So, you’ve been thinking about becoming a personal trainer… how hard can it actually be, right? You’re already physically fit, people are already asking you for tips and tidbit on how you got your body to look the way that it does, plus, it’s a true passion of yours, so why not profit off of your expertise?
Entering the world of personal training definitely sets you up for growth and opportunity, but it also is also a very rewarding experience. The benefits of the personal training market grown and expanded year after year. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics foresees fitness training to increase 7% by the year 2026.
What Does This Mean For You?
This just means that the personal training business is a booming industry. So the question posed to yourself now is how will you stand out from the rest? What will make you succeed when others have failed? Well, if you’re a true fitness guru, a little competition won’t have you shaking in your boots! You just need to know where and how to start. Let’s take a look at what you need to do to get your personal training business off the ground and have you training like the pros.
Get Yourself Certified
In order to be an official personal trainer in your business, you’ll need to get certified. If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. You wouldn’t want to go see a “doctor” without him being licensed and certified to practice right? The same rules apply to personal training and depending on what type of training you intend to do, you will need to be certified before taking on clients.
Your certification lets clients know that you know what you’re doing and it gives them an air of confidence to trust you with their fitness needs. In addition to getting certified, you’ll need to make sure you hold safety certifications as well. If you’re going to be a trainer in a particular facility, they sometimes require you to have these safety certifications:
- CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation)
- First Aid
- Automatic Defibrillator
*Knowing what type of certifications you need will make your business run smoothly and can deter you from possible lawsuits in the event of injuries*
Get a Good Understanding of Yor Clients and Their Needs
If you want to get new clients and retain old ones, then you need to understand them and where they’re coming from. As a trainer, you sometimes tend to forget that they don’t think like you, so take charge of being the trainer and the fact that they are coming to you for your expertise.
Realize and be understanding of the fact that your clients are probably not going to be as driven and motivated as you are… that’s why they’re coming to you essentially. You are their motivators. Finding out what motivates your clients will be helpful to you too, and each client’s motivation will be different from the next client, so get to know them better. Try asking them some questions.
- What’s your daily routine look like?
- What are your long-term and short-term goals?
- What type of physical activities do you like?
- Do you like working out by yourself or do you prefer a workout buddy?
By asking them those types of questions, it shows that you’re genuinely interested in their fitness goals, and adds even more assurance that you can get them the results they want.
Consider a Fitness Niche (Specializing)
This might sound a little strange because when it comes to fitness, everyone automatically thinks just an overall total body workout, but there is so much more to just working out that people don’t realize., and the workout you have for one client, won’t be designed to fit another client, so this is why you may want to consider training for a specific customer base… if done effectively, your business could be extremely successful.
Specializing seems scary to personal trainers because it poses the idea of possibly having to turn down certain customers, and that is the polar opposite of what you want, right? Well, here’s the catch, if you’re able to put your focus on specific type of client, you become more appealing to possible clients in that category you’re targeting.
For example, if you’re a trainer that specializes in training young athletes, parents of young athletes are more than likely going to contact you for your expertise versus someone with generalized training. Fitness niches include:
- Body Builders
- Cross Trainers
- Senior Citizens
- Busy Professionals
There are other ways that you can specialize but you just have to figure out what niche works best for you.
Get Yourself Covered with Insurance
Obtaining insurance is something that a lot of trainers tend to forget about, and it can easily be done. You get caught up in the thrill of starting your business and getting clients that you completely forget to make sure you’re covered.
The last thing you want to do is start your business without being covered. That’s like driving a car without insurance. It’s one of those mottos of “it’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.”
Get Your Name Out There
So clearly, in order for you to have a successful training business, you’re going to need clients right? Of course, but the key component here is how do you get your clients? Well, the world of online marketing is an advancement that has brought much success to many companies.
Creating your own website is essential here. On your website, you’ll be able to go into detail about the services you offer, your schedule of availability, and have an area for potential clients to fill out a form about their background and fitness goals, for you to have a better understanding about them.
Your website is what will potential clients the first impression about you so, you’ll want your website to look as professional as you are. To make your website professional in appearance, you’ll need to have high-quality fitness photos to give clients an idea of the results you can produce, great content to pique their interest, and videos to actually make your skills more tangible.
Get It Started
You now have the basics of what you need to get your training business off the ground. There are of course many other ways to get your name out there such as social media and business cards, but essentially your website is going to be what opens the doors for the other marketing avenues.
So don’t get lazy… stay pumped up and keep that energy going. Just remember, it’s not just about your knowledge of fitness, it’s truly about your drive for fitness to get your business going!
