Friday, January 11, 2019

Taking #SELFIES and #GROUPIES Like a Pro to Promote Your Zumba® Fitness Classes
Written by: Zumba® Fitness Instructor Lizz Larrauri 

Have you ever noticed that Zumba® instructors love taking pictures? The trend of taking selfies before class even starts and group pictures after class is not my original idea, but it is something that I love to do! ZINs® have been capturing the happiness and love Zumba® fitness exudes for years to
promote themselves and their classes. We love taking pictures at events, with other instructors and with our students. Let me tell you how it started for me....

If you saw my Facebook page, you wouldn't believe me, but I historically wasn’t the type of person who used to take pictures of myself all the time (I am serious)!! Once in a while I would take a selfie to update my Facebook profile, and I loved taking pictures of my kids and objects. I still love it but now I take more Zumba® pics than anything.  

When I started my Zumba® Career five years ago (believe it or not, five years is considered a long time in the Zumba® world), I wanted to promote my classes.  I did not know where to start or what to do. So as many instructors do, I started using memes I found on Google. In a short period of time I ran out of Zumba® memes.

One day, I took a selfie in my car and used it to make a post promoting my class.  I saw it worked! People were engaged and starting interacting with my posts. In my opinion the best way to let the world know about your classes are through pictures because they can see an image of who you are and feel motivated to come to your class.  Videos work great too, but we will talk about that in another occasion. After a couple weeks, I noticed my participants wanted to be included in my pictures.  To them it was a fun way to show that they had fun at the gym.  Some of them like their friends and family to see that they go to Zumba®

Suddenly, my students also started taking pics after class and posting on Facebook. Notice: I am not saying, this is something that only happens at my class.  In today’s culture, people love taking pictures and documenting everything they do.  We are living in an era where social media takes part of our lives.  There is nothing wrong with that.

Here are a Few Tips to Taking Selfies & Groupies Like a Pro:

1.If you don’t have a long arm, get a selfie stick.  They are very affordable and convenient.
2. Take your selfies from the top, not directly to your face or from the bottom.  That way you will look slimmer and and avoid the picture depicting a double chin from looking down.
3. Hug, hug, hug! To get a slimmer waist hug the person beside you. Besides, we want to share the Zumba® love!
4. Don’t be so serious! By this I mean, once in a while you can take some crazy pics with your students by making silly faces and poses.
5. Use filters moderately.  We all know that there are hundreds of apps to fix your pictures but please don’t put make up on your pics, exaggeratedly erase wrinkles or lines, make eyes super big (cartoon eyes), make yourself taller, etc. I use an application called Beauty Plus and I only use it up to level 5 to make sure pics still look natural.  Sometimes I don’t edit my pics at all and just use natural light and then on Instagram set my pictures filter to Juno or Clarendon.
Lastly and perhaps the most important tip! Don’t be afraid of taking pictures after sweating. I love showing that sexy Zumba® Glow after class ends.  It shows you had a great workout.  Everyone looks happy and distressed.  Just fix your hair to the side or put your hat on and SAY CHEESE 🧀!

Find Lizz on Facebook!

Connect with Lizz on Instagram

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