What is it with trainers and the web? Mastering how to market yourself on the Internet is what can really set you free as a Personal Trainer.   It’s how you can get an endless stream of clients …

That’s because most potential personal training clients  are glued to their computers all day, every day.  They use them all the time for everything; that’s why they need a trainer in the first place!

I’m not sure if everyone knows it, but starting a high-level Personal Training website and Web Marketing was covered in detail in the INDEPENDENT TRAINER program. There was no fluff, only the basics on how to get your site to rank first in google, run a targeted PPC (pay-per-click) campaign, score big with free classified advertising … it’s all there, mapped out in detail along with my own case studies.

The course would have been incomplete without that info – yeah, the training, credibility, and lifestyle parts that are also covered are important, but it means nothing if you can’t get a single client – that’s why it was covered in so much depth in INDEPENDENT TRAINER.

Right here I’ve reprinted the first few pages of the WEB MARKETING chapter for you now – I think you might find them painfully funny …

And at the end you’ll find a special offer for the program that’s expiring in less than 3 days so make sure you jump on it.

Here you go:

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I still remember listening to the audio of a seminar given by the great sales and success coach Brian Tracy. He talks about how computer literacy and using the Internet are an indispensable part of business today; how we’re in the information age and even five year olds are computer literate. He made it very clear to everyone in attendance how important it was to begin adopting computers and the Internet; how you’d have to be insane not to.

This seminar was held in 1997!

Now more than 10 years later I’m sure it’s clear to every single person reading this book that we’re very much in the information age and the Internet has revolutionized the world as we know it. It’s as much or more a part of how people live today as the television or telephone. The way consumers and businesses interact has changed as too, with the Internet as the go-between in this relationship.  But the Internet’s not just an extension of old ways of doing business. It’s a completely different medium, and it has it’s own set of rules and nuances. There’s a way to attract, reach, and interact with people using the web that isn’t apparent to those of us coming to it for the first time. It only becomes obvious when you’re fully immersed and begin studying how and why people use the Internet when searching for services. Once you understand this, you have a competitive edge that puts you in position for a tremendous windfall. You can actually gain an overwhelming number of quality leads through a website that’s essentially free to maintain. If you didn’t know that already, welcome to the information age!

Personal Trainers And The Web

While businesspeople and consultants in other fields were early to adopt the web and by now have refined their approach and message for their customers, Personal Trainers have always had a love-hate relationship with computers.  Through my own experience and the many other trainers I’ve come across, their adoption of the Internet has been slow and painful. I think it’s just the nature of us as trainers that makes us uncomfortable with this important medium. There’s nothing wrong with that; it’s just the personality type of those that enter fitness as a career doesn’t mesh well with computers. Those that chose fitness as a career are usually vibrant and energetic people that value all the nuances of human contact; and the Internet, no matter how personal it gets in our age of Web 2.0, is still
just too detached:

• Why send an email when you can hear a voice over the phone?

• Why meet people on line when you can meet them face to face at a club?

• Why buy something online when you can go to the mall and touch it and try it on?

I think it’s this element of our nature, almost a physical ADD, that prevents us from sitting in one place and exploring the world even if it comes over a high-speed connection.  But one thing you’ve got to realize is that’s not how your customer is or how they’re looking of you. Today’s consumer for Personal Training is the exact opposite of you, which is one of the reasons why they’re looking for your help.
Let’s profile the computer habits of this consumer:

• They use their computers heavily at work and it’s a part of almost every work function they perform.

• They most likely are on their computers all day, even using them for most things in their personal lives.

• They have more than ten years experience online.

• Any research they do or consumer choice they make is shaped completely by information they find online.

This consumer is not sympathetic to the fact that you don’t know how to talk to them or relate your marketing message to them online. If they visit your site and don’t get the news and information they’re looking for to pop-out at them immediately, they’ll be gone in under four seconds; that’s what the research shows. So just being on the web isn’t enough; once you’re there, you need to know what your customer is looking for and how to give it to them immediately.

Level Playing Field

The amazing thing about the Internet is that unlike any other form of media, it allows small contractors like you and I the opportunity and power to reach the same market as any major company. This is probably one of the most remarkable breakthroughs of our time. A person typing on a key-board out of their bedroom can make as big an impact as a major media outlet, even without any marketing  budget at all. The kingpin search engine Google is actually designed in a way that gives more relevance to the little guy, with the major media companies trying to play catch-up.  As an independent Personal Trainer, this is a huge advantage for you. The Internet has allowed the online consumer to look through all the media hype and garbage and find the small-time provider who is giving the best, highest quality product. This works entirely in your favor.

Your Message

Remember the exercise we went through on picking our Specialty and creating your Success Image? Your website is where all of this comes together. You’ll now have a chance to explain to your customer in detail who you are and how you’re different from everybody else out there. If you don’t take advantage of
this opportunity and instead just put out the same marketing rhetoric as everyone else, you’ll quickly lose your visitors and they’ll be gone and never come back.  What you need to do is express why you’re different front and center in a way that benefits your prospect. You want them to realize that what you’re offering is for them, and then give them compelling reasons to take action now.

If you’re like most people, you’ve probably been convinced that flash is the way to reach customer online. Everyone must be similarly misguided, or else so many trainer wouldn’t be using this approach. They spend all of their reserve money paying web-designers to make them a flashy site with a flashy introduction (using a program called Flash, interestingly enough) and then watch in horror astheir site brings them no new customers at all. They just chalk it up as a cost of doing business in the world today, and don’t realize that their website could actually be the primary vehicle bringing them more qualified leads than they could possibly handle.

Unlike what you may have been led to believe, creating a flashy site isn’t the key to success. That approach is used by companies looking for immediate promotion and branding, for example the latest blockbuster movie or flavor of Bacardi. But the person online looking for information is hardly interested in any obvious hype. That’s why you’ll notice that the biggest sites today are very simple, sometimes ugly sites but that focus on putting the key information right in the face of their visitors as soon as possible. Google has meteorically risen to the top of the Internet world, and they’re built around the principles of simplicity and relevance. Just look at the other big name sites that are ruling today’s marketplace,
sites like Craigslist, Myspace, Facebook, and Youtube, and you’ll notice they’re all built around the same principles – helping the user get what they want as fast possible, with no filler.

Keeping It Simple

If you’re like the traditional person when it comes to how you view the web, it might not make sense to you to put a body of text on the front page of your website. In fact, anyone you show your site to will tell you that it’s ugly, unattractive, and will lose the interest of the visitor. What they don’t realize is that our traditional ideas on product packaging do not apply when it comes to creating a website for the online consumer. This person is looking for only one thing: relevant information to make a buying decision. They’re similar to a person picking up the New York Times; they want the story so they can make up their own mind. That’s why our website has to put these key benefits in the prospects face front and center.

Just like a good newspaper, attractive, high quality pictures and excellent presentation are also important, but what will win is your headline and follow-up text. As the independent consultant, you don’t have a PR department or brand recognition to make the sale for you: your website needs to do the entire job of speaking to your customer and making the sale. I use video testimonials and video clips of my workouts on my website, but I only provide them as further content for my prospect to explore; I don’t let the technology take over the message. It instead is used to back it up, which is very
different.

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Ha!  I hope that got you thinking!

That was just the intro to the WEB MARKETING chapter – what follows is 45 more pages of unfiltered info on how to get your website in front of your potential customers, so you have the freedom to pick
and chose exactly the clients you want.

And what else is in the course?  How to actually become a credible trainer!  How to deliver high quality sessions, be a recognized expert, and grow to huge things in the industry.

Did you ever notice how every established high-level trainer will tell you they were a successful independent trainer first? This course helps you get to that level as fast as possible.  It teaches you what a solid training business is built on – it all crumbles if you don’t know this part.

And here’s the offer: From now until 12 PM on Monday March 3, you can preview the entire course for only $1.

Read it, print some out, do whatever you want – I know that putting that time limit on it will make you actually use it!

And in that time you’ll realize what a powerful course it is, and that the full price of $97 is just a drop in the pan compared to the value you get here.

Here’s the special link for the $1 offer (just click on this text right now).

This link is ONLY good over the weekend – it officially expires on Monday 3/2 at 12:00 PM eastern time, so get your $1, one week trial now.

I know some amazing things will happen because of it – and I can’t wait to hear your success story too!

Here’s the link to the $1 trial of INDEPENDENT TRAINER again (just click on this text right now).