CONCEPT:
CyberSweat.com (or org) would be a place for women to visit for the latest workout tips, nutrition advice, resource for sports medicine, workout apparel, to share ideas and information, to contribute to carefully selected causes and to have fun.
PITCH:
The importance of exercise and healthy nutrition is well established. Putting a healthy lifestyle into practice can be a daunting task or boring -- you need motivation.
I have developed a social network out of my twice a week TNT (group weight-training & cardio at the gym) and once a week NIA (dance, martial arts, meditation). We are lawyers, psychologists, professors, bankers, policy wonks, journalists and massage therapists and have taken our friendships outside the gym. We meet for "coffee talk" once a week and share the trials and tribulations of our personal and work lives -- as well as our latest workout/diet challenges. These relationships have become an integral part of my life and are what get me to the gym or the workout studio.
What if we took this approach to the cybersphere and expanded it to build a national or international community? How about taking it a step further and using the community to raise money for worthy causes? CyberSweat.com (org) would be a one-stop exercise, nutrition, sports medicine, apparel, networking website targeting socially responsible women who are interested in building an international community of like-minded people while doing good and getting in shape.
CyberSweat would feature the best links in each of the above categories and we'd create some of our own.
FUN FEATURES:
Members would register and choose an avatar (Superwoman, Wonder Woman, Minnie Mouse, GI Jane or your favorite "Golden Girl").
There would be opportunities for spontaneous Skype-based workout sessions within a community.
CyberSweat merchandise (t-shirts, etc.)
Videos featuring members and fitness experts
TARGET AUDIENCE:
Active, socially responsible women of all ages. That is a broad category but could be managed by offering tiered communities. The main page of the website would appeal to the entire group. Sub-categories would be tailored to meet the specific interests and needs of each age group.
For example, Tier 1 -- women 21-to-35. This community would build a community around their interests. The website would feature information, stories and ideas for that age group -- and advertising.
Tier 2 -- women 35-to-50
Tier 3 -- women over 50
DOING GOOD:
CyberSweat's communities could spring into action for good causes. "Sweating for Dollars" or "Crunches for Cash" as a way to funnel contributions to organizations such as Women to Women International, Suited for Change, etc. or to raise money for disaster relief.
GETTING WOMEN TO CYBERSWEAT
--Hire an SEO consultant to develop a strategy
--Use Facebook and other social media
MAKING $$$
Google AdSense
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Bonnie-
ReplyDeleteCyberSweat, targeting women who have a desire to be healthy and engage in their community is a great idea! It provides the motivation necessary for people to work out, knowing their ‘team’ is working out right along side! You might want to check out what Nike does in building team communities, especially in promoting their charities ex. Marathon for Haiti. This is a virtual marathon that benefits individual users as well as global reaching programs. I have a few questions to clarify the use of multimedia on your website. I love the idea of Skype and tying it into virtual workouts. Would you have an instructor leading users? Also, perhaps you could connect with Nintendo Wii Fit tracking products as well as a virtual pedometer etc. (maybe as a mobile application?) to push your project to the next level of multimedia. Your idea is relevant as the Obama administration calls for Health Care Reform and fighting childhood obesity/ obesity in general with ‘fat tax’ placing extra tax on soda, pizza, etc. People are also inspired in loosing weight through programs such as The Biggest Loser, so you definitely have a captive audience. My biggest concern would be how you are going to separate yourself from other workout online communities like MapMyRun.com, Nike +, fitlink.com, freetrainers.com, and diet websites like southbeachdiet.com. Love your idea though – I think if you streamline it or perhaps modify it to include a focus on children/childhood obesity it can be a real win!
-Katherine
Bonnie,
ReplyDeleteI really like your idea and feel like it would be a great tool for women to use!!
My first question would be who is providing the workout,nutrition information (I guess as alluded to above, who would be the skype leader)? If it's coming from the groups that you are a part of would there be different levels (beginner, advanced,etc), or do you envision this being more of a place for women to gather and motivate each other?
Secondly, how will you choose what links to put on your blog. So many workout instructors and workout videos have differing ideas about nutrition, etc, so how will you determine what you feel is best to put on the site?
Again, i think this is a great idea. Sort of like a one-stop shop for womens fitness. very cool.
-Jen
Hi I really like this idea. Our country is getting more and more active, and its always good to find new ways to reach out to this segment - especially women. Questions - I would just like to know more about competing websites. Has anything like this been done before? Anything similar?
ReplyDeleteAlso is the website more about gathering information and sharing or working out? Also What is the main focus? Is it the chatting, the nutritional information, the exercise? I just want to know what CyberSweat's main focus is? Also is the website free? Who leads the excerises?