How to Run a Successful Personal Training Business in 2021

Many personal trainers are transitioning from the traditional path of working for a gym to running their own fitness enterprises, and for good reason.

The growth of the use of the internet means that you can access clients from all over the world. You can run classes online, offer coaching online and build an entire online fitness business if you wish. You can even do an Accredited Group Fitness Certification Online if you choose to.

As an independent personal trainer, you can choose the clients you want to work with, and how much you feel your services are worth. Not to mention, you get to keep the bulk of the profits from the hard-earned time you put in. 

A career in personal training can be rewarding for many reasons, both personal and financial. You get to maintain your own fitness, schedule your own hours, and receive the satisfaction that you are bettering peoples’ lives through physical health. With all of this in mind, you might wonder, are there any downsides to becoming a personal trainer?

The Personal Training Industry is Competitive

The major con of becoming a personal trainer is exactly what you would expect with a job that is highly sought after: there is a great deal of competition. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are around 375,000 fitness trainers in the United States, and this number is expected to rise 15-20% over the next two years.

Simple word-of-mouth advertising is not enough to excel your personal training business to the next-level anymore, and the competition is finding new ways to gain clients each and every day. 

This means you have to think outside of the box when it comes to acquiring new clients, and bring your marketing strategy into the new age to win clients over your competitors. 

So how do you beat the competition, and gain clients in an industry with so many options? In this guide, we discuss tried and true methods to running a successful personal training business in the new age of marketing. 

The Best Methods to Attract New Personal Training Clients

Get Certified

With so many “fitness gurus” in the industry, and a wide variety of free workout apps, it is important to prove that you know exactly what you are doing. Many competitors have built their businesses based on one simple premise: “I got shredded, and I can help you get shredded too!” However, a great deal of these trainers have no formal training helping others achieve their goals, and have no clue that there are multiple strategies based on various fitness goals, body types, etc. 

Your best course of action is to become a Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, or another verified and tested professional in the field of health and fitness. In order to do this, you must pass the personal training/strength training exams associated with your field, and complete the required hours of in-person training that come with the certification. 

Branding

Even as a single person running your fitness business, it is important for potential clients to see you as a professional entity. Branding yourself as a business is a great way to gain clients, and establish yourself as a subject matter expert in your field. 

There are many ways you can go about branding, and with the help of a solid logo, customers can recognize you easily amongst your competitors. Some of the best ways to brand yourself in the fitness industry include custom workout shirts, a professional website, and a recognizable logo that will catch the attention of potential clients. 

Online Advertising and Social Media

As we mentioned, advertising in the fitness industry now requires more than just a simple reference from past clients. In 2021, you want to be the first to reach out to any person looking for a personal trainer, and the first person the first person that comes to mind when they think about personal trainers.  

To jump ahead of the competition and become a household name in your field, you can utilize social media to become the go-to source for fitness tips. Answer questions in the fitness community, post videos of workouts, create healthy recipes for specific fitness goals, and prioritize other interactions that involve fitness on social media. Any way you can, you want to show potential clients you are the expert on all things fitness. 

To get to potential clients that are actively looking for personal trainers before your competitors, you can utilize online advertising. This includes social media advertising, as well as other search engine advertising services Google Ads and Bing Ads. These channels will help you reach an audience that is already interested in personal training, and you can restrict the location of the advertising to an area specific to your business. 

Final Thoughts

If you want to run a successful personal training business in 2021, you have to switch up your methods and stop doing what thousands of competitors are doing. Reaching clients before your competitors and becoming a recognizable name/brand is essential to steadily growing your client base in a new age marketing, and the methods we provided are a great start. 

However, your overall service still needs to be top-notch. Even the most effective marketing in the world can be overshadowed by a product that is not up-to-par, so begin by perfecting your craft before you decide to sell it to others.