Blog to Connect
IDEA FitnessConnect: Use the power of blogs to extend your engagement with customers.
Activating a profile on the IDEA FitnessConnect directory is one way to generate client leads and enhance business marketing. However, your “overview” page is only a first impression; to differentiate yourself from other fitness professionals listed in your area, you can do more. An active blog creates another opportunity for (future) clients to learn about your skills and services.
The blogging tool allows any individual fitness pro or club manager to write regular health- and fitness-related posts within his or her profile. Share your expertise, highlight upcoming events or define your training philosophy. Click on the “blog” tab on the main profile page and follow the three-step process. (The option to link an existing blog to a profile is also available.)
Whether you have been blogging for years or are just starting out, the four tips below can help you leverage this tool effectively.
1. Have a Purpose
To stand out in a health and fitness directory, choose an overarching theme or topic as your primary emphasis. This is not to discourage you from blogging about general health and fitness topics but rather to help you distinguish and/or strengthen your professional brand.
2. Achieve Maximum Exposure
Expand your audience by promoting your work across all social networks. You can send your blog posts to Twitter, “like” them on Facebook and share them with clients via the “Client Share” tool; simply click on the corresponding buttons at the bottom of each individual post.
3. Post Content Regularly
Make sure your clients receive your latest news. If your blog syncs with IDEA FitnessConnect’s Client Newsletter, the headlines to your three most recent blog posts appear on the sidebar. Posting content three times per month can ensure that clients get timely information in their monthly newsletter.
4. (For Club Profiles) Have Multiple Authors
Consider asking your fitness staff to contribute posts to the club’s blog. This not only helps sustain a blog but also allows club members to hear from your entire training team via one unified blog.
“A blog is a great way to draw attention from potential members, fitness professionals and media,” says Amy Boone Thompson, chief operating officer of Stroller Strides LLC in San Marcos, California. “It can be informative, motivational, educational or just fun.”
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Starting a blog can be overwhelming, but newbie bloggers Karen Singleton and Michelle Guerrero find it easy to blog on IDEA FitnessConnect.
Karen Singleton
Fitness Instructor and Personal Trainer
Raleigh, North Carolina
Karen had no intention of blogging until she aligned her training with the M.E.L.T. (Myofascial Energetic Length Technique) method. “The short blog entries allow me to highlight this subject from a different perspective,” she says. Since September, she has been documenting her professional experiences as they apply to these techniques.
“I am still learning about this blog thing. But I promise that I will keep things short and informative,” she notes casually in one of her posts. See Karen’s blog at http://blog.ideafit.com/blogs/karin-singleton.
Michelle Guerrero
Personal Trainer
Washington, DC
“I started a blog prior to becoming a personal trainer, yet I was not as committed as I am now through IDEA FitnessConnect,” says Michelle.
Since becoming a certified personal trainer, she has found writing therapeutic. She reflects on her personal and professional experiences through her newfound career. “You never know how and when you may be helping someone realize a dream or try a new idea or recipe [as a result of] reading your blog,” she comments. See Michelle’s blog at http://blog.ideafit.com/blogs/guerrero-michelle.
January 2011
© 2011 by IDEA Health & Fitness Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited.
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