by Matt Weik
The life of a writer is primarily one that is behind the scenes. Many times, the man or woman authoring a piece going unknown or unnoticed. When you read an article online or in a magazine, do you look at who wrote it or do you simply look at the title and the body of the content? Many have no idea who wrote the article. When you watch a movie, do you remember who wrote the script or do you remember the actors in the movie who acted out what they wrote? When you listen to the song on the radio, do you know who wrote the lyrics or do you only remember the artist or band? While the life of a writer is very quiet and without notice, it’s the life and career they chose. But it was this thinking made me wonder if people see that side of story.
Banging the keyboard
While many in the fitness industry are used to saying “keyboard commandos,” writers are the ones who actually back it up. With the advent of the internet, it’s much easier to get things published these days than it was many years ago. Writers and authors are constantly in front of their keyboard banging away at fiction and non-fiction topics (depending on the genre they write). Many don’t look for stardom or the spotlight, they simply have a love for what they do—producing content.
I can speak for myself, that about 15 years ago, I made the decision to start sharing my knowledge through writing. Sure, I could speak with individuals in person or on the phone, but that’s very time consuming and difficult to get in front of the amount of people you want unless you are giving speeches regularly. For me, I knew that I had a soapbox via the internet to reach out to thousands of people with just one piece of content. To me, that’s extremely fulfilling regardless if people look at who the author is or not. My goal has always been to educate those seeking knowledge in a way that is fun, entertaining, and informative. It’s what led me down the path to starting my own company (Weik Fitness, LLC) after the better part of ten years working in the supplement industry for MET-Rx, Pure Protein, Balance Bar, and Body Fortress (divisions of NBTY, Inc.). Even during my time working with those brands, I was still writing content on the side—it was my true passion.
The days as a writer and author are long. The mornings come early and the nights become late. Many writers will stay up as long as necessary to finish one piece of content so the creative juices continue to flow and they are able to get all of their thoughts out at once rather than losing a train of thought or motivation on a piece. We do this for you. I’ve authored a few books that while fun, took way more time than I think people believe. It’s no wonder you only see books coming out from your favorite authors once a year, if not once every other year (sometimes even longer).
Only the best of the best
You might know a handful of fitness authors if you sat there long enough and thought about it. And that’s ok, we are all the same for the most part that we just enjoy writing, and not for the notoriety of having something published. Sure, it would be great to be noticed for the work you get published, but that’s not the end goal. An author and writer who has been around long enough and have published hundreds of articles will more than likely be recognized when roaming around a fitness expo floor or conference. This primarily only happens if they promote themselves via social media or their own website.
How do writers get their name out there if no one looks to see who wrote articles?
The answer is simple—social media. The same way you promote the things you do. We all try to engage friends and followers to frequent our social media platforms in hopes that they read some of the articles we post and look forward to when we release a new piece of published content. Selfies aren’t as important to us, we aren’t athletes, models, or the face of a business or brand other than our own. Sure, appearance might draw in a few people, but in the writing world, it’s more about the words we type than our facial structure or our physiques. We try to be the best writer and author we can be and engage people through our work.
Personally, I try and put out a new piece of content every day across all of the clients I write for. If friends and followers enjoy my work, that gives them something to look forward to on a daily basis. I enjoy the communication between myself and those who read my work and comment on my social media or reach out to me via my website (weikfitness.com). Opening up the lines of communication allows me to see what topics people like reading about and the things they don’t. I try to put out what majority of the people enjoy to hit and please the masses.
What we would love to hear
As writers, we really want to hear your feedback. What articles do you enjoy? What topics do you want to read? Reach out to us. Reach out to the websites you frequent (like ironmagazine.com) to read these pieces and express your thanks and gratitude towards them for paying authors and writers to produce content for their website. Just like you follow your favorite actors and actresses, we would love to have you look forward to new content we put out. Have a relationship with your favorite authors and stay in touch with them. Interact with them on social media and via their websites. We live the lifestyle just like you and love interacting with people who share the same passions.