How a Marketer Beats a Top Personal Trainer In The Fitness Business

Elliott Bertsch — Wed, 16 May 2012 19:13:00 GMT

Are you an awesome trainer and a great fitness business owner? Of course you are! Sometimes I meet phenomenal trainers that deliver results, overdeliver on client experience and truly care about impacting each client to continue a lifelong journey in good health.

Unfortunately, just because you’re an awesome trainer and fitness business owner doesn’t mean you can’t be beaten the heck out of by a worse trainer with better marketing tactics then you. The truth is you won’t see financial freedom in your fitness business unless you become a better marketer and continuously have hoards of clients ranting and raving about your fitness business.

Photo By: agaumont

So to avoid the disappointment in not reaching your financial goals in this industry, here are a few shortcuts to create a thriving fan base of clients who spread your business like a wildfire in the forest. Real financial success in the fitness industry will happen when you understand that better marketing will give you hoards of clients in your business.

This is a simple truth about building a successful fitness business.

Here are the three shortcuts that can help you start achieving a more successful Fitness Business:

Start a Referral Program - All too often I hear about new clients joining a fitness facility and yet they have not referred anyone and continue to train on their own until they get bored and leave. If you want to really make an impact of how many clients you have in your business then this is key. Start making referrals a condition of joining your business. Offer your clients discounts or even month free if their willing to go to work for you and bring new clients into your business. You’re going to want to use online studio scheduling software to keep track of the leads you’ll be receiving once you have a referral system in place and all your clients are on board. This way to you can differentiate between your prospects and clients.
Social Proof - I can’t stress enough, every client that gets involved in your business need to be a part of a before and after program with photos or testimonials. These days everyone is an expert and anyone can have a well put together website. But all that aside, would you rather put your trust in 10 video testimonials 5 before and after photos and a few written ones of clients who lost a ton of weight and are proof of the results to come when joining your program. This is the key to converting prospects into clients.
Marketing - As I covered above without killer marketing campaigns, you can expect to build your business slowly. Use online marketing such as email marketing, text messaging and newsletters to improve the number of prospects you collect and then convert into clients. Some of the best ways to create effective marketing campaign is to include a killer headline “Client Name lost 23 Pounds in 23 Days” Have social proof to back it up (before and after picture) and have an irresistible offer (Regular Price $397 for only $97) and to include a limited supply to create urgency for the prospect.

To be able to effectively build effective marketing campaigns along with manage traffic from these campaigns, online studio scheduling software is a must have. Keep your business in one place, online and accessible anywhere with an internet connection.

Learn other ways to Boost your Fitness Business

Volo Updates | Promo codes and more

Nikki Layton — Fri, 11 May 2012 14:38:00 GMT

We know that running your fitness business is an ever evolving process and like your business we are always evolving the Volo software. Just a quick blog posting to let you know about 3 updates today that will help you free up your time and increase your revenue!

Promo Codes and your Fitness Business:

Volo now has the ability for you to set up a promo code that can be applied to a specific item in your inventory, all items in a specific category in your inventory or everything in your inventory. With this enhancement you will be able to run more flexible promotions and engage more customers to your fitness business helping you increase your revenues!

Member portal enhancement:

To reduce the number of clicks that your members have to make we have installed an update that remembers what page they were on and what was loaded into their shopping cart before they logged in or registered for the first time.

The less clicks for them the less likely they are to abandon their purchase. We know you want to increase your revenue in your fitness business and we are trying to create systems that will make that easier for you to accomplish!

Fixed expiry dates:

With the enhancement to inventory that allows you to choose a specific day for items and packages to expire rather than a number of days from purchase you are able to sell items and packages and offer early bird specials using the promocode without haveing to have different items/packages in your inventory. The result.... less work for you and consistent expiration fo services no matter what day they were purchased on!

Want to learn more ways to increase your revenues and boost your Fitness Business?
Join us for a free webinar

"Work on Your Business and Not IN It!”
Tuesday May 15^th, 2012 5:30 pm PST

Fitness Business Owners When Was Your Last Vacation?

Elliott Bertsch — Tue, 08 May 2012 15:43:00 GMT

I was away for the last two weeks and just returned from my vacation. As a fitness business owner, you should have the ability to take a vacation from time to time without worrying about your business falling apart.

Photo By: epSos.de

Are you working long hours to ensure that things are done correctly in your fitness business? Has it been a while since you had the opportunity to step away from your business and enjoy the finer things in life? If you answered yes, this blog posting is for you.

All too often, it seems fitness business owners are working more and more in their business with little to no free time to get away. The number one cause seems to be the fact that there aren’t any useful systems in place that will provide consistent, expectable and reliable results on a regular basis.

Online studio scheduling software will accomplish all these feats for you and best of all, automatically. The truth is, most fitness business owners don’t have these reliable systems in place to ensure payments are taken on time, scheduling is done correctly and everything is getting tracked accurately.

The power of having online studio scheduling software is it is undoubtedly one of the easiest ways to streamline and automate all of your billing. So if you decide to take a vacation, you won’t have to worry about missing a beat when it comes taking payments on time, tracking remaining sessions/services accurately and most importantly giving you all this in one online solution that can be accessed anywhere in the world with a simple internet connection.

Having the option to take a vacation has just come to life. Take some time to recharge and enjoy all the hard work you have put into your fitness business and have peace of mind that at any point you can easily log into your business online and make sure everything is running as it should!

Leaving your business for a well deserved vacation has never been easier thanks to online studio scheduling software. Have your scheduling, billing, client management and online marketing all in one place and never worry if your business is running smoothly again!

Join us for a webinar, learn how to
“Work on Your Business and Not IN It!”
Tuesday May 15^th, 2012 5:30 pm PST

Who is in the Driver's Seat in your Fitness Business?

Barry Duncan — Wed, 02 May 2012 17:18:00 GMT

Many fitness business owners are also the primary trainer, instructor or coach. As a result of this, the question that needs to be asked is “Who is in the driver’s seat?”, because if you are on the gym floor training or in the class instructing, you cannot be at the wheel of your business. Every fitness business owner needs to, at some point, ask themselves "What is the best role for me in my company?" Should I be a manager? A practitioner? A marketing expert? A receptionist? The answer is not always clear and may involve some hard decisions to be made.

Most of the fitness businesses that fail do so not because their owner is not a great instructor or trainer but because the owner could not do it all.

Photo by: kanonn
One of the keys to entrepreneurial success is to know your role in the company and to hire or contract out the other positions. If you do not like numbers and accounting, do not try to be a bookkeeper. That said, it is critical to always remain in the driver’s seat of your business. When hiring for key positions, it is important that you have a corporate identity that will guide those that you hire. How a fitness professional becomes the CEO is not as easy as just putting the initials on their business card.

Five CEO Driving Tips:

Build a plan: You cannot build a business without a blueprint so take some time to write out your company’s vision, goals, objectives and road map for success.
Share your plan: Tell everyone what you are doing and how to do it. It is this leadership that will allow your fitness business to have tremendous success.
Get some software: Since you cannot do it all, you need some tools to assist those that you hire and to keep track of what is happening. Good management and scheduling software will provide you with the access and systems that your fitness business needs.
Schedule meetings: You need to have specific meetings everyday with the key people in your company as well as weekly and monthly meetings so you can know what is going on and provide any guidance as to the direction of the company.
Drive sales: This is the number one goal of every CEO. They need to drive sales so that the business can reach its potential.

If you follow these simple tips, you will always be the driver in your fitness business and never just a passenger. This is important so you do not end up just working in your business. This would mean that you created a job and not a business. Your number one goal should be to have your business working for you. By creating business plans that are realistic and attainable, you will be able to optimise the opportunities that arise and turn them into revenue growth.

Want to learn how to work on your fitness business not in it??
Join us for a webinar on May 15th!

Grow your Fitness Business with Newsletters and ....

Elliott Bertsch — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 00:04:00 GMT

Have you been searching for simple yet effective ways to grow your fitness business using online studio scheduling software? Are you currently writing blogs and working on email marketing?

Newsletter marketing is a phenomenal way to accomplish the following goals:

1. Build trust with your list

2. Position yourself as the expert

3. Provide value and usable content

4. Grow your list of prospects

5. Capture leads from social media using opt-in box

There are a few ways that using newsletters can help expand your fitness business while positioning yourself as the expert in your field and area. Using online studio scheduling software that integrates with powerful applications like newsletters is a smart choice as it streamlines your contact management.

Here are a few ways you can implement newsletters in your fitness business.

First, using online studio scheduling software to email out newsletters a few times per month with great content will be a surefire way to not only build your list but also have your content shared with others that extends your reach. Using Facebook, you can create an opt-in box for people to subscribe to your newsletter and this will help build your list. You can also automatically post your newsletter to Facebook so your network can read and share it.

Photo By: marcopako ï£¿

Creating newsletters is an excellent way to extend special offers to your list from time to time. It has been proven that after your readers have received value from your newsletter and have built trust with you, they will more likely to buy from you. Here’s your chance to create time sensitive high value low entry offers to your readers and reap the benefits of new traffic in your fitness business.

Secondly, Being able to sync your prospects and clients in your online studio scheduling software and newsletter application is a very effective way of managing your time. Also, having an auto responder email go out to your list is a very beneficial tool. You will never have to worry about missing a lead when they come as your auto-responder will thank them for subscribing and let your new reader know all the great info they will receive from you.

So, get onboard with creating awesome newsletters and building a great list while having seamless integration with online studio scheduling software.

Learn other ways to boost your fitness business check out our
"Boost your Fitness Business" kit!

Never do These 3 Things in Your Fitness Business

Elliott Bertsch — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 23:02:00 GMT

Are you currently running a fitness business or thinking about starting one? If so, here are three critical things you should never do in your business:

Photo By: the|G|™

Accept Cash or Cheque

Most fitness business owners start out the old-fashioned way via collecting payments through cash or cheque. The number one issue with this is that you're always chasing payments and hounding your clients to pay for the service you work so hard to deliver to them. This can be very stressful for you as your clients have a lot less commitment to you and your program when the payment can be made on their terms.

You need to have a guaranteed income over a certain period of time so you will have predictable and consistent revenue coming into your business to use for your bills and marketing campaigns. The easiest way to achieve this is to hook up with a merchant account and start accepting credit cards in your fitness business. Using online studio scheduling software you can integrate with a merchant account will allow your payments to become automated and therefore predictable.

Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants

This expression holds true to this day in most aspects of our lives but is a critical factor in your fitness business.

If you're currently running your fitness business without systems, sales process, marketing campaigns, retention and referral programs, billing options, etc, then you're probably missing out on a lot of revenue along with the added headaches of not knowing what's going on in your fitness business.

There is a system for every part of your fitness business and it is your name and business on the line if you don't get these systems in place. For example, online studio scheduling software can cover your scheduling, billing, management and online marketing tasks. This is just one of the many systems that can quickly get your business on track and lead the way to a successful fitness business.

Show Appreciation to Your Staff

This is a key ingredient to the success in your fitness business. As the owner, you need to be on top of your business and constantly setting an example for your employees. If your staff see that you don't care about their concerns or never show appreciation for the little extra, they in turn they will stop doing the little things that make up the great services you offer.

Remember, your staff are your front line which is a direct reflection of you and your business. You do not want them to accomplish the bare minimum in your business.

If you show them appreciation and keep in mind that they are just as important as the clients in your businesses, they will take pride and do their absolute best to make sure your business and the clients within are happy and in turn reaching their goals.

So, your next steps will be:

Start accepting credit cards
Sign up for online studio scheduling software to systemtize your business and increase your revenue
Show appreciation to each and every one of your staff today. They deserve it!

Want to learn more about how to boost your fitness business results check out this kit with 8 great tools to help you utilize your time and then use that time to generate more money!

Maximize Your Email Marketing With Online Studio Scheduling Software

Elliott Bertsch — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 13:08:00 GMT

Are you looking for new ways to grow your fitness business effectively? Have you done print ads and Google pay per clicks? Spending thousands of dollars on marketing is one way to find clients, however this isn’t always the most affordable way.

Below are a few great ways to maximize your email marketing and list building to grow your fitness business. The tools you need are simple to use and a fraction of the cost to traditional marketing. Using a newsletter is the first powerful tool you can use to capture your audience along with continuously build your list. Using online studio scheduling software will allow you to integrate and use newsletters in your fitness business.

The reason why newsletters are so effective is because you are sending out great content for your readers and by doing so, they begin to like and trust you. This is crucial because overtime, your readers will begin to seek more content from you and will want to learn about your business. From time to time, you can send out irresistible offers to your readers and watch them turn into clients.

The next tool you’re going to want to implement in your business is regular emails to your list. Email is becoming one of the fastest ways to gain traction in the fitness industry. The greatest part of creating emails and sending to your list is that it’s absolutely free but can yield large results if honed in on.
Photo By: Casimusica

Using online studio scheduling software will allow you to quickly send out personalized emails to your list. You will have the ability to separate your clients from your prospects to ensure that your emails are hitting the right audience. You can direct your list to practically anywhere you want them to go as long as you have built trust with them and they like you of course.

Whether you’re emailing your list and directing them to your Facebook page, your website, your blog or a special offer, all of these places can help build relationships between your list and your business. So now it’s time to start building your list and creating great content and offers to share with your readers. The bigger your list, the bigger your revenue will be!

Free up your time and Boost $$$$ in your fitness business download our
Boost your Fitness Business Results Kit

Turn Your Daily Deals Into $$ With Online Studio Scheduling Software

Elliott Bertsch — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 20:12:00 GMT

I'm sure by now you have heard of the Daily Deal craze and have seen numerous fitness businesses advertise on Daily Deal sites. The simple reason is if you structure your offer the right way, you can have an influx of 100-300 new potential clients in your business.

The things that most seem to forget is if you don't have the right offer along with an even better continuation offer, the hoard of new traffic will be gone just as fast as they came in. I'm going to teach you a few new tricks on how to ensure that you convert these "Daily Deal-ers" onto long term packages and services within your business.

The first rule is to under promise. This is a huge concept - by doing this, your new prospects will have lower expectations. The reason for this is before they even step into your business, simply reading the Daily Deal description will allow the prospect to have lower expectations.

The second rule is to over deliver. This is crucial in the conversion of "Daily Deal-ers". When your hoard of new clients show up, they will be blown away by your service and the fact that they received much more than expected. This process will ensure a higher conversion.

Photo By: Paulamarttila

How to over deliver your Daily Deals in your Fitness Business:

Bring the energy every workout session. Clients will have a better workout and they’ll want more.
Deliver fantastic results. You under promised and now are over delivering.
Keep them engaged with content. They should always be thinking about your business.
Show them appreciation. Puff them up through SMS messages and Facebook.

This will set you apart from the other fitness businesses in your area. Word of mouth travels fast so when your daily dealers convert into paying clients, they will certainly tell their friends and family about the awesome experience they had at your business.

The last rule is to give them an offer to die for that’s exclusive for the "Daily Deal-ers". Let’s say you offered $30 dollars for 1 month of Unlimited Boot Camp on your Daily Deal and your regular price is $197. You could offer them an exclusive $97 per month on a 6 to 12 month agreement and every referral they bring to your boot camp could be another discount or incentive.

Most of your "Daily Deal-ers" would be hard pressed to not take an offer at 50% off while they experienced awesome service and more than what was initially promised to them. Before you launch your first Daily Deal, be sure to have a system like online studio scheduling software already setup to manage the influx of potentially hundreds of "Daily Deal-ers" in your business.

One of the many benefits of using online studio scheduling software is that you can actually create Daily Deals of your own using Promo Codes that you can send out to your prospects via Facebook, Twitter or even through your email lists. So start using Daily Deals and online studio scheduling software to rocket your revenue and take your client base to the next level.

Check out this great video on using Facebook to "Grow your Fitness Business" and like us while you are on our page!

Fitness Business | Build, Buy or Franchise

Barry Duncan — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 22:49:00 GMT

If you want to start a fitness business the first question to answer is whether you build it, buy it or franchise it? Most entrepreneurs jump up and yell “build it!” But this may not be the best or the fastest way to success, especially in the fitness industry. Below is a quick pro and con for the three considerations for your fitness business. Hopefully this will help you as you move forward in your business.

Building your Fitness Business:

This is how I did it and I can tell you honestly it is probably the hardest of the three and will quite possibly take the longest to get up and running to full speed.
Pro:

You own everything it is all yours
You get a huge sense of pride every time you step into the facility
You are in control of all systems, advertising and programs that you offer

Cons:

No brand recognition
No assistance in marketing, branding or business planning
It can be very expensive

Buying your Fitness Business:

No matter if you want to build it or franchise it I would recommend that you look at the fitness business for sale because it will provide you with an idea of what your company may be worth in the future.
Pro:

Already have clients and staff in place
Revenues should be clear and predictable
Already has a location and brand connection with the community

Cons:

Change can be hard and if you want to change things you may lose staff and members
Depending on the age you could inherit another gyms problems with equipment, staff or other issues
People who sell things have a reason and you need to find out why it is being sold

Franchising your Fitness Business:

Easiest way to learn about franchises is to attend one of the many franchise tradeshows. There you can shop around and compare.
Pro:

Everything you need to know about running it should be included all systems and programs
Brand recognition and advertising is usually included
Easy to replicate and expand into other markets and to own multiple clubs

Con:

Franchise fees can add up and you need to read the fine print
Not as much freedom to offer specialty services or packages
5 years later you may want to separate and you will not be able to, non-compete clauses are often built into the agreement

Download our free eBook:

Share your experience in any of these areas add your comments and thoughts on the pro and cons to starting a fitness business.

Grow your Fitness Business | The One-Off Magic Marketing Campaign

Nikki Layton — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 13:35:00 GMT

We all hear about other fitness businesses that ran a super successful one off marketing campaign and ended up with enough leads to service them for the next 6 months. So we rightly ask, “what did you do?” and “how did you do it” only to find that the magic campaign took months of planning, preparation, resources, money and energy. But you want leads today, right?!

Photo by garethjmsaunders

Don’t rely on your one off magic marketing campaign!

The best marketing advice I can give is to have many “irons in the fire”, have lots of avenues for lead generation and always put energy into working every single one of them.

So, YES run the big campaigns that you hope will bring in the big numbers, but DO NOT neglect the tried and tested smaller lead generation campaigns. The moment you put all your eggs into one basket is the moment you put your business at risk!

Every week work on the following EASY to MANAGE lead generation, and in between doing this, spend time planning your manager campaign for the quarter.

10 of MANY cheap & easy lead generation ideas to grow your fitness business:

Lead Boxes - Regularly monitor their effectiveness. Move the box to a new location if not working. Experiment with your competition offers.
Old Client Database - These people have bought from you before. Has your business changed or improved? Even if it hasn’t, a phone call from you might be what they need to get back training again. The rapport should already be there! Makes things easier!
Old Inquiry Database - These people inquired because they wanted to improve their health and fitness. A quick phone call to see if they have acted on their goal yet and to see if you can still help them? Always make notes!
Lunch & Learn (Public Speaking) - Doing a presentation to a business with 10 or more people during their staff meeting or lunch break can be a great way to give your message to lots of people in just half an hour! Show them your passion and knowledge through a quick education presentation of health. Always grab their name and number!
Website - Make sure you website is up to date, the offer is strong and the opt in is working. Capture your prospects details by having a contact form, free ebook offer and/or free training offer.
Facebook - Keep your Facebook Fan page up to date with regular status updates. Share your testimonials, thoughts, and educational articles to your fans! Make sure all of your current clients and as many prospects as possible have ‘Liked’ your page!
Newsletter - Your E-News should be sent out to everyone on your database, this means current clients, old clients, enquiries and any JV partners. It can also be shared on your Facebook page. Let everyone see what happens in your business through your newsletter publication.
Strategic Alliances or Joint Venture Partners - Review your local community and set up an alliance with any of the businesses that you can help grow and they can help grow yours? Keep these alliances fresh with regular catch ups and correspondence. Maybe even train the “Go To” person in each business for FREE!
Referrals - Ask your clients for referrals. Sometimes we get what we want simply by asking. Of course as a thank you it can be a good idea to give them some extra training for free. There are many referral campaigns that are quick, easy and cheap to run.
Free Group Training - Have a timeslot on a weekend that you offer a group session to your clients for free (as an extra to their normal PT), plus they can bring their mates for free too!

The strategies above do take time and effort and can seem boring, hence why we often go searching for the one off magic (make me rich now) campaigns. My advice is to run the magic campaigns, but do not forget about the strategies above, just in case the magic doesn’t come through with the good, or leads in this case.

Today's guest blog post is from

Trav Bell is the former Franchisor of New Level Franchise Corporation in Australia. Through his 17 years in the Fitness Industry Trav has achieved success through the creation of his Personal Training business New Level, but also adds many other achievements to his resume.

Trav's results include:

Speaking to corporate audiences of over 1000 people
Being self-employed for 17 years
Being the 1st to franchise personal training studios in Australia
Building a chain of 21 Personal Training studios in 3 states

He currently owns 3 Personal Training studios himself in Melbourne, of which he employs a manager in each one to run them. Trav has now turned his attention to helping personal trainers fast track their success through his vast knowledge and success systems.

Trav Beckley has been active in the Fitness Industry over 10 years after graduating with a degree in Human Movement & Sport Science at Ballarat Uni, Australia.

As General Manager of New Level Personal Training, Trav successfully project managed the opening of several Personal Training studios.

In working at New Level Personal Training, Trav has created, tested and implemented many business systems that have proven successful for the PT studio business model by increasing profit, client retention, trainer retention and owner leverage.

Drawing on his experience as a trainer & manager alongside the valuable experience of managing and coaching franchisees, Trav is now assisting other Personal Trainers to reach their goals through 1-on-1 business coaching with PT Business System

Join us for a webinar on
"Marketing to Grow your Fitness Business"
Tuesday March 27th at 11 am PST

Fitness Business Owners How Much is Your Time Worth?

Elliott Bertsch — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 13:51:00 GMT

When you own a fitness business, you tend to learn a thing or two about multitasking. As a fitness business owner, you probably have trained clients or continue to train clients in your business. That alone takes up a lot of time.

Time is money and being a fitness business owner requires a lot of that time. Some of your daily tasks take up a considerable amount of your time. From paperwork, to managing accounts, ensuring clients are booked with the appropriate staff, to marketing for more traffic, all these tasks require a lot of time from you.

How much is your time worth? When you stop and think about all the hours you currently use to complete the tasks above, you start to get the bigger picture. Hundreds to thousands of dollars per month are being lost due to administrative work of managing your fitness business.

The fact is, if you're spending all your time running your fitness business, there isn’t much time left for growing your fitness business. The sad truth is that as awesome as a trainer you are, the person who has time to market their fitness business and focuses their energy on this goal will grow their fitness business the largest.

The best way to decrease your daily tasks of operating your fitness business is to use tools like online studio scheduling software, a tool that will save you time from online scheduling to billing to client management. The less time you spend pushing a pen, the more time you can spend marketing your business and creating traffic, which will turn into new clients at your fitness business.

Tools like online studio scheduling software are so effective at time management that you literally can slice your time spent on admin work in half without question. Think of it as having your own personal assistant, the one that’s always on time and always looking out for your best interest.

All that aside, one of the best things about using tools like online studio scheduling software is that yes it will cover your administrative side but it can also help you in creating marketing tools to grow your business all in one place. This is a huge benefit when it comes to being able to manage your time effectively.

Having one tool do your business management along with online marketing combined is a no brainer. It all comes down to just one question: are you tired of losing money in your fitness business?

Join us for a webinar on
"Marketing to Grow your Fitness Business"
Tuesday March 27th at 11 am PST

Fitness Business | Belonging to an Organization

Barry Duncan — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 17:34:00 GMT

This week we are attending two fitness events, Fitness Business Summit and IHRSA, that are dramatically different in who they target to attend yet both are great at providing business advice to fitness business owners. As a fitness professional, a fitness business owner and a software provider for the fitness business I belong to several organization and each one provides my companies with valuable information and insight to what is happening in our industry. These organization also provide access to other like minded fitness professionals that are passing on their experiences and wisdom on how they became successful so if you are a start-up then join as many organization as possible.

Photo by Jahel Aheram

Fitness Business Events
The first one happening in Costa Mesa California is Bedros Keuilian’s Fitness Business Summit 2012. If you are not familiar with Bedros then you are really missing out on some great fitness marketing concepts for personal trainers and boot camp instructors. His unique and simple concepts plus his very frank way of speaking are what make Bedros such a huge draw for the individual fitness professional. Bedros truly believes that every fitness professional should be running a 6 or 7 figure business. He runs a successful consulting business as well as a fast growing boot camp franchise that utilizes his creative marketing techniques. The 500+ attendees are fitness professionals that want to know more about how to leverage their time to make better profits in their fitness business.

The second show is in LA California and is hosted by IHRSA, the International Health Racquet and Sports Club Association. This is the granddaddy of fitness business information and the trade show is a must attend part of the four day conference. Every distributor will be there showing of the latest equipment and even some future pieces that are guaranteed to help get our members fit. IHRSA like the Bedros event also have an education component where you can listen to experts on how you can better market and operate your fitness business. IHRSA has long been the industry leader in publications and statistics on the fitness industry. They are leaders in lobbying government for tax reform and fighting increase taxation on fitness businesses from music tariff groups. Some of their best publications are the IHRSA Buyers Guide and their State of The Industry Report both are a must read for any serious fitness business owner.

Which one is best?
When it comes to fitness business organisations there is no best one; they all provide similar information and anyone of them will assist you in getting to the next level. The key for start-up fitness professionals is to join as many as possible, take in all the information, implement the pieces that you can and then build a successful fitness business. As you grow and evolve you will start to focus in on the organization that provide you the greatest value, but for now join not just one but all that you can.

Some great organizations you might want to check out:
Bedros Keuilian PT Power
IHRSA
NSCA
IDEA

Want more info on growing your fitness business? Download our free ebook:

Overcoming Client Objections With Online Studio Scheduling Software

Elliott Bertsch — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 15:31:00 GMT

Have you ever felt overwhelmed after spending an hour and a half with a new prospect trying to sell them your services only to come back at you and say 'I’ll think about it'?

Photo By: Jeff The Trojan

I’m sure you have as it has happened to all of us at one point in our profession. The key to overcoming objections isn’t as hard as most people think. It does however follow specific processes from start to finish that you must master in order to have fewer and fewer objections. If you lead your prospect through an effective and consistent process, you’re much more likely to have a higher converting rate then your competitors. In order to keep your prospects and clients organized, add them into your online studio scheduling software.

Here is a simple process that will make a big difference with your month's revenue. When you generate a new lead, here are a few things that can make a big difference in the conversion process than what you may be experiencing now. The first thing is you should always do your best to have tools that capture a name, number and email address. This is crucial in setting the stage for a great presentation along with building rapport before ever meeting your prospect. Once you have a prospect's number and email, you can easily build a relationship built on your knowledge and their curiosity. You simply need to craft content rich emails, newsletter blasts and direct your prospects through SMS messaging to other sources that can benefit them. All this can be done using tools like online studio scheduling software.

After sending approximately 3 emails or newsletter blasts, you’re ready to invite them to your business and show off why your services are helping so many people. This will let your prospect know the potential of what you can do for them.

Here’s the process to make a seamless transition from prospect to client:

Greet: Welcome your prospects to your business and introduce them to a few of your key staff.
Qualify: Ask all the questions you need to ask that will overcome any objections they would have at the end.
Educate: Inform them of their current state and the benefits they will experience by joining you.
Demonstrate: Show them what they will feel and how this will change their life.
Handle Objections: Go over their previous objections and the solutions you offer them.
Close: Always remember to ask them to get started. This is often the #1 thing fitness professionals forget to do.
Follow up Service: Generating referrals, delivering on promises, retention of client.

This process will help you convert your leads into clients. Create trusting relationships through online marketing by using online studio scheduling software.

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Boost your Fitness Business Results Kit

Acquistion News for Volo Innovations!

Nikki Layton — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 15:33:00 GMT

It is with great excitement that I announce that Volo has been acquired by Member Solutions, a leading provider of full-service membership billing, and web-based applications for front-desk member management, online event registration, credit card processing, and member communication. Member Solutions has been providing services to fitness, Martial Arts, and health-related businesses in the US, Canada, and Australia since 1991.

“Adding the Volo online application further strengthens our suite of web-based solutions that help fitness professionals run better businesses by focusing on what they enjoy. Member Solutions will continue to promote and build the Volo brand through continued investment and product development. We welcome the Volo team to our company and look forward to continuing the strong growth of our companies,” said Steven Pinado, CEO of Member Solutions.

Member Solutions has built its business on an unwavering commitment to serving clients in the Martial Arts and related fitness categories. The company operates a propriety payment processing platform and is the leading provider of billing, servicing, and business support to more than 2,500 membership businesses in the United States, Canada, and Australia. The company also offers web-based applications for front-desk member management and online event registration that are fully integrated with its PCI-Compliant payment processing platform. Visit Member Solutions at www.membersolutions.com.

All of us at Volo Innovations are excited to be welcomed into the Member Solutions family and look forward to working with Steven Pinado and all the other great people in the company. Teaming up with Member Solutions will allow Volo to offer additional services to its' clients and grow the company with the additional resources and talents that Member Solutions has.

Create Raving Fans With Online Studio Scheduling Software

Elliott Bertsch — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 17:04:00 GMT

Are you currently looking for new ways to grow your fitness business? Has it been a while since your clients have raved about your fitness business? Are you looking for human and online billboards? Using online studio scheduling software can help facilitate this goal. If you answered yes to any of these questions, then this blog is for you. Creating raving clients is a lot simpler then you would think.

Photo By .reid.

First, you have to deliver on the promises you make. Don’t promise your clients gold and then deliver them plastic. If you want your clients to work for your business, then under-promise and over-deliver. This is the simplest way to attain these goals. One of the easiest ways to create raving fans in your business is to give your clients the recognition and appreciation they deserve. This is one of the most overlooked topics in our industry. Stop and ask yourself: 'Are you really doing everything possible to show your client that you greatly appreciate them as a person and a client in your business?' This can be as simple as posting on their Facebook wall and “puffing them up” a bit to show off to their friends on Facebook how strong they were today during a workout. For a more personal touch, you can send them a text message complimenting them on their session. This just goes the extra step to let your clients know that they matter to you and more importantly, that they're not just another $ sign in your business. Keep in mind that you can email them personalized appreciation messages using online studio scheduling software.

By doing these small things, your clients in turn will be grateful and ecstatic about how awesome a fitness professional you are along with your business. You better believe they will, in return, send you referral clients along with increase the amount of retention time with you and any additional services you might add to their plan. If you’re using online studio scheduling software, you will have a number of tools at your disposal to show your appreciation to each client, whether it’s a promo code you send them or just a personalized email or text thanking them for their business and all the dedication and hard work they have committed to in your fitness business.

So today, forget about the sales tactics and the marketing and stop to appreciate all of your clients and really let them know that they are the most important thing in your business and you will reap the reward of being genuine and sincere. Your clients are committed to the transformations your business and services will provide them, so be committed to them by showing absolute appreciation.

Building Great Culture Is The Key To Client & Staff Retention!

Nikki Layton — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:27:00 GMT

Today we have a guest blog from Trav and Travis from PT Business Systems

Culture within your personal training or fitness business of any kind is the key to the retention of your staff and clients. Simply put, if your trainers are happy and produce a good vibe and positive feel, then it will rub off on your clients. Great culture doesn’t just happen, you need to work at it; below is a list of things you can do to increase the positive culture within your business.

Establish a Vision and Make It Visible
Having a vision & mission for your personal training business is pretty standard stuff. However it often gets typed on the top of the business plan and that’s the last you SEE of it. Sure, as the owner, you know it off the top of your head, but it is important for your staff and clients to see the WHY you are in business. Staff especially need to know the vision so they can embrace it.

Values
What are your company values? These need to be outlined, promoted to your trainers (staff) and need to be at the forefront of all your actions and decisions. If you already have trainers/staff working for you, get them involved. If everyone is on the same page it makes creating great culture a lot easier. Values that come to mind for me are: Honesty, Enjoyment, Community, fun!

Attitude
I realize that not EVERY day you feel like turning up to work, be it because of a late night and no sleep, some bad news, being hungry or stressed, but we must always choose a positive attitude. If you let your attitude waiver from positive, happy and enthusiastic in front of your staff and clients you are no longer setting the good example. This does not mean you have to be Mr or Mrs Happy 100% of the time, but when at work especially in personal training you do. Remember, your clients come to you for motivation and inspiration.

Policies
If you work on your own these are just the rules your set yourself (and should still be written down). If you have staff/trainers then everyone needs to be able to refer to these and they should be adhered to. These can be simple things that will make a difference:

No mobile phones in sessions

No hands in pockets

No leaning on equipment

Always greet clients with their name

The rules (policies) should be written with the goal of professionalism, VIP treatment and culture in mind.

Some Take Home Tips

State your values, vision and mission when you are hiring new trainers (have them tell you theirs first). Then have a conversation about them.
Having a mix of females and males can help everyone in the business (clients and trainers) feel comfortable.
Write your values and vision in a prominent position so they are top of mind.
Set some policies that are designed to affect the culture of the business
As the owner, be a role model. Always choose a positive attitude.
HAVE FUN! Enjoy work, consciously make your work place a fun environment. Play games, be happy and have fun with staff and clients.
Occasionally host social gatherings with everyone involved in your business welcome. Once a month catch ups as a group are great.
Treat your trainers to a social activity or training day. Reward them for their performance!
Staff incentives for outstanding customer service.
Turn up early to your morning PT sessions and properly wake up and switch on before your client arrives.

Some businesses have great culture by accident, but when they look back on it and analyze it, there are usually some very key ingredients that make them successful. The one certainty is that if you have great culture, your staff will be happy and your clients will be happy and so your retention will be high. Ask yourself:What can I do to make my business one that staff will enjoy working for, my clients will enjoy coming to and everyone has fun in a professional setting?

______________________________________________________________________________

Trav Bell is the former Franchisor of New Level Franchise Corporation in Australia. Through his 17 years in the Fitness Industry Trav has achieved success through the creation of his Personal Training business New Level, but also adds many other achievements to his resume.

Trav's Results include:
Speaking to corporate audiences of over 1000 people
Being self-employed for 17 years
Being the 1st to Franchise Personal Training Studios in Australia
Building a chain of 21 Personal Training studio in 3 states

He currently owns 3 Personal Training studios himself in Melbourne, of which he employs a manager in each one to run them. Trav has now turned his attention to helping personal trainers fast track their success through his vast knowledge and success systems.

Trav Beckley has been active in the Fitness Industry over 10 years after graduating with a degree in Human Movement & Sport Science at Ballarat Uni, Australia.

As General Manager of New Level Personal Training, Trav successfully project managed the opening of several Personal Training studios. In working at New Level Personal Training, Trav has created, tested and implemented many business systems that have proven successful for the PT studio business model by increasing profit, client retention, trainer retention and owner leverage. Drawing on his experience as a trainer & manager alongside the valuable experience of managing and coaching franchisees, Trav is now assisting other Personal Trainers to reach their goals through 1-on-1 business coaching with PT Business Systems.

Fitness Business | What do Babies and Business have in common?

Barry Duncan — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 21:06:00 GMT

You ever notice how much new parents and new business owners have in common?

Photo by kellynphillong

Parents: People always come up to new parents and want to pinch the cheeks for the little babies and tell them how lucky they are. These parents, however, are often totally exhausted and are nodding not in agreement but because they just want to keep moving or risk falling asleep where they stand.

All the non-parent people dispense wisdom on you and tell you what works and does not work and how they read in Time magazine that you need to blah, blah, blah.

More experienced parents always warn them how much harder it gets when the tyke turns one or two or three or whatever age they turn, it just gets worse.

Then there are the legions of “experts” who promise that the baby will be the next Albert Einstein or the next Sidney Crosby if only the parents will read their book, buy their DVD or download their app.

Business Owners: The same is true for the small fitness business owner. People that have only ever worked for someone else talk knowledgeably about how great it is to run your own business and how you must be so happy and able to do whatever you want. They talk about the freedom you must have. The reality is that you have never felt more exhausted and the stress of getting new clients means that you rarely sleep at night.

Experienced fitness business owners tell horror stories about employees stealing clients or landlords jacking up the rent and the equipment breaking down. Again, it seems like it is just going to get harder and harder year after year.

Then comes the fitness business experts popping up all over place, dispensing their wisdom on how to grow your business and making it all seems so simple and the results seem impossible to believe. They want you to join their business networking group or hire them as mentors or buy their DVDs or books.

Other things both have in common:

Both have problems hiring the people who will care as much for their baby or business as they do.
No matter how hard you work or how much success you have you will always feel like you have not done enough.
Just when you think you have it all figured out something happens that brings you back down to earth again.
At some point you will need to decide if you want to expand the family or the business.
When things go right and the stars are all in alignment it is the best feeling in the world
And the final thing that both parents and fitness business owners have in common is that when asked if they would do it all over again the answer is always a resounding “YES!”

We get how precious your time is that is why we want to free up your time so you can focus on your baby, oops i mean your business! Let us help you.

Keep Your Business Mobile with Online Studio Scheduling Software

Elliott Bertsch — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 23:31:00 GMT

As the world evolves and we become more connected through technology, it has become imperative to take our business with us. Can you imagine leaving your home one day without your cell phone? I know I can’t. The simple truth is being connected online is a huge and essential part of every successful business. Let’s say you own a personal training studio or a boot camp business. If you’re like me, you would want to know what’s going on in your business at any given time. Having online studio scheduling software will allow you this kind of portability.

Photo by gailjadehamilton
Imagine that you were out running errands and casually strike up a conversation with a potential client interested in your business. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could open your mobile device, add them as a member and subsequently book them for a session or class? Within a few seconds, you've just gained a new prospect and potential client. Of course, however, one of the biggest things overlooked in this message is that this new prospect could convert into a new client.

To open your eyes to the benefits of online studio scheduling software and it's portability, here goes: If your new client paid only $300 per month for your program over the course of one year, you would make $3600 from only one client. As you can see, one minute of your time has just made your business $3600 for the year and that’s not even counting referrals or add-ons.

I told you about how simple it is to convert a prospect into a client in mere seconds with online studio scheduling software, but think about this for a second. Open up your phone and look at your contacts. It’s likely that you have quite the decent list. Imagine opening up your online studio scheduling software on your phone, copying a special promotion link from your store and then texting this out to all of your contacts. You will be amazed at the amount of people who will click on this link to either learn more or even better, to purchase your special offer.

Using online studio scheduling software and the portability factor of it will ensure that you’re keeping your business in your pocket and everywhere you go.

Online Studio Scheduling Software | Top 7 Benefits of Online Software

Elliott Bertsch — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:04:00 GMT

Have you been thinking about getting new systems implemented into your fitness business? Are you still stuck using multiple software programs to do simple tasks that should be an all in one system? You need to look at online studio scheduling software!

If you’re tired of searching for reasons to implement business management software into your fitness business then search no further. I have compiled a list of 7 top reasons any fitness professional would greatly benefit by getting into the technology and online era when it comes to the business management software.

Here are the top 7 reasons you have been searching for:

Online Scheduling – Booking Clients Online requires nothing more then 3 clicks of a mouse, it’s that simple! Eliminate double bookings and see everything that’s going on with your staff on one schedule!
Online Billing – Automate all of your clients’ payments using online scheduling software and never worry about asking for the sale again. An invoice will be created automatically, debit their credit card, email the invoice and the appropriate package will be sent to their remaining tab to be used and tracked.
Client Management – It’s crucial that you know what’s going on with your clients from how many auto renewals they have left to important health information. Online scheduling software keeps track of your clients and everything about them.
Reports – With online scheduling software your business reports are all in one place which makes knowing what goes on in your business a breeze. Being able to see your revenue broken down into categories for a week, month year is critical to keep you on point of reaching your monthly quotas and goals.
Online Store – Having the ability for you clients to directly purchase your monthly renewal packages right from your website is priceless. You can offer you clients specific promotions and then draw them to a quick conclusion of purchasing your services by utilizing the online store.
Member Portal – Using online scheduling software will not only give you a powerful business management tool but also added value to your clients. With a member portal your clients can book your services online, pay invoices, manage their account and stay in close contact with you, which will create a strong relationship and in turn longer retention for your business.
Marketing – Using online scheduling software will give you an edge against your competitors. Having the options to send out monthly or bi-weekly newsletters, targeted specific emails and SMS and coupons will give you the leading edge in your business and help make you the leading authority for anything fitness in your area.

Now that you see the many benefits of online studio scheduling software click here to test drive yours for free!

What To Do If Something Bad Happens in Your Fitness Business

Barry Duncan — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:52:00 GMT

In the fitness business, we tend to focus on the positive and the good of running our companies. Jane that lost 30lbs and Frank that gets off blood pressure medication are both fantastic reasons to keep us motivated and running our fitness business. But what happens when things go wrong and when a disaster happens? Are you prepared? Do you know what to do? Even more importantly, does your staff know what to do?

These are the scenarios that you need to have a plan for and hopefully what I write below will be a great start to getting your company prepared for the things we all hope never happen.

Photo by Leo Reynold

Know the Law
This is critical for all fitness business owners and start-ups. No matter how small or large you are, you need to know the laws in your region. Every state, province or region will have different rules that govern our industry and these rules can change. New Jersey has been trying to implement a state wide certification requirement that if you did not have your insurance would be void and could open you to liability (what does this sentence mean?) Look into requirements in your area. This can be done at the government level or alternatively, various fitness organisations should have detail for what you need to stay out of jail.

Are You Covered?
It is now time to ensure you are covered for liability. One of the areas that a lot of fitness professional fail to look at is outdoor activities such as run clinics, boot camps or hiking with clients. All of these may require a separate rider for you to have coverage to do them with clients. Special populations such as obesity, hypertensive, rehabilitation or other disorders that clients may have could require special riders on an insurance policy even if you are not the trainer. Also, if you own a facility and hire independent contractors, you still need to have coverage even if they have their own insurance. Cover yourself and your fitness business for all possible outcomes.

Injury/Incident Plan
Picture this: a client just stepped onto a moving treadmill that was left unattended and fell and hurt her knees. Seems like an accident, right? However, two questions to consider is: why was the treadmill on and who is responsible for the safety of the client? If you did not witness it, then it really will come down to witnesses and reports on what happened. Every gym needs an Incident Report to be used for recording all accounts and observations of what happened and to whom. You should include the date, time, name of client, the incident, resulting injuries, observation of the client, witness reports (printed name and signed) as well as any actions or resolutions that were taken. Of course, feel free to add more information as the above is the bare minimum needed.

Educate Your Staff
There's no point in creating a disaster plan if none of your team knows about it or what to do in the event of a disaster. If you are a solo person, you should review your plan every 3-6 months to ensure it is solid and up to date. For small studios with staff, a meeting every 3-4 months with all staff reminding them of what to do and where all emergency items are is a good idea. At the same time, check your first aid kit and expiry dates on any lifesaving equipment like an AED or Epi-pen. I also recommend that if you own a studio, host a first aid and CPR course in your space and require that all staff attend. It is a small cost but it lets you know that everyone is on the same page.

The above will be a great start to getting yourself ready for the worst case scenarios that can happen within your fitness business. Now get back that happy space and kick some butt!

Annihilate Your Competition with Online Studio Scheduling Software

Elliott Bertsch — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:06:00 GMT

Can you imagine that changing three things in your fitness business will give you the edge over your competitors? Have you been searching for a few key ways to alter your fitness business for the better? Online studio scheduling software can help you achieve this goal. In this blog, I will cover the fundamentals on three valuable tips if you wanting to increase your revenue and corner your market in the fitness industry. Start following these rules and watch your business grow and your income increase significantly.

Photo by marsmet544

Rule #1: If you want to be successful in the fitness industry, you need to find a role model to emulate. It is a proven fact that successful people have role models to follow and learn from. If you find someone who has already attained the success and freedom that you want, then mirroring their thoughts and their actions will result in you eventually reaching similar success as they have. It’s really only a matter of time before you’ve duplicated what they achieved in your own life.

Rule #2: The next crucial rule to follow is coming to a true realization that you cannot be trading dollars for time. Your main role should NOT be 'the one who does everything' but rather 'the one who does the marketing and advertising of your venture'. The top fitness professionals are literally the brains in motion spending their time on marketing and growing their fitness business. You must learn to delegate all other things to other people in your business, so consider yourself as the promoter of your business venture and let others do the doing for you. Once you can understand this process and internalize it, your bank account will multiply very quickly.

Rule #3: Successful people know that success within their fitness depends on the duplicatable process of others involved. Using systems in your business is truly the equalizer. There are proven systems to ensure your business soars to the top. One system has managed to do it all - from marketing, lead management and automated billing to an online store, a scheduling solution and an online member portal. Use the best online studio scheduling software and business management software and watch your business grow. It’s that simple.

These few rules are a proven shortcut to success and have been time tested and proven over and over again. Find your role model and mirror them, be the promoter and not the doer of your business and use proven systems to deliver consistent results month after month year after year. Get on board with the best online studio scheduling software in the industry and start seeing real changes in your business. Leave your competitors in the dust and take your business to new heights.

Online Studio Scheduling Software | Tim’s Gym, a Success Story!

Claire Griffin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:55:00 GMT

We know that all work and no play makes running your fitness business NO FUN! So to celebrate fun we have a poem to make you smile!

Fetch me a stool and I’ll tell you a story,
about a young fellow called Tim,
Personal Trainer and Entrepreneur,
He wanted to open a gym.
He heard tell through the grapevine, of a marvellous tool,
To help him get ahead of the pack,
So he did some digging and sure enough he found Volo,
And since then he has never looked back.
“What is it?”, you ask. Well come closer, I’ll tell you,
What the others don’t want you to know,
It’s an Online Studio Scheduling Software,
That comes with you wherever you go!
In disbelief, Tim asked himself;
“Is there nothing Volo can’t do?!
It takes care of my scheduling, billing, reports,
Member and staff management too!
And with training and support every step of the way,
I never have to worry at all,
If I ever need help I know I can always
Give the friendly support team a call.”
So with a dash of hard work, and Volo by his side,
To rid him of the usual stress,
Tim’s new business went from strength to strength and now
Tim’s Gym is a massive success!
If you asked Tim, he’d tell you himself
(If he weren’t a figment of my imagination),
To free up your time and streamline your business,
Look no further than Volo Innovations!

Explode Revenue with Online Studio Scheduling Software

Elliott Bertsch — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:43:00 GMT

Are you a fitness business professional looking to grow your fitness business? Are you tired of making an average income in the fitness industry? Explode your revenue with online studio scheduling software.

Here are three strategies to dramatically change your business level:

Photo by The Lane Team

Retention: It's more efficient to keep your clients than replace them every month, spending hundreds to thousands on advertising. Most fitness professionals focus on getting more clients and adding more revenue to their business through marketing campaigns and print ads. Wouldn’t you rather focus on the clients that you currently have and build strong lasting relationships with them instead of spending money on reaching new leads every month?

Send out regular emails to your clients with content rich information along with appreciation and praise for their continued commitment to their goals. You can complete this task using online studio scheduling software.

The truth is that you can spend thousands on advertising each month or you can simply develop relationships with your clients, surpass their expectations and deliver awesome results. In return, your clients will become your walking advertisements. Your clients will rant and rave about how awesome your business is and how great of a trainer or fitness professional you are. This is the most effective way to grow your business. Your clients are your biggest asset so show them some appreciation and they’ll give back to you with referrals and more.

Referrals: It is easier to sign up a new client that has heard about you from a friend than a complete stranger. Referrals in your business are something you should incorporate. For example, when your new client gets started, you should offer five gift passes to their friends and family to join them for extra support. This is an ideal way to show your appreciation and solidify five new leads per client at the same time.

Most fitness professionals for whatever reason always shy away from asking for referrals and this is a huge mistake. Your new clients believe in what you’re going to do for them and they will be more than happy to share your services with the people in their circle of influence who need changes to their health as well.

To show your appreciation, make sure to send out thank you emails to your clients using your online studio scheduling software and include in the thank you email a discount code or a free service for them to share as a gift with other friends they have. You would be surprised by the amount of new business your current clients can bring you if you just structure your offer the right way.

Re-sign: Every fitness business has clients that have come and gone. Most times, these clients are some of the best leads you can follow up with when looking for new business. Don’t get caught up in only looking for new clients when your old clients may be ready to get started again with you at the right offer or a simple follow-up phone call. In fact, some of the revenue that is immediately available to you and your business are old clients that need to sign up again with you. Simply structure an offer for only past clients and then send it out to them through email. You will be amazed how many clients will start back up again along with bring a new batch of referrals to your business. Start using online studio scheduling software to reconnect with old clients through email and marketing features and see the difference in your business today.

Fitness Business Quiz | How are your Admin Skills?

Claire Griffin — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:20:00 GMT

As the first month of 2012 draws to a close, I hope all you Fitness Professionals out there are capitalizing on all those New Year’s Resolutions and that your fitness businesses are flourishing!

Here’s a question though; How well is the administrative side of your business coming along? And can it cope with an influx of ‘new year, new me’ clients that might come beating down your door at any moment?!

Whether you are a Personal Trainer working for yourself or you run a large Fitness Studio or Gym, or anything in between, it may be a good time to step back and consider how efficient your current admin system is for you.

Take a minute to answer these short questions and you just might find the solution to all your fitness business management needs...

Q1. It is Sunday night and you are giving 3 aerobics classes in the morning but you cannot for the life of you remember what time they are at or how many you are expecting to attend. Are you:

a) Frantically scrambling about the house rooting out dozens of crumpled sheets of paper mumbling “Where are you, where are you, where ARE you?”.
b) Cross-checking your online calendar with your pocket diary and hoping you have it somewhere.
c) Signing in to your Online Fitness Business Management Software on your laptop, confident in the knowledge that all the info you need is but a few clicks away.

Q2. You arrive to train a regular client and they seem a bit flustered and cannot remember how many sessions they have paid you for and how many they have left before they need to buy a new package. Do you:

a) Wonder to yourself if your receipts book is still sitting under a mug on your desk and rack your brain to try and remember how many sessions this guy has done this month, before saying “Don’t worry we’ll figure that out later”.
b) Take out your trusty pocket diary and flick between pages, and using your math skills spend the first 8 minutes of the session working out numbers instead of working out.
c) Whip out your Smartphone and consult your Online Fitness Business Management software for his remaining number of sessions, next session, and next pay date. Simple.

Q3. It’s that time of the month when you get big green cartoon $ signs in your eyes and you’re ready to reel in the dinero for all your hard work. You are:

a) Sporting a stylish belt pack, in which you have stuffed your receipts book, schedule book, blue pen, red pen and, over the course of the day, obscene amounts of cash. And hoping everyone remembers it’s pay day.
b) Taking phonecalls all day with credit card numbers, arranging future cash payments, and listening to the usual excuses from those who don’t want to part with their money just yet.
c) Asleep. Your Online Fitness Business Management Software is taking care of it.

How did you score?

	Mostly As: Hmm. You’ve probably deduced on your own that administrative work is not your strongpoint. But that’s ok! You’re a super trainer, you don’t need to be a super secretary too. Investing in an Online Business Management Software would take a huge load off your shoulders, to free up your time to focus on being an even better trainer!
	Mostly Bs: Not too shabby. Your current system has probably served you well enough thus far, but it may be time to think about upgrading to a paperless system and saving yourself heaps of time and effort that you could be putting to better use. You could really benefit from an Online Business Management software to handle your scheduling and billing so that you can focus all that energy on being the ultimate trainer!
	Mostly Cs: Congratulations! You have taken the leap of faith and invested wisely in an awesome Online Fitness Business Management software, which has no doubt streamlined your business, freed up your time and helped your business thrive in a way that many other fitness professionals only dream of!

Why not spread the word? What’s that, oh you don’t want to share your success? Ok, but I don’t think it will be a secret for much longer.........

Fitness Business | The Evolution is Up to You

Barry Duncan — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:02:00 GMT

“How will your fitness business evolve?” It is an interesting question for fitness business owners because so many of us started our fitness business because of a passion for health, for helping others and for living a fantastic lifestyle.

We often take the “if we build it they will come mentality” to our facilities. No fitness professional got into this with a goal of being tied to a desk doing all the crazy amount of administrative work that is needed to run any business. Yet time after time I hear stories from the trenches of start-up fitness business were the owner is trying to do all the scheduling, billing, accounting and member management leaving them with less time to do what they love, getting people active.

Is this what happened to you after you started
your fitness business?

What fitness professionals do not realise is that their business evolution is not predetermined, they have choices. The first choice you need to make is if you want to cut the tether to your desk by getting some help.

One of the best pieces of business advice I ever received did not come from a business coach or mentor but from a cardiologist. He was a personal training client that I trained for ten years and his wisdom was paramount in both my personal training studios' success and also my sanity. My wife and I were about 3 years into running our gym when our good friend passed on his wisdom. He saw that we worked tirelessly in our business training clients, doing administrative tasks, hiring new trainers and of course trying to get more clients. He took us to dinner and asked us a simple question “Have you ever seen a doctor answering the phone or scheduling the appointments?” We thought about this and of course the answer is no. He went on to talk about himself and his self-realization that he is a fantastic cardiologist, one of the words best in fact, but he does not claim to be good at the business side of things so he hired people to do that.

This was his advice do what you are great at and hire for all the
other stuff and your business will succeed.

Let’s face it when was it that a client said to you “wow you have such great administrative organisation and that is why I train with you”, never right.

Within a year we had started the first version of Volo up and running and we automated all of the administrative parts of running a fitness business. Not only did we have a system that allowed other people to do the administrative processes in our business but we could check out what was happening from anywhere in the world and instantly pull reports to check out our business. It was the best decision we ever made for our company.

We choose to not evolve into a life of servitude to our desk and instead broke free and empowered our trainers and clients with the ability to manage their own schedules by booking online. We also automated and simplified our billing and invoicing meaning we could go on vacation and still get paid. This is what online studio management software will do for you andyour fitness business.

Here are some other great articles on how to make choices in your business:

There are lots of different ways that you can grow your business, you just need to choose how you want your evolution to be.

How a Marketer Beats a Top Personal Trainer In The Fitness Business

Here are the three shortcuts that can help you start achieving a more successful Fitness Business:

Volo Updates | Promo codes and more

Promo Codes and your Fitness Business:

Member portal enhancement:

Fixed expiry dates:

"Work on Your Business and Not IN It!” Tuesday May 15th, 2012 5:30 pm PST

Fitness Business Owners When Was Your Last Vacation?

Join us for a webinar, learn how to“Work on Your Business and Not IN It!” Tuesday May 15th, 2012 5:30 pm PST

Who is in the Driver's Seat in your Fitness Business?

Most of the fitness businesses that fail do so not because their owner is not a great instructor or trainer but because the owner could not do it all.

Five CEO Driving Tips:

Grow your Fitness Business with Newsletters and ....

Newsletter marketing is a phenomenal way to accomplish the following goals:

Here are a few ways you can implement newsletters in your fitness business.

Never do These 3 Things in Your Fitness Business

Accept Cash or Cheque

Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants

Show Appreciation to Your Staff

So, your next steps will be:

Maximize Your Email Marketing With Online Studio Scheduling Software

Free up your time and Boost $$$$ in your fitness business download our Boost your Fitness Business Results Kit

Turn Your Daily Deals Into $$ With Online Studio Scheduling Software

How to over deliver your Daily Deals in your Fitness Business:

Check out this great video on using Facebook to "Grow your Fitness Business" and like us while you are on our page!

Fitness Business | Build, Buy or Franchise

Building your Fitness Business:

Buying your Fitness Business:

Franchising your Fitness Business:

Download our free eBook:

Grow your Fitness Business | The One-Off Magic Marketing Campaign

Don’t rely on your one off magic marketing campaign!

10 of MANY cheap & easy lead generation ideas to grow your fitness business:

Join us for a webinar on "Marketing to Grow your Fitness Business"Tuesday March 27th at 11 am PST

Fitness Business Owners How Much is Your Time Worth?

Join us for a webinar on "Marketing to Grow your Fitness Business"Tuesday March 27th at 11 am PST

Fitness Business | Belonging to an Organization

Overcoming Client Objections With Online Studio Scheduling Software

Download a free Boost your Fitness Business Results Kit

Acquistion News for Volo Innovations!

Create Raving Fans With Online Studio Scheduling Software

Building Great Culture Is The Key To Client & Staff Retention!

Fitness Business | What do Babies and Business have in common?

Keep Your Business Mobile with Online Studio Scheduling Software

Online Studio Scheduling Software | Top 7 Benefits of Online Software

What To Do If Something Bad Happens in Your Fitness Business

Annihilate Your Competition with Online Studio Scheduling Software

Online Studio Scheduling Software | Tim’s Gym, a Success Story!

Explode Revenue with Online Studio Scheduling Software

Here are three strategies to dramatically change your business level:

Fitness Business Quiz | How are your Admin Skills?

Fitness Business | The Evolution is Up to You

"Work on Your Business and Not IN It!”
Tuesday May 15^th, 2012 5:30 pm PST

Join us for a webinar, learn how to
“Work on Your Business and Not IN It!”
Tuesday May 15^th, 2012 5:30 pm PST

Free up your time and Boost $$$$ in your fitness business download our
Boost your Fitness Business Results Kit

Join us for a webinar on
"Marketing to Grow your Fitness Business"
Tuesday March 27th at 11 am PST

Join us for a webinar on
"Marketing to Grow your Fitness Business"
Tuesday March 27th at 11 am PST

Download a free
Boost your Fitness Business Results Kit