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Ollie Bailey

Ollie founded Gymcatch in 2015 with the aim of making participation in fitness easier for all.  As founder, Ollie served as CEO since Gymcatch’s inception. He’s currently focused on growing the platform through strategic partnerships, corporate development and growing the team. Prior to founding Gymcatch, Ollie spent 10 years at Barclays, latterly as a Director covering the TMT sector. He gained an MBA with Honours from the University of Chicago in 2013 and higher class honours in Philosophy and International Relations from the University of Bristol. Outside of the office, Ollie enjoys travelling, playing and watching cricket and spending time with his young family.  He supports a number of charities focused on increasing physical participation.

Social media marketing tips for fitness professionals

By Fitness marketing and social archives and news

Social media is an essential tool for fitness professionals looking to grow their fitness businesses. As things stand, social media users already have a massive appetite for all content related to fitness routines and general well-being.

As a business owner, you can’t, therefore, afford to ignore this particular channel when creating your marketing, advertising, and branding strategy. The following is a look at some of the social media marketing tips that you can use to enable you to market your fitness business.

1. Inspire, entertain, and inform

One of the leading reasons why individuals sign up to social media platforms is to get entertained. Other reasons include to be informed about global happenings and to interact with their friends. You have to realize that social media users don’t register to these platforms so that businesses can sell to them.

As such, businesses that are always posting content that has too much “salesy” language will often end-up being bypassed. The key to attracting a sizeable following on social media is to make certain that your content is based around the following three (3) main principles:


I. Inspire: Use social media to share motivation content sourced from other pages or use your pages to showcase the transformation undergone by your members.
II. Inform: Try to educate your audience using valuable details related to nutrition and fitness. You should aim to provide them with advice clearly and concisely so that it becomes easier for them to implement some of these routines at home.
III. Entertain: At times, social media users just want to enjoy themselves. You can provide some entertainment by infusing some of your personality into the content. Aim to distinguish your brand from the serious nature demonstrated by other brands in the fitness industry.

2. Focus on mobile

In your quest to learn how to get popular on social media, you will have no option but to focus on mobile. For many industries today, the main channel of communicating with their target clients is through the use of mobile phones.

According to a recent study commissioned by Smart Insights, tablets and mobile phones were the main devices used by people in the hours outside their normal working days. Business owners need to engage with their target clients during these particular hours. The study also established that a majority of users spent a large chunk of their time on different phone applications.

Your brand needs to be active on Instagram and Facebook. The two social networking platforms have been seen to be the most efficient when it comes to advertising a fitness business. In addition to this, you can also consult with your web developer to ensure that the brand’s website is properly optimized for mobile. You also need to look into how you can integrate a fitness business booking and management system. Integrating this type of system will help you save time by reducing the overall amount of time you spend on repetitive tasks. You also get to boost your revenue stream, enhance customer experience, and communicate much more easily with your audience.

3. Exercise patience and post frequently

A common reason why many fitness business owners don’t succeed in digital marketing is that they lose hope easily. Many business owners start to give up after only having tried marketing their business online for a couple of weeks. The reason for losing hope is because the brand owners expect to start seeing results as soon as they have launched an advertising campaign.

However, what you need to understand is that the process of growing your online presence isn’t a sprint, but is more similar to running a sprint race. What’s even worse is that some brands opt to purchase fake followers on platforms such as Instagram and Twitter. Anyone who has ever tried this will tell you that it doesn’t end well for the brand.

Buying fake followers means that in theory, you will have hundreds or even thousands of people viewing your posts; but not all will engage with the posts you make. This is because the audience isn’t organic. Your posts will, therefore, end up with very few clicks and shares. There’s also the possibility that you could get into trouble with the platform administrators
Instagram and Twitter have been actively cracking down on individuals, influencers, and fitness brands that have resorted to purchasing fake followers. So instead of choosing the ‘easier’ route, you should aim to at least post 3-5 times each week on all the platforms your brand has an active presence.

The following is a quick guide on what your brand should post online:
• Post nutrition advice which can be in the form of an image, blog post, or video
• Share an article or newsletter that is relevant to the fitness industry
• Post a workout tutorial that can again be in the form of an image, blog post, or video
• Post two pictures or videos of your weekly classes
• Share your timetable for the week

4. Don’t underestimate the power of an advertisement

Instagram and Facebook Ads are the most recommended marketing and advertising option for small fitness studios looking to advertise via the internet. The two methods are highly recommended because they are affordable compared to other forms of traditional and online advertising.
Also, a large percentage of the population today spends most of their free time on the two platforms. Look at it this way, Instagram has more than 800 million active monthly users, while Facebook has more than 2.2 billion active monthly users. A major benefit of using the two platforms is that you can create custom ads targeted to a specific audience.

If you would like to target different market demographics, you could also choose to run a wider selection of advertisements. Ensure that you have a separate creative copy as well as a copy that is customized to your specific demographics. Doing this provides you with a considerable advantage as opposed to relying on the one-size-fits-all criteria.

Whenever you are creating ads for use on Instagram and Facebook, make sure to keep the following in mind:
• Only use high-quality images and video: Digital marketers have predicted that video content will make up around 80% of all internet traffic by the year 2021. It is, therefore, important that you start looking into how you can implement video advertisements into your online digital marketing strategy.
• A/B Test all your social media Ads: A/B testing should continue until you have fully determined which combination of creative and copy provides the best results. It’s possible to do this using the official Facebook Ad Manager. The manager has also provided users with an easy-to-follow guide on how to go about the testing.
• Create a dedicated landing page: This is probably the most important aspect of running any social media campaign. You need to provide your audience with somewhere to go once they are done clicking through the fitness advert that you have provided. Your landing page should also have a clear CTA (Call to Action) inviting users to sign up for that particular promotion.
Come up with a promo for your advertisement campaign that provides value: A good example of this could be something like ‘Sign up by 4 pm on Tuesday to get 3 Free Introductory Classes.’
Remember that lead generation is an important factor in achieving success for any business in the fitness industry.

5. Good images and high-quality video is key

Whether you’re creating content for use in paid adverts or to help you generate organic content, you will need to make use of high-quality images and videos. Below is a look at what you have to do:

Images

Make sure that all your images are as visual as possible. Any text used with the image should be kept at a minimum. When it comes to paid adverts, platforms such as Facebook often implement a 20 percent rule. This is because it favors ad images that don’t have a lot of text. The aim here is to ensure that the users have a high-quality experience.

When the ad image has too much text on it, Facebook will typically show the image to as few people as possible. In the long run, this means that your ad will not be as efficient as you would have liked. The Facebook Text Overlay Tool will help you ensure that the text you have used in the ad doesn’t surpass the 20% rule.

Video

All your fitness videos have to be short and straight to the point. Research from Facebook suggests that when it comes to paid advertising, forty-seven percent of the true value of a Facebook Ad is seen in the first three seconds of a video. The same research goes ahead to note that 74% of its value is seen in the first ten seconds.

When it comes to the audio aspect, you are encouraged to assume that many users (85% to be precise) will opt to watch the video with no sound. What this means is that your fitness brand has to look for ways to help it pass its message along without necessarily having to use audio. You can think about using captions in the place of audio.

6. Build online fitness communities

When it comes to social media marketing, your fitness business should aim to create a fitness community. It’s possible to achieve this by implementing two simple, but highly efficient strategies:

I. Create Groups: Facebook comes in handy for fitness businesses looking to create closed groups for their gym or studio members. You can then proceed to create a page where members can interact with one another and get to build relationships that extend beyond the gym.
II. Using a Hashtag: Hashtags are quite effective when used on Instagram. You can come up with a hashtag that is specific to your fitness gym or studio and which will assist you to spread the word about your fitness routines and brand. Often, people share social media pictures of them attending a specific gym in a bid to show off to their followers and friends on these platforms.

Hashtags assist in increasing the visibility of your content. Any person interested in that particular topic will be able to view it with ease. The most popular types of hashtags used by fitness businesses are the brand-specific hashtags, trending hashtags, and content hashtags.

Once you’ve got all the client enquires coming through, you’ll want to make sure you have a good fitness management software. That’s where Gymcatch can help you, get in contact with us today.

Gymcatch partners with HFE to deliver booking and management tools to their instructors

By Fitness business management archives and news, Fitness industry archives and news
HFE

Gymcatch is proud to be partnering with HFE to provide their instructors industry-leading booking and management tools.

HFE is the one of the UK’s leading providers of personal trainer courses and fitness qualifications including exercise to music, yoga, Pilates and sports massage. For them, it’s less the qualification that maters, but more what their instructors become in the process. They challenge each and every student to ‘become more’, to go out into the industry and truly change lives.

To make this to happen they run practical training at over 35 nationwide venues including London, Manchester, Glasgow, Cardiff and Birmingham.  This is backed up by unlimited support from a dedicated tutor and access to a bespoke online learning system which includes exclusive video lectures delivered by leading doctors, physiotherapists, nutritionists and dietitians.

Speaking about an exciting new partnership with Gymcatch, HFE’s Marketing Manager Josh Douglas-Walton had this to say:

“We never have a shortage of companies and organisations wanting to work with us and because of this we have the luxury of being able to handpick our partnerships. One of the most important things for us is that any potential partner embodies of ethos of helping our students and graduates become more. What’s clear with Gymcatch is they can do just that. They have the ability to cater for our wide spectrum of graduates, from personal trainers to group exercise instructors, and with an incredibly impressive feature-set, it’s going to be a very exciting a few weeks, months and hopefully years working together.”

Ollie Bailey, Gymcatch CEO, commented:

“We’re delighted to be parting with HFE. It’s been clear in our discussions that they really care about their community and focus on offering a holistic approach to entering and thriving within the industry. We look forward to supporting this approach and their members in the future.”

For more information on Gymcatch yoga studio software and how it can help with your yoga, pilates and sports massage business, get in contact to book a demo.

Delivering virtual gym classes: It’s so much easier than you might think

By Corporate, Fitness business management archives and news, Fitness marketing and social archives and news

From a cycling class to a high-intensity class, virtual gym classes give customers the flexibility they need to workout whenever and wherever they are, making them more accountable for their own fitness progress. Virtual gym classes have been a fixture for many fitness and wellness businesses for some time. But with isolation rules being imposed across the world, many health and fitness professionals are exploring virtual and online classes for the first time. 

The good news is that demand for virtual workouts for all fitness levels is absolutely enormous!

For some fitness businesses, virtual gym classes will provide a practical stop-gap to continue to provide fitness classes through the challenges of social distancing when studios have to close. 

For other studios and professionals Coronavirus will mark a watershed and virtual yoga, Pilates, dance and other group fitness classes will become a fixture in fitness business’s schedule. We predict that while virtual training will never replace in-person sessions, for certain disciplines, the convenience of being able to join sessions from your living room means that demand online health and fitness will be here to stay. For exercise businesses, this is a fantastic opportunity. 

The great news is that most of what you need to deliver a virtual fitness studio are free or very inexpensive, and it can all be done using equipment you’ve already got. 

How virtual classes work

Broadly speaking there are two options: 

  1. You can deliver pre-recorded online sessions
  2. You can deliver live-streamed classes

Pre-recorded virtual workouts

Pre-recorded virtual sessions are perfect when you’re delivering one-way content. You can’t react to your clients but what a pre-recorded workout class does mean is that you can be really precise. You can record your content and use simple editing software to edit and refine your content so that when it’s made available to your clients it is perfect. So if you teaching something that requires real precision this might be the way to go. 

There is also the time and efficiency benefit of creating a pre-recorded session. Once you’ve done it you can make it available and it can be used (and sold) multiple times. So if you are teaching a course and you want clients to be able to consume the content in their own time, this might be the way to go. 

Suggested video technology:

Suggested editing suites:

Live streaming workouts

In other scenarios, there is no replacement for that live experience. Whether it’s virtual personal training or tuition or online group exercise classes or boot camps there is simple, inexpensive technology to stream virtual workouts.

This solution means that you deliver live classes over the internet to an invited audience who can join in from wherever they are. 

These virtual classes can be one way: whereby you get on with delivering the exercise and your clients follow your instructions. You can also set up two-way online sessions where your client or clients turn on their cameras and you can provide real-time feedback. 

Suggested technology for live virtual classes:

Online bookings and payments

You’ll need a booking system for virtual fitness classes. Because you can’t run the register or take payment in person, online payments are going to be necessary. For some exercise businesses, this might mean using a gym booking software for the first time. 

Make sure your system has specialist tools for virtual fitness classes. This means that only clients that have booked will get access to the log in details for the virtual gym class. This will keep your classes secure and protect your revenue and also save you a huge amount of time because you don’t need to contact each client individually to give them the log in details. 

Taking online payments though a booking system for your fitness business is simple, safe and secure for you and your clients.

Safety

Give some consideration to any safety issues that might arise if you are giving virtual exercise. Do you need to alter and collect variants of your normal waivers and consents? Are there any practical instructions that you should be asking your clients to take before they join one of your online fitness classes? If you need to collect new waivers, your online fitness booking system should have the facility to help you collect this in the booking process.

Whether it’s a short-term fix or a long-term strategy, virtual gym classes are a fantastic opportunity for yoga, pilates, group exercise and personal trainers to show resilience through this challenging time.  

Community value 

If it is possible for your fitness or exercise business to deliver virtual or online classes this will not only help your business through a difficult time but it will also make a huge contribution to the health and wellbeing of the population when people need your expertise, energy and support so acutely. 

If you have any questions on how you can take your classes online our team here at Gymcatch will be very happy to help. Just drop us an email at hello@gymcatch.com or check out how our online fitness services.

How to grow your fitness business

By Fitness marketing and social archives and news

The fitness industry has changed over the past years as it gains popularity and global expansion. Competition is also increasing at an alarming rate; thus, the possibility of acquiring new and retaining regular clients is higher. However, you can learn how to grow your fitness business if you follow the guidelines below.

Provide high-quality fitness content

Are you so concerned about how to grow your fitness business? Start by offering your clients things that they didn’t expect when they signed up. It’s time to market yourself by delivering exceptional value. Offer them free and relevant fitness educational content through social media platforms like Instagram or Facebook. You can also create instructional YouTube videos and avail the links to your clients or include health and fitness blogs on your webpage. Be as creative as possible, to over-deliver and surprise your clients; it will help you market your expertise.

Create excellent service with better experiences

You need to create transformations in your client’s lives who come to your fitness enterprise seeking change. If you sell a positive outcome, you will get more loyal clients, revenue up and total transformation for your firm. You must offer excellent personal training services by dedicating your time to creating the best possible solutions which offer great value to your clients.
To acquire and retain customers, you need to find out their wants and needs, then use your expertise and knowledge to deliver. You can opt for semi-private training sessions to meet your client’s requirements since their transformation is a clear representation of your work and can market you effectively.

Build networks

If you focus on building excellent relationships, by striving to change lives, your business will grow naturally. You need to reach out to others both on and off social media since building networks and supporting other fitness personnel can amount to substantial success. Also, attend fitness conferences locally and interact with other trainers in the industry.
Be smart and committed since the more you interact, the more you reach more potential clients. Outsource as many things as you can from others by joining the online fitness networking groups to link with many experienced and like-minded personnel.

Opt for social media marketing

The most frequently asked question by many well-being trainers is how to improve fitness business. Today, people spend most time logged into their social media accounts; thus, this is the key to your business’ growth. Establish your presence as an excellent fitness trainer using great tools to maximize your linkage through Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
Build loyal followers base on these platforms with robust actions and high-quality photos. You need to remain extra active on your social media accounts by participating in relevant discussions, providing training tips, and following up on recommendations from existing clients.

Advance your knowledge

Take care of yourself first by advancing your skills as a professional fitness trainer and get certification from your local organisations. It will help you offer better services and boost your brand, since investing in your education will record tremendous growth. Be consistent in seeking knowledge; today, you can learn too much from other fitness websites and YouTube channels to obtain significant value. Remember that you must remain constant in seeking fitness skills and the moment you stop learning, your business stops growing.

Show off your results

Come up with strategies to ensure that other people know of your great results, by selling out what you can do for a client. You can use testimonials; for instance, show your clients an example of a person similar to them who has obtained success from your firm to gain credibility and trust. Word of mouth campaigns remains to be the best way your fitness business can increase brand reputation. Come up with a program, which will entice your happy clients to give referrals to their friends and colleagues. You can give them incentives or reward them when they refer a new client.

Come up with a clear website

If you didn’t develop a website when starting your business, come up with one now. Ensure that it is easy to manoeuvre with precise details of your services, contact information, price packages, customer reviews, and fitness images where possible. Make sure that your logo and any industrial affiliations are well displayed to make it memorable and to build trust. Also, utilise search engine optimisation techniques to increase the visibility of your website to generate more traffic. If new clients use Google to look for fitness places, then your business will come on top, and they will also enjoy the user experience as they browse on your site.

If you don’t have the time to create a site, Gymcatch can also provide you with a web page which you can use to promote your business on various platforms.

Build a strong brand

You probably have a logo, colours, and brand identity to your business, but that is not enough to stand out among your competitors. Think about what your customers are saying about the services as this is the authentic branding of your venture. Ensure that your clients receive value for the money and time they have invested, and they will remain loyal. You can try and personalise training plans by catching up with them on some sessions, and this will make a difference compared to other ventures elsewhere.

Put your clients’ needs first

Every business looks at its profits at the end of the day, well, for a fitness venture, you have to make your clients’ health and happiness the priority to achieve that goal. Make your customers experience the core of your business, and your clients will spread the word. You may have vast experience as a trainer, but through excellent service of making your customers healthier and fit, they will see the impact in their lives. Your clients will see the advantage of choosing your services, and they will end up marketing your business on your behalf.

Track your progress and make adjustments

Keeping in mind that you had a well laid out plan before you ventured into the fitness business, check if there are any noticeable improvements. It helps you to ensure that you are hitting the numbers to accomplish your goal before it’s too late to recover. It is, therefore, vital to come up with an excellent plan and do a weekly recap instead of waiting till the end month. Whenever you find gaps, implement a contingency plan early enough and avoid more errors.

Conclusion

It will be helpful if you implement the above tips to increase your customer base and achieve high retention levels which will result in business growth. It’s good to note that the success of your enterprise doesn’t entirely depend on generating more leads you need a combination of the above factors to create realistic strategies and to create a powerful growth system.

To help push your business to the next level don’t forget to check out Gymcatch fitness management software.

How to create appointment confirmation emails for your fitness clients

By Fitness business management archives and news, Fitness marketing and social archives and news

Clients anticipate appointment confirmation emails from their gyms or fitness instructors. This effort may seem minor, but it signals to them that you think of them and care enough about their experience. It is one of the proven ways for helping you avoid no-shows, and also heightens your credibility in terms of excellent customer service.

Each time a customer makes a booking online, the first personalised communication they receive is your appointment confirmation. You can make it more meaningful and appealing by adding extras such as rescheduling opportunities if needed, a thank you note and relevant links.

A great confirmation email is an excellent first impression and must, therefore, be created professionally. If you are looking for insights on how to confirm a fitness appointment, you are on the right page. Here, we tell you how to do it right and explain what to include and why.

 

When to send and what to include in a confirmation Email

Imagine sending out an appointment email to a client and failing to receive their confirmation? On the day of the appointment, they fail to show up, leading to wasted time and money. This time would have otherwise been slotted to a meeting with a different client. This is why the confirmation of appointments matters.

A confirmation email should be timely, informing your clients of your scheduled plan. It should include a summary of the activities, applicable amount and when the meeting will take place. As soon as the clients books an appointment, send the confirmation email.

If the appointment is booked in advance, send a reminder email at least 24 hours before the meeting. Focus on the time, date and place. Consider automating your confirmation appointment email through Gymcatch software.

 

What different emails might look like

For the new customers, you might want to emphasise on the venue and what they should bring. Attach online forms for them to fill and send back; this will save time. Take time also to send them an itinerary of your services.

For your returning clients, use CRM to track their history. This will help in creating a personalised email. They will appreciate it when you communicate about their skill level and advanced lessons you could offer.

When it comes to marketing, sending out the email right after the fitness lesson goes a long way. This is an excellent way of making them come back. Here is what you should include:

 

A subject line

This is the most crucial detail in an appointment. Here, begin with the words ‘appointment confirmation’ in bold. Be sure to structure your email being careful to highlight the time and the date of the appointment. This ensures that each time your client opens their email box, they will be reminded of the appointment. Because you want to ensure that these details stand out, take a good look at an appointment confirmation template to get the gist of what great formatting looks like.

 

The service provider

Who will the client be meeting? Include this in the description area. That means including the name and the title of the staff. Every important detail about the staff member must feature, such as the address, phone number and any other helpful information the client may need to contact them.

 

The type of appointment

A fitness provider must itemise the booked services. Give enough detail to bring confusion to a minimum. Sometimes, clients forget the details of their appointment and why it was booked.

 

Location

Even with an address, it is professional to embed a map or link your location to a map. This will make it easy for your clients to find you. If in the past customers have had trouble finding you even with the help of a map, link up to a landmark and request clients to call you as soon as they approach it. If the fitness appointment will take place virtually, link up chats and webinars.

 

The cancellation policy

Your fitness business should have a cancellation policy. As soon as a client pays in advance, including the fee and your cancellation policy. Make the policy clear to ensure that it does not interfere with your workflow.

When sending out these emails, make them short and precise. Clarity is a signal of credibility and professionalism. Lengthening it leaves the most crucial details in the dark. Remember, your clients don’t want to keep scrolling through long texts with a lot of irrelevance. You could also create your emails with your branding to make the message appear as though it is coming from you and not from an automation system.

Go the extra mile and include a personal message, something like, ‘Hello Mr. Wilson, sorry we are running a little late, not more than half an hour.’ this sounds professional, unlike a message reading ‘your appointment will be late.’

For all your clients, remember to thank them and include a brief welcome note to the new clients. Most businesses forget this part, so remembering to add it makes you stand out.

 

Make the email part of your branding

When creating your confirmation email, map out your customer experiences. What do they already know about you, and how did they find you? Are there particular links they used to make the appointment and what information might they be looking for?

Every marketer will tell you that sending out confirmations via email is part of marketing and can help you with customer retention when done right. In that case, like in all your marketing strategies, including your brand complete with the logo, images, fonts, and colours.

Be sure that the tone used in messaging matches your brand. In fitness, for instance, your email should communicate fun. Make it vibrant and cheerful just as your website. However, maintain a visual hierarchy. This means ensuring that the most important details stand out. You could, for instance, highlight them or use a different colour to attract the reader to it. Remember to make your content friendly to all versions, including a mobile device. Images and other special elements must be formatted in a certain way to be legible in all devices.

When creating a confirmation message for your clients, always stick to professional communication and the principles of your business. Make it brief, straight to the point, prompt and concise. Your clients will find such an email very helpful.

Gymcatch believes that great things happen when everyone has easy access to exercise. For that reason, we create easy to use, affordable tools that help our customers manage their businesses, allowing them to do more of what they do best- bring exercise to their community. While taking all the effort of creating and a confirmation email out of your hands.

 

Dance studio advertising: How to draw in more clients

By Dance, Fitness marketing and social archives and news

You have a beautiful dancing studio, and your primary concern is how to attract a substantial client’s base. Running a successful studio requires excellent work since the competition is tight, and you are not only competing with other dance studio owners but also with every other fitness and leisure ventures in your area. Here are dance studio advertising ideas that could be helpful.

Use social media to gain clients

In this digital era, people spend most of their time on several social media platforms. You can use the platforms to make people aware of your schedules, special classes, and to provide other relevant information. Note that social media management is an art that requires great mastery to bring out business success. First, determine your target groups to decide the platforms you need to use. For the younger generation, use Instagram, but Facebook is a popular option for their parents. To reach millennials, use YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, or twitter.

The key here is consistency and ensure that your platforms are always active in providing consistent information about your brand. Update your pages with the latest news to entice returning visitors. Also, share high-quality photos of your studio sessions, clear audio, and stable visuals and share promotional links on your platforms.

Plan an open house

Introduce your business to the world by allowing your potential customers to walk into your studio and meet people behind studio dances. Let them gauge what you have to offer and see the spaces they will be dancing from. Interact with them by answering their questions, offering demonstrations, performances, and easy lessons.

Keep in mind that fostering a human connection is one of the most important marketing ideas for dance studios. Run open house sessions and allow your current students to bring along their friends and family for a fun dancing time together. It is a great chance to encourage enrollment by offering discounts and gifts for already registered students.

Uphold email marketing

Sending direct mails is a compelling way to deliver relevant information and reminders to your clients as you attract other potential customers. However, you need to come up with great mail strategies to ensure that you provide informative content to avoid spam. You can resend the mail to those who didn’t open it or send reminders to those who missed out.

Keep the message short and clear with attractive email design and include your brand logo. Also, ensure that you include a call to action to advertise a new class session, to attend an event, register or get more information.

Use print media

You may be relying heavily on digital marketing methods, but you still need some traditional techniques. Give flyers to your clients, both new and existing, and encourage them to share with their friends. Post some around town, and take others to areas where your potential clients hang out. Ask a few local shops if you can leave some flyers or brochures there and display others on supermarket community boards. You can also extend to the local newspaper to increase the coverage.

Offer discounts and promotions

It’s evident that people like getting free hampers; thus, the main dance studio advertising idea is giving out discounts. Give your clients a certain percentage off a given number of lessons such that they won’t pay the whole amount or give them a free experience. Make sure that you impress everyone since anyone who walks through your door is a potential client.

During registrations, offer free give away items or an incentive on the registration fee to those who pay the whole amount. Come up with referral codes for your existing customers so that they can get a discount when referring their friends. You can also take advantage of the school holidays and hold a promotional event to attract new students.

Develop a website

Think about those potential customers who may be searching for new dance studios on the internet. If you have a good website for your studio, the chances are that your target clients will reach you easily. You should, therefore, come up with a website to do your marketing and utilise search engine optimisation to generate substantial traffic. Create web integration and ensure that your searchers have a seamless experience on the site. Include your location, type of instructor offered, studio name, and contacts to convince your potential customers that you stand out in this venture, and they will be a click away.

If this sounds all like a lot of work, set up a Gymcatch account and we can get web page live for you which can be shared across various platforms.

Participate in dance competitions

Do you want to show the world that you offer the best dance classes? Take advantage of the dance competitions that may be happening around and showcase your potential to target customers. Ensure that your established dancers are on top of their game and develop winning routines in both group and solo events.

Give your team beautiful attires which clearly show your logo, dance name, and location. Ask your other dancers to invite their friends to watch the rehearsals and competitions. You can also opt for free dance performances, which will attract large crowds’ attention.

Visit schools

Schools have a lot of potential customers; thus, establish a relationship with the tutors in schools, daycare centres, and youth centres by making them aware of your studio. Request them to inform their friends and parents about your venture. Give them some leaflets or brochures of your services, location, and contacts to help spread the word.

You can also teach some dance styles, if possible, to entice them and make them want to be your next clients. Ask the school administration if they hold dance competitions where you can showcase your talents and leave them with your studio contacts.

Team up with local businesses

Visit other companies around you that relate to your venture to reach out to an extensive customer base. They could be athletic clothing shops, dance supply shops, and dance shoe stores. Ask them to post your flyers at their store and post theirs at your studio for mutual benefits.
Team up with them to hold joint promotions where you can reach more potential clients. Don’t be afraid to partner with those that are not complementary like restaurants; ask them to hang a poster during peak seasons.

The demand for great dance classes is high, and the above tips will help you market your studio, making it attractive. However, you need to dedicate your time and effort to pull new customers into your studio and help them stay forever by providing the best experiences for all ages. Create an environment where various types of individuals can learn and grow by ensuring that your entertainment type suits your target demographic.

To push your dance studio business even further check out dance management software features.

Fitness centre business plan: Push your business to the next level

By Fitness marketing and social archives and news

If you are looking for funding for your fitness studio from financial institutions, individual lenders, or established investors, then having a solid business plan is essential. A business plan is a fundamental document that sets out the goals of an organisation, available resources, and how specified objectives should be achieved. The document also highlights various strategies employed to achieve business objectives and the timeline within which they should be met. If you have intentions to push your fitness centre to the next level, you must understand the various components that will define your business plan. This article captures details of everything that you should know when drafting a business plan.

Defining a business plan

A business plan is defined as a formal document that acts as the roadmap for an organisation. Fundamentally, a business plan shows how your company operates, its success path, and predictions on the future of the business. In most cases, a business plan will comprise of the following elements:

  • Company description
  • Executive summary
  • Products and services
  • Financing
  • Market analysis
  • Organisational structure and staffing
  • Marketing plan

Benefits of having a business plan for a fitness studio

Essentially, there is no problem working without a business plan. However, for a fitness studio, with a business plan, you stand an opportunity to leverage the benefits that come with such a plan. Here is an overview of some of the benefits of working with a fitness centre business plan.

1. Awards

While this might not be the most sought-after benefit of a business plan, entrepreneurial awards have become quite popular across the globe. Such awards include investment capital, grants, and mentorships. Whether you are awarded for being the best entrepreneur or the best innovation, you will need a business plan as part of the requirements in the application process.

2. Planning

Having the clarity of ideas for your fitness centre put in writing is one of the key advantages of having a business plan. The plan helps you to understand the scope of operation of your gym as well as knowing the resources and workforce you need to keep your business on the move. This will also help you in your gym brand future expansion plans. You can refer to your written plan each time you want to make progress to your fitness centre.

3. Draft of ideas

When planning to improve your fitness and gym services, you are likely to have a pool of ideas. This is why you need a business plan, which enables you to have rough drafts of all your ideas under one document. With these rough drafts, you can manage to identify the ideas with the highest likelihood of success.

4. Enhanced research

A fitness centre business plan outlines the essential factors necessary for the success of the business. These factors include the source of funding, market analysis, resources needed, cost of facilities, and the existing market competitors. A business plan enables you to run effective research on these factors, giving you informed insights on the best approaches to adopt for the success of your fitness centre.

Elements of a business plan for a fitness studio

This guide gives an overview of some of the fundamental features of a business plan.

Company description

This element of the business plan highlights why you have chosen to be in the business of fitness, and the solutions the company offers to its clients. The company description of your fitness centre will include the organisation’s history, core values, objectives, and strengths. If you are new in the fitness industry, then you might want to address your professional achievements in this section.

Executive summary

The executive summary is the initial thing that readers of your business plan interact with before perusing through the entire document. An executive summary is basically a brief overview of your fitness centre business plan. It must be brief and concise, outlining a description of your business, market needs for the fitness industry, and how your gym will address those needs. The fitness studio’s mission statement is also highlighted here. When writing this section, you must have the reader in mind. Avoid using fitness jargon here, unless you are giving definitions for used terms.

The essence of the Executive Summary section is to outline every element captured throughout the business plan that will be sufficient to create an appealing first impression. Other elements to indicate in your Executive Summary may include the following:

  • Description of your fitness centre.
  • A brief outline of your company’s history, location, staff, and organisation structure.
  • Fitness services and related products offered by your fitness centre.
  • Financial goals achieved by your business.
  • Financial projections for the next three to five years.
  • Goals that your fitness studio intends to achieve and the resources needed to achieve them.
  • Future growth plans for your business.

Market analysis

The market analysis section highlights the research of key elements that contribute to the success of your fitness centre. These factors include your competition, market, and industry.

Competition

Your fitness centre operates in an environment controlled by other fitness players. It is essential to highlight who your competitors are and how your business stands out from the competition. How are your products and services different from those offered by your competitors? How do you intend to leverage the predicted growth in the industry against the increasing number of fitness service providers?

Market

This section is also to address the fitness studio’s target market. How will your business meet the needs of the growing demand in the expanding fitness industry? Is your company offering solutions to your local market? If you are using Facebook to market your fitness centre, how are the Facebook Audiences Insights playing along?

Industry

Your business plan must address the industry within which your fitness studio is operating, as well as show demand for your business in line with the industry’s characteristics.

Products and services

This section of your fitness centre business plan is where you indicate the services and products that your business is selling to its clients. Here you can talk about your membership plans, personal training, yoga training, pilates training sessions, and other gym services. You can also address your courses, packages, and offers.

Financing

The financing section comes towards the end of the business plan. However, if you are looking for funds to start or expand your fitness studio, then this is one of the most critical sections of the document. You will need to capture your documents that show your financial status as a fitness centre, including balance sheets, cash flow statements, income statements, and cost analysis. In this section is where you also address your financial projections for the next three to five years. This section enables financiers to have a snapshot of financial goals that your fitness centre intends to achieve.

Organisational structure and workforce

This section shows how people involved in your fitness studio are organised, including shareholders, stakeholders, managers, directors, and the subordinate staff. You will also need to indicate the type of employees your business will be hiring to enhance your expansion and their designated roles towards the success of your fitness studio.

Marketing plan

This is a critical section. It addresses how you intend to get your brand to the target market. You will be increasing your brand visibility through your marketing plan. The only way customers will come to you is when they know where you are and what you do. In this section, you will indicate all the traditional and modern marketing methods your fitness centre will adopt to reach out to potential customers. Market experts recommend a highlight of the following elements in your market plan:

  1. Product – These are the items your fitness centre sells to its clients, including memberships, classes, personal training sessions, and other courses.
  2. Place – Your business will only attract more customers if more people know where you are situated. This aspect of the marketing plan captures details of the location of your fitness centre. This also involves highlighting how you will create an online presence for your business.
  3. Promotion – You will need various marketing strategies to attract online and physical traffic to your fitness centre. These strategies should be well outlined in your marketing plan.
  4. Price – The cost of the services and products featured in your fitness studio must be clear to your customers. Make your prices available for the various fitness packages in your fitness centre. This is the best way to beat the competition in the industry.

Appendix

This is typically the final section of a business plan. The appendix captures the essential documents and data that support your business plan. Such documents include and are not limited to the following:

  • Permits and lease documents for your fitness centre.
  • Market research reports.
  • Your CVs and resumes, as well as those of your staff and trainers.
  • Credit reports.
  • Business contracts and agreements with your fitness clients or vendors.
  • Licenses that support your fitness business.
  • Contact details for advisors, accountants, attorneys, and other third parties.
  • Graphs, charts, and tables that support information captured in other sections of your fitness centre business plan.
  • Product packaging samples and illustrations of services offered by your fitness studio.

Beat your competition

A mix of the right tools and a competitive business plan are key determinants in the success of your fitness centre. If you are looking for the right tools to manage your fitness centre, connect with your customers, and facilitate bookings or payments, then Gymcatch is your ideal partner.

For more information on Gymcatch yoga studio software and how it can help with your booking, admin and marketing. Get in contact to book a demo or start a free trial.

How to get personal training clients fast

By Fitness marketing and social archives and news

There is no secret formula for recruiting more personalised training customers for your company, but you might be more successful with a versatile approach. In other terms, a range of techniques is likely to function better than using only a single or two approaches. Here are some ways of how to get personal training clients fast:

1. Have a positive attitude

The primary step in attracting more clients to personal training is to develop the right attitude. It might sound cheap, but it is the best method in case you want to make the most of your business!

In case you do not believe us, picture something you want to buy. If you had planned to visit a shop and communicate with a sales consultant who somehow seemed indifferent or hateful, you would feel awkward during the transaction process if you weren’t completely discouraged.

However, in regards to personal training, your customers don’t just buy you a product. They pay to spend some time with somebody who motivates and inspires them and guides them to achieve their fitness objectives.

Meaning that a horrible attitude is likely to cost you your potential customers, rather than postponing some of them. When the competitive market is high because of the large amount of PT out there, you should be at the top of the game!

In any case, working as a private trainer is a career-focused on communication, so you ought to enjoy working together with others. You must be friendly and amicable and do your best to be courteous to potential customers. We are not saying it is easy to smile at work every day, but it will surely assist when it comes to learning how to get more personalized training clients.

Trust is also essential because it looks and stands out authentically. You need to make sure that your facial jargons fit the conversation you have with the gym members, or you risk appearing insincere.

2. Build a good rapport

Buying from persons and in a business where you effectively sell ‘yourself’ and your skills, the ability to build a relationship is invaluable.

Building a good relationship as you get closer to a potential customer is a must. Thus hitting them right away with your sales pitch is the wrong way. When enrolling customers from the gymnasium floor, you naturally have to act.

3. Start blogging and email marketing

It’s great to try if you’re a personal trainer looking for more clients to turn to email and content marketing.

It might sound strange if you are not familiar with any of these things or if you use digital media to promote yourself in general, but fear not! It is not as complex as it echoes.

To provide you with a sample of what is meant by email and content marketing, let’s begin with the “content” section. It is also called blogging and it is a very effective (and quite fun) technique to market your services like a PT.

The blog is not only incredibly well designed (beautiful and simple), it is also optimised for search engines. The posts focus on keywords like “lose abdominal fat” and “cure hip, knee, and low back pain” and exciting topics that prospective customers need to hear about.

When it comes to topics to focus your content on, the keywords related to physical fitness are endless. You can combine a good combination of personal training themes with exercise guides etc. to drive traffic (and leads) to your site.

4. Create your business niche

Choosing a speciality is a smart career change in regards to getting clients as a personal trainer.

Think of it this way; For instance, if you’re in search of advice on strength training, you don’t want to train with any personal instructor. You want information from a conditioning and strength coach, who is an expert in his field.

Fortunately for you, a large number of personal training customers are actively seeking expert guidance in their selected training speciality. They are looking for a unique and particular type of coach, that can train them in the preferred direction and give them something that their average private trainer cannot offer.

Choosing a specific target market will not only set you apart from the many personal trainers who qualify every day in the UK (allowing customers to easily find you), it will also be much easier to find customers in your gymnasium.

As soon as you have a specific audience in mind, you know the direction to look. For instance, if you be eligible as a conditioning and strength coach after getting your PT scores, then you know the free weights sector is a nice place to socialise between the sessions.

A target market also enables you to create a client base that matches your existing traits and skills and can offer real value in the sessions. It will help you retain clients since they will not ever tire of the services you offer. Especially, if you are familiar with how to offer them with valued sessions tailored to your training objectives.

There is no intent not to place yourself in a spot where you are one of the few coaches who can assist them in their favourite area of ​​physical activity, as this will do wonders to help you get passionate about your speciality in consistent paying clients.

5. Follow-up with prospective clients

Because somebody is genuinely concerned with improving their health doesn’t mean they can’t be diverted from actively reaching this goal. Frequently this has to do with the point that it is hard to acquire the enthusiasm to start (it is something that needs physical action).

In regards to learning how to acquire clients for in-person training, an efficient method is to contact those who have shown some interest in the services you offer. We know this may seem overwhelming, but do not worry; It is a recognised sales method and is used every day by companies around the world. You will probably be amazed at how many people want to know more about how you can assist them and eventually sign up with you!

It is important to remember that tracking does not require direct sales and can be indirect in some circumstances. It is more of a friendly reminder that you are still there in case they want to go ahead and show that you don’t sell much (which is unpleasant in this business).

What assists the follow-up process with prospects is whether your first meeting with them made an attractive, positive, and lasting impression. This means that you have already built up some confidence with them and are much not likely to suspect that you are trying to vend your services.

The way you may follow your clients up is to greet them when they enter the gym or approach them on the gymnasium floor and ask how they are doing. The secret to undertaking this efficiently is to keep things indirect!

All you have to do is consult with them each week and have a natural conversation on how their training is going, etc. So that they are conscious of your existence in the gym and take it into account subconsciously in case they ever choose they need to start the PT sessions.

6. Business cards

One of the best way to get clients as a personal trainer is the usage of business cards. We recognise what you think, and what other Personal Trainers who have operated in the industry for a while may have said to you.

We are here to inform you that this is not true in case you implement the correct method, and we can say this because we have a lot of experience in this business! We recognise from experience that corporate cards may be a great approach to increase your customer base as a PT, and fortunately, it is not the “spray and prays” method where you randomly deliver them.

7. Write articles for exercise websites or local magazines

As a fitness expert, you have a lot of information that customers will find fascinating. Donating articles to fitness websites or local magazines may position you like a true fitness specialist. If you stay in a small city, your local newsprint might even be attracted to writing a “Ask the Fitness Expert” column that answers readers’ questions.

8. Communicate with customers through Facebook

The PT Development Center commends Facebook as a means to develop your company. They support writing a simple guide of the day and inviting persons to ask queries about fitness or health.

9. Give a free trial period

Advertise a week-long free trial and ensure those who register, have a wonderful experience. Some individuals may be interested in getting a PT, but they wonder if it’s worth the cost and time. This is the chance for them to test, and also to show your way of helping them.

10. Cultivate a working rapport with health workers

If clients have wounds or medical problems that require a chiropractor or the attention of a sports physician, connect them with the appropriate expert. Then ask your healthcare provider to help you to come up with an exercise program. This working rapport gives you reliability while assisting to protect the health of the clients.

11. Post endorsements on your site

People looking for a personal trainer want to know the kind of experience others had with your services. If you know that your customers are happy with your services, request them to give a testimonial to put on your site. Such commentaries carry lots of weight.

Finally, these tips will get you on track, however, you can also get great tips from online groups. Consider joining personal fitness forums or fitness groups on LinkedIn so you can discover what techniques have functioned for others. You can expand your customer base with diligent efforts.

Now you’re armed with all this knowledge, don’t forget to check out our easy to use personal training booking software.

Dance studio business plan: Push your business to the next level

By Dance, Fitness marketing and social archives and news

Running a dance studio calls for a lot from you. Not only do you need to have a knack for dancing but also for business. Considerable capital is also required as well as a keen attention to detail.

However, the process doesn’t have to be as overwhelming if you reach out to Gymcatch.

Ideas on how to push your dance studio to the next Level

When running a dance studio, there are many tasks that require your time and effort in order to attain success. They include managing your customer relationships, coordinating payments and billings as well as running custom bookings and register information.

You need to have more than just a passion for dance in order for your business to thrive.

There are some ideas and suggestions that you should keep in mind in order to be a successful dance studio owner. They include the following:

First become an apprentice

The surest way of learning how to become an established business owner is by learning the trade through an expert. By observing how the industry works, you’ll be able to observe finer details that you can adopt in your own venture.

Getting such hands-on experience enlightens you on technical aspects that can help grow your business.

It also ensures that you are not completely clueless when you get to run your business. The transition of pushing your business from one level to the next will be much easier.

Create a name for yourself

Having a reputation that precedes you really helps in boosting the growth of your dance studio. By occasionally performing in the dance studio, you will prove that you are also a student of the art. Your clients will relate more and notice that you are not just in the business for profit.

Generate extra income

You should get out of your comfort zone of only holding dance classes at your studio. How about you organize fun events where new hires get to interact through dance? Getting creative will allow you to generate extra income and grow your business.

Hire qualified and trustworthy people

No matter how much you love your studio, it will be difficult for you to perform all the tasks on your own. Hiring people that are nearly as invested as you are in your studio operations will be necessary. Your staff can either make or break your studio which requires you to be careful.

Do not forget to network

Rather than solely spending all your hours in the dance studio, you can go out there and network. By joining groups comprising of other dance studio owners, you will be exposed to many more profitable ideas. It’s also a good way of having people on your speed dial to call on for advice.

How to develop a dance studio business plan designed for success

Developing a perfect business plan will require you to tap into the knowledge you’ve gathered as an apprentice or observer. A formal business plan of your dance studio will be an important counterpart to your passion for dancing. The scheme of the business plan will involve elements such as:

Vision and mission statements

Outlining the core objectives and values of your dance studio set the focus for the entire business plan. Identifying the ‘why’ behind your dance studio helps in keeping you on track with your short-term and long-term goals.

Business description

The business description expounds on what your dance studio has to offer students and the community at large. The best way to drive the message home is by explaining the qualities that set your dance studio apart from the rest.

Market survey

You should be well aware of the type of customers your dance studio will serve. Are you targeting couples, adults, teenagers or kids? Extensive research should be done on your target audience. That way, you can develop effective marketing strategies to grow your business.

A well-written business plan will include a competitive analysis of the target market. Which is critical in ensuring your studio stands out from its competitors. Other questions that may assist you in analyzing the target market include:

· How many studios are competing against you for students?

· Which strategies are your competitors successfully implementing?

· Which challenges will you encounter in reaching your target market?

Business management

A clear layout of the respective authorities in charge of your dance studio is important. Which should preferably be done in a flow chart describing the duties and responsibilities of each employee.

It’s also important to disclose the type of business your dance studio will be. Will it be a partnership, limited liability company (LLC) or another type of business structure? The structure of your business may affect the paperwork you ought to file in registering your business.

Products and services

You should be able to elaborate on the products and services that your dance studio will offer.

What are the different types of classes that you will offer? Will you host any special events? Be specific about the aspects of your dance studio curriculum.

Budget

Running a dance studio requires you to set aside a certain amount of money to get started and maintain the business.

Consider the various costs that will be involved such as your employees’ payroll and advertising or marketing campaigns.

You will also need to disclose the structure through which you plan to charge your students.

Will there be an annual registration fee on top of what each student pays per class? How much will you charge each ticket for special events that you host?

Marketing strategy

The marketing strategy outlines how your business will find new customers and increase sales. Potential investors are usually interested in analyzing the marketing strategy of your business.

You can adopt the 4Ps concept which entails your product, promotion, price and place.

When writing the marketing strategy section of your dance studio business plan, you should strive to make it relevant.

There are certain things can help you in developing a plan and breaking down its cost:

· Showing your uniqueness: Through the unique selling proposition (USP) of your business

· Knowing your clients: By conducting a market survey

· Being flexible: Such as using social media to promote your business physical location

· Conducting extensive research: Based on your competitors and industry reports

· Using visual aids: Such as graphs, charts and images

Appendix

The last section of your business plan is the appendix. It convinces the reader of your business plan that you have paid keen attention to your great business idea.

You can include supporting documents such as licenses, contracts, resumes and marketing materials.

Conclusion

Developing a business plan for your dance studio may not be easy. However, the fulfilment that comes with pushing your business to the next level makes all the effort worthwhile.

Managing your dance studio will be much easier with Gymcatch dance class management software.

How to appeal to experimental and millenial customers

By Fitness marketing and social archives and news
fitness class software

Carry out a quick analysis of health and fitness industry trends, and you’ll be forgiven for thinking the industry had polarized:

– High volume, low price (HVLP) chain operators continue to grow, making up the largest private segments in US and UK markets.

– At the same time, specialist studios and boutiques with singular specialties such as cycling, small group training, boot camp, pilates, yoga and barre continue to see growth.

– 1 in 5 fitness consumers in the US now have two or more fitness-related memberships.

Changes in taste apart, economists would traditionally explain this away by arguing that in competitive, mature markets, pricing moves ever closer to marginal cost (the amount it actually costs to provide services) and price protection is achieved through differentiation, with niche players catering for smaller, ‘connoisseur’ segments.

This is definitely something we’ve observed, but to ascribe these changes solely to the price sensitivity of the health and fitness consumer is to miss other important underlying drivers.

What this analysis fails to take into account are the rapid proliferation of the hyper-local fitness sessions in parks, town halls and churches, for which there is no overarching data but where anyone can benefit from pilates, yoga, barre, HIIT and bootcamp offerings at a reasonable price. Similarly, those HVLP operators are now putting on ever-expanding class timetables. It looks like the price sensitive buyer is also a ‘connoisseur’!

So what’s going on? We think there’s two things at play here:

1. Advancing preferences and the consumer’s love of choice.

As people become more health conscious and increase both the time and percentage of disposable income they spend on fitness, it makes sense that they will want variety in their exercise methods, both in intensity and experience. This is a sample size of just one, but 10 years ago I went to the gym 3 times a week. I now go to Pilates, HIIT, spin and run twice a week – and this costs me £20 less a month to do so. My grandmother’s generation never went near exercise at a senior age, while my mum goes to Pilates twice a week and plays tennis regularly. I know my story is common.

You don’t have to look very far to see this trend. With increasingly low barriers to enter the sector as an instructor, it’s easy for health and fitness consumers to find and book fitness that was previously unknown to them or out of their price range.

2. The millennials

It’s this segment that’s supercharging the drive for more choice and better fitness experiences. With the generational tendency to prefer experiences above material possessions, the variety of workout, social and community feeling of group exercise have become increasingly important factors in millenial buying decisions.

So, where’s the opportunity?

Some fitness providers will be able to cater for these wider tastes with an ever-expanding array of classes and in-facility experiences. If you can deliver on this, fantastic. It can be difficult to manage when your business goes past a certain size and difficult to justify entailed cost on a smaller scale, but it is possible – and we see a number of operators doing it well.

When you can’t do everything, focusing on where you can meet wider riser demand represents a real opportunity for growth. The willingness to spend on fitness is increasing, and if you can tap into the wider exponential growth then you have far more to benefit from than to lose by overstretching. This may well mean you don’t monopolize your customer’s fitness spend, but accepting that in lieu of greater wider earnings is a preferable alternative.

Meeting this need may require more of an open, tailored, marketing approach and a drop-in, flexible, pricing option if you don’t already have one, but it also represents great opportunity – could you be the HIIT option for a regular pilates goer, or the spin option for the yoga fanatic? We see incredible retention across bookers and see this drive for choice as potential for industry earnings rather than threatening existing spend. As a group instructor or specialist operator, perhaps there are partnerships with other fitness providers you can look at to grow earnings together?

Sources: IHRSA Global Report 2016, Leisure Database: 2016 State of the Industry Report, Changes in the fitness world, Business Insider, June 2016

For more information on Gymcatch group fitness management software, and how it can help with your booking, admin and marketing. Get in contact to book a demo or start a free trial.