The Basic Idea – MakeItMe.net is a Fitness MOTIVATION site.

We encourage people to be physically more active everyday, no matter your choice of activity.  If you’re lifting 3 times a week, or you’ve been a couch potato for years and want to start a walking program – welcome. 
      
Bribery works.  
If we offer a movie ticket for a short walk, would you put on your shoes and go?  Thought so. 

And that’s the idea behind MakeItMe.net.  Enter your workout minutes and as you accumulate time you earn free rewards from local merchants – movies, meals, massages, miniature golf and more. 

Form a Team with your friends and coworkers and earn team points by attending free or discounted classes and events.  Or challenge another team to a TurnKey Challenge – hosted and managed by a local gym or fitness center. 

Individuals
Enter your minutes and earn rewards as you accumulate time.  Access online tools on your personal page to help and inform as you increase physical activity and learn more about maintaining your own health.  Your personal page is your portal to earning your rewards, qualifying for the random drawings, entering your data, using the members-only tools, and selecting your reward area.

• Getting Started – more than just reading the articles and accessing the basic tools.  At the bottom of the home page are several helpful tools – calorie, BMI and heart rate calculators.  These and many articles about health and wellness are available to everyone on our home page.  All the real goodies are saved for our members.
  
  
• Get Registered – New members must register themselves and pay a small fee: 90 days $14.99, 180 days (6months) $29.99, or a full year for $44.99.  Besides the price break for a year, the longer terms encourage people to maintain a fitness routine for the longer term and to earn rewards in all the fun and convenient locations.  Once you’ve registered be sure to pick your reward area – you cannot enter time for dates prior to that day.  

How to’s…  

Where do I enter my time – 3 ways to get there

1. On the home page – right side, near top. 
2. From your personal page – click on the active reward area
3. Choose your reward area and scroll to the bottom of the reward map

Where do I check/find/print/view my rewards
On your personal page – the box on the right lists each reward as you earn it.  Click the reward to pull up a printable certificate for the reward.  Pay attention to the expiration date!! That date is set by the date you earn the reward not when you print it. 

Print the reward and carry it/them with you.  Few things are sadder than driving by a store that wants to give you something free and finding your proof is at home.

To print your reward – click the reward listed on your personal page.  It will pop up as a printable pdf document.  Depending on your browser settings – it may pop up behind your personal page.  Look for it. 

Entering time each day isn’t required.  If you’d prefer to track your time on a work out log and then enter the week’s time in one sitting – you can print your workout log from your home page.  Just go to your reward map and adjust the date box and enter your time for that day.  Select the next date and enter your time.  And so on.  You must still enter each day individually, but you can back date all the way back to the day you selected your reward area.

Rewards 

Remember we mentioned bribery?  This is it.
When you enter your active minutes – whether that’s exercise or active play (anything that gets your heart pumping – not including the IRS or scary movies) those minutes are what earn you both rewards and better health. 

Milestone Rewards
Milestone rewards are those rewards that merchants give you as you reach their level.  You don’t select which reward to earn, you earn all of them in succession.  If you’re active about 30 minutes every day, you’ll earn a reward every week.  A little more effort is rewarded a little more often.

These are free rewards, no purchase necessary, no sales pitch.  Some merchants choose to also offer a second choice, an extra good deal at an incredible price.  A major massage therapy group offered a 20 minute chair massage (which’ll get out a lot of kinks) OR a 55 minute full massage for $35 dollars.  If you’ve ever paid for a massage then you know that’s incredibly cheap.  And it’s provided by a certified professional, not a student.  If you’re a bicyclist you know the cost, time and effort to tune up your bike in the spring.  We have a shop in Aurora that provides careful and thorough tune-ups for $29.99.  That’s incredible.  But you have to earn it.

Every single merchant offers a no-strings-attached try-us-and-you’ll-like-us freebie.  Part of MakeItMe’s agreement with merchants is “no hard sell”.  You agree that all reward certificates are one use only and are not transferable unless specifically so stated on the certificate. 

Your list of rewards is stored on your personal page.  They all have expiration dates, which are set by the date you earn them, NOT by the date you print, so print early and redeem them before they expire.

Competitions

Earn rewards as an individual and points accrue to your team.
Teams compete for trophies, prizes and bragging rights.  Individual effort is the backbone of a team’s success, but they can’t win without teamwork.  The more teamwork, the better the individuals do.  Isn’t that just like life? 

Every competition has its own scoreboard webpage that shows the stats of every competing team: points earned, minutes accrued, number of team members, and the real-time scores.

Competitions are hosted/organized by groups for fun or as a way to encourage better fitness among their employees or members.  These generally include a Kick Off party – with Goody Bags and activities, a series of classes, events & challenges, and culminate in an award ceremony with trophies and prizes.  These can all be as simple or involved as your group desires.

MakeItMe.net itself sponsors two competitions each year for smaller organizations – family groups or circles of friends can create a team, encourage each other, earn Milestone rewards and be entered in the random drawings.  These competitions kick off in January and September. 

Teams

Chamber Teams
Chambers of Commerce, Cities, or Corporations – Hosting competitions &/or Fielding Teams
Chamber of Commerce competitions are as varied as the chambers themselves.  Usually, Chambers provide MakeItMe.net memberships to their (the chamber’s) members.  Each chamber member receives between 2 and ten memberships, depending on their level of investment in that particular chamber. 

Chamber member companies can either: 1) form teams with their circle of contacts within the chamber, which means the chamber members use only their free MakeItMe (MIM) memberships to form their teams, or 2) the member companies take their free MIM memberships and supplement them with some more MIM memberships – purchased from MIM – to form corporate teams to compete in the Chamber of Commerce competition. 

So, depending on the chamber’s goals; there may be chamber teams (formed around committees, lead groups, forums, etc), or corporate-based teams, first responder teams (MIM has a policy of providing low and no cost participation to police, fire, and rescue groups), &/or neighborhood-based teams.

City Teams
City teams are most frequently organized by city departments – water vs admin vs building etc.  These competitions are really fun when neighborhood groups can participate and challenge the departments to assorted competitions.

Corporate Teams
Fitter employees are happier and more productive.  Build team spirit, have a little friendly competition and maybe save some money on your health insurance costs.

Corporations -  House Bill 1012 makes this a great perq for companies.  Read about it here.

Family/Group Teams
Small Groups – Region Wide Open Competitions
January and September we host region-wide open competitions.  Up to 5 members $124.99, up to 10 $229.00, up to 20 (maximum recommended size) $349.00. 
(individuals can play as part of team “Anon E. Mouse –Team - AEM “  Can win drawing and reward prizes – can’t win or place for team trophies/prizes)

Challenges

This is where your team can really earn points.  You can challenge another team and compete head to head in strength, agility, endurance or whatever your skills may be, or participate in open scheduled events and maybe try a class or group that you’ve never tried – perhaps never heard of.

Of course you record these challenge minutes and earn rewards for them, but your team earns additional points, maybe enough to catapult you into the lead and win the Trophy!

TurnKey Challenges
A competitive physical activity offered by a facility.  The facility provides the location, equipment, rules, scoring and supervision.  The team captains will arrange a mutually agreed upon day and time with the facility and will urge their teammates to attend.  Teams earn 35 – 70 points for competing in these TurnKey Challenges.  The facility hosts prospective members in a fun, no pressure environment, and can hand out marketing pieces to attendees.  No salesmen, no pressure.

Some challenges are: Racquetball, handball, tennis, basketball, swimming marathon, Mini Tri-athlon, dodge ball, and perhaps yoga/Pilates.

A list of TurnKey Challenges, and the facilities that will provide them, is available on the MakeItMe site, our Meetup homepage, in emailed newsletters and by Tweet.  Pick your info source – old or new school.

Event/Class Specials
(aka Point-Earning Events) 
A scheduled physical activity open to all teams.  The facility provides the location, equipment and instruction/supervision.  Team members earn 5 points (maximum pts/team =50) for participating.  This is a great opportunity to jump start new classes or populate under-attended classes.  It also introduces prospective members to new types of workouts.  We encourage facilities to have handouts available listing additional classes.  No salesmen, no pressure.

Events can include: aquacise, Zumba, boot camp, yoga, Pilates, mini- Triathlon, Cardio Kick, Bike to Work Day, Climb to Cure Cancer……

These classes/events are usually limited in size, so when you receive notice that one is available its best to rsvp asap.  We’ll Tweet or Meetup any last minute offer.

Notice of Challenges & Events
When you’re involved in a competition you need to know what TurnKey Competitions are available and when events are available for you or your team members to attend. 

Meetup - lists all events. Join for free: www.meetup.com/

Twitter – follow us at: http://twitter.com/MakeItMe

Email newsletters - Throughout the course of every competition we send out a newsletter with tips, tricks and techniques.  How to cut calories without depriving yourself, or things that can sabotage the best workout plans.

Get Email Updates Email:

Scoring

Scoring for Competitions

• Totaling of all Points
  Total team minutes times 0.01
  Plus challenge points
  Equals Team Score to date
  
  
• Challenge Points
  Issue a Challenge         40 pts    (if not accepted then 5 pts, max 20)
  Accept a Challenge        35 pts    (if not accepted then 5 pts, max 20)
  
  
• Challenge attendance
  No team mbr attends     -10 pts
  One member attends      10 pts
  50% to 79% attend         20 pts
  80% or more attend        25 pts
  
  
• Win the challenge
  (if applicable)         20 pts