Guest Post by Sako Yakinian

Google Adwords, flyers, Facebook, magazines, word of mouth, craigslist, and the list goes on.

We've all tried every single method to gain more and more clients but it seems that as days goes by EVERYONE is using the same method.

When I first started my business I bought 6 months worth of advertising in a magazine which cost me $2400, what was the return? 1 client!!

That sucked.

Then I got lucky and met Chris McCombs and he basically paved the way for me. I've also gained many clients through Chris's friends and partners Steve Hochman and fellow Armenian Bedros Keuilian… these three guys methods are amazing.

My area is literally FLOODED with trainers … but usually it's not even about who the best trainer is… but it's about who the most well-known trainer is… and who markets the best.

It's sad to say but we have a ton of crappy trainers out there who for some reason always have a full schedule, and usually that's because they market the hell out of themselves!!

So marketing is key here.

I'm going to tell you my ways to get new clients, I don't do anything TOO fancy… just the plain old basics.

A Fitness Marketing and Business Post by Chris McCombs

Hey there, hope you're doing awesome…. we opened the doors on Market Annihilator 2.0 this morning and it's been absolute friggin chaos around here… I had to get outta dodge for a few minutes so I took the Harley out for a ride and hit the gym… I love it how a good workout can just totally clear the brain and flush out tension from the body… there's nothing like it in the world.

One of the chaotic things that happened is for some reason a lot of people started getting errors when trying to order… that should be all fixed now… and you can just go to this page to get started with the program, but if for any reason you still get an error code just email my support team at marketannihilator (at) gmail dot com and they'll get you all squared away… I really apologize if you're one of the people this was happening to

Alright, check it out… here's a common email I get…

——-

Chris, please help me…

I'm ready to take on the world… I have four clients… I'm starting a blog, getting five websites built for my different niches, want to start writing my first ebook, would like to start selling supplements to my clients, am putting up a store on my site where I plan on selling kettlebells and t-shirts ( by the way, do you know where I can get t-shirts with my company logo to sell on my site?)… I'm also getting into life coaching, want to open a boot camp, hire other trainers and get clients for them for them like you do… am joining my local chamber of commerce… and a local networking group, am looking into buying a fitness studio… gonna get 3 more certifications… wanna do in-home training and group training and mma training and work with new mothers as well as the elderly and professional athletes and celebrities… right now I don't make much and my goal is to be making six figures a year within 4 months… can you help me?

—

Just ask Bedros or Steve Hochman, they get a TON of these emails as well

Just reading an email like that stresses me out… it's like…

Guest Post by Kaiser Serajuddin

The following is a guest post by Kaiser Serajuddin, the master of helping employee trainers break off on their own and start their own business

Why do Personal Trainers and Fitness Pros make such great marketers? I've asked myself that question a lot of times…

Because on the surface that shouldn't be the case at all should it? There's really no correlation between the two!

One career deals with making people sweat, getting them fit, building muscle, and losing fat.

The other deals with creating systems that turn into cash registers - how are the two even related?

They're not, but you can't help but see a strong cross-over - otherwise blogs like Chris' wouldn't be nearly as popular as they are.

It seems to some degree, everyone in fitness has also got the marketing bug burning inside, at some level or another. That goes for guys like Joel Marion just launching his first e-book, to infomercial guys like Mr. P90X Tony Horton, all the way up to the Madonna's Trainer Tracy Anderson, who for trying to squeeze $5,000 per year for memberships at her new gym, has got to be the most craziest of them all !!!

Being in this business and talking to a lot of the big dogs, I've asked myself this question plenty of times. But what can't be questioned is that we as trainers and fitness pros have an obvious talent for it. Otherwise you wouldn't see so many trainers (who are now former trainers) doing so exceedingly well at it, with high six into seven figures paydays, and with new trainers getting started in marketing every single day.

So after speaking to what feels like a million fellow trainers and letting this question rattle around my head for a while, I came to four conclusions on why the big-money marketing world and the sweat and dumbbell training world are kissing cousins - what I found is when you look deeper, you find out that the two really do go hand in hand …

Guest blog post by Steve Hochman

This a guest blog post by my good buddy Steve Hochman… Steve is flat out the best guy I have ever known IN MY LIFE at getting referrals…

Seriously, the dude is INSANE at this stuff

I mean like, seriously f*cking insane…

WARNING: Do Not Use The Referral Mind Control Method For Evil.

You may have heard my buddy Chris McCombs talk about how back in the day he would watch me get literally 5-6 new clients a day - All referrals.

Well, until now, I've never totally broken down my Referral Mind Control Method piece by piece. To be honest, I didn't want to but McCombs twisted my arm, and if you hadn't noticed he's a pretty burley dude.

So here is the step-by-step breakdown of how to apply the Referral Mind Control Method (R.M.C.M) so you get TONS of referrals.

Tip - You need to apply all of these techniques together to unleash the R.MC.M's full POWER.

Recently I went and applied for job at a gym as a personal trainer… just to see if they would hire me… kinda like a weird little social experiment… you gotta see this, it's pretty crazy…

If you'd like to learn more about how how you can get tons of clients and customers from the internet for your fitness business just put in your name and email

Here's a video I did yesterday with one of my best buds Steve Hochman. In the video Steve explains how to get more personal training clients using techniques that pick-up artists use to pick-up lots of chicks.

Steve used these strategies and I don't know what the exact numbers are, but he brought like 30 new clients into his boot camps and personal training workouts in like 10 days or something. This is some sick jedi mind trick stuff.

This is a super-quick post I'm busting out…

It's about drug cartels and getting to the top of the search engines… especially Google.

The reason it's quick is:

1) Market Annihilator launches Tuesday ( Nov. 18th) 10am PST and I'm slammed busy with that at this moment

2) My neighborhood is on fire right now and we had to evacuate. I drove to a coffee shop a few miles down the road.

Got the lap top, got the cell phone, wife and kids are safe… ( can't find my cat Bodhi, but he's a trooper)

Ok, so if you want your fitness website or personal training website to rank high in Google..

Hey Guys, Personal Trainer Jeremy Nelms is pulling a classic PT Barnum style marketing stunt.

He's gonna live in his gym for 60 days and do all kinds of other crazy things to get tons of exposure and clients

If he markets this properly he could make a killing

 - Check it out and give him all the support you can -

Here's the link:

http://www.noexcusesfatloss.com/blog/

I think he should grow a beard like Tom Hanks in Cast Away, but that's just me… some people think I watch too many movies… they're probably right

The other day I was having lunch with my good buddy Bedros Keuilian. And after chowing on some good fish tacos and breaking the waitresses balls we got into some pretty deep marketing topics.

Bedros is one of those guys like me who could talk about marketing for days on end. I can relate to Bedros because he came from some real humble beginnings to owning several successful fitness studios to making millions as a fitness marketer.

Bedros actually went from sleeping in his car and eating meals that consisted of tuna fish and diet coke mixed together to make the most disgusting "poor mans" protien shake I have ever heard of in my life, to just a few years later selling $89,705.00 of personal training sessions in just 43 days.

Here's an interview I did with Barry Lovelace. Barry is a master at looking at regular day to day situations and seeing how he can add value to the situation while at the same time growing his fitness business.

In this interview, Barry talks about:

• How to spot business opportunities left and right
• How to find clients all over the place
• Why you must welcome the word "no"
• How to use the media to help build your business
• Why you must open doors as they appear
• Along with a whole bunch of "out-of-the-box"ways to get clients…

I happen to know a guy who's made millions in the marijuana growing industry, and actually today he's on the legal side of the industry. I won't get into it, but he sells supplies to indoor hydroponic marijuana growers and his business does well over $20 million a year.

I've learned a lot from this guy, he is without a doubt one of the best marketers I know and is about as hardcore of a direct response marketer that'll you ever meet.

Here's an important lesson I learned from him about marketing and building a list that he can market to on a consistent and systematic basis.

A Fitness Business Marketing Post by Chris McCombs

Adding video to your personal training website is extremely important today if you want to convert a lot of visitors into clients. People are much more prone to watch a video on your site than to read your copy.

I suggest carrying around a little Flip video or other type of small video camera with you at all times, so whenever one of your clients tells you about the great results you've helped them achieve you can capture it on video.

It allows you to

• Get your prospects attention
• Agitate their pain
• Tell them the story of why and how you created your service
• Show them how your service relates to their needs
• Back up your claims with proof by showing them testimonials that are much more believable than testimonials that are just in text
• Show examples of your training
• Prompt your viewer into action

A Personal Training Business Post by Chris McCombs

Here's the audio for an interview I did with Rocco Castellano on how to use publicity to market your personal training business.

Rocco is definitely one of the most balls-to-the-wall brutally honest fitness experts you'll ever meet. Rocco grew up a mob kid, running around with guys who you'd know by name if you ever read Time Life Books or watch A & E… yep… THOSE GUYS… the guys Scorsese makes movies about. Imagine if one of The Sopranos was in killer shape and decided to be a "good guy"… then builds a reputation for taking 30 pounds off people in less than 30 days ( and I'm not talking about blow) and getting women ready for beauty pageants in a matter of weeks… I don't know about you, but to me, that shit's fascinating…

Rocco got his act together and is now all over television ( including MTV's Made), he's a regular on several radio shows and Rocco also has a syndicated column that is featured in many newspapers around the country.

I stronly recommend you listen to this hour long interview with Rocco, take notes and do what he says. When it comes to becoming a mega financially successful personal trainer, Rocco Castellano is definitely in a category of his own.

A Fitness Business Strategies Post by Chris McCombs

How your fitness business, product or service is perceived by your customer, not the actual product or service itself, is what determines how much you'll be able to charge.

I know some personal training business owners and trainers who are amazing at getting people into incredible shape, yet they don't reflect this at all in their marketing or differentiate themselves from their competitors in anyway, so they are only able to charge industry standard fees. Yet I know other personal trainers who aren't nearly as good yet position themselves as THE go-to expert in their area, and these guys are able to charge top dollar.

Your customers perception of how value your service is will ultimately determine what they're willing to pay to for it.

Here's an interview I did with Patrick Rigsby. When it comes to creating fitness business systems that bring in large amounts of revenue on autopilot, Patrick probably knows more than anyone. Plus he's a down-to-earth good ole' boy from Kentucky which makes him a fun guy to talk to…

Patrick, what do you do?
I kind of do a number of things. I am first and foremost a fitness professional myself. I own a personal training company with two locations in central Kentucky. I own a health club in central Kentucky as well, and a juice bar within a separate health club. So that’s the first component of my business. The second component is I’m a consultant essentially for anyone in the fitness industry, but primarily focusing on marketing personal training businesses and creating profit centers within health clubs. So I work with fitness professional and club owners alike to essentially help people build the personal training, weight management, profit center side of their business.

A Personal Training Referral Guest Post by Logan Strain

A lot of businesses will say that they get the majority of their new business from referrals, but when you ask them how often they ask for referrals, they often come up silent. This means that they have made the common mistake of thinking that referrals should be organic, and bluntly asking for referrals might be too forward. Really, though, there are some easy times to directly ask for referrals without harming the delicate business-customer relationship.

When they are praising your product or service - If you have a customer telling you what a great experience they have with your business, go ahead and ask for a referral. You already know that they like you, so strike the iron while it’s hot and mention you would welcome new clients or customers.

Chris McCombs (CM): Okay. I’m here with Michael George. Michael, can you tell us who you are what you do?

Michael George (MG): Yeah. My name is Michael George. I’m a celebrity trainer fitness expert, television host and personal training business owner.

CM: What books have you authored?

Chris McCombs (CM): I'm here with Donna Fisher. Hi Donna. Can you tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do?

Donna Fisher (DF): Okay, great. I'm an author and a speaker and a trainer, and my niche is to teach people to communicate and connect in a way that makes a difference, how to network to grow their business, and how to market themselves through word of mouth marketing. So I have several books on the topic. I have Power Networking, People Power, and Professional Networking for Dummies. And I've conducted programs for people all over the country in all types of industries.

CM: How can personal fitness training business owners use networking to improve their businesses?

Here's an interview I did with Pat Necerato on Marketing a Personal Training Business

CM: Hey, Pat, can you tell us a little bit about what you do?

PN: Basically, I teach personal training business owners how to get new clients by way of client attraction and also by converting them from just the personal training sales presentation, or I guess you could say from getting in front of them, to giving the sales presentation, and then getting them in to book for a regular session. That’s basically what I do.

CM: When you say “client attraction,” can you get a little more into that?

Here's a Fitness Marketing and Wealth Building Interview I Did with Bob Doyle from the DVD 'The Secret'

Chris McCombs (CM): Hi, Bob, how you doing?

Bob Doyle (BD): I’m doing great.

CM: Are you aware you’re being recorded and that’s okay with you?

BD: Yep.

CM: Okay. Perfect. All right, well I’m here with Bob Doyle. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about what you do?

BD: Well, I’m the facilitator of a program called “Wealth Beyond Reason.” That’s really my main focus. The “Wealth Beyond Reason” program is an online curriculum in the law of attraction. I’m very passionate in the law of attraction because it’s one of those – it’s an idea whose – it’s kind of been lumped up into a new age category, a metaphysical category and has not really been acceptable to just your average person, even though the law of attraction is actually in effect in everybody’s lives at all times. So my goal is to educate people on to how it’s at work in their lives and how they can use it to really truly live their lives by design.

CM: What is the law of attraction, Bob?

Here's a transcript of personal fitness trainer marketing interview I di with Zach Even-Esh. Zach is the man when it comes to marketing your fitness business and about the colloest dude around. Enjoy!

Chris McCombs: I’m here with Zach Evan-Esh. Zach, what do you do?

Zach Evan-Esh: Right now, I’ve got two positions here, with two different ways of which I’m growing my personal training business. One is through the training of clients, which I do in person through semi-private training groups, and probably the other half, or slightly more than the other half of my income, is coming through the online business, and as we get further into the questions, I’ll talk about the different ones I have. But basically, I’ve got membership websites and products. So, I’m able to have a recurring method of products/income, and then the other method is through various products- books, DVDs, and things of that nature.

CM: What kind of fitness products have you created?

ZE: I started off– I’m trying to think– about three years ago, I started off with a real small e-book, and I’m talking small. It was barely over 100 pages. I’m going to tell you the way I created this e-book. It worked out really well. I had a digital camera (a pretty crappy one I had borrowed from my parents) and would take some regular photos of two kids that I used to train at the time, two clients.

Personal Trainer Marketing Guest Post By Logan Strain

Direct mail marketing should an integral part of every personal trainers marketing strategy. Unfortunately, most trainers who employ it fail to understand its full benefits, and wind up wasting a lot more postage than they have to.

Direct mail is distinct from other forms of advertising in that it is very precise. While something like a yellow pages ad is designed to reach a broad swath of people, a very small percentage of which may be in the market for your services, you can target who receives your message.

Here are the most common uses of direct mail

Cold Mailing

Just like this sounds, this is where you mail an ad to every address you can get a hold of. This is one of the least cost-effective, but sadly most used, use of direct mail. It wastes a lot of paper and postage because you have no idea if the people you are sending the ads to are in the market for personal training services. Thus, it completely ignores one of the primary benefits of direct mail. At the same time, however, it is possible to make cold mailing fairly cost effective if you do it intelligently

A Personal Training Business Guest Post By Logan Strain

If you have been running a personal training business for a few years, it is almost a certainty you have an easy way to get a ton of “new” regular clients with minimal cost.

Now, if you just scoffed at that statement, it is probably because you know how challenging it is to get regular clients through marketing. Typically, it is a huge investment in both time and money to get people’s attention and convince them that you have a service from which people can truly benefit. And even if they schedule a workout, there is no gurantee they will come in more than once or twice.

But you can avoid a lot of this hassle by going after the one group of people who are most likely to seek and enjoy your services: the people who have enjoyed your services in the past. It might sound obvious (and don’t get me wrong, it is) but far too may trainers do absolutely nothing to retrieve these inactive patients.

A Personal Training Marketing Post by Chris McCombs

When looking for the best way to run a personal training business, some business owners focus so much on finding a single all-encompassing solution. Sooner or later, they become frustrated to find out that no such thing exists.

But if you’re a smart business owner, you’ll know that guaranteeing your success in the personal training business lies in a mix of different strategies. You simply cannot rely on just having a website. Nor should you only rely on offline campaigns.

The list below will show you some of the effective ways by which you can find success in your personal training business.

1. Have an offline campaign. Take your personal trainer marketing to the streets when you want to spread the word about your business. Mix different promotional materials to ensure that you reach as many interested people as possible. Surely, a good number of them will be interested in your offer to help them lose weight or stay healthy. Promote your business in billboards, brochures and yes, even through your distribution of your calling cards.

A Personal Training Referrals Post by Chris McCombs

Here's a recent interview I did with best selling author Jill Lublin on networking and referrals. Jill explains how fitness business owners get more clients and customers.

The interview is transcribed and I haven't had it edited so please excuse any grammerical errors

Jill, can you tell us a little bit about what you do and who you are?

Well, one of the things - I speak across the United States and internationally on the topics of publicity and networking. I’ve written two books. One is called Guerilla Publicity, and many people consider it the PR Bible and I’m proud and honored by that. And the other one I wrote is Networking Magic, and it helps people to network, as the title implies. That book went number one on Barnes and Noble for three weeks in a row, so that’s exciting stuff.

A Personal Training Referral Guest Post By Logan Strain

Some personal training business owners generally have a tough time handling word of mouth because, unlike other forms of marketing like web pages and advertisements, it can’t really be controlled or manipulated. Yet at the same time, referrals are really the cheapest and most effective way to get quality regular clients. Here are few basis but successful ways that personal trainers can use to increase their referrals.

Direct Mail - Write a simple letter to your regular clients telling them how much you enjoy having them, and ask if they know anyone who they could refer.

Just Ask - If a client is enthusiastically telling you what great benefits they are experiencing from your program, take this as an opportunity to ask for a referral. Clients who get the most benefit from workouts are usually the ones most likely to give you more business, and just asking directly usually helps lead to a new client quicker.

A Successful Personal Trainers Guest Post by Joe T.

The deeper you study the business of personal training, the more familiar you will be to the names of some of the most successful personal trainers in the business. And you will then ask yourself why these people are successful. Are they marketing wizards? Are they dedicated personal trainers? I’ll tell you what I think their ingredients for success are.

At the top of the list, I think, is that these trainers truly care for their clients. Surely, they also want to make a decent income and a successful business, but having happy clients is the key to longevity and success in personal training.

If you really care about the welfare of your clients, you will devote much of your time finding ways how you can help them achieve their fitness goals. You take the time to listen to them, to see what frustrates them and be there to pat their backs when they achieve a certain goal or milestone.

A Personal Training Marketing Guest Post by Joe. T

“How do I market my personal training services?”

If you are new to the business and are without clients, this is possibly the most important question you will ever ask yourself at the beginning. After all, having clients makes your business work (read: earn money). Without them, you have no business altogether.

But before I tell you how you can market your services, let me first tell you this: you don’t need to spend a lot of money to do your marketing. If you market your services wisely by targeting the right people then you don’t waste a lot of money.

Having said that, let’s move on to how you can market your services.

A Personal Training Business Guest Post by Joe T.

Getting the word out about your personal training business can be pretty challenging considering the costs you may incur and the risks involved in spending money for advertising. But I’m sure that you’re used to facing challenges and overcoming them since you’re a personal trainer.

In this article, we’ll cover some of the things that you can do when you want to advertise your personal training business.

First of all, you must be aware of who your target market is. When you are familiar with the people you wish to sell your services to, it would be much easier to find the best places where you can advertise your services.

So if you know the profile of your typical customer and the publications they read and the websites they visit, you can have a laundry list of possible publications and websites you should advertise at.

Now that you found your target market and the publications you will advertise at, comes the next question, “how would you spend your advertising money?” Although there isn’t a clear cut solution to this question, I suggest that you familiarize yourself first with the medium you wish you advertise at.

A Personal Training Advertising Guest Post by Joe T.

As a personal trainer, you’re always on the lookout for new clients and expanding your network. So one day, you decide to advertise your services. “But what are the best places to advertise my personal training services?” comes the question. And it’s an important question because advertising costs money, and if you don’t use that money wisely, you’ll definitely put it down the drain.

But before you try going on the quest to finding the best place to advertise, ask yourself this question first, “who is your market?” Your advertising efforts should always begin with that important question because that will define where your advertisement will work.

If, for example, you’re targeting post-natal moms who want to lose weight quickly, look for publications or websites that cater to this market. Or if you don’t find exactly that kind of market, find publishers that come closest to it.

A Personal Trainer Business Guest Post by Joe T.

If you are a fitness and health enthusiast and enjoy sharing your knowledge with others, then you’ll most likely enjoy becoming a personal trainer. As a personal trainer, you help people achieve their fitness goals. You will motivate them and guide them to achieve those goals. Sounds great, right?

But it takes more work to be a really good and successful personal trainer. It takes a lot of dedication on your part even before you get to work with clients. Why? Because the first and most important step that you have to take to become a trainer is to be certified.

Gyms will require you have at least one or two certifications before they hire you so you need to be certified before anything else. What certifications should you take? It all depends on what particular certification interests you or the certifications that the gym you want to work in requires.

Once you are certified, now’s the time to look for work. Call up gyms in your area and hopefully, you’ll land a job in the gym that you’ll be most comfortable working in.

A Personal Training Business Guest Post by Joe T.

If you’re doing your business right – doing your marketing well and taking good care of your clients – then chances are that your business will soon take off in no time. Sounds great, right? But let me ask you something. If and when your business does take off, would you be ready for the greater demand that your business and your clients will have on you? If you answered no, then I suggest you read this article first.

One thing that you must keep in mind when you’re running a personal training business is that you only have a limited amount of time both for your business and your personal life. Once you realize this, you will begin to value your time more and try to make more out of your 24 hours everyday.

A Personal Training Site Guest Post by Joe T.

The question of how to get traffic to a website is easily one of the frequently asked questions by webmasters on the internet. And I’m betting that you guys with personal training sites ask that question too.

Of course, that’s understandable because you aren’t expected to be a technical wizard since you’re a personal trainer, first and foremost. Because of that, I’ll tell you how to get traffic to your site in a way you will easily understand. Heck, I’m betting that even those who barely know how to use the computer will get the concepts too in a matter of minutes. But I digress.

Anyway, there are a number of core concepts that you must understand when you want to increase your site’s traffic.

A Personal Trainer Website Guest Post by Joe T.

Unless you already own a website, then you’re probably losing thousands of dollars in lost clients everyday. You see, having a website does a lot for you, like automating your newsletters, promoting yourself easily and more.

One of the reasons why personal trainers don’t have websites is that they feel they don’t have the technical know-how to create websites. After all, you’re a personal trainer and not a web designer, right?

If you’re clueless about things like HTML, CSS, JavaScript and all the related stuff, you don’t have to learn them if you don’t want to. Instead, you can hire someone to do that for you.

There are companies that specialize in building fitness websites that don’t only let you promote your services but also give you the ability to sell products there. But since they are specialists in their field, chances are that you might have to spend a little more for this type of service.

A Personal Trainer Business Guest Post by Joe T.

As a trainer in the personal training business, it is your responsibility to keep marketing yourself as often and as to many people as you can. You would be stupid to only appreciate marketing when you are already losing clients and realize you have no new clients coming in.

One cheap way you can market yourself is by handing out business cards to the people that you meet. You warm them up by telling them what you do and hand them your card, asking them to call you if they’re interested in training under you.

So if you don’t have a business card yet, let me give you a lowdown about cards so you can get started and have cards of your own right away.

A Personal Trainer Marketing Guest Post by Joe T.

Because you’re reading this post, I’m pretty sure that you want to gain more clients and earn more profits for your personal training business through email marketing. And you got it right, because according to the MarketingSherpa site, email marketing is only second to search engine marketing as an effective marketing strategy.

So for the real beginners on email marketing, let me first define what email marketing is. It is a marketing technique wherein you send out an email to an email list. Think of it as direct mail marketing, only that the letter is sent through email.

The great thing about email marketing for your personal trainer business is that it’s cost-effective. While you may have to pay to have an email list, sending emails is absolutely free.

A Personal Trainer Website Guest Post by Jackie B.

When you start your fitness business you know that one of the first things you need to get is a great personal trainer website design. If your website looks terrible or has a poor layout then it really doesn't matter how well you rank in google or how many people are visiting your site because no one will sign up!

A good personal trainer website template includes first and foremost a STRONG SALESCOPY. If you don't have good salescopy on your page, then you're much less likely to convert viewers into clients. Read this site for tips on how to really get some amazing sales copy and get your readers converting into clients.