Our industry has become very visual and content driven.Potential clients love to see what trainers have to say and to see if their content aligns with their beliefs. With much of our news and information now online and now that most people get their news and information from the internet, now is a perfect time to start spreading your message via a blog. In fact this form of client acquisition has become a must.
Starting a blog can difficult if you are not use to writing or writing consistently. It can be frightening at first but once you get in the habit of it and keep it simple it will get easier. Think of blogging as talking with a client about a certain topic that you know a ton about. It literally is as easy as putting your everyday talks with your clients and putting into words on paper for the world to view. No need to over-complicate the process by having to think outside the box because the most viewed blogs are usually the most simple. So here are few steps to getting your blog off the ground and share your views with the world:
TopicsOn a piece of paper jot down a list of 5-10 topics you feel you can write the best. For example a blog about the benefits of kale or the best way to recover from an injury. There is no need to write about topics you don't feel comfortable with and remember don't over-complicate the process by getting too fancy. The more simple you keep your writings the better. Once you have a good list, start writing.
How to Write a Blog
Blogs are meant to be short, simple, concise and grab readers attention. They should be educational and actionable. When I write blogs, as I do for these articles, I always want to make a short list of 3-5 items to support the overall mission of the blog. These, again, should be educational and/or actionable. Give takeaways that people will remember or give the order in which something should be done. Keep these short.
Pick a Platform
Blog platforms come in all shapes and sizes. The most common platform is WordPress. It is easy to use and free unless you want to upgrade and use it as your sole website. You literally just design how you want it and enter your text into the text box, click publish and there you go. You can add pictures and videos and it even keeps track of all the analytics so you can see how many times it was viewed and from where.
Post to Social Media
The easiest way to get your message out there is to post the link of you blog to social media sites. Once you publish your blog, copy the link and post it to Facebook and Twitter to increase the visibility of your blog. This will also help in getting people to subscribe to you blog. They more followers you have the better chance you have to converting them to a paying client. You also want to post your link several times over the course of the week to increase visibility to your audience. Sometimes people don't see it on the first go around so posting multiple times will help in its viewership.
Writing a blog does not have to be a pain and it can be an easy way for you to generate interest in your business. You often find people who mention your blogs when they meet you for the first time, as this is their first interaction with your before you meet in person. This tool can be very powerful for reaching more people than standard marketing. Keep it simple and once again educational and/or actionable.
