I know for quite a few of us, it is a bit daunting to know what to post in terms of subject matter on social media, in terms of length, value, as well as subject matter, and this got me thinking as to how we used to do it in the good old days before the Internet and social media
During these “prehistoric times” we as fitness instructors were required to create sessions, build our brand, create our own authority, build our client base and actually get class numbers, as that was the name of the game.
So what did we do? Well, I wanted to be a fitness presenter. So I opened up the Yellow Pages and I contacted all of the gyms in the local area in Gloucestershire, , Oxford, Avon, and Worcester and phoned them offering to give free master classes. Why? Because I wanted to show them that I could do a good job. And, if they liked what I did, then hopefully they would hire me for subsequent master classes. Although long winded, this worked really well for me as I was able to develop my skills, create goodwill, and deliver an outcome before a decision was made to pay me for my services
Then I was very fortunate enough to go to conventions. I started presenting for Fitness Professionals, The Aerobics Organisation of Great Britain, FitCamps and Fitness Fiesta.
Again, the premise of those master classes was that you gave good content, in the form of masterclasses. You showed people what you could do. You showed people your expertise. Then off the back of that, people came up to you and said, and invited you to their gym, studio or fitness business to teach a masterclass and get paid for that service.
In fact, off the back of teaching a “Let’s Kick the Funk” masterclass at Blackpool, I was then asked to present in Portugal, which was for me amazing. I went to Portugal, did a reasonable job there, and then got asked to present in Italy. That’s how the international presenting rollercoaster started for me, which was which was amazing.
Another example is the Ceroc Modern Jive business that I ran as a Franchise for 14 years. To get people to come along to our sessions, we would do busking sessions in the high street of Cheltenham so people could actually see what we were doing and see the fun that people were having. Based on that they would then come along and try out the classes. Also, in the Cheltenham Dance Festival, I would deliver a demonstration class in the Promenade area so that people could learn a routine, have fun, see how easy it was to learn, think, “yep, I want more of this” and then come along to my succession.
So all of these things is to illustrate that for me. All I did, and what loads of fitness instructors did way before the Internet, was to think of ways to build our customer base, our audience and our businesses. To do this we were creating content, and all of these content had a similar theme.
- We were able to provide results in advance.
When I did my master classes, I was showing a convention attendees that I could actually deliver a reasonable master class so that they may want to know more about me. Also, when we got a little bit more business minded, we manufactured videos, and off the back of these master classes, we were able to sell videos of other routines that we had filmed.
- Providing good value
So as well as results in advance, you also need to be providing good value. If you are providing results in advance with your content and showing people that you can solve a particular problem, you are providing something of huge value. For example, when I was presenting at a pure energy roadshow master class I did a conditioning workshop, and it was linked in with exercise that I’d learned from a personal trainer that worked in the States. The problem was that instructors had to find new ways of finding exercises for their legs, bums and tums classes. The Solution at the time was my masterclass which at the time provided new exercises and routines which provided massive value to them.
- Create goodwill
By doing the first 2, we were creating huge amounts of goodwill with the people that we were producing content for. Fitpros that weren’t presenters were still creating fitness demos that they did at school fetes, shopping halls and other public areas. They were writing articles for their local newspapers, they were typing out print newsletters and giving them out to their class members. As well increasing the public’s awareness of them as experts in their field, these instructors were creating huge amounts of value.
I believe that results in advance, good value, and goodwill still should form the basis of the content that you post on social media. The next phase of that is to have some sort of a plan to know what to post on a day to day or week by week basis, because sometimes you can get a little bit frustrated sitting in front of the computer, thinking about random content to produce.
If you want to develop that plan, then why not take part in the free 5 Day challenge to produce 90 days worth of social media content?
