could anyone throw me some local marketing ideas?

hi,

join free chambers of commece they do some marketing for you & definitely point you in the right direction as it can cost you.

You're welcome,
One oher tidbit,
If you let them know that you are ABSOLUTELY
local and include a local Phone or Cell number,
I found that I could even get into their homes
for more info if needed.

People like to think they are special.
Be sure to add something to your advertisement
to keep them feeling that way.
Special price, friendly neighbor deal and etc.

Get a google adwords account.

You choose (down to a 4 block radius) where your ad will show up.

You pay only when they click on your ad!

Use Integrated direct Marketing:

-Choose an event like a Health Expo

-Get in on cards decks/mailers/and magazine ads promoted by the expo. I used to do 4 big trade shows a year and this method worked very well. With adwords it can be even more successful.

hey Dana, i actually used to work at local gyms all around the county and picked up a good bit of leads there, until the onwers started catching on, i was brining buisness cards and flyers with me hitting up anyone who came in thats really how i got started!

unfortunatly now im the competition and anyone whos anyone in my industry within 25 miles knows IRON STRONG - lol no job for me...

i tried having other trainers do it for me but the gyms catch on quick...

Well, you should bop on over to Keith's local biz building forum over at LocalBizBuilders.com
There's a bunch of really good info there (and posters) for alot of great ideas on how to market your business locally.

Most of them are over here as well and I'm surprised nobody from there has chimed in here since your all about getting a leg up locally.

Between here and there your bound to get plenty of good, creative suggestions to get your wheels turning into overdrive.

Best of luck

The biggest successes I have had have been with getting local press coverage for my business.

Nothing beats free promotion from a third party!

In a nutshell, I did some research on the local reporters and then sent a press release to one reporter from each local tv station.

Don't make the story about you you you - pick an angle or a "gimmick" that would appeal to a local reporter and make a great story!

Heck yeah! Nothin' beats having a reporter rave about how great you are!

"Brilliant"?

WOO HOOOOOO!!!

Thanks! You made my day!

Get some chocolate candy bars made up in shiny package with your business name, logo, and a catchy slogan on them and hand them out for free.

You might show someone's really fat bottom on them and a picture of you pointing outward at them (kind of like Uncle Sam) and saying something like:

Hey Tubby, after you're done packing on the pounds come to Iron Strong Gym and we'll pound your rotundas rear back into shape!

Special Offer: Bring this candy bar back unopened and get $XX off any of our products or services.

You have targeted people who need your service... people eating candy and treating their bodies like crap. You have given them food for thought. You have given them a reason NOT to eat the candy. You have given them a "coupon"... which people love.

Theoretically, you could then hand the candy bar back out. (Check your local ordinances and laws, blah, blah, blah.)

Dude, that idea is gold... too bad I don't run a gym or am a personal trainer.

Now, even though the idea is gold... it may not be a low budget promotion. However, you could always keep it in mind for the future. Also, something like that might be able to get some local press and generate some local buzz.

Wait, wait, wait... I just made it cheaper. Buy the candy bars already packaged from the store and print the "ad" on sticky backed paper which you then just affix to the candy bar. A little less finished look, but that definitely brings the cost down, I am sure.

Something in my head tells me there is another idea that could be done related to soda cups or something, but the details are less clear.

-Michael

PS I am a little over-weight therefore I am automatically qualified to use the word Tubby. :p

Ideas for marketing a local business:

# 1 Give out forms asking for feedback from all your cilents (do this as an ongoing exercise).

If they give you positive feedback ask if they mind you using the feedback on your website.

If they say yes get a photo and/or video of them and use that on your site as well.

Give each 1-3 testimonials their own page, use a keyword phrase people are likely to search for to title the page.

Name your photos and videos according to related keyword phrases too.

This is a neat way to add a ton of ongoing content to your website that will attract the search engines like a magnet and be filled with keywords your best prospects are looking for.


# 2 If you got video testimonials on an ongoing basis and named those videos according to keyword phrases you can submit them to YouTube and other video sites.

In many cases you'll be coming up on the first page of Google for the keyword phrases you target on YouTube as well as on the website where you embed the videos (embedding the videos on YouTube also gets your pages indexed on Google).


# 3 Use Craigslist ads...tons of Craigslist ads.

And put full sales letters into those ads.

In most cases there's no real length limit on Craigslist ads so tell your whole story...make a full sales presentation.


# 4 Have a lead generating report, video, email course or all of these and follow up by email with special deals, offers etc.

You should be capturing the email addresses (and other contact details) of every one of your clients and following up with useful information, deals etc.

Over time this follow up can create a huge boost in your sales and bring back customers who would normally just forget about you and stop coming.


There are many other strategies you can use too but most of these are fairly simple, more or less free and don't require a lot of skill.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

In my previous "traditional" business days, I would print up some postcard sized pieces (Even Kinkos photocopied cardstock cut in 1/4s when I was real poor!) and drive through the targeted neighborhood I felt held my ideal demographic, drive through it and have my kid stick them in the newspaper boxes attached to the mailbox.

Another great way...

I had a client that owned an outrageously successful Chiropractic Practice and it was only 2.5 years open. I asked her what her secret was. She said that for three months before opening her practice, she knocked on EVERY DOOR within a 5 mile radius of her office, introduced herself, and left a little brochure. Bang! She was busy from day one! To the tune of her second full year open she made $425,000 in 1994!!

If you could do that, offer personalized ONSITE training (if they're wealthy they probably have a home gym) or at your facility of choice, I bet you would see quick business. The onsite offer would also prevent the anxiety of dragging one's fat butt into a gym full of hard bodies!!

Good luck, keep us posted!

Ok, I'll get accused of plugging, but building trust with the local community and monetizing this via the internet is the basis of a guide I'll be putting on a WSO.

It's a simple method to monetize what you know best - your local community and includes:

AdSense Income
Affiliate Sales
Responsive List Building

Might be worth a look when the WSO goes out.

Apologies for the plug - but if you've got it flaunt it.

Thanks

Many thanks

You've hit the nail on the head though - trust. Build trust with your traffic and they become visitors, and visitors convert very well. It's amazing how simple it is to do.

I'll keep you posted on the WSO and thanks once again.

Yes, sorry for the confusion! my first real success meaning this is the first time i have ever created delivered and recieved results from any marketing campoaign.

i did schedule consultations out of the mailing, two very interested prospects want the personal training and the analysis. along with 2 othe rphone calls. but its already potential for 4800 dollars in revenue, and i have a great closing rate in home with trial sessions and fitness analysis.

once people get the kit its promotes our private training and private fitness chef services, but not before giving valuable fitness knowledge and delivering a tested and proven way to revamp your body and your life. the kit basically teachs you everything you need to know to get in shape, and thats the issue were targeting rich busy successful poeple who dont have time to spend 2 hours every day trying to change their body - then we offer the solution by coming and doing for them when its convienient for them!

basically i sent out 300 mildly sales letters to a mildly targeted list. it worked farily well, i was just wondering if there were any other ways. i want to keep mailing my letters but i need a more targeted list.

anyone know of a good broker? perhaps a broker who can get fitness targeted prospects of high affluency?

Here's a couple of ideas for you...

Since you're targeting wealthy individuals on your part of the Gulf coast, don't forget the snowbirds. A lot of those fancy houses sit empty for most of the year, even a couple of years at a time. Go down to the local courthouse, look up the owner of record, and mail an offer to them.

And since (snow)birds of a feather flock together, when funds allow you might want to try a zip code mailing.

Some portion of your target audience is probably still working, so you might want to do lunchtime 'brown bag' events. First, you lead them through a sample training session (non-sweaty), then give them a short lecture/pitch while they eat the lunch they brought with them. They leave with a flier summarizing your talk and an offer for a sample full session and a month's trial of your membership site.

A variation would be to partner with a deli or restaurant to provide box lunches at a nominal cost.

This might tie in well with the "staying strong" theme, and get you ongoing publicity, even if it's only the local events calendars.

Hello Iron Strong. Place a small 20-25 Word Classified Ad In your local Penny Saver in the Health and Fitness section for 4 consecutive weeks. Once you test this ad for 4 consecutive weeks you made want to test in a major newspaper in your area.

Hey,

I had another thought. How about doing a press release? Make it interesting, concise and informative (hint around in it you have an interesting personal story without going off topic).

Submit it to the local newspapers, radio & TV stations. (Jonny Andrews, who is a warrior, here, has a really good package for writing press releases) If you do this right, you will get listed in the newspaper and get offers to do interviews on the radio (and possibly TV), or at the least you'll get free advertising as the commentators mention you at the end of the news broadcast.

These radio interviews are the best (Talk radio, especially...or those morning drive shows where they do music and commentary). The stations are looking for new interesting ways to entertain & inform their listeners. The DJ's are a natural for this kind of thing.

Here's one of those "just poped into my head" thoughts...
Find a popular radio DJ and approach him/her about them doing some training with you and then going on the radio to talk about the experience.

Then it becomes much more personal to the DJ who will talk about how you worked his ass off, how good he feels afterwards, some of the things you had him doing...and like that.

We had a local talk radio personality who went on a weight loss/exercise regimen. He gave weekly updates about how much weight he had lost, how the diet was going, how toned he was getting doing new exercises with his trainer, etc... Then, after reaching his weight goals he still had some lower belly fat that just wouldn't go away, so he had lypo suction and gave us all updates on that, too. And he was giving free plugs for his trainer and lypo sergeon.

Think along those lines and I'm sure you will come up with even more ideas.

You've gotten some good suggestions in this thread, so go bust them out.

If something else strikes me I'll post again.

Adam

Two questions:

Who is your target market? Affluent/wealthy
Where do they hang out? In other words, who has access to them.

Look at getting to them in more personal ways. For example, finding someone who does in-home massage therapy, or asking the buff pool boy (or gardener) to let his clients know he received personal training from you.

Get in touch with someone who does in-home clothing shows or catering or is a private chef --- partner up with them to do in-home presentations (a la tupperware). Imagine having one client get a group of 15 women together to see your presentation on how you could help them as a personal trainer.

Talk to the local golf pro, tennis instructor, supplier of high-end gym equipment.

Get in touch with the local gardening club, bridge club. Go do presentations.

Other leads - domestic workers, alarm/security companies. All of these people are marketing and you may be able to piggy back or do inserts.

Word of mouth is going to work best for you in this market.

And, make sure your photo is on all your marketing materials.

thank yo both very much! very good ideas, as long as i have been doing this i never thought of almost every partnering Op you just listed they are absolutly fabulous!

thank yo all very much. i'll be printing this entire thread and putting it in my marketing planner. feel like i've just had a session with an a-list marketing firm.

thank yo to all the warriors willing to give me their advice and experiences, its invaluable to me!

Don't forget cardiologists. I saw an article a while back that said the two things that motivated middle-aged men to get in shape were divorce and heart attack...