When I was in college at The College of Charleston in South Carolina I did 2 things to make money part time.  I taught aerobics for LifeQuest (if you live in Charleston I know I am dating myself here) and I DJ'ed for a mobile DJ company.  I would go to weddings, barmitzvas, family reunions, etc. and play the music.  It was a super fun job, one that I continued even while living 2 hours away in Columbia.

Now that I have 2 kids, a husband, a full time job, teaching a few times a week, and this website to keep me busy I find myself unable to DJ anymore.  But I dearly loved doing it, it pays great money, and the company I worked for was awesome. 

I still keep in touch with my old boss and I know that he is always looking for great talent.  I think that aerobics instructors naturally make great wedding DJs - we are leaders, we love music, we are super fun, and we already know how to handle a microphone.  Plus we aren't afraid to get out there and teach a line dance or two if the party is faltering.

If you think this sounds like it might be fun, and you are interested in earning over $100 to go to weddings and play music, please email me (make sure to note that you are emailing about this post in the comments box).  I will be happy to put you in touch with my old boss, and I know he would love to talk to you.

This is a site about teaching aerobics, but in my fulltime life I am a web developer.  A few of you have developed websites through my do it yourself online web development company at http://www.biggersmarterdesigns.com/. 

Below is this month's newsletter that I send to my web clients.  The information is useful for anyone who has a fitness website, or is thinking of starting one.

Getting More Traffic to your Site
Some websites entice, some give information, and some allow customers to order products online.  No matter what your website does for your customers more traffic will usually lead to more business.  E-commerce sites should be shooting for a 3 - 5% conversion rate, although it is possible to achieve higher.

So how do you get more targeted traffic to your site?  Today I am going to focus on the basics.  In future newsletters, I will drill down to some more specific sources of traffic.

1 - Search Engine Optimization.  You have heard the term.  Have you truly educated yourself on what it is?  Do you know the difference between organic and pay per click traffic?  Do you have keywords set on your site (check your Admin panel under "Marketing and Search Engines"?)  Have you submitted your site to the search engines?

Search Engine Optimization is a science in itself, but you need to educate yourself on the basics.  I suggest you subscribe to the newsletter at http://www.sitepronews.com/.  Read it every time you get it, but don't get pulled in by the product offers.  Just read the information about search engines.  After a few newsletters it will start to make sense.  This is information you need in order to run an effective website .

2 - Get out There!  Here is where I want you to get creative.  Think outside your website, where are your potential customers currently going on the web?  Is there an opportunity for you to get the webmasters of those sites to link to your site?  Send those webmasters an email telling them about your site and asking them to link to you. 

Then take it further.  Put ads on CraigsList.org.  Find industry specific local and national directories and make sure they are linking to your site.  USE THE NEWSLETTER FEATURE of your website!!!  Make sure you are sending emails to your visitors at least once every 2 weeks so they don't forget about you.

3 - Think Outside the Web.  make sure that every single print piece pertaining to your business lists your website address.  Call in to your favorite radio show and mention the website while you are on the air  Write articles for industry specific magazines, and mention the website in your bio.  Get the local news station to come do a story on your extremely exciting business growth.  Blog, and comment on other peoples' blogs (of course, mentioning the website while you are there.)

These are 3 suggestions to get you started.  Try some out.  You will hear more about these concepts in the weeks and months to come.

Anti-spam tip:
It's really smart to allow visitors to contact you through your site.  And it's really easy to throw your email address up on the site and say 'Email me at blah@blahblahblah.com'  The problem is this; spammers have robots that search the internet looking for email addresses that are exposed like this.  They copy the email address down, and suddenly you are on every spam and phishing list from here to Nigeria.

Always allow visitors to contact you, but make sure you make them fill out a form on the site.  This will allow an email to be sent, but keep your email address hidden from the visitor until you reply to their email.  Your website has a very easy form builder feature meant for this purpose.  Use the forms and please, don't ever list your email address directly on your site.

Any one who knows me knows that despite being an instructor since I was 20 years old, I have always struggled with my weight.  I have always been one of the biggest instructors on the schedule at any gym I taught at.  I compensated with a lot of personality and a huge smile, and I got by.

I know my nutrition.  I know all about macronutrients, micronutrients, calories, fat grams, the pros and cons of a high protein diet.  I know about the dangers of commercial dairy products, and which vegatables are best to buy organic and which are OK to buy off the regular shelf.  The problem is that I am an emotional eater.  I love comfort food, and I always make my way back to it.

Last year my Mom had triple bypass surgery at 55 years old.  My Mom and my Dad have apple shape body types, as do I.  This puts me at high risk for heart disease. 

In an effort to take control I have started logging my diet at http://www.fitday.com/; you can keep a food journal for free on that site.  The website even analyzes your calories and tells you what comes from fat/protien/carbs.  I am keeping an honest journal for the first 2 weeks without changing how I eat, just so I can evaluate what I have been doing, right or wrong.  I am learning a lot about where my calories come from, and what foods I can be eating a lot more of to get the same amount of satisfaction for less calories.  I have also noticed that I don't get close to enough protein or iron in my diet.

It is starting to become like a game - what can I eat today that will keep that pie chart looking a certain way...

I also discovered a great website that has nutrition information on tons of foods - even fast foods and (ehhhm....) Dairy Queen.  It's http://www.nutritiondata.com/. 

So I wanted to write today to get the names of those 2 websites.  I will keep you updated on my progress.  Please feel free to leave comments and give the names of your favorite nutrition data resources.