MARKETING YOUR MUSCLE:

So, you want to earn a living as a pro bodybuilder? Well, join the crowd! There are literally thousands of men and women around the globe who share that same desire. First of all, I would never tell anyone not to follow their dreams. Just having a passion or a dream in your life makes you an amazingly unique person. Many people, unfortunately, do not have dreams, and therefore, can never really achieve true happiness in life. Consider yourself fortunate—you have a reason to energetically get out of bed in the morning!

There is a popular expression that goes, "If you do what you love, the money will follow." But is this always true in the world of bodybuilding?

The percentage of probability is so incredibly small that you can make a living from bodybuilding. As a bodybuilder develops his or her physique, it is imperative that they develop their marketability along the way. This is an important aspect often ignored by the vast majority of bodybuilders today. Not marketing yourself –correctly and consistently throughout your career—makes your chances even less likely.

Let's examine the financial opportunities of a bodybuilder for a moment. First of all, it is an extremely competitive sport. Amateur contests pay nothing and photo shoots pay very little, or nothing. Becoming a professional, which will only be achieved by a handful of people, doesn't necessarily ensure that you'll earn a nickel. Out of all the competitors in the world, probably under 100 of them earn a paycheck for being a bodybuilder/endorser. It takes a unique individual to earn a living in this sport, not just a genetic freak.

By all means, try to be the next Dorian Yates, Kevin Levrone, or Flex Wheeler -- but they are in the genetically elite, the very top 1/10 of one percent of the bodybuilders in the entire world.

Chances are, unless you have won some major titles, it will not be your physique that will set you apart. As a matter of fact, if you are too outstanding of a bodybuilder, it could actually hurt your marketability!

Supplement companies try to appeal to a younger age group (ages 18 to 22) in most cases. This younger age group has usually been training less than 3 months and are at the very beginning stages of development. There is a new group coming into the market every day. Some opinions suggest, if your physique is too good, it will seem unattainable to them. If you don't believe that this is true, explain how did amateur, Danny Hester, earn a lucrative contract from EAS and Muscle Media while a proven professional that is also a top-ten Mr. Olympia competitor has no contract whatsoever at the time of this writing?

EAS and Muscle Media’s Bill Phillips, who in my opinion are masters at marketing, know this very well. They are currently on a campaign using natural and smaller bodybuilders. The younger age group will more easily identify with this type of physique.

Even winning a major title will not necessarily do anything for you. I was told of one particular NPC national champion—by two different supplement companies—who after winning this national title, went out soliciting endorsements. He called these companies and told them who he was and that he used their products. Of course, these companies were happy this champion was using their products, but as soon as the conversation turned into any type of a paid endorsement, it quickly ended. These companies were actually offended that this gentleman even had the audacity to ask for money.

I met Ron Harris, the associate producer for ESPN's American Muscle Magazine back in 1993 when I competed in the Musclemania Natural Bodybuilding Championships. Ron and I quickly became friends and there isn't a better person who understands the "ins and outs" of marketing bodybuilders. One of his duties for the television show is to attain talent presentable to its national audience. Ron has seen many bodybuilders come and go in his tenure. He has seen many market themselves well and many fail miserably. I have been lucky enough to have Ron advise me in many of my bodybuilding career decisions and his wisdom and experience has been tremendously beneficial.

Here is what Harris has to say about this subject: "There are so many awesome physiques just in the United States. Truthfully, there are probably thousands of bodybuilders out there now that have far surpassed even the King of bodybuilders, Arnold Schwarzenegger. And as we all know, Arnold was given the royal treatment for his bodybuilding accomplishments. Joe Weider brought him to America, set him up with a car and apartment, and allowed him to train and eat so he could become the greatest competitor of his era. Therefore, our modern-day bodybuilders reason, their super bodies should warrant an equal display of financial gratuity."

Harris continues, "But look at the situation in 1968. Did Joe Weider bring Arnold out to California and give him a contract just because he thought he had a great physique? Of course not. It was because Arnold could sell magazines and supplements through the combination of his muscles, his handsome face, and his charismatic personality. Then, as now, legions of young men wanted to be like Arnold. People were drawn to him. And that draw translated into sales, pure and simple, for the Weider magazines and products."

Step back for a moment and put yourself in place of a supplement company owner. To help generate a strategy, ask yourself, why you are so special? What makes you unique? Most importantly—because businesses are in existence to make a profit—how would you increase the sales of this product?

"You would not believe the amount of people who call for sponsorship -- men or women, from the amateurs to the pros," says Angela Frizalone, in charge of advertising sales at TWINLAB. "A very small percentage of them have anything unique to offer. You have to have an angle, " she continues.

Many bodybuilders take the same, typical approach for attracting endorsements or sponsorship. They thumb through the current issues of the bodybuilding magazines, page by page, and compile the addresses of all the supplement, equipment, and clothing companies, and send them a letter, their photo—and a request for endorsement. What they don’t realize is that’s what 99.9% of the bodybuilders in the world do also. Most supplement, equipment, and clothing companies have literally hundreds of letters just like this every year. Mike Pendergrass, former owner of the now defunct LiftMaster training straps, once revealed to me, "I don't even look at them (the sponsorship request letters). They go right into the trash can."

And don’t think being natural or drug-free makes you unique. The overwhelming majority of letters are from natural bodybuilders! They emphasize the fact that they are natural by putting the words "natural," "drug-free," or "drug-free for life" in CAPITALIZED, bold, italicized, underlined, or ALL FOUR different styles.

Marketing can be defined as a strategy to sell a person or product. Marketing is finding and exploiting your special niche. What can possibly be so special about doing what 99.9 percent of what everyone else is doing?

Instead of believing so much in the saying, "If you do what you love, the money will follow," your creed should be more like, "You can get everything you want in life—if you just help enough other people get what they want." A phrase I have adopted from motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar, many years ago.

Think about it for a moment, what you are doing is applying for a job—trying to get hired as an employee for a particular company. Approaching it from this angle, what would you want from an employee if you were an employer? In priority, you would probably want signs of good character such as integrity, honesty, a great work ethic, politeness, and someone who treats other people with respect. If you agree, you will notice that having a great physique would be considered a very low priority for the owners of these companies on their criteria to select potential employees. Unfortunately, the vast majority of bodybuilders have this concept totally reversed. They either imply or actually state, "Hey, I've got a great body, give me free stuff!" I've got news for you, buddy, there's thousands of people out there as big or bigger! I don't need to tell you that this method is usually unsuccessful.

You must step inside the supplement companies' minds--in "walk in their shoes," so to speak. If you owned a small supplement company, would you pay Shawn Ray $50,000 to pose for an ad? Shawn would definitely be deserving of this with all of his accomplishments. Or would you get "no-name" who would be ecstatic about doing it for free -- simply for the publicity? Even though his physique would not be nearly as good, using Shawn Ray would mean you would have to sell about $100,000 worth of product -- just to break even.

So, you think you have what it takes? Great! How are these companies going to know it? How will you communicate the tremendous opportunity you have to offer this company? You must develop a marketing plan and develop it early in your quest -- if you are to fulfill your dream of earning a living as a pro bodybuilder.

Here is a situation that I witnessed a couple of years ago. As I was solidifying a deal with the owner of a clothing company, he wanted to let me know, that, although we were going through with the deal, he had reservations about dealing with bodybuilders. He believes most of them have a bad attitude. We were talking for over five minutes when, a recently turned pro bodybuilder, walked right into the middle of our conversation. He leaned up against the table to interrupt and said, "Hey, I wanted to know if you guys needed any models." The owner of the company, dumbfounded by the gentlemen's rudeness, said he should try talking to an agency. The bodybuilder quickly retorted, "I did -- and he said to come talk to you." Not knowing exactly what to say, he stood silently. The bodybuilder offered, "Well, can I give you my card?"

As he walked away, the owner looked at me and said, "That is exactly what I am talking about." Needless to say, that bodybuilder did not make a favorable impression. I can safely assume he probably won't be getting an endorsement contract from this company. To make matters even worse, after walking about 20 feet away, he turned around, walked back—interrupting our conversation again without excusing himself—and said, "Oh, the reason I am telling you that now is because I am in shape right now."

At bodybuilding contests or gyms, I see bodybuilders approach ESPN's American Muscle Magazine producer, Lou Zwick, and Harris, all the time. The bodybuilder tells the two of them how they are huge, and should be on the show. Lou and Ron are so numb to this occurrence now it "goes in one ear and out the other." If these bodybuilders even knew that being big wasn't an important prerequisite, I think that they would reconsider how they address this situation.

And don't think that once you're a pro things change. Even pros need to realize that they are replaceable. If you don't think so, try naming five professional bodybuilders who are still in the sport, doing well, that competed in 1986—just a little over a decade ago. There will always be a new "flavor of the month"—a new commodity or a new rising star.

It is also important to remember that some companies are simply just not interested in signing bodybuilders to endorsement contracts or even providing free product. This was the case in LiftMasters' situation. But just because they are not interested now, doesn't mean that they can't be convinced of the opportunity you can provide for them.

Most supplement companies today are very profitable. In other words, they are already doing very well without you. And, they aren’t usually in the business of just handing out free supplements and/or cash. Why am I throwing that in? Because I feel you must know everything that you’re up against in order to discover the strategies that will help you reach your goals!

When it comes to marketability, the name of the game is exposure. To earn exposure, winning a contest can be very helpful—but it is not the ultimate vehicle.

Getting your picture published in the national magazines is. Very few photographers, especially the top photographers for the national bodybuilding magazines, will go to amateur shows around the country. Getting in contact with some of the best photographers is a very important aspect in getting this much needed exposure. But how do you get these photographers interested in shooting you? The keys are finding out who they are and where they live. Next, send them pictures of yourself in great shape. Include when you can travel to them if they are interested. If they see someone they like, something in that person that will be beneficial to them, or something they can sell to the magazines—they will be more than willing to get in touch with you. Since selling pictures of you would equate to dollars in their pockets, they will be motivated to photograph the most marketable bodybuilders.

You will have to conduct these photo shoots for free. Any bodybuilder, unless you are a high-level amateur or pro, should not expect any type of compensation for these photo shoots. Also, be aware that at all costs incurred -- airfare, hotel, rental car, etc.—are at your expense. Getting that publicity will not only take a great physique and getting the right contacts, it will take a certain financial investment.

Once you have been published in a magazine, it is important to use that as a stepping stone to:

1. Get even more exposure, or
   
2. Get that exposure as a vehicle to introduce yourself to companies.

Photographer, Jim Amentler, often talks of being approached by many frustrated bodybuilders. They wonder why they are not getting the publicity they feel they deserve. Amentler states these are the same bodybuilders that are never available for photo shoots. What often happens is that a bodybuilder will train hard and diet meticulously for 8 to 12 weeks, win a show in awesome shape -- then immediately go back home, gorge himself, and lose that conditioned body -- before getting in front of any photographers. Bodybuilders need to realize that it is essential to be photographed in the best shape possible. This may require you to do photo shoots a couple of weeks before your show-- no matter how mentally tired and nutritionally deprived, or how weak you feel.

Here are a few suggestions for developing a marketing game plan:

1. Honestly assess your strengths and weaknesses. Not only physically, but also in terms of your character.
2. Define what is your "unique point of difference," or that one certain thing that separates you from the thousands of others. Do this as early as possible in your career.
3. Aggressively market, or sell, yourself according to your strengths. Improve on your weaknesses, or even plan a way of disguising them.
4. When you are convinced that you are a worthwhile "employee" candidate, approach these companies and let them emphatically know what you can offer them and why you feel they would profit ten times as much as they invest in you.
5. Get their attention! Try to be creative in your approach. (Remember, you are competing against literally thousands of other bodybuilders who have the same intentions as you do.)
6. Get in front as many cameras as possible. Set up photo shoots in the best shape possible to get yourself in the magazines. Use this exposure to earn even more exposure.

SUMMING IT ALL UP

In conclusion Ron Harris adds, "The concept of getting 'something for nothing' is a well-known myth. If you are a bodybuilder and plan to get money handed to you simply because you've crafted a great physique, you're going to be buying your chicken breasts with food stamps pretty quickly. Rather than asking what the magazines, supplement manufacturers, or clothing companies can do for you, ask what you can do for them. Are you the best in some specific field, i.e., the best natural bodybuilder, (like Skip La Cour or Chris Faildo) or the best-looking bodybuilder? (Mike O'Hearn and Frank Sepe are two examples). Do you have a unique theory with a large group of followers? (Mike Mentzer) There has to be something unique about you other than the fact that you have a great body. Today, a lot of people have great bodies."

It is important that you are optimistic, patient, and persistent in your pursuit. Only a very few will be lucky enough to garner such opportunities. With the right perspective and game plan, you will greatly enhance your odds.

Think BIG and Good luck!

When you are SERIOUS about structuring a plan-of attack to establish yourself as a bodybuilding and fitness professional, set up a live one-on-one phone consultation with Skip La Cour. Using his vast experience and undeniable success in this difficult industry will give YOU the best chance to achieve your dreams.

For more information about live one-on-on phone consultations with Skip La Cour, click here. 

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