As much as we love Personal Training, at the end of the day its still about making a living from it. More than anything we need to make a profit from the services we provide in order to survive.
If your not making the kind of money you deserve, maybe we need to evaluate some of the things you’re doing. Possibly your setting up profit road blocks and don’t even know it!
Here are 3 things to consider:
1. Are you treating your Personal Training like a business or are you just winging it??
2. Are you focusing on getting more certifications than Sales and Marketing?
3. How do you spend your time between clients? Are you making the most out of your time? I mean, are you reading magazines or are you aiming to talk to at least 3 new people about your business?
Let Me Explain…….
I remember when I first started training. I came to the gym, trained clients, collected payment , rinse then repeat. I had no idea how much I made on a given day, I kept poor records, I didn’t have a separate business bank account. When it came time to pay taxes, I had to stay up late and go through tons of bank statements and receipts to figure out how much I made.
I missed out on all the benefits of having my own business and all the wonderful tax write offs that came with it! Today, I’m more focused on treating my Personal Training Business like a business. It has made BIG difference and my income has increased because of it. I recommend you visit a tax consultant and get your business set up ( Incorporated). Get advice on how to get the most from owning your own business. If you don’t.. you will be leaving a lot of money on the table.
When it came to my clients…I didn’t know exactly how many I had. I didn’t have a plan set up for them. I just trained them,…what’s worse I trained all my clients the same way. Between clients I would chit chat with the other trainers or folks at the gym until I had to get back to work.
Looking back it’s no wonder I didn’t keep clients long term and wasn’t making the kind of money I thought I should have been making. I couldn’t figure it out, I had my business cards sitting up at the front desk, I gave great training sessions… but I was broke and surely couldn’t do this full time. My “Training Business” was at the hobby level.
There was one trainer at the gym who seemed to have all the clients. Man! He damn near had every person in the gym as his client! I couldn’t win… so I thought……
This is when I put together my marketing plan! I thought of ways to get known as the best trainer and the person you needed to see to get into shape. I sat down with each client and found out what their goals were. I created files on each one & kick but workouts for them. Even more, I created a website for my clients to give them all the tips and advice needed to keep them on track. Between clients, instead of reading magazines I opted to talk to potential clients. I did everything the other trainers were not doing!
These simple changes led to people referring others to me without even asking. Folks at the gym saw my workouts and inquired about personal training. Folks I had talked to between clients started to set up appointments with me. My client retention went up, they stayed with me longer. I cracked the code! Yes!
Let me tell you… It doesn’t really matter how many certifications you have, if you don’t know how to market your business. A personal trainer with just 1 certification and a huge knowledge of Sales & Marketing will swallow the Trainer with 50 degrees and certifications and no knowledge of how to Market his/her business!
You can know all the fancy muscle names, but if you aren’t good at Sales and Marketing .. you will not make the kind of money you should be. Health & Fitness is Hot right now. If you are not reaping the rewards of this Growing Market…your ability to Market yourself may be the reason. The best Personal Trainers have education, but they are also good at Marketing their business and themselves.
I know I mention the term Sales and Marketing a lot. But don’t let that scare you. I know some folks hate selling! So do I! I never was a salesperson. The secret to Sales is getting the Marketing part right. Market you business right and the “sales” just seem to come naturally!
Much Success!
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