If you have a passion for fitness and helping people, then being a personal trainer is a great career for you. This field offers so much flexibility in scheduling and opportunities, all while helping people meet their fitness goals. To be a full time personal trainer, you will have to make sure you have enough clients to keep you working.
Five great tips that will help with finding clients and sustaining a successful career as a personal trainer include offering free training sessions, being active on social media, getting referrals from clients, starting a blog or Youtube channel, and creating professional referral networks.
The expertise you offer as a personal trainer will be a great resource to your community, and you can build your career as you build muscles. Whether your sessions are at a gym or online, these 5 tips will help you share your passion for fitness with many potential new clients.
Article Contents
How Much Does a Personal Trainer Make?
Becoming a personal trainer is a great job for people who love to exercise, and this career gives you a flexible schedule and salary. Depending on where you work and if you are employed by a gym, Fitness Mentors found that you can make $40,000-$70,000 per year as a personal trainer.
How much you make will depend greatly on the services you offer and if you work with a gym. Being a personal trainer gives you a lot of flexibility to make money once you find regular clients, and you can have freedom in your pricing and schedule based on where and how you operate your personal training sessions.
(Before you start making a living off of being a personal trainer, you’ll need to get a personal trainer certification. You can even get your personal trainer certification online!)
What Determines How Much Personal Trainers Make?
There is no one-size-fits all salary for personal trainers. Depending on where you live and how you acquire clients, you might make more or less money than trainers in other cities. Some of the biggest factors in how much money you make are if you are:
Employed by a gym
Self-employed
Contract employed
If you are employed by a gym as a trainer, you might actually make less than independent trainers per client. Being a gym employee means you will be paid a salary by the gym instead of the client paying you directly. Working for a gym, however, is a secure way to consistently build relationships with potential clients.
If you are self-employed, you have the power to set your own rates for training sessions, and you can even have virtual clients around the world. This means you have the opportunity to make the most money, but you will have to recruit clients without the structure of a gym.
Being contract employed is like a combination of the other two with you having a 1099 contract with a gym. This relationship means the gym will pay you per session you perform instead of employing you. This option gives you the flexibility of being independent and the security of working with a gym’s existing clients.
What's the Most Common Way of Finding Clients as a Personal Trainer?
The easiest and most common way to find clients as a personal trainer is by building a relationship with a gym. People congregate in gyms because they are a resource for exercise equipment and information on fitness, so it is naturally a place where people who want personal training sessions will go.
As a trainer, you can either work for a gym, or you can become an independent contractor with a gym. Your knowledge and expertise is a valuable resource to gyms and their clients, and gyms can be a consistent and secure place to find clients. You will also have access to all of the space and equipment the gym already has.
Being an independent trainer is an incredibly flexible path to take as a trainer, however, you might have to pay for your own equipment or pay gyms to train your clients there. Using a gym’s resources cuts down on your overhead costs as a trainer so that you can get the most out of your sessions.
Check your local gyms to see if they are looking for a personal trainer. Even if working as a gym employee is not for you, a 1099 contract might be a great way to find clients at a gym while remaining independent.
5 Great Tips to Help You Find Clients as a Personal Trainer
You do not have to be employed by a gym to make it as a personal trainer. Personal training is flexible, so you have the freedom to find clients and help them meet their health and fitness goals. Some of the best ways to recruit clients are:
- Finding clients online
- Promoting deals and specials
- Networking
Diversifying the way you get clients will help you stay successful as a trainer. Using a combination of all of these techniques means that you will be able to sustain your career and help a wider range of people.
On top of sustaining your career, you use these five great tips to elevate your career as a personal trainer once you start:
- Offer free training sessions
- Be active on social media
- Get referrals from clients
- Start a blog or Youtube channel
- Create professional referral networks
If you want to take the initiative and take personal training seriously, then implementing these five great tips will ensure you can accomplish your professional and personal fitness goals.
Offer Free Training Sessions
Using a personal trainer can be daunting, especially if someone is new to fitness. If you offer a free session to first time clients, they will feel less intimidated by the cost of training and be more likely to give it a try.
Be sure to show the people participating that personal training can be fun, and that you have a lot to teach them. Then, they can decide if they want to continue with paid sessions.
You could also offer a free group session to offices and clubs. This way, you will reach more people at once, and the groups will try something new with people they already know. Be sure to promote free sessions on social media when you offer them.
(Need some ideas on what to offer in these session? Check out the best free online workout programs to find out what others are offering!)
Be Active on Social Media
Social media is a popular and free place for marketing and finding new things to do, so as a trainer, you can promote your services to people simply through your social media accounts.
Some of the things you can post on social media to find clients are:
- Sample workouts
- Deals and specials on sessions
- Success and progress stories
Your social media profiles will be a place for prospective clients to see if you are a right fit for them. If you post samples of workouts, they can get a taste of your services, and if you have special packages, discounts, or deals, social media is an easy way to share them, which might pull in new clients.
People will also want to see results from personal training. If you or any of your clients have met major health and fitness goals, show them off on social media to let people know that anyone is capable of getting fit. You should also encourage your clients to follow and share your social media so that you appear in their networks.
Get Referrals from Clients
Your existing clients can testify to your services because they have experienced them personally. Ask them to reach out to their friends, coworkers, and family members to see if anyone in their network is interested in personal training.
You should incentivize your clients to refer new clients by offering a discounted or free session to the client and their friend. This is a great way for you to meet potential new clients while benefiting your current clients.
As your list of clients grows, your network of people to reach out to grows. Your clients are evidence of your work, so make sure they are encouraging their friends and family to meet their fitness goals as well. Be sure to tap into the resources your clients have and show appreciation for their loyalty.
Start a Blog or Youtube Channel
You can share your tips and tricks as a trainer through regular content online. You can market this information to your clients and social media audience, and it shows all of the types of knowledge you bring to personal training.This gives online resources to your clients and potential clients, even when they cannot reach you.
Posting on your website or Youtube channel is a great way to get your information out, especially if you tap into SEO practices. If you post regular content, your blog or channel will be more likely to show up when someone searches for a personal trainer in your city or area of expertise.
You are not just selling your training sessions; you are selling the information and quality assistance you bring to clients. Documenting tips and advice online is a great way to show your overall commitment to your clients’ health, and you can show your personality and sense of humor to people who have not had the chance to meet you.
Create Professional Referral Networks
It is no secret that health and fitness are closely related. Exercise is a great way to reduce health risks and alleviate some symptoms. When health professionals have a patient who could benefit from exercise, your personal training services could be a great resource for them.
Reach out to local health professionals with fliers and brochures of your services. Be sure to include your education, certifications, and any specializations. This way, they can refer patients to you who are looking for extra resources when it comes to getting in shape for their health.
Exercise can be beneficial for a person’s health, but be sure to recognize when a client needs additional help. You can reciprocate the efforts from health professionals by referring your clients to them when they have an injury or health concern. Building this network is a great way to build relationships with professionals and meet new clients.
Conclusion
Getting clients is crucial to building your career as a personal trainer, but once you have a relationship with your clients, you can make a big difference in their lives. Personal training can build your career with the flexibility and opportunities it offers, and your career can help people meet even the most challenging goals.
Not only is it important to diversify your workouts so that you target different muscle groups, but you should diversify the way you recruit clients to sustain your services. By using these different tips, you can target a wider group of people who might be interested in your services.
