Most trainers and fitness pros are in the business of trading hours for dollars.  Train a client, get paid.  Don’t train anyone, don’t get paid.

Sure, you may receive a small hourly rate from the gym for wandering the floor, but that is still trading hours for dollars.

If this is all you do, you’ll probably be out of the fitness industry in a few years max.  Why?  Because you’ll soon learn, that even if your schedule is booked solid, you’ve got a cap on how much you can earn.  That is the reality when trading hours for dollars is your only source of income.

It isn’t that hard to escape this problem, yet it amazes me at the number of trainers who don’t do even the most basic, simple things to help them out of this situation.

Take building a list for example.  Every trainer with a website who isn’t capturing visitors’ names and email addresses is wasting those visitors.  They may not want what you have now, but if you have something new that they might want in the future, and you didn’t get their email, you’ll never be able to sell it to them. Given how simple a process this is, there is no excuse for not doing it.

And once you realize that you know more about fitness than 99% of the population, you can Continue Reading "Are You Doing These..."

If you really want to be successful, then stop selling personal training services.

You read that right.  Stop selling personal training services.

I know, you’re thinking “Does this idiot know I’m a personal trainer? What else would I sell?  People come to me because they want a good trainer, and I’m the best.”

Well, you may be the best trainer, but that isn’t why people buy your services.  They buy your services because they want to lose weight, or they want to gain muscle, or they want to be a better athlete, or they want to look good without their clothes on.

They don’t want a trainer, what they really want is that vision of themselves that they have in their head.

Think about it like this.  When someone goes to Home Depot to buy paint, they aren’t doing it because they just thought it would be a good idea to have some paint on hand.

They are buying paint because they want a different color wall.

You don’t buy a drill because you think it would be cool to have a drill.  You buy a drill because you want a hole.

People don’t buy personal training services because they just can’t live without a trainer.  They buy personal training services because Continue Reading "Stop Selling Personal Training"

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As a personal trainer, are you a fitness generalist or a specialist?

Do you train anyone who asks, or are you the go-to person in a particular niche?

If you’re the type who’ll train anyone, you need to consider finding a niche and developing your business around that niche.

When you focus on one type of client, you become a better trainer because your knowledge becomes focused and deep, as opposed to wide and shallow.

 It is easier for specialists to effectively target their marketing than it is for generalists, and specialists always command higher rates than
 generalists.

Think about the type of people you enjoy working with the most, and focus your efforts on that group.

It could be seniors, women looking for fat loss, volleyball players, cardiac rehab patients, you name it. 

Find your niche, run with it, and you’ll be 100 times more successful than the personal trainer who’ll work with anyone who walks through the door.

Best of success,

Dave

ps – One of the fastest growing segments of the fitness industry is the youth training market.  The International Youth Conditioning Association has created a new Youth Fitness Specialist Certification.  If you’re at all interested in youth training and fitness, you don’t want to get left behind.  Go check it out now.

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A purple cow?

That’s right, a purple cow.  Are you, or is the product or service you provide, a purple cow?

You’re probably thinking “No, and what the heck are you talking about?”

What I’m talking about is “What makes you or your services unique and remarkable?”

Author Seth Godin explains it like this: If you drive past a farm, and all of the cows are out in the field, what do you see?  A bunch of cows, that all look alike.  Drive past the next farm, and all of the cows there look just like all of the cows you just saw.  Every cow is the same as the other.  You’d probably never give them a second thought.

Now picture all of the same cows in the field, except this time, there is also one purple cow.  Now that cow stands out.  It it different.  It is unique.  It is special.  You’ll tell people about the purple cow because it is remarkable.

So, is your business remarkable?  Do you stand out?  Or are you just another trainer in a big field of trainers?

I know, you think you’re different.  So do all of those cows in the field.  And they are.  Some have more spots.  Some are taller.  Some moo louder.  But to the outside observer, they are all just cows.

Except for the purple cow.  It is remarkable, and people will spread the word about the purple cow.

What does this have to do with you?  Continue Reading "Is Your Fitness Business..."

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There are a lot of very good trainers out there who simply don’t charge what they’re worth.  Sometimes they don’t know any better, or in rare occasions the market simply won’t bear a higher price.  That, btw, is VERY rare.  If your market won’t pay what you’re worth, you’re targeting the wrong market.

But, the main reason most trainers don’t charge what they should is a simple one: Fear.

That’s right, they’re afraid to.  And you know why they’re afraid to?

Because they wouldn’t pay that much for personal training, so they’re afraid others won’t either.

Here is something you MUST learn if you want to succeed in any business:

YOU ARE NOT Continue Reading "Start Charging What You’re..."