The rule of thumb with this Fitness Marketing law is to get into your prospect’s mind first. The first fitness marketing law, Law of Leadership, states one must be first in the marketplace. Does this mean the Law of the Mind cancels leadership? Not at all; It modifies it by saying it is better to be first in the prospect’s mind than it is to be first in the marketplace. Being first in the mind is the difference between marketing success and marketing failure. Being first in the marketplace is important, but to the extent that it allows you to get in the mind first.

The biggest waste of time in fitness marketing or any kind of marketing is trying to change the prospect’s mind. Information on a blog or website can be changed easily by typing over it or deleting the existing content but changing something in the prospect’s mind rarely happens.

Many entrepreneurs stumble over this law because they create what appears to be an awesome product and feel it will be a hit in the industry only to discover the opposite when the product fails because they did not get the idea or concept into the prospect’s mind.

An example of this is IBM versus UNIVAC. When one thinks mainframe computer, they think IBM. That is a brand name that stands out, right? But did you know UNIVAC by Remington Rand was actually the first mass produced mainframe computer and their first customer was the Census Bureau (1951). But IBM was smart by creating different categories and used a massive marketing strategy to get in the mind of the prospect first, thus squashing Remington Rand. IBM ended 2010 with $99.9 billion in revenue. The UNIVAC can be seen at the Smithsonian Institution!

Fitness Marketing or just plain old Marketing is a battle of perception, not product; therefore, the mind takes precedence over the marketplace. Many entrepreneurs think money is the answer to get into the prospect’s mind. Money is the expected solution, but often times it’s not the problem in marketing. Too many fitness businesses waste money on marketing. They sometimes spend millions to market a new product just to see it fail.

Xerox Corporation is an excellent example of money wasted on marketing. They were the first in copiers and then attempted the computer business spending $2 billion and 25 years and got nowhere. Why? Because once the consumer makes up his mind, it’s hard to change. People know Xerox as a copier and that’s what they like. They know IBM, Apple or Dell as computers because they were the first in the mind in this category. And Apple got started with a $91,000 contribution compared to the $2 billion Xerox spent.

Xerox tried to slowly worm their way into computers. This doesn’t work. You can’t worm your way into the prospect’s mind if you want to make a big impression. How often do you hear, “You only have once chance to make a first impression”? Once someone has an impression of who you are it’s pretty difficult to change that. So, with marketing you want to burst your way into their mind making a strong first impression.

Finally, consider the name of your product. Apple won the battle against five competitors launching personal computers at the same time because of their name. If you were presented with these five names, what would you choose: Apple II, Commodore Pet, IMSAI 8080, MITS Altair 8800 or Radio Shack TRS-80? Our brains are wired to remember what is simplest and easiest. Apple was creative in using their name to get into the prospect’s mind first.

Stay tuned for more Fitness Marketing. Next is Fitness Marketing Law #4 The Law Of Perception