Resources
Managing Capacity for COVID-19 at Your Fitness Business (While Protecting Revenue)
Many fitness facilities are leading the way as they reopen. Here’s how they’re managing the capacity challenge post COVID-19.
Which Exercise Science Concentration Is Right for You?
Before you start applying to schools, it pays to know what areas of the field of exercise most appeal to you. This quick quiz can help.
Grow Your Virtual Studio for the Future
Moving a bricks and mortar business exclusively online is essentially like establishing a new business from scratch, something millions of boutique studio owners and fitness professionals across the country and around the world had to do in a matter of weeks in early March.
A Lifetime of Learning: Continuing Education is Key
While obtaining continuing education is required to keep our certifications current, it is not just something we “have to do” to get that updated certificate. Continuing education is vital to us meeting our commitment to our clients…and to ourselves
CRITICAL INFORMATION for Fitness Business Owners and Contractors/Self-Employed
In case you have not followed news of the Payment Protection Program and the federal loan dollars available to fitness business owners, contractors and self-employed professionals, the following information is essential to understand and act upon immediately.
The COVID-19 Crisis: Transforming Our Lives and Our Industry
The fitness industry—like the rest of the global community—has been transformed in previously unimaginable ways since the COVID-19 crisis upended every bit of structure and normalcy we once knew.
How to Achieve Greatness
About 6 years ago, San Diego–based personal trainer Kevin Root opted not to attend the IDEA World Convention. As a newly certified professional, he felt the event could overwhelm him with information. It’s a choice he regrets.
“Looking back, I robbed myself of valuable hands-on experience and knowledge,” he admits.
Root, who splits his time between boutique studio Bird Rock Fit and a big-box gym, the La Jolla Sports Club, eventually decided that IDEA World was a necessary investment to progress his career. He attended for the first time in 2015.
Want to Increase Efficiency With Automated Marketing?
Automation is the key to efficiency and consistency—especially when it comes to marketing. Yes, you are better off sending some emails and texts as one-off campaigns (think monthly newsletters, event announcements, and schedule updates), but you can—and should—automate most of your day-to-day marketing communications. The good news is Mindbody Marketing Suite helps you do both; easily build customized campaigns and send targeted automations to prospective and existing clients.
Amplifying Your IDEA Membership Benefits
It’s part of IDEA’s DNA to keep evaluating our membership model and look for new and relevant ways to increase the value of our offerings to you. This drive for excellence is the holy grail of our Inspired Service deliverables as we strive to help you be the smartest and most successful fitness professional you can be. With that in mind, I’m thrilled to tell you about a few new initiatives that our team has just launched or that are on the cusp of release.
How to be a Great Mentor
When considering how to be a great mentor, we should start with the knowledge that internships are a fact of life in the fitness industry.ll major degree programs related to fitness or exercise science require that students complete an internship prior to earning a degree. Colleges and universities want their students to have real-life work experience when they graduate. Internships help students discover their likes and dislikes; the work also helps them to form professional relationships and to differentiate themselves from the hundreds of other recent graduates vying for the same jobs.
Creating an Eco-Friendly Fitness Facility
Can an entire fitness facility take strides toward developing a greener and more eco-friendly environment? The answer is yes.
Developing a Unique Selling Proposition
Marketing
By Nicki Anderson
Developing a Unique Selling Proposition
Why having a USP will give you an edge over your competition. When I speak to personal fitness trainers about marketing strategies, I often ask, “What makes you and your business unique?” Sadly, most trainers reply that what sets them apart is the fact that they really care about their clients. While that sentiment is most admira…
Emptying Your (Head) Trash
Sales
By C. Noelle Brownson, with Gary Harvey
Emptying Your (Head) Trash
How self-limiting beliefs prevent us all from achieving our life’s goals–especially when it comes to making those sales. “There just aren’t enough hours in the day to exercise and eat well!” “My injuries prevent me from working out now that I am older.” “I tried exercising once, and it didn’t do any good.” Do any of these s…
Liability and Damages for Fitness-Based Lawsuits
Legal & Risk Management
By Sean Riley, MS, JD
Liability and Damages for Fitness-Based Lawsuits
Understanding the categories of legal damages awarded to plaintiffs. Over the past several issues, we have examined the risks involved in failing to prioritize legal responsibilities in your fitness career and discussed how to actively manage those risks in your daily operations. Now it is time to take …
Wink of an Eye
Technology
By Joe Dysart
Wink of an Eye
Add video to your website with the latest do-it-yourself software. Used to be, creating Web video was a laborious process requiring deep technical knowledge, great patience, a flair for tweaking, and hours–if not days–of production time. Consequently, many personal trainers shied away from adding video to their sites, concluding that while the medium repr…
Personal Training (data from the 2005 IDEA Programs & Equipment Survey)
IDEA Survey
By Patricia Ryan, MS
Personal Training
When it comes to the number of trainers you have and the quantity of sessions they conduct, how does your facility stack up to others? Since 88% of the businesses included in the 2005 IDEA Fitness Programs & Equipment Survey offer personal training, it’s no surprise that trainers appear in virtually all facilities. Personal training businesses ha…
Face-to-Face Time: Meetings With a Purpose
Training for Growth
By Sherri McMillan, MSc, and Alex McMillan
Face-to-Face Time:
Guarantee your next meeting is a success with these helpful strategies. Why do most people dread attending meetings? It’s largely because meetings can be poorly organized and not thought out well. Many people perceive them to be time wasters that detract from getting more important work done. However, carefully plan…
The [Buyer-Seller] Dance Goes On
Sales
By C. Noelle Brownson, with Gary Harvey
For example, explain, “I like to think that my coaching services are available to people with a variety of budgets. I find that clients who are motivated and comfortable in the gym need a coaching session only once every week or two and then they can complete the rest of the workouts on their own, checking in with me for a new program at least once eve…
Keeping the Fires Burning & the Systems Churning
Synergistic Systems
By Kay L. Cross, MEd
Keeping the Fires Burning & the Systems Churning
Follow these tips to maintain the synergy and momentum you’ve created for your clients and yourself. Creating synergistic systems–cleaning out, organizing, thoughtfully managing your work hours, planning, tracking, implementing and adjusting–requires time to think, plan and do. This has been a busy but…
The Importance of Protective Legal Documentation
Legal & Risk Management
By Sean Riley, MS, JD
The Importance of Protective Legal Documentation
Don’t leave home without it! Personal training is a business. All businesses, especially those–like fitness– that carry inherent risks of injury, must protect themselves from lawsuits. At some point, most people who work out will experience some sort of exercise-related injury. Without legal protectio…
