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Owner's EDGE
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 In today’s crowded marketplace, promotions for special events often get drowned out by the sheer number of events offered. What can fitness centers, personal trainers, and group fitness instructors do to promote their special event and rise above the noise?
Planning
Below are several ideas to market your event. Before you start, however, take the time to develop and write a comprehensive special events marketing plan. As with any journey, you have to have a plan to reach your destination.
Establish the purpose of your plan first. What are you hoping to gain from this special event? Do you want to increase your membership? Are you looking to get more men to take your fitness classes? Are you trying to sell personal training sessions? Make sure your goals for hosting the event are clear, so that you can evaluate whether the event worked afterwards.
You might consider hiring a special events professional to implement the plan. In many cases, though, you will be able to implement the plan yourself. The elements to include in your plan are listed below in no particular order of importance. You can pick the strategies you want to concentrate on for each event.
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Is this a good time to get employees on sale?
Since everything in our world seems to be "on sale" right now, many clients are wondering if they can get their staff vacancies filled for less than they were planning to pay. There are certainly record numbers of people looking for work, and that would seem to make it an "employer's market." But those of us who spend our time searching for top talent know that the job of sorting through double or even triple the number of applicants only makes the search harder, not easier.
Is this a good time to get employees on sale? The answer is yes... and no. It depends.
Certainly an employer can offer less than what they would normally pay and because of the current economic climate, the candidate might just say yes. Keep in mind, however, that talented people are still going to get multiple offers-so it is wise not to low-ball too much. But how about taking advantage of the economy in an entirely different way when it comes to hiring? Try this: use the solid track record of your company and the security you offer to attract talent you would normally not be able to get. Candidates today are extremely focused on "security items" like health care, the company's long-term plans, treatment of employees, etc. If your company can offer some sense of security to potential employees, you might be able to attract a higher level of talent than you could have before the downturn-and that just might be worth more than getting the "usual" person at a lower rate.
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Fair Pay Act – The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 requires employers to ensure their pay practices are non-discriminatory and that they keep the records needed to prove the fairness of their pay decisions indefinitely. Written pay policies should establish proper controls, limit manager’s discretion and require a thorough analysis of pay decisions.
ADA/Americans with Disabilities Act – New changes in 2009 expand the definition of ‘disability’, therefore more workers will qualify. Focus on communicating with employees and insure managers understand the obligation to provide reasonable accommodation; do not reject requests for accommodation outright without further analysis. Although training budgets are being squeezed in these tough economic times, effective training programs will generally give an employer an affirmative defense when claims or litigation arise.
COBRA (Stimulus Bill) – Employees involuntarily terminated from September 1, 2008 to present, are eligible for a subsidy of 65% of health care premiums, paid by the employer, for up to 9 months...
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