How Paul does it:

The biggest benefit to franchising is the enormous amount of information derived from the "Think Tank" of business owners all finding ways to grow the same business model.

Not all things work in all areas, or are even legal in some (there are no billboards allowed in Maine, there are no banners allowed in Columbia MO), anyhow, Paul B. was kind enough to take time away from his family, new businesses and 400 members to tell us how he is growing the first ever NITRO FITNESS franchises.

Here it is, Thanks a bunch Paul


NITRO FITNESS FOR MEN
835 Kennedy Memorial Dr. Oakland, Maine
1174 Lisbon St. Lewiston, Maine
1010 Stillwater Ave. Bangor, Maine


January 26, 2006
Larry Bedell
Nitro Fitness for Men
Lenexa, Kansas
RE: How Nitro Happened in Maine…..
Dear Larry:
Thank you for the opportunity to write this letter explaining how Nitro Fitness is working and growing in Maine. It has been over six months now and we have done many things different and in addition to what the Kansas club has done and I am excited to explain. This is Maine and things happen differently here, but these techniques may be helpful to other clubs in more rural areas as well hopefully.
First of all, we became members of the Chamber of Commerce in each of the three areas we opened. We not only became members, but we became active members showing up to all events and networking. Explaining our business to them and offering the Chamber members a free month to come in and try our facilities. We also offered this benefit to their employees and/or their spouses in the case of female employees. We also made this same offer to all the city employees in the area, such as, policemen, firemen, etc,… This has proven to be, not only a membership benefit, but a community and public relation benefit as well. It is very influential having local firemen and police working out in our facilities. They enjoy the 24 hour access and the relaxed atmosphere Nitro provides. They also know everyone!
Secondly, we get our members involved in our membership drive. We make them feel like it is their club and they need to help us grow it. We give each guy a t-shirt who brings a buddy in, and have also given away hats, mugs, etc,.. because many have brought in more than one buddy. There is always a message board up showing the member count and our goal. Our first goal was the “100 founding members”, then we shot for the 200 count once that was reached. We promised the guys a party when we reached the 200 goal. This was not only fun to see the growth, but it became a contest to try and get more people in. The party has been the talk around the gym and all the guys are joining in the conversation.
There are many different advertising mediums we tried -some worked and some didn’t. I will list them and explain each and the results:
1. Direct mail - we ran several direct mailings (cards) to everyone in the area. One mailing was 19,000 homes. Although the price was not bad (about $1000 per mailing), we had very little results. We will not do it again.
2. Restaurant placemats - We put a small ad in a very busy diner type restaurant in Oakland and for $300, we brought in a couple dozen members from it. I am looking to get into more of these.
3. Grocery receipts- Will never do again.. Even people who shop there didn’t ever see it. No response, waist of money
4. Newspaper- I noticed that this has been the most effective. Unfortunately, you have to put in good size ads to be effective. Spend the extra money and do it right. Also, Monday is the best day to run an ad.
5. Smaller local newspapers- These seem to work okay, the best part about these small weekly or monthly prints is that they are cheap and you can negotiate press releases and stories about your club continuously. We actually have, Nate, our manager/trainer in Oakland write a column every month for 2 of the papers about health and fitness. Of course it is signed at the bottom, Nate Therriault, Trainer, Nitro Fitness.
6. Radio- We had very little success at our first couple radio ads, but when I changed the ad to myself talking about Nitro, we had very good results. I will continue to use some radio on a limited basis. Hype does not work in the ads for our clientele. I have a copy of my radio ad if anyone wants it..
7. TV- We made a 30 sec. commercial and ran it on the local cable stations in Oakland. Fox News and ESPN in the morning and at night. We got a really low price to try it out and it did work pretty well. The price here is comparable to newspaper advertising so we will continue. I did get pricing from other prime stations, but the price per commercial ran around $60 a spot. The cable ran at about $9 a spot.
8. Brochures- This has been the best and lowest cost promotion so far. I had a couple thousand brochures printed up and had them placed in almost every doctor’s waiting room and restaurant waiting area nearby. One thousand brochures only ran about $300 in 2 colors. They look very professional and they work! I can e-mail a copy to anyone interested, Larry has one also.
9. Flyers- This worked very well in the early stages. We placed a flyer in every business nearby for the employees of the business. Some companies actually printed a bunch themselves and handed them out in everyone’s pay check envelope.
10. Direct Business Contact- We called local larger businesses and held an open house just for them. We print banners welcoming them and have them try the club for free.
11. $20 / 2 month trial- This was the BEST promotion yet. We advertised a couple ads in the local paper offering a $20 -2 month trial of Nitro -no obligation. We signed them to a year contract, but told them we would cancel it if after the 2 months they didn’t want to stay. All but a couple stayed and it brought many in. That was our biggest month yet.
12. Trade Shows - I made a back drop out of aluminum diamond plate (Larry has pictures) and use this for trade show display. We have attended a couple so far, one sponsored by a local hospital, and one sponsored by a radio broadcasting station. This works very well. We had several people come in the next day and join. If you keep your eyes open, you’ll notice that there are health shows, medical shows etc,…
So, as of today (Jan. 27th) We have over 60 members in Bangor after 2 weeks, over 120 members in Lewiston (3 months), and over 220 in Oakland (6 months). We will continue to use the most effective tools for advertising, but word of mouth has been the key to our early success. Public relations can’t be over looked. People know Nitro as a place that is different that works. All over town people always tell us that they hear great things about us. That is GOLD!
When I place ads, I always have a testimonial and a picture of a member with their name and signature on it. People notice that month after month, our members are losing weight, dropping medications, feeling better.

Please message me or call anytime, I am here to assist anyone if I can. We are all in this together and our success will bread more success.

Sincerely,


Paul Bernier
Pbernier@nitromaine.com
(207) 487-1108


Give us your ideas of what works for your business or what ideas you have we may not of thought of yet.