Using Twitter for Marketing & Publicity

A great webinar from HubSpot about how to use Twitter for marketing and PR.



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Writing a Headline? Look at Fitness Magazines

January is a busy month for gaining leads and making sales in personal training and at gyms. Now is the time to be planning your marketing schemes for the new year's rush in the fitness industry.

Fitness entrepreneur Bedros Keuilian of The Art of Selling Fitness posted an interesting YouTube clip about using popular health and fitness magazines to help you generate attention-getting headlines for your web pages, advertising material and e-newsletters.

Take a look at Bedros's clip, it's just three minutes long:



Bedros's advice makes a lot of sense because editors at the most popular magazines - publications that are prominently displayed in bookstores and grocery stores - spend a lot of time deliberating on and fine-tuning cover lines (what Bedros is calling headlines).

In addition to the image that goes on the front of the magazine, cover lines are what sell the magazine. So editors carefully craft cover lines to be as mouth-watering as possible to potential magazine buyers.

Like Bedros says, the next time you need headline-writing inspiration or a clever way to package a fitness promotion, look to the cover lines on the magazines your clients are likely to read.

Just be sure to tweak the wording for your own purposes rather than copy it verbatim.

Fitness Articles on Article Submission Sites

Why Write Fitness Articles for Free?


Dax Moy, a U.K.-based fitness pro, recently wrote a good post at PersonalTrainerSuccess.ning.com about article submission sites. Successful fitness pros like Dax know that writing health and fitness articles advances your fitness career by leaps and bounds. It really does.

But something about Dax’s post got me thinking.

It seems a lot of personal trainers are caught up in contributing solely to article submission sites. These sites don’t pay for articles. In fact, sometimes you have to pay them to take your articles. In return, you get your writing (and your bio and links to your sites) distributed far and wide across the web. It's a good online-marketing tactic.

I recognize that a huge online presence is not only useful but necessary for many fitness pros these days. What I don't understand, though, is why so many fitness pros ONLY write for free. There's revenue in writing articles, too.

Do that many fitness pros feel their articles aren't worth money?

Some people may lack the confidence to take their articles from the free domain to the paid domain. Fair enough. But the skills you use to write articles for free should translate to writing articles for websites, newspapers and magazines that pay you for your work.

If fitness pros feel their articles are only good enough as free content and not high enough quality to be paid for them, well, that scares me.

You have to wonder why anyone would put those kinds of articles out there in the first place. Any article - paid or not - should be of a certain quality so it reflects well on the person who wrote it.

Bottom line (and this is my way of cheerleading for all fitness pros who write articles): If you've got the skills to get yourself into article submission sites, why not use those same skills to write at least some articles that put more money in your bank account?

Here’s one of my articles on a high-traffic site. I got paid, and they published my headshot, my bio and links to my website and blog. Now that’s a good deal.

How to get your health/fitness articles published in magazines and newspapers.

How to create compelling health/fitness articles that get the results you want.

Fitness Marketing Language

The Antithesis of a Testimonial

Once, a fitness presenter told me he got an evaluation at a conference that simply read, “I don’t like your personality.” Ouch! And how mean!

When you put yourself “out there” – whether it’s as a bootcamp instructor, presenter, fitness director or studio owner – you’re going to eventually face negative feedback from someone. It’s inevitable, really.

I imagine you don’t like receiving negative comments any more than I do. But what stings the most is when less-than-positive feedback is not constructive because it doesn’t help you improve in some way.

I am writing this post because I need your help!

Below is a note I got from someone who attended one of my sessions at a recent fitness conference. This person doesn’t like the way I represent myself. And since this person took the time to send me a few thoughts (to THREE of my email addresses, no less – thanks for that!), the least I can do is get a blog post out of it. Here's the note:

>>I would like to provide some feedback on your BCRPA conference
presentation, and on your self-marketing strategy.

Without doubt, you are very knowledgeable and experienced. However,
it is unwise to constantly remind everyone that you write for
Chatelaine, Self, Fitness and other trash magazines. If you want
people to respect and view you as a true professional, you should
write for intelligent publications, including peer-reviewed academic
magazines. Associating your business with bottom of the barrel media
does not add to credibility.

In your biography write up, you are using low brow, outdated, and
meaningless marketing gimmicks such as "51 free tips", "free ebook"
etc. These are mostly used by telemarketers, snake oil sellers and in
infomercials. Please respect the intelligence of your potential
readers! It is a real turn off when an educated person resorts to
dumbed down amateur marketing tricks. Thank you. <<

Well, I can’t do anything about the person’s first directive that I should write for “peer-reviewed academic magazines” instead of the so-called “trash” magazines I contribute to. Gee, if I could find a way to feed my daughter, pay for her daycare and keep on top of bills by contributing to all those academic journals that pay ZILCH, I’d jump right on that advice. Oh, except for the fact that I like writing for the magazines I contribute to.

Anyway, what I'd like your help with is this:

Please add your constructive comments here to help other fitness pros determine the most effective language for marketing their own fitness businesses.

And while you're at it, please save me from changing the name of my free e-book (51 Need-to-Know Writing & Marketing Tips for Fitness Pros) to something more intellectual, such as A Series of Grammar Lessons Fitness Professionals Must Study, Posthaste! … a digital document (aka: e-book) available to anyone who wants it (sorry, I don’t know how to make “FREE” sound boring).

Hey, if uttering the word “free” is tantamount to being a “snake oil seller” then the majority of successful businesses I can think of are in real trouble.

Call me defensive, but this has been cathartic!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a yoga book to ghostwrite about cultivating inner peace and an article to complete that will help personal trainers connect in a more meaningful way with their clients. Low-brow stuff, indeed.

Book Publishing Options for Fitness Pros

Numerous fitness pros have contacted me in the last month alone about how to get a health/fitness book published.

If you're wondering the same thing, check out the excerpt below (modified for this blog) from an article I wrote for the American Council on Exercise (ACE).


There's a joke among book authors: At least one person at any party will tell you they, too, want to be a published author ... if only they had the time to do it.

Writers laugh at this notion because creating a book and successfully bringing it to market requires far more than finding time to sit in front of a computer.

For one thing, publishers will want to know if you have a platform. Read on to find out why platform is such a buzzword in today's publishing industry.

Platform: What It Is, and Why You Need It

According to experts, health and fitness book authors need platform. Platform means you are already recognizable and people are familiar with what you do.

You don’t have to be famous. But you do need your own circle of influence and a proven track record for being able to promote yourself.

For example: Can you boast a strong client following? Have you created a fitness program or brand that’s receiving rave reviews? Do you get large-scale publicity? Have your articles been published, or do you appear regularly on TV? Are you a presenter? A notable fitness expert? All these attributions amount to platform.

“A common misconception is that anyone can get a book published if they have a great idea,” says Laura Nolan, an agent at The Creative Culture, a literary agency in New York City that represents a number of top fitness experts. In reality, she says, “publishers are looking for fitness experts who have established platforms, have been in the media, or have an established following.”

Plus, publishers are busy pursuing book ideas on their own, says Mike Bates, M.B.A, owner of Refine Fitness Studio in Windsor, Ontario, and the former managing director at Human Kinetics Canada, a publishing company that specializes in titles related to physical activity.

If your idea is viable as a non-fiction book, a publisher has probably already thought of it. “This is not to say that unique ideas never come from outside of the publisher, but they are more rare than you might think,” Bates says.

Therefore, prospective authors with a good idea and a built-in audience have the most leverage. (Incidentally, you could also coauthor a book or have someone ghostwrite it for you if you have the necessary platform but not the time, interest or skill to write a book.)

What if you’re not interested in traditional publishing companies or bookstores. Let’s say you plan to self-publish a hardcopy book or ebook then sell it yourself. Is platform still an issue?

Think of it this way: You must be established as an expert in a particular niche to sell books. Your platform might stem from a large and dedicated client base or people who avidly read your blog (yes, blogs do contribute to platform!).

Beyond that, being self-published may eventually boost your platform enough to impress traditional publishers. “Self-published fitness authors will attract the attention of a publisher if they sell enough copies of their [self-published] book,” says Nolan.

Weighing Your Options for Publishing a Fitness Book

Once you’ve got the platform to succeed at writing and marketing a non-fiction health/fitness book, it’s time to weigh your options for how you’ll get your message to the public. Here are three common avenues:

1) pursue a deal with a traditional publishing house,
2) become an independent or self-published author, or
3) create an ebook.

For the full article, please refer to "So, You Want to Be a Book Author: Book Publishing Options for Fitness Pros" by Amanda Vogel, August/September 2008 issue of ACE Certified News, pages 9-11.

Resources for building your platform as a health and fitness expert.

Body Image and Fitness

Check this out - it really puts "fitness" and body image in perspective.

At first glance, you might not think this item has much to do with fitness writing and publicity. But it does.

Why not use the concept behind this New York Times piece as a jumping off point to garner media attention in your community? Start a discussion about what a fit body looks like.

Are you a trainer who believes that the average person can't be "fit" and "fat"?

Or do you support the viewpoint that fit bodies come in all shapes and sizes?

The Olympics are big news right now. Take advantage of this news hook to promote your own services and/or to inspire more people to get active.

And feel free to post your comments on fitness and body image here, too. I wrote my Master's thesis in human kinetics on body image and the role of the fitness instructor. So I'm curious about your take on body image in the fitness industry.

Marketing Fitness with Social Media

I have to admit something … I don’t “get” Twitter.

Twitter (if you’re wondering) is a social networking and micro-blogging site. You write mini-updates about your life, week, day, whatever.

You can update every hour or sooner if you want. Each update has to be 140 characters or less, so Twitter forces you to write concisely. In that way, it helps you improve your writing skills.

Apart from that, though, what's the point?

Do people really care that I visited Multnomah Falls near Portland, OR, or that I chatted with Jim Labadie on the phone (these were two of my recent mini-updates, or “tweets” as they’re called in Twitter-speak).

My friend Biray Alsac first told me about Twitter, and so I joined the site as research for my workshop “Beyond a Website: Virtual Tools for Attracting Real-World Clients” (I’ll be presenting it next at the BCRPA conference in October 08).

Biray is on top of how to use Internet technologies in the fitness industry. And since I trust her opinion and expertise, I’m sticking with Twitter for now. I still have a lot to learn.

In the meantime, I wanted to find out how other fitness pros fare with Twitter, so I turned to personal trainer Scott Tousignant of UnstoppableFatLoss.com.

Scott’s got his finger on the pulse of how to market fitness using social media (like Twitter, blogging, Facebook). Here’s what he told me:

Amanda Vogel (AV): Has Twitter helped you market your business?

Scott Tousignant (ST): Twitter has been one of my favorite and most effective ways to market my business. The connections that I have made through Twitter have been absolutely priceless.

The biggest advantage of Twitter is being able to connect with some big players in the internet marketing industry immediately. There have been colleagues who I've been trying to connect with through email for a very long time and I have not received a response from. The second I send them a message on Twitter, they respond. I have their attention, and we build a relationship pretty quickly.

Another benefit of Twitter is the search function. I can type in a key word like “workout” and see everyone that has made a “tweet” about working out. If the person looks like someone who I would like to connect with, I offer them a quick tip or congratulations on embarking on the fitness journey.

AV: Who follows your updates on Twitter (is it clients or colleagues)?

ST: It's about a 50/50 split. Ideally, you should create two Twitter accounts. One where you give fitness tips and try to connect with clients, and another Twitter account where you try to connect with colleagues.

AV: What about your Twitter-cise social network at Ning.com, which shows people how to do brief exercises. Does your Twitter-cise network require a lot of upkeep? Has it been a good marketing venture?

ST: Twitter-cise has been a fun little project for me. It's really not much upkeep. It all depends on how much effort you want to put into it and what your other priorities are.

When my wife Angie and I started the community we would shoot four one-minute videos in one day and upload one at a time over the next four days. Total video shooting, editing, and uploading took about 30 minutes for four videos.

Other than that it really isn't much work and has definitely been worth the effort.

AV: Of all the social media marketing tools you use, which is the most useful to you? Why?

ST: My blog is the most useful social media tool and is the hub of my business. When I engage in communication on Twitter, I send people to my blog. When I post a video on YouTube, I send viewers to my blog. When I post something on Facebook, I link to my blog.

The reason my blog has been the most useful is because it provides the best platform to engage with my audience through a variety of media streams like video, audio, and articles.

Also, blog posts can be submitted to all the other social marketing sites and get bookmarked and indexed. You can place your blog rss feeds in your Facebook profile and other social marketing profiles, as well.