Thu, 30 May 2019
My guest today is Karla from Arizona and a shout out to FitnessFest events where we ran into each other. Karla asked a couple great questions that I have a hunch may be of interest to you too. Whether you’re got a business you want to grow, you’re itching to leave working for a boss and interested in launching a fitness business or somewhere between this live coaching call can help you too. BACKGROUND: I teach yoga for community andemployeesin the school district in which I work. I use a school within the district to teach my classes. I run the classes via the “Academic Support Systems” department. So, it’s kind of my own thing, but yet runs through the school district. I don’t have much support getting the school district to “advertise” for me with social media, as I don’t think they like the word “yoga” and it’s connotations; all I get is a paper flyer that is sent out via e-mail to the school secretaries to post/display by teacher mailboxes. QUESTION: Is there a way to use social media on my own to promote my classes? Can I set up my own webpage or Facebook page for this? What other types of social media can I use? I am not very techie and have very little experience with social media…I’m 58 years old and just getting started understanding how it all works. ANSWER: YES! By all means! The School should love that you do it. Does the school have a page? If so tag them. Start posting regularly. Share an article that is supportive of the purpose of the classes you teach. Who pays you? What is the mission of the agency paying you or hosting you? What can you share in alignment with that mission? While they may not see value in promoting or hosting. They will see great value if they start getting positive PR from what you do. QUESTION: I am also working on my Health & Wellness Coach certification (will be done in Sept/Oct.). I already am certified with the following: ACE Group Fitness, RYT 500 Yoga, Cycling, NCSF Personal Training. I would like to start my own LLC, but not sure how to start out getting clients. What are the most powerful ways to start using social media to get going? ANSWER: First, you don’t need an LLC to start getting clients. Launching a fitness business involves testing the concept first. You need a website. Then if you’re using social media you’re using it to drive people to a website. You have zero control over social media. It’s here but you have nothing to show for anything you do there unless you have a way for them to come off social media onto your website and an EMAIL list. You must begin building an email list. Use Constant Contact, Mail Chimp or Aweber for free or $5 until you have more subscribers but get it. And a way for people to sign up on your website so you can then communicate with them. The best use of social media is video. Video.video. Live, recorded, shared. QUESTION: I also am trying to narrow down my focus (target audience) as you had mentioned in your presentation at FitnessFest.It’s hard because there are so many aspects of fitness that I love and want to share! Here are a few of my ideas:
ANSWER: I think you can easily combine these. When launching a fitness business you do want to focus but these overlap. Your market may not know they’re looking for yoga. They know they’re beginners. They also may not know they’re looking for health & wellness coaching (it’s intangible) but they know they should be exercising. You can start there. But that’s not still a niche. Is this a beginner who’s 20 or who’s 50? Or 70? Is it a male? Or a female? Is it a married or single person? Someone budget minded or with money to burn? Why aren’t they exercising now? What have they tried? What do they hate about exercise and personal trainers? When you're launching a fitness business the biggest mistake trainers or business owners make is thinking they know what the customer is really thinking. QUESTION: Bottom line… I am scared…I have worked FOR a school district (stable job/money, insurance, etc.) my whole life. I have had the “itch” to do something in the health/wellness area for 25+ years! I have always taught fitness classes as a “second career”, but I want to try something maybe part-time to transition. Not sure if I should just jump in and do it full-time or do it little by little. I know there’s no easy answer for that! Any thoughts or words of wisdomJ? ANSWER: START.. keep your job, but do a side hustle. Launching a fitness business has to have deadlines but you want a safety net. Get some steady income coming in. Start with who you know. Are there teachers not exercising that want to? You’ve got a pool of clients. Who possibly want the same time slot. So begin a group and optimize your time. Thanks for leave a rating in iTunes!Here’s How:
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Thu, 9 May 2019
Fitness marketing to midlife women, that works Five years ago she was ignored. Today she’s not ignored but she’s stereotyped. Midlife woman trying too hard to look younger, a face frozen and plumped with Botox, wearing clothes she can share (but look slightly “off”) with her daughter. A midlife woman who’s operating on the 1980s metabolism science she learned. Relies on calories, steps, heart rate, and data, that ignore the state of her hormones. A midlife woman who enjoys at least a glass and maybe three of wine most days, starts with coffee and flirts with fasting but has no idea what a “healthy diet” is for her today. A midlife woman who thinks exercise is about burning… calories, off fat… so she can “fix” what she doesn’t love about her body. She’s all these and more. If she gets a compliment it’s veiled in a disclaimer. You look great for your age. Body shape motives are not the only thing that gets her going. Promoting weight loss may be detrimental to her participation. Don’t forget the women who don’t need to lose weight but who have experienced a relocation of body weight, those with disease risk factors, who want more energy, want to be proactive in aging, or gain bone density. Women control an incredible amount of buying power. Even before women were in the workplace equally they influenced 80% of household decisions. They still do now that they are in the workplace. They are diverse. Even marketing to the niche of women post menopause is unique. ICAA categorizes them as “athletic” if they regularly exercise 3 or more times a week. For some this is running, biking, lifting and swimming, but for others it’s a walk or yoga. So, clearly you can’t treat them all the same. Naturally, though, it’s easy to think you know her. You may be her. Your mom, aunts, or prior clients are her. Therearecommon denominators. But the things that make them unique are what make their program and the way you attract them and serve them unique. If you miss them, you’ll lose her. Barriers to marketing to midlife women:
“For active, athletic, middle-aged women there is just nothing. A 22-year old doesn’t get it and I’m not in wheel chair, there isn’t much for us between.” Even if you offer something between the gap described above by a Flipping 50 program participant, you may not be getting the message across. You want to reach her: 1) Where she is 2) With a message created for her 2) In a way she hears it 3) Without offending her The Biggest Mistakes Fitness Marketers Make (and we’re all fitness marketers) Thinking they are all the same: How do you think of them? Do you imagine they’re frail, stiff, in pain, lack energy, did aerobics with Jane Fonda or Jackie Sorensen, are empty-nesters, have grandchildren, have belly fat, cellulite, want weight loss, want belly fat loss… Did you know? Some of them are doing their first triathlons, learning to swim so they don’t drown in open water, going to training camps to ride bikes in mountains, skiing downhill at 50 miles an hour, wearing bikinis, learning to weight lifts and have kindergarteners? And starting their entire lives over by themselves or with someone new, starting businesses… so they’re not afraid of a little grind. Thinking you know their goal: If the title of your program isn’t a coffee table book you’d happily display at your home, rethink it. No 50-something, 60-something, and there’s a strong chance 70-something wants to “own” needing a fall risk reduction class. She doesn’t want to buy the fear she wants to buy the transformation. It might be performance – golf, running, starting triathlon, (or anything else after retirement). It might be to avoid cognitive decline, depression, anxiety, or muscle or bone density losses. More positively though, it is hope. This year, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of her controversial debut, Switzer ran the Boston Marathon again with the same bib number she wore in her first. "People still treat older people the way they treated us women 50 years ago, which is, 'Be careful! You might hurt yourself!' when in fact the opposite is the case," Switzer told Prevention. "The more you do, the more you can do! There are lots of women who have run marathons at 70, 80, even 90. I was only eighth in my age group at Boston [in 2017], for heaven's sake!" Prevention Magazine, Nov. 2017 Examples of Michele Obama, Ernestine Shepherd, Madonna Buder -The Iron Nun, and a growing number of aging iconic fitness professionals are showing the world a new way to age. But it’s not normal yet. Because even she will say, “I think I look pretty good for my age.”She’ll say, “I’m getting so old.” She’ll say that even while she doesn’t want to be treated as “old” or invisible. She feels invisible. Environment is everything. Have you noticed how people are flocking to sites where exercise over 50 or aging is included in the title? If positive things happen there, people will gather. Be one of them. Be positive. Be correct, but be positive. Growing Bolder is one of the most well-know sites for older adults. Why? It positively portrays aging. It defies traditional treatment of aging. It makes fun on occasion of older adults. But it does so in a playful, not condescending way. The Aging Triathlete and Thriving Not Surviving are two Facebook pages by midlife and older women describing their own journeys from inactive, or in need of a health intervention, to triathlon training. Did you know? Age-related decline in triathlon (swim, run, and bike) starts earlier in swimming than in cycling or running. Isn’t that bizarre since you and I would both probably recommend swimming more and more as someone got more limited with joint issues. Not Acknowledging Their Barriers Not knowing how far and wide fitness benefits take them Not having had good examples Having old habits and thoughts about exercise Time (perceived need) Fear of getting hurt Lack of trust for fitness “professionals” Relate to Her and Overcome Objections You might be thinking…is a golden phrase to use when you’re working on this type of copy. Create a Better Offer: Solve a real problem They know they have They are actively seeking a solution for They have some urgency for So you can… Relate to Her. You must: Tell a Rags-to-Riches story Reveal your real life vs. Cinderella life Tell your story… Start with, when I was… Know What She Wants, What She REALLY Wants
What is your WHY?
Get testimonials for marketing to midlife women from midlife women. How do you get a perfect testimonial? This question: What almost stopped you from registering/getting started? Audit your images: Are you showing HER? Are you showing the dream? She doubts: Your program will work For her She doubts her. Universal Truths of Marketing to Midlife Women She thinks she’s unique. She thinks she’s flawed. She thinks she’s uniquely flawed. It’s not a good time. Just because you’ve always done something or thought a certain way doesn’t mean you can’t change it. She has free will. She’s failed before. This is not her first rodeo. Success dulls the knife. Failure sharpens it. Failure is data. She doesn’t know that yet or think it yet. She blames failure on a lack of willpower, discipline, or motivation. She’s a prove-it-to-me girl. Make sure you know what you’re talking about.
Write copy like you ARE your ideal customer. Get a copywriter that is your ideal customer. If you have a 20-something writing copy or on social media make sure they give you examples of their work. Get a focus group together and get their thoughts. Listen to them. Don’t object or defend. Let your current customer tell you what they would have wanted to hear. Interview. Have a Third Party interview your ideal customer. Create 5-6 questions. Use these as examples:
She likes to give and she’ll support businesses that do more than profit or provide a service.
Change your approach What if you mocked your own product and service? Explain how it works instead of catchy titles. All the things that midlife women hate and turn them off…
Pink Dumbbells are Your Enemy! Women respond to colors of the sunset. She IS working. She may have the corner office. She IS overwhelmed. She DOES think a lot about her family and juggle responsibilities. She is willing to spend. She’s not finding good choices. She wants someone who understands her kinesiology, physiology, endocrine system, and her socialization. She’s got some unlearning to do. She may decide to do a marathon or a triathlon in a decade or so. She’s not done. But she does need to get started. These and more are the way to fix mistakes you’re making in marketing to midlife women, make yourself the best choice, and once you get her, help her and keep her loving life… and the role you play in it. Isn’t that what it’s all about? If you’d like some help. But you’re not sure where to start. Yet the idea of being a coach with a business you love helping women love their lives sounds like exactly what you want to do… and you want to stop having a hobby and start having a business – with a life – then set up a time to talk about how to make that happen. I’ll give you my input on what you need to have a business model that works. You may choose not to pursue it but you’ll know.
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Fri, 3 May 2019
4 Easy Marketing Steps That Will Grow Your Fitness Business If your first thought is "easy marketing" is a myth, you're not alone. Truth is that marketing isn't hard, but getting distracted by shiny objects is easy. When you want to buckle down, focus on how to get leads, clients, and recurring revenue though you have to ignore shiny objects and do the one thing hardest of all. You have to trust someone else. Unless you're a marketer, a website developer, an SEO expert, a Facebook ads manager or know how to write copy (ALL of which you should know SOMETHING ABOUT, by the way) you have to eventually turn it over. Someone else will get far better results in far less time and your time is better spent. So my guest in this show is my trusted resource. Jonathan Kraft is a digital strategist who has contributed well over 1,000 how-to videos to YouTube since 2006. His videos have had more than 10 million views. He and his wife spent 2 years traveling the world from 2009-2011 on income earned solely from affiliate marketing. He's traveled to more than 40 countries and speaks German and Spanish in addition to English. He is best known for helping small businesses who have something going online already to become medium sized businesses. He does this by helping them improve their branding, marketing, site structure, search presence, and business strategy. He has worked with online businesses across industries, from professional speakers to investment firms, and from health clinics to online retailers, including a few mentioned below:
That's an impressive list. Questions about easy marketing steps we cover in this episode: Overall when you jump into a business as the man behind the curtains… where is it that people need the most help when they hire you? And what is it you see that might be a different need? What are the biggest errors you see regarding websites? How important is S.E.O.? What would fix S.E.O. fast? What are the biggest errors you see in funnels and marketing? Questions I'm going to ask Jonathan in a future episode: Which system have you had the most experience with for and prefer:
Of all the businesses you’ve worked with, grown, among those who’ve been most successful in monetizing their website, marketing, social reach what has been the biggest ONE THING or common denominator? assuming there’s demand for the product and there’s a big enough target market for the product)
The 4 Easy Marketing Steps we discussed:
….and bonus (not included in the episode) is how you KNOW these easy marketing steps work: Use your Google analytics! Find out how much traffic, which pages, what blog content people enter on, and if they come from social or direct traffic. Do you get organic traffic? Known now and then track as you implement the easy marketing steps from todays post. Pssst. From SCWfit.com to ICAA to Athletic Business to Fitness Fest, I can share that less than 50% of business owners or social media managers use Google Analytics. WHAT? It's the only way to find out if your marketing is making headway. You'll learn what pages people come to and how they get there. You'll learn if they're coming from social media, direct to your URL, or from referral. You've got to know your numbers. It makes easy marketing more realistic. You've got to have a goal! You've got to have a benchmark to measure against. Yes, ultimately revenue. But if you don't know where and why it's coming to you? It's random and a roller coaster. Thanks for listening. Questions about behind the scenes strategies on your website that could help create positive, easy marketing changes for you? Add them to the comments! |
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