Marketing for the 21st Century Bodybuilder, Fitness or Figure Competitor - 3 Steps to a Money Making Website for Bodybuilders, Fitness and Figure Competitors. The purpose of this article is to share the latest internet marketing tactics and inside information with amateur and professional bodybuilders, fitness and figure competitors.
I do not see much internet marketing being done today by high profile bodybuilding, fitness and figure competitors and it's a shame because there is much money to be made and there are many people (customers) who would like to have you help them in some way. If you would like to learn how to market yourself and your business while earning "mucho dinero" then please keep reading.
Two Beneficial Marketing Requirements
- You must have desire.
- You must take action.
I can't share all of my secrets with you in this article, but I can give you enough information for you to edge out your competition and create a nice living from your passion - whether it is bodybuilding, fitness or figure. You do not need to be a pro or top amateur competitor to take advantage of these marketing secrets.
About Me
My name is Scott York. I live in Austin, Texas and am married with 2 young boys. I work with Lee Priest, Adela Garcia and Scott & Monica Brant-Peckham, just to name a few top stars.
I am a former competitive bodybuilder and have studied marketing under some of the world's greatest marketing geniuses, namely Dr. Joe Vitale. My passion is bodybuilding and fitness as well as marketing. I work about 12 hours a week in my business and spend the rest of the time pursuing other interests.
I'd love to share what I've learned with you. I'd like to help you make money in your passion because most fitness, figure and bodybuilders are not earning near what they are capable of earning. We can change that. Let's start with the basics and talk about websites, opt in boxes and newsletters.
First off, you need a website. It's the best way to leverage your time and earn passive income. Also, let me be direct. Most fitness websites (bodybuilders, fitness or figure websites) are horrible.
I rarely see a website that is set up properly from a professional internet marketer's perspective. Although most of today's top bodybuilders, fitness and figure websites are flashy, they have a "hey, look at me" type of theme. Unfortunately a lot of them are filled with slow loading images, broken links and spelling errors.
Most of the current fitness website "guru's" are bad. Really bad. Yes, the designer knows all about the business of building websites but it's obvious that they know nothing about internet marketing. Most of the sites that I see (bodybuilding, fitness and figure) need to be torn down and redone.
Ask yourself this: How much money is your site earning you right now? Not much, huh? Well, here's a secret regarding your websites. Pretend that you are the customer and ask yourself "WIIFM" (What's in it for me?). The flashy website stuff looks good but it just isn't necessary. People have limited time today. They also have limited attention spans.
A lot of today's internet users are still using dial-up so the flash movies on these websites take forever to load. If you have a slow loading website, I can guarantee you that you are losing sales every single day. Think about that.
If you are a bodybuilder, fitness or figure competitor (or want to be one), your website needs to be quick loading and needs to immediately pull the potential customer into the copy on the site.
Website Setup Tips
Here is how you should, at the very minimum, be setting up your website:
1) Opt in box (at the top of the page). An "opt in" box is the tool or form that allows you to capture email addresses. More on this later.
2) Auto responder. Once you have captured the email address of your potential customer, you need to use an auto responder that not only "Thanks" the potential customer for their interest but also gives them something (an eBook or special bonus) in return.
3) WIIFM. This stands for "What's in it for me"? Although you may be a top fitness or figure celebrity, it still all boils down to "What's in it for me?" The potential customer is interested in you and your website but, ultimately, he or she is most interested in their own needs.
These 3 steps are basic, yet very powerful. These 3 steps are what I use to create money-making websites - I work about 12 hours a WEEK in my business. How's that for a work week? My websites earn money while I sleep. They earn passive, recurring income.
If you are not earning at least 50% of your income from your website then there is a lot of room to grow your business. All of the top bodybuilders, fitness and figure competitors should be earning at least 50% of their income from their websites using the methods that I've mentioned above. All of the top stars should easily be earning 6 figures a year from their websites.
I would guesstimate that most of them are earning less than $10,000 a year from their website, if they even have a website.
Step #1, Opt-in Box
The most important element of the website is an opt-in box. As mentioned earlier, an "opt-in" box is a tool used in order to collect email addresses. Email addresses or "the list" as it is called in the internet marketing world is your bread and butter.
These are your virtual customers who have come into your virtual store (your website) and are interested in learning more and probably buying something from you.
The opt-in box should be in the top fold of your main page so that the website visitor see's the opt-in box immediately. Some mistakes that I see with many of the top bodybuilders, fitness and figure competitors include:
1) No opt in box at all. 2) Rather than an opt-in box, a link is used that says "Contact me". 3) The opt-in box is near the bottom of the main page where no one will ever find it.
Once you begin to collect email addresses you begin to build a list of potential customers who are interested in learning more about you and your products. Now it's time to sell them your products via regular email newsletters.
For an example of the opt-in box, please visit www.bodybuildersreality.com.
So to capture email addresses in the bodybuilding, fitness and figure internet world there are a couple of methods as I see it:
Method 1
You're already high profile like Lee Priest so you don't have to do anything. People want to know more about top pros like Lee so they will readily sign up for the newsletter and enter their email address in the opt-in box at www.bodybuildersreality.com.
Method 2
You're not high profile (yet) so you need to give something in order to get something.
Step #2, Auto Responders
Let's cover Auto responders. What can you give your potential customer in return for his/her email address? An eBook. 'eBooks' (electronic books) are still relatively new to most people although they have been around for quite a few years.
They are a simple and great way to entice your potential customer to enter his or her email address in return for a good quality, informative eBook. Here's an example of how a fitness competitor might do this:
This headline would work well on Adela Garcia's website and it could work well on Miss Florida Fitness' or Miss Nebraska Figure's website.
Once the website visitor has entered his or her email address into the opt-in box, the auto responder will automatically send an email "thank you" response to the visitor and will include an eBook or special report.
Step #3, What's in it for me?
You have just satisfied the customers "What's in it for me?" mindset by electronically delivering an eBook or special report to their email account. This will set the stage for your future newsletters in which you can market your DVD's, training, phone coaching, seminars, pictures, clothing, etc. Do you have a favorite workout, food, diet, routine, workout music mix, etc?
These are all potential eBook or special report "giveaways" for your customer base.
You don't need to be in the elite or a professional to have a money making website. You just need to know this 3 Step Process of how to establish yourself and your website to your fan base. I'll leave you with one last thought... Remember Mike Mentzer, the founder of the Heavy Duty method of training? At his peak, in the 1970's, Mike was making upwards of 6 figures a month from his Heavy Duty training system.
This was in the 70's when there was no internet. Just mail order. Although Mike has passed on, his website www.mikementzer.com is still selling his training methods, phone coaching, books, consulting, etc.
Conclusion
If you are a bodybuilder, fitness or figure competitor (or look like one), how many times per month, per week, or per day does someone ask you what you eat, how you workout, what exercises should I do for my back, etc.? Do you believe that your training and nutrition methods work? Do you see where I am going with this?
I'm sure that you have your own training system or nutrition program that people would readily purchase from your website along with your eBooks, manuals, phone coaching, consulting, DVD's, etc. Hopefully, I've pointed you in the right direction and opened your eyes to some possibilities with the information in this article.
Now it's up to you to take action!