May 10, 2012
Categories: Promoting Your Gym
My favorite children’s book growing up was by Shel Silverstein – The Giving Tree. If you have never read this book, well in many ways you are dead to me. But you have a chance to redeem yourself, and you can do it quickly. Go to Amazon right now and buy it. Have it shipped overnight, and you can read it from beginning to end in about 7 minutes. There are a lot of great lessons in The Giving Tree, and one of them is something that can help your business grow…
Trees are amazing things. There are so many things we can build using trees. For example, wooden forks, wooden cars, and wooden computers. And paper. And paper can be used for direct mail pieces. Which can be used to GET more members. I know…my logic is dizzying.
Even more dizzying is the fact that a technology guy (Happy Hossein) still believes in old fashioned marketing tools. Talk to most facility owners, and most would say print is dead. We should be spending all our dollars on email, and social media, and giving away BBQ’s for the member that refers the most members. Absolutely you should spend money on that stuff, but a good direct mail campaign is like the match that lights the fire. (Wood, kindling, trees – see where I’m going here folks?).
A great direct mail piece, with a strong call to action, can drive three things: 1) a phone call, 2) a website visit or 3) a phone/website/mobile visit. Now we know there’s someone on the other end of the phone (somebody BETTER be picking up in 3 rings with an inviting tone and a script that drives action.). As long as there’s someone on the other end of the website (i.e. a member webportal for free trials, signups, or the offer that continues the DM offer – like myClub), or on the other end of the mobile site, then you’ve driven action.
So why is everybody down on direct mailers? I would argue it’s because it’s never been done properly. More often than not, it’s an afterthought, and not part of a larger marketing strategy. Part of the problem historically has been that you can’t track the success. But if you take a little time, and some money, you can address this problem pretty easily. (Remember what we talked about in the paragraph above?)
Next week in our continuing free webinar series “The Business of Our Business”, we are going to take a close look at how you can create a successful direct marketing campaign. Take 20 minutes out of your day to see what and how the best brands are STILL using direct mail marketing. Like the Giving Tree, it may not be brand new, but it’s still fresh and meaningful.
April 19, 2012
Categories: Equipment & Training • Promoting Your Gym
The obvious answer is that aliens exist and they probably workout at your facility. (I’ve been inside enough gyms to know that it is partially true). But that’s not the whole answer. This week, from the 5th floor windows of our Motionsoft office, we watched the Space Shuttle Discovery fly by us almost at eye level, as it flew over the DC area, (literally one of the coolest things ever!), while it was piggybacking a jumbo jet. Think about that for a second. That’s like the greatest example of spotting EVER. But is there even more to learn from this historic event… Read More »
March 29, 2012
Categories: Promoting Your Gym
If anybody tells you otherwise they are selling you snake oil. There is no such thing as social media. The collective users of Twitter, LinkedIn, Badoo, MySpace, Friendster, and Renren are still less than the total number of users on Facebook. So let’s stop calling it social media, and let’s start calling it what it really is…Facebook. So why is Angry Hossein…well angry today? Let me tell you. Read More »
March 22, 2012
Categories: Promoting Your Gym
Do you remember my 13 Reasons why I thought you shouldn’t go to IHRSA? Of course, I was being facetious. You don’t want to miss IHRSA. But I did have one hesitancy. It was a seed planted in my head by our VP of Communications, Leigh (who you may recognize from such webinars as “Understanding Retail: The art & Science of Retail-ology” and “How to create sales scripts for your staff – part 2”. Both available on demand!). So do you want to know the one reason I really didn’t want to go to IHRSA? Read More »
December 29, 2011
Categories: Promoting Your Gym
You know I am always preaching new, fun ways to engage your members. Well, I think this is gonna be a huge year for doing that! 2012 is rife with opportunities to literally get, keep & know your members better. And I’m talking your new folks and current ones. So here, are my list of the Top 5 promotions you can plan for in your gym specifically because its 2012. Read More »
December 22, 2011
Categories: Promoting Your Gym
I love museums. Which would seem like an odd thing to admit to while writing a blog to the health and wellness community, but the reality is we have a lot in common with museums. No, I’m not talking about the Soviet-era weight machine you have in the back that should be in a museum. No, what we have in common with museums is actually quite a bit more …esoteric. I don’t know what that word means exactly but read more to find out what we have in common with museums. Read More »
September 22, 2011
Categories: Promoting Your Gym
Over the last month, I’ve been following a great discussion on IHRSA’s LinkedIn page. The question posed was how we as an industry are doing in recruiting non-exercisers to our clubs. I’d strongly encourage you to join the IHRSA group and follow along. It’s been fascinating what clubs around the world are doing to increase the size of the pie. I imagine it’s exactly what idealists knew the power of social media could be! But it gets better… Read More »
September 15, 2011
Categories: Promoting Your Gym
I had a thought watching the Republican Debate on CNN earlier this week. Now, before you think this is a political piece, it isn’t. I will tell you only that my political views fall somewhere between bleeding heart liberal and ultra conservative. In fact, truly, the only reason I watched was because I always get stuck watching Wolf Blitzer, spending hours pondering whether A) Wolf is short for something and B) if it’s a stage name and he was born Jeff Blitzelvits. But here is what I thought… Read More »
August 18, 2011
Categories: Promoting Your Gym
A few years ago America underwent a seismic shift. It dramatically changed the landscape of America, Americans, and amphibians. Of course I am talking about how insurance companies market themselves. It isn’t about strength, reliability, and trust but rather how funny they can be with geckos, falcons, and farmers. (As we all know, the only purchase decisions you should base on hilariousness are gym management software and billing companies). But I digress…what can we learn from these ads? Read More »
August 11, 2011
Categories: Promoting Your Gym
This week a study came out that said teens who use Facebook are more likely to be narcissistic, and alcoholics, (with an added bonus of depression and anxiety). Two things really struck me as odd as I was reading the study. The first, which has nothing to do with our industry, is how could any parent allow their kid to be in the control group?! And second, with the explosion of social media marketing, has anybody stopped to think what the downside is… Read More »
