Recycle Your Publicity, Please!

In addition to being a fitness writer, I've created products to help fitness pros:

1) Get publicity

2) Recycle media promotion

So ... this post goes to show I follow my own advice - with good success!

The image here is one of three publicity hits I received in the last month (this doesn't include my published articles).

In addition to this blog post, I've already recycled this particular publicity hit on Facebook (in my group called "Active Voice Writing Service") and also in a flyer for a cycling workshop I presented on motivating students with music.

Read the "Sweat to Your iPod" story by Jon Azpiri in The Georgia Straight.

Find out 30 more ways to recycle your media promotion.

Media Relations & Your Digital Camera

Picture This ...

I've just been asked to lead a 30-minute workout for a fitness show on a local TV channel. (I've never been on TV before ... if you've done fitness DVDs or been on TV, I'd love to hear your best on-camera tips! Feel free to post them in the comments section here.)

Anyway, as I said, I don't have on-camera experience, so I asked the host of the show if I could come to the studio to watch her tape a workout. I wanted to get an idea of how the show was formatted and what the set looked like (I like to be super-prepared).

Turns out, my friend and fitness colleague Geoff Bagshaw was taping his guest appearance on the show when I arrived.

When the show ended, Geoff did something really smart.

He pulled out his digital camera and got a few shots of himself on set with the cast of the show. What a perfect way to recycle publicity!

Geoff's approach reminded me of something I spoke about in my recent presentation at FitComXpo (the FitComXpo event is over, but you can still gain access to recordings and slides of all the sessions - scroll a few posts down to see what I thought of the event).

My tip: Your digital camera is a powerful tool for helping you build relationships with the media and score more media promotion for yourself. Here are 3 ways:


1. Ensures Accuracy If you write a workout article or you're the featured expert in one, offer to snap digital photos of the exercises you recommend for readers. Editors will get a clearer idea of what you have in mind, which helps them edit the piece and ensure accuracy. There, you've just made the editor's job easier.

2. Helps Create Visuals See the illustration at the top of this post? That's me! I supplied my editor with digital photos of the exercises described in one of my workout articles, and she forwarded the photos to an illustrator (sometimes magazines use drawings instead of professionally shot photos because it's simpler and less expensive.)

3. Doubles Your Media Promotion If your photos are good enough, small magazines or newspapers without a budget for elaborate photo shoots might publish them, which instantly doubles the media promotion you receive.

More about how to make the most of your free media promotion.

Illustration reprinted with permission from illustrator Kagan McLeod.

CBS Story: "Personal Trainers Ungoverned"

Do You Think This Is Fair?

I often talk about how publicity helps fitness pros gain credibility. But this TV story may do the opposite!

Is this the type of press coverage you want our industry to be receiving? How can you offer a different perspective to media outlets near you?

Check out this CBS story that questions the fitness industry's credibility. What do you think? Is the reporting in this piece fair?

Please feel free to post your comments here.

Vancouver B.C. Indoor Cycling Instructors: Fill Your Classes & Motivate Your Students to Come Back Every Week

Tune up your cycling classes this Spring with a new indoor cycling workshop, hosted by FitCity for Women (worth 2 BCRPA CECs)

THE WORKSHOP:

Group Cycling: Motivating Musical Adventures
Selecting a cycling playlist is your first step to a successful class. What counts most, though, is how you mix music and motivation to get participants in tune with the pace and intensity of the ride. Discover how song selection and simple teaching tactics play a key role in complementing and enhancing mental focus, cycling intensities and imagery. Leave this session with new strategies for composing and orchestrating cycling classes that motivate and inspire your participants every time.


WHEN: Saturday, May 3 - 11:00 am to 1:00 pm

SORRY, EVENT IS SOLD OUT

WHERE: FitCity for Women, Westside, located at 1401 West 8th Ave. (at Hemlock) in Vancouver

COST: $20 + gst (FitCity instructors); $35 (non-FitCity instructors).
Includes 2 BCRPA CECs!

TO REGISTER: Contact Amanda at avogel@activevoice.ca for complete registration details. Pay by cheque or credit card (with PayPal).

PRESENTER:
Amanda Vogel, MA human kinetics, BCRPA TFL, has almost 16 years of experience teaching group exercise. In addition to teaching at FitCity for Women, Amanda has presented at fitness conferences in the U.S. and Canada, including for Can-Fit-Pro, BCRPA and IDEA. Her expertise as an indoor-cycling instructor will be featured in an upcoming issue of The Georgia Straight.

Special thanks to the host facility: FitCity for Women, Westside

New Virtual Fitness Conference

Largest Ever Virtual Fitness Event - Still Available for Your Listening Pleasure

I recently presented a session at FitComXpo about scoring publicity for your fitness business and writing fitness articles for profit and promotion.

Since then, I've been busy loading tons of sessions into my iPod. I like to listen while I walk my dog, Rufus.

Here are my impressions of just some of the presentations I've listened to so far:

• Todd Durkin and Tom Terwilliger are very compelling speakers
• Helene Byrne offered an amazing amount of expertise about pre/postnatal fitness
• Celebrity trainer Valerie Waters provided some great workout ideas and insight for training women
• Scott Tousignant and Noel Lyons gave me some great ideas and leads for improving my online presence
• Nicki Anderson is a true professional - I always enjoy her sessions
• Mike Boyle delivered a very informative session on the advantages of interval training

My session was called The Inside Scoop! Achieving Success with Publicity & Fitness Articles. (Check the Networking Forum at FitComXpo for the correct link to download my session recording and Power Point slides.)

True, the live event has come and gone. But you can still gain access to all the sessions I mentioned above and dozens more. Oh, and I hear more live events are still being scheduled.

Visit the official event site to check out the exciting line-up of sessions.

How to Pitch a Major Women's Magazine

The featured editor in this video, Courtenay Smith, first contacted me when she worked as the fitness editor at All You. Now Courtenay is the Executive Editor at Prevention. See what she says about how to break into that major magazine.

Even if you don't have your sights set on Prevention magazine, consider also watching this second clip to learn more about the process of pitching health-related ideas to editors in general.

What Mice Have to Do With Fitness

What New Studies Are You Using to Promote Your Fitness Services?

And Why?

I recently stumbled upon an online forum discussion about using research to score media attention for a fitness business.

A new study had just come out saying exercise curbs depression. The forum discussion focused on how the study would make a good publicity hook for fitness providers. Yes … except the study’s subjects were mice, which no one mentioned.

I’m glad I found that thread because it led to two things:

1. I got the idea to co-author a couple of articles on how fitness pros can benefit from sizing up new research. One of my favorite editors just accepted both queries earlier this week.

2. I got to weigh in on how to incorporate new studies into fitness articles and media pitches.

Here’s a modified version of what I wrote on the forum:

Editors and producers like to ask "Why now?" about any potential story. A brand-new study can satisfy that question, as long as the study is truly relevant and credible. You can find plenty of new research through online newswire services. However, before you write about it, analyze it.

You don’t necessarily need to know everything about research design – just look for important points, such as if the study was sponsored by any companies (and how that might influence results) and if the subjects are similar to your target audience.

Essentially, consider whether the study is truly worth mentioning, apart from its catchy headline.

I just finished an article for Best Health where I had to dig up multiple studies published in 2007 that would be relevant to female exercisers. It would have been sloppy reporting to just see what the newswires had to say and leave it at that.

I used Reuters Health and similar sites as a starting point. Then I found the abstracts. Then I contacted the lead researchers to ask them questions and/or get a PDF of the full-text study.

Any big magazine expects this of you. Local newspapers should, too (although I don't know if all of them do). And if you write about current research for your own client newsletter or blog, you owe it to your clients to get the facts straight.

Bottom line: Use newswire services like ReutersHealth.com to get a heads up on what's out there. Then follow up by checking the actual study through journal websites and/or resources such as PubMed.