Jennifer Dawson “completely and utterly hated” blogging.
“But when Chris Cooper says to do it, I do it, 110 percent.”
In a saturated Colorado market (“there are three gyms in the tiny building I lease”), Dawson reported that her Facebook ads were getting little traction. Dawson decided to give Two-Brain Business’s 30-day Blogging Challenge the old college try.
“My motivation for blogging was to get people through the door,” she said.
Building an Audience
The gym owner set her sights on her ideal client: the younger or older person who lacks self-confidence and might feel intimidated in a typical gym. Dawson has long been going to bat for the underdog.
“I’m extremely empathetic. … I despise it when others take advantage of people,” she said.
She’s built her gym, Northglenn Health & Fitness, into a friendly, welcoming place where people can grow their confidence.
For the challenge, she drew inspiration from interactions with her clients.
“After their first workout, everybody is like, ‘How did I do?’” Dawson said. “It’s this fear that people have, so I wrote about that.”
Other posts highlight coaches and put individual members on a pedestal, celebrating their Bright Spots. In another post, Dawson recalls how losing her mother gave her clarity on what’s really important.
Her first attempts were a slog: “It would take me four hours to write a blog,” she remembered.
Dawson scheduled in writing every day, regardless of how she was feeling. She obsessed over keywords and SEO, with an aim of getting her blog in front of as many eyes as possible.
When a woman left a comment on one of her posts, Dawson was chuffed.
“My first comment—that was so cool.”
Shortly thereafter the same woman made an appointment, and Dawson sealed the deal: $1,400 in new front-end revenue for private training.
Later, that same client confided to Dawson: “You’re doing a great job of speaking to people like me.”
“I was like, ‘Oh my God, thank you—because that’s our goal.’ I thought, ‘Wow—this is working.’”
Gym Blogging: Faster and Better
Thirty days later, writing a post takes Dawson only half an hour. She’s carving out an editorial calendar (Member Mondays, Technique Tuesdays) and bringing her husband—a coach at her gym—into the process.
“I eventually would like to have the content done a week ahead of time—I’m not quite there yet,” she said.
To those who still think that blogging has nothing to do with running a profitable business, Dawson has a few choice words.
“I would say, if I can steal from Nike, just do it,” she laughed.
She’s confident committing to 30 days of content will produce results.
“After 30 days, you can come back and say, ‘Told you so—didn’t work.’ … But that’s not going to happen.”
Other Media in This Series
The Catchiest Title of All Time (Content Marketing)
Starting the Conversation
Newletters Are Dead (Here’s the Replacement)
