September 22, 2007

Moscow

Last night we visited Red Square again and got some fabulous pictures of the Kremlin and Lenin mausoleum.  We then took a monster walk thru Moscow and had dinner at a Georgian Restaurant with the whole group which number around 16 of us.  We add additional people from England and Venice.  It was also nice to have a few people from Russian join us for dinner.   The meal was okay but very different for me and that was okay as overeating was not a problem.

Had a nice nights sleep and awoke as refreshed as I have felt in about 3 weeks.  Justin and I had a short workout this morning and then breakfast with Ray from the UK.  Ray has a successful consultant business and gave me some very nice advice to become more of a consultant in the industry.  It seems that it would be beneficial to start a blog, and he suggested that I download a program called blogger from Google and link that to a online store with Google and paypal.  He also suggested that I add a book to my offering and lead me to consider being the publisher on a project that I can sell at my presentations.  I should contact Brian to inquiry about how he got his book done.  Also, using the contacts that I received this week to build a group of contacts to reach out around the world.

Need to organize my ideas and set up a website, email address, online store, paypal and blog, write a book and continually write articles on retention and health club management.  It seems that with a blog it will be picked up on search engines and you are able to increase your contacts from there.

I would like to start this process asap.  It seems the tools and contacts are right in front of me to get started.  Guy Lewis is a resource that I should use to increase my communication skills.

Should also research the idea of producing a DVD, Justin has a contact to produce these DVDs and we is able to see theses from 29.95 to 69.95 each.   Need to set a goal to get this done prior to IHRSA 08

Truly the pathway is open to me becoming more than I am right now.

Last night we ventured back to the Kremlin and walked around the perimeter, that involved crossing the river and having some incredible views of the buildings and cathedrals.  We met up with Niko and his friends and paid to take a riverboat ride up the Moscow river.  It was such a beautiful day that it is hard to believe what Russia is like most of the year.   It was 70 degrees with a sunny cloudless sky.  We ended up back at the street we were on Wednesday nite and there was a farmers market and a Hard Rock Café.  Very great to get my Moscow shot glass to add to my collection.

We took a long long walk and ended up at a Moroccan restaurant and had Kus Kus and chicken.  We walked to a few bars and had a beer and coffee.  Talked with Ray for hours about the consultant business.  He actually gave me a copy of his book so that I would be reminded to write one myself.  Need to make sure to set up my website and blog asap.  Additionally I will need to get a list of international speaking opportunities and send in my application.   This morning we headed to the airport and got there in plenty of time, Justin and I had a Macallen’s whisky and enjoy the last few minutes in Russia.  Boarding went without a hitch and I am on my ten hour journey to JFK New York.