Ep 1: Boutique Fitness Marketing Redefined
Welcome to episode one of the Boutique Fitness Marketing show!
I’m your host, Connie Holen— a web designer and digital strategist and the founder of Pixality Design. I’ve been focused on working with clients in the boutique fitness industry for about 10 years now, mainly building websites but also designing brands, honing in on brand messaging, optimizing for search, setting up email automation, and running paid ads… so a little bit of everything in the digital marketing realm!
I was a competitive swimmer through college, so fitness has always been my happy place, and now, as a busy business owner and mom of four boys, I love that I can support small businesses that I’d love to go to myself.
As part of my work designing and developing websites, I talk daily with fitness studio owners about their websites and overall business goals and challenges. And often, these conversations turn into a whole lot more than just website talk. Honestly, we have some great conversations.
These conversations are essential now—maybe more than they have been in the past. So, I decided it was time to start a podcast and have some great conversations publicly.
Here’s the thing:
As a small business owner and fitness business consultant, I think we have a responsibility to be skeptical about “best practices.” Many best practices you still hear mentioned were developed before the pandemic or even in the early days of boutique fitness. And they may not be really applicable now.
Things have changed a lot since boutique fitness really got going in the early 2000s and even more so in the last few years. So, these best practices at least need to be questioned.
Additionally, a lot of general marketing advice exists in the world that you may hear on social media, other podcasts, or even well-intentioned friends or business coaches…advice that doesn’t necessarily work for a local business.
You’re not a retail brand or an online services provider — you have a brick-and-mortar location with a small geographic area to pull from. This is your biggest differentiator but also means that you have to sift through some of the marketing advice that’s intended for more prominent brands that are going for a more significant reach.
These are the things I want to talk about on this show. What’s working RIGHT NOW for boutique fitness studio owners running profitable businesses?
And surprise, I don’t have all the answers! So this show will also feature some terrific guests. Studio owners and industry experts… people who I’m proud to call my clients and friends who are doing the thing daily in the world of boutique fitness.
OK, now that you’ve met me and you know why this podcast exists, allow me to help YOU figure out if this is something you want to keep listening to.
You’re in the right place if you:
Are in this for the long run. You’re passionate about what you do and how it can help people live healthier, happier lives.
Don’t want to feel frantic about your business. You walk your talk concerning stress management and having time to take care of yourself.
Feel lonely at times as the only one in your world who thinks about nerdy business things all the time. You want to know you’re not alone.
You believe you should be paying yourself. You love what you do, but it’s not just a hobby business.
Lastly, you own or manage a fitness or wellness business with a brick-and-mortar location. We may talk a little about virtual studio services. Still, I want to be very clear that marketing a local business is an entirely different animal than marketing a virtual business. Local boutique fitness marketing is what we’ll be talking about here.
As Lisa Cutts, owner of Yoga Pod Tucson (and future guest on this podcast) mentioned on Instagram recently, “it feels like marketing in this industry is a moving target these days.”
That’s my goal with this podcast… to help you figure out where to aim next and how to redefine what boutique fitness marketing looks like for your business.
Season one starts with a focus on marketing foundations, and I hope you’ll tune in.
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