Believe it or not, you don’t want to train just anyone.

Yeah really. Seriously. You should be pretty choosy when it comes to picking who you want to work with. 

The earlier in your career that you realize this, the better. Don’t you dare fall into the trap of training anyone and everyone. 

Most young personal trainers are hungry to prove their worth. They’re so eager to practice their new craft on anyone that’s willing, even for a super cheap rate, even for free. No, No, No! Don’t do it! 

95% of those types of clients won’t stick, because they haven’t invested much at all for the service. 

Ok, maybe a couple stick with you. They keep paying you next to nothing, if anything, and continue to drag you down the path of eventual BURNOUT. 

Are you really going to continue to work as hard as possible session after session for a client like that? You’ll probably disagree with me, but no you won’t. You will turn into a very lazy trainer. 

After all the years I’ve been doing this, my clients still keep me on my toes, and I have been training the majority of them for 5-15 years. On my toes with my program design, my punctuality, my look, my attitude.

Why? Because my clients pay more, see me more, and therefore expect more.   

What kind of referral do you think that a cheap 2-4 training sessions a month client will give you? I’ll tell ya who… another low paying person wanting a lot for a little. 

You’ll say, “But Mark I want to help everyone that wants help. That’s why I chose to be a personal trainer. It’s not about the money.”  

You won’t be helping anyone when you can’t pay the rent and you have to find a new job. 

Here’s a question. 

Why do you let the sales staff at the club pick your clients? 

Hey, no offense to those guys and ladies though. I’ve known many and really liked most.

They have a job to do, and I know that they want to make money too. They’re smart and usually try to sell a training package during the sale of the membership, but personally I wouldn’t want any part of that deal. 

I mean how serious can a potential client be if they’re willing to let a sales person pick their trainer? What if the sales person lowers the price to get the sale? What if the client got “pushed” into the sale? What if they hate tattoos or people that drive imports? 

I’m only kind of joking here, but it’s definitely something to think about. The last thing you or your client needs is an uneasy feeling or some sort of resentment during the first session. 

It’s a horrible idea to wait around for people to come to you. 

Why would they come? I’m sorry, but let’s be honest. There’s a pretty good chance that hardly anyone knows who you are. Hey maybe you’ll get lucky… I doubt it.  

Why not get off your butt and go get who you want? 

It is so much easier to build a relationship with a client that you chose to market to, or one that was referred to you by one of your long term clients. This is because all the information is on the table before money is exchanged. Your look, your personality, your credentials, your philosophy, your price, the brand of car you drive… Ha Ha ; )           

So why aren’t you looking for clients outside the club? What do think your boss would think if you actually marketed your services to people that weren’t already members? 

I guarantee they would be pumped. 

First off, you’re thinking outside the box, and compared to most trainers you’re actually trying to market yourself. Secondly, you are not relying solely on the club to market for you, and thirdly you are marketing the club itself. 

A couple other benefits of bringing clients to the club from the outside world is that you don’t have to give a percentage to the sales person that usually sells the personal training package for you, and I bet that you receive a commission on the membership sale as well. 

Hardly any trainers take advantage of this wonderful strategy. They tend to sit around and wait for someone to hire them.

Why aren’t you marketing for yourself? Are you afraid? Don’t you know where to start? Are you just lazy? 

If it’s fear holding you back, you of course need to face it and take action. 

If you’re lazy, you better up your work ethic or find a new job. 

If it’s the fact that you feel lost and don’t know how to go about finding the right clients, then look no further. Let me help you.  

I’ve been in this biz for 19 years, and have completed approximately 2,000 personal training sessions per year since May of 1998.  

I created Personal Training Biz to make sure that you make plenty of money so you can continue to  feed your passion of helping people reach their health and fitness goals.  

Why not initiate your success? Who do you want to train? Is there a niche you want to go after? Do people know who you are and what you do? Does your dentist know? Your doctor? Your mom’s friends? 

I know that there are times especially early on in your career when things are so scary and the fear of failure is overwhelming. Let me help you with this. 

Let me teach you how to grab 15-20 clients that train 2-4 times per week every week and will never ever leave you. Will that ease your worries? 

Not if, but when this happens you will become an even better trainer. You will be training people you actually chose and like working with. A committed personal trainer training committed clients. Not training because you have to. Training because you want to. 

Hey, thank you for checking out this blog post. Thank you for sharing my writing as well, and for helping PTB grow so quickly. I also very much appreciate all the feedback that I receive. I always look forward to all the emails, Facebook messages, DMs, and comments on my posts.

Thanks again, talk soon.

P.S. Please take a minute and click here —> Personal Training Biz Consulting to learn a little bit more about me. There’s a short, very passionate and truthful video that you’ll definitely find interesting. Check it out. You’ll be happy that there’s someone out there that understands the frustrations that you’re dealing with.

FOLLOW ME on INSTAGRAM personaltrainingbiz 

FOLLOW ME on TWITTER @PTrainingBiz 

LIKE ME on FACEBOOK  Personal Training Biz