In this Issue

We no longer seem to sneak up on the festive season, we storm up to it! Which leads to many challenges, the least of which is organising a Christmas promotion for our businesses! This month we’ll share a great promotion with you and to get in the spirit of giving, there is a fantastic gym equipment maintenance report from our friends at Bliss Fitness Systems.

	FREE Equipment Maintenance Procedures – free report!
	Guerilla Marketing Tip #5
	Stress Busting Techniques
	Word to use on the phone
	Justin’s Travels
	Christmas Promotion – be the only one in your area!
	One club could be access to 100’s – free opportunity
	Round Table News

FREE Equipment Maintenance Procedures

If your health club is anything like mine, the challenge of cleaning equipment is never ending. But my good friend Greg Webb from Bliss Fitness Systems explained to me to be very careful how I cleaned the equipment, as I could be doing more damage than good.

“What the!!!!” was my response. I needed to know more and so he gave me an awesome summary. And with his kind permission, he has made it available to you!

If you would like a free copy of this report, please email Justin

And of course don’t forget to check out: www.blissfitness.com

Guerilla Marketing Myth Buster #5

This month our guru Jay Conrad Levinson busts another marketing myth! 

Myth: Sell the sizzle, not the steak.

Truth: The idea is to sell the solution, not the sizzle. The easiest way to sell anything is to position it as the solution to a problem. If you look for the sizzle and not the problem, you're looking in the wrong direction. Your prospects might appreciate the sizzle, but they'll write a cheque for the solution. Your job is to spot the problem then offer your product or service as the solution. If you think solutions, you'll market solutions. If you think sizzle, you'll sell sizzle. You'll find that the path of least resistance to the sale leads right through the problem to the solution. 

Stress Busting Techniques

A top stress management specialist has come up with 10 tips to beat stress in the office. Ian Broadmore, of Abintra Clinic, is a top hypnotherapist and life coach. His ten top tips for stress busting are:

• Learn to delegate: you can only do so much in a day. Spread the workload and spread the responsibility.
• Learn to say 'no'. Often in a busy work environment you are called upon to do work that you are not experienced in, or in an area where you lack training. Learn to say 'no' and keep your stress levels low.
• If you are in a poor physical working environment, perhaps the office is too hot or cold, it will make you stressed (as you either freeze or swelter!). Either turn the air-con on or turn the heating up. You will work better and be more productive if you are comfortable.
• Plan your day; nothing causes more stress than unexpected events. Plan each day with prioritised tasks and stick to them
• Learn to switch off for a 15 minute power break each day. Just a 15 minute break will refresh you and lower your stress levels.
• Avoid caffeine! Although coffee, tea, and other caffeinated drinks taste great, caffeine raises your heart rate and anxiety levels. Drink water instead. Dehydration can lead to migraines and headaches and an inability to concentrate.
• Take regular exercise: If you live within 15 minutes of work try walking or cycling instead of driving. If you live further away go to the gym at least once a week or walk at least thirty minutes a day. You will get fit, increase the oxygen in your blood, and be more alert.
• Keep your sense of humour! Smile. At the end of the day no problem is so great it's worth risking a heart attack over.
• Introduce monthly stress buster meetings. Sit down with each employee and discuss how things are going. This approach will help cut stress because people will not bottle things up and will feel valued if you lend a sympathetic ear.
• Remember, your staff are your best asset (and your colleagues are your best allies). Treat them with the respect - the same that you would expect in return - in order to ensure a happy, stress-free working environment.

Words to use on the phone

There are magic words that carry extra firepower when used in calling your referral and lead box leads, even see if you can pop these in your script when taking incoming call enquiries.

The top ten of the most powerful:
Free
You
Announcing
Introducing
New
Secrets
How to
Guaranteed
Profits
Easy

The only words more powerful than those, is the person’s name.

Justin’s Travels . . .

What a blurr the past 2 weeks have been and the next two weeks will be!

I have traveled to the Sunshine Coast to work with a club on developing their 2007 Marketing Plan. The next day was a trip to Perth for the Australian Club Owner’s Round Table.

By the time you are reading this I will be in New Zealand for the Get NZ Active Conference, this will be after conducting a one day training session for Contours franchisees in Auckland. Then it is off to Brisbane for the Network 06 conference and the Australian Fitness Round Table.

Traveling can be fun and boring! A good work out never goes astray, so if you would like me to shop your club as a casual visitor drop me an email and I will let you know when I am in the area.

Christmas Promotion

With just under 7 weeks until we celebrate Christmas, many clubs are already seeing a down turn in business. So what can you do to keep leads coming in?

We have a great promotion for you and we guarantee that you will be the only Club in your area we work with . . .

We can tailor this flyer to your Club – you own logo and then gifts you want to offer to your members, their friends or the general public!

You can now order your Christmas promotion cards and have them printed and delivered right to your Club!

Specifications of the card:

• A6 size
• 240gsm
• Full colour
• Hi-bulk
• Aqueous varnish front

Your investment for fully customized card:

• 1000 cards $549
• 2000 cards $599

Hint: If you are wondering what to do with 2000 of these cards? Take them to local restaurants, cafes, beauty therapists, hair dressers, sports stores, physios, doctors or whomever would like to give these vouchers as ‘gifts’ to their clients or customers for Christmas. Twenty businesses and all have 100 each – great opportunity for lead generation over Christmas.

To order click here

If you have any questions email Justin

One club could be access to 100’s!

So here is the ‘no-brainer’ of the year, especially if you are looking to compete with the chains of health club. Our friends at Australian Fitness Network are putting together a reciprocal rights program for clubs around Australia.

This will enable your members to attend other Club Network clubs when traveling or provide exclusive opportunities to transfer from your club, when they re-locate. Additionally, members of other Club Network clubs will be able to use your club or transfer to you.

With over 860 Club Network members around Australia & New Zealand there is enormous potential. It is a great opportunity to provide a new reason to be a member of your Club!

Analee from Network is looking for expressions of interest. The only condition is that you are a member of Club Network – which in itself is great value as you can save $50 every month with any work you do with us! If you are interested email Analee today at analee.matthews@fitnessnetwork.com.au

Round Table Update

Have you done anything special this year in you business? Achieved something bigger and better than 2005?

If the answer is ‘No’ then maybe you need to consider joining the Australian & New Zealand Round Table Program for club owners and personal trainers.

Since starting on a RT we have one member who has increased their profit by 62% in 18 months. This has come from holding them accountable for their time, energy and efforts. Additionally, education to make them a better business person has resulted in better business decisions and less ‘doing the nice thing’ decisions.

If you would like more information on joining a round table for personal trainers or club owners, drop Justin an email now. Now is the time to act, so 2007 can be the start of something new and successful for you!