Personal Trainer Magazine: Fitness Business, Marketing and Career Success

Skyrocket
Your
Career
Now
Shannon Barbato
How SheTurned Her
Passion Into Proit
Turn Your Skills
Into Cash!
Issue 6
Signs of
Success

PersonalTrainer
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Issue 6 Quarter 4 2015
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CONTENTS
Introduction
Personal Trainer Magazine was created with you in mind. You love
itness. You feel rewarded when you help your clients reach their
goals. You love the active lifestyle. And, you realize you can and
deserve to make a great living while helping people add value to
their lives.
For these reasons, PTM brings you the perfect combination of
science, application, business and personal development skills.
Regardless of your niche in the itness industry, you will ind
effective and easy-to-understand methods for enhancing the lives
of others while you are personally fulilled.
We welcome your comments, questions and critique of PTM. This
is your magazine. If you want to see something featured, please
let us know. If you’d like to contribute, our editorial department
would like to hear from you.
Publisher’s Page ........................................................... 04
7 Signs You Should Be a Personal Trainer.............05-07
Finding Your Purpose.............................................. 10-11
How to Monetize Your Skills....................................13-14
7 DIY Design Tips for Personal Trainers ...............16-17
How to Embrace Change and Rebrand.............. 19-21
How to Use Client Testimonials..............................23-24
Overcoming Failure..................................................26-27
PUBLISHER
Dr. John Spencer Ellis
MARKETING MANAGER
Jeannene Ritchie
COMMUNICATION COORDINATOR
Michelle Adams
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Scott Gaines
ART DIRECTOR
Kelli Ellis
EDITOR AND PROJECTS MANAGER
John Spencer Ellis
SENIOR PROJECTS EDITOR
Sophia Elizabeth
EDITORIAL SUPERVISORS
Scott Gaines
SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Alexa Katherine Ellis
COPY EDITORS
Tyler Valencia
Contact: nestapinterest@gmail.com
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DESIGN TIPS YOU NEED
FOR YOUR BUSINESS16
FIND YOUR PURPOSE
AS A PERSONAL TRAINER10
GET MORE CLIENTS
WITH VIRAL CONTENT MARKETING39
SHANNON BARBATO
HER SUCCESS STORY29
MAKE YOUR BUSINESS SUCCEED
IN THE LONG RUN
Shannon Barbato ...............................................29-32
Social Media Sins ...............................................35-37
Viral Content Marketing ....................................39-40
#Fitness Pro Merchandising..............................42-43
Logo Color and Your Fitness Business............45-47
Business Timesavers..........................................49-50
Will Your Business Succeed?............................53-54
Sales Funnel Secrets ..........................................56-57
53

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Welcome to another exciting issue of PTM. In this issue, you
will meet Shannon Barbato. She’s a dynamic itness pro living in
the Boston area. You will soon learn why she’s enjoying a highly
successful career in the industry we all love. Be sure to connect
with her on Facebook.
The theme of this issue is all about HOW TO.
Why is this important? We’ve all been to events, or listened
to speeches, which “motivate” us, but leave us pumped full
of sunshine and little direction. I don’t think you are lacking
motivation. I think very few people lack motivation. It is my belief
that we need speciic skills (strategies, tactics, processes, tools,
resources, guides and step-by-step instructions) to get what we
want.
Just think about it. Watch an hour-long motivational speech.
What speciic skill did you learn to get more clients? Watch a
10-minute tutorial video on how to make effective Facebook
video ads. How many more clients do you think you’ll get now?
There is nothing wrong with motivation. We do it for our clients
all the time. Yet, if all you did is “motivate” them, but never
showed them EXACTLY how to lift, breath, eat and recover, they
wouldn’t make much progress. Do you see the pattern here?
Focus on your results by learning speciic skills, which teach you
how to do very speciic tasks such as increase sales conversions,
capture more emails, get more referrals, increase social media
engagement, reduce operational costs, reduce taxes, etc.
As you read through each of the articles in this issue of PTM,
take action immediately to implement what you’ve learned.
Remember, in some cases, you may need to stop doing
something before adding something new. Embrace change.
Realize you may not have all the answered before you begin.
That’s just ine. I don’t know any highly successful entrepreneur
who has all the answers before he or she launches or enhances
their business. That’s jus the way it works.
If something isn’t working in your itness career, take
responsibility. Learn what you must do to make it work faster,
smoother, more eficiently and more proitably all while you have
more fun and help more people.
Sincerely,
John Spencr Ellis
Dr. John Spencer Ellis “JSE”
Twitter: @jsesuccesscoach
Website: johnspencerellis.com
Instagram: @johnspencerellis
Publisher’s Page

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7 Signs You Should Be
a Personal Trainer
clients from injury. You also realize that developing
strong technique is actually the fastest way to get
results and meet goals.
3. You know when to push (and when not to)
Since you treat each client as an individual, you
know when they need to be pushed and when
they need a break.
You realize that bulldozing your client with
shouts of “KEEP GOING!” when they’re about
to pass out is counterproductive, just as letting
them off the hook when they can keep going is
counterproductive.
Being sensitive to each client’s personal breaking
point is another sign of a great personal trainer.
W
hether you’ve been a personal
trainer for decades or are just now
thinking about getting in the game,
there are certain qualities you need
to succeed in this business.
Athletic ability, perfect form, and knowledge
of the human body are great, but they’re not
enough to guarantee a proitable career as a
personal trainer. The key word in your job title is
“personal.” By providing individualized attention
to each and every client, catering to a diverse set
of needs, and inding the right balance between
professionalism and personalized attention, you’ll
be able to grow a loyal tribe of followers both in
and out of the gym.
Here are 7 signs you were born to be a
personal trainer:
1. You treat every client as an individual
While you may have developed methods and
techniques that get results for most of your clients,
you still treat each interaction on an individual
basis. Great personal trainers bring fresh energy
and presence to each session, taking care to listen
to their client’s concerns and not lump them into a
category with any other client.
2. You’re a stickler for technique
What would you rather see – 20 reps completed
with shoddy technique, or 10 reps completed
with perfect technique? If you’re a great personal
trainer, you’ll choose the latter because you value
the importance of technique to protect your
Are you meant to be a personal trainer? Discover the 7 qualities every great
trainer needs to succeed in the itness business.

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4. You know how to balance professionalism with a personal touch
Many times, part of getting physically it is getting mentally and emotionally it as well. The
conversations you have with your client during your training sessions can have a profoundly positive
impact on their lives outside the gym.
As personal trainers, we often serve as conidantes, counselors, and advice-givers for our clients.
The challenge of a great trainer is maintaining a professional relationship while giving the client the
personal experience they want. Just take care to maintain a level of professionalism in your actions,
even while discussing personal struggles with your client. Great trainers do this by focusing on the
client’s problems and revealing little about themselves and their personal lives.
6. You’re lexible (literally!)
Great personal trainers aren’t just lexible when
it’s time to stretch; they maintain that lexibly in
their client relationships.
Personal training is an area that brings up a lot
of emotional baggage, especially for clients who
are looking to lose weight or overcome a disease.
Many times this baggage manifests as missed ap-
pointments or a hesitancy to commit to the training
process.
If you’re meant to be a personal trainer, you’ll be
able to ind a balance between lexibility and irm-
ness, sensing when clients are self-sabotaging and
when they need a friendly pep talk.
You’ll also understand that the path to itness is not
always a straight line, and ind cost-effective ways
to give your clients the beneit of the doubt when
they stumble.
5. You go the distance
The best personal trainers in the world
build their businesses on longevity. This
means working with clients long-term to im-
pact overall health throughout their lifetime.
A major part of longevity in personal train-
ing has to do with evaluation and innovation.
By continually evaluating your client’s prog-
ress, you’ll develop new exercises, challenges,
and goals that will keep them striving for the
next level. You can then serve as an innovator,
inding new ways to work together and im-
prove performance over time.

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7. You’re knowledgeable
The best trainers are not just knowl-
edgeable about health, itness, diet, well-
ness trends, and physiology; they are
continually learning about the latest sci-
entiic developments in these areas.
Great trainers are also well-versed in a va-
riety of physical and medical challenges
that may impact their clients. They’re fa-
miliar with ways to modify exercises to
account for these challenges, and can
suggest alternative methods for reaching
itness goals.
To be an outstanding personal trainer,
you have to be a good listener. Instead
of developing a personal training style
or technique and using it with all of your
clients, it’s better to ind out what your cli-
ents want and need, and adapt your style
and training methods to suit those needs.
When you listen, remain lexible, stay
knowledgeable, and balance the profes-
sional with the personal, you’re sure to
create a loyal tribe of fanatic clients who’ll
be training with you for life.

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Finding Your
Purpose As a
Personal Trainer
Find your purpose in business and in life
and learn how to think outside the gym.

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happy client at a time.
Others may feel called to preach their message of
health and healing on a national or global scale.
Thanks to the Internet, you’re not limited to only
helping those in your community if you feel called to
cast a bigger net.
-Find your purpose by expanding your reach to
prospective clients in other states, countries, and
hemispheres.
-Consider ways in which your training knowledge
and exercise expertise could beneit underprivileged
populations in your hometown and around the world.
-Pursue avenues outside of the gym, including
speaking opportunities, book deals, and joint
business ventures with other personal trainers.
Just as there’s more to the training relationship
than meets the eye, there are more opportunities
available to personal trainers than working one-on-
one in the gym every day.
Track long-term success
In order to pinpoint your purpose in the gym and
in life, look for trends in your successes.
When you take on a new client, teach a group
class, or speak at the local college, how does it make
you feel? What works and what doesn’t? Do you feel
inspired to do it again?
For instance, let’s say that you tend to work one-
on-one with clients at your gym. However, every
once in awhile your co-worker asks you to ill in
teaching her group class. Whenever you do, you get
approached afterwards by people asking when they
can take class with you again. Come to think of it, you
have fond memories of teaching classes during your
grad school years and being “group leader” as a kid
during grade school classes…
Write down all of these memories and look
for patterns in the data. You’ll quickly see that the
universe is calling you to do what you’re meant to
do – teach group classes! (or take on more speaking
gigs, or….). Once you set aside private clients
and move towards a group setting, following life’s
personalized plan for you, even more opportunities
will present themselves.
Finding your purpose as a personal trainer is all
about listening to the subtle signs of the universe,
which gently guide you down the path you’re meant
to take. By appreciating what you already have,
allowing yourself to think big, and analyzing your
past successes, you’ll be able to ind your purpose in
life and in the gym. From there, you can make sure
that every area of your life and business is moving
you towards your goals and helping you express your
purpose in ways that beneit you, your business, and
the world.
W
hat irst inspired you to become a per-
sonal trainer? If you’re like a lot of train-
ers, you loved the idea of working for
yourself, pursuing your itness passion,
making good money, and helping clients reach their
itness goals. As you grow and gain experience as a
personal trainer, you may start thinking about the big-
ger picture.
If you’ve ever wondered…
Am I meant to be a personal trainer?
How can I take my business to the next level?
Is this the best way I can fulill my personal
potential?
How can I make a bigger impact in my community
and the world?
…you’re not alone.
Questions like these are a sign of maturity and
growth, and are a natural evolutionary step along the
path of every personal trainer. Once you’ve begun
your entrepreneurial journey, it’s time to reach further,
striving to ind your purpose as both a personal
trainer and a human being.
Here’s how to make sure you’re on the right path
and ind your purpose as a personal trainer, an
entrepreneur, and a force of positive change in the
world:
Appreciate your clients
Gratitude and appreciation go a long way when it
comes to inding your purpose as a personal trainer.
By acknowledging and appreciating what you
have right now, you can manifest more and more
positive growth in your life and business. When you
appreciate your individual clients and relationships,
you build a strong foundation of gratitude that will
bring bigger and better opportunities into your life.
You also acknowledge the power of the trainer/
client relationship, celebrating the importance of
purpose on a micro-level.
While working with Sue or Phil might not seem
like a big deal when compared with your goal of
speaking in front of thousands of people, I bet Sue
and Phil beg to differ.
When we work with individual clients, we touch
their lives by giving them the gift of health. We
empower them to reach their goals and give them
the tools they need to live healthier, happier lives. In
this way, one-on-one training is an expression of your
life’s purpose, one client at a time.
Think big
While it’s crucial to give your all to each individual
client in order to ind your purpose, that doesn’t
mean you should think small. Some personal
trainers may feel called to contribute to their local
communities, building up health and wellness one

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How to Monetize
Your SkillsLearn how to monetize skills you already have and
create a scalable personal training business that’s
proitable and personally rewarding.
1. Set clear goals
First thing’s irst: before diving in to a
monetization model that may or may not be a
good it for you, it’s important to decide what you
want your business to be.
Whether you’re new to personal training or
a seasoned pro, goal-setting is the #1 way to
manifest your chosen reality.
-What does your ideal personal training day look
like?
-How many clients do you want to work with each
day/week?
-Do you prefer one-on-one training or a group
environment?
-Do you like working online or prefer to be in the
gym?
Decide your ideal scenario without worrying
about how you’re going to make it happen. Get
speciic and write down your goals, including
exactly how much money you want your business
to generate each month.
2. Identify the skills you’ll need to reach your
goals
Let’s say one of your goals is to work with
celebrity clients. When thinking of how to
reach that goal, consider your current skill set,
experience, and connections.
Do you know any celebrities? What about friends-
of-friends?
Do you have the investigatory skills needed to ind
out who’s currently training your ideal clients?
What other skills might you need to make
connections with high-end clients and win their
business?
Even if you know zero celebrities and have no
clue how to meet them,learning how to monetize
T
herearemanydifferenttypesof“successful”
personal trainers. For some trainers, a
packed schedule illed with private, one-
on-one sessions is the measure of success.
For others, steadily increasing proits mark
success. Others still seek high caliber celebrity
clients and measure their success based on the
notoriety of those clients.
Whatever your criteria, it’s possible to create a
successful, fulilling, proitable personal training
business that is as rewarding as it is revenue-
generating. You simply need to learn how to
monetize the skills you already have.
Monetizing your business means more than
completing transactions with your clients. It
means creating a scalable business model that
incorporates your personal strengths as a trainer
and business person. Monetizing means looking
to the future, creating a clear vision, and setting
goals to meet your own deinition of success.
If you want to learn how to monetize your skills
and talents to create a lourishing PT business,
simply follows these steps:

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5. Build a strong team
Successful personal training businesses aren’t
built alone. As you grow and take on more clients,
you’ll soon realize you have to outsource certain
tasks because there aren’t enough hours in the
day to do everything yourself!
This is especially true when it comes to
monetizingyourbusinessandreachingyourgoals.
Once you have identiied the marketable skills
that you have and that you need (taking care to
account for strengths and weaknesses), reach out
to freelancers, contractors, or other itness pros
to form partnerships.
-If you’re great working with clients one-one-
one but have a terrible time remembering your
schedule, a Virtual Assistant can help keep you
organized.
-If you want to expand your local clientele
into a worldwide brand, a business coach with
international experience could be helpful.
-If you want to limit the time you’re in the gym
and focus more on speaking engagements, you
can outsource certain clients to other personal
trainers, pay them less than what you charge the
client, and make passive income while you pursue
work as a speaker.
Learning how to monetize your personal
training business is not just about acquiring new
training techniques, getting more certiications,
or inding new clients.
Instead, it’s about getting strategic with your
long-term business goals and creating a plan to
meet those goals, all while accounting for your
ideal vision of the future.
When you set clear goals, identify marketable
skills, get honest about your weaknesses, create
a scalable business model, and build a strong
team, you can not only monetize your passion for
personal training; you can create a business and
a lifestyle that exceeds your personal deinition of
success.
your business is all about gaining clarity. In this
step, simply brainstorm skills that would come in
handy when pursuing your goals, i.e. great social
skills that help you network at parties.
Once you know what skills you have, you can
clearly see which skills you’ll need to acquire in
order to achieve the goals you set in step 1.
3. Get honest about personal strengths and
weaknesses
When thinking of how to monetize your skills,
don’t just focus on the things you’re good at such
as organization, recruiting, sales, or networking.
Look at both sides of the coin and identify your
weaknesses as well.
Whatifyourgoalistoworkwithcelebrityclients,
butinassessingyourskillsyourealizeyou’reterribly
shy? What if you can’t imagine calling up a celeb’s
agent or manager and offering your services?
Don’t worry! Your weakness is someone else’s
strength. When you identify your weaknesses,
you identify areas of your business that need to
be handled by other people. You can then form
partnerships and outsource tasks in the areas
you’re weakest.
4. Create a scalable business model
Thebestwaytomonetizeskillsyoualreadyhave
is by creating a business model that is scalable.
This means that your business plan accounts for
future growth, and doesn’t limit you to trading
time for dollars.
If your goal is to work with celebrities but your
scheduleispackedwithnon-celebclients,howcan
you ever break free and begin pursuing your real
dream? Make sure your business plan includes a
detailed plan for expansion.
Here’s how this could work using the celeb
client goal as an example:
Phase 1: Secure moderate-priced private clients.
Build reputation. Gain referrals. Offer invaluable
service.
Phase 2: Raise prices. Take on fewer clients at the
higher per-hour rate. Make more money in less
time.
Phase 3: Network with higher-priced clients
to meet more afluent prospective clients.
Seek speciic celebratory connections. Use
additional free time to build online brand and
build relationships with celebrity teams (agents,
publicists, mangers, etc).
When you learn how to monetize the skills you
haverightnow,it’salsoimportanttothinkaboutthe
future. Explore different ways you can scale your
business so it can grow without you continuing to
trade time for dollars. Eventually, you’ll want to
build a personal training business that runs itself
while you’re on vacation. But in order to build a
business like that, you have to…

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7 DIY Design Tips
for Personal Trainers
You don’t need a pro designer to get great-looking graphics for your
personal training business. Just use these 7 DIY design tips instead!
You can also choose complementary colors
that are next door neighbors on the color wheel,
i.e. red and pink, blue and purple, or orange and
yellow. These combinations work to highlight
important text and images.
2. Embrace White Space
You don’t have to ill up every area of your web
page or newsletter with a bunch of stuff. In fact,
leaving a lot of white space around text makes
the words easier to read, and leaving a lot of
white space around images makes them stand
out more.
Think about iconic brands like Apple or
A
s a personal trainer with a growing web
presence, not a day goes by when you
don’t need something designed.
FromyourwebsitetoyourFacebookpage,
from postcards to brochures, marketing your
PT business requires the help of a professional
designer who understands your brand and style.
Since you’re not a designer yourself and you want
your marketing materials to look great, your only
option is to shell out thousands per month to a
graphic artist who knows what they’re doing…
Right?
Wrong! While it’s a good idea to invest in a
website that looks professional and on-brand,
you can cut down on design costs by creating a
lot of materials yourself – even if you don’t have
an artistic bone in your body.
The next time you need to create a killer
infographic or a slick-looking email campaign,
put down the phone and pick up these 7 DIY tips
for non-designers:
1. Use a Color Wheel
Head on over to Googles Image and do a
search for a “color wheel.” What comes up is the
answer to your most basic design questions.
When thinking about which colors to use for
your PT logo, website, and marketing materials,
it’s a great idea to choose contrasting or
complementary colors from the color wheel.
Contrasting colors are opposite each other on
the color wheel, i.e. blue and orange, red and
green,orpurple andyellow. If thosecombinations
sound like the colors of your favorite sports team,
that’s no coincidence – contrasting colors appeal
to our eyes because they help us see the shapes
of images more easily.

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element stand out above the rest.
7. Use Canva
Canva is an amazing, user-friendly design
application that’s free and easy to use. You
can create social media headers and artwork,
postcards, signs, web graphics, and more. You
can upload your own images and logos and use
Canva’s templates to customize them. You can
also choose from thousands of paid graphic
elements that can also be customized to it your
brand.
Design is a crucial part of any personal
trainer’s online presence. It’s possible to create
professional-lookingmarketingmaterialswithout
spending a fortune on a professional designer.
Just remember to…
1. Use a color wheel
2. Embrace white space
3. Choose two fonts
4. Use email templates
5. Choose two colors
6. Prioritize points of focus
7. Use Canva
Volkswagen. White space in design looks clean,
modern, professional, and cutting-edge.
3. Choose two different fonts
Theonlythingthatlooksmoreamateurishthan
using one font all the time is using too many fonts
at the same time.
Unless you have aspirations of transitioning
from a personal trainer to a web designer, stick
to two fonts and call it a day.
It’s a good rule of thumb to use one font for
headlines, and another font for body text. This
breaks up the copy, makes headlines pop, and
makes you look like you hired a pro!
4. Use Email templates
You don’t need a designer to create slick-
looking HTML email campaigns. Once you have
chosen the colors and fonts that best represent
your brand, simply plug them in to an email
campaign template within your email program.
By customizing the template with your brand,
you’ll stand out to your audience and become
memorable in their minds. By using a template
instead of hiring a designer or sending a plain
text email, you’ll save money and come across as
more professional.
5. Choose two colors at a time
Remember Tip #1, where you learned how to
choose contrasting and complementary colors
on the color wheel?
Well, that doesn’t mean you should choose a
bunch of different colors and use them all on your
website – even if they’re complementary!
Besides black and white, it’s a good idea to
choose two colors at a time when designing a
web page, pamphlet, one sheet, or postcard.
Using more than that will make your design look
cluttered, disorganized, and something akin to a
kindergarten art project.
6. Prioritize points of focus
Where do you want people to look when they
land on your website?
If they only saw one section of your newsletter or
email, which section would it be?
When thinking of the answers to these
questions, think about your last training session.
What was the most important exercise you led the
client through? The next most important? Maybe
they could skip the jumping jacks as long as they
got their core work in, or perhaps you’re really
trying to push upper body strength this week.
Whatever you decide, it’s important to prioritize
elements of design just as you prioritize different
exercises and muscle groups.
Decide where you want people to look, i.e.
your logo or a Call to Action button. Then, use
colors,fonts,and white space to make that design

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How to Embrace Change and
Rebrand Your Business
C
hange is a powerful force that impacts every personal trainer throughout his or her career.
The decision to rebrand your business or rebrand yourself happens when the forces of
change lead you toward better clients, increased revenue, and smarter ways of working.
In order to take advantage of these opportunities, it’s crucial that your brand accurately
relects your training experience and your business goals. Rebranding is also important for per-
sonal trainers who are struggling to gain or maintain business, ill their client rosters, or increase
their presence online. In many cases, tweaking your branding can open the loodgates to a wider
target market you didn’t know existed.
What is rebranding?
When you rebrand your business and yourself, you decide which elements of your current brand
need to be replaced with more accurate relections of who you are and what you want. These can
include your…
-logo
-website copy
-marketing materials
Find out
how to rebrand
your personal training
business with the
7 Commandments
of Personal
Branding.

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and verbal elements that represent who you are
as a trainer.
The decision to rebrand is a commitment that
should extend to every area of your business as
you question what’s working,what’s not,and how
each element impacts your business goals.
Commandment #3: Thou shalt tell a story
Subway sure knew how to rebrand when they
hired Jared.
Bysharinghisweightlossstory,theyconnected
with their target market and transformed Subway
into a “healthy” fast food alternative.
Does your brand have a story?
Perhaps you became a personal trainer after
overcoming an injury or losing a huge amount of
weight.
Maybe you grew up watching your father train
boxers or coach little league.
Whatever your story, telling your personal tale
is a powerful way to rebrand your business and
set yourself apart from the competition.
Commandment #4: Thou shalt not be a
chameleon
Chameleons are constantly changing their
colors to blend into whatever background they
happen to be in front of. In other words, they lack
integrity, or the ability to be yourself no matter
where you are.
Don’t be a chameleon with your branding!
When you rebrand, make a plan to incorporate
all of the new elements you select – from new
logos to new pictures of yourself – across your
various marketing channels. This means your G+
followers can instantly ind and recognize you on
Facebook, and that your training clients get the
same experience of you in person as they do in
your Youtube videos.
Commandment #5: Thou shalt keep what’s
working
If it ain’t broke, don’t ix it!
If you’re certain you need a fresh start by
rebranding, that doesn’t mean you have to toss
out everything you’ve created up until now. You
might have a great website design that just needs
revamped copy, or great email marketing but a
crappy logo.
Analyze your business both online and ofline
to see what prospective clients respond to most.
Gather data from Google Analytics or survey
your current clients to see what they think of your
brand.
Ifyou’reitchingforachangebutyourmarketing
materials are working great, you can ind other
creative ways to rebrand, like offering new
services, pursuing PR opportunities, or starting a
speaking career.
-online content
-everything from the colors on your website to
the colors of your workout clothes.
Asapersonaltrainer,yourpersonalbrandexists
both online and ofline as a seamless expression
of who you are, what you stand for, and what kind
of clients you want to work with.
So how to do you know when it’s time to
rebrand? And how to rebrand in the irst place?
Simplyfollow these7rebranding commandments
totransformastagnantpersonaltrainingbusiness
into a thriving brand.
Commandment #1: Thou shalt embrace change
There are three good reasons to rebrand your
personal training business:
1. You have gained new skills, experience, or
certiications that qualify you to work with a
different client demographic.
2. You want to pursue more proitable training
opportunities beyond one-on-one coaching,
such as speaking gigs, online courses, or group
classes.
3. You’re struggling to make ends meet, have a
hard time inding new clients, or can’t keep the
clients you have.
Whatever the impetus to change your brand,
embrace it. Then get ready to do the prep work
neededtomakeyourbrand-newbrandasuccess.
Commandment #2: Thou shalt dig deep
Back in 2009, Radio Shack attempted to
rebrand their company in an effort to boost
dwindling sales. They changed their name to
“The Shack,” slapped a new logo across their
storefronts, and hoped for the best. 6 years later
they’ve closed 1700+ stores this year alone, with
a full-on shutdown looming in the near future.
If you’re wondering how to rebrand, don’t
follow in Radio Shack’s footsteps! Branding isn’t
just skin-deep.It’s not just about your logo or your
name. Instead, it’s about carefully selecting visual

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working
Commandment #6: Thou shalt be relevant
Commandment #7: Thou shalt brand for your
audience
Commandment #6: Thou shalt be relevant
Is your personal brand relevant in today’s
market?
When your clients ask questions about circuit
training,gluten-freediets,probioticsandcoconut
water do you have the answers they’re looking
for?
When considering how to rebrand, take a look
at industry trends as well as the needs of your
current clients.
You might consider…
-A science-based rebrand that focuses on the
latest research in the areas of itness, health,
medicine, and diet.
A rebrand that incorporates elements of natural
-health, vegan/vegetarianism, mind/body work,
and yoga.
-A rebrand that positions you as a thought leader
in the ield of personal training, where you’re
more focused on building your personal brand
online than working with individual clients.
Whatever you choose, your new personal
brand should be current and relevant in today’s
market.
Commandment #7: Thou shalt brand for your
audience
The choices you make about how to rebrand
your business shouldn’t be arbitrary, i.e. “I like
purple better than red,so let’s change the logo to
purple.” Instead, every rebranding decision you
make should have a target audience in mind.
Whether you will be targeting the same market
with a new brand, or targeting a new market
altogether, the elements of your brand should
help you connect with you audience of choice.
As you decide on new colors, fonts, slogans, and
images, step into the shoes of your ideal client.
What would appeal to them most?
What choices are most likely to make them take
action?
What actions do you want them to take?
The answers to these questions will help you
decide which elements of your brand need to
change,andwhatspeciicpurposethosechanges
will serve.
Learning how to rebrand your personal
training business is easy when you keep your
target market in mind. Whether your goal is to
get more clients, transition to group coaching, or
build a bigger online presence, don’t forget the
7 commandments of rebranding:
Commandment #1: Thou shalt embrace change
Commandment #2: Thou shalt dig deep
Commandment #3: Thou shalt tell a story
Commandment#4:Thoushaltnotbeachameleon
Commandment #5: Thou shalt keep what’s

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How to Use Client
Testimonials to Drive
More Business
Learn how to get more client testimonials to
grow your personal training business.
In the same way that clients base buying
decisions on the opinions of their friends,
clients are much more likely to trust trainers with
testimonialsthanthosewithout.Eventhoughthey
may not know the person giving the testimonial,
prospective clients resonant with people who
look and think like them.Testimonials from clients
who are the same age and demographic will
resonate almost as strongly as if the trainer had
been recommended by a personal friend.
Armed with this information, it’s your job to
secure as many client testimonials as possible,
and to use those testimonials strategically in your
marketing.
Here’s how to score more testimonials and
what to do with them once you have them:
Ask for client feedback
Get into the habit of always asking for client
feedback. This is a great idea regardless of your
desire to get more testimonials. Not only can you
use what you learn to make your personal training
businessbetter;youwill“warmup”yourclientsfor
when the time comes to ask for a written, verbal,
or video testimonial.
You can ask for feedback one-on-one after a
training session, in your email newsletter, on your
social media platforms, or during a phone call.
-Record all of the feedback you get and organize
it in a spreadsheet or using an app like Evernote
-Look for common themes in the feedback
-Think about what you most want to be known
for as a personal trainer
-Separate feedback that would make a great
testimonial based on your personal brand
-Reach out to the client and ask permission to use
the feedback as a testimonial on your website
T
hink about the last time you ate at a new
restaurant. Chances are good that you
chose the restaurant based on customer
testimonials, even if the customer in
question was a close friend or family member.
Personal referrals and recommendations are
still the #1 way most of us make decisions when
it comes to where to eat, what to buy, and who to
hire as our personal trainer. That’s why websites
like Yelp, Angie’s List, and AirBnB are so popular!
Because of this, personal trainers need to amass
as many quality client testimonials as possible in
order to provide the “social proof” prospective
clients are looking for before hiring you.
IntheInformationAge,yourclientshaveaccess
tovirtuallyunlimitedinformationabouteverything
from restaurants and contractors to life coaches
and personal trainers. Access to this information
was empowering at irst, but has quickly become
overwhelming as people drown in information
overload.
The antidote to info-overload is personal
referrals and client testimonials. It’s much easier
to ask a friend who they train with than to sift
through thousands of personal trainer websites
looking for a good match.

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Incorporate testimonials into your marketing
Client testimonials are a must-have on the
homepage of your website. They’re also super-
effective when incorporated into landing pages,
emails campaigns, and social media.
Don’t feel conined to written testimonials,
either. If you can get clients to provide you with a
verbaltestimonialorvideotestimonial,yoursocial
proof will be that much more effective.
-Embed audio and video testimonials into your
website and emails, taking care to include a
written version of the testimonial as well.
-Ask clients to review you on Yelp or Google,
then incorporate those reviews into your website
and other materials. In this way, you’ll build up a
presence on popular review sites while scoring
valuable testimonials that can be used anywhere.
-Ask your clients to share their testimonials with
friends, family, and social contacts.
-Cross-promote testimonials by incorporating
the reviews on your website into your social
campaigns and other marketing materials. Once
youhavepermissiontouseatestimonial,don’tbe
afraid to use it on as many platforms as possible!
The personal training relationship is an
intimate one not entered into lightly. Clients need
reassurance that you will help them meet their
goals, and that your personality will be a good it
for theirs.
Client testimonials serve as the personal
referral people need to take the plunge and give
you a try. Make it easy for prospects to say “yes”
to a session with you by strategically using client
testimonials throughout your marketing.
Personalize each testimonial
Whileyoumaygetsomegreattestimonialsfrom
client feedback,you’ll also want to personalize the
process by asking speciic clients for testimonials.
You can do this in person while training together
or after taking your client to lunch. You can also
make a point to call them on the phone, send a
personalized email, or even mail a card.
When the client sees a request that’s just for
them, they’ll feel appreciated and valued, and
be much more likely to give you a positive client
testimonial.
For these “VIP” clients, ask if you can include
their photograph, age, name, and contact info
along with their testimonial. Giving prospective
clients a way to contact your current clients is a
fantastic way to streamline the sales process and
encourage them to hire you as their trainer.
Incentivize the testimonial
Tofutureencourageclienttestimonials,provide
an incentive to those willing to help you out.
-If your client is also a business owner or has a
cause to promote, you can offer to include a link
to their website on your site.
-Consider giving a free training session for every
testimonial you receive.
-Hold a contest on Facebook and give away a
prize for the best video testimonial.
You shouldn’t have to bribe your clients into
giving you great testimonials. However, if you’re
having a dificult time getting clients to follow
through, an incentive can be a great solution to
get the ball rolling!

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Overcoming Failure
in 5 Easy Steps
Overcoming failure is crucial to your success as a personal trainer. Here are
5 ways to bounce back from a client relationship that’s just not working.
She worked hard when she was in the gym – the
problem was that most of the time she wasn’t.
As the day drew nearer, it became clear that
Vickiwasnotgoingtoreachhergoalandwouldn’t
be able to wear her original wedding dress. Vicki
felt I had failed her as a trainer, and I was forced
to take a good, hard look at the situation to see if
she was right.
2. Take responsibility
One of the most challenging things about
overcoming failure is taking responsibility for
your role in that failure.
In the situation with Vicki, it would have been
easy to blame the failure on her. After all, she was
theonewhokeptcancellingourtrainingsessions.
But a very important part of the trainer/client
relationship is accountability.While I can’t control
O
ne of the most rewarding parts of being
a personal trainer is taking a glance
around your gym or studio and seeing
success all around you.
There’s the newlywed couple you helped get it
for their wedding.
There’s the school teacher who now has energy
to face 30+ ifth graders every morning.
There’s the client who avoided stomach surgery
thanks to you.
But what about that small percentage of clients
who simply don’t respond to your training
techniques?
What happens when you try everything you can
to help a client, but fail?
Not every training relationship can be a success,
so it’s important to admit failure as soon as it
becomes apparent. Keep in mind that if you’re
working with a client and not reaching your goals,
it’s not just bad for the client – it’s bad for your
conidence and reputation as a trainer.
Overcoming failure is an important part of
your growth as a trainer. Understanding what
contributes to a failed trainer/client relationship
will boost your conidence, improve your training
methods, and help you succeed next time.
Here are 5 steps to take when you’ve tried
everything but can no longer help your client.
1. Be honest about the situation
I used to work with a client named Vicki. When
we began training,Vicki and I set a goal for her to
it into her wedding dress again by the time she
and her husband renewed their vows. We had six
months before the wedding and I was conident
that we could reach our goal.
But Vicki was inconsistent, often cancelling our
training sessions at the last minute and running
up a hefty bill for all those missed appointments.

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-Never make the client feel you’re “dumping”
them.Instead,show them why another trainer will
helpthemreachtheirgoalsfasterthancontinuing
to work with you.
5. Plan for the future
The most important part of overcoming failure
is assessing what didn’t work and making a
strategic plan for the future. If you learn from a
failure and can use it to become a better trainer,
that failure is instantly transformed into a success.
While working with Vicki, I learned the
importance of open communication with the
client. I also learned how to recognize bad
habits and stop them before they start. Finally, I
realized that I wasn’t a helpless bystander in the
relationship, and that I could affect change by
simplycommunicatingmyconcernsandlistening
to my client’s feedback.
When a client relationship is tanking or you
feel you’ve failed to fulill your promise to a client,
there is hope! By overcoming failure, you will
learn how to become a better trainer and avoid
the same situation with future clients.
Remember to..
1. Be honest about the situation with your client
and yourself.
2. Take responsibility for your part in the failure –
remember that the training relationship is a two-
way street and that clients can’t fail entirely on
their own!
3. Talk to your client about what’s not working
and why. Listen to their answers and brainstorm
waysyoucanbothcontributetoamoresuccessful
partnership.
4. Make a referral to another trainer if you have
exhausted all other options.
5. Plan for the future so you can create a more
positive outcome the next time you’re faced with
the same type of client.
what my clients eat, what they do in their spare
time,or whether or not they attend our scheduled
sessions, I can control how I respond to their
behaviors outside the gym.
I could have done more for Vicki in terms of
accountability as soon as I noticed a pattern in
her behavior.
This means:
-having a conversation with her about why she
was missing her sessions
-calling her bluff if I heard limsy excuses
-looking for ways that I could help her fulill her
commitment to me each week
Instead of blaming the client and throwing up
your hands in frustration, look for ways that you
canactivelyinluencetherelationshipinapositive
way.
This could mean:
-making a quick phone call on training days to
increase accountability
-publicly sharing training session stats on social
media
-being frank with the client about why they’re
sabotaging their itness goals (and looking for
ways you can help change this behavior)
3. Talk to your client
Communicationiscrucialtoovercomingfailure.
If I had had a frank, honest discussion with Vicki
earlier in our relationship, I would have learned
about the various problems she was having at
home with her son. These personal challenges
were directly impacting our work together,
but I had no idea they existed. Had I known, I
would have been able to suggest solutions that
accountedforthesechallenges,suchaschanging
our training times, meeting different days of the
week, or referring Vicki to a child psychologist
friend of mine.
Talking to your client is crucial not only to their
successinthegym,buttoyoursuccessasatrainer.
Only by gaining a three-dimensional picture of
your client can you address the out-of-gym issues
that directly impact their work in the gym.
4. Make a referral
A big part of overcoming failure is admitting
defeat. You can’t begin to improve your game
if you can’t admit you failed, so sometimes you
have to swallow your pride and chalk it up to a
learning experience.
If, after getting honest about the situation,
taking responsibility for your part in it,and openly
communicatingwithyourclientabouttheirneeds,
you still can’t affect change,it may be time to refer
your client to another trainer.
-Choose the referral carefully and speak with the
other trainer before making it.
-Ensure a good it and explain to your client why
this other trainer is a better match.

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Personal
trainer and itness
enthusiast Shannon Barbato
has all the characteristics of
a professional in her ield; she is
knowledgeable, motivational and
inspirational. However, clients that she
instructsinheritness-bootcampprogram
say Shannon has even more than that…
she’s unique,and has a one-of-a kind
personalitythattheylookforward
to seeing everyday.
From Passion
to Proit

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Raisedinasomewhatconservativefamily,where
risk taking was not exactly encouraged,Shannon,
even at an early age, was always attracted to the
“new and different”. “I was never afraid to try new
things, and could never sit still long enough for
you to tell me that I couldn’t. I’ve always had a
desire and tenacity to break the mold and go
after whatever I wanted - even when I had fear or
doubt” she says. “It’s the possibility that keeps
me going, not the guarantee”.
Shannon started her career as a hairstylist in
1992, and she would spend long days, making
people feel good about themselves. Her instinct
was always entrepreneurial and within ten years,
she was managing a client list of more than 400
people. Though she enjoyed all the wonderful
people and creativity involved, she knew that
A
s Owner/Program Director of Eastern
Massachusetts Adventure Boot Camp
since 2006, Shannon has that “special
ingredient” that some might call the “it-factor,”
and it’s one of the reasons she’s had tremendous
success in a career dedicated to making others
feel good about themselves. Perhaps you can
attribute her success to one of Shannon’s favorite
quotes, “when you believe the best in people,
you help bring out the best in them.”
Ask any of the hundreds of clients that have
gone through one of her daily boot camps or
boxing classes. Most will describe Shannon’s
skill and instruction as exceptional; saying she
provides a fun, life-and-body- changing program
that has transformed them. They look forward to
attending regular boot camp sessions and keep
coming back year after year,because of Shannon,
who embraces and deines her role as a positive
and personal inluence in her clients’ lives.
Shannon is a ive foot four, go-getting, bundle
of energy with a great sense of humor, but
admits being successful has not come without its
challenges throughout the years.
wasn’t where she was supposed to be in life.
Her journey to ind more meaning in work…
instinctively led her to itness.
For a long-time, Shannon was a prototypical
“cardiogirl.”Heritnessregimenconsistedmostly
of running on a treadmill,while listening to music.
She says, ” I’ve always had high energy, but
I was never educated on nutrition, and being
an Italian girl, I loved to eat. At the time, I was
not overweight, but my body wasn’t strong or
powerful.”
All of that changed in 2001, when she started
working out, and she realized with the help of a
personal trainer - getting healthy and it made
her feel alive. Her life began to change and so
did her body. People noticed and she loved how
happy it made her feel.
Within a short-time, Shannon was recruited
“It’s the possibility that
keeps me going, not
the guarantee”

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ind on the itness industry on the internet. She
talked with other itness-professionals, attended
seminars,networkingevents,eventuallyachieving
a solid amount of knowledge and expertise that
she now hopes to share with others.
Running a business is one area of self-
employment she enjoys, and recognizes that
althoughsheknowswhatittakestomarketherself
and her program, she says “ learning is a process
you’ll never outgrow,and you can never know too
much, since the world, industry, and technology
is always changing. “
Shannon attributes a big part of her eagerness
and intensity as teacher and trainer, to when she
earned her certiication as a Tae Bo™ itness
instructor training with seventh- degree black
belt and Karate champion Billy Blanks.
After successfully completing Billy Blank’s
intense training in 2007, she says it was one of
those life changing moments. “I learned how
strong I can be and what I really wanted to do.
I wanted to be a person, who is discipline and
focused. I had struggled with that in the past. I
learned that itness was a path to being mentally
and emotionally healthy, and that when you have
those elements in your life, your body responds,
“says Shannon. Moreover, she says “that’s the
greatest feeling ever, that’s what it all about it.”
Her goal as a teacher remains the same; to
gain a better understanding of who you are
within your heart and soul, while getting your
body in shape. Shannon also earned a black
belt in Tae Bo Kwon™, a self-defense discipline
program that requires a high level of focus and
determination. It‘s a philosophy she lives by and
it‘s the centerpiece of how she trains her clients
and her assistant coaches.
In 2009, Shannon established „Fight4 Fitness,“
to sign up for a group training certiication at
the facility where she worked. That‘s where she
found her passion for itness. Suddenly, a small
whisper of a voice telling her to move on to a new
career, became a loud roar. She knew itness and
working-out brought out the best in her. With it
came a desire to help others, and a newly gained
conidence.
Shannon spent the next four years expanding
her knowledge and building on her skills as a
trainer. She learned how to use her contagious
sense of humor to help people feel comfortable,
especiallyinthosesometimesawkwardmoments
or when they were showing lack of motivation.
But… Shannon had a yearning to create a
positive atmosphere that was welcoming, fun
and warm. A place you wanted to come back to
day after day. After all, “It’s not what we do once
in a while that shapes our lives, it’s what we do
consistently,” she says.
In 2006, Shannon met Dr. John Spencer
Ellis and started her oficial business, Eastern
Massachusetts Adventure Boot Camp LLC.
Shannon says inding Adventure Boot Camp
taughtherthebusinesssideoftheitnessindustry,
somethingsheknewlittleabout.“Iwastechnically
challenged when I irst started out,” she laughs.
Branding, websites and social media, was an
entirely new arena that was a crucial element to
her success. Shannon studied, researched, and
prepared herself. She self-educated by reading
books, magazines and everything she could
“It’s not what we do once in
a while that shapes our lives,
it’s what we do consistently,”

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itness world. She believes in giving back and in
thelastdecade,EMABChasbeencreatingevents
to raise money for local charities.One of the most
rewarding and “dear to her heart” took place in
the spring of 2015, a beneit workout she titled,
“Punch our Parkinson’s”, a charity-fundraiser for
the Michael J Fox Foundation. She organized it in
honor of her father, who was diagnosed with the
diseasein 2005. With more than100 participants,
it raised $6500 dollars for the foundation. It
was an extremely gratifying event for everyone
involved and one Shannon plans to do more of
in the future.
When not at work the energetic instructor is
found running or taking photographs at one of
the local state parks or walking and hiking with
her 65-pound Golden-Doodle, Maggie. She
enjoys spending time with close friends, eating
great food and listening to music.
“I am thankful for where I am today and I look
forward to where I am going in the future. I am
excited to continue my journey of growing and
learning; and embrace all the wonderful, witty,
and caring people that are a part of my life and
journey,” says Shannon.
So, if you ind yourself saying Shannon‘s
journey to becoming a happy, well-centered
itness professional is pretty awesome ...that‘s
probably because it is.
And just like her her client‘s say...she‘s unique
and one of a kind not only because of what she‘s
accomplished, but because of how she lives her
life and shares it with others.
a 900 sq. foot studio. It‘s a highly developed
program offering unique classes that caters to a
variety of skill levels in boxing and kickboxing.
Shannon‘sbusinesssavvyandgrowthrocketed
in 2012. That‘s when she celebrated her 39th
birthdaybytakingonauniquechallenge:39days
ofdoing39differentdaring,competitive,fun,risky,
andenlighteningeventsthatshedocumentedwith
video, pictures and blogs. Every day was literally
an adventure…from skydiving out of an airplane
over Newport, Rhode Island to learning the skill
of fencing, hang-gliding in Vermont, getting on
stage, and doing Improvisational comedy with a
group of professionals.
It‘s one of the highlights of her professional
career, and serves as an inspiration to her clients
or “boot campers,” as she affectionately calls
them. In taking on the 39-day challenge, she had
to conquer many of her fears. She continually
shares with her clients her philosophy to get out
and challenge yourself, because she says,” we all
deserve to accomplish everything we want and
we have the power and strength within us to do
that. “
Shannon’sclientsfollowedeachandeveryevent
duringher39daysandtheypostedcommentson
herFacebookpage sayingtheylookedforwardto
her next adventure. Social media posts brought
in new followers and accolades from other itness
professionals,whoadmiredhertenacity,creativity
and courage.
Shannon‘s generous spirit goes beyond the

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7 Deadly Social
Media
Strategy Sins
Are you committing these 7 deadly sins with your social media strategy?
Find out what personal trainers should NEVER do on social media.
I
f social media is all the rage, then why isn’t your social media strategy winning you
more personal training clients? If you’re spending hours on Facebook, Twitter, In-
stagram, and Pinterest, but aren’t seeing any measurable results in your business,
it’s probably because you’re guilty of at least one of these 7 Deadly Social Media
Sins. Here are the most common mistakes personal trainers make when promoting
their business via social media, and how to develop an effective social strategy that
wins you more clients and more revenue:
1. You Have No Strategy
A lot of personal trainers know they should be using social media, but have no
clue how to begin. So, they create a Facebook page and a Twitter feed and dive in
head irst, without any way to measure their results.
As a personal trainer, your time is money. The time you spend working on the
web-based aspects of your business is time away from getting paid to train. That
being the case, you want to make sure that every second you spend online is time
guaranteed to get results for your business.
Creating a social media strategy is crucial to your success because it’s the only
way to measure the results of your actions. If you post on Facebook, send a tweet, or
gain some followers on Instagram, are those things getting you closer to your busi-
ness goals? The only way to know is to write down your goals and develop a plan for
reaching them via social media.

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strong social presence on every social platform
out there. Find out where your tribe hangs out
and focus on building a strong presence on one
or two social sites, tops.
5. You’re Too Salesy
Many entrepreneurs and business owners
struggle with inding their voice on social media.
An important part of your strategy is engaging
your audience without constantly selling to them.
After all, do you go on Facebook to be sold to? I
doubt it! People use social media to connect with
friends, share funny and awe-inspiring content,
getnewsupdates,andbeentertained.Thatmeans
that your strategy has to ind ways to connect,
inspire, inform, and entertain your audience, irst
and foremost.
Once you have done that,it will be much easier
to sell your training services when people click-
through to your website.
When it comes to social, the only thing you
need to sell is the “click” – getting people to visit
your website and opt-in to your email list.
6. You Don’t Post/Tweet/Share Enough
How often do you post, tweet and share on
social media? If your answer is “every few days”
or “once a week”, frequency could be the biggest
downfall of your social media strategy.
While each platform is different in terms of
how often you should post, chances are you’re
not posting enough.Asingle tweet is seen by less
than 2% of your followers. That means sending
3 tweets per day is only enough to reach 6% of
your audience!
Facebook’s algorithm picks and chooses what
it thinks are your most valuable posts.That means
a big majority of your followers and fans might
not see your content at all.
Marketing psychologists now say it takes 12
impressions for people to remember a brand.
Tweet less than that each week and you’re sure
to get lost in the shufle!
2. You’re Tracking the Wrong Goals
Whensocialmediairstbecamepopular,many
business owners had a “show me the money”
attitude.They wondered why they were dumping
time and money into social media when they
weren’t seeing monetary results.
Social media marketing, like other forms of
content marketing, can be dificult to track in
terms of revenue goals.
For example, a client might follow you on
Twitterformonthsbeforeinallytakingadvantage
of a free training session offered on your website.
Without engaging on Twitter beforehand, the
clientwouldn’thavebeenreadytotakeadvantage
of your free offer. But all of that time you spent
courting that client doesn’t get accounted for, so
Twitter time appears to be “wasted” time even
though it actually helped you land the client.
Instead of trying to measure revenue that’s
generated by social media, which is virtually
impossibleunlessyou’reusingpaidads,measure
things like engagement, number of followers,
and speciic Calls to Action (read this blog post,
download this white paper, sign up for a free
training session, etc).
Whenyoutracktherightgoals,you’llgetaclear
picture of how social media is helping you meet
those goals. Remember, there’s a lot more that
goes into winning a client than a simplistic, cut-
and-dried sales process often used when selling
products. Since you’re offering a personalized
service, you need to track goals that takes into
account all of the subtleties and nuances needed
to court new personal training clients.
3. You’re Not Flexible
Social media changes constantly,which means
your social media strategy has to change with it.
Keep up to date on Facebook algorithm changes,
Twittertrends,andup-and-comingplatformsyour
clients might like.
While it’s important to have a strategy in
place, it’s just as important to continually tweak
that strategy based on the shifting tides of social
media.
4. You’re Using the Wrong Platform(s)
If your social media strategy is dead in the
water, it could be that you’re putting all of your
energy and effort into the wrong platform.
So how can you tell if you’re wasting money on
Facebookadswhenallof yourclientsarehanging
out on Pinterest? Simple – ask!
Send out a quick survey to your email list and ask
your training clients where they hang out online.
Just because Facebook is the most popular
social platform overall doesn’t mean it’s the most
popular with your clients.
Also, don’t feel like you have to develop a

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-They treat social media as a megaphone instead
of a two-way conversation
Social media is all about engagement. Use each
social platform as an opportunity to get to know
your future clients, answer their itness questions,
help them achieve their goals, and provide them
with as much value as you can.
When you create a social media strategy with
the client in mind, you’re much more likely to se-
cure their training business.
Social media isn’t an overnight revenue-booster,
but it is part of a proven, long-term marketing strat-
egy that expands your reach, endears you to pro-
spective clients, and establishes your unique voice
in a sea of competition.
As a general rule of thumb, best practices
tell us to tweet at least 5 times per day and
post daily on Facebook, Instagram, and
LinkedIn. Be sure to use an automation tool
like Hootsuite or SocialOomph to help you
keep up with all those posts!
7. You’re Selish
One of the biggest mistakes personal
trainers tend to make in their social media
strategy is being selish.
-They “post and run” in Facebook groups,
never liking or commenting on other
people’s content
-They share content THEY like instead of
content their CLIENTS might like

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Score More Training Clients
with Viral Content Marketing
Personal trainers, get access to 12 proven ways you can
create viral content and get noticed online.
infographics–that’sguaranteed
to get you noticed?
Justusethese12proventipsfor
creating red-hot viral content –
the kind that gets at least 6.7
million views.
Tip #1: Stay Positive
Instudyafterstudyconducted
by Social Media Examiner,
The Hufington Post, and Web
MarketingToday,content with a
positive spin went viral far more
often than negatively perceived
content.
In marketing, we often
talk about appealing to our
audiences’ “paint points,” or
problem areas of pain they
desperately need to address.
While pointing out paint points,
suchasthedesiretoloseweight
orovercomedisease,iseffective
on a website or landing page,
it can read super negative on
social media.
Personal trainers should
share uplifting, motivational,
inspiring content that includes
success stories, happy client
testimonials, and other positive
ideas.
Tip #2: Appeal to the Right
Emotions
Positive emotional content
goes viral more than cerebral
content. The key is appealing
to the right type of emotions
in order to make the biggest
impact.
In a poll conducted by Web
Marketing Today, the emotion
of awe caused viewers to share
content more than any other
emotion. Close seconds were
laughter, amusement, and joy,
in that order.
What ills your clients with
awe, makes them laugh, and
makes them feel joyful? Infuse
your content with the answers
to those questions and it’s sure
to go viral.
Tip #3: Always Use Images
Pictures convert better than
text only. Some studies even
show that pictures convert
better than video!
If you’re sharing content
on social media, creating
a blog post, or sending an
email campaign, always use a
captivating image to support it.
Eye-catching graphics can do
far more in terms of emotional
engagement than text alone
ever could (after all, a picture is
worthathousandwords,right?).
Tip #4: Create Lists
You may have noticed that
we use a lot of list-type articles
in our magazine. That’s not by
accident – lists convert better
than how-to articles, story-
based articles,and even videos.
Personal training lists might
include…
22 Ways to get Rock Hard Abs
13 Failproof Training Tips
7 Qualities to Look For in a
Personal Trainer
W
hat does a Youtube
videowith6.7million
views have to do
with your personal
training business?
In a nutshell, everything. In the
past, personal trainers were
limited to the client interactions
they could hold in person. You
could train a client in the gym
or in their home. If you were a
traveling trainer, maybe in their
hotel room – but that was about
it.
Today, personal trainers
are expanding their reach to
include the entire world, taking
on training clients in different
countries and time zones.
How is this possible? Through
the advent of technology like
Youtube, Skype and FaceTime,
more and more trainers are
conducting video training
sessions and scoring new clients
with content marketing and
social media.
If having clients in 30+
countriessoundslikesomething
you’d enjoy, the irst step is to
build your online presence and
make it easy for prospective
clients to ind you.
One of the most effective
ways to do this is with viral
content marketing.By creating
sharable,engagingcontentyour
followers can’t wait to repost,
you’ll exponentially increase
your online exposure.
Sohowcanyoucreatecontent
–videos,blogposts,articles,and

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training, weight loss, exercises,
motivation, and all the different
factors that make your business
great.
Tip #8: Let the Audience
Create the Content
GoPro is a great example of
a brand that’s creating user-
generated viral content. In case
you’re unfamiliar, the GoPro
guys are the “selie stick” guys
who get travelers and other
adventuroustypestotakevideos
of themselves while skydiving,
traveling the world, tightrope
walking, and so on.
Instead of scrambling to
create sharable content, GoPro
asks users to submit their best
videos and photos created
while using their product.
This is a great content model
for personal trainers, who can
have their clients upload their
workout videos, share training
tips and progress, post recipes
to a Facebook page, and more.
Tip #9: Write a Killer Headline
Great headlines encourage
sharing, which leads to viral
content. A good headline
creates curiosity,invokes strong
emotions,andmakesthereader
want to ind out more.
-Use words like “this” and “that”
to create curiosity, i.e. “This is
the Hottest Workout for 2015.”
-Keep headlines short and
relevant, i.e. “Top Weight Loss
Tips” instead of “How to Lose
Weight In Time For Summer So
You Can Fit Into a Bikini.”
-Make sure your headline is
relevant to your content. If
you write an exciting headline
(“Miracle Serum the New
Fountain of Youth!”) but your
article is about bicep curls,
Facebook and Google will dock
you for “link baiting”.
Tip #10: Create Curiosity
Insider secrets, tips, stories,
testimonials, and emotional
revelations all convert well and
can easily go viral. The trick is
to present them in a way that
creates curiosity and makes the
viewer want to click and share.
-Share small bits of valuable
knowledge at a time, each
nugget leading the reader to
the next item in your article or
post.
-“Prime the pump” by telling
readers what you’re going to
tell them later, i.e. “I’ve just
discovered the most effective
waytogetsix-packabs,butwe’ll
get to that later. First….”
-Createquestionsinthereader’s
mind. A headline like “How
Losing 100 Pounds Helped
Me Live Without Fear” creates
questions like “How did she
lose the weight?”, “What was
she afraid of?”, and so on.
Tip #11: Ask for the Share
It might sound obvious,
but the simple act of asking
your readers to share your
content with their friends
can dramatically increase the
chancesofcreatingviralcontent.
According toWeb Marketing
Today,Pinterestpinsthatinclude
an ask for the share get shared
80% more than pins with no ask,
while tweets that ask people to
retweet get 51% more retweets
than those without.
Tip #12: Make it Easy to Share
Do people have to click,
copy, paste, and click again in
order to share your content?
Then forget about said content
going viral!
Make it a snap to share your
stuff so readers don’t think
twice about it. Creating linked
“tweetables” within blog posts
is a great way to do this, as is
including sharing buttons in
your email blasts and articles.
Creating viral content is both
an art and a science. With the
right emotional pull, images, a
positive spin and a direct ask
for shares,you’ll be well on your
waytopromotingyourpersonal
trainingbusinesswithshareable
content that gets you noticed,
6.7 million views at a time.
Be sure to base each list on
a real interest of your target
market, and not just what you
think will go viral.
Tip #5: Leverage Your
Connections
Viral content is often a
compilation of many different
expertsweighinginonasubject.
For example, if you used one of
the above examples and wrote
an article called 7 Qualities to
Look For in a Personal Trainer,
youcouldsimplywritethearticle
yourself.
Or, you could reach out to 7
different thought leaders in the
PT industry and quote them in
your article.
You’llthenbeabletoleverage
7differentaudiencestopromote
your content, greatly increasing
the chances of it going viral.
Tip #6: Keep it Long
Long content converts better
than short content. This is
especially true when it comes
to articles and blog posts.
As counterintuitive as it may
sound in a society with gnat-
like attention spans, blog posts
that are 3,000+ words get more
clicksandsharesthanblogposts
under 500 words.
Are people really taking the
time to read 3,000+ word blog
posts?Maybe,butit’sjustaslikely
that a meatier article increases
the perception of authority and
thought leadership, regardless
of the content itself.
So go ahead and be as long-
winded as you like!
Tip #7: Create Infographics
The only type of content
that converts better than lists
is the infographic. Infographics
share information in graphic
form, combining two crucial
elements of viral content:
engaginginformationandvisual
stimulation.
As a personal trainer, there
are dozens, perhaps hundreds
of different infographics that
could be created around

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NESTA, Inc.
Tel: 1-877-348-6692
Web: www.nestacertiiedcom
Email:nestanews@nestacertiied.com
Magazine
Personal Trainer Magazine - An Ellis
Production/ With an i
August 2015 - Issue 05
PTM

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Conscious Tribe: A Fast
Guide to #FitnessPro
Mrchandising
purchase, but the best part about buying local
is because you can actually sit down face-to-face
with a representative and talk about exactly what
your needs are. Also, you won’t have to worry
about delivery costs, mishaps, or delays if you’re
purchasing these items for an event.
Another thing to keep in mind is that some
companies will require a business account (with
a possible EIN#) and a minimum irst purchase
quantity.Ifyouareabletomeettheserequirements,
then this type of account is going to offer the
best deals -but if not, then that’s another reason
why I recommend using Vistaprint for startup
#FitnessPros.
First Items For the Logo
Provided you already have a good itness
businesslogoandastashofbusinesscardsatyour
disposal,thenthenextstepshouldbepurchasing
yourbusiness’logo-edapparel.Here’swhatyou’ll
want to start out with:
-Sports Pollos
-T-shirts
-Ballcaps/visors
Also, I do believe that purchasing a
proportionately large car magnet logo (with
contact info, of course) is practically a no-brainer-
win. Think about it: if you’re a itness trainer that
does a great deal of driving, then you might as
wellusethismagnetasyourownmobilebillboard
advertising slot! Not to mention, other very high-
F
or #FitnessPros that are just starting up,
merchandising might seem like it’s kind of
a long way off. For your online presence,
it’s a fairly straightforward and inexpensive
process to achieve powerful branding that’s
consistent -but is it really worth your business’
dollars to invest in logo-ed company apparel
(and various assorted knick-knacks)?
To a certain extent, I would actually say, yes.
The reason for this is that, unlike business which
are totally digital and web-based,you’re meeting
clients in the physical world. If anything, it’s
those face-to-face encounters, which warrant the
greatest need for solid brand exposure.
Sohere’saquick,commonsenseguideonhow
to go about setting up your oficial #FitnessPro
business gear.
Buy Local or Online?
To get us started, we should irst igure out
the best companies for purchasing your logo-
slapped items.This can basically be broken down
into two primary possibilities: purchasing from
an online company or setting up an account with
a local dealer. Here are the main pros/cons to
both options:
Online Store - In most cases, I’ve found that
if Vistaprint doesn’t offer the best deal, their
customerserviceandoverallqualityusuallybacks
up the cost difference (your mileage may vary).
The biggest factor, as to why I’d purchase my
logo-ed items from a company like Vistaprint, is
if I’m only ordering very limited quantities (under
5 units). In addition, they also have a HUGE
selectionof products,andtheymakeitsupereasy
to upload your logo image ile.That’s why I would
recommend using an web-based company for
new businesses which are just getting started on
purchasing logo gear.
Local Company - This option is ideal, especially
if you’re able to order a much larger quantity
of units. Sometimes, it’s dificult to ind a single
local company that can offer all the products
(hats, arm bands, etc.) that you might want to

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-Yoga Mats
-Towels
-Arm Bands
-Water Bottles
-Silicone Wristbands
-Small Magnets (to place on a gym locker)
-Keychains
-Stickers
Random Tips: Branding Brought to Real World
Intermsof WHEREyoushouldsellyourbrand’s
merchandise, well that’s also another excellent
opportunity to exercise your powers of creativity.
For instance, in addition to selling your oficial
gear through your website’s online shop section,
one fantastic avenue for retail sales would be
your local health stores. Keep in mind, however,
if it’s corporate-owned, then chances are slim
that you’d be able to get a spot on their shelves.
But for franchise/family-owned health stores, you
might just have a wholesale/retail opportunity
just waiting in the wings. Also, don’t forget that
the proit margins have to be sensible for both
you and your health store retailer.
Aside from that,if your itness business is at the
point where you’re asking questions like: which
printing company should I use in order to display
my banner in the LA Dodgers stadium…
Then chances are, you probably no longer
need this guide, because you’d be a tribe brand-
building master in my book.
potential clients will see your car in the parking
lot on their way into the gym.
Last, it’s also important that if you’ve got
partnering itness trainers or an hourly-wage
employee (or three) -then they should also be
wearing your logo gear. Representation within
your own itness business is crucial for tribal
branding credibility.
To Sell Or Not to Sell
For those considering bulk logo apparel and
gear purchases, you also might be considering
the possibility of a retail sales revenue stream via
these logo-ed items. After all, if you’re the best
itness trainer ever,then why wouldn’t your clients
want to spread the love,right? This is certainly not
a bad way to go; however, here are a few things
to keep in mind before you take that dive into
this part of the cash low pool…
You might want to limit your product selection
to just a few items, because apparel will require
an inventory of varying sizes for each product, as
well as possible male/female style options.
It’s best to stick with simple designs and patterns,
since a customer that represents their all-time
favorite itness trainer shouldn’t be forced to
make a risky fashion statement in the process.
With those points in mind, you can see why
it might be a better option to limit your apparel
selection, while diversifying items that don’t
necessarily require sizing or gender options. For
instance, here are just a few creative ideas that
I’ve seen other itness trainers use in the past...

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Your
logo is the irst
impression you have
on a client.
Find out how your
logo color can make or
break your
business!
Shades of a #FitnessPro:
How Logo Color Deines
Your Fitness Business

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a branding bias. According to a
story from ABC News, kids can
recall logos that weren’t even
targeted toward them…
Theresearcherswereespecially
surprised to ind children
identifying brands whose
marketing doesn‘t appear to
target kids, including Toyota,
which was recognized by
80 percent of the study‘s
participants, and Shell, which
was recognized by nearly 53
percent.
What does this tell us? While
the possibilities abound, most
believe that the indings of this
study provide a look into the
basics of human psychology
and the subconscious mind’s
abilitytostoreandrecallimages.
Whenamentalcueisintroduced
via logo, that’s when its brand is
brought to the forefront of the
mind.
Color Scheme Overview
True, the above study was
concerned with the little-tike’s
identifying globally recognized
brands;butonalocallevel,your
ownscopeofbrandinginluence
only needs to extend to your
itness business’ geographical
bounds. Since this is the case,
you might as well hammer away
at a logo’s most prominent
psychological factors: the
biggest,being its color scheme.
Studies have shown that “84.7%
of consumers cite color as
being the primary reason they
buy a particular product,” as
shown on an infographich from
Fast Company. So, here’s a
small sampling taste on what a
color will indicate about your
itness business’ logo (and the
rest of the brand’s scheme that
follows)...
Blue: trustworthiness, calm,
stability, equality
Red: vibrance, boldness,
passion, action
Orange: daring, comfort, fun,
friendly, creativity
Yellow: optimism, liveliness,
playfulness, willpower
Purple: loftiness, knowledge,
spirituality, royalty, aloofness
Green: balance, prosperity,
natural, environmental
B l a c k : s o p h i s t i c a t i o n ,
authoritative, ‘bottom-line’
Amy Morin’s post on Forbes
offers a more complete and
in depth look at color scheme
psychology,andhowthisaffects
brand perception. Be sure to
use their graph as a reference:
How to Use Color Psychology
to Give Your Business an Edge.
What’s Your Best Shade? (It
Depends)
In an absolutely fantastic
article from Quick Sprout,
marketing masters, Neil Patel
and Ritika Puri offer their
expert opinions on the matter.
Interestingly enough, their
assessment actually comes
from a statistic that they’d
compiled, concerning how site
visitors responded to their own
marketingcampaign.Fromtheir
indings, they believe that 11%
of their new leads are a result
of coloring their action-bar a
vibrant red.
The power of color is
undeniable, however, the
biggestproblemthatabusiness’
brand will often face is due to
over-complexity. According to
Patel/Puri: “When you use too
many colors, you may end up
conveying too many feelings or
messages at once — something
that will potentially confuse the
person viewing your design.”
For small itness brands,
it’s important to keep your
logo’s color scheme and
overall branding SIMPLE. After
that, it really depends on the
itness business, the brand’s
overarching message ...and of
course… the target market and
itsspeciicallyselectedclientele.
(For example: this is one reason
why yoga instructors will use
purple and green in order to
effectively brand their itness
businesses.)
B
y the time Pepsi had inally
released their new logo
in 2008, it was touted
as a “BREATHTAKING”
success. Thanks to the Arnell
Group’s design team, our minds
now associate the iconically
circular Pepsi logo with the soft
drink itself -and so, we purchase
said soft drink, based on mental
cues (theoretically, at least).
This, of course, cost Pepsi a
whopping$1,000,000. Whether
such a move was branding
overkillornot,thismuchiscertain:
major modern companies are
compelled create iconic logos
...and will stop at nothing to
protect them from copycats.
Millions of dollars change hands
annually for this very reason. But
what’s the big deal, and what
does this have to do with small-
scale local itness businesses?
The answer to this question
is simple: psychological
association deines how your
itness brand will be perceived
in the minds of your potential
clientele. No, you’re probably
not going to shell out a million
in cash on a logo -but if you’re
going to hire a $30/hr freelancer
to produce one for you, then it
might be worth your while to
consider its color scheme…
DoesYourLogoActuallyMatter?
For small itness business
brands, a logo could mean the
difference between a potential
client, and just another person
that couldn’t recall your brand if
they tried (no matter how many
timesthey’veseenyourbrochure
or business card).
Toexplain,oneofthetoughest
aspects about the science of
logo design is the fact that its
effects are oddly dificult to
ascertain -especially amongst
adults. The reason for this is
because logos delve into the
deeper, subconscious side of
humanpsychologyandmemory.
However, children tend to offer
aninterestinglevelofinsightinto
thisquestion,likelybecausetheir
‘memoryilter’possessfarlessof

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Branding: You Say It ...the Tribe Decides
What It Means
Ultimately, branding has less to do with
what the company says, and FAR more to
do with how that company’s message is per-
ceived in the eyes of consumers. That’s why
I’ve always said that when developing your
brand, it’s crucial to deine your itness busi-
ness’ color scheme, logo design, tone, style,
etc., based on the needs and desires of the
target persona ...and not just go with what
we think looks good to us. Why is this so im-
portant to remember?
It’s not our dollars that keep us in busi-
ness. It’s our clients’ dollars that do, which
means that we’ve got to put their tastes at
the forefront of our overall brand and logo
design. You don’t have to spend a million
bucks on this, but it’s certainly worth your
while to spend a good bit of time with your
thinking cap on.

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#FitnessPro
Timesavers:
The 5 Apps That Will Get You
Home Before Rush Hour
our golden opportunity to save
some time, so that rush hour
happens after we’ve already
made our way home from the
ofice.
#5 - IFTTT
I’ve mentioned the power
of IFTTT in recent blog posts,
but now that they’re offering
an IFTTT smartphone app -it’s
certainly worth mentioning
once again.
If you’reunfamiliarwithIFTTT
(If ThisThenThat),here’s a quick
rundown:formanyof yourweb-
based apps, you can actually
triggerthemtoperformanaction
when something happens -and
this action can even occur in a
completely different app. For
instance, if you post picture
to Instagram, then IFTTT can
be setup to automatically post
that picture to your #FitnessPro
Facebook page.
Especially because social
media is so important for
inbound marketing and online
tribe building, it makes IFTTT
an extremely useful time-saving
tool. And now, you don’t even
have to be sitting at your laptop
in order to use it.
#4 - Focus booster
If I had to pick a single app
that was powerful enough to
help us maximize on every
minute of our workday by
blocking out productivity-
destroying digital distractions
thatweoftenruninto,I’dhaveto
pick focus booster. The reason
why it enables us to gain so
much time-leverage is because
its parameters are based on
„the pomodoro technique“, as
described by focus booster’s
oficial website:
The pomodoro technique
is a proven and popular time
management life hack. The
main premise behind the
technique is to work in sprints
(called pomodoro sessions)
and maintain regular breaks.
These breaks keep the mind
fresh and fast, which is required
when working with such focus.
The other key principle behind
maintaining focus with the
pomodoro technique is being
able to effectively manage
distractions.
This type of time
management methodology is
actually being used to massive
effectiveness in Fortune 500
company ofices; but for $2.99/
mo or $29.99/yr, such lofty
power can now rest in your
capable hands.
#3 - RescueTime
Whereas focus booster is
meant to patch the productivity
holes in your workday,
RescueTime helps you discover
where even more leaks are
taking place. The app runs in
the background, tracking and
D
on’t you just love the
feeling of heading
home from your itness
business’ ofice at 4PM,
especially when your schedule
says that the day’s workload
should have taken until 6PM to
get it all done?
At least for me, there was a
time during my career when I
could rarely indulge in such a
sweet treat. One of the toughest
challenges for most self-
employed entrepreneurs like
me was understanding just how
fast time would slip on by -and
by 6:30PM, I still had at least 2
items left on my task list for the
day. However, on days when
my schedule was stacked with
billable client-hours, I noticed
that I’d be able to head home
right on time.
Andthat’swhenIgottothinking…
On days when I’m meeting
clients, my day is almost totally
managed by my session
schedule; but on my back ofice
business-tasking days, my time
was ‘managed’ by a to-do list.
Understandably,it’smucheasier
to spend time ineficiently on
those days -but then- there
goes my golden 4PM closing
time happy dance opportunity.
Fortunatelyforusin2015,there’s
an app for that. (Actually, there
are 5.)
So on this next back ofice
business-tasking Monday, let’s
use tech to take advantage of

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if you’re hiring a receptionist,
you’ve brought another itness
trainer under your wing, or
you’re using a temporary virtual
assistant: you can use Toggl
to make it effortlessly easy to
keep track of everybody’s time
(including that of your own).
It’s a billable time tracker
that’s also ...a time saver.
#1 - MileIQ
One reason why I felt quite
comfortable with backing a
free iPhone app, like MileIQ
is because its reviews have
provided an undeniable and
resounding vote of conidence.
So, what exactly does MileIQ
do?
Here’s an even better question:
Whatcanitdoforitnesstrainers
when tax season hits?
Well, MileIQ is a GPS-based
app, which tracks your mileage
-but not only that- it actually
runs the numbers to provide an
instant report on tax-deductible
dollars accumulated, based
on the IRS rate (of .575 cents/
mile for 2015). And that’s just
the basic functionality of this
app. Here’s their iTunes store
additional feature list:
-“Classify drives with a single
swipe.
-Set work hours to auto-classify
your personal drives.
-Create custom categories to
deine your drive purposes.
-Add parking, tolls, vehicle
information and notes.
-Create or edit drives on mobile
or web.
-Export data to FreshBooks,
Concur, CSV or PDF.
-Pausedrivetrackingasneeded.
-Manage your personal leet of
vehicles.”
Ishouldalsomentionthatthis
app IS FREE ...but only for the
irst 40 drives in a given month.
After that, you can purchase
MileIQ services for $5.99/mo
or $59.99/yr.
Now, how does this app save
yourtypical#FitnessProontime?
Simple: you’ll no longer have to
worry about writing down your
mileageandgoingthroughthat
annoying arithmetic rigmarole.
That task alone was once a
1-hour-ofice-event at the end
of every month,because of how
much driving I did for getting
to my client sessions. And if the
weather was super hot or cold,
recording that 6-igure mileage
everytimehasalmostinluenced
the purchase of a new car with
heated seats.But now,that hour
is mine once again. All mine.
FACT: Time Is Money
Saving an additional hour at
the end of each day might not
seem like much, but once that
starts to accumulate, you’re
looking at a part-time job’s
worth in time saved at the end
of every month.Sure,you might
be using your newfound time
to do nonbusiness things, like
hanging out with the family or
getting in a stress-releasing
afternoon jog...
But quite frankly, at the end of
each day, that’s additional time
for recharging those mental
and physical batteries for
tomorrow’s events and tasks.
So if you happen to have any
time-savingappsthathavebeen
helping you get the most out of
yourworkday,thenpleaseleave
a comment below, and show us
all even more ways to get home
before rush hour!
categorizing every second
spent on your computer during
business hours.
At the end of the day,
it produces a highly (and
sometimes soberingly) detailed
report on how your time was
spent...downtothedarnminute.
It is true that the irst few reports
will be quite sobering, even for
thebiggestproductivitysticklers
out there.
In a way, focus booster does
have a very similar tracker to
the one offered by RescueTime;
however, I do believe that RT’s
is far better at categorization
and identifying exactly what the
computer’s user does. RT also
offers a ‘Premium’ version,which
basically acts like focus booster,
but its functionality isn’t quite as
effective in my opinion.
Nevertheless,the‘Lite’version
of RescueTime is free, so that’s
certainly a plus.
#2 - Toggl
Toggl is an uncommonly
powerful app, especially for
independent contractor-based
itness trainers.
First off, it’s basically a time
tracker that keeps tabs on your
billable hours -and then, it drafts
a report for invoicing (or just to
keep for your own records). This
app allows the itness trainer to
hit the timer at the beginning
and end of each session, so you
no longer have to guess whilst
using Google Sheets to ill in
your books. By the way, it can
also sync with your smartphone.
The other super interesting
feature that offers even more
possibilities is how you can
include up to 5 team members
-even with the FREE version. So,

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3 Ways to Tell If Your
Fitness Business Will
Succeed for the Long Haul
description of the 30-year-long
career (rather than the 3-year-
long lakey business ling).
#3:You Can Locate the Line
Between You and Your
Business
While I do disagree with
Chris Matyszczyk’s overarching
premise, his article on Inc.com
does give a fantastic point in
regards to what a great deal of
business gurus could never tell
you about your own leadership
abilities-orpredicttheresulting
success of your leadership-role
ventures for that matter. One
of the biggest reasons for this
is because, well a) predicting
the future is impossible, unless
you’re Marty McFly, and b) even
the most thorough life/success
coaches don’t know you well
enough to determine your
breaking point or your deeper
motivations.
Ultimately, the issue stems
from the fact that every
entrepreneur is different and
unique in their own personal
laws and strengths. So,
predicting the future of a one-
person business is usually
problematicforthatveryreason.
However, here’s how I can tell
if a itness trainer is primed for
success when I see them:
They look at themselves with the
knowledge that their identity
andself-worthareseparatefrom
that of their itness businesses.
The gym or ofice is an
important part of their lives,
but at the end of the day,
it’s not #1 on their priorities
list. This is because their self-
worth is not tied to the success
of their business. While this
attribute might seem a little
counterintuitive to success, let
me simply review what we’ve
already discussed on this blog
by quoting a statistic that was
shared by Matthew Toren of
Entrepreneur:
In 2011, travel site Expedia
found 52 percent of employees
feel better about their jobs and
more productive after vacation.
Another study conducted
by Harvard stated sleep
deprivationcostU.S.businesses
$63.2 billion a year due to loss
in productivity.
A business addiction is a
problem for two reasons: irst, a
itnesstrainerwillgetburnedout
rather quickly if they can’t seem
to draw a hard line between
theiridentityandtheirbusiness.
Second, this also indicates that
the itness business requires a
constant state of monitoring.
Why? Good question, because
to me, that usually says that
the owner/trainer is struggling
with conidence in their own
business’ solvency. These
negativethoughtpatternsalone
could devastate a company’s
future, much less, adversely
inluence client perceptions.
E
specially in the beginning,
it might feel as if your
desires and goals to run a
itness business aren’t quite set
in stone. That’s largely why solo-
run independent contractor
startups don’t often possess a
sense of self (or solid identity) in
the beginning.
Even if you’ve done all
the legal paperwork before
launching your dream, most
new entrepreneurs don’t quite
feel as if their businesses have
any real grounding in reality -at
least, not until it’s paid the bills
more than a few occasions. But
this is also a completely natural
state for a new startup, because
that’s usually how a business
idea moves from a thought to a
thing.
On the other hand, seasoned
itness entrepreneurs can often
spot a long-run winner from
a mile off with pretty good
accuracy. Of course, they know
full well that there will be tough
times and challenges ahead.
But despite those coming
obstacles, there tends to be 3
particular qualities that make
the difference between a itness
business that’s going to fall lat
within three years ...and one
that’s still going to be around
for the next 30.
So the following talking
points below will discuss how
a seasoned itness pro can
tell if your company its the

Personal Trainer Magazine: Fitness Business, Marketing and Career Success

Personal Trainer Magazine: Fitness Business, Marketing and Career Success

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