(Note: This blog post was inspired by a 30 minute evaluation of common questions new personal trainers were asking on Reddit and Quora.)
I’ve been a personal trainer for 26 years and like many trainers, I came into the fitness industry a bit naive, thinking that building a career would be easier than it actually was.
I don’t want to do you a disservice and give the typical, unhelpful B.S advice telling you ” just follow your passion and success will come and find you.”
The following points are important for new trainers to hear in order to set realistic expectations. The marketing departments of certification companies are great at making it sound like if you just pass their test, you will be ready for a rewarding, profitable career.
Then, the Real World …Arrives!
The first hard, obvious truth is that you are going to have to get really good at what you do.
No marketing prowess can change that. Restaurants with crappy food- fail.
A barber who doesn’t cut hair very well- fails.
An actor who can’t act- fails…unless you’re Nicolas Cage.
Think about it. If you are like most trainers, you are competing with hundreds, if not THOUSANDS of others JUST LIKE YOU.
Same certifications, posting the same stuff on social media, using the same advertising mediums and mostly saying the same things on their websites and social media.
How many trainers say things like “science based, human movement expert who specializes in weight loss, muscle building and ready to motivate and help you find your best self.”
This is why YOU NEED to be so good that you stand out!
Hard Truth 1: Be so good that when there are 10 available trainers and 20 prospective clients in your neighborhood…your reputation makes it that you are the one receiving 15-20 of the phone calls.
Why the greedy, somewhat selfish amount of phone calls?
Understand this:
- Trainers with a full schedule can charge high rates – High rates and lots of clients means they are the ones who make great money and are able to build a career!
- Average trainers, who can only fill half of their schedule and can only charge average rates – Live month-to-month struggling to afford the lifestyle they had hoped for. The average trainer income is around $35,000 a year, depending on where you live. This means that, statistically speaking, half of the personal trainers are making even less than that. Odds are, average trainer will grow tired of struggling financially and will eventually want to find another career.
- Bad trainers have empty schedules and must charge low rates – Well, they’ll fizzle out quickly and be forced to get other jobs.
New trainers NEED to know that success in this business, means NOT being an average trainer. You are going to have to put in the work to be one of the best at what you do.
Hard Truth 2: The Good News & Bad News of a Saturated Personal Training Market.
First the bad news. Personal training is a “saturated market.”
Actually, this is really only very bad news for average and below average trainers.
It is good news for the kinds of trainers that make massive differences in people’s lives.
Look, there are nearly a half a million actors registered with the Screen Actors Guild…acting is a saturated market. For most actors, there is NO demand. Yet, there is big demand for Brad Pitt and Sandra Bullock. There is a public demand for THEM. They are in demand, despite a saturated, overcrowded supply.
It’s the same with personal training. You need to create a demand for YOU. To do so…Make yourself a great trainer.
The best trainers can manipulate the supply demand equilibrium, as there is only one of YOU. Create demand for YOU in your area by getting people the kind of results that WOW everyone who sees your clients- friends, family, colleagues. You need to make their results obvious to everyone to the point that they will ask them how they did it.
When people start talking about YOU, demand for YOU goes up. These are the trainers that can easily reach that coveted 6-figure salary.
Related: How Personal Trainers Can Make 6 Figures – The Math
Hard truth 3: Doing well on your certification test has very little to do with how well you are going to do in your career as a personal trainer.
This truth is aimed more at those on their way to becoming a personal trainer. I see a lot of soon-to-be trainers get overly caught up in which certification to get and passing their certification test in general.
What’s on the test? What is zone 2 cardio? What’s the difference between an artery and a vein? What plane is a chest press on?
Don’t get too bogged down by your certification. The real learning, the learning that sets you apart from other certified trainers, has very little to do with rote memorization skills of facts.
When a new actor gets his actors Screen Actors Guild card, is he guaranteed success in the industry? When a person gets their hair stylists certification and wants to cut people’s hair, is their career a guaranteed success?
Just get your certification, don’t stress too much about it, and then go and get your feet wet. Remember, it’s just the first step of a long journey of growth. It’s like kindergarten for trainers.
Hard Truth 4: Yes. Your Personality Does Matter!
If your client is bored, they aren’t going to stay your client very long. This is important when it comes to retaining clients.
Selling and training can both be really tough on some introverts. I was very introverted when I first started. I understand all of the pains that go along with that. PRACTICE your “happy skills.” It might feel like you are being fake at first, but it will also wear off on yourself and you will find it easier and easier to be fun, engaging and more open. You will also enjoy training more.
It is okay to be an introvert as a personal trainer, of course. Most of all, don’t be these two things, as it will kill your chances of client retention- which is necessary when building your business.
1. Don’t be boring.
2. Don’t be negative.
Client retention is a must if you want to grow your fitness training business.
Do everything you can to make clients feel good when they come in the door. Try to make their time with you one of the brightest spots in their day. They should be excited to see you, even if they are not excited about the particulars of the workout you have planned for them.
If you do not have a positive, uplifting personality, you are making it hard on yourself to succeed in this industry.
It’s not fair, I know. But, that is what most people expect when looking for and hiring a personal trainer. Be the person in their day that gives them positivity. Be the person in their day that listens. Be the person in their day that helps them reach new heights with their fitness. Build a good relationship and you’ll make yourself invaluable in their lives.
For more on client retention…You can read The 3 Keys For Better Client Retention for Personal Trainers.
Hard Truth 5: Your “passion for fitness” won’t take you very far.
Almost every new trainer says they are getting into personal training because they have a “passion for fitness.”
Truth bomb: Your clients will most likely NOT share your passion and you will need to have other ways to connect and engage with them on.
The average person in the market for a personal trainer is probably nothing like you. They often lack passion for fitness. They are often frustrated with their own past fitness efforts and many of them will hate the gym atmosphere in general.
Now, I am not saying you shouldn’t have a passion for fitness – you should. But, your days can get long and tedious. Your passion for “fitness” will wear thin. You will need a passion for helping others. A passion for continuous learning. You will need a passion for doing things involved with growing your business.
Are you feeling me here? A passion for doing fitness is not the same as having a passion for doing a fitness business.
A lot of trainers hit what is called “Trainer’s Burnout.” This might just mean “Not as passionate about fitness as I thought I was when I started personal training.”
Of course it does help tremendously to love and be passionate about what you “DO” daily- Just understand that it entails a lot more than just “fitness.”
Hard Truth 6: How Do I Get Personal Training Clients?
There isn’t one way, or even a best way, to get clients. In a nutshell, you’ll most likely need to get clients in a variety of different ways. Get clients in any way that you can!
If there was a marketing trick that worked for all trainers, they would all be doing it.
One quick scroll through Reddit proves that every new trainer seems to ask “How do I get clients?”
There isn’t one way. For example, I can think of at least 20 different ways I got a client right off the top of my head. (Here are 20 different ways I’ve got a personal training client.)
If you get 10 different clients in various ways, and then those clients on average bring in 2 new people over the course of the year, you are at 30 clients and in very high demand, allowing you to also charge the highest rates.
Fight tooth and nail for those first 10 clients!
Now, since this might seem unhelpful to some of you, my point is this:
Hard Truth 7: It’s going to take some time to build up your initial clientele.
This is how business works in EVERY industry.
We personal trainers don’t deserve anthing different. You’ve got to go out and get them…then EARN their continued business.
This will take some patience and perseverance to do. I think this is the number one reason most trainers do not last their first year.
Just remember that in that first year, you are building your future.
If you aren’t making 6 figures in your first year- well, neither are most people in any industry. Calm down. Build your business. You WILL get there if you go about your business and learning in a smart, methodical way.
Hard Truth 8: “I Got Certified. I Want to Do Online Training.”
You just got certified and want to do online training instead of face to face. Good luck!
I am not saying it can’t be done. But, let’s be completely honest here. Though I do not have any hard numbers for you, I can tell you that VERY small percentage of trainers, who haven’t trained real people in real life, are able to make a good living training people online.
It may seem like there are many trainers doing “online training” because all of our Instagram feeds are inundated with people trying to seek us a program like “How to Make 6-figures with Online Training.”
Truth is, there are as many people making money selling programs that promise trainers how to make money online than there are actual trainers making a successful career training people online.
If you are a new trainer, getting enough online clients to make a living might be tough.
I am sure it’s not impossible, but think of it this way- If YOU were interested in an online business coach, would you feel more confident signing up with someone with a history of success – or pay a person who has hasn’t yet built a business or helped anyone build a business in real life?
If you haven’t built demand for your services and you struggle selling real personal training, you will struggle even more selling online training.
Caveat: I DO make a great side income training people online. So, it is possible. However, I can’t teach you “my secret formula for building online success.”
Why?
Nearly every online client I have is either:
- A former client who can no longer make it to my gym,
- A person who learned about me from one of my clients,
- A person in town who is too far away to come to my gym.
- A person I couldn’t match schedules with.
- A person who had seen one of my clients success stories on social media.
- A person who had read one of my books.
Furthermore, it has taken me years to build up this online side income and the online training is really just an extension stemming from what was already a successful personal training business.
I can honestly say I don’t know a single real trainer who has made a career by starting out by selling online personal training.
I am not saying it’s impossible. I am saying it is rare.
If you do take this route…you’ll have to be GREAT at marketing. Then, you will still have to be great programming in order to retain the people you got through your marketing efforts.
If you’ve never trained a person face-to-face, you’ve got a steep mountain in front of you and you are wearing slippery shoes.
Hard Truth 9: Clients don’t care about what certification you have.
It’s a simple truth. So, next question becomes…
What do they care about?
Knowing the answers to this tells you how to effectively communicate with prospective clients. They care about RESULTS. This is why they look for a trainer to begin with, right? They want change.
They don’t know the difference between different fitness certifications. They just want to feel confident you can do the job they pay you for.
Do you care which certification your plumber has? Would you even know the difference between different plumbing certifications that exist? I am sure you don’t care what classes a plumber took, or that you care.
You DO care that he can fix your toilet from continuously spilling over whenever you have a guest at your house.
Well, I can assure you that your future clients are exactly the same way as you and I.
The real world- the capitalistic society where your prospective clients live and participate in– don’t give a flying sheet in the wind about the name of your certification or your degree. All they care about is who has the ability to help them alleviate their problems and get them to their goal.
Hard Truth 10: Most trainers quit within the first year and very few are able to turn it into a long career.
Though I struggle to find the actual data behind it, it is said repeatedly that 90% of personal trainers quit within the first year.
After having paid lots of money (and often, time) for their fitness certification, many new trainers come into the industry with conviction that they can make a career out of it.
Don’t be like most trainers who overestimate their abilities and underestimate how hard it is to build a business that is sustainable long term. (This doesn’t just hold true in the fitness industry).
Like building any business, you need to be ready for the challenge. You will have definitely have days where it feels like you are failing.
You need to display some fight and mental fortitude. You will need to have some grit and an almost stubborn-like perseverance. You will need to hustle, even on days you just feel like gaming and Netflixing.
You would expect your clients to workout even when they don’t feel like it because that is what it takes to succeed. Well, same goes for building a career in personal training.
The real world personal training market won’t just give anyone anything. It’s a cutthroat industry and most will not make it and that is simply a hard fact.
Be ready to go and fight to be the last one standing.
Related Article: Why There are So Few Lifers In Personal Training
Hard Truth 11: You really should look the part, or at least have a motivating story behind you.
Every intern I’ve ever had has asked, “Do I need to “look fit” to be a personal trainer?” Answering this always is usually “it depends” while also requiring a bit of dancing on egg shells.
It is my opinion, you should look fit…or at least have a story that motivates.
Making sales all depend on whether the prospective client trusts your abilities to help them.
Imagine a dentist with black teeth.
Imagine a chiropractor, hunched over with back pain every day.
Imagine a social media marketing expert for 3 followers.
Most people would be hesitant to turn to them for their services. They might be great at what they do. But, hesitancy = lack of trust. Lack of trust = no sale.
Prospective clients will expect you to be a product of your product. It will help you greatly if you wear your knowledge on your physical self.
You do not have to look like Adonis or a fitness model, but you SHOULD look the part.
That being said, a lot will depend on your specific niche.
For example, if you’ve lost 50 pounds and have helped others lose 50 pounds, yet don’t “look fit” (according to whatever subjective standards we decide on), you have given people a good reason to trust your knowledge and abilities.
Wrapping it up. I am wishing you all the best!
There you have it!
I hope you took this as a bit of needed tough, but honest and helpful love. Not something new trainers get much of from this wacky industry.
I think it will help new trainers tremendously if they KNOW that it’s not easy to get into this business so they are not taken by surprise.
Like any business, you will have to work and fight for success.
The good news is this….
YOU CAN DO IT!
I am proof. I am by no means a person of incredible intellect or talent. I simply combined an intense desire to learn with some stubborn grit and have built a long, profitable fitness career that I can be proud of.
I am confident you can, too!
I wish you well my friend!
If you are interested and would like some more tips and lessons I’ve accumulated the hard way over the last 26 years, you might like to download this free e-book with 14 Tips and Lessons to Help You Grow Your Personal Training Business.
[aweber listid=”6315180″ formid=”623213945″ formtype=”webform”]
Jeff has been a trainer for 26 years and is owner of Flash Fitness in Bangkok