17 Jan Why Less Is More In Creating Fitness Content

By Eric Bach

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the thought of creating content?

Here’s the good news: it may be easier than you think.

You might think you need to write a new article every week to build your business.

You might think that, but you’d be wrong.

Don’t make the same mistake I did for years. I figured I’d just write away to get my name out there. People would read my blog, come to think of me as an expert, and then they’d buy training. Or so I thought.

As a little guy playing high school football, I used persistence and hard work to succeed. So I figured running a business was pretty much the same. Be persistent. Keep grinding.

And the hundred dollar bills would fall from the sky as I sat the beach sippin’ champagne during my four-hour work weeks. Boy, was I wrong. What’s really needed is a more strategic approach.

Write less, but better. Focus your content. Here’s how.

1. Get clear on your ideal client

This can’t be said often enough. Picture one person you can help the most and go a mile deep. What is their name? 

Age? Occupation? How long have they worked out?

What runs through their mind when they’re standing in front of the mirror each morning? What is their real goal? Is it to lose weight so they look good naked and have the confidence to go on a date?

Is it to lose weight so they look good naked and have the confidence to go on a date?

2. Consider which three things your clients struggle with most

Think about conversations you have with clients, friends, or family. Listen to their biggest problems and outline the roadblocks and barriers they experience. Use a simple search in Buzzsumo and find out which barriers have the highest search volume. Here’s a simple search on “how to lose weight.”

Yeah, not great headlines, but this tells you what people are looking for and what goes viral across different platforms.

3. Outline each of these struggles and solutions.

Create a short checklist answering this question save it as a PDF, and give it away as a lead magnet to start capturing your emails. You can give this away in the article like I did here with 10 Immutable Laws of Successful Fat Loss.

4. Write three (yes, only THREE) epic blog posts centered around breaking down these barriers and solving your client’s biggest problems.

These pillar pieces should be 1500-2500 words. That’s a lot of words! A newspaper opinion piece is typically just 750 words. But the research is clear. Substantive, long-form articles perform much better than the short articles many favors. So take the time and to write something of substance. You should support your statements with facts and research, without turning your post into a term paper.

Be entertaining, yet authoritative. Above all, include at least one actionable item readers can implement immediately.

Include a “content upgrade” in which you get email names in return for providing a cheat sheet or checklist relating to the topic of the article. Pillar content articles can build your list, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. Just two new names a day for each of three pillar articles would add up to 1,500 new names a year. 

It doesn’t follow that all your posts should be long. If you can say something in 500 words, do so. “Omit needless words” is the best writing advice ever given. This post is only 1097 words. So it will probably never become pillar content. But it still serves a purpose.

Remember, your goal isn’t to create content for the hell of it.

Your goal is to create solutions for your client’s biggest problem. That’s it. The growth of your business and your income is a direct result of how much value you’re providing.

The Takeaway

Let’s close with a question and a challenge.

What are your clients biggest struggles?

Create a list of 5-10 pillar content ideas, all related to your ideal client. Then knock it down to three. What common problem emerges?

Solve this problem in your pillar content pieces and you will well on the way to having a thriving online fitness business.

Going forward, write less but better.

P.S.

Would you like a free content audit call with Daniel Freedman, the other part of Bach Business Coaching?

He’ll take a look at your social media pages and blog posts and brainstorm with you on next steps.

IM Daniel via Facebook by clicking right here.