If I had to attribute my success to one thing it would have to be a strong work ethic and drive. Without that you really won’t get very far. The second most important factor is education, and I’m not talking about schlepping around a bunch of books on a college campus. (though I did that too)

I’m talking about picking a topic and learning it inside an out with books, courses, research, trial and error, etc. In the past 4 yrs I have attended countless marketing/business seminars, spent way more than you could imagine on marketing products and courses, and they were worth every penny. By attending these conferences I have been able to pick the brain of some of the most successful people in the world.

One of my favorite entrepreneurs is Nido Quebin, and one of his lines that I have embedded in brain is that “If you want to be successful you must hang around people that are successful. This is an absolute gem. I know it sounds obvious, but take a look around you if you are successful, odds are the people you spend time with are also successful.

Recently, I was able to listen to George Ross (Donald Trump’s right hand man) speak about the art of negotiation. First of all he is brilliant and you should definitely pick up his book “Trump Style Negotiation”.

I also met Kristi Frank from Season 1 of The Apprentice, who is also extremely bright, and very nice as well.

Kristi Frank from the hit show “The Apprentice”

Thanks alot camera guy, do you think I could have made a goofier looking face before you snapped the photo…:)

Surround yourself with great people, and I don’t mean rich people. I’m referring to people that are successful in all aspects of life and learn from them, soak everything up that you possibly can.

Keith
Personal Trainer Marketing Coach

ATTN: Personal Trainers

How Much are You Getting Done?

An old friend of mine popped in to the office the other day and we spent a few hours catching up on each other’s life. I showed him the 3 different businesses I was running and most of the work that is involved.

He has a 9 - 5 and like most people he admits he only actually works for a few hrs each day, between espn news online and a few games of solitaire:)

He couldn’t believe I was getting soo much done without absolutely losing my mind. I realized that being productive is a challenge and it takes practice and a lot of trial and error.

So, I figured I would start a series of blog posts about “HOW to BE PRODUCTIVE LIKE A MADMAN”. Not just with your Personal Training Business but with your personal life as well.

Part 1 - The Problem with TO DO Lists

Honestly, for most people (including me) it is vital to use a To Do list. But there is a very specific formula for using these lists successfully. The first thing you will need is a dry erase board or a calender. First, sort your tasks based on importance. I usually sort by which tasks will directly increase my revenue and start with those first.

At the end of each night, write on the board the 2-3 Major things that need to be done the next day. Lists are overwhelming, if you only have a few things to do you will likely get them done.

If you end up finishing those few tasks move on to the next thing on your list.

In the next blog post I will cover time blocking, and email management, how to take control of your inbox again…

Until next time,

Keith

If you enjoyed this personal trainer business tip please leave a comment. Thanks!

The idiots have done it again. They send their junk, their spam and they are ruining the entire concept of emailing for business. Email marketing is an unbelievable way for you to get your message to your customers and potential customers. However, it is getting harder and harder everyday. Thanks alot Spammers!

Look, we are all sick of spam and we all have way too many emails in our inbox. So how do we get people to not only read your emails but actually look forward to them.

Here are a couple tips for successful email marketing for personal trainers.

1. Be Honest - If you plan on emailing someone every day or every other day, tell them up front before they fill out the form. Of course you don’t want to say, “hey you don’t know me but im going to email you every day for the rest of your life for no good reason”.. What you can say is, “I would like to send you action packed fitness tips, workout routines, and other great resources, in our daily E-newsletter..

Also, if you say “fill out this form for a Great Free Report”, give them the free report. Don’t leave them hanging wondering what you are going to do with their email address.

2. Provide Real Value - I’m on everyone and their mother’s email list these days cause I like to see what people are up to. Some of them I open and read, the ones that get deleted right away are the ones that never have any real value. Trust me, if people benefit from the content of your email they will keep opening it and keep reading it.

3. Differentiate Yourself - What makes your newsletter so special? It’s probably just like all the other fitness / personal training newsletters out there. Stand out from the crowd.

4. Choose Words Wisely - Not only do you have to be careful which words you choose for the spam filters, but you also need to write subject lines that will make people have to open the email. This can be a challenge, watch out for words that trigger spam filters like free, weight loss, fat, etc.

5. Always offer a chance to unsubscribe - It will really tick people off if they want to unsubscribe and they can’t. You don’t have to make the unsubscribe link big bold and bright red, but it needs to be there.

There is much more to having a very successful email marketing campaign but this should be enough to get you started. If you have any questions, let me know..

Thanks,

Keith

One of the biggest mistakes I see personal trainers make is to dedicate to much precious web space to their certifications. Don’t get me wrong there are vast differences between “weekend warrior” trainer certs and accredited certifications and university degrees. Yes, credibility is important but…

What I ‘m saying is that you can use your credentials to your advantage but that should not be your main selling point. When a plumber comes to fix your toilet, do you ask where he got his plumbers license? Probably not, as long as he is licensed and does a good job..

People want to know first and foremost how you are going to help them. You personal training certifications are a bonus.

To prove my point, look at the many Hollywood starts including one who’s name I wont mention, (who was on Dancing With The Stars, Who was Married to Elvis Presley) have cosmetic surgery done by an unlicensed surgeon. This particular one injected her face with a form of motor oil. She’s not the only one, there are stories like this all the time. My question for her is, does she have to go back for a check up every 3,000 miles

Come on I’m only kidding. But it proves my point. Given the fact that most of your competitors hold descent certs, the potential customers in your market are going to choose a trainer based on results (proof), price, service and presentation.

If you enjoyed this personal trainer marketing tip, leave a comment as I would live to hear from you.

Keith

I don’t think most personal trainers understand the value of split testing. This is such a powerful tool that can sky rocket your personal training income, and it is now easier then ever before.

Think about this, you sit down to meet with a potential client for a free consultation. You give ‘em your best sales pitch but you just can’t close the deal. What if you could say “Wait, let me start all over again” You give them a totally different spiel and they love it and sign up for 36 sessions. Your service was the same, your everything was the same except your delivery. That would be like a “real life” split test. We haven’t progressed that far yet but we can do this very thing online, in our ads, our emails and on our websites.

If you were buying a lemonade and there were 2 stands and one had a sign that said..

Home-ade Lemonade, Fresh Squeezed, Ice Cold and Natural!

the other stand had a sign that says..

Hot and Thirsty? Try Our Lemonade, It’s Fresh Squeezed and Natural!

Which stand would sell more lemonade? Truthfully, I don’t know. The second one makes me sort of thirsty but the first one says Ice Cold… It’s a toss up.

The only way to know is to split test the two signs against each-other. Meaning show 50 people one sing and 50 people the other and see which sign sells more.

Sometimes the difference its remarkable and sometimes the result is insignificant. However, even a small increase can lead to big dollars.

If you are not split testing you are missing the boat, it is an absolute must!

Get on it..

Keith

p.s. there are free split testing tools like Google Website Optimizer