Learn More About Local PR & Charity Events For Personal Trainers
Now, getting local PR is a great way to improve your marketing and reach
in your local area. So while it might be classed as a mix between
offline and online marketing, it is brilliant, and you need to combine
the two.
So I want to talk about two strategies. One is getting in the local media, radio, press. And the second is charity events. Now, charity events can be a great way to build your business and get the media on board. So we're tackling points one and two there.
So I want to talk about two strategies. One is getting in the local media, radio, press. And the second is charity events. Now, charity events can be a great way to build your business and get the media on board. So we're tackling points one and two there.
Hosting a Charity Event
I'll use an example. I've been working with a local yoga teacher and she
is great at getting in front of people, delivering her classes, showing
her energy, showing her passion. So the best way for her to market her
business is to get in front of people, and to show that energy and
passion and enthusiasm for what she does.
Now, charity events quite often bring a lot of people together. So this shouldn't be a disingenuous endeavor. You should still be doing it for a good cause, for the right reasons, but know that it can positively impact your business.
So what we did with this local yoga teacher is we said, "Right, we're going to run a full day of free yoga in the local park." So let's just say it's the 27th of July. It's a nice sunny day. There's a big local park. And from nine o'clock in the morning to nine o'clock at night, for 12 hours, you're doing a 12 hour yoga marathon for charity. And let's say your chosen charity is a local mental health awareness charity. So you connect with the mental health awareness charity. You set up that partnership and then you create your media and you start to put it around. You start to put it on social media, give it to friends and family.
And basically what you're doing, is you're doing a massive yoga day and it could be anything. It could be a massive kettlebell session. It could be a giant stretch session. It doesn't matter. I'm just using yoga as a good example. And what you do is you set up this day. And what people can do is bring a mat or a blanket and join in your yoga class that's going from nine in the morning to nine at night. And they can just drop in and enjoy yoga.
And at the end, when they leave, they can leave a donation for the charity and you can have a cash box or a card reader or whatever. What this is, is a great local wellness initiative, to get yourself out there, get new people to see you. And the media love something like this.
Now, charity events quite often bring a lot of people together. So this shouldn't be a disingenuous endeavor. You should still be doing it for a good cause, for the right reasons, but know that it can positively impact your business.
So what we did with this local yoga teacher is we said, "Right, we're going to run a full day of free yoga in the local park." So let's just say it's the 27th of July. It's a nice sunny day. There's a big local park. And from nine o'clock in the morning to nine o'clock at night, for 12 hours, you're doing a 12 hour yoga marathon for charity. And let's say your chosen charity is a local mental health awareness charity. So you connect with the mental health awareness charity. You set up that partnership and then you create your media and you start to put it around. You start to put it on social media, give it to friends and family.
And basically what you're doing, is you're doing a massive yoga day and it could be anything. It could be a massive kettlebell session. It could be a giant stretch session. It doesn't matter. I'm just using yoga as a good example. And what you do is you set up this day. And what people can do is bring a mat or a blanket and join in your yoga class that's going from nine in the morning to nine at night. And they can just drop in and enjoy yoga.
And at the end, when they leave, they can leave a donation for the charity and you can have a cash box or a card reader or whatever. What this is, is a great local wellness initiative, to get yourself out there, get new people to see you. And the media love something like this.
Connecting With Local Media
So you could design your poster and you could tweet the local media. You
could email the local media, you can get on the phone and talk to the
local media. So you might, for example, ring your local radio station.
So my local radio station is called Suffolk radio.
I could ring up and say, "Hey, I'm doing a massive charity event. I'm really passionate about mental health. I've suffered with mental health before. I've been on quite a journey. I'm now a personal trainer and yoga instructor. I'm really passionate about this stuff.
I was wondering if you would be up for featuring me as a guest. I don't expect anything. I'm just really passionate about raising awareness for yoga. And I feel I've got a really valuable story. This is what I'm doing. I'm doing a free 12 hour yoga-athon. It's in my local park. We're doing it with X charity."
And quite often... And this was successful in my example, quite often the radio station would be like, "That's amazing. We'd love to support that charity. We'd love for you to come on the radio and share your story. We're really passionate about mental health here at the radio station. Our ex presenter and this producer has also had their own mental health battle. So, we'd really like that."
You can do the same with local newspapers, see if they'll run an article.
I could ring up and say, "Hey, I'm doing a massive charity event. I'm really passionate about mental health. I've suffered with mental health before. I've been on quite a journey. I'm now a personal trainer and yoga instructor. I'm really passionate about this stuff.
I was wondering if you would be up for featuring me as a guest. I don't expect anything. I'm just really passionate about raising awareness for yoga. And I feel I've got a really valuable story. This is what I'm doing. I'm doing a free 12 hour yoga-athon. It's in my local park. We're doing it with X charity."
And quite often... And this was successful in my example, quite often the radio station would be like, "That's amazing. We'd love to support that charity. We'd love for you to come on the radio and share your story. We're really passionate about mental health here at the radio station. Our ex presenter and this producer has also had their own mental health battle. So, we'd really like that."
You can do the same with local newspapers, see if they'll run an article.
Why It Works
The reason why this is powerful is charity has a story. And if you have a
story behind you, then it's even more powerful. So this yoga teacher,
she has a journey with mental health. She was able to tell it on the
radio, tell it in the print media. And she got 147 people to come and
join her yoga classes during that charity event.
And she raised, I think it was, just under 900 pounds throughout the course of the day, for this charity. She then did a followup on the radio. They did a followup in the press. It was brilliant. And this is the best bit, she got 23 new clients in her classes on a monthly retainer, out of that one charity initiative. So when people paid, they got given a leaflet just to say, "Hey, this is this person's details. If you'd like to connect with her after today, about her yoga. Thank you very much for your donation today. Have an amazing day."
That is a great way to work with the local media and support a good local cause. And that's what we want to do with offline marketing. We want to integrate ourselves into local events.
And she raised, I think it was, just under 900 pounds throughout the course of the day, for this charity. She then did a followup on the radio. They did a followup in the press. It was brilliant. And this is the best bit, she got 23 new clients in her classes on a monthly retainer, out of that one charity initiative. So when people paid, they got given a leaflet just to say, "Hey, this is this person's details. If you'd like to connect with her after today, about her yoga. Thank you very much for your donation today. Have an amazing day."
That is a great way to work with the local media and support a good local cause. And that's what we want to do with offline marketing. We want to integrate ourselves into local events.
Getting Attention From the Media
Now, when you are looking to work with the media as well, which I think
is a great idea. I've worked with the media on and off my whole career,
because I've seen the value of it, both nationally with my position now,
in the fitness industry and locally, when I used to be a personal
trainer.
Now, the way to work with the media is to communicate with them just like a normal person. So for example, the media love Twitter. So you could just tweet and reply to the tweets that they put out, like a normal person. So for example, if one of the presenters puts a tweet out about their breakfast, you could reply saying, "That breakfast looks really tasty. I've got another recipe, if you'd like it. Here's the recipe." Boom. So you haven't tried to sell anything. You haven't tried to say, "Hey, I'm here. Get me on the radio." You've just said, "Hey, I'm a great local guy. I've seen your breakfast. I'm going to help you out. Here's a recipe." And then over time, you just keep throwing these tips in there. You keep replying. And at some point that radio station is going to go, "We need a good local trainer to come on and talk about healthy breakfasts."
And then you're going to stick in that media channel's mind, because they've gone, "Remember that guy who keeps sending us recipe ideas and talking to us about nutrition tips and stuff." And then that's how you get on the media. It's not about waving and shouting and saying, "Hey, I'm an expert. Get me on." It's about just showing that you're great, showing that you're there, showing that you're ready to turn up and be reactive. So be a normal person, follow your local media channels and just engage like a normal person. And they'll come and find you. The only situation where that might change is where there's something happening and it's of importance, like that charity event. And you can go to them with a press release.
Now, the way to work with the media is to communicate with them just like a normal person. So for example, the media love Twitter. So you could just tweet and reply to the tweets that they put out, like a normal person. So for example, if one of the presenters puts a tweet out about their breakfast, you could reply saying, "That breakfast looks really tasty. I've got another recipe, if you'd like it. Here's the recipe." Boom. So you haven't tried to sell anything. You haven't tried to say, "Hey, I'm here. Get me on the radio." You've just said, "Hey, I'm a great local guy. I've seen your breakfast. I'm going to help you out. Here's a recipe." And then over time, you just keep throwing these tips in there. You keep replying. And at some point that radio station is going to go, "We need a good local trainer to come on and talk about healthy breakfasts."
And then you're going to stick in that media channel's mind, because they've gone, "Remember that guy who keeps sending us recipe ideas and talking to us about nutrition tips and stuff." And then that's how you get on the media. It's not about waving and shouting and saying, "Hey, I'm an expert. Get me on." It's about just showing that you're great, showing that you're there, showing that you're ready to turn up and be reactive. So be a normal person, follow your local media channels and just engage like a normal person. And they'll come and find you. The only situation where that might change is where there's something happening and it's of importance, like that charity event. And you can go to them with a press release.
Creating a Press Release
Now with this module, I've provided a template for a press release. A press release is a pre written document/article, that you send to the media and say, "Hey, this is going on. It's local, it's for a charity. This is happening. Or a new business is opening.
We thought it might be of interest." And quite often the media pick up local press releases, because they're always looking for content. So if you've got a story to tell, maybe your own mental health battle, and now you're going to raise money doing a marathon and you're supporting X charity.
Or maybe you're opening a new gym and you want to get the press to report on it, because the gym's had an amazing journey and you're local. And you've been working with the local chamber of commerce to get it up and running. And you've taken local funding from the bank. All of marketing is about story. It's about shaping a story.
When I talk about my role in the fitness industry, I often talk about my journey with obesity. I was a very overweight kid. I was bullied, had ADHD, asthma, eczema. I tell the story. I want people to buy in and go, "I like this guy. I think this guy understands me." So the thing with charity is it enables eyes to get on you, but it enables you to show your passion for a cause and tell a story. And ultimately the media love a good story.
We thought it might be of interest." And quite often the media pick up local press releases, because they're always looking for content. So if you've got a story to tell, maybe your own mental health battle, and now you're going to raise money doing a marathon and you're supporting X charity.
Or maybe you're opening a new gym and you want to get the press to report on it, because the gym's had an amazing journey and you're local. And you've been working with the local chamber of commerce to get it up and running. And you've taken local funding from the bank. All of marketing is about story. It's about shaping a story.
When I talk about my role in the fitness industry, I often talk about my journey with obesity. I was a very overweight kid. I was bullied, had ADHD, asthma, eczema. I tell the story. I want people to buy in and go, "I like this guy. I think this guy understands me." So the thing with charity is it enables eyes to get on you, but it enables you to show your passion for a cause and tell a story. And ultimately the media love a good story.
