To YouTube or Not to YouTube. My Marketing Friends, What Do You Think?
A humble fitness trainer is asking for your advice
I read this viral article by Natasha Nichole Lake two days ago:
Natasha asked me which social media platform worked for my wellness business. I started writing a reply and found the comment was big enough for a story.
My best platform? Word of mouth
It started when I worked as a fitness trainer in Singapore. My students kept recommending me to their friends and family. I had a lot of clients and zero social media presence. My clients are still coming from my offline heritage.
Money has never been the #1 priority for my business. I earn enough money to make a living. Yet I could help more people with my training.
How about new clients?
I’ve yet to find a platform that works for my business.
I tried Facebook and got sick of it. A huge drain of time and money if you ask me. I could feel an emotional drain when I spend at least 2 hours a day on Facebook. Can I be consistent in the long run? Heck no!
I tried Instagram for a while as well. It’s a good platform for a certain kind of people. I see trainers doing OK if they pose shirtless and post a lot of before/after client photos. I didn’t feel I belong to Instagram.
I like Medium so far. Meaningful conversations, friendly audience. I love writing and can be consistent with it. Yet I tried to organize a Valentine’s Day Bootcamp and failed. It looked easy enough to write 150 words and get a 3-month training for free. It’s another mystery for me why it didn’t work. I’ll keep writing for my BootCamp column at New Writers Welcome without any business in mind.
Kristina God suggested I build my YouTube. It looks tempting, yet I’m hesitant:
Free fitness doesn’t work.
One of my colleagues in Singapore wanted to become a BootCamp trainer. She organized a group of people from her condo to train them in the open. They were happy to exercise for one month. At the end of the month, she asked them if they wanted to continue the next month, for a fee.
Everyone refused to pay to continue. These were people who lived in a condo that costs at least $1.3M to buy or several thousand a month to rent. They could afford couple hundred bucks a month. Why didn’t they?
I can see 2 issues with giving away classes for free:
- People can get used to freebies and take them for granted.
- If you invest your money, you commit time to protect your investment.
A free program means freedom from commitment. You pay the money, you want to get your money’s worth. The more you pay, the harder it is for you to give it up.
YouTube has some issues:
YouTube feels like an advertising platform rather than a content platform. I find double YouTube ads super annoying. I use AdBlock to shut them down for good on all family laptops. I try to minimize using YouTube on phones. I remember I put one some animal sounds 20-min clip for my kids. Guess what, they put a talking 35min advertisement in the middle. YouTube kids are even worse, as product placements are crazy.
I have some experience making both talking and workout videos. I made 20 live 15-min podcasts in my Facebook group before. I’ve produced 48 hours of 30-min classes to date. Yet giving them out for free without advertisement… What’s the point?
I have a lot of questions and no answers. I’m keen to try, yet I want to ask for your advice.
Dear Medium friends, could you advise me to YouTube or not to YouTube for my fitness business?
Kristina God, Dr Mehmet Yildiz, Dr Michael Heng, Sinem Günel, Sora Wong, Benjamin Swee, Bikash Burnwal, Agnes Davis, Illumination YouTube Coordinator, Bernice Puzon.
Thank you so much!
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