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Career Path for Mind-Body Professionals

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.

Programs to Track Your Finances

As a personal training business owner, you’ve got a lot on your to-do list. Atop that list is making sure your finances are organized and accounted for. These programs can help you do just that.

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.

5 Tips on Obtaining Physician Referrals

5 Tips on Obtaining Physician Referrals

Many fitness professionals may not know where to begin when attempting to build a career in medical fitness. These five communication strategies can help fitness professionals obtain physician referrals:

Encouraging Instructors to Stay and Play

Many group fitness instructors are independent contractors and teach a variety of classes at various facilities. The majority of them would prefer to offer their teaching talents at a single facility in exchange for regular pay and full benefits, but such opportunities are hard to find.

Fitness For Everyone

I am a C6 tetraplegic paralyzed from the midchest down due to a car accident in 1995. Outside of physical therapy, I had never really thought about fitness very much until I gained a lot of weight after I had my two children (in 2003 and 2005). I went to our local YMCA to see if there was anything I could do to work out, lose weight and get myself back into physi- cal shape. I tried Zumba® and fell in love with the music and the fact that I was moving my body and having fun. Before I knew it, I was losing weight and gain- ing confidence, endurance and strength.

Small-Group Secrets: One-Size-Fits-All Program Design

How can two full-time personal trainers with six part-time colleagues generate annual gross revenues in excess of $850,000?
Just ask studio owner Frank Nash.
Frank Nash Training Systems in Worcester, Massachusetts, is a 5,500-square-foot facility that specializes almost exclusively in small-group training. SGT is a training system that allows up to a dozen clients to work with a personal trainer during a shared workout session. It’s also the subject of an ongoing IDEA Trainer Success series.

A Better Way to Determine Class Value

Class value is in the eye of the beholder. Depending on where you’ve worked and what you’ve learned over the years, the metrics you use to review, modify or cancel a class can vary significantly.

Membership Sales or Program Advisement?

Traditionally, many fitness facilities employ a “membership team.” These individuals are often referred to as “membership sales advisors,” “membership sales specialists” or “membership sales representatives.”

Small-Group Secrets: Pricing and Profits

Small-group training—workouts for groups of three to 10 clients (www.ideafit.com/fitness-library/small group-secrets-the-start-up-plan)—is a trend that’s changing the face of our industry.

Why? Profit margins are much better with small group, says Mike Bates, MBA, owner of Refine Fitness Studio in Windsor, Ontario. “If your goal is to make money, you should do as much [small-group training] as you can, as long as it fits with your training philosophy.”

Easy Ways to Increase Revenue

Wouldn’t it be great to gather the best practices of fitness facilities around the country and distill this knowledge into a succinct series? That’s what this new column explores: the very best secrets of success for operating, managing and marketing a fitness facility.

Fitness Worker Wages Fall Short, Satisfaction High

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, the outlook is bright for “fitness workers.” The agency anticipates growth of about 24% from 2010 to 2020. Despite this outlook, however, a report from US News suggests that things are not 100% rosy when it comes to compensation.

30 Ways to Make More Money Resources

The following list of resources act as a supplement to the article “30 Ways to Make More Money: Win the Leverage Lotto!” as seen in the July-August issue of IDEA Fitness Journal. Each of them offer more in-depth information for the majority of the ideas presented in the article.

How to Host a Profitable Educational Workshop

Hosting an educational workshop is an excellent way to raise your profile as an expert in a health and fitness specialty while providing a great additional revenue stream for your business. The teaching experience can also help you refine your theoretical and practical skills while providing attendees with valuable knowledge and information.

How to Thrive in Low-Income Markets

Do you believe that fitness is for everyone? Do you struggle to accommodate people who can’t afford to work with you? You may be so passionate about reaching everyone that you volunteer in the trenches, speak at service clubs, host health fair booths and support charitable runs.

The Pay Rate Debate

If you’ve managed a group fitness department long enough, you’ve probably felt like the “red-headed stepchild” more than once. If your facility is like a host of others, your department isn’t considered a separate profit center, but rather a part of membership. Since group exercise doesn’t usually have a “home” on the profit and loss statement, payroll is often the only line item attributed to it. Consequently, when cuts are made, guess which department is most often flagged!

Benefits and Discounts for Fitness Industry Workers

While compensation from salary or hourly pay may have decreased in some fitness jobs, benefits and discounts seem to have increased at least for full-time and part-time employees, according to the 2010 IDEA Fitness Industry Compensation Trends Report.

Hiring and Promotion in the Fitness Industry

Hiring and promotion decisions are based on many factors. When hiring individuals, the top three criteria in all positions except personal training director are skills and abilities, certification and personality, according to survey respondents in the 2010 IDEA Fitness Industry Compensation Trends Report.