Monthly Archives: September 2011

Chicago-based Charter Fitness plans to fill 200 new positions over the next 12 months. The jobs were created as a result of 38 Cardinal Fitness locations in Chicago, downstate Illinois and Northwest Indiana converting to Charter Fitness. The conversion of Cardinal Fitness makes Charter Fitness the largest health club business in Chicago. Charter Fitness also [...]

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Here at CS we just finished one of the greatest challenges we have ever adopted. You’ll see this finished piece in a couple of weeks — trust me, we are really excited about this! Over the past couple of months, and particularly the past couple of weeks, we have pushed ourselves to new levels. This [...]

It’s fall again and clubs everywhere are seeing members returning from summer vacations as well as new members trying to establish a routine for the coming school year. It’s a great opportunity to present new programs or give old programs a fresh look. This is a super time to introduce a weight loss program. Some [...]

As much as I’d love to tell you there is a magic formula or one special marketing strategy you can do to generate a ton of memberships — I just can’t. There is no such thing as a marketing home run. However, there is one strategy that I’ve found that works every time, 100 percent [...]

Make sure you are not the only one who seems welcoming when showing a prospect around your club. Everyone on staff should be aware of a guest in the facility. It should be part of their duties to acknowledge the guest, say hello, introduce themselves or help the cause in some way. This might be [...]

Wherever you stand on the contract issue in your club, a good retention program does not rely on contractual obligation. The idea is to keep someone committed to your club by virtue of their satisfaction — not the terms of their contract agreement. In my opinion, it makes sense for most fitness businesses to have [...]

Many of the headlines in the health and science sections of the news have to do with nutrition, especially how nutrition can control many risk factors that contribute to diseases. Some examples are “An Apple a Day May Keep Stroke at Bay” and “Plant-rich Diet Tied to Lower Breast Cancer Risk”. The message is clearly [...]

Growing up, it took me a while to understand the value of a team. I played organized sports just like most kids; I was active in school leadership and played music with my school and with friends. However, it took me a while to understand that not just one person can be great, but the [...]

I just returned from the Health Club Business Summit in Australia and New Zealand where I presented to over 100 health club owners. After the event, one of the attendees came up and congratulated me on a great presentation. He then mentioned that he’s glad he’s a gym owner because he could never get up [...]