Empire Gym · Bottleneck Assessment 092226
The Solution: The Fix, In Order
Foundation before scale. Each phase unlocks the next — run them in this sequence.
Phase 01Stop the leaks — website foundationWEEK 1
Make Google (and humans) able to use the site
TCSEO audit · 7 critical items
- Deploy a real XML sitemap + fix the 0-byte robots.txt
- Repair footer links (domain concatenated twice) and the six blog cards pointing at 404s; fix the corrupted blog slug
- Fix the "Personal Trainging" typo and the broken tap-to-call link (tel:1+912… → tel:+1912…)
- Set the homepage popup to a 4-second delay — page loads first, no Google speed penalty
Verifysitemap returns 20+ URLs · zero 404s from site navigation · tap-to-call dials on iPhone and Android
Turn the homepage into an assessment funnel
Together
- No-sweat-intro booking link in the header/footer of every page (Two-Brain requirement)
- Fix form placeholders to real GoHighLevel variables so submissions arrive clean
- Start the schedule-page cleanup (8 stacked H1s → one H1 + proper sections)
Verifyevery page has one obvious path to book a fitness assessment
Phase 02The two-week save — close the back doorWEEKS 2–3
Weekly inactive-member rescue
★ Core fixTogether
- Every Monday: export attendance from Gym Insight (~30 min, manual — no API, no webhooks, no Zapier; anyone promising "nightly automation" hasn't checked)
- Compute the 14-day no-check-in list (derived from check-in detail — Gym Insight has no "last visit date" field)
- Import into GoHighLevel tagged winback-14d-inactive, enrolled in the rescue workflow
- Day 14: personal "we miss you" text → Day 17: email → Day 21: call task for Mary
- Workflow stops automatically when the member checks in or books. SMS goes through GoHighLevel (Gym Insight dropped SMS in 2023).
Highest dollars per hourSave 1 in 5 of the 66 → 13 members × $48.99 × 12 = $7,642/yr, recurring. Saving 2 members covers any reasonable build cost.
Verifyweek 1 export → first rescue texts sent · every drifting member contacted before day 21, with nobody having to remember
- Inventory every live automation — trigger → message → recipient, in plain English — so Mary finally knows "what it does"
- Reconnect the Google review automation; find out why it keeps disconnecting
- Document it on one page. No more mystery software.
Verifya one-page automation map Mary can read without calling anyone
Phase 03Get paid properlyWEEK 4
Stripe for online, Clover stays at the counter
Mary
- Activate the dormant Stripe account for all online funnels — deadlift event first, replacing the Venmo link
- Keep Clover for in-person POS. Layered: Stripe's POS isn't the play.
Verifya stranger can register and pay for the Oct 31 deadlift event without touching Venmo
Phase 04Authority — earn the rankingsMONTH 2
Look like the best gym in Effingham County, because it is
TC
- Put the USPA certification on the homepage — the biggest differentiator vs. Planet Fitness, currently mentioned nowhere
- One H1 per page; localized title tags ("Gym in Rincon GA…"); consolidate the duplicate schema markup
- Flesh out thin pages (FitKids, coaches, contact) past 750 words; add coach bylines to articles
- Build Guyton + Springfield feeder pages — the two towns that drive through Rincon
Verify"gym near me" in Rincon surfaces Empire with reviews, certification, and real content behind it
Phase 05 · GatedScale — only after the math worksLATER
Paid ads, unlocked by lifetime value
Together
- Stretch average lifetime 12 → 36 months and nudge pricing (CrossFit affiliation gives cover) → LTV $600 → $1,800–2,000
- At that LTV, $100–150 acquisition is profitable — then turn on ads as always-on brand builders with conversion tracking feeding Meta
- Sanity check first: compare Yukon, OK median income vs. the 70k market before mirroring Arise's $179 pricing
Gateno paid ads until retention is measured and rising — running them at $600 LTV burns money
What not to do yet
No paid ad spend. No social-media content treadmill. No rebrand — keep the gold/black/charcoal, it's established. Fix the bucket before pouring more water in.