Podcast Episode #12: Recession-Proof Your Fitness Business

Published
by
Ben Greenfield
on January 3, 2009
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

The past year has been a financial and business roller-coaster ride for most industries. Do you want specific suggestions on how personal trainers can ensure success if economic turmoil continues in 2009? In this January 2, 2009 Podcast, Ben Greenfield interviews Phil Kaplan about how personal trainers can approach the 2009 economy and still experience massive success in the fitness business.

Phil is considered by many to be the father of combining traditional business philosophies and practices with personal training. He has been referred to as the world’s most in-demand fitness professional and the Master of Body Transformation!

He worked his way up from a minimum wage fitness instructor to health club operator and owner to a media personality appearing on over 1,000 television and radio programs as well as authoring over 250 published articles. Phil is responsible for introducing many of the standard industry practices that are utilized by fitness professionals worldwide, such as Supportive Nutrition, A Concern for Muscle, Moderate Aerobic Exercise, The Series Philosophy, Unconditional Money Back Guarantee, The Transform Program, The Orientation, NAVAQA Sales Technique of Influence and many others. He is also the author of Personal Training Profits and a Secure Fitness Future and the e-program, Change Your Mind, Change the World.

He has shared his unwavering success strategies to more than 100,000 fitness professionals all over the world and is credited with creating more successful fitness entrepreneurs than any other force in the fitness industry.

Included in this free audio interview with Phil:

-What Phil considers to be the top trends in personal training for 2009.

-How can a personal trainer can stand out among the glut of fitness information.

-Why the psychology of “fitness” business needs to be re-invented, and how you can do it.

-Where you can go and what you can read to enable yourself with the resources to implement Phil’s suggestions.

-The singe powerful piece of technology Phil considers one of the top tools to have in your personal training toolbox!

-And much, much more!

Want to learn how to implement as many tools as possible to succeed as a fitness professional? Be sure to check out Ben Greenfield’s book “Train For Top Dollar” by clicking here!

 
icon for podpress  Recession-Proof Your Fitness Business [32:29m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

How to Start an Online Personal Training Business: Part II

Published
by
Ben Greenfield
on December 17, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

And remember…check out the 150+ page fitness business manual by clicking here!

How to Start an Online Personal Training Business: Part I

Published
by
Ben Greenfield
on December 1, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

OK, so the first thing you need to understand is that online personal training is your answer to this so-called “Recession“.

Case in point:

Just lastnight, I received two separate e-mails. Both were from individuals who “couldn’t afford” face-to-face coaching but who both wanted to sign up immediately for online training.

And, of course, I simply sent them a URL to click and they were signed up. When they clicked on the URL, they were brought to a payment page, and when they clicked on the payment page, they were automatically sent a questionnaire form to fill out. This way, I didn’t spend 5 minutes here and 5 minutes there taking care of all the nitty-gritty details associated with setting up a new online client.

In other words, the recession is driving clients to my doorstep.

So…how did I actually set all this up?

When I first started online personal training just three years ago, I had no clue how to do anything. I would sit in front of my computer for hours just tapping away at the keys in an attempt to do something as simple as let somebody send me an e-mail from a website.

For a look at what I’m doing now, you can see a Web 2.0 based website at http://www.bengreenfieldfitness.com , or a traditional e-commerce website at http://www.pacificfit.net (we’re hiring highly qualified coaches and trainers, by the way - just e-mail me for details!).

I highly recommend that you begin by getting a domain name. You can easily go to http://www.godaddy.com or http://www.bluehost.com , two of my favorites, and create your virtual real estate. From there, you’re set to begin putting content up on your website.

To get the creative juices flowing, take at a couple great examples of personal training websites:

http://www.ginalombardi.com

http://www.jimkaras.com

These sites have a few things going for them…

They’re simple (include much white space or black space, not completely covered with text).

They have a few very clear pictures.

They show up well in search engines (more on that in future articles).

But one site is better than the other. The Gina Lombardi website actually has syndicated content, meaning that it gets updated frequently. And that is a very important feature that you need to make sure you plan for in your online training business. Include a section where you can add articles, news, blog posts, or videos. This will vastly help your internet search engine ranking.

So whether you design your site yourself (using templates or web design software that comes for free with a GoDaddy or BlueHost account) or you outsource (using a virtual assistant from a website like http://www.elance.com or http://www.odesk.com. make sure you plan ahead!

In the next couple posts, I’m going to teach you how to decide which services you can actually offer from your website, and how to actually collect payments online. In the meantime, get your virtual real estate, get a good name, and get good design!

Learn Exactly How to Start an Online Personal Training or Sports Coaching Business

Published
by
Ben Greenfield
on November 23, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

You’ve heard of online personal training and sports coaching, but how does it practically work? And is it really the answer for fitness professionals to still make money during the financial recession in America? In the upcoming series of 10 articles right here at this website, you’re going to learn how to:

-host and build your website

-advertise your online services

-optimize client interactions

-generate client testimonials

-find free document swapping tools for sharing files with your clients

-upload photo and video

-chat and talk to your clients live for no charge

-set-up free FAQ and forums sections for your websites

-know which software is worth your money and which software is a waste of time.

-launch yourself into an extremely high ranking position on a Google search.

-identify recession-proof markets that will always purchase affordable online training and coaching.

I hope you’re ready for tons of useful information, because the first round is going to hit you at the end of November 2008. In the meantime, while you’re waiting, be sure to look into the Train For Top Dollar Team and Train For Top Dollar Book. Just don’t blame me when your online fitness professional business leaps to life overnight!

Finally, just sign-up for the Train For Top Dollar newsletter, and I’ll write to let you know *exactly* when the first article in this series hits the press!

5 Simple Things You Can Add to Your To-Do List for Automatically Skyrocketing Your Online Personal Training Business

Published
by
Ben Greenfield
on November 15, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

If you could hack into my computer and log-in to my Entourage calendar, you would find that I’ve created a simple task for each day - just something small that takes only about 5 minutes to accomplish. These tiny, seemingly inane habits add up to massively boost my online presence, search engine ranking, and productivity as a fitness professional, personal trainer, and triathlon coach.

I want to share 5 of these tasks with you. WARNING: After 2 or 3 weeks, you will begin to notice your website hits and interest in your personal training programs begin to skyrocket!

1. Mondays: post to my twitter account. Be useful. Don’t be a salesman. Tell people about your latest fitness technique or healthy meal plan. Make them interested in your life!

2. Tuesdays: post to at least 1 forum (I personally do six). Include a helpful reply in your niche area (triathlon, bodybuilding, fat loss, etc.) and make sure that your signature includes a linkback to your website.

3. Wednesdays: Use socialmarker.com, a social bookmarking website, to submit at least 1 of my recent blog postings to as many relevant social networking sites as possible.

4. Thursday: Send at least 3 of my clients a personal e-mail, whether it be a nutrition article, fitness tip, or just a “How Ya Doing?”.

5. Friday: Post a comment on at least 3 blogs in my niche area. For me, these are usually triathlon related blogs. Try to choose very popular blogs. Use stumbleupon to find out which blogs are getting lots of hits!

Try it. I dare you. Just don’t blame me when your online personal training or business as an internet fitness professional takes off!

Podcast Episode #11: Social Networking for Fitness Professionals

Published
by
Ben Greenfield
on November 3, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 1 Comment

In this November 3rd, 2008 podcast, Ben Greenfield interviews John Santagate of Go Talk Fitness about how fitness professionals can enhance marketing presence, increase search engine rankings, meet new clients, and profit from a wide array of social networking options.

Websites mentioned in this podcast:

http://www.gotalkfitness.com

http://www.ptonthenet.com

How Much Would You Pay If You Knew This Secret?

Published
by
Ben Greenfield
on October 28, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

Distribution of your articles to multiple online and print sources can vastly improve your search engine rankings, website hits, and business. Just imagine if the latest article that you wrote on “How to Tone Your Triceps” was appearing on 120 different websites just 10 days after you wrote it. You’d have instant expert status!

I was recently approached by a company that wanted to help distribute my articles to online and print publications, and also provide full press release and marketing for each article.

My first thoughts?

Fantastic! A better way to manage time and enhance marketing visibility!

My second thought, after hearing the cost?

You’re kidding.

This service was being offered for a grand total of just $4975.

$4975 PER ARTICLE.

Are you kidding?

For those of you who have read my book, “Train For Top Dollar”, you are aware that all my articles go out to hundreds of websites each month for a grand total of $200/month. And Press Releases are included to each print publication for just $10 per press release.

So what is the secret?

Outsourcing to virtual assistants. I simply send my articles out at the end of each month, and VOILA, a week later, they’re distributed EVERYWHERE. There are many resources on the internet, but here is one of my favorite websites to get you started: O-Desk.

The dead giveaway that this $4975 article distribution service might be a waste of money was that this company was 12 years old. In this day and age, information dissemination can be accomplished for cheap or free. And that’s just another key to ensuring your online and local visibility as a fitness professional.

Podcast Episode #10: Cloud Computing & More

Published
by
Ben Greenfield
on October 16, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

In this October 16, 2008 podcast, Ben Greenfield explains how to automate your lifestyle, finances, and communication via simple and free web tools. Train For Top Dollar is all about the concept of “time as money”, and this podcast is crucial to saving you hours each week. Very helpful websites mentioned in this episode:

http://www.basecamphq.com

-manage projects, keep track of correspondence, archive files and make, assign to-do lists, and interact with outsourced employees

http://www.skype.com

-free skype-to-skype calls and dirt cheap national and international calls, including video to interact with your online clients

http://www.mint.com

-Keep track of all your finances seamlessly and in one place

http://www.mozy.com

-Backup the entire contents or chosen files on your computer to an online secure server

http://www.docs.google.com

-Create and share your work online, upload from and save to your desktop, edit anytime, from anywhere, pick who can access your documents, share changes in real time, files are stored securely online

http://www.yousendit.com

-Share large files with clients and co-workers.

http://www.sendspace.com

-Share large files with clients and co-workers.

http://www.drop.io

-Share AND password protect files.

http://www.slideshare.com

-Expand your online presence and monetize your slideshow presentations.

http://www.twitter.com

-Social networking and business advancement in short, 160 character ‘tweets’.

http://www.jott.com

-Transcribe from your phone directly to e-mail.

http://www.pageonce.com

-Similar to Mint, but instead of simply finances, you can access ALL your accounts on one page.

http://www.catalogchoice.org

-Remove yourself from junk mail.

http://www.farecast.live.com

-Allows you to track pricing trends to let you know what the best time of the month is to pull the trigger on a plane ticket.

For even more useful websites, tricks, tips and tools, be sure to check out the book “Train For Top Dollar”. In over 150 pages of cutting-edge content, Ben Greenfield teaches you how to automate your lifestyle and become a powerful and well-recognized fitness professional.

Podcast Episode #8: A Tasty Tip to Double Your Personal Training Income

Published
by
Ben Greenfield
on September 21, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

In this September 21, 2008 podcast, Ben Greenfield discusses how nutrition consulting can provide your client with instant results and exponentially increase your salary. Includes information about certifications, websites, and legal implications of enhancing your fitness business income with nutrition consulting.

Website mentioned in this episode:

http://www.mercola.com

http://www.whfoods.com

http://www.sportsnutritionsociety.org/

Podcast Episode #7: How To Create and Profit From a Personal Training Boot Camp

Published
by
Ben Greenfield
on September 10, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

In this interview, Ben Greenfield has a conversation with personal trainer Danna Snow about how she trains 30 people in a single session, and nets an entire day’s profit in a single hour via her boot camp. Ben and Danna discuss fee and business structures, online automation, and boot camp workout styles. The bonus? ZERO overhead!

Links: http://www.youradventurebootcamp.com

Podcast Episode #6: How to Create Print-On-Demand Fitness & Nutrition Information Products

Published
by
Ben Greenfield
on August 29, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

In this week’s Train For Top Dollar Podcast Episode #6: how to use an online print-on-demand to service to save time and inexpensively produce your books and DVD’s.

Remember, the entire eighth chapter of Train For Top Dollar is devoted to teaching fitness professionals a step-by-step process for designing and producing information products! Check it out today at http://www.trainfortopdollar.com.

Links:
http://www.createspace.com
http://www.lulu.com
http://www.booksurge.com

Podcast Episode #5: Online Fitness Coaching Software Solutions

Published
by
Ben Greenfield
on August 19, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

In this interview, Ben Greenfield talks with Training Peaks Chief Marketing Officer Dirk Friel about what features are available in online software programs, how many clients a trainer can work with, what type of legal considerations exist in the virtual training environment, and the practical aspects of how technology can significantly enhance a coach or trainer’s income.

How To Design a Cover for your Fitness E-Book

Published
by
Ben Greenfield
on August 16, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

People judge a book by it’s cover. Design your information product accordingly. Appearance is everything. Your e-book, audio product, or video must be properly packaged or people will not buy it. It doesn’t matter that they’re not receiving a “paper book” or “physical product”. In the digital information age, electronic information is just as valuable as traditional information, if not more convenient, especially if your fitness or nutrition information product contains printable forms or logs. A client will have absolutely no problem opening their computer, scrolling to page 13, printing the page to take to the gym, and leaving the other 148 pages at home!

Have you ever seen a website or online advertisement that features e-books, audio CD’s or video DVD’s that look like the real thing but are actually only available in digital format? This is accomplished via a clever technique using simple software. You can take a raw graphic file of your e-book or audio information “cover logo”, and easily tweak it into an impressive three-dimensional design that looks like a real book or DVD.

Here are some useful resources to get you started:

I have an entire chapter of the book Train For Top Dollar devoted to creating digital information products such as books, DVD’s and audio seminars. Check it out here!

Podcast Episode #4: Fitness Website Search Engine Optimization

Published
by
Ben Greenfield
on August 8, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

In this week’s podcast, Ben Greenfield interviews an SEO and SEM expert Crystal Wallace, who has a degree in statistical modeling and works to enhance search engine ranking and website visibility. Topics include enhancing the search engine friendliness of your website, understanding meta-tags and meta-keywords, “white hat” vs. “black hat” marketing efforts, and creating a Google AdWords campaign.

Podcast Episode #3: Corporate Wellness

Published
by
Ben Greenfield
on August 1, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

In this podcast, Ben Greenfield interviews Brad Cooper of US Corporate Wellness (http://www.uscorporatewellness.com). During the interview, Brad introduces the topic of individualized coaching for corporate wellness programs, and explains how personal trainers can become involved in one of the fastest growing trends among America’s businesses. You’ll learn one very powerful way to leverage your time and resources in your corporate personal training.

How to Launch Your Corporate Wellness Personal Training Program

Published
by
Ben Greenfield
on July 31, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 1 Comment

As the business world becomes more aware of the significant positive correlation between employee health and employee productivity, corporate wellness programs will become a standard. Fortunately for you as a fitness professional, the human resources department of most corporations are ill-equipped to make educated decisions on fitness equipment, exercise classes, employee exercise tracking, and exercise program adherence. This is where you come in.

Your first task, before approaching a corporation to offer your services, is to gather data that provides convincing evidence for the efficacy of a corporate wellness program. This job is easy, because most CEO’s have read it in the paper, most HR directors have seen the research, and most employees know that basically, “exercise is good”. Nonetheless, you must come prepared.

So here are some three excellent resources to do your research:

http://employeewellness.blogspot.com/ - UP TO DATE INFORMATION AND NEWS

http://welcoa.org - FANTASTIC .PDF RESOURCES

http://wellnessquotes.com - COMPARISONS OF CORPORATE WELLNESS PROGRAMS

Once you have gathered your data, you must create a system for your corporate wellness program. There are many variations, including employee fitness testing, employee wellness seminars, group personal training, individual personal training, executive health “perks”, fitness classes and corporate gym design.

You can then take the data, and put it into an attractive cover letter and presentation for the HR department of your targeted corporation. Deliver a package that presents both the research and your proposed list of corporate wellness services. In one day, I delivered 8 corporate wellness proposals in one small city in Washington state. Within 2 months, I was training 2 executives at one corporation, teaching a monthly wellness seminar at three corporations, and overseeing the entire monthly fitness evaluations procedure at another business site. That was well worth 2 hours of driving and delivering.

In chapter 9 of the book Train For Top Dollar, I present exact fee and business structures for developing your pricing and services. You can feel free to simply copy and paste from the book into your corporate proposal. Here is one service from the Offsite Training chapter:

Corporate Group Personal Training Package - for 4 weeks, a corporate group of 8-12 employees can work with a fitness and diet expert at the corporate site gym or health facility. The entire group meets with a personal trainer for a group exercise program once a week for 1 hour. Each participant also receives a 25% discount on a monthly individual personal training membership. Price: $2100

Remember that when you approach a corporation, YOU are the expert. The business world knows very little about fitness. You have powerful leverage in this age of reduced health insurance premiums for healthy employees. The sky is the limit!

Podcast Episode #2: Online Personal Training Interview

Published
by
Ben Greenfield
on July 25, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 2 Comments

This highly educational podcast interview with Gary Lavin answers the following questions:

1. How can an personal trainer have “More Power in Less Time” with online training?

2. What tips do you have for a trainer who has never trained online, but wants to get started immediately?

3. What resources or software are available for online trainers who don’t want to create their own website?

4. Can you charge the same for online training as face-to-face training?

5. Some trainers combine face-to-face and online training. What do you think of this model?

6. In addition to online training, what are some top ways a trainer can profit from having a web presence?

Trouble listening? Click here.

Links mentioned in this podcast:

Video Monetization

Published
by
Ben Greenfield
on July 23, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

I’ve been to a fair share of clinics, conferences and presentations in the fitness industry, and am frankly surprised at the lack of monetization.

What do I mean by monetization?

Basically, this term refers to the ability to take a presentation, idea or skill, and profit from it. Repeatedly. Video monetization is one of the simplest ways to take a free or inexpensive conference, clinic or seminar and sell it to the public afterwards. It is a very simple concept - you simply record yourself presenting to a niche market on your chosen expert topic, then package and sell that recording to both the clinic attendees as well as future customers. All that is required is a video camera in the audience, either operated by an acquaintance or friend, or set firmly upon a tripod.

For example, I recently taught a 45 minute clinic on Race Day Nutrition for Triathletes. The cost of the clinic was only $10 per person, and it was sparsely attended, with only 20-25 participants. However, by videotaping the clinic, downloading the video via firewire to iMovie HD on my Mac, and adding titles and sound effects, I can now sell this clinic as a $10 DVD or as an electronic Flash movie file, for an infinite period of time.

Begin implementing this simple technique. Over the course of a year, you may sell 10, 20, or 30 copies of your clinic or conference. Multiply by 4 or 5 short presentations over the course of the year, and you’re well on your way to video monetization!

Executive Health Programs

Published
by
Ben Greenfield
on July 20, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

Executive health screenings have huge potential for increasing your bottom line as a gym or individual fitness professional. Corporations will pay top dollar to keep their valuable executives healthy, and you can be a key cog in that wheelset. In order to successfully integrate this tool in your business, you must have access to a team. I talk more about building your team/network in my book, but the basic idea is that within your community you must have an established relationship with nutritionists, physiologists, and physicians. This is crucial to your referral business and your ability to successfully implement an executive health screening program.

You can then approach your local corporations and offer to coordinate their executive health screening program, by directing the team that provides access to the necessary protocols. You’ll want to speak with the head of HR at the corporation. A sample executive health screening would consist of the following procedures:

-Medical examination and physical screening by a physician (your team member Physician)
-Resting/exercise electrocardiogram and blood pressure (Physician)
-Complete blood count and comprehensive metabolic profile (Physician)
-Thyroid screening (Physician)
-Body composition testing (You)
-Nutritional consultation with registered dietitian (Nutritionist/RD)
-Exercise and resting metabolic testing (Physiologist)
-Strength, flexibility and muscular endurance fitness testing (You)
-Follow-up management and recommendations (All team members)

You create the program and save HR the headache of figuring out how to find a facility that performs all these procedures at once. Make the phone calls to the physician, physiologist and nutritionist, schedule the appointments, and include the cost of the executive health screening management in your corporate wellness bid. Remember, you’re not managing the actual payment for the health screening services by the nutritionist, physiologist or physician. They manage their own billing and work with the corporation’s health insurance program. You’re simple directing the process and providing access to a team, then managing the outcome by prescribing proper exercise and coordinating any necessary follow-up appointments.

If you already have a corporate wellness program, this is a perk that will allow you to charge more for your services. If you’re wanting to implement a corporate wellness program, but don’t know where to start, I recommend the entire chapter of Train For Top Dollar that is devoted to offsite training. Whether home or corporate based, an offsite personal training program is a perfect solution for a trainer who wants to enhance their income, or eliminate the hassle of a studio or gym. Like the digital information product, the biggest advantage is that there are very few costs involved. Not having to pay a lease or maintain equipment leaves you with much less headache and more money in your pocket. Use the examples in Chapter 9, “Offsite Training”, to launch your offsite training business tomorrow!

How to Be Successful at Health & Wellness Expos

Published
by
Ben Greenfield
on July 13, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

What is it about fitness professionals and their lack of sales and marketing skills?

Case in point: I just returned from the National Strength & Conditioning Association expo. Although the booths, displays and content was fantastic, the actual sales and marketing skills were sadly subpar. Unless an attendee actually stopped at a vendor’s booth and specifically asked a question, they were allowed to pass by undisturbed. The first time I attended the expo, I literally cruised the entire room in 5 minutes flat.

In contrast, while in Las Vegas, I simultaneously attended the Freedom Fest, a gathering of completely different folk, devoted to finances, marketing, business, capitalism and economy. It took me nearly 30 minutes to traverse just a single aisle of this show! With each step, I was greeted on either side by vendors eager to show me the benefit of their product. They literally stepped in front of me, made eye contact, and asked as simple question, such as “Where are you from?” or “What do you do?”. Notice that these are open-ended questions and they take advantage of the fact that most people like to talk about themselves.

We can learn an important lesson from this comparison. If you represent your personal training studio, nutrition business, or gym at a health and fitness expo, try to follow these three simple rules:

1. Don’t sit behind your table. Stand in front of it, and interrupt the flow of traffic that passes by your booth. Hold your information, brochures or business cards in your left hand, and keep your right hand free to shake hands.

2. Make eye contact. One of the best ways to traverse quickly through an expo is to avoid eye contact with each of the vendors. People will try to do this to you. As a vendor, find a way to catch their attention. Ask questions, smile, and find the eyes.

3. Be vocal. Nobody will stop if you stand in front of your table and merely look them in the eyes. You must have audible content! Do not choose common phrases like “How’s it going?”, “Hi” or “Would you like a free sample?” These are close-ended statements. Instead, try the following, “Where did you get that shirt/blouse/tie?”, “So what brings you to the expo today?”, or “What do you do for a living?”.

Don’t feel bad about interrupting people’s path. For crying out loud, they came to the expo, and they should expect to be accosted. You put in the hard work to have a booth and be a vendor. Make it count!

Podcast Episode #1: 5 Killer Tips on How To Create Your Online Personal Training Website

Published
by
Ben Greenfield
on July 10, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

5 Killer Tips on How To Create Your Online Personal Training Website

In the past, I’ve personally done full graphic design and coding for twelve of my own websites. I’ve also had local community graphic web designers create two additional websites. But now, I outsource all this time-consuming work to Pakistan, India, or some other very inexpensive technology sector based geographical area. I talk comprehensively about this type of outsourcing in Chapter 5 of Train For Top Dollar.

So what methods have I used to create my websites?

Whoever you use to host your website will typically come include free web templates. What this means is that you can download the template to your computer, or you can use an online editing program that is usually available on your web host, and most of the work is done for you. For multiple reasons included in my book, especially for utilizing one-click, simple blog creation, my favorite host is Bluehost.

The colors, backgrounds, and organization in these templates are already present, and you just drag and drop your desired pictures and text. This can be a very effective and quick way to design your website.

On the flipside, a template will have a very generic feel, and you have extremely limited control over the basic website design and organization. These type of sites have no wow factor, but if you’re on a time crunch, have a limited budget, or just want to get started, this may be the way to go.

If you use an online website design tool, typically also available from your hosting service (like Bluehost), you’ll finish a web page on your web site, then just press “publish” or “save”, and it now appears when people type your domain name (aka URL) into their computer’s web browser.

If you use your own website design software, based from your computer, you typically have to create the website on your computer, then send it electronically (called FTP) to your hosting service, which typically provides pretty good instructions in the help section on how to use various web design software to create and upload your site.

My favorite computer based software is Adobe GoLive, but if you go to http://www.download.com or http://www.tucows.com, you can download any number of free website design software packages.

Here are my five killer tips for your website design:

• Keep it simple and clean. Include lots of “white space” so your readers don’t become confused with 18 different training advertisements, fitness pop-ups, and sounds or music when they first visit your page.

• Use photos effectively. Try to include your face or body if possible, to build a trust relationship with your potential online clients and show that you are indeed fit.

• Use a simple navigation menu without too many buttons. A simple “Home”, “Services”, “About Us”, and “Contact Us” will suffice for a basic online personal training page.

• Include space for publishing your latest breaking articles on your home page. This is very important for search engine optimization, which I present later in this chapter.

• Include a space for client testimonials. Here’s an e-mail that I send out to each successful client after they’ve reached a milestone goal and have enough dopamine and endorphins rumbling through their system to give me a fantastic testimonial:

Dear _________,

The people I coach and train are my main focus in life. When you reach your goals, I feel I’ve contributed to your life in a unique way, and somehow contributed my knowledge to help you achieve something special and meaningful.

I’m in the process of updating my website - specifically the online fitness and nutritional training services. I really want people to know how I can help them achieve their desires.

Here’s where you come in. If you’re interested, I’m looking for testimonials. Just a brief sentence or paragraph about how I’ve helped you identify objectives, reach your goals or simply supplied you with a nudge in the right direction.

If I use your testimonial on my website or in a brochure, I would just write your first name, or simply your initials if you’d prefer. All you really have to do is shoot your testimonial to me via e-mail.

Thanks for considering, and remember to train and eat smart!

Cheers,
Ben

That oughta get you started. I offer business and website consulting services to personal trainers, and give a ton of information in my book Train For Top Dollar on how to make six figures as a fitness professional. Check it out here.

 
icon for podpress  5 Killer Tips on How To Create Your Online Personal Training Website [9:31m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

How to Subscribe For Free to Train for Top Dollar Feed

Published
by
Ben Greenfield
on June 29, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

So you want to automatically have the Train for Top Dollar tips and tricks blog delivered automatically to your computer?

Here’s a step-by-step process that I highly recommend you try now:

1. Download a feed reader to your computer. Popular feed readers include http://www.newsgator.com, which can automatically feed subscriptions into your e-mail box, but there are a ton of different options for RSS readers, including Microsoft Outlook plug-ins or plug-ins for browsers like Firefox Apple’s newest Safari browser also has an RSS reader. But the NewsGator is a good free reader that is easy to use and allows you to track your feeds anytime, anywhere, from any browser, by just logging into your free NewsGator account online. Just go to their website, click on products, then choose a feed reader that is compatible with your system.

2. Next, go to http://www.trainfortopdollar.com.

3. Click on blog.

4. Right click on the little orange RSS feed button (or control-click if you’re on a Mac), and choose “copy link”.

5. Go to your NewsGator page and sign-in, then click on “Add Feeds”.

6. Click URL & Import.

7. Choose edit, then paste from your browser menu into the text input box. Now click “Add Feed”.

That’s it! From this point, whenever you go to your NewsGator page, the latest tips and tricks from Train for Top Dollar will appear in your browser window.

There’s no way you can keep track of all the different blogs you may want to read, so this is a great method subscribe to them for free. It’s just like getting the newspaper delivered to your front door rather than making a trip to the supermarket to buy it each morning.

BUT WAIT!

You can also have the Train For Top Dollar blog e-mailed to you. Just go to www.rssfwd.com. I’m not going to tell you anything more. Just visit the website. It’s very cool and very self-explanatory. I like self-explanatory, because it means I can quit typing now and head out to the beach.

Ben

P.S. Oh yes, one more thing. Want to add us to your iTunes? Just click here.

Welcome to Train For Top Dollar

Published
by
Ben Greenfield
on June 28, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments
Are you tired of showing up to your routine personal training job each day to train a handful of clients and receive an hourly session fee? Do you have a personal training studio that struggles each month to meet the bottom line? Are you ready to command an exorbitant salary as a respected fitness or nutrition expert?
Whether you are a health club owner, private studio trainer or gym employee, Train For Top Dollar will teach you everything you need to know to maximize your income as a fitness professional, nutritional consultant, or personal trainer. Ben Greenfield, the nation’s top personal training business expert, has designed simple and practical, but highly effective income-enhancing strategies in Train For Top Dollar. Be prepared to step outside the mold and learn how to become a celebrity expert in your field, with an enormous client waitlist and a wide range of unique marketing strategies.

Each week in this blog, Ben Greenfield will unveil new fitness business marketing strategies. Be sure to subscribe to the free content, and if you don’t have your copy of the book yet, then simply click here!

<a href=”http://www.podcastalley.com/”> My Podcast Alley feed!</a> {pca-95d396e9094b51d077a1622a572e5e3d}