When you are starting a personal training business you need certifications, enthusiasm and great training programs, but perhaps most importantly, you need customers! It’s time to start building your client base. Whether you are a new trainer working in a gym or a trainer with your own business, attracting clientele requires more than physical fitness and talent. As many successful trainers will tell you, it doesn’t matter how good of a trainer you are, how many functional exercises you can take people through, or how many certifications you have; it all comes down to this – how good of a marketer are you? Check out this personal trainer’s website and the brand she has created for herself. Most trainers new to the business fail quickly because while they have great training programs and motivation, they lack the necessary business skills to market themselves. The best ways to attract new customers are to become a marketing machine by learning some basics, and to differentiate yourself from the crowd of trainers competing for your prospects by focusing on branding the value and benefits of training with you.
Stumbling across clients in a gym is not a marketing plan.
{ Schedule marketing tasks into your day just as you would schedule workout tasks. Starting a personal training business requires a solid marketing strategy and thinking about marketing every day. | Starting a personal training business requires a solid marketing strategy and thinking about marketing every day. Scheduling marketing tasks into your day is the best time investment you’ll make when starting a personal training business. Create a strategy that includes 3 components: online marketing, print, or offline marketing, and social networking.
Get online and use the power of the Internet to market yourself.
Building a website that is informational, is updated on a regular basis, and is optimized for searches will attract new prospects that traditional print campaigns can’t reach. On your website include information about your services and content that connects you to readers. For instance, write a bio that highlights your personality, qualifications and fitness philosophies. Make sure you prompt prospects to reach out to you with a call to action, and make your contact information easy to locate on your site. You will also attract more visitors and loyalty to your site with blogs and newsletters that offer information on nutrition and exercises that people will value. Here too you can also build a list of prospects by creating a monthly newsletter and asking for subscriptions – offer something for free if visitors sign-up for your newsletter. There are a number of services that can help you with online marketing for small business.
Establish social networking on Facebook and Twitter, and connect these to your website.
Keep your followers engaged by posting daily mantras, promotional information, advertising training packages, group classes, or anything related to your business that generates interest and creates a buzz.
Create a tagline and logo and market your brand in your community.
Launch a print campaign that includes t-shirts, business cards, flyers and postcards, and place them strategically in your community in places like dog parks, community centers, restaurants, bookstores and libraries. Offer t-shirts as freebees to first-time clients. Most likely they will wear this shirt when they workout and market your personal training services for you. Barter with other professionals, like your dentist or doctor, for referrals. Print business cards with your brand, a call to action, and complete contact information. Carry these with you always, and you will not miss an opportunity to convert a casual conversation to a new business prospect.
Add value to your program that informs and educates people about the benefits of your program.
Add momentum to your programs by keeping the conversation going with emails, phone calls, and online messages. Communication with clients, even if you don’t have any yet, shows prospects that your value extends beyond training sessions. Offer free fitness evaluations, target a specific demographic and offer group classes, or create videos of featured exercise moves, fitness tips, and upload them to Youtube and your website.
Remember, marketing is key to peaking interest and luring new clients to your new personal training business. Draw from your own fitness experiences to help others, offer value to differentiate yourself from the competition, and make marketing just as important as training.