How does a small gym get the most out of its software and payment processing resources? What is the right combination of services to best support gym owners and their managers in the battle against the seemingly unlimited resources of the multinational big-box brands of the fitness industry? I have been working hard to answer those questions both for Insight and for my own small gym. The extensive market research that I have been conducting has showed me that there literally is a middle way. To that end, I am proud to announce that Gym Insight is launching a new [...]
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I last wrote about leasing one year ago and, as it's such an important issue, I decided that it's time once again. Leasing should be something that every gym owner is aware of as an ownership alternative. In fact I want to make the claim that gym equipment leasing is part of something that I think is much bigger, even a mindset. It's all part of creating your own options and being able to respond to changing situations with flexibility and agility. Your overhead and capital outlays can really be tough to meet in any business. Gym specific items such [...]
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Whether you have a front desk set up or a 24 hour access health club or studio, Gym Insight's access software works with barcode scanners and keytags. Since we do not provide barcoded keytags, we have received countless requests from our software clients for referrals to a keytag provider. For the best customer experience at the lowest cost and the easiest ordering process, check out 123keytags.com. Owner, Lee Roberts, has been in the fitness commercial business for nearly 20 years. Now, he exclusively specializes in barcoded keytags and works with a wide spectrum of fitness business owners, from large scale [...]
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Getting your fitness trainers and gym staff to promote products and services requires some work from you as the business owner first. This means that you're going to have to do a little selling in the form of leadership. It is up to you to motivate your team to generate sales result from the members of your gym or fitness center. Individual selling skills are very important and they will help trainers build a career in the long term. However, there needs to be a common frame of understanding within your organization. It all hinges on providing the skills and [...]
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You asked for it and now we got it! Gym Insight is now integrated with MailChimp. One of the most basic techniques for marketing and sales is utilizing email lists to contact both current and former members. Now Gym Insight allows your fitness business to send mass emails for your business' promotions, newsletters, press releases, and other items. Once you become a premium client with Gym Insight, you will have the capability to link your Gym Insight account to MailChimp. Gym Insight will then automatically create the two segments that matter most to your fitness business, current members and cancelled [...]
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Ever notice that gyms all seem to cluster together in one corner of the neighborhood? It's like where all four corners of an intersection each have a gas station on them. How does that work? And what does that mean for the small business owner? It works because everyone gets to maximize their presence in the market and the cluster makes everyone more visible than they would be alone. The sum of the businesses is greater than the parts. If you have no other choice but to open a gym in a fitness saturated area, here are some positive economic [...]
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Marketing your fitness center is always a battle to stand out from the crowd. The voice most likely to be heard is the one that makes the best use of media to consistently send the message that will appeal to the most potential members. Over time you will discover a whole host of methods to promote your gym. A press release is one of the most effective ways to get the word out to potential new members and to raise your brand awareness in the marketplace. If you haven't tried using this method to spread the word about your promotional [...]
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Recently I wrote about New Year promotions and also about working with and connecting to your local business community. Anything that gives you increased standing and respect in the community is a good thing, in my opinion. The importance of marketing and promotion can't be overstated. Unless you've hit on something that takes all the capacity you can produce without you lifting a finger (let me know about that please), marketing and promotions must be ongoing activities. My point here is that you have to be in the habit of actively pursuing promotion opportunities. They won't all work out but [...]
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This week I felt inspired to write about handling membership cancellations. There are several reasons that they come to mind right now. It's the season for peak sign-ups, which will be followed later by a wave of cancellations as the faint hearted drop by the wayside. Also, there have been some stories in the news about companies taking it very badly when customers cancel and complain. I think it's worth mentioning because you can't be too prepared when it comes to dealing with customer service crises. Mishandling complaints can lead to a vicious cycle that, in this age of Twitter, [...]
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The seasonal fluctuations of the gym business are familiar to anyone who's been a member of a gym for more than a year. Gym owners and managers are even more acutely aware of the seasonal changes in the business because of the changing stress levels that go with the seasons. Gyms have an annual ebb and flow, with a peak of activity with the New Year. It's the most hectic time with all of the hustle and bustle of resolutions being fulfilled in the form of good intentions and new memberships. Issues of The Resolution Cycle There are a couple [...]
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One of the most insightful marketers ever is a man from Indiana named Jay Abraham, possibly you've heard of him. He's an author and marketing consultant who has produced many books, seminars, and audio programs of his marketing philosophy. He comes to mind because it's January and that means that it's the peak promotion season in the gym management and fitness-centered world. Every New Year I'm reminded how almost everything he's written has proven to be true. One thing that Abraham writes about is how promotions can be so non-linear that just a slight change in wording or graphics can [...]
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Keeping your gym clean is a topic that I like to return to occasionally. I do so because it's one of the keys to success in gym management. It's vitally important to your business success. This is a review and a reminder about this topic and I'm sure that I'll come back to it again in the future. This time I'm going to relate cleaning to the core values of your team. "Values" is one of those topics that sound like business school buzzwords (because it is). But it's a buzzword because there's a lot of truth to it and [...]
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Less than 9 months after releasing Gym Insight's V2, we were extremely honored to welcome our 1,000 th active user on Christmas Eve. Gym Insight has grown faster than ever anticipated. We want to thank you all for giving a small, organic software company an opportunity to help benefit your fitness business. The New Year is rapidly approaching and we can hardly contain our excitement to see what is to come. We have a lot planned for you! As we diligently work to make Gym Insight Management Software the most cost effective and easiest program on the market, we continue [...]
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Pre-Sales Fill The Void In the lead up to the Christmas holiday, members and prospective gym members have their thoughts elsewhere. This always means less foot traffic into gyms and fewer inquiries for memberships. So, you need some sort of seasonal boost to your small gym's revenue stream. The bills still come in, of course, and your staff needs to have something to keep them motivated and sharp. You don't want your trainers looking elsewhere for income and making connections that may lead them away. You can't afford resignations, right as you need your trainers the most, when the members [...]
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Here at Gym Insight we're always looking to the future of gym management software. To that end, we've been attempting to read the fitness trends in which our customers, as owners and managers of independent small gyms and fitness centers, have a real interest in understanding and anticipating. With the coming Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia there's all the usual fanfare and spectacle. But this time there's a definite high-tech edge, as Russia seems to want to show their technology prowess. If you've been following the Olympic Torch Relay you will have seen it cross Lake Baikal by scuba and [...]
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