Discover How To Grow Your Personal Training Business

Personal training is like any other “service” business. You get paid for your time! This is one of the big downfalls in these professions. If you don’t get, keep and retain clients you don’t make money. This is a very common scenario for many young personal training professionals.

Set Up A Game Plan

Without a plan you don’t know where you’re going or what you want. You first must decide on what demographic you want to go out. The more you specialize the better the perception is from a consumer standpoint.

What is your passion? What gives you a feeling of accomplishment? Is it working with the seniors market? Maybe pregnant women. Or, how about golfers? This is a very good market.

Find A Hungry Market

In any business, a hungry market is the best for optimal income. You can have the best fitness service in your area, but if no one is interested you very well could be “dead in the water”.

Finding a hungry, even desperate market will give you a steady stream of clients that will send you ongoing referrals and position you as the expert in your field. Just think about how emotional it is to make any purchase. Hiring a trainer is no different. Most people feel like they need a trainer when some specific event is coming up.

So what markets could that be? How about “brides to be?” Or maybe 20 year reunions? Or, people getting into their later years, but want to still enjoy their recreation like golf, tennis, or any other sport?

Your locale will partly determine your hungry markets. If you’re in the southern states, you may want to go after the semi to retired golfer, tennis player or recent baby boomer.

Look for people in “desperate” situations like the ones I mentioned above. Brides to be or reunions are excellent for solid clients. They feel they have to get in shape no matter what and your services will help them achieve it. At that point, your price will be a secondary issue, below their desperation to get in shape.

Become A Celebrity

People are obsessed with celebrities! Become one in your area. All you have to do is get out their and position yourself as the “specialty” trainer in your chosen sub-niche. Once you do, you will get in your local papers, local news channels, and in special events in your area.

Once you gain this “celebrity” trainer status you can raise your rates against your competitors and book your schedule as full as you want. It’s amazing how easy it is to become a celebrity trainer in your area.

Just remember in all of your marketing you are branding YOU! You must position yourself in all of your marketing as THE EXPERT in your specialty. Picture how Donald Trump has his name everywhere. Or Richard Branson! Do you think they are successful? Or, how about Oprah? She is the epitome of a self-branded celebrity! Here picture graces the cover of her magazine EVERY month. Do you think there’s a reason why? Absolutely! You must do the same in your area. Brand YOU!

Take Action Consistently

The ONLY way to be a successful personal trainer is to take action on a daily basis. Make those phone calls. Get out and pound the pavement. Ask for referrals from your existing clients. Give talks at your local toasters chapter, or in organizations that fit your demographic.

I can tell you most trainers will not work that hard, so it is very easy for you to elevate yourself above all of your competitors. All you have to do is work just a little harder than the next trainer and you’ll be busier than you want to be.

Stay Positive

Last but not least, stay POSITIVE! I know how hard and emotional it is to keep grinding, but it’s worth it. If you wake up with a negative attitude it will transfer into your thoughts and then your actions (or lack of).

When you wake up, rev yourself up and make the most of the day. Try to do at least one new thing everyday to get more clients. It could be as little as telling someone you don’t know what you do when you’re on an elevator or in the coffee shop. You never know what can come of it.

About the Author

For more information on How To Get More Personal Training Clients, visit Mike Pedersen's Golf Fitness Career site.

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• Flexible Working - What It Means For Your Business

Flexible Working - What It Means For Your Business

Flexible working is becoming popular in the 21st century workplace, as an increasing number of people seek to combine an active family life with full-time employment. Employers have become more aware of the benefits that flexible working can bring to their business: these can include greater staff retention and better morale along with increased efficiency and productivity. Indeed, for many global businesses some kind of flexible working policy is becoming essential for co-ordinating with their international offices, and recent changes in legislation have significantly increased the number of people with a legal right to apply for flexible working.

Who has the right to apply?

Any employee can apply informally and ask for flexible working hours; whether or not you approve an informal request like this is entirely down to your company’s flexible working policy. But only two kinds of people have a legal right to apply: employees with young or disabled children, and employees who are caring for infirm or disabled adults. Currently, parents with children aged six or under have the right to apply, but from April 2009, this right will be extended to parents with children who are sixteen or under.

An employee must have been working for a company for at least 26 weeks before they can apply for flexible working. For those with a legal right to apply, only one application can be made every 12 months.

What are some of the options for flexible working?

There are numerous flexible working options, and it is important to consider which of them can practically be applied for your business. Some of the most common are:

- Flexible hours. An employee works full or part time hours, but when these hours are worked is fully negotiable. An employee could start and finish two hours later than usual, for example.

-Zero hours contract. A contract that has no fixed hours. The employee works only when there are specific tasks to complete.

-Work from home. An arrangement where an employee works partly or fully from home.

-Job Share. The full time role of a single employee is shared between two or more people on a part time basis.

How do I handle a flexible working request?

Just like any other negotiation with your employees, it is important to follow the correct legal process when handling an application for flexible working. Failure to do so could leave you vulnerable to litigation, so make sure you draw up proper legal documents and follow a clear procedure when considering flexible working for a member of staff.

As part of your flexible working policy, make sure that the employee puts in a written request clearly stating their reasons and the kind of flexible working that they would like to apply for. You should deliver a first reply within 14 days. If you approve their application, you should inform them in writing and draw up a revised contract of employment. If they are going to work from home, you need to agree how their work will be monitored e.g. through daily task lists and timesheets, weekly meetings, and so on.

You can reject an application for flexible working, but you must provide an explanation, based on a sound business reason, and give your employee the right to appeal your decision. Rejections need to be judged carefully – your employee may well consider working somewhere else if you reject their request completely. See if a compromise can be reached, or if there is another flexible working option that may be appropriate.

Useful legal documents

It is very useful to have a written company policy on flexible working, outlining under what circumstances flexible working will be considered, whether any particular positions will be exempt, and so on and so forth. This will give you something to refer to in case of a dispute, and will also be useful to your staff. You may also wish consider some letter templates for certain legal documents, such as a range of flexible working contracts.

Flexible working can seem difficult to implement correctly, but as long as there is clear procedure and consistent company policy, it can bring great benefits for employees and the business alike.

About the Author

Iain Mackintosh is the managing director of Simply-Docs. The firm provides over 1100 legal documents and small business templates covering all aspects of business from equal opportunities in the workplace to a sample flexible working policy.

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