Health CEO

elements

Is your business famous yet?  It is important to understand how to
really build buzz locally, and drive more traffic to your business
organically.

We are all well aware of the importance of the web in consumer’s
buying patterns. Consumers use the web to research, explore, and 78%
make buying decisions prior to ever visiting your club (or business).

Web 2.0 is a term given to the new, interactive nature of the web,
focusing on Social Networking, blogging, and consumer reviews.

Not only is it important for your business to have a great, clear
website, but it is equally important to compliment a website with local
business presence, and consumer reviews.

The more (positive) consumer feedback you have on your business, the
more credible the business becomes, and the more confident a consumer
will be in making a decision to join on her first visit.

A great way to quickly enhance the visibility of your business is
to “partner” with top consumer review websites.  I recommend to our
franchisees to to focus on one of the internet’s top Consumer Review
websites, www.kudzu.com.   Kudzu, names after the voraciously fast-
spreading vines the grow in the south, is a great way to describe the
effects of consumer reviews.

elements for women is the top full service fitness brand for women

The fitness industry has experienced double digit for each of the past three decades. All of our statistics and projections show the largest growth is yet to come, with an abundance of baby-boomers and wider usage percentages.

Although some of the growth is attributed to demand factors, I believe a large part of the fitness industry growth is attributed to the passion which is shared by so many of the professionals within the industry. Think about it… it is rare to have a total industry with such a large percentage of truly dedicated professionals. Whether it be personal fitness goals, motivating friends, club members, or recruiting new members - there is a passion for fitness, and a lifestyle of wellness, which is shared by nearly all employees within our industry.  From Charlotte exercise professionals to fitness executives in Atlanta, there is a common energy and quest for betterment which is shared.

Note the sky circular ceiling installation

After the visit to our new showcase club/spa in Alpharetta, I was excited at the exception level of quality offered in Atlanta gyms. The city had been lacking an option for women to experience a great workout/lifestyle club, a void which elements has nicely fulfilled.

On my second day visiting the clubs of Atlanta, I entered our newest elements for women gym in Suwanee, Georgia. Despite its odd name, Suwanee is a very up-and-coming section of the the Atlanta metro. Peppered with country clubs, upscale enclaves and homes, and great shopping, I was convinced that this was going to be a fantastic elements for women market.

Our club includes an elements gym, a BalanceD Diet Center inside, as well as Novo Physical Therapy nextdoor- making it a unique concept for wellness for women. We have been receiving many inquiries from physical therapists who would like to open their own gyms, to them (and to us) it seems a natural progression of the wellness and fitness process.

Exteriors of several elements for women gyms in Miami and Atlanta

This week I traveled to Atlanta to meet with the elements for women franchisees and staff there. Atlanta was one of the original regional markets for elements, and we have recently announced 8 territories being reserved for development there.

I have been in and around the health club industry for over 15 years, and have toured thousands of club facilities across the world. I have to say (in my completely unbiased opinion) that the two new elements fitness clubs in Alpharetta and Suwanee Georgia I visited this week were the nicest, most sophisticated gyms I have ever seen. 

Our 10,000 square foot facility in Alpharetta, elements at Ellard Place, was built with a full Moda Spa and Salon within it. The club is an entire one-stop shop for beauty, relaxation, and fitness, boasting  luxury amenities such as personal saunas, facials, 1-on-1 yoga and pilates, members lounge, personal coaching and Smartcard workouts. The club was designed in a very sophisticated, upscale tone, with white being the primary color used. 30 feet ceilings, and floor to ceiling white drapes (30 feet!) make for an exceptionally dramatic space. The club is well laid out over 2 floors, and staffed with highly trained beauty experts and lifestyle consultants. It really has to be experienced to be believed.

elements makes exercising "Smarter"

It is always a pleasure to welcome guests to our corporate offices from around the world. As the brand founder, I am humbled by the fact that people will travel thousands of miles for the opportunity to meet and do business with the elements brand.
Over the past year, we have hosted guests from Australia, Greece, India, Japan, Vietnam, Korea, Brasil, and England. This week we were pleased to welcome executives from the HUR Fitness Company in Finland, the manufacturer of our smartcard workout equipment. Smartcard technology helps to create an exceptional member workout experience in the elements for women gyms. The equipment has color flatscreens at each station of the circuit workout, and “greets” each member by name, self-adjusts to her settings, records her progress, and even tells her where to go next… it is very similar to having a virtual personal trainer - and is a great tool for members. This type of interactive technology is one of the major fitness trends worldwide, causing a membership explosion within the industry.

In todays meeting, we were discussing some exciting planned enhancements to our smartcard program, including integration with our online class scheduler, and BalanceD interactive diet for members. With the completion of these additions, elements members will be able to find a club online, join, shop for products, view and book classes, personal training session, diet coaching session, view their club attendance and each workout progress, making it the most sophisticated member portal in the industry. elements is more than a health club brand, we are a total lifestyle - this technology allows us to deliver varied wellness options to our members, in their own space, and on their own schedule.

Our discussions were also regarding the expansion of the elements for women clubs into Eastern Europe, and the planned development of a flagship location in Estonia, a major port of call for the Baltic Region. With the flagship club complete later this year, we will be able to host European operations for franchise development… I am very excited to make this visit!

Sample of handouts used to promote club fit, our outdoor initiative for Charlotte

elements fitness has recently announced the expansion of our clubs in the Charlotte market, and the addition of BalanceD Diet to the city. We are in-process of some great upgrades to our club at 129 W Trade Street, and our corporate team has been making frequent visits to the city

On a recent visit to Charlotte, we began to discuss ways that we could have more of an impact of wellness overall in the city. After several weeks of planning, we made a formal announcement to launch “Club FIT” - a citywide wellness initiative, with partnerships from major Charlotte area media and businesses.

Club FIT would be a way for elements for women to become more involved in the local community, and with its free programs would encourage residents to participate in healthy lifestyle programming. One our first planned programs for Charlotte is a downtown waling club, which offers a great fitness option at lunch. The one hour walk begins with a stretch in a park, then a “fitness” walk led by our highly qualified trainers.  Participants will be offered toning exercises and tips during the 30 minute walk.  We are already three weeks into the program, and the  response  has been excellent.

Plans to expand the program later in the year include healthy dining options at local restaurants, and involvement with the 5K run and regional fitness events.

elements fitness lifestyle coach Ami Suvanti featured in Woman's World magazine

It is exciting to see the continual interest from the press into our fitness programs, including Woman’s World Magazine. We are gathering large numbers of testimonials from elements members, video testimonials from BalanceD diet users, inquiries from press and media, as well as frequent features on blogs and online media.

elements is designed to become the leading fitness and lifestyle brand for women… we do this by focusing our energy to build the very best consumer experiences…. this is the foundation which causes the brand to grow rapidly.  New elements club openings in Chicago, Atlanta, and Colombus Ohio this month were met with buzz from the communities, members, and even online bloggers… even a new partnership locally with Whole Foods Market.  elements is fast becoming a community which will grow itself - this will be one of the runaway secrets to this brand’s success in the lifestyle and fitness sectors.

As seen in Woman’s World Magazine

During our photo shoot at Miami Beach National on a very, very, very hot day.

One of the things I find most surprising about my job, is how frequently we are conducting video or photo shoots. Elements is truly positioned as a leader in the fitness franchise space, and it is very important to have unique content: videos, photos, workouts, stories… you name it.

It seems as if every shoot is an adventure – we have had some great locales, and being based in South Beach gives us a richness of locations beyond imagination. Today’s adventure took us to Miami Beach Golf Club where we were shooting a sequence for a feature story in the prestigious CBI (Club Business International) magazine. Elements is frequently written about in the magazine, which is the top industry publication for the fitness and leisure industry, but it is very special to receive a full feature such as this. Our art director chose a great photographer and a great location for this visual… however no one took into account the humidity (and mosquitoes) after a typical Miami summer shower. My instructions “look happy, look up, look over here, higher, no lower, no your hand…” and the team began to get weary very quickly, as we all were melting in the July Miami heat. Adding some complication, it seems as if a particular group of well-known celebrities did not see the “hole closed” sign and played through our shoot! I was keeping my eye out for a small white ball… and of course getting yelled at the entire time by the photographer - I couldn’t wait to get back to to real work!

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