Fitness, Business, Fitness Business, & Achieving Life Goals

#7 Successful Personal Trainers Know How to Market Themselves

According to Wikipedia, marketing “is an integrated process through which companies build strong customer relationships and creates value for their customers and for themselves.” My own definition is more like “seeking out, connecting with, sharing who we are and how we can help your target audience.”

First, of course, you must know your target audience. Who is your niche market? Where do they hang out? Are they meeting at conferences, senior groups, clubs, churches, schools, community or other organizations? Or are they connecting with others using social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Youtube, etc.?

Note: I’m not going to ignore the use of Direct Mail or more “traditional” marketing techniques. Well, actually, I am going to ignore them in this article (for some, they do still work). But they don’t directly connect you with your audience and successful Personal Trainers know that the best way to build rapport and trust is through interaction.

So now, you’ve done your homework and found your market, what do you do from here? You need to find a way to join in their conversations. Connect with the group leaders and see if you can… join the group, volunteer with the group, or present to the group a topic that would be helpful to them. Like selling, your first priority is to be of service to them. You must create value, trust, confidence in you as a resource before you ask for anything in return.

Social media works the same way. Find which ones are used by your target audience. Create a presence by offering helpful information to others. They will then share your information with their friends. Their friends share with their friends, etc, and before you know it, you have a large audience of potential clients.  

Obviously there are a lot more specifics, but the essence of marketing in this day and age is connection and conversation. Successful Personal Trainers know how to market themselves by actively getting involved with their target market, whether it’s face to face or using social media.

How are you establishing your presence? 

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers (Series)

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers #1

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers #2

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers #3

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers #4

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers #5

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers: #6

P.S. Also, follow my Business of Personal Training page on Facebook.

Be Your Own CEO While Working for Others is a session I will be presenting at Club Industry East in Boston this year. The idea came from club employed Personal Trainer complaints that I’ve heard through the years. “The club is getting half of the money, so why should I work hard at selling Personal Training for them?” That kind of mindset limits their ability to build their business. Which isn’t good for them or the club.

I get it. You don’t want to work for “the man.” You want the money to be all yours. I can’t blame you. BUT, if that’s the case, then you had better be ready, willing, and able to go and start your own business. And, by the way, the money is never “all yours”. What about your facility overhead, taxes, insurance, etc. that is currently taken care of by the club you work for? Now, I still believe that most people should be working toward owning their own business, but know what it really takes to do that. Don’t just think it’s as simple as hanging a shingle. Read The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber.

So, in the meantime what do you do…resign yourself to doing a half-a** job because you’re working for some else? Get over it! Your brand, your reputation, how smart you work, your business within the club, is in your control. Yes, the club takes it’s cut, but you get yours as well. Are you doing what it takes to make the most you can in the club. Ask yourself these questions(and there are more):

If there are Personal Trainer tiers, are you taking the steps necessary to move up to the top tier?

Are you always friendly, smiling, and approachable?

Do you always look and act as a professional?

Are you exceeding your existing clients’ expectations, constantly showing the value?

Are you asking them for referrals?

Are you spending time in the club and on the workout floor (on your own dime if necessary) connecting with members and seeking opportunities to sit down with them to problem solve and make a recommendation (if appropriate) to train?

Are you connecting with your club sales people and letting them know what you specialize in and what kind of members you work best with? You could even treat them to a session so they will know what they’re promoting in you.

Are you opening your schedule up to connect/integrate new members into the club.

Are you teaching group exercise classes for greater exposure as a fitness expert and to build rapport with a large group of people?

Are you doing small group trainings to maximize your $/hr earnings?

Are you creating an contact/email list to: re-connect with people, see how their program is going and if you can be of help to them, send e-newsletters, blog postings, links to articles of interest which helps to make you the go-to person for information?

Are you using/creating the tools to monitor your productivity? (i.e. a closing ratio spreadsheet)

This is not a complete list, by any means, but is a great start on taking control of your business within the club you work for. Good luck, make it happen, and if I can be of help to you, please email me at m a r k @ m a r k n u t t i n g . c o m.

Best wishes, Mark