I got some numbers* today which absolutely blew me away. Check it out:
Gym members in the US: 39.4 million
Gym revenue per year: $14 Billion
Average cost per member per year: $355.00
$355! That's $29.58 a month, average! That's before parking, gas to and from the gym, and the extra bucks you spend to compete in the daily gym fashion show. That's all real money.
There are 26,830 clubs in the US. That's an average of near 1,500 members a club. I don't know what the gyms in your area look like, but there's not 1,500 people showing up or even fitting into the Curves in Malibu. I get it: Sell a membership... Hope they don't show up. Nice racket.
And for those gym members that actually do get in their cars, fight the traffic, park, check in, find a locker, and get dressed (I'm tired already) once they're out on the gym floor they've still got to figure out for themselves how to get a world class workout. Or they can pay even more money for a trainer who might know what he's talking about. Then, once they get back in their car and drive home they've still got to figure out how to eat so they support their weight loss goal. Good luck.
That's $355 a year, plus travel costs, plus trainer, plus diet advice.
I know Beachbody has issues to clean up, and of course we're in business to make a profit too. But our business is first focused on customer success. Each individual, each package that goes out the door, carries our hope that the package will find its way into the hands of a person who will take advantage of the expertise in that box and the most supportive peer group ever assembled at MyBeachbody.
So if you ever hear people wondering if the money they spend on a Beachbody system is really worth it, or whether a membership to MyBeachbody with diet info and peer support and direct access to our experts is worth it, tell them to surf through the smiling faces on the success stories page. See what real success looks like. And remember that not only did they NOT have to pay $355 a year to get in that shape, they got those results in less time from some of the best trainers in the world. Tony Horton, Debbie Siebers, Kathy Smith, Gillian Marloth and Teigh McDonough... and of course, Chalene Johnson. Once you've seen her in action, the neighborhood aerobics class is going to look like an amateur talent show. You just can't get this kind of professional, comprehensive guidance at the local gym. And you certainly can't get it for this price.
In-home fitness - the Beachbody way. Look-out gym business. It's just a matter of time. This baby's gonna tilt.
*Source: 2003 IHRSA/American Sports Data Health Club Trend Report
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8 comments:
Carl, you found out my secret... That is why I don't go to the Gym any more. I used to pay for fees, trainer (for workout and show me how to eat), gas, driving time, changing and showering, not to mention the smoothie and the time spent in there. It was always more than 2 hrs, away from my family. Until 1 winter nite, I almost was killed driving in a winter storm cause I HAD to go workout. That was the last day I showed up. Not worth my life. Went back to my old ways until I found you. Well not YOU but Beachbody and Tony, Debbie and everyone else. Well worth it. And over 2 yrs later and I am still around and so are you!!
To many more years!!!
Gracias. Yes it is worth working out at home and having mybeachbody to get almost all I need. Good thing I can buy food around the corner or I would just have to send you 1/2 my check for food too. LOL
XO
Mary
Hey Carl,
I was SO the skeptic in March when I first bought Power90 (I've always been skeptical about infomercial products)- butI was willing to give it a try bcause I hadn't found anything that worked well yet. I was happily AMAZED at how well it worked! And how the online support made it all so easy. Because even when I've joined a gym in the past, I never got this kind of support from PHYSICAL-LIFE people, that I am getting from all the REAL people online. It's also very empowering to be "out there" and able to give advice & support to others as well.
I now have a small group who I email regularly to keep up as well as 'talking' on the boards. The only talking I ever got in the gyms were the "meat market" people who were spending more time socializing than working out- which can be fun too- but it kills the whole plan of getting a WORKOUT done. Not to mention feeling like PREY.
So this former skeptic has gone on to purchase other BB products since March- and maybe I'll spend as much as your gym $$ quote by the time I've been with BB a year- but I am getting the results I WANT. My local gym wants about the same average for a year's membership, and they want me to put my kids in the nursery while I work out. But with BB, I can workout WITH my kids and they are having fun with "The Warrior" and the kicks & punches... something they would miss in the gym. So it's good for the WHOLE FAMILY that I do BB products at home.
This'll make me sound like an infomercial myself- but seriously, BB has changed my life. It really has.
Thank you wholeheartedly,
~TuxB
Thank YOU! Wow - that is like a perfect infomercial "value statement"... although I suspect we could say that over and over for a half hour show and people would still shrug it off. It's kind of like saying "Come on in - the water is perfect!" to someone who has jumped into the pool on such advice before only to find the water was freezing cold. UNtil you get in, try it, fugure out how it applies and benefits your life, you don't know. But that's also why I think someday soon this business will "tip", where it's not about seeing an infomercial and buying the product - but so many people around you will be saying "I'm losing weight and getting in shape at this website called Beachbody. It's supportive, inexpensive - and look at me - I'm losing weight fast!". That's when this business will grow like a bamboo shoot.
Until then, thank heaven for customers like you two!
Carl,
Just a humorous side note. My sis in law and friend joined a place similar to Curves. Asked me to come along one day with a free pass. I had already worked out that day but I always enjoy socializing...and it was free!
Well, first of all, because of P90X, I barely got my heart rate up to 50%....And then, everyone kept pointing their fingers at me because I would set the machine to the highest resistance and the person following me had to change it each time. :) The funny thing was, I couldn't tell a difference no matter which way I turned the knob! I really didn't know what I was doing.
The person at the desk said, "So...do you work out somewhere else?"
I said, "Yeah..at home!" :)
Well, we did have fun. I was warmed up by the time we left, so I ran home. :)
Thanks Carl and BB. "There's no place like home..."
Anne
I was skeptical about the BB success stories.I am a member of the Cathe Friedrich's forums and I found there lot of great opinions about P90X.I decided to give it a try and I ordered the P90X. I waited my order during a long time, I am a international consumer, but P90X deserved the waiting. When I previewed the first tape I understanded why there is a body transformation between the before and the after pics.P90X is brutal. You are really working out and sweating with real people.After my P90X order ( Now I have completed my first round of P90X) I ordered the Turbo Jam deluxe package, the power half hour dvd and the slim series and I don't regret the purchase.If you eat clean you will have results. The workouts and the rest of the program (eating/food) WILL WORK, if YOU do it!.
I can find these awesome workouts and trainers in the gyms of my country.And for me, I could never get as intense a workout at a gym because of self consciousness.I would never want other people to hear me breathe the way I do when I'm really working hard, so I'd temper my intensity.
After working out whit Cathe Friedrich and the Beachbody workouts, who needs a gym ¡¡.
Mariángeles
I MADE A MISTAKE IN MY MESSAGE. I wanted to say I can not find these awesome workouts and trainers in the gyms of my country.Excuse my poor english.
Excuse me.
Mariángeles
Carl,
You forgot to mention sign-up fees, contracts, etc!
I signed up for this Discovery Channel Body Challenge thing earlier in the year. It was in conjunction with Bally Total Fitness (worst commercials around). I was so psyched to start working out again, I was ready to be a success, so I took my free pass to the nearest Bally's, filled out all the paperwork, spoke to the "trainer" about what I had been doing in my previous gym in Australia, got advice from him on where to start, etc. Then, he took one look at my two kids and said, "Well, you're not working out today, are you? Because we don't have any child care for the Discovery Channel folks." That's right, NO CHILD CARE! It was reserved for their contract-wielding members only.
I was so discouraged, so deflated, that I cried all the way to my car, holding my two-year-old in my arms and my five-year-old's hand across the parking lot. I was sooooo upset, I did nothing for about 4 months until I saw that great P90 infomercial. 'Nuff said!
I LOVE BEACHBODY, P90, AND ALL THAT YOU STAND FOR! Thank you for making me feel successful, just by doing 3 rounds of jumping jacks in Sweat 3/4. Now THAT was an accomplishment for me! You guys are inspirational and I love you all!!
Beachbody is the best!
Sarah/Psalm9567
Talk about a "set-up"! People are going to read this and think are all on the payroll. Hopefully people will start to see that the sheer volume of success stories is where the credibility is.
We're even starting to get nibbles form people who want to take this concept out internationally with us. It's all exciting, as long as we keep working to improve things here at home.
Bottom line is, as long as the customer base continues to support us, we'll continue to support you. It really does work both ways, and I am so grateful for the quality of person that seems to be attracted to our style of "real solutions".
So now it's my turn: Thank you!
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