This past weekend I was strolling through one of my favorite places in the world – the Ithaca Farmers Market.  The market is this great place filled with happy people, foods from around the world, local artisans and to top it all off… it’s right on the water.

I love everything about it.  One of my favorite things to do on a sunny Saturday morning is to get a cup of coffee and a crepe, grab a seat on the dock, and people watch.

Enough About Me…

But enough about that.  Lets get on to what this post is all about – what fitness business owners can learn from a 59 year old wood carver.

Mary is the wood carver’s name.  She’s at the market every weekend.  Her booth holds her wood carvings for sale.  The cool thing about Mary though… is while people are admiring her work… she’s actually creating her next piece of work right there in the booth!

So you can watch her work – which is absolutely amazing.  There’s a video of her down the page, but it doesn’t give justice to seeing this woman carve and slice her way through a piece of wood.

Mary Restored My Hope in Small Business Owners Because She “Got It”…

So I stopped by to admire her work and watch her carve away.  She noticed I was there and said hello.  And then she said something that made me grin from ear to ear.  Her exact words were “Please take my business card or you can just Google ‘Mary Woodcarver Ithaca’ or better yet sign up here and I’ll friend you through Facebook.”

I am always talking about building a community of raving fans through your website and social networks.  But honestly… sometimes I think people think I am crazy in asking them to push their fitness business to the next level by using technology.

But then this little 59 year old woodcarver restores all my hope.  If Mary has a solid website and Facebook page, don’t you think your fitness business should have them as well?  In all honesty, people are more likely to search for fitness related information than a local woodcarver.

YouTube, E-Newsletter, Happy Buyers…

Mary does a wonderful job with everything she does.  She shows how intricate her work is by actually doing it right there in front of you, her website has a YouTube video of her working on a piece, she has an e-newsletter, she has a Facebook page, she ranks on the first page of Google, and she even has a page called “Happy Buyers” which has quotes from her customers.  Think Success Stories for your fitness business.

She has all the information someone would need to know about her, her works and her services right on her website.  I would definitely get a better design, but the over all thought to grasp is Mary’s ability to draw the prospect in… educate them about her work and then when they’re ready to buy… they will.

What About Your Fitness Business?

Is your fitness business utilizing technology?  Do you have a website that draws targeted visitors?  Engages them?  Pre-sells them?

If not, what is stopping you?  In today’s business world it is critical to have an online presence that uses video, audio, images, conversational pieces (blog) and more.  It may seem overwhelming, but don’t let it be.

I make it super simple to get started.  Check out InControl Websites for more information.  There’s no reason to not utilize technology.  Even Mary the woodcarver agrees!

More About Mary Michael Shelley…

Here’s a video from Mary and her website: http://www.maryshelleyfolkart.com