Believe it or not, many people hate exercise with a passion that exceeds climactic ecstasy. No, seriously: some would rather give up sex forever than set foot on a treadmill. It defies explanation, I know. Who would want to give up sex for anything?

It’s true that some of us, like you and I, actually love exercise almost as much as we love sex. And there are the weirdos I mentioned above, who hate it as much as they love sex. But there are shades of gray when it comes to exercise. The world of fitness isn’t any more black and white than the rest of life, and many are indecisive about exercise due to conflicting feelings about it:

-Some would rather not do it, if they had the choice, but maybe force themselves out of concern for their health or physical appearance.

-Some actually don’t mind exercise, because it feels pretty good, once they get going. The trouble is finding the motivation to get started, because they’re either lazy or settled into a routine.

-Some really enjoy exercise, but don’t think they have time. After all, it requires changing clothes, strapping on shoes, taking a shower, and squeezing all that into a hectic lifestyle that barely leaves room to breathe.

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Most trainers don’t go into the personal-training business because they like marketing. They become personal trainers because they want to help people lose weight, build their strength and live healthy lives. But the truth is that promoting a business is every bit as important as is knowledge when it comes to gaining new clients and financial rewards.

Personal trainers won’t ever build their businesses without first mastering some basic fitness marketing strategies.

Without marketing, even the most knowledgeable and skilled personal trainers will be desperate for work. That’s because even the best trainers won’t attract clients if these potential customers don’t know they exist.

But can trainers market their businesses without spending a small fortune? Sure. It just requires some common-sense fitness marketing strategies.
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Imagine taking a giant box and filling it with swarms of sweaty people, dozens of dumbbells, a smattering of weight machines, two rows of treadmills, and a spandex-clad gym rat named Bruno who likes to ogle at himself in the mirror while flexing.

Now imagine trying to sell that box to hundreds of people in your city. People who don’t like ads. People who don’t like commercials. People who hear about other boxes on a daily basis – including ones that are cheaper, bigger, and have less Bruno than yours.

Tough job, right?
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Are you wasting half your paycheck trying to gain clients?

Learn these money-saving strategies to help your marketing success shoot through the roof.

Have you ever heard the saying “it takes money to make money?”

I’ll let you in on a secret: it’s a load of hooey. At least when it comes to fitness marketing.

Right this minute, thousands of personal trainers are convinced they need pricey promotional tactics to stay competitive, and are quickly losing their hard-earned cash as a result. Mail-outs, magazine ads, newspaper listings – not only are these strategies expensive, but they don’t even snag enough clients to keep your business afloat. 
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Marketing is going to make or break your business.

All business owners need to aggressively market their enterprises to bring in new clients. This holds true for personal trainers, too. But marketing alone isn’t enough. It’s important for personal trainers to know which of their marketing efforts are working. It’s why those trainers who want to succeed are constantly performing fitness marketing research.

Marketing can be pricey. Ads in glossy magazines or newspapers cost money. Commercials on local television or radio stations aren’t cheap. Putting together a top Web site requires the service of costly design professionals. Even running a marketing blog can cost a fair amount of dollars depending on how it is hosted.

Spending money on marketing is fine, though, if it brings in new customers or builds name recognition for a business. But no entrepreneur wants to spend money on promotional efforts that don’t pay off. That’s a costly mistake.
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Wonder why you don’t have more clients? Learn five powerful marketing tips every personal trainer needs to know.

If you’re a personal trainer, you already know that success requires action. Phenomenal bodies aren’t built by sitting around and waiting for the dumbbell to move itself; you’ve got to grab the weight and lift it.

The same goes for your business. Even if you’re a topnotch trainer, you’ll never attract enough clients if you aren’t proactive about promoting yourself. If you want amazing success, you need amazing marketing.

So what does that entail? Read on to find out.
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You need to find out what it is that your clients or future clients want, need, and desire.

Thousands of personal trainers are skipping this critical marketing step – and losing business as a result. Are you one of them?

Research: if the word sounds like a snooze-fest to you, you’re not alone. As a fitness trainer, you probably chose your profession because you’re passionate about health, about action, about client contact – not because you want to spend hours analyzing trends and Googling into oblivion.

But when it comes to developing a marketing plan, fitness market research is your front-row ticket to success. It reveals the most pertinent needs of your clients. It uncovers the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors. It allows you to pinpoint the exact strategies you need for superior marketing.

Knowledge is power. Here’s how to gain it.

1. Investigate your niche market.

If you want to get anywhere as a fitness professional, you need to narrow your scope beyond the general population. Your niche market is your bull’s-eye – the specialized spot to aim your marketing arrows.

Whether you’re training senior citizens, pregnant women, college athletes, body builders, or another group entirely, a focused target allows for focused research. And focused research brings the precise information you need.

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Axe Cologne gets it. You’ve undoubtedly seen this company’s commercials on TV. They always feature scruffy young men who are immediately swarmed by model-level women once they spray on some Axe.

The commercials are silly. You might even consider them a bit offensive. But you can’t argue with one thing: The promotional folks at Axe know their target market. They know that young men don’t just think about sex, they think about it all the time. So Axe fills its commercials with skinny women in tight shorts and halter-tops.

Here is a classic Axe commercial.

Sex sells, to the right audience. And Axe knows it.

But what about you? Sex sells. Are you using it?

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Let’s face it: the job of a personal trainer isn’t glamorous. You probably see more spandex in a week than most people do in a lifetime. You put up with cranky clients, money-guzzling gym owners, and weightlifting newbies convinced they can build massive biceps with 2-pound dumbbells.

If you weren’t so passionate about your work, you’d probably go insane.

Fortunately, the fitness industry is booming. With over two-thirds of Americans currently overweight or obese, there’s never been a better time to help people get in shape. Millions are unhealthy, unhappy, and desperate for a way to regain control of their lives.

So why are you still struggling to find clients?

Why aren’t the referrals flooding in?

Why, in a world where your profession is more important than ever, are you making less money than some McDonalds employees?

The magic word is “marketing.”

In the field of health and fitness, skill alone isn’t enough to catapult you into the public eye. Too many fitness instructors think that simply being good at what they do – motivating, educating, encouraging, instructing – will earn them a cult following of clients and spark a wildfire of referrals.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.

You’re in a field where thousands of fitness professionals are fighting tooth and claw just to make a living wage. You need to do more than be a good trainer; you also need to be a smart marketer.

In fact, you’d be shocked by the number of fitness professionals who don’t understand effective marketing. Instead, they take the “piñata approach” to gaining business – swinging blindly with a bat of fliers, postcards, ads, and referral requests, hoping they’ll eventually hit a client. Any client at all.

Take off the blindfold. Put down the bat. Step away from haphazard marketing scheme.

By following these tips, you can revamp your marketing strategy and start gaining the clients – and the income – you deserve.

Fitness Market Research

There’s no way around it: successful marketing starts with research.

Some fitness trainers dodge this step, plunging headfirst into a marketing plan before they’ve even tested the waters. These are the same people who spend their careers floundering, pouring money into ineffective strategies, grasping for clients, and careening towards an empty bank account.

Don’t underestimate the value of research. No matter who you are or what you have to offer, powerful marketing requires powerful knowledge. And to make true headway in the fitness industry, you’ll need to do two things:
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Take a tour around the Internet. It seems as if everyone is running a blog. But how many of these blogs are actually making money for their owners? If you guessed “nearly none of them,” you’re correct. But there are ways to blog for profit. And if you’re running your own personal-training blog, you should be aware of three tips on using a fitness blog to attract new clients.

New clients, after all, are the key to running any successful business. And any tool that can help you bring in these new clients is one that you can’t afford to ignore.

This is why it’s important to start and maintain a fitness blog. If done right, a blog can help you grow your business.

#1 – Deliver Valuable Content Consistently
The first step to running a successful blog is to fill it with interesting and informative content.
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