Real funny how things turn out …
Super-Trainer started out as a fun way for me to talk (okay brag) about how amazing Personal Training’s been for me and some of the other trainers I know – a real difference from all the negative crap I was seeing and reading about on the web. It was also an answer to all the info getting thrown around that just doesn’t apply to this extremely unique career.
It’s been a lot of fun, don’t get me wrong … an amazing ride for me with some new things coming up that are going to make it even more interesting. But you know what? I find I’m on my computer A LOT these days!!! (What’s worse is I can’t take my laptop to the beach – it just gets too damn hot!)A lot of this time is spent answering email and talking to readers, which I love to do by the way so if you’ve got a question, send it over. But I thought I’d kill a few birds with one stone by answering some of these letters in a fresh new blog post through a new video – don’t call it being lazy – it’s multitasking!
– here it is –
[youtube HQeD3G4fAU0 nolink]
Some really good reader feedback there! If you’re a trainer getting started in Personal Training then I hope you got something out of it.
If I could sum it all up in one phrase, about what it takes to get a high-level training practice going, it’s belief in yourself. That’s because a lot of it won’t make sense at times. You see that in Troy’s question about his mother not understanding the career, Andrew thinking that he needs some kind of stamp of approval to help others get in shape, or Eddy thinking this is just like any other career, where you spend thousands of dollars going to college and then go out in the world trying to get a “good job” (lol).
As you probably already know, or as any experienced trainer like me and all of the others that you’ve seen profiled on this blog will tell you, it’s none of those things. It’s just you stepping up and believing you can do this. You won’t have the confidence to make yourself a complete and knowledgeable trainer until you first believe this career is REAL and you can do it. After that?
- you’ll invest in yourself
- you’ll learn more about training
- you’ll practice what you preach
- you’ll teach and learn from other trainers
- you’ll take a leadership role in society
- you’ll seek out the people that can most appreciate and benefit from your services
That sounds like a lot of effort, but if you’re someone already passionate about fitness, then they’ll turn out to be probably the most pleasurable activities you could possible take part in (compare that to any other career where work, study, preparation and demands leave people a complete shell of themselves physically and mentally).
Simple as that. But that’s not the end, that’s just the beginning. Your beginning in the tremendous fitness field, one that’s really got no limits. Just get this part (your Top-Level training practice) handled first!
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If you liked this post, wait ’til you read what’s NOT being said on the web:
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Hello Kaiser,
Your 100% correct. Education is not a prerequisite to becoming a good personal trainer. You have to be willing to put in the time, network, market yourself intensely and think outside of the box from your competition. You really get what you put into it. I have hired trainers with MS degrees in Kinesiology who have no idea how to interact in a business situation or close a deal. They stayed poor and eventually quit.
Conversely, I have a trainer with a HS diploma and Navy training who is a hard worker, closes deals and works 65 client hours per week which is close to $5000/ week, or 25K per month. Not bad! Understanding the business and the psychology of the prospective client is key to your success as a personal trainer. Something that most business schools do not teach. This comes with experience!
Hey guys!! The key to making $ and becoming a good trainer is staring you in the freakin’ face. This blog is a unique and innovative tool for fast growth! I have been in the industry forever and make a big 6 figure salary. I bust my ass 7 days a week. I have learned by trail and error, and reading reading reading!
Consider your self lucky, as a a good business manager would charge your thousands of $ for less quality advice than Kaiser is rendering for free.
He knows his shit inside and out.
Wo – thanks for the testimonial Rivak! Every established independent trainer, that’s been through the grind and now has a steady training practice going has told me the same thing as you – we all just tend to think alike after we’ve figured out what works – and what’s funny is our consensus is soooooo different from what the professional rhetoric getting marketed out there is saying – things like if you want more money cut all your sessions back to a half hour while still charging the same rates, and start pushing vitamins and exercise equipment on your clients. I’d rather do an outstanding job and up my rates based on that.
What is that “outstanding job”? It’s more than just the exercise, weights, and sweat. That’s what we’re figuring out here on Super-Trainer. Learn that, and Personal Training is “easy”.
Once again good info here – just met a guy yesterday starting out, hired by Golds for his first gig. I referred him to this site for sound advise.
Sometimes its hard for me to relate to new trainers because my info sounds pessimistic, busting your ass, putting in the time, selling yourself, believing in what you do, listen to your clients.
Almost seems over-whelming to a new trainer – Kaiser spells this all out.
Kaiser-
Great advice as always. I really like the point you made to your buddy – just get certified and get going. If you wait till you feel you’re perfectly qualified or have a set amount of knowledge, you’ll never get started. What you don’t know, you’ll learn along the way. Even now, I’m constantly learning new techniques, new equipment, and different approaches. I don’t wait till I feel I know everything 100%, but gradually roll out what I’ve mastered and use it with my clients.
I also think a lot of trainers would do themselves a favor by including some marketing and public speaking classes while getting their degrees-success comes from being an effective communicator and knowing how to market and present yourself!
Yeah Doug I agree – Marketing yourself, or personal marketing and the million little things that are involved with that are essential – I hesitate to call them the most important part, but they’re a spoke in the wheel that if you’re missing, you’ll have a hard time riding –
In respect to keeping this simple let’s not over-analyze this whole personal marketing thing – but yeah, SPEAKING is a big part – how you’re coming across and what you’re saying and the relationship you’re building are important parts – and also the trustworthiness and credibility that’s communicated in everything you do –
And in training there’s also got to be that spark or flare – that little bit of excitement that sets it apart – I cover a lot of this in the MARKETING BLUEPRINT report – http://super-trainer.com/reports/
Yeah Bill and Rivak again – don’t want to gloss over the hard-work part – just that I’d rather be working hard in something I love – I remember dreading going to the gym for 300 pound squats last week and then remembering “wait a second, I get paid to do this shit!” – brought that energy level right back up –
I’ve been getting a lot into character and right-thinking in some of the posts lately – I sound kind of sappy with that, but that’s an essential part I want to communicate to the readers –
Training is so unique that you can’t hide behind a degree, and on a subconscious level you can’t bullshit clients the way every other health professional can –
So that makes who you are becoming as a person the differentiating quality –
If you read the Whistleblower, you know there was a lot of hard times, hard work, and uncertainty for me coming up – I don’t know how many other people could handle all of that and keep going – but that was all kind of MY FAULT – it was when I was trying to mass market, over sell, and not “live it” myself – I thought training was business – big mistake –
But once I got things in order in my head and started to understand what training was about, and understand what was most valuable to me in my own life, I was able to construct things much differently – that led to peeling away unnecessary work and headaches, looking for more leverage with clients, charging more, and investing more time and money in myself and my own happiness. There’s been work and uncertainty through some of this phase as well, but it’s totally different – I would call it growth, challenge, things that can be really fun when you look at them the right way –
So in a nutshell that’s the specific point I’m trying to get across on Super-Trainer – that’s why we’ve stepped back from strategy and tactics a bit and have been talking about things like TRANSFORMATION and things like that – it’s getting this mind-set or starting point right – how you view the profession – it’s at that point that you can make some really rapid progress – I’ve seen that from some trainers I know personally – young guys in their early twenties – they approach training with the right passion and values, and in one year they cut through everything I did wrong and end up with exactly the type of training practice I have now, charging exactly what I charge – go figure –
Hey Kaiser, again you are right. It is easy to lose perspective of what a great thing we do for a living. But days like today really make me loose focus and perspective. I saw 10 clients between 4:00 and 4:30PM and post went on 4 consultations with my new young trainers. (Good news they all converted easily to 36 sesion packages.) Anyway, here I am walking through my front door at 10:15PM on a Saturday night!
Consultaions can be very stressful, especially when I am doing all the talking, testing and drafting up of contracts. My young trainers just sit there like zombies. Sometimes , I just want to Rambo them!
The problem is that potential clients want to see me, and always sign up for sessions when I am there representing my company.
In the past, I have sent my trainers to solo consultations on their own 27 times and zippo conversions. Go figure? Any tips?
I hope to one day enjoy my weekends a bit more because the glamour of this business looks so far away when your staring through red glazed eyes after an 81 contact hour work week. Yeah, the money is great, but you have to admit there is an indigenous burnout that comes with a long work week. Yes? Although things can be worse. I often buffer my burn out symptoms, by reflecting back on the year 1987 when I was working at NY Eye and Ear Infirmary on 2nd and 14th street in NYC. I was making $50K per year and working 7 days per week and on call 15 days per month. Now I quadruple this salary and don’t put up with the BS of some arrogant MD.
Anyway, enough of my venting, just thought I would share with my favorite blog, SuperTrainer.com
Hey Rivak – I feel for you brah!
No offense, but looks like you’ve grown to a level and type of business that’s beyond what you can handle – this can’t last and the clock is ticking –
This is a common mistake that a trainer can make – it might sound strange to a newly independent trainer just trying to get started and get clients, but at a certain point clients can come easily and signing them is easy too – but then you face another serious problem. You’ve got all of this cash flow and you kind of don’t want to let it go – now you’re stuck working for your business! And the training that was so easy to master and hardly felt like work kind of becomes monotonous. Through your earnings, contacts, and experiences you also grow as a person, and then the work itself might not challenge you anymore either.
This is a situation I’ve found myself in a couple of times, and had the good sense to kind of reflect on what I wanted. I now have a living situation I’m real happy with, where work, home, friends, and personal growth are all one big whole. I chose not make more because I know that more hours and stress would come with it – looks like you’ve got stuck in that trap buddy. And probably with so many bills and overhead now that stepping back is going to be hard to do.
Hope you get that chance to reflect on where your money and satisfaction’s coming from and how you can focus on the high-earning stuff and cut back the rest.
From what you’ve told me and your experience it looks like you’re ready to take a leadership role in your business – just that and only that! Just handling the sales and client service, and teaching other trainers your specialized techniques so they can administer your workouts. This would have to be in a studio setting – have you ever though about that? Personal Training studios are a lot cheaper to open than some people think, and depending on the type of set-up they sometimes pay for themselves. You don’t need the same amount of really expensive equipment that you’ll find in a gym. Just a few specialized pieces and other training specific tools. Clients won’t question it or know the difference. What you’ll notice in a lot of the major chain gyms these days is that the trainers are actually keeping their clients away from the equipment and training them with small equipment in a specially designated part of the gym. This trend plays right into our hands and makes it more cost effective for you to open a studio if you chose. Since you have the cash flow you should really think about this. From looking at your site, your marketing is impeccable and you’ve obviously got the experience and credibility to do it. It’ll cut down on your commuting, allow you to do only the jobs that you’re needed for (new client sales, education), and when you’re not needed for that job, you may even be able to take some time off. When you do chose to train, you can use the help of your assistants and give semi-private training to small groups, with each individual client doing their own thing with adequate instruction.
Just a scenario I wanted to throw at you – but it’s clear your near the end of your rope and it’s time to do something about it. I’m working on a post right now about BURN-OUT that should be up in the next couple of days getting into this more.
But overall this is just one thing every trainer with or looking to set-up a Top-Level Training Practice needs to keep in mind: it’s a stepping stone to get the money, time, and mastery you need to keep growing.
Hey Kaiser – I loved this post! It felt like you were talking to me because I have exactly the same questions as everyone that you answered. Right now I’m getting experience, training my girlfriend and I have a few private clients that I’m charging good money. My main goal is to try to grow on what I have now and you’re blog’s been a huge help.
I have a question about the last thing you said – do you think training is just a stepping stone to something else? Because it seems to me like it could be a lot of fun to do this long-term. It pays good and it’s easy to do so it might not be a bad idea as a long-term career – what do you think about that?