Personal Trainer Marketing: Absolutely Free Methods That Bring Results
Casey Kaldal
“It takes money to make money”. It seems like a reasonable conclusion to draw: Newton’s third law as applied to business. It’s also utterly and completely false…in the world of fitness marketing, anyway.
The trap that personal trainers tend to fall into is the mistaken assumption that the only way they can stay competitive is by pumping into every advertising scheme available. Mail-outs, magazine ads, newspaper listings – not only are these strategies expensive, but they don’t even snag enough clients to keep your business afloat.
A smart personal trainer will make use of the numerous low- to no-cost marketing strategies. Instead of pouring money into marketing sinkholes, use these inexpensive methods to gain the clients you want.
1. Create a blog.
You could always hire a professional to build you a multimedia-heavy business website…for a few thousand dollars. But if you had that kind of money to spare, you probably wouldn’t be reading this article in the first place.
An expensive website might wow your prospects, but no matter how shiny your homepage is, you’re not guaranteed a return on your investment. With a blog, though, you can accomplish everything you can with a fancier website – bring in new clients, connect with the ones you have, spread your name across the Internet and more – and it’s absolutely free to make one.
And the best part? Making a successful blog takes only slightly more Internet savvy than visiting this website. As long as you regularly post fresh content – including health tips, fitness info, and a little shameless self-promotion – you can create a resource that’s valuable to your readers and lucrative for your business.
2. Offer “bring a friend” training days.
Free trials bring in new clients. Paid sessions bring in revenue. How do you reconcile the two? Easy: have a “bring a friend” day every month. Training two people simultaneously doesn’t cut into your schedule, and the odd pro bono session might be exactly what you need to turn that friend into a client.
3. Set up a referral web with other health professionals.
You may be an expert fitness professional, but fitness isn’t all your clients need. You could try to broaden your focus beyond fitness, but you’d only render yourself less effective as a fitness professional. What your clients need is professionals in other fields – massage therapists, chiropractors and so forth – and you can forge an alliance with them.
Instead of trying to fill these perceived gaps in your repertoire, you can construct a network of personal health professionals in a wide variety of fields. You scratch their back, and they’ll scratch yours: set up a system where you direct clients towards the services they need – nutritionists, masseuses, physical therapists and the like – and those services in turn will refer their clients to you. If you weave a well-crafted web of cross-referrals, you’ve just opened the door for more clients – without paying a cent for advertising.
4. Advertise on Craigslist.
Why run your ad in high-fee newspapers and magazines when you can advertise online for free?
Spend some time creating an attractive ad for your business, and post it on Craigslist for the world to see. You’ll be reaching hundreds – if not thousands – of Internet users, and you can repost as often as you want for free. All you need to do is give some contact information – a phone number, an email address, a link to your site, whatever you like – and you’ll have free advertising guaranteed to bring prospects to your door.
5. Dive into the sea of social networking.
If you haven’t hopped on the social media bandwagon, you’re probably losing business to the thousands of fitness trainers who have. Use networking avenues to usher traffic to your amazing new blog, to advertise your special promotions, to promote upcoming seminars, and to post other important updates.
You don’t have to spend hours each day schmoozing on Facebook or deafening your followers with Tweets, but every social utility you join expands your horizons and the number of potential clients at your fingertips. These networking tools can help you bring in business if used wisely.
Casey Kaldal is a leading expert in helping Personal Trainers build their business, attract more customers, and earn more money in less time.
He has one of the leading fitness marketing blogs dedicated to the success of Personal Trainers looking to improve their skills and knowledge.
He strongly believes that Fitness Boot Camps are one of the best ways to leverage your time and increase your profits.
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