by Jesse Cannone, CFT,
CPRS, CSPN
It
seems that one of the biggest challenges personal
trainers face is getting enough clients. In a recent
survey, over 78% of the trainers said that generating
leads was their biggest challenge.
The problem is most trainers know very little about
marketing and the little they do know is the
conventional/corporate type, which just doesn't work.
Part of the problem also lies in the misconception that
if you are a good trainer the clients will come... while
occasionally this may happen, it certainly isn't
guaranteed and I sure wouldn't sit around and wait for
it to happen.
Professionalism is the big talk right now in the
industry and while I agree it is important, you can't
let marketing take a back seat. You can be the most
professional trainer in your area and it too, doesn't
matter to your potential client... all they truly care
about is how can you help them solve their problem.
It's funny, some trainers say "I'm a trainer... not a
salesman." Unfortunately they are dead wrong! You have
two options... you can be a trainer who sells his
service to clients or you can be a trainer who has few
or no clients.
Many trainers will also say "I shouldn't have to sell my
service... they need me" and while this may be true, it
just doesn't work that way. Personal training is a
service business just like carpet cleaning or
landscaping... you are trading your time and knowledge
for dollars and if you want clients you have to do some
marketing.
The purpose of this article is to give you some powerful
marketing strategies that cost little but can deliver
big results.
While there are many low cost marketing strategies out
there, the ones I chose to cover in this article tend to
deliver more bang than others.
Low Cost Marketing
Strategy #1 - Business cards
You think I'm joking right?
No... one of the most effective, low cost marketing
strategies you can use is a business card. Not just any
business card, but a lead generating card.
For example, most trainers have traditional cards that
say who they're certified by and maybe a picture of them
posing. These types of general business cards are not
only boring and tacky, but they mean nothing to your
potential client.
If
you want your business card to work for you, it needs to
say what it is you do, how it can help them, and give
them a reason to take action. You want people to keep
your business and even better, take some sort of action
like call you, visit your website, etc.
So
be creative and make sure your card tells people how you
can solve their problems. I like to offer a freebie like
a free session or book to get them to contact you and so
you can capture their contact info... this is critical.
If they are interested but don't sign up right away you
need to be able to continue to market to them in the
future... you never know when they might be ready.
Here's an example of a lead generating business card so
you can see what I'm talking about...
Here's the front of the card:
Here's what the back of the card looks like:
As
you can see, this card stands out. Not only does it get
your attention, it also gives an outrageous offer that
anyone interested in personal training would have to be
crazy to turn down... and if you think that offering a
free session doesn't work I challenge you to read my
article "Should you really offer a FREE consultation?"
here:
http://www.profitmax-marketing.com/freeconsultations.htm
Low Cost Marketing
Strategy #2 - Pay for Referrals
I
bet you are wondering how that counts as low cost...
well, it's pretty much NO cost as you only pay out for
referrals who sign up.
For example, you could offer to pay $25 or $50 for every
referral who signs up for your large package of
sessions. I do this currently and it works extremely
well.
You can use a business card, post card, letter, fax, or
a phone call to spread the word that you "pay for
referrals". You should contact massage therapists,
chiropractors, dieticians, health food stores, fitness
equipment retailers, etc and don't give up after one
try... if they don't respond the first time to your
letter, call them personally, and if that doesn't work
send them a postcard.
The point is these people can be great sources of
referrals so the more relationships like this you can
set up the better... you may find that just one will
double or triple your business!
The key thing to remember is people look out for
themselves so by offering a payment or reward, you make
it worth their time and energy to recommend you.
Below is a sample business card using this technique.
Here's the front of my personal business card:
Here's the back of the card:
Just like the other example, this card stands out. Who
isn't interested in earning money each month?
Again, a business card is just one way you can use this
strategy and I highly recommend you use this strategy to
help spread the word about your business.
Low Cost Marketing
Strategy #3 - the Internet
Now before you say that the internet isn't low cost or
that you can't afford a website, let me say that the
internet is by far the most effective marketing tool
there has ever been and will likely ever be... and it is
dirt cheap!
You can have your own website built by a professional
designer for under $500 and you can even use website
templates which you can even get for FREE! What about
web hosting, that's expensive isn't it? NO... you can
host your website for $10 a month or less!
The point is, you can use the internet to generate leads
and grow your business and it doesn't matter how broke
you are now you CAN afford to get started and take
advantage of all it has to offer.
Here are just a few of the many ways you can use the
internet to market and grow your personal training
business:
-
Lead Generating
Website (cost $50-500 a month)
You can use a website to generate leads, educate and
pre-sell potential clients, sell fitness products, even
have them pay for their training online. I personally
recommend you do as much of this as you can and it's ok
to start out just having an information site... you
don't have to sell products on your site to generate
leads! It's actually the opposite... the more stuff you
have on the site other than info about your programs the
more easily they can be distracted.
NOTE: We recently launched an online lead
generation service for personal trainers...
check it out here
-
Pay-for-leads
Service ($1-3 per lead)
How great would it be if you had someone send you leads
every day and you look at them to see if you are
interested or not, and only have to pay if you were?
Well, guess what, there are several lead services out
there that will deliver qualified leads to you for about
a dollar! Would you pay $1 for a lead that signs up for
$1000 worth of training?
There are several companies that offer this type of
service, but the one that I am most impressed with and
currently use is
www.respond.com.
Email is great because it's fast, can be personalized,
can go anywhere in the world, and best of all it's just
about FREE! Your only real cost is your internet
service... you can use email to market your business
without even having a website (although it will be much
more effective if you do).
You can send out an email newsletter that educates
potential clients about fitness AND how you can help
them reach their goals AND why you are the best choice.
You can see an example of my newsletter here:
http://www.achieve-fitness.com/fitness_success_news.htm
Low Cost Marketing
Strategy #4 - FREE Samples
There's always a big debate about whether or not it's a
good idea to offer free samples (workshops,
consultations, books, videos, reports, etc). Some
so-called experts are saying that by giving away your
time/service, or product, you decrease the perceived
value.
Free Workshops have proven to be extremely effective for
both myself and hundreds of other trainers. The thing
is, as with everything in life, there's a right way and
a wrong way.
In
order for this system to work for you there are a few
things you must understand. What we are really talking
about here is people and how they think. Let me give
you a few examples…
There are many products and services that you sample
before you buy, and your perception of the value doesn't
change.
For instance, we test drive cars before we buy and after
a test drive you don't feel like the car is worthless
because they let you drive it for free. Most people
want to buy after they test drive a car, and it's this
way with just about anything in life!
Let me ask you this, would you send me a check today for
$1,200 for personal training after finding my card on a
bulletin board? Probably not. However, if I offered you
a free "trial" session at no charge and you were able to
experience the service, would you feel more comfortable
making the purchase? Of course you would!
Your number one business goal should be to make your
prospects feel as comfortable as possible with making a
buying decision. So how do you do that? By letting them
experience your service, feel the benefits, see how
knowledgeable you are, and showing them how bad they
need you. You can't do that with a newspaper ad.
Granted, by offering free sessions and workshops, you
are bound to get the occasional "freebie junkie" but so
what – you'll also be getting dozens of other people who
may not have contacted you if you didn't offer them some
sort of sample.
Remember, people love to "try before they buy" so let
them see how much you can help them and you'll have more
business than you can handle.
Conclusion
If
you find that you don't fully understand these
strategies or want a better understanding of marketing,
I recommend you learn as much as you can from people who
are actually out there doing it.
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