Chris Fernandez

How to Distribute Your Fitness Press Release Once you have your personal trainer press release written and formatted, you will need to send it to all your local media contacts. Here are a few ways to get your press release out there:

• Your own list: You may have an in-house list of relevant publications that you've been gathering or keeping track of.
• Distribution service: you can use an online/offline distribution service to take care of the task of sending out your press release.
• In-person: This can include dropping off the fitness press release in person (not recommended!) or simply forwarding the release to the appropriate person for each of the media types that you are going after once you determine who the main contact is for your type of story.
• Your own website: This should be obvious, but put all of your press releases somewhere on your website or at the very least, links to them.
• More info: I found a great website that deals way more intimately with press releases than this post can cover, and in fact lists about 50 distribution websites that you can use to get your release out there. Here¡¦s the link.

Fees for the various distribution services range from free to several hundred dollars. Just bear in mind that distribution does not ensure a publication will run your story. However, having a newsworthy, interesting and correctly formatted fitness press release will help.

Quick Note: Be a persistent SOB! I can't tell you how many emails and follow up phone calls I did to get my press releases and stories about my business promoted in the local newspaper. You have to understand that these guys get bombarded by hundreds to thousands of press releases every single day!

In order to make it through the crowd -- aside from a catchy and relevant headline and ad copy -- is to be on their butts all the time! I mean you have to be relentless! If you aren't, then you might as well forget about getting real media exposure and just settle in a nice little comfort zone of getting the trickle of traffic you'll get from online sources and the potential backlinks from spiders finding your press release. But to really be effective, and give your personal training business the gift that keeps on giving, you must be relentless, persistent and patient all at the same time.

Quick Resources

Here are some resources that I have used and that you can use to submit your press release and get it out there, aside from just plain old persistence:

• http://www.free-press-release.com: This website allows you to create free press releases, but the paid options are way better because you get to choose your backlinks, have more control over the look and feel of the release and it is way more valuable. Prices range from $0 to $30 per release. But if you just want to dip your toes into the water, give it a try. It's easy, and quick and is done online so you'll get some search engine juice from it.
• http://www.prnewswire.com: PR Newswire is one of the largest and most well-known press release distributors. I will warn you though, a package with them can be expensive, BUT it will get your press release done right, and delivered into the correct hands. This is a higher end option, but the results could well be worth the added time and expense.
• http://www.prweb.com: This is a mid-level option, with a simple release starting at $80, going all the way to $360 per release with more options and html and backlinks to help your search engine optimization for your website. This is clean and simple way to get a higher end press release out there to the world that has more clout than the Free-Press-Release.com option.

There are many, many others out there, in fact you can get overwhelmed with all the choices, but I wanted to keep things pretty simple for you.

 If you want more choices, here's a great website for all things devoted to press releases and their entire list of press release distribution sites. Bear in mind that the above services do not guarantee that anyone of significance in the newsroom will see your release!

In fact some of the options are online-only, and never will cross the desks for important editors and reporters. For that you will need to manually submit your release to specific companies and news outlets in your local community where you want to ensure that they at least got your release, and then follow up with them like crazy.

Example Fitness Press Release:

Here' s a link to a press release I created using Free-Press-Release.com for this website when it went live not too long ago:

Fitness Marketing Blog Launches Aimed At Helping Personal Training Entrepreneurs Explode Their Business 

Chris Fernandez, B.S., CPT, has been a cutting edge author, speaker and celebrity personal trainer for over 12 years, as well as a natural for life bodybuilder, athlete and cross-trainer devoted to helping other personal trainers achieve lasting financial independence through his fitness marketing blog, System 5 and other products. View his full BIO here.

The Format of a Press Release Now we get the juicy stuff! You are ready to write your own press release and submit it to the world for publication and to start lining up some awesome interviews and TV/radio spots.

Well, before you get too excited, there are a few tried and true things you need to do to ensure the highest possibility of getting your press release read and reprinted.

Correctly formatting a press release isn't hard; however, it's important, especially in the age of digital distribution. When in doubt, use a press release template or mimic the format of a press release you find online. I also posted a press release online for my fitness marketing website that you can read by clicking here. Here are the necessary elements you need when creating your own fitness press release:

• Headline: This goes at the top of your fitness press release. Your headline should grab attention and be a snapshot of what your story is about. Use keywords (think web search engines) and an action verb. Capitalize Relevant Words in Your Title. DO NOT USE ALL CAPS. Some online press release services have limits on the number of characters that can be in a headline, typically between 80 and 100 characters, including spaces. If you go with a digital distribution service, be sure to check their specific requirements.
• Summary: The summary is a single paragraph (about three to five lines) that sums up the key points of the story and sells your idea. Some online venues will only display your headline and summary, so make these sentences count.
• The Body:

1. Dateline : This tells where the story originated and the date. It should look like this (City, State - Month 1, 2010).
2. Lead: This is the first paragraph of your story. It should cover the who, what, when, where and why of your story. In the event space is limited, this may be all the coverage you get, so the lead should give all the important facts.
3. Details: Further explain the details of your lead. Include statistics, background or other details to support your first paragraph.

A typical personal trainer press release should run about 300 to 800 words and be a minimum of two paragraphs, each made up of five to eight lines. Leave a blank line between each paragraph.

Make sure you us an active voice and write in third person, unlike this blog where I am writing you in the first person -- use he and they, instead of I and we. Make each word count and avoid industry jargon.

Try to think of an angle for your story -- thinking back to what I discussed above on what makes a story newsworthy. You can also include a quote after the first or second paragraph. Make sure the quote adds something to the story. It's also ok to quote yourself.

• About: The about section is a short statement about your business. For example: Bob Smith is a certified personal trainer and owner of Body Max Fitness in San Jose, CA. Body Max Fitness has been working with elite and professional athletes since 2006. More information is available by calling 555-555-5555 or online at www.BusinessName.com
• Media Contact Information: This section tells the reporter who to contact for more information. Include your company's legal name and the name and title of the contact person if it isn't you.Also include the business address, phone and fax numbers (if applicable), times the contact person is available, email and web site address.

If you are sending your press release for online use, be aware that spiders may collect your email address and bombard you with spam -- this is a big problem! You can eliminate this from happening by omitting your email address or formatting like this: bob at yourbusiness .com.

Chris Fernandez, B.S., CPT, has been a cutting edge author, speaker and celebrity personal trainer for over 12 years, as well as a natural for life bodybuilder, athlete and cross-trainer devoted to helping other personal trainers achieve lasting financial independence through his fitness marketing blog, System 5 and other products. View his full BIO here.

Why Bother Creating a Fitness Press Release?  There are many reasons why you should be putting out press releases left and right the minute anything potentially newsworthy or interesting happens in your fitness business. As well as being a cost-effective (basically free) form of promotion, having news about your business appear in the media adds credibility to your venture, not to mention loads of potential traffic and personal training leads!

Here are just a few reasons why you need to be creating fitness press releases:

• Credibility/Social Proof: In your mind, which holds more weight -- a newspaper ad for a new product or a news story about the product? Which do you feel would have more pull with your potential clients -- a copy of your magazine ad in the gym, or a copy of a magazine interview with you (maybe even with your picture)?
• Media Exposure: If one local news agency picks your story up -- say on how you are helping a local charity raise money through a workout-a-thon or something similar -- the odds of other media outlets picking up the story increase dramatically. This can only be a good thing for you!
• Traffic/Leads: Here's the beauty of the world we now live in: You can post your fitness press releases online and also submit them through traditional means directly to editors and reporters. What this does it take advantage of the time and effort that you spent creating the press release by allowing your website to gain free backlinks and traffic exposure from the web, while also increasing the chances that other websites, blogs and local websites find your press release! You kill 3 birds with one stone, and help your main website rise in the search engine rankings!
• Content: This might be a little less obvious but goes along with the "Credibility/Social Proof" aspect. You can store all of your past press releases in a special "Media" section of your website and take advantage of basically creating free content for visitors to read when they visit your site, and giving search engines more keyword-focused content within your website to spider and track for overall search engine optimization for your fitness business! Not to mention the "cool" factor that you as a personal trainer or fitness business owner actually have a "media" page to begin with showing off all the cool things you've been up to!

Getting the Press to Pay Attention To Your Fitness Press Releases You can write a press release about anything -- your latest achievement (such as a business anniversary or winning an award), an event, a new product or service or adding a new personal trainer to your fitness team.

In fact, if it were up to me, I would have you writing a press release for all of these events all of the time for the very reasons that I talked about above. The trick is getting the media to pay attention to your news. Making sure your story is newsworthy is key. It's also important to make sure your press release fits the publication you are submitting it to and that your release makes it easy for reporters to do their jobs.

Here are a few guidelines to getting your press release read by the media:

• Make It Newsworthy: The most critical factor to consider before writing a fitness press release is determining if the story is newsworthy. Things that make a story worth publishing are:
  • Timeliness - did your news happen recently or is it connected to a current event? o Significance/prominence - are you training high-profile clients? Did you land a noteworthy corporate wellness contract?
  • Location - is your fitness product or personal training service accessible to the publication's readers?
  •  Relevance - does your story fit and makes sense in the publication?
  • Usefulness/impact - will your story educate someone or help them make a lifestyle change?
  • Interesting (human interest) - what is unique and interesting about your business, event, cause, etc.?

While all these things play a part in determining newsworthiness, the bottom line is to make sure your story will be interesting and useful to the publication's readers, and again not be overly promotional to the extent that it reads like spam or loses its legitimacy.

• Make it Fit

Another part of getting the media to pay attention to your news is to make sure it fits the publication. While news of your fitness boot camp might be newsworthy for both a web site catering to winter athletes and a women's lifestyle magazine, chances are, you would make minor changes in your press release to make it relevant to the very different audiences that read these publications. This can be as simple as changing your quotes or examples.

Here are a few examples:

-The Body Max Fitness Boot Camp can help extreme sports enthusiasts reach new heights in fitness and can make the trip down the mountain faster and safer.

-The Body Max Fitness Boot Camp can help women take off inches, tone thighs and bellies and improve overall health and stamina.

To make sure your message is tailored to the readership of each publication, it may be helpful to look over the publication (or their web site) before you write. In fact, when you submit a press release to a particular writer, blogger, reporter or editor, make sure you know a little bit about them first, their writing style, what they like to write about and the topics that they typically cover. Nothing makes you look more foolish or amateurish than sending a generic or poorly formatted press release or message to an editor that caters towards local women's health issues, while your release is about male bodybuilding! Ouch…good luck getting them to write anything about your personal training business when you didn't even take the time to find out what they do!

Quick Tip: As you go about your daily routine, make note of what kinds of stories you see in the publications around you.

Does your local newspaper run stories about new businesses? Does the senior-focus magazine in the waiting room have stories on fitness? What are your potential clients reading? What kinds of stories run in those publications?

•  Make it Easy: Another part of getting the media to run your personal trainer press release is to make it easy for them.

For example:

• Correctly formatting your press release
• Spelling counts: Since some media outlets may print your press release "as is," you need to make sure the story is well written and error-free.
• Including a photograph will help a press release get published. Make sure the photo is of good quality, interesting and relevant. Clearly identify the action and each person in the photo. Be sure to have permission on hand from each person pictured.

If sending a press release via email, make sure each image is less than 1 MB, and don't include more than 3 MB's of attachments. Print publications require high-resolution images (3000 dpi), so if your hi-rez image size exceeds one MB, send a low-rez version and make the hi-rez version available as a download from your web site.

Chris Fernandez, B.S., CPT, has been a cutting edge author, speaker and celebrity personal trainer for over 12 years, as well as a natural for life bodybuilder, athlete and cross-trainer devoted to helping other personal trainers achieve lasting financial independence through his fitness marketing blog, System 5 and other products. View his full BIO here.

Do you know how to write a fitness press release, or why you should be writing them all the time for your personal training, boot camp or fitness business?

I'm talking about all the time!

The problem is, most personal trainers have no clue -- none -- about how fitness press releases work, the reasons why they should be writing them all the time, and exactly how to create and distribute them for maximum effect and benefit to build their businesses.

How can creating and submitting a fitness press release further your marketing efforts, your business reach and increase the number personal training clients you get?

Well, like the human bodies that we train, a fitness marketing plan has a lot of parts.

While some parts of your personal training marketing do the heavy lifting, other parts of your marketing plan are there to support your current efforts or to perform a specific task.

Such as the fitness press release.

When activated properly, a press release can be a powerful and cost-effective part of your fitness marketing strategy -- both online and off -- and increase not only your credibility and exposure, but also your bottom line.

What Is a Fitness Press Release?

In its most basic form, a press release does the specific task of letting reporters, news agencies, blogs and websites know about your business or about something in particular that is currently newsworthy within your business.

Simply put, you write a news story about your personal training business and send it out to newspapers, magazines, web sites and even radio and television stations. From there, these media outlets have the option of picking up your story and spreading it to their readers or listeners.

There are many ways that you could structure a press release -- I'll show you a basic outline below for your own personal trainer press release -- but essentially a press release is a statement of fact that reads like news, not self-promotion or hype.

Sure, there can be some elements of self-promotion tastefully done within the release, but if you resort to hype or unsubstantiated claims in a press release, your odds of being picked up by any credible media source are next to zero.

In the end, remember that the job of the press release is to inform someone in the media of something newsworthy.

Therefore, make sure that your press release adds something of value to the media and their audience.

For example, if you are creating a fitness press release on a new cardio program that you just launched in your local community, an editor at a community newspaper might very well be interested in this for the health and wellness section of their paper, provided what you are doing is interesting, has value and adds to their reader's experience. I'll go into more detail on how you accomplish this later on.

Chris Fernandez, B.S., CPT, has been a cutting edge author, speaker and celebrity personal trainer for over 12 years, as well as a natural for life bodybuilder, athlete and cross-trainer devoted to helping other personal trainers achieve lasting financial independence through his fitness marketing blog, System 5 and other products. View his full BIO here.