A Fitness Blogging and Marketing Post by Chris McCombs

Hey there, it’s Big Chris… the other day I wrote a post titled Why You Need Your Very Own High-Authority Fitness Blog

In it, I talked about how an authority blog allows you to…

- Establish yourself as a “go-to” expert

- Build credibility in your market

- Start win/win relationships off with the giving hand

- Build a feeling of deep reciprocity with your audience

- Become a well-known celebrity for what you do ( like an internationally known fitness guru, or even an in-demand LOCAL fitness celebrity if you want to stay local)

- Connect with your audience on a core level

- Get your message out to hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands people at time

- Build of tribe of loyal lifelong clients and customers for LIFE

- Create something once and get paid for it over and over

- Suck in qualified traffic from the search engines every single minute of the day

In the post, I also talked about how more trainers and fitness professionals are so focused on being good at what they do, that they COMPLETELY neglect becoming good at the MARKETING of what they do.

And that if most trainers would just take some of the time and money they spend on collecting certifications and invest it into their marketing education… they could EASILY make five to ten times what they’re making right now.

Proven marketing systems and strategies are what it REALLY takes to have a great business.

But like said… MARKETING HAS CHANGED

Because of all the hype and scams out there… people are naturally distrustful and highly suspicious of anyone trying to sell them on just about anything… ESPECIALLY on the Internet.

There IS one way to thrive in this world of skeptics and suspicion…

And it’s Blogging

Blogging allows you to become a trusted and well-liked friend and authority who they’ll look to for all their fitness needs.

You’re able to develop win/win relationships with your customers… you start by helping them get what they REALLY want in life, THEN THEY give you some money, you then help them get MORE of what they really want in life, and then they give you MORE money.

You keep helping them get what they want and they keep giving you money… It’s a win/win relationship in the truest sense of the phrase.

Blogging Allows You To Create Die-Hard Fiercely Loyal Clients and Customers For Life

With a blog you’re able to connect with your audience in a way that just isn’t possible using any other form of mass communication.

Your audience will like and trust you on deep level… allowing you to convert many of them into lifelong clients and customers… and this is one of the true secrets to success… having people willing to give you lots of money for years and years.

AND… with a blog you can work where you want and when you want, doing work once and getting paid for it over and over… being seen as one of the top fitness experts in the world.

Blogging also allows you to do all kinds of ninja persuasion stuff that completely sneaks under most peoples radars… and you can do it in a way that is completely ethical and a win/win situation for everyone involved.

So, it’s no wonder that blogging is one of the best ways to get ahead in today’s competitive world… it’s your platform to stand out… you’re “Personal Star Vehicle” to become one of the most sought-after and high-paid fitness gurus on the planet.

And with a blog, you’re also able to…

• Stop trading hours for dollars

• Pull in high-quality targeted traffic from all over the internet

• Leverage knowledge of fitness and create multiple streams of automated income

• Network with the big players in your niche and beyond

• Build a huge email list of people interested in you, what you say and what you sell

• Have a credible reason to email your subscriber base on a regular basis… and let’s face it, the more you mail the more you make… PROVIDED your giving them lots of good high quality content

• Jump on the fast-track you into the highly profitable world of fitness information marketing (Blogging is the fastest way to launching your own ebook, DVD series or membership site)

• Create content one time that pulls in traffic over-and-over and makes sales for you forever

• Attract people into your ever-growing herd of buyers

• Guide people through the entire buying process

• Increase customer and client loyalty

• Retains clients for much longer periods of time

• Move people up to your highest priced products and programs in a *cool way* without coming across all pushy and used car salesmany

• Connect with your customers in way that will make them WANT to give you their money… even if you don’t have anything to sell them yet

• Make people want to pay you back for all the free value you’ve given them in your cool videos and blog posts

• Sell to even the most skeptical people around

• Make it so when people think about their fitness problems, they’ll ALWAYS think of you as the first and primary solution… and when they’re ready to make a purchase, you’ll be the one they hand their money over to

And if you hate to write..

…no worries…

Video blogging is actually much quicker and easier to do then having a text based blog.

There simply just isn’t anything like blogging when it comes to putting your fitness business on steroids

For example…

My friend Dustin Maher earns 35k a month from his boot camps and monthly fitness DVD series, and blogging is one of the mains things that are responsible for his success.

In fact Dustin says…

“If you’re fitness professional and you don’t have a blog, you are CRAZY”

Here’s a comment Dustin left after my last post about blogging…

Here’s a pic Dustin sent me of his new car btw… not bad for a kid still in his 20′s … 35k a month is more than most trainers make all year…

And here’s what my friend Nate Green, published author of ‘Built for Show’ and T-Nation staff writer says about blogging…

“I’ve written for major newsstand magazines, huge Internet fitness sites, and even had Penguin publishing buy and distribute my book, Built for Show. But none of that compares to the reach and impact my blog has…. Your blog is your living room, a place that is authentic, personal, and fun.” – Nate Green

And here’s something that I read in Yahoo News recently…

According to the Wall Street Journal, 1.7 million Americans make money blogging and 452,000 of them derive a majority of their income from it…

And what’s really cool is, through creating something I call ‘Direct Response Blogging’ … you can literally make a high six or even seven figures from your blog, helping people get into shape and reach their fitness goals.

Ok… here’s a few of my favorite ways to make money from a fitness blog…

Local Blogging – with local blogging you use your blog to help build your local training business, boot camp or fitness studio

Now, there’s two ways to do this…

- Search Engine Domination – You create a simple word press blog, optimize for anyway anybody would search for just about anything in your local area online… you throw some links to the posts and BAM… pretty soon your blog is like a sponge soaking up clients from all over your area

This is what my good friend Zach Hunt does and it pulls in clients for him on a practically automated basis… and get this… the whole thing is outsourced to barter clients he doesn’t pay even one dime to.

- Local Celebrity – You create a blog, often times using video, and go around doing fun and entertaining reviews of local restaurants and health food stores, you create showcasing your clients successes and trials,  you talk about health and fitness issues and things going on in your community, and you do it in a highly entertaining way… filled with wit, stories, adventures and information.

A blog like this can get super popular in your community, go viral, and make you THE GO-TO Fitness Authority in your local area

My good friend and coaching client Sam Bakhtiar ( also known as Seven-Figure Sam because of the money he makes) is one of the best around at this… just walk into any local restaurant with Sam and EVERYONE knows him… from the hostess, to the owner, to the cops, the gangsters and even the little old ladies.

Sam is a legend in his town, and his blog is one of the main things he does to build and support his status.

Just check out this video he did recently for his blog about a client who was flaking on his workouts and diet…

You can also do a fusion blog of the two above strategies… SEO Domination and Local Celebrity.

Info-Marketing – Ya know.. like having your own line of fitness dvd’s and ebooks and membership sites and stuff… and blogging is the BEST way to launch your fitness information business and product line

Info marketing is the coolest gig in the world…  You can literally build a seven figure fitness info-product line if you pour your heart and soul into it… OR you can spend about an hour a day on it and bring in a nice second paycheck on top of your training income.

Either way, the profits you can get for the time you put in our insane

In fact, info-marketing is one of the main ways I’ve monetized this blog… I just happen to sell “make money” products to the fitness industry on here instead of fitness products, but the strategy and principles are the same

Fitness is one of the BEST things to market as an info-marketing BTW, the biggest markets for info products are…

• Fitness
• Self-Help
• Make Money
• Relationships
• And sub-niches of the above ( Sub-niches are the way to go… example… I’m in a sub-niche of “make money” … I help Fitness Pros make money… so it’s a deeper level than just “make money” )

Seriously, info-marketing is one of the coolest gigs in the world… here’s some of the reasons why…

1. You get paid for what you know… not for the hours you work

2. You create an info-product once and you get paid over and over

3. There’s more free time in fitness marketing than any other gig in the world… seriously, you probably know I used to be a pretty successful marijuana trafficker ( back when it was illegal like everywhere except Holland)… I had a TON of freedom when I was in that business ( except after I got popped and served some time) … well the freedom of being a drug trafficker doesn’t even come close to that of being an info-marketer…you work where you want, when you want and as little or much as you want.

I typically take a month or so off a few times a year and it doesn’t hurt my income at all… in fact sometimes my biggest months are those when I’m on vacation… and even when I do work it’s rarely more than a few hours a day.

Take Vince Delmonte… here’s a dude who has SO MUCH freedom… he’s always traveling… going on crazy adventures… and pretty much doing whatever he wants all from his little muscle building info products…and the dude is SKINNY!!!

Craig Ballantyne… he’s another dude that always seems to be off traveling cuz of his success with his Turbulence Training ebook and products.  Information marketers have freedom like trust fund babies… except info-marketers create their freedom out of thin air doing something they are passionate about.

4. Information Marketers are renegades… we play by our own rules and create our own realities… it’s the coolest group of people in the world… and once you’re in you feel like you’ve discovered some secret society that only about .000001% of the population even know exists.

5. You can typically keep about 80-90% of your profits because the overhead is so low.

6. You end up developing a cult-like following of fans who will buy pretty much EVERYTHING you put out.

7. Most info marketers I know make between a HIGH six-figures a year and seven figures… some making a HIGH seven figures ( I know a few who make nine figures a year, and tons who make eight figures a year.. MUCH more than I do… I’m lazy and don’t wanna work too much, those dudes typically put in 40 or 50 hours a week which is far beyond my taste… but hey… they’re killing it).

And if you only want to spend just a little time on it…like an hour a day… you CAN STILL DO WELL

8. Everyone else ends up thinking you’re real cool, it’s weird… I mean you’ll have a few haters, but besides them ( and most of them are just jealous)…there’s a weird level of respect you get when you make a high six or seven figures a year working a few hours a day marketing your own line of ebooks, dvd sets, cd courses, mastermind groups and membership sites… It’s like information marketing gurus are treated like some kind of hero or celebrity or something ( when deep inside you know you’re just an average knuckle head lucky enough to have discovered how to become a fitness marketer).  I’ll admit, this one takes awhile to get used to.

9. Fitness Information Marketing is recession proof… just about every information marketer I know is killing it right now… most doing better now then they we’re before the economy took it’s lil’ down turn… info-marketers simply aren’t affected by the economy… our businesses just kinda seem to grow and grow ALMOST effortlessly… it really trips me out.

10. I could go on and on but you get the point

And finally, the fourth way to put a blog to work for you is…

Affiliate Marketing – Recently Ryan Magin did a post on my blog about Marketing Fitness Products as an Affiliate

You simple sell fitness products as an affiliate on the internet.

Basically in this model you’re in the toll booth position… someone else provides the products and customer support

You provide the traffic and make a profit whenever a sale is made.

Blogs are HUGE in affiliate marketing

You set up a blog or some review sites…

Write some emails, drive some traffic, and people buy the products and get this…

You can make up to 75% affiliate commissions ( most of the big fitness guys payout 75% these days… izz niiiiiicee )

And with affiliate marketing you can do very well for very little work.

I actually happen to do all three of the above… and could live happily off the income I make from just any one of those sources…

• I own a training business with trainers working for me all over my county
• I sell my own line of information products
• I do affiliate marketing
• And on top of that I do business coaching for fitness trainers and studio owners

And blogging is the base for the majority of what I make

Blogging really is the Lazy Trainer’s Way to make a lot of money for very little work…

You can stop trading hours for dollars and start making money on autopilot

You can take off for months at a time and let your blog plunk large amounts of money into your bank account every single day

You can become one of the worlds most sought after fitness guru’s and celebrities

And you can create a loyal tribe of customers for life who will buy literally everything you tell them to

I’d love to hear your comments below