Top Advertising Errors By Health & Wellness Businesses

Most health and wellness marketing fails.  It’s a voice in the wilderness, heard by no one.  Here’s Part 1 of why your flyers, brochures and ads don’t work.

Latest Book Picks: Physical Activity, Exercise, Fitness

Best books I’ve seen lately on physical activity, exercise, fitness.  Add your suggestions (or opinions of these titles!) in the Comments section.

More Holiday Marketing Tips for Health and Wellness Businesses

These holiday marketing tips solve specific problems or capitalize on assets you’ve already got (like an email list).

And here’s our list of wellness-specific holiday marketing and promotion ideas.

Post questions and comments below, as always.

New Holiday Marketing Tips For Health Clubs, Yoga Studios, Wellness Centers

Holiday marketing forces most health and wellness businesses to walk a fine line.

You need to market because you need the revenue – yet if your marketing is too pushy, too “me, me, me”, too materialistic…you can turn people off.  And talking about health problems isn’t exactly the upbeat message that folks want to hear in December, either.

Plus, it’s hard to figure out what health and wellness service you can sell that your customers will actually buy to give other people.

Because, really, most folks aren’t going to give, say, a health club membership or a yoga class card out of the blue to someone who’s not already doing it.

As you can tell, we’ve got strong opinions about what works, what doesn’t and how to go about it!

Here’s Part 1 of our holiday marketing insights for health clubs, yoga studios, wellness centers, integrative medical clinics and more, based on real-life experiences advising thousands of health and wellness businesses.

(And we’ll publish Part 2 next week. )

Flowchart: Fire Or Train?

It’s happened to all of us – we hire a new employee who later turns out to lack knowledge vital to our health club, yoga studio or wellness center –  such as the latest conditioning research, healthy nutrition principles, or even basic customer service.

Making a decision to end an employee’s tenure can be painful and emotional.   Use this flowchart to make a clearheaded decision on your employee’s future.

Evidence-Based Handwashing Posters For Health Clubs, Yoga Studios, Wellness Centers

Thanks for the great feedback on the H1N1 article and free posters.  By now it’s clear that vaccine output is much lower than predicted, making old-fashioned prevention is even more important.

So, this week we’ve added free evidence-based handwashing posters.

Display them as follows, based on research into which messages work best for women vs men:

• The first poster goes next to the entrance of both restrooms.

• the second poster goes on the mirror in the women’s restroom

• and the “eat it later” poster goes in the men’s room.

How are you encouraging customers and staff to stay home if they feel sick, and wash their hands throughout the time they spend in your business?

Good Examples, Horrible Warnings for Wellness Businesses

This week, we analyze the marketing strategies of five popular retailers to help your wellness business look at its marketing with fresh eyes.

PS Don’t miss watching Duluth display their signature brand of humor in thisYouTube video when a giant beaver takes on a pair of their fire hose canvas pants.

Yeah, it’s funny – but it’s also completely consistent with their brand and image.   That’s why it’s great marketing!

Good examples and horrible warnings from other businesses or industries?  Pile on in the comments, below.

New FTC rules for weight-loss, bloggers, and celebrities

The old rule:  Your business could feature an unusually successful customer testimonial as long as you included a disclaimer stating “these results not typical”. 

H1N1 Swine Flu – Do’s and Don’ts For Health Clubs, Yoga Studios, Wellness Centers

Health clubs, yoga studios, and other health and wellness businesses tend to serve large numbers of people in relatively small and enclosed spaces.

That makes your business susceptible to a revenue hit as people get more and more worried about swine flu after pretty much forgetting about it after the initial scare last spring.

We’ve laid out the actions you can take to keep customers coming, plus four free posters you can download.

No “Oh” Snacks or Egg Salad for Me!

The NY Times just released a listing of Michael Pollan’s top 20 favorite food rules from thousands of reader suggestions.  Some are quite helpful while others are silly and fun.

Do you have any “food rules” of your own?  What do you think of the top 20?  Share with us in the comment section!