Secrets of Fitness Marketing Revealed!
by John Izzo, NASM-CPT, PES
I love that show “Secrets of the Masked Magician”. That guy totally entertained me. Not only did he entertain me, but he empowered me. He gave me (and millions) a glance at what goes on behind the curtain in magic. Did it take away anything from the mystic of magic? Hell no! It only added to it and forced other magicians to step it up! That is why today you see more “illusionists” performing outrageous and death-defying tricks because we have learned how to solve the puzzle! So now, the puzzle has to become more complex. Well, if you can see behind the fitness marketing curtain, you would truly be amazed at the similarities between magic tricks and marketing. Now that 2007 has come to a close, I have become aware of more and more trends in fitness marketing. I find the same group of experts have endorsed the same products and provide you with the same link over and over. Have you ever heard the saying: “Keep telling the same lie and you too, will simply believe it?” Well, it is true in fitness marketing too. The more people keep pointing you in the same direction, the more likely you are to believe it is the only path to your destination. Popularity supersedes integrity. So I have found some marketing trends in 2007, that I simply wanted to reveal to you.
Workouts are always flexible for the user, so why write a book? I have read a couple of popular books this year that detail workout templates and ideologies according to the author. I have read questions on popular internet forums from readers asking tons of questions regarding tailoring workouts to their specific needs. 99.9% of the answers are “sure you can change/modify/or do what you can”. So I ask: why follow a workout written by some author, if in the end, it will need to be continuously adjusted according to your needs? Basically, this has proven to me what I always believed: most workout books, that are popular and basically marketed to be the “be all, end all” of workouts, can and will be adjusted or tailored to the readers’ needs. Even the author will acknowledge this usually within the beginning chapters or preface. So why write the book? Cha-ching…
Books written by authors who don’t train others for a living. Sometimes I feel like I am the only one that owns night vision goggles in Dead Horse, Alaska. Why do we trust authors that put out books pertaining to fitness and training when they don’t even do it for a living? I don’t want my plumber looking at my car engine and I don’t want my dentist picking out my life insurance. So why do so many people popularize books written by authors that clearly have no history of training others, but feel they can provide you with information? And make a helluva living off of it? Well, see the next one…
Here is your typical Internet Fitness Expert
Authors using real fitness professionals for validity. Yep…this is like “Secrets of the Masked Magician Revealed”. Guess what? If you were to remove the name of every fitness expert that is a “co-author” of every fitness book on the shelf at your local bookstore, and leave the prominent author’s name, I bet the book wouldn’t sell as well. Why the need to place a big named fitness expert as your co-author? Well, firstly it adds validity to the title and content, which ultimately, helps increase sales from the target audience. Basically it is a trick. Again, my plumber should be talking to me about pipes and sinks…not building Chinese stick kites.
Podcasts that waste my time (and yours). Hmmmm…this one is pretty self-explanatory. Why do some people feel the need to waste an hour of time from others with senseless gibberish and futile talk? I have tried to listen to many popular podcasts and I have wasted a total of 13.25 hours of my time. I want that time back. Many young fitness enthusiasts that are not professional (meaning being paid a salary to do what you do), are putting out podcasts, that by the package look good and sound like they are going to be good, but when you click on the “download” button and listen, they are absurd conversations that sound like they belong in a college dorm-room. Word to the wise: just because you can create a podcast and can get “names” to contribute, doesn’t necessarily mean you are good at it. Do us a favor and pay attention in your communications class: annotations should be clear and concise and keeping the listener engaged with noteworthy commentary is paramount.
Experts visit forums to promote but don’t stick around. This is classic and quite humorous. I am almost embarrassed for them. If you frequent discussion forums, you’ve seen them. They never post or answer a question, but when they have a new product to promote, they will pop their head in to mention they have a new product. It reminds me of the high school assh*le that would show up at parties, only to take some beers and then leave within an hour. I spend my time answering questions and engaging in discussion on forums, as well as AskExperts.com. I receive about 10 e-mails a day asking me for exercise suggestions or asking me to troubleshoot a workout. And I answer every one, as well as provide feedback on relevant posts on various discussion boards. Do I promote a product? Sure I do, but it is a “give and take”. I promote lightly, as well as give away from pretty free stuff from time to time (Training Revolutions E-zine being one!) and I always stick around! Word to the wise: Respect your audience. Check your ego at the door because in this business you are never truly your own bosses: the client and consumer are.
Experts who claim they don’t have time for forums because they are too busy. This has become cliché in the past couple of months. I noticed a lot of young professionals ‘seemingly and deliberately vanish’ from discussion forums. I wondered why, so I venterured onto some blogs. Wouldn’t you know? They were posting in their blogs that at present time they are too busy to be spending time on forums. They claim that they are busy training clients “in the trenches”. Hmmm….I thought, I guess when you are busy training you are acquiring experience. That’s a lot of experience to pack in a measly month—especially when we are entering the quiet time of the year (Novber through December is considered the quiet time in the fitness industry, then it explodes in madness come January 2nd). I figured, once others know you are busy they will assume you are becoming such an experienced professional that your wisdom will be even more profound. Sounds good, doesn’t? Well, they must have a ton of time if they are posting on their blog often, writing newsletters, writing articles, and conducting podcasts---seemingly not really training a lot. So why the lie?
This article may not be reprinted without written permission by the author. Please contact the webmaster if you would like to use this article for informational purposes. If you would like to use this article, please keep all references and links intact with proper annotations. The content of this article is for informational purposes and should not be misconstrued as medical advice. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure any physical or health ailments. It is not intended to replace or substitute the advice or treatment of a qualified medical professional. Be responsible and seek out a medical professional (therapist, physician, dietitian, etc) before engaging in an exercise program.
Copyright . John Izzo. All rights reserved.