Friday, March 3, 2017

Fitness business success strategies


Growing your fitness business is not easy.  You need to be hands on, in the trenches and focused on your entire business.  I honestly think its crap when people say, “work harder on your business than always in your business.”  I get it, you need to market and promote your brand, you need to build a social media following, you need website development, member payment systems, bookkeeping, program design, the list goes on and on.  You are continually working on your business as you are in the trenches of your business.  There is really no let up.  Its years (at least 5) of consistent work on the business that creates the foundation and systems needed to be successful.  Listen, I am not here to bull shit you into thinking that all you have to do is implement these strategies and your business will quickly accelerate.  Yes, you should execute on the below business building tactics but you need to continue to do them for a long time.  Not only will you get some great results early on, long-term consistency will lay the groundwork for years to come. 


1.     Content.  Most fitness business owners are passionate about fitness.  Kind of common sense.  But besides just being passionate, you need to become an expert within a tribe.  You need to really make it a goal to build a solid following of people that care about what you have to say.  Let people know you are all about serving them in any way possible.  Be the best.  Be the most passionate.  And express these traits through your content.  Write articles, make videos, hold live Q and A sessions on your Facebook and Instagram accounts, build your blog following, and post regularly on all social media accounts.  Stay relevant and current to your network.  Creating good content for your network of people is such a key element to building your fitness business.  I recommend you list out all of the various tasks that you want to complete throughout the week. 

            For example:
            blog about calories posted
            2 Live FB (facebook) videos (Q and A/exercise technique)
            1 post a day on Instagram (personal brand, positive quote, exercise vid)
            Facebook post directing readers to my blog

Once this list is written out on Sunday, start knocking out as much as possible during the week.  You will build a tight knit community of people that enjoy your knowledge and expertise over time with consistent content.  The key word here is CONSISTENT.  This does not work if you do not get content out there on a weekly basis. 

2.     Build a positive and encouraging community.  I can’t stress how important this is.  Really in any business, customer service is vital to the success of the company.  The energy your facility produces will keep people coming consistently.  This is what you want.  Statistics say that you need to keep a member coming at least 2 times per week.  Once they drop below that, the chances of losing them as a customer will increase.  Your community has a lot to do with long-term retention of your customers.  As a business owner you need to be the leader here and express this atmosphere all the time.  Be intuitive with the energy of your facility and know when it’s time to redirect or change it up.  Here are a few things that can improve your environment: new workout programs, new music stations, monthly challenges, member socials, new equipment, educational workshops or new clothing and merchandise.  This is always a work in progress as you are continually keeping the atmosphere of your facility high energy and positive.   Do not let up.

3.     Be ready for the unforeseen.  Listen, no matter what you do or how great your systems are, unexpected situations will arise in your business.  Learning how to deal with these circumstances in a smart and calming way is critical to keeping the environment of your business unaffected.  An unhappy customer, unexpected building expenses, an employee quits, your website crashes; whatever the unforeseen will bring, as a leader it’s important to handle these types of situations with a calm demeanor so it does not affect the spirit of your business.  Shit happens, but you can mitigate further repercussions by turning into proactive problem solver instead of angry dictator.  Take a deep breath, figure out the game plan and make a smart decision.


If you have any specific questions about your fitness business, please do not hesitate to ask.  I have owned and operated California Fitness Academy for over 10 years and if I can help you make fewer mistakes than I did, I would be thrilled.  Please get in touch through email (justinlevine03@hotmail.com) or you can look me up on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1575159726117233/

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