Imagine this. It's the first day of a new month. You pull up your google calendar with the events, specials, workshops, and themes that you're going to run that month, along with who is responsible for carrying out each action item and the details already spelled out. Thanks to your planning, your studio can now follow your marketing plan to effortlessly roll out the sign-ups, copy material, and supplies to have a calm, successful, engaging four weeks that brings you closer to your goals. Sounds like studio owner heaven, doesn't it? If you have 90 minutes, it can be your reality, all you need is a 12-month plan. (Please don’t rage-close your browser, I promise it’s not hard and I already did the work for you!)

When I tell you that you need a 12-month calendar for your business, I want you to know that I 100% did not take my own advice for the first two years of my studio ownership tenure, which means I learned the struggle first hand. I was the queen of last-minute events, driving to the grocery store nearby and waiting for it to open before open houses, rushing to pick up flyers in between classes, emailing registration out seven days before a workshop. If I could complete it the night before, I did. Does any of this sound familiar? If you nodded your head to any of the examples I just listed, or you've ever found yourself in a similar spot with low attendance in an event because you didn't give your clients time to schedule it into their lives, it’s your time. 

Story Time

If you don't know me, you might think I'm an unorganized wreck from my above description, but the opposite is usually true. My coaching clients know that I'm a super-organized neat freak, especially when it comes to my businesses. I wasn't rushing to complete events because I was apathetic or forgetful. I was busy doing the two million other tasks that come with studio ownership every day; managing teachers, creating schedules, troubleshooting Mindbody, teaching classes...Where was the time to sit down and ponder, "what events and marketing plans would I like to see offered this month?" or "how do I strategically move my studio closer to my goals this week?" I was stuck in the same place that I see many of my clients during early coaching calls- reacting to the day-to-day.

Here's the straw that broke this camel's back. My studio was primarily comprised of women in their early twenties to mid-forties. It's a prime Galentine's demographic, and we always do something pretty significant for this particular holiday. The year before, we had thrown a super successful event for our members and their friends, which not only brought in a bunch of new leads but was also great engagement for our VIP clients. The following year, however, I was swamped with teacher vacation requests, and we were in the middle of a giant 40 in 60 attendance challenge. In short, I was in survival mode and wasn't thinking proactively. On February 6th, I realized we hadn't even thought about Galentine's, and we certainly didn't have time to market for an adequate event runway. I threw something together, and it did okay, but most of our clients had already made plans, so the event wasn't well attended. My incredible lead generator from the years before was ineffective because I didn't have a plan in place. My last-minute studio ownership days were over. The following weekend, my studio manager and I sat down to create the first draft of my 12-month studio calendar. The difference one document made in my stress level, my bottom line, and my event attendance was almost immediate. Let's break it down so you can have one, too.

Why do you need a 12-month plan?

1. You can't move forward without being forward-thinking.

We've already discussed that you have a lot going on in your day as a studio owner or manager. You wear a lot of hats and likely put out more than your fair share of fires each day, but how often do you take time to plan for the future? I believe that everyone needs a mentor. One of my original business coaches said, "you can't think proactively if you're always stuck reacting." Truth be told, she terrified me, but this one line has stuck with me for years. How can you attract new clients with your imaginative marketing campaigns if you never pause to ideate? In other words, If you are constantly in react mode, you cannot be in a creative headspace (It took my therapist two years to get that across, you can learn from the hours I spent in her office). 

2. You have to set goals in order to achieve them

One of the first questions I ask my new clients is, "what do you want to accomplish this year? This quarter? This month?" You must set time aside to think about your goals for that week, month, year, or you can't purposely move closer to them. Are you looking to increase your engagement? Bring in new leads? Make more money? Plan for it to make it happen. Besides, if you don't set the goal, how do you know when you've achieved it? Give yourself a gold star when you deserve one.

3. If you always do the same thing, you'll get the same results

Let's assume that you run the same four events every year, and they always do pretty well, but you haven't switched things up in longer than you care to admit. Consistency is great for retention, but boredom is one of the top listed reasons why people cancel their gym memberships. If you want to keep your members forever while attracting new clients, you need to sprinkle in new and exciting events while continuing to develop the programming that makes your studio special.

4. Tired of empty events? You need a marketing runway.

A runway is what I call the amount of time you need to inform and excite your members and potential clients about an upcoming event or sale at your studio. Depending on what you're selling, that timeline is ideally 4-8 weeks, not the eight days I gave myself when throwing together Galentine's. You work hard to create engaging studio specials and events, so make sure your marketing gives each calendered item the spotlight. Research shows that potential customers need to see your ad at least seven times- more if they're cold leads- and those ads need to be memorable. If you're working hard on your event or sale only to throw out a single email the weekend before, you're selling yourself short.

Great! You're convinced- now what?

If you've worked with me or you’ve read previous coaching tips, you already know what I'm going to say. Start with your goal. What one or two feats do you want to accomplish this year? Are you after a specific revenue per month? A particular number of members? Always start with the goal, so you know each action you make during the year is driving you closer to that vision. Say it with me; you can't grow what you don't measure (my favorite spin-off of Peter Drucker's quote that my clients hear every day). 

Let's go deeper. You have your goal. Now it's time for the framework. List each month next to the following categories:

Holidays

Specials/Sales

Events

Themes

*(you can add other areas that matter to your studio- have an extensive retail section? Add a retail column!)

Now, it’s time to audit. Look back through the last 1-3 years of data in your booking software. Which months are your most profitable and most attended? Which ones are your least? Star the months that are historically your best on your calendar and Quickly jot down what you did during those profitable months so you remember to run them again and can avoid my Friendsgiving debacle. Look at the lower performing months- at my studio, we have a challenging May and November, which is why we run special programming to boost them. Underline the 2 or 3 months that will need some help on your calendar, so you remember to compensate for them with marketing events that brings new people in the door.

Now that you have your best and worst bookends go month by month and decide what you're going to do for each month strategically. Does your population leave town for a beachy spring break? Capitalize on that momentum by running a 30-day challenge with a corresponding intro offer the month prior. Are you completely quiet in November? It's an excellent time for Bring a Friend Month. Remember, we're building your schedule to support your goal, not just to fill your schedule with busy work. Your clients will be able to tell if your workshops and events fit into the overall picture of your studio culture. 

Once you've outlined your main idea each month, funnel it down again.

Look at the marketing- how will you share the news with your current and prospective clientele? Which teacher or staff member will be in charge if you have employees? You may even create and schedule the image and copy in your social media and google scheduling software if you're really proactive (or send your content to your social media consultant if you use one).

Does all of this seem daunting? It doesn't have to be. The entire planning process for your complete calendar year should take you somewhere between 60-90 minutes. Your whole year entirely curated in less than two hours? Sign me up (and you, too, I hope). More good news- Limitless has done the work for you.

You can click here to get our 12-month planning document. We've systemized the process, so you can spend your energy creating your perfect content instead of creating a calendar from scratch.

Want Help With Your Calendar?

Limitless Studio's Best Year Ever Workshop replay will teach you how to pre-plan your entire year to make sure your studio is exciting, engaging, and attracting your ideal client all year long.

By the end of the workshop, you'll learn new ideas for client-facing events, perfect your marketing runway for your studio's tried and true favorites, and leave with your 2023 calendar completely organized.

If you're a Limitless Private Client, the workshop is free in your portal, of course!