Personal Training Business

One very under rated part of personal training is the sales aspect. If you know how to train someone and you know all about exercise and nutrition that is wonderful. You can get every certification in the world and have the knowledge, yet without sales skills you are setting yourself up for FAILURE! Just because you get a job as a personal trainer does not mean every member of that club will walk up to you and buy huge packages of personal training from you. You will have to convince them of the value of your service and persuade them to pay for something many feel they can do on there own. Research the successful trainers in your area, ask for help from them and learn there techniques on how to close a sale. Only the strong survive in this business, and the best trainers have multiple incomes from personal training. Websites,blogs,clothing,supplements,sales,sales,sales is what makes you wealthy in the Personal training business. Good Luck!
Fitness_oneonone@yahoo.com

One very under rated part of personal training is the sales aspect. If you know how to train someone and you know all about exercise and nutrition that is wonderful. You can get every certification in the world and have the knowledge, yet without sales skills you are setting yourself up for FAILURE! Just because you get a job as a personal trainer does not mean every member of that club will walk up to you and buy huge packages of personal training from you. You will have to convince them of the value of your service and persuade them to pay for something many feel they can do on there own. Research the successful trainers in your area, ask for help from them and learn there techniques on how to close a sale. Only the strong survive in this business, and the best trainers have multiple incomes from personal training. Websites,blogs,clothing,supplements,sales,sales,sales is what makes you wealthy in the Personal training business. Good Luck!
Fitness_oneonone@yahoo.com

One very under rated part of personal training is the sales aspect. If you know how to train someone and you know all about exercise and nutrition that is wonderful. You can get every certification in the world and have the knowledge, yet without sales skills you are setting yourself up for FAILURE! Just because you get a job as a personal trainer does not mean every member of that club will walk up to you and buy huge packages of personal training from you. You will have to convince them of the value of your service and persuade them to pay for something many feel they can do on there own. Research the successful trainers in your area, ask for help from them and learn there techniques on how to close a sale. Only the strong survive in this business, and the best trainers have multiple incomes from personal training. Websites,blogs,clothing,supplements,sales,sales,sales is what makes you wealthy in the Personal training business. Good Luck!
Fitness_oneonone@yahoo.com

The personal training business is unlike anything people expect....i got into it because i loved seeing the changes i did with myself and i wanted to help others achieve thier goals. It's unbelievebly rewarding to be able to help someone change their body...their health...their life!

I went about it by getting certified through the IFPA....now the reason i chose them was because their way of educating is very very easy to understand yet with much detail. They also provide a lot of support and educational tools and marketing tools for your business as well. They are many others such as NASM and ACE who are also wonderful programs and in very much detail. As long as it's a national accredited cert....you're good. Just research them all and find what suits you best!

I personaly went through changing my degree in college 3 times!! I started in psychology, then physical therapy, and then finally came accross dietetics! i chose dietetics because i was already a trainer...i understood the body, but i also understood the fact that Nutrition is a huge huge part of being able to change your body! Dietetics provided me with knowledge not only of general nutrition, but nutrition for different types of illnesses or diseases.

It's very interesting and great tool to have because as a trainer (tho you can pick & choose your clients if you wanted) you have to deal with many different kinds of people...With the obesity rates in our country (& the world) we all know that the number of people with diabetes has highly increased, so as a trainer you have to know how to provide the nutritional education for that person to help maximize their training and results.

Anyways, the personal training business is wonderful because it's constantly changing and we have to constantly stay educated on new information to incorporate in training and nutrition to make the changes in the healthiest most productive way possible.

I believe to be a trainer you have to not only have book-knowledge (which the more education you have, the better) but you also need to be around people that live the lifestyle and be able to help you get hands on education. Find people you look up to & are successful in this (such as Jamo or Arnold and many others ;)) and seek their experience and knowledge.....research!! research everything.......learn how the body works, what effects it in what way....then learn to apply that to yourself....and then it becomes second nature. You must be able to understand the mechanics of the human body and distinguish the different needs of your clients and know how to properly handle the changes as they occur in them.

POINT IS that every body's body is different and the more you know and the more you work with people the better you get....it's a science & it's an art!!!

No matter what degree you have or what certification/s, your knowledge and the way you handle people and their personalities is what will put you on top of the list!

One thing i have found (even out here in LA) is people are pretty lazy....they would rather smoke, starve, do surgery, etc....rather than spent 30min in the gym or outdoors! most seem to have a trainer for the sake of being able to say..."i have a meeting with my trainer"! So, another thing that will make you more successful in your career is to be able to identify with people....know what triggers them and know how to motivate and educate and show them that what we do is fun....not a chore...but fun, relaxing, stress-releaving, healthy, enjoyable way of life and everyone can make it their way of life! What separates a good trainer from a great trainer is being sincere and really caring about your clients.....you change one life...and it's not only emotionally rewarding for you and that person....it also brings you great reputation as a trainer--& in our business, word of mouth is the strongest marketing tool we have!!!

~Ves~

Theres no magical answer. Hard work and dedication. Learn as much as you can, take business courses (probably dual major) along with getting your bachelors degree and the certifications that have been discussed on this site already for being a personal trainer. Your post is a pretty general post so I wouldnt expect specific answers. Team work as well, you wont do this all on your own, at least not the marketing aspect, and dont be afraid to outsource the areas of this endeavour that are not your strong points (once you graduateof course).
"Obsession is a term the lazy use to describe the dedicated" - Anonymous