How to Get More Personal Training Leads

keith — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:39:19 +0000

One of the most common questions I get is “How do I get more personal training leads?” The answer is much more complex than just buying advertising or creating partnerships with other local businesses. Let me first present you with this question, would you rather have 30 leads per month or 15 high quality leads per month?

If you are new to personal training you will need to be more comfortable with terms like “conversion rate” and “CPL” (cost per lead) In simple terms, if you spend 100 on an ad and you get 2 leads, your cost per lead is $50. If you know that you profit $250 from each new client on average, you have a winning campaign.

Now that we have that out of the way, here are a few tips for getting more leads. Use as many of these strategies as you can as long as you are tracking whether or not they are producing a positive ROI (return on investment)

Blog Ads
Referral Partners
Publicity / Free Press
Sponsorship
PPC - Pay Per Click
Local Papers
Online Directories
Search Engine Optimization
Contests
Facebook
Craigslist
Review Sites (ex Yelp.com)

If you have tested any of these methods, please leave a comment and let me know…

Is Marketing Physical Therapy any Different than Personal Training?

keith — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 22:17:47 +0000

A physical therapist friend of mine begged me to sit down with him and go over his marketing plan. He’s a good friend so I agreed to do so. His material was solid but when I looked at his website I almost lost it. It was missing all of the key elements that I talk about on this blog; easy navigation, strong benefit based copy, and irresistible calls to action. That’s when I knew it was going to be a long lunch.

The first thing I told him was that he needed to start from scratch. Starting from his domain name, in order to respect his privacy I will not disclose his business name or city. I told him he needs to say “what his business is”, like MiamiPhysicalTherapy.com, it will help potential patients identify with your website right off the bat.

I happen to own a bunch of domain names like that. Here is a list of domain names that I have that are great examples of great domain names for physical therapy companies.

We are in the process of building his new website now so I will update you after we have made some progress.

Keith

Are you the cream of the crop?

keith — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 22:29:43 +0000

In every market there is at least on trainer that “gets it”. He dominates the market for personal training in his or her area. He makes it difficult for all other trainers to compete? So how does he do it? (im not being sexist here but for the sake of simplicity lets just say it is a he)

First, he takes his business very seriously. It is not a hobby, it is not treated like a job, he understands that his efforts and decision making make all the difference in whether or not his personal training business thrives or dies.

He understands marketing and is not cheap. I do not know a single ultra successful business owner that is “cheap”. In fact Donald Trump was being fined for displaying huge billboards in NYC that sayed “You’re Fired”. He was doing to promote the apprentice to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars per day in fines. He didn’t care, because he know that the money he spent on fines would be a drop in the bucket compared to the money he would rake in from the publicity if it all.

Hopefully, you are the one trainer in your area that “gets it”. One of my friends and personal trainer clients is doing a great job using video in his marketing and is doing a great job running a personal training business in MD.

Personal Trainer Germantown Maryland

Domain name mistakes

keith — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 22:26:09 +0000

For the sake of keepin gthis post short and to the point. Your domain name is not your time to try and be cute. If I see one more terrible domain name, im going hurl. Hint: Your domain name is as important as your business name itself. If you pick a domain name that is irrelevent, weird, or hard to spell or pronounce you are making a mistake. Here is an ecample, if someone types in personal trainer chicago and they are looking for a trainer to help them get into shape, and they are presented with 2 ads…

One says…

PrimalPhysiques.com and the other says…. www.personal-trainer-chicago.com

Which one would have a better response. Some people may click on the PrimalPhysiques to see what the heck that means:)

I hope this helps you the next time you think about buying a domain name. Sometimes you may need to be creative when choosing personal trainer domain names, use dashes if you can’t get the regular url like chandler personal trainer

Keith

But Keith Can Does This Work in Non Personal Trainer Niches?

keith — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 22:12:37 +0000

I had a brief discussion the other day with a friend who was impressed by my knowledge of marketing but insisted his business was different and I couldn’t help him. Then I told him about one of my other client success stories, Thea, who uses my marketing domination techniques to dominate in her surf lesson business. She offers surf lessons in ventura and also surf camps in oxnard / ventura. So by the way if you are ever looking to learn how to ride the waves, check out her site:)

My point is, it doesn’t matter what business you are in, all the principle are the same. From surf lessons, to Salsa Dancing, to Car Sales, I challenge you to find a niche where my strategies won’t work.

Don’t be stuck with the “my business is different” mentallity, it will hold you back forever.

Keith

Video - Are You With It, or Not…

keith — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 04:42:17 +0000

If you are not taking advantage of web video in your marketing, you seriously need to stop what you are doing and think about this. You can easily make short commercials for your business for a few hundred dollars. Heck you can even do it yourself if you can learn some simple software.

I know how important it is to use videos, and I use them in all my marketing. I mean what better way to get your message a crossed. Why rely on the hope that they actually read what you wrote on your website. I got news for you, they won’t..

Let’s take a look at a great personal training video that I made for some of my gold clients.

Charleston Personal Trainer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D55-UO_2DNE

Chandler Personal Trainer

You will see the video covers the benefits of personal training and targets the emotional “hot buttons” that your potential clients respond to.

The video ends with a great call to action, telling prospective leads to contact them for a free personal training session.

That’s it folks. What used to costs thousands, now cost hundreds or less. Don’t put it off any longer, your competitors will beat you to the punch.

Keith

Best Website Design Tool

keith — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 21:10:59 +0000

I have to admit I have spent a small fortune on softwares for web design and graphic design. Usually, I’m very dissapointed. Each tool always seem to lack one thing or another.

After years of trial and error I have finally found a tool that is well worth the money.

My designer, Jen, uses Xsite pro all the time and It is by far the most superior tool for creating real nice websites in minutes, yes I said minutes. Im so used to the software, that I can create, host and publish a new site in less than 30 minutes. She timed me:)

If you want to lear more about xsitepro check out our xsitepro site…

Till, next time!

Keith

keith — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 18:00:27 +0000

Here’s a great article Mark came by about promotions…

Go Big or Go Home

Even in a bad economy, one truth about marketing stands: you have to spend more to make more.

By Robert Kiyosaki

A few days ago, I spoke at a luncheon with approximately 500 local business leaders. I began with these words: “I have good news and bad news. The good news is you will have fewer competitors next year because many of your competitors will be out of business. The bad news is you might be one of those out of business.”

I then showed them my local newspaper, pointing to the headline “Businesses Are Struggling.” I opened the newspaper and said, “I can tell you who will be in business.” I pointed to a full-page ad for a local appliance store. “I’ll bet money that this business will be here next year. Why? Because this business is advertising more aggressively than its competition.”

In previous issues of Entrepreneur, I’ve written about the importance of advertising and promotion. I’ve shared my rich dad’s lesson that when business drops off, many entrepreneurs listen to their accountant’s advice and cut back on advertising and promotion. That’s the worst thing you can do. When times get tough, your job is to promote more, not less.

Content Continues Below

Promotion is a six-week cycle. That means if I promote today, business increases six weeks later. Many businesses violate the six-week cycle. They promote for, say, four weeks, and because nothing happens, they stop. Two weeks later, there’s a sudden increase in business. For four weeks, business remains strong. Then, just as suddenly, business drops off, because six weeks earlier, the entrepreneur had stopped promoting.

My rich dad’s lesson was to never stop promoting: Promote whether the economy is strong or weak; promote even when you may not have the money. If you have no money, stand on a street corner at lunchtime with a sign hanging around your neck promoting your product or service. Not only will you meet new customers, but you might also save money on lunch, lose some weight and get a suntan.

Obviously, it takes more than just promotion to do well. To be successful, a business also requires strong fundamentals and a desirable product or service. During tough economic times, though, even some good businesses fail; some businesses shrink and others grow. When a business closes, its customers migrate to the business that fights hard and stays open. Businesses that promote while others cut their ad budgets have a better chance of getting bigger . . . even if the economy is shrinking.

Robert Kiyosaki, author of the Rich Dad series of books, is an investor, entrepreneur and educator whose perspectives have changed the way people think about money and investing.

Going Old School…. Direct Mail Marketing for Personal Trainers

keith — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:03:06 +0000

This morning I was rummaging thru the pile of junk mail that was sitting on my coffee table when I found what might be the worst direct mail piece I have ever seen. A local limo service ran an ad promoting $3 off your next limo ride. I saw this same ad a while back and sworn it must have been a typo. (I may have even blogged about it) I mean seriously, $3 off!

First of all, If I’m spending $75 for a ride to the airport… I’m not too concerned with saving three whole dollars. Granted, it is better than not having a promotion at all.

But how about a promotion that works…

Ride with Us and We Will Provide a FREE Juice of Your Choice, A FREE Paper of Your Choice and We GUARANTEE to be there 5 minutes early…

My point is, if you are going to spend money on direct mail. Make sure your offer is strong. These are the most important things to consider when using direct mail to promote your personal training business.

Who are you mailing to? Do they need your product?

Will they Open it, or Will it go straight into the recycling bin?

Will they read it?

Would you take advantage of the offer and why?

What is the Call to Action?

How will you track the effectiveness?

If you take into consideration those main direct mail questions, you will have a much better chance of having a successful direct mail campaign.

Hope you enjoyed this personal trainer marketing tip!

Keith

Personal Trainer Marketing Coach

Personal Training Marketing Tip - PPC VS. SEO

keith — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 21:02:16 +0000

Redsox vs. Yankees

Redskins vs. Cowboys

SEO Vs. PPC?

Ok so the first two are great rivalries, but the last one is becoming quite the rivalry. SEO (search engine optimizations) is lucrative for many reasons, mainly because the traffic is free.

PPC (pay per click) is not so free, in fact it can be very expensive. PPC has many great benefits as well. Let’s have a closer look at the pros and cons of each one.

PPC - The Good

You can sign up for a google adwords account and market your personal training business in as little as one hr. You completely control the budget and flow of traffic. I don’t know of another medium that allows you this type of control. There are no long term contracts either.

It is also the most targeted form of advertising that has ever existed. You can place your ads only in front of people that are searching exactly for your products or services.

You can also use ppc to test different webpages, marketing promotions, etc.

PPC - The BAD

PPC advertising can be costly, especially if you do not know what you are doing. You need to learn the ins and outs of google adwords in order to keep your costs down and be profitable.

This type of advertising is also very competitive. As is easy as it is for you to get started, it is equally as easy for your competitor to jump in.

SEO - The Good

You can get a ton of traffic from organic search engine rankings. The search engine results are pretty consistent although I have a feeling this is changing. In other words you may have the number 2 spot in google today and drop out of the top 10 by next week.

There is also a school of thought out there that suggests people “trust” organic results more so than ppc results.

SEO - The BAD

If you are late in the game, it is likely going to take you a long time to get good rankings. There are millions of websites online and many of them have a head start on you. Don’t be too discouraged because you can improve your rankings. Just don’t expect it to happen over night.

Although the actual traffic is free, getting rankings often involves you spending money. You may need to buy or rent links, and you may need to pay someone to create lots of great seo friendly content.

So there you have it. What do I suggest? Use both! Together, these two strategies can deliver serious traffic to your personal training website.

I hope you found this personal trainer marketing tip helpful. Please leave a comment if you would like to learn more about ppc or seo..

Keith
Personal Trainer Marketing Coach

No matter how bad it gets, you could always be this guy:)