Sending an e-newsletter to your clients and leads is a great way to keep in touch with them and give them quality information that they can use. In fact, the 2009 Advertising Effectiveness Survey by Forbes showed that marketers identified e-newsletters as the second most effective online marketing tool for generating conversions (first was search engine optimization). With IDEA FitnessConnect's client newsletter, you can easily send out your own health & fitness newsletter each month to your clients and leads for free!
Sent on the 1st of every month, we send this free e-newsletter on behalf of you, the fitness professional, with consumer-focused health and fitness content. The content of each issue is a combination of IDEA's award-winning editorial content (three articles written for the fitness consumer, a healthy recipe, and and an instructional exercise video) and the data on your profile. Your profile picture, contact information, social media links, blog, and upcoming events are automatically copied into the newsletter. You can also brand every issue with your own logo, title, introduction and website if you wish. Note: Some professionals change their newsletter introduction each month, but many choose to write a standard introduction and keep it the same for every issue.
We hear from fitness pros that this feature has become one of their favorite tools, so why not try it out? Just log into www.ideafit.com, go to the left-hand side of the page under "Quick Links" and click on "Create Client Newsletter". This link will take you through the steps of creating your client newsletter.
As always, please feel free to contact us at fitnessconnect@ideafit.com if you need any help setting up your client newsletter.
Great news! We officially have 100 IDEA FitnessConnect Verification Partners, with Twist Conditioning rounding us out as the 100th Verification Partner!
Our newest partners include:
- Alberta Fitness Leadership Certification Association (AFLCA)
- American Academy of Health & Fitness (AAHF)
- American Academy of Personal Training (AAPT)
- American Fitness Professionals Association (AFPA)
- American Sports and Fitness Association (ASFA)
- Batuka
- Body Training Systems (BTS)
- BWI National Health Promotion Training Institute (BWI)
- C.H.E.K Institute (CHEK)
- Chi Running & Walking
- Combine360 (C360)
- Core Fitness Roller
- Cycling Fusion
- Dragon Door
- Drums Alive (DA)
- FallProof
- FitTour
- Fit Pro's Academy (FPTA)
- Functional Diagnostic Nutrition (FDN)
- Functional Movement Systems (FMS)
- Gray Institute
- Healthy Steps
- Heart Zones (HZ)
- HOT HULA fitness®
- Interactive Fitness Trainers of America (IFTA)
- International Sports & Fitness Trainers Association (ISFTA)
- Keiser Corporation
- Ken Baum Mental Edge
- KRANKcycle
- LeMond RevMaster Indoor Cycle (LeMond)
- Life Fitness
- Muscle Activation Techniques (MAT)
- National Posture Institute (NPI)
- PHI: Performance Enhancement International
- Physicalmind Institute
- Polestar
- Power Pilates
- R.I.P.P.E.D. - The One Stop Body Shock
- Rolf Gates
- Shapely Girl Fitness
- Silver Sneakers
- Spencer Institute
- Tina Vindum's Outdoor Fitness (Outdoor Fitness)
- Trigger Point
- TRX
- Twist Conditioning
- VIVOBAREFOOT Training Clinic (VIVOBAREFOOT)
- Wellcoaches
- YogaWorks
Below is the complete list of verification partners:
- Alberta Fitness Leadership Certification Association (AFLCA)
- American Academy of Health & Fitness (AAHF)
- American Aerobic Association International/International Sports Medicine Association (AAAI/ISMA)
- American Academy of Personal Training (AAPT)
- Academy of Applied Personal Training Education (AAPTE)
- Agility Training Institute/ATN Associates (ATI)
- American Fitness Professionals Association (AFPA)
- American Council on Exercise (ACE)
- American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)
- American Sports and Fitness Association (ASFA)
- Aquatic Exercise Association (AEA)
- Balanced Body®
- Balletone (BT)
- BASI Pilates (BASI)
- Batuka
- BioMechanics
- BodyBlade®
- Body Training Systems (BTS)
- Boxing Fitness Institute (BFI)
- Burn with Kearns
- BWI National Health Promotion Training Institute (BWI)
- canfitpro
- C.H.E.K Institute (CHEK)
- Chi Running & Walking
- Combine360 (C360)
- Core Fitness Roller
- Dragon Door
- Drums Alive (DA)
- FallProof
- Family Safety and Self-Defense Institute (FSI)
- FitTour
- Fit Pro's Academy (FPTA)
- Functional Diagnostic Nutrition (FDN)
- Functional Movement Systems (FMS)
- Gray Institute
- GYROKINESIS®
- GYROTONIC®
- Healthy Steps
- Heart Zones (HZ)
- HOT HULA fitness®
- Interactive Fitness Trainers of America (IFTA)
- International Fitness Professionals Association (IFPA)
- International Sports & Fitness Trainers Association (ISTA)
- International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA)
- Kathy Corey Pilates
- Keiser Corporation
- Ken Baum Mental Edge
- Kickboxing Fitness Institute (KFI)
- KRANKcycle
- LeMond RevMaster Indoor Cycle (LeMond)
- Les Mills
- Life Fitness
- Muscle Activation Techniques (MAT)
- National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM)
- National Council for Certified Personal Trainers (NCCPT)
- National Council on Strength and Fitness (NCSF)
- National Exercise & Sports Trainers Association (NESTA)
- National Exercise Trainers Association (NETA)
- National Federation of Professional Trainers (NFPT)
- National Personal Training Institute (NPTI)
- National Posture Institute (NPI)
- National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA)
- Nia
- P90X
- Peak Pilates
- PHI: Performance Enhancement International
- Physicalmind Institute
- Pilates Academy International
- Pilates Method Alliance (PMA)
- Polestar
- Powder Blue Productions (PB11)
- Power Pilates
- ProPTA
- PTA Global (PTA)
- Punk Rope
- Resist-A-Ball®
- Revelation Wellness Instructor Training (Revelation Wellness)
- R.I.P.P.E.D. - The One Stop Body Shock
- Rolf Gates
- Schwinn Indoor Cycling (Schwinn)
- Shapely Girl Fitness
- Silver Sneakers
- Spencer Institute
- Spinning®
- Stage 5 Cycling (S5C)
- STOTT PILATES®
- Stroller Strides®
- TEAM Pilates
- The Cooper Institute (CI)
- The Pilates Coach
- Tina Vindum's Outdoor Fitness (Outdoor Fitness)
- Training and Wellness Certification Commission (TWCC)
- Trigger Point
- TRX
- Twist Conditioning
- U.S. Career Institute (USCI)
- VIVOBAREFOOT Training Clinic (VIVOBAREFOOT)
- Wellcoaches
- World Instructor Training Schools (WITS)
- YogaWorks
Have you started answering questions on IDEA Answers yet? If not, it's time to start!
Launched in July, IDEA Answers is a real-time question and answer tool that gives all site visitors access to the collective wisdom and experience of the entire fitness industry.
Answering questions can set you apart from the pack and add significant value to your IDEA FitnessConnect profile. Not only will your answers appear in the IDEA Answers section of www.ideafit.com, but they will also be shown under the "Answers" tab on your profile and on the left-hand side of your profile so when potential clients view your profile, they are likely to see your thoughtful answers. If you would like to show your consumer-focused answers, but would prefer not to display your professional-focused answers, have no fear! You have the option of hiding any answer that you would like by unclicking the checkbox that says "Include answer on my public profile".
You can also use the Facebook and Twitter share buttons on the side of each question page if you would like to let your friends and followers know how you feel about a certain topic. They can even vote for your answer by clicking the green thumbs-up button next to it. And if you go above and beyond and make it in the top 10 top answerers, you'll be highlighted in the leaderboard on the main IDEA Answers page.
And did we mention that answering questions helps you rank higher in your zip code on IDEA FitnessConnect? It is one of 23 factors that the search ranking algorithm takes into account.
So what are you waiting for? Start answering questions now: www.ideafit.com/answers.
IDEA FitnessConnect Team
In addition to FitnessMagazine.com and SparkPeople.com, your profile is now officially live on FitStudio.com!
FitStudio.com is a free health and fitness community for fitness enthusiasts brought to you by Sears, America's leading fitness retailer.
Check out IDEA FitnessConnect on FitStudio.com here: http://fitnessconnect.fitstudio.com/.
Make sure that your profile is 100% filled out so that consumers can easily find you when they search for fitness professionals in your zip code.
IDEA FitnessConnect Team
A select group of about 100 professionals got 25 super insider IDEA FitnessConnect tips at the IDEA World Fitness Convention this August.
FitnessConnect launched at World last year with 120,000 professional profiles, and 14 certification/training groups verifying credentials. There are now over 200,000 professional profiles and 50 certification/training groups verifying credentials. We expect to be working with 100 groups by the end of the year.
In the past year, FitnessConnect has connected hundreds of thousands of consumers with professionals, and helped increase client-engagement. The IDEA analytics guys looked at the data over the last 12 months, and found some trends I could share to help folks make the most of FitnessConnect.
You had to be there to get all 25, but I’m posting the top three here, based on audience response.
1. Make Your Profile Photo Great!
Studies show that our eyes are attracted to faces—especially on web pages. This
means that a potential client may not even consider your awesome qualifications
if the FitnessConnect search results don’t show your face. And, fair or not, our
first impression of someone is based on his face. So choose a photo that
matches the vision of who your prospective clients are looking for. Oh, corporate logos and cats
make for really bad profile photos.
2. Send a Monthly Newsletter (but make IDEA do all the work)
Every month, the editors of IDEA prepare a newsletter for you to send to your
clients and leads. All you need to do is set it up once: add a logo (if you want),
add an opening paragraph (if you want), and choose the clients and leads you
want it to go to. Your folks will automatically receive a newsletter each month
from you with great health and fitness information.(By the way, any clients and leads you add to
your profile—to get your newsletter, for example—belong to you. IDEA will never send them
anything.)
3. Complete Your Profile (to 100%)
Prospective clients make their decisions with as much information as
they can get. We’ve found that professionals with more information in their profiles get more clicks,
even when they have less impressive-appearing qualifications and are listed lower on the page.
Further, the level of completeness is one of the 26 elements that determine the order professionals
are listed in search results.
You asked for it, you got it!
At our 2011 IDEA World Fitness Convention a few weeks ago, we officially launched search capabilities in Canada on IDEA FitnessConnect. Now consumers can find fitness professionals, clubs, and classes in both Canada and the United States. So, if you live in Canada and would like a free way to acquire new clients, now is the time to fill out your profile so that others can find you.
Fill out your free profile here: http://www.ideafit.com/fitnessconnect/signup/pro
IDEA FitnessConnect Team
Exciting news! In the last few months we've added 19 new verification partners to IDEA FitnessConnect. While we started with 16 of the top certificaton groups, we now have 45 certification/training groups onboard and counting!
Our newest partners include:
- Agility Training Institute/ATN Associates (ATI)
- Balanced Body®
- Balletone (BT)
- BASI Pilates (BASI)
- BioMechanics
- Boxing Fitness Institute (BFI)
- Burn with Kearns
- canfitpro
- Family Safety and Self-Defense Institute
- GYROKINESIS®
- GYROTONIC®
- Kathy Corey Pilates
- Kickboxing Fitness Institute (KFI)
- Les Mills
- Nia
- Powder Blue Productions (PB11)
- ProPTA
- Revelation Wellness Instructor Training (Revelation Wellness)
- Schwinn Indoor Cycling (Schwinn)
Below is the complete list of verification partners:
- Agility Training Institute/ATN Associates (ATI)
- American Council on Exercise (ACE)
- American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)
- Balanced Body®
- Balletone (BT)
- BASI Pilates (BASI)
- BioMechanics
- BodyBlade®
- Boxing Fitness Institute (BFI)
- Burn with Kearns
- canfitpro
- Family Safety and Self-Defense Institute (FSI)
- GYROKINESIS®
- GYROTONIC®
- International Fitness Professionals Association (IFPA)
- International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA)
- Kathy Corey Pilates
- Kickboxing Fitness Institute (KFI)
- Les Mills
- National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM)
- National Council for Certified Personal Trainers (NCCPT)
- National Council on Strength and Fitness (NCSF)
- National Exercise & Sports Trainers Association (NESTA)
- National Exercise Trainers Association (NETA)
- National Federation of Professional Trainers (NFPT)
- National Personal Training Institute (NPTI)
- National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA)
- Nia
- Peak Pilates
- Pilates Method Alliance (PMA)
- Powder Blue Productions (PB11)
- ProPTA
- PTA Global (PTA)
- Punk Rope
- Resist-A-Ball®
- Revelation Wellness Instructor Training (Revelation Wellness)
- Schwinn Indoor Cycling (Schwinn)
- Spinning®
- STOTT PILATES®
- Stroller Strides®
- The Cooper Institute (CI)
- Training and Wellness Certification Commission (TWCC)
- U.S. Career Institute (USCI)
- World Instructor Training Schools (WITS)
Start getting your certifications/trainings verified now!
IDEA FitnessConnect Team
Reviews are an important part of the search results ranking algorithm and a great way for you to stand out from the crowd. Because reviews are so valuable, we want to make it as easy as possible for you to use this aspect of your IDEA FitnessConnect profile. With the click of a button, the new "Review Request Tool" will send your contacts an e-mail asking them to leave a review for you.
Ask current and past clients/participants to write you a review by scrolling down to the bottom of your private profile and clicking the "request reviews" button. This button will take you to a screen showing an auto-populated message asking for reviews (you can edit this message if you'd like).
Below this message you will see a list of contacts that you've added to your clients & leads tab. Simply select which contacts you'd like to request reviews from and click the "add" button. If you have not added clients/leads to your profile in the past, you can enter client e-mail addresses one by one.
Once you click "Send Request", your contacts will receive an email with your message along with a link to your profile.
Enjoy!
IDEA FitnessConnect Team
Ideafit.com just got social! A few weeks ago we launched "IDEA Answers", a dynamic question-and-answer platform that allows fitness experts, professionals and enthusiasts to interact and get access to free advice on any health and fitness-related topic.
You can ask and answer questions from the following areas on ideafit.com:
- The main IDEA Answers page
- The bottom of all articles and videos
- Certification/training group profiles
In order to keep track of these questions and answers, we've created a feed on the main IDEA Answers page. When logged into your account, your feed will show new answers to questions you've asked, new answers to questions and topics you're following or have voted on, and suggested topics. You can also sort by the latest questions, most popular questions, and unanswered questions.
IDEA Answers has also been integrated into IDEA FitnessConnect. You will find a new tab called "Answers" on your IDEA FitnessConnect profile that will display answers that you have submitted (Note: You have the option of hiding any answer from your public profile).
So, what are you waiting for? Start asking and answering questions now: www.ideafit.com/answers
IDEA FitnessConnect Team
Editors note: The following is a guest post by Mike Bannan, Director of Business Development at IDEA Health & Fitness Assocation. In it, he gives a summary of his educational session "Growing Membership with Yelp, Google Places, and IDEA FitnessConnect" that he presented on March 16th, 2011 at IHRSA's International Convention & Trade Show.
20 percent of all searches are directly related to location. This fact can have a huge (positive or negative!) effect on fitness and training businesses.
People looking for a personal trainer or a gym don’t search for “personal trainer” or “gym”, they search for “personal trainer Cooper City” and “gym Cooper City.”
Whether they’re searching on Google, Yelp, or IDEA FitnessConnect, location matters.
I presented a session on this a couple weeks back at IHRSA in San Francisco. I shared a bunch of information IDEA had learned about how people search for local businesses (such as fitness facilities and personal trainers); and more importantly, the 16 things most successful businesses are doing to show up at the top of those searches.
Here are some of the high points:
Claim your profile. All three of these services display profiles for businesses. But many (most?) profiles have not been claimed by business owners. The most important thing your business can do to improve your search ranking and how you’re perceived is to claim and complete your profile.
Google cares what other sites say about you. Google Places profiles display a ton of information from other sites, like CitySearch, TripAdvisor, and Yahoo. Plus, Google bases a lot of your credibility and authority on links from other sites to your own.
IDEA FitnessConnect cares how qualified your staff are. One of the main reasons FitnessConnect exists is to provide transparency of professionals’ credentials. So FitnessConnect weights rankings heavily on the verified credentials of the facility’s professionals. Make sure your staff have completed their profiles, and that those profiles are associated with your facility.
Yelp cares what other people say about you. Encourage people who love you let other people know about it, especially in Yelp reviews. (Be cool, though—don’t beg for positive reviews.) And be sure to reply (publicly or privately) to negative reviews.
But before you can do anything with Google Places, Yelp, or IDEA FitnessConnect, you have to claim your profile! Really. Do it. Do it now!
