Publishing a Fitness Marketing Calendar For Your Best Professional Year
By March, your first quarter is nearly over and you've not yet laid a foundation of publishing that keeps you on track for your marketing goals.
Let's not let that happen, again. A publishing calendar takes care of more than half of your problem. For most business people, entrepreneurs for sure, there are no lack of ideas. You've been praised and admired for your creativity. That, is a problem. You continue to get new ideas but you don't follow through on the old ones and implement first before you're on to a new one. The publishing calendar is going to help with that.
Another problem as an entrepreneur is that you have to deal with day-to-day. The fires that come up or the staff that need support fall to you. That distracts you from what you were thinking and intending. The publishing calendar is going to help with that.
First, let's clarify just what should be on a publishing calendar. This is the place you'll put big and little picture things. In short, everything of value that takes time goes on this calendar. Hold the phone. If you are having this sense of being painted into a corner, I've got you covered. As an entrepreneur myself I like freedom. The whole idea of putting something down as a commitment I have to keep threatens my creativity.
Don't panic about that. This isn't a contractual agreement and won't cost you money if you don't do it. What it will do ironically is give you freedom. When your brain doesn't have to constantly remember what to do, you will have more space to focus on letting those great ideas go to work.
Before you ever get started putting things down on paper you probably have a mental calendar begun. Things you already do on a quarterly, monthly or weekly basis will go on this calendar.
If you're a visual person I recommend doing two things. First, create a working copying by printing out a calendar for next year. If you happen to find this article in the middle of the year, start with the next month or quarter. Using either different colored highlighters or markers sit yourself down with last years calendar as a reminder.
Start with these things for "big picture" overview. Just doing it should get you excited. If it doesn't you might want to take a look at your motivations for doing what you're doing. This is your life and your life's work you're looking at! Love it or change it!
The tips below come from a combination of a Best Year Workshop I've held each January since 2000 and from mentor and business coach Bret Gregory.
1. Block off all vacations. Whether it's a weekend a quarter, or a week every month like some entrepreneurs, get in your regular time away. Why? Because without that the rest really has no meaning. Most of the people you meet who both thrive in business and love their life do this. It's the work hard, play hard philosophy. If you are a hard worker, you will do what it takes to make this happen comfortably for yourself.
2. Block off personal growth and development. Is that you attending a workshop to work on you? Is it a training camp where you go and participate as an athlete not as a coach for a change? Maybe its a retreat.
3. Block off professional development time. When to do you present at conferences? When do you write your book? When do you provide continuing education events for other professionals? Or when do you speak to your customer's associations and organizations? This business growing opportunity should be planned and blocked off.
4. Block off your regular events and programs. Do you host monthly seminars in-house? Do you host a monthly one day workshop for your customers? Or is this a free offering for developing leads. Place these things in your schedule. Be conscious now as you begin to have more things on the calendar of how your life is flowing or where you need to be aware of overlap.
5. Block off special months and joint promotions. Do you host charity events with a non-profit? Add then to your calendar. Do you observe themed months such as National Heart Health Month in February, Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, or Movember men's health?
6. Block off your "launches" all year. If you're a group training or boot camp provider this is registration time when you need more publicity coming out about starting dates. You hopefully have your year done in advance and just need to drop these dates in. Allow a minimum two-week time frame for each launch.
7. Add all your recurring marketing activities. If you do a weekly staff meeting add this to your calendar. If you create a monthly "installment" newsletter for the bathroom stalls in yours or others businesses add that. If you write a weekly newsletter include that on the day it comes out.
As you look back on your calendar overview you'll now easier be able to go in and micromanage your schedule. Daily for instance if you're posting to Facebook four times that will appear on each day. You might however have a block of time on Friday of each week dedicated to preparing your posts, tweets and shares.
What might emerge as you do this is the need for delegating. Could someone and should someone on your staff be trained to do this so you can free yourself to do some higher level activity? Once you have it down in your publishing schedule, you know it's going to happen, you just have to decide how.
Fitness industry expert Debra Atkinson has three decades experience teaching, training, lecturing in Kinesiology and as Personal Training Director. As Director she increased revenue growth 100K annually for each of six consecutive years in a town of 25,000 non-college student residents. For her free blogs, books, training tools, and coaching events visit her site! She speaks regularly at industry conferences- ICAA and IDEA. Go to Https://www.voiceforfitness.com/fitprobl… Https://www.voiceforfitness.com/fitproso…
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