If you’re in the business of fitness, the reality is you are a retailer. And it doesn’t matter how technically sound a trainer you are, or how state-of-the-art your gym equipment is, you need members and/or clients to run your business, and they only come from leads – which, ultimately, are generated from your marketing efforts. What Is Marketing? You’ve heard this phrase: ‘marketing is everything you do.’ Any sporting club who’s had a player tweet inappropriately, or taken a swing at a supporter, or been seen not using a sponsor’s product can vouch for the fact that everything...

As the end of the year approaches, gyms are gearing up for the madness that is January in the fitness industry. Losing weight is the #1 New Year’s resolution, and every January, gyms fill up with people resolving to drop those pounds, get in shape, and get fit. It’s predicable, as is (unfortunately) the fact that the vast majority of them will quit within 6-8 weeks, if not sooner. January offers a huge opportunity for gyms, there is no time of the year where more prospective clients are walking into your facility, many (most?) of whom are new to the world of gyms. Just as these people have...

For the third year in a row I treated myself to a stay in the Oasis Ayurveda Resort in Sri Lanka´s Southern Province town of Sisilasagama, and I am hooked. The word Ayurveda can be translated as "knowledge of life". This "detox" treatment system (for lack of a better word) is a medicinal system often attributed to roots in India and goes back 5000 years. An interdisciplinary approach involving yoga, healthy food (mostly vegetarian, though there was fish and chicken on the buffet), two hours of treatments daily and mostly no alcohol (New Year´s Eve was an exception). Ayurveda sees a person...