It's an inexpensive and easy way for health clubs, fitness centers, and other wellness businesses to stay "top of mind" with potential customers until they're ready to buy. And it's a way to strengthen the relationship you have with your current customers.

So the question quickly becomes "Great! Um....how do we actually find new subscribers?"

Implement a couple of these tips each month and your email newsletter subscriber list will quickly fill with people who are likely to someday become your customer:

1. Put a prominent email newsletter sign-up box on every page of your health club's website.
   
   
2. Make it easy and quick to sign up by asking only for a first name and email address - not all the name, address and demographic details.
   
   
3. Do a postcard campaign specifically to promote your newsletter.
   
   
4. Share registrations with related local businesses like dietitians, natural food stores, and other health and wellness businesses (and of course, let subscribers know that you do this).
   
   
5. Do fishbowl campaigns at related businesses where people can enter drawings by providing their email addresses and agreeing to receive your health club's email newsletter.
   
   
6. Show potential subscribers a sample of your wellness center's email newsletter so they can see it's informative and not a sales pitch.
   
   
7. Approach local employers and offer to let them send your email newsletter to their employees. Important: it's got to be informative, not blatantly self-promotional.
   
   
8. Ask your local vendors and supplier to send it to their employees.
   
   
9. Whenever you're interviewed by the local press, mention your wellness center's free newsletter
   
   
10. Put pictures and names ("John L.") of your customers and employees in the newsletter so that featured people are likelier to forward it.
    
    
11. When health club members renew, train your staff to confirm their current email address and double-check that they're getting the newsletter.
    
    
12. Add an exit pop-up to your website that asks visitors if they want to sign up before leaving your site.
    
    
13. Have all of your employees use an email signature that includes a link to the newsletter signup page on your website.
    
    
14. Swap newsletter mentions with related local businesses.
    
    
15. Ask everyone who buys something from your wellness center or yoga studio if they'd like to subscribe to the newsletter.
    
    
16. Ask current readers to forward the newsletter to friends who would find it helpful.
    
    
17. Mention your free newsletter at seminars and talks. Put the signup link on the last slide of your presentation.
    
    
18. Entice people to sign up by entering names of new subscribers in a drawing.
    
    
19. Send a sample newsletter to local churches, networking groups, civic organizations, PTAs, or other large groups. Explain your commitment to a healthy community and invite them to send it to their members.
    
    
20. Offer a relevant and useful gift in exchange for signing up. For example, you could offer to send them a list of "125 Healthy Snacks Your Kids Will Enjoy Making & Eating."
    
    
21. Promise that you will never rent or sell the list and that they can leave the list at any time.
    
    
22. When you present at meetings, have everyone drop off their business cards for a drawing. Tell them to cross off their email address if they don't want to get your free newsletter.
    
    
23. Include fun or interesting content that makes it likelier that people will want to forward your newsletter.
    
    
24. Make sure your listings on local Chamber of Commerce and similar sites prominently mention your free weekly newsletter.
    
    
25. Post articles on article submission sites like EzineArticles.com. Make sure you optimize the article for local search by working in references to your city, state, zip, phone number with area code and website.