A fun and simple way to promote your health club in your favorite local restaurant

One great way to partner with local restaurants is to endorse items on their menu.  Typically, no matter what restaurant you visit, you can find a handful of selections on their menu that are healthy choices for their patrons.  For example a chicken sandwich or a few of the salads or steak and vegetables are all healthy alternatives to burgers and large fatty meals.  Wouldn't it be great to see your gym's logo next to those selections?

The best way to initiate this is to approach the restaurant manager and offer to pay for the re-printing of all of his menus.  He gets new menus at no cost to him, and you get your gym's name splattered all over the menu!  At the bottom of the menu you can place a small logo and next to it, it can say, "All menu items with this icon are endorsed by ABC Fitness Center, located at (address of your facility).

Beyond the first menu printing, it might make more sense to split the cost of printing, depending on how often the restaurant goes through menus.  You can do this at any restaurant in your market.  Imagine how powerful it is for restaurant customers to see your name next to several of the menu items.  You can even go an extra step and pay for the folders the wait staff provides the meal bill.  When they open to find their receipt, printed/embossed in the inside of the book could say, "ABC Fitness Center is proud to partner with (Restaurant name).  Bring your receipt to ABC Fitness Center within the next 30 days and receive your first month fitness membership for free!"

How does the restaurant benefit?  You are paying for their menus and the folder the bill comes in.  In addition, you can trade memberships to their staff in exchange for a number of gift certificates to distribute to your members in a referral contest.  You can also allow patrons of the restaurant to bring in their restaurant receipt to the health club in exchange for a 30 day trial membership.  You can also mention their restaurant in your monthly newsletter to members and promote them occasionally as the "Business of the Month".  You can provide restaurant coupons to new members as part of their welcome packet.

There are lots of creative ways to cross promote with a restaurant.  The worst that the restaurant can say is No.  So just ask them...they might have a variety of ideas to promote each other as well!!