A Fitness Business Post from Chris McCombs

Hey there, hope you're great - here's a question I got on Facebook the other day that is actually a pretty common ( my support staff gets these all the time… however it's almost always from non-customers) … here's the question, check it out…

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Hey Chris

Listen man, I'm pretty bummed out lately with my training business… It seems so hard to pull in new clients and I feel like giving up on the entire busness and just going and getting a regular job, but I'm honestly doing the best I can… it just doesn't seem to be working, what should I do???

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And here's my answer…

A Personal Trainer Mistakes Post by Chris McCombs

Hey there … hope you're great

It's crazy how the average trainer earns 29k a year due to common personal training mistakes while a few earn six or even seven figures year after year. I live in Southern California, and 29k doesn't even cover my house payment. And what's crazy is most of the ones who earn six figures aren't really any smarter OR better at training than the low earners

These common personal trainer mistakes are where most who DON'T earn six-figures go wrong… usually it's a combo of a few of these…

1. They focus on being great at what they do ( training ) but not great at marketing what they do… when it comes to making money, whether you like it or not… the marketing is actually FAR more important than the training… I know lots of GREAT trainers who hardly make a thing… I'm not saying to not be a good trainer… but you should be an even better marketer

Here's a KILLER free report one of my coaching clients Michael Duivis just made for you about how he got over 40 human billboard clients for his boot camps in hardly no time at all

Michael is BY FAR one of the biggest action takers I know, and he reminds me a lot of myself when I first got into this business and really began to apply myself.

As you know, I'm a HUGE fan of human billboards… it's the quickest way I know to ramp up a boot camp or personal training business… so be sure check out Michael's Free Report he made just for my blog readers.. and please leave him a comment in the comment section below letting him know how you liked his report…

Fitness Business Strategies Guest Post By Zach Hunt

I remember when I first started my training biz, I was gung-ho on private sessions and 1 hour long at that. At the time I was only charging $47 / session, not to mention this was for in-home training, so that 47 was not only for the 1 hour of training, but also my 15-30 minutes of driving, the gas it took to get me to the person's house, and well my sanity to keep me going.

The most I ever made doing this style of training was like 1-2K / month. Just enough to pay for my gas =)

We'll I gotta tell you that didn't last long before I knew something had to change. Either I would change careers or I would somehow change how I was structuring my training.

I didn't know it at the time, but this would turn out to be the best thing that would ever happen to my training business. That's when I met Chris and he spilled the beans on how to run a successful group training business to make more money all while working less hours. Ever since then training has been like a dream compared to the in-home / private training days.

I gotta tell you I love working with and training groups. Here's what I love about them:

Hey there, hope you're doing awesome… I'm in Orlando at the 14k Fitness Info Mastermind teaching high level fitness entrepreneurs how to build a six-figure info marketing business.

I've put together some quick resources here for you today to help you build your fitness training empire…

1. Bedros's prediction report for what 2010 holds for the fitness industry

Click through to the entire post to download Bedros's 2010 Fitness Industry Prediction Report

At the end of the report there's a link that you can follow back to Bedros's blog to leave him a comment… he nailed it in this report.

2. The Four Hour Work Week Blog - Tim Ferris's blog is in my opinion one of the best blogs around, and while not fitness industry specific, there's so much you can learn from it.

3. GaryVaynerchuk.com - Now this dude knows how to use social media to build a business… like to the tune of $60 Million

A Personal Training Business Guest Post by Sam Bakhtiar

One of my long time coaching clients Sam Bakhtiar makes about 1.8 Million in a year in his very successful personal training business. Sam put together a list for you of some of the things that have made him so successful…

And here's Sam's biggest tips to how he got to almost 2 million a year in his fitness training business…

1. EFT, EFT, EFT, EFT. OK let me spell it out… electronic funds transfer. Lot's of trainers KNOW they should do this but VERY FEW do…You must absolutely build your EFT base so that you have some peace of mind and build a successful personal training business. It feels good to know that you only have to sell a client once. Gone are the days that every month you have to resell the client over and over again… It's brutal. I used to have NIGHTMARES about approaching clients to re-up. Nowadays I know that if for some reason (like November last year when the economy everywhere suddenly stopped) if I don't have any new sign ups then I still have plenty of money coming in. Big companies like 24 Hour Fitness and L.A. Fitness build their empires based on this. Why not model success?

A Group Fitness Training Post by Chris McCombs

>>>>> QUESTION FROM READER <<<<<

Chris, thanks for all your blogposts and newsletters. I have a serious problem and I'm not sure what to do about it. You see, I'm a self employed personal trainer, I have four of the top certifications and am getting another one next month, and years ago I LOVED everything about training clients, I actually looked forward to it. But today, I am totally burned out on my business. I make decent money, about 70k a year, but I am burned out and it seems all I do is work. My days are long, and sometimes I even train seven days a week.

When I get home all I want to do it sleep. My girlfriend is always mad at me cuz I'm always working, I rarely have time to see my friends, and I haven't been mountain biking ( my favorite hobby ) in almost a year cuz I just don't have the time. What should I do Chris? I can't take it much longer, I feel I've
hit a wall, I've lost all my passion for training, and I'm even considering a career change, the long days are killing me. PLEASE HELP.

>>>>> MY COMMENTS <<<<<

I know what it's like, I've been there. Being overworked sucks and is no way to live, at least not in the long run. The good news is if you can shift your mindset from working hard to working smart…. everything can change, pretty much overnight if you set your mind to it… and you can even make quite a bit more working quite a bit less… it's amazing how it works. I've spent the last few years of my life figuring out all this "working smart" stuff and I've got a pretty good grip on it today.

A Group Training Strategies Post by Chris McCombs

>>> Question from reader <<<

"Chris I love your blog, it's definitely helped my training business. You're always talking about group training, but I'm not sure it's the way to go…Why is it better than private one-on-one training and if I do decide to do, how in the world can I talk my clients into it?"

>>> My comments <<<

Hey thanks for reaching out…Training groups is a much better business model than doing private training for many reasons….You can make a whole heck of a lot money by getting 5,6 or even 8 people to pay you every hour compared to just 1… most private trainers make $20 to $80 an hour… with groups you can easily make a few hundred an hour.

Hey there, hope you're awesome and your personal training business and/or boot camp is KILLIN' it… if you're taking a ton of action on what you're learning then it is for sure… it all comes down to action.

Right now I'm out in Las Vegas masterminding with Bedros, Steve Hochman, Craig Ballantyne, Vince Delmonte, Seven Figure Sam, Josh Carter, Leanne Ellington and some other real heavy hitters in the fitness industry… masterminding is one of my favorite things do and is paramount to success.

Here's a quick list of some of my favorite places to find new fitness training clients… when I first did the human billboard strategy years ago I pretty much approached everyone everywhere I went… all it took was about 30 days of that kind of craziness and my business has been pumping ever since…

Unfortunately a lot of trainers aren't willing to get out of their comfort zone… and they pay for it every day… if you're just willing to get out there and hit it hard, you'll trip out on what can come of it… life rewards people who act in spite of their fears and insecurities.

All these might not be for you… but whether you're looking for paying clients or free human billboards to help build your referral army, these are some great places to start… this list took me about six minutes to come up with, and I've gotten clients from just about everyone of these places but three of them… this list is FAR from complete but I just wanted to get your mental gears goin'… cuz potential clients are literally all over the friggin' place if you just open your eyes and look… there's a ton of money out there with your name on it, why not claim it… cuz if it doesn't go to you it's going to someone else.

Here's a way to get a TON of new personal training or boot camp clients for free

Guest Post by Kaiser Serajuddin

This is guest blog post from Kaiser Serajuddin. Kaiser's blog caught my attention a few months back when I noticed he was really doing a lot of things right when it comes to creating a blog that creates a following of loyal readers. I'm proud to say Kaiser is now on my Kick Back Life team of guest bloggers…

…the dude definitely speaks his voice and has a lot to say when it comes to being a successful personal trainer… His sh*t is raw and mandatory reading for any trainers stuck in a gym working for someone else…

I know Chris is known for what a hash smuggling, overweight junkie he was - I guess when you pull yourself out and accomplish big things you can wear your past mistakes like a badge of honor.

In my case my story is probably just as graphic if not more…

how's this for a headline…

Here's an interview I did with Steve Hochman, who is my earliest mentor from when I first started growing my business and today is one of my best friends.

Steve is by far one of the most successful fitness business owners around. This guy is a total out of the box thinker and I guarantee you'll learn strategies to build your business that no one is talking about (unless they learned it from listening to this interview)

• How Steve used a fake rat to get more clients (huh?????… yes, I said a FAKE RAT)
• At about 53 minutes and 30 seconds into the interview Steve gives you a trick that would make guys sign up for his workouts left and right. I'm not condoning this tip OR saying not to do it… just use it at your own risk and make sure not to go to overboard with it (be sure to listen to the audio that leads up to that strategy as well, because it'll make it at least 10x more powerful) No matter what this tip makes you think of him, this guys clients love him like no there's no tomorrow. Steve is willing to do whatever it takes to help people get into shape, and some of his methods are a bit unorthodox
• 11 hardcore business building tips, tricks and strategies
• How to make a six-figure income within six months without any web or print marketing
• How to get a TON of clients fast
• One thing you should NEVER do or say to your clients
• The biggest mistakes most fitness business owners make

If you're starting a personal training business, there's some advice I'd like to give you right now before you spent countless hours of your life in the gym training clients and studying for useless certifications.

It doesn't matter how good of a trainer you are, how many functional exercises you can take people through, how many certifications you have, how good you look or how cool you are… it really doesn't.

It all comes down to how good of a marketer are you. 

If you're just starting out, there are some things I suggest you do right away. ..

A Fitness Education Guest Post by J. Brown

So many trainers pursue their education focusing only on getting their certificate and learning the technical aspects of training clients without putting time and effort into possibly one of the most important aspects of their fitness education: how to market their business.

Yes, you clearly need to know how to train someone and you must make sure you are a highly qualified personal trainer, but if your fitness education is limited to that, you're going to be a highly qualified trainer with no clients. Which is not where you want to be.

A Fitness Instructor Certification Guest Post by J. Brown

Starting out as a personal trainer you want to know about fitness instructor certification courses and which ones you should spend your money on. You don't want to spend a lot of money on a course that isn't going to get you where you want to be. Take the time to evaluate what the course offers and what you need the course to provide.

The price and length of the program are going to be big factors in choosing a fitness instructor certification program, but you also need to consider the quality the course provides. Yeah, you can find a lot of "certificate" programs out there that will tell you how great their program is, you can do it online, and be certified in weeks…but a lot of these are fly by night operations and the money you just paid isn't really worth the benefit of having their initials after your name. Now, not every online certification is like this, I'm just saying you have to be really careful and not spend a lot of money on a course that isn't respected and won't help you a lot in the long run.

A Personal Trainer Job Guest Post by J. Brown

There are a lot of different ways you can approach a personal trainer job and ways to tailor your business to target a unique market niche. Your background, interests, and connections will help you decide where you want to go in your personal training business, but I'm sure that we can all agree no matter what niche you're working in, that the best personal trainer job is one that doesn't require you to work every waking minute of your life and actually brings in a killer salary.

Often a personal trainer job can become a drag if you're working yourself to death and not making much money for the hours you put in. If you set up your training business right though, you can truly have the best personal trainer job ever by working for yourself and calling the shots so that you work fewer hours and make more money.

A Fitness Instructor Course Guest Post by J. Brown

As a new trainer you have a lot of options available and every fitness instructor course has it's own benefits and strengths. What you're looking for in a fitness instructor course may vary depending on your personal experience and background and what direction you want to take your fitness training business. On this site there is a lot of free information, articles, and content that can help you expand your business and learn skills that you need to really take your business to the next level.

However, if you are just starting out you are looking for a fitness instructor course that offers you basic information to get your business started and teaches you basic business principles that you may not have picked up from other personal training courses you have taken. If you go to the "Build Your Business" tab above you will see several programs designed to help you with different aspects of your business, and a few of them are structured to be used at different points in your career. So if you've already got a pretty strong training business you will not want to choose a fitness instructor course that is focused on expanding an already existing business.

A Personal Training Insurance Guest Post by J. Brown

As a personal trainer your focus is on your business, the success of your clients and their health and safety, but every now and then despite your best efforts something goes wrong, and you need to make sure that you have personal training insurance to cover you so you don't get slammed with medical bills or a lawsuit.

Now, a lot of personal training insurance programs require that you be certified before they will sell you insurance. Obviously they have an interest in not insuring some "trainer" who knows nothing and is causing a bunch of injuries so they are limiting their liability by only insuring trainers with certain certifications. Most of you already have those certifications, but if you don't and you need personal training insurance, there are a few fitness insurance companies out there who will sell your insurance without a certificate.

A Personal Training Education Guest Post by J. Brown

If you're planning on being a trainer, one of the first things you're going to need to think about is what type of personal trainer education you should invest in. You should start checking out personal training education options first by looking into gyms in your area and seeing if they have any specific requirements as to certificates or training courses. That way you can eliminate some programs that may not fit your needs.

You'll want to find a personal trainer education program that fits your needs and budget. Consider, however, when budgeting for personal training education that you are going to want to focus on where the programs can get you, not just the cost. The quality of a program is way more important to you as a trainer in the long run than the amount you pay up front.

A Personal Trainer School Guest Post by J. Brown

When you get into the fitness industry and start looking for a personal training school, you'll want to be sure and check out a few things before you get started. First off, most personal trainer school programs are online these days, so you want to verify that the personal trainer school you are looking into is actually a legitimate company. You don't want to end up paying a ton of money to a school that a) doesn't exist or b) nobody has ever heard of.

A good personal training school online will have a decent amount of online and hard copy materials for you to study from. Look at their website and read about their program to see how it is structured. Personal trainer schools that actually send you materials are likely to be somewhat better as they are taking the time and money to put together a written program. Be wary of sites that offer quick few week long courses as they are usually not worth much.

A Personal Trainer Business Guest Post by J. Brown

You've probably looked up how much money personal trainers make when you looked at getting into this industry, and I'm sure you weren't excited to see that in the US, the average personal training salary is about $35,000 per year. Not impressive at all. So how do you make money as a personal trainer?

Obviously if the average is so low then the majority of trainers aren't making good money, but there are a few out there who are very successful at what they do. The first thing to look at to make money as a personal trainer, is to find out what the successful trainers are doing to build their business. What types of marketing are they focusing on? How do they organize their business? Looking into these questions is a great way to start figuring out how to make money as a personal trainer.

A Personal Trainer Salaries Guest Post by J. Brown

If you're getting into the personal training business, you're probably wanting to know what you can expect in personal trainer salaries. The average salary for a personal trainer is currently around $35,000.00 according to most reliable reports…and that is for a trainer working their tail off at least 40 hours per week. This isn't exactly an exciting amount and you're probably disappointed to hear that if you're thinking of getting into personal training, but don't walk away yet.

Personal trainer salaries can vary by area and niche, but what is most important to remember, is that the number above is the AVERAGE salary, meaning of trainers who have an average business and are doing an average job. That's not who you want to be. You want to be a GREAT trainer with an awesome business and salary—and there are ways that you can set yourself up to make over six figures a year and work less hours than the trainers slaving over $35,000. a year.

A Personal Training Websites Guest Post by J. Brown

If you're starting out in the personal training industry you absolutely must create a great website to market your fitness business. Personal training websites help you to pull in clients from the internet, and also give you a place to direct potential clients to which speaks for itself and markets your business without you having to lift a finger once it's up.

By not having personal training websites you're missing out on a lot of potential clients that you could sign up. Everyone these days is online and most people, if they are looking for a product or service, such as personal training, will search the internet to find what they are looking for. A lot of people, if they can't find something online won't bother to call the company because they see a business without a website as either a sketchy business, or one that just isn't on top of things.

A Personal Trainer Business Guest Post by J. Brown

If you're planning your personal trainer business startup then you will want to look into tools and business programs that are available to help you get your business of the ground and bringing in a revenue stream. A lot of people think a personal trainer business startup is a great way for them to pursue their passion for fitness and health while allowing them to keep a unique schedule.

It is true that the fitness industry is definitely a unique business which allows you a lot of freedom IF you organize your business correctly. If you don't you're going to run into a lot of issues with your business and will find yourself spending a countless hours slaving over your personal trainer business startup without experiencing the freedom you may have originally associated with the career.

A Personal Trainer Tools Guest Post by J. Brown

If you're starting off in the fitness industry and are looking to create your own business or develop a fitness business you already have, then you will need to find personal trainer tools that will really help you get your business going and heading in the direction that you want. Having the right personal trainer tools is essential to getting the work you need done.

One important thing you need to think about as your grow your business is how you can increase your profits and cut back your hours so you're not working your tail off trying to keep up with your business. When you first start your business you'll want to look for personal trainer tools that will help keep you organized and making the best use of the time you have available.

A Fitness Business Plan Guest Post by J. Brown

If you're starting a fitness business you're going to want to spend some time getting your business organized and developing a fitness business plan before you just jump right into training or you'll be less effective and spend a lot of time running in circles trying to figure out what happened. You probably got into this business because you enjoy physical fitness and helping motivate others to achieve their goals. You also probably did not want to spend your whole life in an office chained to a desk.

Don't think of developing a business plan as a type of "chaining to the desk" but think of it as a way to spend some time creating an attack plan — Your killer fitness business plan — to make a business so successful that you DON'T have to spend hours at a desk or every waking moment of your life in a gym.

A Personal Training Career Guest Post by J. Brown

So you're thinking about starting a personal training career…here are some things you should keep in mind to really have a successful business. You probably got into this business thinking you love fitness, working out, and helping people achieve their goals, which is awesome, but if you're not careful you could end up slaving away and not making any money because when starting a personal training career you didn't stop to think and plan out the business side of it.

First of all with starting a personal training career you will want to make sure you have the right certificates and education. Research the certifications that gyms may require, and the certification organizations to make sure you are getting your monies worth. While having a certification is important to a lot of people and to the gym facilities, there is no need to go crazy getting a million of them or tacking on all kinds of specializations unless you're really targeting a unique small market. In reality, if you're looking at starting a personal training career you don't have to have a bunch of specializations.

A Become a Fitness Trainer Guest Post by J. Brown

Many people who are excited about fitness and health and are looking for a job that isn't sitting behind a desk pushing paper all day think that they would be great as a personal trainer. While it is great to become a fitness trainer, it takes a lot of hard work and dedication that some people don't think about beforehand, or don't bother to invest into their goal to become a fitness trainer. But, if you take these steps you will be able to grow your business and not only have a fun job, but be successful at it!

A Personal Trainer Resources Guest Post by J. Brown

There are lots of personal trainer resources out there that a lot of trainers aren't aware of. If you're just starting out you're going to want to check out what is available so you can be as successful as possible in your business. One good place to start finding personal trainer resources is the Build Your Business page above, which has links to personal trainer resources for all levels of your business, whether you just started out or you're looking to make some improvements to your already existing fitness business.

Obviously the internet also has a wealth of personal trainer resources from wikipedia articles to marketing programs.

Here is a list of some personal trainer resources that you might want to check out:

A Personal Training Business Post by Chris McCombs

Here's a question I got the other day…

>>> Question: "Hey Chris, I'm new to fitness training and am having a hard time getting clients and structuring my personal training business, what do you suggest?"

>>> My Comments: Thanks for reaching out, that's actually a pretty big question

First, decide how much you want to make, and how many clients you'll need to charge at what rates to get there. Let's say you want to make $100k net per year, and you have expenses of 20k per year…You'll need to make 120k per year, or 10k per month … this is actually VERY DOABLE. If you train groups and boot camps ( which I really hope is the way you plan to go) then I'd figure it out like this:

Let's say you're gonna train groups of 4-6 people an hour and you want to train 20 hours a week, which will give you lots of time to actually work ON your personal training business, instead of just in it…cuz working ON your biz and marketing is actually the best thing you could be doing with your time.