In the world of "the internet of things", social has become a big moving ship with lots of expectations and assumptions.  There are many different social platforms calling out "come play with me" and as a business operator how do you decide where to put your energy?

I can empathize with all the day to day demands of health club operators and how it could be difficult to decide where to find extra time to post on social platforms. 

With the increased demand to have a presence in more than one place, it has become increasingly more obvious that the days of a website and a facebook have come to an end.

It is time to get social, health clubs! 

I love this slide from Bryan O'Rourke's presentation at IHRSA 2015, it is a very visually appealing "at a glance" of the six largest social players health clubs need a presence on to be relevant today. 

To see his full presentation Click Here.

Click the link to see Bryan's presentation. 

What I love about this slide is the simplistic nature of what platform has what and the primary users and relevance. If you operate a health club it would be wise to have a solid, streamlined message across all six of these platforms. 

There are a lot of other tools out there, YouTube, Foursquare, Snap Chat, but for now, focus on these six as your primary voice box and it will go a long way.

What do you think, does having a presence beyond Facebook yield big returns for your club? 

I would enjoy hearing form you!

cheers!

Lindsey 

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Lindsey Rainwater is an experienced consultant and coach  to the fitness and wellness industry.  She specializes in business development and leadership. Currently she is working with the Fitmarc Team helping Health Club owners all over the south central region of the united states propel their business forward via group exercise solutions.  For more information about Lindsey, follow her @lindseyrainh2o 

Over the past decade consumer choices have changed tremendously around how to join a Health Club.  In the old days, health club memberships were sold in small closing offices with big contracts, often scary closing pitches and a no way out clause.  Thank goodness those days are over, the softer and friendlier "month to month" agreements are now in place, but now an even more progressive consumer controlled way of joining clubs has come along. 

Check out ClassPass, if you have not already heard of this show stopper of a platform, check it out! 

"For $79, you'll have your pick of classes to choose from, including cycling, yoga, Pilates, barre, strength training, bootcamp, dance, and so much more. Plus, we’re adding new studios and classes each and every week.  

Commitment not your thing? Cancel anytime". -ClassPass

I am not the only one talking about the platform, visionary Bryan O'Rourke had this to say.

"Technology is creating a tsunami of business model innovation and Class Pass is but one example. Competitors in the health club and fitness space should prepare for the opportunities and threats that are arising because significant change is upon us all. We have certainly entered a new era". -Bryan O'Rourke 

I could not agree more with what Bryan is saying here! the traditional health club membership model is changing significantly. As consumers are more and more empowered to have what they want when they want it, as an industry we are going to continue to see consumers create the reality of the market. 

What do you think, how will classpass and membership models like this impact our industry?

Reply here, send me your thoughts! 

And! take a moment to complete the survey bellow.

Cheers,

Lindsey

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Lindsey Rainwater is an experienced consultant and coach  to the fitness and wellness industry.  She specializes in business development and leadership. Currently she is working with the Fitmarc Team helping Health Club owners all over the south central region of the united states propel their business forward via group exercise solutions.  For more information about Lindsey, follow her @lindseyrainh2o 

Upon returning home from IHRSA each year I take time to reflect on the trip and capture the most meaningful take away's to share with you.  This year the event was in San Diego, such a great place to hold the event, you can't beat the sunshine and coastal breeze! not to mention yummy fish tacos that are walking distance from the convention center!  

Two of my favorite speakers this year were Mrs Sally Hogeshead and Mr Bryan O'Rourke. 

Mrs Sally Hogesead delivered a compelling talk about fascinating your listener in 9 seconds or less. She engaged the audience with many different suggestions to better enhance the delivery of who you are as an individual. 

Mr Bryan O'Rourke spoke on the impact of mobile technology on the fitness industry and how important it is to have a mobile ready website and apps to improve the member experience. For more information on his presentation, click here. 

And of course, the trade show! what a lovely show it was this year.  I always enjoy the buzz of the trade show, so many club owners and operators making impactful decisions on their equipment and programming options for the year.  You will see some pictures below of the event!

Be sure to share your IHRSA 2014 thoughts with me if you desire! 

cheers,

Lindsey 

Tradeshow floor, showing several equipment providers booths.

Ms. Sarah and Myself at the Les Mills booth

Mrs Rebecca Cofod and myself

Your's Truly :)

P90X, TRX, Suspension training, Barre, Spinning, Indo-row, Kettleworx, Piloxing, Turbokick, Bodypump, Freestyle insturcor's, Zumba, Bootcamp, Crossfit, virtual classes... and much much more...

Lindsey Rainwater, Consultant to the Fitness Industry I remember when I started working in health clubs, I was 17 years old, had just graduated from High School and worked in an all women's private health club.  We had a 'full' group fitness studio schedule. Our class offerings were Aerobics, Step, Kick boxing and Guts & Butts.  It was simple, strait forward, and the instructors created their routines and play lists (at the time with cassette tapes, oy vey) for the most part, it was all freestyle choreography. 

Fast forward to now, oh my goodness! We are so spoiled, the industry has advanced to a place were we are chin deep in options. What a gift!

We have extremely intelligent, scientifically backed choreography and well researched workouts that have been established, tested and tried so that our members get incredible experiences time and time again.

So as an owner of a club, how in the world to you go about deciding what programming to offer?  What will your members enjoy and keep coming back for? where are you going to find instructors? 

I would love to share with you a few of the best practices that club owners and operators have shared with me, from all over the United States.  I am in on average, fifteen different Health clubs a week covering for profit, non profit, ymca and recreation center verticals.  Here is what the collective is saying...

1. Solicit member feedback- don't be afraid to ask them what they would enjoy.  I have heard more than one owner/operator tell me they ask what their members think, I would say this is your most influential tool. You might have the 1 or 2 that use the feedback forum as an opportunity to tell you everything you did not ask to hear about, but don't let that stop you from the other 50 that are going to provide you with valuable insight.  

2. Study your age demographics- closely, pay attention to your time selections and go with the flow of the lifestyles you are attracting.  Know their schedules and accommodate their schedules vs. instructors favorite time to teach.

3. Follow trends, don't try to be ultra unique- as industry leaders, we love the innovative, barefoot, fancy newest trend...If the club across the street from you offers the same class, that's OK- have you ever noticed that there can be 2 starbucks in the same parking lot, and they both have a line... plus the average health seeker that needs to move from the coach to your treadmill, doesn't know the difference. We are the ones that care, they don't. So offer the staples that get them moving, they will gain results and once they are ready for more, advancing them to private training and small group training is a seamless transition, that also stimulates revenue.  

When making programming decisions, remember that ultimately you provide the environment to help support and motivate your members to gain results and meet their goals, what an honor to help facilitate that experience.  

Share with me, Lindsey Rainwater- how are your programming selections going? Having a magical group fitness space combined with incredible programming truly unlocks incredible power for your members!

Lindsey Rainwater, Consultant to the fitness industryThis past month I have been highlighting details about how to create the best group fitness environment and the step by step details about how to create a space that is welcoming and functional for your members.

Now that the stage is set and the vision is created, let's get to the juicy party! actually building relationships with vendors so you can get bodies moving in the space.

I was thinking about this subject in the context of a "support team"- we all have them, hair dressers, dry cleaners, assistants, even our phones act in some respect as support to us on a daily basis.  When you need something done, at a certain point you have established relationships in your life that depending on what it is, you have a 'go to guy' for that specific task.  This is really no different, flooring, equipment, sound, audio, all of what is needed to properly furnish and equip your studio can come from established relationships to avoid the trial and error of finding people to fulfill all of these tasks.

The importance of vendor relationships is critical.  We all have specific brands and functions we like best, price obvisouly being king in many respects, although in my experience the relationship with a vendor often times trumps pricing. 

Robert leading the fitmarc teamAt Fitmarc, our friend Robert Dyer has done a lovely job of building solid relationships with vendors specific to the group fitness environment.  So much so that we can assist in guiding you through the process of going from start to finish.  All of the work it takes to pre qualify vendors etc, has already been done on our end. 

My last installment of this blog series will be next week, I will be covering program selection and highlighting the different methods of delivery that are cutting edge both live and virtual programming.

Please contact me, Lindsey Rainwater and let me know how I can guide you in establishing the best possible group fitness environment for your members and instructors.