January 13, 2026 • 23 mins
If you feel stuck in a constant cycle of flash sales, discounts, and last-minute promotions just to fill classes, this episode is for you. In this episode of the Female emPOWERED Podcast, host Christa Gurka breaks down why reactive “panic marketing” doesn’t work—and what boutique fitness and wellness studio owners should build instead.
You’ll learn how to move away from feast-and-famine revenue and create a simple, repeatable client acquisition system that runs consistently—without burning you out. Christa walks you through intro offers that convert, the 5 stages of a marketing funnel, and how to build sustainable foundations before chasing ads, collaborations, or referral promos.
Whether you own a Pilates studio, yoga studio, CrossFit gym, or private practice, this episode will help you stop throwing spaghetti at the wall and start growing with intention.
📌 What You’ll Learn in This Episode
- Why discounts, flash sales, and referral promos fail without a system
- How “panic marketing” creates feast-and-famine revenue cycles
- The difference between a marketing problem and a systems problem
- What a clear, compelling intro offer should actually look like
- How to price intro offers so they convert into memberships
- The 5 pillars of a sustainable marketing funnel:
- Awareness
- Consideration / Know–Like–Trust
- Purchase & Onboarding
- Retention & Loyalty
- Re-engagement
- Why retention matters just as much as new client acquisition
- How to create simple funnels from:
- Your website
- Google & SEO
- Paid ads
- Social media DMs
- The exact backend systems every studio needs after someone buys an intro offer
- Why foundations must come before ads, agencies, or big collaborations
🧠 Key Takeaway
You don’t need more ideas.
You need better execution inside a system.
Marketing works best when it’s intentional, repeatable, and built to support long-term client success—not when it’s driven by fear or urgency.
🚀 Ready to Build the Foundation?
If you want help building a predictable, sustainable marketing system:
🔹 Join the Fit Biz Community
- $99/month, month-to-month
- Two live coaching calls every month
- Marketing systems, intro offers, funnels, and messaging support
- Perfect for studio owners who want clarity and consistency
🔹 Apply for the FBS Accelerator
- A hands-on program to map and optimize your entire client journey
- Enrollment closing January 16, 2026
- Reopens July 2026
👉 Learn more at www.christagurka.com
📲 Let’s Connect
DM me on Instagram @christagurka if you have questions or want help applying what you learned in this episode.
🎧 Coming Up Next
Next week’s episode:
How to Reclaim 3–5 Hours a Week as a Studio CEO (and Stop Being the Bottleneck)
Until then, friend—bye for now 💜
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (00:51):
Hey there everyone.
Welcome back to another episodeof The Female Empowered Podcast.
I am your host, Christa Gurka,and happy 2026.
I know it's the second episodeof the year.
I mean, it's exciting.
We're in 2026, January.
I'm excited for this is the 1,2, 3, 4, 5.
This is the sixth season of theFemale Empowered Podcast
(01:15):
Witches.
Absolutely insane to me thatit's been six years since I
started this podcast.
It's crazy.
but what we're gonna talk abouttoday is a, is a topic that
really comes up constantly in alot of our community coaching
calls with owners trying to justpiecemeal their business
together.
And what do I mean by that?
(01:36):
What I mean is, What I mean isthey are like, well, I need more
clients now, so what can I do toget more clients in the next 30
days?
And then I need to hire, so whatdo I do to hire somebody?
Oh, and I did hire somebody.
So what kind of contracts do Ihave?
So instead of buildingfoundations for their business,
(01:57):
they just piecemeal everythingtogether.
And this particular episodetopic is inspired by a recent
conversation we had.
In the Fit BS community wherethere was a business owner
asking how to run a referralprogram, or does she give
discount codes to people thatcan refer to her?
(02:17):
Or does she offer physicaltherapists or chiropractor,
chiropractors, free classes andstuff if they send people to
their studio.
And the thing about that isthat's not a strategy.
and so when we run our businessthat, we will constantly be
disappointed, mostly because itdoesn't, the whole system is not
(02:39):
created properly.
So if you do a referral program,but you don't have a good backup
system, or you don't have aretention system, or you don't
have an onboarding system,you're gonna be like, well,
nothing works for me.
Well, no, it's just because youdon't have a whole marketing
system or referral system.
You have more of a panic cycle.
This feast and famine type life,which happens a lot in this
(03:00):
industry.
So.
What we're gonna talk about iswhy you shouldn't just create
this marketing platform everytime revenue dips or offer a
discount, one-off discounts oroffer one-off, referral promo
because.
What you want is something thatwill run on autopilot, This kind
(03:20):
of panic marketing or this kindof feast and famine cycle is
exhausting.
It's completely unpredictable,and it's 1000% not sustainable.
So today what we're gonna do isI'm gonna break down what it
actually looks like to build.
A replicable, reliable clientacquisition system that brings
(03:43):
people in consistently, Not justwhen you're freaking out and
need some more bodies onreformer.
So how do you know if you arebuilding your business in this
reactive mode?
All right, so how do you know ifthis is what you're doing?
So let's start.
One, you feel you're justthrowing spaghetti against the
wall.
are you just throwing spaghettiagainst the wall and trying to
(04:04):
figure out if something sticks?
So if every time you recognizethat you have a dip in your
revenue or in client base, okay,I'm gonna launch a, a flash
sale.
Or you see another studio run apromotion, okay, maybe I'll do
that too.
Or you're constantly trying newthings.
Let's try a referral promotionthis month.
(04:24):
Let's try, bring a friend toclass day this month.
But there's no real backendsystem.
You're just trying to do thefront end of it, but there's no
backend.
That's when you start to reallyfeel behind.
You feel anxious.
You feel you're always startingfrom zero, and that's where you
get this FEMA feast and famine.
So.
When you are running thesepromotions, you get the feast
(04:45):
'cause you're getting newclients in, but then you,
because you have no backendsystems, you then go in a famine
mode because you're notconstantly trying to garner and
trying to get new clients andnew acquisitions.
So it's not really a marketingproblem.
It's a systems problem.
It's a strategy problem.
(05:08):
It's a sustainability problem,and the reason that it really
feels so stressful is becauseeverything feels urgent at the
time and nothing is reallyintentional.
Nothing is really thoughtthrough and developed and
designed in a way that's builtfor success.
And so why do these things notwork without a system?
(05:31):
Why discounts and referrals andthose kind of promotions.
Why don't they work if you don'thave a system?
So I don't want you to get mewrong, referrals are great.
Promotions are great, but theyhave to come with.
Again, building this entireecosystem so you know where
they're, what they're doing,each and every phase of this
(05:52):
system, where they fall off andwhat you can improve.
All right, so they only reallywork when you plug them into
this much more largeracquisition.
System.
So here's what happens if youdon't have that system, okay?
You tell Jane, Jane, every timeyou bring in a referral, I'm
(06:12):
gonna give you$50 or somethingSo Jane maybe brings in two or
three people and one of them, soshe gets What,$150.
If she brings in two or threepeople, maybe one of them
converts.
Then, so you're getting a fewlittle bit of people, but then
you don't have any way to keepthose people in the door.
Maybe they.
(06:34):
Didn't come in with an introoffer, they just bought a
one-off.
And how do you sell to them toget them to stay?
What kind of automations andemails and texts go out to them
to make them feel reallywelcome?
What do you do to make sure thatJane then keeps sending more
people?
How does she feel Important?
Okay, so there's, is therefollow-up, is there a clear path
(06:55):
for what.
What they can expect becomingmembers of your studio without
this type of foundation.
Discounts really just attractbargain hunters, not the type of
loyal returning clients that youactually want.
And then again, this does createthis feeling of oh my gosh, I
hate the marketing.
(07:16):
I hate the type of clients I'mgetting.
All they do is bring in badclients.
It's not, it's your offer bringsin bad clients.
Okay.
So one of the things that Ithink is really, really
important is you want to makesure you have a new client
funnel, and how do you create anew client funnel?
A new client offer that funnelspeople into one that actually
(07:38):
converts.
So let's talk about the betterway to bring people in your
studio.
Alright.
Every studio should have aclear.
Compelling new client offerclear and compelling, not 16
different offers, right?
sometimes I see studios and it'syou can have one week unlimited.
(08:01):
You can buy five classes forthis prime.
You can do two privates andthree group classes.
You can do three privates andfour group classes.
No, let's have, for Pilates,what I, one of the things I love
is a group class offer and aprivate offer.
Alright.
You want them priced efficientlyand effectively enough that they
are somewhat close to what anentry level package would be.
(08:26):
So for example, if you are, thelowest membership someone can
buy is$129.
Let's have something be 97 to$99for the intro offer.
So that it's close enough whenyou have a$49 offer, and then
the next thing they can buy is$350.
That is a huge jump for people.
(08:47):
So let's price Your intro offerscloser to the price of an actual
membership.
So if you do, let's say forPilates in the Grove, our intro
(10:44):
offer was$99 for three groupclasses.
Okay?
And then we also had two privatesessions for$99.
Oh no, our, maybe it was ourpro, our three group classes was
$79, and then$99 was two privatesessions.
And then our four class a monthmembership was 1 29.
So it was close enough that it'sjust a little bit of a bump.
(11:06):
Okay.
And they should have anexpiration date, so they should
be 14 to 21 days.
You don't want them.
The whole idea of an intro offeris that they use them regularly
and frequently so they get thesense of what it's like to be in
your studio, and that createsmore buy-in from the start.
Okay?
(11:26):
When you have too many introoffers, it's just confusing to
people.
And when people are confusing,they actually don't make a
decision.
So once again, have.
if you're, I'm talking toPilates, but also yoga.
Yoga have one, one offer twoweeks, unlimited,$89.
Give them enough time to get toknow your studio and, and then
(11:46):
for Pilates, maybe do a groupclass offer and a private offer,
and then have it at for alimited period of time.
The next thing you need to do ishow are you interacting with
these people that are in yournew client offer?
How are you inter interactingwith them?
when they schedule theirsession, are they getting an
(12:08):
email or a text?
When they come to their SECsession, are they getting some
sort of touchpoint?
How are you trying to convertthem from intro offer to
long-term package or membership?
These are all things that musthappen along the customer
journey.
when we talk about mapping outyour customer journey, there are
(12:29):
five different pillars of amarketing strategy.
One is awareness.
This is the first pillar theyhave to know about you.
They can't buy from you if theydon't know that you exist.
Then the second one, some peoplecall it consideration.
Some people call it the know,and trust.
Some people call it the nurturephase.
basically they're deciding ifthey want to do business with
(12:53):
you, if you're the right fit.
They're browsing your website,they're reading your reviews.
They're absorbing and engagingwith your social media content,
and they're deciding if theyknow, and trust you enough, and
if you're the right fit forthem.
Then phase three is.
Buying.
this is when they purchase, andthis is when you onboard them as
a client.
They buy the intro offer.
now what are they getting?
Are they getting what's next?
(13:14):
Where do you park?
How do you arrive?
Should you bring a water bottle?
Are you a sock studio?
Do they need to bring a yogamat?
All of these things, what theycan expect.
those are the top three.
Then the bottom two is loyaltyand retention.
how are you keeping the people.
That come.
How are you keeping them?
How are you plugging the bottomof the funnel?
(13:35):
'cause if you're always gettingnew people, but the same, the
people that are currently thereare always falling out, then
you're always having to pay andwork hard for new people.
And that's a lot.
It's expensive and it'sexhausting.
So how are you building aloyalty and a retention program?
And then the fifth one isactually reengaging.
How are you re reaching out topeople that may have fallen off
and reengaging them and invitingthem back in?
(13:58):
Okay, so how do you create thesesimple, sustainable funnels for
smaller studios, for one, twolocation studios?
Because if you're thinkingKrista, this feels super
overwhelming to me.
I don't even know where tostart.
No problem.
I got you girls.
This is, we're gonna simplify itfor you.
Okay, so funnel number one.
(14:20):
Option number one is thewebsite.
Funnel website machine.
Okay, so someone goes to yourwebsite, whether that be,'cause
they found you on Google,'causeyou have some really great SEO
on your website that's, oryou're running some ads Okay?
So they get to your website,they see front and center, new
clients start here, and thenthey buy an intro offer.
(14:44):
Okay?
When they purchase that introoffer, they should receive a
welcome email.
In the welcome email, it shouldtell them everything they need
to know about arriving for theirfirst class, where to park, what
to wear, what to bring, whatthey can expect.
Once they attend that firstsession, there should be some
personalized touchpoint whenthey arrive at the studio,
(15:06):
whether that be from the frontdesk people, whether that be
from the instructor.
There should be a follow-upemail after that first session
and it right away from thatfollow-up email should be
talking about whether the nextsteps to convert them into a
membership or package.
So they're on your website.
They purchase the intro offer,they get a welcome email, they
attend the class, they get afollow up email, then they get
(15:29):
converted into a membership.
Okay.
What about if they've come froman ad or they're on Google
search, or maybe they click onsomething on meta, so they click
on your.
They get to a landing page.
That landing page should tellthem exactly what to do next.
Here are the intro offers.
Here's the intro offer that'sbest.
(15:50):
If this, here's the intro offerthat's best if that they
purchase it, then they continuewith.
The website machine funnel, theyget sent the welcome email they
get when they arrive.
Then they get a follow-up email,then they get the membership
conversion emails.
So that is how they come in fromGoogle.
(16:12):
What if they, there's also someads that you can run because me,
six Sip of Water.
There's also some ads that youcan run if.
To DM you on social.
They're pretty successful, so ifyou like them, then you can also
learn how to run DM ads.
So you have some educationalposts on social media.
(16:33):
The post says to DM them promptsa dm.
You have a simple script thatyou reply to all these dms with,
with a booking link.
Once they book that intro offer,then they go through the rest of
the funnel.
They book the intro offer, theyget a welcome email.
They come to class, then theyget the follow up email, and
then they get the membershipconversion.
(16:55):
Okay.
These are all ways that all ofthe funnels, it's just how they
get to that intro offer.
But once they purchase the introoffer, the rest of it should be
the same.
They get the welcome email, theycome to class, they get a follow
up email, they get talked to onhow they convert from the intro
offer to a membership.
Okay?
So the way that I want you tothink about, the, the pushback
(17:18):
we get from a lot of people is,I don't have time to do all
that.
I need people today.
And while that's all fun andgood, and I can understand and
empathize, think of it ifsomeone were to come into your
yoga studio or your Pilatestudio or your CrossFit gym.
And they'd never done Pilatesbefore, and they said to you,
alright, I saw this on socialmedia.
(17:40):
I wanna learn how to do aheadstand today.
Or in Pilates.
They're I wanna learn how to dooverhead or tendon stretch
today, or in CrossFit.
They're I, I, I need to, I needto try to deadlift 200 pounds
today.
You as an instructor would beabsolutely not.
We need to build up yourfoundation in order to, we can't
just jump right into theadvanced stuff.
(18:01):
Well, it's very similar.
marketing is no different thanteaching that you would never
put someone who had never beenon a reformer before and have
them do TSR during their veryfirst five minutes of a session.
You would never load someoneinto their hips or ankles before
they've mastered the foundationsof movement and mobility.
But that's exactly what a lot ofstudio owners do with their
(18:22):
marketing.
They jump right immediately to.
Big collaborations, fancyevents, ads, marketing agencies,
without having a foundationunderneath, without saying, here
are the type of people we'retrying to attract.
Here is our journey for them andwhat they're gonna do each and
every step of the way so that wecan ensure their success in
(18:45):
getting from.
Knowing about us to becomingmembers, right?
Without the foundations, you arejust throwing spaghetti against
the wall.
You need the foundations ofclear messaging, who exactly
you're trying to target onespecific offer, a very simple F
(19:07):
funnel that includes a welcomeand a follow up.
System, a consistent contentstrategy.
That doesn't mean a lot, it justmeans consistent.
And then you can move on to theadvanced stuff, which is ads and
which is collaborations, andwhich is all of this stuff.
Okay?
So it really is important tobuild the foundations first.
(19:30):
Figure out who you are trying toattract.
How you are going to attractthem, how you are going to get
them to know, and trust you.
What you are going to offer themand how you are going to convert
them into long-term loyalclients.
So if you're really tired ofjust throwing spaghetti against
(19:52):
the wall, if you're tired ofwondering where are all the new
clients?
If you're done with beingreactive about your marketing
strategy and are ready forpredictable growth, then here's
what I would do next.
I would.
Pull back the curtain on yourown business and make sure that
(20:12):
your foundations are strong witha strong intro offer, a
follow-up sequence, a strongmarketing plan and messaging,
and if you're interested ingetting help with that.
You can consider joining our FitBiz Community membership, which
is a month to month, no-brainerme.
membership for$99 a month,$99 amonth.
(20:34):
You can't, this is your introoffer, but for us, it's not an
intro offer.
It's$99 a month, and you canstay that forever.
You get video trainings.
We do two live coaching callseach and every month where we
talk about these kind of things.
We talk about marketing plans,we talk about intro offers that
convert this.
The community membership iswhere you build your foundations
(20:56):
if you want the entire journeyoptimized and mapped out for you
and help you implement it inreal time.
Then the FIP is Accelerator,which started in January.
Now 2026.
So we're one weekend, but we'restill taking enrollments and
applications for a week or so.
And then we're gonna closeenrollment until July of 2026.
(21:18):
But if you're interested in thatcheck out, go visit my website,
www.kristagca.com.
You can see the community.
The f bs monthly membershipcommunity, and you can also see
the application for theaccelerator.
All right, we are closingenrollment for the accelerator
at the end of this week.
So today is the 13th.
(21:41):
at the time this is airing andwe are gonna be closing it on
the 16th.
if not, we will reopen again inJuly.
All right, so.
In conclusion, people, I wantyou to remember, you don't
really need more ideas.
What you need is to execute onthe ideas that you already have
(22:03):
and to execute on the ideas youneed in the system.
All right.
I would love to support you onthis journey.
If you have any questions, youagain can DM me over on
Instagram.
I'm@christagurka and stay tunedfor next week's episode.
What are we talking about nextweek?
Next week we are gonna betalking about.
How to reclaim three to fivehours a week as a CEO of your
(22:27):
studio and how to go from CEO,how to go from operator to more
of a CEO.
Alright, so that's what we'regonna be talking about next
week.
And until then, my friends, byefor now.
Hey there everyone.
Welcome back to another episodeof The Female Empowered Podcast.
I am your host, Christa Gurka,and happy 2026.
I know it's the second episodeof the year.
I mean, it's exciting.
We're in 2026, January.
I'm excited for this is the 1,2, 3, 4, 5.
This is the sixth season of theFemale Empowered Podcast
(01:15):
Witches.
Absolutely insane to me thatit's been six years since I
started this podcast.
It's crazy.
but what we're gonna talk abouttoday is a, is a topic that
really comes up constantly in alot of our community coaching
calls with owners trying to justpiecemeal their business
together.
And what do I mean by that?
(01:36):
What I mean is, What I mean isthey are like, well, I need more
clients now, so what can I do toget more clients in the next 30
days?
And then I need to hire, so whatdo I do to hire somebody?
Oh, and I did hire somebody.
So what kind of contracts do Ihave?
So instead of buildingfoundations for their business,
(01:57):
they just piecemeal everythingtogether.
And this particular episodetopic is inspired by a recent
conversation we had.
In the Fit BS community wherethere was a business owner
asking how to run a referralprogram, or does she give
discount codes to people thatcan refer to her?
(02:17):
Or does she offer physicaltherapists or chiropractor,
chiropractors, free classes andstuff if they send people to
their studio.
And the thing about that isthat's not a strategy.
and so when we run our businessthat, we will constantly be
disappointed, mostly because itdoesn't, the whole system is not
(02:39):
created properly.
So if you do a referral program,but you don't have a good backup
system, or you don't have aretention system, or you don't
have an onboarding system,you're gonna be like, well,
nothing works for me.
Well, no, it's just because youdon't have a whole marketing
system or referral system.
You have more of a panic cycle.
This feast and famine type life,which happens a lot in this
(03:00):
industry.
So.
What we're gonna talk about iswhy you shouldn't just create
this marketing platform everytime revenue dips or offer a
discount, one-off discounts oroffer one-off, referral promo
because.
What you want is something thatwill run on autopilot, This kind
(03:20):
of panic marketing or this kindof feast and famine cycle is
exhausting.
It's completely unpredictable,and it's 1000% not sustainable.
So today what we're gonna do isI'm gonna break down what it
actually looks like to build.
A replicable, reliable clientacquisition system that brings
(03:43):
people in consistently, Not justwhen you're freaking out and
need some more bodies onreformer.
So how do you know if you arebuilding your business in this
reactive mode?
All right, so how do you know ifthis is what you're doing?
So let's start.
One, you feel you're justthrowing spaghetti against the
wall.
are you just throwing spaghettiagainst the wall and trying to
(04:04):
figure out if something sticks?
So if every time you recognizethat you have a dip in your
revenue or in client base, okay,I'm gonna launch a, a flash
sale.
Or you see another studio run apromotion, okay, maybe I'll do
that too.
Or you're constantly trying newthings.
Let's try a referral promotionthis month.
(04:24):
Let's try, bring a friend toclass day this month.
But there's no real backendsystem.
You're just trying to do thefront end of it, but there's no
backend.
That's when you start to reallyfeel behind.
You feel anxious.
You feel you're always startingfrom zero, and that's where you
get this FEMA feast and famine.
So.
When you are running thesepromotions, you get the feast
(04:45):
'cause you're getting newclients in, but then you,
because you have no backendsystems, you then go in a famine
mode because you're notconstantly trying to garner and
trying to get new clients andnew acquisitions.
So it's not really a marketingproblem.
It's a systems problem.
It's a strategy problem.
(05:08):
It's a sustainability problem,and the reason that it really
feels so stressful is becauseeverything feels urgent at the
time and nothing is reallyintentional.
Nothing is really thoughtthrough and developed and
designed in a way that's builtfor success.
And so why do these things notwork without a system?
(05:31):
Why discounts and referrals andthose kind of promotions.
Why don't they work if you don'thave a system?
So I don't want you to get mewrong, referrals are great.
Promotions are great, but theyhave to come with.
Again, building this entireecosystem so you know where
they're, what they're doing,each and every phase of this
(05:52):
system, where they fall off andwhat you can improve.
All right, so they only reallywork when you plug them into
this much more largeracquisition.
System.
So here's what happens if youdon't have that system, okay?
You tell Jane, Jane, every timeyou bring in a referral, I'm
(06:12):
gonna give you$50 or somethingSo Jane maybe brings in two or
three people and one of them, soshe gets What,$150.
If she brings in two or threepeople, maybe one of them
converts.
Then, so you're getting a fewlittle bit of people, but then
you don't have any way to keepthose people in the door.
Maybe they.
(06:34):
Didn't come in with an introoffer, they just bought a
one-off.
And how do you sell to them toget them to stay?
What kind of automations andemails and texts go out to them
to make them feel reallywelcome?
What do you do to make sure thatJane then keeps sending more
people?
How does she feel Important?
Okay, so there's, is therefollow-up, is there a clear path
(06:55):
for what.
What they can expect becomingmembers of your studio without
this type of foundation.
Discounts really just attractbargain hunters, not the type of
loyal returning clients that youactually want.
And then again, this does createthis feeling of oh my gosh, I
hate the marketing.
(07:16):
I hate the type of clients I'mgetting.
All they do is bring in badclients.
It's not, it's your offer bringsin bad clients.
Okay.
So one of the things that Ithink is really, really
important is you want to makesure you have a new client
funnel, and how do you create anew client funnel?
A new client offer that funnelspeople into one that actually
(07:38):
converts.
So let's talk about the betterway to bring people in your
studio.
Alright.
Every studio should have aclear.
Compelling new client offerclear and compelling, not 16
different offers, right?
sometimes I see studios and it'syou can have one week unlimited.
(08:01):
You can buy five classes forthis prime.
You can do two privates andthree group classes.
You can do three privates andfour group classes.
No, let's have, for Pilates,what I, one of the things I love
is a group class offer and aprivate offer.
Alright.
You want them priced efficientlyand effectively enough that they
are somewhat close to what anentry level package would be.
(08:26):
So for example, if you are, thelowest membership someone can
buy is$129.
Let's have something be 97 to$99for the intro offer.
So that it's close enough whenyou have a$49 offer, and then
the next thing they can buy is$350.
That is a huge jump for people.
(08:47):
So let's price Your intro offerscloser to the price of an actual
membership.
So if you do, let's say forPilates in the Grove, our intro
(10:44):
offer was$99 for three groupclasses.
Okay?
And then we also had two privatesessions for$99.
Oh no, our, maybe it was ourpro, our three group classes was
$79, and then$99 was two privatesessions.
And then our four class a monthmembership was 1 29.
So it was close enough that it'sjust a little bit of a bump.
(11:06):
Okay.
And they should have anexpiration date, so they should
be 14 to 21 days.
You don't want them.
The whole idea of an intro offeris that they use them regularly
and frequently so they get thesense of what it's like to be in
your studio, and that createsmore buy-in from the start.
Okay?
(11:26):
When you have too many introoffers, it's just confusing to
people.
And when people are confusing,they actually don't make a
decision.
So once again, have.
if you're, I'm talking toPilates, but also yoga.
Yoga have one, one offer twoweeks, unlimited,$89.
Give them enough time to get toknow your studio and, and then
(11:46):
for Pilates, maybe do a groupclass offer and a private offer,
and then have it at for alimited period of time.
The next thing you need to do ishow are you interacting with
these people that are in yournew client offer?
How are you inter interactingwith them?
when they schedule theirsession, are they getting an
(12:08):
email or a text?
When they come to their SECsession, are they getting some
sort of touchpoint?
How are you trying to convertthem from intro offer to
long-term package or membership?
These are all things that musthappen along the customer
journey.
when we talk about mapping outyour customer journey, there are
(12:29):
five different pillars of amarketing strategy.
One is awareness.
This is the first pillar theyhave to know about you.
They can't buy from you if theydon't know that you exist.
Then the second one, some peoplecall it consideration.
Some people call it the know,and trust.
Some people call it the nurturephase.
basically they're deciding ifthey want to do business with
(12:53):
you, if you're the right fit.
They're browsing your website,they're reading your reviews.
They're absorbing and engagingwith your social media content,
and they're deciding if theyknow, and trust you enough, and
if you're the right fit forthem.
Then phase three is.
Buying.
this is when they purchase, andthis is when you onboard them as
a client.
They buy the intro offer.
now what are they getting?
Are they getting what's next?
(13:14):
Where do you park?
How do you arrive?
Should you bring a water bottle?
Are you a sock studio?
Do they need to bring a yogamat?
All of these things, what theycan expect.
those are the top three.
Then the bottom two is loyaltyand retention.
how are you keeping the people.
That come.
How are you keeping them?
How are you plugging the bottomof the funnel?
(13:35):
'cause if you're always gettingnew people, but the same, the
people that are currently thereare always falling out, then
you're always having to pay andwork hard for new people.
And that's a lot.
It's expensive and it'sexhausting.
So how are you building aloyalty and a retention program?
And then the fifth one isactually reengaging.
How are you re reaching out topeople that may have fallen off
and reengaging them and invitingthem back in?
(13:58):
Okay, so how do you create thesesimple, sustainable funnels for
smaller studios, for one, twolocation studios?
Because if you're thinkingKrista, this feels super
overwhelming to me.
I don't even know where tostart.
No problem.
I got you girls.
This is, we're gonna simplify itfor you.
Okay, so funnel number one.
(14:20):
Option number one is thewebsite.
Funnel website machine.
Okay, so someone goes to yourwebsite, whether that be,'cause
they found you on Google,'causeyou have some really great SEO
on your website that's, oryou're running some ads Okay?
So they get to your website,they see front and center, new
clients start here, and thenthey buy an intro offer.
(14:44):
Okay?
When they purchase that introoffer, they should receive a
welcome email.
In the welcome email, it shouldtell them everything they need
to know about arriving for theirfirst class, where to park, what
to wear, what to bring, whatthey can expect.
Once they attend that firstsession, there should be some
personalized touchpoint whenthey arrive at the studio,
(15:06):
whether that be from the frontdesk people, whether that be
from the instructor.
There should be a follow-upemail after that first session
and it right away from thatfollow-up email should be
talking about whether the nextsteps to convert them into a
membership or package.
So they're on your website.
They purchase the intro offer,they get a welcome email, they
attend the class, they get afollow up email, then they get
(15:29):
converted into a membership.
Okay.
What about if they've come froman ad or they're on Google
search, or maybe they click onsomething on meta, so they click
on your.
They get to a landing page.
That landing page should tellthem exactly what to do next.
Here are the intro offers.
Here's the intro offer that'sbest.
(15:50):
If this, here's the intro offerthat's best if that they
purchase it, then they continuewith.
The website machine funnel, theyget sent the welcome email they
get when they arrive.
Then they get a follow-up email,then they get the membership
conversion emails.
So that is how they come in fromGoogle.
(16:12):
What if they, there's also someads that you can run because me,
six Sip of Water.
There's also some ads that youcan run if.
To DM you on social.
They're pretty successful, so ifyou like them, then you can also
learn how to run DM ads.
So you have some educationalposts on social media.
(16:33):
The post says to DM them promptsa dm.
You have a simple script thatyou reply to all these dms with,
with a booking link.
Once they book that intro offer,then they go through the rest of
the funnel.
They book the intro offer, theyget a welcome email.
They come to class, then theyget the follow up email, and
then they get the membershipconversion.
(16:55):
Okay.
These are all ways that all ofthe funnels, it's just how they
get to that intro offer.
But once they purchase the introoffer, the rest of it should be
the same.
They get the welcome email, theycome to class, they get a follow
up email, they get talked to onhow they convert from the intro
offer to a membership.
Okay?
So the way that I want you tothink about, the, the pushback
(17:18):
we get from a lot of people is,I don't have time to do all
that.
I need people today.
And while that's all fun andgood, and I can understand and
empathize, think of it ifsomeone were to come into your
yoga studio or your Pilatestudio or your CrossFit gym.
And they'd never done Pilatesbefore, and they said to you,
alright, I saw this on socialmedia.
(17:40):
I wanna learn how to do aheadstand today.
Or in Pilates.
They're I wanna learn how to dooverhead or tendon stretch
today, or in CrossFit.
They're I, I, I need to, I needto try to deadlift 200 pounds
today.
You as an instructor would beabsolutely not.
We need to build up yourfoundation in order to, we can't
just jump right into theadvanced stuff.
(18:01):
Well, it's very similar.
marketing is no different thanteaching that you would never
put someone who had never beenon a reformer before and have
them do TSR during their veryfirst five minutes of a session.
You would never load someoneinto their hips or ankles before
they've mastered the foundationsof movement and mobility.
But that's exactly what a lot ofstudio owners do with their
(18:22):
marketing.
They jump right immediately to.
Big collaborations, fancyevents, ads, marketing agencies,
without having a foundationunderneath, without saying, here
are the type of people we'retrying to attract.
Here is our journey for them andwhat they're gonna do each and
every step of the way so that wecan ensure their success in
(18:45):
getting from.
Knowing about us to becomingmembers, right?
Without the foundations, you arejust throwing spaghetti against
the wall.
You need the foundations ofclear messaging, who exactly
you're trying to target onespecific offer, a very simple F
(19:07):
funnel that includes a welcomeand a follow up.
System, a consistent contentstrategy.
That doesn't mean a lot, it justmeans consistent.
And then you can move on to theadvanced stuff, which is ads and
which is collaborations, andwhich is all of this stuff.
Okay?
So it really is important tobuild the foundations first.
(19:30):
Figure out who you are trying toattract.
How you are going to attractthem, how you are going to get
them to know, and trust you.
What you are going to offer themand how you are going to convert
them into long-term loyalclients.
So if you're really tired ofjust throwing spaghetti against
(19:52):
the wall, if you're tired ofwondering where are all the new
clients?
If you're done with beingreactive about your marketing
strategy and are ready forpredictable growth, then here's
what I would do next.
I would.
Pull back the curtain on yourown business and make sure that
(20:12):
your foundations are strong witha strong intro offer, a
follow-up sequence, a strongmarketing plan and messaging,
and if you're interested ingetting help with that.
You can consider joining our FitBiz Community membership, which
is a month to month, no-brainerme.
membership for$99 a month,$99 amonth.
(20:34):
You can't, this is your introoffer, but for us, it's not an
intro offer.
It's$99 a month, and you canstay that forever.
You get video trainings.
We do two live coaching callseach and every month where we
talk about these kind of things.
We talk about marketing plans,we talk about intro offers that
convert this.
The community membership iswhere you build your foundations
(20:56):
if you want the entire journeyoptimized and mapped out for you
and help you implement it inreal time.
Then the FIP is Accelerator,which started in January.
Now 2026.
So we're one weekend, but we'restill taking enrollments and
applications for a week or so.
And then we're gonna closeenrollment until July of 2026.
(21:18):
But if you're interested in thatcheck out, go visit my website,
www.kristagca.com.
You can see the community.
The f bs monthly membershipcommunity, and you can also see
the application for theaccelerator.
All right, we are closingenrollment for the accelerator
at the end of this week.
So today is the 13th.
(21:41):
at the time this is airing andwe are gonna be closing it on
the 16th.
if not, we will reopen again inJuly.
All right, so.
In conclusion, people, I wantyou to remember, you don't
really need more ideas.
What you need is to execute onthe ideas that you already have
(22:03):
and to execute on the ideas youneed in the system.
All right.
I would love to support you onthis journey.
If you have any questions, youagain can DM me over on
Instagram.
I'm@christagurka and stay tunedfor next week's episode.
What are we talking about nextweek?
Next week we are gonna betalking about.
How to reclaim three to fivehours a week as a CEO of your
(22:27):
studio and how to go from CEO,how to go from operator to more
of a CEO.
Alright, so that's what we'regonna be talking about next
week.
And until then, my friends, byefor now.
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