What Makes You So Special?

Some straight talk on how your club should promote itself on the web

By Michaleen McGarry

Published in Club Solutions Magazine / June 2005

When asked to describe his club, Joe Club Owner quickly quips, “We provide an atmosphere that promotes active, healthy lifestyles for individuals of all ages and fitness levels. We are proud to serve you with state-of-the-art equipment, a friendly, caring staff, the most knowledgeable personal trainers, and a great selection of group fitness classes— all within the cleanest facility in the area.”

Sound familiar? It does to me. After spending more than five years helping fitness facilities develop and launch websites to promote their club, I have heard everything. But what is even more important, is how many times I hear the same thing.

While every fitness facility is trying to show how unique it is…it ends up sounding just like the club down the street. But it doesn’t have to be that way. There are creative ways to help you show your individuality on the web, to help promote how unique your club really is, and without too much extra effort on your part.

IMAGE IS EVERYTHING
You have heard the saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” right? There are very few places that exemplify that adage more than on the web—at least when it comes to marketing a fitness facility. When you put images of your club on the Internet, you really give prospective members a feel for what your facility is like. The trick is to actually take pictures that represent the true feel of the club.

There are two ways to display these pictorial gems. First you can sprinkle them throughout the web site within pages and verbiage. This gives your web visitors the opportunity to see all you have to offer without the stress of the sale. It also provides qualified leads in your inbox. It’s a win-win for prospect and club owner alike.

The second way to show off your club is with a virtual tour. This gives you the opportunity to take prospective members on a tour of your club in the exact environment you desire. Even an in-facility tour cannot compare to that. After all, when you give a tour of the facility, there is always the off chance that someone or something happening at the club might turn the visitor off.

For the most bang for your buck…apply both concepts to your web site!

FIND YOUR VOICE
While using “template” copy for your web site provides tried and true content, it doesn’t exactly help you stand out in the crowd. There are several ways that you can instill the tone of your club into your website’s copy.

• Not the writer? Simply massage the text to sound more like it is coming from you. Subtle changes can make a world of difference.


• Novice writer? While using your “template” copy as a guide, give writing your website copy a try. But just be sure to run it by a few of your close friends or staff members. Be open to their comments and suggestions.


• Creative writer? This is your chance to shine. Be bold and adventurous with your website content. This is your opportunity to show the world exactly why they should visit your one-of-a-kind club.

Always remember, when it comes to content on the web, less is almost always more. Individuals researching health clubs in your area on the web are quick to get bored. Lots of copy can be just that. Evaluate exactly what points you want to get across and stick to those topics.

FROM THE MOUTHS OF MEMBERS
Member testimonials that present your club’s unique attributes offer something you cannot…reassurance that what you are saying is true. Sprinkled throughout your site, client words of praise regarding what makes your club so special may give prospects the push they need to give your club a try.

Make positive feedback a regular part of your customer service. Send or give each of your happy customers a satisfaction form with ample room for comments. Use the best responses you get on your web site. Keep in mind that potential clients are most likely to believe testimonials from trustworthy individuals that appear real.

The benefit of real members discussing the unique qualities of your club is that it is like work of mouth advertising. The audience can relate and connect with the person giving the testimonial…almost like they are hearing it from a friend.

THE LAST WORD
It wasn’t that long ago that many health club owners did not even understand the importance of a web presence, but I believe those dark ages are behind us. It is now the age of web site enlightenment, and with that comes the freedom to be yourself. It is time for you to show your potential members what makes you so special, and reap your just rewards!

Members Only: The Shape of Things to Come

By: Michaleen McGarry

Published in Club Solutions Magazine / March 2005

A satisfied member is a loyal member. But with the influx of new members that come through the door each January and a staff not that different in size since last June – how exactly can you satisfy these "green" exercisers? The answer may be as close as your nearest computer.

As a club owner, you already know that members who are supported, encouraged and truly experience a personal connection are most likely to become lifelong members. As that same club owner, you may also view the computer as not very supportive or encouraging, and definitely lacking a personal touch. But that is simply not the case -- at least when you are speaking about online member intranets.

Member intranets that are available on the Internet can bridge the gap between you and your new, and current, members in a multitude of ways. In addition, member intranets offer a way to increase participation in personal training, market profit centers, and improve communication.

On average, the dropout rate during the first year of membership is double that of other memberships. The key to retaining new members is to support them through this period successfully. By providing a "Roadmap to Success," you can actually tip the scales in favor of members who truly change their lifestyles. With a member intranet, you help support your member without having to increase your staff by providing:

• Fitness Programs
• Nutrition Plans
• Education
• Personalized Content

FITNESS PROGRAMS
Through a member intranet, you can provide increased communication between your personal trainers and their clients and printable programs for clients to take to the club. But what is even more powerful is the fact that the over 90 percent of your member base, that is currently stumbling through how to reach their goals, suddenly has a virtual trainer to support them.

NUTRITION PLANS
One area that seems to always be overlooked by new members is the importance of their food intake, which can actually make or break reaching their goals. Many clubs rely on personal trainers to dole out nutritional advice when in all actuality, their expertise lies elsewhere. Finding a member intranet with a comprehensive nutrition component will increase your members' support and success ten-fold.

EDUCATION
Member intranets, whether they are for the health club community or the business sector, all provide a reason for continued patronage. In the case of a health club member intranet, education offers a way to encourage and motivate members thereby increasing their success, and ultimately yours! Up-to-date heath and fitness information, wellness tips, exercise video demonstrations, and more, keep your members on the cutting edge of fitness.

PERSONALIZED CONTENT
When it comes to retaining members, "feeling part of a community, or lack thereof," has been stated as one of the top reasons members: cancel memberships; stop going to the club, or worse, change clubs. By utilizing a members-only intranet, you can provide a place for members to visit 24/7 that keeps them connected. In addition, if you shop for a member intranet that offers personalized content, your members can truly experience a personal connection with you, and your facility.

Member intranets come in all shapes and sizes, but for about the price of two memberships per month, you can reach out to a membership base that comes in just as many shapes and sizes. A properly marketed member intranet can help you reshape your bottom line by increasing member satisfaction, loyalty, and retention.

Thinking Outside the Club

By Michaleen McGarry

Published in Club Solutions Magazine / February 2005

By now, most health clubs understand the importance of having an online presence for the purpose of advertising their facility in a non-intimidating way any time of the day or night. But have you ever thought of how the Internet and your website could streamline many of your current processes at almost no cost?

MARKETING
Currently, you probably advertise in the local paper, send out flyers, and offer member referral programs in order to get more leads through your door. If you take your Internet strategy seriously, you can multiply the number of leads coming through your door. Simple changes in your website can yield big results when it comes to search engine placement.
According to Click Z Network Solutions for Marketers, “As Web surfers endeavor to grow thin, the hit counters of health, fitness and nutrition sites get fat, with over 11 million home surfer visits during the week ending Jan. 4, 2004, according to online audience measurement firm Nielsen//Net Ratings.”

The question then becomes, do you what to be one of the websites these individuals view and visit? Of course you want to be one of the first ones individuals in your area see on the results page. And by spending an hour researching the ranking alternatives at no cost whatsoever, you can increase your ranking ten-fold. Simply type in “search engine placement” in the Google search box for a multitude of ideas as well as companies that can help for very little investment.

LEAD MANAGEMENT
While the Internet can help you increase the number of leads you receive, it can also help you manage your entire lead process all the way to closing. Depending on the website service you choose, you can not only manage the sales process but you can also aid in sales communication through email marketing.

Companies such as FitnessInsite offer complete lead management services as part of their website package at no additional cost. Such tools have the added advantage of 24/7 access from anywhere there is an Internet connection available.

MEMBER RETENTION
Member retention is by far one of the most important aspects of your success, so anything you can do to improve it, it well worth the effort. By utilizing the information highway to communication with your members should be a no-brainer. Its cost is minimal, and in some cases free.

As a health club, you need to stay on the cutting-edge when it comes to equipment, classes, and training. The same holds true for member retention. By sending out monthly newsletters, taking advantage of email marketing campaigns, and offering online services, you not only safe time and money, you present your club as forward thinking.

FEEDBACK
One area that clubs seem to fall short is feedback—member and lead alike. The reasons for this are as varied as health clubs themselves. And for those clubs that see the value in feedback, the response rate of a survey leaves something to be desired. Once again, the Internet and your website can satisfy both problems.

By providing a small incentive, you can get your members to go home and give you their opinion almost anything—from your locker room cleanliness to your trainers’ hygiene!

It all comes down to comfort level. From the intimacy of their own home, most people feel more open to really telling you how they feel. And because the Internet offers a more anonymous venue then dropping your comment card in a box that may be read immediately after you leave, the percent of participants increases.

For finding out the positive aspects as well as downfalls of your sales staff, online surveys are king! Offer potential members a chance to win a wonderful membership package at a reduced rate—for just sharing their opinion! It’s a win-win. You not only get another point of contact, but you also receive invaluable information about your staff.

What is amazing about the Internet and many website services is that the list goes on and on in terms of the ways your club can benefit. In fact, really the biggest limitation is your own creativity. If you are trying to keep your health club on the cutting edge and current with your membership base, you owe it to yourself to invest a bit of time, effort, and imagination into the Internet and your website.

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.

G-Force

With talent, drive, and strength, Gea Johnson pushes her way towards the Gold in the 2002 Winter Olympics

By Michaleen McGarry

It could be said that Gea Johnson was born to be an athlete. Receiving accolades throughout her athletic career, this humble athlete has seen her share of success as a world-class heptathlete, as an Olympic weightlifter, as America’s first Ms. National Fitness champion, and most recently as a member of the 2002 U.S. Olympic Bobsled Team.

Johnson’s road to success has not been a smooth one. With multiple injuries throughout the years, Gea Johnson’s dreams have repeatedly been tested. Despite numerous injuries and surgeries that have endangered Johnson's ability to ever compete again, she has never given up. Amid an extremely triumphant athletic career, she has sustained what should have been a career-ending knee injury, endured five open knee surgeries, herniated two discs in her neck, had major foot surgery, and suffered severe nerve damage in her leg. Not exactly a walk in the park. And while most would have given up, Johnson found the strength and focus to continue…to endure.

It is put best by the victor herself, "A champion doesn't always win with ease. A true champion has faced adversity, tasted failure, seen disappointment, and yet still rises to the challenge on every front, emerging victorious with a bold determination to share the process with others."

Johnson’s abilities go beyond the norm – even for star athletes – with her uncanny ability to envelop a sport with such ease. Gea's climb to the top echelon of bobsledding is the fastest the sport has ever seen. Johnson took up the sport in August 2001 after rehabbing from nerve damage in her leg and is now the fastest female brakeman in the United States.

In 1997, after just five months of training, Gea Johnson's commanding performances within the weightlifting world earned her several weightlifting titles. The subsequent year, she developed into the top ranked lifter in her weight class. Johnson's accomplishments in the track and field area are just as noteworthy with top rankings in heptathlon and track and field events worldwide, in addition to four uninterrupted years of 2nd place standing in the U.S. Heptathlon – second only to the celebrated Jackie Joyner-Kersee.

With her remarkable athletic triumphs, Gea Johnson can certainly be considered one of the world's greatest female athletes. Yet, just as important as all of these accomplishments, is how she got to where she is today. Gea Johnson gives much credit to her achievements to her loving family, especially her mother.

"My mom taught me when I was little that you can accomplish anything you want to, and I think that is what drives me," states Gea.

Like the true athletic adventurer that she is, when asked what her future holds, Gea is quick to comment on her love of training and competing, her new found love of bobsledding, and her hopes to compete in another heptathlon someday.

Whatever Gea Johnson’s future holds, whether she wins the Gold or not, with her natural talent and determination – she will be successful. After all, you can’t stop the forces of nature.

Oh, Baby!

A post-pregnancy workout routine to help shed pounds while bonding with the fruit of your labor.

By Michaleen McGarry

The most wonderful and blessed event has come and gone. Well, more has actually come than gone. Now you have the addition of stubborn, bouncing, undeniable pounds…and we don't mean that precious bundle of joy. Don't worry; it's just time to bring those sagging, over-stretched muscles back to Mama. There are many ways to regain your shape, but none as rewarding as working out with Baby!

“Shear” Strength
Don't throw away those pre-pregnancy jeans; just try this upper-thigh and lower-abdomen strengthening exercise for slimming down to your previous size. Lay on your back with both legs extended up while holding Baby. Now open your legs, extending arms while lifting Baby, saying something cute like "goochie goo." Close your legs like a pair of scissors; lower Baby to your chest and hug. Perform three sets of eight reps.

Belly Blower
How is it that the round belly of Baby is so cute while ours is…well…not? In standard sit-up position, rest Baby, unclothed (a diaper is fine, but not as adventurous) against your thighs. Begin a shoulder to knee crunch while at the same time pulling Baby toward you. Once you are in contact with Baby's tummy, blow on that belly! Lower and return Baby to start position. Perform three sets of ten reps.

Lambin’ It Up
To regain that spry derrière of yesteryear, use a nursery rhyme of yore. With your back on the floor, your knees bent, and Baby on board, lift your buttocks from the floor to a comfortable level. With your head tipped toward your knees, hold position while singing, "Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb." Lower slowly until your bum is resting on the floor, and perform one Kegel exercise while singing, "Mary had a little lamb, with fleece as white as snow." Three sets of three reps (a rep for each verse).

Searching Thigh & Low
Finding a way to hide your upper arms and thighs may seem less challenging than trying to reduce them, but you can't conceal that jiggle from the mirror or escape swimsuit season forever. Standing with Baby at chest level, begin lowering to a squat while at the same time lifting your gift from above over your shoulders, toward the sky. Hold for five seconds. Be sure to keep a chair behind you for spotting. Perform two sets of eight reps.

Teaching Trek
Taking a brisk walk is a great mental exercise for Baby and a physical one for Mom. As you feel more comfortable, increase the length, speed, and intensity of your daily journey. Use interval training to get your heart pumping - speed walking two blocks, pointing out the sights and sounds of the world around you every third. The fresh air and vivid stimulation will leave the wee one content, satisfied, and napward bound once back at home, presenting the perfect opportunity to indulge yourself; take a long bath, read a short story, or call up an old friend. Be sure to perform daily.Remember, bonding with Mom is an important part of your baby's first year of life and your health is important to your family. Exercising together can help achieve both. And who knows? Soon you might even hear Daddy say, "Oh, Baby!"

*The intensity of these exercises can be increased by adding reps, while Baby’s increasing weight will add resistance! Remember, before beginning any workout program, consult your physician.