Marketing Tips For Personal Trainers

Alrighty folks, today we will be taking a bit of a deviant route. While we acknowledge that most of our readership are people who want to get in shape, we also do have fitness professionals who draw upon the collective wisdom of this blog for their own fitness profession. And we welcome that – especially the affiliates among our fitness professionals. As a bit of a reward for those of you who fall into this category, we’ve managed to acquire some tips from Focus Training, a fitness education provider from the UK. Here goes:

Many Personal Trainers admit that they couldn’t market their way out of a paper bag! They become Personal Trainers because they want to help people reach their goals and live healthy lives. But when it comes to making your PT business a success, marketing is every bit as important as knowledge.

Without marketing, even the most experienced Personal Trainers will struggle to generate new clients. Because even the best trainers won’t attract clients if their potential customers don’t know they exist. So how can you spread the word about brand ​you​, without spending a fortune? It just requires some common-sense marketing strategies and a little thinking outside the box.

One: Flyers

Sure, we live in a digital age, though that doesn’t mean all of you potential clients do. Approach your local coffee shops, off-licences and convenience stores with flyers advertising your business. Most local business owners will be happy to post them in either their windows or on message boards. Business owners like to see their fellow entrepreneurs succeed.

Two: Speak Out

A great way to market your Personal Training business, as well as build on your reputation as an expert in the industry, is to speak at local community clubs, social groups and health club seminars. Hold a special session for those interested in weight loss, strength training or conditioning exercises. Host your own fitness Q&A for newbies. Or volunteer to go into ​workplaces​to offer lunchtime fitness groups. Take plenty of business cards along to hand out afterwards.

Three: Market Online

• Use LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to engage with health and fitness brands. Comment on their posts, ask questions and interact. The more sociable you are online, the more you heighten awareness of Brand You.
• If you have a way with words, use your blog to leverage your position of expertise online. Share blogs relevant to your industry on your Linkedin and Twitter profiles for added exposure.
• Join groups to position yourself as an expert in your field. Add your own content to groups to share news, tips, blogs or opinions on your sector.
• Contribute to ongoing conversations in industry-aligned groups. It shows your passion for your sector and will generate awareness of you as an individual.
• Share your own work. A portfolio, a video , case studies from clients you’ve worked with, or even motivational before and after shots if your clients are happy for you to share. Shout about your results… not just your services.
• Ask for endorsements and recommendations. Linkedin endorsements are a great way to build your online CV. The most common way of getting a recommendation is to recommend someone else. Ask for recommendations from people who know your work well and who you know will speak highly of you
• Create a business page on Facebook and ask your clients to follow you. You’re more likely to gain referrals from happy clients that shout about you.
• Add your work experience to your profiles. You could either list it in the About Me section on Facebook, use the milestones to showcase your career successes or highlight your qualifications in your bio.
• ClkerFreeVectorImages / Pixabay

Four: Write It

Consider volunteering to write a guest column. Most local papers are constantly searching for free copy to fill their pages! Plus there are thousands of online fitness sites that would be happy to feature advice from a qualified professional.

Five: Chat With Your Clients

Don’t discount the value of positive word-of-mouth advertising. People are far more likely to believe the good things that their friends, family members and co-workers say about a business than they are the praises they read in an advertisement. Remind your current (and happy!) clients to spread the word about your services. Word of mouth marketing is sometimes the most powerful of them all. For some, marketing isn’t that much fun. But by taking the time out to sell yourself and your services, you will not only build on your credibility, but attract new clients along the way. And that, is fun!

Alrighty, thanks once again to the fitness professionals who are fans and users for our blog. We hope this has been useful. Now, some of you have asked why I, Mark, have not taken steps into becoming a personal trainer myself. The answer is simple – because I have many other interests to pursue. Fitness, to me, is an interest. Personal training is a bit of an interest, but I haven’t done it in a while because of the other interests. In terms of my career, at the time of writing this, I’m employed in a role where I get to help people in other ways. Will I be a professionally trained instructor one day? Maybe.

And now for a note that comes along with it: Focus Training ​are one of the UK’s leading provider of Personal Trainer, Gym Instructor and Studio Instructor training courses and professional qualifications. We’ve been producing highly qualified fitness professionals for the past 15 years. So, it goes without saying, we have a passion for fitness, developing individuals who strive for career success in the health and fitness sector.

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