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Your Focus to Expand Your Business
You've
made countless cold-calls, posted flyers in every health food
store, on bulletin boards, gyms around town, and passed out
business cards to every person you've met. You've signed a
few new clients, some who train hard and some who hardly
train. You spend morning, noon, and night in the gym putting
everything you've got into becoming a great personal
trainer. Everything
would be great, if you weren't so burnt out.
This is a common problem in the fitness industry. We
try to help everyone in everyway possible and eventually
become overwhelmed. Researching training programs, writing
exercise and nutrition plans, and keeping updated on the
ever-changing fitness information is a huge time commitment. By
taking on a wide range of clients, all of whom have different
desires and motivations, we spread ourselves too thin. Burnout
stems from being passionate about one's self and one's
goals, but not having enough time, money, or business training
that is necessary for achieving them.
So
how do we stay passionate about our work, make a profit, and
have time for our own workouts and relaxation?
We find our niche and develop a marketing plan with
measurable and attainable goals. Take
a moment to focus on what you love best about being a fitness
professional. Perhaps
you enjoy helping women get back to their pre-baby fitness
level. Specialize in post-natal training.
Maybe you have a knack for teaching golfers the perfect
swing. Specialize in golf instruction.
Is gaining mass and strength your specialty?
Focus on coaching bodybuilders and power lifters. Once
you've found your niche take action. If you decide your
niche is in sports injury rehabilitation talk to sports teams
in your area. Develop strategic relationships with sports
clinics, batting cages, high schools, anywhere that attracts
people that have an obvious need for your services.
When
you do this you attract a clientele with similar needs.
Thus, you can spend time absorbing every possible bit
of information on your focus and apply it in multiple ways to
multiple clients. When
you become a specialist in your profession you become more
marketable. If you help a client improve his running time he
will tell his friends. His friends are then possible clients
for you. They will have seen the improvements in your original
clients and recognize what you could do for them. You will
also be spending time at the track. Other runners will see
you, your coaching skills, and the progress of your clients.
You become known for your specialty. Once
you have found your niche market you can better define your
marketing plan and goals. You will no longer spend large
amounts of time cold-calling and posting your flyers amongst
the many others on the walls of the health food and fitness
shops. Instead you can call specialty stores and businesses. You
will develop strategic partnerships with the managers and
owners of the places that your typical client would frequent.
By
doing so you will market yourself more effectively.
Plus, you can spend all the time you were wasting on
unproductive passive marketing doing things for yourself.
You will have time for your own training and
relaxation. Finding your niche in the fitness industry is key. Not only will you become a more successful and productive fitness professional, but your time will be better organized. Thus, allowing you to take time for yourself, prevent burnout, and keep your passion for your self and your goals alive.
Tom
Perkins is eFitnessTracker's Business Coach, a business solutions coach and a certified personal
trainer who leads fitness professionals to profitability. |
