Marketing a Fitness Boot Camp

Guest Post by the Boot Camp Queen Laurel Blackburn

Here's a guest post by Laurel Blackburn about what works for her in marketing her Fitness Boot Camps

Starting and marketing a fitness boot camp isn't rocket science. It doesn't take a business degree, a college degree or a whole lot of smarts which I don't have.

It DOES take common sense, which I do have and hard work, which I did…

Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, I am going to share with you everything I did to take my boot camps from a measly 16 clients a month to an average of 120 clients per month.

I am going to share what WORKED for me and what was a COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME. Keep in mind though that what may work in my little town in the south may not work for you in a large town in the north and what didn't work for me, may work like crazy for you.

All in all, marketing principles are the same no matter where you live…

First and foremost, before you do anything, you must have a good product. In our case, it's fitness boot camps. Please don't expect to throw together a boot camp without the proper planning. Too many times I have seen trainers fail miserably because they did not take the time to plan.

This is a business and must be treated as such from day one…

If you expect to make money and believe me, you can makes lots of it, then you need to take the time and make sure everything is done properly before you ever start. That is a whole other topic. Today I am just going to focus on the marketing boot camps.

I took 3 months before my start date preparing for my first camp. Part of my success was being able to market my camps and get my first set of clients WITHOUT spending money on advertising.

I filled my first camp the old-fashioned way and that was through word of mouth.

I already had a list of email contacts. Mostly friends and family. About 8 weeks before my start date I made a flyer and emailed it to everyone I knew. I asked them to pass on the information to everyone they knew. I printed out my flyer and hung it everywhere in town that had a bulletin board.

Look for coffee shops, book stores, grocery stores etc. Basically, carry flyers wherever you go. Don't be afraid to ask your friends and family to bring them to work. Have them hang them up in their employee break rooms.

One week before my first camp was to start, I sent out a press release to the local newspaper. It was nothing fancy, just a brief description of my boot camp, the time, place and contact info.

It's important to send it to a specific person. Go online and look for a Health editor or the editor of the Local section or a Features or Living section. Most papers have their staff and their contact information listed online.

I started my first 3 day-a-week camp with 16 clients.

One of the best things you can do to get more clients is to provide a great product and great service. As soon as my first class went back to work the day after their first class, their co-workers were calling to get in on the action. I had to add another class.

One of the things I did from the very start and still do to this very day is I set aside money from each session to be used to build up my business. I think most people have a tendency to run out and spend everything they make. Those days will come, now is the time to focus on growing your boot camp business.

If you decide to incorporate your business and become "official" you won't have to look for places to advertise, they will find you. You will get calls from every marketing company, big and small, wanting just "a few minutes of your time". You will get calls from high schools wanting to sell you advertising in their sports programs.

I'm hear to tell you, those things DO NOT work for marketing a boot camp. At least they did not work for me. I'm sure hiring an advertising company would work, but who has that kind of money?

If you want to donate gift certificates to organizations to help them raise money, that is great. It doesn't cost you anything and you may, as we did, get life long clients and referrals from it.

To make a long story short….and I have got a long story, I'm going to tell you what I did that worked and what I wasted my precious money on…

Newspaper advertising…..A WASTE. NOT a good way to market boot camps.

Do YOU pay attention to those ads? There are so many that unless you can afford a huge 1 page ad, chances are yours will just blend into the rest of them.

Radio… I've spent money here a couple of different times. One time it worked and I got quite a few clients and the second time, nothing, zip, zilch, nada. Boot Camp Marketing gone bad… which means I lost all money.

One thing you can try is to invite the radio or TV personality to come to your boot camp for 4 weeks in exchange for their on air promotion. Be careful, the one I chose, actually charged me advertising fees and came to my camp for free.

Be very clear on what is expected.

TV…This is the best money I've ever spent and it's also the most money I have ever spent. The key to this is getting your commercials on during the right programs. Usually, the cost associated with the commercial includes the filming and the production.

However if your commercial runs during The History of The American Quilt marathon, chances are you will get no business.

If your commercial runs during The Biggest Loser, which mine did, you can fill up an entire camp and the commercial will pay for itself several times over.

One 30 second commercial during The Biggest Loser costs me around $500.00. I've also gotten them for $200.00 if they couldn't fill the spots. Sounds like a lot, but you sign up 3 clients and it's paid for. They love your camp and keep coming back and bring their friends, who bring their friends and you just tripled your investment.

Billboard…This was my latest advertising experiment. Also a BOMB. NOT a good way to market a fitness boot camp.

Costs me a ton and I got 3 clients. Everyone loved them though, but it DIDN'T give me a return on my investment.

Car magnets….This works like crazy and it's CHEAP.

Get some really cool car magnets. You can get them at any sign shop.

Go for something unique with color or a different shape besides the typical square.

I can't TELL YOU how many clients and calls I have gotten from people sitting behind me in traffic.

I went one step further and got a really great car wrap done.

Cheap cardboard signs! This was my latest "I don't want to spend money this month" advertising experiment.

HOLY CRAP! I spent hardly anything to get some simple cardboard signs made. I skipped on the fancy stuff and just went for content.

FITNESS BOOT CAMPS

WWW.BOOTCAMPSTOGO.COM

and my phone number

I also made a sign about our personal training. We put our signs up at major intersections close to our location. Within hours our phone was ringing off the hook!

Press Releases… Don't think just because you have already started your business that you can't send in more press releases.

If you add a new class, or time, send in a press release.

Join your Chamber of Commerce… You are a business now get out there and act like it. What better way than to join other small business owners like yourself.

The Chambers MAIN PURPOSE is to network and help each other to grow their businesses.

Health Fairs etc… Many of my clients are active in the business and health care community. They have become a valuable resource in getting my name and face in the public through speaking engagements, inviting me to have booths at job fairs, and health fairs.

Don't be afraid to ask your clients or to offer your services to your clients businesses. If they like you and love what you do, they will be thrilled to show you off.

These are just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many things you can do, I've only touched on just a few of the things I do. I can go on and on.

I can't stress enough though that your success is going to depend on your product and your service. If you make it your priority to have the best boot camps ever, with the most effective workouts, new challenges and make sure your clients are having the time of their lives then YOU WILL BE SUCCESSFUL.

I've been doing this for over 3 years now and many of my clients have been with me since my humble beginnings.

I am having the time of my life. Although running my business is easier now, I still put in the work, still look for ways to get new clients and still go out of my way to be the best fitness and boot camp program in Tallahassee, FL.

Laurel Blackburn is a fitness boot camp marketing specialist. You can learn more about Laurel and her marketing strategies at MyBootCampBusiness.com AND check out her boot camp site at BootCampsToGo.com

And if you haven't done so already, be sure to opt-in for my free Personal Training Business, Health Club Marketing and Boot Camp Marketing updates… I'll also send you a link to a secret video that shows how you can make a lot more money and work a lot less hours from using little known underground Internet marketing tactics.

Let me know what you think…