- Gym World
- Posts
- How a gym owner made $159,000 in 24 hours
How a gym owner made $159,000 in 24 hours
Steal her discount strategy for your next big sale 💡
John Franklin
May 09, 2025
What’s up Gym World?
Marie Merritt from Momentum Fit never ran sales. She thought discounts would:
Undermine her brand
Bring in the wrong people
And hurt her revenue
But last Black Friday, she tried a new strategy—and made $159,000 in 24 hours. 🤯
Mateo brought her on the pod to share exactly how she did it—and how you can run high-earning promos without devaluing your gym.
Here’s what she told him:
The strategy
Discounts can be a great way to grow your gym. They can:
Increase revenue quickly
Attract new leads
Create urgency to act
But if you’re not careful, they can also:
Make your gym look less valuable
Attract people who are only looking for a deal
Make it harder to sell at full price later
Marie saw both sides.
FYI: 85% of Marie’s revenue comes from 1-on-1 personal training. Her gym serves 300–400 members throughout the year, many of whom are seasonal, so cash flow can fluctuate. A well-timed sale helps bring in money upfront and make up for slower months.
The first time Marie ran a Black Friday sale, she offered a discount on only her 12-session personal training package (normally $85+ per session). It created urgency, brought in a wave of purchases, and bumped her revenue.
Today, she offers 1-on-1 personal training packages at three tiers: 12 sessions for $85+ per session, 24 sessions for $80+, and 36 sessions for $75+.
The next year, Marie took a broader approach and offered a blanket discount on all her personal training packages. And because she rarely ran discounts, clients were quick to jump on the offers.
As a result, they bought more than expected, and it ended up costing her about $30,000 in lost revenue.
That kind of loss was too much for Marie. She knew she needed a smarter way to offer value without putting her business at risk.
But just because Marie lost money didn’t mean she wanted to skip Black Friday altogether:
It created buzz and built anticipation in the gym
People talked about it all year
The 24-hour window added urgency and scarcity
So she figured out how to run a discount that didn’t hurt her bottom line. 👇
She reviewed her finances to see what kind of discount she could offer without cutting into profit (10% off)
She checked how often most clients trained (about twice a week)
She built an exclusive 104-session package, which covered a full year of training (and cost over $7,000 😳)
Marie’s clients had disposable income, so she knew they’d buy if the offer felt worthwhile. And after running Momentum Fit for over 20 years, she had a reputation that made people trust the value.
Marie also discounted a few other services. She didn’t say exactly which ones, but the gym offers:
Massage therapy
Online training
Health coaching (usually $175/hour for lifestyle and habit support)
So whether someone wanted a full training package or just a smaller add-on, there was something for everyone.
Gym Worlder James Pratt gives every referral a 14-day free trial. That’s about $10,000 in free services every month. But it works because he runs a 7-figure gym with systems, staff, and margin to back it up.
Marie started promoting the sale eight weeks in advance through her newsletter and on social.
She also used Gym Lead Machine to send automated texts to her full list—members, former members, and leads who never signed up. The campaign included:
An early announcement
A few reminder texts leading up to the sale
Two messages the day of the sale to drive urgency
In those day-of messages, Marie always included the purchase link to her 104-session package and promoted other services like massage therapy. She says it was an easy way to upsell clients into additional services.
When Black Friday came around, about 20% of Marie’s clients bought a service—and she made $159,000 in just 24 hours. 🤯 Roughly half of that came from the 104-session package.
Not bad for a one day sale.
How you can use this strategy
Not every gym is in a position to run discounts—but for Marie, it worked because:
She got a lot of cash up front. Her gym has a lot of seasonal clients, so that upfront revenue helped make up for slower months.
She sold longer commitments. That increased client lifetime value.
She re-engaged old leads and former members. That’s revenue she might not have captured otherwise.
Sure, this happened on Black Friday—but the strategy can also work well for gym owners during slower seasons, like:
Summer, when people travel and membership pauses spike
Back-to-school season, when routines shift
Early fall, before holiday spending kicks in
When launching or filling a new program
So if you want to increase your chances of running a successful promo without hurting your business, here’s what helps:
Start with your numbers. Know your bottom line and how much you can afford to discount.
Plan ahead: Give yourself time to promote the offer and build anticipation.
Be strategic. Only discount what you actually want to sell more of.
Use urgency. A short window gets people to act fast.
Make it easy. Use tools like Gym Lead Machine to schedule texts and build buzz ahead of time.
Prep your team. Give staff a clear script, role-play common scenarios, and stay firm once the offer is live.
Pro Tip: Marie says if you’re trying to fill a specific program, run a sale just for that.
ciao,
j
📣 P.S. If you liked what you read, then tell another gym owner to subscribe to the newsletter.