Fitness Connect from IDEA is something I feel all of us Group Fitness Professionals and Fitness Studio owners need to jump on soon. I'm scheduling an interview with IDEA's head of business development for a future Podcast. In the mean time if you are an Indoor Cycling Instructor with a Spinning® or other certification, Group Fitness Instructor, Personal Trainer or you own or manage a Fitness Club or Studio here are a few thoughts about why I feel you need a profile there.
1) Rise above the noise and be found by standing on IDEA's shoulders. The internet is an enormous place. Search engines sift through billions of web pages in their effort to deliver a relevant result to what could become your next client, member or student. Your profile on Fitness Connect has a much better chance of being displayed because www.ideafit.com is seen as a respected source by Google and other search engines.
2) Customers demand transparency and verification. Here in the USA there is a service called CarFax. A potential car buyer can get a detailed vehicle history report from their nationwide database within seconds that identifies if the car has been in a prior accident or a history of mechanical problems. Fitness Connect will do the same. If you are accredited by a national organization your Professional Profile will prove you have the credentials you claim. More importantly it will force your competitors to do the same. Verification is not currently available for any of the major Indoor Cycling programs.
3) It could become your personal website. Check out my page www.ideafit.com/profile/john-macgowan It took me about 15 minutes to set it up and I love how my name is part of the address URL.
4) Use it to start your own small group training business. Fitness Connect is all set up for you to manage your own Fitness Business. Let's say you have a group of loyal Indoor Cyclists that have no outdoor experience. You see an opportunity to lead a beginner ride one evening a week. What stops many of you from taking this step is; "how would I charge and collect my fees?" "my club won't allow me to do this." "what about insurance?" Fitness Connect has everything in place to create your event; "Four Week Beginner Outdoor Cyclist Training" promote it and then have your attendees register and pay for the event through ideafit.com. This feature is only available for IDEA members, $89.00 per year. IDEA also has the best Liability Insurance for Fitness Professionals that I'm aware of.
I will let you know when I have the interview set.
Originally posted 2010-08-09 12:00:45.
John is a member on the AFS (Association of Fitness Studios) Advisory Council.
Holding certifications from; Schwinn, Heart Zones, Team ICG and Life Time Fitness, John's held regularly scheduled cycling classes between 1998 and 2015 when he moved to Florida.
When the weather permits, you'll find him riding and leading outdoor groups by himself or with his Tandem partner (wife) Amy.
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I too think it’s fantastic and will be setting one up as well. Maybe we should develop an “ICI Approved” indoor cycling instructor category?! 😉
I will get Heather, our new Education Coordinator working on that ASAP.