Once your business has evolved from a vague idea floating around in the back of your mind it is time to go out and start telling people about it. After all, they can’t come to see you if they don’t know that you’re there, can they?
Marketing and promotion should begin weeks or even months before your business opens, depending on the demand for your services and the amount of competition you are going to be facing for your clientele.
The main factor to marketing success is to identify precisely what it is that your clients are going to want and be sure that you shamelessly promote the fact that you are going to be able to give it to them.
In your case your clients are going to be after the perfect figure
Yes, there is no such thing as the perfect figure, a fact which you are undoubtedly aware of after having spent some time in the field of personal training, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t use that desire to your advantage.
This is going to be your angle to capture your customer’s attention enough to make them want to come in and take a look.
Where to advertise your personal training business
Since you are going to be offering your services to the people who live in your area this is obviously where you are going to want to focus your advertising efforts.
Taking out an ad in the newspaper and placing commercials on television and the radio are a great way to get the word out to the public; ordinarily a business owner would have to worry about getting their message out to a specific group of individuals, known as a “target audience”; however, since your service is one that will benefit everyone, regardless of age, race or gender, this is not a restriction that you are going to need to worry about.
Community fliers are another great way to drum up business. Every community has at least one location that operates a bulletin board advertising things for sale and various businesses that are coming into operation. Placing a flier here, as well as in various locations related to your business, such as an organic food shop or exercise equipment retailer, will ensure that your message gets to those people which have demonstrated a specific interest in improving their bodies. These will be your first customers.
Finally, bear in mind that this is the age of the virtual consumer. When anyone wants to find out anything about anything they turn their attention to the internet; if you want to give your business the best chance of success possible you are going to have to launch yourself out onto the web.
You need a website!
Establishing a website is a simple matter; first, purchase a domain from any of the hundreds of web hosting services currently in operation. You will have the opportunity to select your own domain name; since consumers have notoriously short memories it would be best if your domain name was as close to your business as possible (for example, it is very difficult to forget that www.amazon.com belongs to Amazon).
Your website should be professional, without all the hype that seems to be flying around the internet these days (although adding pictures of yourself, your staff and your facility is a great way to catch your clients’ attention and help them to make that all important first impression).
Be sure that you give your clients as much information about your services and the potential benefits as possible, as well as listing your office location and a contact number where they will be able to reach you. It would be wise to place a listing of your available time slots and fees on your site as well; however, if you want to keep yourself from going crazy it would be better if you did not offer clients the opportunity to schedule their sessions on the internet. This inevitably results in double bookings and irate clients; hardly the kind of start you want to give to your business.
Of course, these are not the only ways to drum up business.
Here are some other creative promotional ideas that will have potential clients flocking to your door in no time.
- Offer your services to a community event, such as a health fair. This will give people a taste of what you do as well as establishing your business as a community minded one that is focused on its clients.
- Hand out coupons, and offer free sessions for first timers. Most people do not really realize what it is that a personal trainer does and how it will benefit them, and they are understandably hesitant about putting their money into something they do not understand. By offering the opportunity to “try before they buy” you will have the opportunity to make a great impression on individuals who would not have set foot inside your door otherwise.
- Participate with other facilities. Many personal trainers choose to operate their businesses during the day and then teach fitness classes through an establishment such as the YMCA in the evenings in exchange for a small salary and the opportunity to plug their business. This will give you the opportunity to form a personal relationship with an infinite number of potential clients while having fun in a stress-free atmosphere at the same time.
- Offer your services to the local schools and sports teams. Developing an exercise plan for a high school football team or physical education class will offer you the opportunity to advertise your expertise in a more casual environment and, again, help to establish your position in the community while having a little of fun on the side.
