I scrubbed all the other stuff off my board earlier this evening and placed the following…

Just click on the image to make it bigger.

So what is on the board, besides the reminder of why I work my butt off every day, my favorite quote and a 101 dollar bill, the diagram is simple but outlines my overall system for getting new people to my websites EVERY DAY.

1. Pay For Them… This includes Pay Per Click advertising through Facebook, Adwords, Yahoo Search Marketing etc etc. Or even paid for online advertising on local websites to capture local leads.

2. SEO… Improving the on site optimisation of my sites so that they rank well for my main keywords and to ensure I am getting more links back to my site.

3. Offline… Offline adverts in local media, flyers, doing public speaking as well as getting involved in local events and becoming more visible in my local community.

4. CSS… This is my content syndication system. A step by step process of creating high quality content such as articles and videos for my BLOGs, distributing throughout the internet using various resources such as ezinearticles, submityourarticle, youtube, blip.tv and then finally a system of social bookmarking to spread the word about my content.

Each element drives people back to a page on my site to opt in to my autoresponder list using aweber.

I work on this daily… it is not by accident that my web site, my videos and my content DOMINATE google for my primary keywords.

SEO is NOT a one shot deal, it is a daily process.

Content Syndication is also not a one shot deal, it is a daily process.

Paid ads is an on going process of updating, testing, updating testing… it is a daily process

Offline promotion is not just one speaking engagement, flyering campaign, or mail shot… it is a daily process

Have a system for lead generation, and get new leads EVERY DAY.

Some of you have got this Twitter thing down to a fine art.

But everything else is a bit haphazard?

Problem is whilst using the BIG social media sites is well worth your effort, it is very easy to get lost in the ‘noise’ especially if you have more than a couple of hundred friends on Facebook and more than a few thousand Twitter followers. There are plenty of other sites that probably could do with your attention and you’ll probably get to more people because of the lower noise levels.

1. Facebook is the current king of social media currently the 3rd most visited site on the internet. Keep at this building your friend network as well as developing a Fan Page, and you’ll certainly be able to take advantage of this media.

However I am increasingly worried by a lot of the posts on Facebook from certain individuals being purely promotional. ONLY having links frankly makes you look like a jerk and only out to entice us to your marketing messages.

I have started blocking these people from my feeds. Facebook is a relationship tool, its a cool place to hang out, from time to time you might want to throw in a link, but not every post.

2. Twitter… Hmm second only to Facebook right now, but sure to topple the giant in double quick time. I am frankly amazed by Twitter, and still trying to fathom any thing of sense comes from it.

I’ve stopped using the automatic follower tools, because you are not getting followers naturally. Instead I am seeking out people who are like minded and have something interesting to say! Serial linkers get ditched double quick now.

So now we’ve got the BIG TWO out the way, what other sites do you need to be using?

3. TubeMogul If you create videos, yes you do need a YouTube account, but there are lots of other video sites on the internet that can further your reach. I currently use Blip.tv as my main host of videos, I can put both private and public videos on there, which serves some of my products.

However you do need to be using TubeMogul.com to release you’re video content to about a dozen other sites. Tube Mogul is free to use, you’ll need to set up accounts initially on all the other video sites but you only need to do it once.

4. iTunes Podcasting has been around or years now, but it is a media that I often forget about. Even I have succumbed to the iPhone, something I swore I would never do. However, the plus side is I can listen to podcasts walking down the street and driving in the car. Set up an account to upload your interviews and podcasts on to itunes and it becomes searchable in their catalogue.

5. LinkedIn Professional networking sites like LinkedIn are really important too. Setting up an account with them will mean that you have a professional looking online resume that can be found by potential JV partners, people from the media, as well as potential new clients.

6. Ping.fm Managing it all can be a nightmare… which is why tools such as TubeMogul invaluable, there is also the killer site that will deal with your status updates in just one button. Ping.fm is a site I’ve been using for about 6 months or so, and it saves me a bucket load of time and means I can reach all my sites in one go. You can even download the browser plugin so you can instantly update your status without even leaving the site you are on.

7. OnlyWire Finally the biggest revelation in the world of social media and the power it has on your search engine optimisation is a site called OnlyWire.com. This service will enable you to ‘bookmark’ your blog posts as well as those articles and BLOG posts you find and like around the internet. Setting up an account is free so long as you have a special link on your site, spend the 40 minutes or so getting all your accounts set up on all the different social bookmarking sites will be well worth it. Also add the browser button to your browser to make bookmarking quick and easy.

So yes, you might think you’ve got this social media stuff covered with Facebook and Twitter, but you can exponentially increase its effectiveness with just a little extra set up and work.

Get on it now.

More than likely you have visited one today, they are everywhere.

The site probably looked alright, reasonable graphics, easy enough to navigate, but you just sat there wondering what you were looking at, and you just didn’t get a warm fuzzy feeling from it, so you simply clicked the back button.

ahhh so cute

When someone visits your site you have about 5 -10 seconds to get your message across to the visitor. It is either what THEY were looking for or NOT what they were looking for. It is really important that in that 5 – 10 seconds that you tell them exactly what they are going to get from your site!

That last sentence is actually really important so re-read it!

This means you cannot be sending mixed signals, or mixed messages.

1. One site that springs to mind is for a local Gym here in Luxembourg. Believe it or not this gym is called “PainWorld”. First of not a great name, unless you where selling hardcore training programs for guys and girls looking to start sweating testosterone at every session. When I last checked they were trying to run a Pilates class… Big mixed message.
   

   Maybe not the image for pilates?

2. Many sites for PTs I have visited over the last few months have been of the generic/boring brochure variety… see my free report for info on this… The problem is whilst your stunning picture of your gratuitous six pack may be the envy of your friends, and bragging rights in the pub, it sends a mixed message to the clients attracted by your post pregnancy service.
   

   The face of post-pregnancy personal training?

3. Social media such as Facebook and Twitter, whilst fantastic tools for making great connections, posting pictures of your drunken weekend antics next to “Read my fat reducing facts report”
   

   Tis a good job Steven Gerrard is not on Facebook as a Personal Trainer

4. The psychology of web design has probably been done better elsewhere, but one of my biggest pet hates is the issue of colours. The dark blues and blacks for the main colour of the background may look “cool”, they not only make the site difficult to read but also do not inspire the same level of trust. Look at pretty much every large corporation who is online; Yahoo, Google, Amazon, etc etc they all have a white background.
5. Clutter is another pet hate! All these sites with so many flashing knobs, bells and whistles, feeds from here, BLOGS, Adverts, Articles, galleries, Links to this and that. And that is just on the front page. Every part of the page is vying for your attention that none of it actually does, it is just noise. The message is indecision and disorganised.
   

   The Million Dollar Webpage - aka Clutter

6. Being all things to all men (and women): We do personal training, bootcamp, pilates, muscle building, tone butt, belly and thighs, over 50s workouts, marathon training, nutritional advice, life coaching blah blah blah. Urm I don’t want a generalist, I want the specialist. Stop hedging your bets and market to the one group you want to work with.

Mixed messages will put off potential clients, make it a black and white choice for your website visitor!

They either want what you are offering or they don’t.

What is necessary to have friends on Facebook? Let me know.

What I do have on Facebook, is something quite powerful, that I use regularly to help promote my Bootcamp locally. I have created a group and a page, both devoted to ForestFit. Whilst it doesn’t have so many members or fans, the act of having a facebook group or page adds to your reach, making more people aware of the groups you run.

Over the last few months, when I ask new people who join ForestFit where they first heard about us, about 75% of them say Facebook.

I do run adverts on Facebook too, but the chatter I get from my current members is significant to widen our reach.

Setting up a group or page on Facebook is really easy, and requires little attention afterwards. It is a good idea to update it each month, but this will take a matter of minutes.

Dan Kennedy talks regularly about using multiple media to promo your product/service, never rely on just one approach. Whilst your newspaper ad may work this week, it may not next week. If you can spread your reach through multiple media, you’ll continue to get a steady flow of new leads to your website.

Your task this week is to set up a Facebook group for your bootcamp or personal training service. Once you’ve done that add me as your friend )

http://www.facebook.com/friends/?ref=tn#/profile.php?id=587693973&ref=name

Tim

Un-geeking the internet for Fitness Professionals

PS. Facebook can get addictive, so I would suggest getting the group set up, invite your current clients to join and post stuff to it and drop in from time to time to add contact, but leave it at that.

You see one of my flaws as a “geek in remission” is I expect my peers in the fitness industry to know lots about techy geek stuff. In general this is really not the case.

In fact I have counted the number of fitness professionals who are tech-savvy that I know of on just one hand!

This puts me in a bit of a predicament really, as the products I have had planned for the “average” fitness professional are probably all wrong.

You see I really want to help you get your web sites and Internet presence up to scratch for the new year, to boost the image of our profession going in to a year which is likely to be really tough for those people in our industry that are just not up to scratch.

I am spending much of my time in two personal trainer forums on the Internet helping its members out with their tech queries. If you are not a member of these two areas, I recommend both as they are both highly active with lots of great ego-free members.

The first is Personal Trainer Success:

http://personaltrainersuccess.ning.com

The second is The Fitness Bootcamp Inner Circle:

http://thefitnessbootcampinnercircle.com/

Drop me a message when you come on board or leave comments on some of my posts. I really want to know what your biggest problems and concerns when it comes to tech stuff to get my products back in order.

See you there.

Tim

PS. Thanks for reading this through to the end, I know that we all get bombarded with information we don’t care about. Hopefully the information here will help you out immeasurably.

Follow MyFitGeek on Twitter
http://www.twitter.com/MyFitGeek

Twitter is something that many people just do not “get” when they look at it… If I was being honest I didn’t “get” it the first time I came across it.

Twitter is Web 2.0 in its most simple, raw state.

Twitter has such a simple interface, it’s hard to believe it has become one of the most powerful and useful marketing tools on the internet today.

What the hell is Twitter and why as a fitness professional should you care?

Basically twitter is a status display for its users. You have 140 characters to tell people what you are doing right now. You’ll see people posting everything from what they had for dinner that morning, the workout they just did, to telling people about the book they are currently reading. The unique part of twitter is that you can follow anyone including some quite famous people from Stephen Fry (actor) through to Lance Armstrong!

People are generally interested in what other people are doing, finding a connection with people who follow you and people you follow.

As it happens many of your potential clients both online and offline are likely to be twitter users. It is quite easy to build up a decent group or followers, so when it comes to releasing your latest e-book, or training video, you’ll have a bunch of people to tell about it.

Tell People About Your Stuff

I regularly use twitter to update people about BLOG posts I have created, or updates to my general website, new articles I have created, youtube videos I have submitted etc etc. All this generates followers, people viewing, bookmarking and commenting on all these different things. When there is a stream of interest in something on the internet you can easily bring in a whole host of new subscribers to your autoresponder lists and potential customers.

A future BLOG post will go in to the usage of Twitter more and some of the many new tools that are appearing to make the usage of Twitter even more viral and useful for Fitness Professionals.

For now, get over to Twitter, set up an account and start by following me by clicking on http://www.Twitter.com/MyFitGeek

Tim is MyFitGeek

PS. Don’t forget to comment on this posting below AND do the whole social bookmarking thing by clicking on the appropriate link below.