Business
If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.
Pitching, the sales mindset, and the podcast. Everything Forbes learned selling $2.5 billion on live TV, written down.
The secret pitch formula
Sell a SpinGym in 90 seconds
A proven, simple, three-step system Forbes conceived to train her own sales team. It works on anything you believe in.
Align your beliefs
You cannot sell what you don’t believe. Forbes’ belief: SpinGym is the greatest fitness product on the planet. Compact, portable, affordable, no age limit, no weight limit, travels in a car, plane or cruise ship. Write yours down the same way.
Engage, excite, enroll
A pitch is not a list of features. It engages with a question, excites with a demonstration, and enrolls by inviting the listener into a vision of their own life, improved.
Ask for the YES
Most people never ask. Say exactly what you want them to do next, then stop talking. A YES opens doors.
Podcast
The Forbes Factor: your secret to health, wealth & happiness
“I love doing this show, meeting amazing guests and sharing inside tips and secrets with the world.” Live weekly on VoiceAmerica, then on Apple Podcasts. Guests have included customer-service trainer David Brownlee, health expert David “Avocado” Wolfe and Scorpion’s Walter O’Brien.
Flagship
Q&A with Forbes Riley
On business, health, fitness and life. Interview by Andy Charalambous.
TV host, CEO of SpinGym, author, speaker, actress. National Fitness Hall of Fame 2010. Moxie Award winner, Best Female Presenter (2x). Certified personal trainer, licensed massage therapist, NLP master, brown belt in Tae Kwon Do.
What are you known for professionally?
As the 2010 National Fitness Hall of Fame inductee I am most known for being a leading authority in health, fitness and wellness, and for selling more than $2 billion worth of health and fitness products on TV. I am most recognized from hosting the Jack LaLanne Power Juicer, which aired for eight years in 80 countries, and the Montel Williams HealthMaster. And for creating SpinGym. When I launched it on PitchMen I was told it would never work and I was wasting my time. Professionally, I am the health and wellness Martha Stewart.
How did you get into your line of work?
I was an actress on TV and in movies and a TV host. My daily job, however, was to promote health and fitness products on home shopping, and I have been doing it for more than 20 years. I was overweight and ridiculed most of my life in spite of my “success,” and decided that after I figured out my own body issues I could inspire others to get fit, happy and healthy.
What do you enjoy most about what you do?
Helping others. There is amazing joy watching someone come into their own, gaining confidence, and getting not only the body they’ve always dreamed of but the life they didn’t even know was waiting for them.
What’s the single most important reason for your success?
A crazy desire to help others and being in front of the camera. I just love what I do.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Getting SpinGym from a product “no one wanted” to an international fitness sensation. I own the company 100 percent and it’s all my heart and soul.
What is the most difficult part of starting a business?
Having people believe in you.
What do you consider success as a business owner?
Making a positive impact on people’s lives and having them achieve a new level of happiness. Financially, taking care of everyone around me, from family to employees.
Your least favorite part of being an entrepreneur?
You are always responsible for everything. The smartest thing you can learn to do is delegate, surround yourself with smart, capable people, and trust.
Isn’t it hard to stay fit? How do you manage it?
“Hard to do anything” is a mindset. It’s just part of my happiness to be fit, so I work out daily, eat clean, hang out with positive people and stay focused on the dream.
What’s the best way to get started in your industry?
I am a professional TV host who also markets on TV. To get here you need to train in speech, presenting, improv and perhaps a bit of acting. I run a workshop twice a year to coach people who dream of hosting on HSN or QVC, an infomercial, or shows like Extra and ET.
Forbesisms
So many thoughts, so little time
“Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.”Success secrets
“Failure is not the opposite of success.”Innovations
“For those who dare to dream, there is a whole world to win.”SpinGym
“The best is yet to come.”Random thought for the day
“Having people believe in you is the hardest part. So believe first.”On starting out
“Dream it. Believe it. Achieve it.”Her favorite speech
Pitch Secrets A to Z
Forbes’ newest book, the complete pitch system in one place. Get the book. Also by Forbes: Redefinitions and Virdition. Alongside Dot Com Secrets by her friend Russell Brunson, which she calls a great read with the most amazing ideas.
Ready to pitch for real?
Pitch Practice Pods, Pitch Like a Pro and Momentum X take this page and make it your habit.
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