Natalie talks about why PTs should get into email marketing, how to build up our database to send emails to and goes over some of the software out there to help Personal Trainers get their email campaigns started.

Here are some fun facts about Natalie -
Favourite Book – Cloudstreet by Tim Winton
Favourite Movie – Mission Impossible (the first one!)
Favourite Band – The Killers
Favourite Website – Marketing Profs
Hero/Role Model – Hillary Clinton

Some links mentioned in the interview -

www.mailchimp.com

www.constantcontact.com

You can follow Natalie on Twitter @nataliegiddings and Natalie’s website is www.pollenmarketing.com.au.

Updated: Below is the full transcript of the interview with Natalie.

Craig Millman: Hi Natalie! Thanks for joining me today. You’ve just released an ebook about email marketing specifically for small businesses. In terms of email marketing, what’s the biggest benefit and why should Personal Trainers get into email marketing?

Natalie Giddings: [beeping noise] Okay, well my phone’s just gone off – sorry! – but I turned it off.

All right, so with email marketing essentially the reason why I think it’s an important one, more than anything else, I guess, is the dollar per spend. So, if you do take the time to build up your own list not only do you get the benefit of the return investment – so, the numbers are all there and I’ve seen the statistics over and over again – but if you do take the time to build that marketing list you can then even onsell additional services, you can perhaps even begin to do successful events, all the type of marketing that builds your core base and has a greater impact on your bottom line.

And if you get into a relatively good habit of creating news stories, even press releases and all those types of things that engage people, it just builds your brand overall. You can repurpose that content, all that type of thing that make that bottom line process, because we want to get people in with the intention that they’re going to buy your services.

We can automate that buying process, even quicken it so that people make decisions about whether they want to use your services, your Personal Training services, or not, in a really short period of time. Even just following up and making phone calls to one client, as you know, takes a lot of time. If you can start to get that in an automated, online process that is one publication but delivered to many, you can start to see a terrific turnaround in the way that people reflect upon you and even just log-in or purchase your services.

Craig: So, for a lot of Personal Trainers they might not have a massive database of people to contact so what’s the best way to start an email marketing campaign. I mean, what’s the best way to get our list going?

Natalie: Okay, the best way to start a list is to ask permission of current or past clients. Don’t automatically assume that because they’ve used you once that they want to start receiving email newsletters from you, but it can be just a really informal, introductory email saying: By the way, we’re going to start publishing news. So, get that email out to your current database list, no matter how big or small, and just get their permission. Just say: We’re going to add you to this marketing list. Please let us know if that’s not okay. So then you can start with people that you’ve previously serviced and had a relationship with, and then you’re not starting from zero, which will probably boost your confidence.

And then the next thing you should definitely do is think about having a resource of some description that’s useful. So, if we’re talking about Personal Trainers there’s a whole myriad of tips and cheat-sheets or, I don’t know, warm-up activities that people could do, homework that they could do when they’re not being personal trained. Basically offer that up as a report or a PDF or a Word document or a PowerPoint presentation. Offer that up on your blog or website as an incentive for people to include their email address.

Personal Trainers, we know that they’re obviously geo-specific, so you want to make sure that not just email address but a post code would be relevant because we know that you need to be present to train them. So at that point have that on the top, right-hand side of your website, which is the most visually present place, so to speak, on your website.

And then people, basically you’re exchanging a valuable piece of information for the responsibility, because it’s a responsibility, also the permission to contact, to have your news go out to them. So it’s something that, look, it doesn’t have to be….

Don’t overthink it; just something really quick and something really simple that you know people continually ask you about. Answer that question in one PDF. Or, I know that it’s really hard to remember all the steps that my Personal Trainer has told me about warming up. I forget them every single time and I have to go and find out where I wrote it down. Maybe having that as a useful tip to start with would be a great incentive, and no doubt you’ve got a useful and unique way of warming up if you’ve done your job well. So, just something like that. Think of it as an exchange for value.

Craig: So in terms of getting started, again, do you have any recommendations for email marketing providers? I mean some software that you recommend specifically?

Natalie: Look, really we’re spoiled right now. We’re in a place where there’s a whole heap of different solutions out there. My personal favorite is mailchimp.com. I don’t actually use that for all of my clients. It depends on what their needs are. It does seem to have all of the generic uses whilst keeping the cost right down, things like sign-up forms so you can create a sign-up form to your mailing list or automatically plug that into your website. And it’s just very intuitive and easy to use. I mean, there’s nothing better than something that’s easy to use. There’s lots of great videos. But any of them – Constant Contact – oh, any of them at that top tier, they all copycat each other anyway to get your services.

Craig: Yeah, and they’re all easy to use. Like, for someone who might not be that confident on a computer they’re pretty easy to use still.

Natalie: Yeah. The other thing: you mentioned that some of your interviews and part of the reason you do the series is to be useful and helpful, so what you could possibly do, and like you do, you put it on YouTube. Go to YouTube. The technical stuff, if you get stuck, I always go to YouTube and say “how to do,” and there’s just about how to do just about anything.

So, MailChimp does tend to be just that much simpler, if you ask my opinion, so that’s why it’s usually a good starting point. If your database starts to really grow and you need some really serious features then you might want to explore some of the other ones.

Craig: Yeah. I think it’s one of the cheapest, too. Off the top of my head I think you can send out to 1,000 people before they start charging. Is that right?

Natalie: Yeah, absolutely. It depends on how many times per month, or it’s limited times per month, but even just the way that you manage, because part of a great email campaign is getting profile information about your target audience and perhaps sending out some snippet questions, and all of that is relatively easy to do straight out of MailChimp.

Craig: Right. Okay, so just to finish up today, what’s one tip that you can give a Personal Trainer today that wants to get into it? What’s the one tip that you can give us today just to get started?

Natalie: Look, it’s not necessarily directly related to email marketing as such but it is definitely one of those traits that will work well with any email marketing, and in fact any marketing, and I think that’s the keyword of Personal Training – it’s personal, it’s people. So, personality: I would set up a campaign to be directly from the person who runs and owns or trains the clients so that they’re already introduced to that Personal Trainer, if they sign up for the mailing list, well before they sign up for the services. They can get to know the personality and what’s expected and some of the benefits before they’ve even signed up for a session. They can come to love that person well before they sign up.

And it’s really all about trust in people and connecting, so have photos of your trainers on the messages. This includes all of your marketing channels. And really think about personal branding all of your marketing channels in that way.

Craig: Excellent. Thanks a lot for your time today, Natalie. I really appreciate it.

Natalie: No problem! No problem at all, a pleasure. Thank you, Craig.

Craig: Thanks a lot.

Mike gives us some great insights into his career and some tips to becoming a successful Personal Trainer.

You can find out more about Mike here -

www.mefit2.com
www.nafctrainer.com

We’d love to hear what you think about the interview in the comments below.

Today we talk to Heather Smith from Anise Consulting about the basics of bookkeeping and accounting for your Personal Training business.  Why it’s important and some simple things that you can do today to make big improvements.

Heather’s business is Anise Consulting, and you can follow her on Twitter @heathersmithau.

Although there is some Australian centric information in here relating to GST, a lot of the tips that Heather has provided can work in any country.

Let us know what you think, and if there is someone you’d like us to interview than please let me know.

Saasu.com is easy online accounting for small to medium businesses.

Links from the interview:

@hollingsworth – Tony’s twitter account

@craigmillman – my personal twitter account

@thetrackster – our business twitter account

Klout.com – Discover your influence.

Empireavenue.com – See what your brand is worth.

The video goes for 19 minutes but it’s well worth listening to if you want to improve your online presence or you are just about to build your own website.

For more information about Brendon you can find him on Twitter, and his business Tailored Web Services.

Let us know what you think of the interview in the comments below.  Also we’d love to hear any suggestions or feedback you have about the interview and maybe who’d you like to hear from in the future.

Justin is just about to launch an online training course called The Masters of Business for Personal Trainers, and we talk a little about that course and how he hopes to improve PTs business skills.  We also chat about his background and why he thinks the Queensland Reds are going to be a strong team this year.

For more information on Justin or the course you can find him here -

Twitter.com/jtactivemgmt

Justin’s Blog

Justin’s business Active Management

The Masters of Business for Personal Trainers

Let us know what you thought of the interview in the comments below, and if you have any feedback or suggestions as to who you might like to hear from in the future, please let us know below.

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.

Our first interview is with John Miller.  John owns a Brisbane based physiotherapy, massage and sports injury clinic called PhysioWorks.

Can you give us a brief run down on how you got started in Physiotherapy and also how you came to own your own practice?

Sport has always been an integral part of my life. I also believe that you should really enjoy your work. I couldn’t think of a better way to be involved in sport for the rest of my life than as a sports physiotherapist.

Owning my own practice was an evolution. After working in hospitals and other private practices, I identified areas of patient care that I believed could be improved but the management never implemented. If they weren’t offering a high quality product, someone else should. The rest is history.

What’s the hardest part of being the boss?

It’s the work that goes on behind the scenes. You wear many hats: human resources, marketing, legal issues, mentor, finance, administration, strategic planning, networking etc. Patient treatment and consulting is only one hat.

What’s the best part of being the boss?

I love being able to make the ultimate decisions that matter and you think will have a positive impact on your clients, staff and practice.

What marketing do you do for your practice and what is the most effective marketing that you do?

I’ve always strongly believed that people only seek your service if they have a need. Education of the public into the why, how and what of an injury is invaluable. Only then do they understand that it’s needless to suffer when an effective solution is just a phone call away. Only you know the skills that you posses. The difficulty promoting any solution is explaining the benefits to the public. In order to do this we primarily utilise our website and newsletters.

Do you have any professional partnerships or associations with any personal trainers?

All the physiotherapists within the clinics have personal trainers that they recommend. Ultimately, we recommend the personal trainers that our patients utilise and have good rapport. Otherwise, we do discuss the individual needs with a patient and provide a suggestion based on who we think would best fill their requirements.

Is that a mutually beneficial partnership of referring to each other?

If you think that you can fix everything yourself you are sadly mistaken. The best synergies we have do provide the best results for the patient. We’re more than happy to meet or chat with personal trainers about any patient or potential patient. Personal endorsement normally follows good outcomes. I certainly would only recommend another health professional who I believe is the best option for that patient’s desired outcome. Likewise, I should never expect a referral from someone who didn’t think I could help their client.

Have you felt the effect at all of the downturn in the economy, and if so, are you doing anything to appease that effect on your business?

Fortunately, physiotherapy is reasonably immune from an economic downturn. Pain is the primary reason why a patient seeks the assistance of a physiotherapist. Luckily, pain doesn’t ease up in a recession.

However, I believe that as unemployment increases there will be additional pressure on the family budget. In this instance a budget decision needs to be made. Sadly, personal trainers and remedial massage will and have become options to some families. The general public sees these great services as luxuries. At PhysioWorks, we employ several massage therapists and suspect that we will notice the downturn in massage first.

What can be done about it? I think that it will be survival of the fittest. If you are offering an exceptional product of customer service, fantastic results and at a fair price, you’ll gain customers from the weaker businesses. It’s up to you to be the best option.

Do you have a mentor, former boss or colleague that has helped you in your career?

I confide in numerous mentors from all spectrums of life. Being a good listener has its benefits. There is a lot of untapped wisdom in this world if you are simply prepared to let them speak.

What’s the best thing about working in the Health and Fitness Industry?

Caring for patient injuries has always been my primary concern. The satisfaction of an outstanding result that allows someone to walk, sit or run painfree again is extremely rewarding.

What is the best advice you have ever been given?

Be good to your mum.

Thanks John for your time.  I think you have given people out there who want to work for themselves something to think about.

You can visit the PhysioWorks website for more information, including a bio of John and his experience.  And I can tell you from first hand he is very good with fixing minor shoulder problems!

Is there anyone that you want us to interview?  Any type of profession that might have some links with the Personal Training business?  Just add a comment below and we’ll do our best.