In each month’s edition of “Social Media Tips for Fitness Professionals,” I bring you three of the latest developments in the world of online social media, explain what each new development means for you as a fitness professional, and tell you how to take advantage of these trends to grow your business and communicate with your clients.
Here are the top 3 social media announcements for August 2011:
#1: Google+ Gets Big
Last month, I told you about the Google+ button, which you can add to your website. When people push the button, all their friends who they are connected to on the new Google+ see your website rise higher in their search results.
But last month, the Google+ social network, Google’s “answer” to Facebook, was just picking up steam. Heck, I had barely used Google+ much myself.
However, Google+ users grew from 1 million to 5 million in July, and as of two days ago, had skyrocketed to well over 10 million. In future posts, I’ll teach you how to “merge” your Twitter, Facebook and Google+ accounts, but for now, work on your Google profile by adding your business details, picture, website, and contact information – and if you’ve gotten a Google+ invite already, start adding influential people to your circles.
#2: Confused About Facebook & Your Business?
With a new page, Facebook just made it far easier for you to get over the learning curve of incorporating Facebook to enhance your personal training business online.
At Facebook for Business you can get tutorials and information that teach you how to do things like create pages, design ads, make sponsored stories, and add special Facebook plug-ins to your personal training or gym website.
#3: Fitness.AllTop.com
You may be familiar with Robert Kiyosaki, who is the author of the Rich Dad, Poor Dad financial advice books and programs. He’s also an internet entrepreneur, and one site he owns is Alltop. At Alltop, you’ll find the top stories from specific niches, all aggregated into one convenient location.
Lately, I’ve discovered that Alltop's Fitness Section is a really good place to “keep your ear to the ground” when it comes to staying up to date with the latest fitness news and most popular fitness blogs. I don’t know what software algorithm Alltop is using to aggregate all these posts, but it works quite well to deliver relevant information, and I recommend adding it to your list of websites to visit on a weekly basis.
Do you have questions or feedback? Leave them below!
Ben Greenfield is a fitness business coach and the author of “Personal Trainers’ Guide to Earning Top Dollar.” Visit Ben's blog at http://www.trainfortopdollar.com.
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