Here’s the passage I just read…

“The content you offer MUST have distinctive qualities, and your personality needs to show.  A well executed web site, like a quality television program or film is a combination of content and delivery.  But on the web, many organizations spend much more time and money on the design and delivery aspects than then do on the content itself.  Don’t fall into this trap.  Perfecting that critical mix of content, design, and technology is where the art comes in.”

You want your readers and followers to feel like you’re real and accessible.  And you HAVE to be unique.  Because if you’re not unique, you’re not interesting, you’re boring.  And nobody follows a bore.

be a fitness nomad…

Do you have that kind of relationship with your local television station? More importantly, do you have that kind of relationship with your local television station producer(s)? My guess is, probably not.

They wanted to actually film the segment inside my fitness studio for an even more powerful effect. So they called me to see if I was interested. I was the FIRST person they thought of. Unfortunately, my schedule today dictated other responsibilities and NBC was forced to look elsewhere. Believe me though, if at all possible, I would have jumped at the chance. And one thing you need to know is that when people like this call you, it is paramount that you are ready at any time and at a moment’s notice. They work fast!

How did I get to be the guy they call when they need an expert?

Well, as you know, I have a regular fitness segment that has been airing every other Friday for about three and a half years now. But that’s not the only reason…

I almost lost that segment about 6 months ago when the station decided they needed my time spot for their biggest loser contest. I chose not to participate, because I don’t agree with the entire biggest loser concept.

The news anchor, Leigh Mills, went to bat for me. She went directly to the news director (her boss) for the entire station and said, “Look, you can cancel all of the fitness segments you want, and get rid of all of the experts, but John stays and that’s the bottom line!”

Leigh cited many reasons that the news director ultimately agreed with, and I came back a couple months later. One of the big reasons she wanted me to stay though, is the most important point of this entire story…

“John produces more remarkable content than any other fitness expert we work with. Not only that, for every segment, he writes a well thought out, professional, and educational blog post that our viewers benefit from every time.”

Did you catch that? There are two very important points…

1. Remarkable content
2. Professional Blog posts

One of the big reasons I’m still working at NBC every other Friday is a direct result of the work I do on my blog. That’s how important it is. And remember, these segments have produced more than 50K worth of revenue for my fitness business over the last few years. That’s significant, and that’s only one of the many benefits of my blog and the remarkable content I’m creating constantly.

The good news for you is that I want to share all of this great content with you so that you can do the same. My fitness blog content service is running like a top right now and I’m currently producing at least 2 articles per week and at least one press release per month that you can use on your blog and in any other way you desire.

I encourage you to take advantage my introductory offer on this service. If you act within the next 24 hours, I’ll throw in a bonus press release based directly on the story NBC reported on today. And you need to know that if they produced it, other news stations will too.

Follow this link to start receiving content immediately: http://www.WriteLikeaNomad.com

In the mean time, stick closely to your email and the blog. My next post and email will discuss the nuances of remarkable content and how you create it.

But remember, you can get a lot of help from me directly and take a lot of the strain off yourself by signing up for my content service right now.

Go to: http://www.WriteLikeANomad.com

John

PS Here’s the link to the actual journal article that they ran the story on. And remember, if you want to see how you create a remarkable press release from something like this, just sign up for my service. It’s a small investment that will pay you back big dividends in the long run…

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-women-weight-gain24-2010mar24,0,4377150.story?track=rss_

http://www.WriteLikeANomad.com

Follow this link to Take Advantage of Your 2 Free Weeks of Content:

www.WriteLikeANomad.com

This morning I got another email from a vendor who has been trying to sell me something through their email funnel.  I opted-in a few weeks back and I get about 2-3 emails per week.  This is fine with me.  I understand exactly what they are trying to do, except for one very important point.  It is plainly obvious to me that these emails have not been given the attention they deserve.  They lack substance, passion, and anything of true value.

In my opinion, everything you send out should hold at least some value on its own for your clients, prospects, and others in your personal network.  I’ll admit  that I’ve been guilty of the same myself at times in the past – but no more!  I value your precious time as a reader and follower of my work too much to waste it.  And I am certainly not interested in wasting my own time dolling out pure drivel in a weak attempt to make a sale.  I want your trust and respect and I need to earn it.  I, like you, also have only a limited amount of time in this life, and I don’t plan on wasting any more of it.

This mission is important, as pointed out by marketing expert David Meerman Scott in his recent blog post.  He makes the point that we’ve moved beyond the age of email broadcasts to huge lists.  In fact, as he points out in his story.  When you do that, you hurt your business more than help it.  In his story he shares a marketing email he received from American Airlines that should have never been sent to him if they were paying more attention to what they were doing.  You should read it, it’s a good lesson in the important of list segmentation.

So, if you’re strapped for time and looking for a means of creating more remarkable content for your fitness blog, your newsletters, etc. I encourage you to stay tuned to this blog and the launch of my new membership site.  I just approved the final art today and in about two weeks I hope to go live.  This site, and my career as a fitness professional will continue to move in a more powerful direction of creation starting right now.  The creation of a mountain of content designed to make your life better and more productive as a fitness pro and beyond.

If you’d like a two week sample of the kind of content I’ll be creating for you, you can try it for FREE by going right now to WriteLikeANomad.com.  I’ve left some for you there.

Before you finish spending time on this blog post today, I also highly encourage you to check out the Khan Academy.  This guy is awesome, and a perfect example of what I’m talking about.  More about him later.  For now, I’ll save you some time so that you can go see what he’s doing.  It’s a great example of what just one person can do to change the world in today’s information age.

The really cool thing about what this guy is doing is that he’s doing it all for FREE because he can, and most likely in the end, he will be a very wealthy man.

WriteLikeANomad.com

Be careful with your writing, it says more about you and your personal brand than you think…

To me, there’s nothing worse than writing that doesn’t flow.  Growing up and going to school I think I had a hard time concentrating, and staying focused on my work.  When I could concentrate, though, the stuff I really liked to read was the stuff that flowed.  The stuff that felt like it was speaking to me.

I have no formal training as a writer.  A couple of really good English teachers along the way, and a trip through graduate school got me going.  Now I write to live.  Literally, I do.  The process really helps me live my life.  It has become part of me, like breathing.  Because if I stop.  Well, you know what happens when you stop breathing…

There is one question I ask myself as I type every sentence, and then read the piece back to myself.  “How does this sound?”  If it sounds good and feels like it flows, then I know I’ve done a good job.  If it sounds and feels the same as if I had just explained it to you verbally, than I know I’m good.  That’s what works for me.  Does it always go perfectly?  Absolutely not.

Over the years I’ve developed a pretty good knack for nailing stuff pretty well on a first draft.  I’m grateful for this gift.  And that is really what my blogging is really all about.  It doesn’t have to be perfect, but remember, it better sound good.  This goes for your email broadcasts too.  People don’t expect them to be perfect, but it they don’t flow, and I have to work too hard to read them -  look out.  I may be pointing out your errors on this blog some day.

The email I received today contained a very good underlying client success story.  Unfortunately it was lost amidst the muck and mire of bad writing, bad punctuation, and bad proof-reading.  Read your writing back to yourself out loud before you send it out.  This will tell you a lot.  It was obvious with the email I received today that this was not done.  If it had been, I’m pretty sure I would have received a more polished finished product.

Everything I write isn’t perfect either, especially when I’m working fast to get an email broadcast or blog post out.  But man oh man, don’t let your stuff contain the stuff I read this morning.  Fragment sentences?  Punctuation in the wrong place?  Run-on sentences that start with one thought and end with a completely different one?  Please, watch yourselves.

Many of us are working with highly educated folks.  If you want them to read your stuff, and for that stuff to reflect well on you, make sure it flows.  The world, and your personal brand online will ALL be better as a result.

Now, I’m going to let this one sit, re-read it after a cup of coffee and then send it along to you.  I would love to know what you think.  You can leave your comments below…

John

More text goes here

The house idles on a Wednesday evening.  I can hear the hot water heater trying to catch-up with the evening dishes that have now been laid down to rest for the night.  I look forward to joining them soon…

Outside in the distance, just a few blocks from the living room window I can see that the lights from the outdoor hockey rink at the park are still burning.  Volunteers have gathered for their evening ritual of shoveling the surface and then spraying down a new layer that will be frozen long before morning.  I’m grateful for those who have dedicated their time to grooming the ice this year.  The kids and I have had a good time playing hockey and learning what natives have known for a long time.  The hockey is as pure as heaven itself.

Though I live with a dull ache that I did not possess last winter, I relish in my ability to move on the slick surface.  The discomfort is a small price to pay for the lift it provides to my spirit and the core of who I am.

This reminds me of a conversation I had this morning with my yoga teacher.  She eloquently described my innate body awareness as a treasure.  Thought at times this heightened sense of acuity can feel like a burden, I know it is not.  And I was glad to be reminded.

Those of us who have been chosen for this path know deep down how special this feeling is.  In fact, we connect with it so strongly that we make it our life’s work to share it with others.  The problem is, not everyone understands what we do.  Not everyone understands what we are trying to do.

One of the great ironies of my own work as a fitness professional is that sometimes clients become disenchanted with the relationship and they depart quietly into the night, like the last flicker from the light around the hockey rink.  They reach a point where they simply cannot find a way through the obstacles that are keeping them from knowing what I know, from feeling what I feel.  Very often this is only fear.  And instead of embracing it, they cower, go away frustrated and often angry directly at me, their coach.

This is OK with me.  I am much more concerned about being respected, than liked.  This is not a popularity contest.  And though I might be building close relationships with my clients, there comes a point where my job as a coach takes precedent.  This is where I earn my miles as a leader.  But only if I do the right thing.

I don’t and NEVER will sell myself out for anyone.  I won’t sacrifice my principles, my standards, and my intensity because I’m afraid it might turn people away.  I make a bonfire out of my reputation on a regular basis, because authenticity is what truly matters to me.  This is who I am, and this is what makes me a great coach.  And like it or not, this is what separates the champions of life.  Our clients are most likely never going to the Olympics, but that doesn’t mean they should be allowed to back-off on the pursuit of goals they earnestly told you they wanted to achieve.

The road to success in any venture is paved with hard work, hard choices, and hard lessons about what holds you back.  If you’re ready to face those lessons and embrace the fear, I’m right here with you.  But if you choose instead to work harder at justifying your limitations instead?  Well, that’s certainly your choice.  Just don’t expect me to accept them, because I NEVER will.  Even if that means you’re going away mad, frustrated and with me as your scapegoat.

Your Success is YOUR choice, not mine…

There is a concept that my yoga teacher has shared with me on more than one occasion – “Beginner’s Mind”

Learning to approach every moment in this way is a great form of renewal.  Otherwise, you will likely find yourself stuck in old patterns of reaction that are merely a product of old worn our belief systems.  Destroying and forgetting what you did before is what allows you to carry on and create new things.  A new life, a new project, a new business venture, or a new job.  Maybe even a new relationship with a loved one.

This is the essence of life.

During winter time, especially here in Wisconsin in February, it is often difficult to find that sense of renewal amidst the dead and frozen landscape.  And this makes it tough to see new life.  Even though it is there, only waiting for the sun to burn a little warmer so that it can rise.  The same holds true for your spirit.   Life and contentment reside within you ALL the time.  The challenge is in your ability to heat it up when it goes cold and lies dormant, often keeping you awake at night.

Tackling even a novel task that is new to you creates new synapses.  This is one of the reasons regular exercise is so good for you.  Your body is forced to renew during every workout, especially during your recovery.  And every one of those workouts brings fresh blood, oxygen, and nutrients to cells that were dormant until you moved them.  Every one of your new movements, thoughts, and actions, creates out of no where an electrical impulse that moves you.

Spring is coming, and I can sense my own need for renewal, and a deeply rooted drive to carry it forward like a running back into the end zone.  I don’t look forward to the hits I’ll take along the way, but there’s glory in the end and along thw way…

I highly encourage you to read this post, especially if you’re thinking about being a customer or client of mine in the future.  Regardless,  this post in particular is an important example of how to use your blog to do all of the following.  All of which are only possible by building a following of your blog through regular production of posts, announcements, etc.  All of which I spend time on daily.

Here’s what this post does…

1. It communicates very clearly my intentions for 2010, and at the same time provides a strong follow-up to the previous post I made about my New Year’s Resolutions and Goals

2. It’s a direct challenge to my clients and prospective clients and as such sets a strong tone for what is expected of them in their work with me

3. It’s somewhat personal and controversial which is always good for the online conversation.

Enjoy…

and Happy New Year!

John

PS  The new membership site I’ve been talking about is still in production.  As always, I’m pushing hard on many projects and the reality is that they can’t all get done at once.  This one, however, should be done by the end of January and I can’t wait to show it to you.

Click here to see the pictures – especially the one of me – you don’t want to miss it!

John