If you’re looking for brand sponsorship at your gym, it means you’re in the big leagues. You’ve got the membership numbers that brands are looking at in order to get their equipment in front of more eyes or their supplements in front of more people. That said, it’s not going to be the easiest task getting a large corporate sponsor to pay YOU to advertise in your gym. You can either use these sponsorships as a way to generate more money, or you can offer these businesses space in your gym if they offer you something in return. Don’t forget, the barter system is still alive and well. If you think your gym has the brand equity to start looking for internal sponsorships, follow the three steps below to give yourself a head start on getting started. If you’re more of a book type, Amazon has some great books on selling advertising.

Develop a Month-to-Month Membership Volume Report

If you’re going to be selling your inside real estate to potential advertisers, you’re going to need to be able to prove that you’ve got the kinds of numbers that are going to provide them with a return on investment. That said, sit down with your marketing team and figure out how many people are coming through your doors on a daily basis. This is basically the same concept at CPM for online advertising. Take those numbers and figure out your weekly and monthly numbers. You’ll be able to use these numbers to sell your sponsors on the idea that advertising in your business is a good idea.

Create a ‘Benefits of Sponsorship’ Takeaway Document

What reasons does a business have for becoming one of your gym’s sponsors? They’ll get a vinyl banner on the wall, but then what? Once again, figure out all the benefits that come with sponsorship of your gym and create a simple one-page document that you can send to potential sponsors when they ask for more information. Don’t make it over a page, it’s unnecessary . Keep it short, sweet and to the point. Some potential benefits include: getting in front of more eyes, being associated with a well-known fitness brand (your gym), increased sales, etc.

Offer a Free Month of Advertising in Your Gym

Much like how we here at FitnessTexter offer gyms a 10-day free trial to use our lead generation software, you need to be able to offer the same thing to your potential sponsors. Set up a program where you give your potential sponsors a free month of banner placement in your gym. Figure out some key metrics that they can use to track the success of their sponsorship campaign. If they see good results during the free month of sponsorship, they’ll surely want to sign up to be a long-term sponsor for your fitness business.