What 1) time of day and 2) how frequently (once/twice a week, etc) do folks successfully offer bootcamp sessions? 3) How many people participate. Also, 4) what are you charging for that (either separately, or in addition to usual member fees)?
I'm looking at offering a martial arts oriented/flavored bootcamp in the new year, and am wondering how often and when people tend to like taking part.
No, I didn't search first. I want the latest updates.
Time of day = whenever the largest number of paying customers want it.
Frequency = at least three times a week, up to 5 times.
How many = 6-12. Depends on where you hold them. If you do it outside you can do more obviously. In my gym I did 8 people max.
Price = depends on your area. I charged about $20 per person per session (paid in advance for the 8 upcoming sessions). If you do an outdoor class that you can really fill up then charge $10 minimum. If you only do six, then charge $20. Adjust it according to your market... Find out your price point for your demographic.
This really good looking woman (sorry if that offends anybody) did a boot camp cardio class, the best times for classes around 5:30 or 6:30, and ended up getting mostly other women in the class, but the numbers would range from 5-10 people. Then she switched it to kickboxing and I believe she gets more people, but she only does it at our club once a week. In my club memberfees cover classes and the gym pays the instructor.
Time of day = whenever the largest number of paying customers want it.
Frequency = at least three times a week, up to 5 times.
How many = 6-12. Depends on where you hold them. If you do it outside you can do more obviously. In my gym I did 8 people max.
Price = depends on your area. I charged about $20 per person per session (paid in advance for the 8 upcoming sessions). If you do an outdoor class that you can really fill up then charge $10 minimum. If you only do six, then charge $20. Adjust it according to your market... Find out your price point for your demographic.
I realize time of day is dependent on who wants it and how many want it. But, I am curious what has tended to work well and if there is some similarity. Of course, Little Rock and Cloquet are vastly different markets. If I try a time to just get rolling, I just wanted to base it on what may have worked particularly well for others.
I've done bootcamps in the past, and although many balked at the idea initially, my 5:45am group had almost 20 women in it! Come to think of it, the early mornings seemed to work for more women...before this run, I did 5:30am but realized that I wanted 15 extra minutes of sleep
The last bootcamp I did, which was tied with the last gym I trained at, was held at 7:30pm. I had a group of 11 women that time. I would have preferred to do it a bit earlier, say 6:30, but the aerobics room wasn't free until 7:30. Damn those hip-hop classes! :p
I prefer early morning. As much as it can suck now and then, you'll have fewer drop-outs. I am a morning person so it's all good. I think mornings are the way to go b/c it's easier to make excuses and skip as the day goes on. If you make them do it first thing in the morning, they have no reason not to.
Also, I think 3 times a week is more beneficial for them...they'll get better results...BUT...if you're holding an evening class and you try to do MWF, that's gonna be tricky. Of course, you could do MWTh or however you want to lay it out.
I charged $250 for a 4 week bootcamp at the gym (they took HALF the profits, ugh)...and then when I did bootcamps on my own, I charged $200-250, depending on how many days per week.
__________________ "If you love what you do, you'll never have to work a day in your life." Visit my blog:"Outside the Box" Training!
Thanks, Sarah. That's very helpful perspective. I have a full evening schedule of martial arts classes, so I'm looking at non-evening possibilities, including Sat AM.
Of course, if I jump on it for a new year strategy, then outside here in northern Minnesota gets a bit tricky, and in, no way (although I've been known to run and do sledgehammer swinging in twenty below wind chills.
"although I've been known to run and do sledgehammer swinging in twenty below wind chills." I would DIE!
I think with the New Year getting close, you'll be able to drum-up some good interest and the early mornings will prove successful for you! If you get "why so early in the morning?"-type questions, just let them know that it's a lot easier to roll out of bed and get it done first thing vs. later in the day! Let them know you're not gonna take excuses!
Best of luck to you!
__________________ "If you love what you do, you'll never have to work a day in your life." Visit my blog:"Outside the Box" Training!
the google targeted ads here on JP's site mentioned this website - and I've seen something around town for same - perhaps a carside ad (one of those magnetic ones) or or maybe a flyer on a stick at an intersection median or a phone pole? Anyway, the point is I recognized the name already - and so went to the website.
I thought you might be interested to see what is offered in a California suburb - prices, times, duration and so forth
the google targeted ads here on JP's site mentioned this website - and I've seen something around town for same - perhaps a carside ad (one of those magnetic ones) or or maybe a flyer on a stick at an intersection median or a phone pole? Anyway, the point is I recognized the name already - and so went to the website.
I thought you might be interested to see what is offered in a California suburb - prices, times, duration and so forth
yes, but I'm sure each site of these camps is drawing on a neighborhood population - 10-15 min drive at the most. If they are drawing 25-40 from a 10 min radius with this density, you might get 10-15? No one would drive further and back and then go to work.
Plus this is not the only bootcamp in town (literally - we are the backyard of Adventure bootcamp too )
Man, you Californians think you are typical, but you're not even close.
I'm just offering some perspective. My school does pretty well compared to my instructor's and his is in the "big city" of 85,000 up the road. I'm just wondering about matters of target markets, population density (it's rural here). The plus side is that there aren't traffic waits, and people are willing to drive some miles for what they want.
If I can work out the schedule for myself or one of my guys/gals), I'm willing to try anything. I have to decide if this is the best place to put time and attention resources, versus other outreach for straight martial arts; but, it could be fun to try. I don't mind trying things to see if they work; I'm just trying to hit is a good as I can on first pass.
What 1) time of day and 2) how frequently (once/twice a week, etc) do folks successfully offer bootcamp sessions? 3) How many people participate. Also, 4) what are you charging for that (either separately, or in addition to usual member fees)?
I'm looking at offering a martial arts oriented/flavored bootcamp in the new year, and am wondering how often and when people tend to like taking part.
No, I didn't search first. I want the latest updates.
Thanks in advance!
I think a lot of it depends on where you live, who you're targeting, you're experience level, and a host of other factors - My advice would be to go out and try something, as this is the best way to learn - Also, I'm doing a bootcamp experiment in my own business and am updating it as I go on the Super-Trainer forum -
Just give it a shot, if you are running the class outdoors, local park etc... it can be done with very little overheads. So you have very little to loose if it does not work out.
Just go for it and each time you do it will get better and better!
I'm having a very hard time finding places to start boot camps outdoors. I want to start offering group training but I don't know where to start. The parks around here want $35 per hour (per day!) so I don't see how I would be able to make much money with them taking 40% - 60% of my revenue.
Anyone have any suggestions?
Last week we did a free group training "trial" so that we could work out the kinks (like some here on the forum have suggested) and it went well. I really feel like we could start a paid group session but I can't find a place to hold it.
I have the same question as Smash. Any suggestions on possible places to hold classes? I don't have my certification yet but I'm looking to get one soon. Thanks in advance!
Local school fields have been good for me! They charge very little if anything. You can offer a discount to staff in exchange for free use of the field!
Bootcamp scheduling
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