The Single Most Powerful Fitness Professional Marketing Secret
By Eric Ruth
I have over 6000 Fitness Professional customers, so I get to talk to trainers pretty regularly. The other day one of my members asked me, “what’s the single most powerful marketing “secret” for Fitness Professionals?”
That’s a good question. I’m sure you’d like to know the answer. Before I tell you what it is, I want to tell you that you’ve got to keep in mind that there is no “magic bullet.”
I can’t tell you 3 things to do tomorrow that will magically “fix” your business by noon next week. No one can. But I can show you proven and tested methods for earning a six-figure income as a Fitness Professional. If you are open to learning, I can help you.
Marketing is a process, not an event. Many people delude themselves into thinking that their next advertisement or direct mail piece is going to be the “answer.” Well, it probably won’t be the answer they’re looking for, but it will be a type of “answer.”
See, marketing is about testing. You’ve got to test different messages to different markets at different times. And you’ve got to track your results. It’s scientific. That’s one of the things that I really love about direct response marketing. It’s totally quantifiable.
So if you have a testing mentality and are not desperate for a quick fix (which will not occur 99 times out of 100), then you will be a good marketer. Marketing is about tweaking. You start with something that has a very good chance of being successful because you’ve done your homework and matched your message to your market. You test it. You record the results. If they are satisfactory, then you have a “control.” Next, you begin testing one variable of the campaign at a time in an effort to “beat the control.”
This may sound tedious and not nearly as glamorous as you had hoped. It’s definitely not “get rich quick.” Let’s be honest – there is no such thing as “get rich quick.” Life doesn’t work that way for 99.99% of us. So don’t count on it working that way for you.
But here’s the good news: if you learn what you need to learn about the marketing of your business, and then you apply what you learn (take action), it’s only a matter of time before you hit it!
And you can take this to the bank: once you “hit” upon a marketing campaign that works consistently, you will never worry about where your next client is going to come from. You will never worry about making the mortgage payment. You will never worry about whether you can afford to take that vacation you’ve been putting off for five years. And you’ll never worry about your business being profitable.
Marketing is not the lottery. You have to pay your dues, educate yourself, and test, test, test. But it beats the hell out of the guesswork you’re probably doing right now about how to build your business.
One of the most rewarding things I’ve experienced from working with Fitness Professionals like you, is that you have a real understanding of the importance of due diligence. It’s got to come from the fact that you have worked hard to achieve your healthy and fit lifestyle, and you understand that good things don’t come without a price.
Anyway, I could go on and on about the “marketing mindset,” but I know you want to know about the single most powerful marketing “secret” for Fitness Professionals. So… here it is:
YOUR DATABASE
Your database is your “house” list of all the people who know you or know of you. It’s past and present clients and prospects. It’s the comprehensive list (that you maintain in a database management software program like ACT! or spreadsheet program like Excel) of everyone who could possibly impact your business.
And the “secret” to your database is how you use it.
People are always trying to convince others who don’t know them or have never heard of them (suspects) to do business with them.
In fact, the vast majority of marketing dollars are spent on trying to locate, qualify and convert suspects. This is a huge mistake.
You need to be prospecting. That’s not my point. My point is that most of your marketing dollars should be invested in stimulating referrals or attempting to convert those people who know you or know of you.
But you can’t do that unless you develop a database. And I’m not talking about 50 people. Heck, you could sit down right now and list out 50 people that know you. That’s just your starting point.
I’m talking about building a database of 300 to 500 people. It takes time. It takes consistent, disciplined attention to the task. But NOTHING will ever pay off for you to the degree that your own personal “house” list will.
These days, the cheapest way to stay in touch with your house list is via email. But that’s not the place I’d recommend you start. You should start with standard snail mail. And you should start contacting, educating and soliciting your house list NOW.
The goal is to add 2 names to your house list every single day. Two new people every day, Monday thru Friday, gives you over 500 names by the end of the year.
It’s as simple as this: when you meet someone you should give them your business card – but more importantly YOU SHOULD GET THEIRS! If they don’t have one, write their contact info on the back of one of your cards. And every evening input those names into your database – and SEND THEM SOMETHING IMMEDIATELY.
The best thing you can do is send them a hand written note on your stationery telling them you enjoyed meeting them and that you will be adding them to your monthly newsletter mailing list to keep them aware of the latest health and fitness news, fitness tips, diets, supplements, etc. I can’t tell you what a POWERFUL impact a hand written note has. It clearly demonstrates that you GO THE EXTRA MILE.
If you’ve ever received something like this from someone you just met or did business with, you know what I’m talking about. It’s special because ALMOST NO ONE ELSE DOES IT. Email is too impersonal for that first contact – so use a handwritten note – AND SEND IT IMMEDIATELY.
And then you’ve got to stay in touch with these people through regular contact. Here’s a good rule of thumb: for every month that goes by that your house list doesn’t hear from you, you lose 10% of them.
That means that you need to be sending your list SOMETHING every month.
What should you send them? How about testimonial postcards, educational articles, your newsletter, special promotions, recognition awards, fitness facts tip sheets, etc, etc, etc.
You are only limited by your imagination.
What are you doing with your house list? What’s the GOAL?
Good question! Here’s the answer:
RELATIONSHIP BUILDING!
People have to get to know you, like you and trust you before they are going to send you a referral or give you their money. Particularly when they have to give you their money for you to essentially discipline them and make them uncomfortable (at least in the short run).
Selling personal training services is HARD. It’s unlike any other service I know of because people can’t just give you their cash and *presto* they’re fit. They’ve got to work, sacrifice, sweat, and endure pain. It’s like paying to go to Marine Corps basic training.
Plus *** personal training is not cheap!!! So you’ve got some big hurdles to overcome. That’s why educating yourself about marketing is the most important thing you can do. Even the greatest Fitness Professional will go broke without clients. Do you agree with me on that?
You’ve got to have business – otherwise you’re not IN business.
I don’t know the national average, but I can tell you this about my members… when most of them came to me they were making between $20,000 and $40,000 per year. Busting their tails. Humping from one appointment to the next. They wanted more out of their business. MORE PROFITS, MORE CASH, MORE FREEDOM, MORE LIFE!
And that’s what I’m all about. Teaching fitness professionals how to get MORE out of their businesses and their lives.
33 Six & Seven Figure Fitness Professionals, Who Started With Nothing but a Dream, Reveal the STEP-BY-STEP Secrets, Systems & Strategies that Turned their Fitness PASSION Into Fast Fitness PROFITS!
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