The Trackster

The Trackster is online software that helps Personal Trainers communicate with and motivate their clients.

An important part of being in business is keeping up to date with what’s happening in your industry.  It can be time consuming going to 10 different websites a day just to keep track of what’s going on.  There are however, a few simple ways to keep up to date and get timely information when you want it.

RSS  

Without getting technical RSS provides a simple way of getting the latest news and info from different websites into one easy place.  For a quick and simple overview of what RSS is and how it works you can read a post from ProBlogger Darren Rowse here.  It’s well worth a read and especially the basic video at the end.

I recommend using Google Reader, and it’s really easy to set up and use.  At the moment I get information from over 200 sites which I can read at a time that’s convenient to me.  Most of the sites I subscribe to are business related but I also have some news and sporting sites that I like to get information from.  Each morning I spend about half hour going through about 100-120 new posts, mainly skimming info and reading the ones I think I should or that interest me.  This is pretty valuable time because it allows me to keep up to date with any breaking stories and also gives me a lot of information that I can use to improve my business.  Better than a newspaper!

Google Alerts

If you have a Google account, the next thing you should do is set up some Google alerts.  Google alerts are quick emails that can be sent about different search terms that you want to follow.  Google have a quick start guide to how they work here.  Basically you put in a search term and when something related to that term comes up you get an email with a link.

I have several Alerts set up.  For instance whenever my business The Trackster gets mentioned on the web I am sent an email about it.  Also, I have a couple of alerts set up around Personal Training and Personal Trainers so that I can keep up with any new things that might be happening in the industry.  It’s also a good way of seeing what or who is talking about your competitors!

Other ways of keeping up

There are a number of other ways of keeping up with information from different sources as well.  Most websites or blogs have email subscriptions where they send out regular emails alerting you to new information or posts on their sites.  Facebook is another way of keeping up with businesses or people you want to hear from.  Also Twitter is a great way of getting quick information from people in your industry.  And we shouldn’t forget about LinkedIn as well.

These are just a couple of ways to connect with people in your industry and keep up with the latest news.

Some websites that Personal Trainers should follow

There are a number of websites that give PTs great information about their industry and how to improve their business.  All PTs should be keeping up to date with their local industry association and their latest news for a start.  But here are a couple more that will help you with your PT business (and they all have ways of subscribing to their content!) -

PT Business Success – Kellie Sanders is a PT Business Coach who provides some great content on her blog.  And it seems that just recently she is ramping up that great content with more frequent posts.  I know Kellie personally and I know that she is  really helpful and considerate and is working hard to help PTs out there succeed.  A must follow blog.

Super Trainer – This website is run by Kaiser Serajuddin a fitness trainer from New York.  He also writes a monthly column for PFP Magazine which is another great resource for PTs.  Kaiser has some great material about  marketing and managing your growing PT business.

PT Business in a Box – Rick Watson is another PT business coach.  On top of his coaching services he offers a great blog with regular information about improving your PT business.  He also has some great interviews with successful Personal Trainers that are really  interesting.

PT Power – Bedros sells a lot of marketing packages and seminars on his site, but he also offers a great amount of free information on his blog about marketing and especially online marketing of your PT business.

Active Management – Justin Tamsett has a vast amount of experience running fitness businesses.  He is just about to launch a new program to help PTs with the business side of being a trainer.  On his site there are a few webinars coming up that might be of interest to Personal Trainers.  I’m going to be talking soon to Justin on this blog about some of his plans for PTs which should be interesting.

The Trackster Blog – How could I not mention this one  We try and write articles that help PTs with different aspects of being a trainer mainly on the marketing and business side.  Things like “How to find out what’s happening in your Industry”!!

This is just a small list of resources specifically for PTs.  If you know of more out there please let us know in the comments.

I just bought a CD on the Indie Music site CD Baby.  Like most online stores they send out automatic emails telling me that my order has been received and another one when my order ships.  Here is the email I received telling me that my CD had been shipped -

Your CD has been gently taken from our CD Baby shelves with sterilized contamination-free gloves and placed onto a satin pillow.

A team of 50 employees inspected your CD and polished it to make sure it was in the best possible condition before mailing.

Our packing specialist from Japan lit a candle and a hush fell over the crowd as he put your CD into the finest gold-lined box that money can buy.

We all had a wonderful celebration afterwards and the whole party marched down the street to the post office where the entire town of Portland waved “Bon Voyage!” to your package, on its way to you, in our private CD Baby jet on this day, February 2, 2011.

We hope you had a wonderful time shopping at CD Baby. In commemoration, we have placed your picture on our wall as “Customer of the Year.” We’re all exhausted but can’t wait for you to come back to CDBABY.COM!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Sigh…

We miss you already. We’ll be right here at http://cdbaby.com/, patiently awaiting your return.

–

CD Baby

The little store with the best new independent music.

http://cdbaby.com cdbaby@cdbaby.com (503)595-3000

Some people might think it’s a bit over the top and not necessary or even that it’s not professional.  The way I see it, it’s something a little different and it certainly made me read it.  And now it’s got me talking about it and telling others about it.

Is there something that you can do in your Personal Training business that might surprise your clients?  Maybe a handwritten card or letter when they have achieved a milestone?  How about a special mention of a client on your website?  What about an anniversary dinner or lunch when a client has trained with you for a year?

What are some easy ways that you can get your clients talking about you to their friends and making recommendations about you?  It would be great to hear any suggestions you have in the comments below.