How to Market Yourself as a New Personal Trainer

You’ve spent years training your body and mind to be a healthy and fit individual. Maybe you’ve dialed in your nutrition and you have made huge progress over the recent years. What’s next?

 

Well, if you want to help others through the same journey - becoming a Personal Trainer is one of the best ways to do this. It is a rewarding job that not only supports you financially but can also bring meaning and fulfillment to your life as you help your clients achieve greatness.

 

There are a number of considerations and steps to take before you become a personal trainer. At Evolution Nutrition, we’ve worked with Personal Trainers for many years and we’ve compiled the best tips for new Personal Trainers looking to market themselves in the Fitness world.

 

COVID19 has changed the game but we’ve included information for you on how to maintain success in this new Personal Training endeavor.

Education is Key - Personal Training Certifications & Seminars

Ultimately the information you are going to pass onto your clients and your ability to train, coach and lead them to their fitness goals is going to depend on your knowledge base and experience.

 

Your prospective clients are also going to judge your abilities based on the education you have and continue to pursue.

 

One of the most popular ways to increase your knowledge base is to take courses, earn certifications and participate in seminars from experts in the different modalities of Training.

 

The most popular organizations that offer Personal Training certifications are as follows:

NASM - National Academy of Sports Medicine https://www.nasm.org/
ACE - American Council on Exercise https://www.acefitness.org/
ACSM - American College of Sports Medicine https://www.acsm.org/
NSCA - National Strength & Conditioning Association https://www.nsca.com/
ISSA - International Sports Sciences Association https://www.issaonline.com/

 

These will include courses that involve quite a bit of studying and final exams to receive your certifications.

 

An alternative route or addition to formal certifications is to pursue education on specific training methodologies and styles that line up with your goals as a Personal Trainer.

 

For example - if your goal is to coach professional, competitive or high profile individuals, as opposed to regular everyday people - you will want to find out which organizations and coaches are best known for this.

 

You can either apprentice or intern underneath them or if they offer courses you can sign up and learn from them that way.

 

Oftentimes they will have Seminars, Courses and Certifications within their own methodology - that are both challenging and worth pursuing.

 

Acquiring this type of education will help you stand apart from other Personal Trainers and give you more tools to be successful.

 

Here are some examples of a more focused path:

Gym Jones - This Salt Lake based gym has produced, developed and trained some of the best athletes in extreme sports, Hollywood and professional athletes. They have a full course that is extensive and challenging.

Westside Barbell - Louie Simmons is known as one of the most successful coaches in the Powerlifting arena, producing more champions than most other coaches combined. He offers full courses for his method of training.

USAW - United States Weightlifting is the organization that trains our Olympic athletes in the sport of Weightlifting. They offer multiple courses for coaches and certifications.

OPEX - OPEX is a training methodology that was founded by James Fitzgeral, the first CrossFit Games Champion. It is regarded as one of the most complete and intensive full coaching courses available in the world of functional fitness training.

CrossFit - CrossFit has many certifications and courses that can be taken over a weekend that offer a complete approach to programming, a well rounded mix of exercises and teaches how to coach athletes of all different backgrounds. It is known as a good fundamental training methodology and training modal.

There are a lot of options for education with Personal Training. You may decide that a certification from a large organization is enough for you. Or you may want a combination. Sometimes your budget will dictate how much education you can acquire.

 

You should also consider seminars in closely related subjects to Personal Training such as Nutrition, Mobility and other key aspects of recovery and human performance. It will give you more to offer to your clients and allow you to charge more for your services.

 

You may be thinking, this is going to be expensive. Certifications from large organizations can run in the thousands and seminars can be between $500-$1,000 as well. This initial investment is the most important piece of becoming a Personal Trainer. Your education, experience and specialties will define who you are as a Personal Trainer and what you are capable of.

 

We recommend you put in much as you can in the beginning and continue to pursue education through your career as a Personal Trainer.

 

Ideas for Marketing

The best way to get clients as a Personal Trainer revolves around exposure, networking and partnerships. If you want clients, you will need to position yourself in a way where you are seen and heard by those who would value your services.

 

In today’s world that means online and in person. Here are some of the best ideas for Marketing New Personal Trainers.

Become a Coach at a Gym - If you are included in the staff of a gym that runs group classes and has a decent size membership - you will be able to market yourself to the members for personal training. This can include big box gyms or specialized gyms. Oftentimes the management will have a structured setup to help you gain clients and share the earnings. This is a great way to get started because not only will it provide you with income as you run group classes but over time you can expand your personal training clientele as well.

 

Build a website - If you have taken the time to expand your education, earn certifications and participate in seminars and train clients - you should have a place where someone can quickly see all of this. The website should let them get to know you as a person and understand the value you offer as a Personal Trainer. This includes results of your past clients, such as testimonials and links to your social media accounts. There are now many platforms that allow you to launch a website in a short amount of time for fairly cheap.

 

Grow a Following - Turn your social media accounts into a hub for your image as a Personal Trainer. Post quality videos of you working out, training your clients and engaging with your followers on everything fitness and training related. You need to become a persona that lives and breathes Personal Training. As you grow a following on social media you will be able to offer online training programs, remote coaching and your hourly rate will be able to increase just on your notoriety. It will also serve as an easy place for people to see how committed you are to fitness and make them only want to train with you more.

 

Specialize - Building out programs that cater to a specific demographic will give you an edge. Not only will that group of people feel that you are a better fit for them but you will be able to focus on their needs and become a much better trainer in a shorter period of time. An example could be training Disabled Veterans or Post Pregnancy Mothers. Think of it as selling a product, if you sell everything, you won’t be known for anything. Start specific and branch out later.

 

Use Testimonials - Focus on your first clients as much as possible. Deliver above and beyond results for them and then ask for testimonial videos. Make sure your clients tell the world how great of a Personal Trainer you are and how you’ve made them feel. You can then take these testimonials and place them on your social media accounts and your website to instill confidence in potential clients.

 

Volunteer - Donate your time with local athletic organizations, schools and work with brands that operate in the fitness or exercise industry. Working a booth for a fitness brand at a major event is an easy way to meet a ton of people who are interested in Training. Volunteering in youth or adult sports organizations is also an easy way to build your network. You can even offer free classes or seminars at gyms. Don’t view this as wasted time - it is giving back and helping build out your network so you can meet more potential new clients. This is one of the most ignored ways of Marketing a Personal Trainer and it works!

 

Invest in Quality Tools - Above we mentioned creating content for social media and your website. You need to make sure your equipment enables you to produce quality videos and photography. Your phone may work just fine for this but have you considered a stand? Even simple lighting can make a huge difference. You can watch Youtube videos on this or read reviews to find the best gear for creating online content. This is a “two birds with one stone” approach. The better your content looks, the more followers you will gain and the more clients will sign up with you. You’ll also have the skills to scale further into online training programs.

 

Contests & Giveaways - A great way to build out clientele is with referrals or leads that start with a free giveaway or a contest. To name one example, you could offer a client a free hour of Personal Training for a friend or family member as a reward for a certain number of hours. You can also do some contests on social media where you can ask your followers to caption a photograph and give the best caption a $50 coupon for personal training. Any kind of offer that is discounted or free, in person or online can be a good way to generate more clients with only the added expense of your time. If you are a great Personal Trainer, someone who spends a bit of time with you, should want more. Get them in the door by running an intro for free. This is smart marketing.

 

80% Nutrition 20% Training

Everyone who Trains knows that the results you get are highly dependent on your nutrition and the work you put in outside of the gym. Personal Trainers who have the experience, education and the tools to provide Nutritional advice have a very large advantage over other trainers.

 

Oftentimes a client wants to look and feel good more than just being able to Back Squat more.. This is where nutrition comes into the mix.

 

As a Personal Trainer who can offer value in the form of meal planning, nutritional advice and an overall approach to health and fitness - you will be able to provide more value to your clients and ultimately charge more.

 

Evolution Nutrition offers a meal planning software that makes it easy, quick, and convenient to plan, create, and execute meal plans for your clients. It’s setup for desktop and mobile and conveniently cuts out much of the time needed to produce detailed and personalized meal plans. We make eating right simple for your clients. Get started on growing your fitness business with Evolution Nutrition today.
 

This may sound difficult at first but companies like Evolution Nutrition offer a meal planning platform made specifically for Personal Trainers. It allows custom meal planning, in-app instant communication and organization of all events surrounding their clients.

 

Combine this with a workout routine or remote coaching and you’ll offer your clients a level of service that is unparalleled.

 

The Personal Trainers that we spoke with told us they wish they had known when they began Personal Training. It’s a hack for offering a large amount of extra value with very little work involved.

 

Many Personal Trainers said they focused too much of their time on workout routines instead of balancing Meal Planning for their clients. After training their clients for months and even years they saw great results but there was room for their clients to look and feel better. The missing piece was always Nutrition.

 

As an authority figure on all things Health and Fitness - your clients look to you for advice and they associate their success and failure with you. If you want them to love you, you should remember that Nutrition is the difference between a grand slam and a base hit.

 

Personal Training Marketing during COVID19

COVID19 has changed how people view their health and their time. We’ve spent more time indoors in the past two years than ever before. We are faced daily with considerations of health. Work has changed for most and family dynamics have changed as well. On top of all this our stress levels are high and we’re socializing a lot less in person.

 

The more you can cater your Personal Training to the changes in our current world the more success you will see in Marketing as a new Personal Trainer.

 

Build out training programs that you can offer remotely and that clients can execute with limited equipment and space. Home workouts are the name of the game now.

 

Everyone is busy on Zoom calls for work, busy with family and managing the stress of today’s world. Meal Services are booming and Meal Planning is becoming a necessity.

 

As a Personal Trainer - if you can leverage tools like the Evolution Nutrition Meal Planning and build it into your training package it will offer a complete and convenient approach that will fit in more with the current world your clients operate in.

 

If your clients can depend on you to improve the quality of their life without inconveniencing them further - they will pay a premium and remain clients well into the future.

 

Apply this thought process to your new Personal Training endeavor and use the marketing ideas we’ve outlined above. You will be on the way to living your dream as a Personal Trainer and clients will be knocking at your door every day.