Natty Pro’s & Marketing
What can I tell you about promotion? It’s about as important as your pro card and your contest placings. How you place says a lot about you as a competitor. The same goes for how well known your name is known in the industry. Successful pros have to be about the business of bodybuilding. There are very few people who can make a living from mainstream bodybuilding. That even sounds like an oxymoron because even untested bodybuilding continues to be a niche sport compared to major league sports. It’s rarely seen on network television, it’s not very visible in contemporary culture, and even with the advent of TRT (testosterone replacement therapy), bodybuilding still has the bad press of anabolic steroids from years past. Nonetheless, it begs the question. If untested bodybuilding remains an underground sport, how much smaller is natural bodybuilding? If there’s only a tiny fraction of untested bodybuilders who can make a living in that sport, how many could make a living in natural physique-based sports? I’d say maybe a small handful at best.
For most people, bodybuilding is a pastime. Some make money, but it’s not considered a substitute for work. Most natural pros have full-time jobs, careers, and/or retired. What money they make from the sport might supplement their income, but most top pros use it cover their physique-related expenses (food, supplements, travel, contest fees). Those who do exceptionally well might even have a little money left over. But then the question becomes – how – do natty pros make money?
The way you make money as a natural pro includes earning prize money. If’ you’re a pro, you want to use that card, and compete. Competing is the single biggest reason most amateurs battle for pro status. Should pros compete nonstop? Some do, others don’t. If you’re winning everything in sight – then hey – do what works for you. But others don’t want to run their bodies into the ground. That can totally happen if you compete multiple times a year. The body is a temple – it’s not a machine. And even machines break down over time.
Many natural pros will compete 1-2x per year. They might do a guest posing appearance or two. With regard to the rest of the year, they’re working with clients (personal training or posing), they’re working with sponsors (attending expos, tabling, creating content), and they’re doing media. You always do media. This includes email-based interviews, podcasts, and/or lending your hand to writers wanting to write articles about you. Doing press is key. The more visible you are in the industry, the more sponsorships you’re going to get. Companies will applaud your efforts onstage, but they want to sell protein powder, creatine, and multivitamins. You might have built an insane physique – but you won’t be the first or the last. A great physique isn’t enough. How do YOU stand out? Who knows you? They want to sell products. It’s the same thing with a contest promoter looking for a featured guest poser. You might be a candidate if you have a sick physique, but if no one knows you, is your great physique going to put more asses in seats? Probably not. Promoters want guest posers that will get more people to buy tickets!
Whether you want to call it marketing, promo, or doing press is entirely up to you. The ultimate goal is the same for all. If you’re not visible in the sport, then you’ve dramatically undermined your abilities in the fitness industry. As a natural pro, you should promote that pro status and promote yourself in the process. In case you haven’t noticed, there aren’t a lot of natural bodybuilding media sites. The media sites that cater to the untested version of the sport will probably not care about your natty physique. There are exceptions and those few are exceptions because they’ve worked their social media, they’ve done press, and they’re seen at contests and expos nationally and internationally. Nonetheless, there aren’t endless amounts of press opportunities for natural athletes. When one presents itself, you take it! Whether only a 100 people read/watch your interview, that’s a 100 more people that know about you and your journey. And if you really want to get creative, do more with your own content than just flex. Do your marketing, do press, and promote yourself as much as you can. The competition isn’t just reserved for the stage and the trophy. There’s a very real active competition among competitors to be the next influencer of the pack. And whoever says they don’t want to be an influencer, that’s probably the person who wants it most!
Cheers!
