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5 ways to make it past the first 12 months as a new personal trainer

Don't become a statistic. Below are 5 things that can help you as a new personal trainer.

1. Building a Strong Online Presence

As a personal trainer you'll need some sort of tech stack to start producing content that will help shape your online presence. Which can include things such as:

  • a website
  • social media platforms
  • email service provider
  • accounting programs
  • calendars and lead management tools

It can be a bit overwhelming at first. But, don't think you have to do all these things at once. Also check out the article on how to get leads as a newbie PT here.

Once you have a tech stack it's time to start producing content. Whether you just start with any old idea, or jump on some trending topics online, it's important to have a content strategy.

Pro Tip: Social media is usually a great place to start.

After you've started to gain some traction and evaluated where your clients are coming from it'll be time to calculate your ROI.

2. Networking and Collaboration

In marketing free leads are sometimes the best leads. For example, it's generally known that a referral is 70% more likely to sign up versus someone who has found you through an ad.

There are numerous reasons why:

  • They trust the person who referred you
  • They  may have heard of your name from multiple people in the industry
  • Your brand really stands out to them

In addition to word of mouth marketing it's important to find events, fitness associations such as AUS Active, and online communities where you can hang out.

Money Tip: Finding your niche is great and this will help you find what type of clients you want to train. However, don't limit yourself too much at the start as this could bring your cash flow to a halt.

3. Establishing Credibility and Expertise

Being a well respected personal trainer is easy with the right support and some dedication to your craft. It goes without saying that people are trusting that you know how to help them achieve their goals and desired outcomes.

Ensure you're always thinking of the clients needs and safety. This is why at FIT College our students spend alot of time studying anatomy, and how to perform postural analysis in order to minimise dangers of injury from training.

When people see you in the gym or through content that you've created online that is to a high standard you'll start to establish yourself as a credible fitness professional.

Content Tip: Find a way to make your content yours without stealing other peoples content.

4. Free Trials

Free trials have been used by the industry for decades. The reason is they work. You've probably seen the five day free trial at almost every gym on a monthly reoccurring basis.

The main benefits in offering free trials are:

  • you get the leads details
  • you get to talk to the potential client about their goals
  • they come to you instead you having to chase them up
  • they get to experience your product before they commit which can lead to greater life-time value

Pro Tip: Offer things that are free which don't take up alot of your time. For example get a free postural analysis and sample training program. Then offer your PT services on an ongoing basis.

5. Retain Your Clients

Retention is the holy grail in the fitness industry. After all the work of attracting someone through your marketing and outreach just to have them leave is heart breaking.

Try these few things with your clients:

  1. check ins; check in regularly with your clients via text, email, or phone calls just as a way of ensuring they are following the program. It also shows you care about their progress.
  2. celebrate their wins; make sure you communicate to your clients when they achieve their goals, and share their success across your network
  3. preempt objections; when life gets difficult it's common for people to drop their health and fitness needs. Being empathetic and preempting these objections will increase your likelihood of retaining your clients.

Pro Tip: Look at ways to personalise someones experience with you outside of your regular 1 on 1 gym sessions. Use automation to help with touch points to free up your time.