Growing an Online Supportive Health and Fitness Brotherhood with Funk Roberts

Success Story Highlights

724,000 subscribers on YouTube over 16 years

14,000+ members in the 40Alpha Brotherhood

50-60% conversion from challenge to membership

A “Yes You Can” Recipe

What can we learn about starting and running a successful health and fitness membership site from an athletic champion and trainer of combat fighters, who runs two seven-figure businesses, including one that made $1 million in one year with a single sales funnel? Funk Roberts, a multi-certified metabolic trainer, MMA coach, nutrition coach, core conditioning and performance specialist, and creator of the motivational Over 40 Alpha Membership for Men Over 40, has practical advice that anyone can follow, with the help of LifterLMS.

Funk was a successful corporate nine-to-five career man, but he missed the connection he had as a youth in the world of professional athletics. As a former indoor and beach volleyball champion in his youth, health and fitness was a connection he thought he’d always have in his life. It took a journey of self awareness at age forty to realize that was where his passion lay.

Outside of the office, in his own time Funk offered one on one personal training, as well as working out himself six days a week, a schedule that eventually became unsustainable. Luckily for Funk, he was able to get involved with YouTube early on. The then-new platform presented an opportunity and soon he was posting fitness videos.

Despite the effort he was putting into his fitness lifestyle, he did not feel well physically nor mentally. In 2010 at age forty he was told that his levels of testosterone were those of an eighty year old man. With guidance from specialists Funk adjusted his workouts and eating habits, and transformed his body. Within an impressive six months his physique went from a puffy 215 pounds to 185 pounds and lean.

Feeling healthy and vibrant once again, outside of his office work hours he focused on his fitness newsletter, wrote blog posts, and uploaded videos to YouTube, knowing that this was where his passion lay. Eventually, he quit his corporate job to devote himself to his growing metabolic fitness business, while also training and competing professionally in Muay Thai.

“I’ve done a lot of online courses. I’ve gone through many people’s online courses. So I know already what I want. And you guys have everything. You guys are amazing. “
—Funk Roberts, Metabolic Fitness Entrepreneur

Authenticity

Despite attaining impressive health and athletic goals, Funk knows what it is like for his membership of “regular guys” to go through the training. An unforeseen health setback of his own four years ago put Funk’s program to the test on a personal level, when a bout of crypto organizing pneumonia warranted his taking a medication that unraveled some of his own health equilibrium.

To get back to his optimum health and testosterone levels, Funk found himself testing his own program, as he put himself through the same rigorous as his members, working out with them. Not only did this demonstrate the effectiveness of his program, it also showed Funk’s own authenticity—a key element in what now became the Over40 Brotherhood. He has continued to work out and struggle alongside his members as a coach and brother.

Finding the Ideal Member: Pain Points and Pinpoints

Funk set about building the brotherhood by first locating his “tribe”––men in their 40s, 50s, 60s and even older, who want to feel and look better, losing weight, burning fat, and building muscle. Leading with what they were struggling with, he had 10,000 men respond to a survey, pinpointing symptoms familiar to many of them, including belly fat, fatigue, pre-diabetes, low sex drive, muscle loss, and weight gain, often symptoms of low testosterone which statistically decreases 2% every year after age thirty.

Lessons that Keep Members Leveling Up

A big part of Funk’s Over40 Brotherhood success is a careful planning of training levels using LifterLMS. He shares that people want to be guided through the process. In his one dollar thirty-day trial potential members get to see what the journey is, how the lessons progress, and feel confident in the results they’ll get. With the challenge as a sales funnel, conversion to membership is a successful 50-60%.

Once they become members they receive three years of programming, with twelve phases each. To encourage and motivate, every three months they receive a tee shirt that represents what they’ve accomplished, as well as contributes to a relatable “uniform.” A mobile app makes programming even more accessible and ensures easy participation.

“With a site template, they can get the WordPress instance created, the plugins installed, and the themes installed and activated, and then using the one-click theme setup wizard, get all the demo content loaded.”

Why LifterLMS

Funk checked out another learning management system but when he found LifterLMS he saw that it had the features he wanted that would allow him to scale up his online courses as his membership grew. The certifications and exams that LifterLMS offers were to him important for offering continuing education credits, CPUs, and other types of accreditation.

I’ve done a lot of online courses. I’ve gone through many people’s online courses. So I know already what I want. And you guys have everything. You guys are amazing.

In addition to LifterLMS, Funk uses Wishlist for membership, ClickFunnels, WooCommerce, YouTube and YouTube ads, and credits his copywriters for sales copy that converts.

Building a Successful Program with Continuity and Community

You don’t have to be an aspiring metabolic trainer to glean inspiration from Funk Roberts approach to running a membership website. Many of his key takeaways apply to any kind of community or e-learning site.

Funk’s Takeaways for a Successful Membership Site

Know your audience. Find out their needs, frustrations and goals.
Keep it real. Funk coaches through the workouts and shares his own struggles, as do the members of the Over40 Brotherhood, who support one another.
Evolve to engage: Level up lessons to keep your members engaged. Funk found that after one year his members were so invested and motivated they wanted more, which lead to his second and third year programs.
Build community: Community for Funk is a key element in his membership, as it allows members to become caring supportive brothers with one another, as they improve not only their health and vitality, but also mindset for a better life. Some members become moderators or captains. Hangouts allow members to chat more casually and bond further, sometimes leading to real life meetings.
Ritual & accountability: Reaching benchmarks, achieving certification, or receiving three-month tee shirts are examples of how Funk motivates and ensures accountability within a group.
Lots of testimonials: Funk’s websites and social media are filled with enthusiastic testimonials and before-and-after photos of men who have improved their health and fitness. The sheer number provide evidence of the effectiveness of his program.