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“Marketing your continuing education programs” It comes as no coincidence that ACE has been featuring the planet with its logo lately on promotional materials, including squeezable stress-globes given at its booth at the recent Las Vegas IDEA convention. How fitting, for fitness information at the end of our millennium is more global than ever. As Continuing Education Certification Specialists for ACE, we faculty members are well acquainted with our marketability on the home front through ACE-approved workshops, conventions, and homestudy programs. The global awareness towards ACE burgeons daily, however, and with this growth accompanies the urge to encourage fellow faculty to consider possibilities for marketing ACE-approved courses beyond the continental USA. To be sure, many of us are familiar with “presenting” choreography or lectures at conventions, but the role of the ACE faculty member encompasses an even more dynamic, educational role than this. I’ve found it much more lucrative, encouraging, and stimulating to provide my ACE approved continuing education workshops to fitness professionals outside of the USA, specifically when a convention is not involved. ACE certification is fast-becoming ubiquitous, and not enough faculty realize the current market need outside of the USA that foreign clients have for ACE-approved programs. Unfortunately, many foreign ACE certified professionals have to depend almost exclusively on ACE faculty members to travel to them to offer workshops. Let’s examine, then, some tips for breaking into the culturally-diverse global market to provide ACE workshops internationally, which should not be confused with breaking into the world of convention presenting. The ideal ACE faculty member becomes most marketable when he or she packs a full bag of credentials in one informational package. The first suggestion to the ACE faculty member beginning to look at marketing courses abroad is to be able to provide credits and units for all major certifying organizations. You are much more marketable if you can provide workshop credits for both ACE and AFAA, for example. Second, a wide range of experience providing workshops at home is not necessary, but certainly provides an impressive framework for knowing one’s material and keeping it fresh. In short, know your material with your eyes closed in the culture of your own backyard before you plan to take it across the street! Next, it is fundamental to have a “menu” in your informational package that lists all ACE workshops offered, and the range of workshop choices should be high and diverse. Most clubs will be attracted to booking an individual that can offer a workshop reviewing basic flexibility training and yoga, then present an approved lecture on new nutritional labeling, and yet also offer a trendy step-choreography teaching skills workshop. Unlike convention sessions, individual workshops allow you to sell the items on your menu more fully. Offering to repeat sessions to smaller groups, and to spend more time on workshops involving group work with your individualized attention, create plus points on your behalf. Spend time on your fitness “menu.” First, even if you plan on presenting all workshops in English, having the descriptions of your workshops in other languages will aid foreign clubs in deciding your marketability, because usually those making financial decisions to contract you will be more in number than the actual person who ends up contracting you, and many times not everyone reads English as easily. Second, using the word “international” in your workshop and lecture titles helps to attract global attention, such as “International Step-Reebok Skills Workshop,” “International Standards in Aqua Interval Training,” and “Eating for International Fitness Performance Excellence Lecture.” Many times faculty members do not realize that, just because a course is approved for five hours, interested facilities do not necessarily have to contract those entire five hours to receive the workshop: a fraction is possible. Many times, for example, I have taught in three hours various sections from an outline of a five-hour workshop, offering thus (.3) credits instead of (.5). Being able to adjust and proportion the quantity of time of your workshops individually makes you marketable, so the “menu of courses,” then, should state that times can always be modified based on a particular facility’s need, and credits will be sized accordingly. You become thus the fitness “chef,” customizing your “meals” to the fitness needs of your clients. Once your fitness menu of ACE courses stands complete, professional, and varied, knowing where to begin in the foreign market can first appear to be a challenge. Begin pragmatically, with the countries attached to the USA: Canada and Mexico, for several reasons. First, they are logistically easy to reach. Second, the number of ACE certified professionals that can most benefit from your services will be higher in these two countries than in exotic Bali, for example. ACE-certified professionals in Mexico are in the hundreds, and no language barrier exists regarding Canada. These two countries have been respecting the ACE certification for years. Regarding language, even if you speak no Spanish or French, I urge the consideration of the two aforementioned countries because of what I term “Fitness English.” This is rapidly becoming the international language of fitness communication. The cueing of choreography, measurement of body fat systems, and delivery of personal training nomenclature widely draw from, if not exclusively depend on, English. If, of course, you speak a specific language well enough to provide your outlines entirely in that target language, and teach exclusively in that language, then of course I urge you to begin there first. After looking at these countries, the unattached states, commonwealths, and protectorates of the United States deserve attention. Isolated Hawaii has ACE certified trainers and instructors with great need for workshops, and the Caribbean has even a higher need. Since this writer moved to Puerto Rico over a year ago, the number of ACE certified professionals on the island has increased dramatically, but unfortunately the number of ACE faculty members has not. Not all inhabitants easily can fly to distant conventions to obtain all continuing education credits necessary, and many thus depend on workshops held locally, painstakingly collecting their credits hour by hour, year by year. Puerto Rico enjoys healthy communication with other clubs throughout the Caribbean, and thus commands a sort of Caribbean fitness mecca status. Holding workshops that are well-promoted in Puerto Rico can attract not only the island’s inhabitants, but can also draw from the thirty-plus islands that surround it. Furthermore, as always, “Fitness English” is the general language of choice throughout the Caribbean, although Spanish is the official language of Puerto Rico. The next significant markets worth researching and consulting are Europe and Asia. Europe has many country-specific certifications that develop within each country, but ACE certification is fast becoming both recognized and sought after. Switzerland, Italy, Germany, and Spain are a few of the countries that actively look for, and have need of, workshop presenters. Because of these smaller, competing certifications within Europe, however, Asia can offer more opportunities. The number of Asian ACE-certified professionals is growing, and Asians hold exemplary respect of ACE. To illustrate, since I became part of the ACE family of continuing education five years ago, various countries in Asia have financed my trips there, no less than biannually. Depending on the country involved, I teach a range of workshops at various types of clubs: Athletic & Fitness, Leisure, Polo, Military, Ladies, Spa, and Country. In Asia in particular, these clubs are this varied, so make sure you contact all types. In some countries, one particular company sponsors me, and in others, I travel to share my workshops á la carte, being solely responsible for my fitness itinerary. Before packing bags, homework and research are essential. As an ACE faculty member, consult first the wealth of ACE publications. To assist in understanding the initial need, check the number of certified professionals in the area under consideration and the number of ACE faculty in that area also. Next, the ACE FOCUS groups held at IDEA and other conventions provide a plethora of contacts and information; attend them. Call ACE at 1-800-234-9229 and educate yourself about the new International Program. If you attend conventions, introduce yourself to presenters from other countries and inquire about the need for professional workshops in their countries. Always introduce yourself as Ace Faculty and state such on all written correspondence, including your business cards. Keep the title close to your name, for it carries respect and solicits recognition. Instead of stating “ACE Certified” as a qualification, be specific about the type of certification(s) possessed, such as “ACE Group Exercise Instructor, Gold Certified.” Remember, too, to speak to fellow ACE faculty members who have gone before you; they will offer practical tips. The internet provides the best next source of contact information: electronic mail and the web provide the fastest way to “send” your inquiries and receive responses, having almost eradicated the use of the fax. Always when contacting a club, attach your résumé file and your fitness biography which should tell in under seventy-five words of your most impressive attributes. More important than even this when looking to market your ACE workshops in foreign countries is the presentation of your fitness “menu” of workshops discussed earlier. It should be catchy, clear, and possibly translated. The following are suggestions for sources of information for your initial launch; they are no means desired to be a definitive list of places to contact but instead a starting point. For general leads, commence with http://www.acefitness.org/. Two others, http://www.sobefit.com/ and http://www.saracity.com/ always have fresh names, addresses, and international links which can lead to contacts in Mexico and Canada. For the UK, try the brand new http://www.mastermoves.net/, due by October ’99. For the expanding Asian market, consult: http://www.asiafit.com/. This site will lead you to all points and countries Asian. For general Europe, especially Germany and Switzerland, try http://www.totalfitness.nl/. For news and tips from other international presenters, open http://www.turnstep.com/. For Russia, see http://www.wclass.ru/. If you have aqua programs approved, you can connect internationally via http://www.aeawave.com/ and www.infowest.com/waterworks. Finally, contact major hotel chains that have large representation of fitness facilities in other countries like Hilton and Hyatt (Europe) and Mandarin Oriental, Shangri-La, and Regent (Asia). Many times they find it quite meritorious to sponsor ACE faculty who are marketable and versatile. Instead of paying in salary, they often exchange room and board, which may be agreeable to you; be sure to state this in your initial inquiry. This initial (e-mail) inquiry should discuss your versatility and ability to bring ACE credentials and information into each facility. Let them know how much more information their participants will glean from workshop time spent with you than from a crowded convention session of ninety minutes. Also inform them that, as a representative of ACE, you welcome non-certified members lured to the cutting edge of information of the caliber of the ACE Academy. Furthermore, you may wish to agree to have the facility in question market you to other clubs for particular workshops, thereby increasing potential cash flow and publicity, to both you and the club. Two further points need be considered: what to do when you arrive, and how to do when you arrive. First, remember that, more so than in the US, you are a representative of ACE, a sort of international ambassador from whom those not familiar with ACE will form first impressions. Wear clothing with the ACE logo whenever possible. Order, carry, and distribute the “Friends of ACE” information to promote ACE as a fitness leader beyond certification. For example, many in Puerto Rico, Indonesia, and the Philippines become Friends of ACE because they may be unable to afford the exam price, manuals, and transportation to the exam site. Second, be prepared for cultural differences in your participants. Investigate the cultures before you travel there. For example, the Latins perform best in workshop group work of small numbers; the Japanese work well in groups of large numbers only; and the British may need more formal structure than being left to a group of any size at all. The Swiss and Germans currently crave everything with Latin music and themes, but trying to push a workshop based on Latin themes in Buenos Aires or Madrid, for example, most likely would not fly. The Australians will scream with unabashed, positive energy if they want to understand something better, but the respectful Koreans will think it rude to ask a question of a teacher because implicit in the question is the fact that possibly the instructor has made something unclear. A lecture works best when a bit conversational with a group of Mexicans or Italians, but expecting to spark conversation during a lecture with many Orientals who are trained just to listen could be disheartening. That these are exaggerated generalizations used to make a point about cultural sensitivity is clear; merely being aware of these cultural nuances is the point. The ACE faculty member preparing to present workshops in other countries should become familiar with trans-cultural study, such as in The One-Percent Factor by this author (http://www.findlawrence.com for an excerpt), or by many other travel narratives available in most bookstores and libraries. Learning what makes up a particular culture and how it teaches will enhance your ability to capture, educate, and influence your participants in a way that is congruent with their learning habits. These suggestions offer but a beginning. Turning our attention global as the rest of the world embraces ACE certification and programs, we ACE faculty members face an untapped market rich in fitness professionals with wide cultural diversity. Traveling to meet their needs, we will be able to live up to that globe accompanying our logo, and spread our industry-setting fitness standards internationally.
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