Eric Ruth Turns Couples Retreat Into Another Great Fitness Marketing Strategy
By Eric Ruth
I want to share a very interesting marketing strategy you can apply to your fitness business.
Here's the story... Last weekend Brandy and I attended a three-day workshop for married couples called Soul Healing Love.
Just like I invest in my ongoing marketing and business education, so do I my personal growth.
Okay, I'll be honest, it was Brandy's idea.
I didn't exactly resist, but since our relationship is strong, I didn't really see the need.
It's interesting the way we think.
Just because we're doing good by our standards doesn't mean we can't do better.
The most successful folks, and I'm talking about success in general terms - not just monetary, are always striving to better their best. They're constantly improving.
Because if you're not moving forward - you'removing backward. There is no status quo.
I understood that from a business point ofview, but overlooked it regarding my marriage.
Not any more.
The Soul Healing Love workshop proved to meBrandy and I definitely have room for improvement and definitely need to work on our personal life just as seriously as we work on our business life.
Fitness is a perfect analogy.
Either you're doing something consistently tosustain and improve your fitness, or you're backsliding.
You can't just maintain - not without effort.
Anyway, we learned some amazing stuff at the workshop. It was empowering.
But what I want to share with you today is not the content of the workshop, but rather the marketing strategy Bev and Tom Rodgers of www.soulhealinglove.com use because they are sharp marketers.
Their strategy is very instructive.
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Soul Healing Love
Marketing Case Study
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Positioning:
Bev and Tom Rodgers wrote the book "Soul Healing Love."I recommend it - highly. It's rooted in Christianity, but the principles transcend religion.
The book, more so than any degrees and certifications they have (and they have many), establishes their credibility and cements their positioning in the eyes of the marketplace (they "wrote the book" on it).
You really need to become a published author. With the proliferation of self-publishing, that's incredibly easy to do these days. Within the next couple weeks, I'll be telling you how you can almost instantly get your own fitness book and become a published author.
Their book describes their unique system. Their proprietary soul healing love "technology." This is brilliant. It's not just a book with generic guidance, it's a system for creating a rock-solid marriage.
You want to have your own proprietary technology/system. You can find out how to do that at
http://www.personaltrainingresults.com
The Funnel:
Bev and Tom market themselves as speakers to local churches. They send a simple letter to the churches along with a copy of their book and a DVD showcasing highlights from previous talks.
They offer to come in and give a 45 minute talk about soul healing love - at no cost. They get more requests than they can handle. They're booked solid.
At the end of their presentation (which they do really well - they're great story tellers), they pitch their book. Very softly.
Then they offer to do a mini-workshop at the church - for a fee. I'm not sure how much the fee is, but I do know they give the church the option of paying the fee directly or passing the cost on to its parishonersat about $45 per couple.
During the mini-workshop, which lasts about 3 hours, they display all their various products. So they sell from the back of the room to supplement the fee they earn from teaching.
And at the end of the mini-workshop, they pitch the weekend retreat workshop (the one Brandy and I attended).
That goes for 350 bucks per couple and is held in a nice conference room at a local Hampton Inn.
There were 22 couples in the weekend retreat workshop. That's a 7700 dollar weekend, less overhead (which is tiny). They also sell all their other products at this workshop. We bought stuff, as did just about every couple who attended. Maybe another grand in sales.
Finally, they do a soft sell offering their private couples counseling services. I'm not quite sure what they charge for this service, but I'm pretty certain it ain't cheap.
Do you see the funnel?
Hundreds of folks hear their presentation at the church.
From that large group, a smaller number pay (or the church pays) to attend the mini-workshop.
From that smaller group, some enroll in the weekend retreat. And from that group, some choose to get Tom and Bev's private counseling.
They start with a lot of prospects and funnel them down to customers and clients, making more and more money along the way.
And the whole process is possible because of the unique technology they created and described in the book - and the positioning that gives them.
How can you duplicate this marketing strategy for your fitness business?
First, document your unique training technology (hint: your technology can be easily "niched" to any target marketsimply by adding a few niche-specific paragraphs here and there and titling it as such, i.e. "Rapid Results Fitness For Realtors", "Breakthrough Fitness For Boomers", "Walking With God - How To Use The Lord's Guidance To Lose Wei.ght Now")
Second, offer to talk about your technology to the appropriate target markets (Realtor meetings, Kiwanis, the church).
Third, sell a group mini-workshop-type event to those in attendance. You've clearly (and hopefully, compellingly) demonstrated your expertise during your talk, so the funnelgets slipperier (if that's a word) - selling gets easier.
Fourth, sell those folks on a group bootcamp and/or one-on-one training.
The bottom line: it all starts with proper positioning as the expert at solving the unique problems your target (niche) market is experiencing.
Becoming the weight-loss-for-everyone expert is a long, hard slog (you're a small fish in a BIG pond). But becoming the expert in a niche, or various niches is a piece of cake (you're a big fish in a little pond).
All it takes is self-appointment.
You don't need anyone to appoint you the expert. You just claim that positioning through your marketing message. And then back it up by delivering results.
More on this topic coming later next week.
http://www.personaltrainingresults.com
Until then, keep marketing like a maniac,
Eric Ruth
P.S.
I've been saying for years that a potentially lucrative market is fitness for _____ (insert religion). Someone needs to jump on that.
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