How To Motivate People To Lose Weight

As a gym owner, perhaps the biggest struggle you face on an ongoing basis is how to motivate people to lose weight. After all, most folks are not going to remain happy (and paying) health club members unless they're seeing some weight loss results.....and they're not going to see any weight loss results unless they're consistently exercising.

Thanks to a recent study conducted by Stanford University, you can learn how to motivate people to lose weight today!

As reported by the Wall Street Journal on May 18 in an article titled "The Power Of A Gentle Nudge", Stanford researchers proved that even a little bit of social support can yield huge motivational results.

In a nutshell, what the researchers in the Stanford study did was call participants every 3 weeks for a year. During this call they asked how much the participant was exercising, and encouraged them to exercise more.

Simple, isn't it?

At the end of the year, researchers found that the people receiving the encouraging phone calls were exercising 78% more than they were 12 months earlier. Did you catch that? Participants who received a phone call every 3 weeks were exercising 78% more!

One of the study participants, Ms. Lowe, summarized the study results quite nicely by saying "When you know you were going to have to report back on what you had done, it motivated you" (source: Wall Street Journal, 5-18-2010).

So how can you, as a gym owner, motivate people to lose weight with this same technique?

It's quite simple, and it will cost you NOTHING.

Here's the answer: Call your gym members. Call them every 3 weeks. Ask them how they're doing. Ask them how much they're exercising inside the health club, and also at home. Encourage them to exercise more. Don't pass judgment, don't be critical, and don't patronize them. Just get their report of how much they're exercising, and then encourage them to do more.

If your fitness center members follow the same trend as the participants in the Stanford study, the result is that they will exercise 78% more. That will, in turn, make them more successful in their weight loss efforts and more likely to continue as a gym member. Oh, by the way, they'll also be more likely to refer your health club to their friends and neighbors.

So, if you want to know how to motivate people to lose weight today, the answer is with a few phone calls. It costs you nothing. There is no downside other than your time investment, and the PROVEN results are huge (78% is HUGE)!

How Normal Weight Obesity Sells Gym Memberships

If you're reading this blog, then you're probably a health club owner and you probably know all about normal weight obesity. Just in case you need a refresher, though, normal weight obesity is a term used to describe how people can be a "normal" weight and still be obese. In other words, the number on the scale can tell you that you're healthy, and you can look thin, but you can still have a higher-than-healthy percentage of body fat.

"People don't have to be overweight to have excess body fat. Instead, these people have a higher ratio of fat to muscle tissue than do people with low body fat. Indeed, even people of the same weight, or those with comperable body body mass index, which factors together weight and height, can have different bodyfat percentages" (source: The Wall Street Journal 1-26-10).

For more information on normal weight obesity, click here to read a great article titled 'Skinny Fat People'.

All of that being said, did you know that this phenomenon of normal weight obesity can help you sell gym memberships? The potential market is huge, too. Cardiologist Francisco Lopez-Jiminez of the Mayo Clinic estimates that ".....as many as 30 million Americans may fall into the normal weight obesity category, many of them unaware they may by at increased heart risk" (source: The Wall Street Journal 1-26-10).

Think about it. That's 30 MILLION PEOPLE who NEED to exercise and don't know it.

If that doesn't make a gym owner excited, I don't know what will!

So how do you help people realize that they may suffer from normal weight obesity, and then how do you turn that knowledge into action?

Perhaps the best approach is to invite anyone and everyone into the health club for a FREE body fat assessment. A body fat analysis will show your percentage of body fat, and therefore show if you're a 'skinny fat' person. The average person on the street pays attention to their weight only, which does nothing to indicate their body fat content. By offering them a free body fat analysis, you're opening up a dialogue where you can educate them on normal weight obesity.

If you don't yet have a body fat analyzer, you should get one now. They're surprisingly affordable, and no gym should be without one. Here are a few reputable dealers:

Body Fat Analyzer

Omron Body Fat Analyzer

VitaMinder Fit & Healthy Body Fat Analyzer, 1-Unit

By inviting the public in for a free body fat analysis, you'll be helping them realize a hidden danger in their own body. Since high body fat has been associated with an increased risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, metabolic syndrome and a host of other health issues, the free test you're offering may even help some folks live longer!

Of course, once you've administered the body fat test and explained the results, you should also invite each person to become a member of your health club. You may want to offer a special promotional price, or give them a 7-day free trial membership just for coming in to take the body fat analysis.

However you decide to approach this issue of normal weight obesity, it is a topic that simply cannot be ignored by any health club owner. Too many people (30 million!) need your help understanding and dealing with normal weight obesity.

Should you decide to take our advice and start a 'Free Body Fat Analysis' promotion, don't forget to notify the media via a press release! Once you have the facts about normal weight obesity, the local newspaper may even interview you for a story. With a little luck, you could even get a local television personality to come down for a free body fat analysis! As always, in everything you do, you've got to be looking for ways to get some free publicity for your gym.

Now go out there and do what gym owners do best: educate, help people, and grow the business!

January Health Club Statistics

Wow! It's hard to believe that January is half over! Hopefully, as a gym owner you've been having a very profitable and successful month! After all.....
1) In January there is a 99% jump in web visits to Weight Watchers.
2) A whopping 12% of gym memberships are sold in January (the most of any month).
3) It's estimated that 50% of Americans make a New Year's resolution.
(source: Entrepreneur magazine, December 2009 edition, page 120)

If January hasn't been all you hoped it would be, then perhaps you didn't read our original article titled How To Sell Gym Memberships In January. Missed it? Wishing you hadn't?

Then you really should read another original article created by the www.cuecd.com team titled How To Sell Gym Memberships in February.

It's just another one of the more than fifty (yes, 50!) original articles from www.cuecd.com that are written to help gym owners earn more dough.

Hey, that's why we're here: to help you be successful. So take a few minutes to browse through the www.cuecd.com site and also through our blog. You'll be glad you did.

You Should Read The Wall Street Journal This Morning

As a health club owner, you should immediately go get the 1-5-10 edition of the Wall Street Journal. Why? Because the 'Personal Journal' section is all the advertising power you're going to need in 2010!

In this paper the Wall Street Journal has done some amazing research that gym owners can use to market their products. In an article titled "The Hidden Benefits of Exercise" the Journal explains the many benefits of consistent exercise. You can use these benefits to SELL MORE HEALTH CLUB MEMBERSHIPS because any benefit of exercise is also a benefit of your gym.

Think about it. As a fitness center owner, you are selling exercise. Therefore, any and all benefits of exercise are also benefits for you.

This Wall Street Journal article tells us that exercise:
1) Lowers the risk of stroke by about 27%
2) Reduces the incidence of diabetes by approximately 50%
3) Reduces the incidence of high blood pressure by about 40%
4) Can reduce.....the risk of breast cancer by approximately 50%
5) Can lower the risk of colon cancer by over 60%
6) Can reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease by approximately 40%
7) Can decrease depression as effectively as Prozac

Okay, you already know all this because you own a gym. But how do you use this information to sell more health club memberships?

It's simple, really.

What you do is create advertising "blurbs" using these facts. For example, you could say "Lower your risk of stroke by 27% in 2010! Ask us how!" Another great advertising line would be "Reduce the risk of breast cancer by approximately 50% this year by exercising regularly at ABC Gym!"

In other words, what you need to do is TAKE THESE PROVEN BENEFITS OF EXERCISE AND TURN THEM INTO BENEFITS PEOPLE RECEIVE WHEN THEY JOIN YOUR GYM.

Another great way to accomplish this is to write articles on the subject and use them in advertising. You can mail out these articles as a direct-mail advertisement, you can email them to your health club members, or you may even be able to get the local newspaper to print your articles for free in their Health section!

For some great examples of 'benefit' articles, check out these links:

Live Longer and Healthier by Exercising (Part 1)

Live Longer and Healthier by Exercising (Part 2)

Why Do We Exercise?

Tips to Boost Your Life Expectancy

Can Exercise Help Prevent Cancer?

Can Exercise Help Prevent Alzheimer's Disease?

It's actually quite easy to write an article detailing the many benefits of exercise, and it's even easier to show how becoming a member of your gym will help somebody achieve those benefits.

THOSE ARE SOME POWERFUL ADVERTISING TECHNIQUES!

The bottom line is that you can use benefits-based health club marketing to being you new gym members in 2010. And that's why you should read the Wall Street Journal this morning.

Health Club Owners and the New Mammography Screening Recommendations

Just in case you've missed it, the health community has been in an uproar recently about breast cancer testing. Here's an example of what has been in the media lately:

"The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force stated, "There is convincing evidence that screening mammography reduces breast cancer mortality," but pointed out that there was a greater absolute benefit in women aged 50 to 74 years than for women aged 40 to 49. Because of the relatively small benefit for screening the younger age group, the task force recommended against routine screening for women between 40 and 49. It clearly stated that women at higher risk--because of family history or genetic predisposition, for example--should be screened at an earlier age. Subsequent to release of this report, many groups, including the American Cancer Society and the American College of Radiology, promptly came out against the task force recommendations." (SOURCE: fredericksburg.com)

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is recommending less screening for women between the ages of 40 and 49. The American Cancer Society (and other doctors) are NOT happy about this recommendation.

There's a fight here, and it's being fought in the media.

So how do you, as a gym owner, react to this very public argument? What do you say when a fitness center member asks for your opinion on this subject? What would you say if the local media asked your opinion?

Don't be scared! The media doesn't expect you to be an expert along the same lines as a physician or a cancer specialist. You are, however, working in the health and fitness field and you do need to have an opinion.

The www.cuecd.com team highly recommends that you do some research in this area and come up with an opinion (if you don't already have one). Pick a side and be able to explain how you made that decision!

Next, write an article explaining exactly why you feel the way you do. In other words, join the public 'argument' and make it clear that you've done your homework. For an example of an article like this, click here or cut and paste this link into your browser: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1994482/can_exercise_help_prevent_cancer.html?cat=51

You can submit to the local media the article you've written, photocopy it and distribute it in the health club, or just file it under 'smart things I've done'. No matter what you do with the actual article, you're now ready to intelligently answer questions.

This makes you look like the local health expert that you are, which will bring you new health club members! Who knows? The article you write may even prompt someone to get a cancer screening, and you could end up saving a life!

Congratulations To These Health Clubs!

Have you read the latest edition of Entrepreneur magazine? In the December 2009 edition, in their franchise section on page 98, they feature the "TOP 10 TRENDS FOR 2010". We are excited to see that many of our best www.cuecd.com customers made the list!

Please join us in congratulating the circuit training (and other) health clubs who are featured in this article:
Anytime Fitness
CKO Kickboxing
CoachMeFit
Contours Express
Curves
Get In Shape For Women
Gold's Gym Franchising LLC
Jazzercise, Inc.
Koko FitClub, LLC
LA Boxing Franchise Corp.
Lady of America Franchise Corp.
One2One BodyScapes
Personal Training Institute
Planet Fitness
Platoon Fitness
Prime Time Boxing
Retro Fitness, LLC
Snap Fitness, Inc.
YAS Fitness Centers

From the team at www.cuecd.com, we wish you the best of luck in 2010 and beyond!

Health Club Marketing Idea

If you've ever shopped in a grocery store that has those Catalina coupon machines at the checkout stands, then maybe you've received a coupon like the one pictured here.

The other day I was shopping in Albertsons, a local grocery store, and the Catalina machine issued me this coupon for the local Fashion Bug clothing store.

That got me thinking about health club marketing ideas and the owners of small circuit training health clubs can copy the marketing ideas of the "big boys".

Here's a revealing question for any small business owner: How many local businesses will distribute a coupon or brochure for YOU today?

If your answer was "none", then you have a problem.

In this economy, you simply cannot afford to sit and wait for new gym members to come to you. It's not enough to hope for the best. To achieve success (or even survival) you MUST actively seek out health club marketing ideas and promote your health club every day.

Getting back to the Catalina coupon I received at Albertsons, can you see the power of that marketing idea working? Fashion Bug is being promoted to the Albertsons customer. Maybe they paid for Albertsons to distribute their coupons (they probably did) but you can copy this concept without spending a dime!

What you need to do is exchange coupon promotion with another business in town. You'll pass out their coupons or brochures, and in exchange they'll do the same for you. Just think of how many potential NEW gym members will be exposed to your message this way! This health club marketing idea is a win for the other business, too, because they're of course interested in marketing to your existing clients.

The maximize the returns off this marketing idea you should choose a partner business that serves the same customer you do. If you're a health club for women only, then exchange coupons with another local company that serves women. A clothing store would be a good example. Since you're promoting health and fitness, you may also want to approach a health food store or vitamin shop.

Next you'll need to have the actual coupons printed. Keep them simple. Few people will take the time to read an entire brochure! We recommend using the ever-popular and low-cost business card, but instead of just putting your contact information on it you should turn it into a coupon. Check out this picture for an example, and on the "Courtesy Of" line you'll print the name of the business that is passing out these coupons for you. The best price we've found is VistaPrint where you can get FREE Business Cards

Now, do you REALLY want to kick this health club marketing idea up a notch? To take things to the next level, what you can do is give value to the other business. In other words, create a special offer just for them. This is particularly useful if you're having trouble getting a local company to partner with you.

For example, when ABC Health Foods is distributing your coupons to their customers you could give a discount to anyone who brings in their receipt from ABC Health Foods. This adds value to ABC Health Foods, and makes them look like the "good guy" who is going the extra mile for their customer.

The sky really is the limit with what this health club marketing idea can do for you! We've seen gyms run contests with massage therapists. We've seen fitness centers teach a class in a health food store, and we've seen coffee shops bring free healthy smoothies into a health club to give out samples.

Health club marketing doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg, and it doesn't have to take up every moment of your spare time. The key is to get other people and other businesses to distribute coupons for you.

So, how many local businesses will distribute a coupon or brochure for YOU today?