How Bodybuilding.com Can Propel Your Career Like It Did Mine
Once upon a time in a land far, far away… STOP! This is no fairy tale. This is how you can propel your career just like I did. Although sometimes I do wake up and have to pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming. For those who don’t know my story from the Bodybuilding.com forums, my professional career began as a personal trainer in a local gym. I was a trainer during and after college and wanted to further my career. Yet, I never had a desire to compete.
Those of you who are trainers understand the love that comes with helping people achieve their health and fitness goals. The same thing goes for the supplement industry.
After several years of training, I wished I could live my dream and make the change over into the supplement industry. Anyone who knows the industry knows that it is difficult to land a job with any supplement company, let alone one of the world’s largest.
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My Bodybuilding.com Story
I found Bodybuilding.com while in college and found it to be like my second family. I never imagined it would help propel your career. Everyone on the forums was helpful and knowledgeable in the industry and I learned a lot from everyone’s experiences.
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I started contributing to the forums and was considered a knowledgeable resource and was helping as many people as I could not only about supplement usage, but also health and fitness.
Soon after that, I was asked by Bodybuilding.com if I would be interested in doing some articles/interviews for them. From there, I got a call from a representative of MET-Rx asking if I would be interested in becoming a board rep for the company. Can you propel your career by simply helping people? Absolutely! I did!
At that point I was not employed by the company and was not paid any monetary amount, it was agreed upon that I would be able to get some free product for my time on the board answering questions. Being a poor college student at the time, that was as good as gold to me. I ran with the opportunity and was answering product questions for the company on the forums.
I kept telling MET-Rx anything that I can help them with just ask and I’ll do it. I was itching for the opportunity to prove myself to them and possibly land a job with them down the road.
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Then there were some forks in the road with things going on in my life and a tragedy in the family which everyone goes through at some point. Some things you just can’t plan for, it’s not in our plans and only God knows what the deal is. It seemed as if all my hopes and dreams went down the pooper. I was questioning if the choices I made for my career were really going to take me anywhere and if all the hard work I’ve done is ever going to pay off. But, then came an opportunity that gave me a huge chance to propel my career. Literally a couple days after tragedy struck my family, I got a call from the national distribution manager of MET-Rx asking if I could meet him in Philadelphia to talk about some opportunities. That was my break. We sat down a few days later and I was offered a regional manager position within the company.
Everything happens for a reason, right? I felt like a million bucks and as if I was on top of the world. I had to hold back during the meeting from showing my true excitement as I didn’t want to look like a freak. Needless to say, I accepted the position and am to this day the Mid-Atlantic Regional Manager for MET-Rx and Worldwide Nutrition. I also need to say thank you to my contacts up at the corporate office that have helped me when I was just a board rep. We are all very good friends now and have a great storyline to go along with our working relationship. I was always in contact with them learning as much as I could about every aspect of the company. I’m not going to be a name dropper, you know who you are, so thank you from the bottom of my heart. Also, Bodybuilding.com… this is where it all began. I owe everything to them because without their website I would have never had the opportunity to showcase my talents and help and touch as many people as I have.
I get emails every single day from people who tell me stories about how my articles help them reach their fitness/health goals or from people who have questions. And I will say this, I sit down and answer every single email I get no matter how long it takes. This industry has done so much for me that I want to give back as much as possible.
Now I’m sure you’re thinking how great it would be if you could also break through into the industry. This article is not only to be a source of inspiration for you, but I am going to outline the steps you need to take to help increase your chances of landing a job with a supplement company. Now, this is not a guarantee, so I don’t want you to go nuts doing everything I say in the first week and expect to have a job within two weeks. Things don’t happen that quickly, and let’s be serious for a second—the economy is horrible and companies really aren’t looking to increase their staff if they don’t need to. However, prove yourself to be an asset and anything can happen.
Join the Bodybuilding.com Forum
Here is your first step. Make sure you create a username and join the Bodybuilding.com forum. Take in as much knowledge as you can and also contribute as much as you can. Now I don’t mean go to the MISC. section on Bodybuilding.com and talk about your favorite tv show or what you plan on doing this weekend. I’m talking about contributing to anything under the Bodybuilding.com Supplement Section heading. There are many sub-sections under it that you can go through and help people.
Feedback on products is very helpful to make sure you review the products you try and let people know your thoughts and experiences. There are tons of questions each day on what products people should use for bulking/cutting that you could help answer based on your experience. Get your hands in every aspect of the forum and help out as many people as you can.
Write Articles for Bodybuilding.com
Become a writer for bodybuilding.com and submit anything you write to them for consideration. If you are lucky enough to have your article chosen, thousands of people will have access to your work. Make sure you take your time with the articles and make sure the content is solid. People will base their opinion of you from your articles if you are credible or not. Do your research on a topic and make sure the facts are correct and truthful.
Introduce Yourself to Companies
Once you get some experience on the forums and have some articles under your belt, it’s time to showcase your portfolio. Send out some emails or letters to companies you are interested in becoming a board rep for. Introduce yourself and explain how you would like to help their company have a better presence on the world’s largest health and fitness website. Attach to your articles to the email or letter for them to view and mention that they can take a look at some of your work at their convenience. Explain to them why you feel you would be a good candidate and what qualifications you have. Tell them how much time you to give them towards promoting their company and products on the forum. Tell them to feel free to contact you if they would like any further information or if they would like to have an interview to introduce all parties involved.
I will say this, DO NOT contact a company whose products you DON’T use. There is a good possibility that they will ask you some questions about their products and if you don’t know the answers you will look like an idiot. Not cool. Remember, everyone knows each other in the supplement industry. So unfortunately if you make a bad impression, someone else will know about you in a negative way as well.
Knowledge Is Key
Grab every book and magazine you can get your hands on and learn as much about the industry as possible. Heck, browse the bodybuilding.com website to learn. Make sure you are also knowledgeable about the fitness side of the business as well. The last thing you want to do is be talking to someone about products and know nothing about working out or proper nutrition. Be well rounded. Learn as much as you can about health, fitness, nutrition, and supplementation. Knowledge is power and can set you apart from everyone else striving for the same goals and career as you.
Follow Your Dreams
If getting into the supplement industry is something you want to do then don’t let anyone else take that dream away from you. Only you can stand in the way of greatness. Your future is in your hands and you create your own destiny. Put in the time and effort and all great things will follow. Strive to be the best at everything you do. Never settle for being “average.” Average people get “average” jobs. You want greatness! Stay motivated and write down everything you want to accomplish and put it on a timeline so you have something to look at to remind you of your upcoming goals. Surround yourself with positive people like I did with Bodybuilding.com. Negative people will only bring you down. Allow the people who are behind you to push you harder to achieve more with your life. After all, they are in your corner for a reason—they want to see you succeed just as much as you want to.
Have Fun on Bodybuilding.com!
This one should be a no-brainer. If you aren’t having fun with something then why do it? If you pick up a magazine and get sick of reading about supplements or fitness, maybe the industry isn’t for you. However, if you can’t seem to keep your hands off books/magazines and you want to absorb as much information as possible—then this is the career for you. I love what I do and am absolutely obsessed with this industry. Every chance I get I jump at the opportunity to do more with all the relationships I have in the industry. Get your hands in everything you can. Get your name out there and make people notice you. That’s exactly how all of this started wtih Bodybuilding.com. If you sit back and let people steal your opportunities you will be stuck doing whatever you are doing currently. Go out and meet people. Shake their hands and introduce yourself. Once you get there, live the dream. Pinch yourself a couple times to make sure you won’t wake up from what feels like a dream. The feeling you get from waking up every day and going to a job you love is like no other feeling in the world. I wouldn’t trade it for anything and neither should you. Never settle for less than the best!
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