Josh: Our hero today is Lauren George, trainer of thousands of instructors and launcher of the Clemson fitness company, the FitBiz club, PulsePoint bar, and LG fitness virtual studio. She’s also the program director of pumped up strength and the musicality method, co creator of bar above and adjunct faculty for kinesiology at Mississippi state university.

In this episode, Lauren reveals how to create successful events. For your fitness business, as well as how to host great retreats. She covers everything from what to use them for, how to put them together and even how to market them without further ado, Lauren George. All right. Welcome to the gym heroes podcast.

Today we have Lauren George. Can you go ahead and introduce yourself and give us your background in fitness and

Lauren George: business? Sure. Thank you so much for having me. I am thrilled to be here. I have been in the fitness industry really my entire career. I started teaching whenever I was in college and immediately fell in love with fitness, but I really quickly also fell in love with the business.

Side of fitness. So at first it was creating the group fitness schedule and training new instructors and putting on special events I was working at a university so to get the college students more involved and the faculty and wellness more involved So really from the get go i’ve always kind of loved The business side.

That was also what my degrees were in. We’re in sport management and a little bit more on the business side of kinesiology as well. Quick summary of my career. So we can get onto talking about events and retreats, but I have worked in a lot of different areas of the fitness industry. So I’ve been a group fitness director at a campus recreation center, at a large health.

Club in Dallas. I ran Bar and Pilates studios in Austin and owned a fitness studio in Clemson, South Carolina, and I currently live in Starkville, Mississippi, where I own a virtual studio and an app. I do a lot of work in fitness education. So I’m the creator of Bar Above. Co creator bar above the creator of pumped up strength.

And I am also the co owner of a business called the fit biz club, where we teach other fitness entrepreneurs, how to grow and scale their business, how to put on retreats. We put on retreats as part of the fit biz club, which is really fun. And then I’m also adjunct faculty for our kinesiology department here at Mississippi state.

So lots of events under my belt and a lot of different States, places, and with a lot of different people. So I love this topic today.

Josh: Absolutely. That’s really impressive. And it shows that you all, you understand kind of what frost the fitness is, not just bars, not just Pilates or anything like that. It’s like, you understand it from.

Almost every corner of the, of the business. So with that in mind, where do we even start? Like, what is the difference between, what is the difference between an event and a retreat?

Lauren George: Sure. On a base level, an event, most of the time, when we think of an event, we think of either a couple of hours or a one day.

Event right so something that has a start and a stop time probably in one location people are going to Come for most of the time a singular purpose Whereas a retreat a lot of times is thought of as off site, too So you can have an event, you know outside of your gym or studio for sure But if it is a retreat The name says it right you are retreating from kind of your everyday life So it is most of the time somewhere Kind of off the beaten path definitely outside of your current fitness facility a lot of times it is overnight It might have multiple parts to it.

So you may do a couple of workouts. There may be a nutrition portion There may be an opportunity to go hiking or to go shopping or to enjoy the sun It has more of a vacation vibe. It is so interesting how the fitness industry is ever changing because we are really seeing an intersection of education, whether that be for the end consumer, you know, bringing in nutrition education and fitness education.

So people may go to a fitness retreat to kind of kick off their new workout program. So while they’re going to have fun and. You know, maybe enjoy the spa and enjoy some outdoor activities or hiking as well. They may also be, you know, learning about their new fitness program or learning about nutrition.

And then on the instructor’s side, we’re seeing lots of retreats where you go to, let’s say a yoga retreat and you get your RYT 200 or a Pilates retreat, or we’ve put on personally fit biz club retreats where you go and you take business courses all morning, and then you go do fun activities or go to the spa all afternoon.

So retreats really are on the rise. Fitness retreats for studios even are a great way to boost community. So I’ve helped a lot of studios put on retreats for their members. And it can be, I think a lot of people in their head think retreats have to be so big and in Bali or, you know, Hawaii somewhere really exotic, but you could go somewhere in driving distance.

For a weekend, rent a VRBO or Airbnb or something like that. And, you know, really get to spend quality time with your members. So there really are so many possibilities, but big differences, events, typically one location, one singular purpose. Most of the time, kind of onsite retreats, you’re typically overnight, lots of different things going on.

Food is usually included. So you got to factor that in. And there can be a lot of different purposes for retreats as well. Excellent.

Josh: So if you wanted to actually let’s talk about the purposes of the retreats, what would you use an event for versus a retreat? Do they have different uses to one another?

Lauren George: Definitely. So I think the big thing with both of them really, cause it can apply to both is you need to decide, are you hosting this event and retreat as a revenue source? Are you hoping to make money, increase your bottom line, or is it more of a lead generator or a community builder? So you need to really decide that from the beginning so you can set your expectations accordingly, and then also set your budget accordingly will also help you decide on.

What type of activities you include in both one in both, you know, scenarios there. Right. So if you’re thinking about it from a more revenue standpoint for both events and retreats, you’re probably going to rely more on your existing customer base or your existing follower base. It may be one off or recurring.

So they’re going to obviously be paying more or above and beyond their current membership. For it so some examples of that for an event type activity might be, you know Bar and brews or vino and vinyasa or a kid specific boot camp class, right? Where people would be willing to pay, you know an extra 10 15 20 to attend that event Specific class.

And when you’re thinking about that, obviously you want your profits to exceed the X, the costs, but then also the extra time involved for you as an owner or fitness manager, personal training manager to put on that event. So if it’s revenue generating. Thinking through those aspects, if it’s more of a lead generator or a community builder, which have, you know, are, are, can really help your bottom line as well.

It’s always easier to keep customers and to get new ones, right? So those have their places as well. If you’re thinking about it from a legion standpoint, which I think. One off events versus retreats are better for lead generation. You’re going to have the more likelihood that new people pop in for a one hour themed Halloween, you know, events, then go to a whole retreat with you.

Right. So, but your goal is to hopefully get some new people in to this event versus charging people for it. You may not necessarily make money. That’s why it’s important to set those expectations. From the beginning. So maybe that’s built into your marketing budget or for a retreat. If you’re putting on a retreat for your existing clients, you’re trying to build community.

So they stay with you as clients. Maybe you build that again, you know, either into your marketing or your retention budget. So just two different main ways to think about it there.

Josh: Excellent. So how does the marketing differ between those two types? Does the messaging look different? Are there better channels?

How do we approach those two?

Lauren George: Great question. So for a retreat, going back to kind of or let’s actually, let’s start from the beginning with both of them, I guess is the right way to think about it. So timeline is always the first decision you need to make in marketing, right? Or the first maybe aspect you need to consider is when do you need to start getting the word out about your event or your retreat?

And obviously a retreat, especially the longer the retreat and the more expensive the retreat. The longer lead time you need to give people to plan, right? So maybe they’re going to go on the retreat with you instead of going on X, Y, and Z vacation. So they need six, nine, 12 months to factor that in so they can plan accordingly.

So from just a baseline perspective, retreats are going to need a much longer runway for marketing then events also for retreats. And outward facing events. So events that you’re trying to get people to come that are not currently at your facility, you really need to look at marketing channels that don’t speak only to people inside of your current facility, right?

So everyone always thinks, Oh, marketing, we have to go straight to social media, which is definitely, you know, important, but most of your followers. Probably already know about you. And if your goal is to get new people to come to your event or to go on this retreat with you, or maybe you’re an independent, you know, fitness professional putting on a retreat.

So you don’t have a brick and mortar and you’re trying to get my business partner always says strangers from the internet, right. To go and pay you to go on a retreat, partnerships and collaborations can be a great marketing strategy for both events and retreats. So. For an in person event, you may look more at partnering with other businesses in your area.

So, cause you invite them to be a part of your event. And so let’s say you invite a local boutique clothing studio to be part of your event and they can have some signage at your event. Maybe you do a social media spotlight on them. They’re in your follow up email to everyone who attends the event. So you would want to have, you know, some things that you promised them.

So that way it’s beneficial for them. But in return, they market your event on their social media. Maybe they promise you X number of emails or individual emails, or maybe they, you go into their email newsletter, maybe their signage inside of their store. So you are reaching new eyeballs outside of your current facility to get them to that event.

Doing giveaway partnerships are always great. People love a great giveaway, but if you are having. Partners within your community, you know donates as they donate in quotes because obviously they’re not don’t it’s not a non profit They’re donating to your business, but y’all are partnering to do giveaways Your event again, you’re going to promote them.

Hopefully they will in return promote you I will say anytime you’re doing partnerships for Fitness events or fitness retreats because you could use this idea for retreat as well But for retreats you can get a little bit more national or even global with who you partner with right because if everybody’s going on an airplane to a retreat It doesn’t matter if someone lives In your town or in california or in london, they can meet you wherever the retreat is So you can partner with companies from all over the country all or all over the world and trade Eyeballs, essentially, right?

They’re giving you something you are giving them promotion but when it comes to more in person events That can be a really great way to help spread the word within your community Doing events too that are kind of a two fold as far as referrals, but then also a Thank you to your current customers.

So maybe it is a special event There’s no additional charge for current customers and they have the option to bring a friend with them. Or if you run a gym, you know, that is kind of family oriented kids. Classes are always a great way. And it’s something that people really enjoy. I’ve taught lots of, you know, mommy and me or buddy and me yoga.

So if you offer it to your clients for free, you could also charge outside people if they just want to come to the event as a one off, but then as another way to thank your clients, you could say, Hey, not only can you bring your kid for free, the buddy and me yoga, but you could also bring your friends and their kids for free to buddy and me yoga.

So it’s a nice, thank you. People like to do play dates with their friends, right? But then they’re bringing someone to your facility. So it’s really a referral. So you kind of get the benefit from both ends on that kind of marketing. So I will say that is a. big thing when it comes to events and retreats is you will be so much more successful if you one, give yourself plenty of time to plan.

So for an event, I would say at least four weeks, if it’s just, if we’re talking about, you know, a singular. One hour class I think ideally is always six to eight weeks for any kind of event People need to see things between seven and eleven times before it really clicks seven and eleven touch points is the average But you need to be able to think how how can I get things in front of people seven to eleven times?

So for a one off event, I would say aim for six to eight weeks for a retreat. I would say six months at the minimum, but the more creative you can be about reaching outside of your current social media following and your current email list, the more successful you will be, especially when you are charging for the event real quick,

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Awesome. So how often should you host events and how often should you host retreats?

Lauren George: Great question for brick and mortar studios. I. I honestly love events for brick and mortar studios. And I think again, people think they have to be huge. You can all alternate So if I was creating an ideal schedule for let’s say a boutique fitness studio bar studio yoga studio Pilates studio or even a gym where I I use the word boutique to think about We have control over the scheduling versus having to go through approval of a franchise, right?

I would say almost alternating between one a month or every other month and then alternating between big and small events. So maybe one month, it’s just a themed class on a Saturday morning where it was, you were already going to have a 9 a. m. Saturday class, but you make it a little extra special by giving it a fun theme.

You know, you can decorate the room and maybe there are giveaways during the class. Maybe you offer refreshments after the class. So it’s not something that is so overwhelming on the management side. It could be a great time for you to gift your current client to bring a friend for free Saturday mornings.

Typically people can make it work in their schedule. So that would be an example of a smaller event, but then. Maybe every other time so let’s just say for for this example sake we’re going to try to do An event every other month. So that’s six a year We’re going to do one small event and then the next event is going to be a larger event So it’s gonna be three small events and three bigger events Every year and I would really think that you know at least half so at least three of those should be really focused on lead generation and community involvement and maybe Then the other half could be more revenue generating.

So maybe you do you know a Obstacle course event right where you put together. We did a july 4th obstacle course one time We set up this huge obstacle course You could bring your whole family and you did the obstacle course in like our local community park and then we had fun refreshments afterwards And you could sign up like as a family.

It wasn’t crazy expensive and our current members got a discount but there was You know, some revenue generated was a great way to get new members in. So that would be an example of a little bit bigger event that we would maybe aim to put three of those on a year for a retreat, unless you are a well oiled machine and you have a lot of help, I think two a year is, is a very lofty goal.

If you’re an independent fitness professional, or you’re a studio that wants to offer one for your members, I would definitely say, you know, start with one. See how long it takes you what the budget looks like plan for your first one to be a trial run and then go from there be again longer runway You can give yourself for planning the better and always those last three weeks There are going to be tons of things that pop up But again, you need to give people lots of time to plan to come to a retreat And if you’re offering two different retreats at one planning period so people like oh I could go in january Or I could go in june and they kind of waver between which one to go to that may actually hurt Your marketing efforts if you are a smaller business So I would say start with one a year and if it goes just gangbusters Maybe go with two with kind of two different things like a summer retreat and then a fall winterish type retreat Yeah, very

Josh: reasonable advice on one a year Until you’ve got it down to to a science.

You have to remember that, you know, planning for a retreat is pretty intensive. I imagine you have to do that on top of your own business and your own marketing planning and things like that. So if you’re, if you’re a small business, you’re probably doing a lot of that yourself as an owner operator.

Yeah, definitely. Excellent. So if you had some quick and dirty tips for selling out your events and your retreats, what are

Lauren George: those? Sure. Well, let me do them separate. So I don’t get confusing. I feel like I’ve been overlapping a lot. So if we’re starting with retreat. I would say number one, give yourself plenty of marketing time.

Number two, identify at least three to four really good partners. Think about people you would love to have put stuff in your swag bag would be a great example of, you know, a potential partner that you could advertise for them, they could advertise for you, and it would be a. Benefit for the people attending your retreat.

And I think that’s crucial because you don’t want to look like you’re oversaturating the retreat with marketing. It’s a retreat, right? Not a conference. They don’t want to go to an expo hall. So could your partners benefit your your retreat goers? We always said with our retreat that we want to give the best swag bag ever.

Like people should open the swag bag and there’s not like a ton of coupons. There’s a ton of products that they can’t wait to try, but those products also appeal. To our target market, so it’s great advertising for those products and those Businesses really helped us to advertise and reach new people, especially because we were holding retreats and totally different part of the country than when we live, where we live.

So start with three or four really targeted partners that you can work with. On hopefully, you know, multiple touch point basis while you are planning the marketing, always start with low hanging fruit. So make sure all of your current people, whether that’s. You know, your social media followers or your instructors that you’ve certified or your current members know about the retreat well in advanced and that save the data, but start with low hanging fruit first, give them the chance to sign up.

So make it, you know, a VIP members only sign up until X date and then start to shift your focus to marketing outside of your. You know current group and then when it comes to budget, which I think is really important for a retreat Really think through if you are going to be at an airbnb or brbo You really have to consider how much it’s going to cost you to bring food and transportation To your location, whereas if you were at a hotel Really make sure you read through the contracts at what your f and b or your food and beverage minimum So hotels will get you and they’ll be like, oh, you know We won’t charge you anything to use our ballroom to host your retreat right or to to do your yoga classes But then there’s a twenty five hundred dollar f and b minimum and then you look and you’re like, oh my gosh There’s twenty five percent taxes and fees and tips on top of that.

So all of a sudden what was twenty five hundred dollars Plus 25 percent fees just got a lot more. So there are definitely low cost ways to do the retreat, but make sure you really spend some time writing out every part of your budget. Food and beverage are obviously going to be the biggest part and when you’re picking your location How easy is it for people to get to your location?

Are people going to have to have a lot of connectors? Are they going to have to drive more than an hour from the airport that will affect people’s decisions? So those are the big ones for retreats when it comes to events I would say think about all the ways that you can make it Feel extra special from maybe your typical offering.

So if it is some kind of regular or not regular class, if it’s some kind of group fitness class, I’m a group fitness instructor. So that’s typically where my mind tends to go, right? What are all of the ways that it’s going to be? Extra special to create that sense of FOMO. Is it going to be a special playlist?

Is it going to be themed? Are you bringing in an instructor from, you know, the next town over that people can’t typically take from, or they’re going to be giveaways, all of those kinds of things and make sure that you are communicating that clearly in your marketing materials so that way people know like, Oh, this is.

You know something that is different than what I could just go take, you know on my normal thursday 9 a. m Class again, like I said earlier partner with your local Community business or other businesses in your community I think sometimes people are hesitant to go and you know Maybe ask for the masseuse to give a gift card to give away or ask for a gift card from the boutique fitness or the boutique Clothing store or ask the coffee shop to donate coffee for beverages, but it is such amazing advertising for them.

So go at it from the standpoint of, Hey, we’re doing this event. I would love for you to be a part of it. It will be great advertising for you because here’s our target market. And that is the same target market that this business has. So you need to lead with that when you’re approaching that business and then.

On the same note, don’t expect them to do marketing unless you provide them with all of the graphics. So if I partner with the business, I would definitely suggest, or if I’m helping a client partner with the business, you create the graphic, put their name on it. Bonus points for writing the caption give them the exact link.

You want them to send it to you? Send them email reminders tag them in all of your posts make it extremely easy for them to share your events And then again ask your client for Referrals, they may not think to invite a friend. But if you say hey, this is an excellent Opportunity for you to invite your sister or invite your kid’s teacher, teacher appreciation, whatever it is.

Remind them of that. Sometimes that’s the nudge that people need.

Josh: Yeah, absolutely. Referrals is one of those things that you think is medium. Everybody, everybody says it works, everybody agrees that it works. Everybody’s seen it work and you should do as many referrals as you possibly can. I mean, you have to ask for them.

Lauren George: Right. You have to ask. Exactly. And then I would say one other thing I forgot to mention with. Especially local events and in retreats as well, but local events to benefit your business The magic is in the follow up send the follow up email thanking them for coming Showing them or telling them how they can get more involved in your facility, you know Thank you so much for coming to x y and z event We would love to see you back at x y and z gym as a thank you.

Here’s a Free pass to come and try out the facility, especially if the event was off site 20 off your first month or whatever it is and then if possible having someone Personally follow up with that individual if they are new To your facility can go such a long way. A lot of times people will go to an event And then not know what to do next like they don’t know how to sign up or they don’t know where to find the class schedule or how to find out more about personal training and either they’re not motivated or they’re embarrassed that they don’t know So they don’t want to ask questions.

So take down that barrier for them and put yourself out there as The go to person to answer all of their questions and just having that contact can go a long way in helping them to get their foot in the door of your facility long term.

Josh: Absolutely. That’s great. That is great advice. So this, this probably applies more to retreats, but I’m sure it could also apply to like a larger public facing event.

And if somebody has just never done one of those things and it seems out of reach, what is your advice to like a very small fitness business or something brand new? A new business owner. What is your advice?

Lauren George: I would say Not necessarily to start small, but to really consider what your goals are for that event And when you are planning your budget and when you’re selecting your activities make sure you’re doing so with your main goal In mind, right?

So, you know, if you’re planning a retreat for your current gym members We often think of retreats and we think of like yoga on the beach somewhere tropical. Well, that might not be Possible for your first event, but if you’re planning it for your members and your goal is to create community with your With it with your members, you want to make it somewhere that’s accessible to your members.

So where can they get to in a fairly easy drive? What kind of activities would they be the most interested in? So keep your main goal in mind when you’re choosing everything Next piece of advice would be to Really, really, really spend some time on your budget and doing research on location and what that is going to cost you.

There are a lot of things that can kind of sneak in there at the end and going through, you know, things such as you know, do you need. Certain another budget for marketing. Is there going to be signage that you need at the event a v can be so expensive Are you going to need microphones and speakers and you know tvs and things like that?

When you’re negotiating Your room block, especially if you’re at a hotel make sure you negotiate the lowest possible Room block. I think a lot of people worry like oh my gosh What if I they run out of rooms and then my people can’t come to my retreat? Most of the time there’s going to be extra rooms Even if it’s outside of your room block, so they may have to pay a little bit more But if you’re on the hook for the rooms that you don’t fill that can be a huge cost to you now Some hotels won’t make you be on the hook for the rooms that you don’t fill but a lot of them will So you want to negotiate the lowest minimum room block?

So that you’re not on the hook for that Same for f and b if you go over then that’s great That means you have more people the lowest minimum f and b possible you also want to be very clear from the beginning what your cancellation policy is If you are putting out money Per head on different things, whether that’s food or swag bag or you know, having a ticket for them to go on X, Y, and Z excursion.

It’s really important that they know that they can’t cancel a week before. So outline that from the very, very beginning, as far as what their expectations should be for that.

Josh: Awesome. This has been really instructive. It’s been excellent. I’m so glad thank you for coming on Where can people find you if they want to reach out to you?

What do you

Lauren George: have to plug? Yes, I would love to stay connected. Well, first of all, I do have a retreat planning checklist So if someone is brand new and wanting to plan a retreat this checklist will take you through Looking at your goals, location, considerations, budget. So we will be sure to link that in the show notes.

So that way you can get that retreat planning checklist to get you started. I am Lauren George fitness pretty much everywhere. So Lauren George fitness on Instagram Lauren George fitness on Facebook. And then my website is Lauren G fitness. com. So I’d absolutely love to stay connected, happy to answer.

Any event or retreat planning questions all of my channels have my email address easily accessible so you can find me there Great.

Josh: Thank you again for coming on. I hope we can do this again sometime. I would love to thank you so much for having me