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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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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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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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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Meme communication has a longer history than you might think. This form of communication was first coined back in 1976 by Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Gene. Although the concept is not new, its effects have been consistent throughout generations. Memes always had a tendency to "spread like wildfire" or in this day and age, "go viral." If you are just totally lost and wondering what on earth do I mean by meme, I will use trusty ol' Wikipedia to define it for you! "A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols, or practices that can be [...]
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A lot of jargon is thrown around in the world of fitness. Walk into any gym at any given moment in any part of the world and you will hear a conversation about too much muscle one day going through some magical, Narnia-like metamorphic journey to fat. Well, if muscle cells can somehow break the laws of everything humankind has discovered about biology, then be careful because your fingers could just as likely turn into a pack of hungry wolverines at some point. Many popular fitness terms are riddled in conversations like the one mentioned above. Probably the most popular [...]
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All personal trainers are fully cognizant of the benefits of taking the workout of their clients outdoors. The advantages go much beyond just the fitness objectives. When exercising outdoors, people are benefited by both physiological as well as psychological gains. This fact can be extolled by all fitness instructors in the world. The makeup of outdoor training programs has evolved to such a state that obstacle schedules have become regular affairs now. Clients look forward to fun obstacle races that help them combine their strength and endurance levels. Many have testified that the experience is a rich and an amazing [...]
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If you are a gym owner, then one of the things you may have noticed is that a large number of people who often sign up for memberships do so with great interest, motivation and good intentions. However, due to the unending demands of their professional or personal life, they slowly stop visiting the gym regularly and seemingly may even forget that they even have a gym membership altogether. This member oversight may, very well, have nothing to do with your health club facilities or services. So it is important to remind your members about your gym and why they [...]
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As an independent gym owner, I have learned a lot over the years. The growth in knowledge that I have now compared to back then when I opened the doors to my first club is staggering. I constantly have ideas and thoughts running through my head wishing that I could type as fast as they pass by. If I had to time write a book on opening a real gym (step-by-step) from the first day you begin to gather plans in your head to the day it became profitable, I would do so in a heartbeat. However, I do not [...]
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You asked for it and now we got it ~ TUTORIALS! We are adding them as you are requesting them...so keep the requests coming! once you are registered for Insight, go to the blue user button and scroll down to Tutorial. You will be taken on a step-by-step guide on how to enter a new member for your fitness business. Get more Insight into your member based business now!
If you are a fitness freak, you will find that opening a health club is a good way of doing something that you love. People are getting more and more health conscious by the day, owing to the unhealthy corporate lifestyle that has become very common in the modern way of life. One of the mistakes that owners do with health clubs is that they don't treat it like a business. Since they feel that it is a place where people relate to, they tend to take it in a more personal way. A good business plan is vital for [...]
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Gym Industry Trends In 2013 The 2012-2013 Edition of Occupational Outlook Handbook published by the US Department of Labor has projected that the employment of fitness instructors and trainers will grow by 24% from 2010 to 2020.[1] The handbook further states this increased demand for professionals in fitness industry originates from the changed perception of insurance companies and businesses about fitness.[2] Today, organizations recognize the benefits of fitness and health programs for people and this has resulted in more incentives for people to join gyms and other fitness facilities. Fitness Trends of 2013 Let's take a look at the top [...]
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St. Patrick's Day can be a great time to promote your gym. With all the parades and green talk, you too can join in and at the same time promote your gym. With all the dancing, sporting activities and food, you have great opportunities if you are looking at things from the right perspective. It is also a nice way to participate in your community's celebration and attract potential local customers. Below are some ideas through which your gym can leave a lasting impression on your community this St. Patrick's Day. Irish Dance Workout Irish dances are a great way [...]
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I've been on the hunt for fitness gym business resources but I'm having trouble! For anyone out there interested in starting a gym or buying a gym, there just doesn't seem to be much in the way of information. In fact, some of the only information that I can find is related to the 24 hour gym franchise boom. Although I'm sure that each franchisor provides information to their franchisees, where do the rest of us meet to collaborate? When you search for fitness marketing and related promotional types of information, all you seem to find are various programs for [...]
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