The bootstrap marketing strategy that I plan to use for my online fitness coaching business is social media through the internet to social network online. Social media is one of the easiest and cost-effective methods of reaching out to the target audience. We are living in a digital era where the highest population is a social media population (Inc, 2010). Social media is the most commonly used method of marketing online and also one of the ways that customers expect to find whatever good or service they require.
I will use Facebook and Twitter accounts for my business to inform people about my services. Given that my store is online there need to be videos to show people whatever it is that I offer, therefore, along with Facebook and Twitter I will also use YouTube where I will record videos in which one video will be free to introduce people to my venture ( Turner & Endres, 2017) .
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I will have one employee who will be in charge of the accounts in which the employee will be devoted to social media alone, and the employee will be informing people on the services my venture offers through participating in discussions whenever the employee identifies someone discussing similar services. Through this tactic, there is a big opportunity to engage with the customers and create a rapport, which, in the end, translates into sales.
In order to determine the marketability of my services, I will initially do some testing to the market in a small way through the purchase of pay per click ads to determine how it is easy to gain customers ( Ngo et al., 2018) . Also, I will record short videos that will not require too much data bundles to see how many views the videos will acquire. I will be my own public relations in which I will be the one demonstrating the fitness exercises as someone record the videos. I also plan to do some market research to determine the kind of services that people require and what they get from my competitors ( Turner & Endres, 2017) . This will also be done through social media especially Facebook and Twitter where I will have one on one conversation with potential customers through brainstorming to determine what it is that they like to keep fit so that I can be able to provide to them precisely those kinds of services.
I also plan to use television stations to air my services in which I will have to meet with the management of a television station to request them to include my fitness coaching as a program. In order to grow organically, I will keep my accounts simple since it is a small venture so that to minimize costs while maintaining profitability ( Ngo et al., 2018) . This will be enhanced through a Gmail account and a domain name that are relatively cheap since I am just starting small.
As the business grows I will get a WebEx app which will allow me to hold brainstorming sessions with the clients as well as presentation sessions to enable meetings portability and in return I get to know the needs of the clients while also allowing them to create the buzz for me through informing others and inviting them to the sessions.
Besides marketing the business online, I will also make some appearance at gyms to showcase my fitness exercise and to inform people on which social media networks to follow me on. This will help build the image as well as the name of my venture as physical appearances help even to determine the reaction of the people towards some kinds of exercises which can be a right way of determining the uniqueness of my fitness coaching ( Turner & Endres, 2017) .
Activity Learning 8: E-Commerce Opportunities
Since the start of the online trading business, significant changes have happened in the business world, offering both challenges and opportunities ( Riggins, 1999) . As an online trainer, various opportunities exist that I can effectively and profitably exploit. E-commerce has brought new opportunities to businesses that initially did not exist. Online fitness coaching requires a unique connection between the customers and the service provider (coach).
It is ever increasing online consumers. Among the most significant opportunities that online continues to provide to businesses is the consumer traffic that grows every day. The rising population of internet users becomes potential customers who give businesses an opportunity to expand. As an online coach, I would, therefore, increase my advertising by ensuring my video adverts appear in websites with most following. It would be a chance to meet people who might be interested in gaining fitness but have not found the right trainer. The rising middle class that has disposable income are potential customers ( Chua , 2014) .
E-commerce provides businesses with an opportunity to improve the customer experience so as to attract customers. An example of how I would improve customer experience is through personalization. Personalization includes activities such as customized coaching, gifting, and so forth (Rabo, 2017). In body fitness, people have different needs, and one of the ways to satisfy such customers' is through customization of such requirements. It is a method that will be effective to customers and increase profits as it will attract consumers with special needs. Gifting or providing samples is a way of attracting potential customers. Providing samples or gifts in online coaching can be to provide free training classes for about a week, which give the customers' time to experience what they expect. It is an effective marketing strategy that aims at increasing the number of customers, thus increasing the business profits.
E-commerce eliminates the distance hindrance factor, which would be advantageous to the online coaching business. E-commerce provides an opportunity to provide excellent and services online, which is known as E-commerce and also allow payment to be made online, which is known as E-finance ( Chua , 2014) . Online coaching is a service that does not require the parties involved to meet as services, and payment can be made online. The opportunity provided is that I can reach a large group of people all over the world and be able to provide the training services to them. Therefore, I would use e-commerce for advertising and meeting customers online from different parts of the world and be able to offer my services to these people.
E-commerce provides an opportunity to combine both online and offline techniques to the clients. As an online coach, there is no need to stay online for the entire day as it is possible to make videos that can be used by clients later. It means that the consumers have an option to download the video and watch it while they are offline ( Steinfield, Bouwman & Adelaar, 2002) . Such a strategy provide an opportunity for clients who are not online when the facilitation of the class is going on. Such people will have an opportunity to view the video later. It is one of the biggest opportunity that online marketing has provided to the various businesses that seek to use the strategy. It is an effective strategy that can be used to generate income.
Pricing Strategy
Pricing of goods or services is important to the success of a business. High prices attract a few customers, especially for a new product which affects the cash flow of the organization. Quality and low prices for a company entering a market give the company a chance to fight and acquire customers. Customers are the source of income. Therefore, the pricing of goods and services is integral to the success of a product in an industry. As a new business in the fitness coaching industry, a combination of various pricing strategies such as penetration pricing, and price discrimination will be employed.
As a new player in the market, I need to penetrate an industry that is becoming common among fitness lovers. The pricing strategy that is important when entering such a market is penetration pricing ( Nagle & Müller, 2017) . The pricing strategy is meant to charge a lower price compared to market value so as to attract a large pool of customers. The goal is to sell more in case of goods. Discount prices, which are a bit lower, may attract online consumers of online coaching. After increasing the number of people following the business and requiring the skills offered, the prices of attending the gym are supposed to go up slowly with time. Lower prices attract customers. When quality goods or services are bundled with low prices, it attracts clients. It is a strategy that is employed by new firms in a saturated market or a new market/ industry. Penetration pricing strategy, as indicated, can be low or discounted. Discounted pricing tactic is used by firms with the aim of increasing a sale at a given time. Discounting tactic is similar to setting the price lower than the necessary price.
Price discrimination in service sectors is a common activity. For example, in learning exercise 8, we identified that the customers' needs when it comes to us with special needs that force us to charge a price higher. Customers who request customized training sessions will experience higher charges. Price discrimination is used to indicate the difference in the services offered ( Hinz, Hann & Spann, 2011) . People with special needs are likely to experience a higher price compared to people who will go for the standard services. According to Gruber (2008), price discrimination is charging different prices for the same good or service in a different market. Online coaching services are the same, but some people require special attention that requiring us to come up with a different pricing strategy for such customers. Customer satisfaction is our main goal, and it is the customers' responsibility to meet the cost of the services. For the standardized activities, customers' will be charged the same price, but for customers requiring special training sessions will have a different price according to that match their requirements.
A combination of the two pricing strategy will give an opportunity to attract a large pool of customers and address the different needs while trying to maximize the profits. Penetration pricing is a way of attracting a large pool of clients who will increase the returns of the venture. Price discrimination strategy meets the needs of customers with special requirements. Customization of the services for the customers will require higher pricing. A combination of diversified pricing strategies will help address customer diversity. The online business attracts large customers from different regions with different needs. It is thus becoming important to maintain a diversified pricing strategy and tactics.
References
Chua , D . ( May 1, 2014). The Biggest Opportunities in e-commerce Right Now, As Revealed By Retail Experts [Infographic]. Retrieved from https://www.referralcandy.com/blog/ecommerce-opportunities/
Gruber, G., (2008). Pricing strategies in online & offline retailing (Doctoral dissertation, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business).
Hinz, O., Hann, I. H., & Spann, M. (2011). Price discrimination in e-commerce? An examination of dynamic pricing in name-your-own price markets. Mis Quarterly , 35 (1), 81-98
Inc. (2010).10 Tips for Bootstrapping Your Marketing. Retrieved from https://www.inc.com/guides/2010/06/tips-for-bootstrapping-your-marketing.html
Nagle, T. T., & Müller, G. (2017). The strategy and tactics of pricing: A guide to growing more profitably . Routledge.
Ngo, L. V., Bucic, T., Sinha, A., & Lu, V. N. (2019). Effective sense-and-respond strategies: Mediating roles of exploratory and exploitative innovation. Journal of Business Research , 94 , 154-161.
Rabo, O. (June 22, 2017). 6 Untapped Opportunities in E-commerce. Retrieved from https://www.getresponse.com/blog/6-untapped-opportunities-in-ecommerce-that-will-become-huge-soon
Riggins, F. J., (1999). A framework for identifying web-based electronic commerce opportunities. Journal of organizational computing and electronic commerce , 9 (4), 297-310.
Steinfield, C., Bouwman, H., & Adelaar, T. (2002). The dynamics of click-and-mortar electronic commerce: opportunities and management strategies. International Journal of Electronic Commerce , 7 (1), 93-119.
Turner, S., & Endres, A., (2017). Strategies for enhancing small business owners' success rates. International Journal of Applied Management and Technology , 16 (1), 3.
