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Newbie mistakes in the fitness market - should I start over with a new plan?

by seriousjake
19 replies
I decided to follow a guide from the War Room on how to use guest blogging to drive traffic to a squeeze page.

So in early December, I picked the muscle / strength building market. Set up a squeeze page and crafted an email sequence that provides value with soft sells and an occassional hard sell. All this was new to me so it took me about 14 days to set everything up right from domain registration to a full email sequence (30 days)

Felt quite proud of myself at setting up my first sales funnel.

Now... TRAFFIC. Initially, I didn't want to spend too much time trying to figure out which blogs to target as I was feeling overwhelmed with information and thought I'd be wasting time trying to plan out every little detail without acting! So once I had my sales funnel set up, I needed to get to work finding blogs.

You know what comes next. There were none! Not any that had decent traffic and accepted guest posts anyway. I didn't anticipate such a low number of high traffic blogs on the subject and everyone being so picky about their guest bloggers. So I figured I'd try getting some decent traffic from facebook and posted my link on relevant facebook pages. That did quite well and I got between 7-10 subscribers a day until I got a two week suspension for spam lol. So facebook posting is out of the question as I don't want to get my account closed. Also, I have a feeling fb is mostly full of freebie seekers who are in it for the funny / motivational pictures.

I'm now looking at forum posting and yahoo answers but the traffic diversion is minimal at best. I'll try it for a few more days and see whether I can get some more subscribers. I spent four hours answering questions today and got just one. :S

Anyway, as of now, I have about 50 subscribers that I got via facebook and one I got from Yahoo.

So, seeing that my main subscriber source is down, I'm wondering whether I should scrap this idea and start fresh with a different plan. I don't see what I can use to generate consistent high volume traffic to my squeeze page.

On one hand, I think perhaps my fundamental plan of action for this market was flawed i.e just having a squeeze page -> OTO with my sole traffic source being high traffic blogs. On the other hand, I'm afraid that if I start something new, I'll become a perfect example of someone suffering from shiny object syndrome.

On my third hand, I think that not having any blogs to post on brings my project to a full stop.

If I start over, I wouldn't say I'm walking away with nothing. I did learn how to set up a wordpress site, use Aweber and build an email sequence which I can recycle if I decide to go with the same niche.

What do you think I should do?
#fitness #market #mistakes #newbie #plan #start
  • Profile picture of the author paul nicholls
    the muscle building market is massive and there is a tonne of traffic to get too

    there are also lot more ways to get traffic apart from just guest blogging

    you need to hammer things for the first 6 months at least, you need to get lots of content and reports out there if you want traffic to build your list

    set up your own blog
    create a video channel
    build your list from your blog
    forums
    articles
    press releases

    there are lots of traffic sources at your disposal

    one thing i will say is "are you only in this market because you heard it was a good/profitable market or do you have an interest in it too?

    you need to have an interest in the stuff you talk and write about otherwise you will soon get bored
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  • Profile picture of the author WillR
    Youtube would be a good source of traffic for this niche.

    You will need to create your own videos OR find people with videos in your niche already getting decent traffic, and pay them to advertise on their video.
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    • Profile picture of the author seriousjake
      Originally Posted by paul nicholls View Post

      one thing i will say is "are you only in this market because you heard it was a good/profitable market or do you have an interest in it too?

      you need to have an interest in the stuff you talk and write about otherwise you will soon get bored
      Oh definitely, it's one of my core interests and I've spent years studying the subject. I was trying to get away without having a blog because it's such a competitive market and I'm not sure it's worth it to try and compete with established websites that already talk about what I know.

      Originally Posted by WillR View Post

      Youtube would be a good source of traffic for this niche.

      You will need to create your own videos OR find people with videos in your niche already getting decent traffic, and pay them to advertise on their video.
      Youtube would be awesome, my issue with it is that I'm not physically impressive and I don't have any relevant certifications either so I'd get bashed on quite easily. I follow a LOT of the top channels on youtube and the commenters are quite brutal.

      I don't have the budget to pay for ads either.
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      • Profile picture of the author WillR
        Originally Posted by seriousjake View Post

        would be awesome, my issue with it is that I'm not physically impressive and I don't have any relevant certifications either so I'd get bashed on quite easily. I follow a LOT of the top channels on youtube and the commenters are quite brutal.

        I don't have the budget to pay for ads either.
        Ok, well you need to try and find some videos that would interest your niche that have been uploaded by people not looking to make any money. That way you will not have to pay them much to either buy the rights to the video for your own channel or to advertise on their channel.
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        • Profile picture of the author seriousjake
          Originally Posted by WillR View Post

          Ok, well you need to try and find some videos that would interest your niche that have been uploaded by people not looking to make any money. That way you will not have to pay them much to either buy the rights to the video for your own channel or to advertise on their channel.
          Thanks for the suggestion, I'll have to consider this when I have the budget.
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  • Profile picture of the author David Micheal
    You can do blog comment.

    Comment about 100 post a day from different blog and do that for a week. Don't give up. When you push yourself, magic will happen.
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    • Profile picture of the author seriousjake
      Originally Posted by David Micheal View Post

      You can do blog comment.

      Comment about 100 post a day from different blog and do that for a week. Don't give up. When you push yourself, magic will happen.
      How do you suggest I find blogs? I tried technorati but there were just a handful that showed up wrt fitness and even less when it comes to muscle building specifically.

      I also used the similar results on compete and none really showed up.
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  • Profile picture of the author svsets10
    One thing that I am doing right now is putting up fliers in local gyms. I create a simple ad that offers muscle building secrets (or whatever it is you are trying to promote) and leave them on the bulletin boards in the coat rooms. It costs me barely anything but those people are highly targeted.

    Obviously this isn't going to get you thousands or even hundreds of sales....but it has gotten me enough people to opt in and buy so that I can reinvest in other methods.

    I wouldn't give up on the muscle building niche though, those people readily fork over money daily at the gym for those disgusting amino acid drinks and protein drinks etc.... The want quick solutions and are willing to pay, they have already shown that by going to the gym and paying the membership.

    If you have a method that works then let people know about it face to face and tell them about your website. Have confidence in your knowledge because let's be honest, it's very easy to get a certification to train people over the weekend. A lot of fitness is motivating someone and if they haven't trained a lot before ANYTHING will work. I would put slabs of muscle on high school kids by just eliminating some of the pointless things that they do in the gym and telling them to eat and start picking up heavy things and putting them down.

    Another thing about the youtube videos, you don't have to actually be in them. You can also create a powerpoint with you speaking information if it is quality information that people can use.

    Just a few thoughts that I learned this year after doing the same thing.
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  • Profile picture of the author svsets10
    One thing that I am doing right now is putting up fliers in local gyms. I create a simple ad that offers muscle building secrets (or whatever it is you are trying to promote) and leave them on the bulletin boards in the coat rooms. It costs me barely anything but those people are highly targeted.

    Obviously this isn't going to get you thousands or even hundreds of sales....but it has gotten me enough people to opt in and buy so that I can reinvest in other methods.

    I wouldn't give up on the muscle building niche though, those people readily fork over money daily at the gym for those disgusting amino acid drinks and protein drinks etc.... The want quick solutions and are willing to pay, they have already shown that by going to the gym and paying the membership.

    If you have a method that works then let people know about it face to face and tell them about your website. Have confidence in your knowledge because let's be honest, it's very easy to get a certification to train people over the weekend. A lot of fitness is motivating someone and if they haven't trained a lot before ANYTHING will work. I would put slabs of muscle on high school kids by just eliminating some of the pointless things that they do in the gym and telling them to eat and start picking up heavy things and putting them down.

    Another thing about the youtube videos, you don't have to actually be in them. You can also create a powerpoint with you speaking information if it is quality information that people can use.

    Just a few thoughts that I learned this year after doing the same thing.
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  • Profile picture of the author Stuart Walker
    How do you suggest I find blogs? I tried technorati but there were just a handful that showed up wrt fitness and even less when it comes to muscle building specifically.

    I also used the similar results on compete and none really showed up.
    Are you serious. You're saying there are no high traffic blogs in the fitness and body building niches? Of course there are. How would you usually find blogs...use Google. This is a HUGE industry with tons of websites and blogs.

    You should try some blog commenting and forum posting out. Go to Google Alerts, set up alerts for your keywords and pick the results to come in 'as they happen' so you're instantly alerted to any new blog and forum posts in your niche. Get in there straight away and leave a comment. Don't make it spammy, mention the blog and author by name, talk about the article you've just read, compliment and pick something specific that you liked about it, say you write about similar topics over on your blog and you'd love for the author (always address to the author and not the readers) to come over and have a look some time then link to your site. This will help your comments stick. Post on relevant forums with a link to your site in your signature.
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    • Profile picture of the author seriousjake
      Originally Posted by RockingLastsForever View Post

      Are you serious. You're saying there are no high traffic blogs in the fitness and body building niches? Of course there are. How would you usually find blogs...use Google. This is a HUGE industry with tons of websites and blogs.

      You should try some blog commenting and forum posting out. Go to Google Alerts, set up alerts for your keywords and pick the results to come in 'as they happen' so you're instantly alerted to any new blog and forum posts in your niche. Get in there straight away and leave a comment. Don't make it spammy, mention the blog and author by name, talk about the article you've just read, compliment and pick something specific that you liked about it, say you write about similar topics over on your blog and you'd love for the author (always address to the author and not the readers) to come over and have a look some time then link to your site. This will help your comments stick. Post on relevant forums with a link to your site in your signature.
      Yes, I know there are but not any that I see accepting guest posts. As for blog (edited: I wrote forum) posting, your approach sounds good but I don't have a blog... it's just a squeeze page so I'm not sure whether they'd appreciate a link to what looks like a spam site plastered on their blog.

      Edit: However, I will say that I feel stupid for not simply searching google. I only tried technorati and compete lol. I'll give blog posting a go and keep track of updates via RSS.

      Originally Posted by svsets10 View Post

      Another thing about the youtube videos, you don't have to actually be in them. You can also create a powerpoint with you speaking information if it is quality information that people can use.

      Just a few thoughts that I learned this year after doing the same thing.
      Thanks, I'll be looking into what I can do with youtube.
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      • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
        Originally Posted by seriousjake View Post

        How do you suggest I find blogs? I tried technorati but there were just a handful that showed up wrt fitness and even less when it comes to muscle building specifically.

        I also used the similar results on compete and none really showed up.
        I think I see a huge flaw in your plan...

        You may be taking the concept of 'finding relevant blogs' way too far. One of the tricks to guest posting (as it is in syndication) is to work the tangents where your topic is relevant but not competitive.

        For example, a lot of tournament anglers suffer from back pain due to the pounding they take running their boats in choppy water, as well as all the little adjustments all day from fishing on an unstable platform. I recently came across an article that spelled out exercises that would help with that condition.

        Unless your own interest is in something as specific as competitive bodybuilding, there are many sports/hobbies/occupations where increased fitness in general and performance specific muscle building would be of great interest.

        As far as a blog goes, you don't have to compete with the heavy hitters. The function of the blog I'm suggesting is to reassure the visitors you get that you are interested in more than your email address, and it will give people who are not quite ready to commit to your squeeze offer a chance to sample your style. All posts would link back to your squeeze page, and the posts (while able to stand on their own) motivate people to opt in for more.
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  • Profile picture of the author WordpressManiac
    If you have your own blog you could leave comments on comment Luv enabled blogs and get a link to your latest article. Another really nice method is to create a free report with links in it to your squeeze page and submit to Ebook directories. This can give you a real traffic boost if you do about 10 reports and submit to lots of directories. This could be outsourced or you can have it free but work ;-)
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  • Profile picture of the author Stuart Walker
    it's just a squeeze page so I'm not sure whether they'd appreciate a link to what looks like a spam site plastered on their blog.
    Then don't make your squeeze page look spammy then.

    Seriously a lot of bloggers won't even check your link if you write a good comment, they are so used to blatant one line spam posts that when someone writes a decent and relevant one and leaves a link they'll assume it must be legit and let it go. You can be completely honest and say you've just written a free ebook (assuming you give a free ebook on opt in) that they'd be interested in. Or create a blog and write a few posts on it if need be.
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    • Profile picture of the author seriousjake
      Originally Posted by RockingLastsForever View Post

      Then don't make your squeeze page look spammy then.

      Seriously a lot of bloggers won't even check your link if you write a good comment, they are so used to blatant one line spam posts that when someone writes a decent and relevant one and leaves a link they'll assume it must be legit and let it go. You can be completely honest and say you've just written a free ebook (assuming you give a free ebook on opt in) that they'd be interested in. Or create a blog and write a few posts on it if need be.
      That makes sense. Thanks man. I'll give it a go. Already subscribed to a bunch of new websites. I'll spend some time tomorrow scouring google for more and get started with some comments.

      Hopefully, this combined with Yahoo should give me half a decent stream of subscribers.
      As for my squeeze page, I'm kind of limited with what I can do from a design perspective as I'm using WP Lead Rocket which isn't very customizable.

      Have a look, some feedback would be appreciated.

      www.strengthgainer.com
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      • Profile picture of the author LearnNOTmoney
        Originally Posted by seriousjake View Post

        That makes sense. Thanks man. I'll give it a go. Already subscribed to a bunch of new websites. I'll spend some time tomorrow scouring google for more and get started with some comments.

        Hopefully, this combined with Yahoo should give me half a decent stream of subscribers.
        As for my squeeze page, I'm kind of limited with what I can do from a design perspective as I'm using WP Lead Rocket which isn't very customizable.

        Have a look, some feedback would be appreciated.

        www.strengthgainer.com
        I'm pretty new to IM and doing the fitness nieche as well. As a newbie though, i'm not so sure if i would want to sign if that's the first thing that pops up.
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      • Profile picture of the author MojoHelpdesk
        WRT finding blogs. Find the 5 top players in your niche (use the Clickbank Marketplace and a do search for Fitness products with Gravity > 50).

        Truth About Abs, for example, would be one.

        For each of those top 5 competitors, copy and paste a few images from their website onto your desktop.

        Take those images and drag and drop them into the search bar in Google images and it will do an automatic image search. The search will pull up all the different sites that have written about your competitors. Start taking notes, because a few of those sites will be blogs that you want to target.

        Good luck.
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        • Profile picture of the author svsets10
          Originally Posted by MojoHelpdesk View Post

          WRT finding blogs. Find the 5 top players in your niche (use the Clickbank Marketplace and a do search for Fitness products with Gravity > 50).

          Truth About Abs, for example, would be one.

          For each of those top 5 competitors, copy and paste a few images from their website onto your desktop.

          Take those images and drag and drop them into the search bar in Google images and it will do an automatic image search. The search will pull up all the different sites that have written about your competitors. Start taking notes, because a few of those sites will be blogs that you want to target.

          Good luck.
          Didn't know how to do this, thanks!
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  • Profile picture of the author Opeleroy
    There is a metric butt-ton of websites, blogs, magazines, newsletters and more in this niche that provide an opportunity to guest post.

    How many did you contact? Set yourself a goal to write a personalized email to 25, 30, 35 websites/blogs per day.

    I am not going to go into the nuts and bolts of article syndication/guest posting, as it has been covered over and over again in this forum. (Search Alexa_Smith in this forum. She -- and others -- have posted repeatedly about how to effectively market and submit your content.)

    Sounds like you gave up on this method of traffic generation far too prematurely.
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    Boom.

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