Health Club Resources by Vitality Marketing Group

The best online resourse for health clubs PERIOD!

2008-12-12T10:26:00.002-05:00

Answer the following questions:

Is your club as profitable as you need it to be?
Do you question your sales and marketing methods, wondering if they will actually work?
Do you have trouble coming up with new and effective systems?
Do you need more members but you don't know how to get them?
Is your personal training revenue less than expected?
Is there anyone you turn to for advise about how to run your club, and do they actually know what their talking about?

Its not to often that products or services comes around that truly revolutionizes an industry, let alone actually works. The fitness industry is full of get rich quick schemes and make pretend services. Until now there has never been a comprehensive resource that club owners and operators could turn to to answer all their pressing questions.

I would like to introduce you to the most amazing, absolutely mind blowing resource to ever hit our industry, WWW.GYMSUCCESS.COM.

The people at gymsuccess.com have worked tirelessly over the past 2 years to bring our industry a one stop shop for everything fitness business related. Thousands of resources, marketing templates, audio files, video libraries, discussion forums, advisory boards and much, much more are now all located at one place, GYMSUCCESS.COM.

There is simply to much information for me to list it all here but suffice to say that GYMSUCCESS is my ALL TIME favorite resource for our indndusrty...EVER...PERIOD. For less then the price of a single monthly membership at most health clubs you will be able to have access to GYMSUCCESS.

Rumor has it that the official launch date for GYMSUCCESS.COM will be January 1st 2009. If you visit the site now you can see an 8 minute video tour of its resources. Sign up for the notification list and you will be automatically notified when the site officially launches, plus you'll receive some very cool free gifts. I've also herd through the grape vine that anyone who signs up for the notification list will be able to try receive a 1 dollar, 30 day trial of the site.

Until next time...

Chris
www.GymMarketing.com

Where's the Customer Service

2008-11-18T16:22:00.003-05:00

It seems more and more health clubs , and for that matter many businesses have forgotten about the importance of customer service. Owners, managers and staff members are resenting the fact that the actually have to be nice to people...imagine that. There is a strange sense of entitlement and an "I'm better than you" attitude in almost every service based business i have visited and our industry has become infamous for it.

On a recent trip to my favorite burger joint here in Jacksonville i came across a small sign on a soda fountain that read as follows:

"Thank You Customer,

You the customer are the most important visitor on the premises. You are not dependant on us, we are dependant on you. You are not an outsider in our business--you are part of it. We are not doing you a favor by serving you...you are doing us a favor by giving us the opportunity to do so."

Think about that statement and apply it to your business. It has had a profound effect on ours...

Chris
www.GymMarketing.com

The "RENT RACE"

2008-11-06T17:25:00.002-05:00

Have lower than expected revenues put a stress on your relationship with your landlord? For some of you the hard truth is that your monthly overhead is getting harder and harder to clear. No matter what size of type of health club you operate RENT is by far your highest expense. Unfortunately covering your rent payment is most likely taking away from your fitness business operating at 100%. The logic is simple; if you’re struggling to make your rent payment then there is less money to spend on marketing methods that keep your revenue at a place that is profitable for your club. This is the fitness industry’s equivalent to “The Rat Race” we’ll call it the “RENT RACE”. You have found yourself in a constant, reoccurring pattern of scraping by. Worst of all it is clubs that are in the predicament that economic changes and slightly slumping numbers will cause the ultimate failure of the business. That is of course if you do nothing about it!

Did you know that it is a FACT that fitness center are among the top 3 business most likely to default on a lease? And your landlord knows that! And they gave you a lease anyway! Use that FACT to your advantage. Everyone is hearing about bailouts, mortgage re-negotiation, and bad lending practices. Guess what…the same economic principal that apply to over 40 million home owners apply to your business too. You can’t afford the rate you are paying, at least not right now.

I bet you hear “you need to spend money to make money” all the time. Let me propose a radical idea: “SAVE MONEY TO MAKE MONEY”, allowing you to spend the same amount or less that you are spending right now. But rather than spending money of overhead you will be spending it on marketing to bring sales into your club.

until next time...

Chris
www.GymMarketing.com

A NEW BLOGGER

2008-11-04T11:12:00.003-05:00

A lot has been going on here at Vitality Marketing Group. We have tons of new products and FREE resources located at www.gymmarketing.com so CHECK THEM OUT!

Additionally i wanted to give everyone a quick introduction to me. My name is Chris Batchelor. If you have had contact with Vitality over the past year no doubt that you have spoken or traded emails with me. I am Curtis Mock's partner and am also the newest contributor to this blog, so look for some changes and more frequent updates.

My primary goal will be to give you a personal view on the state of the health club industry as it exists today... the good, the bad and the ugly. I will also do my best to keep you up to date with some of the most successful marketing and operation trends.

In addition to my personal views you also see semi regular posts from other contributors and clients of VMG. Curtis might even take some time away from his new blog www.curtismock.com to give us his in site on some important issues.

Also, if you have any questions or issues that you're interested in please email requests to me at cbatchelor@gymmarketing.com and I'll do my best to post a relevant article

Until next time...

Chris
www.GymMarketing.com

We have Vacations for sale!

2008-06-18T19:31:00.002-04:00

We bought 100 Florida Vacation packages a couple of months ago and they flew off the shelves because we sold them at our cost of $18 each. It is a 5 day 4 night vacation package you can give your members as a referral incentive, as an incentive to join, or if they win a contest. Instead of giving a free month as a thank you for a referral, why not give a Vacation?

We bought them on a special sale and that special has not been available for a couple months. Well we just got an email last week that our supplier could sell no more than 100 vacation to each distributor, so we went ahead and bought another 100 of them. I know we said we'd sell them for a profit this time, but I have no problem sending these your direction at cost again. So just let me know how many you want and I'll send them your direction! $18 each. Buy 50 of them and run a huge referral campaign in July!

Curtis
www.GymMarketing.com

Super Hero Cards

2008-02-18T20:57:00.007-05:00

I just ran across one of the coolest business card ideas I've ever seen. Go to http://www.superherocards.com/ and take a look. You can send a picture of yourself and they will turn you into a superhero. How fun would it be to hand your prospects a business card of you in a cape!

I just contacted the CEO of Super Hero Cards and VMG gets to offer a discount to you! Just add VMG to your superhero name (it won't be printed on your name...it's just to show you were referred by us) and you will receive free shipping on all of your orders!

Curtis
www.GymMarketing.com

Score for your gym

2007-11-28T05:55:00.002-05:00

Score isn't just what you hear a hispanic soccer announcer yell after a goal. It's also one of the best resources a business could ask for. Visit www.Score.org ... You are able to ask consultants, fellow business owners, attorneys, accountants, etc, any question you have. And it's all free!

Need advice on business plans? Contact Score. Need accounting advice? Contact Score. Need legal advice in your state? Contact Score. And if you can't get the information you need at Score, contact Vitality Marketing Group at www.GymMarketing.com :)

Curtis
www.GymMarketing.com

Online webinar tool

2007-10-31T19:51:00.001-04:00

Most of us you have seen ads for GoToMeeting. Well, if you're budget conscious (as you should be), try out www.Yugma.com. It is essentially the same technology, but it's free! We use it on a regular basis.

Perhaps if you're an absentee owner you could set up an online staff meeting, showing your employees the weekly numbers from your computer screen. If you're having software/billing issues, Yugma will allow your club management software tech support to peek into your computer and even take over your mouse to diagnose and fix problems if you choose. I'm sure you can think up other uses for it too!

Curtis
www.GymMarketing.com

Discount on Fitness Sales Training Certification

2007-09-19T09:49:00.001-04:00

Guess what! We wrote a book! We were hired by the Fitness Sales Training Association (FSTA) 6 months ago to write their new study guide for their sales certification. We are very proud of this accomplishment and are excited to hear what people think! The book is over 200 pages...and required plenty of busy evenings making sure it included everything they wanted to have in it.

Guess what else! We get to offer a discount to our clients, prospective clients, new consultants; actually...anyone who reads this blog gets the discount. Visit FSTA at www.FSTAcertified.com and on the order page enter coupon code VMG50 to receive 50% off of your certification! I'd love to know what you think of the book, so please email us at info@vmgfitness.com and let us know your thoughts!

Curtis
www.GymMarketing.com

Jott it down

2007-07-26T12:28:00.002-04:00

Just ran across a cool new technology. I haven't quite wrapped my mind around how exactly to use it yet, but it's still pretty cool and you should check it out. Go to www.Jott.com. It is a service that allows you to call their toll free number, and speak your message into the phone. It then takes your message and converts your voice into emails, text messages, reminders, lists, or appointments.

For example: You call and it asks who you want to Jott. You say "myself". It prompts you to begin recording your message. Perhaps you say, "Don't forget to pick up milk on the way home". Jott then asks you if you want to set a reminder and at what time. If you are leaving the gym at 6:00, then set the reminder for 6:00. It will send you a text message saying, "Don't forget to pick up milk on the way home". Whatever you speak, it will transcribe and send it.

Maybe you remember something you wanted to tell a friend, but you're driving and don't feel like trying to text and drive at the same time. Just call Jott and speak your message. Your friend will immediately receive the text message of your exact message. Plus if you have your message transcribed and emailed, there is a link in the email that allows the recipient to listen to the message. How cool is that?

Again, I'm not sure all the ways it can be used, but it seems like a cool new technology none-the-less.

Curtis
www.GymMarketing.com

Wanna be a blogger?

2007-07-12T14:30:00.001-04:00

You would have thought this would be the first tool I tell you about, considering we are using a blog to communicate these resources to you. Better late than never I suppose!

Blogging is easy, and free, and fun, and helpful to those with whom you want to communicate (ahem...your members). Just go to www.blogger.com and sign up for a free account, pick a template, and start writing! You can literally have your own blog set up in minutes. Post as often as you like! As a health club owner or manager or personal trainer, it is easy to see why a blog could be so powerful. You have dozens, or perhaps hundreds, or even thousands of people that rely on your business to keep them in shape. They WILL be interested in what you have to say!

You can do it all yourself, or better yet, allow all of your personal trainers to post tips on their for your members. If you have 7 personal trainers and they all post once per week, within one year you will have 350 fitness and nutrition tips. Think about this for a moment. Now you can email your members a "Tip of the Day" every day over the course of a year. It's not likely the member will remember a tip posted on the blog from a year ago!

Next to having a quality website (you have one don't you?), a blog is one of the most powerful online tools you can use. www.blogger.com is who we use.

Curtis
www.GymMarketing.com

Pre-moistened cleaning wipes

2007-06-05T23:11:00.002-04:00

There are a few companies out there that provide wipes for your members to clean their machines, but we were just approached by a company that wants to be on our preferred vendor list. Their name is Zogics and they can be found at http://www.zogics.com/.

They have agreed to give all first time buyers a special Vitality Marketing Group discount of 10% off of your first order and two free wall hanging dispensers when you purchase eight cases on your first order. A pretty sweet deal considering they are already 30% cheaper than all the other wipes available! Give them a shot and let me know what you think.

Just call their number on their website or order online, making sure to mention the "Vitality Marketing Group" discount and freebies.

Curtis
http://www.gymmarketing.com/

Discount electronics and more

2007-05-09T16:34:00.001-04:00

One of my favorite sites to visit is www.slickdeals.net . It is a community of people who find deals and limited time offers on everything from printers to navigation units to clothing to Applebees coupons to discount laptops. If a deal shows up somewhere on the Internet, this community will find it. Deals are found at hundreds of retailers, including Target, Best Buy, Circuit City, Reebok, Zappos, Macy's, and Kohls.

There are always electronics and office supplies and things you could use at your club, but this resource is likely more for personal use...just in case you like to have the newest toy like I do...but don't want to pay full price. Enjoy!

Curtis
www.GymMarketing.com

Free Templates

2007-05-07T13:47:00.001-04:00

One of the best sites to go to if you need some type of template is Microsoft's Template Gallery located at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/default.aspx. You can download editable calendars, spreadsheets, invoices, contracts, to-do lists, flyers, brochures, gift certificates, letterheads, and more.

Pretty much any type of template you're looking for, you can find at this site. None of them are club specific, but often times you will find that you need a generic template that you can edit yourself. It's better than starting from scratch a lot of times.

Curtis

www.GymMarketing.com

Free online software

2007-04-27T03:49:00.001-04:00

Take a peek at www.zoho.com and you will see that they are like a smaller version of Google. Meaning they have a product for absolutely everything. But the good thing about Zoho is that everything is freeware, meaning the creator of all of the different software products is allowing you to use any of them for free. We personally use the Zoho CRM product to keep track of all of our clients and prospective clients.

They have everything from Chat tools you can use on your club website, online invoicing, web conferencing, polls you can post on your site or email to your member list, and much more. It's worth taking a look at to see if they have something that would help you run a better business.

Curtis
www.GymMarketing.com