Hey there, it’s Chris… hope you’re doing awesome… I want to let you in on an email I got the other day… it’s by a fitness trainer named David Eagleton and it has some pretty cool ways to get clients… one is very similar to something my friend Steve Hochman does with his Foot Soldier Method but with a few tweaks, and the other is TOTALLY out-of-the-box… enjoy… (it’s been slightly edited for brevity)
Here’s the email from David:
Chris, I just love creative thinking and helping people. Honestly I feel fortunate. When I graduated college I had no clue what I wanted to do so I became a bartender ( I know right a bartender who just blew $120k of mom and dads money on a private business school).
Needless to say they weren’t too happy so I moved to Denver from Boston to “run away”… and I started making some really bad choices in life.
Well over the last 3 years I went from training part time in a corporate gym and doing some things I’m not proud of … to wanting to give up on everything.
I was sick of the corporate world and even more my own life. My best friend dragged me to go to church with him on a Friday night and it changed my life.
Fast forward I have stepped away from the bad decisions I was making and became business partners with this same friend.
We agreed that he would do all the boot camp training and I would handle the marketing and business side ( finally used the skills from a private business college).
I am now happy to say that we have 100 clients paying $180 a month and we split it down the middle. I can’t believe how much my life has changed.
What I did with my friend opened my eyes and made me realize I could grab any trainer from the corporate world and (save their life) by helping them make a ton of money. I truly believe “he who waters others will himself be watered” -Proverbs 11:25
Ok, check this out Chris, here’s is an idea I woke up with one morning… I experimented with it and it turned out to be AWESOME!
Here is how you do it…
Client Getting Strategy Number One
NOT your average Craigslist strategy…
Post an AD on Craigslist under ‘Gigs’
Title of your post: ‘I want to hire someone’
Then in the body I typed: ‘Looking for someone with a gym membership that wants to make some extra money while they are working out. Send me an email if you are interested.‘
Then email them one by one with this response:
“Thanks for your interest. The program works like this: I own a fitness boot camp company in Northglenn and I have a sweet idea that will help me and YOU out. All you have to do is talk about my boot camp while you are working out at your gym and get someone to check us out. If they sign up you get $100 cash in your pocket the very next day. It’s a great way for you to make extra money and for me to build my business because most likely they will stay for many future months to come. Basically I have an indoor facility that specializes in cardio strength training, proven to burn 7x more fat than traditional cardio.
You can visit my website and check out some of our videos. We use tractor tires, sandbags, ropes, plyo boxes, TRX bands, and lots other fun stuff. We never do the same workout twice and the group holds people accountable.
So I would like to invite you to one of our workouts for FREE so you can get a better idea of what we are about and will be able to describe it better at the gym. My website is www.fitsoldiers.com Let me know if you are interested and we can schedule you for one of our classes. Thanks again for your interest and looking forward to hearing back.” – David Eagleton
Now it turns out that when these people show up to your boot camp session to “try it out” so they can describe it better, it actually turned 90% of them on to want to join at my regular price.
So I actually get new clients out of the deal AND they are recruiting people at their gyms for $100 cash.
And that $100 cash costs me nothing because I charge $120-$180 to join for the month so I just pay them from the sign up fee. Then the next month I have them for full price on a reoccurring basis.
So there’s one tactic that works great for me
Client Getting Strategy Number Two
Here’s another idea I came up with literally turning my cell phone into a vibrating lead machine…
I honestly love the feeling of having my cell phone vibrate in my pocket KNOWING that it was a personal training lead.
Here’s how I did it:
I was dead broke at the time so even though now this against my beliefs and bad business practice, my mindset was survival of the fittest lol.
So I drove around and grabbed every vinyl sign I could find and tossed it in my trunk. I got about 20 signs and then went to Home Depot and bought white paint and black decal lettering.
I got home and put 2 coats of paint on every sign. Then I lettered word for word ” Win a personal Trainer. Text your goals to 720-XXX-XXXX”.
And that’s it…
You see, I think people don’t like to be given anything free anymore. They think it’s a scam or they will get ripped off but they LOVE to win lol.
Then I placed them at every major intersection Friday night (after the city dept gets off work for the weekend). And left them up til Sunday night.
During the weekend my phone vibrated out of my pocket. I would get over 50 leads in a weekend!
I would then go home at the end of the day and load every single phone number and their goal into an Excel spreadsheet and wait a couple days to call them personally (to build the excitement and not sound desperate).
Then I would call and say. “Congratulations you won a free month of boot camp with Denver’s top personal trainer. Can I put you down for mornings or evenings?”
I flipped 9 out of 10 into EFT for ongoing boot camp after their first month!
I hope you like it I have a million ideas. My friends call me a marketing rebel. My mind doesn’t stop cranking. (Must be from all those bad decisions I made when I was younger lol)
Take care Chris let me know what you think.
-David Eagleton Runs Fitness Boot Camps in Northglenn
Let David know what you think about his strategies and email in the comment section below…
Sweet post!!! Im trying that craigslist one out for sure! Good stuff!
Brilliant. Totally awesome and worth giving a try.
Hey Dave,
I drove by your place Monday. You need a bigger sign!
Maybe I will stop by Fri when I have another soccer game.
Paul
TOTALLY OUT OF THE BOX ISH HERE!!! Free ie definitely OUT nowadays too… If its free in NYC they place it on their fences and stairsteps (books, dvds, clothing) for people to walk by and pick up (homeless people). Gonna see if this can be implemented into my camps.
Beautiful post. I hope nobody reads this and steals the vinyl magnet sign off my vehicle though…
David we are going to be doing the "win a P.T" for sure!!
Cheers for the info from Brisbane Australia, we love it.
Odz
Nice craiglist strategy! Thank you David:)
Awesome Post. Love the out of the box thinking. Keep them coming.
Brian
Unbelievable! This is cranking I just posted to craigslist lol unbelievable ideas. I love you guys,
Great twist on the marketing methods. I really like the idea of saying "win" rather than free as I too think free is losing it's affect.
I am going to test this myself today on our website and see if we can boost our opt in rate!
Thanks for the marketing jolt.
These tactics keep me busy! I'm the one that has to run all the boot camp for all these new clients. Thanks Dave. No really THANKS!
Dude….
I so want to implement the signs around town idea. I mean, i plan on paying for mine and all, but the idea is simple and brilliant. Thanks David. And thanks Chris for posting this up.
Awesome ideas!! I was just about to post a Craigslist ad before I read this. I'll try this one and see how it works.
The first one is cool, but that second one is insane – I cannot wait to try it.
Awesome. David–congrats on your life change–best decision you can ever make. Got your priorities straight and you will be blessed.
Great gurella marketing ideas. Thank you for sharing.
Randy Woody
http://randywoody.com
Good article, my friend. Keep up the creative ideas and breakdown the walls that we have built around us in this society.
Interesting ideas! I'm going to try them out to get my pilates clients. Will let you know how it turns out!
Hey David,
That was a great post and sometimes desperation produces the most profound ideas and results…you offer two really unique ones. I just checked out your Fit Soldiers website – I love the focus on building a community for fitness that creates accountability and team-building. Thanks for sharing and much success.
-Sara
David,
Awesome to hear how God has changed your life in a radical way! Those are some sweet marketing ideas that I haven't heard before, pure genious! I would love to chat some time and swap stories and ideas. I will contact you in the future.
Take care,
Dustin
http://www.dustinmaherfitness.com
I love those ideas, I will try both of those and let you know the results. Keep the ideas coming – keep thinking out the box and CHRIS keep delivering awesome content – YOU ROCK
These are super SWEEEEET tips David. Totally out of the box but proven to work. I'm on the craigslist strategy now and the signs I'll do tomorrow. Awesome info.
These ideas are awesome! I definitely want to hear about his other ideas!
Cool ideas David. Nice take on the foot soldier method by pulling people out of the gym, while not doing it in a way that is shady.
This guy is insane! I can't wait to use these.
John
Great ideas! Thank you for the awesome and useful information!!!
Great stuff Dave but heres the problem Ive run into. My facility is in a very affluent area in CA. Putting up the signs( as I have done in the past) without city permission gets me into trouble and fines. I littered the area with signs when I first started my bootcamp and after a while I got calls from the city demanding I remove them or be fined. There are people that complain all the time if even the slightest thing is out of whack around here. Its an idea that works though as I will attest to that, just be careful where you put them.
This quote is what it's all about: "He who waters others will himself be watered" -Proverbs 11:25 I used to fear sharing ideas with my so-called competition. But I've learned that generosity is the key to prosperity.
Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi teaches you to be successful in this way. I recommend giving it a read.
Thanks guys! God bless!
David, great ideas. You are always so creative. I especially like the story about being saved. Thanks for sharing.
oh man its a good job I can run fast….ive just been caught pinching a house for sale sign from someones front garden. I dont think they know who I am so should be ok
Great ideas! I've tried the craiglist one, but I'm finding that I don't anyone who is interested in actually doing it. Like I send the 2nd email and then nothing. I get a bunch of interest from the first one saying if they have a gym membership, but when I send the second one explaining the program. Nothing. Any suggestions?
Thanks guys! This is great!
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/evg/1628061158.html
Ha – I went on gigs this morning and saw a "Looking to hire someone" ad and saw this. Looks like someone already put this into use!
Chris, thanks for sharing another great fitness marketing guru with us! It doesn't take a genius to think up these things, but it definitely takes some thinking outside of the 'normal' box thinking!
Awesome , I will for sure do it , It's like I was waiting for this one lol , because I had a number of those sign and I was just not sure what I wanted to do with them then you just solved this one for me . Thank pal much appreciated
Those are both sick ideas- im going to post those ads now and on my way to home depot right after!
Just when I thought we reached the end of marketing creativity. You Rock!
Coach Lou Ettore
GOeFAST.com
Hi David,
Awesome post!!! Definitely trying the craigslist!! Please keep posting your brilliant marketing techniques!
David. Great ideas. This might be one of the best blog posts i have read in a while. I will try these ideas next week. I love them both.
Thanks very much,
Dale
Yep, that someone would have been me! This idea was inside the MA that came out this month and I've ran that post now for a few day… So far I have had 35 responses!
The CL post idea is awesome,….I'm still getting inquiries from an ad I did a few days ago As far as the signs go. My assistant is making me a bunch of them for me. I will be tempting to get them posted all over town. Up in cafe's and anywhere else that is "legal" for them to be posted. You got to be careful when putting up the signs though.