I know all of you at one time or another has typed the term “Personal Training” into Google out of curiosity.

When you did, right there in the top ten results, along with Wikipedia and all the big training companies with huge advertising budgets, you surely saw Scott White’s gleaming bald head shining back at you.

If you didn’t know, the web is the best way to get new clients (next to referrals) for every Personal Trainer. Even if you’re familiar with the web, marketing online is a completely different science. With his success at consistently getting top ten results nationally, Scott’s the undoubted master at it in this field. I wanted to get Scott on here to talk about how he does it and see if we could squeeze a few secrets out of him.

Here’s the transcript of our conversation:
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Hey Scott – pleasure to have you on Super-Trainer. People usually equate this field to just sweat and dumbbells, but the web is starting to play a much bigger role. How did you first start getting involved in using the web? How did you get familiar with it?

Well I have always been a big time computer nerd growing up, I went to college in mind to get a degree in computer science, though as I was a collegiate athlete and fell in love with training I decided to change my major and still keep learning computers on my own. It’s always been a 2nd passion of mine, and I worked with a few people in the industry and started researching myself how and why websites got number 1 positions on the search engines. It’s a huge mathematical equation, an algorithm which
gets the websites to rank number one and then I started playing with things and working on breaking the code to rank websites at the top. Once I figured out how it all worked it was easy. Since I’ve been very passionate about computers and how they all worked, figuring out how search engines was just the next step. It was like playing a role playing game as a kid; I had to beat the code. Computers all run on patterns and once you break and figure out the details of how the code works it’s a simple as following the steps and doing the right moves at the right moment to win the game or rank your website.

Great metaphor there about the role-playing game – you’re right, you are a NERD! Although you still have a role in fitness, it’s more from a marketing, promotion, and technology stand point. Those are really totally different disciplines to master – how did this transition take place?
The big transition was learning that I wasn’t only a Personal Trainer; I’m also a businessman and entrepreneur. It’s one thing to be amazing at what you do but even though you may be the best at Personal Training or whatever you do, no one may know about you. Promoting yourself and marketing yourself as a Personal Trainer or any other business is what separates you from making the money that you deserve. Over my years in the training business and working for companies I was always fascinated how some trainers made tons of money and they were horrible trainers, and some trainers who were amazing made no money and didn’t have any clients. I was fortunate; I was good at both and never had trouble getting clients, and of course spent tons of time learning new techniques in Personal Training and in business. I knew this one guy that out-sold everyone and he was horrible as a Personal Trainer; he had more clients than anyone, lead the company in sales and his clients loved him. But he really, and I mean really was a horrible trainer: bad form, didn’t get his clients results – but they still trained with him and continued to send him more business. At that moment I learned the importance of marketing, online and off-line.

Marketing you and your business is extremely important because know one will really know how great you are if you don’t ever market you and your company. You have to put yourself out there and in time you’ll get more business and make more money and get the attention you deserve. Because let’s face it: how many Personal Trainers can you think of who you know are not that good, but they get tons of attention and people believe that they are good just because the position they were in? I can rattle off more than a handful.. That’s why I focus my efforts in marketing online and offline, because it is far more important if you want a successful company.

You’re greatest skill has got to be Search Engine Optimization. Can you describe what that is exactly?

It simply means the practice of designing web pages and implementing strategies so that your website ranks as high as possible in search results from search engines. Simply put, it’s getting your web-page to rank at the top of search engines from an organic, unpaid listing.

You’re skills in this area are unquestionable: anyone that does a search of Personal Training, which is highly a competitive keyword that people pay as much as $10 per click to advertise for, will find you’re always among the top natural search results. You’re right up there with huge companies with huge marketing budgets. You’ve actually created an educational program on this that I want to plug for you, the SEO Super Success Secrets Program. Can you give us a couple of secrets from the program, something we can start using immediately?

Some huge tips to help ranking your website immediately is making sure your website is search engine friendly –

• no spelling mistakes
• keyword content
• get your meta tags completed and proper keywords in place
• exchange links with other sites
• create excellent content

At www.seotutorialprogram.com you’ll find tons of free articles that you can read more details on in this subject or of course purchasing the program will teach you step by step each component to get your site ranked in the search engines.

I’ve noticed that most trainers seem to know very little about what it takes to market on the Internet; that’s a shame because it’s probably the greatest tool to attract new clients. Can you describe the importance of a web presence and SEO for a trainer?

The benefit of having a website that is ranked on the Internet is that your services are being marketed 24/7 hours a day. When I sleep, workout, or while I’m training and getting paid by other clients, people find my website and read about me, my company and my services, and buy my products or call me to train with me. It’s an amazingly simple system, because if you develop a website properly and get it to rank in the search engines, you’re getting motivated people who sought your website, spent hours reading about you, and now are calling you directly to sign up for your Personal Training services, which is amazing. It’s the easiest sale you can ever make – people have already researched everything about you on the website and now there ready to buy and pay you for your services. There is no hard sell or anything. I can’t talk more about how easy it is to publish your self and business and make yourself larger than life with the Internet. I don’t have to talk about all the people who have made millions on Internet and have made themselves movie and TV stars all by marketing themselves first on the net. It’s the fastest way to put yourself out there for the world to see you. With the Internet you can really get on the fast track with your career and market your services and products with very little effort once you lay down the road work. In my opinion you’re stupid if your not taking advantage of this amazing opportunity.

That’s straight talk; I’ve never called another trainer stupid although I’ve thought it many times. Now not only do you promote yourself, but you’ve worked with literally hundreds of other trainers with SEO, web-site creation, and general marketing. You’ve probably made more Personal Trainers money than anyone else in this business – that must make you feel good doesn’t it?

Totally – I love being able to help other trainers achieve there dreams and goals. It’s an awesome feeling to be a part of something bigger and to help others get where they want to be. Making money is awesome, though helping people and being a part of getting people where they want to go is awesome. To get the phone calls and emails of people shouting about how I have changed there life and to hear in the voice how excited and happy they are is something truly special. As I’m sure all the personal trainers in the industry already know what’s that like when they get a client to lose 30,40 or 100+ pounds how excited that client is and how rewarding it feels to be a part of that. So yes it is really special in being a part of that.

Besides the people you’ve worked with individually, you’ve also created a few information products, one of which you’ve mentioned and the rest can be found on your site at http:/www.personalpowertraining.net/. Online marketing has got a bad rap lately. What’s your stance on online marketing today?

Sure there is a lot of junk out there and anyone can do it, especially if you know the secrets. Though just like anything, you have to take advantage of the opportunity and promote yourself as an expert. It’s still the best way and least expensive way if you know the secrets that I teach to market yourself and promote yourself. I’ll always be a big fan of Internet Marketing because it works phenomenally for making money, getting clients, and allowing more free time for you while your business markets itself even while you sleep.

What’s your role in Personal Training as it still stands today? What are you still doing out there in fitness?

I’m constantly working on new products and programs. I love the business and really want to help promote it as a whole and raise the level of education of Personal Trainers. I feel it’s too easy to become a Personal Trainer which lowers the quality of qualified professionals out there in the industry; I’m working with organizations and educating the public to ask for better trainers. I’m still very passionate about the industry and move more towards teaching trainers to be better qualified so that not just any Joe off the street can train clients. As a whole it makes us all look bad when there are trainers out there that don’t have a clue about the human body and recommend exercise or nutrition programs that are just not right. I’m cleaning up the industry and being more of an educator in the business so more of us can change peoples life’s and motivate them to success as a whole.
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I’m glad Scott was so forthright in his in interview. That last paragraph was very interesting because those are my goals as well, to educate trainers and raise the training industry. Just like with Scott and many other trainers I’ve known, once you start to view yourself as a professional and take your work seriously, the low barriers to entry and low standards you find in some places become disturbing.

Again, you can check out Scott’s product at www.seotutorialprogram.com. I haven’t reviewed it and don’t make any money if you buy it or not, but take it from me that Scott knows what he’s doing in this area or I wouldn’t have had him on here.

I want to thank Scott for coming on. It’s true that the web is the best way to reach clients these days. If you don’t have at least 1-2 new leads finding you every week through this channel you’re doing something wrong. Although it might seem to some that learning about computers somehow undermines you’re integrity as a trainer, it’s actually ENTIRELY the opposite. It wasn’t until after I had a steady flow of clients that I could forget about promoting myself and focus 100% on the most important thing: the results and happiness of my clients. This wouldn’t have been possible if the web hadn’t automated all my non-training tasks.

Addition – Here’s Scott on the Arizona Midday Show:
[youtube 0zeq5n493OQ nolink]