**Double-check your email for accuracy to ensure you receive the report.Using Social Media to Become a Kill It As a Fitness Professional
Guest Post by Angie Schumacher
Here's a guest post by Angie Schumacher. If you're in the social media world at all, it's hard not to notice Angie. She is doing a TON of stuff with social media and I've been so impressed with the way she's doing it I asked Angie to come on an do a guest post about it. She covers a lot of the basics that many fitness pro's and personal trainers new to social media and internet marketing probably don't know about…
Do you ever wonder why all the other fitness professionals and personal trainers are making the big bucks and are well known and you are still trying to get your online and offline businesses up and running?
Don't worry, you are not alone and I was once there.
Everyone has to start somewhere. I remember when I was struggling to get clients, posting on my blog daily and getting no readers, working diligently on my website and getting no response and bringing in no money. It was a total downer and very frustrating.
But then I decided that I was going to become successful both online and offline and started looking for ways to get myself known, respected and start bringing in the big bucks!
Check out these tips that I have used in the past couple years to make a "name" for myself…
Follow other fitness professionals and watch what they are doing. Who could be a better person to follow than someone who has already made it big and was making all the dough?
Comment on their blogs and leave a signature with a link back to your blog or website to get their readers to come check YOU out.
Use social networking sites to connect not only with other fitness professionals, but people who will be interested in using your services.
Facebook is HUGE! Anyone who is anyone is on Facebook!
It's a great way to connect with people and leave links to your websites. Make sure to not always use it as a place to ‘sell yourself' but also to give out great tips, ideas and get other people to trust and respect you for who you are and what you do. Keep your Facebook page simple, so if people come visit your page, they are able to find everything you want them to find!
Twitter is a way for you to connect with people you wouldn't have otherwise been able to connect with and talk to on a daily basis.
You only get 140 characters, so choose your words wisely!
With Twitter you can promote your services and products, but again, make sure to use as a social tool as well. Find others to connect with that will help promote you as well.
Blogging is a great way to reach people. It's your blog, and you can talk about anything you want, but an even better way to get people to read your blog is to ASK for what they want!
Use a survey, such as Survey Monkey or Twitter to find out what people questions people have about fitness.
Offer to be a guest blogger and add your bio at the end of the article. Offer up your blog for others to be a guest poster.
Don't expect people to help you out if you are not willing to help them in return…
You aren't going to get anywhere being selfish! Most often when someone does a guest post on your blog, they will link to it from their own blog, bringing you even more traffic than you would get from your blog alone.
If you are using Wordpress like I do, make sure to make use of setting your categories and tagging your posts to make them more SEO friendly.
Ning is another way that I use to connect with people who are interested in my services or products.
It's much more personal and you can get direct questions from your members, leading you to either direct them to a product of yours that they can benefit from and building a trusting relationship with them.
They in turn will refer you and your services to others…hence…bringing you more business and moolah.
Video, video and more video–need I say more?
YouTube is directly picked up by Google and will for sure get you the traffic you are looking for.
It also makes things more personal allowing people to get to see that you are an actual ‘person' and not some whack job behind the words.
Enter a link to your website or product page, enter some highly searchable keywords and watch the magic happen! Embed the video directly on your blog or website and watch those traffic numbers and purchases soar!
It is definitely a never ending job of marketing and networking, but in the end, it's all worth it.
Because all that work will pay off in the end when the money is flowing in and you are asked to be a guest blogger on one of your favorite fitness professional sites, you know the ones I mentioned before?
Thanks Chris for this amazing opportunity to help others just as you have helped me!
Angie is a blogger, a Longmont Personal Trainer and a fitness information marketer. If you'd like to know more about Angie check her out at WomensDietAndFitness.com. If you wanna watch someone who really knows how to use social media to market herself, then watch Angie.
And just so you know, I recently opened up the Kick Back Lifestyle Club to help fitness professionals and personal trainers make more money in their business in less time.
You can learn more about it HERE
And in case you haven't opted in to get my free fitness marketing and fitness boot camp marketing updates, just leave your name and email right here
Let me know what you think about Angies post…
Comments on Using Social Media to Become a Kill It As a Fitness Professional »
Angie that was a great post. I think many Fitness professionals are hesitant to jump into this since it seems so time-consuming.
But like you said it's definitely worth it. Plus, nowadays it's pretty obvious that social media is the #1 way to network with like-minded people in your industry.
I really like the different options. A few step by step instructions to get started on these social marketing sites would be useful.
yeah thats true, social media is now gaining importance across all business owners . using social media we can reach wider audience and make our presence felt online in very short time if we do it well.
Great stuff Chris and Angie!
I've just started putting up videos I filmed on a flip cam (one is of me drinking a dozen raw eggs) and I'm now showing up on the first page of google for one of my keyword groups.
Good tip: I read about TubeMogul.com on Jeff Johnson's blog, and have used it to upload to several video sharing sites at the same time (leverage!). You can do a hundred vids a month for free, I think.
Thanks for everything, ya'll!
~ Luke Wold
Excellent post Chris. I have been making the foray into the social media world for the past 6 months or so. I still have so much to learn, but I agree all trainers need to have a presence in social media. It is equivalent to years ago when you didn't exist in business if you didn't have a web site. Now the same is true for social media. As I said I have a lot to learn still but am enjoying the journey. Thank you again for the great posts. Always leave with some new knowledge.
http://blog.victoriawellness.com
http://www.victoriawellness.com
Great post, thanks!
Simple and excellent. The internet is the most efficient and massive marketing landscape in existence. I think the key is to learn how to integrate all of the social media and networking media together and build a community of listeners, and to apply a DAILY discipline to the practice.
Jonathan Aluzas
http://www.arenafitness.com
Angie,
Great post.
Very simple, effective and straight to the point.
Congrats on all your success and thank you for your efforts here. Chris, thanks for having Angie guest post.
Cheers
Adam Toohey
That was a great post! Though not in fitness industry, I believe Artists, Hairstylists have a lot in common with personal service and marketing is pretty interwoven, just terminology changes. The more information we share, the better we all get and make more money! Thanks Gianna
More great info. You always put out some great stuff and best of all, it's FREE. You can't beat that.
Chris…Thanks brau. You find efficient and effective bloggers that straight up share some cool s#!t.
Angie-THAT WAS KILLER! THANKYOU!
P.S. Chris
See you in Jersey brau. I'll be the guy in his underwear picking his nose. That should chill your nerves
Thanks for the great insight into social media!
Great info, and a really good reminder of just how important this is now, and how much more it will be in the future.
Bob
http://totalcyclingperformance.com/blog/
This is superb. It's also a killer idea to comment on local blogs around you (or delegate it out) to bring local traffic back to your training website.
I am not that knowledgable about the ins & outs of internet marketing but am slowly learning the ropes. Thanks for providing information that is easy to understand and can be immediately applied!
Monty Miller
Wilmington,NC
Great content, Chris and Angie. I'm going to start applying more of the techniques to help my personal training business. Thanks!
Dan Campos
Above all Hustle, right. Thanks for always adding experience and insight.
These tips are really important for anyone who is into online marketing and building an online following.
I've also found it as a way to develop a really targeted market because people aren't going to read your stuff and respond if it's not for them.
On the other hand if you start to see the same crowd responding and asking questions then you know you are hitting your target.
Very important to offer lots of information and tips to build the relationships. Ask questions, follow-up and be real.
MOST IMPORTANT: Don't let this be a time zapper. If this is not where you're making your money you may be a little out of focus if you find yourself spending a lot of time with the social networking.
I'm speaking from first hand experience. Yikes!
Great post. Thanks for letting me rant a little.
Donovan "DFitnessguy" Owens
Hutto Womens Fitness Boot Camp
TWITTER
Chris as always relevant content that can be applied right now. Having other people make these post just proves that it can be done by anyone!Thanks Angie kick ass post!
Thanks, O
Hey Angie & Chris
Great post!
Social media…..
I think it's important for people to know that it's NOT that time consuming but VERY important to do it and to do it on a regular basis!
Thanks again guys for your never ending kick ass info!
[...] thought since Chris McCombs asked me to be a guest blogger on his blog, I had to ask him to be a guest on mine! [...]
Thought provoking and useful stuff - especially about local blogging relationships.
Nick Mitchell
Just remember guys and gals, chunk your time wisely. Social media can be addicting for some reason and you don't want to spend hours om it everyday. Break it up and pick certain times that you will do this, and then move on to other stuff. Chris talks about this so search for the word "chunk" or chunking and he will explain