A couple of years ago, I started writing a blog to help give my business a little online kick in the pants. When I first started, I didn’t really know exactly why I was doing it. I had just heard that it was a great way to super-charge my website and connect with my audience….shit, was I in for a shock.
Not only have I turned blogging into one of my passions, but I have also turned it into the backbone of my entire business. Why? Because it is a powerful, powerful medium which allows you to build a relationship with your audience, become good friends with Google and gives you and your business a real voice.
Yeah, yeah…that’s all great but how in the hell are you going to run a smokin’ blog that gets you more clients?
Well, that’s what I am here for. I live it, I coach it and now I am going to put it all down for you in a easy to digest, 4 part series that will explain why you need to do it, how you can set it up, the secret to writing great content and how to let the world know when you do. So lets get straight into part one….
5 Cool Reasons Why Blogging Is Important When Building Your PT Business
Cool Reason #1: Your Blog Makes Your Website A Highway, Not A Dead-End Back Street
So having a website for your business is obviously a really, really important way to let lots of people know that you are really good at what you do. We all get that. But just having a high converting website that looks amazing is like dressing up for the dance and sitting in the corner all night – you gotta get some action, or in this case some traffic.
Having new and relevant information on your website, updated on a regular basis is a great way to make your site a highway for traffic, not a dead-end street. A blog allows you to do this – provide information to your target market which will give them a great reason to come back to your site again and again and again.
Too many personal training business websites are just glorified business cards that talk about themselves and there services but in your blog you have the opportunity to provide bucket-loads of value to the people who will really benefit from it. This is turn promotes alot of information sharing and more traffic to your site (but we will talk more about this later).
Cool Reason #2: You Get To Show Everyone The Human Side Of Your Business
Businesses are run by people – commonly in our industry they are run by passionate people who really care about the people they are helping. Your blog is a great way for you to show people exactly how passionate you are about your business and the people it helps. Enthusiasm is infectious and your audience will be naturally attracted to the real you, the one who loves helping people and who strives to get great results with all your clients.
People also buy from others that they trust and like so consistently putting down quality content in your own voice WILL build a loyal band of followers that love your work. Developing this sense of community is not only crucial is running a successful blog, but it is also my favorite part. I actually love helping trainer build their businesses and therefore my intentions are pure and I love getting emails and reading your comments on the posts.
This is important.
Building a community without a pure intent (or you could call it a passion) just to drive people to your website and make more sales will not serve you well. People have excellent bullshit detectors and if you are not putting up 100% honest content, you will pay the price in the long term with people voting with their feet (or clicks). So be human, be passionate, be consistent and focus on the relationship – not the sale.
Cool Reason #3: Google Will Trust Your Site More And Rank You Higher
Google is a funny beast and even as I write this there is probably an 18 year old IT genius sitting in a renovated warehouse in Silicone Valley CA, re-writing the algorithm on how they are going to rank websites next month. As the internet evolves, how Google ranks sites also changes but there are a couple of sexy things that you can do with your blog that puts you in the good books with the big G:
- Having a site that has consistently updated content which is relevant to it’s audience builds trust in the eyes of Google. Basically, they like to see you putting in some time into what you are providing. Static sites don’t do this and they wont rank as well as sites with blogs (if all the other SEO is the same).
- Blog posts are a great opportunity to slam your keywords into your site without screwing up too much of the content of your sales page.
- Blog posts give you the opportunity to create back-links (links directed to your site from another site) and having more and more of these back-links tells Google you are a trusted resource (that is good). This is achieved when others share your blog posts.
- You get the opportunity to put your keywords into active links (like this: personal training business) which is also a great way to increase your ranking as this tells Google that this is partly what your page is about and will rank you accordingly.
If all of this stuff sounds a bit foreign to you, don’t worry. It’s simple to pick up the SEO basics, it makes a huge difference to your business and I am going to run you through it in all a blog series like this one on how to play nice with Google, coming up soon. Subscribe here to make sure you get it delivered to your Inbox.
Cool Reason #4: Your Own Blog Is The Backbone Of A High Converting Social Media Strategy
Social media is cool isn’t it? Everybody hanging out online, networking, helping each other out. You know what I really think? I think that if you haven’t got a social media strategy for your business then you may as well go down to pub and chat to the locals for the same amount of time that you waste on Facebook. That’s right people, I am going to say it…
Social media is a massive waste of time if you don’t have a plan
Floating around on Facebook or Twitter and justifying it as business building is just bullshit – it is procrastination in it’s purist form. Except for the 2,000 pretend friends that you now have, what have you actually achieved. Do you have anymore clients, is your list any bigger, can you effectively communicate with everyone?
Commonly the answer is no (a few people are doing it right but most are flailing around in the social networking abyss). You MUST have a plan and that plan must have outcomes that you can touch – more traffic to your site, more opt-ins, more sign ups. These things are tangible (in a weird virtual kinda way). Running your own blog becomes the backbone of your social media strategy because you now have a valuable reason to pester your 2,000 friends and let them know that you just wrote a great article and they should check it out. As always, you blog simply adds value to your audience.
This is one of the major reasons why it is ESSENTIAL that you have your blog attached to your actually business website so that when all your 2,000 friends come to read your amazing article on “52 ways to do a clap push-up” then they just might hang around and read your site (or join your list or inquire about your service). Every blog post then becomes like your own press release, 2010-style.
Cool Reason #5: It Is A Surefire Way To Build A Large, Interactive And Responsive List
We have already spoken in point #2 about how having a blog is a great way to build a relationship with your audience, but this by itself is only the first step. Translating that into a strong list of subscribers or people who opt-in to anything that you offer on your site is the next and crucial step in the process. This allows the people to receive more of your stuff but only based on their permission, so it is a comfortable scenario for all involved.
Your readers get more info, you get a direct line to your readers so you can further develop your relationship and then move from their. On this site, I have two ways for you to receive more information from me, you can subscribe to the posts and get them delivered to you inbox or you join my work/life balance email program. Both offering different types of information and value to the different needs of my readers.
With the repeat visits that your blog provides, having different opt-in options allows you to build a much bigger list than you would be able to using a static page.
So, let me just re-cap on everything that we have covered today on “why do I need a blog”. I know it can be confusing and I know that writing can sometimes be a little daunting but these are small obstacles when you can get these five things for your business:
- A bucket load more traffic for your website.
- The opportunity to build a trusting relationship with your audience.
- Become good mates with the nerds at Google (equals ranking, equals loads more traffic)
- Have the structure for a solid social media strategy, and…
- Build a large and responsive list of people who like what you do.
So as you can see, blogging has some really strong business foundations that allow you to build a bloody big house. It works, it can work for you and as we step through this series I am going to show you exactly how. Stay tuned next week for Part 2: How to structure a killer blog that converts .
But, before you head off I would love to know what you think of blogging. Love it, just getting started, too confusing….?
Cheers
Rick :-)
About the author: Rick Watson is the surfing, swearing personal training business guy who tells it like it is. He blogs, coaches, writes books and holds live workshops for personal trainers but most of all he is a father and husband (with a healthy respect for road trips). If you like what you read, subscribe to blog here and get your weekly dose of goodness delivered straight to your inbox.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post Rick! No more glorified business cards I say…
well said Rick look forward to seeing more of your articles in the future
Rick,
This post is great. I am presenting on this topic at conference this fall (here in the Great White North) and will be sure to add your blog and this series as a resource. Gee’d up about upcoming posts :)… (did I get that right?)
Thank Rick
I knew I need a strategy but have really been struggling on what this actually is for me.
Now I’m really clear on what I need to do but really need to find the right people to help me put it into place.
Cheers
Rache
@Sarah – glad that you are gee’d up about the post :-) Good luck with your presentation and if you need any other resources just let me know.
@Rachel – having a rock solid strategy is really important so you don’t end up wasting too much time staring at your computer. Even a simple strategy is a good one.
I sure am glad you write blogs Rick. I am trying to absorb as much info as I can from your blogs. Such valuable information. Thank you so much. I have been a little lost of late; I know where I want to go, I just needed the GPS… And then I found you! Thanks!!! :)
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