Fun pic from Julie's facebook.com/TheWallCyclingStudio
Hi John,
My name is Julie and I am the owner of a cycling studio in Philadlphia, PA called “The wall cycling studio.”
This past weekend I had a couple instructors over and after a little time we somehow got on the discussion of how one of my biggest dreams to live is to show up to a spin class while on vacation, the instructor not show up and for me to be able to jump up and say “I'm certified and ready with a playlist!”
My friend then sent me the most recent email from you about traveling instructors. I think it is amazing and a great way for places to be able to offer quality classes!
Could you let me know some more info? This would be a dream trip for my husband and I!
Thanks again and I look forward to listening to your pod cast!
Julie we've helped hundreds of Indoor Cycling Instructors make this fantasy a reality – except for the part about the absent Instructor – unless it's you who's supposed to teach, but you're asleep in a hammock, on the beach 🙁
My wife Amy and I have been teaching group fitness classes, at All-Inclusive resorts in the Caribbean, pretty much every year since the mid 90's. Every trip has been a dream and we could not have afforded to travel as often as we have, without the assistance of our (now friends) at Fit Bodies, Inc.
We have a separate site devoted to these teaching fitness vacations – and the process is super simple. Here are the basics:
About Fit Bodies, Inc.
Fit Bodies, Inc. has been offering international leisure travel for the fitness instructor since 1992. FitnessProTravel.com is home of the Fit Bodies teaching vacation program.
Instructors offer a couple hours of teaching to resort guests daily and in exchange you and companion(s) stay at luxury all-inclusive resort with accommodations and amenities provided just like a full paying guests. You wine and dine, enjoying an all-inclusive vacation usually costing thousands of dollars for a fraction of the price.
How does it work?
With the Fit Bodies, Inc. program you do not pay the hotel for your stay. You pay a fee for each week you travel, it’s roughly $500 for you and a companion (family resorts include two kids 12 or younger as well) to stay at the resort with all-inclusive everything for seven nights. The resorts are 4-5 star all-inclusive luxury destinations. Teach one or two indoor cycle classes on your non-travel days. It is a WIN WIN! You get a low cost vacation and guests have a great fitness experience! There are even more opportunities to the cycle instructors who also offer group exercise formats.
The details are instructors’ pay for flights and sometimes airport transfer costs (to and from hotel). All resorts participate in the GIFT FUND where we keep the hotel’s activities and sports department up to date with items or money contribution. The gift fund has a value of $150 at most hotels so that is part of your expenses.
There is no cost or obligation when you apply but I encourage you to apply by completing an online account with us at FitnessProTravel.com. The account gives you real time booking availability at all the resorts you qualify to teach at. So then you can choose when and where to travel, book it online with us, and be quickly confirmed with permission to buy flights.
Once you are online at FitnessProTravel.com and going through the app process you will come across membership levels. I know it’s explained on the site but want to elaborate here- With the BASIC (free) membership you can view complete availability but with your free membership you only have access to book 15 resorts. By upgrading to any premium account (including TRAVEL) you will then have booking access to every resort you qualify to teach at. You can view resort details without even having an account by clicking on “TRAVEL SPOTS” on the FitnessProTravel.com home site.
Fitness Connect from IDEA is something I feel all of us Group Fitness Professionals and Fitness Studio owners need to jump on soon. I'm scheduling an interview with IDEA's head of business development for a future Podcast. In the mean time if you are an Indoor Cycling Instructor with a Spinning® or other certification, Group Fitness Instructor, Personal Trainer or you own or manage a Fitness Club or Studio here are a few thoughts about why I feel you need a profile there.
1) Rise above the noise and be found by standing on IDEA's shoulders. The internet is an enormous place. Search engines sift through billions of web pages in their effort to deliver a relevant result to what could become your next client, member or student. Your profile on Fitness Connect has a much better chance of being displayed because www.ideafit.com is seen as a respected source by Google and other search engines.
Running a successful fitness studio takes a lot of passion, experience and hard work. The husband and wife team of Xavier and Nadia McClinton who run Body By X Skill Development & Training Center in Marin County California sound like they have all three covered… and more!
Together they have developed a unique fitness offering that combines strength training, along with Indoor cycling and includes the MyRide+ virtual ride video system. Body By X's experiences with MyRide+ were covered in more detail in this case study we published back in February.
Listen to my interview with Xavier and Nadia to get an understanding of how they are able to succeed by creating a real sense of community at their studio and a simple idea you can use to retain members who (for whatever reason) decide not to show up.
You can subscribe to our free Podcast in iTunes by clicking here.
Just a few trends I've seen in 2012 that are moving smartly into 2013.
– Dual fitness offerings – boutique cycling studios are now combining TRX, Pilates, personal training, yoga, etc. The ideal studio space required to provide these amenities is running 3000 sq ft. and above.
– Ambient features are now included in the start up budget…no longer an option but a must have on opening day. Even the big box gyms are installing LED lighting and promoting the entire mind/body ride concept. If the corporate giants are starting to figure it out, boutique studios must stay ahead of the game and keep adding more….video, performance tracking, etc.
– Benefit rides are all the rage. If your studio doesn't offer yearly at least ONE cancer/special olympics, etc. ride with proceeds going to a local charity, you're missing a HUGE opportunity to recruit new members and establish yourself as a forward thinking fitness organization. My studio hosts 2-3 benefit rides per year….I have tons of resources if anyone is interested.
– SPD's required…no longer an option in many studios. The shift has been strong in 2012 for clips only. As you know, I'm working with Pearl and others to provide dealer status to studios. Stocking rental shoes is the accepted norm now.
– Studio Logo/Names – The swoosh image on a bike has seen its day and new designs for studios are clean, more Euro, and less nosiy…..very clean. simple.
– Websites – look impressive. No longer are GoDaddy “do it yourself” websites cutting it. Clients are sinking tons of money into edgy website experiences….check out my latest project: kor180.com
And puh-leeeese, studio owners! Hire a consultant to check your site for grammatical errors, incorrect usage of cycling terms, and red flags that shout “little details don't matter” to your customers. I've found so many spelling/punctuation/redundancy/inaccurate info on cycling sites. Studio owners are cutting back funds and creating the text themselves…or worse, they're plagiarizing from other sites.
– Studio names. Guys, if your don't trademark, anyone can use your studio name…it's up to you to protect it. I'm aware studios in different cities with the same name. I asked one why she had not trademarked for protection, and her reply was, “haven't gotten around to it….” Please Include legal fees in your startup budget.
– Branding…..it's the name of the game. Everything from clothing to bumper stickers…studios are blowing it up with marketing and creating a buzz with super cool gear with a logo recognized immediately. Friday night wine tasting after a ride, guest celebrity chefs, fitness lectures…etc. We are creating a community, not just a cycling studio. See me for more info.
Want to use your iPhone or Android based device to schedule your next Indoor Cycling class?
There's an App for that® 🙂
I added the ® because Apple has trademarked that phrase.
Studio owner Bill Pryor has created an App for his customers at Spynergy Wellesley, Bill's Indoor Cycling Studio outside of Boston Mass. Spynergy customers can download the App for free, quickly review the class schedule and easily signup for a future class. The part I love most is how it adds the event your calendar, so there's no excuse for missing the class.
The App is made by TempoXSports and they can build a custom App for your Club or Studio if you're using MINDBODY Online to manage registrations – which is about everyone as far as I can tell.
Here's more about it:
The app your clients see will be similar in feel to what they are used to from booking through their browser-based systems. Your app will let clients easily perform the following critical tasks from their phones
Sign-in to their MINDBODY existing account
Set up an account if they are new
View your schedule
Sign-up / reserve spots (reservations auto-posted to calendar / ical)
Read teacher and class descriptions
Check their account (visits, schedule, attendance, purchases)
Purchase any packages you are selling through MINDBODY
Our Cycling Studio Owners will want to check this out ASAP…
For years we've promoted Working Fitness Vacations – where you, the Instructor, teache a few fitness classes in exchange for a very low cost, Caribbean vacation. Hundreds of Instructors have followed our recommendations and have really enjoyed their all inclusive vacations.
Now there's TripTribe.com. They specialize in assisting fitness professionals who want to take a group of clients (your tribe) on a fitness retreat. For leading these trips you, the Instructor, will be paid as the Trip Tribe Ambassador!
To learn the actual scoop on these trips, I asked the marketing representative at Trip Tribe if she'd connect me with an Ambassador that I could interview…
Coach Kelly McCormack owns Club Inhale Exhale in Billerica, Massachusetts. This past May she traveled with a group of her clients to a ranch in the mountains of Costa Rica. It sounds like everyone had a great time and best of all, the check TripTribe.com sent her at the conclusion of the trip paid all of her expenses🙂
Listen to my interview with Kelly to learn if this would be something you could do with your tribe.
TripTribe.com offers dozens of exotic locations across the world, in a wide range of pricing, including;
Go here and create a free profile. Spend some time working with their retreat planning wizard to get an understanding of the possibilities. Then I'd encourage you to call and discuss your ideas for a group trip with one of their advisors.
