If you work for yourself (not in a gym), have you tried Groupon or similar companies to market your Training business?
I’ve used both Groupon and Living Social. Many of my current clients came to me through one or the other. The majority of those who take advantage of these coupons are there because of the great deal, and plan not to return if they have to pay full price. However, if the service you provide is valuable enough to them, they will return. To make it more enticing for the coupon holders to return you can offer “discounts” for signing up friends, or for couples memberships. I was careful to word the Groupon and Living Social ads to state NEW PARTICIPANTS ONLY. Which prohibits habitual bargain hunters to keep coming back. I also made my coupons good for 3 months, not the 6 or 12 that was “strongly” suggested. If a coupon holder asked for an extension, I offered a slight discount but did not honor the coupons after expiration. I found working with Groupon and Living Social members to be ultimately worth the effort.
Hi Lisa,
I have and actually I was the first fitness deal Groupon ever had. I was very happy with that deal and it gave me the opportunity to expose my business to many new potential clients in ways I could have not done it myself. I had just started my company, so that good timing for me. Groupon it’s a great way for a trainer or any business to promote their services to a larger and diverse population. It shouldn’t be the only way of marketing done by trainers to get promoted, but it’s one that it costs no money and can get a lot of traffic thru the front door. Only thing to remember is to know the limits of how many grouponers you can handle, because it may backfire if you are not prepared to handle the volume of potential new customers.
Best,
Harris
I couldn’t agree more with the posts here!
IBISWorld recently identified Gyms, Health & Fitness Clubs as one of the Top 10 industries that actually suffer from Online Deals like GroupOn:
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/industries-307215-hurt-websites.html
Although the profit margins of a health club will differ with yours as an independent trainer, this finding just also shows that online deals can do more harm than good on a business, particularly in very competitive industries.
And as it’s already been said here, what we do is way too important to drastically discount!
As a successful fitness business and marketer, I use my experience to help other fitness professional increase their market share.
My specialty is social media marketing and will be speaking at the IDEA Personal Trainer Institute in Alexandria VA – “Social Media 101 for Fitness Professionals”.
I do private coaching which will help you focus on the things that will make you money in and out of the gym.
If you want to chat more about coaching etc, shoot me an email at [email protected]
Kimberly