Hosting Seminars at Your Gym: Part 2 How to Determine if Hosting is Right for Your Gym?

Last week, we introduced the concept of hosting specialty seminars and discussed the top four reasons gym owners should host a seminar. In the second portion of our two-part series, we’ll cover the reasons gym owners might not want to host, as well as provide some tips to help you decide if hosting is a good move for your box.

Let’s dive in by looking at some of the reasons you might want to think twice about hosting a specialty seminar.

Major Time Investment

You will be jointly responsible for the promotion and execution of the seminar. Promotion will likely require you to sync up with your staff to have them tell every class about the seminar, as well as create an email to send out to your members and prospects, post about the seminar on social media and print flyers to post around the gym. Execution will require you to set up the necessary equipment, acquire the chairs and seating and take care of any other facility logistics. Preparing to host a seminar requires a significant amount of work on your end.

Cancelling Classes

Seminars are generally one or two full-days, which means that, if you have weekend classes, you’ll have to cancel them. For some people, this is no big deal, but for others, it’s a deal-breaker.

For a gym I worked at before joining Zen Planner, they weren’t willing to host seminars for this exact reason no matter how much I begged. Their weekend classes were too popular, and they committed to being consistent with them. There is no correct answer for this one – you’d be serving your community by hosting the seminar, and you’d also be serving your community by refusing to host the seminar.

So, is it worth it?

I hate when conclusions like this end with “it’s subjective and depends on x, y and z” and I’m not afraid to give you an answer. So, yes, it’s worth it. Seminars are awesome.

That said, make sure you are getting the right deal. There are a few things to keep in mind when deciding if a specific seminar is worth it.

• If it’s not a subject that is in-demand at your gym, pass on it. Make sure it’s a topic that people are fired up about and will get value from.
• Since you are hosting, ensure you’re getting enough free seats in the seminar to bring some of your coaches, or bargain for more. Your coaches will appreciate it, and when they pass their learnings down to your gym members, your gym members will be stoked too (even if you cancelled one of their classes).
• See if you can work in some form of profit split or cash bonus for high sign-ups. I’d recommend a tiered bonus based on percentage of filled seats so that you’re not left high and dry if it doesn’t sell out.

Seminars are something that will benefit everyone at your gym, from coaches to current and prospective members. Remember to have fun with the entire process! Have you hosted a seminar at your gym? Be sure to share any tips you may have in the comments section below.

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