“If I gave you one day to sell all the spots in a six-week kids program, what is the first thing you would do?”
I asked Two-Brain’s top gym owners this question in advance of the summer revenue slump that affects too many gym owners.
Fitness entrepreneurs have a lot of ways to avoid revenue drops in June, July and August, and Chris Cooper rattled off a bunch of them in a recent video.
A kids program is, to me, the absolute best option.
Here’s how Two-Brain’s top gym owners would fill a program for young ones in just 24 hours.
“Hit current members and your email list with the offer very clearly stated: ‘Here are the dates. Here’s the cost. Limited spots.’ Add a quick blurb on the benefits and then tell them to respond with ‘IN’ if they want a spot. I would then call them right away to lock everything down.” (On Facebook, four other gym owners left comments to say this plan is A+, and seven others tapped a like or love onto it.)
“Contact members directly and mention ‘early bird pricing’ to end at end of the day. Add $40 to the cost for the following days.”
“Reach out to current clients with kids who fall in the age range of the program. If you can get some from there, ask them to invite a friend or two. Current clients already know, like and trust you—hit your warmest leads first.”
“I would use a two-pronged approach. 1. highlight a list of current members with kids and send a DM to each one directly, ideally using each kid’s name. 2. Market on the local Facebook group for parents—that’s how we signed up 20 for our program in six weeks.”
“Text current members with kids before sending all members an email blast.”
“Contact current clients with kids.”
You’ll note a few things:
- Each gym owner pointed to “current clients” as your starting point.
- No gym owners mentioned paid ads.
- All gym owners mentioned personal comms, such as call, text or DM.
So here’s your starting point:
- Go through your member list and highlight every parent.
- Call, text or DM each one and quickly lay out the exact details of the program and the spots remaining.
- Mention their kid or kids by name and ask if the parent would like to sign them up.
- Consider using tiered pricing to encourage early birds to sign up “today,” but do not discount the program. Ensure early bird pricing reflects value, and increase the rate slightly after that period ends.
You’ll get a bunch of signups, and you might even sell out the program. If you don’t, or if you want to add and fill another session, here are your next steps:
- Ask members who commit for referrals: “Does [KID’S NAME] have any friends who would want to join this program?”
- Ask members who expressed interest but couldn’t commit if they know other parents who would be interested in the program.
- Send the exact details of the program to everyone on your mailing list.
- Post about the program in local Facebook groups for parents.
That’s a very simple but very solid marketing plan, and if you use it today, you’re going to sell out your program without spending a dollar on ads.
The beauty of it is that you are fishing in your own well-stocked pond. Your members already know, like and trust you, and if they have kids, your summer program will help them solve a big problem: “How do we keep the kids busy when they’re not in school?”
The plan also gets you access to the “parents’ network.” Each parent you contact likely knows about 20 or 30 other parents with kids. If you ask for referrals—don’t hope for them; ask for them—you will get some. And then you can ask those parents for referrals as well.
Real-world results: One Two-Brain entrepreneur implemented this plan right after I asked gym owners for their tips on starting a program. He reported back: “7 spots sold. Starting next week. The whole program is clients’ kids, and then their siblings signed up when I asked.”
That’s seven spots at $170 each sold with zero marketing costs, for a total of $1,190—and counting.
Call Parents Today
If you have nothing on the calendar for summer right now, get a program for kids on the rails. Keep it very simple, and don’t overthink it. Just set up a basic four- or six-week block of training.
Then use the marketing plan listed above.
If you do, your program will be sold out in no time.
