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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Innovation is a key to survival in the modern business world and Gym Insight is always looking to develop new methods for gym owners to take advantage of technology to stay on the leading edge. We are developing a program for gym owners that will have the benefits of a marketing service without the cost of a full service business-to-business agency. I know from experience that small gyms and independent fitness center owners don't have a lot of resources to throw at marketing. Also, if you are like us, you want your business to be a lifestyle enterprise. We intend [...]
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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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I've occasionally had some casual inquiries about adding the ability to manage time-limited part-time customers to Gym Insight. That means time selective memberships that use your gym when you have excess capacity, the quiet times of low attendance that comes from the natural ebb and flow of membership demand. I haven't fully written the code to support this yet but, if there's serious interest in the health club community, I would be happy to consider adding an update or expansion module. The Off Peak Trial Period Membership For the kind of offer I'm talking about, here you need a connection [...]
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When you have to make the decisions about where you are going to spend your marketing efforts, it really helps to have a sense of what your market is like statistically. In my post about the 80/20 Rule I talked about how a few activities can produce the majority of your successes, profits or even problems. On the other side of the equation you have the unique and obscure diversity of what is known as "The Long Tail". Out of The 80/20 Rule Comes "The Long Tail" The principal behind the 80/20 Rule is called a power law distribution. This [...]
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You can never have too much information about where the market trends are heading. One really insightful source that I'd like to discuss is the eighth annual American College of Sports Medicine's (ACSM) Worldwide Survey of Fitness Trends for 2014. To get the most out of it I recommend that you read the entire survey report yourself. Every year for the last eight years, the ACSM has commissioned a worldwide poll of fitness industry professionals. There are some really interesting issues that turn up in this survey. One of the best things about it is that it attempts to distinguish [...]
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How do you read the future? All you can do is look at the trends and make an educated guess based on the way things are going now. You have to make some judgment calls as well, because trends can reverse unexpectedly or they can be hidden in mountains of information. Also, trends can fail to pan out and just turn out to be short-term fads. It's really hard to make predictions with any kind of certainty. But you have to try to anticipate what's ahead as a business owner, if only to plan your investments. The more of the [...]
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New Year's Day is right around the corner, and that means gyms can expect the annual rush of resolution-fueled gym members. Although the short-lived swarm of new clients each January is great, gyms should be doing more to market themselves throughout the year - and doing it in more innovative ways. People hesitate to join gyms for many reasons: cost, location, fear of commitment (both time and money). Although there is usually a gym membership for most anyone's income range - some gyms offer monthly memberships for as low as $10, while memberships to "luxury" gyms can rival the cost [...]
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I believe that one of the keys to a happy life, a life well lived is developing an attitude of gratitude for the things that make life worthwhile and rewarding. I think it was Tony Robbins, whom I first heard say that, it's stuck with me ever since. In celebration of the arrival of the holiday season I would like to share my list of things for which I am truly grateful, and that I am giving thanks for this year. My List of Gratitude 1. First, I am very thankful for a career that helps people and promotes health. [...]
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What is the one thing that you need to keep in mind to keep people signing up for gym memberships? What is it about hanging out in a communal space to exercise? With reasonably priced modern fitness equipment, most people could train at home, so why take the time and expense of traveling to a gym? The answer, I believe is actually pretty simple. People could do a lot of training at home. But who really wants that? It's too easy to slack off and it can get a little lonely. It's the social component of being around other people [...]
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If you own a small gym, you probably know about taking on the heavy burden of capital investment and leasing your venue and equipment. It'll keep you awake at night when you're signing the checks, believe me! Like all small business owners, you really need to look at every possible way to bump up the value of foot traffic entering and leaving your gym. One effective way to do that is to sell retail items at the front desk or at a cash register in the foyer or lobby. What will people buy? It may take you some research and [...]
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Do you have an employee handbook for your gym? In my opinion, having a handbook is extremely important and relevant for large clubs and small clubs alike. As the boss it's important to play your cards close to your chest, to maintain control. However, having the rules and definitions out in the open is something that gets everyone "singing from the same hymn sheet". It's critical for staff to know how to handle difficult situations and feel confident in their actions. If boundaries aren't clearly stated, your staff could fall into the miserable habit of passing the buck and ducking [...]
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Targeted studios are the young guns of the fitness industry. As a small fitness center owner or manager, you have to respond to their potential threat, or they may figuratively eat your lunch. This type of fitness business represents a significant threat to the conventional gym model. But there are actions you can take as a small fitness center owner or manager. Read on and I'll explain how. If you have a small conventional gym with a small selection of group classes or no classes at all, you must start considering how to fulfill members' needs. Be prepared to respond [...]
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I founded Gym Insight because I wanted software that catered directly to how I manage my fitness center, and I just couldn't find that on the market. At least, not up to the standards that I expect from a dedicated business application. Insight has been so successful because other owners of small fitness center and their managers face the same demands every day. One of the most important things that the best gym management software must do is integrate with the customer experience. It has to help the curious browser or window shopper to pull the trigger and commit to [...]
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