Many people make the mistake of focusing on the wrong selling points when it comes to fitness boot camp marketing. Too often, they focus on features and pricing, which is fine when you’re selling an espresso machine or a car, but it misses the mark when it comes to selling fitness boot camp programs.
The reason for this is that fitness boot camp marketing isn’t about selling your facility, your sound system, your juice bar or your pricing. It’s about selling your solutions to the client’s problems. It’s about selling your means of getting them to their goals.
Your prospects might think some of the features of your boot camp are nice or that your monthly fees are competitive, but what will sell them is the conviction that your program is their best chance to reach their goals, and fast. That’s the focus of your fitness boot camp marketing.
What’s really cool about being a Fit Body Boot Camp owner is that the very nature of our program makes that job so much easier than with any other fitness business. The fact is that we have the solution, we’re known for having the solution and there’s plenty of research that says it’s the right one.
If you haven’t seen it yet, we’ve just uploaded an awesome new explainer video on the Afterburn Workout. In it is pretty much every single point you need to sell virtually every prospect that walks through your doors. This is because it’s loaded with all of the ways that Fit Body Boot Camp is the solution people are looking for.
As you’ll see on the video, all of the most recent fitness research proves without a doubt that endless hours of standard cardio are essentially useless in the battle to burn fat. 9 out of 10 people who call you on the phone, message you on Facebook or answer one of your emails are going to tell you that their #1 goal is to lose fat. 9 out of 10 will also tell you that they go to the gym and run on the treadmill for hours or that they knock themselves out in Zumba class four nights a week and yet they can’t lose the fat. (more…)
At a recent meeting with several Fit Body Boot Camp owners, the question of when to open a second Fit Body Boot Camp location was a hot topic. This was completely understandable, since everyone present had attained a comfortable level of success. By this I mean that they had a decent membership, they were paying the bills and making a decent income. But almost none of them were happy when I suggested that they really needed to consider whether they needed another location or just better boot camp marketing.
Here’s why.
There were basically two groups of FBBC owners thinking about opening new locations. One group was asking because they were making decent money and figured that opening a second location would double that income. The second group was asking because they weren’t making enough money and figured that a second location would double their income.
There are two problems with this thinking: 1) When you open a second location, you also double your expenses, roughly speaking. 2) When you open a second location, you potentially double the amount of time you spend running your business.
So I asked the group these two questions:
First: Have you absolutely outgrown your first location? In other words, are you full to capacity, taking care of as many clients as you can with the space and staff you have?
Second: Have you completely maxed out the income potential of your present location?
Every single one of the boot camp owners considering opening a second location answered “No” to at least one of those questions. None of them were all that happy when I told them that, in this case, what they really needed was more and better boot camp marketing, better sales and closing strategies and maybe to explore opening up other streams of income instead of opening another location.
If you’re not struggling to squeeze in more trainers and more sessions and more new clients, then you probably aren’t ready to expand. The word “expand” indicates that you’ve grown to the point where you can’t function well in your current space. (more…)
If you haven’t yet availed yourself of the boot camp marketing possibilities working with Groupon, then you need to get on the ball. Thousands of businesses (including fitness businesses) are already making a fortune marketing on Groupon, but some of the biggest moneymaking boot camp marketing campaigns we’ve done at Fit Body Boot Camp have been on Groupon as well.
When I say that these campaigns have been hugely successful I mean that we’ve been able to convert at least 30% of our Groupon buyers into ongoing clients who either paid in full or signed up for automatic debit.
There are 4 keys to success with a Groupon campaign:
- The deal.
- Your on-boarding procedure.
- The experience you give the client.
- Your conversion process.
Making the deal
First of all, the deal has to make sense for you and for the client. You don’t want to give away too much, because it undercuts the financial benefit of doing the Groupon deal. Also, people are more likely to take your offer seriously if it isn’t ridiculously low.
But your deal does have to make great sense to the buyer. People go to sites like Groupon because they want a great deal. That doesn’t mean they’re cheap or that they’re automatically going to split as soon as the deal is over. They just enjoy getting a great deal.
When we were setting up our 23-region Groupon deal, we set a few rules right off the bat.
We wanted a very low cost 15-day deal and a higher-priced (but better value) 30-day deal.
We did this because we knew that about 80% of Groupon buyers would take the 30-day deal which would give us the chance to do two very important things:
First, we could give the buyers a much better experience, get them better results and also build a better relationship with them……all of which would make closing much easier later on.
Second, we could offer to absorb the cost of their 30-day deal into an ongoing program, which would effectively give them their first month free. Remember, these people love a great deal.
By stacking the deals this way, it’s much easier to command and get the higher price than if we just ran the higher-priced deal. (more…)
No, Walt Disney wasn’t in the fitness business, but I dare anyone to say that they know of a businessman who was better at creating a brand that was recognizable all over the world, in any language. Disney World and Disneyland may have gone through some transformations and expansions since Walt passed away, but Disney will always be Disney and it will always dominate the amusement park field. No one can touch it. So I think there is something very important that Walt Disney could teach you about how to start a boot camp.
He would teach you that you need to focus on doing one thing and doing it better than anyone else, anywhere.
Think about the other amusement parks in the US. Busch Gardens, Six Flags, Knott’s Berry Farm or a bunch of regional, nameless parks you can’t think of off-hand. What are they known for? How many iconic images or names do you associate with them? Yet, say “Dumbo Ride” or “fireworks” and everyone knows which parks you’re talking about. Disney.
Disney Parks have rides, shows, restaurants and hotels, but they do one thing and they do it better than anyone else: they create magical family memories. When you walk into any other amusement park, you think, “Wow, cool rides!” When you walk into Disney World or Disneyland, you think “Magic!”
So how do you translate what Walt Disney and what he did with the Disney Parks into you and how to start a boot camp that emulates his success? You do one thing and you do it better than anyone else.
This is what has made Fit Body Boot Camps the fastest-selling fitness business in this country. We do one thing. We don’t do Zumba, we don’t do Pilates and we don’t run a social club. We do killer workouts that deliver maximum results in minimal time. We do this at a price that people can afford and we do it in a supportive, motivating and even entertaining way. Boom. That’s what we do.
Even if you’re not a Fit Body Boot Camp franchise owner, you can still take your cue from Walt when it comes to how to start a boot camp that becomes known for doing one thing and doing it better than anyone else in your area. (more…)
You’re not going to do everything right when you’re starting your boot camp business. You’re going to make mistakes, just as I have and just as every other successful boot camp owner I know has done. Nobody’s born knowing how to start a fitness boot camp business. That’s one of the purposes of the annual Fitness Business Summit – to allow very successful people to share what they’ve learned so that others can avoid many mistakes and do some things right from the beginning.
One of the most popular speakers at the Summit has been Corporal Sean Francis and one of the most popular talks he’s given was about working with what Bedros calls the 95/5 or the 5% Rule. What that boils down to is focusing your time, energy and attention on the things that are priorities in your business and also working as much as possible within your zone of genius, doing the things that you love the most and are best at. This is the key to constant growth of your boot camp business.
Granted, in some ways, this is easier to do once your business is established and your income allows you to hire a full staff of trainers and other help. But there are a number of things you can do now, to not only get your business started on the right foot but also go into it with a 5% mindset that will help you at every level of success in the years to come. So I’d like to share with you two important things about how to start a fitness boot camp business using the 5% rule, with credit to Sean Francis for many of the ideas he shared at a recent FBS.
Hire an assistant as soon as possible.
An assistant may sound like an expensive luxury that a new entrepreneur can’t really afford. But one of the smartest things you can do, even as a start-up, is find even one person to take care of less important or less demanding tasks so that you can focus on the things you really need to do, like getting clients signed up for your new boot camp. The more you’re able to market your boot camp and sell new memberships, the sooner you can afford more help, like great trainers. You don’t need an executive assistant, at least not yet, so you can find plenty of people who would rather make halfway decent pay in a fitness center than make it in a fast food place.
Start creating systems for everything now.
Once Sean hired an assistant, he started following great advice that he’d gotten from the summit. He started creating systems for every single thing that needed to be done, whether it was answering the phones, entering new members into the computer or paying the bills. Then he taught those systems to his assistant so that he never had to deal with those things again. (more…)
I’m sure you’ve heard the expression that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. But how many of you can look over the last couple of months and admit that you’ve spent more time wooing possible, potential new clients than you have wooing the ones that have signed up for your latest body transformation challenge? How many of you spend all your time after a session trying to sell personal training to the people that came in for a free session and almost no time at all interacting with the ones who are on their second week of a challenge? In other words, you set down the bird in your hand so you could reach for the two in the bushes.
I’m not coming down on you for it; it’s understandable that you’re so focused on bringing more people through the door that you lose sight of the ones that are already there. It’s a natural mistake to hope that the results of your transformation challenge or four-week special will somehow automatically result in those people signing up for six months or a year of training. But if you see yourself and your interactions in this scenario, then I’m betting your retention rate from those challenges and limited-time offers is much lower than it could or should be.
When you stop “romancing” your clients, the trainer around the corner starts looking really good. Even if your training is getting the results, they’ll eventually go somewhere they feel valued. I promise you that if you don’t deliver a sense of community and actual relationship, most of the people your marketing brings in will be gone before you know it. This leaves you having to reinvent the wheel every few weeks or months because you’re constantly trying to replenish your membership.
So how do you sell personal training in such a way that the retention factor is practically automatic?
Here’s a blueprint for turning that transformation challenge or low-barrier offer customer into a long-term client:
Make sure the customer is acknowledged and welcomed every time they walk in the door. Nothing is quite as alienating as walking into a group setting and feeling invisible. A smile from the person working out next to them isn’t enough. A wave from the trainer from across the room isn’t enough. Make sure that you or the trainer welcomes each and every customer.
Whenever possible, also try to make sure that one of you speaks with the customer after the session as well. Ask them how they’re doing, how the class was is there anything you can go over with them one-on-one.
Give special gifts and treats to the customer. Welcome them on their first day with a goodie bag full of stuff like water bottles, recipe cards, hand towels, supplement samples, anything you like. Every week or so give them a small token of your appreciation and their progress, such as a gift card for a smoothie or a free fat loss report you’ve written. This is one of the least expensive tools there is. When they fill out your questionnaire, make to put their birthday on your office calendar so that you can give them a card signed by the staff and can acknowledge their special day.
Keep in touch. One of the fastest tracks to dropping out is when a customer misses a couple of workouts and no one bothers to check on them. All of that talk you spouted about community and family and working together flies out the window. If someone misses more than one session, make sure you or one of your trainers calls to see if they’re okay. And use that call to get them back in the door. They might have a reason completely unrelated to you for missing a couple of sessions, but if they miss any more, there’s a good chance they’ll either lose their momentum (and drop out).
If they’ve been going into work early and couldn’t make their early morning sessions, invite them to come to your 7PM workout. If their boyfriend/girlfriend just dumped them, encourage them to come to a session later that day to work it off or just hang out and have a few laughs. If they’re too sore to work out, explain that you can easily modify their moves or weights so that they can ease into it a bit more slowly.
When you deliver a sense of community and of belonging to your low-barrier offer guests, you make it so much easier to sell them one of your long-term training programs. Not only will they want to keep getting results, but they’ll want to remain a part of the community you’ve built for them.
The big box gyms in your area are advertising two-for-one sign up deals and forty different types of classes. So how do you tailor your boot camp marketing efforts to compete with them?
You don’t.
You’re not a big box gym. You’re an awesome personal trainer and what you have to offer is something the big box gyms can’t: incredible results. People join gyms because they want to change the way they look and feel and most of them want that change to be dramatic and fast. The big box gym isn’t the answer.
Very few people who sign up for a big commercial gym will ever get anything close to the results they’re seeking. Most of them will drop out of the gym with very little to show for their money or their time. Those people are absolutely primed for an intense body transformation program. If you can offer that, you won’t need to spend much time on boot camp marketing – your clients’ results will do the marketing for you.
So how do you create a transformation program that really stands out and puts you in a whole different category from the big box gyms? I have five tips from boot camp owners that have used these programs to propel their businesses to the next level.
Promise results and then deliver. This may seem overly simplistic, but nothing will kill your success like mediocre results. Nobody posts on Facebook that they lost ten pounds in just six months. Nobody brags about the personal trainer who helped them carve an inch from their waistline and that was it.
We live in a culture that expects everything right now, if not sooner. Use your skills and expertise to deliver the most dramatic results in the least amount of time. Give your clients the workouts and the results of their lives and they won’t be able to keep quiet about it.
Offer something unique. Don’t just advertise that you’ll help clients lose fat or build muscle. The fitness businesses that have excelled are the ones that found a way to meet a unique need. One of the best examples of this is the Body for Life program, which many consider to be the foundation of transformation programs. Body for Life made itself unique by saying it was a program that would work for anyone of any age. Another good example is P90X. That program stood out and sold like crazy because it’s uniqueness was that it offered a hard-core intensity workout that could be done at home in a short amount of time, yet produce great results.
You have to have something unique to offer. It might be a baby-to-bikini transformation for new mothers or fat burning for Baby Boomers. Find it, market it and then deliver it. (more…)
If you own a gym or fitness studio and can never seem to get enough clients, your personal training marketing methods may be to blame. Marketing a business may seem like a lot of work or something that’s too expensive for your limited budget, but it’s well worth the trouble when it’s done right. It doesn’t cost nearly as much as you might think it does, but the truth is that it can be incredibly costly to try to get by without it. Personal training marketing can be done very effectively and inexpensively, if you use these four very important strategies.
1. Build an email list - If you’ve lasted this long without building up an email list of all your current and potential clients… then props to you because the “list is king”- and without one it’s hard to keep any kind of business afloat. An email list is hands-down the most cost effective way to market your fitness studio because it allows you to connect with your clients in a more personal way than is possible with social media.
Sure you still need to have your social media marketing in place, but collecting the emails of your past, current, and potential clients is the number one best way to build loyalty with current clients, reconnect with former ones and earn the trust and the business of potential ne clients, all at the same time and all with the same dollar. Any time you can accomplish more than one goal at a time, you multiply your potential earnings and free up time and money that can be used elsewhere.
To build your email contact list, start by creating some type of free offer, something of real, tangible value, in exchange for their contact information. Use your personal expertise and that of your colleagues to write up a quick fat loss report, some healthy recipes, or an easy-to-follow workout video in an effort to get people to opt into your mailing list. Always think about the needs of the people you’re targeting, and tailor your free offer to meet one of those needs.
2. Get them to know, like and trust you - Once you have people opting into your mailing list, you need to make the absolute most of those contacts. You have essentially been given a golden opportunity with each email address. In order to maximize the income potential of these contacts, you need to focus on getting them to know, like and trust you.
Now, here’s where it gets time consuming- in order for your personal training marketing campaign to work, you’ve got to mail out twice (if not three) times per week. And when you mail out to your list, it’s got to be something that will help meet their needs and get them to their goals. This is your opportunity to let them know that you can be a valuable and even invaluable part of their fitness dream.
One important thing to keep in mind when you’re creating your emails is that your subject line needs to be informative and compelling. It needs to tell them exactly what your email contains and it needs to be something that they can see is valuable and usable right away. Your goal is to get them to open that email. No matter how good your email is, it won’t help you get more business if it never gets opened. Try to use titles like “The Top 3 Best and Worst Drinks to Get at Starbucks” or “4 Incredible Tips to Burn 500 Extra Calories Per Day” and then deliver on the promises in your subject lines.
Another extremely important thing to remember about personal training marketing campaigns is that you can’t overdo the selling in your emails. If people know that every email is going to be a sales pitch, they’ll automatically delete them and may even unsubscribe. Now you’ve lost not just them but every referral you might have earned from them. Don’t punish subscribers by pushing your promotions at them. You have to earn that through your awesome content. Use the rule of 4:1 - for every 4 pieces of great content you mail out, you’ve earned 1 promotional mail out. Following this rule will not only build your likability - it will also build your credibility. (more…)
If you’re constantly on the hunt for new clients to bring into your boot camp, then chances are… your marketing may need some work. As a personal trainer and a boot camp owner, you’re probably stretched pretty thin with not only leading and teaching each session, but with operating ins and outs of your business.
So, how are you supposed to find the time to focus on marketing? Fortunately, we’ve laid out 5 different ways for you to up your fitness boot camp marketing game without making you spend a ton of time and money.
1. Raise Your Energy
This quick tip is simple and easy to implement. Just amp up the energy during your workouts or teach your trainers to amp their energy up when they’re leading a boot camp session.
Making sure that your clients are having a good time while working out helps your marketing game because you’re creating an environment that your boot campers can really brag about. They’re having fun AND getting fit.
Most people don’t really like exercising, even though they know they have to in order to stay in shape and feel great, so if you create a fitness program that’s fun and high energy then you can’t go wrong. Look, no one likes working out with a boring trainer who doesn’t seem interested in helping them achieve results.
Clients want to workout in a fun and encouraging environment. They want to know that you care, and you can do that by showing them how excited you are that they’re there and willing to get sweaty with you.
2. Spoil Them Rotten
Spoil your clients rotten and they’ll never leave. Think about it: fitness is something that you’ll work on for the rest of your life. As soon as you get the results you want, you have to maintain them, right? Your body doesn’t just magically stay in shape- you’ve got to train to keep it there! So why would a client leave if they know they need to workout on a consistent basis to keep the results they just earned? They’re not getting spoiled enough!
Show your clients you care about them by spoiling them whenever you get the chance to. Spoil by getting to know them and what they’re all about. Send them small gifts like Starbucks gift cards, movie tickets, reusable water bottles, or bracelets, or anything of that nature. Mail them a birthday card for their birthday with a special hand written note. Your clients will remember and appreciate it, and who knows- they’ll probably want to return the favor!
3. Offer Free Sessions
One great way to get people interested in joining your boot camp is to offer free sessions or a free week of unlimited limited boot camp. Giving prospects an option to come in and try out your boot camp helps to get them used to you, your style of training and your facility. (more…)
