What could be better than exercising every day and hanging out in your own awesome health club? If owning a gym is your dream job — keep reading our blog. The truth is – opening a gym is a lot more than just buying gym equipment and unlocking doors. Succeeding at owning a gym takes planning, perseverance, moxie, and money. Today, we've spoken with experienced gym owners to learn four of the most common mistakes new gym owners make when getting started in the business. Understand your lease fully before signing on the dotted line! #1 — Signing a lease too quickly [...]
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Ensuring your fitness center appears in an internet search engine's local business listing feed is one of the most important marketing steps you can take as a new gym owner. Your health club needs to be on the list when a potential member types in “gyms near me.” Here’s how to make sure you’ve got a shot at the top spot. Which are the top business citation sites? There are literally hundreds national directories, but you need to make sure your gym is listed in the top business citation sites. As well, your gym should be listed on top industry niches. Niches [...]
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As a gym owner, you're constantly balancing spending money with losing money. One of the hardest decisions is always — where to invest your marketing dollars. Although that's a complex question, it might be easier to start at a very basic idea. From how far away will someone drive to exercise at your gym? Most industry experts say about four miles. Gym goers will trek twice that distance, or between six and eight miles, if they can expect a high-end, exclusive club experience. There are exceptions, of course, but we can safely assume the best way to survive – and thrive as [...]
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It takes passion to run a small gym. Not just an interest in hanging around weights, but a true desire to be in the industry, to pull it off when so many factors are pushing against you. We all want you to succeed, but what does it take to make it in today’s competitive fitness industry? Who are the ones succeeding? Most Americans are not gym members! Fewer than 40% of people in the United States currently have gym memberships, according to Policy Advice’s research. That totals about 64 million people who visit a club regularly. So although the number [...]
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Hashtags, those crazy little pound signs, are a big part of making social media work for your fitness studio. However, like every marketing tool, hashtags have their own list of do’s and don’ts. Read on to gain a better insight into the best practices of adding hashtags to your social media posts and how to make them work for your gym. What’s the purpose of hashtags? Hashtags direct your post to a community of like-minded people and magnifies your social voice. Additionally, they grow reach organically. That means individuals discover your posts without searching specifically for you or by clicking [...]
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Originally published on 4-6-21 by Cory Sterling, founder of Conscious Counsel, on the Conscious Counsel website. Republished with permission. Five minute read. Music can increase motivation and add a spark of fun to anything. The music you play in your business is the soundtrack of your customers’ experience. In this blog post we explore the legalities of using music in wellness classes: what is a copyright, do I have the right to play music on my premises, how can I legally play music in my classes and can I play music online? What is Copyright? Copyright is a collection of [...]
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Digital marketing is here to stay. Chances are you’ve already dipped into online advertising by promoting your fitness center on social media. However, when it comes to spending money on digital advertising, where should you start? To understand the fundamentals of digital marketing we turned to Get Amplified Marketing Group owner Nick Sakkis for some answers. First, what kind of budget do I need? There are two main players in the digital ad world: Facebook and Google. If your budget is $1,000 or less a month, Facebook (which also owns Instagram) is the most cost effective promotion. Facebook and Instagram attract different viewers, [...]
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Here’s a Great Checklist to you get started! We know designing a seasonal marketing plan can be daunting. It may seem easier to wait until after the holidays to encourage new sales. Don't think like that. Promoting your gym business is like exercise - consistency creates results that lead to great success. The challenge is in overcoming the negative self talk. To help you get started on this onerous task, we've prepared a simple overview of the primary ingredients you'll need to promote your health club this fall. First, what’s it going to be? Paid advertising or a referral campaign? [...]
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After students leave for college and the costly fall shopping season starts, many health clubs experience a surge in gym membership freezes. But these short-term fixes can be costly to a gym owner. With a little planning, though, your fitness center can avoid this seasonal ritual and come out ahead — with happier customers and, maybe, even more personal training clients. Why do members freeze their gym membership? Customers are on the defensive when they're ready to cancel or freeze memberships. Often, freezing a membership is just a polite way of saying “cancel my membership.” The customer wants out but is looking [...]
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Choosing which equipment to stock in your gym is one of the many huge decisions you must make as a business owner. Especially when your budget and floor space are limited, the pressure is on to make your selections carefully. This week, we'll be looking at some of the pros and cons of popular cardio equipment, so you can evaluate them based on your own priorities. Treadmills Regarded as of the most ubiquitous cardio machines out there, treadmills are popular for a reason. Running (or even walking) in and of itself is a fantastic, effective cardio workout that the majority [...]
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The fitness industry is always in competition with itself. Although we would love to think everyone wants to join a gym, in reality, we are all fighting for the same people, many of whom already belong to another health club or fitness center. That’s why your health club needs a gym referral program. Tapping loyal members for friends and family referrals is one of the most effective methods of luring new customers. What is a gym referral program? This is a specific marketing effort created to encourage existing members to refer other people. It can be baked into your signup process, [...]
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Asking for (More) Business After the gym membership sale, what comes next? A fist bump and a calendar check? Excited smiles and vow to “see you tomorrow!” Or, perhaps, just one more ask? Leaping past the traditional goodbyes after a sale and staying in place to ask for referral business is the difference between a good close and a great one. According to consumer research group Nielsen, 92% of people trust referrals from people they know. So why would you not use this moment to secure a name or two of someone who might also benefit from exercising at your gym? [...]
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Closing the Sale Thus far in our five-part series “How to Sell Gym Memberships,” we’ve shown how refining and polishing your customer interaction can build value in your health club and steer clients away from focusing on price alone. In Part IV, we discuss the most critical step – closing the sale. This is where your newly gained client knowledge really pays off. Closing the sale By now in the sales process with Joe New Prospect, you’ve: Established a strong rapport by using his name frequentlyExhibited product knowledge that cements your authority as a fitness expertDetermined goals and how long he’s considered joining a [...]
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Price Presentation In our first two blogs in the How to Sell Gym Memberships series, we discussed two critical techniques – how to establish an immediate rapport with new leads and the essential elements of a proper gym tour. In this piece, we explore presenting price. While this can feel like the scariest moment in the sale, it can actually be the simplest — if you’re prepared. Here are the three rules to remember about price presentation. 1 — Limit membership choices. By the end of the gym tour, it’s time to present the price. Start by ensuring your gym presents a streamlined, easy-to-understand [...]
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How to Conduct a Proper Tour Selling a gym membership is more than presenting a monthly fee and hoping it fits the customer’s budget. As we discussed in Part I Introduction & Goal Assessment, employees need to make the customer feel comfortable by using their name and asking questions to determine their fitness goals before revealing prices or touring the gym. In Part II, we go over the essential steps to successfully introducing your gym to a prospect. In terms of the value sales process, this is where you sell both the tangible and intangible benefits of joining your gym, such as [...]
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