Optimal Aging

6 Common Pitfalls Gym Owners Face (and How to Avoid Them)

• Jay Croft

Share episode

As the year winds down and business stress kicks up, it's easy for gym owners and fitness professionals to fall into familiar traps. In this solo episode, Jay Croft of Prime Fit Content breaks down six common pitfalls he sees gym owners make—especially when trying to grow with more clients over 50.

From cutting communication when money’s tight to relying too heavily on social media, Jay offers actionable advice rooted in real-world conversations and personal experience. If you’re trying to reach and retain older clients, this episode is packed with wisdom to help you stay the course and grow smarter—not just harder.

What You’ll Learn:

  • Why cutting marketing during slow months is a major mistake
  • How often you should email your list (and why two emails a week is just right)
  • The role of consistent storytelling—including from outside your gym
  • Why social media is not your best marketing asset
  • What over-promoting discounts can really cost you
  • Why AI can’t replace authentic, human communication

Timestamps:
00:00 – Intro: Why pitfalls creep in during stressful times
01:45 – Pitfall #1: Cutting communication when money's tight
04:00 – Pitfall #2: Thinking two emails a week is too much
06:30 – Pitfall #3: Avoiding stories from outside your business
08:45 – Pitfall #4: Relying mainly on social media
10:20 – Pitfall #5: Overloading emails with promotions
12:30 – Pitfall #6: Believing AI can replace human connection
15:15 – Recap of all 6 pitfalls
16:00 – Final thoughts and encouragement

🎤 Host: Jay Croft
Jay is the founder of Prime Fit Content, the only content marketing service specifically built to help fitness professionals grow their businesses by serving people over 50.

🌐 Website: https://primefitcontent.com

📬 Email: jay@primefitcontent.com

📱 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/primefitcontent

🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/croftjay

👍 Rate the show on Apple Podcasts
 📥 Join our newsletter – https://primefitcontent.com

📱 Follow us on Instagram – @primefitcontent

Loved this episode? Share it with a fellow fitness pro who serves clients over 50!

SPEAKER_01:

Money gets tight, time gets tight, stress creeps in. And you know, when it does, we all fall into certain patterns. Those of us who own small businesses anyway, including gym owners. And today I'm breaking down six common pitfalls that I've been hearing from gym owners a lot lately. Maybe it's because of the holidays, I don't know, end of the year, what have you. But I think a lot of these are particularly true when they're trying to grow their businesses with more clients over 50 and how they communicate with that audience. So there's some smarter ways to move forward. And that's what I want to talk about today on optimal aging, the show for fitness and wellness professionals who want to reach more people over 50, serve them better, and grow their businesses. I'm your host, Jay Croft of Prime Fit Content. Now, like I said, over the last, I don't know, six weeks or so, I've been hearing this these kind of concerns a lot from gym owners. Heard them for the last few years, but they seem to be cranking up lately. And so I thought, well, if a lot of people are talking to me about these concerns or questions or pitfalls, then probably other people out there are as well. So I thought I'd bring them up and just let you know that, you know, these are very common and you shouldn't feel bad about them, but I do want you to think about a better way to respond to the pressures that you're feeling. Okay. I feel these urges to make a lot of these mistakes, running my own business as well. And just like our prospects have their own sets of common reactions when they're stressed out, right? They say, I can't afford training, I can't afford a gym membership right after they spent$200 on dinner, or I need to get in shape before I can join a gym because really they're nervous. So gym owners do a lot of the same thing talking about marketing and about communications. So again, there are six pitfalls that I've seen a lot lately, and I want to talk about them now. The first one is this idea that money's tight right now, so I better pull back on my communications. And it's totally understandable. I really get it. You know, if you're having a soul month, the first instinct is often to trim expenses. And sometimes I'll hear people say, Jay, I need to cancel my newsletter, I need to cancel my content service with you just for a little while until things stabilize. So it's a common reaction, but it doesn't, to me, make a lot of sense that when you are hitting a tough time with sales, you want to pull back on the one tool that reaches hundreds and hundreds of people every week, just to save the nickel on your email costs or your content marketing costs. People on your email list want to hear from you. They've told you they want to hear from you, and we can see that it's effective. We know that email continues to be one of the marketing channels that brings the highest return on investment. Most studies place it at around$30 to$36 in return for every$1 spent. That's a steal compared to advertising, of course. So cutting communication and a downturn is like a client telling you they're going to stop exercising because they want to save energy. It just makes the problem worse. It doesn't help anything. So if you're having a slow month, your audience needs to hear from you more, not less. Because retention and reactivation come from consistent, real human communication, not from stopping and starting, which sends all sorts of mixed messages to your following that you're not quite sure of yourself that you're not, your business might not be as reliable as you'd like it to be. You know, think how it looks when you stop and start all the time. And then think how it looks when they don't even have to wonder about it because they're just always getting the same consistent messaging from you. So pitfall number two is thinking that it's too much to send two emails a week. It's really not. And this is generally what I advise is to send two emails a week. If you really can't stand that thought, then fine, send one a week. But two is not too much. I think a lot of gym owners don't want to be pesky. They don't want to annoy older adults, or they think older adults don't rely on emails, but they do. We know that adults over 50 rely on email more than any other digital channel. Research from the Pew Institute, for instance, has shown for years that this group checks email daily, often multiple times a day. And it's because it's private and it's familiar and they get to do it on their own terms. So when the content is good, and I make sure that the content is good for you, when the content is good, it's not overwhelming or annoying. They're happy to get it. Two emails a week is not overwhelming if the content is good. So it's kind of like when prospects say, I need to get in shape before I join your gym. They're just nervous. And I get it. You know, they're trying to avoid being uncomfortable, and you're trying to do the same thing when you say you don't want to send two emails a week, but it's a big mistake. Consistency is part of behavior change for gym owners, but also for their members and their prospects and fitness habits, what you're selling, it's part of behavior change. Eating better is part of behavior change. You give support for these behavior changes to your prospects and your clients as often as possible, not as rarely as possible, or whenever you're having a good month, right? If the content is helpful and uplifting and human, twice a week is exactly right for this audience.

SPEAKER_00:

Hey, are you a fitness professional trying to grow your business with people over 50? If you are, then you need to know how to communicate with them, how to market to them, and how to get them to trust you with their fitness, well-being, and money. We're talking about millions of people who are a little older than the typical market that the fitness industry usually pursues. They have more money, more time, and better motivation to make the best long-term fitness consumers you'll find anywhere. If you're not focusing on them, you should be.content.com. That's prime like prime of your life, fitcontent.com. Back to the show.

SPEAKER_01:

Pit file number three is feeling uneasy about featuring people or stories or trends that are from outside of your actual business. And yeah, you do want to promote your business, your members, your staff, what's happening in your gym and in your community. But it's okay, in fact, very beneficial to bring in news and information from other places too. You know, when we when prospects read your newsletter, they're looking for people who are like them. They're looking for news and information that they can relate to, not necessarily that all of it come from your community. They're looking for something that's going to motivate them and gonna make them say, hey, I'm just like that person. That's not a celebrity, that's not an athlete, that's an overworked grandma just like me. So maybe I can go to the gym and get fit and take better care of myself. You know, these kinds of stories, whether they're about individuals or trends or noob research or anything out there, just add to the magnitude of the message that you're sending about your own gym and your own people, right? Because it's not just this, it's this, it's a big picture, and you're presenting the whole thing whenever that happens. Okay, pitfall number four is relying mainly on social media instead of email. And the truth is, I tell gym owners this all the time. The number one marketing asset you have is your email list. Now, you don't own your audience on social media, but you do own your email list. Instagram and Facebook and all the other social media platforms, they decide who sees your posts and when. You know, and you don't. And they regulate the algorithms that decide what we all get to see and interact with. You don't. People delete their social media apps without telling you. So you might not even know that they're not even a part of your audience anymore. They might get mad when a controversial person buys a platform and starts using it in ways that they don't like or that become embroiled in controversy. But when you have someone's email address, you have a direct line of communication that's based on permission that they gave you. They have said, hey, I want to know more about your business. Please send me more information about your business. Social media can help build aware awareness about your business, but email is the direct action that connects you to your potential customers. And it's always yours. If Facebook disappears tomorrow, you still have your email list, right? Okay, pitfall number five is cramming your newsletters with promotions and discounts and old style gimmicks. I think this comes from anxiety. You know, we want to tell everybody how great our deal is, how great our business is. We want to get them in here. We want to say there's a 20% discount next Tuesday, two for one deal through Friday, whatever. Want to get people through the door, and we think that that's the way to do it. But email newsletters are not the place to provide these constant gimmicks. Email newsletters are the place to provide value and clarity and sincerity to people over 50 because the people in this audience they want to get to know you and like you and trust you before they ask you to help improve their health. Coach them on moving their bodies and generally get up all in their space, right? It's a very intimate thing. So they want to get to know you before doing business with you. And think about prospects and fad and diets, you know, the 10-day cleanse and the miracle supplements and all of these things. They chase the flashy thing. But what actually works is habit and structure and patience. And it's the same with your newsletter and really with all your marketing. You know, you have to absolutely make an offer sometimes. But the substance of your emails should consistently be stories and news, encouragement, practical guidance, education, entertainment, promoting a sense of community. It's these kinds of value-based content that keeps people subscribed to your emails and eventually will get them walking through your door. Much more than 20% off. Again, I understand that, you know, AI came out of, can came on the scene a while ago, and it's tempting to think that it can do a lot of the hard work for you. And and maybe it can in other fields, scientific fields or research or what have you. And Chat GPT, you know, can can do some helpful basic things. It can help you brainstorm things, help you organize your ideas, that kind of thing. But I'm not worried that it's going to kill my business, you know, just like Peloton and COVID didn't kill yours, right? And that's because AI can't do what I can do, just like Peloton and those other tech services couldn't do what you can do, and that is provide a human touch that older adults need. AI cannot articulate your gym's unique tone. It can't capture the nuance in your stories. It can't know why a certain phrase will resonate or alienate people in your community. I don't think it can create trust. I don't think it can replace human warmth or humor. And it's a terrible writer. It'll get better eventually, I'm sure. But yeah, it can generate basic content. If you want, hey, give me three reasons why a woman over 40 should lift weights, then fine, you can put it in a chat GPT and it'll give you something decent. But you don't want decent, and that's really not much of a communication strategy. AI cannot generate connection. It's a little bit like one of your prospects saying, you know, I'll just watch workout videos at home and get strong that way. Content is not coaching, just like it's not advertising. And AI is not the same as your voice. You can use AI to brainstorm or to outline things, to talk things through, so to speak. But the the leadership, the tone, the message, it all has to come from you because your audience can feel the difference. You know when you're being fed a line of BS. So does your audience. Okay, so to close up, let's review the six common pitfalls I want you to watch out for. Number one, pulling back on communications when money's tight. Number two, worrying that two emails a week is too much. Number three, being hesitant to share stories from outside your gym. Number four is leaning too heavily on social media. Five is overusing promotions and discounts and deals. Number six is hoping an AI quickie can replace thoughtful human expression. And again, I get it, running a small business is hard. You're looking for ways to save time and money. And sometimes you question what you're doing and whether you should keep doing it, keep spending time and money on these things or other things. But remember that the very simple solution for all of this is that people over 50 respond to authenticity, clarity, trust, and consistency. There is power and freedom in that for you, my friends. If you show up consistently for them, they will show up for you, no doubt. Thanks for listening. Join me next week. Till then, please leave a comment or a rating. Please subscribe to the podcast. All these things help me grow my audience. I'd also love to hear from you. Send me an email at J A Y at PrimeFitContent.com and check out my content offerings at primefitcontent.com for all your email, social, and website content needs. And keep up the good work. Your community needs you. Cheers.

Head Shot

Jay Croft

Host