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Business of Personal Training

Selling Services in a Faltering Economy, Part 1

Let’s face it. This is not the easiest time to operate a personal training business. We are still in the throes of the worst economic recession since the Great Depression. The good news is that there are opportunities for personal trainers to thrive. To increase your chances for success, you just need to be proactive. Over the next two issues of IDEA Trainer Success I will present 10 steps you can take to ensure stability and success during a faltering economy. Here are the first five.

1. Target Your Expertise

Increasing Professionalism In and Out of the Studio, Part 2

As the second installment in our new series on leadership development for fitness professionals, this article will show you the value of truly living the life of a fitness professional—and share some ways to ensure that you send the right message both in and out of the workplace.

Saving a Sinking Ship, Part 2: Sprucing Up Your Studio’s Aesthetics

Operating a business can be challenging. Success demands innovation and creativity, and business owners must learn to develop strategies that will separate their business from all the others. What will customers appreciate about one personal training studio versus another? You can distinguish your venue in multiple waysunique equipment, greater square footage and desirable amenities are just a few. However, while these accommodations alone may be effective, they don’t guarantee success and they can be quite costly.

Creating a Code of Conduct

In the fitness business, where many personnel are part-time, employee conduct can easily be overlooked. Because of their schedules, some fitness facility employees may not even have contact with management.

Files
Where’s Your Data?

Suppose your fitness facility is served with a document request. This could come in a variety of contexts, ranging from a government audit to a sexual harassment investigation.

Top 10 Traits of Group Exercise MVPs

In many sports the Most Valuable Player, or MVP, award is one of the most coveted. MVPs are chosen for creating big plays or big numbers. It may not be as easy to choose the MVPs among your group exercise instructors. First, there are no winners or losers in group exercise; ideally, we’re all trying to do the same thing.

Inspiring Your Part-Time Staff

One of the most challenging aspects of fitness management is inspiring part-time staff to remain focused and invested. Many part-time fitness jobs are mundane, and even the most motivated staff member can feel unappreciated after folding endless stacks of towels or repeating the facility rules time yet again.

Raising Happy, Healthy Kids

You have probably read a lot about how today’s children are more overweight and obese than kids in past generations. But hearing actual statistics about the United States’ childhood obesity epidemic can be shocking.

Fitness Facilities Get Creative

Fitness industry revenue may be up (see “Fitness Industry Booms”), but that shouldn’t stop facility owners and managers from finding creative ways to draw new business and keep current members inspired. Here are some unique ideas for driving traffic, courtesy of HealthyWages.com:

Success Inside a Health Club

Gayle Winegar, founder and owner of SweatShop Health Club in Saint Paul, Minnesota, sensed Pilates “would be big” in 1994 after her fitness director, Jill Winegar, took classes at Rancho La Puerta.

The Anatomy of an Effective Outsourcing Plan

When you decided to become an independent exercise entrepreneur, you had a core focus and a vision of how you would help your clients. But overnight you also became the accountant, janitor, customer service department, blog writer, fitness manager and CEO—all rolled into one.

Group Fitness Must-Haves

Thirty years ago there was really just one option in group fitness: high-impact aerobics. Now, as IDEA Health & Fitness Association turns 30, there are many wonderful choices. It’s impossible…

Fresh-Air Fitness

Treadmills, ellipticals, indoor cycling classes—sometimes the same old thing becomes, well, old. To alleviate the boredom that can set in—and that ultimately reduces members’ motivation to exercise—many facility owners and managers are shaking up their programming by taking their clients outdoors.

Make Securing a Lawyer a Priority

While it’s tempting to use lawyers only when problems arise, it’s often wiser to proactively establish a relationship with a lawyer who can assist you with preventive measures. You may call your lawyer only once or twice a year, perhaps to get a legal perspective on an issue, but this is time and money well spent if it helps you avoid costly litigation.

The Anatomy of a Successful Client Testimonial

Customer testimonials can be fantastic tools for driving new business to your door. But boring, photo-free client comments buried deep inside your website are unlikely to do the trick. To quickly capture the imagination (and training dollars) of the masses, it is critical to breathe life into client success stories.

So what makes some testimonials tedious and others terrific? Follow these four steps to avoid the mistakes of time-wasting customer snooze stories. Bring your facility’s testimonials back from the brink—and attract new-member dollars to your door.

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.