There’s no denying that Facebook is doing their best to edge out YouTube by encouraging its users to upload videos directly to and reap the benefits of the “auto play” feature. But beyond the simplicity and ease of having everything conveniently located in one place, there are some huge benefits to those using video as Ads on Facebook. According to Adobe, interested shoppers that view a video are 1.8x more likely to purchase than non-viewers!! So what’s the best way to utilize video and get the best bang for your buck? Building Custom Audiences!

Advertisers pay thousands of dollars to Facebook, Instagram, Google and YouTube for the opportunity to get in front of potential buyers when they’re actually looking for something to buy. Utilizing pixels, or pieces of code that live on landing pages, advertisers are able to capture your information and essentially follow you around the internet, and present you with opportunities to purchase what you’re searching for. The pool for potential buyers is deep, but so is the sheer number of companies who want to earn their business. This is why you have to ensure you are in front of the consumer when they are ready to purchase.

There are ups and downs to being both self-employed and a business owner. If you read my last blog post, we talked about the different quadrants. But what very few people are prepared for is the transition from self-employed to the business owner. Nobody works harder than the gym owner in the self-employed quadrant. They get there at 5:00 am and they’re closing the doors at 9:00 pm. They’re training every client, and they’re lucky if they get to take a break just to eat. They want to change lives, it’s a labor of love.

Using Facebook ads that have optimized user-friendly landing page is the best way to convert lookers into customers on this social media platform that has over 1.47 billion customers on a daily basis. Target your potential audience by their interest to make sure that you are showing up regularly on the feed of people who are going to be interested in your products or services. According to Word Counter, multiple photos, videos, and links may seem more interesting and attention-grabbing, but data shows that the simplest posts reap the most engagement. Give your audience something that they will be interested in receiving in exchange for their information. Write compelling headlines to raise the click-through rate on articles that you post.

Your ads should also be relevant to their intended audience. When creating ads for a website, use copy that resonates with the website’s visitors. If you’re creating PPC ads for Ad-Words, include the search keywords you are targeting in the copy. You want users to immediately connect with your ads when they see them. If your ads aren’t relevant, they’ll ignore them without taking action.

Social media’s role in everyday life is undeniable. According to the New York Times, 80% of the US population uses various forms of social media daily as it’s a platform where “everybody has a voice”. Hiding behind texts, emails, tweets and Face book posts, we can be anybody we want to be and project the illusion we want the world to believe. The problem is, that our audience – friends, family, and anyone who happens upon what we write, can only take us at our word because there are no nonverbal cues to indicate anything other than what we are sharing. While we marvel at our connectivity with the world around us through technology, we are actually a more disconnected society than ever before. With 93% of our communication context stripped away, we are now attempting to forge relationships and make decisions based on phrases.

Keyword Stuffing - This is the process wherein blogs and websites are so full of keywords for search engines to find that there is no actual information on the page that can be of use to anyone. Keywords are important, for sure, but do not go overboard. It will tell search engines to keep moving because there isn’t any true content on the page. This is used to trick search engine users into visiting a site that is substantially different than the search engine subscription. Headlines that make someone want to click on a link without delivering on the promise. All of these ways to boost page rank were common practice throughout the early 2000’s, but are now useless. In fact, they can hurt you more than help you now.

Ronnie Coleman is one of the biggest and most well-known bodybuilders of all time. The eight-time Olympia title winner is from my college town, Monroe, LA, and I used to run into him quite often. Surprisingly, a lot of bodybuilders are not as strong as they look. The reason I looked up to Ronnie Coleman so much is that I admired his strength. His work ethic in the gym is just unbeatable! With that being said, if you fast forward to today, he’s crippled. He’s had a lot of back surgeries, he’s in a wheelchair, uses a cane, and crutches need a lot of support. But the crazy thing is – he’s still up in the morning in the gym! He doesn’t know any other way aside from being all in.

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I have two different companies that are structured completely different. Pulse Fitness – my personal training facility – is a brick and mortar business, where we service our training clients in person. ProFit – which is a coaching and fitness marketing company – is more or less virtual. At Pulse, we have start times, everyone is paid hourly, they have job descriptions, we have to be here in person, and we have an org chart, HR, like a “real company”. At ProFit it’s virtual. We don’t have start times, they’re very loose, everyone’s on salary with bonus structures, and have unlimited vacation days.

Today, networking is not just about talking to trade groups or creating refer-a-friend programs to gain a foothold in your community. Today’s consumers are a little more savvy, so that means if we want to become the go-to gym in our areas, we need to get creative with how we network and advertise our services. Look, I know most of you will skip right over this idea due to the fact that you’re not getting actual cash, but please hear me out. I am involved in several groups of business organizations in my area who barter their services for the equivalent in trade dollars for other services.

Let’s face it. The world exists for most in the palms of their hands. Some days, I’m hard-pressed to even look up from my phone long enough to notice if it’s sunny or raining, lest I miss some important work email, text or the newest meme circulating the web. More likely, I would use my weather app to figure that out. Clearly, I’m not alone. Mobile usage as a whole accounts for nearly 60% of time spent consuming digital media while desktop-based digital media consumption makes up the remaining 40%. Think about that for a second…60% of your potential clients are searching for services you provide on their MOBILE DEVICES.

To anyone just starting out in business, fitness marketing or otherwise, the words marketing, advertising and sales all sound synonymous with large expenditures of money for very little return. We just want to get people through the doors, right? Can’t we just have a sales guy up front ready to take the money? And, be honest, raise your hand if you use the three words interchangeably. It’s ok. I used to be one of them. Many business owners believe they have a killer marketing plan, advertising campaign and sales strategy in place when the opposite is true. When you start allowing marketing people to do sales and sales people to create and upload ads, you can run into serious issues that can impede your growth by a large margin.

Create a Facebook Live to discuss additional points that relate to your blog, but that may not have been included. Refer to your blog in your Facebook Live Broadcast and direct people to it because that is the only place that the offer will be available. You can wait a few days to post this so that you give your blog time to gain traction first. Create an actual video blog (Similar to the Facebook Live idea, this would actually act as a blog in and of itself. Instead of typing out the blog to begin with, you would create a video blog instead. Use rev.com to transcribe your blog. For only $1/minute, rev.com will transcribe your Blog for you at which point you can turn it into a written blog article as well.

Training and waivers are all well and good, but if your equipment isn’t being kept up to code, then the risk of litigation is solely coming from you. Understandably, fitness facility maintenance can be a costly expense. However, having to go to court and potentially losing will no doubt cost you tens of thousands of dollars all for a repair that could have only cost at most a few hundred to fix. Though it is impossible to remove all risks from your business, being proactive can surely lower the chances of being sued. Simply adhere to the recommendations above, and you will no doubt decrease the probability of going into litigation.

At any given time, there are nearly 3.5 million new posts being created around the world. So how do you get your blog to stand out? There are three main ideas you need to focus on in order to succeed: content, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Social Media. You’ve heard the phrase, “content is key” and that is the name of the game here. Consumers are looking for value in the articles and blogs they read – what information can you provide that they can’t find elsewhere? Creating tutorials, guides and offering practical resources to your consumers may boost search engine ranking.

Many websites have a live chat to talk with customers and answer their questions. This stands out as vital software for customers, as shown by statistics. It allows customers to talk with someone who can assist them. People appreciate quick and effective responses when they have a question or problem. By providing a live chat option, you allow customers to receive the help they need online. Many people prefer saving time and making things easy, so live chats provide this to people. This causes them to gain more trust since they know that your company will provide them with answers when they need them.