by
Jesse Cannone CFT, CPRS, CSPN
What if I
told you that in six months or less you could be recognized
as leading fitness expert in your area? What impact would that have on your business?
There are many potential ways to position yourself as an
expert and rather than cover all the possibilities, I’m
going to give you what I feel is the easiest and fastest
way. Before I
get into the steps you need to take, I want to first
reinforce the benefits and ensure you recognize how powerful
it can be!
Here are just a few of the many benefits or reasons why you
need to position yourself as an expert:
- Media
exposure / publicity
A positive piece of publicity is far more effective than any
form of advertising or promotion out there. When People are told by their local paper/ TV news
about how great your service is, they think much more of it
because it’s coming from a trusted/credible source.
In
addition to the positive media exposure, being and expert
adds instant credibility and allows you to get your message
in front of many more people.
You can do radio/TV interviews, write articles, perform
demonstrations, and even end up hosting your own radio/TV
show – the possibilities are endless. Your chances of receiving the above benefits is much
harder, If not impossible unless you position yourself as an
expert.
- WOW
large numbers of people
Another benefit is that you have the ability to get your
message in front of more people. For example, would you
rather meet with one potential client/customer a week or
dozens? It’s a no brainer... plus, you don’t even need
to be a great speaker!
So how do you position yourself as an expert? It’s easy…
here’s what you need to do:
1. Write one new article each
week/month
You should sit down at least once a month and write a short,
but information packed fitness article. Then send it to your local media, put it on your
website, use it in your newsletter, and submit it to other
fitness websites.
I personally write one new article every 2 weeks and also
have my articles posted on dozens of websites. I actually use a distribution service to get my
articles posted on other sites/ or used in other peoples
newsletters. You
can learn more about this service here http://www.internet-researcher.com
You can also sometimes get contracts to write articles for
magazines, newsletters, journals, other organizations, etc.
After a while (usually a short while) you’ll find that
you'll be getting all sorts of requests to use your
articles and tons of exposure. There’s nothing like being a popular, fitness
author!
2. Speak to groups / teach
classes / seminars / workshops.
There are so many possibilities and too many to list here so
I'm going to share with you what I feel is the best way to
position yourself as an expert with public speaking.
Here’s
what you do…
Go online
and do a search for "Adult learning in your city". You should come across quite a few organizations that
offer numerous classes and workshops for adults. Check them out and see if they are offering any
fitness classes. If
not, great… contact them and offer to teach a class. If they already are offering some fitness classes,
that’s great too – this means there is definitely the
demand and they see the value in offering fitness classes.
To see an
example of what I’m talking about, go to www.takeaclass.org
and you’ll see that I teach a few classes there. Again, there are so many ways you can use public
speaking to your advantage but this is what I have found to
work the best for me.
Not only
will you get the chance to WOW a group of people (possibly
your ideal clients), but you will often also receive a
commission based on the number of students.
For example, I taught one of my workshops "Flat abs
fast” a few weeks ago and earned $200 plus I sold $175 in
products! That’s
$375 in 3 hours and I got to help 30 people at the same
time. And
don’t forget, who are they going to contact when they have
questions or decide they want help?
Note: Not
all schools/organizations are the same so be sure to do some
research and know what the terms are fore you agree to
teach. Also,
don't feel like you need to walk away with a couple
hundred dollars. I
would still teach the same class even if I wasn’t paid.
Why you ask? Take
a guess…It’s great exposure, instant credibility,
opportunity to WOW multiple people at one time, drive
traffic to my website, sell products after class, meet new
people, I could go on and on.
3. Write a book or produce a
video
I know
you’re thinking tat this is too expensive or takes too
much time – you’re wrong! You can sit down and write a small book in a few
weeks. You could
even compile all those articles you’ve written and do a
little editing and there you go! I wrote my first book, Burn Fat Fast in 2 weeks. It’s only 28 pages but it sells for $27, and it
brings me in an additional $500-1000 each month! You can see it here: www.burn-fat-fast.com.
You can create an e-book, printed book, audio program,
video… there are so many options. Just pick one and get started.
Well,
there you have it… 3 simple, yet extremely powerful ways
to quickly position yourself as an expert. I hope you see the power of what "expert" status
can do for you and I look forward to hearing about your
success.
Instant
Fitness Marketing Tools CD – a collection of
ready-to-use marketing pieces including postcards, letters,
newsletters, print ads, and more.
