What it Takes to be a Successful Personal Trainer

Do You Have What it Takes To Be A Successful Personal Trainer?

    In the world there are thousands of people that call themselves personal trainers, with an unregulated field anyone can call himself a personal trainer with no certification. There are average personal trainers and those personal trainers that go above and beyond for themselves and their clients. The difference between these two types of trainers is the ability to go the extra 10 percent, being able to sell themselves. As a personal trainer you have to think of yourself as the product and the act of the client paying for you is the process not the other way around. The best personal trainers in the world have developed what Jonathan Goodman calls their “niche”, meaning that they have found what it is in training that interests them the most and ran with it. To be considered an expert in the field of personal training you have to take one specific aspect of training and make it yours. Whether it be training people with diabetes, back pain, postnatal mothers, or athletes. There are many different aspects of training, the important thing is to find with part is who you are as a trainer. Do not try and cater to every client that walks through that door, if lower back pain is your “niche” then tell them so they can find a trainer that will cater to their need of weight loss.

    Another major part in your success as a personal trainer is the ability to market yourself as a professional. The ways to do this is social media, and the clients you have already. Always remember it is much easier to keep the clients you have already acquired versus gaining new clientele. The most powerful of these two is social media, facebook and twitter have over 800 million users with the ability to set your career off when done properly. “Social media has the ability to fill your schedule for free, in minutes a day, and without being spammy. I know that's a bold statement, but you’re likely already connected to every lead that you’ll ever need. You need to keep it simple and focus on two things:

1. Understand why people use social media and why it’s important.
2. Determine how to maximize results from the Facebook and Twitter.”1

Jonathan Goodman describes 3 steps to utilizing social media to make a successful trainer: 1 being gather as many friends as possible, 2 is to be consistent by posting a fitness tip of the day, and 3 is optional but you could celebrate your client by tagging them in an accomplishment that had at the gym so that it will go to their wall allowing all of their friends to see their goal become a reality.

    The ability social media now has on the world is scary, this free, easy to use tool can take a trainer from good to great with just a few posts and reposts from the people they see on day to day basis. I hope you take the idea of social media and use it to take your career to the next level and help you to achieve your goals as a personal trainer impacting the lives of everyday people to more healthy lifestyles.

1Goodman, J. (2012). Ignite the fire: The secrets to building a successful personal training career. North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace