Let’s be honest here. We’ve all had some resistance to social media. It has swooped in and taken over everyone’s attention and has had a huge impact on the Fitness Industry. Sure, we can argue whether it’s been a good impact or not, but the reality is it’s here to stay so we can use it to our advantage, help our businesses AND our followers or stick our head in the sand and pretend it’s not there.   I’ll admit, I resisted Social Media for a long time, but when I took my business online, I had to embrace it, and thankfully I did [eventually] as my entire business for the first 3-4 years was built off Instagram.   Seriously, I had no Website [and I still don’t have one]. Everything for 3-4 years was built off of Social Media and Referrals.   Online Coaches tend to embrace Social Media, but a lot of gym owners or local coaches often don’t see the value in Social Media content and are resistant to its importance in the day and age we live in. The assumption is that a potential client will Google your gym or look at your website but they’re now also going to review you on Social Media as well, often with their trust, and business, being based on your Social Media presence.   Typically, the resistance to creating content for Social Media usually comes down to 3 things.  

1. Believing you have nothing of value to say

 

2. Fear of ridicule

 

3. Not knowing what content to create.

    Let’s squash number 1 right away.   In the words of Todd Bumgardner…   “Your opinion matters”.   Damn that Todd is so smart!   Your opinion, knowledge and experience have value. Even if you’re new to the industry your content will still help someone. If your content helps just one person then that post had value, and that’s really what the goal of your social media should be.  

Add value and help those who follow you.

  This in turn begins to build trust and relatability between you and your followers and helps you to be seen as an authority. If someone trusts you, believes you understand them and sees you as an authority when it comes to solving a problem they have, they’ll buy from you…   …and from a business perspective, that’s what we ultimately want.   As for ridicule, this often causes a barrier for content creation, especially with new coaches. The fear is that other coaches will read your content, shoot it down or think less of you. The other belief is that as soon as you put your work out there on Social Media, you’re going to get trolled and the haters are going to line up for a piece of you.   I can tell you with 99% certainty that unless you have a giant following, you’re putting out content to create conflict or you’re just a dick of a human being then you’ve more chance of a date with your celebrity crush then getting trolled or hate online.   In 5 years online I’m yet to be trolled…   …I’m also yet to go on a date with Selma Hayek, but I’m sure she’s just playing hard to get. (Selma, if you’re reading this call me.)   Other Coaches aren’t likely to shootdown your content.   The truth is that unless your content is specifically for Coaches it likely isn’t going to be coach’s consuming it for the most part, it will be your friends, clients or potential clients. Those coaches who do see your content are likely following you as they’re your friends, they’re in your network and on your side already or they see value in your content and want to learn from you.   So, we’ve crushed barriers 1 and 2, let’s move to number 3.  

Not knowing what content to create.

  This is a common barrier when it comes to using Social Media but overcoming it is pretty simple as you have all the tools you need at your disposal already.   When it comes to knowing what content to create you have 2 primary resources at your disposal.    

1. The Clients you already work with

 

2. The following you currently have on Social Media

    Every day your clients ask you questions, they come to you with problems, they tell you their pain points, their struggles, their goals.   You solve all of these daily without even thinking about it because as Coaches, it’s just what we do.   Not all hero’s wear capes, right?   Every one of these daily interactions with clients can provide you with a piece of valuable content that is almost certainly relatable and helpful to another person, perhaps a perspective client.   Whenever you have these interactions with clients make a note of it in a notebook or on an app on your phone so that you can come back to it and make a content piece on it.   When you make your content, piece talk about these questions, problems, pain points and struggles openly on your social media because I guarantee someone that very day is having the same issue.   Once you’ve hooked the content consumer by showing you “get them” it’s time to show them how you, your gym or your product is the solution to their problem by laying out how you helped your client overcomes this.   Put simply,  

Be the solution your follower is so desperately looking for.

  Now to your current Social Media following.   I’ll be digging deep on how those who follow you can help your content creation in more detail next lesson but for now, let’s start with something that is key to knowing what your current following wants.   Having an Instagram Business account.   You definitely want one of these.   With a Business account you can find out all sorts of detail about your followers.   Creepy I know…but very useful   You can find out: Their Gender Their Age Their Location When they’re most active on Social Media each Day When they’re most active on Social Media each Week   This information allows you to first off see if your following matches the demographic you want to work with or currently work with, if it doesn’t don’t worry, I’ve got you covered on this in the next lesson.   Secondly, it allows you to see when you should be putting your content in front of your following to maximize its impact. This is very important as you want as many eyes as possible on your hard work.   All that being said. When it comes to knowing what content is hitting well with your following just remember this…  

SAVES > LIKES

  That’s right, F-U Likes   Likes are great but they only tell you that you caught someone’s attention for a moment.   Saves are actually the better indicator of impactful content. They tell you that you resonated with the person and that your content was possibly the solution to their problem.  

If something is getting saved a lot do more of it. Double down on that topic with more content or perhaps, create or highlight a product or service you provide that solves that solution.

  So, there you have it, 3 barriers to Social Media crushed.   You can and will add value by sharing what you do and how you help your clients.   All you have to do now is start creating the content.