How to become a PT and set up a business
Theres no doubt about it, a career working in the fitness industry is incredibly fulfilling and rewarding.
Being asked for your expertise to help people with their struggles on subjects such as changing their body shape and size, motivation, injuries and pain, eating habits, things that effect aesthetically and emotionally, will give you a great sense of achievement that you won’t get in most jobs.
Coupled with the fact you get paid for it, and quite handsomely as well if you can apply yourself in the right way to the right people with the right product.
The right product
But what is the right product, and how do you get it? This depends on a few factors which can take a few years for you to discover so experience will come into it, but essentially will become your USP (unique selling proposition) and includes:
Your level of knowledge
Have you just taken the basic qualification needed to get you into the industry, or have you taken it upon yourself to learn more around a number of subjects to help you provide a better service?
1.Your personality
This you can’t change obviously, but will play a big part being a successful PT. How upbeat and motivating are you? If you’re down, not motivating or interesting, or always talk about yourself, then why are they going to keep coming back to you?
2. Your training style
Boring sessions, no matter how successful you’re with them, will not keep clients coming back. Yes, they want results, but if they dread coming in for their sessions because they’re boring then they won’t hang around for long.
3. The equipment you have available
Not as important as you can train anyone with anything, but you may alienate some clients if you cannot match the equipment needed to fit their goals.
These things combined will help build your product, your USP that you’ll eventually offer to clients.So, you have to make sure you look the part, you act the part, and you go out of your way to do what is needed to keep helping them towards their goals.
The right people
Once you have built your USP, you then need to get it out there. But how do you get your product in front of the right people?
This is not so easy as there’s so many trainers out their offering exactly the same as you, especially online on social media. Trying to earn trust online is very difficult. So, we like to start offline.
That is, getting in front of people you already know, to break down the trust issue a little easier, and that is at your gym. If you’re not working from a gym and only doing mobile sessions, then this won’t apply to you. But getting yourself and your USP in front of a readymade audience is key.
At PT Buddy, we do this by tweaking their interest by offering them something they need for free, a lead magnet. Something like a complimentary posture assessment, offering to view and explain their issues,goals and and educating them into achieving them will appeal to many members particularly those withinjuries.
We built this section into the PT Buddy app to make it easier for trainers assess and sell packages of sessions. We also provide the sales material you need to advertise this. You just need to advertise around your gym.
Applying yourself the right way
This one’s pretty simple. There’s nothing worse than signing up for one thing and receiving another. Once a client signs up, you have a set amount of time with that person (however many sessions they signed up for) to make an impression and do what you said you would to help them towards their goal. If you make the wrong impression, they’ll likely not renew.
People, not just clients, will typically not notice the good things you do, but they’ll pay attention to the one bad thing you do. If you’re not updating their programs, turning up late, talking about yourself all the time, poor personal health and creased or dirty uniform. They will take notice and unfortunately judge when it comes time to renew.
So, lets be sure to avoid any of these as its so easy, and just make an effort to be clean, tidy, on time, and do what you promised them. Don’t give them an easy reason to leave.
How do you become a personal trainer?
Most fitness courses can be found online, which you can do online apart from the practical exam. More in-depth ones you’ll need to attend in person each day. So, you’ll have to decide which better suits your lifestyle.
A typical fitness course will teach you the level 3 fitness instructor content first, and this is usually all you need to work for a gym and covers the basics. But to work with clients one to one, you’ll need at least the level 4 qualification. This will give you more expertise of training techniques and structure, nutrition basics, an understanding of the cause and treatment of injuries, an exercise to music certificate to do the classes, and sometimes business management.
Life as a personal trainer
There is another side to working in fitness that isn’t so glamorous which you have to prepare for. This can include:
Long hours, where you need to fit into people’s schedules with you possibly working from dawn to dusk
Low pay to start with while you’re building your career
Finding new business
The pit falls of being self employed and knowing what to do and when on the side of the business few people enjoy, such as accounts
Tiredness, and I mean extremely tired from not only working long hours, but working with people one to one, being on the top of your game, smiley and enthusiastic with every session
I myself has seen and felt everyone of these emotions since starting in the fitness industry in 2004. Sometimes, especially in the early days when you’re trying to get going, there were strong feelings of quitting, getting out of the game as it was just too difficult and demanding on you.
But I’m so glad I stuck with it, as I can’t imagine ever doing anything else. All I needed was time and a structure. I wanted it all too quick and too early. Some of it comes through experience, and for this you need to give it time. Time to understand how things work and allow your business to build over time and your client list grow.
But the structure is what I could have done with earlier. This took years to find. A structure of how to build a business, how to advertise myself, how to find and keep clients.
The experience we can’t help with, but the structure we can. Helping other fitness trainers, especially ones new to the industry is why we started PT Buddy in the first place. Helping them stand on their own two feet sooner will help them stay in the industry by building their own successful business.
Click through our website or click here to find out how we can help you on your path to a successful career as a personal trainer.