It was just at the end of 2012 when Kim Miller and Shannon Doughtery came up with the original ideas for their new company Fit Mom Diet – which the website just went live last week.
By mid December they were already developing the ideas for what the branding could look and feel like. I recall after the three of us ran the Tucson Marathon together, being in line at a Starbucks and sketching out logo concepts with them on a paper napkin.
They created a Facebook Page shortly after the new year on January 6th. In just two very short months before their website went live, more than 2,000 people flocked to the page. As I write this, there are presently 2,421 Likes on the page and more importantly – more than 700 people interacting with it presently.
Their “fans” are commenting with questions, photos of recipes they saw on the page and cooked themselves, as well as a large bevy of supportive comments such as “Thank you for taking the time…” and “you both are so inspiring.”
Also you can even witness the interactions not only between the Fit Mom Diet Duo and their followers, but also between the followers themselves.
Now, with the website launched, they are selling t-shirts, e-books, wristbands and more. Profit has begun to come in.
So what can we learn from these two fit moms and what caused their business to tip in the right direction?
The first is that they told a true story. I’ve presented on this topic several times. When I say true, I don’t always mean factual (although in this case it is also that). What I mean is that it is true in the eyes of the user. It is authentic. Here you have two moms who care about being healthy, fit as well as being role models for their families. There is a complete genuine transparency of who they are and what they represent without a false facade. That attracts people and it attracts business.
Secondly, who is their primary audience? People who are like them. It is not called Fit Everyone Diet for a reason. Not that their entire audience is moms, but that is a significant majority. It is their demographic, their niche, their genre. Fit Mom Diet has a focus on who they are primarily targeting with their message. Moms who have similar ideas and goals with respects to health and fitness. Thus the messages that Kim and Shannon put out can truly resonate with their audience.
Thirdly, if you look at all the messages that Fit Mom Diet puts out through their social media channels – most of it is not selling anything at all. It is, for the most part, informational or inspirational. Content that people find value in and want to also share. Yes there are posts with sales messages, but they are few. People don’t mind being pitched to or sold to, just as long as it is not overdone and they see the value in the content as a whole. That is another reason their audience pool grew so fast.
Lastly, and something I recall both Shannon and Kim talking about as they were forming what Fit Mom Diet would be, they created a community. People love to be connected, especially when they have shared interests and values. Fit Mom Diet has created a community of people who can connect together and go somewhere as a whole. As Seth Godin put it in his TED Talk and in his book Tribes, there are groups of people out there already who are wanting to connect and be led.
Kim and Shannon have become this tribe’s leader. They stood up and said – this is important; follow us.
And people did.
James Patrick
jamespatrick.com
