Why is LinkedIn so important? Well it’s easy, LinkedIn provides a very valuable database of business professionals, and as social media grows, so does the Corporate Social Responsibility of the professional world- giving us a little black book of high end importance. With more corporate professionals taking advantage of the LinkedIn platform, it offers access to individuals and groups who we perhaps could not interact with through other social networking sites or in our daily environment, such as political figures, CEO’s, business partners, sector leaders, council representatives and those looking for work opportunities.

This valuable target audience spends time networking on LinkedIn through engaging discussions stimulated by organisations or individuals in groups, who wish to build an authoritative presence and community around their purpose and expertise. Those with LinkedIn profiles act as an online breathing resume that gives us a summarised biography of in-depth professional information of those contacts that will be crucially substantial in developing your Personal Trainer awareness and equity.

1. Create a profile. Look into having a complete profile, because you aren’t limited within the network and it looks better to profile visitors. When creating your profile, concentrate on key words specific to the searches your target market are going to use when searching for your service credentials, and ensure all qualifications and experience is updated to appeal to all service users. Ensure your profile picture is professional and remember to be friendly-not cheesy- to expose your personality and person centred approach. Ensure you integrate your Barbull profile with LinkedIn to show you are a serious competitor in your industry with a dedicated webpage and network.
2. Add contacts relevant to you. Start with clients you work with regularly or have worked with previously, co-workers, tutors, gyms and fitness groups you have an association with and add them to your profile. These connections are what is going to increase your visibility and will work towards growing your client database and inevitably grow your business.
3. Ask for recommendations, as these will provide testimonials and case studies to individuals that will browse through your profile page. These will also feature in the recommender’s feed, showing all their connections that you are an endorsed physician. Give recommendations to your business connections too, it doesn’t need to be fitness related because you want to attract new clients-and new clients work in all areas of life-offices, teaching, hospitality ext. These will bulk up your reviews and Barbull status on your Barbull profile.
4. Cross promote recommendations and articles through all your social networks, categorising specific content for different social channels to target the contrasting audiences of the multiple social networks. Specifying a precise tone of communication with the professionals of LinkedIn will be different from the tone you use on Twitter as well as Facebook and so on, so keep this in mind when your sharing content and socialising in a business manner.
5. Join groups relative to the health and fitness sector, taking into consideration those groups that have been put together by fitness conscious communities to help build esteem and share tips. Also join professional groups with the intention to perhaps become the face of professional personal training amongst offices in your local town. Remember, brands like to do things for charity and that can circle sports related fundraising events-so it would also be beneficial to join sports groups and fundraiser groups too.
6. Join in on group discussions. Target those specific conversations your target audience may be active within, and look at starting your own conversations that will open opportunities for your audience to voice fitness related issues and experience. Then you can supply the advice that gradually coaxes leads into your services in a discussion rather than directly targeting your services to individuals with the chance of scaring them away. You can also post articles, videos and website content within these groups to further supply information and direct people towards your Barbull Profile.

With the consistent output of effective content and relative feeds, your profile is working to effectively bring a specific LinkedIn audience to you; giving you a substantial foothold within the delivery of your expertise. These are very useful features that will help you, as a personal trainer, to build an authoritative presence of thought provoking engagement and fitness initiatives.

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