Recently, I took the time to appeal to three people in
connection with the fitness industry to discuss the potential for my
application idea, FitIn. The three people I got in contact with were:
1.
Domain Expert: Cathy via an *unnamed* social
media marketing company
a.
Female, Age: 21, Social Media manager
b.
Friend – have already discussed interest with
the use of social media in marketing and advertising services.
c.
I asked this person to give me a rundown of how
it is to operate and manage social media platforms and accounts; included
questions about advertising costs and marketing strategies.
d.
This person allows me to gain insight of social
media management which would be important tips to pass onto future management
for moderators of the future application.
2.
Expert in the Market: Bethany via LinkedIn customer
support
a.
Female, 34, Marketing and Communications
Assistant Director
b.
Referred by customer service – called and was told
they could leave a message for the participant. Participant then called back to
schedule a phone call.
c.
Asked the participant to assess ways to target
specific brands and people to join in communities along with retention
strategies.
d.
This participant allowed me to understand ways
to target specific brands and influencers without being too pushy. She would be
great as a mentor for marketing strategies.
3.
Supplier: Mark via Bodybuilding.com
a.
Male, 40, Supply Chain Manager
b.
Sent an email through online support and was
given the email of the participant. These emails led to a phone call.
c.
Asked the participant about costs of shipping
and wholesale distribution along with usage of this information via an online
market.
d.
Participant gave hard numbers of volumes and purchase
numbers of certain products to let me evaluate how big of a load the
application is attempting to handle.
This experience definitely allowed
me to be more comfortable with almost “cold-calling” representatives of a field.
I had to do my research and even then, eight of my emails to “professionals”
within interested fields were ignored. This approach taught me to keep on
trying as eventually, with a good enough idea, you can catch the interest of
anyone.
You definitely gathered information from key sources in the fitness industry and this will help your business grow. And the fact that you were able to push through the ignored emails and not take no for an answer will really help your future networking skills. Did any of these people give you any ideas on how to make yourself stand out in the growing world of fitness?
ReplyDeleteThe three contacts you made sound like they all will be beneficial to your social network and will be helpful to you to launch your fitness app. You were certainly persistent in researching and contacting the appropriate people you needed to connect with. I found that already knowing someone in a field that pertains to your business idea, like your Domain Expert, is a definite advantage.
ReplyDeleteThe people you selected to interview were all relevant to your business idea. I think that the social media marketer will be crucial to the exposure that your business receives. The networking moves you made are good ones for the future. The fitness industry is always evolving, so who knows? maybe you could capitalize. Retention seems to be the name of the game concerning profits.
ReplyDelete