The End of Joey Atlas???

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---->>> I Dont Think So !!

But it was a passing thought last week & then I just laughed it off and moved forward.

Here is how the thought came about.

Most of you may remember me mentioning the launch of the 'Fit For The Holidays' - 2006 Fitness Coaching program just a few weeks ago - many of you raised your hands & sent emails to say "Joey, count me in if you offer the program."

Well, with the big response from so many people wanting this type of coaching for this Holiday season - It was something I decided I would offer & was really looking forward to it - as it is obviously one of the most 'fitness challenging' times of year.

Anyway, I put together the website for it - http://www.HolidayFitnessSuccess.com & as I promised, I sent notice to all Joey Atlas DVD Clients/Customers first, to give first chance at the 96 spots that were open for this prorgam...

- and then I sent notice to the entire Secrets of a Trainer e-newsletter subscriber list because there were still about 2/3 of the spots left open - which sort of puzzled me - but I moved forward.

So - there were 96 spots available.
- about 6,000 customers emailed
- about 67,500 subscribers emailed

- all 96 spots should have been filled based on these numbers alone - but knowing how many people gave an early indication of interest in this type of program - told me that it would fill up very quickly.

To my surprise - when all was said and done - not even half the spots had been taken.

Now - after brainstorming the program, putting the website together, outlining the content, figuring out all the logistics and sending out all the emails - and then having only a handful of people sign up - the old Joey would have been cursing Brooklyn style and I'd have kicked at least one desk upside down... & the cursing and all that goes with it would have lasted about a day or two.

But the old Joey wasn't around - the new Joey was here...

I had an idea about what had been happening as all of this was unfolding - so I decided to follow my hunches... (I just got up to make my early afternoon CoCoChino - I'll tell you what this is in the future.)

I'm back ->> For internet based writers and marketers - email deliverability is a very big problem. Spam filters & email blockers have minds of their own - and emails we dont want to receive get thru, while junk & spam emails do - this happens to me every day.

So, I've known for a while that a certain % of my emails/newsletters dont get thru to many subscribers and customers. I figured this had something to do with what happened last week ---> so looking further into my email/newsletter records and speaking directly with a bunch of customers & subscribers I was able to learn that a very, very large % of those emails regarding the Fit For The Holidays program did not make it to the intended recipients.

When I was able to actually calcualte the best estimate - I was shocked and I thought to myslef, "Is this the end of Joey Atlas?" - hence the title of today's newsletter.

So instead of reverting to my old coping mechanisms - I just sat back and started to think of a better solution. - I looked at the whole picture:

- Why I need/want to communicate with you.
- My interest in writing and sharing what I write with all who want to read it.
- The great number of you who find inspiration, direction, guidance and all that kind of good stuff that you guys email me about.

I also spoke with one of my business coaches about turning this problem into a better solution. One of the great questoins he asked was, "For the people that do get it - is your email newsletter enough for them - or do they want more - do they send questions requests or comments about the things they want to know more of or need more help with?"

Of course my answer was a big "YES".

So this put me on the path of finding a way to communicate with you in a more interactve way AND most importantly, gets my information to you with no obstacles, no mistakes & no overzealous spam filters, etc.

Let me digress here... In my 'investigation' of how many of my newsletters have been, and have not been, getting delivered - I learned that many issues of the e-newsletter barely made it to 10% of all customers & subscribers in some instances.

Now, when I write I write to you, the individual - and when I learned that many of you - haven't received a bunch of some of my best enewsletters - it was a little disheartening. --> So, back to where I left off...

Many of you who have emailed me in the past several months about the monthly 'Fitness Insider' concept have sent in some incredible ideas that many others are also interested in.

My current brainstorming state is focused on a monthly type of program that allows me to get everything I write into your hands regardless of what the 'email gods' are doing out there. And also allow s for a better level of interactivity - ie, questions answered, case studies, helpful tools for fitness and nutrition - and much more - such as a community forum, where you can interact with other members to exchange ideas, find local exercise partners, or like minded fitness friends, fitness recipes, health experiences, tips - advice, etc.

A membership site is the forerunner in this race for what idea is going to allow you to get the info I want to share with you, which is priority number one. If I go this route, the members area ('Fitness Insider Monthly' or something like that)will also include all of my articles - past and future, audio interviews with other health, fitness and nutrition experts, audio interviews with you as a case study/success story, video segments on various topics, fitness measuring and monitoring tools - and lots of other great stuff


Now, I'm sure you are thinking "What is this & how does it work?"

In short, its a deep, interactive, continuously updated website loaded with very helpful fitness & nutrition content, JOEY ATLAS STYLE, in several formats. The only way to access this type of site is by becoming a member - and by becoming a member you DO NOT MISS ANYTHING I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU.

Now, please keep in mind, this is not definite, I'm still in the brainstorming stage for 'the solution'. It is a large undertaking that would require several months of 'nose to the grindstone' preparation and lots of detail work. But here is the good news...

I've seen many membership sites out there in many different industries - and the monthly cost on many of them is quite prohibitive to most people - $95, 145, even $495 per month on some of them - obviously these companies operate these types of sites for profit as a priority - which I have no problem with.

But - my # 1 priority is to stay in contact with you to help you achieve health & fitness success. Of course, I cant build and run a membership site for free - as they are quite costly because of all the capabilites built into them - but I certainly wouldnt plan on a $95 per month membership fee.

The monthly rate for the site that I envision for you would be around the $15 - $30 per month range, maybe more, maybe less. But the value would be worth so much more than that as it would be set up to help you handle your most pressing health and fitness challenges - and the interactivity would be something you just cant put a value on (I'm a member of a business coaching program that is in one of those higher price ranges - and its one of the best self help investments I make on a monthly basis.)

Again this is preliminary but eminent - a new solution must be implemented. Yes - all of my current websites will still be free to the public, of course, and I may still do the free 'Secrets of a Trainer' e-newsletter - just not as often.

But most of my energy will go into 'the solution' - whether its a membership. site or an actual printed & mailed monthly newsletter & audio CD combo package or something else.

Well, that is it for now. My aplogies to all who did not get the 'Fit For The Holidays' emails --->> But sometimes these are the types of 'life's imperfections' that lead to better things...

Feel free to send your thoughts, feedback, comments & questions about all of this to me at Joey@JoeyAtlas.com - Let me know what you think about possible solutions mentioned in this post and what other things you would like to see included.

Be Fit !
Joey Atlas - The Fitness Shaman
- I promised to get some more pics on the blog, as many of you loved the one on the post below this one - This one is a little outdated & Ill get some more recent ones in the next week or two - but these are our other 2 'little rascals' - Alexa and JoJo.