Can Your Club Make Money On the Internet?

By Michaleen McGarry

Published in Club Solutions 12/04

You’ve heard it all—get an online ecommerce store, sell personal training online, try viral marketing, and more! But what really works when it comes to making money on the Internet?

There are several ideas out there on how to increase your profits with online initiatives, but some of the more profitable ways may not be the seemingly obvious ones. To help you exercise your options on the information highway and come out feeling fiscally fit, let’s explore the facts and fallacies of potential online profits!

MYTH #1: I can not get leads on the Internet; the individuals I am trying to reach don’t use the Internet.

FACT: According to the Nielsen//NetRatings Enumeration Study from 2004 nearly 75 percent of households have access to the Internet. In addition, males and females alike between the ages of 35 – 54 with Internet access rank over 80 percent within the United States. The total number of Americans logging on to the Internet daily is more than 136,000,000. So if you thought your club demographic isn’t using the Internet—think again!

MYTH #2: The leads I would get online are not worth my time or effort.

FACT: The leads you can receive online are not only worth your time and effort; they may prove to be your easiest sales. They have already gotten a taste for your facility, checked out your amenities, and know a good deal about what you have to offer. Armed with this knowledge, these potential members have chosen to get more membership information. Websites utilizing a comprehensive leads management system can easily convert well over 50 percent of the leads they receive online at minimal cost.

According to Christian Carbonara, Direct Marketing Manager at The Fitness Edge Inc., in Fairfield, Conn., "Today's health club members do their homework before they buy memberships. The website is a great way to introduce your products and services to these folks 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We convert several 'inquiries' a day into new members at a fraction of traditional advertising costs. It’s an invaluable tool and investment that pays for itself in no time!"

MYTH #3: Having a basic brochure website is a sufficient way of marketing on the Internet.

FACT: While a simplistic brochure website is better than nothing at all, there are web-based platforms out there that can help you market your facility with a great front-end website, close more leads with a robust lead management system, communicate with potential members through email marketing, and provide member benefits. With very little investment, you can bring in more members and keep the ones you already have by utilizing such services.

Thom Plummer, nationally-renowned health club consulting guru, believes, “With trial offers, you can reel in leads without effort, and close them. Couple that with the ability to email market your profit centers for pennies to potential and current members for added revenue. It’s really quite simple, if you have a quality online presence, you can close more leads, increase profits, and retain your members. A pure and simple win – win.”

MYTH #4: Having an online presence won’t help me retain my current member base.

FACT: Having a website with a member intranet offers constant contact with your members on their terms. Your members can log on to your site 24/7 and find out about current events, see great specials at the juice bar, get class schedules, and more. Some of the more comprehensive member intranets will also provide additional member benefits such as online fitness and nutrition tools to give your members a road map to success and reinforce you as the authority when it comes to health and wellness. This virtual club community can increase member retention and increase revenues by marketing your profit centers.

MYTH #5: Build an online pro shop…and they will come.

FACT: Most of the individuals going online to look at health club websites are gathering information regarding joining your club or checking out your group classes schedules, or trying to find out what’s happening this weekend. If someone wants to buy vitamins online…they are not going to go to your site when there are several discount vendors online providing pricing you cannot compete with. Instead, advertise your pro shop on your site with “% off” coupons and get people through the door. Once there, your sales staff can upsell a multitude of items, from lifting gloves to your latest sweat shirt.

The bottom line is this—if you look at your online presence as an extension of your current marketing efforts, as a effortless lead generator, and as a communication center for your current members, you will begin to understand the power of the Internet, and realize how easy it really is to make money on the Internet.