Web Pages in the Fitness Industry
Published on 11/04/09 05:58PM by Thomas PlummerMost web pages in the club industry are just short of so worthless why bother. I am asked often, however, if there are any good ones out there worth looking at and is there any thing you can learn from these sites.
The best site live site right now by my judgment is Goperformanceandfitness.com, a site developed by Jared Kuka for his Go Performance club in Nashville. I often use clips from Jared’s club in this year’s workshop because I feel he has created the next generation training facility that almost any trainer could own in almost any market.
The club is 5000 square feet and embraces many of the principles I think are important in a club, including training men and women the same as athletes, fully functional equipment and performance training, and trainers who are more coach than clip board cowgirl.
The thing that makes his web site so powerful is that it almost entirely video driven, which is a huge step beyond endless copy and still photos. In the world of instant gratification where most people live engrossed in Youtube, Facebook and Twitter, video is the tool of choice and of getting and keeping attention.
The video that is attached to this blog is a strong sample of how good a site can be. The production quality is fantastic, the testimonial aspect is extremely strong (see the last blog on marketing) and most of all who see is and what she is doing is completely believable. Watch her do this and you think immediately that hey, I want to do this too and most importantly, watching her do it proves that a slug like myself, sitting at home eating bags of nasty chips, can get off the couch and get my fat ass moving as well.
One of the common pushbacks I get in the workshops when we discuss group personal training and semi-private training is that this type of workout is fine for someone already in shape but no average person would do this. That is when I show the Sally H. clip and prove that if she can do it, and is happy doing it, then any of your members can do it as well.
Another strong aspect of the site is that the first thing you see is a video that appears in the center of the screen. Immediately you get sucked into the site and the large buttons and mostly video content keep you there. Remember, the longer you stay on the site the more likely you are to take some type of action.
This is also why guys such as Anthony Diluglio do so well with their web sites. He currently has well over a 100 videos on his site and once you get there you need a six-pack of beer and a yellow pad because you will be there for at least an hour and want to take notes. Of course, the longer you stay the more likely you are to buy, which is the whole point of keeping you trapped with great video.
You can also use this type of video in your club at point of sale. For example, you could have a 32” flat screen near your sales area and introduce your prospect to a few of you members by video before you tour. These videos induce the need to move and once you watch a few you will probably tour the club with an entirely different perspective.
Costs vary on these shoots and Jared shot several at once keeping the cost down. If you’re going to shoot these for your club, make sure your folks start with Jared’s site because this is the quality you should be striving for in your work.
Another aspect worth exploring is how Jared does the montage clips of a lot of things going on in his club. These short bursts can get you fired up about working out, introduce you to an entire style of training you might not have ever even seen and the music gets you inspired to watch the clips several times.
These clips should also be part of your Youtube presence and at some point you want to get your own camera and start posting short 30-second clips daily from workouts or other high-energy activities in your club.
One other point about these clips is that if someone goes to your site and sees this type of clip and workout and then visits another club’s typical website, you will win the battle to get someone to visit you first. Keeping this in mind, you should have a large capture on your site, meaning a button that says, “Try us risk free.” The capture is simply a way to get someone to fill out some information in exchange for a guest pass to the club that the potential member can print out himself and bring with him.
Don’t worry, I am back
I received a number of emails concerned that I haven’t blogged in a few weeks. October is typically our worst month when it comes to travel and being out of town and this year was no different with me being home for only about four days. The blogs will resume weekly as always starting with this one. If you have any ideas or questions, post them at the end of this blog and I will start to address the ones that might work for the large group.