During his presidential bid, Barack Obama showed his skillful internet marketing techniques.

Obama looked better on the Web than John McCain, and that was enough to earn him the title of Mr. President.

Historian often credit John F. Kennedy’s presidential win over Richard Nixon in 1960 to the fact that Kennedy simply looked more comfortable on television. Nixon was too stiff. Kennedy was very composed and confident. He carries himself like a real president.

In the 2008 election, the Internet was television. Obama was able to maximize the power of the internet unlike McCain.

McCain never did seem to understand just how important the online world was. Obama had reached out to the young voters of the United States through sites like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. He motivated them to make donations, buy shirts, distribute car stickers and Obama buttons to everybody.

Now that he’s president, Obama is still relying on the Web and its social networking sites. Just look at his efforts to pass new health insurance regulations. Obama tweets regularly via Twitter encouraging his constituents to send letters to the local dailies and attend pro-reform rallies.

An Internet-obsessed world

All this adds up in today’s Internet-focused world. During the presidential campaign, Obama emerged as an Internet star. McCain just couldn’t be at par with him. But internet marketing is something not only Obama knows.

What does all this have to do with your personal training business?

Everything.

No matter our politics, we can all learn one thing from Barack Obama: If you want to be truly heard today, you need to focus more than ever on Internet marketing.

You want to attract new clients, right? You need a regular influx of new trainees to keep you business running, especially in these financially slumped times. You can reach potential clients through traditional marketing methods, of course; newspaper ads, flyers stuck to coffee shop windows, even radio and local cable TV spots will reach customers.

But if you want to attract the attention of young people, the same people who helped push Obama over the top in his presidential bid, you’ll need to become a pro at using Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace and YouTube. These websites are common places for the youth. Some of these people even make sure that they don’t miss visiting these sites.

Using the Internet to draw in clients

Post tweets on your Twitter account about any specials you’ll be running this month. Advertise your new yoga classes on your Facebook page. Get a video expert and shoot some homemade ads for your fitness business and upload them on YouTube. You can use your MySpace page to advertise a referral promotion where you give existing clients a coupon for free coffee for every new client they bring to your business. Your creativity is the only measure when it comes to harnessing the marketing power of social networking sites.

Best of all, advertising on these sites is free. You could be possibly like most business proprietors today who do not have surplus funds. Free marketing is definitely a boon by this internet age.

Just don’t forget to promote your blogs, Twitter pages and Facebook site. It won’t work to your advantage if nobody knows about them.

So next time you find yourself complaining that an Obama press conference is pre-empting your favorite sitcom, remind yourself of one thing: This president, whether you like him or hate him, can teach you a lot about effective Internet marketing.