Be My Guest…at Fitness Business Summit 09

Bedros,

I am heading from the snowy parts of Wisconsin, to sunny Cali to see you and can’t wait!

I would like to share a couple tips with you and your readers!

1. Be perceived as the expert, add the WOW factor: One way I recently did this was to host my very own fitness cruise in the Caribbean. At first this started out because I really wanted to go on a cruise (never had been on one) and figured it would be cool to get paid to do it and bring along anyone who would like to come.

Well, this turned out to be so much more! I got on radio and television shows because of it and my clients and others would tell their friends and family “My trainer is hosting a fitness cruise, want to come?” This positioned me as the trainer that everyone wants to go to. I already have my next one booked!

So I encourage anyone who is interested to try hosting your own cruise. I spoke with my travel agent and he said he would love to help other trainers out. He did all the work, it was awesome! His name is Scott Mast and his contact is:
Telephone: 608-833-9339 ext. 272
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.burkhaltertravel.com

2. Having before and after pictures is very powerful and is no secret that you should do that, but I took it a step further and did 2 things. I have a monthly tv segment with NBC news, each month I would bring in a huge weight loss success and have them help me with the segment. I get SO many calls and emails from people who have seen my clients and I on the news shows. I also have a monthly DVD fitness program for stay-at-home moms, and each month I feature one of the moms as my workout partner and she does the workout for the DVD. This allows the moms to relate and bond to the program and to each months success stories.

Bedros, I look forward to seeing you soon!

Dustin Maher

http://www.fatlosstipsforwomen.com
http://www.dustinmaherfitness.com

I’m not registered for FBO9

best fitness marketing or business boosting strategy that has helped me grow my fitness business.

Simple, just don’t buy and read every marketing course and material, any monkey can do that crap….. but actually picking one course and doing it instead…that is the real key to success. apply apply apply!

Jonas Deffes

I believe the quality and success of a Fitness Business all depends on how much ENERGY is put into it.

People nowadays are bored with their lives. And although clients come to you obviously to get in shape…it’s also an escape for them from their daily routines.

Having an energetic Trainer who makes them feel great always makes the client justify whatever he/she paid for the service.

So besides that, I would say that the ‘big levers’ are having a positive outlook on life…and a mentality of abundance (to live in a world where there are more clients out there than you can possible handle).

Emanate this in whatever marketing you do, and you’ll always appear confident…and never needy.

…Then the next step is to have as many ‘fishing poles in the water’ as humanely possible. Have a website with a strong emotion-stirring headline, great high-value video marketing, a gazillion raving testimonials, strong calls to action…and Bedros’ Fitpronewsletter…then drive traffic to it through Craigslist, Google PPC, and Google Organic…..and you’ll soon be hiring other Trainers to get your entire city in shape, including the mayor.

(Already registered for FBS09)

Hello Bedros, I am already registered for the 09 Summit and am excited about coming!!! You have given me so many different things that I can do to boost my personal training business but if I had to pick one, it would be the FitPro Newsletter. My clients/family/friends love receiving it consistently twice a month.

thank-YOU for being so dedicated to our success!

For overnight results, you can’t beat having your local newspaper do a story on your business. I was the first boot camp in town, so the health editor was all over it. 2 page-spread, recurring contact with a few select clients to document their progress into a Boot Camp Journal sidebar. Even if your not the first, find something unique about what you do and promote that directly to whomever writes the health articles. It built tremendous good will and immediately filled up my classes. I made color copies of the article, had it bound, and distributed it to waiting rooms for their clients to read. YES. I’m registered for FBS ’09. Can’t wait.

I am already registered for the Summit! My son plays baseball (7 yrs old) and he plays for the Astros. I noticed all the Moms just sitting and waiting for sometimes 2 hours for practice to end…so I put together the Astros Fit Club. Every Friday while the boys are practicing at the park, I take the parents to the side and we have a boot camp. I don’t charge for this, however, in the process, other adults in the park come over and ask about what we’re doing and I have cards right there which I give to them. I have managed to pick up a lot of clients doing this one Free session for ladies who are my friends, plus I get in a workout myself.

Hey Bedros,

I didn’t get into the summit this year but would love to.

One of the best marketing tactics I have used over my career has definitely been the guinea pig promotion.

I took a local guy and he agreed to be put on the line.

We publicized his progress every step of the way in the public eye through a website, local news papers, posters and postcards in the local stores and so on. We did a progress picture and he wrote a journal about what h was doing so people could follow his progress.

I put myself on the line 100% guaranteeing his results in 16 weeks or his money back. S we had to deliver. Me as to not look like it couldn’t be done and him so that he didn’t look foolish in front of the whole town of 300 000.

He hit his mark in plenty of time and his journals showed people how easy it was. It kept me in steady clients until this day as I still use his story.

Bedros,

Did not register for the FBS09, unfortunately.

My Best Fitness Marketing, and it’s starting to sound like a broken record around this blog, is ENERGY. I recently started a Fitness Business, and recruited a buddy of mine to work it with me. We do outdoor bootcamps.. And Believe it or not we are Sponsored by a radio station called “energy.”

Anyway it’s all in the excitement you show then potential client while giving them a “sample” or free session. If you “Wow” them with excitement they will do everything they can to work with you, because you feed them positive ENERGY, and make them feel good.

On the other hand if you are dull and boring, they have that at home on the couch, and that is relatively free.. Why would anyone want to pay for that?

good luck to everyone

Hey Bedros, I am registered and looking forward to the third installment of the best fitness conference I’ve attended in 20 years in the business!

I’ve got two for you…but first, remember that my “niche” is to fit fitness into anyone’s life, not necessarily massive fat loss, etc.
1. I hosted a 12 week at loss contest for the community that was a fundraiser for the local school district. I met with and evaluated each individual, then developed specific programs for each. I had twice weekly check-in/educational meetings which were speaking engagements for me…the participants were encouraged to bring guests (I captured everyone’s contact info, of course). The winner won $500. Every person was made an offer to continue training at a value added price (35% retention for 4 months). ALL the proceeds (after costs; I had prizes and services donated by other businesses who also promoted the contest) were donated to the local education foundation as a grant for health and/or fitness education and programming. We raised just over $6k and I increased business 45%. This also opened public speaking doors for me and got me involved on the local and state level with kids nutrition and fitness.

2. I put out an ad on Craigslist saying I was accepting applications for ONLY 12 participants in a fitness Trial program called the 30 minute Fat Loss Challenge. Participants would receive a comprehensive Body Diagnostic Evaluation, customized nutrition program, and three 30 minute group personal training sessions per week for 6 weeks. In turn, I captured contact info for all applicants (had 38 people apply and I made them a different special offer…12 signed up!), took before and after pictures and video, and they each blogged about their experiences (testimonials baby!). Each participant paid just $297 for all this. At the end of the 6 weeks, I extended their deal so long as they continued, and most are still with me. So far, this one $25 ad has made me just over $8k for just 2 hours per week of work which I’m about to had off to an employee.

In each case, fostering friendship and group support is what made the participants successful. You taught me the phrase “under promise and over deliver” and it’s working every day. Thank you.

Registered!

Show your true passion, commitment and energy in helping your clients and the rest of your community….look at each person directly in the eye……..The EYES never lie!

I actually did some pro bono work. I challenged potential customers to come and train with me for FREE! I did a promotion (still going on) on my website and with flyers and posters around town advertising free personal training. Those who took me up on the offer were awarded 3 free sessions. After those 3 sessions, they could either pack it up and forget that we ever met or they could buy personal training sessions from me. This has rewarded me with 10 new clients in 2 weeks!

Bedros,

Sorry to do another post, but I have another one I have to share!

Getting frequent and consistent news coverage is huge, but can be challenging to do, especially on different news stations. What I have done very successfully is ethically bribe the news reportors on every news station to either train with me for free, give a discount, or add some additional value. I now have 3 news station anchors represented. One of the most popular news anchors has lost 25 lbs and 6 inches off her waist after having her 2nd child, this is very powerful, because people will stop her on the street or in the store and ask her how she has gotten so skinny in the past 6 months, let alone all the people who watch her on TV.

So in recap, train your local TV reporters, radio DJs, or any other person of high influence in your city, you will not lose out at all by doing this small service for free!

Dustin Maher

http://www.fatlosstipsforwomen.com
http://www.dustinmaherfitness.com

Hi Bedros,

My husband and I already registered for the summit, and are very excited to attend!

A good marketing idea for trainers is to exhibit at a corporate health fair. I’ve done this in the past and have brought automatic (for time constraints) blood pressure cuffs, body fat percentage analyzers, …. People are shocked by their poor results and are almost desperate to get started on a fitness and nutrition program. Also, I feel good about this because I’m selling them something they desperately need. This is also a good place to find an already established group of people who will want to participate in a group type class setting.

See you in May!

Keren

I’m all ready registered for FBS09 and would love to win that SUITE

MY best fitness marketing tip is to get other local businesses to endorse me. The way I do this is by setting up a monthly seminar in my studio where me, and three other ‘experts” (local business owners) share fitness, health and wellness info.

This way we all penetrate each other’s list and then I go find three other experts to do the seminar with the following month and so on.

It works really well because their most qualified customers come to these seminars.

It’s not a system I created myself. I actually learned this from you Bedros, but I hope it still counts.

See ya at the Summit!

Robert

Hey everyone! You guys really have a bunch of awesome marketing tips.

This is killer… keep’em coming. What’s your best fitness marketing or business boosting strategy?

Hey Bedros,
I’m excited to get to California for another great Summit and I’d love to be in the suite!
One of the most powerful things that I ensure is that I know all my clients names and even their aches and pains. I provide the ‘personal touch’ to my clients. In a group of 30, when the instructor (me) knows everyones name, it makes clients feel welcome and eager to return. It’s worthwhile to make an effort to learn a little something about each person. I have most of my clients returning for boot camp after boot camp because they know me, trust me and like me, and I know them too!
See you soon!
Shawna

Hey Bedros,

I didn’t get to register for the FBS 09.

The whole economic downturn has actually proved to be a BIG opportunity for me. I was tired of working for a studio and not making enough to cover my bills for me and my family.

Most people in my community where I train clients don’t want to pay the high costs that most personal training studios are charging nor do they want to waste money on gym memberships that they aren’t really using.

This opened up doors for me to start my own business this year training clients in their own homes. I bring medicine balls, dumbbells, stability balls, bands or whatever we need for each session.

Since I have no overhead (other than the cost of gas) I was able to charge much less than private studios and still make a much better living. My clients have more affordable training and my income is much better. Win-Win!

I’ve tripled my income since doing this (YES!) and have gotten some word of mouth started which has gotten me another 2 clients in 2 months along with aligning myself with 2 local chiropractors who are promoting my services to their patients.

Now, best of all is that I started all of this doing 45 minute training sessions. But, I’ve challenged all of my clients to get these workouts done in 30 minutes and it’s going really well. I put myself on the line by telling each of them that they would get the same results or better in just 30 minutes versus 45 minutes. And, it’s working.

Each session is now just 30 minutes and my clients are thrilled because they still get a full, intense workout in and they have a bit more free time.

Since they know they only have to workout for 30 minutes they are pushing harder during each workout and getting great results. And, I still earn the same amount of money per session that I did doing 45 minute sessions.

This has increased my income once again and also frees up more time so I can build more clientele or spend more time with my family. Either way, it gives me more options.

Basically, if you can give a client the same or better results in 30 minutes than another studio/trainer can get that client in an hour, the client is going to go to you because they want results fast, they don’t want to workout for an hour and if you can do that you’re worth more than the other studio/trainer so your value goes up.

Also, I’ve been nominated for the 2009 Personal Trainer Of The Year for my community in their magazine that just about everyone reads. If I can somehow win this I’m going to see if I can use the recognition to write healthy restaurant reviews to post on my blog and the owners can put on display in their restaurants which should also give me some big time exposure to more potential clients.

In home personal training has been a great opportunity for me and I’m sure it’s viable in every community.

Thanks for all of your marketing tips Bedros,

Kevin

I am not registered for the event - I was caught overseas without an internet connection for three weeks:(

I am not going to pretend to be more savvy than the other fine trainers on this blog - I sold software into healthcare organizations for more than fifteen years before “buring-out” and becoming a trainer. It was very difficult to replace a high six figure salary and on target earnings of well over 500k per year. How did I do it? I went straight back to the well I had been drinking out of for fifteen years. I called on Chief Administrative Officers of large Healthcare companies where I had naturally warm contacts and positioned my services with their overall wellness programs that they position to Corporate America. I bill the healthplan, not the company or the individual. It is April and I have net-income of over 150k for the year. I don’t miss being corporate Johny lunch bucket but it sure feels good to make money off of those bastards!

Hi Bedros,

I am not registered for FBS 09.

For my company we have been able to set ourselves apart by developing and building our business’s personality. People want to buy from real people, because they’re sick and tired of the “same ole same ole” sales and marketing. We promise an “unparalleled experience” and do our best to provide exceptional offers so that we stand out and we are always on our client’s minds.

As you’ve preached, take care of your current customers with exceptional offers and reasons to not only come back, but to give you tons of referrals.

Sincerely,

Rommel Acda

I am registered for the FBS.

The most important strategy is to ALWAYS continue to develop yourself. Read the best books by the best authors, go to the best seminars, conferences and summits, network, collaborate, intern - and everything else. You OWE it to your clients to give them the latest and greatest training information to help them reach THEIR goals; build muscle, lose fat, start living healthy.

If you do this, you will have the knowledge to change their lives. It all starts with education.

im not registered for the FBS 09

well its simple…. the best two tips I could give anyone is;

1) Listen to what Bedros has to say!

2) Do what Bedros tells you to do!

these are really the best tips I could give anyone who wants to grow their fitness business!

Your a blessing Bedros, keep it up!

I will not be at the summit due to the sucessful start up of my boot camp. Things are rolling and I cant afford to be out of town. I will definetely be at the next one. One of my best marketing ideas recently came from doing cross promotions for the boot camp. I went around to the local business’ and asked if they would give my clients a discount for equipment, clothing, services, tanning, and I found that quite a few were willing. I took their offer put it on our web page and also in our newsletter and in return I asked that they put my flyers at their store or allow me to put up some posters. They did and new clients have rolled in. On a larger scale were trying to team up with Starbucks for a free cup of coffee for all my morning clientele. In return they will allow me to put up some advertising in my local store. Ill let you know how that goes.

Hi Bedros!
I’ve already registered for FBS09 And very excited!

Getting your name out and positioning yourself as the go-to-expert has by far been the best thing for me. I use fit-pro- newsletter to help me with this. I’ve been really working on sending out broadcasts more regularly (2-5 times weekly) and have noticed a dramatic increase in response.

Public speaking is also an amazing way to increase prospects. I’ll be giving a seminar tomorrow to a group of Supplement associates and their friends, which I’ve been messaging my list about as well. I more than tripled my response in the 2nd notice in the series of 3 messages to my list. Many people have RSVP’d and it looks like its gonna be a full house.

One special trick that is an absolute must at a public speaking engagement is to collect everyones contact information. So I created an a.b.c. offer form with spaces to fill in their contact information at the top. Offer a. is for a 2 week free trial of my boot camp. Offer b. is for a personal training consultation/fitness assessment. And offer c. is for those not ready to commit, but would like to receive my fitness newsletter. At the end of my speach I will instruct everyone on how to fill out the form for more free information.

I will also explane that the completed forms wil be collected and used to raffel off the door prize which will include:
**free consult/fit assessment
**nutrition program
**2 weeks free personal training or 1 month free bootcamp
**and a follow up assessment after 30 days

And now I have to go send out the final RSVP notice with limited seats left

Thanks Bedros for the opportunity to share what’s worked for me. I can already imagine the view from that sweet! lol.

PS. All marketing knowledge is useless without massive immediate action! And once you have the clients, do as bedros does: constantly wow and overdeliver!

im not registered for the FBS 09

well its simple…. the best two tips I could give anyone is;

1) Listen to what Bedros has to say!

2) Do what Bedros tells you to do!

these are really the best tips I could give anyone who wants to grow their fitness business!

Your a blessing Bedros, keep it up!
Sorry, should have mentioned good post! Waiting on the next one!

I am not registered for FBS09-sad, but true.

One of my best tips that I do not do nearly enough of was something I learned at FBS08-and very simple.

GET OUT THERE!!! Talk to everyone you can about what you do and how and why you do it. The more people you tell in just general conversation, the more referrals you will get from them.

Thanks for all of your info Bedros that you send-always helpful to keep up with current happenings.

Hi Bedros,
I’m not registered for FBS 09.

You are getting a lot of good ideas and tips here. I find that getting referrals from spouses seems to work well. After a husband or wife gets great results, I ask them to refer their spouse, and they will usually train with me too.

Hey Bedros,

Tom and I are very excited to be coming to sunny CA again this year. Can you believe it’s still snowing here?

My best fitness tip would be like Eyad’s above and that is Sign Up With Bedros!! and I’m not sucking up either. That was a turning point for me.

Since everyone has seen that already, here’s one that’s fresh. We run regular client events that are open to clients and their friends/family. We run them quarterly now but will soon go to monthly. We update everyone including our clients/past clients/prospects via e-mail on how exciting it will be, when/where/what the outing is etc. In every e-mail we are sure to include a promo for ourselves and have lots of pictures and video. We also put a link to our site that helps promote the event and that draws more traffic to our website (it actually doubles). Our most recent event was indoor rock climbing and was a huge success. Everybody’s still talking about it. And those who couldn’t make it want to attend the next one (and we always encourage them to bring their friends)

Kelly
http://www.how-to-get-fit.com

Oh, and Bedros, if we win the suite, we’ll let you stay with us! You’re okay with the couch, right?

FREE TRIALS FOR NEW CLIENTS &
TREAT CURRENT CLIENTS LIKE THEY DESERVE TO BE TREATED

1.) We started implementing free one week trials to our boot camp in January. We have been in business for over 3 years and always thought that since we had a great boot camp and we were the only boot camp in town that people would just come to us….

Once we implemented our Complimentary One Week Trial we have converted 34 of our trials to recurring monthly billing boot campers, that averages out to about $4,590 per month more income for us.

These people may have never attended our camp had we not offered a trial.

A trial does not cost you any money out of pocket, you are already at camp training people, so if ten more show up for free for one week and you convert half of those, cha-ching!

2.) We have many clients that have been members of our boot camp for 2-3 years… in order to set ourselves apart from other fitness companies in town we reward our clients in many ways and create ways for them to make our program even more valuable.

For example, when the economy started to turn, we decided to offer all of our current camper more value for their current dollar. If they were on recurring monthly billing for 3 days per week we kept their price the same but gave them ‘unlimited’ classes because we had a 5 day per week camp. It didn’t cost us anything extra, but gave them much more for their dollar. We even got back a few campers that had previously been on ‘hiatus’.

We also, reward one camper of the week with a blog post all about them and a gift of supplements or movie tickets.

We also, reward all of our current campers with a $5 starbucks card and a 25% one time discount if they refer a friend to the program that signs up.

So without spending very little if not any money we get tons of new campers everymonth and have a retention rate of over 95%.

Hope this helps anyone looking to improve their flow of new clients and retention for current clients.

I have a million more ideas and would love to help anyone, just send me an email!

Tiffany

p.s. bedros I am not signed up for the summit, however, I attended in ’07 and loved it, so if I win I would be very excited!

I am a million

I’m not going to waste your time. Let’s get right into it.

Here’s the truth…

Growing your fitness business is not like looking for a needle in a haystack. Although, I completely understand if that’s the way you feel because I’ve been there myself.

Now, I’m going to give you your ‘key takeaway’ right now, rather than at the end. It will just make more sense as you read through the 3 powerful tips that I’m about to unveil.

So, here’s what you must take away from this post: Your fitness business is all around you and you’re walking on the red carpet.

Did you catch that? Really slow down and let that sink in. I’m getting chills right now.

Your Fitness Business Is All Around You And You’re Walking On The Red Carpet

As you recover from that statement, I want you to understand something. I truly believe that the size of your fitness business is directly linked to the level of involvement that you have with the community that surrounds you. There are people and businesses (run by people) in your community, that are silently begging for a relationship with someone that can really help them.

You can literally announce yourself and your business to every decision-making sector of your community. Once this is done, you will automatically have influence and top of mind awareness (TOMA) with mass amounts of people that are connected. Why? Well, think about this:

Every business has people that walk through the door. Every school has staff and teachers that teach kids that have parents. Every city has a Chamber, networking meetings, a city hall and community events. Do you see what I’m getting at here? Your potential clients are already involved with something else and without even knowing it they’ve rolled out the red carpet for you.

***WARNING*** These tips are very powerful but they will do nothing if you don’t take action and implement them. Also, community involvement doesn’t have to cost you one dime but will require an investment of your time. It’s about building relationships with a giving hand.

Here are your no cost (for the most part) “Community Fitness Connection” tips that ultimately lead back to you.

1. Embed Yourself Like a YouTube Video

In other words, get involved. Now, most fitness business owners don’t like to commit to doing anything extra because they are afraid that too much of their time will be eaten up. Put your mind on the shelf it this is what you’re thinking. Yes, it will require SOME time, but your mindset should be that it will require TOO much time because this is a necessity.

Since you are making a time investment, your involvement should be strategic no doubt. By strategic I mean, your participation should affect and expose you the most amounts of people possible.

Here’s my A-List of groups to embed yourself in for maximum exposure:

A. Chamber of Commerce (small yearly fee) - The benefits that come with this are priceless. You get to attend their weekly, bi-weekly and monthly meetings, which puts you in contact with all of the other business owners with your community. You now have access to the Chambers email list where you can send articles, press releases and any other information that they allow. Remember, the people receiving these emails already know, like and trust you because you sit in meetings and network with them. To take it a step further, sign-up to become an Ambassador for your Chamber. I won’t even get into all the value with this…just do it.

B. SHAC Committee (district level) - This is the Student Health Advisory Committee. SHAC is always looking for people and they usually meet once a month to come up with solutions to further the health and wellness opportunities within the schools. When you connect with SHAC you will most likely be knocking heads (in a good way) with whoever is in charge with the school districts Wellness Plan. Need I say more?

C. Site Base Team (campus level) - A team of teachers and parents that make decisions regarding where the schools money is spent and much more. Not only does this put you in front of the leader within the school but you get to help make decisions on spending the schools money. I bet the need a fitness program.

D. More groups to consider - Rotary Club, City Hall Committees, City Event Planning Committee, Parks and Recreation Team and any free networking groups that you can find in your area.

2. Strategically Choose Your Top 5

Once your part of all the committees and groups that you choose, you have the inside track. Now you dig a little deeper.

There are key players in all of those groups, right? Here’s what you do after taken a little time to establish yourself and build relationships.

Keep your eyes open for the most influential person in each of your groups and then ask yourself a question. Could this person benefit from training with me? Are they vocal, outgoing and connected with lots of people? Consider what you are looking for in a client. If it’s a fit, then you want to get that person training in your program for FREE or ,at a minimum, a very steep discount.

Let that person know that your are looking for 5 good people within the community to participate in your “City Focus on Fitness Group” and you have been thinking about her/him as someone who may be interested in getting some excellent training.

Let them know that there are requirements to be able to participate in the group. He/She must send you at least 2 referrals every month and provide you with a video testimonial at every milestone that they hit. You can add in whatever else you might like.

Wash, rinse and repeat until you have 5 influential people embedded in your fitness business that will talk you up amongst their circles that they run in. This is very powerful and I’m speaking from experience. I call my group the Hutto Fab 5.

3. Create Your City/Town Fitness Blog

I’ll be honest…I wasn’t going to share this tip because I think it’s just too potent but here you have it.

Wouldn’t you like to be the one that everyone in your town runs to when something fitness is about to happen?

Knock it out of the park by owning your city/town’s fitness blog. Seriously, start a blog titled

http://www.CityStateFitnessBlog.com (ex. http://www.AustinTexasFitnessBlog.com). You need to completely understand what this does for you.

You now have a powerful tool that gets you into a conversation with anyone, anytime. I’m going to give you a perfect example of how I’m using this so that you can grasp the magnitude and go ahead and put the nail in the coffin.

————————————————————————————————————————-

Here’s the exact conversation that I had with the P.E Coach at my daughters elementary school regarding my cities fitness blog (that I own):

Donovan: Hey Pam, I want to talk to you about something. I know you like this health and fitness stuff as much as I do. I have a great idea that would help bring awareness to our community on so many different levels, as well as give you an opportunity to be featured as one of the cities fitness leaders.

Pam: Oh really? Tell me about this idea.

Donovan: Well, here’s what I’m doing. I’m creating a fitness “super site” that I will use to host everything fitness, health and wellness that happens in our city. What I would like to do, since you do so many different fitness activities with kids, is get you to let me know when you are doing any kind a special activity or event so that I can come and be part of it. I really want our cities awareness about fitness and health to go up, so when I’m here I’ll take some pictures and videos of you all having a good time. I’ll even do an interview with you so that you can express your passion for fitness and help inspire our town. What do you think?

Pam: That is so awesome that you are doing that. I’ve wanted to do something like that for a long time so I’d be glad to work with you on that. I’m holding open gym tomorrow night so will you come in? Last time we had over 100 kids and parents show up and I missed taking pictures and everything.

Donovan: Sounds awesome. I’ll be here. Can I go ahead and interview you on camera tomorrow while all of the kids and parents are playing in the background? I’ll interview a few of the parents also so they can talk about how much they appreciate you opening the gym to the families.

Pam: You got it. This is going to be great!

—————————————————————————————————————————

Are you feeling this? You’re featuring anyone or anything in your city that has to do with fitness, health or wellness, including yourself. Hell, you own the site.

With these 3 tips you will be just one contact away from just about every person in your city. I’d say that puts you in a pretty damn good position. I chose to give you these tips for a reason…these are the 3 things that have helped grow my business the quickest over the last 18 months and I’ve just scratched the surface. Actually, as of this writing, the city fitness blog is still under construction (it’s going to be huge).

Donovan “Dfitnessguy” Owens

Hey

Unfortunately I am unable to attend the FBS09. I would really love to leave upstate New York as we approach the mud season.

I have been in business for 1 year this June. My membership is small, but growing a little bit at a time. I am located in a ski resort area where a majority of the population is employed on a seasonal basis. Like the rest of the country, many people have been laid off in our small community. Several members came to me telling me they can longer afford their gym membership. This is bad for them and for the club.

How can I help them and others who may be in the same situation? Here’s my answer;

Free Fitness Fridays!

It’s Our Answer to a Weak Economy- A Strong Mind and Body!

I wanted to open the club to those people who recently lost their jobs. At the same time I felt it was my responsiblilty to help the members who supported me throughout the year by allowing them to continue thier health and fitnesd goals. It was agreeded that these people would resume their monthly dues when they were employed again.

My staff generoulsy donated their time to teach group classes or do small group training on the weight room floor.

The local radio station ran the commercials every hour for the Free Fitness Friday with out cost to me which raised community awareness. There were articles in the local newspapers and I was asked to write a health and fitness column every week.

What did this do for my business? Well,I have sold a few short term memberships. But the biggest payoff is the word of mouth is which the most valuable form of marketing.

“

Hey Bedros - I forgot.

I’m NOT registered. I’d love to be there with you.

If nothing else I want people to re-read the post above and use the information. It WILL grow your business like it has mine. Be the authority.

Thanks,

Donovan “DFintessguy” Owens

Damn, Donovan you killed it man…..good stuff

Here is my main strategy right now:

Get involved in as many local networking groups as possible. I am currently in 4 groups myself and my staff members go to another two each week. Each group has from 25-80 people in it and the members of the networking groups are my free sales force. Each participant in the group is supposed to be generating prospects for me on a daily basis. I give them all discounted rates and a free pt session/week pass because if I get them to understand what we do they can better explain it to others. I also give them a referral fee for their work and thank them via e-mail. We also have open houses at our center so all of the members of the group can view our facility.

I am going to fitness summit.

Brien

Holly crap Donovan. That is some good info right there bro.

I expect nothing less from you man.

I’m not registered but my biggest tip is to actually implement the stuff you read from people who have been there done that.

I’ve noticed the biggest impact on my business in the last 12 months since I started doing that and not just reading it and saying yep that sounds cool.

Simple but effective.

My business started to decline at the start of this year. I refused to believe it was because of the “Recession”. I told myself, “It’s cold outside in Jan & Feb and I run outdoor boot camps. It’ll pick up in Spring.” I wanted to make sure that would happen, so I went to a local hair salon and left 60 flyers about a “recession buster deal.” 1st week free! Well they forgot to give them out. I think they didn’t want their clients to see them working out with no make up, ect. But I have 5 new stylists and 2 of their friends in my boot camp this month and it only cost less than $10 in flyers.

Thanks, Sandy

P.S. I am going to FBS. It’s the same as my initials, Fitness By Sandy Beach.

Bedros,
already registered for the FBS09 and I’m PSYCHED baby! Seriously, really looking forward to meeting everyone and taking home as much info and even better build great relationships and network.

The best marketing strategy that I would like to share has been something that has been building my business for the past 3 months even though I am still working at a health club over 40+ hours a week (transitioning to my own place completely is the goal….I’ve already cut down hours twice and starting June I will only be working there 3 days/week)

Deliver such an incredible service and experience that your clients will become your free marketing tool that works 24/7 (well not when they’re sleeping). This may sound like something that you’ve heard before, but ask yourself do you really do that? Delivering results and going above and beyond your clients needs, sending extra workouts, meal ideas (personal email) and checking in on them through phone and motivating text messages, giving their family members a call because they need some advice, getting them a small gift for working hard the whole month, etc. This builds so much obligation that they will talk about you non stop! To further build on this be friend them on facebook and follow them on twitter and give motivation, post videos of them training and communicate with them as all their friends will see what they are doing and how great a trainer they have

This has sparked so much interest and brought in great referrals for me. I don’t have a six figure business….YET, but it has generated almost 20 paying bootcampers and 6 semi private clients with a 6 client athlete group in around 2 months… all while having a full schedule at a health club.

There are many ways to successfully market but sometimes we forget that we should focus at being EXTRAordinary at our craft and thinking about what would you like training service to be like if you were purchasing it.

Luka Hocevar
http://www.HocevarPerformance.com

Hi Bedros

I am registered for the FBS09.

My BEST Strategy for my business - a women’s fitness and weight management center ~

This is my “calling”. I take PERSONAL stock in each individual member/client I have. They get love, respect,compassion, understading and RESULTS with me.
My goal? To help women look and feel GREAT about themselves!
I know all of my members by first and last name, I may know the color of their car! I have met their families, been invited to weddings, birthdays, surprise parties, showers,etc..

I have formed a womens ministry at my place to minister to my ladies mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually!

My best marketing tactic…my ladies and their MOUTHS! People through out my city have heard for me and She’s Shapin’ Up!
I have ladies walk in off the street proclaiming, “I was told I needed to come here and join, what do I need to do”!
REALLY!! This happens to me!

I have had some stop in and after I visit with them, they are in tears saying, “I was told you could help me, I am tired of feeling the way I feel and I was told you were the place to go”!

I lead with my heart; you must have heart!
People knowing I CARE, has been my best marketing…I have been my best marketing tool!

One more thing…I choose to opt out of the “recession” and I choose NOT TO PARTICIPATE in the “economy”.

However, my next marketing venture that will end April 30th 2009 7pm sharp, is my “Health Stimulus Package” I am on track to generate, up front, BEFORE monthly eft’s begin, $10,000.00 in the next 22 days!

THANKS BEDROS!
I COULD REALLY USE THAT SUITE ABOUT NOW )

Your Friend in Health & Fitness ~

Teri Katzenberger
Sioux Falls, SD

You guys are really making it hard for me to pick the winners…

This is awesome! Thanks for all the comments and tips everyone. I’ll announce the winners sometime on Friday.

But for now we’re off to San Diego for a week of rest and relaxation before things really kick in for the Summit!

Thanks everyone!

Bedros

Well I have learned so much from the “big players” in the industry but one thing I do that seems to work well is the thank you card with an automatic up sell with a big purchase. So if someone purchases a group of training I give them a short time frame to purchase immediately because they are now part of my inner circle of clients. The “special offer leaves within two weeks just enough time to decide they love the training and that it is going to get them great results. The now know that I value them more so they appreciate it even if they do not make the purchase. I am amazed at all the great ideas on here but most importantly the action and follow through.

I am not registered I neglected to mention that

Jeremy

wow, Awesome ideas from everyone.

Here are two tips that have helped me out.

1. I offered a free 30 minute fat loss seminar. Everyone was required to sign a waiver and contact info sheet.
Other trainers from the same facility attended as well. I had approximately 60 people attend and generated 13 new clients from this 30 minutes of work.I now have all of their email info etc and they receive updates to my site/blog/promos etc…
Having the other trainers attend, and listen to me and my thoughts positioned ME as the person to go to!

2. RESULTS
Get your people in shape FAST!!
Simple yet brutally effective.
People are proud of their accomplishements and others WILL NOTICE
2.

Hey Bedros,

I am definitely attending the Fitness Business Summit and really looking forward to it. This will be my first Summit.

What I recently did was sent an e-mail out to EVERY PTA president for each shcool in my area. I gave them a short description of my boot camp business and made an offer to them to donate one 4-week boot camp for their fundraising efforts. I then told them to go to my website for any information that they would need.

In my opinion, there is no better person to market to than the mothers of kids in school. Everyone wants to keep up with the “Jones’”, so they all tell there school mom friends that they are in my boot camp and other moms want to join in as well. I did this e-mail campaign two weeks ago and already have 5 of the presidents or PTA board sign up. Not only that but they told me that they are spreading the word trying to get others to join as well. This is an unbelievable tactic that is 100% free to do. All it takes is a little Google and phone time to get their contact information. Well I hope everyone likes this and tries it themselves. I look forward to meeting you in person Bedros as well as all the others attending.

In Good Health,
Carlos Payte
Novato, California

Hi Bedros, I will be attending and look forward to it.

- Write a book, or publish an audio CD

Its pretty easy to self publish a book or create an audio cd these days. Don’t assume its daunting, because it’s not. It takes less than an hour to create a powerful audio CD.. and this information can easily be transcribed and become a book. Create 50-60 pages of content, hire a professional editor to tweak out errors, add some pictures, increase the font size of the text and you have a respectable, 90-100 page book. The media loves authors. My book got my massive publicity on radio and TV within days of launch.

- Must become a member of the local chamber of commerce and leverage the list of businesses.

Donavon has already mentioned this, but it bears repeating. The benefit of the local chamber of commerce is that it provides a platform for business in the local community. Offering your services as an expert to local business is a quick way to gain credibility. Call and schedule a meeting with the chief of the chamber. Appear professional, be punctual and introduce yourself as the best fitness professional in the area. Volunteer to conduct seminars, breakfast meetings and lunch and learns. Get the contact information of local businesses and communicate with them, provide them with a special offer to get new leads back to your business.

- Position yourself as a leader by connecting with local health professionals.

Contact local physical therapists, weight loss surgeons and tell them you are doing an interview series for your clients, and you would like to send some of your clients to them. Conduct a phone interview and make it available as audio download, podcast or an infoproduct to your prospects. In the process, you will build a connection that can potentially refer clients to you, or you to them. Health professionals love professionals who give referrals, instead of simply taking them. Imagine providing clients with an information packed audio CD. The process is simple. Call and schedule a time with the doctor of therapist and ask for 10-15 minutes of their time. All they have to do is to send you a biography, and answer the phone at a scheduled time, and talk to you. Inform them you plan on recording the call and distributing it to your patients and get their permission on the call before you begin. and you are all set!

- Stay in touch with consistent, relevant information.

This can be a newsletter, postcards, phone calls. I use youtube videos to communicate with clients and it has worked very well, adds the human connection. Build a large funnel of prospects and move them through the chain from stranger (or inactive client) to prospect, to client, to referral source.

- Offer more than one service, specialize.

Offer a ‘core service’ and 2-3 services around it. Be geared to provide some sort of income generation service to ALL TYPES OF CLIENTS. Don’t leave any money on the table. In other words, diversify or get left behind.

Hi Bedros,

If I had but ONE tip, it would be “celebrate your clients” - be their biggest champion!

Afterall is business not about getting, keeping & multiplying clients? And the best way to do that is to want their success more than them!

I’m in the U.S. for Ryan’s event in May, but equally impressed with your lineup… just NY is closer!

All the best,
Noel Lyons.

I’m attending your FBS09 and I’m very excited about it. All my little vacations have been to see my family in FL, until I just recently moved to FL to be closer as my mom is not well. So, this is a little trip away from it all for my husband & I. What a beautiful place to do it and what better reason other than see you and others in the fitness arena! Here is some things I either have started already or in the middle of to share with my fellow fitness friends…

1. I have learned to not waste time; it’s one of the only things we can’t change or get back. So, if you want to be successful in business follow what the successful leaders are doing. Don’t reinvent the wheel. That is why I choice to come see the best!

2. Plus be real! Do what you love. If you don’t like the fitness business look for what you do love. You won’t work a day of your life. I have to take L-Theanine at night to go to sleep because I am so excited doing what I do. The mind doesn’t want to stop! People will feel that excitement and gravitate to it.

3. I started a personal blog regarding my personal struggles with eating & exercise. Which are mainly making the time for it for me and stop giving my time away to clients:) I did it for a couple reasons (I never could just do it for me), I am making myself accountable by sharing, I wanted people to see I’m REAL and maybe get inspired by it. The funny thing is that was my goal and the first few comments on my posts, where exactly that. One saying it makes me seem more real and that I inspired them in their lives. Five are now in my bootcamp! I just started this. People like to know we are at their level too and that it’s all possible. Share your story; they will follow you, sign up for all you offer, and become your number one fan! It’s all about relationships!

2. I did an offer for 2 weeks of bootcamp FREE and bring a friend and get the whole month! Over deliver! I got press from it and I’m there anyway. I do usually 1 week free, but lately with the economy (which I choice not to participate in) I thought I would offer a Fitness Bailout. Tip- use what the media is focusing on - which brings me to my next tip…

3. I am doing a “BEST MOM GIVEAWAY” for Mother’s Day . Anyone from anywhere can write in about why their mom is the best mom. I have a committee that will bring it down to the best ten. I am then going to have people VOTE on the site for the two weeks which story they feel should win eliminating as we go. Letting them decide. I already have the media on it. Not to mention, daughters contact info & mother’s info for my database.I’m giving away a 12 week makeover of their choice (which will be my next blog & youtube story).

4. Another media grabber…I have a couple who is going on YouTube next week to start there story on losing weight & exercising for the next 12 weeks. They will be blogging their challenges and success throughout for others to follow. Media is picking up on it as well. They don’t want their names exposed, so he came up with the coolest names for them. I can’t spill the beans yet. But, you can email if you want and can keep a secret! They are awesome. I am doing this for FREE and so it gets a little more exposure - hint-hint. This is for marketing local and online training.

5. I send sendout cards too all my clients to keep them motivated and coming back for more. If you are not familiar with sendout cards, let me know and I’ll help you! It is a great tool to use in your business (you can do all your direct sales on it it too and it takes MINUTES)! I put their progress pictures on the front of the card (monthly) even the pants stretching out view to encourage them and motivate them and I slip a gift in it as well as a reward. You will be the talk of the town with all the little extras you do. Remember something- most people do NOT follow up, if you do you are already ahead of the game. It takes a lot more money to get a client (well their are ways to get yourself out there) but it’s still easier to keep selling the ones you have. Word of mouth is your best advertisement. Have you ever been out somewhere and someone else sells you and you never open your mouth. It’s a beautiful thing.

I could go on and on, but I’ll stop for now. I’m looking forward to sharing with others at the FBS09! I’m loving the thought of learning more and more. My husband is going to be every bored while I am out with the best of the best, so I would love to win your suite for him to chill out in. I wouldn’t feel as bad:) Thanks for all you do Bedros!

See you all there!
Carrie A. Kukuda
[email protected]

In the end, give and it will come back to you. I hope you find these tips helpful and I

Hey Bedros, I’d hate to put you out of a room, maybe we can just trade?

I have two things, the first I wanted to share something different, that I hadn’t seen posted yet and has been an integral part of our operation. The second is an idea I am setting up to execute but haven’t yet. (My cutting edge gem)

1. Scarcity - Real or perceived create it. At various points of our growth we have simply ran out of room. Our training waiting list has been one of our strongest pieces of marketing ever. You meantion to people you have a waiting list and suddenly they won’t leave you alone and soon all their friend and families are calling, when you are that good everyone wants to train with you. Execute your business with total confidence, you offer a service that is highly regarded. Creating some scarcity, real or perceived sends an amazing message.

2. We are launching our Bootcamp program now, we intend to organize community challenges that will ultimately be fundraisers. These events will showcase physical challenges that our bootcamps, and average Joe can participate in. Not only are we looking to have fun, raise some money, and create light competition we are looking to physically demonstrate the power of regular activity on any body, at any age.

See you all in a couple weeks!

GIVE YOUR CAMP AWAY AND IT WILL COME BACK TO YOU

THIS IS A KILLER FREAKIN’ BOOT CAMP REFERRAL MARKETING CAMPAIGN THAT JUST LANDED ME AN EXTRA $2000 A MONTH…THE BEST PART IS, YOU CAN RUN IT OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN…READY

Here’s a copy of the exact promotion that I ran. In this promotion I tell my campers exactly what to do and I give them the blueprint to do it. Result…10 new campers in 2 weeks signed and set up on EFT. Here you go…

==========================================================

Busy Women Boot Camps

Presents the…

Economic Boot Camp Giveaway

This promotion is my way of giving back to you since you have given me so much.

As I have mentioned previously, my goal is to embrace as many women in the community as possible and grow our strong, faithful member base. I am depending on you to help me do that since you can testify, first hand, about what this camp has done for you
.
So what is in it for me; you ask?

You Got It…How About 5 Months of FREE Boot Camp!

Your Goal

To get as many of your friends, family members and neighbors as possible to join our boot camp.

Promotion Timeline

Starts Friday, March 20th and ends Monday, March 30th.

FREE Boot Camp Breakdown
• 1st Place (5 or more new sign-ups) – 5 FREE MONTHS OF BOOT CAMP ($935 Value)

• 2nd Place (4 new sign-ups) – 4 FREE MONTHS OF BOOT CAMP ($748 Value)

• 3rd Place (3 new sign-ups) – 3 FREE MONTHS OF BOOT CAMP ($561 Value)

• 4th Place (2 new sign-ups) – 2 FREE MONTHS OF BOOT S CAMP ($374 Value)

• 5th Place (1 new sign-up) – 1 FREEE MONTH OF BOOT CAMP ($187 Value)

Pay Out Structure

To reward you dedication and time to getting new members to the camp, I will personally pay for your boot camp depending on the level you were able to accomplish.

There CAN definitely be more than one winner for each place.

Here Is Your Step-by-Step Blueprint To Make Sure You Win The Grand Prize

1. Take just a second to think about how you feel about the camp and what is has done for you: flatter stomach, toned arms, firm butt and thighs, stronger body, more energy, clothes fitting different, exciting fitness, great people to be around, workouts always different, great trainer: )

2. Now invite everyone you know to come out for a FREE 1 WEEK for $3 TRIAL that will begin the week of Monday, March 30th: Make sure when you are inviting them that you are full of energy and explain to them why they have to come try out this boot camp. Tell them about all of your small victories that are making you feel great.

3. Send those who are ready to lock in their FREE TRIAL to the website: They have to register for their trial at
http://busywomenbootcamps.com/register/.

4. Show them how enthusiastic and energetic you are at the camp: Once their 1 WEEK FREE $3 TRIAL begins on Monday, March 30th be sure to represent. Let them see you workout hard and have fun.

5. Hang out, thank and encourage: Help us encourage them throughout their trial sessions. Introduce them to other camp members during breaks. Hang out with us for a few minutes after camp to give them a good feel of the family environment that we have going on. Most of all, thank them and let them know you can’t wait to see them at the next session.

The person or persons that follow this to the T have the greatest chance of getting the most people to sign-up. This is a proven formula and should not be taken lightly. Good luck and go get ‘em. Thank you for being part of the BWBC team!!!
===========================================================

That exact promo just gave me a $24,000 a year raise and I’m about to run it again with a little twist;)

Have at it folks…make it work for your biz.

Donovan “DFitnessguy” Owens

Hey Bedros,

I am definitely registered for FBS 09! I can’t wait!

Hope you have a good time in San Diego, don’t know if this will be considered for the competition since you already left, but I wanted to share it anyway. It is actually SO POWERFUL I wanted to keep it a secret and wait until the conference to share it with you and Steve Hochman since I’ve gotten so many great ideas from the two of you. However, since everyone is sharing some AWESOME stuff on here I don’t feel right holding out.

This one thing basically forced me to quit working as Facility Manager for the company I’ve been working with the past two years. I simply can’t justify working there because it takes too much time and with this I’ve already more than tripled the number of clients I have almost overnight! This idea works no matter what type of training you do, but I highly recommend doing it in Boot Camp format or small group training. So much more profit potential and most people thrive and get better results in a group anyway!

WARNING!!! If you aren’t ready to EXPLODE your Business and get more Referrals than you Ever Thought Possible Please STOP Reading Right Now and Skip the Rest of this Post. I’m SERIOUS! This isn’t right for everyone so only apply this idea if you are Super Motivated and 100% Ready to Get a SH*T TON of LEADS CONSTANTLY!

Okay if you’re still reading here goes…I go around to all of the salons in my area and ask them what they do for continuing education for their stylists and employees. They all do some form of this, you just have to find the right person to talk to about it. Usually this is a manager or head stylist. Then I pitch to them that I am doing free seminars to local businesses for continuing education on health, nutrition, and fitness. I talk to them about what they offer and ask them if they do anything like this…haven’t found one that does yet. I talk to them briefly about how important image is in our related fields and ask them if they think that it would help their business if their stylists were more fit, more happy with themselves, and had more energy all day everyday. Of course the answer is an astounding YES! Then I start talking a little bit about team building and what they do to promote unity/loyalty with their staff. (Turnover in their business is a lot like it is in ours so being able to keep good stylists is something they really want to do!) I now ask if it would help their salon if more of the girls did things outside of work together and really bonded through some team building exercises. Again another Yes! Then I tell them I have a special program that will help them achieve all of this. I then describe what I am willing to offer them exclusively for their salon. (The continuing education program to start with, but then a free bootcamp for their employees to attend, I only take 15-20 depending on the size of the salon and they have to commit to attending for at least 3x/week for 3 months, I offer this at the conclusion of my talk and tell them if they are willing to commit to get in the best shape of their life I will get them there for FREE! The catch is that they have to commit so I know they will get results and they have to promise to talk about the program! Simple as that. Every place I have approached about this has been stoked about it and I have started 5 separate boot camps so far because of this one thing!

Just a couple things to help you take action today: Ask all of your current clients where they go get their haircut and if they go to any salons/spa for massages or anything else. I only go to the salons that I know are busy all the time and have a large number of stylists.

Think of the POWER of this! If you get the right people (motivated/committed) to get involved and you are a good trainer you will Absolutely get them results! At a busy salon they see somewhere between 8 and 12 people a day on average and usually see those people once a month. Think of how different they will look to all of their clients after a month of your program! Everyone will be dying to know what it is that they are doing and they will happily tell them that they go to YOU for your Boot Camp or whatever service you do! IT’S HUGE!!!

Sorry this was so long, but I wanted to share the whole system with you!

Hope you guys like it! Can’t wait to see you at FBS!

Thanks,

Brandon Campbell

If you have any questions…shoot me a comment on my blog through my link in my name.

I forgot to mention what it costs you to do this…NOTHING! Just a few hours of your time and you can duplicate this and start up as many referral based boot camps as you want!

Thanks again for all you guys have helped me with! This is a GREAT idea!

HI Bedros

My “HEALTH STIMULUS PACKAGE” was launched today to just 150 people…several hundred more will be reached in the next 48 hours….ANYWAY, in 15 minutes after the launch….5 joined and I made $500.00 before the monthly EFT’s even begin!!

My Goal? I figure if God created the Heavens and Earth in
7 days…I can create 100 new clients (or more) generate $10,000.00 (or more) in 22 days!!
At the rate I am going I will reach 200 new clients and $20,000.00 in 22 DAYS!

Teri Katzenberger
Sioux Falls, SD

My vote Is for Donovan,
that referral contest is gold mate. I’m going to swipe n deploy that baby.

cheers mate!
daniel

I am registered for the Fitness Business Summit 09!!! Coming from the East Coast Baby!

The STADIUM MARKET IDEA (*80,000 people exposed to your business)

I came up wih the idea of posting an ad in the program book at a Washington Redskins game. Since they have the largest stadium in the NFL, I thought it would be a great idea. You may be saying man that must have been expensive. Well I got the AD put in the program book free. I just promised to do a “Everything you wanted to know about Fitness” seminar for the Washington Redskins support staff. The AD offered one complimentary session for each touchdown the Redskins scored. Obviously I did my HW beforehand. They were averaging only 13 pts per game that year and only ended up scoring 10pts for that game! I also put the ad in the program book next to the cheerleader pictures and the Redskins roster this technique guaranteed high visibility.

Talking about a enormous response! I was overwhelmed by the response and had to refer people to other trainers I know and respect. (with a referral fee of course)

Give it a try! Contact your local teams and ask for ad space in exchange for a column offering fitness tips each game, a seminar, a donation to a charitable group,or for offering a service to the community. I’ve even thought about training the player and coaches wives for ad space.

OVERDELIVER

I provide my clients with a bottle water per session, I do a confirmation call the night before a session, birthday cards, video tape routines to send to them during their absences or vacations, provide articles on fitness daily and I offer a free session every 30 sessions trained. I recently added a trip to the grocery store for a nutrition tutorial. OVERDELIVER it will create an enourmous profit!

Thanks Daniel!

Please contact me and let me know how the referral contest works for you…seriously, I want to know how it goes.

[email protected]

Take care, mate (I had to say it)!

Donovan “DFitnessguy” Owens

Man…Bedros!

I know the decision is yours but Donovan really stepped up with two awesome strategies. I’ll be the 2nd person to put my vote in for him. Those posts are going on my GET DONE list!

WOW… you guys are out of control! This is killer.

We’re about to head to the San Diego zoo, but keep these posts coming because I’m not going to select a winner until FRIDAY morning.

Awesome stuff everyone - THANKS

Bedros

P.S. BIG NEWS…Fitness Business Summit 09 is going to be off the hook. In addition to the:
* AWESOME presenters
* the Dave and Busters party
* the 10 flip video cams I’m giving away
* the launch of PROJECT X
* the networking opportunity
* the Bonus workshops
* the two HUGE industry changing announcements I’m making…

I just got a call that we may have one more VERY special thing happening. I can’t announce it yet…but it’s going to be huge.

Those of you who are registered to attend are going to be blown away and given some very potent marketing and positioning resources.

There are still a couple of open seats available… if you want to get into Fitness Business Summit 09 go here and grab the last of the two spots: http://www.FitnessBusinessSummit.com

I found that the best approach to marketing is a simplistic one. Short and sweet is the best avenue to travel down. Making your point in a meaningful manner.

A personalized birthday card to each one of my clients is sent out each year, whether they are a former client or just a business contact I have met along the way. Whenever I get their information, email, phone number, etc. I always make sure to get the birthday.

Sometimes when you have not heard from someone in a long time, and they get that birthday card frm you, you get catapulted into their conscious mind in a way that only the personalized touch of a birthday card can do. Remember to always slip a business acrd in there as well. And sometimes we do promotional offers like discounts on training and spa services as well.

Wow! Bedros, what great ideas! I’m excited on the caliber of people I’ll be meeting at FSB, which I would NEVER miss! Already signed up.

I use many of the strategies mentioned by other trainers, and they work great (especially being really active as an advocate in the community). There is no replacement for investing in yourself and being a really good, high quality trainer and facility. But, one thing that I believe to be key to my business success is over 95% multi-year retention of clients. Talk about recurring income, my clients and my staff trainers’ clients never leave! It starts with one person, then their whole family, friends and neighborhood jump in. In one session, we have 4 generations of one family working out together. I’m proof you can achieve six figure success with a 400 sq ft studio out in the country away from the big city spending no money on print advertising AND stay completely booked year round with a waiting list tucked in the office drawer AND no weekends. I spend our marketing budget on reckless, no holding back, shock and awe, no strings attached GRATITUDE shown to my clients. I let them know that I care about them and will show it. I do EVERYTHING I can think of to make my clients feel like they are royalty. I appreciate every dime they CHOOSE to spend with my studio’s services.

Gratitude Success Formula= Unique event + client driven invites + your personal face time with guests + element of healthy lifestyle education = referral generating system and list builder that blows away all other methods.

We build for a fun studio appreciation event or contest CONSTANTLY, at least one per quarter. Here’s some things I’ve done. Everything is FREE for clients!

1. Hosted a party at my home (clients love to feel invited into your life) and hired a famous wardrobe and image consultant to give everyone fashion and body-typing shopping advice. She went step by step with details of how to look good in the body you’ve got AND to push hard to get the body you want. I had 2 time slot start times on a weekend 10am and 4pm, served only healthy holiday type appetizers and fun alcohol free drinks. Clients brought friends and family and had a blast at this once in a lifetime opportunity! Again, given more list building and addresses. I asked, who do you know that would have loved to be here with you, email address please?

2. Became a team captain for Race 4 Cure and challenged my clients to build our team with their friends and family. Giving me email addresses and phone numbers. Night before the race, I hosted a huge healthy BBQ honoring our breast cancer survivor clients and a party recipe exchange. Huge success! Tons of people and referrals.

3. Every year, I host a really fancy (let’s dress up for once) Christmas party and awards night. I rent out a non-chain, posh local cafe or restaurant and have it catered with a special selected healthy holiday menu. We have a live band or performer, karaoke, wine tasting, and I give awards for achievements and results throughout the year. ONLY clients and spouses are invited as an exclusive event, but I build it up to EVERYONE in the community. Look what you’re missing!

4. Twice a year we have 5 weeks of “Bring a Buddy for a Buck!” season. At the holidays starting at Thanksgiving and then at the start of summer. We book a month in advance, so with that, every client must keep their scheduled sessions and show up to them in order to be allowed to bring a friend to their scheduled session for $1. This makes our holidays the busiest time of the year, and when Jan 1 rolls around, our schedules are full driving new prospects to our waiting list, online workouts, e-products, and supplemental services until a slot opens up. Same thing with filling up the summer schedule.

5. We use send out cards, SOC for EVERY holiday, birthday, anniversary, goal achieved, congratulations, etc for EVERY person on the waiting, referral and current client list. For us, after 3 points of contact, they’re totally sold on us and how much we care. I have clients who tell us we are the ONLY mailed card they get for special occasions. Thank you’s just pour out from them to us for taking time to think about them. The best part is it’s totally automated, 5 minutes a month for us to do, and really cost effective. I love SOC (send out cards), email me for our awesome simple system using it and more info.

6. Pre-Releases, Pre-launches and Pre-sales. With our e-books, online products, etc we offer the pre-release to clients ONLY first. We really make them feel special by letting them know that they are FIRST to get the new info and products. We give them at least 1 month with most products and generate a buzz with surveys, question forms, and testimonials before we release it to the public on our email lists and newsletters. Then, we run some kind of bonus and offer an affiliate program to OUR CLIENTS (yes, the clients) to re-distribute our launch to all of their email lists with a pre-written personal invitation from them AND me.

7. A Snack Attack! The best way to show a parent you care, is to show you care about their kids and their whole family. We host an event for the whole family and teach the kids healthy nutrition using Dr. Sears Traffic Light system and Dr. Katz Nutrition Detective(free on the web, email me) then we do a snack tasting and smoothie blend and get kids involved in ranking their favorite snacks. Kids are given little prizes for tasting everything and reading labels like a detective. Parents are shocked at what their kids will eat when offered by a second voice and peer pressure. Amazingly successful! Talk about a buzz. Kids talk about it at school. Teachers call and ask us to come do that for their classes. Again, what parents do you know that would like to be invited to this next time? Emails, addresses, phone numbers, public speaking event opportunities.

8. Sponsor your local community events that your clients are already involved in. Not big ones, the smaller ones hosted by parks and rec departments, YMCAs, churches, civic organizations, schools, etc. Tell your client to where their studio T-shirts and give them a few more for their family or other event volunteers. I just paid $50 to sponsor the local city Egg Hunt and they put our website on every utility customers bill in their service area. That’s 3 cities!!!! After you sponsor one event, clients will line up to ask you to sponsor theirs. These types of small events don’t draw big donors, but have big publicity because they work with city and state entities and the sponsorships are never more than $100.

9. This one isn’t for clients, but the most important. If you’re a studio owner, PAY YOUR TRAINERS WELL and show them how valuable they are. I cannot express how much I love my staff and how much we all enjoy working together. I value them like family. I pay well, pay for continuing ed, pay to take them to conferences, take them out for dinner and concerts as a group, sing their praises to everyone especially in front of their clients, take THEIR ideas and put them into action, mentor them with sincerity and consistency, and push them to create their own success. I can’t take credit for the ideas 1-8 completely, it was a collaborative effort of all of us working together to find ways to make clients feel special and build business at the same time. I simply ask, What would really encourage your clients this month? Then, I act on their suggestions and give them the money and freedom to get it done.

Contrary to what the media and news might want us to believe. I know generosity builds big business. But even better it builds big hearts, big loyalty, and big satisfaction in what you work so hard to accomplish.

-Marisa Wandeler, [email protected]

Hi Bedros. Hope all is well. I met you and Josh at the Renegade Fitness Workshop in NYC held at the Hampton Inn Queens. Remember you & Josh was so intrigued about the Fire/Police call box. I fogot to tell you it’s what we have all over the city of NY. It’s NYC Thang for a long time..lol.

Thank you again for providing me the many tools to marketing PT business efficiently and effectively. Also, for it being very intuitive. Unfornuately, Bedros I am not able to make to your Summit09 ( due to monetary reasons. I really would love to make it beacause it seem like it will be very explosive and powerful in a scene of meeting many mindful experts in the industry under one roof. I will definitely make to the next one you have. Until next time chief..

Regards,

Louraine K

There are really some great post that showed up here. Bedros, this was a great idea.

This just turned into one of the largest swipe files on the internet.

So here’s another marketing tip ready for immediate action…

REREAD EVERY TIP LEFT HERE BY EVERYONE, COPY AND PASTE INTO A WORD DOCUMENT AND SAVE TO A FOLDER CALLED “THE MARKETING TAKEOVER”

NOW IMPLEMENT JUST ONE NEW MARKETING STRATEGY EVERY MONTH AND WRITE IT OUT AS A SYSTEM FOR YOUR BUSINESS. BY THE END OF A YEAR, YOU WILL HAVE AMAZING MARKETING SYSTEMS AND A TON OF NEW CLIENTS TO SHOW FOR IT

I dare you to do it!

Bedros, give your wife a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Donovan “DFitnessguy” Owens

[...] If you missed the post you can see it here: http://ptpower.com/2009/04/07/be-my-guest-at-fitness-business-summit-09/ [...]

Bedros,
I would love the chance to go the FB 09 and stay in the suite! My best tactic so far (besides ordering your PT Business Course which) is getting a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly spot on your local T.V. station morning show. This puts you as the go to person in your city and when lets say you fill up, you then send the next trainer, and the next, etc. It has been great. We started this tactic in our slowest season and saw over a 6000% increase in revenue (obviously there wasn’t much in the first place). We have continued this for well over a year and now we just beet our fiscal budget in a not for profit hospital by 425% in this supposedly down economy.

I am not registered.

The most effective business tip I can offer is pretty simple, but seems to be forgotten in our industry sometimes, and it is to make sure you are supporting your clients and treating them with respect & gratitude. Even with the best marketing in the world, if your clients feel unapreciated or like they are not being listened to, they won’t work as hard and they won’t see great results, and then you look like you aren’t an effective trainer!

On a more concrete note, I have found that networking with local sporting activity organizers (i.e. triathlon, 5k, etc) and offering free training tips, or reduced cost training sessions, to help the participants prepare for the events has won me several new clients. I also make sure to promote the races that I am networking with & to donate to their cause to make sure that it’s a win-win-win for everyone … which is the basis for good business after all, right

Hey everyone, this is Bedros…

I’m blown away by all the awesome client getting tactics on this post… seriously.. blown away.

Here’s some more FREE ways to get clients http://100NewClients.com

B

You have got to give 100% to see good results. Especially if you are not physically inclined. Your 100% may be someones 50%!