Welcome new subscribers   Make your team better tip   The Cost of Interruptions - part II   FREE books for you!   What gets people to visit your website?   Guerrilla Marketing Tip #19   Round Tables - can you afford not to	No Sales = Another Referral Opportunity   Reminder: 3 things for your email   A big year for Justin   Health Clubs & businesses for sale   Lead Box - beat the Feb price rise!   Tool Box - save 5% in January

Welcome New Subscribers

Welcome to all the new people who are reading our email newsletter for the first time! You will find this e-news full of information to help you run your business more efficiently! We love to hear from you, so if you would like any information to be included in a newsletter drop us an email at jt@activemgmt.com.au.

For a full list of all the services the Active Management Team can provide click here.

And if you want to our previous e-mail newsletters click here.

Make Your Team Better Tip

Last month we had several subscribers who really thought outside the box!

They dropped us many emails and told us that they forwarded the Active E-news to all their personal trainers and all their managers! They had 7 days to read the newsletter and then they had a 60 minute meeting to discuss what learning they received from the newsletter.

Their respective emails told me the benefits were:

• Saved them time having to find training material for their Team;
• The articles sparked conversations that were not had previously;
• Provided an opportunity for key people to get there; and
• A motivation tool to having them firing!

Thanks for the awesome feedback everyone in 2007 and we will strive to provide you more quality information in 2008!!

If you want to forward this email to your Team, simply click here. and if this email has been forwarded to you, you must then subscribe to the e-news. So click here. to subscribe!

The Cost of Interruptions - part II

Last month's article provided lots of emails back to us, with a common theme of 'what do we do?' Well here are some specific actions you can take now to minimise interruptions later:

1. Group similar tasks into blocks of activities in order to reduce the time lost to switchover. Do your budgets, your phone calls, your contract reviews, etc., at one time rather than switching between them.
2. Establish meeting "corridors" - establish hours when you're available to meet with with your Team. During emergencies people can disturb you, but this will reduce the non-urgent interruptions. Also consider setting up standard check-in periods during the day for the people with whom you interact the most. If they know they'll get to see you for 10 minutes each morning and afternoon, they'll be more willing to wait.
3. Set "service level agreements" that support your work. With e-mail in particular, there's an assumption that because a message can be sent and received immediately, it must be answered immediately. And, in fact, we've trained people to expect instantaneous response. But more often than not, people don't really need an immediate response. They need a predictable response - within a few hours or within the day.
4. Turn off the automatic e-mail alerts. Even if you don't respond to an e-mail immediately, the very act of reading (or hearing) the alert fractures your concentration. Learn to deal with e-mail in blocks - once or twice a day is ideal, four times a day if you must.
5. Set Blackberry boundaries. Just because you can check your e-mail any time and anywhere doesn't mean that you should. As with your desktop e-mail, aim for predictable, not immediate, response. Set specific times at which you check your Blackberry and communicate this schedule to your staff.

Making these changes can be disruptive, so it's important to inform clients and co-workers in advance. And while these new ways of working may seem odd and cause friction at first, in the long run, they'll make you - and your team - more productive.

Good luck on getting organised in 2008!

FREE Books!

In 2008, we gave away 12 free books to readers of the Active E-news! All these people did was forward this email to their friends and colleagues. This year we will do the same!

Every month we would love to grow our subscriber list, so we will say thank you for forwarding our E-news but putting you in the draw for the monthly book! Just remember, by forwarding the E-news, they are not subscribed. If you want to subscribe them click here.

What gets people to visit your website?

A recent study that was published by E-Marketer, found not surprisingly, the Web surfing habits of boomers and over-60s are more firmly rooted in traditional media than those of their younger counterparts.

The study found that 67% of boomers visited sites after seeing ads on TV or in print. Matures, those between 61 and 75, were just as likely to be driven to the Web by print ads and less likely by TV ads.

Yet these two age groups were less likely than Generation X (25 to 41) or Millennial (13 to 24) to visit the Web as a result of an Internet search engine or ad on another site.

Guerrilla Marketing Tip #19

This month's tip comes the Jay Conrad Levinson, is one close to my heart . . . increasing your price!

Author Lawrence L. Steinmetz says, "If you think you can match or sell below your competitor's prices, you need to understand that you will have an ongoing, lifetime gun battle of survival which, sooner or later, you are going to lose."

The way to increase your profit margins is by becoming the first and only choice for your customer and prospect. That means you negotiate for the work rather than bidding on it. And the sure fire way to do that is to distinguish your business by excelling at customer service.

The way to increase your profit margins is by becoming the first and only choice for your customer and prospect. That means you negotiate for the work rather than bidding on it. And the sure fire way to do that is to distinguish your business by excelling at customer service.

Easy to say but not as easy for you to do, unless you can develop your competitive edge in five areas:

• Competitive, but not necessarily lower, price
• Quality that is unmistakable from the moment of ownership on
• Service that truly does transport customers into a state of bliss
• Marketing that is aggressive, constant and omnipresent in all media
• Delivery of absolutely everything you promised and then more

With a new year, start your strategic plan for differentiating yourself now! But set a date for increasing your price and then you have a dead line for lifting your performance.

Round Tables - can you afford not to?

If you would like to make 2008 different to 2007, 2006 and even 2005, then you have to do something different! If you keep doing the same thing, then you will achieve the same thing!

One way to do this is to challenge yourself and take your business to a new level, and apply to join a Round Table. There are 14 places on each Round Table and no competitors are allowed. It is ideal for the decision maker of the business to come along and learn how to improve your business.

There are several Round Tables you can apply to join:

• Australian Club Owners Round Table - 2 available places
• Australian Personal Trainers Round Table - 6 available places
• Round Table South Australia - 4 places available

To apply to join a Round Table go to www.roundtables.com.au

STOP THE PRESS . . .

Justin is now running the Round Table for Western Australia and launching New Zealand's Round Table, so if you are interested to be foundation members, contact Justin now

No Sales = Another Referral Opportunity

There are several right times to ask for a referral. Every fitness business in the world asks for referral from current members in the first 30 days of their membership and ongoing!

But what if a prospect has not purchased from you.

Maybe your prospect didn't buy from you for a valid reason. But perhaps he or she will recommend your club to someone. In fact, if you did a good job relating to them, that same person may feel guilty about not joining the Club or starting PT.

They can feel better by giving you names and helping you out with other than a purchase. But you won't get it unless you ask -- and the time to ask is after the prospect has said "no."

Reminder: 3 things for your emails

To write a successful email you need 3 key things

1. An incredible subject line. The words you use here determine with people click to open or click to delete.
2. A WIFM opening line of your email. The opening line of your email must have personal benefits to the reader in the first line, as this will determine if they read on. Remember, people care far more about themselves than about your company, so make it about them!
3. Succinct email. Get your message across in the least number of words possible.

A Big Year For Justin

The last 12 months was an awesome year for me where I travelled the world speaking and am very humbled by the opportunities that were presented to me. I did think that 2008 would not be the same but in fact at this stage it looks better:

• January - presenting at WAFIC in Perth, Australia and 2 Round Table meetings;
• February - launching the new Western Australia Round Table
• March - presenting at IHRSA in the general sessions and also to the Chinese delegates
• April - Round Table meeting; presenting at Filex; off to Buenos Aires for the Argentinean Fitness Convention and then up to San Paulo, Brazil for consulting with my friend Edgard at the Bio Ritmo chain of clubs
• May - the launch of New Zealand Round Table with the first meeting
• June & July - second Round Table meetings for the year
• August - FitnessBiz 08 around Australia
• September - back to the UK for Fitpro;
  
• October - third Round Table meetings for the year
• November - presenting at IHRSA Asia Pacific in Shanghai

On top of all that you will find me in my club for the first 6 months of the year a few days a week as my very successful Club Manager, Stacey is off on maternity leave! And most importantly, once I overcome an Achilles injury, I am keen to complete my second half marathon this year.

If you are interested in me doing any work with you and your Team, I would encourage you to drop me an email ASAP, so we can book a time for you. My time is limited and I hate saying no to people, so drop me an email today.

Health Clubs & Businesses For Sale

Here is a list of operations that are currently still on the market:
Pilates Studio, NSW  

• Fully equipped with all pilates equipment
• Long established clientele
• Eastern suburbs of Sydney
• Fantastic opportunity for owner operator
• Training provided
• Reason for sale - opening new studio in the North.
• Price on application

Womens only Club, NSW

• Fully equipped health club
• Newly branded club
• NSW  Central Coast
• Fantastic opportunity for owner operator
• Reason for sale – owners returning to Sydney.
• Approximately $110K or close offer

Mini-Chain, NSW

• North Shore, Sydney
• Two exquisitely appointed clubs in excellent demographics
• Can be purchased together or separately but both are making profit
• Long leases
• Equipment only 1 year old
• Great business to get you started or add on
• Reason for sale – owners having a sea change
• Price is negotiable on application

For more information contact Justin

Lead Boxes: Beat the February Price Rise

We will need to increase the cost of lead boxes in February.  So order them now and save!

To see your lead box options click here

To order your lead boxes click here

Tool Box - save 5% if you order in January.

If you would like us to develop any of the marketing material, simply click on the image and you will get taken directly to the information sheet and the order form.

Birthday card

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Thank you card

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