Personal Business Cards » Personal Trainer

Making Up Well-Designed Personal Training Business Cards

admin — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 22:04:06 +0000

Making up well-designed personal training business cards is one in a range of processes which a new personal trainer, especially, needs to carry out with some thoughtfulness. No single item in a business can say so much in so little a space as the business card, after all. In most cases, it’ll be the first thing somebody will want when they meet you in a business situation, to be honest.

Most of us picture personal training in a very casual-looking way. Trainers in our mind always wear workout attire, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. However, fitness is also a business. And in business, the exchange or dissemination of cards is an important way to say meaningful and serious things about personal training and the personal training professional and his or her methods.

Consider things in this way: Potential customers don’t know the trainer or care much about him or her on a purely personal level. But they do know what they want in the way of fitness help. A good business card, complete with logo, can go far in helping a customer make a decision about hiring the trainer. It can also go a long way towards scaring off a customer, too, so keep that in mind when designing the card.

Any time a business is run on a really professional level rather than as some afterthought, the odds of acquiring a customer are improved by up to eighty-five percent in many cases, according to a number of studies. This is just as relevant in the fitness game as it is in any other.

Given that, what are the things necessary on any good card? Well, make sure the trainer’s name is prominently featured. And use a proper name. The card isn’t the place to tell the world you’re Joe “the Fitness Pro” Blow, to use a funny example. Save that stuff for the infomercials.

Next up, ensure there’s a job title. You might be a one-man or woman operation, but you’re also the CEO, when you think about it, so put down something meaningful. “Chief of Fitness Operations” is good, to use one example among many. This helps to make for a good presentation, which also helps with customer acquisition. Your business may actually be able to fit inside a minivan, but it’s still a business, so treat it with respect.

Also, never have incorrect information on the card, such as a bad phone number or email. And the email should also be something which says “I’m a professional,” too. This means losing the college or prep school-level email address, such as beer.chugger@xxxdotcom for something that has a professional business name contained within it.

By: Joe McLee

Growing a Personal Training Business

admin — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 04:16:11 +0000

One of the few businesses that is not suffering from our current economic woes is the personal trainer business. When you think about it, it makes perfect sense. If you are out of work or working harder because your place is running short handed, you have a lot of frustration to take out and what better place than a gym. If you are a trainer and have been considering starting your own business, now is the time to figure out how to start growing a personal training business you so you can be out on your own.

The first step in any business is to develop a business plan to let you know what your needs are going to be. You are going to be surprised how many things are going to come up that you have never thought of. This document is the most important document that you are going to prepare as you get started. If you have never done one, either buy the software to walk you through it or have a professional do it for you.

One thing that will come up early in the business plan is the company name and logo. While you will have to decide on the name, you may want to work with someone on developing a professional logo. If you have something that looks like it was just thrown together, you are going to give a bad impression right off the bat. Make it look sharp and you will set yourself apart from everyone else.

Figuring out your sales projections is a little bit more involved. You are going to have to come up with a rate schedule and a reasonable assumption of how many customers you are going to be able to get early on. Do you have people where you work now that would come with you? Can you drum up some new business early on? These are questions that you are going to have to ask in order to figure out if you are going to be successful or not.

Once you have those issues settled, it is time to start your marketing campaign. In order to get this started you are going to need a blog or a website. Getting your own website can be very costly. If you are looking to keep your costs down, consider starting a blog that you can put all of your information on. You can always upgrade and purchase the domain name and your clients will never know the difference.

Once you have your site up and running, it is time to get some stuff out there in print. The first one of those is going to be your business cards. Carry them with you all the time and have your website on there. If anyone expresses interest, get that card in their hand.

The next print media that you are going to use is going to be flyers. They are cheap to print up and you can get a ton of information on them. Hand them out to friends and family and have them put them up in their offices or wherever they can. You should also try to get some posted around the local gyms in areas where customers can see them.

By: Joe McLee

Starting a Personal Training Business – How Much Will it Really Cost You?

admin — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 15:20:23 +0000

I was listening to an audio seminar conducted by a personal trainer for personal trainers who wanted to make serious money from personal training.

One of the points he mentioned was that a personal training business could be started for $1000 or less. That got me thinking.

I have a degree in Business Administration and I have been doing a fair amount of research over the last five years about starting businesses and I was not sure if he was right.

When you listen to one of these audio seminars, you are supposed to believe the presenter because they are the expert. Well, I would have to say that the answer to the question is yes and no – and here are three questions to help you figure it out.

1. Are you certified?

If you have not been certified by an NCCA (National Commission for Certifying Agencies) accredited program and have your adult CPR certification from the American Red Cross or American Heart Association, then your costs will go up. Expect to spend at least $500 depending on your previous experience for the cost of testing, study materials, and your CPR certification.

2. What equipment do you already own?

This is of most importance if you plan being a personal trainer who trains clients in their home. If you are going to work at a gym, club, or studio, then this cost will not apply to you.

However, many of us who become trainers have a fair bit of equipment. However, if you feel there is something you need to add, it can usually be picked up used through classifieds and garage sales or brand new at a discount from an equipment store. So, for this, your costs could be zero to $200-$300.

3. What will your marketing materials be?

If you plan on sticking to just business cards and brochures (which you should have regardless of starting a business or being an employees), you still need to figure out the cost associated with everything marketing material you want printed. This is still important even if you print them yourself (which I do not recommend).

I had 1000 business cards printed by a chain office supply store and it cost me about $54. I designed the card on their website and placed an initial order for 500. Then I found a coupon on their website that allowed me to get another 500 printed for free. It was a great deal and you should consider things like that when starting your own personal training business.

Brochures, matching letterhead, etc. will all have their own prices. If I had ordered the matching letterhead with envelopes, that would have been another $80. But, that is just one store. So, just for business cards and potentially matching stationary, that cost is $134. And I still need brochures.

Just adding those three categories together, we get a total of $934. That is assuming $500 for certifications, $300 for equipment, and $134 for business cards and matching stationary. Your costs, of course, will differ, but the important thing is to realize that, just like any business, you could spend top dollar for everything or next to nothing for only the absolute necessities.

One final thing to remember: if you really want to start your personal training business for $1000 or less, you will want to consider running it from home so that you do not incur additional costs associated with leasing a space.

Personal Training is a great business and can be started for a small amount of money. However, cooler heads will always prevail when it comes to deciding how much to spend and for what you need to spend your money.

By: Wendy Stewart

Personal Training Business Secrets

admin — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 09:14:29 +0000

The world is changing before our eyes. More and more people are becoming aware of the benefits that maintaining higher levels of fitness brings. Aside from preventing or fighting the progress of diseases, maintaining an exercise regimen can deliver anti-aging effects. And a personal training business can benefit from the public’s growing interest for fitness and from the continuous encouragement for healthy living.

Being a personal trainer is one of the best jobs in the planet. Aside from being flexible in working hours, it allows you to meet different kinds of people with different fitness demands. The jobs is challenging as it is exciting. Just imagine doing the job that you love while making lots of money out of it. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, personal training businesses have become one of the fastest growing and most successful segments of the fitness industry. Hence, launching an independent personal training job has a great success rate.

Before going into a training business, reflect on these things:

Since the public grows more and more educated when it comes to physical fitness, a certification would greatly matter. This allows them to trust you as fitness professional. Certifications also give the personal trainers the authority to give out advice and encouragement to do exercise routines and to promote well-being. So if you are planning to try out a personal training business, get certified.

For the business to thrive, you need to create and maintain a network of doctors and clients that can help maintain a good number of clients. Regardless of whether you operate on a small town or in the city, it is important to always be competitive. This is especially important if you are just new to personal training. Make it a point to always satisfy your customers, the best form of referral is by word of mouth. Operating a personal training business means marketing your skills. Make use of ads and business cards to make your services known to all your prospects. With the right strategy, you can manage to turn your prospects into clients.

Make sure that personal training is your calling. Since the success of the business solely depends on your continuous motivation in doing an excellent job, you need to make sure that it is something that you would want to do in a long time. You will also need to put a lot of energy into the business so you need to make sure that this is something that you want to keep motivated and focused on your business goals.

A personal training business is rewarding to the right person. This means that for the business to be successful, you need to be sure that this is something you want to do in a long-term basis. In this type of business, the risk of failure is minimal since it markets your capability and skills in keeping every client satisfied and healthy. Surely, you don’t want to let your capital go into the drain. Marketing personal training revolves around maintaining an open and ongoing relations and communication with the clients. This would require commitment and continuous motivation to giving the clients a great time all the time.

By: Chris McCombs

Quickly Generate More Personal Trainer Business Clients

admin — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 04:04:15 +0000

One of the biggest challenge for a fitness trainer running a personal trainer business is to attract new clients. Training clients are the lifeblood of any fitness training business. To run a profitable service it is important to continue to increase prospects, and turn them into long term, paying clients.

The number one complaint of personal trainers is they don’t have enough clients. This should not be such a challenge if you have a game plan in order to attract more clients. It is the personal trainer who just wings it, and does not have a well thought out marketing plan that never seems to have enough clients.

Do you want to own a personal trainer business that has a continuous influx of training clients?

Below are 5 simple ways of getting training clients to line up and practically beg you to work with them. Please incorporate them into your personal training marketing plan.

1. Utilize the 3 foot rule.

Everyone within three feet of you has the right to know about your business. Do not keep it a secret. You are a fitness professional and run a personal trainer business. Since health and fitness should be a top priority for people, they most definitely need your expertise, and training services.

Make sure you brand yourself, as well as your business. Have personal trainer business cards printed up so you can hand them to people. I always recommend putting your picture on the front of the card, and a motivational slogan on the back.

Do not be shy! Tell people about what you do, and how you can help them.

2. Build a network with other health care professionals.

If they sell fitness, fitness products, or promote to your market, you need to approach them.

A referral network is always good. An example would be a nutritionist suggesting a client to exercise. Why shouldn’t the nutritionist recommend you, or your personal fitness training business? If you have a good network of healthcare professionals that you have developed a fitness business relationship with, then the prospects will begin to flow right in.

3. Joint venture with fitness equipment stores.

When fitness enthusiasts buy a piece of exercise equipment they generally need instruction from a qualified personal fitness trainer. Why can’t that be you? When establishing a joint venture it is important to present yourself in a very professional manner. Bring potential partners professional sales literature introducing yourself, and your personal training business.

4. Power up your public relations. Educate yourself on PR, or hire a PR firm to aggressively market your firm. Become the celebrity expert, or go to personal trainer in your field.

Whenever you can get press coverage take advantage of it. Give back to your community, and always be searching for opportunities to get your name out.

Personal training public relations is the best form of advertising because it is news, and offers a third party endorsement.

5. Do speaking engagements/seminars. You can do monthly, or weekly orientation seminars getting potential fitness training clients information about how to get fit, supplemented with an insight into your personal trainer business.

Share with seminar attendees how fitness training can benefit them. Attracting new clients does not have to be as difficult as it appears. It just takes action. Just do it! Do not let anything hold you back.

The best personal trainer education I can offer you is to give you a few client attraction tips that have worked for me. All you need to do is follow the attraction tips above, and you will see fitness prospects lining up at your door ready to patronize your personal trainer business.

By: Jim O’Connor