Marketing & Sales
Nutrition Coaching: A Primer for Health and Fitness Professionals
Fitness professionals should discuss nutrition with their clients.
Historically, many fitness pros have either avoided nutrition
discussions for fear of straying outside their scope of practice or gone
overboard by exceeding their scope of practice—recommending nutritional
supplements or individualized meal plans.
There is a better way: Staying within scope of practice while adopting a
coaching philosophy that uses proven methods of behavior change.
Online Training: Programming for Profit
The second installment of this series on online training focuses on the different types of programs—and pricing strategies—successful entrepreneurs have used to build a solid Internet-based business.
10 Questions to Ask Before Opening a Studio
Many fitness professionals dream of designing a studio that reflects their unique perspective and approach to health and fitness—a place where they can grow their business, their brand and their client base (and, of course, their paycheck!) on their own terms.
There’s a huge appeal to running your own space, especially if you’ve been working long enough to imagine how you might design a space specifically suited to your clients’ needs and your vision.
Building a Conscious, Thriving and Sustainable Business
Have you noticed that these days, more of the business world is crossing over to the conscious or spiritual way of doing business? Terms like karma capitalism, spiritual marketing, environmentally friendly, sharing economy and community-based buying are all cropping up in the mainstream corporate lexicon. As forward-thinking businesses start to embrace the conscious way of doing business—and make steep profits in the process—are you honing the necessary skills to join their ranks?
Lessons From the Trenches, Part One: The Leader Within
Many fitness professionals aspire to take their careers to the next level. Whether the goal is to become a better personal trainer or coach or to become the chief operating officer of a large fitness chain, great leadership is the underlying theme.
Investing in Fitness Technology
In 2014, we saw numerous mobile health and telehealth acquisitions as larger companies ramped up their digital health strategies (Comstock 2014). These moves are more than business news headlines—they represent broad trends that are increasingly relevant to fitness and wellness professionals.
How to Make Money With Online Training
Tired of the inherent time-for-dollars limits of traditional personal training? Virtual coaching offers a supplemental income stream—or an online-only career.
Taking Investor’s Perspective to Leveraging Fitness Technology
In 2014, we saw numerous mobile health and telehealth acquisitions as larger companies ramped up their digital health strategies (Comstock 2014). These moves are more than business news headlines—they represent broad trends that are increasingly relevant to fitness and wellness professionals.
Secrets of Social Media Success
Social media offers fitness businesses an opportunity to market products and services. But there are some best practices to consider when navigating online platforms, explains Rochelle Sanchirico, head of marketing and analytics for Webs.com.
Sanchirico offers these insights to help you maximize your social media presence:
How to Make More Money: The Art of Repurposing
As a business owner, you have a lot of responsibilities, with little time to waste. In addition to training clients and teaching classes, you have marketing, paperwork, financial records, website content, workshops “ and the list goes on. Such a busy schedule can make it difficult to boost business by developing new products and services. But what if I told you there’s a way to save time on your marketing efforts and make more money, by using what you’ve already got in new ways?
10 Great Ways to Boost Sales and Leads
The best way to attract your next customers and keep the ones you already have is to give, give, give. When you create and share valuable content, you’re positioning yourself as a trustworthy expert and you’re building your brand naturally. This lets you showcase your talents at a very low cost while you explore your options, and an approach that works for you and your customers can then take you from free to fee.
Smooth Sailing Toward Specialization
When I noticed the trend toward specialization building in the fitness industry a few years ago, it struck me as the answer to the professional slump I was in. After teaching and training for more than 20 years, I had hit a wall. Specializing seemed to hold the promise that I could raise my training fees and enjoy a wider variety of professional opportunities.
9 Simple Ways to Keep Your Clients
The success of your business relies solely on your ability to attract and keep clients. Use these tips to enhance the client-trainer relationship so that you can focus more on providing quality service to your current clients and less on finding new ones.
Hosting Fitness Retreats
There is a growing market for individuals interested in attending fitness oriented weekends and retreats. Take advantage of this up-and-coming profit center and learn how to host your own quality retreats.
Optimize Your PR Campaign: Build Relationships and Tell Stories
e-steps-to-be-media-ready“Three Steps to Be Media Ready” (April 2014), I explained the meaning and importance of public relations. I also talked about how to become media ready by identifying yourself as an expert, sharing your story, and creating and distributing quality content.
How to Market Your Business With Facebook
Facebook is often used as a means to market products and services. However, updated algorithms have made it much more difficult to spread the word. Learn tips and tricks to make sure your audience gets the message.
Summer Retention Strategies
Helping your clients stay active and take care of their health is a year-round challenge. In the summer, your efforts often seem to get lost among shifting schedules, vacation plans and other activities—all of which affect client outcomes and, ultimately, your bottom line.
Navigating around this complicated time takes some flexibility and planning on your part. Discover strategies for motivating and retaining your clients during the summer months.
Flexibility Is Key
Inspired Service, Part Two: Leadership With Heart
In Part One of this five-part series, we proposed that the quality of customer service—the core of which is to make members feel special—is the most significant factor in a company’s bottom line. We discussed “how” customer service must evolve to reflect a company’s values more powerfully, and “why” it must evolve: so that people are inspired to become members.
Networking Know-How
Many experts suggest that networking is a great tool for growing a business. But the process can be awkward or uncomfortable for some fitness pros.
Frank Pucher, CEO of 121 Personal Training in Roseland, New Jersey, offers his top tips on becoming a master networker:
What You Should Be Doing With That Email List
Despite what you may have heard, email marketing is not dead. It is alive and well, and it can be extremely effective in helping your clients keep their fitness—and your brand—top of mind. As of 2013, there were 3.6 billion email accounts (Hubspot 2013), which is why email marketing is used by the biggest names in the business.
You may already have an email list but feel unsure what to do with it, or you may be starting from scratch. Either way, this article will cover how best to use email marketing to grow your business.