Company Profile: Whetstone Fitness, Donnie Whetstone, owner Sometimes it takes a rainy day to see the future. The gym IFBB Pro Donnie Whetstone co-owned was closed. The keys were in his hand. And the darkened building stood alone against a gray sky, waiting for his decision. Now, he thought, I have to breathe life back into it. It’s going to be hard. Eventually, it will be worth the effort. That’s the message this 63-year-old Master Pro Body Builder wishes to impart to our readers. That no matter how hard the struggle, if you have faith in your intuition and a [...]
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Looking to increase your gym’s revenue quickly without bumping up marketing costs? Anthony Pasquale, Gym Insight Sales Manager, recorded this excellent video to help gym owners discover new ways to expand and increase your club’s earnings through soliciting corporate accounts. We thought there might be even more to learn about this subject, though, so we decided to look a little closer at his suggestions. Strategy #1 — Explore corporate accounts and gym reimbursements. As Anthony states, corporate accounts are an awesome way to lower a member's out-of-pocket gym costs without reducing your monthly fees. In these cases, a company — usually the [...]
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Determining how to increase your gym’s website rankings is probably one of the least understood parts of the digital realm we live in today – especially as it relates to social media campaigns. We all know search engines and social media are an important part of building a successful company. Yet, many small businesses, such as privately owned gyms, struggle to put the pieces in place. In this post, we'd like to cover website ranking basics and offer you a few good ideas. Here are some common terms and why they mean something to your business. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) — [...]
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#GymInsight: Flexing muscle in an industry growing as fast as the Internet. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube Why go social now? Over the past 13 years, our company has grown from two gym owners-turned-software-developers into a buzzing hive of professionals, each offering talents that enlarge and improve our software’s capabilities. At Gym Insight we created our gym management software to improve how fitness businesses were run. From converting “pen and paper” gyms, to competing against the world’s largest software management companies, Gym Insight has charged forward on a relentless path of improvement. Through reputation, word-of-mouth, advertising, and now social media, our [...]
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Company Profile: Raegan Reed, The Cardio Club Welcome to our monthly customer profile series! This May, we feature Raegan Reed, owner of the Cardio Club and Delhi Dance Studio in New York state. Read on to discover how she built a successful, multi-faceted fitness center in a small town along the Catskill mountains. Raegan Reed’s living her destiny. There is a saying, “You are the sum total of all your decisions.” Nowhere is this wise adage truer than when considering the life of Raegan Reed. With a servant’s heart and a dancer’s energy, she’s taken an established aerobic studio in [...]
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Employee Profile: Steven Cole Manning, customer support It takes gumption to work, go to college, and raise a tween, but our customer support pro Steven Cole Manning makes it look and sound easy. He’s one the newest members of our team and has quickly revealed a multiplicity of talents that are reshaping our social media outreach. Hired to support Danny Fagan, our director of customer support, Steven Cole brings an eclectic background as useful as it is interesting. Read on to discover how a gift for gab and an ear for music are moving our software company into the future. [...]
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By Sam Monempour, NAI Capital Commercial Real Estate Services, Worldwide Opening a gym/fitness center is a challenging and complex venture with many moving parts. Before diving in, it is essential to carefully plan and prepare for the ever-changing aspects of the fitness industry. Over the years, gyms have gone from standard places of exercise and bodybuilding to a social environment with integrated social media influences, new technologies, new formats of exercise, and many various forms of build-out. 1. Decide gym style and market before signing a lease. The first step in signing a well-designed lease is to determine the type of [...]
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Every gym owner knows summertime is one of the slowest times of the year. Gyms historically see a jump in membership at New Years’ and in the spring. Unfortunately, by late May this universal urge to slim down fades as summer arrives. Sadly, many of these newcomers are ready to cancel their memberships as well. Many gym owners are tempted to just ride out the summer months As a fitness club owner, summer is a great time to refresh equipment, renovate interior or exterior gym areas or go on vaca. After all, burnout is real in this business. However, it is [...]
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As 2023 enters midyear, recession chatter is building. The stock markets are tilting sideways. OPEC just announced a hold on production. Inflation is still high and, for the first time in years, job openings are declining. What does this mean for your gym? How can you take advantage of an economic downturn? Well, let’s remember three years ago, the world shut down. And despite the 2020 pandemic eliminating thousands of mom-and-pop gyms, your company made it. Many gyms, indeed, thrived once doors reopened. How did the best gyms survive the COVID shutdown? The owners kept spying opportunities instead of barriers. Lawrence, Gym Insight Here [...]
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Welcome to our monthly customer profile. This spring we are speaking with Claude Mumpower III, owner of Iron Mayhem Strength and Conditioning in Bristol, Virginia. He brings an optimistic, growth-focused perspective we are excited to share with you. Lessons learned while growing a gym Mumpower established Iron Mayhem in 2014 after retiring from a career in law enforcement. His first fitness center maxed out at 2,000 square feet, which he quickly outgrew. Unfortunately, Mumpower jumped into his next location without vetting the lease and found an expensive secondary agreement that cost him both time and money. Using that mistake as a lesson [...]
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Guest Author: JoAnn M. Eickhoff-Shemek, PhD, FACSM President, Fitness Law Academy, LLC Introduction This blog will describe the types of legal liability risks that health club owners/managers can face due to an employee’s negligent conduct and effective risk management strategies that can minimize those risks. Large companies and healthcare organizations have risk management (RM) departments that employ experts who develop and implement RM strategies to protect the company or organization from all types of risks including legal liability risks. Because most health clubs do not have a RM department, the owner/manager has the overall responsibility to minimize legal liability risks [...]
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In our latest Gym Owner’s Podcast, “Your Burning Questions Answered,” sales managers Anthony Pasquale and Natalia Schulte cover common questions sent in by gym owners as they struggle to balance customer service and growing a profitable gym. For a full listen, go to our YouTube page at The Gym Owner’s Podcast. Check back often because our sales duo will take on your questions again soon. Q: What do I do about members who don’t want to leave a card on file? This often happens in gyms that start without software in place. And since many members don’t use the gym after [...]
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Guest blog authors: Mariann Murphy, Vice President, Medical Fitness Association Cosmo Wollan, Senior Executive, Synergy Cubed Approximately 45 million adults in the U.S. have a gym membership. Sounds like a lot, but the sad reality is that’s only 14 percent of the population (Source: Realbuzz). Baby boomers alone make up over 21 percent of the population. According to ACSM’s Worldwide Surveys of Fitness Trends for 2023, the number 4 top trend is: “Fitness Programs for Older Adults.” It’s no secret that people are living longer, working longer and, most important, wanting to stay active longer. Tap into your client’s wellness [...]
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If building your dream fitness center includes offering members a wealth of services beyond free weights, then it might be time to consider partnerships. Health One is an on-site, national weight-loss program that combines in-person support with prepared, nutritionally appropriate meals. In future blogs we will profile other companies whose services and expertise compliment and support growing gyms. But for now read on to discover how you can incorporate a formal weight-loss program into your gym. Health One Weight-loss programs tend to get a bad rap when they include prepared meals. It can seem as if the marketing emphasis shifts from [...]
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Danny Fagan, director of customer service Here’s the inside scoop — Daniel’s the guy who’s in charge of keeping our customers happy. We count on him to direct a team of U.S.-based customer service pros who reflect our gym-obsessed focus. Then, because he’s so close to the customer and understands their day-to-day so well, we made him our training specialist, too. Here, he and his team ensure our customers know how to use every feature built into the software, recognizing that no matter how well-designed a product is, there’s always a hurdle to overcome. Read on for the lowdown on Daniel. [...]
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