How do you go about marketing early morning group classes during the colder seasons?
I’ve been teaching at 5:30 a.m. for at least 6 years now. My club doesn’t promote individual classes unless it’s new, so it’s up to us at instructors to promote it and get attendance up.
I’m fortunate to have emails of most of the class (lots of regulars that early), so I email out reminders of when I’m teaching (I teach Mondays and every other Friday, so I let them know what Fridays).
I have “theme” classes where I decorate the room for Halloween or whatever is going on and I usually give out little gifts that go with the theme that I can find at the 99 Cent Store.
The first Monday of the month, I actually bring in a coffee maker and make coffee and we call it Java Monday. The folks working out on the floor can smell the coffee and usually ask about it and I pick up people that usually don’t do the classes because the coffee lures them in. The regulars tend to bring guests more on Java Monday and they usually stay after that.
Whenever there is something to celebrate, I’ll do it in class – someone had a grandbaby, a baby, a promotion, (my cancer free celebrations are always big turnouts).
I put a lot of effort in it because at 5:30 a.m., it’s generally just me, the front desk person, and the janitor working, so it’s up t me to fill the room.