Well, this is the time… the time all health clubs look forward to.
Its time for our peak season, the time when a whole gaggle of people jump on the New Year’s Resolution band wagon, flock to the gym and say, “This is the year. This is the year that I will lose all this weight!”
Hopefully they do jump on the bandwagon and join a gym, and hopefully they jump flockin’ hard!
This is the best time of year for the health club industry, best time to market, best time to sell memberships, and the best time to get referrals.
But, when does this time start?
For years we saw the New Year’s rush immediately after the first of the year. Over the last few years we have seen that rush begin later and later. Some years we have seen the rush start two weeks after New Years… even three weeks.
For the past couple of years we have been telling our clients to drop their direct mail in the second week, not the day after New Years and most have followed that advice.
This year, however, we had a lot of clients plan to drop immediately after the first and a bunch even wanted to drop right before New Years and almost none of them followed my thought process at all.
The reason that I am writing this today is that I belong to two gyms. One, a 24-hr un-staffed gym and the other, a traditional full-service gym. This week I saw the rush in both clubs. I train in the morning every day and see the same faces, This was the first week that I saw a bunch of new faces in both clubs… and I mean a bunch.
So, I thought I would start asking random people why they decided to join this week. I received two answers consistently;
1. I had to recover financially from the holidays before I could join the club; and
2. I had to recover emotionally from the holidays before I could get started.
Now, I understand that this was not an overwhelming sample of people but I feel like I spoke to enough people this week to get a general consensus of the overall population.
These people didn’t know that the clubs were offering a Zero enrollment special(one was also offering their first month free) which would have helped the financial crunch.
They also didn’t know that a “Jump Start Program” was being offered at one of them that included a package to get someone started, including guidance, personal training, nutrition guidance, and some free Massages and a facial. That might have helped with the emotional recovery.
Two thoughts came to my mind this week.
One club didn’t do any direct mail to get their message out to the community. How are people supposed to know that we can overcome their two biggest obstacles if we don’t tell them?
The other did a huge direct mail campaign and didn’t mention either of these things in it.
The card is sitting on my desk right now. I got the post card in the mail at home(They didn’t use us. In fact, neither club knows who I am. I can’t ever get a workout in, if they know what I do for a living so I keep it incognito. 😉
The post card is basically a name-recognition piece. Here’s who we are, here’s where we are at, come see us… if you ever get around to it.
Waste of time, waste of money.
So, back to the original question, When does this time start?
So far it looks like its starting now in the first week of February. I have heard that a few times this week from our clients. This is later than ever. I am curious to find out how those mailings did that dropped before New Years and the ones that dropped immediately after.
I will keep you posted.
Success Story! Candace Johnson
in Success StoriesSuccess Story! Caroline’s Crusaders.
in Success StoriesWe had a great experience with Ferret Brothers T-shirts. We sent them a drawing of what were thinking of for a design and they created a t-shirt from it. They were fast and on time and the experience was truly positive.
The thing that I liked about doing business with Ferret Brothers is that they made the process very easy. He sent me proofs and made changes quickly and followed up diligently to make sure that everything was good.
We will definitely be going back next time.
Paragon 290 Neck Gaiter
in T-shirt Articles, T-shirt PreviewsParagon 290 – Neck Gaiter
Success Story! Jessica V.
in Success StoriesSuccess Story! Myles N.
in Success StoriesHow We Go from Art to Film in order to Burn a Screen in the Screen Printing Process
in Articles, T-shirt ArticlesMost of the art that we get is not suited to burn a screen from. Resolution and size are the most important factors in submitting your art to make a t-shirt.
This is a quick simple explanation on how we go from art to film in order to burn a screen.
Success Story! Sabryna from Anytime Fitness Katy, TX
in Success StoriesSuccess Story! Douglass from Bayou’s Best Antiques
in Success StoriesT-Shirt Ink Curing Problem
in T-shirt Articles“Why would this happen, WHY… would this happen????” she asked as she came busting through our front door.
This is, what we call in the business, an ink curing problem. Watch closely so that it doesn’t happen to you!
Success Story! Todd from Anytime Fitness in Bastrop, LaGrange and Cleburne, TX
in Success StoriesMy Favorite part about doing business with Ferret Brothers is that Terry is always available when I need him and the turn-around time is great. He always answers the phone or returns my calls fast.
He’s a stand-up guy and does business the right way and I’ve gotten to know him pretty well over the years and the only thing that I can knock him for is that he is an LSU fan but at least he is in the SEC and not the ACC.
I would and do recommend Ferret Brothers to all the other Anytime Fitness owners that I speak to.
~Todd DeJulius Anytime Fitness owner of Bastrop, LaGrange, and Cleburne TX
Success Story! Jennie Blanson Family Reunion
in Success StoriesI called Ferret Brothers and Terry was super friendly and helpful and he asked me a lot of questions about my family and seemed to care more about the reunion than he did about actually selling me t-shirts, lol.
He explained what made t-shirt prices go up and down, he gave me different t-shirt options and design ideas and he gave me a sizing sheet to give to all the families so they could send me their orders. I couldn’t be happier about my experience with Terry and Ferret Brothers Custom T-shirts!
~Jennie Blanson
Success Story! Jessica from Anytime Fitness in Glenwood Springs, CO
in Success StoriesAnvil 980 T-Shirt
in T-shirt Articles, T-shirt PreviewsAnvil – Lightweight Fashion Short Sleeve T-Shirt – 980
Click here to download spec sheet
Finished Measurements
Click here to download spec sheet
My Goal Boards
in Articles, Gym ArticlesMost people that know me from the t-shirt world don’t realize that my background is in the health club industry as a club owner and business consultant for the National Fitness Business Alliance/Thomas Plummer Company for over 25 years and I currently run a 45,000 square foot gym.
So, I didn’t have anything to post today so I thought I would share with you my Goal Board System in the club.
I hope you enjoy!
Does the Facebook Pixel Track all Website Traffic?
in Social Media ArticlesDoes the Facebook Pixel Track all Website Traffic?
When you embed the facebook retargeting pixel on your website, does it track traffic from all sources or just the traffic that comes from people that click a button from Facebook itself?
This video answers the question.
So, here is the answer to Does the Facebook Pixel Track all Website Traffic?
The Three Distinct Functions of Working in a Fitness Business
in Articles, Gym ArticlesThese three functions are:
1. Selling memberships/training, or supporting those who do by understanding the sales process and system.
2. Providing member service that leads to higher member retention.
3. Learning to sell other services and products to people who are already members.
You may have noticed that servicing current members/personal training clients is not on this top three. That doesn’t mean that it is not important. In order to maintain the current client base, excellent training and service must be provided(see #2).
However, if prospects are not acquired and then sold, there will be no one to service. If current members/clients are not up-sold, income becomes stagnant. Every job somehow leads back to some form of sales. Thoughts?
Success Story! Joel from Iron Sharpens Iron
in Success StoriesSuccess Story! Aaron & Katelyn from Anytime Fitness in Scott, LA
in Success StoriesSuccess Story! Belinda Hunter Family Reunion T Shirts
in Success StoriesI chose Ferret Brothers because Terry mentioned his T-shirt kickstart program and I got a discount plus I got to see the design and fix mistakes before I ordered and I got free shipping. I didn’t pay until they were shipped out and he texted me a picture of the t-shirts in the boxes and the ups label before I paid. That was important to me because I am located in Illinois and I was nervous with him being so far away.
The quality of the t-shirts was great and the design was great. Exactly what we were looking for.
I would definitely recommend Ferret Brothers to my friends because they were eager to help me, the price was great, and the shipping was fast.
Success Story! Jeff D From the Stump Company
in Success StoriesSuccess Story! Jason from Carpe Diem Poet’s Society
in Success StoriesI called around with only two days to get the shirts done and Terry from Ferret Brothers was the only one that could do them. They were ready on Friday and the quality was excellent!
Outside of actually getting the shirts done in a rush, the thing that I liked about the process with Ferret Brothers Custom T-Shirts is that from the second I called, Terry was extremely helpful and enthusiastic and after a few questions he had for me about the order his immediate response was, “NO PROBLEM!”
The Reason I initially called was because I saw a testimonial on Facebook for Ferret Brothers by a guy who said that Terry self-proclaimed that he was the “King of Turnaround” and I was praying that was true.
I would recommend Ferret Brothers for Custom T-Shirts in a heartbeat. They delivered a great product on a short time-frame and came through in the clutch for me.”
Manny From II Alpha Defense
in Success StoriesSuccess Story! Mallory from Dr. Robicheaux’s Office
in Success StoriesWe had used a company in the area previously and they were almost always late. Ferret Brothers have never been late on an order and Terry always has time for me and is in a good mood when I call. It sounds weird, I know, but a lot of places you call nowadays sound half asleep when you call and it almost seems like you are bothering them when you are asking a lot of questions.
Terry is very accommodating and I know that I am high maintenance sometimes, lol… like when I call him the day before the order is due and add shirts to the order.
I would absolutely recommend Ferret Brothers for t-shirts. They are always fast, they come out perfect and the customer service is terrific.
Oh, and one time Terry showed up out of the blue at our office and brought us bagels for breakfast!
Tyler R.
in Success StoriesRich Prine
in Success StoriesI generally place a t-shirt order every quarter for my business and I’ve been using Terry for about 5 years now.
I called initially because the last place I used closed and I had to find someone new and I’ve never went anywhere else since.
The customer service is excellent, the quality is great and they are always on time. Terry calls to check in on me quite a bit just to say hi and to see how I’m doing.
I would definitely recommend Ferret Brothers, in fact, I carry Terry’s cards with me to give out to other companies I meet on the jobsites. I know that they will always do a great job.
Do you need a reason to Quench Your Soul?
in BlogDo you need a reason to Quench Your Soul?
#1…. One hour with the phone turned off.
#2…. The conversations are irreplaceable even though the stories might be tried and true.
#3…. After all these years, there are few people in my life I would rather spend time with than a small group of old friends.
Call an old friend and go to dinner. The quiet nights of a nice dinner might be just what you need to quench the soul.
So where is your favorite place to escape?
in BlogSo where is your favorite place to escape?
You should have a place that you go to when trying to impress, and there is always that other place you go to forget all the baggage in life. Good friends, good conversation and a small intimate place that is just right for you.
Don’t you deserve someplace that is just all about you? If you set aside an hour or two a week just for you to regroup, relax, and escape would you even notice that lost time at the end of your week?
We say to ourselves that we just can’t spare the time but if you were forced to take that time and then you looked back at your week, would you even notice it… would anything less get done? If something small didn’t get done, would it really matter?
Maybe try it this week and then look back at the end of the week and see.
Thomas Jefferson’s salary was $25,000 per year
in BlogThomas Jefferson’s salary was $25,000 per year($462,000 in today’s dollars) – a huge sum at the time, but his expenses were also great. In 1801 Jefferson spent $6,500 for provisions and groceries, $2,700 for servants, $500 for his assistant’s salary, and $3,000 for wine.
All I’m saying is that some things haven’t changed over the years as much as we thought.
Mr. Jefferson, we have a Louisiana snoball for you and maybe a couple t-shirts that you might like.
These may not be true, but I like to believe them anyways
in BlogThese may not be true, but I like to believe them anyways:
1. When you eat and drink the good stuff, your friends who stayed at home will gain the weight.
2. The “more you drink the better I look” has limits and there is always the reality of tomorrow morning.
3. All kids are funnier when they wear goofy sun glasses.
4. A good dinner and glass of wine heals almost all minor domestic disputes.
5. If your teenagers are driving you insane, order a pizza and take your significant out to dinner.
6. Soft lights and candles make almost food taste much better as well as making you look younger too.
7. If your day absolutely was miserable, it is the state law that you must order dessert.
Are you Neglecting Yourself?
in BlogThe busier you get, the more you neglect the most important person in your life… you. Quiet time is a lost art. Remember how it works? You call someone you care about, or even go alone, and spend an hour sitting somewhere quietly with the phone off, perhaps a book or notebook, and spend time chatting or writing about the the things worth remembering in life.
Quiet time is healing time, reflection time, you time and there is no better way to get energized for life than simply ignoring the outside world for an hour or two.
I believe food is life and life is food
in BlogI believe food is life and life is food. I believe a meal is meant to be enjoyed slowly with friends, along with a glass of good wine or a cold beer. I also believe that the quality of the food is more important than the quantity.
We live in a time where we are constantly in a rush between obligations and choices, hectic jobs, shuttling kids to their activities and moving too fast from the place you’re in to the place that you were supposed to be 2 minutes ago.
Take a moment this weekend and slowly enjoy a nice meal with someone you care about. Smile a bit more than you have been, laugh a bit more than you have been, eat a little slower than you have been, and reflect a little longer than you have been.
Ms. Jennie
in Success StoriesPlease Check out Ms. Jennies Story. It made my whole Day!
I got assigned the t-shirt task last minute when my cousin dropped the ball. I chose a t-shirt place, gave the due date and paid my deposit. Then I never heard from them for almost two weeks. I finally got a hold of them and they sent me the proof for approval and I clarified the due date.
On Wednesday I went to pick up the shirts and they told me that they were behind schedule and they wouldn’t be ready until Monday. MONDAY! The reunion is on Saturday!
I started calling around in a panic and no one could help me with such a short turn-around time. Ferret Brothers was about the 5th place that I called and Terry said, in his usual way-too-happy voice that it would be no problem.
I sent him the design and the t-shirt sizes and he had them ready for me in 3 days! He came through for me at a time when I was about to lose it! They looked great and the quality was great.
Terry has my business for life. Thank you.”
Take a moment this weekend
in BlogI believe food is life and life is food. I believe a meal is meant to be enjoyed slowly with friends, along with a glass of good wine or a cold beer. I also believe that the quality of the food is more important than the quantity.
Sharing a meal dates back to the beginning of the human race and was always an intimate eating experience surrounded by people who work hard to make you feel you belong there whether its family, friends, tribe, or culture.
We live in a time where we are constantly in a rush between obligations and choices, hectic jobs, shuttling kids to their activities and moving too fast from the place you’re in to the place that you were supposed to be 2 minutes ago.
Take a moment this weekend and slowly enjoy a nice meal with someone you care about. Smile a bit more than you have been, laugh a bit more than you have been, eat a little slower than you have been, and reflect a little longer than you have been.
6 Tips and Tricks on Customizing Your Facebook Page
in Social Media ArticlesIt’s been about two years since Facebook introduced their timelines, and a short while after that, pages were forced to conform. To this day, people still mention that they wish they had their old Facebook page back. Here are a few different tips on how to get the most out of the Facebook Timeline system for business pages.
The UI on the timeline pages makes it impossible to navigate and it’s too cluttered. Even though Facebook is one of the most used social media outlets for marketing, many people don’t have the time to look at the little things to see what they can try to customize. It’s not just about the OCD of making it look clean but it also allows the page to be more streamlined for potential clients. And although there is no ability to completely customize your timeline, there are some tweaks that you can do to help you manage and organize it.
1: ‘It’s cluttered’
You will now see a down arrow tip on your post when you post something on your page. If you can’t see it, hover over the top right part of your post and it should appear. When you click it, it brings you to a drop down menu. Click the star that says highlight.
2: ‘The pictures are cropped awkward and I would prefer to choose the composition.’
When you highlight an image it will cater more towards horizontal photographs. Depending on the shot, your subject may not be in the part that is shown automatically. This is something you can change as well. If click the arrow again it will pop up with an option to ‘reposition photo.’ You can slide the photo up and down to best show the composition of it.
3: ‘It consolidates all my pictures into one post’
If you post more than one photo at a time Facebook will consolidate your images into one post. If you are only posting a couple photos, most likely you will want Facebook to show them both off on your page. If you don’t mind it you can leave it. But if you prefer that they be shown individually you can ungroup the photos.
4: ‘I don’t want it to show when other people post on my page.’
There is a difference between not allowing fans to post on your page and not allowing others to see what is posted on your page from fans. Be it either rude customers, or other photographers ‘stopping by to say hi!’ from their page, some people don’t want them to show. Go to edit page > edit settings > post visibility. You can set it to hide or allow, you can also choose to highlight a box on your main page.
5: ‘I don’t want to have to deal with another inbox.’
People have been annoyed with yet another messaging feature. The nice thing is you don’t have to deal with it. You can also turn this feature off underneath the same edit settings panel as the previous fix. Uncheck “Allow people to contact my Page privately by showing the Message button.”
6: ‘I want to show a promotion in my cover photo.’
Well this is against facebook policy but there is another feature, you can pin something to the top of your page so its the same post for 7 days. Just click the arrow and then pick “pin to top.” It won’t allow you to highlight the photo but it will be the first thing they see when they arrive on your page. We currently have our September travel schedule posted so that if someone new comes to our page, they can see if we are going to be in their area any time soon.
The Dirty Little Secret of Search Engines
in Website ArcticlesThe Dirty Little Secret of Search Engines
Printed with permission from the NY Times
PRETEND for a moment that you are Google’s search engine.
Someone types the word “dresses” and hits enter. What will be the very first result?
There are, of course, a lot of possibilities. Macy’s comes to mind. Maybe a specialty chain, like J. Crew or the Gap. Perhaps a Wikipedia entry on the history of hemlines.
O.K., how about the word “bedding”? Bed Bath & Beyond seems a candidate. Or Wal-Mart, or perhaps the bedding section of Amazon.com.
“Area rugs”? Crate & Barrel is a possibility. Home Depot, too, and Sears, Pier 1 or any of those Web sites with “area rug” in the name, like area rugs.com.
You could imagine a dozen contenders for each of these searches. But in the last several months, one name turned up, with uncanny regularity, in the No. 1 spot for each and every term:
J. C. Penney.
The company bested millions of sites — and not just in searches for dresses, bedding and area rugs. For months, it was consistently at or near the top in searches for “skinny jeans,” “home decor,” “comforter sets,” “furniture” and dozens of other words and phrases, from the blandly generic (“tablecloths”) to the strangely specific (“grommet top curtains”).
This striking performance lasted for months, most crucially through the holiday season, when there is a huge spike in online shopping. J. C. Penney even beat out the sites of manufacturers in searches for the products of those manufacturers. Type in “Samsonite carry on luggage,” for instance, and Penney for months was first on the list, ahead of Samsonite.com.
To Find out why, click here.
Update of the New Year’s Rush
in BlogWell, as it turns out it looks like I was correct about the beginning of the rush. 83% of our clubs saw the rush start about the third week of January whether they marketed or not. The ones that dropped their direct mail in the last week of December to hit mailboxes in the first week of January were generally disappointed with the results. The clubs that dropped in the second or third week were extremely happy overall.
A couple of side notes this year that seemed to be a little new. February overall seemed to be a much better month this year than the previous few years and the clubs that marketed this year got a better response than they did last year. The clubs that didn’t market saw more traffic this year than last which is a nice indicator for our industry.
They strange thing this year was that the surge seemed to be much shorter than in the past. Over the years we have seen the surge go through Jan. and Feb. and then a little of March. This year we saw the end of Jan., a great Feb., and then no March. So it seems that even though Feb. was a better month, for some reason it didn’t continue beyond that. Why was this window so short this year?
The New Year’s Resolution Rush
in BlogWell, this is the time… the time all health clubs look forward to.
Its time for our peak season, the time when a whole gaggle of people jump on the New Year’s Resolution band wagon, flock to the gym and say, “This is the year. This is the year that I will lose all this weight!”
Hopefully they do jump on the bandwagon and join a gym, and hopefully they jump flockin’ hard!
This is the best time of year for the health club industry, best time to market, best time to sell memberships, and the best time to get referrals.
But, when does this time start?
For years we saw the New Year’s rush immediately after the first of the year. Over the last few years we have seen that rush begin later and later. Some years we have seen the rush start two weeks after New Years… even three weeks.
For the past couple of years we have been telling our clients to drop their direct mail in the second week, not the day after New Years and most have followed that advice.
This year, however, we had a lot of clients plan to drop immediately after the first and a bunch even wanted to drop right before New Years and almost none of them followed my thought process at all.
The reason that I am writing this today is that I belong to two gyms. One, a 24-hr un-staffed gym and the other, a traditional full-service gym. This week I saw the rush in both clubs. I train in the morning every day and see the same faces, This was the first week that I saw a bunch of new faces in both clubs… and I mean a bunch.
So, I thought I would start asking random people why they decided to join this week. I received two answers consistently;
1. I had to recover financially from the holidays before I could join the club; and
2. I had to recover emotionally from the holidays before I could get started.
Now, I understand that this was not an overwhelming sample of people but I feel like I spoke to enough people this week to get a general consensus of the overall population.
These people didn’t know that the clubs were offering a Zero enrollment special(one was also offering their first month free) which would have helped the financial crunch.
They also didn’t know that a “Jump Start Program” was being offered at one of them that included a package to get someone started, including guidance, personal training, nutrition guidance, and some free Massages and a facial. That might have helped with the emotional recovery.
Two thoughts came to my mind this week.
One club didn’t do any direct mail to get their message out to the community. How are people supposed to know that we can overcome their two biggest obstacles if we don’t tell them?
The other did a huge direct mail campaign and didn’t mention either of these things in it.
The card is sitting on my desk right now. I got the post card in the mail at home(They didn’t use us. In fact, neither club knows who I am. I can’t ever get a workout in, if they know what I do for a living so I keep it incognito. 😉
The post card is basically a name-recognition piece. Here’s who we are, here’s where we are at, come see us… if you ever get around to it.
Waste of time, waste of money.
So, back to the original question, When does this time start?
So far it looks like its starting now in the first week of February. I have heard that a few times this week from our clients. This is later than ever. I am curious to find out how those mailings did that dropped before New Years and the ones that dropped immediately after.
I will keep you posted.