Part of the success equation for a personal trainer is making money.
Money is what pays your bills and money is what will give you the ability to expand your fitness business. If you are not making money as a personal trainer, trust me when I say you will not be a personal trainer for long. The rate of turnover in the personal training game is high like a Philadelphia skyscraper.
I love the fitness game as fitness is my number 1 passion in life. But the fact of the matter is that love and passion do not pay the bills.
Supreme Clientele
So how do personal trainers make money?
The primary source of income for most personal trainers will come from training their clients. The daily client training sessions that happen at the gym are how most personal trainers make money. And if you don’t have any clients, and you want to remain a personal trainer for the foreseeable future, you will definitely need to moonlight for some time in order to make money.
I’m a licensed barber and cutting hair was my primary source of income while I was building up my personal training clientele.
Now there are other ways a personal trainer can make money. A personal trainer could sell workout programs, eBooks, supplements, and fitness apparel. I’m sure there are even personal trainers selling their bodies on Only Fans (no judgement).
And these other methods, depending on how much effort you put into them, can definitely provide a source of income. I’ve sold eBooks and workout programs, but they are currently supplemental and “sometimes” income. The main source of my income comes from my clients who I train in person.
The Truth
How do you get clients?
First, you need to be able to deliver real, objective results for clients. Most clients are coming from a place where fitness has never been a part of their lifestyle. But even with that said, if you cannot get clients stronger, healthier, leaner, and feeling better about themselves, you need to choose a different profession. True personal training is about delivering.
Two, you need to be able to communicate. As a personal trainer, you will more than likely train people from all different types of worlds. You cannot talk to and train everyone in the same manner.
Successful communication is a combination of honesty, tough love, accountability, and empathy. Clients will appreciate if you are truthful with them.
Third, people need to know you exist. You can use marketing techniques such as paid ads, posting across social media, and even offering low barrier deals to entice prospective clients to check you out.
But I have found that the most powerful form of advertising, at least the kind of advertising that brings in longer term clients is word of mouth. If you change someone’s life in a positive way, you can be guaranteed they will talk about you to their family and friends.
People are typically very comfortable when a recommendation comes from someone they trust.
Conclusion
For personal trainers to make money, they’ve got to have clients. Whether you are training people in-person or online, you must have clients in order to pay the bills.
No clients = no fitness business for you.
I’ll holla at you next time.
The People’s Trainer
Fitman
