What does gyms have to do with marketing?

Not much except gyms are a market and may
point to changes that can't be ignored

Marketing is a very broad based area and anything being sold is a market. I recently learned a lesson in marketing and where it may be headed.  Today, it appears everyone wants an expert to lead them to a fast and very specific means to an end. I am one of those persons whether I realized it or not. I thought I was proficient at what I was doing but I was proven wrong. I test a lot of things and this made me take a look; this is what I found. Millions of people are going to gyms and joining conditioning clubs; due to more interest in extending their life by being better physically fit.

Millions of dollars are being spent weekly in this area; I know there are lots of Internet business aimed at this market. I recently joined a fitness conditioning center and one of the first things they offered was a personal trainer. The dues to belong were reasonable $50 for first months membership then it dropped off to $20 per month. The personal trainer got $30 per hour they would develop a plan to suit my needs and then work with me to make sure I was doing everything correctly and giving motivation.

When I was younger I played a lot of sports and thought I was expert enough to take care of myself. Warming up by stretching and then the actual physical conditioning along with a cool down period of time used to be the keys. I figured I could do it without the additional cost; but I’m not as young as I used to be and the equipment is a lot different now.

I also don’t seem to have the same level of motivation; other team members were there to compete with and doing similar workouts when I was younger. I found I didn’t have enough desire to push myself without someone else being there. I used to be a part of a team and we had the goal of winning at each level of competition. We knew that it required a great deal of effort on our part and we were willing to do what was necessary to reach that goal.

A burning desire is one of the main driving forces for anyone to pushing toward their goal. This is true in any where in life; you must be committed enough to the tasks required to reach your goal. Those that are successful have a burning desire to complete each task associated with reaching their goal and will do whatever it takes to reach it. It’s more difficult without help; no one can do it for you but they can be supportive.

It doesn’t hurt to find a friend or associate that is going through some similar experiences. Sometimes it may be a good boss that has experienced success by meeting goals and sharing the lime light. I decided I had better clarify that a little; I was nearly always lucky and had bosses that weren’t afraid. They looked upon themselves as teachers and wanted each of us to reach our maximum potential (best for company) and were given a lot of latitude in how things were accomplished. I always needed a lot of latitude. Let’s get back to the gym.

Which would you prefer:

Going to the gym with no goal, or working with a personal trainer with pre-established goals and purpose?
Nearly everyone prefers a personal trainer at the gym to help them set and reach specific goals. Most are smarter than me; or maybe I’m just getting older and more set in my ways. Don’t make that mistake, it will cost you in the long run. Experts can help you reach your goals faster but you have to want to follow their suggestions.

Now that trend (using personal trainers) is spreading to other areas including the internet marketing area. Your student intuitively realizes that a “magic bullet” or a new ebook idea just isn't enough anymore. They want a purposeful, season-long relationship with you to help them set goals and reach those goals with a detailed plan.
A lot of people don’t seem to understand that selling anything on the Internet or offline; will involve marketing. Marketing has actually developed into a science over an extended period of time.

Science tries to establish a basic set of rules based upon a given set of conditions. In other words, it creates a rule and each rule is backed up, by a given set of conditions that are in most cases true. You noticed I said most cases, there are exceptions to almost any set of rules; you never really know when this condition will pop up, but it will.

I was told by a professor of chemistry that there is a man, a place, and a time for moving science ahead. He also said, “it was the people that run into the exceptions to the rules that would have a better opportunity to reach that next level”. The normal person, without seeing the exceptions would never feel and experience the satisfaction and the gratitude of their peers. The only way to feel this is by proving and explaining why it occurred and the results attained by recognizing it. Then applying the new rule and showing the remainder of the scientists how it would allow science to move ahead.

The first thing you must do is make the decision that you are going to accomplish this task. The reward for attaining your goal needs to be large enough to keep you excited about the drudgery and work associated with getting there. Keep the task and the rewards fresh in your mind. Post pictures of your reward and the main task you need to accomplish in the area where you are working. Some tasks will be more difficult than others and you will no doubt be more experienced in some areas than others. Try not to think about all the work needed to reach the final goal.

Instead, determine the time frame you must meet to attain your goal. Make the time less than your comfortable with if you really want to get it done, you need to push yourself. After the time frame is established; break the desired goal into a group of tasks that can be accomplished on a daily basis. Create a “to do” list for each day, keep a daily record or journal of your accomplishments and failures and there reasons. You notice I said failures, we all have them and even though they are set backs, you will always find ways around them, this is called Learning.

The tasks to reach your goals must remain flexible and they will need to be adjusted if something isn’t working the way you expected. Flexibility is a must in any thing you decide to do; in today’s world many things change on a daily basis and you have to adjust. These adjustments or changes can come in many different forms and those that move the fastest will reap the largest rewards.

If you see a trend like the gym example begin to take hold; it’s probably time to study and determine if it will have an affect on your goals. You may not want to be the first to move toward the trend; but you sure don’t want to be last. Take a serious look at your specific market and determine if this method might work for you. If so, then see if you can find a way to use it in your market and exploit it.

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