Navy Seals, known to do be different and do what they want - when you don't quit, you've earned the right. (Special thanks to all our troops fighting for our freedom overseas.)

“Being all you can be” is a common cliche, but is a very, very worthy goal.  When you think about it, you could say that it’s the purpose of living (it’s a shame the army dropped it as their tag line in their advertising, and I’ve heard their enrollment has dropped ever since).

When it comes to the road you’re on to be everything you can be, when you look around, you no doubt see many people that already have this kind of life and are already there.

What you also may notice is that they’re no smarter, stronger, driven, deserving, or didn’t have any more of interesting of an upbringing or story than you.

They just may have been exposed to influences that you weren’t exposed to, and therefore made decisions that you didn’t make.

When it comes to these decisions in life, we’re tempted to think they’re not life or death.  I mean, it’s not like being in the military where a wrong choice will get you killed.  In life, when you face trouble or resistance, you can always quit.

When it comes to quitting, I have an interesting story to tell you …

I have a friend of mine who was in the Navy for some time, and he told me what it was like for the first few weeks.

For the first three weeks, they ask you all the time if you want to quit. Whenever you look like you’re about to wimp out or you have that look on your face like you can’t handle it, they’ll just blatantly come in your face and ask you “hey, do you want to quit?”.

If you want to quit, you can just go over and ring out. They make it very simple to quit, but is it really? Here’s what really happens …

"Go ahead, ring the bell ... be a failure for the rest of your life."

When you do quit, they don’t let you go home right away.  You have to hang out for a few weeks until it’s time to ship out.  You have to turn in your finely pressed uniform. You’re not allowed to partake in any more classes, drills, or activities. You just have to wear sweats, hang out with the other quitters, and walk around bored to death.

They make you do this for weeks before they allow you to leave. This also acts as a discouragement because all of the other people that are still in training see the pathetic conditions that the quitters are left in.

When he told me this story, the significance of it really hit me.  Because quitting in life is the same way except the period of shame doesn’t just last for a few weeks: it lasts for a lifetime. You have to go around, bored to death, looking shabby, with nothing to do, and hang out with all the other quitters while you watch the people just like you in every way (just different because they refused to quit) get to do all the fun interesting stuff, and get all the glory and accomplishments.

Unlike the military, when you quit and give up, it’s not something that passes after a few weeks. You have to live with it for a lifetime. Whatever your goal and whatever road you’re on, I just have one piece of advice for you: don’t quit.

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The NEW SIX-FIGURE TRAINER PROGRAM IS COMING:

(Keep an eye on your email inbox for updates.)

The fitness lifestyle isn't quite as good as these guys, but it's pretty damn close

When I first got started as a Personal Trainer, I was excited as hell.  I heard the stories of trainers earning high incomes, charging $100 an hour, looking in shape, and doing what came easy and was fun to them. Could you imagine something more appealing than that?

And call me naive, but through the all of the many hard times and months of very little money, I still kept my eyes on that prize until it became a reality.  Since then, I’ve helped more trainers than I can count shave years of their growth track and earn outstanding incomes from training on their own terms.

So it wasn’t until I actually got into blogging and leading this “dump the gym” movement that I found out what the real figures were for trainers and their salaries.  When you take a look, you might be a little shocked too:

THE STATS

According to one broad set of figures, the median annual earnings of Personal Trainers and group exercise instructors in May 2004 was $25,470. The middle 50 percent earned between $17,380 and $40,030. The bottom 10 percent earned less than $14,530 while the top 10 percent earned $55,560 or more.

The way I see it, trainers are worth the money - how about you?

As you can see from those figures, those are hardly respectable numbers.  The only bright side I see to it is that I think the public still has a very positive view of the training profession through the glamorous “celebrity trainers”  that dominate television.  If they only knew the real figures out, they would realize that this field is really far from glamorous in actuality.

THE CAUSES

What are some of the reasons for this big disconnect between potential and real world earnings?

First off, it’s an issue of location: most trainers work in health clubs. On a side note, one of the funniest things about success is that a simple change of location is all it takes for things to click and someone’s potential to take off.

That being said, earning a decent, stable income in a healthclub environment is difficult to say the least.  Making over 50K IS possible in this environment, but you have to work your ass of to do it (that bad kind of work, not the fun kind).  Putting in non-stop hours is encouraged.  There’s a very low ceiling on your hourly rates.  And there are way too many trainers, many of whom set a negative example.

THE PROBLEM

Being independent has the potential to be significantly higher paying.   The problem is many of these trainers don’t have the discipline to command those high rates.  They don’t put their professionalism first.

If your clients don’t trust your professionalism and credibility they are less likely to buy in to your high rates, they won’t agree to do group sessions where they are still paying full price, they are less likely to accept the fact that you require session minimums per month, or accept that fact they are charged regardless of whether they attend or not.  You also will never be able to EARN the respect of assistants and employees that you’ll eventually need the help of to gain more leverage in your business.

If you're not charging what you're worth, you're a pussy.

And professionalism and credibility is based on what you do and how you act.  It’s not based on your certifications.  It’s not based on you bad-mouthing other trainers.  It’s about the positivity and experience you bring to the table.  You want to make six figures, ie. what a graduate school educated individual makes after more than ten years of 50+ hours/week in the workforce?  You’re going to have to bring more of yourself to the table.

THE IRONY OF CHARGING LOW RATES

A Personal Trainer that’s earning at least $50 an hour should be able to earn 50K with just 20 contact hours a week – why doesn’t that happen either?

Here’s the irony – if you aim low and go for low rates, you end up selling yourself short.  $50 is below the industry average for training rates.  If you’re below average, you can hardly have the self-esteem it takes to fill up your schedule, earn a high income, and move up in the training industry.

When you’re selling yourself short like this, everyone knows it – your clients know it, you know it, and everyone watching knows it – everyone gets the feeling that you’re second rate. 

THE SOLUTION

Charge more and don’t make any excuses for it.  Train clients fewer times, once per week if necessary, but do not compromise on your rates.

Slowly IMPROVE the level of clients you actively market to.

Making deals is the fastest way to get ahead. Find out who can help you, and help them as well.

Pursue JOINT VENTURES.  Teaming up with other businesses is the fastest way you can get ahead out there.

Greg Justice’s multi-million dollar CORPORATE FITNESS business model is based on this.  So is Bedros Keuilian and Steve Hochman’s Fit Body BootCamp Business model, where they encourage you to make deals with gymnastics centers.

Beyond gymnastics centers, there are many other types of businesses and facilities that you can arrange deals and partnerships, among them are luxury condominiums, private gyms, local newspapers, tanning salons, nutrition centers, physical therapy clinics – the list is endless and dependent on the logistics of your area.  Just always make sure that in whatever JV you pursue, you look to make it a win for the other party, while still making it a win for yourself.

SUMMARY

Despite the potential definitely being there, trainers are earning very low incomes in the world today.  The good news is the money is out there – just bring more of yourself to the table.  Not more hours, not more work, just more YOU.

For more articles on earnings and personal training, check these out:

5/16/08 Article On Personal Training Salary Article

1/17/09 How To Charge $100 Per Personal Training Session | Part 1

1/29/09 How To Charge $100 Per Personal Training Session | Part 2

Do you have anything to add?  Leave your comments below:

Me and Bedros getting bro-mantic recently in sunny Cali

Special guest post by my good bud and 9th degree evil genius Bedros Keuilian:

Getting clients for your personal training or boot camp business from facebook is easy and cheap.

Recently I’ve been doing a lot of testing… sometimes spending as much a thousand dollars a day on facebook just to figure things out.

And here are three sneaky things I’ve figured out about getting clients using facebook.

First off, if you’ve never done it before, running an ad in FB is easy…

… just log into your FB account, scroll all the way down to the bottom and click the “advertising” button and walk through the steps.

Now here’s what I’ve figured out to get the most clicks for the lowest price on facebook ads.

SNEAKY LITTLE SECRET # 1: Facebook does NOT care about getting your money. What they care about is their customer experience. So, if your ad is not relevant to the market that you’re advertising to FB will show your ads less.

On the other hand if FB decided that your ads are relevant to the market they will actually show your ads more – even if your competitors are willing to pay more per click.

Makes sense so far?

The way FB knows if your ads are relevant or not is by the little “thumbs up” icon by your ad. They call it their “like” system. And if enough people you’re marketing to LIKE your ads by clicking the thumbs up image next to your ad then you’re ad will actually begin to run more frequently.

So the next time you’re in your facebook account and you see one of my ads be sure to click the little thumbs of icon in my ad, okay?

Who else hates this kid?

SNEAKY LITTLE SECRET # 2: Facebook kinda lies. Yep, it’s true. Here’s the deal, when you create your ad in facebook they will suggest a click through bid range. For example they may say we suggest that you pay .33 – .67 cents per click.

When they do that take the lowest number they suggest… knock off 20% and make that your starting bid. example in this case you would bid .27 cents per click. (and then adjust from there as you see fit)

SNEAKY LITTLE SECRET # 3: Hyper focus your ads with city specific headlines for better click through rates. I got this one from my buddy and FitBody Boot Camp master member Josh Carter. Don’t just run one ad for your fitness business that serves three cities.

Lets say that you serve the cities of Anaheim, Garden Grove, and Buena Park. In setting up your ads you can set your parameters for those three cities and then show a generic ad headline like: Rapid Fat Loss Boot Camp. This ad would get less clicks than if you had three separate ads targeting each city with a specific headline.

Example: ” Anaheim Fitness Boot Camp” would pull way better than just “Fitness Boot Camp.

Makes sense, right?

Bedros Keuilian

Bedros Keuilian is a sought after business coach for personal trainers and a fitness marketing expert located in southern California.  Check out his fitness marketing blog for personal trainers at ptpower.com.

"Life is simple - you make decisions and you don't look back."

What’s always surprised me most about the success stories I hear coming in on the blog is how quickly and abruptly everyone takes action.  These guys and gals all pick and burn the bridges once they find out about the world of Personal Training out there that doesn’t involve training in a big-box health-club.  No sleazy bosses, negative co-workers, and crappy pay?  Yes it’s a reality, and I guess once it becomes clear that it’s possible, there’s no going back.

But the answer to “when’s the right time?” is different for everyone.  Every situation is different, and even though action needs to be taken fast, it’s relative. For example, here’s an email I just got from a long time reader of the blog Jeff.  Looking at his delicate situation will bring to light to anyone that’s also looking to plan their health-club exit and start their training business.

Hi Kaiser

I need the input of a professional with your knowledge. Here is my dilema. i consider today day 1 of my conquest to become a top level trainer with my purchase of your material. My cousin Sam and i just got off the phone. i train at 24 hr right now and i have to bartend on the weekends to make the bills, even though my expenses are LLOOOOOOWWW. Do i quit the gym today and work 4-5 nights a week bartending, or keep on doing what i am doing until i build a few independent clients. obviously you know if 24hr finds out i am working there and have my own business my ass is grass anyways, which is fine. i won’t gain any “positive” training from the gym anymore. you know how it is. i basically figure i will need a solid 1k to get things up and running. as far as equipment, clothes, insurance., etc. soooooo, I just want to hear your advice!!! thanks for your help!!!!

Jeff K.

Hey Jeff – if you want success as a trainer, you need to view yourself as only a trainer.  Working an outside job won’t do it.  Is your income from both jobs about even?  If so, I’d quit the bartending.

I know your healthclub income isn’t doing the job right now, and you’re trying to get out of there AFAP.  But here’s what you’ll find – your healthclub income will go up once you stop the moonlighting.  I have a feeling your income will jump at least 50% just because of the full focus you’ll now be putting on training.  And if you need quick client getting, income earning, and general survival tactics to get your earnings up while at the gym, just ask us in the comment section.

Subconsciously, the fact that you’re working in a bar and haven’t fully devoted yourself to training is probably hurting you.   I remember when I started as a trainer, I was still in Pharmacy School (will share the strange and twisted story one of these days).  And because I didn’t have my mind or attention fully into training, and didn’t view it as a solid, long-term career track full of amazing potential, I got absolutely nothing out of it.  Only after I left Pharmacy School did my training business take off.  And it happened by itself.  People could just sense that I was a real, “full-time” trainer, and they wanted to train with me.

Getting that job at 24 seemed like a good idea at the time ...

You get out of it what you put into it – check that – training pays you back twice what you put into it.  Hmmm … but 24 Hour Fitness is one of the worst healthclubs out there from a trainer’s perspective, known for accidentally losing entire training paychecks and commission checks – so how do you get out?

Here’s the trick – once you’re out of the bar, go all out toward builing your private client base.  In the 10-20 hours a week you free up, you can write your Craigslist ads and find someone to post them, give out orders on your website, write your web copy, research what other high performing trainers are doing, interview all of the local private gyms to find a good potential new home, and comb your current clients for referrals that you can train OUTSIDE of 24 Hour.  In as little as 2 weeks you can have 2-4 new clients that will more than make up for the loss in income, and will get you started with your training business full steam.

And being active here on this blog and investing in products like the TOP-LEVEL TRAINER MANUAL is an excellent start.  Start getting active in the industry too – attend events near you when they come up, business as well as training events.  I always feel training knowledge can be learned adequately on your own through reading and video courses (although I know Dave Parise will disagree with that).  But to learn the business side of training, you need to actually go to where the movers and shakers are, and take in the energy, vibe, and focus of the people that are making it happen.  The only way you can do that is at industry events.

Tom made a good bartender, but wouldn't recommend it to most trainers.

So in your case Jeff, my advice to you is DUMP THE BAR and become a real trainer – focus only on training.  And if you get any bumps and bruises, you know what to do – we’re here to help.  And great job jumping on the MANUAL during launch week – that’s really going to help you out.

Want more articles on getting out of the gym?  Here are a few classics:

http://super-trainer.com/welcome-to-hell-personal-trainers-reveal-their-healthclub-horror-stories/

http://super-trainer.com/health-club-survival-guide/

http://super-trainer.com/personal-training-advic/

Let’s continue the conversation – leave your comments below:

No Reason For This Picture - This Guy Is Just Cool

As trainers we’re all fitness consultants, and in consulting, there’s something known as the consultant’s paradox …

It’s how clients are often your biggest problem, but you need them for your survival.

But it doesn’t have to be that way … because Personal Training is different …

Unlike any other health service, you only need a handful of loyal, dependable clients to earn six figures as a personal trainer –

And if you do it right, these will be clients you like to see and enjoy spending time with. 

How did I go from a totally over-worked studio owner to pulling in the highest rates in the business, working only part time, with a waiting list (what I like to call semi-retired)?

It was from being picky about the clients I had and what I charged, but once I had them, treating them better than they could have expected.  This resulted in them treating me the same way, and a great income and career was born.

So let’s take a break from talking about ourselves and talk about clients for a bit – how to deal with them and how it relates to your training business.

When I got started,  I wish we had some of the excellent resources out there today – stuff that guys like Pat, Bedros, Jim, and Ryan (and Kaiser) are selling these days.  Buying just one good product can completely change your life.

How did I climb out of my rut and reach the promise land?  It was because of my clients.  For your role models, you don’t have to look to people just in your area of expertise …

I looked to people outside of fitness for inspiration – to my clients – through my pricing, marketing strategies, and career choices, I purposefully sought out and attracted the highest level clients.

And that led to something that I believe in very strongly in training – that you can get as much or more from your clients as they give you – and we’re not even talking about the money.

Because if you haven’t had enough successful, driven, and wealthy people in your life to teach you lessons about money and focus, they I’m sure you’re probably feeling like you’re missing something.

But the nature of training is that it gives you the vehicle to meet and interact with these people, and more than that, it lets YOU take a leadership position in the their lives.  The lessons you’ll learn from that go beyond any money you make (although that should be up there).

That’s the secret to my success, my clients.  And that’s why I dedicated my book to them, and why I’m still in touch with many of them that for whatever reason I couldn’t train anymore.

I charged high rates, was passionate about what I did, and practiced what I preached, and lived it, so there was a mutual respect there …

And I gave them outstanding value so that led to tremendous referrals – you don’t need any new client getting strategies if your current roster of clients is paying you the highest rates and sending you waves of new people – you’re basically set.

That’s why out here in New York, I know dozens of trainers who don’t have websites or even business cards, and are booked solid and making tons of money (one of them even drives a Lambo).

They completely understand what I’m talking about here – that’s where I learned the concept of Top-Level Training, and decided that the boiler room studio life wasn’t for me – I simplified, put my clients first, and they took care of me in return.

A lot of this comes down to stepping your game up, and the rest comes down to drawing lines and boundaries in your life about what you’re willing to accept and not accept from yourself and others.

But getting yourself set-up with a strong, stable client roster is what I think every trainer needs to set as their immediate goal (we’re talking in just a few months).  You can then sit back and earn, make yourself the person you want to be, finally get to travel and do some of the things you want, and plan your next big move in your fitness career (and you’ll have the cash, time, and connections to make it happen).

It all starts with clients – with who they are – making sure you found the right people – and then what you do for them.

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Hope you got something out of what I wrote above – now if you want some client getting info on a different level, you need to talk to Dave Parise.

It looks like this blog is turning into the Kaiser and Dave show, but as long as he keeps sending me hot content, I’m going to keep posting it.  And Dave is a guy doing at least 10 times the numbers I was doing at my peak, so he’s someone to pay attention to.

Dave recently forwarded me an article that IDEA wrote about him, and I though it would go perfectly along with this post.  Here it is:

Company: Results Plus, Hamden, Connecticut

Types of Clientele. The majority of the company’s clients are in their 30s–70s. “When you market to an upscale demographic as we have, it is much easier to maintain those clients, as long as you provide the level of service they are used to,” Parise says.

Booking Sessions for Trainers. Parise, who has been in business for 24 years, focuses his efforts on running his business and helping his 15 trainers. He has cut down on the number of clients he personally trains. “The number-one concern of myself and the vice president of Results Plus [Krista Parise, MBA] is fostering a great working relationship with our trainers,” he says. “We make sure all clients are setting their appointments—three per week. We want the trainers to worry only about training plus some administrative work. The rest we take care of so they can do what they do best! We fill all open time slots as often as possible to keep our trainers’ paychecks steady.”

Providing Exceptional Service. Parise says he has built a successful, profitable business because of excellent customer service that has contributed to the company’s strong reputation. “Customer service is all about creating a pleasing atmosphere,” he says. “When a client enters our facility, his towel is waiting for him on his cardio station, next to his labeled water bottle filled with ice-cold spring water. A fresh, cold piece of washed fruit is available before or after his session. We have cold towels with organic oils for the more intense clients to use to keep them cool and in motion. We clean the equipment and clean and dry the showers after every client. In the rainy season we may greet clients at their cars with an umbrella and escort them to the front door or they are welcome to borrow an umbrella on their way out.”

Weathering Potential Slow Times. Parise prides himself on making proactive choices for his business. “The month of August is slow in the personal training industry. [This past year] we worked on positive customer experiences during June and July, and that effort snowballed. In August we grossed over $80,000 in client renewals and new retainer fees.”

Working With Medical Professionals. Parise says that the “value of your services increases tenfold when medical professionals work with you. I believe a trainer’s role is to design the right series of functional corrective movements based on the client’s present condition, and then fire a cannon of motivation! The neurology of why a client is not complying is left for the physiologist; the total health profile and blood lipids for the endocrinologist; and recommendations for food are best formatted by the registered dietitian.”

Using DVD Business Cards. Parise utilizes mini DVDs as business cards “to be creative and to set ourselves apart,” he says. “When we hand out these DVD cards, people are amazed. Pictures speak louder then words.”

Why Clients Like Training With His Trainers. Why has Parise’s business been able to reach the million-dollar mark in client retainers? One reason is the clients’ devotion to his trainers. “Clients [like training with us because of] our attention to detail and our obsessive focus on nurturing and pampering them,” he says. “We create innovative ways to keep exercise fresh and exciting and to make our business a great place to train.”

Why His Work Inspires Him. After 24 years, Parise still looks forward to going to work. “I challenge myself every day,” he says. “I’ve found that the obstacles that get in the way of being a great leader, mentor, trainer and small-business person are only created by your mind. I’ve found that I will move toward whatever I dream and dwell on.”

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Was that crazy or what?   This guy definitely needs his own blog.  A lot of content here – what did you think?  Leave your comments below:

I was also against the deadline last night for submitting my article for next month’s special “Tech Issue” of Personal Fitness Professional Magazine.  After blogging for almost two years, I’ve become a fairly fast writer, but this article uncharacteristically took me a long time.  Since they asked me to write the feature article for the issue, I know there’s a lot riding on it so I wanted to cram as much high quality info in there as possible.

And this gave me an idea …

That with the launch of BIG-MONEY, this article would be a very timely thing to feature on my blog.  I’m not worried about getting in trouble for this, because I don’t think too many PFP readers read my blog to tell you the truth!

And likewise, I doubt too many of my readers like you are reading PFP  (no offense to them, we’re just a little more advanced over here).  I still highly recommend PFP and consider it worth checking out.  Just like any good magazine, it’s great to see the advertisements!

I have to admit that if you’re a reader of my blog, you might find the article a little basic.  But when you take in the total info, you’ll find that it highlights the importance of having a “unified front” when tackling your web project and getting it up to speed very fast.  Just the process of writing in reinforced some very important concepts for me

So here it is – I really looked to pack some punch in this one, so you’re going to find it to be like a mini-course and not just an article.  And speaking of courses, read until the end where I’ll give you some special info about the SPECIAL THREE DAY LAUNCH of BIG-MONEY.

(Warning: This article is much more “mass-market” than what you’re used to reading from me – enjoy!)

The Simple Formula For Taking Your Training Business Online

by Kaiser Serajuddin

If my history serves me correctly, Personal Training and personal computers both became main stream at about the same time, somewhere in the mid 1980’s. You can call it coincidence if you want, but ever since that beginning, trainers and computers have always had a love-hate relationship.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; one of the beauties of our profession is that it doesn’t involve sitting in front of a computer for hours on end like most office jobs. The harmful effects of that type of lifestyle are precisely the reason so many clients desperately seek our help in the first place.

However, with the incredible power of the internet, web 2.0, and social media making the web the most “personal” form of widespread communication today, it’s time for personal trainers and computers to resolve their differences. When you consider that there’s potentially hundreds of thousands into the millions of dollars on the line, this makes more sense now than ever.

It’s remarkable but true – it’s now possible for you as a personal trainer to take your entire “fitness consulting” business online. In doing so you’ll find opportunities that are impossible in the “real” world, and depending on your lifestyle goals, this could be right up your alley:

• Get paid not just for the hours you are physically present.

• Avoid the frustration of managing employees face to face.

• Have the whole world to sell your information to, not just the people in your immediate area.

• Work from anywhere you want in the world, at any time you want.

Despite the appeal of starting an online fitness business, just like any other kind of business, it’s going to take some work. Getting comfortable enough online to the point where you can make it your only source of income requires a very steep learning curve, one that the majority of trainers usually have a hard time climbing.

For that reason, this article will get you up to speed on everything that’s behind a successful online fitness business. What you’ll learn is that when it’s broken down into its essential elements, the whole process becomes manageable, and dare we say, even simple.

Focal Points And The Tools That Make Them Easy

Creating a successful online fitness business boils down to five areas of focus. Paying attention to each of these areas will lead to a level of synergy that can take an online business from start-up to full-blow explosion at a pace that’s only possible online. The main thing you have working in our favor is that there are now tools that make it very easy to tackle each focal point effectively.

Here are list of each of the critical areas to success online, and the simple tools that will help you tackle and master each of them.

• Getting traffic to your site.

Traffic is the obvious starting point for success online. It’s comparable to getting customers into a store – without any visitors, you might as well not even exist.

The simplest and fastest way to get traffic today is through a blog. If you’re a reader of this magazine I’m sure you already know what a blog is; but here’s why they are such an effective traffic generating tool:

The first reason is that search engines love them. They quickly list, or “index” blog content faster than any other form of web content, and simultaneously give them more weight in their search results. This makes it easy for web surfers to find your site whenever they type in your specific fitness related terms.

For example, an article I wrote about nearly two years ago on my training blog about Roger Federrer’s workout regimen has gotten me thousands of hits since his recent Wimbledon victory in July. Depending on the topics that your blog is focused on, you can get the same results.

The key is to match up the titles and content of your blog posts to exactly what people are searching for. It’s also important to post on your blog frequently, and have excellent content so readers keep coming back.

Your blog also plays an important role as a networking tool. When you have a blog, it becomes easy to contact, interview, and link to other experts in your field, and ask them to link back to you in return. Not only will this bring you blog traffic and get you sales – it will also move your career forward at a rapid rate.

• Capturing leads.

Just having visitors stop by your site isn’t enough. With the nature of the web today, it’s important that you get the names of as many visitors as possible so that you can maintain communication with them and eventually become a trusted resource of information for them.

To accomplish this, you have many “lead capture” and “auto-responder” systems at your disposal. Among the many to choose from are Aweber (www.aweber.com), GetResponse (www.getresponse.com), and iContact (www.icontact.com), just to name the most popular ones.

Having just a lead capture system in place isn’t enough – your success will be determined by the “bait” you have on the hook. You have to give your visitors a compelling reason to want to sign up to your site. My partner on a major project, one of the country’s top trainers Jim Hart, gives a free video, newsletter, and member’s area access to anyone that signs up on his site. This is what leads to him getting a very strong sign-up rate. If you can think of something valuable to offer your first time visitors, they’ll be more than happy to provide you their name and email addresses and make it possible for you to stay in contact with them in the future.

• Forming relationships with your audience.

The internet isn’t just the information superhighway anymore – today it’s about relationships. It works exactly the same way as running a fitness business in the real world; your ability to form these relationships is what will make your customers buy the first time and keep them coming back in the future.

Building this personal bond is now extremely easy through video. Your visitors can see you, listen to you, and take in all of your expressions and mannerisms as if you were with them in person. Since 80% of communication is non-verbal, this will allow you to form bonds with your audience faster and at a much deeper level. Not to mention that if you’re using YouTube to host your videos, there’s the potential for thousands of people to find them, making it another tremendous source of traffic for you.

• Creating your “irresistible offer”.

Having a well liked site may make you popular, but won’t bring you a penny unless you sell something. And whether or not your visitors buy all depends on the “offer” you put in front of them.

To put it simply, your offer is what you’re selling and why someone would want it. Depending on the type of information you’re providing, you now have a large number of options through which to deliver it. You can sell e-books, hard copy manuals, CDs and DVDs, and even special paid membership sites where you provide exclusive content that’s not available anywhere else.

Another option for you is online training, where you can provide coaching to people “virtually” through the web. The only drawback to online training is finding a system that makes it easy to manage. If you can create one, you’ll find that this can be your biggest revenue earner that requires only a small number of clients to bring in well over six figures in yearly income.

• Speed

You’ve probably noticed that with all the new technology today, your life and business have sped up at a tremendous rate. Not only must you plan to execute on every point we’ve talked about above, but you also have to make it priority to go through them all at a rapid pace. That will be one of the major factors that determines how much money you can make.

What that means is everything you do with your online business, from getting traffic, creating your videos, and writing your blog posts must be done with speed in mind. Luckily there’s technology to help you with this now too; everything from easy to use flip cameras that allow you to record a video and upload it to the web in under a minute; services like Copytalk (www.copytalk.com) that will transcribe audio for you after simply dictating it into your cell phone; and virtual assistants you can hire from sites like elance (www.elance.com) that will help you get simple, repetitive tasks done very cheaply.

Summary

Is it just me, or does it feel like we’ve covered a lot in this short article? All that’s left for you to do now is make your move. Just like your first few training sessions when you got started in this career, the first few moves you make with your online fitness business may feel very shaky.

With the tools we have at our disposal however, the odds are in your favor. The most surprising thing you’ll find is it may even be easier to start a successful and high earning training business online that it is off-line. I think with trainers and computers, this might be the start of a beautiful friendship.

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Hope you got a lot out of that, because I know the process of writing it was very valuable to me.   I think our not so web and marketing savvy colleagues that read PFP will find it very useful!

What did you get out of the article?  Do you have anything to add?  Let me know in the COMMENTS section below.

Ok, now let me tell you about what’s happening with BIG-MONEY.

I’m glad to say that we’ve cleared up the glitches and the course is ready to go.  Because of the delay, I’m extending the THREE DAY LAUNCH to Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

The course is loaded with BONUSES which you can learn about on the product page, but here’s an exclusive one you can get only during the three day launch:

I’m hosting a five part WEBINAR series for everyone that signs up for the program during the launch.  We’ll all get together on a special chat-room style forum every two weeks for the duration of the program and work on your strategy to get your project to cash-earning level as soon as possible.

Ok – so I’m hope you can get on the program in the next three days – I’m looking forward to working with you toward the success of your project, to the point where you can take your training business online and never step foot in stinky gym again.

Here’s the link to the description page one more time, and I’ll be notifying you privately about your SPECIAL WEBINAR BONUS once you’re in:

Click Here To Visit BIG-MONEY ONLINE FITNESS

Oh, and did I mention you pay nothing now and get to sample the first week of the program for free?

Here’s the link one more time. See you on the inside!

Check that – mine isn’t gratuitous at all – Arnold fits perfectly into the series we’re running here, TOP FIVE TRAINERS TURNED ENTREPRENEURS OF ALL TIME.

Didn’t know Arnold was a trainer? Well, he most certainly was, and it’s a pretty funny story which we’ll get to later.

But as it relates to training, if you think about the impact Arnold has had on your life, it’s pretty amazing.

For one, if you’re a guy, you’ve probably been doing single-joint isolation exercises most of your life, even if you’re a hopeless ectomorph that probably has no business training that way.

And most of the gyms we train at are built around the impact Arnold’s methods have had on our culture.  The fact that nearly every gym you go to has five different hammer strength machines just to hit your upper back has a lot to do with Arnold’s impact.

And that’s just talking about fitness – we all know that Arnold had another job, and his accomplishments with that one are even more impressive, if that’s possible.  We normally wouldn’t consider acting as a way to be an entrepreneur, but in Arnold’s case he took his big movie paychecks and notoriety to become a heavy hitter in other ways.

For one, Arnold’s been an avid real estate investor since his 20’s, and he now owns hundreds of millions in property, including a major mall.

Learning Arnold’s story is an exercise in what’s possible with ridiculous goal setting, and extraordinary achievement – it’s something we can all learn from.

Now going back to his stint as a trainer, in his recent biography title Arnold, which I talked about in a previous post Arnold talked all about it, and, I’m warning you, it wasn’t pretty – here’s how he described it:

“At first, confronted with these people who’d come to me for guidance, I felt helpless. I thought I still needed someone giving me advice on my workouts. But I realized I had to do it in order to survive.

“I had to live a split life, acting as an instructor to the health club clients on the one hand, and trying to train myself for the Mr. Universe title on the other. It was frustrating. People who would never benefit from what I told them kept taking my time. They paid and came to the gym. But it was a disgusting, superficial effort on their part. They merely went through the motions, doing sissy workouts, pampering themselves. And there was so much I wanted to do with those wasted hours.”

Ha! – pretty brutal huh?  But you’re lying if you haven’t felt the same way yourself at times …

Ok, that’s enough set-up – here’s the post:

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Arnold Schwarzenegger is THE most well known bodybuilder turned fitness entrepreneur and Hollywood actor on the face of the earth. There is no other bodybuilder on this planet that has made such a profound impact on bodybuilding as a sport.

Arnold was born in Thal, Austria, a small village bordering the Styrian capital Graz. Growing up in a Roman Catholic family, his parents were very strict, which was not surprising given that his father was the local Police Chief. He picked up his first barbell in 1960, when his soccer coach took the team to a local gym. He was 14 when he started an intensive training program with Dan Farmer, followed by an extensive study of psychology at 15, and then at 17, he officially took to competitive bodybuilding.

His first win in competitive bodybuilding came when he skipped his basic training camp in the Austrian army to take part in and win the Junior Mr. Europe contest in 1965, which resulted in him spending a week in army jail.

But, Arnold would not settle for being the best in Europe, he wanted to be the best in the universe. He sat on a plane for the first time when he flew to London for the Mr. Universe competition. He came that the offered to coach him. After a couple of years of intensive training, he won the title for the first time in 1967, becoming the youngest ever Mr. Universe, a title he would win four more times in his career.

Arnold then went to Munich where he trained 4-6 hours a day and attended business school. During his days in Munich, he always told his friend, Roger C. Field, that he would become the greatest actor ever. Arnold eventually moved to the US in 1968 at the age of 21. He began training at Gold’s Gym in Santa Monica, California, under Joe Weider. In 1970, at 23, Arnold won his first Mr. Olympia title in New York, becoming the youngest ever title holder at the age of 23. Arnold has won every major bodybuilding competition there is to win. After wining the Mr. Olympia title six consecutive times, he announced his retirement for professional bodybuilding to consciously focus on building his acting career.

As an actor, he got his first break to play the role of Hercules in 1970 in ‘Hercules in New York’. In spite of being discouraged by agents with things like your accent is too thick and your body is weird, he continued his pursuit. His first big hit was the movie Conan the Barbarian in 1982. This was followed by the first of three iconic appearances as the lead in ‘The Terminator’, directed by James Cameron. Projected as the biggest action hero in the 1980s and the early 1990s, Arnold was named as ‘International Star of the Decade’ by the National Association of Theatre Owners in 1993.

Much before his stint in acting, he became a fitness entrepreneur, by starting a series of successful business ventures. In 1968, he and fellow bodybuilder Franco Columbu started a bricklaying business. Both of them plowed the profits from this business back into the setting up of a mail-order business, selling bodybuilding and fitness-related equipment and instructional tapes. He eventually used his earnings from his businesses and his prize money from bodybuilding to make a real estate investment. He would go on to invest in a number of real estate holding companies later on. He was already a millionaire by the time he entered Hollywood.

His most well know venture was Planet Hollywood, a chain of international theme restaurants (modeled after the Hard Rock Cafe) along with Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone, and Demi Moore. He eventually exited the business in early 2000, when the returns on his investment did not match up to his expectations.

Arnold gradually phased out his acting career to play an active role in politics. He has been a registered Republican for many years, unlike many of his contemporaries from Hollywood, who were considered as Democrats. His first close brush with politics came when he was appointed chairman of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, a post he held from 1990 to 1993. George H. Bush dubbed him as ‘Conan the Republican’. Arnold finally took the plunge in active politics and announced his candidacy in the 2003 California recall election and won. He became the first foreign-born governor of California since Irish-born Governor John G. Downey in 1862.

On April 26, 1986, Arnold married television journalist Maria Shriver, niece of the past President of the United States John F. Kennedy, in Hyannis, Massachusetts. They have four children and they currently live in their 11,000-square-foot (1 022 m²) home in Brentwood.

Arnold’s net worth has been estimated at between $100-$200 million, with some estimates as high as $800 million. LA Weekly said in 2002 that Arnold is the most famous immigrant in America, who “overcame a thick Austrian accent and transcended the unlikely background of bodybuilding to become the biggest movie star in the world in the 1990s.”

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If you’ve set some bold, ridiculous life goals for yourself and aren’t sure if you can achieve them, reading this about Arnold should make them seem very small and attainable by comparison.

And did you notice how for a while Arnold was an INFO-MARKETER?  Isn’t that just crazy?!?!?!?  As you can see, this blog is definitely on to something!

Even if you’re not feeling as negative about training as Arnold, you can still use Personal Training as an amazing stepping stone like he did.

What did you learn from Arnold’s story?  Leave your comments below.

And if you are ready to make your move on to the next phase of your fitness career, it’s time to get started!

BIG-MONEY IS COMING – 7/15/09

I’m doing something new here – I decided to try out the whole VIDEO BLOGGING thing.  I busted out the flip-cam while at Michael Duivis’ place this past weekend in California to get some important ideas out to you – let me know what you think of it:

So as you learned, the  new S-T site will be dropping any day now …

And also important to your fitness marketing efforts, I broke down the tremendous value in three very inexpensive books (or in my case, audio-books) that you can purchase right now on Amazon:

• The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber
• Ready Fire Aim by Michael Masterson
• Simple-ology by Mark Joyner

Get these books right now if you haven’t read them already – I guarantee you they’ll be worth it.

What are some of the most important books you’ve read in the world of marketing?  Would love to hear about it …

And let me know what you thought of the video blog – I promise to shave and have better lighting next time!

It’s coming along great and is going to set the industry on fire, just like the original Super-Trainer did almost two years ago -

Instead of being so shady, let me tell you a little bit about what to expect so you know what you’re looking at once it arrives ….

Til now, S-T has been a fun project for me …

It’s allowed me to stay in touch with everyone at every level of the fitness industry -

But the new site is going to be brand new, hi-tech, and have a new mission -

It will based on all of the feedback I’ve been getting from you about what your real needs and interests are.

It’s going to have some great services you’re going to love that will help you get to your goals more quickly and affordably -  they won’t make me much money, but they will help you make serious progress in your fitness career.

In terms of an expected date of launch, I haven’t really set one yet – I’ve been doing a little bit every day with my designers and programmers and it should be ready soon.

One thing that’s been really speeding up the process is that I’ve been modeling the success of others - that’s what I wanted to talk about now -

Whenever we want results at something, we all tend to try to reinvent the wheel, but that’s a mistake ..

No matter what you’re trying to do, someone has done it already -

With my site, I’m “copying” my buddy Michael Dunlop’s site – if you saw my videos from the CONTINUITY SUMMIT, Michael’s the brilliant 20 year old entrepreneur with a blog that gets into the millions in hits, brings him hundreds of thousands of dollars, and he only works one hour a day to maintain it -

What’ s funny is Micheal sells no actual products of his own – it’s all smoke and mirrors.

And he has loads of fun making the whole thing work.

I will be sure to have Michael on as a guest on the blog in the very near future, and if I get around to throwing an event myself, I’ll have him as a speaker for sure …

Now the point wasn’t to drop Michael’s name – it was to point out how I’m “copying” his site for my new S-T build – he knows it, and since I’m in a completely different “niche” from him, he’s cool about it -

Of course I’m not copying his text or passing off any of his stuff as my own – that would be scumbag behavior.  But in terms of the look, I am modeling his success, the same way dozens of trainers worldwide have copied my current Super-Trainer site to design their own sites – I take it as a compliment.

The lesson is there’s more than one way to learn from others …

The first way is to learn through courses and products - if they’re good, you can “copy” the information in them and get success quickly yourself.

But the second way is through observation – look at what’s working, what you like and can relate to, and learn from it –

Become a student through observation – the best part about this type of learning is it’s free -

So I recommend the next time you see something you like or that’s working for someone else, you stop, take out a pen and paper, and start taking notes on what you see – almost like you’re at a seminar taking notes from a live speaker -

Because whoever or whatever you’re modeling, they’re speaking to you powerfully – just not in words.

That’s why you’ll notice even though we were goofing off and doing shots in the video I shot with Michael at the CONTINUITY SUMMIT, I broke out a piece of paper and was taking notes – because I know valuable info when I see it.

If you didn’t see our interview check it out here:

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Just ignore the fact that the bar was serving us rounds of Patron even though both Micheal and Alex Maroko, who was also in attendance, are  both underage.  What’s worse is Michael looks like he’s 14!  But hey, what do you expect from the HILTON?

Model success – that’s your little lesson for today -

No matter what you’re trying to do, someone else has already done it – just do what they’re doing, give it your own personal twist, and you’ll make progress worlds faster.

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The Design Services and Web Services we’re offering here in “soft” release are going like crazy – we’re currently doing work and consulting with last year’s national personal trainer of the year, and the biggest bootcamp program and community owner in the world, along with many independent trainers looking to upgrade their image and earnings – for more info, contact support@super-trainer.com.

The first thing I’ve got say is how well run and polished this thing was – you’d hardly believe it was the first big event to be put on by fitness business experts Pat Rigsby, Nick Berry, and Jim Labadie.

And secondly, they attracted a tremendous crowd of nearly 300 personal trainers, bootcamp instructors, and fitness marketing entrepreneurs.   It was a sharp bunch of heavy hitters looking to do serious damage in this industry.

Lastly, what stands out is the incredible line-up of speakers.  The full gamut of topics on how exactly to succeed in fitness today (not 20 years ago) was covered from top to bottom.

The best part, for me was getting to meet up with all of the other industry people.  We’re spread out all over the country, so these events are really the only time for all of us to meet face-to-face – that’s what makes them so fantastic.

Here are some pics of a few of the people I hung out with over the weekend:

Here I am with one of the hosts, and coolest guys and shrewdest businessmen in the entire fitness industry, Pat Rigsby.

Here I am with my buddy Craig Ballantyne and another really cool trainer I met at the event (who’s name I kept forgetting because I was confusing here with another trainer I know!).

Here I am with some of the youngest and sharpest guns in the fitness marketing biz – Alex Moraco (who’s killing it), Ryan Lee’s right hand Geo Derise, and Pro BMXer turned businessman, Ryan.

Here I am with the corporate fitness mastermind Greg Justice, who’s co-launching the APPT, an organization devoted toward improving the Personal Training Industry.

Here I am with wildman and strength coach Zach Even-Esh.

I also got to hang out with Jim Hart, one of my marketing clients and Men’s Journal Top 100 Trainers in America.  Look for him to be one of the next and biggest online fitness success stories.

And of course all the way from the west coast, we have my buddy Chris McCombs and his lovely and extremely cool wife Sarah.

The first day was excellent and more informational in tone with presenters Mike Boyle, Greg Justice, Craig Ballantyne, and Holly Rigsby (whose presentation was excellent).   I had lunch with Antonio Valdares (one of NYC’s top trainers) and Jim Hart, where we talked about some of the major stuff they’re both doing online.

I laid low at night – really trying to avoid a replay of the the first night at the Fitness Business Summit!  And I’ve also been suffering from a little sleep deprivation from working on the new Super-Trainer site, so I crashed for a solid 10 hours and woke up today like a new man.

Today was without a doubt the most fun – it was highly motivational, entertaining, and informative all at the same time.  First up was, IYCA president, Brian Grasso who I met for the first time at this event and who is a really cool guy who you need to meet and talk to if you get a chance.

My favorite presentation of the weekend has to go to Zach, whose rags to riches fitness success story will have you both laughing and crying.  Zach is, without a doubt, one of the most outrageous personalities we have in the fitness industry today.

And it was also great to see Chris McCombs get up there and kill it.  The things he’s been able to achieve with his blog are incredible – he spilled some valuable keys to his success at the event.

Like I said, the best part for me was all of the people I met over the weekend including readers of the blog and tons of other industry people, like Mickey, Travis, the incomparable Adam Toohey, Nii Wilson, Joel Marion, A.J. Roberts, and just a ton more people that I’ve gotten to know online.

Above all, congrats to Pat, Nick, and Jim for doing such an amazing job with the event  – no one should underestimate what goes into throwing one of these things, and they did an unbelievable job.

And don’t underestimate the impact that attending one of these events can have on you and your career.  I hope I’ve made that clear with all of the coverage I’ve been giving at these events on the blog this month, so I recommend you don’t miss the next big fitness marketing event (hey Sarah that means you).

There’s one more day of presenters at the event tomorrow, but I may cut out early because I have some meetings with a few of the people over here.  And after three big events this month, I’m a little wiped out and ready to actually get to some real work!

And after seeing so many of my buddies hold down some unbelievable events this past month, who knows, I may even look into organizing one of these events down the line – who’s down?!?!?! Haha – let me know!