The dog days of summer are nigh. You are bracing to maintain your foothold on your fitness center enrollment. You have tried everything, or nothing if you are lucky, to keep your existing membership enrolled at your center. You have spent an exorbitant amount of energy trying to tread water and retain your current gym members. Yet, you may find that it is just not enough. Now you need a plan.

Ask yourself how much you promote or need to promote your fitness center to the surrounding area, your target market and your defined customer base. Your center may, in fact, be riding the bubble and enjoying prosperous times. On the other hand, your center may be strapped down by diminished enrollment and you may be wondering what the next step may be and how the next bill will be paid. Regardless, center operators and owners need to begin to think like the best consummate salesperson would, promotion, promotion, promotion.

In your fitness center, personal training studio or any related business you can promote your services or products simply, effectively and cost effectively. Of course, it is always necessary to get your name out before your potential customers. One method may be a regular postcard mailer that fits your budget and complements your promotional goals. The end result is to brand your fitness center through repeated mailings and more important, to get “traffic” in your facility. In other words, the goal is to generate new fitness center inquiries. See, “Promote Through Postcard Mailings,” below.

Now you can feel comfortable that you put forth your best effort to create the structure for a successful, repeat mailer to either your existing clientele or potential clientele. At the end of the day, your goal is to continually strive to retain your existing members and to procure new members. This is only one model for promotion. There are other ways to expand your membership base. Your goal should always be to market to expand your business.

Frank Bentkowski is general manager of Exude Inc. in New York. He has a B.S. in Biology from Binghamton University, and is nationally certified by and is a member of the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America. He can be reached at 212-644-9559 or at frank16e52@aol.com.

Promote Through Postcard

Mailings

A regular postcard mailer is quite simple if you follow these steps:

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