Wow… according to a handful of “experts” on the ol’ interweb, we should quit the personal training business.

These “experts” are saying that we won’t be able to make it going the route most are going.

They say that training clients one on one just isn’t gonna work anymore. That it’s just too hard doing it the “old fashioned way.”

Thankfully they are being so gracious to advise us that there’s a new hip and cool way to make money, and we all better jump aboard before we get left behind and end up in a cubicle with our phone on our belt for the next 30 years.

Oh no! I’m getting nervous! ; ) Lol

Instead of the impossible concept of training one or two people per hour, we’re supposed to take the easy route and start promoting boot camp classes.

Oh and by the way, these experts will teach you their “107-step secret system” for a limited time. Geniuses…

I guess that the thousands upon thousands of successful personal trainers on the planet got lucky.

Listen…

I know that some personal trainers are doing boot camps. You might be. Great. Super.

A colleague of mine, who is a tremendous trainer runs boot camps and is doing very well. For now.

If you are, I truly hope that you’re killing it and making a ton of money helping to change lives.

I’m not saying that going this route is a horrible idea. It’s just that it’s definitely not the answer or the easy route like everyone is trying to sell you. This system also has it’s problems.

I just don’t want you giving up on something that you truly have a passion for.

There’s something to be said about the connection of a personal trainer and a client over the course of 6 months or 5 years. It’s pretty special.

And it will pay large amounts per hour consistently. Day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after year if you market your service to the right people.

Boot camps run their course and then die. Oops, that statement might hurt some personal trainers a little.

The statement is a very generalized one, but ballsy. ; )

Remember, I’m not here to tell you what you want to hear. That statement serves a purpose. To get you to think.

And by the way, the statement is true.

Although, you are correct to think that boot camps could help you make ends meet by supplementing your personal training income. For awhile anyway.

Running boot camp style classes is very attractive to most personal trainers, especially the struggling ones.

What’s attractive to many is that with these classes you can train 20 people at a time and charge them next to nothing.

Most trainers think it’s a slam dunk system. Charging 20 people (If you can recruit that many) $249.00 for a 10-week class that meets twice a week for an hour.

This would make you $249.00 per hour before taxes and before the club takes their cut, unless you have your own building or want to have the class outdoors depending on the weather and where you live.

Each client is spending a messily $12.45 per session.

Let me ask you. Where’s the value?

How many classes will they skip after the first 4?

They haven’t invested hardly anything. Why would they keep coming?

And yet most personal trainers think this is the way to go. Because it’ll be easy right?

Everyone will be a potential client, because it’s cheap.

Cheap doesn’t keep people coming back. Cheap sucks!

Getting people results is the key in this industry.

We all know this, but how do people get results?

By being consistent of course. Consistent with food and consistent with workouts.

Well, do you really think that a person that spends $12.45 for a class is going to be consistent? Will they really care after 4 weeks?

Some will of course, but what about the others? What happens after the 10 weeks are up?

Good luck retaining everyone. It will be a constant battle.

Ya see, boot camps actually aren’t a new concept.

In my 20 years in the business, I’ve witnessed many many many trainers switch to boot camps, because they felt it was the only way to make money in the industry.

I’m so embarrassed for them when I see them go from a 15 person class to a 3 person class in a few short weeks.

It’s a sad sight. I hate seeing great personal trainers fail to see who their market is.

Question…

Do you really think that the Baby Boomers (currently 50-70 year old people and perfect clients, with tons of disposable money and free time) want to lift tires over their head and use battle ropes?

Ummmm no they don’t. They want to be “TAKEN CARE OF.”

I’m sorry if that’s not the type of client that you want to train, but they are the ones that will pay and pay and pay.

And they’ll pay way more than $12.45 a session. And they’ll never quit. (If you do a good job.)

Marketing to the wealthy/successful is what has always worked for successful personal trainers.

Look at the celebrity personal trainers out there. Are they running boot camps? No, they train wealthy/successful people for a huge hourly fee or a huge yearly salary. 

This is exactly what I do and all the other six-figure earning personal trainers do.

And what does this bring to our life? It brings certainty and freedom. Oh and a lot more money.

Believe it or not, there are many local celebrities within 20 minutes of your location.

Check out one of my blog posts that speaks on that very subject here. Who Are the Best Personal Trainers on the Planet?

Successful people always see the value of spending a good amount of money on something that’s worth while.

I hear so many personal trainers and health club owners continue to say, “Hey Mark, all you have to do to be successful as a personal trainer is do a good job.”

Yes, I agree with you. Well, kinda.

I agree that doing a good job is #1, but doing a good job for someone that can’t afford your service won’t do you much good will it? Because they can’t afford your service consistently, they’ll never get any real results from you. 

This means no referrals, which means NO BUSINESS GROWTH.

Whose life can you change if you aren’t making enough money to stay in business?

Thank you very much for taking the time to read my blog posts, and for all the kind emails DM’s, and Facebook messages. I love hearing from passionate professionals.

Ya know what else I love?

I love the fact that my first E-Book that I launched in early 2015 is still getting talked about. The one titled Three Killer Mistakes Successful Personal Trainers Don’t Make.

I’m thinking that it’s still getting talked about because I was my very overly honest self… For around 20 pages Ha Ha.

I admit that a few didn’t like some of the things I said. I guess they didn’t like hearing the TRUTH.

If you are one of the rare few from my almost 45,000 followers of Personal Training Biz that hasn’t read it, why not get it now? It’s actually FREE.

Just click here —> FREE E-Book, and then click the big green button that says Free Download.

Thanks again. Much more to come, talk soon.

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