The Club Insider Archives: January 2017
KUSHH!™
The New Sound of Exercise!
By: Norm Cates
Norm CatesI am pleased to start the New Year off with a special story about KUSHH!™, a new product launching this month by my former business partner, Ray Irwin. Irwin along with Rich Boggs, another of my former business partners, and a few others started what became The STEP Company in 1989. The STEP Company's product, The Original STEP®, has gone on to become one of the most successful fitness products of the last 25 years. The STEP® is ubiquitous in health and fitness facilities around the world.
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You Risk Everything You Have To Create A New Business!
By: Thomas Plummer
Thomas PlummerYou raise money, build your vision, take the risk of being in business, and yet, nowhere has anyone guaranteed you will make this dream a financial success this time. Yet, when the business struggles, we often get angry at the universe because there is always a sense of entitlement within us; since we took the risk, we should be entitled to succeed. Not so.
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Five Issues in Your Back Office That Need Your Attention As We Start this New Year!
By: Melissa Knowles
Melissa KnowlesMany of you may well be several weeks into your New Year's resolutions when you read this. Much like the start of a new year presents a good time to set new goals and work toward your best you, it also offers the opportunity to review your business, look for the gaps and work toward bridging them. Due to its complexity and direct impact on legal risk, a review of your human resources and pay practices is a great place to begin. We've gathered the top five areas in which we receive the most questions or have spent the most time coaching and have presented them here with appropriate comments that should help you as a club owner, general manager or back office staff member and others.
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Shake Things Up!
By: Derek Barton
Derek BartonIt's a new year; time to shake things up! I know what you're thinking, "Didn't the 18-month Presidential race shake things up enough?" Yep, it sure did. What a ride that was, huh? Nobody predicted the outcome, including Trump himself. The Russians aside, his success was all about marketing, and I first wrote about it in this publication back in September, 2015 in my article entitled, "The Emotional Cocktail."
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Five Tools to Maximize Your Winter Selling Season
By: Karen Woodard-Chavez
Karen Woodard-ChavezThere is no doubt January is busy... So busy that, at times, it feels like you can't fully do your job or completely do your job, which means certain elements may get missed or be omitted. That's a big mistake that will hinder your sales success. Make sure you are consistent with the following Five Tools with each and every prospect/member. Consistency is the key to making a good January a great January and a great January a strong February, March and April.
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New Year Sales Success
By: Casey Conrad
Casey Conrad"It's the most wonderful time of the year!" and I'm not talking about the famous Christmas song; I'm talking about January in the health club industry. Every fitness operator knows that a huge percentage of their annual sales come in the first 2-3 months of the year when consumers set New Year's Resolutions and flock to the gym. Owners and salespeople alike are in bliss because prospects are pouring in (in-club and online), and tours to conversions come relatively easy.
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The Year Ahead
Ten Predictions for the Health and Fitness Industry in 2017 - Part I
By: Stephen Tharrett
Stephen TharrettOn the eve of each new year, industry experts and prognosticators hunker over their computers, studying industry benchmarks and trends to extrapolate nuggets of wisdom in order to forecast, or at least predict, what will happen in the New Year. For these individuals, the goal is to be the voice of the near future, to provide a degree of clarity on what might be expected in the upcoming year, or as T.S. Eliot so eloquently said, "For last year's words belong to last year's language, and next year's words await another voice."
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The Most Versatile Commercial Loan Product
By: Paul Bosley
Paul BosleyDo you own a fitness center and want to expand your business or open a new location? Do you want to refinance your existing debt to lower your monthly overhead? Are you tired of paying rent to a landlord and would rather own the real estate you operate your business? Do you want to open your first fitness center or personal training studio, but you need financing to do it?
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Understand the Power of Why and You Will Close More Sales
By: Erik Charles Russell
Erik Charles RussellI have two teenage daughters, Kylie and Kiera, ages 15 and 17. When they were little, I used to have to take them on my weekly grocery shopping trips. I was a single father, and leaving them at home at ages 2 and 4 years old, however tempting, just wasn't the right thing to do. For them, knowing that they were going to the grocery store brought out so much excitement and anticipation. For me, knowing that I was taking them to the grocery store brought out so much anxiety and stress.
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A Letter From IHRSA President & CEO, Joe Moore
The year 2016 was a whirlwind, and we at IHRSA couldn't be more glad to have spent it with all of you, growing the fitness industry and helping to make the world a more active, healthy place! In this spirit of our mission to grow, protect and promote the industry, IHRSA has created several opportunities for members to get involved and give back. Your generous contributions can be made easily online and to the causes that are closest to the heart of your club.
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Planet Fitness Debuts New Brand Campaign
"The World Judges, We Don't. At Planet Fitness, Be Free."
NEWINGTON, N.H. - Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT), one of the largest and fastest-growing franchisors and operators of fitness centers in the U.S., revealed a new creative campaign, "The World Judges, We Don't. At Planet Fitness, Be Free." The campaign debuted nationally during ABC's "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2017" on December 31st. For the second year in a row, Planet Fitness was also the presenting sponsor of Times Square's iconic New Year's Eve celebration in New York City.
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Augie's Quest Update
From Augie Nieto: THANKS to your unbelievable support of Augie's Quest to Cure ALS, we have HOPE! Our innovative science and cutting edge approach have resulted in a promising treatment. (AT-1501) for ALS, our Precision Medicine Program, the world's premier program and partnership with ALS patients, has enabled us to add thousands of pieces of information to the battle to identify subtypes of ALS from which more precise treatments can be screened. This year is going to be a game changer for people living with ALS, all because of you. Thank You and Happy 2017!
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Fitness Formula Clubs Opens 10th Location In Downtown Park Ridge, Illinois
CHICAGO, IL - Chicagoland-based Fitness Formula Clubs (FFC) has opened their newest, ultra-convenient 66,000 square-foot facility, FFC Park Ridge. Known for its hub and spoke network of locations near train, bus and subway commuter transportation centers, this latest edition is 500 feet from the busy Metra train stop in downtown Park Ridge, Illinois. The free-standing facility will complement the district's lifestyle and combine innovative fitness offerings and energizing social spaces in an ultra-modern, community-building atmosphere.
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Norm's Notes for January 2017
By: Norm Cates
Norm CatesHappy, Healthy New Year, everybody! This is your Club Insider Publisher and Tribal Leader Since 1993 checking in!
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