It was great to be able to have good business news to share last week, among with the flood of bad news from Wall Street. elements has announced more locations under development this month than many other fitness brands combined - over 28 in total! No doubt that we are in a serious growth streak, we are also on the verge of announcing some additional strong international locations in Australia, Canada, and (once again) India. I was especially happy to see two of our original elements club owners upgrade to become Regional Developers (meaning that they will now be entrusted with the development and support of clubs in a specific geographic region - adding a nice level of local expertise to our already-strong franchisee support. It is great to see our partners grow.

Below is the news release we sent from our Central Offices last week:
Miami Beach, FL – 09/26/08 – elements™ has announced the addition of two new regional developers and 20 new proposed franchise locations throughout the Ohio and New England areas, marking tremendous growth for the upscale women’s fitness brand.

Two elements™ club owners, Lisa Whitmyer (Cleveland, OH) and Brenda Perkins (Exter, NH), have become Regional Developers for the fast-growing women’s fitness and lifestyle chain. As regional developers, the executives will facilitate and manage growth in the regions of Central Ohio and New England for the elements™ brand, including providing local training and support to geographically centric locations. The company estimates over 20 new elements™ locations will be developed between the two developers within the next 3-4 years.

Elements has created a platform for women to come together in an environment of health and wellness. The upscale fitness brand differs from other health club providers with its balanced approach to a healthy lifestyle: body, beauty and mind. Elements also features a very popular online magazine and media channel, elements living, an full-service interactive diet, BalanceD, and a acclaim retail line.

Brenda Perkins is owner of an elements™ fitness in Exeter, NH. She became an owner after leaving her job as an executive at a Fortune 100 company and participating in a missionary program in the orphanages of India. She originally chose to open an elements™ franchise to help direct profits to social causes she thought needed addressing.

Lisa Whitmyer previously acted as a sales executive for a NASDAQ-traded healthcare company before becoming owner of an elements™ franchise in Colombus, Ohio. Lisa chose to open an elements™ franchise based in part on her mother’s breast cancer diagnosis and her own commitment to women’s health topics and well-being. Being at risk for breast cancer changed Lisa’s perspective on fitness and overall health, and she made the commitment to turn a traumatic life experience into a motivational one. Lisa also began training as a triathelete more than six years ago.

For more information about business opportunities with elements™ or the new regional developers, please contact our elements Central Offices at 866-893-9603 click here.

Believe it or not, it is possible not only to survive, but to thrive in tougher economic markets. And guess what…. if you learn how to profit even in “down” markets, then think how well you will flourish when things inevitable get better again.

They say that if you took all of the wealth on the world, and spread it evenly amongst all people, within 50 years 82% of the people would be in the same economic position as they are today. This is because wealth is behavior-based, and less dependent on outside factors and financial tips than you may realize.

Use this tough market as a wake-up call, and condition yourself to take the steps and adapt the behaviors necessary to truly build wealth for you and your family. Learn from the pro’s and the family’s that have withstood generations of ups and downs in the economy…

1. First, recognize that thriving assumes surviving. Survival in these tough times is critical but insufficient. By focusing on thriving, survival is assured. You’ve got nothing to lose in living with a great outlook and you have everything to lose by living in fear.

2. Second, acknowledge fear as natural and necessary but insist on living beyond it. Courage is not the lack of fear; rather it is the willingness to push on through fear. Consider what’s right about the situation, where the opportunities are. This is not always easy or natural, but it is always possible and for those choosing to thrive rather than simply survive, it is absolutely essential.

3. Invest in yourself - We often build an image in our head that stockbrokers and people working on Wall Street would be better to handle our money than us. This thinking is wrong. No one will ever watch your family’s money more carefully than you. Many Americans consider investing into their own businesses, to help create strength in their finances and careers.

Well established franchises, with great management teams are often the top choice for well educated investors, who prefer to follow a proven path and avoid many of the beginner’s missteps.

Also be sure to invest in a growth industry. Do your homework, it might not be what you would expect… Did you know that the entire global makeup industry was founded during The Great Depression?

It’s true! When money’s tight and jobs are hanging by a thread, inexpensive products that give us a sense of normalcy… help us connect emotionally with “the good old days”… products or services that boost our self-esteem or hope… or experiences that give us pleasure or a few moments of respite from worry and want… tend to sell like hotcakes.

4. Reflect.

Take a two-to-three year outlook on your finances — including looking back in the rear view mirror to times of recent prosperity. Sure the economy is difficult and you need to adjust your spending appropriately and be ever mindful of the changing landscape, but you did a lot of things right to achieve what you achieved. Should you rest on your laurels in difficult times? Of course not. But it’s OK to remind yourself that you and your team have made good decisions and achieved your goals. Keep success in mind. Focus on what it is you do best. This will not only prove good for your business, but it will help you and your team to stay positive and endure many of the economic difficulties that are out of your immediate control.

5. Assess your workplace security.

Working hard can help protect your job, but it may not be enough. In addition, you should be strategic and figure out where you stand. Workers who cost employers money are most likely to be laid off. These include staff in high level positions, staff in hard-hit industries, bureaucratic positions or workers in overstaffed departments.

6. Do One Thing 100 Percent Better

Instead of doing 100 things one percent better, do one thing 100 percent better. And make sure that one thing involves making you more successful and happy!

7. Don’t panic!

Whatever you do – it’s especially important not to let panic guide your decisions. Stock-market gyrations can give even the hardiest investors a case of the jitters. However, converting all your investments to cash is likely to do far more harm than good, say many financial planners.

8. Be with the “in crowd.” Life’s little pleasures usually thrive during tough economic times. Though we may forgo new clothes or fancy dinners out, we have traditionally turned to the vice industries — gambling, smoking and drinking – and to the non-vice industries – health, beauty and fitness - to help ease our pain.

But this time around is different. Smoking has fallen into such ill repute that many municipalities ban it. Fuel costs have made driving or flying to a casino a pricey proposition. Now it seems the only acceptable — and affordable — sin left is alcohol, namely beer, which has also fallen out of favor with most. This time it’s the non-vice lifestyle industries that are really benefiting – memberships in health clubs across the US are up 5% from last year, and diet products rose yet again to a record $58 billion in sales this year.

“Beauty and fitness are really beginning to be considered consumer staple industries,” said Dan Colliers, CEO of the Divine Branding Group. He put it as a basic need, “People are naturally going to do something to make themselves look or feel better during tougher times.”

Not all is going down in this economy. Service sectors, such as fitness and small luxury goods actually see a surge during slower economic periods. Consumers are looking for entertainment and a relief, while keeping value in mind.
Get out there… Opportunity is knocking!

It is easy to get caught up in the woes of our US economy, but when you speak to successful investors (those who haven’t been hit by this current market), you will notice on strong trend: investing into international markets. Once though of as a risky strategy, now we are truly part of a global economy. American brands, such as Coke, McDonalds, and Sharles Schwab are as easily found in any international city as they are here at home.

Although much of elements for women growth for the past several years has been US-based, several months ago we began to add focus to developing international markets, a move that has played out very well for both us and our stockholders.

Our fast-growing international franchise division is in late stage or final talks with a number of great international locations, and expect to be announcing signature clubs in Kuwait, Dubai, Australia, and nearly every major city of Canada by the end of the year. Our international partners are a serious group, and have aggressive plans to launch and grow. US fitness brands do extra-ordinarily well with international customers, it is the theory that “geography builds credibility.” (Much as the as consumers believe that Italian fashion designs [Gucci, Prada, Ferragamo] are superior to American, and thereby worth the extra money). By partnering with elements, these international locations will build fast credibility and association.

elements is also preparing for a big launch South into Latin America. We have teamed up with a major international franchise agency to begin the translation of our sites and manuals into Portuguese and Spanish, opening the gateway to one of the most significant and lucrative fitness expansion markets in the globe. Much more about this to come….

We were very excited this week to announce two new Regional Developers to the elements for women franchise system. We began the national growth of our Miami-based upscale fitness brand about three years ago, and now have over 70 locations worldwide under development. One of the most rewarding and exciting aspects is to see franchisees succeed, and expand into larger roles, such as becoming a Regional Developer. We have had two such cases - a good testament to the strength and skill of our club owners. elements is becoming the category leader in fitness clubs for women, through no small part the hard work of our team members, management team, and franchisees across the country.

The article at left tells about one of our elements club owners who is using her business as a vehicle to give back to a charitable mission. This is a great foundation for a business, and an excellent way to build community - Brenda Perkins has done both.

As you may know, Wall Street has seen two major events occur over the
weekend, including the meltdown of Lehman Brothers, a 150+ year old
founding financial institution and the takeover of Merrill lynch, an equally large
brokerage.

This is very likely to have people talking about the instability of the
financial system, many analysts have said we are one step away from a financial
meltdown.

Of course the leaders of companies all across the country (and world) have been carefully analysing with their finance team the implications and outlook for their companies. I thought I would share our thinking on the economy with you…

How this news affects elements:

1. Franchising, or the ability to own your business as part of a proven brand, is a tremendous stabilization step for so many affected by an economic crisis. Many become disillusioned with the stock market after a market crisis. We naturally feel as if we were “doing the right thing” by investing our savings into institutions, but fast realize that we have no power over our own investments and savings. Many investors at this point seriously consider owning their own business, making an investment in themselves.

Many very qualified owners are in fear of losing their jobs, or their investments, and business ownership now seems not only like a logical choice, but also as a better option.

As is the case with elements - there are several acquisition transactions in our timeline which could dramatically increase the valuation of the company - during this “first round” the owners are able to buy at the lowest starting point. This type of exponential growth is very apprealing to some, who understand that any investment comes with its pluses, and minuses.

It is no secret that we are moving into the next stage of development of (elements group) growth, which involves the acquisition of strategic facilities across the country. This acquisition strategy will quickly expand our footprint of fitness club operations, as well as provide excellent resources for franchise training -  further strengthening the overall operations of the brand. Since our team is headed by former Nike VP Bruce Fabel (CEO of elements), we have been attracting the attention of many serious investors, elements is quickly becoming positioned as one of America’s great franchises.

I was very happy to receive a call today wi from Jeff Hicks, CEO and Partner of the Crispin Porter + Bogusky ad agency. The agency, known as the “factory” is widely regarded as one of the top creative agencies in the world, with such noted key clients as Microsoft, Burger King, BMW. Although this was the first of many possible talks, the idea of having such a major ad agency on our team is certainly exciting. Next week I leave for the west coast to announce our expansion into California, and to begin fielding requests from potential franchisees and stockholders in the Western States.

As the chairman of elements group, I have the privilege of collaborating in many diverse areas of our brand’s growth. Franchise training is one of my most favorite, and one of our most important jobs, as we continue to build a brand described as “the category leader in fitness clubs for women.”

The following is an excerpt from a training exercise I did, which could relate to any business trying to improve its visibility within a market…

Is your club famous yet? Lets talk today about how to really build
buzz locally, and drive more traffic to your elements club organically.

Web 2.0 is a term given to the new, interactive nature of the web,
focusing on Social Networking, blogging, and consumer reviews.

We spoke last week about how to build and maximize your Local Yahoo
Listing, and how to add consumer reviews.

This week, I would like to focus on one of the internet’s top
Consumer Review websites, www.kudzu.com. Kudzu, names after the
voraciously fast-spreading vines the grow in the south, is a great way to
describe the effects of consumer reviews.

Having your club listed on sites such as Kudzu will increase your
exposure locally. By following our guidance on how to properly setup the
listing, consumers who type keywords such as “Atlanta fitness, local
gym Atlanta, great fitness club, etc…” will be able to quickly locate
your club, and ad.

Both Kudzu and yahoo require a business to have a physical location
prior to being advertised. We recommend building the listings AS SOON AS
you have a signed lease. There are many ways to begin consumer reviews,
building prospect lists, and selling to consumers (BalanceD or Online
store) prior to opening.

There are many advantages to being part of a franchise. In my opinion, the ongoing and in-depth training, on each and every aspect of your business, is one of the most important. An important part of your due diligence, before purchasing into any franchise, would be to really understand the types of support and training that is provided both prior and after you open your doors…. this is the secret that separates the good franchise systems from the truly great ones.

You might find it surprising to know that the original vision for elements was to develop just 10 clubs in 3 cities: New York, Miami, and LA. That was it. The idea was to offer the most complete fitness experience for women, in a hip, stylish environment, and to corner those three important markets. Our launch team was fairly well qualified, and we had many contacts within the industry.

A buzz began to develop about this new women’s brand, a chip off the block of Crunch Fitness. At the time, Crunch was making history with a 83 million dollar valuation, 9x EBIDTA - setting new records within the industry. Since the initial elements team shared some of the original Crunch minds (post-sale), it was only natural that we would begin getting attention

We were approached by several entrepreneurs who were interested in developing elements for women clubs in their local markets. These entrepreneurs identified with elements philosophy of a full-service, upscale club. elements for women was (and still is!) much different than the other “micro-clubs” such as Curves, Countours Express, Shapes, or Slender Lady. Those players were all serving a very entry-level niche, and did not offer a sustainable business model to their franchisees. We saw, 5 years ago, that there would be a significant consolidation with these players (as there has now been) - and that this would open a window for elements for position itself as the leading full-service fitness brand for women.

Fast forward 4 years, and here we are…. over 7 clubs open, 3 in presale, 54 clubs under development, pending acquisitions of company owned clubs in San Francisco, Georgia, and the Northeast. Given the growth, and our objectives to develop 800 elements for women clubs nationally within the next 6-8 years (including 20%, or 160 company owned units) we have invested more than a fair amount of time and dollars into long term development infrastructure.

Our patience has recently paid off with the launch of elements for women in California. This was an exciting announcement, coupled with other press elements has recently received, including a great placement in Valley magazine (“[elements is] a much needed breath of fresh air to the California Fitness Scene”). We also began with our first act of business in the state being a large charitable contribution to The Wellness Community, a Los Angeles based cancer-wellness foundation led by Courtney Cox and David Arquette.

I will be traveling to California next week to help with the launch of the state and meet some of our new franchisees. Look for elements to lauch the state in a big way - with a mix of company owned as well as showcase franchised clubs… more to come!

In my opinion, one of the best announcements a company can make (and one sure sign of growth) is an investment into leadership. elements for women has made several substantial announcements this year, with Nike Global Retail VP Bruce Fabel being named our CEO, some high level additions to our Board of Directors, and this month former Gold’s Gym Executive Courtney Minor joining the elements team. Our expert team brings a wealth of resources with them, from the VP of Nike and Calvin Klein, to operations team members with combined more than 50 years of experience in the fitness industry. From multi-unit operations to individual health club owners, brand art directors and All Star Experts, the elements for women’s team is fast becoming a who’s who of fitness and lifestyle.  Click here to read the full article