BtGB: Unofficial Facebook Page now goes Official

[ASForum]

UPDATE:

BtGB: Unofficial Facebook Page now goes Official

Coach has taken on the Unofficial Fan Page and its now official under Coach's supervision

http://www.facebook.com/GymnasticBodies

Congrats Coach & BtGB - An official welcome to Facebook

I pray this helps more people get word of the amazing knowledge you are sharing here.

Maybe we could move & use this thread for peoples thoughts about & feature requests on the Facebook page

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So if you ever want to tell friends or spread the word.. Facebook.com/GymnasticBodies

BtGB - UnOfficial Facebook Fan page. Since there wasnt one...

I created it

May go official once Coach / Mods approve .

http://www.facebook.com/GymnasticBodies

I request Coach and / or some of the Mods: Ido, Blairbob, Slizz etc to join the page and become Admins

PS: Let me know when you join which are your Facebook Ids

Next in line.. a sample prototype for a GB & BtGB Wiki: For whats learned on the forums & Errata -

- Hopefully when its approved by Coach.

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Update:

For now, its there on the Facebook World with minimal information and linking to GB site / forums.

Lets us SHOW OUR CIRCLES of people we like GB/BtGB and let them follow on from Facebook to GB

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[Blairbob]

Personally, I would hold up do anything on it till it is approved by Coach.

There was a sticky with all the posted articles by Coach but creating another one of training advice is a good idea. Associating it outside of the site...I dunno.

[Cole Dano]

In addition to what BlairBod said, i just don't have time for Facebook on top of this forum.

As a way of generating leads to the site its OK, but as a place for us to get together and talk, i'm more than happy with the forum.

[ASForum]

In addition to what BlairBod said, i just don't have time for Facebook on top of this forum.

As a way of generating leads to the site its OK, but as a place for us to get together and talk, i'm more than happy with the forum.

Not for discussions over there. The forum is perfect. This is BtGB World.

It just a Pointer / Fan Page outside towards the BtGB World.

A lot of people put BtGB as a favorite book in their FB profiles and it came up as "un-created" LIKE without specifc info.

I just "pressed a button" the create it as an ENTITY in the FB World.. (which is pretty big given that Google is now scared).

More than anything its just an I LIKE / FAN PAGE to let people in the outside world know about BtGB

[Cole Dano]

Interesting, you should ask Coach Sommer if its ok to update with seminar info, for example the upcoming Mallorca one.

It is certainly a good way to get the word out, we use it for my studio as well. Thankfully my wife who loves facebook does the updates. I was on Facebook for a month, but its not my cup of tea.

[Coach Sommer]

Please give me a breakdown of the advantages of having a Facebook page.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

[Razz]

The amount of fans possible to get from a facebook page is probably unbeaten by any other website in the world. Charles Poliquin and Ido both keep Facebook pages to some extent and with great success I believe. I know I love checking out Ido's trainings on FB.. inspiring!

Basically it has to be today's #1 place for spreading the word about almost anything.. including making commercials.

[Cole Dano]

Its essentially free, grass roots advertising.

The way a fan page works, to the best of my knowledge, is a person becomes a fan, and his friends see this, check out the site and if they like it also become fans.

the more i think of it the more i think for GB its a great fit. At least if there is someone like Crash who is overseeing the basic upkeep, which isn't much.

My studio also uses it as a way to put out up to the minute information about workshops etc. as

Some people that are on Facebook don't sign up for our newsletter, so we cover more bases.

[Razz]

It's free easy advertising, everytime something is posted on the page it will pop up on every fans homepage so that way many people will get news (fx. about a new seminar or new interesting video etc.), also people who normally wouldn't be browsing all over the forum.

[Alex Dienaar]

Indeed, it's a great way to get new people to the forums. Facebook pretty much connects everyone (and let's friends see friend's updates/posts/likes).

- Lead generation, attracting new people to the site.

- Quick way of promoting things and having alot of people seeing it. (Charles Poliquin uses this alot with his supplement/PICP courses).

- Spreading information (like general tips, hints)

It's mostly used as a side thing, with a main site (like this forums for example) as a homebase for everything, with Facebook as a place to let people know something happened (without keeping it in the limits of the forum.)

The major power is the relative ease in which people can find the fan page, and how simple it is to subscribe and spread it.

For example; A new article is posted on the forums (or an extremely insightful message or awesome video), a link gets put on Facebook and then you get the potential that alot of people see it (compared to the current mailing list for example).

An example of the results of a well-used Facebook page is Charles Poliquin's page.

Social media like FB and Twitter are the current gold for advertising. Hope I could help out a bit with this post.

...Wait, everyone has pretty much said this already >< Sorry for the redundancy

[Joshua Naterman]

Please give me a breakdown of the advantages of having a Facebook page.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

It's pretty much as everyone has said... any time anything happens on the GB face book page, not only does every friend of GB see it but all of THEIR friends can see the activity as well. Then more people friend GB, and the growth continues. A simple blurb about the WODs and anything else going on is more than enough to attract attention. From there people will self-select themselves to join the forums if they so choose.

Facebook has essentially become the new village gossiper. And, with the breakdown of face to face communication between friends these days, I think that's an important function. The fact that it is free and insanely popular is just the icing on the cake. There are very few things in life that can give you so much for so little. Nancy and I are currently working on getting something going as well, as soon as she finishes a few other projects we'll start working on another site that will end up generating a lot of interest in the GB program and forums, just as my youtube videos do. I haven't done any promoting at all and I have almost 400 subscribers. Crazy. Not a lot, but if even 10% buy the books and get involved here that's 40 new members that are able to get the fitness results that they want, all from me enjoying this program and putting my own experiences out there. Imagine the possibilities if some of us seminar attendees start getting on facebook and twitter, describing our own unique experiences and promoting each other... It is not unreasonable to think that this program could truly become a positive life-changing experience for many, many people. All without ever sacrificing the quality of the community.

[Scott Malin]

Poliquin became so successful because his page was a full mini-site where he posted a ton of material and spent time daily interacting with fans. However, you notice he's backed away from it, created private forums for PICP/Biosig coaches, and most of his new content generation is on his main site. From what I see, it was more about business growth than anything. Granted, educating people while getting them to invest a few bucks is Charles' thing...I can't count how many times I read an article being blown over by what I learned only to get to the supplement pitch at the end. GB doesn't really have the same goal, so I don't know if it's a good model. Plus, it was a notable time sink for Charles, even when you do count the tips typed up by a staff member. Ido simply has a normal friend page; and he has everyone add him then gives the occasional status update on events or his training.

I could see the BtGB fan page working well as a gateway page: links to articles on here, 2-3 of the more flashy youtube skill videos, updates on events, a handful of pictures from the seminar. The main idea being that we get people to jump to this site rather than spending much time on the facebook page. Enough content to get them over here and not much more. For example, maybe a WOD link to here, but not the WOD and video itself.

[Joshua Naterman]

Oh absolutely. I would either put the actual WOD up(with none of the all-important notes at the bottom of each WOD) or say "dynamic pull day" or whatever the theme is, and "for help understanding exercises and the full WOD instructions click here. *link*" People can't do anything without the book really, and I think it would generate honest interest. "front lever pull? What's THAT?" I don't know. I'm hungry and not at my best right now, but I think that something along those lines is smart. Obviously, it has to be a lot more refined than that.

I definitely picture the fan page as being more of a simple portal to this site. Generate interest through having links that catch the eye and bring people in, from articles to workouts, and announce new product releases and perhaps notable member accomplishments!

I think marketing is a good thing as long as you are marketing the quality of your product within the constraint of maintaining or increasing the quality. Once marketing starts focusing on maximizing revenue through SALES you start losing quality immediately. Just look at what has happened to Cross-fit. That's what we want to avoid here, and that's fairly simple to avoid the way I see it. As long as money or market share(which is essentially the same, since more market share = more money) is never the primary goal there will never be a problem. We are not a publicly held entity and should never become one. The GB program should always be kept how it is, with anyone wanting to really be a part of spreading it first being required to physically reach certain milestones in their own training. You can not be an effective resource for training if you do not have the first hand experience to share with people in at least attaining a fairly high level of basic strength. This requires both book knowledge AND the mental adaptation that it takes to be successful with long-term training, especially when low-leverage positions and movements are involved.

Despite perhaps not sharing all the same goals, one thing seems to be common between GB and Poliquin: Both are focused on producing the highest quality product. Sure, Poliquin has a ton of supplements and he believes very strongly in their usage. At least he goes out of his "whey" to offer the highest quality he can. Here at GB, all the products from the rings and book to the seminars are of the highest possible quality, as is the information coming from Coach. It is that similar focus on excellence that creates a very loyal fan base and also keeps the products honest. I know Poliquin steps out on a lot of limbs and to many he sometimes dives right off the edge into the "deep end" but he doesn't do so to make billions of dollars, he does so in the pursuit of whatever training modalities he thinks can produce the ultimate results for HIS athletes. While many may not agree with many of his assertions and ideas, it is hard to argue that he doesn't produce incredible results, and I think it is impossible to argue that he is not single-mindedly devoted to excellence in training. To me, that is admirable, and I see the same basic quality here. The GB community as a whole tends to lift its members up and seeks to produce the absolute best and safest results out of our chosen training modality(ies). That is why I spend so much time and energy here.

[Scott Malin]

Agreed. I'm not knocking Charles at all, just comparing what he did on facebook versus what's useful/practical for GB.

[Joshua Naterman]

Fair enough!

It will certainly be different, that's for sure.

[ASForum]

Since I brought this up Coach. Here's my 2 cents

Its the next gen in terms of... you got to have one.. phone > fax > email > website / blog > etc...

If you have enough of a web presence (via Google) you want that presence reflected, even if a minimal manner.. on facebook.

After Google, IT IS.. the next big thing. Probably already is..

Coach for you... - Its viability & functionality lies in a range from ...

STATIC & LIMITED POINTER to the Forums / BtGB products / Coaches Articles & Training Fundamentals:

to

DYNAMIC & FREQUENT PUBLIC BROADCASTER: of Information.. Frequency, Quantity & Variety can be chosen..

The obvious question is based on your & the Moderators here's time on hand, where in between the above TWO you would want to be... to start with and go towards as you find 'easy & automated' ways of "flowing" info or "LINKS to INFO" from GB Site & Forums

Like anything else... Google, Youtube. Its a place that you SHOULD... have a pointer.

QUICK & CLEAR BENEFITS:

- It gives us a quick way / gating mechanism to SHARE & RECOMMEND ... BtGB (Philosophes, Forum, Articles & Products) to PEOPLE IN OUR SOCIAL CIRCLES... NOT ON THE FORUMS.

ISSUES:

- Given Coach's time & commitments I'd say its best not to distract him with too much of FB stuff ASAP.

- It might be possible to Link GB's Youtube to the FB page.. (effortless media updates)

- Possibilites remain endles..

INITIAL SUGGESTIONS:

- Do less.

- Just create a few pages / links to the RIGHT INFO ... on the BtGB site & Forums..

CAUTION:

- Do not create a "Discussion" functionality there..

- Let it simply be a POINTER to the SOURCE INFO.. & MAYBE BROADCASTER as needed.

[Joshua Naterman]

Very good presentation!

[ASForum]

For now, its there on the Facebook World with minimal information and linking to GB site / forums.

Lets us SHOW OUR CIRCLES of people we like GB/BtGB and let them follow on from Facebook to GB

UPDATED:

http://www.facebook.com/GymnasticBodies

[ASForum]

Very good presentation!

Thanks Slizz -

Facebook Page now has a Easy PAGE NAME - URL Name

http://www.facebook.com/GymnasticBodies

So if you ever want to tell friends or spread the word.. Facebook.com/GymnasticBodies

[ASForum]

UPDATE:

BtGB: Unofficial Facebook Page now goes Official

Coach has taken on the Unofficial Fan Page and its now official under Coach's supervision

http://www.facebook.com/GymnasticBodies

Congrats Coach & BtGB - An official welcome to Facebook

I pray this helps more people get word of the amazing knowledge you are sharing here.

Maybe we could move & use this thread for peoples thoughts about & feature requests on the Facebook page