Dance With Me is a dance/fitness program created by Bill Blanks Jr. and his wife Sharon Catherine Blanks. Together, they bring their combination fitness instruction and certification course grooving into the Shark Tank on Friday, May 11. Swimming with Sharks is one thing, the Blanks family may be the first business to dance with the Sharks!
Billy Blanks and his wife Sharon have been working together as dance and fitness instructors for 12 years. They created Dance With Me as a fitness program. They hope to grow the business by certifying Dance With Me instructors nationwide. They also sell a series of dance/fitness videos designed to get you dancing, sweating, and on the road to better health.
Billy Blanks Jr. – Knows Fitness
Blanks is no stranger to the fitness industry. His father, Billy Blanks Sr., was an accomplished martial arts champion. He is best known for inventing Tae Bo, a fitness program that mixes elements of Tae Kwon Do and Boxing that was very popular in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. Paula Abdul was a big proponent of Tae Bo and is listed as a mentor to Billy Blanks Jr. on the Dance With Me website.
Dance With Me sells quite a few DVD’s and runs dance/fitness classes. The big play appears to be their Dance With Me Certification Program. Billy and Sharon want to certify instructors nationwide; there are classes happening in the coming weeks all over the USA and you can purchase a Dance With Me Certification Video online. It would appear Dance With Me wants a national network of instructors. It states on their website: “Every instructor is an independent contractor who decides his/her rates, schedule, terms & agreements, etc.” This makes it unclear as to whether there is an ongoing royalty paid to Dance With Me by certified instructors. While sales of the Dance With Me Certification Program would certainly generate a fair amount of revenue, I would think the real money is in ongoing royalties.
I am torn as to whether any of the Sharks would bite at this business. First of all, it appears to be mature and generating income. Second, Blanks has other interests too- he acts in videos, sells videos, creates promotional dancing flash mobs, and much more. He is pretty plugged in to the LA celebrity scene and counts many A-listers as clients. On the surface, it would appear this is another Shark Tank publicity stunt.
The one thing that makes me think they get a deal is some timing issues. The company, Dance With Me LLC, just launched their own Amazon store. They are also listing a slew of certification classes in the weeks immediately following their appearance on Shark Tank; there are dozens of certification classes scheduled all over the country and in Japan. If Blanks actually needed Shark Tank funding to expand, it would appear he may have received it based on the timing of these elements. Or it could be a well executed publicity play.
My guess is if the numbers work, Blanks gets a deal. Otherwise, chalk this one up to good marketing and pre-show planning.
I am officially “on the fence!”
Entrepreneur, auteur, raconteur. Rob Merlino is a blogger and writer who enjoys the Shark Tank TV show and Hot Dogs. A father of five who freelances in a variety of publications, Rob has a stable of websites including Shark Tank Blog, Hot Dog Stories, Rob Merlino.com and more.
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Maybe this comment will get deleted and that’s fine. But here’s what I don’t understand. Billy Blank states his father did not share his wealth and wants to do things on his own anyway. Billy Jr claims he wants to be separate from his father, yet makes sure to use his fathers name, Damon from the Shark Tank even said he would only invest if his fathers name continues to be used. So please someone
explain to me how that’s making it on your own? Just because dad didn’t invest in you? Well his name is worth a whole lot more. He could have chosen any name out there, but he chose his own name which happens to be his dads name and people will notice his dads name first and foremost when buying. The actual product is secondary, could be great, but wouldn’t get the attention without dads name. It’s possible to have succeeded without dads name, but that is the more difficult route that was not chosen. Also, lots of people become homeless, I’ve had my own share of problems, I do not think it should be a factor in selecting who to invest in. He may very well have been homeless, but others lie (ie the singer on that talent show who claimed to have served in the military but did not). So let’s just focus on the talent and the product and not sad stories, shall we? Not trying to be a jerk, just calling things like I see them.
Umm… Billy Blanks is his name too…so he’s supposed to change his name that has been his name for 20/30 years just so he doesn’t live in his father’s shadow..? If he isn’t getting help by money and it doesn’t seem like he’s helping or using his sources than the name is just the name.