It’s no secret that seasonal incentives can help bring new business to your fitness studio. You’re likely already running promotions around peak times such as Christmas and the New Year – but there are other calendar opportunities that you may be overlooking. One example? Valentine’s Day.

It may be cliché but it’s true: Fall in love with taking care of yourself, because you can’t take care of others until you take care of yourself. Sure, this is a given if you’re all about fitness, but self-care goes way beyond working out and eating well. Meaningful self-care is about slowing down and being mindful in the moment. Not only is it important to practice self-care as fitness instructors, but it’s also crucial to incorporate it into your classes. We asked studio owners and instructors how they manage to do it and here’s what they shared:

When you opened your studio, you had a vision for it, and your classes reflected that vision. But you might find that your instructors or clients are gravitating towards a class that incorporates aspects of an exercise genre you don’t offer or that they are asking for a different type of workout. So, what do you do?

As a fitness instructor, it's important to keep your routine fresh -- from the new moves you incorporate each week to the music you play to keep your class members feeling motivated throughout the entire workout. Yet finding new music that's going to resonate with your class members and lend itself well to your workout routine can be tricky. And once you find a few tracks that work well, it can feel hard to part with them.

It’s October, and that can only mean one thing: Halloween is coming! While Halloween is only on one day, many are happy to spend the entire month leading up to October 31st celebrating. Why not draw on the excitement and fun of the holiday to have a Halloween-themed class at your studio?

The start of a new season brings with it the opportunity to refine and update your class schedule to best meet your members’ needs and increase revenue for your studio. With school starting up again and summer travel schedules calming down, now’s the time to consider adding back in a few more mid-morning classes or weekend offerings.

Boutique fitness continues to expand all over the world, and with that, the overall population’s interest in boutique fitness grows as well. With more and more customers eager to discover the experience of a boutique workout, how can you meet this need? One way is through offering video workouts. Pre-recorded sessions of your workouts -- offered either for free or for a nominal fee -- are an excellent opportunity to build brand awareness for your business and educate new customers around the world about your method. Read on to learn more about why video workouts are the next big thing for your business.

No matter how hard you work on creating and perfecting a class routine that's fun and effective, teaching class after class can inevitably start to feel stale. Of course, there's always the option to start over with a new routine -- but even the best fitness instructors can suffer from lack of inspiration when it comes to whipping up new moves.

Even the busiest fitness studios suffer from a dip in attendance during the summer months. With vacation season in full swing and outdoor after work plans filling up calendars, class members will likely be missing from their signature spot for a few weeks out of the season. And with the beautiful summer weather shining in through your studio windows, well, can you really fault your members for opting to take their workouts outside?

We’re heading into the deep of summer, and the new hits are heating up with the temperature! Instructors and studio owners from each type of exercise offered at ClassPass gave us the top five songs they must have on playlists right now, and we’re sharing them with you.

By the time summer is in full swing and you’re gearing up for the 4th of July, chances are more of your studio or gym members are taking their workouts outside. It’s hard to compete with gorgeous weather, which is why celebrating Independence Day is a great way to get members back into the studio. It’s also the perfect time to drum up excitement around patriotic holiday promotions to attract new members. Here are five fun promotions to try just in time for the Fourth:

We’re excited to showcase Sarah Lux, co-founder and CEO of uforia studios, for this post!

If you’ve ever been on a fitness retreat, you know how life changing it can be to escape your day-to-day reality and focus on wellness in a beautiful place. Whether you travel to the Caribbean or explore the wonders of the Galapagos Islands, it’s way more fun to get fit while hiking a scenic nature trail or doing pigeon pose on the beach.

Summer is fast approaching! As it gets warmer outside, your clients are going to want to renew their commitments to becoming fit. You can make the process fun and hook new members on your studio by taking advantage of the spring holidays coming up. Here are some tips.

Pick up any magazine, and it will become clear that people are thinking about something pretty frequently: weight loss. At the start of the new year, people sign up at gyms in droves with the hope that this will be the year they transform their bodies. So as the instructors and gyms responsible for those who come in looking to lose weight, how do we address those concerns in our messaging and our classes?

If you’re looking to change things up at your studio this year, consider the benefits of incorporating workshops or themed classes into your regular programming. A workshop with a well-known teacher in the industry or a class that builds on a unique skill set or fitness trend can not only draw in new clients but can also solidify the community of regulars at your studio who will appreciate the opportunity to grow in their practice.

Figuring out a class schedule for your studio is a bit like figuring out a crossword puzzle. There are certain timeslots that seem obvious to fill a class with -- like post-work hours, or weekend afternoon slots timed to give clients just the right amount of extra shut-eye (but early enough that they'll still make it to their weekend brunch plans post-workout). But when it comes to what type of class to fill those slots with, the answer isn't always clear. There are a number of factors to consider, including how well this offering ebbs and flows with your other classes throughout the week, so that your members feel like they're getting enough of a varied workout from your studio.

Prenatal exercise can decrease back pain, reduce swelling, and even improve the health of the unborn child. There are several opportunities to provide special classes for your clients who are expecting. The key is to be sensitive to their needs, as every woman's body is different. We spoke with Love Child Yoga, a collective specializing in reproductive health, for tips to help you prepare.

Halloween is upon us! According to the National Retail Federation, more than 175 million Americans will participate in the holiday this year, and spending is expected to reach $9 billion. What does this mean for you and your business? It’s time to get in the spirit and start marketing towards those Halloween-lovers out there. GET DECORATING While it may seem like so much of your brand now lives online in your web pages or social media, don’t discount the importance (and fun!) of decorating your window front or placing some cobwebs along your front desk. The key here is figuring out what level of decor fits with your demographic and brand. Plan to engage both your current (and potential) clients with subtle nods to the holiday. Remember: You’re not a haunted house or a costume retailer, so avoid the more garish décor options out and there and instead focus on small details—think: spider decals on your windows or mirrors, spray-painted or glittery pumpkins on countertops or a wooden broom hanging from your bathroom doors. After all, if you’re catering to an upscale client, you want to provide them with a thoughtful, creative take on the holiday. Also consider branding some t-shirts for the occasion and have front desk staffers and trainers wear them throughout the week(s) leading up to Halloween. Work with your original logo, but make the shirts black, white and orange instead, or add some ghostly details (witch’s hat, spider web, gravestone, etc.). CREATIVE CLASSES Subbing some themed classes into your schedule this month is a great way to get into the holiday spirit. As you get closer to the 31st, turning a few of your more popular classes (with a loyal following) into costume parties is a fun way to amp up the energy. You could set up a theme that students follow—80s workout, for example—and create a hashtag for the class, posting photos of the best costumes from each session. It’s also a good idea to add a few post-Halloween, burn-the-candy-calories sessions to your calendar for the first week of November. To lure in new customers, think about offering a special Halloween promotion on class packages. Advertise this both in your storefront and on your website and social platforms. GET SPOOKY ON SOCIAL Giveaways are an effective way for brands to maximize engagement on your social platforms. Big brands ranging from American Apparel to Petco have done this in the past to great success, and you can tailor something similar to fit your studio. Whether your contest asks followers to submit their best fitness-related Halloween costumes or photos of them exercising in costume, a few musts apply. First, everyone has to submit their entry via a branded hashtag (like American Apparel’s #AAHalloween). Second, you want to promote this across all of your platforms daily or every other day, outlining the rules, deadline and prize. (Also promote in your studio and in any email blasts you send out.) Lastly, the aforementioned prize. People enjoy participating in contests because it’s festive and fun, so you don’t need to go crazy here. Remember that branded t-shirt we recommended? Throw one of those in with a Visa gift card and a free class and you’ll be good to go. Another way to leverage your social presence is to post funny images or videos of you or your trainers working out in costume. There is no recipe when it comes to going viral, but trainers dressed as zombies cycling to Thriller could just get you there. Or decked out in Game of Thrones costumes while practicing barre. You get the idea—Halloween is the perfect time of year to showcase your studio’s personality and have some fun at the same time. Whatever you post, remember to research trending hashtags at the time (think: #Halloween #HappyHalloween #TrickorTreat), as this is your best bet to gain new followers. DON'T FORGET YOUR WEBSITE If you’ve got the bandwidth, adding some creepy elements to your homepage is another way to tie into Halloween. It’s doesn’t take long or cost much to add some spider webs to your logo for the month, and you’ll also want to advertise any promotions you’re running around the holiday on your homepage as well. Halloween is a top keyword search this month and the more times you have it on your page, the higher you will rank in search and the more likely consumers will find your site (and your studio!). If your site encompasses a blog, write two or three posts about Halloween—healthy tips for avoiding candy or ways to get in a workout while trick or treating. Again, the more Halloween-themed content you have on your site, the better it is for your business. COMMUNITY OUTREACH Halloween night is also a prime opportunity to connect with your community. Volunteer to be a business trick-or-treat stop in your neighborhood and hand out candy—with a small flyer advertising your studio attached to each bag, of course. If you want to stand out, have a few staffers out there with you showing off techniques, blasting music and making the night as fun as possible for the kids and parents who stop by.

Yes, your classes are sold out, and your clients are happier than ever. But that doesn’t mean it’s time to rest on your laurels—there always room for improvement, and in this case, expansion. We’ve come up with some quick and easy ways to give your studio the shot in the arm it needs during these hot summer days to maintain and grow your success.

Hosting a teacher training at your yoga studio is a great way to increase traffic and awareness to your space, bring in extra revenue, and perhaps even source top notch teaching talent. But before you dive in and decide to hold a full teacher training, have you considered all aspects and impacts for your studio? We interviewed two yoga studios on each end of the globe to learn more about what goes into holding teacher trainings. Chelsea Parrish, YogaWorks Program Advisor and Troy Abraham, Melbourne, Australia’s MOVE Yoga Programs Developer, shared some insight about crafting their studio’s programs.

In a fitness market saturated with small studios offering a personalized, boutique experience, the neighborhood gym can sometimes be overlooked. According to Liftetime Fitness’ 2014 Investor and Media Daily Report, the number of boutique studios in the United States grew by more than 400 percent from 2010 to 2014. Further research from the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association’s 2015 Health Club Consumer Report revealed that of the 54.1 million people paying for U.S. health club memberships, 42 percent were doing so at a studio. With focused-fitness concepts on the rise, we explore how big box gyms can remain competitive even with a series of boutique studios popping up around the corner.

When the weather gets warmer, many students would rather take their workout outside than get sweaty indoors, translating to a dip in reservations—and revenue. Why not take your workout outside, then? Beyond the health benefits of sunshine and fresh air, adding an outdoor workout is an easy and cost-effective way to target a wide and more specific audience of students. We spoke with two boutique fitness studio owners, each of whom have curated creative outdoor offerings with positive results. We’re sharing their advice for thinking outside the box—and outside the studio.

Summer is around the corner, and with the warmer temps come a litany of excuses your clients will have when it comes to getting to the gym. While it’s tough to compete with a leisurely run through the park (or an al fresco happy hour), if you take heed to the advice below, your studio will flow with toned and happy students all summer long.

The benefits of meditation are well documented—it’s said to reduce stress, boost happiness, improve the immune system, increase concentration and even slow the effects of aging. And once a fringe hobby for yogis and hippies alike, meditation has entered the mainstream with everyone from business executives to stay-at-home moms jumping on the mindful bandwagon. Here’s a look at how you can roll out the practice in your studio.

A thoughtfully curated music playlist is often the best complement to any type of workout. From barre to TRX, to cycling and Vinyasa yoga, a studio’s music choice can be used as a motivator — and even a powerful marketing tool. We caught up with Lisa Natale, Lead Instructor at LA’s musically-charged cycling studio Beatbike, to get the scoop on how teachers and studio owners can use music to inspire students and gain a loyal following. Check out our tips below for creating engaging playlists that build your studio’s reputation for top tier tunes.

We’re excited to host guest author, Kate Simmons, Executive Director of Wundabar Pilates, for this post!

Fitness retreats are meant to be an escape from the hectic schedules that keep us from sticking to a regular, healthy fitness routine. But not all retreats need to be in Bali or Mexico. Rather, you can host one just a few miles from your studio and still offer similar benefits. Here, we solicit advice from expert retreat holders on how to make it work for your studio.

As a studio owner, you know to capitalize on events around the holidays, but often there are other smaller, more timely events—a local sports championship game, for example—that can be a great way to boost community and fun at your studio.

Your business is booming, clients keep coming back, and your trainers are happy—but still, you wonder, “What more can we offer?” A growing number of gyms and studios are introducing crossover classes like meditation at a yoga studio or HIIT at dance studios. Diversifying your class offerings is a creative way to add variety and bring in new clients.

The holidays are officially upon us. Your studio is now more than ever in competition for that most precious commodity-- your client's time. With all the presents to buy, cocktail parties to host and work parties to attend, often the first item to fall to the wayside is a good workout. How to keep your client’s attention through it all? By getting creative.

Starting a brand-new fitness routine can be intimidating for some people. However, by offering a basics class, you will provide a low-pressure way for people to give your studio a try and build the foundation for proper -- and injury-free -- technique.

To truly provide the best customer service for your clients, you have help them fit fitness into their busy lifestyles. And for clients with children, finding one or two hours a week to work out can border on the impossible.

Creating a killer playlist is an art form. By carefully crafting the ups and downs of your song list, you place the mood of the class right in your control. Music can be used to motivate, energize, calm or bring levity to the atmosphere of a class. On the flip side, however, music that’s become monotonous can just as easily negatively impact your classes.

When you offer the same classes in the same time slots for months — or even years — those classes, inevitably, will begin to fall flat. Clients and instructors can feel like they are in a rut. That’s when it’s time for you to help spice thing up at your studio, before they go to other studios looking for ways to mix up that routine.

Spin studios are opening rooms for row, barre studios are offering yoga and many other types of boutique studios are offering very diverse types of classes. But, is that a smart decision?

It may have been the longest winter ever, but warm weather has finally arrived. Most people are overjoyed about the pleasant temps – but it can be a bittersweet time for studio owners. Convincing people to stay inside to work out at your studio is challenging in the summer – many studios see a significant drop-off in attendance, when even the promise of a toned, beach-ready body can’t compete with the lure of a leisurely jog in the sunshine.

What keeps clients coming back to your studio? Knowledgeable and personable instructors are important, as are convenient class times and clean spaces. But, the music you and your instructors play can have a significant impact on a class’ popularity. In fact, music — good or bad — can make or break a class.

We often hear from studio partners that are looking for creative ways to increase exposure to their studio and classes. While social media and marketing are a great start, the occasional fitness event can be an effective and fun way to connect with new and returning clients. A great fitness event is typically a combination of a workout and a fun social gathering post class. We put together some Do's and Don’ts to help you plan your next fitness event.