Survey Results & My Commitment To You

What I Learned From The 2016 Survey and What I’ll Be Doing Differently As a Result

Last week, I ran a 60-second survey to gather some feedback so that I can serve you even better in the future. And I’m really glad I did.

Not only did I receive clarity on a number of issues and many great ideas for new content to create, but I also got a lot of unexpected encouragement, too. Many people left a kind word telling me to “keep up the good work” or “you’re doing a great job,” and that meant a lot.

I also received several very long and detailed comments – chock-full of great ideas and very specific suggestions – which was very helpful. I can tell that a few of you spent a great deal of time crafting your responses, which I really appreciated! Your thoughtful comments gave me a better look into the minds and lives of my readers.

To top it all off, someone left me this comment, which really made my week:

It doesn’t get much better than that.

So, THANK YOU to everyone who participated. I really appreciate it!

The Results

So, what did I learn? Several things stood out, actually.

The vast majority of you would like a weekly email newsletter. So, that’s what I’m going to commit to – one newsletter per week, perhaps two if I’ve got something really good to share. For those who requested a daily or monthly newsletter, I’m sorry to say that I don’t have the time, technology, or personnel to make everyone happy at this time. I hope that you’ll stick with me regardless!

The number one most requested topic was Home Fitness & Home Training followed closely by Unconventional Training, Body Transformation, and Injury Prevention/Prehab/Etc. So, you can expect a lot more of that in the future.

Over half of you prefer written (i.e. text) content, a solid third of you prefer video, and many mentioned that they prefer a mix. Which is a big relief to me, because that’s what I was hoping you’d all say! Truth be told, I had been thinking about starting a podcast because I keep reading about how important they are for an online business these days. But only seven people requested audio content (e.g. podcasts). So, that answers that question.

By far, How-to Articles & Tutorials was the most popular content format (76.4% of everyone who did this survey selected that one!). So, I’ll make a point of doing many more of those in the future. That was followed closely by Workouts / Programs. And the rest of the categories were pretty evenly split across the board. So, I’ll throw an occasional interview, product review, and inspirational story, among others, into the mix, too.

A handful of people asked for more pictures of Ronin. So, here’s one to tide you over ’til next time…

And fortunately, only one person asked for “Cute kitten photos,” which is not statistically significant. And that’s good because I think the Internet has enough of those. No offense to all of you cat lovers, of course.

Here are some of my favorite comments that came in:

Person: “I don’t need a hundred curls, or fifty deadlifts, to hike better, play with my kids, or open a pickle jar.”

John: Can I get an amen?

Person: “Actualy, I´m very pleased with how Physical Living looks today. Lot of usefull articles , workouts and vids. Great work John :-)”

John: Thank you anonymous survey respondent! I’m pleased with it, too. But I’d like to make it even better.

Person: “Kitty cat pics-not”

John: THANK YOU! You “get” me.

Person: “The vibe I like about John is his companionship. He can write about anything he wants, and I know that he’s thought it out for himself. Thanks.”

John: I don’t always think for myself, but when I do, it isn’t pretty…

Person: “Thanks to your post, Im well on my way to having the career as a fitness model ;-)”

John: Wow! Congratulations! I’m glad I could help :-)

Person: “Show me how to do interesting and effective body weight exercises and I’ll be happy. Let me worry about my diet and place in the universe.”

John: This one cracked me up. I’ll do my best!

The Online Coaching Question

I also learned that most of you are not interested in an affordable online coaching program. However, 55 people marked that they are at least somewhat interested in this. And 30 people were in the “very interested” range. I also received several notes about this in the comments section with specific requests. So, I’ll definitely give some thought to this since it’s been in the back of my mind for awhile.

The challenge with online coaching is that everyone needs personalized help. And since there’s only one of me, I can only help a limited number of people. So, I may run another survey in the future to gather some more feedback. For now, if YOU were one of the people who is interested in online coaching, please don’t hesitate to email me so that I can figure out how I may be able to help you guys.

Old People For The Win

The most interesting results from the survey is that in the “open mic” question at the end, roughly 25% of the people who gave me specific feedback mentioned that they want more information for older people. Here are some of the comments I received…

• Health & fitness for older folks to fight off disease & heart trouble.
• Enhanced fitness programs for the over 45s & rehabilitation from injuries
• More Content for the over 65 readers who are struggling to become fit and don’t have easy access to a gym and no room in their home to set one up.
• I have not been able to find a good beginning program for Seniors who want to lose weight and learn weight traing and nutrional meal planning no intrest in this age group, I can certainly understand that from a younger persons view, but there is a definite need, Thanks for your time
• Fitness for older people

This came as a bit of a shock because the vast majority of my demographics are 18-45 years old (like 80% of all website traffic, if my memory serves me). So, I’m in a bit of a conundrum, in that, I have a very vocal minority of people asking for advice that isn’t necessarily appropriate for the majority of my audience.  Needless to say, I will be processing that for a bit. If there’s a need, and there’s something I can do to help, I will. But I can’t make any promises at this time.

Now, if YOU are one of those older folks who would like some specific help, and you’d be willing to do me a HUGE favor, please feel free to contact me so that I can pick your brain for ideas. I’d love to hear more about your challenges and try to figure out how I can help. And truth be told, I’m wondering if older folks would actually want fitness advice from a young buck like me.

New Feature – Ask Me Anything

A lot of people asked for more quick tips and Q+A type content. So, one new feature that I’m offering is an “Ask John” series, which I thought this would be a simple way to provide that. I setup a page just for it here: Ask Me Anything. So, please feel free to submit any questions you’d like me to answer there.

Final Words

So, that’s a wrap. Thanks again to all who participated. I will be using the feedback you provided to shape the future of this website. Stay tuned for the next newsletter… next week! And if you haven’t signed up, you can do so here.

And if there’s anything you’d like to tell me, please leave a comment below or feel free to contact me privately.

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