Your Mission: Sign up 100 paying members to your gym and/or virtual fitness option in just 60 Days.
I know many gyms and fitness studios are facing challenges right now and the goal of this is to help you overcome those challenges and continue growing your business.
Some of the challenges your fitness business is probably facing are:
- A Closed Facility
- Operating at 1/2 Capacity
- People are unsure about going into your facility
- Less revenue, less budget
- Not sure what to offer
- Consumers don’t understand what you do
So how do we solve this right now?
Here are 4 steps to start generating members to your gym… NOW.
Step #1 – Think Outside Your Normal Box
With all of those challenges, we first need to do things a little differently than we have in the past.
Change is good… it helps us grow.
Here’s what thinking inside the box would be:
- Instagram Ads to generate leads…
- YouTube Ads to generate leads…
- Google Ads to generate leads…
- Facebook Ads to generate leads…
Here’s what thinking outside the box means now:
- Use Facebook Ads to generate leads… this doesn’t mean you won’t run ads, but I’m going to show you a strategy that’ll help with your “less revenue, less budget” challenge
- Use the power of Social Media and all its reach to organically generate qualified leads
- Get the absolute most interested people on a call with you as soon as possible
Here’s how it breaks down:
Generate Interest > Generate Leads > Convert Leads Into Paying Members
Step #2 – Know What Makes People Buy
In order to convert interested leads into paying members, you need to know why someone would spend their money on your fitness membership.
People will always buy more of what they want over what they actually “need.”
If people bought what they needed all the time, they’d never miss a doctor or dental appointment, or never fall behind on getting their oil changed or car checked regularly.
We all do this… Skip the dentist until a tooth hurts… Don’t take our car to a mechanic until there’s a problem.
In fact…
The Average American:
- $38,000 in personal debt (excluding their mortgage) (source: CNBC.com)
- 10 hours per week watching Netflix (source: CNBC.com)
- 19.6 hours per week watching traditional TV (source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)
- $161 per month on clothes (source: financialbestlife.com)
- $100 per month on fast food ($12.50 per meal) (source: smartfem.com)
- $773.50 per month on their car (source: motor1.com)
Which means, people have the money and/or credit to buy the things they want.
Here’s more proof:
Apple’s April 2020 outsold their April 2019… during the most uncertain month of the pandemic.
Who needs Apple products in the middle of the most uncertain month? No one. But, a lot of people wanted Apple products during that time.
What does all of this mean?
It means “money” isn’t a real objection to joining your gym.
Your goal is to make your fitness studio the place people want to be, the place that’ll help them achieve the results they want to achieve.
Step #3 – Understand What People Actually Want
If your members only buy what they actually want… how do you figure what they want?
It’s simple. They want what they’ve always wanted: They want to look and/or feel healthy, sexy, fit, or better.
We’ve all seen a picture of ourselves and thought, “Oh wow… my arm looks pretty good there,” or, “Wow, look at my legs!”
We’ve also had the opposite feeling, right? “Look at my gut in this picture,” or “Yikes, look at the back of my arm…”
Don’t Sell What People “Need”
What people want is to like who they see and feel good about themselves.
The average American woman starts or restarts a diet 9X per year… they want something. They want to feel healthy, sexy, fit, or better.
One of the strongest human needs is the need to feel significant and empowered.
When someone asks a member, “What have you been doing? You look great!” it’s empowering. It feels good. It’s proof that what we’re doing works.
You have to show people that your fitness studio will help them feel this way.
Step #4 – Don’t Assume Objections Are Really Real
A lot of times, objections are real. I mentioned the money objection earlier.
Most objections come down to the lead needing a question answered… they need to know that this will actually help them achieve what they want.
Third-party validation is what makes people do almost everything.
When a friend, family member, celebrity, or influencer recommends something, it has instant credibility… even if it’s irrational.
Rational Behaviors:
When a third-party someone trusts suggests:
- New restaurants
- Barbers
- Smartphones
- Tablets
- Houses
- Cars
- Doctors
- Dentists
- Vacations
- Music Teachers
- And, yes… Fitness Studios.
…that someone listens.
These are simple, rational things people will do based on recommendations from friends and family.
“I’ll check it out because Jan said it’s great…” (Jan is very valuable to your gym).
How powerful are third-party recommendations?
So powerful they can also influence people into irrational behaviors as well…
Irrational Behaviors:
If you stood over a rock cliff and saw a small pool of water down below, would you jump?
It’s just you, by yourself. You know the water is deep enough, but this cliff is really high…
Probably not. There’s no motivation to do something that irrational.
However, if you had friends at the top of the cliff, and people down below who just jumped, all egging you on, you’d probably jump.
Third-party validation makes people do crazy things:
- Cliff Jumping
- Bungee Jumping
- Skydiving
- Parasailing
- Roller Coasters
- Walking On Fire!
Tony Robbins actually convinced Oprah to walk across hot coals. With Tony Robbin and Oprah both doing this, thousands of others joined in.
That’s why F45 worked hard to team up with Mark Wahlberg. People know Mark Wahlberg, know he’s fit, and want results like his… if he’s getting those results at F45, they’ll want to join an F45 too.
Focus on FUN
Your gym needs other people to convince leads that it’s safe and fun to do something they wouldn’t normally do.
Third-party validation helps people overcome their fears about your fitness studio:
- It’s not going to work
- Fear they won’t do it
- It doesn’t solve their problem
- It’s not as good as you say it is
…whatever the fear is they’re having, third-party validation helps them feel more confident and comfortable that you can deliver what they want.
Apply These 4 Steps To Your Gym’s 6 Challenges
#1 – A Closed Fitness Facility
If your gym or fitness studio is closed, virtual is a MUST.
Anyone who says “but that’s not my brand” about virtual fitness, needs to stop. Your brand is not as established as you think…
If people within just a 5-mile radius of your gym don’t know about you, the brand is not “established” in people’s minds. Your “brand” is your WHY.
Your WHY is not to help people get in better shape and feel better about themselves… but only if they’re inside of my studio.
No.
Your WHY is to help people get in better shape and feel good about themselves. Period.
Since that’s the case, a virtual option is 100% within your brand.
What Matters Most?
People are getting in amazing shape from home right now. If you can’t help people get in shape from wherever they’re at, you may need to reconsider your profession.
I didn’t start or grow my business Loud Rumor off the foundation of virtual or remote training. But I won’t give up on you…
My WHY is to help fitness studios grow and succeed. That’s it. That’s where it ends. If that means virtual, then that’s what I’ll do.
You’re going through a time where options are limited and you need real solutions.
Don’t give up on people who want to be healthy right now and are stuck with limited solutions too.
If someone was on a role and getting great results before you were forced to shut down, why would you stop helping them? Why would you just stop doing workouts?
Your brand is helping them. If virtual does that, do virtual.
This will also help you with the 3 other challenges I listed earlier…
#2 – Operating at 1/2 Capacity
You’re not going to be able to help as many members as you want to if your gym is forced to operate at 1/2 capacity, but virtual can help.
#3 – People Are Unsure About Going Into Your Facility
For me personally, I’m not going to my gym here in Arizona right now. I have at-risk family members. I’m a virtual client right now.
If you provide that option, you not only help people like me, you provide something we’re willing to pay for… something we want.
#4 – Less Revenue, Less Budget
Virtual gives you a revenue stream you wouldn’t have if you were closed or at 1/2 capacity.
It helps you pay your bills and pay your staff. You also now have leads that you wouldn’t have with a lower marketing budget.
What about the other two challenges?
#5 – Not Sure What To Offer and #6 – Consumers Don’t Understand What You Do
For both of these challenges, your offer needs to be stronger the less someone understands and/or believes in your or your training.
Cold Leads
When cold leads see your ads, they tend to take more action (click and fill out your Landing Page form) with a FREE WEEK offer, low-barrier offer, or participating in a group challenge.
Hot Leads
Most member referrals don’t need a FREE WEEK or even a FREE SESSION most times. They’re just ready to get the results their friend got.
A FREE offer is an easier way to get someone who doesn’t understand what you do to enter your funnel. But, it doesn’t mean they’re easier to close… or even get a hold of.
Leads Only Care About What Your Gym Will Do For Them
People don’t need to understand how your program “works” if they’re confident in what it will do.
You don’t need to understand how planes work, or electricity works. You just need confidence that they do and will work.
Once you’re confident they work, you just need to know what it costs and what your next steps are.
Your MUST DO List To Earn More Fitness Members
Your first “Must Do” is to get members to share proof… every single day.
The best Ad you’ve ever seen in your life will not sell you as well as a referral from a friend or family member. However, the next best thing is a real person who got great results.
People need to know more about where you’ll get them and be bombarded with proof from mutual friends.
People Follow People… NOT Businesses
It’s easy to eventually have overlap with friends, where one person sees results from 2 or 3 people from the same exact fitness studio. Each post they see amplifies their interest and trust.
When people share their results and where they got those results from, other people jump in: “You look fantastic! Where do I go to sign up?”
These become people ready to buy because they know someone who got great results from your studio or virtual option. BUT…
You have to ask your members to share their results. Here’s how…
The goal is to have your members send you their results and before and after images.
That way, you can post these results and testimonials on your page and have those members share their own results from your page to their page.
This will generate more interest to your page from your member’s friends and family. You can then retarget people who engage with the post. I’ll explain this more in a bit…
Now, because you’re going to get attention to your Facebook page, you’ll want to properly set it up to keep their interest.
First, add a Facebook Cover image with proof. Like this:
You will absolutely have more people visit your Facebook page and interact with your posts—especially when your members are sharing their results from your page.
Anyone who engages with these posts and your page, you can retarget with Ads to get them to sign up on your Landing Page.
Pro Tip: People who interact with your Facebook Page or Facebook Posts—Visit, Like, Comment, Share, Click, or Watch—can be retargeted!
(If you want to do this on your own, just Google “how to create custom audiences in Facebook”)
Every day, you’ll have new pictures to post, as well as to boost to people who already showed interest and are aware of what you do. Overwhelm them… with proof!
Also, on the first comment of every post, you need to comment with:
“We’re so proud of [member’s name] and all [his/her] hard work! For anyone who wants to see more of what [member’s name]’s doing, check it out here: [your landing page offer link]”
Now you’ll have them visit a Landing Page where they can see your ever-growing proof that your gym works and a way for them to access a FREE WEEK of workouts.
With your Landing Page, you can not only show them whatever you want on that page, but you can also retarget them on other platforms they spend time on like YouTube and Google.
Everyone who ends up on your Landing Page should see stacked value in addition to their opt-in, such as…
“After you sign up, we’ll also send you our Free Guide on How to Boost Your Metabolism, a full Recipe Book, a Grocery List, and a List of Workouts You Can Do At Home To Burn The Most Calories.”
The Goal Of This Strategy For Your Gym
The goal of all of this is to get them on your email list… that way, you can keep advertising to them for free every single day as you have new results to share or any promos!
There are 3 Types of Lead Traffic:
Traffic You Earn
Organic Social Media, hosting or being interviewed on podcasts, being a guest on local news, speaking engagements, etc. (always send the audience to a FREE offer Landing Page)
Traffic You Buy
Paid advertising on Social Media, Google, YouTube, etc. (again, always send them to a FREE offer Landing Page)
Traffic You Own
This is your own email list of people who opted into a FREE offer from Traffic You Earn and Buy. In other words, this is basically free advertising to people interested in what you offer.
Let’s take a deeper dive into each of these…
Lead Traffic You Earn
Normally, I’m not a fan of challenges. But in this case, it makes members feel as if they’re joining a movement that feels doable. The average person wants a challenge they know they can do.
Overwhelming them with your social proof convinces them they can do it.
Lead Traffic You Buy
You must run ads. You’re a small business. You don’t need to spend tens of thousands of dollars each month like I do. You need to hit that 5-mile radius hard.
My Ad Budget Recommendation:
$100 per day.
Generate Leads at a $15 CPL (that’s our average with a great offer).
Get 6 leads per day.
That’s 180 leads per month.
If you can close just 10%, that’s 18 new sales at $199 per month.
That’s $3,582… in just the first month!
Think that’ll help you sign up members to your gym? 100%.
What about month 2?
My Month 2 Paid Traffic Recommendation:
In Month 2, your marketing is paid for (based on the example above) and you have more and more proof out there getting fresh ads out for you to run.
And, if Loud Rumor runs your ads, we’ll A/B test your best performing proof posts and keep them in front of the best audiences. By posting organically and getting member’s friends to comment, your CPL drops drastically.
What Loud Rumor Will Do:
We will constantly update your Landing Pages with the new proof you’re getting from members each day, as well as run your ads so all you have to do is post proof on your page.
That’s it!
The Key To Social Proof Too Many Fitness Studios Neglect
Of course, you’re going to want to coach your members on nutrition so they can be successful. It’s a huge part of the most common member goal: Lose Fat.
So, to help, we are adding an entire training into Loud Rumor Virtual Training (LRVT) to teach you how to create awesome meal plans for your members.
Loud Rumor Also…
Creates value-stack options for you to use:
- How to Boost Your Metabolism
- Recipe Book
- Grocery List
- Exercises You Can Do From Home That Burn Great Calories
- Stretches You Can Do From Home To Be More Flexible
All of this, we actually created for you so you start with value-stack add-ons right away.
How Do You Get These Value-Stack Add-Ons To Your Gym Leads?
We do it for you…
Once they opt-in on your Landing Page, my team will email them a link to a page we create for you where all of this information lives for them to get for free.
The “Thank You” page will say something like:
“Thanks so much for opting in and we just sent you an email where you can access your [value-stack offer].”
All you have to do is continue getting proof, get leads to take a FREE class, and use the strategy we give you to sell them so they become members to your gym.
If you want Loud Rumor to take care of all of this for you:
- The Strategy
- Retargeting Ads
- A/B Tested Ads
- Landing Pages
- Cover Photo
- Ad Spend Management
- Email Automation
- Value Stacks
- Nutritional Training
- Exercise & Stretch Content
- Sales Scripts
- Dedicated Account Manager
There’s a lot of front end work… as you saw.
So, if you want to get started, go to LoudRumorDemo.com.
That’s it. Now it’s time to go earn 100 members in just 60 days.
Let’s GSD!
