How Do I Scale My Personal Training Business Significantly?

[ZCP]

Okay but beyond that, what's an effective way to market myself and acquire a bunch of clients?

Just had a good 1000 business cards printed with a nice call-to-action on them.

@JLE
if i would give you $1M after you acquired one client today, what would you do to get a client?
if i was going to take a sledgehammer to your left big toe as it rested on concrete if you do NOT get one client today, what would you do to get a client?

Pick whichever method works for you and don't make it any harder than that.

The easiest way to start is to start.

What is the best way? No one knows. Try 'a' way. If that doesn't work, what do you do? Right, try another way.

Go get a client.

 

[Bekit]

I'm a bit invested in this topic now, and after reading through the whole progress thread, it sort of hurts me on the inside to see the massive mindset obstacles that are in play.

I don't know if I can do anything to break you out of those hurdles, @JLE - but I am sending you these thoughts with nothing but love and desire for your wellbeing and prosperity...even if some of this comes across as "tough love." (Plus, in a way, I'm preaching to myself in what I'm saying, as I get hung up on these exact same obstacles.)

The main thing I see holding you back is fear.

The second main issue I see is that you are trying to skip immediately to step 10 without doing steps 1-9. It doesn't work that way.

I'll tell you exactly what I would like to do. This is my list of action-fakes, that take time, but could eventually result in an income from online coaching/bodybuilding:
1. Continue physically building myself as a bodybuilder
2. Once built sufficiently, compete in a bodybuilding competition and hopefully place well
3. Advertise myself online as a bodybuilder on Instagram, possibly Youtube, and possibly TikTok
4. Be helpful and acquire a following in the bodybuilding and fitness niche
5. Acquire in-bound clients from my online following as a bodybuilder

That's the plan I have in mind.

Notice that nowhere on this list is "get a client." Why not? Because that's where the rubber meets the road. That's the scary thing. But it is 100% the thing you're going to have to face. The earlier you face it, get used to it, and stop feeling daunted by it, the sooner you'll make progress.

I don't think I'm professional enough to be seen as credible.

But yet you've had people notice you at the gym and ask for tips, and you've been comfortable sharing value for free.

What would stop you from helpfully giving them tip they asked for, and then confidently saying, "If you're interested in more strategic work together, I do private sessions for $XXX/hour. Let me know if you're ever interested!" What if you made this statement to 15 people a day for the next month while you put your business card in their hand? Do you think some of them would take you up on it? I guarantee you they would! And all of a sudden you'd stop making minimum wage and you'd be paid for work you actually enjoy.

Selling yourself is scary, but you'd find out that you're already credible to enough people to get income flowing in. And as you grow, you'll refine your target client and the level person you can help.

I'm expecting to be back in 1.5-2 years in the same spot but ready to start.

This sounds like "I'm scared to start now." We already have evidence of a previous 2-year hiatus in this exact thread. Why will things be any different in the next two years?

I feel like starting now is picking a fruit that isn't fully ripe.

But you're like a person waiting for fully-ripe tomatoes in a container where you've never even put a seed.

You're trying to skip steps. You want to go straight from zero to "having a fully-scaled up business and client-acquisition system on autopilot."

I'll have a great deal more people asking for my help without me even offering it.

This is a fallacy. You already have people asking for your help without you offering it, and you're selling them exactly nothing.

If you examine this deeply, what does it come down to?
- Is it because you're uncomfortable charging money for your work?
- Is it because you can't justify to yourself why your service is worth money?
- Is it because you feel like others are worthy of charging for their service but not you?
- Is it because charging for your service conflicts with some aspect of your identity?
- Is it because there's a fear of someone important to you ridiculing your efforts if you fail?

Let's imagine you do take the two years and get yourself into Olympic-level shape. And yet, you still don't know how to sell because you haven't been practicing that for the past two years. You know what that's going to look like? It's going to be identical to that UNICORN coder who knows all the languages, front end, back end, databases, UI, UX, you name it - and yet they're stuck working for a corporation because they have no idea how to get clients. Don't do this to yourself.

I probably could start now but I don't feel ready yet.

Feelings are dictating your decision here. Are you able to take your feelings in hand and stop allowing them to steer your decisions?

I don't feel ready. Hate the slowlane, but just comfortable enough to continue tolerating it. Every part of me wants to wait 2 years before I start, it would be far more conducive to the personal branding I wish for my name to represent.

This sounds like "selling my services sounds scarier than continuing to make minimum wage." You're striking a deal with yourself to settle for this 7-day-a-week employment situation where you're NOT FREE, when you have it in your grasp to DO THIS RIGHT NOW.

You're gambling with your body. What if you get an injury next month?

You're not facing the price you have to pay for this to ever work out.

The price you have to pay for those first few clients is...
- Pounding heart
- Sweaty palms
- Racing mind
- Feeling uncomfortable
- Stammering with your words
- Wanting to sink into the floor
- Feeling like an idiot

What everyone in this thread is rooting for you to do is look at that price tag and say, "DEAL."

When you think about it, all of those things literally add up to $0.00!

So why would you shrink back from that? You have what it takes to pay that price. You just have to choose it.

Because what you GET in return for that price tag is...
- Total elation - SOMEONE SAID YES!!!! I DID THIS!
- One seed planted towards those eventual gorgeous ripe tomatoes
- One client at a time
- Building your reputation
- Establishing yourself as a trusted name
- Freedom and respect

You've got this!

DOOOOOOO ITTTTTTTTTTT.

I don't wish to associate my real-life name with mediocre skill

Here's a quick story for you. I started teaching piano lessons at the age of 15. I wasn't a concert pianist then, and I am not one now. But guess what? Parents were happy to pay me 4x minimum wage for me teach their 7-year-olds what I knew. And they LOVED me because I was able to break down piano for their kids in a way that kept it easy and fun. That's all that mattered to them. My name wasn't associated with mediocre skill - to my students minds, my name was associated with unlocking the ability to play an instrument, and they saw themselves as cool and accomplished and empowered because of it.

Here's another quick story for you. I started a workout class last April. The coach just leads us in exercises that we can do with a jump rope, kettlebell, and yoga mat. Literally that's all the equipment we have. Everything else is bodyweight exercises. I have no idea what my instructor's credentials are. Do you know why I HAPPILY pay for the class every month? Because there's a class twice a week, I show up, I'm told what to do, and simply by doing what I'm told, I'm getting stronger. That's it. It's dead simple.

Having a reputable name means...
- You follow through with your word
- You present yourself authentically
- You don't promise what you can't deliver

Just be authentic with who you ARE and let people choose you for the CURRENT version of you, not the hypothetical one two years from now.

And two years from now, when you're bigger and better and badder, if you attract a whole different caliber of client at that point, great! But on that hypothetically future day, you'll look back and realize that you're relying on every single detail of learning how to serve clients that you started in 2023 and have been doing all this time.

Practice on the easier clients now, the ones who DON'T demand an Olympic-level coach. Get glowing testimonials because they love their body and the way you've helped them to achieve better things for themselves. And then solve the problem of being a bigger business that attracts higher-caliber clients WHEN YOU GET TO THAT POINT.

Fitness is an industry where there's money to be made.

Don't look at the competition who is ahead of you as a threat to your success.

Look at the fact that there is competition out there as proof that there's money to be made.

 

[Kelani]

I'm new here, but I have some experience working with online fitness coaches, and I feel like I can contribute here. I read this whole thread, and there is some good advice here.

but Here's my two cents:

The problem you have now is a lack of clarity. You don't really have a problem that you want to solve. You're just bouncing ideas on how to make money. Personally, I don't believe your inaction stems from fear, but rather from a lack of clarity. It's difficult to start something if the steps in between are kind of vague.

I know a common advice is JUST START. but it does help tremendously to do some research to find the highest levrage activity you can do with your current skillset.

So I'll try to paint a detailed picture and make it as clear as possible.

From what I know, if i was in your situation, and wanted to earn money as an online coach, these are the steps that i and most other online coaches take to make six figures:

1. Post valuable content that solves a specific problem that you know you can solve.
2. Build a following on Instagram/TikTok (these are the only ones worth it right now) of people that have a specific problem.
3. Once you've built a big enough following (300-1000), post Instagram stories with a call to action (DM you) to a free ebook/workout plan (takes 10 minutes to make) that gives them valuable info on the problem you can solve.
4. Now you have people in your DM's that: A) Are dealing with a problem you can solve and B) Are willing to come to YOU to help them.
5. A couple of back-and-forths later, and you can ask them to get on a call with you.
6. (The most important part) You get good at selling. If you can, you could probably ask for $2k-$5k for a 3-month program to get them to where they want. Depending on what niche you picked or what you're comfortable with, I suggest you look at Alex Hormozi's video on selling high-ticket.
7. Coach them. get good at it and actually change peoples lives. if you did a decent job at selling your coaching. your client should be working with you towards REALY worthwile goal that either has to do with their wealth, health and or relationships.
8. Repeat until very proficient, scale by employing other coaches, run ads... you get the deal.

I'd send you links on very regular people with small Instagram followings making six figures, but I'm not familiar with the rules here.

so source: Trust me, bro.

By far the highest leverage activity with this is posting every day on Instagram. You're going to have to do this every day. The more, the merrier.

But the real question is: what are the posts going to be about? or more specifically What's the problem you want to make your content around?

In the online coaching space, your niche is key. Not what your niche is, but that you even have one.

This will determine the messaging of your posts, what you will write about, etcetera.

If you want to train menopausal moms, then your content should be geared towards that (side note: it's a very lucrative niche, even for male online coaches).

If you'd like to work with men trying to boost their confidence in their life, you should make your messaging towards that.
Use that to write compelling content together with your posts/Tiktok.

Show your progress where you used to be and where you are now. Attract the type of people you genuinely want to and can help.

Once you start getting to the 800-1000 follower range. monetizing your audience is just a series of steps.

Tell me if this was at all usefull. or complety rubish.

And good luck on your entrepenourial journy

 

[ZCP]

Get 1 client. Start. Now.

 

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[ZCP]

I would charge $200 per month for coaching. So for 3 months it would be $600. However, considering I have no present clients: I'd charge you nothing but an honest testimonial after the 90 day period.

I'm not sure if you inquired as a sign of interest in coaching or to gauge what my response would be, but if you are truly interested I think it's important that you fully understand what goes into being coached.

A few things:
1. Your progress falls on you. I can bring you to water but I can't make you drink.
2. I need you to have a very specific fitness goal that we're to be working towards.
3. This would require progress pictures sent every week.

ok. dm me and let's get started.

 

[JLE]

I'm ready to take action.

The past few weeks I've had a lot of activity on the forum. Mainly comments justifying why I'm not ready to start, or DM's asking notable members for special advice that they truly can't give. All of you have told me the same thing repeatedly.

"Just start."

After an armageddon of excuses, I'm ready to start. No more hellfire. No waiting 2 years. I'll start now.

However, and here's the part I'm sure I'll be lynched for: I won't be monetizing myself yet. I'm going to start posting to Instagram and marketing myself as a bodybuilder. My sole focus is to build up a following. I won't be selling anything for the time being.

Maybe this isn't what you all wanted to hear, but this is my start. It's more than I have done in the past 2 years.

The way I look at it, as a part of me still does wish to wait 2 years, is that I could always archive any Instagram posts I don't want to have publicly available anymore. The whole reason I didn't want to start now is because I picture my Instagram feed as an actual resume. I didn't wish to showcase anything but the best. I've overcome that and I'll be starting now and archiving any posts I no longer want up in the future. It'll still probably take me 2 years to get to the standard I'd like for myself as a bodybuilder to represent, but at least by then I should have amassed some form of a following. I even know of coaches with only 15k Instagram followers making over $100k a year. I think this is a good start.

----------------------------------------------------------------

March 17th, 2023:
Followers: 17 (half of which are bots that followed me)
Posts: 0
Stories: 0
Reels: 0

I'd also like to keep my real name and Instagram private. I'd prefer to not have a history of my activity on the internet. That being said, I'm willing to share my personal information over DM with a select few members to prove that I'm being sincere in my claims.

This is my start.

 

[BizyDad]

Man, I really appreciate you and your drive to help someone who, very plainly, does not want to be helped. I sure as hell couldn't do it.

The thing is...

I'm as stubborn as @JLE

And I also put my entrepreneurial dreams on hold. Mostly because I didn't know where to start or how to start.

I always wished I had someone like me in my corner.

Now here I am, 30 years later. And I get to choose how I spend my time. I choose to help people like JLE.

Besides, it's not that he doesn't want to be helped. I don't believe that. It's that the things that he's been provided in afforded haven't actually felt like help to him.

And I see a situation like that and say to myself...

There's got to be a better way.

That's the entrepreneur in me coming out.

 

[Skroob]

In life we can either be wise and learn from other people's mistakes.
Or we can do the mistakes ourselves, on purpose.

The first approach might save some time. And given the fact that life is limited, learning and adapting quickly may be the optimal strategy.

I am not saying this to encourage or discourage you from taking action. I understand that people have the freedom to do what they want with their life, and you have already made your choice.

This is the final thing I will say:

If you choose to be the person that is "not ready yet", this is exactly what will happen.

You will be that person. And you will get exactly the results you would expect from that person.

---

I would like to thank everyone who took their time to comment in this thread.
It's always nice to see when people try to lift each other up. I hope that this spirit will never die on the fastlane forum.

I need to stop here too, because the things I want to say would not be helpful to anyone.

So what I will say is this: It is okay to have a day job to pay the bills and a hobby you put your passion into. There's no shame in it, it's a perfectly normal and valid way to live your life; it is in fact what most people do and live happy fulfilled lives.

It is not, however, what this forum is about. If everyone is telling you to get fired up, get started, every hour that passes is another gone forever and you are wasting them by waiting, and your response is just nah ima keep waiting until the winds change or the mood strikes or the bush on the mountain bursts into flame and the Word of the Lord is passed directly to me in the form of stone tablets... Well, it sounds like to me you have a hobby you're pretty passionate about, but you don't really have the drive to be an entrepreneur.

I got off the rails there for a minute. In an effort to make this helpful to someone in the future:

Nothing moves unless you move it. Nothing happens unless you make it happen. Nothing changes unless you change it. If you have a dream, a goal, a desire, a vision of Fastlane-style freedom for your life, the most basic thing you have to do is SOMETHING.

 

[Fox]

but it gives my reasoning on why I'm led to believe I can't start a fitness business right now.
I don't think I'm professional enough to be seen as credible.
My offer can't surpass that of my competitors due to simply not being good enough yet.

The only way to get better is to start, and you won't ever do that with this mindset.
Sitting on the bench isn't getting better, it is just sitting on the bench.

Get in the game and start playing to win.

Your customers don't want you to be the best - they want themselves to be the best.
You are focusing on the wrong thing. They need your help, so get going right now!

 

[ZCP]

Am feeling lovey today, so here is some more for you @JLE (and all those coming behind)

Make 100 offers:
Offer your services to 100 people in the next 5 days. See what they say.
You will have to refine your pitch and look for the 'echo' that MJ talks about.
'But i don't know what to offer!?!?' .... yes you do.
Offer a single workout with you for a cup of coffee and some feedback if you have no other ideas.

Elena Cardone idea:
In her book Empire, she talks about sitting down and sketching out the perfect guy for her. In EXTREME detail. Height, weight, eye color, what he did, what he said, how he carried himself, etc., etc.
Then she did the smart thing (and hopefully what you will do) .........
She asked herself what THAT guy would want. Then she could become those things to attract the dude she wanted.

Who is your perfect customer?
What do they want?

Offer that to 100 people in the next 5 days.

 

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[MakeItHappen]

Get 1 client. Start. Now.

 

[ZCP]

What is the ONE BIG THING that if you did it today, you would be at your goal?
Ok, with that written on the wall in sharpie, what is the FIRST step to do that one big thing?
Go do that. Right now.

Break it down to super simple. Do that one small simple thing.

Get started. Now.

 

[heavy_industry]

My biggest issue is finances.

Your biggest issue is the bullshit story that you keep telling yourself about why things are the way they are and why you can't change your life for the better.

The lack of money is a mere consequence of your behavior.

What happened to that fitness business idea you talked about in the previous thread? Start taking small steps towards achieving your vision and don't stop until you get the results that you seek.

The only way to achieve your goals is by incremental improvement (progressive overload). And the only one that can help you is you.
You should have learned both of these lessons through your physical training in the gym.

 

[Bekit]

Life's a game. Right now I'm playing terribly, at least in my financial skill.

I'm 25 years old. Born in Florida, immigrated to Ontario. Married a Canadian girl. Have an apartment in a metropolitan area. Got a small dog. No debt and no college and no car. Very much in-shape. But I work minimum wage 7 day's a week and have seemingly no marketable skills.

For those of you that are financially successful in life, how would you play my game better? What should I do to level up? My biggest issue is finances.

Just the fact of having no debt is putting you well out in front of a LOT of other people financially, so give yourself credit for that.

Maybe it's all in my head, but I'm not led to presently believe so. I'm very ambitious to get started but I don't want to personally brand myself as some inexperienced sham.

Regardless, you're ahead of SOMEBODY in this area.

• 10-year-olds who you could inspire to be the best possible version of themselves from an early age.
• High-school kids with low self-esteem because they're overweight or weak
• 40+ age bracket who have been sitting at a desk for 20 years and don't have any fitness to speak of
• 60+ age bracket who are facing fears of falling and losing mobility and not having a body that permits them to do the things they love.
• ETC etc etc.

Think about who you can help rather than focusing on all the shortcomings that keep you from being "the best of the best."

Help that person.

Get paid.

Repeat.

Tweak and pivot based on what's working and what needs you see.

That's all you have to do.

 

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[BizyDad]

IF ______, then ______ ....... the death of so much possibility in this world.

I just spent a week at Disney World for my anniversary and hanging out with other fastlaners.
Think Walt Disney would be changing lives every day using 'IF ____, then I will ____' thinking? Hell no.
Just get started. Do. Action. Record. Talk. Post. Help. Make. Be. Have.

Good luck @BizyDad, keep busting here. I give it a one 1/2 of 1% chance.......

So you're saying there's a chance...

I like this kind of party. This is exactly my kind of jam. You go motivate the ones that are easily motivated.

I've done virtually nothing but action fakes. I made grand claims under the influence of short-lived motivation. It still falls back to the same thing I've been saying all along:

I don't feel ready yet.

I'm sure this disappoints everyone, particularly you @BizyDad, but I really do think I need to do this on my own time. I'm in the gym religiously and I know the metric I want to surpass before I qualify myself as ready. I'm getting there slow. I don't wish to be drawn into another 10 page justification battle as to why I won't start today.

I have no doubts that I'll achieve my ambitions as I truly put my everything into this but it's going to have to be done at my snails-pace.

You think all I got is 10 pages?

View: https://youtu.be/BM-Yf-DXhMM


You don't want to start a handyman business, fine. You don't want to start a flooring business, fine.

I have one question. Have you raised your personal training rates yet?

Holy s*** look at that The market is talking to you...

Is evolt scan accurate or useful? How frequently should one scan that to track improvement? I do have assess to the machine in a gym.

What is your view on cardio vs HIIT vs resistance for fat loss particularly vis fat loss?

For someone who does not cook what are the ready to buy cook food that you suggest? 7-11 cooked chicken breast, subway roasted chicken breast (450 cal),stuffed chicken kebab (450 cal), poke salmon bowl (320 cal) are some of my menu food as they don’t taste horrible and quite easy to track the calories.

Can you answer questions like these, package them in a PDF, and use @Lex DeVille thread as inspiration?

I'm not like these other guys @JLE I'm not here to tell you you're wrong.

But I know this to be true. You already decided you're currently path isn't good enough.

So why are you stuck on it? Probably because it's the only way you've been able to connect the dots A to B to C to D to get to your goal. You think you need to see the whole path, and you think you need to be able to execute the whole path right now, in order to take the first step.

But if you've already decided your current path isn't good enough, then that thought's going to stay in your brain. It's going to eat away at you now.

So really, our conversation isn't about whether you're wrong. It isn't about whether you're ready.

It's only really about deciding what is the next ABCD path that we can get you to believe in.

Did you raise your training rates yet?

 

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[Johnny boy]

Get 1 client. Start. Now.

100%. Why is he talking about scaling a business with NO sales yet?

 

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[Spenny]

Bro you were told the secret:

Get 1 client. Start. Now.

Then you ignored it.

Okay but beyond that, what's an effective way to market myself and acquire a bunch of clients?

Then told a second time.

how many offers will you make today?
report back the results
go GET a client!

And then I realised that this thread is TWO YEARS OLD. Did you even try to get a client? Did you do the "buy me a coffee and give me feedback" thing? It's never too late to take action.

 

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[ZCP]

now go get your 2nd client. today.

 

[xShepherdx]

I will have built up my reputation and physique as a bodybuilder, likely competed in a show or two (hopefully winning), and I'll have a great deal more people asking for my help without me even offering it.

To me, it sounds like you're making a mountain out of a molehill. Just go help people get fit and get paid for it lol.

Let's say I'm in the market for a trainer. I'm not looking to hire someone who is the absolute best bodybuilder ever. And I honestly don't give a damn about how many competitions you won.

I want a trainer because they will help me get in shape, create and stick to a diet plan that works for me, knows more than me about fitness, can help me achieve my goals, etc. Stop thinking about yourself and your insecurities and start thinking about your customer and their problems.

Sure, winning that stuff helps you skew value and might help you win extra clients or charge more. But you can start right now without all that. As Andy says, just go help people.

As long as you know more than the person you're helping, you're good. And, based on your post, you probably know a lot more than the average person. You could help a lot of people with the knowledge you currently have right now.

Remember, even the world's #1 bodybuilder Hadi Choopan has a coach. The value isn't in your coach/trainer being the best themselves, but in how much they can help you (the customer) achieve your goals.

Hadi's coach, for example, has never won a professional bodybuilding title himself but has trained bodybuilders who have won 22 Olympian titles in total. He didn't have to win the title to become a legendary coach, so why would you?

Just go help people achieve their goals and adjust your approach as you learn more. It really is that simple.

 

[Kung Fu Steve]

Questions:

What resources do you have available right now? A social media following? Some emails? Friends and family asking for personal training? A local gym you go to? Are you working at a gym already? Are you a part of a club or group of people somewhere?

Simple ideas:

• Start with your circle. Tell friends and family you are starting a personal training business and see if anyone would want training.
• Find a professional place. If you are serious about being a full-time personal trainer... it makes sense to work at a gym. They will provide you with leads and a place to train for a cut of your sessions (like everywhere else). It's still your business... and you have to treat it that way... but consider it lead generation.
• Ask for 3 referrals from everyone you speak to. Whether they become a client or not.

Advanced ideas:

• Run targeted FB ads to people who follow other bodybuilders (or yourself) "wanna train with me!?"
• 2-Step FB Organic Posts. "here's how I train, here's how I eat, etc." and then "If you'd like my workout routine, comment "routine" below and I'll DM you. Start a meaningful conversation and ask the right questions to turn into a sales conversation.
• Swipe Up Instagram Ads. If you have enough followers, do consistent story posts with the offer. You'll need a cheap landing page of course but that's not so hard to piece together.

 

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[Empires]

Go to the gym and start talking to people who look like they need help.

Give them advice without being rude. Don't try to sell them anything. Then at the end of the conversation just mention you do personal training and tell them to give you a call if they ever need any help and hand them a business card.

Personal trainers can be extremely successful off of referrals alone. Start talking to people.

 

[JLE]

Absolutely quality advice from most of you.

The biggest takeaways I've received:
- just start. if you had 5 days to sell to 100 people, what would you do?
- sell your services to your ideal customer
- possibly offer something as cheap as a $5 first time session
- ask for feedback about my service
- walk the floor at the gym and be helpful/friendly
- set weekly quotas for how many people youre going to try to sell to each week
- ask for 3 refferals from everyone you know


Cheers to all of you. Not kidding.

Now I just need to prove I want it and execute.

 

[ZCP]

Just start. Now.

 

[Spenny]

You know what, you're right on the credibility. @ZCP idea is fantastic.

I go to the gym loads and have been bulking recently. I'd love to put on more muscle & I'm currently doing a regime of push, pull, legs. DM me if you want a second client.

 

[ZCP]

so i asked @JLE if i could post my dm back to him ..... i have a long day of meetings and won't be back to this for a while, so i'll go ahead and post it to help others and can take it down if he asks me to......

----
like it. am glad you dm'd me. was concerned you might ghost when called to the carpet.

i do this a lot. help people get started. so if cool with you, i'll do my standard routine of being the 'customer' AND your advisor / critic / accountability partner. that work? you in? are you really in?

just like you told me, you get what you put in!
i can lead you to water.....

suggest you focus on the value equation

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MHQr-Z17Hc&t=1s

let's look at the 4 components

right now, your questions your sent should help determine my dream outcome

i would have a huge fear of 'can he help me' ... so i suggest you map out the rough schedule / tools / things we will do in what order to help achieve my 90 day outcome. CLEARLY walk me through the journey before i've even started.

for time, your clear plan would show me that 90 days WILL produce a result AND if you had me do 'something' today, i would already be going and involved

you've made clear the gym effort needed, the question is how to reduce the other effort. could you use the apps my former trainer used? is there an easier way to log food for instance? could you setup 'simple' guidelines to make this easier so that the 'gym effort' is the ONLY hard part?

hope that helps.
i will wait to get started until you CLEARLY show me the plan.
remove the friction and help your customer get started

 

[Andy Black]

Life's a game. Right now I'm playing terribly, at least in my financial skill.

I'm 25 years old. Born in Florida, immigrated to Ontario. Married a Canadian girl. Have an apartment in a metropolitan area. Got a small dog. No debt and no college and no car. Very much in-shape. But I work minimum wage 7 day's a week and have seemingly no marketable skills.

For those of you that are financially successful in life, how would you play my game better? What should I do to level up? My biggest issue is finances.

From reading your progress thread I think your biggest issue is lack of confidence and belief. You have marketable skills already.

 

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[BizyDad]

The ultimate goal is to have an online fitness coaching service that follows the guidelines of CENTS. To build such a business it requires me to have an online following of some sort. From what I know of the successes of other coaches I've seen incomes ranging from $30k a year all the way up to $800k a year.

I've private messaged many established coaches. In particular, there's one making $30k a year and only has 2000~ Instagram followers, and there's one making $800k and has 32,000~ Instagram followers.

The largest determinates of their success, at least I'm led to believe, is their: current physique as a bodybuilder, previous accomplishments as a bodybuilder, successful client transformations, and following on social media.

Really never been a fan of the in-person coaching to begin with. I could do it if I found the time but it's not the quintessential location-independent and time-independent business I'm after.

I appreciate the tough love though, it's welcome anytime even if I don't end up agreeing with you.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Complete sidenote. I was DM'ing @BizyDad the other day and I'd sought out some tough love from him as well. Seems like I need an elongated verbal beatdown before very simple concepts seem to actually resonate with me. I'm incredibly hardheaded. I appreciate @BizyDad talking some sense into me. I really like the idea of starting a flooring installation business now that I've been mulling over it the past few days. He planted the idea of starting a local handyman/flooring installation business in my mind, building a website, business cards, and just cold calling. I really can't seem to shake that idea of his away as I know it would be successful. It's passed my mind several times for a few days. It's a great idea. I've watched my father make over $120k+ a year as a self-employed tradesman and I already have a hint of the knowledge it takes to do a lot of house repairs as I've previously worked in construction.

Anyway... Yeah just throwing out there that I've been thinking of that as a route a lot. Really been considering buying a car, starting a tradesman business with a very clear demand instead, and then using that to fund my bodybuilding ambitions (as I truly don't think I'm gonna break a great income in bodybuilding until the next 2+ years even if I do start now).

I need to start saving for a car and re-evaluate my options. I'm still pursuing bodybuilding 100% but wanted to throw this idea out there.

Congrats. And don't forget the tip I gave you on personal training as well...

Up. Your. Fee.

Charge more for in person than you will charge online.

I know you didn't believe me that I paid what I paid, but now that you know, I will tell you this...

I met a guy on Wednesday that pays twice what I do. TWICE.

He fell for the trainer with a big following, when my guy is just as good but no following. I know the big time trainer and he flat out told me my trainer is just as good, so this isn't simply my opinion.

Anyways, up your fee TODAY.

Then up it again "in 2 years" *chuckle* when you have a massive following.

I'm glad you're getting started. For all you know, Instagram might be worthless for marketing in 2 years. Seize the day.

I just want to say also, I couldn't be happier. Four years on the forum. I know I've had some impact on some people's lives. I know people have read what I've written and gotten ideas or encouragement or whatever.

This might be the first time someone has decided to make a dramatic shift because of something I wrote. That. Is. Amazing.

Thank you for this feedback. It means a lot.

So this is what @Kak or @ZCP or @Vigilante and others feel like when they blow someone's mind and watch the lesson sink in...

You're not waiting 2 years to get started and I'm not waiting 4 years to have this happen again.

 

[CryptoCurt]

I appreciate the tip, I know you had good intentions with it, though that sounds like a surefire way to do what everyone else is doing with no results.

How do I PULL my customers in?

What value can I potentially add? What seperates me from every other trainer?

I would not say its not working, if you have not tried it.
You say you want to PULL them in. Yes but to do that, customers must know that you actually exist and that you are competent at your job.
I would not miss out on social media, because everyone is searching on their phones today, trying to find a good personal trainer. No internet presence, no finding JLE.

If you are not to be found nowhere, how should you be able to PULL customers in?
Make yourself known, become a known expert in the field.

another one: Offer free personal training sessions in your area. use local focused websites.

 

[ZCP]

@JLE how much for you to coach me for 90 days?

 

[N.S.]

Hey @JLE - kudos for you for coming back here after 2 years and having the courage to ask for help again.

I see you have your 1st client now and probably your 2nd with @Spenny.

People here are really trying to help you and a lot of it has fallen on deaf ears.

You remind me a little bit of me, and I'm going to try and help you. Around 13 years ago I was trying to start my first business, and I spent 18 months trying to find and perfect ideas, figuring out what to do etc. - a bit like what you have been asking here. (Yeah I got business cards printed before I'd secured any business too ).

Eventually I made it work and now I've built 4 businesses and 2 of them have done pretty well (enough for me not to worry about money again for quite some time, and I choose to live an expensive lifestyle based in the middle of an expensive city).

1-2 clients is progress. Well done.

Now the MOST important thing you can do.... BAR NONE - as has been said here - is go and get ONE paying client. EVERYTHING that doesn't DIRECTLY lead to this is action faking - instagram, e-book, business cards - all of it.

How do you get ONE paying client? You've made a good start - you're going to train @ZCP in exchange for an honest testimonial after 90 days.

I would tweak that slightly - agree on 2/3/4 training sessions and then ask for an honest testimonial. If ZCP likes it you can discuss moving onto a paid plan that's still a good deal for them or continue with the 90 days gratis, and then get a second testimonial after then. If they didn't like the sessions, well then you'll learn some things that you can use to improve your offer. The point is, you don't need to wait 90 days to get a testimonial. Testimonials will really help you grow your client base.

At the SAME TIME as this is going on go and TALK to a bunch of prospects e.g. text / DM your friends and say "Hey I've qualified as a Personal Trainer and am getting my training business off the ground, so I'm offering an insane deal - 4 introductory PT sessions for just $50 (*or sub in whatever numbers you think are a bit of a steal for you), and I'm highly motivated to make this work so I'm going to giving them my best attention - if you know anyone interested then let me know! Ps I am only offering this to the first 4 ppl to get started".

Once you have a few like this and have polished your training a bit, you can move on to selling $200/month plans or whatever else makes sense (e.g. next couple of clients at $100 for 4 sessions) to build up to that.

Now I know you are asking how to SCALE. But today you have 0 paying clients. What happens if you scale 0? What is 0 times anything?

the point I'm making here is this - and I WISH someone experienced had SHAKEN this into me when I was wasting 18 months. Getting 1-2 clients will help you get going, and start improving everything so that you can get to 10 clients. Your first 10 clients should all really be coming from word of mouth and relationships you are building.

What you'll learn with those first 1-2 paying clients will help you become a good trainer to 10 clients. What you learn in being a good trainer to those 10 clients will help you understand what niches and expertise you can hone in on to become an excellent trainer to 20 clients. Point is you cant get to 10-20 without first going from 0-1. So only focus on 0-1, then 2 etc.

Now of course at that stage it's still a time for money thing and I see you're smart enough to know that will max out on scale. But the hard truth is that if you want to create an info product or build a social media following or create some sort of tech (like an app to train ppl remotely) then you need 1) the learning that comes from getting ANY business off the ground and 2) the relationships and credibility that just becoming a good trainer will get you. A LOT of other good stuff will come from just getting in motion,

If you're worried about creating a well paid job and being stuck in it, isn't that a MASSIVELY better problem to have - I'm stuck in a well paid job and want to create a CENTS business from it - than the one you currently have which is (being blunt, but written with love) "I have no business or clients and I don't know how to get started".

Please forget about business cards, instagram etc. Go get the 2 folks here signed up, do a great job and get testimonials, and at the SAME TIME that's all going on go out there and go get 1/2/3 paying clients and build from there.

Good luck - hopefully you'll look back on this in a few years and nod your head that it was a rites of passage. But only if you focus on getting some clients ASAP and nothing else.