5 Lessons from Launching Selling Longevity

In this solo episode of The Optimal Aging Podcast, host Jay Croft shares five key lessons he’s learned from promoting his new book, Selling Longevity, and appearing on multiple podcasts. These takeaways will help fitness, health, and wellbeing professionals better connect with the over-50 market — a powerful audience with time, resources, and motivation to invest in their health.

You’ll hear why telling stories beats quoting statistics, how to build trust with quick wins, and why aligning every aspect of your business matters. Jay also offers actionable steps you can start implementing today to refine your marketing and improve client engagement.

Whether you’re a gym owner, trainer, or wellness coach, these insights will help you present your business more effectively, sell more persuasively, and serve your clients better.

Timestamps

00:00 – Why small changes can make a big impact
 01:30 – Welcome and book launch update
 03:00 – Lesson 1: Understand the over-50 market
 05:00 – Lesson 2: Lead with stories, not statistics
 07:00 – Lesson 3: Build trust with quick wins
 10:00 – Lesson 4: Master your message so you can improvise
 13:00 – Lesson 5: Align every part of your business
 15:00 – Recap of the 5 takeaways
 15:30 – Where to get Selling Longevity and connect with Jay

Episode Outline

1. Understand the over-50 market

• Replace outdated stereotypes with inspiring, capable, and adventurous portrayals.

2. Lead with stories, not statistics

• Emotional, relatable client success stories create lasting connections.

3. Build trust with quick wins

• Small, visible changes can signal expertise and commitment.

4. Master your message so you can improvise

• Know your material so well you can adapt it to any audience.

5. Align every part of your business

• Ensure your marketing matches the actual client experience.

Resources Mentioned:

• 📘 Selling Longevity – Get the book on Amazon
• 🌐 Prime Fit Content – primefitcontent.com

🎤 Host: Jay Croft
Jay Croft is the founder of Prime Fit Content and author of Selling Longevity, helping fitness and wellness professionals grow their businesses with more people over 50.

🌐 Podcast Website: primefitcontent.com
📱 Instagram: @primefitcontent
💼 LinkedIn: Jay Croft

👍 Rate the show on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
 📬 Join our email list – Subscribe here

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's not one big thing that will change
everything.
Rather, it's starting to do aseries of small things or
meaningful little wins that addup.
For instance, you can changethe lead image on your website
to show a vibrant, active clientin, say, their 60s or 70s.
You can update your intake formso that you're asking about

(00:25):
life goals and even fears,inhibitions, not just about
weight or strength targets, howmuch you want your weight to be
or how much weight you want tobe able to lift Um.

(00:47):
You can also add a short clientsuccess story to all of your
email blasts, because thesethings are really easy to do.
They're low hanging fruit.
If you're doing your job,you've got these stories to
share, so you need to be doingthat, and none of these are
magic bullets.
It's not going to changeanything for you overnight, but
they are simple and they arehonest improvements that signal
this place is for you to theover 50 fitness consumer out

(01:12):
there.
Well, hi everybody.
Jay Croft here.
Welcome to Optimal Aging, theshow for fitness, health and
well-being professionals who aretrying to grow their businesses
with more people over 50.

(01:34):
The last two weeks have been awhirlwind for me in a great way.
It's been very exciting.
Since the publication of myfirst book, selling Longevity,
I've been going on a bunch ofpodcasts talking about the book
and about the issues behind itand the ideas behind it, and how

(01:55):
fitness professionals andothers in health and well-being
can communicate better to reachmore people over 50.
And communicate better to reachmore people over 50.
And this week, in fact, you canhear me on Rick Mayo's Alloy
podcast, which I know you'llenjoy, because Rick and I always
have a good time talking aboutthese things running smart

(02:16):
fitness businesses that aredoing well by tilting toward
people who are just a little bitolder 40, 50 and above.
Now, don't worry, I promisethis podcast episode is not
going to be just me talkingabout my book and rattling off
all the recent podcastappearances I've made, because

(02:36):
that wouldn't be fun for you,wouldn't be much use to you.
So instead, though, I want toshare just a few lessons that
I've picked up from theseconversations that I'm having
with different people, who areall coming at this from a
different angle.
Some are gym owners themselves,some have, like Rick have, the
heads of large enterprises, soit can be a different nuance

(03:01):
depending on who I'm talking to,and so they all have different
points of view and it's been areal learning experience
different nuance depending onwho I'm talking to, and so they
all have different points ofview and it's been a real
learning experience.
So I want to share these fivesimple things with you that I
think will help you present yourbusiness better as well and
help you sell better andultimately serve your clients
better.
So there are just five of them.
Here's number one this market,people over 50, I say 50, some

(03:25):
people say 40, some people say55, whatever.
So from here on out, we're justgoing to say the over 50 market
.
It's still misunderstood by somany people in fitness.
Here's something that keptpopping up in these interviews.
People kept putting forth thismental picture either that they

(03:46):
have, or that they're aware thattheir prospects and clients
have that once you're in your50s, let alone 60s or 70s or
later, you want to slow down andyou don't really want to do
much.
And if you do anything, it'sgot to be gentle because you
really don't want to get hurtanything.

(04:06):
It's got to be gentle becauseyou really don't want to get
hurt, and that's just not whatthe facts bear out.
It's not what my reportingshows.
I've actually heard about somany clients that these folks
have.
I've met many people sharedtheir stories in the book and in
my work at Prime Fit Contentabout people going out on these

(04:26):
multi-day hikes and aboutgrandmothers who start
deadlifting, about retirees whofind a whole new social circle
through small group training, onand on.
So the opportunity here wellshowed them as strong and
capable and excited about life.
Instead of dialing things backautomatically, position your

(04:50):
programs as tools for buildingstrength, independence and, yes,
even a sense of adventure.
So here's my action step foryou.
On lesson one, take a look atyour marketing materials.
Do people in their 50s, 60s,70s, etc.
Can they see themselves as thehero of the story that you're

(05:11):
telling, or are they missingentirely from the story that
you're telling?
If it's the latter, that's aproblem you can fix, starting
right away.
Lesson number two stories tellbetter than statistics.
Now, I love a good statistic,trust me.
I've shared plenty aboutspending power and participation

(05:35):
rates, changing demographics,you name it.
But here's the truth.
I could feel it when a story Itold was landing with a podcast
host better than any data pointthat I was presenting.
One of my favorites is a storyabout a woman here in Atlanta,
who told me that she washeartbroken when she was trying

(05:59):
to play with her two-year-oldgranddaughter and she couldn't
do it because she got windedalmost immediately and she then
joined a gym, started workingout, taking better care of
herself and six months later shewas with the same little girl
at the playground, running upthe slide, climbing up the slide

(06:20):
, going down it together,running around, just laughing
their heads off, having so muchfun.
And she said she almost cried,telling me the story of the
little girl running up to herwith her arms open and saying do
it again, nana, do it again.
Now, that's the kind of momentthat people remember and it's

(06:40):
the kind of moment that makes alifelong customer out of that
particular grandma.
But it also really spreads toall the other grandmas and
grandpas out there who canrelate to her, grandmas and
grandpas out there who canrelate to her.
So here's my action step foryou.
On lesson number two, makestories a regular part of your
content.

(07:00):
Put them in your newsletters,in your social media, even in
your sales conversations thatyou're having with prospects,
because people will forgetstatistics and people already
know that they're supposed to beexercising, but they will
remember a story that makes themhave an emotional reaction.
They'll remember the way youmade them feel about someone

(07:24):
just like them.
Lesson number three everybodywants quick wins.
That's not the same as lookingfor a shortcut.
Everybody wants quick wins.
That's not the same as lookingfor a shortcut.
Now, I've had a number of thesepodcast hosts ask me if I'm a
gym owner and I want to reachout to more older clients,
what's one thing I should doright away, and it's not one big

(07:50):
thing that will changeeverything.
Rather, it's starting to do aseries of small things or
meaningful little wins that addup.
For instance, you can changethe lead image on your website
to show a vibrant, active clientin, say, their 60s or 70s.
You can update your intake formso that you're asking about

(08:12):
life goals and even fears,inhibitions, not just about
weight or strength targets, howmuch you want your weight to be
or how much weight you want tobe able to lift.
You can also add a short clientsuccess story to all of your

(08:32):
email blasts, because thesethings are really easy to do.
They're low-hanging fruit.
If you're doing your job,you've got these stories to
share, so you need to be doingthat, and none of these are
magic bullets.
It's not going to changeanything for you overnight, but
they are simple and they arehonest improvements that signal

(08:53):
this place is for you to theover 50 fitness consumer out
there.
Hey, are you a fitnessprofessional trying to grow your
business with people over 50?
If you are, then you need toknow how to communicate with
them, how to market to them andhow to get them to trust you
with their fitness, well-beingand money.

(09:15):
We're talking about millions ofpeople who are a little older
than the typical market that thefitness industry usually
pursues.
They have more money, more timeand better motivation to make
the best long-term fitnessconsumers you'll find anywhere.
If you're not focusing on them,you should be.
Prime Fit Content is the onlycontent marketing company

(09:37):
designed specifically to helpyou engage people in this group
and to help you distinguishyourself from competitors in
your community.
It's effective, affordable andsuper easy to use.
Check it out atprimefitcontentcom.
That's prime like prime of yourlife fitcontentcom.
Back to the show.

(09:57):
So here's your action step forlesson number three Pick one
change you can make this weekand do it, and then pick another
next week and do it.
Keep stacking those wins.
They'll add up faster than youthink and if you have trouble
thinking of what they might be,ask your staff.
Right, you can even ask yourmembers whose opinions you trust

(10:22):
.
What could you do?
One little thing that wouldopen the world up for some
people.
Lesson number four you need toknow your stuff so well that you
can improvise.
When you've been talking aboutone thing nonstop, like I've
been doing for the last coupleof weeks in promoting selling

(10:42):
longevity, you start to noticehow you adapt your message to
different audiences.
Some of the podcast shows weremore about business, the dollars
and cents.
Some were more about theemotional stories, and I could
pivot my examples without losingthe thread of the conversation

(11:05):
or distorting the integrity ofthe message.
And that's the benefit of beingoff book, which is what actors
call it when they're far enoughalong in the rehearsal process
that they can drop the scriptand just really be in the moment
.
That's where they get the goodstuff of discovering their
characters and that's whereyou're going to get the good
stuff of connecting with people.

(11:27):
Here's a little trick that I'veused for years.
You know, when something getstoo complicated, I say explain
it to me like I'm your neighbor.
I'm smart, but I'm not anexpert and I'm interested enough
to be listening to you, but notinterested enough to waste a
lot of time while you prattle onright.
So try that it forces clarity.

(11:48):
Here's my action step forlesson number four I want you to
work on your one sentence pitch, write it out, edit it, write
it again and then try it out onsomebody who's not in the
fitness industry and see if theyget it immediately.
If they don't, you need to keeprefining it until they do.

(12:08):
You know that expression, yourelevator pitch.
That comes from the scenario ofbeing stuck in an elevator with
someone and they say, oh, whatdo you do?
Well, that's an opportunity.
Every conversation you have isan opportunity to deliver that
elevator pitch in a way that hassome impact and is going to
resonate with the person who'shearing.

(12:29):
So it needs to be tight andrelevant.
Lesson number five everythingabout your business must align.
Someone asked me, I think, justyesterday one of the podcast
hosts asked me what was the mostsurprising lesson that I
learned, or the biggest surprisethat I learned in writing the

(12:51):
book, and I had to say that itwas from putting everything
together for the first time inorder one, two, three, four,
five, all the way down the lineand advising gyms on how to
choose the perfect customer, howto come up with their key
messages, how to do theirmarketing, how to ensure that

(13:12):
their client experience delivers.
On all of that so that they'reputting raving fans back into
the community, who bring intheir own friends with referrals
right.
I'd written about all of thesethings many times, but it was
the first time.
Putting together the book thatit was, uh.
I put them all together, laidthem out in a line, and I saw

(13:36):
all the pieces click togetherlike Lego pieces and I thought,
oh, this is right, this is good.
I'm not forcing anything.
I'm not um, I'm not trying tomake a piece fit that doesn't
fit.
This is all very organic and itall goes together.
And that made me feel reallygood about the stories that I'm
telling and the book that I justwrote and the business that I

(13:57):
have that I'm trying to get morepeople involved in, because
when everything fits together,that means you've got something
good going on.
It's when you find yourselfjamming to make something fit
that you need to rethink it.
So here's my action, step forlesson number five when you step
back from your day-to-day grindand audit your business and

(14:21):
your business communications.
I want you to see where yourmarketing matches what actually
happens when someone walks inthe door.
Does your client experiencereflect the promises that you're
making?
These kinds of things all theway through, from soup to nuts,
as they say and if not, thenyou'll see, perhaps, what you

(14:44):
need to work on next, the thingthat stands out.
So, to wrap up, the five bigtakeaways address the
aspirations, fears and activelifestyle of the over 50 market.
Number two lead with storiesabout real people, not about you
or your staff, but about thepeople you help.
Number three build trust withquick, honest wins that show

(15:10):
your expertise and commitment.
Number four master yourmessages so that you can adapt
them.
Number five make sure everypart of your business fits
together.
If you want to take a deeperdive into all of this, I've
written a book Selling Longevity.
You can get it on Amazon inprint and on Kindle.

(15:33):
You can also find it on mywebsite, which is
primefitcontentcom.
That's where I market my ownmaterial that I sell to gyms
like yours to help you attractmore clients over 50.
And we do this with my premiummarketing materials used in your
email newsletters, your socialmedia, your blog, things like

(15:54):
that it's a way to distinguishyourself and your community and
stake a claim that this is whoyou are and what you're all
about, and the right people willthen find you.
So I hope you'll follow me onLinkedIn, on Instagram, facebook
, all the places, and I want tothank you for listening to
Optimal Aging today.
I'll be back next week.

(16:15):
See you then.