If you're a personal trainer who's thinking about bringing your business online for the first time, it's going to be x100 more overwhelming that it was when I started back in 2010.
Or maybe you're already online, but you're buried in social media posting, hanging out in Facebook groups, wondering what content to create in order to build an audience of buyers.
Sure, I had to figure out how to actually use HTML coding to build my own website (no drag and drop visual editors back then LOL), but all I had to do was start creating blogs and YouTube video content, mingle in a few fitness forums and I was able to grow my following from 0 visits per day to 2000 a day 1 year later.
This was all before social media.
Things are a lot harder now, simply because there's so much noise.
It seems like constant hustle and tactics, but it doesn't have to be that hard.
I have done a lot of things that do not move the needle at all in my business, so I want to help you avoid those mistakes, and keep you focused on what actually matters in growing a TRUE audience and making them an offer they can't refuse so that you can stabilise your personal training business.
Right now, there are probably hundreds of thousands of personal trainers all over the world who are struggling to stabilise their income since gyms shut down. And even if you're back to your studio or gym, you're probably not feeling 100% safe in your job. You might have a single source of revenue (offline clients), and right now, that's a dangerous place to be.
When you research how to do personal training online, or how to train fitness clients via FaceTime or Zoom, you realise it's not as easy as it seems. Firstly, why don't your existing clients want to do video personal training sessions? And even when they do, you can't coach them properly, because you can only see as foot or an arm most of the time as they struggle to stay in view. And what about coaching beginners safely? How do you write programs, film and edit exercise tutorials?
So then you wonder, where to find people who DO want to work with an online personal trainer? How do you build an audience online of people willing to pay for your fitness services? Do you have to become a slave to Social Media? Do you need a fancy website? What equipment do you need to set up an online personal training studio to video or stream exercises and workouts to your clients?
You probably have a lot of questions.
And luckily, after a decade and many hours and dollars spent, I have a lot of answers.
I began offering online fitness programs to my true fans back in 2011/12. I literally wrote them up on a Word document with no fancy branding or tables (really, they were lists LOL). Did that matter? I dunno, but I remember having a waiting list because so many people wanted me to write them a training program I just couldn't accept everyone. I think I had 1 person who was disappointed, but that was because she was expecting 4 new workouts for EVERY WEEK (not how programs work). I digress.... I have a much more pretty layout now, but I just got started, because people aren't paying for pretty (less so then), they were buying results, and my programs got results.
I was juggling my online coaching with working night shift as a nurse, but I was earning just under $4000/mo from my side hustle. It became my main-hustle in 2013 when I had built up enough security and a little diversity of revenue streams (never have all your eggs in one basket), and I left nursing completely 😀
A few months ago, I promoted Stu McLaren's course, Tribe, which teaches you how to create a membership model for your business. It was back in 2016 when I first did Tribe, and within a couple of months, I launched my signature course, Pull-Up Academy. Then at the end of 2017, I launched my first fitness membership. Both brought me well over 5 figures. Sure, it's not millions, but I don't need millions to be happy doing my work.
You see, part of diversifying your revenue is spreading it to many people, so you're never only being paid by one person. A membership not only allows you more income stability, but it creates a more affordable way for people to work with you. Then you can create tiers or options, like:
- Lower cost membership: 100's of people
- Small Group Coaching (paying a bit more per month): 10 people max
- Signature Programs: no limit to people, but higher cost
- One-to-One Fitness Coaching: highest cost, but also the most time and energy investment
You do some of these things to basically increase your "Effective Hourly Rate" (EHR), according to Jame Schramko in his book "Work Less, Earn More". There are only 8 hours a day in which you would typically be working, but it's very hard to scale a business based only on on-to-one clients. So you need a little of that and the rest in the "one-to-many coaching" level.
Everybody wins 🙂
How do you get people to want to sign up, though? And how to build a fitness membership site without a lot of tech? How do you find your ideal personal training clients online?
These are the things I would like to help with, which is why I've created The Fit Biz Mentorship. This is a "leg up" club for people who are serious about building a business that works for their clients, but also YOU and your life. It'll take the format of biweekly group calls to help you stay in motion doing the things that really matter. One of the biggest challenges is distraction, and this group will be focused on keeping you focused, while providing guidance.
On our group calls, and in our private online forum (in between calls) we cover topics and get lazor-focused on moving the need in 6 main areas (the 6 pillars of a successful Fit Biz):
- Assets (your platform, your personal skill set, tech)
- Audience (growing a fan-base of ideal customers who YOU can help, but also building different kind of audience, which is equally as important)
- Content (what kind of content is needed to grow and nurture your community? HOW do you create this content, and how do people find it? This is one of the biggest struggles people have.)
- Leverage (doing only the things that matter, what and how to outsource, and creating systems and processes so you can streamline everything)
- Offer (how to know what your audience will buy, and how to craft a compelling offer to help solve their problem and gather testimonials to help sell more)
- Staying True to Yourself (the world of business and marketing can pull you in all different directions, and it's important to know yourself, and what you want, so you can filter every decision through that vision or your values)
This is the kind of group I wish I'd had access to when I was just starting out or trying to stay on track to grow my business (most masterminds cost a fortune, and are impossible for a small business owner to afford early on). This group will be an important catalyst for your online business, but it has to be a group you look forward to being in. For that reason, I have to be very deliberate in who can join.
If you feel like you'd benefit from being part of this coaching and masterminding group, you can apply below.
Fill in the form below, tell me a little about where you're at, and what you think you need, and I'll reply with my recommended next steps (we'll probably jump on a call to chat further):