I know all too well that many of you currently don’t have a personal budget in place let alone a business budget. I hope this short video encourages you to start a budget. I have a template which I’m willing to share with you for FREE. Just contact me to receive your copy.
As a personal trainer you might be trying to market to a wide variety of people. That’s great if you are seeing the results of your efforts pay off. My hunch is that you are relying heavily on referrals and less on traditional marketing methods. I am a firm believer in choosing a target market. Watch this video as I share some tips on how to hit the marketing bulls eye.
The Secret to attaining client referrals
Let’s face it a good majority of you rely on referrals to build your personal training business. Why? because it’s easier then marketing, networking and schlepping to do the work yourself. But what happens when the referrals start to slow down or even worse, dry up? You find yourself in a pickle because you haven’t done the marketing, networking and schlepping required to build your business and continue to keep the flow of new blood circulating through your practice.
You can put an end to this problem by learning how to obtain more referrals. Before you moan and groan about how you don’t like to pester your clients for business let me assure you that after you read further you will feel better about the process of building referrals.
Here are my top five classified and confidential secrets to creating a system to get a hold of more referrals. Do each one of these and track your results. You will be amazed at the difference it’s going to make to help you grow your personal training business.
What happens if you already have someone who you would like to shed? Well the answer is quite simple but the implementation is not. I won’t lie to you. You are going to have to be prepared to be strong, confident and understand that they may take it personally. If you do your best and come prepared then the outcome shouldn’t be too painful for them or you.
So here’s what you do. First think about what you are going to say and then take the time to prepare. Rehearse what you would like to say with another trainer and get their feedback. They will let you know how you are coming across. Call the client and arrange for a meeting and find a quiet place away from prying eyes and eavesdroppers. During the meeting remain calm, and use “I” statements throughout the conversation. Here’s an example of a real life situation that took place for a recent business coaching client of mine; (names have been changed)
Come on, admit it. You know you have at least one or two of them in your personal training business; clients that seem to require a lot of your time and energy or perhaps just suck the living soul from your very existence. It’s a subject amongst trainers that comes up quite often behind closed doors. After all who wants to admit they have a client like this? In addition, it feels bad to refer to another person this way. But the truth is, they exist and if you’ve got one, it’s not healthy for you, your business or even the client. In this two part article you will explore how to prevent yourself from getting into this predicament in the first place. The second part explores what to say in order to break up with a client.
If only there was a magic bullet, recipe or wand you could wave to ensure that you don’t attract these people into your practice. Well hold on, there is. I’ve discovered a way for you to significantly minimize the problem or fix the one you may already have. Here are four suggestions or systems you can put in place to pre-qualify or pre-screen a client and they are;
Count it down out loud. 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1. In the time it took you to count this out, is about the length of time a prospect will take to decide if they want to do business with you or not.
It used to be 30 seconds but thanks to the internet, the abundance or advertising coupled with an ever decreasing attention span we now enjoy only a 10 second window of opportunity to capture attention and hold it.
Take this article for example. How many of you are still reading? Well I hope lots but some of you will only read a portion and if it doesn’t continue to hold your attention you are clicking onto the next thing. Analyze your own habits when searching for information on the internet or looking for a new program to join. Some businesses are better at writing attention grabbing headlines or crafting descriptions that entice people to want to learn more about their service offerings.
If you don’t take the time to understand how to grab attention you are going to lose a client in the time in takes you to sneeze and say bless you. Scarry thought but it’s true. So what can you do to turn things around and get prospects to pay attention to you? The first thing you need to understand is where your strengths lie. If you are not a writer and struggle with creativity then I suggest you hire someone to help you write your titles and descriptions. If you do want to tackle the process yourself then here’s what you need to do.
1) Write attention grabbing headlines
2) Craft descriptions that capture attention
The best way to illustrate this point is to provide an example. Here’s a before and after and I don’t have to tell you which is which.
Anatomy 101
Learn the origins, insertions and actions of the muscles in the appendicular skeleton. You will leave this course feeling more confident in your knowledge of anatomy.
FUNantomy! – Lose your fear of learning anatomy
Get ready to move, grove and prove you can learn anatomy and have fun while doing it. Join Donna Hutchinson as she takes you on this exciting excursion to a world beneath the surface of the skin. You will visit only the most prominent protrusions, deepest crevasses and sail over striated muscles. Your journey will be highly interactive and at the end of the trip you will have learned all the origins, insertions and actions that the magical world of the body can perform. So what are you waiting for, hop on the bus and take the ride.
Do you see the difference in the two programs? Here’s another example of a before and after.
Winter Bootcamp
We all have a little athlete just waiting to burst out. Join this athletic bootcamp and let your inner athletic shine. This session focuses on some of your favourite winter sports and prepares you for the slopes. You will learn how to reduce your risk of injury and gain a great base of fitness so you can enjoy your winter activities. Come for the push, learn new challenging exercises and leave knowing you are ready for whatever winter has to offer.
Athletically Inspired SNOWcamp
2010 Winter Olympics here I come! Well maybe not but why not train like an Olympic athlete and let your inner athlete shine. Join this athletically inspired snowcamp and become better prepared for your favourite winter sport. I will show you how dry-land training can increase your fitness base and improve your performance once you hit the snow. So ollie, carve and slalom your way to increased performance so that you can leave knowing you are ready for whatever winter has to offer.
Again, do you see the difference between the two descriptions. The title and description make-overs have more energy, passion and they POP!
Yes this takes practice but it’s worth it because you can turn a bounce from your website into a “caching” into your program. Take one of your programs and see if you can add some zing to it. Show lots of people what you’ve created because their reaction to it will tell you if you’ve hit it or not.
One final point. Don’t be discouraged if it takes time for you to get the hang of it. Just keep at it.
PS: Receive a FREE title and description make-over booklet by contacting me at edgefit@shaw.ca.
