Hey Fitness Pros,
We offer educational seminars at our studios each month that have attracted up to 80+ people for two important reasons:
- Customer Service Initiative – offer education, knowledge to our existing clients about topics they are interested in. We believe if they know better, they can do better! Knowledge + Action = Results!
- Marketing/Outreach – Our clients can bring guests and we can promote to our community so people from outside come to the studio in a no-pressure way, learn from us as the experts and get enticed to try out our services
Here’s how we do it…Which topics work best? I’ve been doing this for 20+ years and the topics that do the best are always the same…with a different focus/approach/title/ each time…plus the topics we choose are those that our clients tell us they want to learn about (from our surveys) so we don’t necessarily have to change the types of topics…just the focus, approach, title etc…
So anything to do with Fat Loss, Eating/Nutrition for energy, weight loss, staying young…practical sessions (Six Steps to a 6 pack, Ouch my Aching Back, Butts & Gutts, Beach Body Ready, Get rid of your Aches and pains with foam rollers or Yoga or Yoga straps etc, Managing Knee Pain, Managing Shoulder Pain, Managing Back Pain….
Sometimes we will host Movie night with a health and fitness focus like SuperSize Me or Forks over Knives and then follow it with a discussion period.
The speakers are typically our trainers and/or local health professionals. For example, we’ve had local massage therapists, chiropractors, nutritionists, physical therapists and naturopaths speak on a variety of topics. We like to use our trainers as much as possible because it’s better for them and NWPT for exposure and branding as the experts.
Here’s the Check List we use for hosting Seminars:
- Organize speaker and topic
- Create a Flier (Title, Description and Benefits, Photo, When/Where/Contact info etc.)
- Post flier at studio and throughout community at least 1 month in advance (to be handed out at previous months’ seminar also)
- Seminar listed on website
- Facebook event created and clients invited to it
- Facebook postings (1 per week from week 4-week one prior and then daily in final week)
- Craigslist posting
- Press Release to local editors/producers/event calendar
- Reminder call/email the day before the seminar to all registered participants.
- Chairs ordered to be delivered/picked up (if needed)
- Sign-in sheet – collect name, email…
- Staff available for set-up/tear down and to tour guests and give black folders
- Room set-up with audio-visual needs (check with presenter). Common needs are screen, data projector, extension cord, table, mic…
- Chairs set up
- Handouts/Evaluation forms/Fliers/Black Folders printed and ready
- On each chair put
- Handouts
- Fliers for upcoming events/specials/next month’s seminar
- Evaluation form
At the end of the seminar – stack chairs, equipment away, tidy up room
- Add emails to our website
- Call back those who requested follow up on evaluation form
Hope this helps give you some ideas to start implementing right away. Remember, if you were part of our Personal Training Master Mind group, you would already have the templates and information all ready to go each month. Email kari@nwpersonaltraining.com if you want to make your life easier and generate more leads and revenues for your business.
Yours in health, fitness and business,
Sherri McMillan
