What’s in a name anyways?
Quite often I receive questions from new personal trainers wondering how to decide on a name for their fitness and personal training business. The truth is when it comes to fitness marketing and selling personal training a catchy name means very little. I learned this the hard way so you don’t have to.
When I began personal training I went through the same dilemma, and for some reason I loved the name Fitness F/X, which naturally was taken so I had to settle for Cabel’s Fitness F/X. I was fortunate that at the time people were just really getting online and one of my first few clients insisted I need a website and as luck would have it www.fitnessfx.com was available.
Now here’s the thing, you and I, we’re not Nike, we’re never going to have a swoosh of our own. We simply do not have the millions upon millions of dollars to spend to develop a known, recognizable symbol like the swoosh. You and I we have to work smarter, we have to think about what exactly Average Joe and Jane are doing right now.
Average Joe and Jane likely just got home from work or are relaxing after dinner after a long day of office duties, running after the kids and chores. A thought crosses Jane’s mind, she came across what used to be her favourite pair of jeans in the closet this morning and they didn’t fit when she tried them on. She just never lost all the baby weight she gained during her pregnancy and tonight she’s feeling a bit down on herself about it. Joe well he’s being working 50 hours a week trying to do the best for his family, after years in the office he’s finally moved into that new position and is home to his family at a reasonable time. Life is good financially they are comfortable and can enjoy some of the finer things, one problem though, his belly sticks out further than his chest and his wife just never looks at him the same way much anymore.
Jane and Joe respectively grab their laptop or iPhone and not wanting their partner to really know their insecurities think maybe it’s time to figure what they could do to get back into shape. What do they do?
The go to Google and they begin typing in things like, “fastest way to lose weight” “best weight loss diet” “workout program for weight loss” and of course “personal trainers in (insert your city name).”
Do you happen to see Cabel’s Fitness F/X anywhere in there? Nope, me either. So neither Joe or Jane ever found my website or me, but I bet quite likely they would have found LA Weight Loss, Jenny Craig or a Profitable Personal Trainer that really understood how to attract clients. If only I had named my business Personal Training in Red Deer…..hmm you may notice now in spite of my studio being named One-to-1 Fitness our website is built on www.PersonalTrainingRedDeer.com and you will never ever hear me refer to www.Oneto1Fitness.com even though I do own it.
So by now you should see the actual name of your business doesn’t really mean much when it comes to selling personal training, fitness marketing and putting yourself in the place people will actually find you.
Now it’s not bad at all to have a catchy name, I would suggest one that is gender neutral and leans toward the first thing you think most people think of when they think of getting in shape. This was how we selected One-to-1 Fitness; it was our idea of a catchy way to instantly describe what we wanted to be known for.
If you are just starting your business though, don’t spend a lot of time or money on this endeavour it’s just not time for that if you are determined to become and ultra-successful Profitable Personal Trainer.
What The Alarm Salesman Did Wrong…
Is your personal training business secure?
Yesterday an interesting thing happened it has nothing and everything to do with selling personal training and fitness marketing. The doorbell rang. I was in my home office intently concentrating when this noise distracted me. Seriously these days you know when the doorbell rings unexpectedly it’s a sales call. Funny, I like sales calls now, it’s like they just unexpectedly walked into a practical exam for sales and marketing. The poor alarm guy, though he was nice enough, he failed miserably.
He opened with a, do you have a security system now? Terrible! As terrible as these following personal training headlines:
- Get in Shape for Summer
- A Personal Trainer Can Get You Better Results
- Spring and Summer Boot Camps – Spots available, start today!
His question though seemingly valid wasn’t, you see the answer doesn’t matter, in that split second he disconnected with me and put me on the defensive as I knew his primary objective was to sell me on his new alarm system.
You Have to Get Them Emotional…
A much better approach would have been to introduce himself, and tell me something like, “Did you know that 50-100 break and enters occur in Red Deer every month? (Real number easily found on google.) Did you know that means that X# of people in this neighbourhood had their house broken into last month? (Divide number of neighbourhoods by total per month.) Your house is being targeted and here’s why…(high perceived value item, maybe like the 10 things you are doing every day that will make your house a target for serious theft. Like not locking your garage door to your home, like leaving your registration and garage door opener in your vehicle, like not quickly picking up the newspaper on the front step showing that you aren’t home or don’t pay attention, like not displaying alarm signage as a deterrent, gee and I am a personal trainer.)
Now let me ask you, do you feel comfortable knowing your house is a target? Do you do some of those above things I mentioned? Does that make you worry in the slightest?
About a year ago my neighbour had his vehicle broken into on the exact weekend we were away, that easily could have been our house. Similarly my wife’s poor co-worker had her house completely emptied in broad daylight. I bet you have or have heard a similar story, does thinking about that raise your level of paranoia?
We are hardwired to become emotional when we use the right language, as a successful coach you need to understand that attracting clients (and more importantly having them commit and comply with your instructions) will be much more successful if you can generate a vested emotional interest within them.
The point is just by changing your approach you now have a prospect that may naturally have been on the defensive and resilient to sales now defenceless because they are emotionally invested. Even though we have a security system in our home, between this failed sales visit and writing this post even I think we need to be more careful with our home, the power of emotions.
The same is true of personal training. The headlines above can be more powerful, here are some examples:
- · Get in Shape for Summer Good news, there is a simple way you can lose 10-15lbs before July.
- · A Personal Trainer Can Get You Better Results Your gym membership failed you, Jenny Craig failed you, this won’t!
- · Spring and Summer Boot Camps – Spots available, start today! Do you qualify for this weight loss program? 5 spots available.
You know what? As a Canadian personal trainer trying to learn the ins and outs of fitness marketing strategies you have a serious problem. You are too nice, too plain, and don’t use enough emotional language, it’s time to start! You will thank me later, adjust your headlines, your ad copy, brochures and even your conversation, every little step will drastically improve your results, I guarantee it!
8 Steps to Becoming a Profitable Personal Trainer
If you want to become a member of the elite, a fitness marketing specialist, someone who can sell personal training with ease, a truly profitable personal trainer than you best pay attention to the following:
1) Stop doing 60 min sessions, switch to abbreviated training either a 45 min session or better yet a 30 min. If you think you can’t get a client an effective workout in 30 minutes you are not alone, I felt that way too but just trust me and do it. 60 minute personal training sessions are counselling sessions that will burn you out fast and keep you broke. 30 minute sessions allow you to appear to be cheaper than your competition while in reality you can be more expensive on a per hour basis. Your clients will find them easier to schedule and will be able to afford more of them which overall means their results will be better.
2) Don’t sell packages of personal training sessions, sell the lifestyle. No one loses 40lbs, corrects hypoglycaemia or lowers blood pressure in 10 sessions. You want clients that are serious about adopting a new lifestyle and the need you more than ever. Do yourself and them a favour and make it easy, sell ongoing monthly training packages not packages of sessions. (Ideally using EFT.)
RnR is an important part of being a Profitable Personal Trainer, Wendy and I like to get away any chance we get, our May long weekend was spent at Radium in BC.
3) Utilize sincere selling. Care about your clients and prospects, when you meet a new client use an extended meeting to get to know them, to learn about their goals, fears and pain. Ask them questions that stir emotions about why the need to make lifestyle changes. Your job is to make them feel as though you are saving their life because potentially you are. The more focused and aware you become about their needs the more they will fulfil your financial needs and with far less resistance.
4) Increase the value. Your job description when it comes to client appointments can be summarized in two words: service and value. Provide killer service and always find ways to provide more value: ie. Valuable additional content in the form of articles, newsletters, strategic business partnerships and discounts, tele-seminars, paper system materials.
5) Ask everyone for a testimonial, social proof will be better than any advertisement you can ever dream up, take before and after photos and videos and ask for testimonials often from every single client.
6) Always be building your list. Use public speaking, opt-ins, Facebook ads, classifieds and special free programs to constantly create an influx of new leads.
7) For each new step document the system. Longevity becomes about time and task management. As each new spoke of the wheel begins to turn document the system so it may become a repeat process. If you do not have anyone in your network to delegate to you will eventually but only if you have systems to teach. Take it from me, I failed to duplicate 4 times before I succeeded because I didn’t have documented systems.
8) Don’t forget to take time off and relax, get away from the business of personal training and do something fun. I hope you had a great long weekend!
5 Easy Ways to Massively Grow Your Prospect List
Hmmmm....do you have those TPS reports finished?
As an expert trainer you possess a lot of great knowledge, as an expert human being you are compelled to share that knowledge with others. By now we surely have those two things established. Now why haven’t you written your free report yet?
Seriously, I am assigning you home work. I realize we are heading into the long weekend so I don’t necessarily expect you to do it this weekend but I want you to spend a little time this weekend thinking about what you are an absolute expert on and what you are going to write about. There is a variety of things you can write on, it might be:
- Your X# most important secrets for guaranteed weight loss.
- The X# things you need to know about posture and why you are in pain.
- A practical guide to improving your eating to feel better tomorrow.
- What one thing you can do today to feel 100% better in 72 hours. (Yes, the magic of hydration.)
- What is the one exercise you need to do to live longer and feel better.
- How to get in great shape and quickly even if you don’t like exercise.
There, I’ve already done a whole bunch of the work for you, now get to work and write between 10-15 pages of your best information, even double spaced is ok. This free report can make you a superstar in mere days and earn you tens of thousands of dollars, here’s five different ways to use it:
1) Post it on your website as an opt-in, people exchange their email address for a free copy of the report, add them to your marketing funnel provide more content for them and once in a while give them an offer to try your services.
2) Use free classifieds such as Craigslist and Kijiji, offer this valuable info free to the world, just simply ask them to email you for this info and supply it in return. Add their contact info to your marketing funnel as above. The best places to post are: fitness trainer, classes, lessons, and therapeutic services. (One of my coaching clients is getting dozens of new contacts every week using this method.)
3) Post this to your Facebook and Twitter status regularly. Email to find out why (report subject, then send them your report and add their info to your prospect list. (Have you noticed my weekly updates?)
4) Create a Facebook ad that directs people to your website where they can opt-in for your free report, you can completely target this ad and manage your budget to never spend more than you designate. (We use this ongoing to generate new consult appointments.)
5) Last but not least this even crosses over to other industries. One of my coaching clients is working in the financial services industry. They do a lot of cold calling, and with little success with their typical methods. However using your free report call conversion is much higher using a script something like this. “Hi I am Joe Bean, I am a local fitness expert and I just wanted to give you something today, don’t worry this is not a sales call. Because I believe in helping people I am sending people in my community this free guide on how to easily get in the best shape of your life even if you don’t like exercising. Would you like the email version or the hardcopy?” Get their email or mailing address and follow through. At the end of the report include your bio and website information, but no pitch. You will earn a tonne of credibility and can easily gain dozens of contacts per day. (Brand new and very cutting edge, this has potential to completely crush any competition.)
Once people are on your list you are compelled to keep educating them. The more you educate them the more they will trust you. A couple times a month if you begin to offer attractive trial programs you will be amazed at how predictable and easy it becomes to acquire new paying clients.
Get to your homework, and enjoy the long weekend!
4…3…2…1…We Are Go For Launch!
Did you wake up this morning full of passion and desire to succeed in a way that you have never felt before? Did you wake up with ideas and tasks swimming in your head that you absolutely need to attack and complete this coming week? Did you open your notebook to find that you now possess a complete 8 week, step-by-step plan detailing how even as a brand new trainer you can sell $100,000 in personal training and fitness programs in the next 8 weeks?
I know a number of individuals who made the trip to Edmonton, Alberta this past Saturday will be nodding a resounding yes to all of these questions. (That is if they have the time to even read this post.)
The Alberta average wage for a personal trainer in 2009 was just over $22,000, we can do far better than this. Our industry is growing faster and is needed more than ever. One of the biggest road blocks I’ve seen in new personal trainers is first understanding exactly how to improve their skills and acquire many new clients in the easiest, fastest, lowest cost manner possible.
Below is a short video of a discussion we had on this topic at the Personal Trainer Business Ignition ($100k in 8 Weeks) Workshop. Watch the video and adopt the right mindset and if you’re lucky maybe some of the attendees will comment on some of the great things they learned! (Also if you haven’t already go to the form on the right an download Factor 3, this will push you in the right direction to becoming a Profitable Personal Trainer.)
Do you have a mailing list? If so how many people are on it and when did you last contact them?
Contact Management is essential for fitness marketing!
As a follow up to my last post this is the next big step for you and likely also your website. You see as fitness professionals we’re pretty limited to the dollars we can spend on advertising and various fitness marketing strategies. For us relationship marketing is where it’s at, but as the world continues to move faster and faster we are all governed further by technology; traditional networking is becoming increasingly difficult.
As will be a major topic of discussion this weekend at the Business Ignition Workshop it’s critical you learn as many ways as possible to build a ‘list’ of customers and prospects. It’s quite common that when people start building a list they forget to nurture it only to become frustrated as they now possess a dead list.
You nurture you list by frequent contact, an example is the words you are reading at this very moment. I try every week to make sure I contact you on Monday and Thursday so we might engage for just a few moments and continue to build our relationship. As you will learn from my good friend Mr. X these relationships are extremely valuable and never just from the standpoint of making a sale.
This website and my attempt to gain regular contact with numerous fitness professionals has already brought me new colleagues and ideas that have allowed my training studio and other businesses to make huge strides forward. This is why of all the fitness marketing strategies you might learn; the idea of content, list building and continuity are the foundation principles that will determine your total success as a whole.
Anyways…back on topic, a key element for list building is automation through some form of contact management. If you can provide an easy way to provide regular contact with your list without spending a lot of time; you are free to keep performing the technical work that many of you are trying to grow beyond. (I mean let’s face it, if you’re a solo trainer you still have to train people, and yet you need to develop the systems so you don’t always have to train people, get it?)
By using a contact management product you save a lot of time, by using a website blog and publishing regular content that you then also distribute to your list you leverage further; you maintain regular contact and also attract new prospects with all the posted content. The icing on the cake is now you can put the two of those together to help build your list also, this is the opt-in. An example of an opt-in is the offer for Factor 3 up in the top right corner of this website. I have offered you some very valuable information in exchange for the trust of contacting you next week, my goal each week is to continue to offer you value in hopes that eventually we’ll find a way to help each other and grow our respective businesses.
Makes sense right? Now the question for those not super techno savvy is there an easy solution to handle this problem? Well, in my opinion yes, as a fitness professional you absolutely should have some form of contact management as part of your fitness marketing strategy, and an electronic product is by far the cheapest and these days most successful. Though you can use simple products like iContact, Constant Contact, or Aweber I hands down recommend FitPro Newsletter, you see as I have mentioned previously FitPro is the only product designed for fitness professionals, it’s completely customizable but the beauty is it’s also done for you. Their professional writers add great new articles to every issue so you don’t have to worry about it like the others. Come times like now where you are super busy training people you don’t even need to think about sending content to your list as they will all receive great new content every two weeks on your behalf. Now when you need to contact your list for other reasons they’ll even still remember who you are. J
The list is king! Grow it, nurture it, it is the key to your success.
YES! Contact me today to schedule a FREE no obligation consultation and trial workout.