Part 2: How do I get clients and differentiate myself from other trainers to minimize competition?  How important are certifications?

Recently, I was asked a bunch of questions by a trainer who is just starting his business.   He basically wanted advice on the fastest way to build a successful personal training business.

Below are his questions and my responses.

QUESTION # 1:

It seems that many private personal trainers get their client base by poaching from the commercial gyms they have worked for. Is this the only/best way to establish a private clientele?

ANSWER # 1:

A lot of trainers do poach, but this is certainly not the best way to get clients and build your business!  Even in NYC, personal training is a small industry, everyone knows everyone, and any successful business is built on a foundation of relationships.   Don’t burn anyone!

At the same time, if you work at a facility for a respectable amount of time (1-2 years perhaps), then decide to pursue a different/better opportunity and your clients want to go with you, that is completely different.   It’s their body, their money, their health; so ultimately, it is the client’s decision on where they want to train.

QUESTION # 2:

How does someone who is very passionate about training, very well educated on both the science and practical applications of training, separate themselves from other trainers?

ANSWER # 2: There is an infinite # of ways to differentiate your business from other trainers, but my one word answer would be! MARKETING!

(Most trainers are not good at sales and marketing, so if you can add this skill set, you will be sure to dominate your market).

I am not talking about being pushy, I am talking about working smart.

One of the best marketing concepts that will help you stand out among the crowd is picking a niche. Ask yourself these 2 questions.   What kinds of people do you love training and what are their goals?

I love training kids age 12-18, and I love training people for performance and athletics, so Youth Fitness is a market I go after.   I am passionate about this niche, so it shows up in my marketing.   I target this market by writing blog posts for them, making contacts with schools in my neighborhood, and finding reporters who are looking for stories about youth fitness.

There are a lot of other ways to differentiate yourself, but follow your passion, and use your talents.   If you are a great writer, write to your market.   If you are a great speaker, find associations that are looking for public speakers.

Be sure to check out our resource page too, which will help you master marketing for your fitness business.

QUESTION # 3

How important are certifications? Do they matter to clients or are they just something that makes an impression on gym owners/other trainers?

ANSWER # 3

This is a great question, be sure to check out our blog post “What is the Best Personal Training Certification?” Essentially, a training certification is only as good as it helps you provide real world practical solutions to your client’s health and fitness problems.   Certifications have been instrumental in helping me grow and provide more value to my clients (I have 8 certifications so far and I am taking a Poloquin certification next weekend. )

However, they are not the only way to gain experience and knowledge.   Reading books, interning and working with other trainers, attending seminars, interning with physical therapists; all of these can help you step your game up.

NO, the clients don’t really care that you got a certain certification for the most part, but they do care about the knowledge and results that they can get from you.

So evaluate every certification and learning opportunity?  Will it help you provide results for the specific demographic of clients you are targeting?  What do other trainers have to say about that certification?

There are no easy answers here, and there is no shortage of certifications out there.   Just do some research, ask around, read up on them, and then trust you gut.

Until next time, keep your business fit.

Johnny Fitness

PersonalTrainingBusiness

Part 1: What is the Fastest Path to Private Training Clients and My Own Successful Personal Training Business?

Have you ever wondered:
a) How much many can a personal trainer really make?
b) How long does it take to build up a client base?
c) How do I find clients that are a good fit for me?
d) What is the best way to build a successful personal training business fast?
e) How can I become one of the best Personal Trainers in the world?

I gotta admit, that last question is my favorite.

Recently, I was asked a bunch of questions by a trainer who is just getting started.   He is a really nice guy, and I think he has a lot of potential, so I thought to myself “how can I help myself and this guy at the same time?”

I love trying to think in terms of “Both”, instead of “either/or” (which is what we are taught from our education system, parents, and popular culture like “you can’t have your cake and eat it too. “

That is PURE NONSENSE.

So I wanted to help this trainer and help myself.   Then it hit me.   I asked him to write down his biggest questions about growing a personal training business from the ground up!  He will get good answers and info, and I will get a cool and helpful blog post. This post is the first in a series of articles that address trainers’ questions about the business of personal training.

What are your questions about building your personal training business?

His first question is below and will be followed by other posts to address the rest of his questions.

Question # 1

1) As someone who is new to the business, is it possible to develop a good practice as a private personal trainer, or is it essential to start at a commercial gym first?

This is a great question!  Personally, it took me 5 years before I felt comfortable “taking my clients private”.   I thought about it seriously about 3 years into the game, but decided that I wanted to get more experience before pulling the trigger.

For myself, I am glad I waited. With the support of a name brand gym, in two years, it allowed me to build my technical skill set (increased exercise knowledge) and increase my rate without having to worry too much about where my next client was coming from.   I am sure I could have moved sooner, but I doubt that my business would have been such a success.

HOWEVER, this does not mean that every trainer needs to wait 5 years before “going private”.   I was PAINFULLY SHY when I first started working as a trainer, I worked a floor shift 4x/week at World gym in NYC for 6 MONTHS BEFORE PICKING UP A SINGLE CLIENT!!!

Thank god I overcame my shyness (actually, personal training helped a lot in this regard, and ever since I have always thought of personal training as a way to develop oneself and one’s clients. )

So how do you know when you are ready?  For most new trainers, I think the following goals should be achieved before venturing out on your own:
1. At least 1-2 years of experience in a gym.
2. A combination of at least 2-3 certifications or degrees (to help develop critical thinking skills and increase perspective you utilize when training).
3. A solid client base and contacts.
4. Confidence in your ability to achieve results.
5. Confidence in your ability to promote, market and sell yourself.

Of course, these are just general guidelines.   If you know and have rapport with a lot of people in the area you will be servicing, have developed a skill set that will help you get exposure (worked as an advertiser, internet marketer, etc), and are confident using those resources to generate business, you can probably pull the trigger and “go private” in under a year.

Also, some private training studios will provide you with clients, which will make the transition from being a gym personal trainer to a private personal trainer easier and faster.   Be sure to ask them about how often you can expect a new lead from them.

If you don’t have the preceding requirements, I think you are better off leaning on the gym to help you build your business, so you can focus on developing your exercise skills and confidence.

Then once your business and exercise skills are built up, you can shift to a private facility and start working on your marketing skills. Having to work on business skills, exercise skills, and customer service skills all at once is not ideal for most people (although I would imagine some trainers would thrive under this pressure).

So ask yourself, honestly, what is the fastest way to become a big success in the training industry?  What skills and resources have you developed and are confident using?  Are you ready to go out on your own?

Still not sure?  We provide a step by step plan for “going private” in our Personal Trainer Marketing System (http://www. personaltrainingbusiness. com/marketing-system. php), which includes software to help you grow and manage your business. We make it really simple! There a lot of experts out there talking about a lot of cool stuff, but our system is the only one that comprehensively addresses everything you need to take your fitness business to the next level, step by step, in a very simple way.

We break down skills into 3 mega-competencies (exercise science, business skills, interpersonal skills) and then break down each mega-competency into several competencies and sub competencies:

A) Exercise Science

1. Career & Educational Path
2. Biomechanics
3. Physiology
4. Anatomy
5. Program Design
6. Nutrition

B)   Interpersonal Skills

1. Communication Skills
2. Customer Service Skills
3. Psychological/Motivational Skills
4. Leadership Skills

C) Business Skills

1. Marketing Skills
2. Organizational Skills & Systems
3. Sales Skills
4. Professionalism
5. Entrepreneurial Skills

Each of the above competencies are an opportunity to get better at your craft, help more people, and make more money!

There are many paths to success, and personal training allows a lot of freedom and creativeness regarding the skill sets that can be utilized to build a career.   This is why entrepreneurs love personal trainer.   But there are a lot of good trainers out there with potential who would grow faster with a little more structure.   That is what our system provides; a little structure to help you create your own path to ultimate success.

You don’t have to master every skill above.   In fact, you can’t master any subject above; a person can study exercise physiology for years and still argue about the details with someone else who has spent their life studying the same topic.   The point is not to master all the skills above, but to find and focus on the unique combination that will excite you and allow you to realize your full potential.

Our marketing system will help you to do this step by step, as well as help you find ways to delegate or outsource skills that you are not passionate about and not interested in.   (Of course, basic knowledge of every skill is essential, at least. )  You still have to do work, but our system will help you define a path that suits your specific dreams and takes you along that path step by step.

Are there any skills that you think I am missing?  What is your biggest problem with building your personal training business?  What skill are you great at?  What skill are you most passionate about or interested in learning about?

Until next time, keep your business fit.

Johnny Fitness

PersonalTrainingBusiness

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