We’re just past halfway through the entry period for the 2020 Start-a-Center Giveaway, and so excited by the response thus far!
It’s amazing that we get to help one winner make their dreams come true and we’re so excited to help make that happen. There are tons of great ideas among the entries, and some passionate people who are itching to get their float plans started — we already know it’s going to be incredibly difficult to decide on a winner this year.
There’s still over a week remaining to register and enter the Giveaway if you haven’t yet! Registration closes on the 29th, and the last day to enter is January 31st!
Since it’s coming up so soon, we thought we’d take a moment to let you know a bit more about all of the generous sponsors contributing to this year’s grand prize.
We couldn’t have made the Giveaway as amazing as it was this year without each and every one of these float industry allies, and we thank them whole-heartedly for their contribution!
Leveraging their intimate understanding of the float industry, along with their years of more traditional marketing experience, Maximum Floats is able to create marketing campaigns and strategies that help your float center connect with a larger customer base — without having to depend on Groupon or other outside assistance.
Partnered with nearly 70 float centers already, Maximum Floats offers marketing consulting and direct marketing management, and have generously agreed to offer $4000 worth of their services to the winner of the Start-a-Center Giveaway to help ensure their center has a strong marketing foundation right out of the gate.
For more information, and a FREE case study for float center owners, check out their site, Maximum Floats.
The Float Conference and Workshop
Join us at the world’s largest event celebrating floatation therapy and the float industry!
To be held in late 2020, the 9th Annual Float Conference is sure to be filled with more fascinating presentations from leading experts on all things floaty.
Attending the events offers the perfect opportunity to learn more about all the fascinating floaty things in the world as well as meet the community, which is what will keep you coming back year after year. It’s been said many times, but the Conference feels more like a homecoming than a business event.
Check out the Float Conference site to sign up for updates on the 2020 events — and we hope to see you there!
The winner of the Giveaway will receive 2 tickets to the Conference events themselves, as well as 2 tickets to the Start-a-Center Workshop hosted before the events.
Helmbot (formerly Float Helm)
Appointment scheduling, point-of-sale, customer and staff management, marketing automation, and so much more — the Helmbot is almost an entire suite of software in one, offering your business a complete back-end management system.
The winner of the Giveaway will receive 6 months of free Helmbot access once they’re ready to book. In addition, the winner is also welcome to access the software before then at no cost, allowing them to familiarize themselves and their team with the software leading up to launch.
For anyone and everyone, the Helm offers free in-depth tours of the software if you might be interested in learning more.
Creating and managing any business means signing up for near constant responsibility, and with an industry as particular as floating, you’re likely to be one of the few people around who can effectively manage things…which means things are ripe to fall apart if you ever need some time away.
Designed to solve the problem of float center owner burnout, Theta State Agency offers management for your business from experienced and dedicated float center operation experts whenever you might need a vacation, or if any emergencies arise.
Theta State Agency is offering a 4 day Float Center Sitting Package to the winner of the Giveaway, to be arranged whenever they need a much deserved break.
The brainchild of longtime Float Tank Solutions friend, and passionate floatation enthusiast, Bryan Gray, we’re excited to see this project launch.
Float Halo offers a headrest designed specifically for floatation tanks. Allowing the head to rest in a more supine position, the Float Halo is designed to increase your customer’s comfort while floating, by preventing pain and tension from affecting their floats.
The winner of the Giveaway will be offered an initial supply of 10 Float Halos to stock in their float rooms.
Iron Lion Soap has been offering high quality soap products since 2008, handcrafted from time-tested, 100% plant based ingredients. They have offered an initial supply of both their Organic Body Wash and Organic Castille Soap to the Giveaway winner.
Check out the Iron Lion Soap online store to view their full product line.
The Float Tank Cure by Shane Stott
One of the most well known modern publications on floatation, The Float Tank Cure covers author Shane Stott’s personal journey and research into the world of floating, and offers the reader a fascinating insight into what floatation therapy can do for an individual.
The Giveaway winner will receive 10 copies to stock in their center’s library or retail in their shop.
Coincidence Control Publishing
The publishing arm of Float On’s floaty endeavors, Coincidence Control aims to offer high-quality prints of the works of Dr. John C. Lilly, and serves as distributor for the several other float book projects run through Float On over the years. The winner of the Giveaway will receive a copy of each of the currently available prints, all of which are perfect additions to any float center’s library.
The Most Ambitious Float On Project Yet
We have a new endeavor that we’ve been working on in private for awhile now, and we think that it’s going to make a big splash in our salty little industry. After many years of testing behind closed doors, we’re finally ready to take the plunge and release our secret project to you, the floatation community.
You might want to sit down for this one….
The Start-a-Center Giveaway Returns!
Everyone knows that, when it comes to gifts, it’s much more fun to give than to receive. With this year’s Start-a-Center Giveaway, however, I’m not so sure anymore. With over $13,000 in Float Tank Solutions products going to one lucky duck (plus $4,000 worth of goodies from other float industry homies), we humbly suggest that we may have finally tipped the scales in favor of the recipient.
If you’re Charlie, this Giveaway is the Golden Ticket, which I guess makes the Construction Package a Wonka bar and the Ninja Fans are the Fizzy Lifting Drink. So, what do you have to do for a chance at all the Everlasting Gobstoppers?
It’s been three years since our last Giveaway, and we thought that it was long overdue for another one. So, what’s the dealio? The Giveaway is a chance to give a big ol’ boost to a deserving Float-Center-To-Be. This time around, we’re taking things to a whole new level, with over three times the value of products and services being given away. To you. For free.
Dear Everyone: Please reconsider building your own tanks
Look, we get it. Really. Float tanks are expensive – especially for what can seem, from the outside, like a glorified bathtub with spa parts attached. It doesn’t take long to go from, “Why is this so expensive?” to “I’ll bet I could save money by making my own tank!” After you start mulling it over, you get excited. You could be offering something no one else does right now… because it’d be your own creation! How hard can it possibly be?
As experts in only thinking about half of the consequences of our actions (at best), we’d like to say, “Incredibly hard, actually!”
Location Checklist – The Search for Your Float Center’s Home
In honor of our newly minted, fresh off the press, prize winning Construction Packet, we are releasing one of its more succinct components, the Location Checklist, as a free resource. Don’t let the fact that it’s only one page fool you – this set of questions breaks down the major site and location considerations for your center.
Financing Your Center With Bank Loans
If you are looking to open a center, at some point, you have to face the reality that you’re going to need to spend, and thus track down, a good chunk of money. There are many ways to fund a float center – personal capital, family and friends, sending travel funds to the exiled Liberian prince that you met on the internet and using the forthcoming reward money, etc. This post, however, will focus on financing using bank loans.
A Peek Into Our Construction Packet: Planning Your Space – Square Footage and Number of Float Rooms
For anyone opening a float center, one of the earliest questions they’ll have to tackle is, “How big should my space be?” This can be one of the most difficult queries to answer, because it hinges on many variables.
Will you be offering other services? What types of tanks are you getting? What other rooms will your space need? If you’re planning on installing a float tank water slide, that’ll take up extra space, too. I know it’s unreasonable, but Jake really wants someone to do it.
All of these questions aren’t even factoring in thinking about profit margins. It quickly becomes a daunting task that can feel overwhelming.
How to Launch a Successful Kickstarter Campaign
At Float Tank Solutions, our main goal is simple.
We want to provide access to floating for as many people as possible. That’s why, this week, we are opening up our blog to our friend, Shane Stott. Shane, an avid float ambassador, life coach, and founder of Zen Float Co., will walk us through the essentials of running a Kickstarter campaign, with a highlight on his current efforts to raise money through Kickstarter for a documentary on floating.
4,937 Things to Know About Buying a Used Float Tank
You’re thinking about buying a used float tank. Whether this is for a new center, an addition to an existing operation, or a purchase for your home, this is a big decision.
We’ve compiled together some of the major questions and considerations to entertain before making a purchase. While you do have the opportunity to save some money and snag a good deal, there can be hidden costs and unknowns to weigh against those savings.
Offering Overnight Floats
Almost three years ago, we discussed the merits of running overnight floats from an employee’s perspective, focusing on the opportunities of this unique experience as well as its challenges. We’d like to take a deeper dive into this issue because, while the majority of floaters come through our tanks during “normal” business hours, overnight floats form an important part of not only Float On’s identity, but also its business structure and broader culture.
How to Talk About Floating
You step into the elevator and shuffle to the side to make room for the kind-eyed, old woman with the miniature poodle.
“Good morning,” you say with a smile.
“Good morning,” she beams back, her gaze resting briefly on your water bottle with the logo from your float center’s annual party.
After a brief pause, she asks, “What is Float-a-Palooza?”
You take a breath, smile, and launch into your literal elevator pitch.
So, what do you say?
Looking for something specific?
Search our nearly 100 blog posts.