Art of the Float

Where float centers thrive

Farewell 2018

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It’s been a long minute since our last episode, so in this episode, we’re catching up on all the big Art of the Float news! Dylan and Sandra welcomed their second baby girl to the world, and they had big plans to keep things running smoothly at The Float Shoppe since this was their second time around with taking a little absence from the center. As reality would have it, some hiccups at the shop meant they weren’t able to keep things running quite according to plan, so they’ve been juggling the bigger family, new baby, and float center. Amy’s second location, Float Alchemy, is still a challenge with unpredictable revenue and operational nuances that are the opposite of her first location. She’s still in tenacious mode, balancing several businesses with virtually no time off.

We also take a moment to reflect on the past three years of the Art of the Float podcast, and say farewell to 2018. And we welcome the new for 2019: revisiting old topics to inject new knowledge, a new co-host, some tweaks to the format, and yes, a new theme song

154: Float Marketplace – Float Scents

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Tim Worsham, owner of Float Scents, joins us this week to continue our “Float Marketplace” series. Tim has been managing a center for several years, during after an evening of floaty musings over beers with Stephen Johnson, Tim mentioned the idea of introducing aromatherapy into the float experience. After exploring several ideas, Tim eventually landed on the concept of a lip balm. [Read more…] about 154: Float Marketplace – Float Scents

153: Float Marketplace – Mandala Float

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Luke Krueger, owner of Mandala Float Systems joined us this week to talk about his experiences in the industry. Luke started with a tank in his home before opening his own center (Deep, located in South Dakota), where he built his own tanks. He lives by the notion of “you either do it or you don’t”, so he went all in and started manufacturing open float tanks for others, as well as creating Ninja fans for tanks and cabins, and later Spout fans for pods – and these fans seem to have a cult following in the industry! [Read more…] about 153: Float Marketplace – Mandala Float

152: Float Marketplace – RewardMore

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Kane Mantyla, a former float center owner (and hopeful future owner again!), and owner of RewardMore joins us in this episode to share his story and how it led him to create a really cool rewards program. Kane’s center started many years ago, and he studied member behavior and picked up on a few key facts. He realized that many clients loved the experience, but didn’t want to commit to a membership, and of those who did, members often started floating frequently, but then quickly dwindled away. He examined other membership programs, like airlines rewards, and saw that most of them took too long to earn rewards.

Kane shares how to create a rewards program that will drive results, even without using his program. (Although his software makes it much easier to automate and manage!) One of his many nuggets of wisdom may shift your thinking on memberships: “When we commit to something, the second we do, it turns into obligation.” He created a program to avoid that sense of obligation and instead reward those who signed up with a discount. If they come back within a set time frame, they retain that discount, but if they don’t come back in time, the discount amount decreases. He saw his retention rate increasing immediately by using this “frequency loyalty” program, and eventually decided to make it available to help other centers.

You’ll also hear about some features on Kane’s roadmap for RewardMore, and how he’s using a Freemium pricing structure, so you can get started with the program for free until it starts earning revenue for your business.

[Read more…] about 152: Float Marketplace – RewardMore

151: 2 Months Open! A Check-in W/Dana of Float North

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This week, Dylan visited Dana Highfill at her center that’s been open for two months. She talks about her experience over the first couple of months, including starting with employees, why’s running the shop solo now, and how she’s toed the line of burnout. She provides a great reality check about the daily nuances of running a center and all the little things that add up to take a lot of time, really pushing the need for time management skills.

You’ll hear her perspective on transitioning from a solopreneur with a business that relies solely on her personal skills and availability, to a larger business with multiple modalities and a need for more employees and support teams to run it. Dana shares her plans for 2019 and how to up her marketing game. She and Dylan explore how to represent yourself in your marketing with authenticity. [Read more…] about 151: 2 Months Open! A Check-in W/Dana of Float North