If you're like many health club owners, you're absolutely sick and tired of searching for new marketing and advertising ideas. In the constant battle to find new members, you're perpetually looking for ways to get people into your gym. The internet doesn't seem to help, either. Perhaps you've run an article search for fitness center marketing, only to find companies willing to SELL you ideas. Maybe you've read through hundreds of health articles, business articles, fitness articles, marketing articles and health club management articles only to find more of the same. What a waste of time!
That's why we've put together the www.cuecd.com library of health and fitness articles for gym owners. It's an ever-growing resource of free articles that will help you advertise, market and promote your fitness center on a shoestring budget. In our article directory you'll find articles with realistic and easy-to-implement marketing plans.
So, without further ado, here's yet another sampling of powerful advertising and promotional ideas that you can use to boost memberships in your fitness center.
The vast majority of health club owners would agree that July is by far the slowest month of the year for both sales and attendance. The general public feels that it's too late to get into shape for summer, while the active members are simply too busy to get into the gym. People are on vacation, doing yard work, swimming, hiking, and just basically BUSY!
But that's no excuse to give up and just wait for autumn. July offers two unique opportunities to get new members. Our recommendation is to use both of them to the fullest extent possible.
International Massage Week (3rd Sunday) www.abmp.com
Massage therapy is one of the oldest therapeutic methods known to man, and is still as popular today as it was thousands of years ago. No matter where you live in the United States, the odds are good that you have at least two massage therapists operating nearby.
As an accepted part of many physical rehabilitation programs, massage therapy has proven beneficial for many chronic conditions, including low back pain, arthritis, bursitis, fatigue, high blood pressure, diabetes, immunity suppression, infertility, smoking cessation, depression, and more. As many millions will attest, massage also helps relieve the stress and tension of everyday living that can lead to disease and illness.
What does this have to do with selling fitness center memberships? Plenty! The fact is that the massage therapist and the health club owner are seeking the same customer: somebody who cares about their health and is willing to take action to improve their health.
With this in mind, July is a fantastic time to form a cooperative marketing agreement with a massage therapist in your town. Such an arrangement can be as simple or complex as you want it to be. For example, you and the massage therapist could agree to advertise for each other within your respective facilities. You would place a stack of his/her brochures on your front counter, and also give them out to all new members as part of their 'Welcome Packet'. The massage therapist would reciprocate.
Another alternative would be for you both to create a 'Special Offer' coupon solely for the other business. Let's say that ABC Gym (you) is going to partner with XYZ Massage Therapy. You create a 30% off coupon exclusively for XYZ customers, and XYZ distributes them. Then you distribute to your members the 40% off coupon that XYZ created. The key here is to make the offer 'exclusive' so that it's 'special' and has perceived value. If you're running a 50% off coupon in the newspaper, then make the massage therapy coupon just a little bit more aggressive (maybe 55% or 60% off). Both businesses look like the hero because they 'negotiated' this incredible deal for their customers only.
One final idea is for you to invite the massage therapist into your fitness center so they can perform FREE massages on your members. As the health club owner, you win because it's yet another FREE service that you're offering your clients (the competition isn't doing that, are they?). The massage therapist wins because they get to market their services to their ideal customers for FREE, and they will most assuredly pick up a few new sales. The flip side of this transaction is that you need to ask the massage therapist to pass out FREE 1-week trial pass coupons to his customers.
While there are a hundred different ways that you can partner with a massage therapist for increased sales, these three should get you started. July hosts International Massage Week, and any good massage therapist will be looking for ways to increase their business. Take advantage of this event!
Therapeutic Recreation Week, National (2nd Sunday) www.nrpa.org
For 40 years, the National Recreation and Park Association has advocated the importance of thriving, local park systems, the opportunity for all Americans to lead healthy, active lifestyles.
Parks are popular in July, and it's not just because of National Therapeutic Recreation Week! Many of your members are taking walks in the park, bringing their kids to the local park to play, or hosting a BBQ in the city park. You can capitalize on this by taking exercise out of the health club and into the park this month!
This idea requires some pre-planning, but it can be worth the effort. Set aside at least four days during July where you'll be hosting an exercise class at the local park. Post signs in the gym, announce it on your voicemail, and put it up on the sign outside your fitness center. Issue a press release to the local media inviting the entire town! The idea is to get as many people as possible at the park at one time.
Once you have your group together at the park, spend about an hour instructing them on how to get a good workout there. Playing at the park can be an excellent calorie burn! According to caloriesperhour.com, playing frisbee burns 112 calories in thirty minutes (165 lb. person used in this and all other examples). Thirty minutes of playing catch burns about 94 calories. Moderate jumping rope burns about 374 calories in thirty minutes, while strolling around the park for that same amount of time will burn 75 calories.
Be sure to mention that participants will burn a whole lot more calories exercising for thirty minutes in your health club, and make sure that all non-members attending receive a free 1-week trial pass!
As is the case with most things in life, you will get out of this event what you put into it. If you've publicized this 'park workout' thoroughly, it's certainly possible that the local media will show up and give you some FREE publicity! Have fun with it, and advertise your fitness center!
That's it! Two awesome opportunities for you to SELL SELL SELL more health club memberships this month! With some effort and ingenuity, you can transform July from a slow month into a blockbuster!
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