FREE Small Business Marketing Ideas

Since when do small business marketing ideas have to cost an arm and a leg? The simple answer is: THEY DON'T. Some of the best small business marketing ideas are completely FREE of charge.

Today, like many days, I went into the nearby Subway for a $5 footlong sandwich. Love that deal! Anyway, as I entered the clerk behind the counter said "Hi, welcome to Subway" in a friendly voice. As I was paying for my order that same clerk greeted another customer that had just entered. I got the distinct feeling that this crew is greeting EVERY customer that enters their store. It sounded like an honest greeting, too, not contrived or forced.

Maybe they got the idea from Jacksons, one of many local gas stations. I've been going there for years, and it is a very rare day when you can enter without being verbally greeted with a friendly "hello" or "how are you today?"

How much does it cost these businesses to greet their customers? ZERO.

How much goodwill does this simple gesture create? Hard to say.

There are studies upon studies proving that people value good customer service. It's been proven again and again. Without a doubt, a friendly greeting is plain old-fashioned good customer service.

This tactic not only creates loyalty, but it can also make the cash register ring. People will pay more for good customer service, and that's a fact. For example, near my home we have a grocery store where the service is bare-bones. They don't bag your purchases. They don't even have "baggers" on staff. Carry it out to your car? Forget about it! As a matter of fact, if you encounter one of their employees on the sales floor you almost guaranteed to be ignored completely.

On the other hand, I also live near another grocery store that is more traditional. They have a Courtesy Clerk bagging groceries, and they'll take it out to your car if you want. Some of the clerks will smile and greet you. They are, at least, making an effort towards customer service. This store charges much higher prices than the no-service store.

The service-oriented grocery store is still in business. This means that at least some consumers will pay more for the same product when that product is offered with a serving of customer service.

Back to the smile and greet thing. Smiling and greeting each customer as they walk in the door is a free small business marketing idea that just may pay off for you and your business. It takes little effort. The cost is zero. The goodwill created, while hard to quantify, is still real enough to generate more sales.

.....and that, ladies and gentlemen, is enough for both you and I to take a good hard look at implementing this free small business marketing idea.

Why not require the front desk staff in our gyms to greet each person as they arrive? In doing so, we'll be adopting the tactics embraced by:
-> Subway (the world's largest submarine sandwich chain with more than 37,000 locations around the world)
-> Jacksons (a nationally recognized chain of over 200 Chevron/Texaco/Shell branded convenience stores in 5 western states)
-> Walmart (each week, more than 200 million customers and members visit their 10,700 stores under 69 banners in 27 countries and e-commerce websites in 10 countries. With fiscal year 2013 sales of approximately $466 billion, Walmart employs 2.2 million associates worldwide.)

Yup. Walmart has perfected this free small business marketing idea. They hire people to be nothing but greeters. You think you know better than Walmart, the biggest retailer in the world? Hey, Walmart does a lot of things wrong but this is one thing they do right.

So, it really is true. Some of the best small business marketing ideas are completely FREE of charge.

Gym Membership Drive Ideas for May

Believe it or not, tomorrow is the first day of May already. School is almost out for the year and summer's about to begin. How are you doing on selling gym memberships?

Do you need some gym membership drive ideas for May?

Thankfully, we have a list of more than thirty free advertising ideas and marketing tips that will help you sell more gym memberships this May! When you have a product to sell (which you do: health club memberships), then event marketing can be a powerful way to boost sales. In other words, you can form a connection between a national event and your fitness center. By partnering with a national event or cause in this way, you gain the double benefit of helping a worthy organization while at the same time dramatically improving your own sales and profits. It's the perfect win-win situation!

Click here to read our 100% original article that is PACKED FULL of gym membership drive ideas.

How To Sell More Gym Memberships This October

Tomorrow is October 1, and like most gym owners or health club managers you're probably wondering how to sell more gym memberships this month. After all, the big boom of holiday sales won't begin for at least a month. People aren't thinking about squeezing into that holiday dress yet, and gift certificates as last-minute stocking stuffers won't sell until late December.

But there is some good news!  October is literally PACKED with awesome opportunities for health club advertising! As a matter of fact, there are so many great marketing ideas for gyms in October that we had to categorize them into nine different sections! You can read all about it.....for FREE.....click here to read our original article titled "How To Sell Gym Memberships In October".

Yet another GREAT example of how you can sell more gym memberships this month is by issuing a press release to the local media. Write up a short article on the topic of Halloween candy. You could call it "Halloween Candy Calories Add Up To One Scary Story" or maybe "10 Ways To Lose Weight This Halloween". Make it short, concise, and catchy.

Then, when the local newspaper prints the article, they'll include a short promotional blurb about your gym. It's sometimes called an author's box, and it basically lists your qualifications and contact information. If you can, you should mention that you're offering a limited-time Halloween promotion. For example, you could trade 5 pieces of Halloween candy for free 1-week pass.

Print up this article and distribute it in the health club, too. Email it out to gym members. Get it out there as much as possible, simply because it's free advertising for you! For a sample article you can use to get you started, click here.

Now get out there and sell some more gym memberships this October!

Save 30%, up to $100, Off your first order by using coupon code: ASALE30

Best Gym Marketing Ideas For August

Welcome to August!

Smart health club owners know that the best gym marketing idea this month is the back-to-school promotion. At back-to-school time, moms (and dads) suddenly have more time to do something for themselves. Why not encourage them to spend that time exercising?

As a fitness center owner, not only can you market to parents this month, but you can also target teachers and other school employees. How about offering group discounts to teachers? If you decide to go this route, don't forget to make up some posters to hang in the teacher's lounge of the local school.

Also, keep in mind that when school starts, so do the inevitable fundraisers! Kids are ALWAYS looking to sell chocolate bars, cookie dough or books. Why not help them meet their financial goals, while they help you meet yours?

Here's how: consider providing the local school with a customized and personalized gym membership offer: "Friends of ABC School can join this month for $75 registration (instead of the usual $150) and $50 will be donated directly to ABC School". The kids will do the selling for you, distributing their flyers all around the neighborhood. All you have to do is sign up the new members and give the school a check at the end of the month.

Concerned about that whole "giving a check" part? You shouldn't be. If you gain 10 new members you wouldn't have gained without this promotion, and those 10 new members pay you $750 of which $500 you have to give to a worthy cause, then YOU STILL WIN. After all, you still get the $250 in registration fees. You also get to keep the ongoing monthly revenue, which is the real goal here anyway.


Need more ideas on how to make more moolah this month? Check out our 100% original, and 100% free, article titled "How To Sell Gym Memberships In August".

Take 5% off SITEWIDE at PrintPlace.com Today. Enter Code: PPSave5

Curves For Women Cost Of Membership

The Curves For Women cost of membership dropped this week when they rolled out a national ad offering "Get 2 Free 2-Week Curves Memberships". In short, Curves is offering one two-week membership for you, and one for a friend.

So is this a smart move on the part of Curves, or has the 900-pound gorilla in the fitness industry finally made a mistake?

The short answer is "no", Curves has not made a mistake by offering literally millions of free guest passes. Let's face it, the folks at Curves are SMART. You may not like their business model. You may not like their workout. You may not like their machines. But the one thing you cannot dispute is that they know what they're doing. Curves didn't get to be the biggest health club franchise by being stupid.

By offering so many free guest passes, Curves is simply playing a numbers game. They know that for every x number of women they get through the door, y will join as full paying gym members. By offering these free passes, Curves is simply increasing the number of tours their clubs will give (x) which will in turn increase the number of women joining the club (y).

Some fitness center owners are, believe it or not, afraid to offer free guest passes. They fear that offering a free trial pass will "cheapen" the membership somehow. They fear that it devalues the health club membership.

To answer that objection, just consider the facts:

CostCo is well known for offering free samples of the food items they sell. Is CostCo stupid? Of course not. CostCo is one of the most successful retailers in the world.

Car dealers offer you the opportunity to take a free test drive of any car, at any time. Why do they do that? Doesn't it "cheapen" the car? Of course not! Car dealers know that the free test drive is a proven method to increase sales.

Retailer Bed, Bath and Beyond provides a display of most items. In other words, they take the item out of the box and set it up so you can mess around with it and check it out. It's the coffee-maker equivalent of the free sample, and IT WORKS. Customers are much more likely to buy a product when they can feel it, see it and "kick the tires", so to speak.

So, did Curves make a mistake by running a newspaper insert offering "Get 2 Free 2-Week Curves Memberships"?

Nope.

Savvy gym owners will follow their lead and crank up their distribution of guest passes. It's a proven business method that works. Need some ideas on how to get more guest passes into the hands of potential customers? Check out our articles titled "Health Club Advertising Ideas - Guest Passes" and "Health Club Marketing With Free Passes".

We Found Some Low Price Gym Equipment

We're always on the lookout for low price gym equipment, and we recently found a site that impressed us with their HUGE selection and great prices. It's called Wayfair and you will find them by clicking here. Now, normally we don't endorse other companies, but the prices at Wayfair are so good that we personally purchased several pieces for our home gym. I bought the "Amber Sporting Goods Neck Harness" for just $12.99 which was less than 1/2 the price I found on other sites. Also got the "Body Solid Bicep Bomber" for about $3 less than the actual Body Solid site. What really surprised me is that I picked up the "Body Solid Leather Triceps Strap" for $30.25 from the Wayfair site. This exact same item is listed as $49.00 on the Body Solid site.

So that's why we're referring a site to you. It's very rare when we do, but Wayfair has the prices and the selection to earn our endorsement. You should check it out.

Get Free Shipping on your First Week's Order a $24.95 value at BistroMD.com. Use Coupon Code: FreeShipping2012

Health Club Marketing Ideas For June

Wow! It's June already, and that's when business starts to slow down for most gyms. June is when the weather really gets warm and people are more apt to get their exercise gardening, jogging or hiking. That leaves even less time for gym memberships!

Smart health club owners know that they can't back off the marketing and advertising in June. Indeed, it may be a good time to put even more effort into your marketing program!

Need some ideas? Just click here to read our 100% original article titled "How To Sell Gym Memberships In June". In this article you'll find a half-dozen great ideas to help you sell more health club memberships.

Want another low-cost marketing idea? June is also when your gym members are bringing out the BBQ and having some picnics. A good marketing idea is for you to help them create a healthy BBQ. plan that they can use all summer!

Think about how powerful that idea can be IF it's implemented properly.....

To fully maximize this idea, the first step is to announce a BBQ for all gym members. But it's not a "regular" BBQ with all the fatty foods, piles of chips and oceans of high-calorie drinks. Instead, this BBQ will be completely healthy.

To make it more fun for everyone (and guarantee that you don't have to buy all the food) make it a potluck BBQ, requiring that everyone attending bring something to eat. The rule is that whatever you bring has to contain less than 300 calories per serving (or 200, or whatever).

As the gym owner, you'll provide the location (outside the gym), the BBQ(s), the tables, the chairs and probably the eating utensils.

On the day of the BBQ, have a panel of judges pick the winning food entries. You could award a prize for best tasting, lowest in calories, and most innovative. Use your imagination and have fun! Give out the awards, take a lot of pictures, and make sure everyone learns that a BBQ doesn't have to pack on the pounds.

After the BBQ, you'll want to announce the winners in the gym newsletter or on the bulletin board. Another good idea is to copy and distribute the winning recipes.

You'll also want to write and print up some articles explaining how to host a healthy BBQ. Leave these in the gym so everybody can pick one up.

Okay, so what does this health club marketing idea accomplish? First of all, the members who attended had a fun time. That's always good for member retention! Secondly, they're all going to have healthier BBQ meals all summer long. When Jane tells her friends that she learned this awesome and healthy recipe at her gym, that's some tremendous word-of-mouth advertising! Finally, this marketing idea probably got you some free publicity. After all, you DID let the local media know about the BBQ and invite them to attend? Right? If not, don't despair. You can always submit some photos and the article about how to host a healthy summer BBQ. Odds are good that the local newspaper will run that article and include a photo, even though the event is over.

If you need some healthy BBQ ideas, just click here to read a short but informative article. This is one we wrote a while back and yes, you DO have our permission to copy and distribute it in your gym.

Here's to a successful (and profitable) month of June!