The last installment was how to get rock solid testimonials. Remember gone are the days where a "these guys are great !!!!" quote will suffice. Bolster up your case. You need pictures, videos, and voice recordings from raving fans you've created which people can access on your site and be made aware of through your literature. So get on it.
The next part of the (how we market our clubs approach) is web presence. I know most of us are not techie types that goes for yours truly. I'm a gym rat so when I don't know how to do something web related I just go to the nearest Battlestar Galactica Convention and ask someone who does. OK J/K these folks help you make money so enough of the wise cracks.
Let's get started if you think having a web page is enough your nuts. I know some clubs that don't even have that so at least you are trying. Unfortunately you are competing with every other yo-yo with a gym and GoDaddy account. Over the next couple posts we'll break down the strategy of the most effective type of site, how to set it up, how to differentiate it from the pack and why you must convert your old static site now or disappear from the web cause you are wasting money. We'll also talk about how to get noticed by the search engines which important if you want to get noticed by people looking for your site. Guess what while you are working on yours I'm going to take some of my own medicine and apply some of the same changes to my sites. So the look and feel of this site may have a metamorphosis right under your nose.
- The best type of sites to get people excited about you are, you guessed it, blogs.
- Go Set up a blog at blogger or wordpad it's free.
- Register your domain at aplus.net or godaddy.com ex use your club name and town for ex http://www.worldgymatlanta.com/
- Point your new blog to this address it just looks better.
Congrats! , You have completed the most important steps next time we'll get deeper into set up and content. I'll also share why the blog is a better way to get noticed than a regular generic general info type site with club hours, aerobics schedule, pics of your club with the address. Go get set up!
As promised I am going to deliver something that will change the way we market our clubs in today's new economy. The first big step will be our online approach but I have finish a little research still to deliver the straight dope. Google is flipping the script for many of us and the rules are changing Stay tuned........... Next week I will launch into our no holds barred recession busting health club marketing attack.
In the meantime!
TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!!
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes.
Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads.
As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.
Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this.
We ate cupcakes made with Lard, white bread, real butter and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And, we weren't overweight. WHY?
Because we were always outside playing...that's why!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.. No one was able to reach us all day. And, we were OKAY.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem
We did not have Play stations, Nintendo's and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms.
WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.
We would get spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping pong paddles, or just a bare hand and no one would call child services to report abuse.
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.
Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment.
Imagine that!!
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!
These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever.
The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. What can kids today do besides push buttons.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.
If YOU are one of them, CONGRATULATIONS!
You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good.
While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave and lucky their parents were.
Kind of makes you want to turn off the computer and go run through the house with scissors, doesn't it ?
