I was hurt. I admit it. I was recently taken aback by comments made that suggested that, as a marketing artist, I probably don’t know much about personal training or nutrition. The comments were not meant to be hurtful but after having spent so many years devoted to our industry, I naturally assumed that my knowledge is a given.
This got me thinking…perhaps other clients don’t know how much I actually DO know.
It’s true that you don’t have to know about the industry to create marketing - put a few pretty pictures to some motivating messages - local print shops and graphic artists do it all the time. But I am hired by health clubs all around the world to provide creative advertising that they can’t get elsewhere - in part, I believe, because I really know our industry.
But I’m not writing this to defend my creative honor. This is purely academic!
What’s missing here is that I have dedicated my entire life to this industry - and my roots in health and fitness run far deeper than anyone really knows. So I want to clear this up once and for all.
First of all, I do know Personal Training and studied for my certification under the ISSA. I was seriously into personal bodybuilding at one phase in my life (a hobby and lifestyle, not competition) and have worked with many PTs over the years. My interest in PT led me to working at a local Gym under one of Canada’s most celebrated women of distinction (in Fitness). I learned a lot about the business of health clubs through her (and I am not one to let such knowledge go unused). I then began working with my mentor on my regional health magazine and later as her mentor in writing my first manual “How to Market Your Health Club” which later became my book. The CEO of an international health club chain took note of my local marketing and gave me his blessing to begin working with his licensees – and the rest is history.
I am an avid reader of everything non-fiction. My bookshelves are crammed with medical, health, fitness and nutrition books, each of which I have read from cover to cover, some many times over. I am very well studied in physiology and nutrition. I have been on every diet, every cleanse and tried every fitness and weight loss product known to woman. I have dabbled in naturopathy, metaphysical healing, Chinese medicine and nutrition, have undergone extensive naturopathic testing, and even quantum medicine. I have also worked with countless physiotherapists, spinal specialists, chiropractors…you get the picture - not much of what I market for other people is over my head (well, maybe quantum medicine).
Point is, I have spent the better part of my my own life (both professional and personal) within the field of health, and know a thing or two about such matters. I may have my own personal struggles with body & health issues but I am fully qualified to provide marketing, specifically content, designed to enlighten and engage health club members and prospects – including personal training clients. I use every resource at my disposal (my extensive library mostly) for research - and lets not forget the countless club owners and industry friends with whom I often consult.
So to all skeptics and naysayers who have preconceived notions of what I bring to the table - I hope I have enlightened. I offer professional e-marketing content and I take it personally when I am challenged on my qualifications to produce it.
But perhaps the most important point of all is that I am also your target audience and I know what people like me want, and need, to know. My job is to give it to them.
