Every Monday we post out the most popular links that we tweeted.  Here are last week’s most popular -

Five Things to Consider Before Launching Your Own Company bit.ly/wYuwKP via @smallbizbee Lots of new PT’s that should have a read.

— The Trackster (@TheTrackster) January 27, 2012

Your Social Media and SEO Game Plan for 2012 : @ProBlogger bit.ly/AykLCA — The Trackster (@TheTrackster) January 26, 2012

Before-You-Market Marketing | Magazine Archives | Magazine Archives | Fit Pro bit.ly/Ad5pA3Getting your systems right first #pt

— The Trackster (@TheTrackster) January 26, 2012

7 ways to go from zero clients to thriving boot camp franchise using online marketing tactics bit.ly/xbhXVF#ITforPT Good basics. — The Trackster (@TheTrackster) January 24, 2012

How To Close A Personal Training Client When You are Scared Of Sales bit.ly/wW4h4n from ptbusinessinabox.com.au

— The Trackster (@TheTrackster) January 23, 2012

If you have any IT questions or problems, get in contact with us on Twitter or comment below and we’ll try and get your PT business on track.

Well yesterday he posted a 20 minute video talking about Personal Trainers sales funnels and how to get more leads and then convert those leads into clients.  It’s a great video which I recommend that you watch now.  Again here is the link.

If you are a trainer that wants more clients in their business, it is well worth spending 20 minutes watching this video.

I could add maybe one thing to his online leads and that is email newsletters.  A great way to keep in touch with your database on a monthly basis.

One of the best things that he recommends with any type of marketing is to Test, Measure and Refine.  What a great tip right there.

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.

The PT is a guy called Pete Tansley, and he is based on the Gold Coast here in Australia.  His website is called Fitness with Pete.

I’ve embedded the video below so you can have a look.  It only runs for 2 minutes, so check it out.

The video is just a quick and simple review of a local cafe in Pete’s area, and highlighting one of their really healthy meals, in this case a delicious looking Salmon!

Why is this a great idea?

• Pete is helping his training clients out with great information on how to eat healthy and still be able to go out.
• It’s relevant to his clients because they probably all live in the local area.
• Pete is building his referral network in the local area by highlighting a great local cafe.
• Maybe getting some links back from the cafe’s website to Pete’s website.  Important for Pete’s SEO work.

A really simple and inexpensive way to help out his clients, and also help him get known in the local area.

I found a great example of a well put together website for a Personal Training business in Orange County, California, USA.  The business is called Innovative Results.  I’m going to go through a few pages of their site and pick out a couple of things I think they have done really well and that you might be able to add to your Personal Training website.

Home Page

One of the first things I noticed is that they have their telephone number on the top left of the site.  I think this is a great move.  When people look for PT’s their first point is usually the internet (if they haven’t been referred by a friend), but once they are comfortable they are always going to want to talk to a person on the phone or face to face.  By having that phone number clearly displayed, Innovative Results are making it really easy for someone to make a call.

As a person looking for a PT, the other things that I would notice on the front page is the great testimonial photos.  They say a picture says a thousand words and having great “before and after” photos of previous clients is absolute gold.  I would nearly suggest making it more prominent on the home page.  Show prospective clients what can happen.  It’s really powerful.

About Us

For a PT I think the About Us page is just about the most important page on your site.  And these guys do a good job, with lots of information about what they do, and how they do it, also some information about press mentions and some awards they have won.  One of the best things they have done is put up photos of their trainers.  It shows prospective clients that there are real people behind the website.  When you call them on the phone, you’ll probably be talking to one of these guys.  The only thing I’d add is maybe a small bio of each of the trainers, just to personalise it a bit more.  Maybe even link up the before and after photos of their clients with the trainer that produced the result.

Our Services

Another page on their site that is done well.  They have a few different specialties and they explain each one clearly on this page.  If you are good at one type of training than this is the place to talk about it.  Really sell yourself and what you can do.

Blog

There are a lot of reasons for having a blog on your site, including Search Engine Optimisation, communicating with your clients and personalising your website.  The Innovative Results guys have a great blog.  It’s constantly updated with relevant posts that their clients would want to read. They have exercise of the day videos, posts about motivation and goal setting and even a post about healthy snacks to eat while watching the Super Bowl.  This type of content is what will make their clients come back to the website, and the more times they come back to the site, the more times they are thinking about Innovative Results, and more likely they are to keep training with them.

And at the end of the day, that’s a primary goal of the website.  Happy clients.

One thing I will mention is the fantastic professional video that they have produced about their business.  It’s only on the blog page, and I would recommend that it might be a great thing to have on the home page, and even the contact page.  It’s a really good, short video that gives you an idea of the type of business they run.

Testimonials

I already mentioned the testimonials that are on the front page of the website, but they also have a lot of photos and testimonials on the the, you guessed it – testimonial page.  This is really powerful stuff.  And if I was a Personal Trainer this is exactly the sort of content I would try and get on my website.  This page tells people that Innovative Results know what they are doing and can help people get to where they want to be.  These photos sell their services for them.

The Innovative Results guys know what they are doing with their website.  Now obviously you can’t steal their ideas directly or their content, but there are a few basic principles that every Personal Trainer can do like getting great testimonials from your clients, having a blog that is updated regularly and allow your personality to come through with photos and bios etc. and also make sure your phone number is easy to find.

These are a few easy ways that you might be able to improve your own PT website.  If you have any other suggestions or some more great examples then let us know in the comments below.

A newspaper article about you or your business can be a great thing to put on the front page of your website.  It might be just the thing that makes a potential client go to you for personal training, instead of your competitor down the road.  I mean if the newspaper thought you were worthy of an article you must know what you are talking about!

One great site that I have come across in the last couple of weeks is Source Bottle.  This site provides a way for Journalists to post “call outs” for stories they are trying to write.  If a “call out” matches something that you know about it, then you can respond directly to the journalist.

They have an about page that explains the process a little better.  But the best thing is that it’s free to use.

After a quick search I found that SBS television is currently looking for stories about good and bad Personal Trainers.  Maybe you have a long term client that you have worked with that would be only too happy to talk on TV about you?  Or maybe you are a Mum running her own PT business, well there is someone that wants to talk to you.

Have a look around the site and see if there are other stories that you might be able to help with.

There are plenty of PR experts around and I suggest if you really want to get into it, you try and get the help of someone with more experience and know how.  But Source Bottle is a great free service, and who knows you might end up on TV one day.

Can you give us a brief overview of trainerfind.com.au and how it’s useful to Personal Trainers?
Sure Craig.  Trainer Find is an online Personal Trainer directory.  We help Personal Trainers connect with clients instantly through SMS and email.  If the budget is tight we also have a free listing option too.  Our advanced listings have inbuilt lead generation features and show more Trainer information.  Basically, we help increase your chance of being found online and then give clients a definite way to get in touch so you can start training.

Why do we need a product like Trainer Find?
Clients are increasingly turning to the Internet to find and commence training with Personal Trainers.  Potential clients now use directories and search engines to find local Trainers.  Trainer Find puts you right in front of your potential clients and helps increase your chances of being hired.

We have broken the country into many areas and regions to help make our search engine work great.  Basically, if a client lives or works in your area, you will be found.  We are Trainer “Find” not Trainer “Search”.

It looks like you essentially have two clients – Personal Trainers and people looking for trainers.  Which is the most important?
That’s kind of like “what comes first, the chicken or the egg” huh?  You can’t have one without the other.

Right now our focus is on getting trainers registered and listed on Trainer Find.  So first up we are spreading the word to Trainers and ironing out the kinks in our website.  Since launching our Beta website we have had great feedback from Trainers around the country.

In a few weeks we take of the “Beta” tag and start heavily promoting the website to potential clients.  Ultimately, getting visitors to the website is just as important as creating great content.  Clients come flocking to directory websites with significant relevant content.  The content of our website is made up of Personal Trainers from all around Australia.

In Australia there are a couple of competitors who offer a similar service, how are you different?
Unlike other website directories, we offer SMS connectivity to Personal Trainers with advanced listings.  This allows you to be out on the road and get a lead sent straight to your phone.  You may miss an email lead, how professional does that make you look! Not very!!  So getting a lead sent straight to your mobile instantly is like getting a leg up on your competition because your potential client will be blown away by your speedy response.  They will know you mean business.  They will be pumped.  Imagine that!

Plus, we are actually current Personal Trainers ourselves.  We are still in the game and Personal Training is how we make our living.  We don’t need to overcharge you for an advanced listing so we won’t.  We know what clients like because we actually deal with them day to day.  We know what Personal Trainers want because we are Personal Trainers.  We just want to offer a service that Trainers will find effective and useful and that clients will find helpful.

What sort of things is Trainer Find doing to get more normal people searching for Personal Trainers?  Why should PT’s be interested in what you are doing?
As I mentioned, we will start pumping up the promotion for clients in a few weeks.  We’ll do this using some online and offline methods.  Right now we are focussing on building awareness of the website within the fitness industry in Australia and helping Trainers to get listed.

Trainer Find will help your clients to find you, contact you and start training with you.  You will project a professional image in the mind of your client because of the speed at which you can connect with them.  The leads you get are always qualified, because of the information you can place on your listing.

And like I said, if budget is an issue, you can always place a free listing which other directories don’t offer.

Do you have plans to expand into other countries?
At this stage we’re just sticking to the Australian market.  We’ll see how we go.  We could do it easily enough as our backend is extremely portable and flexible.  We just want to offer a good service here and focus on that for the time being.

What is the one best marketing tip you have for Personal Trainers?
Get a website up and running.  There are some easy peezy ways to do it.  It doesn’t have to be super duper flashy or look spectacular, but try to make it match your brand image.  Get the colours to match, the words, the slogan, the prices, etc.  Creating an online presence is essential for lead generation and giving clients a way to get to know you.  Think about it.  How do you find more information about products or services you want to buy or use?  One word – Google.  Creating a website allows potential clients to find you using Google or any other search engine.  They’ll find your website directly or via a directory like Trainer Find.  If you don’t have a website – get one asap!  If you have a website – get listed in as many directories as you can!  Make sure Trainer Find is one of them of course ;o)

Thanks a lot for your time Chris, appreciate you answering a few questions.  Check out TrainerFind.com.au and see if it could help you get more leads for your Personal Training business.

If you have any suggestions for interviewees please let me know in the comments below.

Looks like Rick has some good posts and information on his site for all Personal Trainers.

1. I’ve been listening to a podcast called Small Business Big Marketing lately and one of the guys that presents it, Tim Reid, has also been answering some marketing questions on twitter.  His answers come in the form of YouTube videos.  One of his latest ones was about marketing tactics for Personal Trainers.
2. This article is about Andrew Simmons, the guy behind Vision Personal Training and his story and future plans.
3. Some more marketing advice for Personal Trainers, with 19 marketing tips.  Also highlights some of the ones that didn’t work which I like as well.
4. Lastly this week, one which I think just looks pretty cool and that’s some of the latest photo’s from the Hubble Telescope. Who doesn’t think space is cool??

It is a simple sign up process that allows you to put detailed information including photos and video about your business and gives you access to detailed stats and information about how many people are doing local searches.  All extremely valuable to a Personal Training business that relies on local clients and local searches on the web.  When someone does a google search for “personal trainer (insert your suburb)” you want to be top of list and you want to know about it.

It’s an absolute no brainer.  If you run a Personal Training business and you want people in your area to know about you, then you have to sign up for this free service.  Head on over to the Google Local Business Center, spend 5 minutes setting up your account and do it now.

Update: Here’s a quick (1 minute 38 sec) video introducing the Google Local search dashboard.