12 Killer Email Marketing Secrets for Fitness Professionals

7FFMM1.2I JUST got back from our incredible 7-Figure Formula Mastermind at the beautiful Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. (Literally, I just walked in the door and I’m so exhausted!)

It was all worth it though because of the valuable knowledge and powerful motivation we shared with our awesome Mastermind members— I’m so excited about the growth and success they’ll see in the coming months!

I absolutely love these meetings, they’re what I live for! Helping Fit Pros just like you become more successful, gain more freedom, and live a better lifestyle is my life’s calling.

7FFMM2And that is exactly why I get so upset, so hurt and pissed off when I find out that you’ve been ignoring one of my most important lessons! I just want to make your life better, and you say that you value my teachings, so why aren’t you following them?

Are you lazy? Or do you just not understand why this one thing is so important?

But the things is, I’ve told you so many times how important this is (literally dozens of times between my videos, blogs and emails) so I don’t see how it’s possible for you not to understand.

Which means you just don’t care…

Alright, let me backtrack a bit here and tell you where I’m coming from with this.

As I sat amongst those 82 fitness business owners, some of the most successful around, I kept hearing them say the same thing over and over again. Here’s how it went:

     “Hey man, do you ever use email with your clients? I hardly send anything to my list.”

     “Nah, not really. I don’t mess with that sh!t, I hate typing!”

     “Yeah I don’t really bother with that.”

Dude, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

What the hell, man? I’ve told you so many times how crucially important email marketing is for your business so how in the world can you say that you hardly ever send emails to your list?

Losing MoneyYou’re letting clients, money and success just float right on by without even trying to reach out and catch anything.

So if it’s laziness or disbelief, this is the moment when it stops because I’m about to give you some of the best email marketing advice you’ve ever seen.

Hopefully this advice will be enough to convince you, motivate you, or do whatever it is that you need to get on the email marketing ball so that you can grow your business faster, double your clients, and become an email marketing pro.

And this is no ordinary Blog Post, if you haven’t already noticed. This monster is more like a Fitness Professional’s Email Marketing Manifesto. So sit tight, because you’re about to get everything you need to DOMINATE email marketing.

Thick SkullTip #1 – Get this Through Your Head!

Right now is when you stop ignoring me and start understanding how important this lesson is for your business.

No matter what kind of fitness business you’re running, if you have clients (or if you want clients) you need to be sending regular emails.

You should be in constant contact with your clients, prospects and past clients so that you can remain in their front of mind awareness and get sales for your challenges, low barrier offers, paid in full and EFT promotions.

And you should constantly be seeking out new email addresses so that you can expose your message, story and services to as many people as possible.

Sure, you can dump thousands of dollars into Facebook and Google ads, you can put up flyers, posters, and billboards around your town, you can even plaster yourself all over T.V. and Radio ads, but email will always be the best marketing strategy for getting people to like, know and trust you.

Even if all those other marketing resources got huge sales for a promotion or low barrier offer, and even if you somehow recovered the cost of all that traditional marketing (which would be impossible), your program would still be a failure if you didn’t use email marketing.

Why?

Because there’s really only one reason why you offer challenges, low barrier offers, and promotions, right? To get long-term clients! So even if you get tons of new people into your Boot Camp or personal training studio for 6 weeks, it will all be for naught unless you’re able to sell those people on long-term memberships.

And only email will grow your like, know, trust factor enough to sell long-term memberships.

And once you’ve used email to turn those short-term clients into long-term clients, you should still be selling them on new products, new specials and promotions all the time.

So are you going to waste more money marketing to your own clients? Of course not, you’ll simply send them emails promoting these new products.

Are you catching on here?

Whether you rely completely on email or you use it to supplement traditional advertising, it will always be absolutely essential if you plan to grow your business.

Got it? Good, now you don’t have ANY excuses for ignoring the power of email marketing.

So with that out of the way, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty details of how you can make email marketing work for you.

Post 27Tip #2 – Do You Know What You’re Talking About?

So what the heck are you going to be writing in all these emails? What could you possibly have to talk about 2 to 3 times a week?

Actually, this is the easiest part!

Have any information that might help your clients lose weight? Can you think of any exercises they could use at home if they miss a session or maybe a delicious dinner recipe that won’t ruin their meal plan?

I’ll go out on a limb here and say yes, yes you have TONS of fantastic information that could help your clients lose weight and get in shape faster! If you’re a trainer worth your salt then you should be full of tips and tricks like these.

So? Obviously that’s what you’re going to be emailing out to your list: Any valuable tips or tricks that will help your clients get better results.

Plus, they’ll love you for it. If you fill their inbox with valuable AND free information they’ll be primed and ready to buy from you when the time comes.

And that’s the key to profiting from your email list. You only hit them with an offer after numerous emails full of free and valuable information. Because when you give valuable content away for free people tend to like you for it. And when that content is high quality, people will trust your authority. And if you mix in stories and anecdotes from your own life, people will feel like they know you.

We call these valuable and helpful messages Content Emails. So send out regular content emails with the occasional offer email and you’ll build a massive following of fanatical clients.

subject linesTip #3 – Mastering the Subject Line

Hopefully this is painfully obvious to you, but all the email in the world won’t do you any good if no one reads it. So how do you get the people on your list to read your emails?

Well, it’s just like a great blog article or piece of sales copy: The only way anyone will read your email is if it starts with an awesome headline, or in this case, an awesome subject line.

You’ve got to pitch yourself right from the start. Why should your prospect read your email? Why should they give you attention over the 50 other emails, Facebook notifications and YouTube videos stealing their attention?

Because you’re valuable. It’s worth it for them to read your email, but the only way they’ll know that is if you say so in your headline. That means you’ve got to have enticing and tangible benefits right up front.

Make sure they know, before they’ve even seen a letter of your email copy, that they can get a lot of value from reading your email. It’s the only way you’ll ever get them to read your stuff.

copwritingTip #4 – Write Killer Copy

Yeah, the headline gets people interested and gets them reading, but if your body copy sucks they won’t stick around.

And readers will usually make those kinds of judgments after reading the first few sentences of your first paragraph. So that leaves you with seconds to hold onto the attention you grabbed with your subject line.

What I’m trying to say here is that your first paragraph needs to be totally and completely kick@ss if you want them to start and to keep reading.

But that doesn’t mean the rest of your email can be lame and boring.

Each line of copy needs to encourage your reader to move onto the next. Think of every sentence in your email as a tiny cliffhanger. Get them excited to read one line, then the next, and the next, and so on…

pointingTip #5 – Who are You?

No one wants to listen to some soulless business voice. Your clients don’t want to read something written by a mysterious unnamed trainer. They want to hear messages, stories and advice from YOU— a real trainer, mentor, and person.

So fill your emails with stories and lessons from your own life. They can be stories about your past or lessons from your day to day. Become really awesome at telling compelling stories and relating those stories to fitness advice.

We love to learn personal details about people we admire, right? Why do you think people obsess so much over movie stars and artists? Lucky for us, email is the perfect medium for telling those kinds of stories.

BUT you should be careful with this storytelling because, while people do want to hear stories and lessons from your personal life, they’ll stop reading if you don’t make it all about them.

So make sure your personal stories always teach a trick or tip (remember those benefits we mentioned?) that will help your clients get better results, have a better mindset, or accomplish some other fitness related goal.

The Internet is a very selfish place, so play to that selfishness and your readers will love you for it.

SimplicityTip #6 – Dont Try Sound Smartest

Keep things simple. You won’t get far with giant words or complicated technical explanations.

Your readers have little time and even smaller attention spans. They want to know what to do, why to do it, and how it’s going to help them.

Put it simply and say it relatively quickly, even if you’re including a story.

If you’re worried about keeping things constantly interesting and compelling, compensate by condensing and simplifying.

Write as if you were speaking to a roomful of restless children— patronizing, I know, but simplicity works best when it comes to getting your point across and compelling people to listen.

1Tip #7 – Each Email Exists for One Reason

Each email you write should have a single, solitary goal.

If you intend to sell something, then sell only that one thing. Don’t muddle your pitch with different, opposing products. Plan to sell one service and then use every sentence, word and letter of your email to sell the hell out of that service.

If the purpose of your email is to educate, then focus on one single lesson and do a fantastic job of teaching that lesson. Don’t over complicate and don’t get too broad– stay specific, clear and concise.

Not only will this singular focus help your emails sound more intentioned and polished, it also helps your readers stay focused on your message without getting distracted by tangents or interruptions.

And when your message is “buy my training,” you don’t want them getting distracted.

Oh, and make sure you always do more than just imply this singular purpose. Whatever it is you want your reader to do, make it absolutely clear with a Call to Action that explicitly instructs them to perform a specific task.

Want them to buy, read, click, or do anything at all? Then make sure you tell them.

LureTip #8 – Fish with the Right Lure

I’m sure the training you offer has some kind of specialization or niche, right? And with your niche you probably have an ideal client, a certain type of person you prefer to attract.

Got that person in your head? Good. Now, when you write your emails, direct them right at that one kind of individual.

No matter what your business looks like you’ve got a very specific audience. And the best way to connect with your audience is by using words, images, and concepts that appeal to people within that audience.

Whether you’re targeting middle-aged women or young male body builders, you’ll want to speak their language. It’s how you’ll form connections, build trust, and make your target audience feel welcome.

Plus, writing like this will make things a whole lot easier for you. You can stop worrying about pleasing everyone or being accessible to anyone. Instead just focus on what makes your ideal client happy.

Besides, these are the kinds of people you know best so you shouldn’t have any problems getting straight to what makes them tick.

Martin Blog #3Tip #9 – Just Do it Already

Look, I get it. You didn’t become a fitness professional so you could write novels, you’re here to get in the gym and work with people face to face.

But you can’t do any of that if you never fully develop this skill— you just don’t have a choice. And no matter how afraid of the keyboard you may be, I promise it’s not all that bad.

You want to know the secret to writing? The big one that all writers know and few non-writers ever realize? Seriously, this is what EVERYONE uses to become best-selling New York Times novelists or Pulitzer Prize Winners.

Okay, ready?… Here it is: JUST F*CKING WRITE!

Big surprise, eh? But I’m not kidding; the hardest part of writing is getting started. So if you just sit down and don’t get up until you’ve knocked out a few emails then it will come a lot easier than you feared.

Think of it like an intense workout. Don’t shy away from it, don’t procrastinate, and don’t over think it. Just attack it with full force and get it done.

This is what I call a brain dump. It’s the best way to get your thoughts going and get your creative juices flowing. Once you’ve dumped your brain and filled your document with rambling you can go back after and clean everything up.

AsteriskTip #10 – This ain’t ur HS English class

Don’t get so caught up in the rules you learned at school. That formal style doesn’t apply here. Start thinking of these emails more like casual conversations than pieces of formal writing.

Talk to your clients in email just like you would talk to them in the studio. Do you use slang? Drop an F-Bomb here and there? Do you like making jokes and getting people to laugh? Perfect, do that in your emails!

Whether you’re making sales or just sharing great content, clients want to hear your voice. It’s your voice they know and trust so make sure it comes through in your emails loud and clear.

So stop worrying about what your teachers told you to write. This is your business and these are your clients— people want to feel like you’re chatting not like you’re arguing a complex thesis. Write with the same style you use when speaking and you’ll encourage them to read more, engage more, and buy more.

toolsTip #11 – Don’t Even Bother Without the Right Tools

When you get to a certain level and you’re emailing thousands of people every week, your ordinary email platform just isn’t going to cut it anymore. You’ll need better tools and more resources to produce enough content and send it to all the right people.

That’s why I recommend getting your hands on an email marketing software that can manage your list for you, monitor your open rates, and calculate metrics that will help you become a more successful marketer.

Now, there are tons of these programs out there. Some are free, some come with a fee, and they all offer varying degrees of resources.

But there’s only one email marketing platform that I ever recommend to fitness professionals.

And that’s because there’s only one of these programs that has every feature you need—including email metrics, opt-in and landing page creation, and list segmentation—AND done for you, pre-written, high quality content that’s automatically mailed to your list every month.

It’s called FitPro Newsletter and its absolutely the most valuable option when it comes to email marketing for fitness professionals.

The amount of resources you get from a FitPro Newsletter account is virtually endless, and the content that comes with your membership is everything you need to set up and maintain a robust and highly effective email marketing campaign.

Click here on this link and check it out if you’re interested in putting all the information you’ve just read in this post to work. A powerful tool like this is the difference between an ok email marketing plan and a killer campaign so don’t miss this chance to capitalize on all your newfound knowledge.

content1Tip #12 – So, What Now?

You’ve got the tips, you’ve got the tools, you have everything you need to start growing your list and promoting yourself within your local community. But what are your first steps to going pro as an email marketer?

1 – If you don’t have a list, you need to start building one (obviously). Start in the easiest places: ask all your clients for their emails. Then get into the habit of asking for emails everywhere you go.

New client? Email. New Prospect? Email Walk in? Email. Sales Consultation? Email.

Use your new FitPro account to build an opt-in (you’ll find templates on your account, and there’s a support team if you need help) and start collecting emails from your website.

Consider using some paid Facebook advertising to get lots of emails fast and then make all your money back by emailing out promotions and getting lots of sales.

2 – Plan your first email sequence and get it written. Have a challenge or low barrier offer coming up? Need to grab some extra cash flow or just want to find out why the whole email thing works so well?

As I said before, the only way you’ll ever get past your apprehensions about writing is by writing, so the moment you finish reading this you need to start writing.

Think you can handle all that? Yeah, you got this.

Committed to your success,

Bedros