Regardless of what profession you are in, it is critical that people believe that you know what you are talking about! You won't find very many successful lawyers whose clients never win in court, or popular doctors whose patients are continually misdiagnosed. This concept obviously applies to personal trainers as well, and making sure you are viewed as an expert in your field is as important as having
knowledge to begin with.It is helpful to be aware of simple fact that a person's perception is their reality, even if that perception is incorrect. Let's use example of doctor in above paragraph. If you heard through personal references that Dr. John Smith wasn't a very good doctor, chances that you would ever go see Dr. Smith are pretty slim. However, do you actually know for a fact that Dr. Smith is a bad doctor? No - you just have perception that he is a bad doctor because that is what you heard. Do you see how your perception is your reality, and how Dr. Smith is unlikely to be getting any of your business?
Your mission is to make sure that you are always viewed as an expert in your field! Otherwise you will end up like poor Dr. Smith, and your list of clients will be short indeed, as will life of your business. However, if you have done your job and created impression that you are an expert in your field, then opposite will hold true. People will have "heard" that you know what you are talking about, and your reputation and your business will grow as a result. In order to get to this desired end result, three effective ways for you to build your reputation include media exposure, writing books, articles, or success tips for your field, and approaching any given situation from a "position of power".
Media Exposure
The most common ways to get viewed as an expert using media exposure include news programming on television, magazine and newspaper stories, and radio time. Each of these methods has one thing in common: mass exposure via a publicly accepted system of obtaining information.
Consider this point from your own perspective. If you see an interview on news, read an article about a company in newspaper, or hear about a professional organization on radio, your natural instinct is to believe that company or organization has a firm grip on ins and outs of their product or service.
Why do you think that? Is it because radio program included a long list of professional references for company? Is it because magazine article listed a passing grade by a professional review board or other certifying agency qualified to judge advertised organization?
The answer to those questions is most likely "no". Why then do you believe in company's ability to provide product or service that is discussed? The answer is simple: because you were exposed to company via a publicly accepted system of obtaining information. Whether that system was six o'clock news, your local daily paper, or your favorite magazine, chances are that you believed what you read or heard simply because of WHERE you read or heard it!
Ideally, all consumers - including professionals such as yourself - would use other additional methods to determine qualifications of a company before purchasing their product or service, but in reality, does that happen very often? No, not really. Most people believe what they read and what they hear, and as a Fitness Professional, you can take advantage of that fact. Granted, you should not profess to be an expert if you aren't, but assuming that you really do know what you are talking about, use media to let others know, too!
Writing Books, Articles, and Success Tips
Comparable to "expert" status that is afforded a company based on their mass media exposure, a similar assumed professional status can be taken on by any company or individual that publishes written works in their field.
Refer back to power of mass media that is referenced above, and you will see a very similar effect generated by published works. If someone writes a book, publishes articles, or generates a regular flow of "success tips" in any given field, it is automatically assumed by reader that author of book, article, or success tip knows what they are talking about.
Is it true that author is an expert in their field just because they know how to write or type? Of course not! However, mass media phenomenon applies to published written works just as much as it applies to interviews done on news, in magazines, or on radio. The author is assumed to be proficient in field that book, article, or tip discusses, even though there is rarely indisputable evidence of writer's expertise included with written works.
Again, it is not being suggested that you write books, articles, or success tips unless you really do hold expert status in your field. However, since "assumptions of excellence" apply as much to written word as to audio and visual exposure, take advantage of that fact and write as much and as often as you can!
As a side note, writing is also an excellent way for you to enhance your own knowledge in your field. Frequently during process of writing a book or article, you are called upon to reference sources of your information, and gathering that type of information expands your own knowledge, as well as your understanding of how to find information for similar projects in future.
Assuming a "Position of Power"
