honesty with the customer base.
And communicate with clarity.
The sales will take care of themselves.
Until the next one,
-sth
P.S. Hit Zach with a Twitter DM if you want to book him to speak.