Fitness Business University Podcast · Vince Gabriele

101 Ways To Get New Clients At Your Gym Without Facebook ADS

January 30, 2026·23 min·1 clip

Vince calls the sweepstake giveaway “the most successful marketing campaign I’ve ever run.”

1. Fitness Business University Podcast episode 101 is about “101 Ways To Get New Clients At Your Gym Without Facebook ADS.” 2. Vince, the host, frames the episode around a list he wrote in 2016, and he says the original blog post grew from 10 ideas to 101. 3. The episode asks what gym owners can do when Facebook ads stop working, and Vince says the list is meant to grow a company through client acquisition and retention. 4. He starts with calling or texting old members, and he argues that “an ounce of personalization is worth a pound of automation.” 5. He says automated email can still have a place, but he prefers a personal reach-out when inviting past members back. 6. He then turns to websites, calling them a lead generation tool rather than a brochure. 7. His example is a site with a price or investment tab that opens a form for name, email, and phone number. 8. Vince says email three times per week is a “sweet spot,” and he credits Ben Settle with the framework “educate, entertain and inspire.” 9. He says many prospects do not buy right away, and he describes email as a long-game tool for leads already captured. 10. He shares a ladies night with yoga and wine that brought about 30 women, sold shirts and other gear, and generated about five non-member trial memberships. 11. He uses that event to show that a community night can generate clients even when the direct signup count is small. 12. Vince then describes a sweepstake giveaway as the most successful marketing campaign he has ever run. 13. He says the giveaway can offer a year of training or six weeks of free training, and the follow-up offer goes to people who do not win. 14. He says the first version produced 400 leads, and he mentions a guidebook for the program that he will send by email. 15. He recommends a joint venture with a local physical therapist, and he explains that the referral should be handled by email introductions with the therapist copied in. 16. He says that physiotherapy partnership brought one referral a week and almost a 100% close rate because the therapist told people to go to the gym. 17. The episode has a practical, list-driven format, and Vince often pauses to pull up the list and move to the next numbered item. 18. His tone is informal and instructional, with examples from his own gym, his mastermind, and a conversation with a pastor about a nine-word email. 19. Gym owners looking for low-cost lead sources and referral systems would get the most from this episode. 20. Listeners wanting a deep dive into one tactic instead of many tactics might skip it.

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