The Trackster

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

Just came across a really interesting use of video on a Personal Trainers website.  A really simple way to help your clients.

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.

One of the best marketing tools you can use in your Personal Training business is your website.  A website can help you  explain who you are,  your services and how to contact you.  More importantly a website can help you to keep in contact with your clients and keep your PT business front of mind.

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.

When talking about PR (public relations), I am talking about articles or mentions in mass media publications like newspapers, magazines, TV shows and trade magazines.  Although directly these things might not bring you a lot of clients,  it can help to give you perceived expertise in your field.

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.

Referrals are an important way to build your PT business.  When one of your current clients has suggested to their friend to use your PT skills, half the job is done.

There are a lot of suggestions and ideas for getting more referrals for your business, you can just google it and a million ideas will be listed.

Last night I was listening to a small business podcast that is presented by @timboreid and the guest on the show, Kody Bateman said something that made me sit up.  He said “don’t ask for referrals, deserve them.”  It was simple and to the point.  If your business is fantastic and you provide a fantastic service then people will be happy to refer you to their friends, family and associates.

It was a great line and a line that for some reason just clicked with me.   Selling is a massively important part of any business, and I think it’s a part of business that makes a lot of people a little uneasy and a little self conscious.   I’m sure there are a lot of PT’s out there that would agree.  It think that’s why that line resonated with me last night.  It’s not a hard sell, it’s not forcing someone to do something, it’s just build or provide a great product or service, give solutions to peoples problems and hopefully build a nice business for yourself.  That’s my goal and I’m sure it’s the goal of most PT’s out there.

What do you think?  Are you comfortable with selling?  Have you got any advice on how you do it and how to make it easier?  Leave a comment below.

Recently I have come across a few mentions of TrainerFind.com.au on the internet.  Thought it might be useful to do an interview with Chris from Trainer Find and discover a bit about his business and how it helps Personal Trainers.

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.

Just read this article that asks the question “Who is your business showing the love to?“   Basically it talks about looking after your current customers as opposed to spending big money on marketing trying to get new customers.

All business is the same, in the fact that all business is selling something.  You need to be constantly trying to get new sales/clients and you have to be finding the best way to do that.  For the Personal Training industry and really any business, word of mouth referrals are crucial to increasing sales.  Someone comes to you after being referred by a friend, half the job is done.  There is a certain amount of trust already, just because their friend suggested you.

How do you get more referrals?  By giving your current clients the best value they can get, by looking after them and making them want to talk about what you do and how you have helped them.  Turn your current clients into fans, not just customers.  Get them talking about you to all their friends.

Here’s a couple of suggestions for doing that:

• Every now and then give your long term clients a free session.
• If you run a bootcamp, why not set up a breakfast after one of your sessions.
• Give out movie tickets to clients when they achieve their goal.
• If your client has been with you for a year, why not take them out to dinner?

I know of a Mortgage Broker that sends out scratchie tickets to all his customers once a month with his newsletter.  Not sure anyone has won big yet, but what a story when they do.  It is the smallest things that get’s people talking.

These are just a few little things that can be done to surprise your clients, and make them feel like you care about them and the fact that they come to you.  They are all fairly cheap when you compare them to advertising or other marketing campaigns you can do.

The result of this is two fold, 1) your clients are more likely to stay with you, and 2) are more likely to refer their friends to you.  A double bonus for your Personal Training business.

Have you got any other suggestions for looking after your best clients?  Post them in the comments below.

In any business communication with your clients is crucial.  For Personal Trainers who’s business is improving the lives of their clients, communication is critical.  Personal Trainers are motivators, they are helping people to get into the best physical (and mental) shape they can be.

In an article on stevehochman.com, Craig Ballantyne has written a guest post about 5 Marketing activities a trainer should do each month.  It’s a great article with some great tips for Personal Trainers (or anyone in business really) that’s well worth your time.

I want to concentrate on tip 2 – Increase and improve consistency of client contact.  This one is close to my heart, because it’s the very reason why we built The Trackster – to help Personal Trainers communicate with their clients.

Excuse me for 10 seconds while I give you the sales spiel – By using The Trackster in your Personal Training business, you can send email messages to one or all your clients, send sms text messages to one or all your clients, send email marketing newsletters to all your clients plus prospective and past clients, along with tracking your clients training programs and goals, plus much more.  End of sales spiel

Another great tip is using Facebook and setting up fan pages.  There is plenty of great information out there about using Facebook for your business.  Mashable.com has one of the most comprehensive guides to using Facebook for your business, from the basics right through to using Facebook apps to promote your business.

With all the free information available to anyone on the internet, and through local libraries and through tv shows etc, anyone can find information about getting fit, keeping fit, eating properly and being healthy.  Personal Trainers are a great source of this information, but let’s face it, you can get it anywhere.  What a person can’t get anywhere is motivation and support.  That’s where the Personal Trainer comes into their own.  Motivation and support.  And communication is a crucial part of that.

Communication is where Personal Trainers can differentiate themselves in this business.

Do you know of any other ways trainers can communicate better with their clients?

Just read this interesting article by Rick Watson on the PT Business in a Box website about what Personal Trainers really make.  It’s an informative read with plenty of tips for new trainers and what to look for and experienced trainers and some of the things they can do to increase business.

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

Google has launched a new tool called the Google Local Business Center that allows you to easily put your Personal Training business on Google Maps and be top of the searches when someone does a local search in your area.

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.

Marketing is probably the most talked-about aspect of business, even for personal trainers. That’s because marketing is what gets you customers, and getting customers is how businesses make money.
When you are set  up your marketing plan, ask yourself some questions about your business, your clientele, and your competition. Answering these questions helps you develop a comprehensive plan for drawing in customers, competing with other businesses, and generating revenue.

Who Are Your Customers?

Many personal trainers believe they offer their services to the world at large, but that’s rarely the case. Even in fitness, you sell your services to a limited segment of the population.

Establishing your target market demographic helps you market your business more effectively, honing in on exactly the people who want and need your services. Knowing your targeted audience is crucial for advertising.

Ask yourself who needs or wants your services – specifically. Are you planning to attract professional athletes, people who want to lose weight, or hardcore fitness fanatics? Do you want to help new mothers lose the extra weight their pregnancy left them with? Are you into taking an inactive individual and helping the person establish a training program for more flexibility and better health?

The more specific you can be about the profile of your ideal client, the better you can market yourself. Know the life habits of your targeted audience. Are they busy people? Do they have children? When do they have the most free time – weekends or evenings? Are they motivated people or hesitant?

Each type of person has particular needs. Each person is a potential customer, and you will need different tools and techniques to appeal and convince the person to patronize your business.

What Are Your Competitors Doing?

Before you launch your business, you need to keep an eye on your competitors. For example, if a gym in your region has just purchased state-of-the-art equipment and launched a huge price special, there’s a good chance you may struggle to market to perspective customers.

However, if you’re paying attention to the competition, you’ll be able to develop a plan in a timely manner that allows you to compete and draw customers to you.

Know what the competition offers, and more importantly, know what is missing from their game plan. Find out whether they offer personalized service, and if not, use the one-on-one personal training angle strongly in your marketing message.

Try to determine the challenges that your competitors seem to be facing, too.  If you live in a small town with two gyms already and a third that just closed due to lack of business, then you might want to market to another town nearby and offer to travel. Or, you could find a niche market and open a gym that caters to a particular demographic (for example, senior citizens or yoga practitioners).

Branding and Identity: Who Are You?

Marketing specialists love to talk about branding and identity. That’s because branding and identity are the heart and soul of your business. Together, they form the image that you project to your prospective clients. Your brand and identity should be attractive, compelling and designed with both you and the customer in mind.

A business identity conveys a personality. It may also come with an attitude and a slogan or tagline that represents the benefits you offer. Your business brand should always include a logo, which is your stamp. It should appear on all your business cards, fliers, stationary and advertising materials. If you have a website, the website should reflect your image, too.

To start building your business identity, ask yourself what personality you want to convey to your potential customers. Are you a relaxed and friendly trainer, one who will gently coach people toward getting in shape? Are you hardcore and driven, more like a drill sergeant building athletes into optimal performance machines?

Build a brand that communicates the two most important aspects of your business: who you are and what you have to offer. Also, your brand should work to convince potential customers that they need the services you’re offering – and that they should get those services from you.

Advertising

Establishing your identity is a huge step but there’s more. You have to get the word out to the public that you’re in business and ready to serve. You don’t need to tell the whole world; remember your target customer base?

In advertising, your goal is to let your specific targeted audience know that you exist.

You can do this through various methods. Millions of web pages offer advertising space, and the phone book sells listings and large ads. Newspapers, magazines, television commercials and direct mailings (sales letters, brochures, coupons) are all effective advertising methods, too. You can cold call or hand out business cards and fliers.

As a personal trainer, though, there’s a good chance that you only need to advertise to people in your immediate geographic area. Look for advertising opportunities that let you target the people you want to in the very geographic area you live in.

Putting together a marketing plan for your personal trainer business may seem complex, but it really isn’t a big deal. All you have to know is exactly who your ideal customer is, how to reach that person with marketing strategies that resonate with his or her needs and advertise in ways that resonate with your perfect client.